Chapter 56: Special Treatment

Even though he was cleanly beaten by Xia De, Mr. Lavender was still very excited. But unfortunately, it was his turn, so he could only regretfully stand up and leave, but he put Xia De's business card away very solemnly.

After the card game ended, without an organizer, people had no intention of playing cards again. Xia De sat there, confusedly invited to join the discussion of royal anecdotes, forced to express his opinions on the conflict between Prince Mogus Cavendish, whom he didn't understand at all, and Marquis Calad, the commander of the Third Steam Equipment Division of the Army.

Fortunately, his number was finally called. Seeing that he had an excuse to leave, he hurriedly stood up, incidentally handing out business cards to the people around. This was a very good opportunity to solicit business for himself; those who played Tarot cards were all wealthy people.

He pushed open the side door of the room and walked in, naturally not forgetting to close the door. The Tarot card collector who had entered here before had already left from the front door of the room. At this time, there was only an old gentleman behind the desk in the room, who yawned and signaled Xia De to sit down.

The room was not big, or even could be said to be somewhat cramped. Only some picture frames on the wall could be considered decorations, and the table of the Tarot card appraiser occupied almost a quarter of the room's area.

When sitting down, Xia De also noticed that aside from a few gas lamps and various lenses on the table, there was also a quite obvious black metal box, which was filled with torn Tarot cards. On the very top was the "Flower 1" card of the Deraerion Hero series that Mr. Lavender showed off to everyone. It had no special effects, but the card face was very beautiful, unfortunately, it was also a counterfeit.

"Counterfeit Tarot cards must be torn up, do you know this point?"

The old man wearing glasses asked. Seeing Xia De nod, he signaled that he could display the cards to be appraised.

Carefully opening the diary, he took out the "Sun 3" 【Founding · Silver Moon】 card and placed it on the soft pad on the table. The old man wearing gloves reached out to take it, took one look, and frowned:

"Founding series Silver Moon?"

He looked up at Xia De, as if looking at a mental patient, clearly not believing that someone would come to appraise this.

But he still dutifully pulled over the lotus-mouthed gas lamp near him, adjusted the light to the strongest, and picked up a magnifying glass to check the card details under the light.

Xia De, who was waiting for the "lottery ticket he picked up to be redeemed," sat there, suddenly not feeling so nervous anymore. But the person sitting on the other side of the table became nervous as time passed. It was almost a few dozen minutes later that he looked up and looked at Xia De seriously, the forehead covered by hair already sweating:

"Founding series Silver Moon?"

The question was exactly the same as when Xia De sat down, but the tone was completely different.

Xia De, who probably understood the result, just shook his head:

"Probably."

He said very reservedly. Even though he considered himself able to control his emotions, he still couldn't suppress his joy at this moment.

"Oh, sir, please wait a moment, please wait a moment. I cannot appraise this card; I will go and ask someone else."

The old appraiser tremblingly returned the card to Xia De, took off his glasses, picked up a towel from a shelf on the side to wipe his face, and then ran toward the door around the table:

"Sir, don't run, I'll be back in three minutes!"

His voice even started to tremble.

"Why would I run?"

Xia De thought to himself, watching the door close.

He looked down at the 【Founding · Silver Moon】 "Sun 3" card again, looking at the lady on the card face holding the silver moon sideways:

"Speaking of which, I really have an inexplicable fate with the silver moon."

The old appraiser didn't take three minutes, or even one minute, before running back hurriedly. He pressed against the door frame, looking like he was running out of breath:

"That's great, sir, you are still here."

"Why wouldn't I be here?"

Xia De thought to himself, picking up the card and standing up. At this time, he heard the sound of running again in the corridor behind the old appraiser, and soon saw a tall and thin middle-aged man running over. He was wearing a black suit and a brooch with the Ouroboros logo:

"Cynthia Mark, Vice President of the Tobesk branch of the Prophet Association."

The middle-aged man panted while passing the old appraiser, walked over, and shook hands with Xia De.

"You should catch your breath before speaking, I won't run."

Xia De said, then asked in a low voice:

"So, is this card of mine real?"

Mr. Mark invited Xia De to the third floor of the association to talk. This time it was a very formal reception room, and there were even servants hired by the association preparing tea for the guests.

Xia De sat down on the sofa in the reception room. After Mr. Mark also sat down, two other appraisers who were probably older than Priest Augustus walked over hurriedly:

"Regarding this founding series Silver Moon, we need to do further appraisal, but right here, in front of you. This gentleman, can you wait a little longer?"

Vice President Cynthia Mark said while wiping sweat. Xia De keenly noticed that the collar of the shirt inside his suit had already been soaked with sweat.

"Of course no problem, but the appraisal fee..."

Xia De deliberately hesitated.

"Of course it's still five pennies, you don't need to spend more money."

Mr. Mark said, taking the business card Xia De handed over, and was as surprised as Mr. Lavender just now at the address of "No. 6 St. Deran Plaza."

He asked again:

"Mr. Hamilton, what kind of refreshments do you need?"

"I think it's not necessary for the time being."

Xia De waved his hand. Although the Prophet Association was a very formal world-class institution and would not have the occurrence of killing for cards, as an outsider who was alone and had no power or influence, it was better to be cautious when going out.

He looked toward the three old appraisers who had been hurriedly summoned. The three had already spread out a dense array of tools and lenses on the long table on the other side of the parlor, and had turned on various strangely shaped lamps brought over by the servants. The parlor's grand floor-to-ceiling curtains were tightly drawn, shutting out the silhouette of Yodel Palace in the early morning, which was drifting in morning mist:

"Regarding this founding Silver Moon... if it is real, I think the association should not publicize it everywhere."

Xia De did not look at Mr. Mark, but said as if unconsciously.

"Of course, the association is absolutely fair regarding Tarot cards and will not damage the interests of any collector; this is our tenet."

Cynthia Mark guaranteed, defaulting that Xia De, who possessed this card, was a collector.

He looked at Xia De with the corner of his eye. He was dressed decently but did not look like a wealthy person, only his temperament was very unique. After hesitating for a moment, Vice President Mark asked:

"Then, is it convenient for you to tell us the origin of this card? No other meaning, it's just that the last time the association saw it was about 127 years ago at the 'Great City Player' Tarot card tournament. That year, Baron Stivie Byrons used this card to enter the finals, which could be said to have been quite a show. The association wants to record the whereabouts of this card over the past hundred years; really didn't expect that I would have the honor to see it." ===== CHAPTER 57 =====