Chapter 207: Gwent of Beauclair

Toussaint is a small vassal duchy under the rule of the Nilfgaard Empire.

Thanks to its pleasant climate and fertile volcanic ash soil, it produces grapes and is world-renowned for the high-quality fine wine it brews. It is hailed as the "Fairy Tale Kingdom," the "Land of Wine and Love," and the "Land of Wine."

Moreover, it lives up to the rumors of spring all year round. Even though it is only February and many places in the north are still snowing, Toussaint is already illuminated by warm sunshine, and among the flowers, plants, and trees, one cannot even see the traces of winter.

I don't know how Francesca designed it, but the place where Wayne appeared was on a hillside in the suburbs, and the location was quite high. Looking from afar, one could see a beautiful city standing on the plain, beside the Sansretour River.

And the name of this city, without needing anyone to introduce it, Wayne also knew very clearly: Beauclair, the capital of Toussaint.

This is a city that looks very gorgeous. The original prototype was built by Elves, and after being occupied by humans, it underwent certain expansions and repairs, becoming what it is today.

As the most famous wine capital in the world today, it has very prosperous trade. Merchants from all over the world bring their local specialties here to sell, and then take back more fine wine to earn money.

However, currently, in this city, Wayne has no acquaintances. The one he can barely deal with is Fringilla Vigo, whom Francesca mentioned, but he hasn't decided whether to meet her yet.

Because Fringilla Vigo is a distant relative of the current Duke and also the niece of the royal mage Artorius Vigo. Meeting her would be equivalent to entering the eyes of the royal family and exposing his identity.

After a brief consideration, Wayne decided to first disguise himself as another identity to enter Beauclair. With a layer of identity protection on the surface, whatever shady things he does in private will have a cover.

And when he truly needs help, he will then go find the Sorceress Vigo and solve some problems that cannot be solved by ordinary means through the high-level route.

As for what identity to disguise as, this didn't stump him. There is a large amount of Pipe-weed in his space bracelet now. Using this high-end tobacco that does not exist in the Wizard World to disguise himself as a high-end tobacco merchant is a very good choice.

At that time, he could wander around the entire Toussaint Kingdom in the name of selling tobacco, while searching for the treasures and intelligence he wanted, and while contacting the people he wanted to contact.

No sooner said than done, he quickly put all the weapons on his body into the space bracelet, leaving only a Statikk Shiv hanging at his waist, changed into a set of high-end daily silk casual clothes, and then piloted the Magic Flying Carpet from several hundred meters in the air, flying toward Beauclair.

After flying for more than ten minutes, Wayne landed in a hidden spot a few kilometers away from Beauclair. He pretended to be an ordinary passerby and walked swaggeringly onto the road leading to the city.

Without any twists and turns, after paying a few silver coins as an entry fee, he successfully entered the city.

Although he had played in the game many times, after personally entering Beauclair, he still felt a quite comfortable sensation.

Perhaps because Toussaint has been far from war for many years, as a small vassal state, it has basically never suffered the threat of war. The people here are somewhat similar to the Hobbits of Middle-earth; most are quite romantic and enthusiastic, and even between strangers, they are quite polite.

Under the guidance of a passerby, Wayne strolled around the city for more than ten minutes, passed through several bustling streets, and came to a quite high-end inn to stay.

However, before he could find the boss to open a room, the scene in the inn lobby attracted his attention.

I saw two people sitting opposite each other at a dining table, holding several exquisite cards in their hands, showing contemplation, their expressions excited. The onlookers around were also focused, not speaking, as if watching some good show.

And such a scene, Wayne had seen in many places, and it was also a game he liked to participate in very much, which was planned by the system as a witcher's professional skill: Gwent.

Immediately, he opened the best room at the innkeeper's at the fastest speed, and then walked with light steps to the side of the two players who were playing Gwent, and together with others, entered the spectator mode.

Gwent time is always quite interesting. After watching for about half an hour, Wayne determined that the rules of Gwent here are exactly the same as those in the north, and I don't know if it's because of the prosperous commercial trade, merchants from all over the world gather here, they have quite a few of the latest cards here, and the game of Gwent is also quite popular.

Since that's the case, as a true Gwent master, Wayne no longer disguised himself. He took advantage of the halftime break of the two players, found a table at a nearby location to sit down, and then said to the few onlookers: "Friends, how can watching be as fun as playing yourself?"

"Does anyone want to have a Gwent duel with me? I am very confident in my skills. Anyone who can win against me will receive double the bet, within five hundred Crowns, at least ten Crowns, I am willing to accept."

Hearing Wayne's statement, those onlookers immediately cast their gazes toward him, and even the two players who were playing cards were no exception.

Looking at Wayne's tender face that seemed to have just reached adulthood, and the temptation of the double bet he offered, these people were all moved.

Soon, a middle-aged man with a fresh appearance and a big beard sat down opposite Wayne very politely. He first reached out to shake hands with Wayne, and then introduced himself: "Hello, sir. I am Stephen from the Prant Wine Estate. If you don't mind, we can play a few rounds of Gwent."

"For this game, I really love it very much."

Wayne was also very polite. After shaking hands with the middle-aged man, he also introduced himself: "Hello, Mr. Stephen."

"I am Joel Smith, a tobacco merchant from the Kingdom of Zerrikania. This is my first time coming to the Kingdom of Toussaint. This is truly a beautiful place."

Stephen opposite was stunned upon hearing this and asked curiously: "I really didn't expect, Mr. Smith, has the game of Gwent already spread to the distant Kingdom of Zerrikania?"

Wayne laughed and boasted without changing his expression: "Because our family's business is doing very well and we have a lot of contact with the outside world, that's why I came into contact with the game of Gwent."

"But in the Kingdom of Zerrikania, only some high-class figures have the opportunity to play this game."

The two chatted for a few sentences. This Mr. Stephen from the Prant Wine Estate was still quite cautious. The bet for his first round with Wayne was the minimum limit of ten Crowns, neither more nor less.

And when Wayne dueled with him, in order not to scare away other challengers, he also suppressed his strength to be slightly weaker than the opponent, but finally turned defeat into victory.

Even after winning two rounds in a row, he deliberately lost one round, losing thirty Crowns to this Mr. Stephen. After three rounds, he only gained Gwent experience rewards and a bet of only five Crowns.

However, it was precisely because of this that this kind of strength, which is neither high nor low and can see the hope of victory, is the huge bait that attracts those Gwent players who want to win money.

Soon, the Gwent players present all came down one by one and played a few rounds with Wayne.

While Wayne gained a large amount of Gwent experience, he also kept suppressing his strength, maintaining a trend of winning more and losing less, and winning money overall.

Finally, in order to increase the attractiveness of the gambling game he held, he even took the initiative to lose a huge sum of three hundred Crowns to a young nobleman who had a lively personality and looked like he liked to show off.

In just one afternoon, with the word-of-mouth of Gwent players, he dueled with nearly a hundred Gwent players in the city, gaining a large amount of Gwent proficiency while also making friends with quite a few wealthy local people in Beauclair.

Moreover, as a disguised tobacco merchant, during the gambling, Wayne not only kept a pipe in his mouth but also occasionally invited his opponents to enjoy the mellow Pipe-weed.

The taste of this top-quality tobacco from Middle-earth soon attracted the attention of all men who love tobacco. Not only the opponents who played Gwent with him, but even those onlookers were all attracted by this rich fragrance.

Regarding this, Wayne was not stingy. As long as someone was interested in Pipe-weed, he would give each person a little bit of the portion just for tasting, letting them enjoy it.

When someone asked him how to sell it, Wayne would only tactfully refuse, telling them that it was not yet at the stage of selling and that he needed to wait for the source of goods.

And this Gwent gambling game can also be considered a very effective promotion and popularization for Wayne's Pipe-weed.

In less than two days after this, the news that a powerful Gwent master had come to Beauclair, as well as a tobacco merchant with top-quality tobacco, spread among many wealthy people.

After all, those who can spend a lot of money to bet against Wayne are not ordinary commoners.

Without that financial strength, one would not dare to spend at least a hundred Crowns to conduct a gambling game.

And thanks to the enthusiasm of Beauclair's Gwent players, as well as Wayne's previous accumulation, his Gwent level soon rose to level nine.

Only one level away, he could unlock a new skill specialty and open a special skill related to luck.

And Beauclair, this fairy tale world with merchants from all over the world, would definitely be able to satisfy this upgrade requirement of Wayne's.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 208 =====