Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 562 - Big City Player 1853

Chapter 562: Chapter 562 Big City Player 1853 Chapter 562: Chapter 562 Big City Player 1853 Sparrow had died, and Shard wanted to respect his last wishes, to let the story of the “Grey-headed Eagle” end unknown at No. 6, Saint Delan Square. Therefore, he would not take on that task, even though it meant £2,000—a fortune that 99% of the people in this world could not earn in a lifetime.

Taking advantage of a free Thursday afternoon, after having lunch with his cat, Shard first took his formal attire to the ready-to-wear shop on Silver Cross Avenue for cleaning and arranged to pick it up early the next morning.

Afterward, he didn’t head straight home but went to the Prophet’s Society, also located on Silver Cross Avenue. Having not seen Luviya for half a week, Shard wanted to invite her out for dinner that evening, and if she had time, perhaps they could go to the opera as well.

The opening ceremony of the “Big City Player 1853 Roder Card Tournament” was to take place the next day, and the entire Prophet’s Society had been redecorated. Banners were raised, the interior was cleaned again, and new oil paintings and promotional boards were piled in the foyer, ready to be set up.

Everyone here was very busy; even for the opening ceremony the next day, the society was only open for Roder Card identifications, with other services temporarily suspended.

Since the society was not doing divinations that day, Shard could not meet with Luviya under the pretense of wanting a divination for his cat. But because he visited so frequently, always asking specifically for Luviya Annette to do the divination, people knew that this rumored “lover of the Duchess” frequented the society not for his cat, but for a person.

The receptionists on the first floor, with smiles, fetched Luviya for Shard, but when Shard extended his invitation, the girl with purple eyes regretfully shook her head:

“The opening ceremony is tomorrow, and I even plan to stay overnight at the society because there’s still so much to be done. The Tobesk Branch has finally won the right to host this year’s tournament, and President Stan and Vice-President Mark have decided to make sure this year’s contest is a success, so I won’t have time to go out with you for dinner tonight.”

“That’s truly unfortunate.”

Shard could understand.

“However, perhaps we could go out together tomorrow night.”

She said with a smile, giving Shard a look:

“Having not thought about those annoying matters this week, I’ve even noticed myself that my emotions were not normal recently. Dinner and the opera together tomorrow night. Though, I’d like to bring Iluna along—she would be very happy.”

Although having a leisurely outing with three people was not in Shard’s original plans, it didn’t seem too bad:

“Of course, that’s fine. I’ll go and book the tickets now, hopefully, it’s not too late.”

The busyness of Luviya and Iluna made Shard feel somewhat idle. And to prove he was also working hard, after leaving the society, he went to the apartment of Mrs. Black in the south of the city.

Out of the four tasks left by Detective Sparrow, only “helping Miss White find her missing sister, Miss Black,” remained unfinished. Shard had visited the young lady, who in fact had just run away from home, last week, and she was away on vacation in the countryside, not due to return until this week.

But when Shard visited for the second time, he heard from the neighbors that Miss Black had indeed returned from the countryside. However, very inconveniently, she had departed with her luggage for the Southeastern Kingdom on Tuesday, heading to Midshire Fort City, known as the “Mountain City.”

Located on the Northern Slope of Sicarl Mountain, built along the mountain, it is the most important entrance to the Rommel Mountains stretching across the central eastern part of the Old Continent and the most important transportation hub in the entire southeastern part of the Draleon Kingdom.

And “Midshire Fort” was originally a military-focused castle on the border between Carsonrick and Draleon Kingdom, which transformed into the city it is now over three centuries.

Not only a transportation hub, the local tourism and mining industries were also very developed. Thanks to the trade between two countries, the abundant local mineral and forest resources, the steam industry flourished remarkably.

In any case, Miss Black went on a trip to Midshire Fort City and would probably not return for half a month.

But this visit by Shard wasn’t a waste of time, as Miss Black’s “disappearance” was actually a result of a squabble with her sister. To keep her sister from worrying, she left a letter for the detective who came looking for her, explaining her whereabouts. In the letter, Miss Black hoped that Shard could inform Miss White of her journey to Midshire Fort City via post, and she even included a one-pound note in the envelope for this purpose.

The sisters seemed to be very wealthy.

“However, according to the detective’s records, Detective Sparrow had not seen their client Miss White either. She had commissioned him via a letter, and at the time Sparrow was curious about Miss White’s identity, guessing that she must be a lady of noble heritage,”

Thinking this over, Shard thanked the old gentleman who was preparing to walk his dog and then raised his head to look at Miss Black’s apartment:

“The sisters’ quarrel has indeed earned me a sum. But why, when they are sisters, does one have the surname Black and the other White? A blended family? Or is there some other reason?”

As he pondered this, he grabbed the door handle at the bottom of the apartment building. He intended to check if the door was locked, but as soon as his hand touched the cold metal handle, he heard a voice:

[Outlander, you have touched the Whisper.]

“What?”

He looked at the door in front of him in amazement, taking a step back as if worried that some monster might suddenly burst through:

“Is there a Relic here? Have I finally come across a Relic?”

Shard had never encountered a Relic on his own accord; it was always due to others.

[No, the Whisper Element is extremely faint, even more so than the derivatives of a Relic, fainter than any Whisper Element you have come across. One could even believe that no one else but you could detect such a slight elemental trace.]

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“Oh, so that means a long time ago, a Relic must have appeared nearby.”

Shard felt much reassured; today was indeed another peaceful day.

He pocketed the letter, planning to write to his client Miss White after he returned home, to inform her of Miss Black’s whereabouts:

“I hope Miss Black returns safely from her journey so I can wrap up this commission. Otherwise, out of the four assignments for the detective, only the search for Mia remains a genuinely normal commission.”

Finally, it was Friday, the day of the “Big City Player Roder Card” tournament that the Outlander had learned about upon his first visit to the Prophet’s Society was about to begin.

The full name of the tournament was supposed to be “The Roder Card Tournament of the 1853 Tobesk Big City Player,” and the player who ultimately claimed victory would be granted the title “King of Roder Card in 1853” after the competition.

This is a title officially recognized by the Prophets Association, the publisher of Roder Card, and acknowledged by card players all over the world. Claiming to be a Big City Player champion of a particular edition while playing against others carries more prestige and honor than boasting about how many opponents one’s deck has defeated.

Even the Outlanders, who often claim to have little desire, are intrigued by this title.

After having breakfast early on Friday morning, Shard first went to Silver Cross Avenue to pick up his commissioned formal attire that had been cleaned. After getting home and packing up, he left the house at nine-thirty to head to the Prophet’s Society.

He had just turned into Silver Cross Avenue when he noticed that the street was exceptionally bustling today.

The carriages parked outside the Prophet’s Society lined half the street, and gentlemen speaking various languages with different accents were arriving with smiles on their faces from all over the New World and the Old Continent. The entrance to the Society was already adorned with fresh flowers and a red carpet, welcoming the arrival of the challengers.

If the recent birthday banquet of Queen Diana had been a feast for nobles, then today was a festival for players from around the world.

The opening ceremony took place on the third-floor conference hall of the Prophet’s Society, and only those who had received an invitation were qualified to attend. The ceremony started at ten in the morning and ended at around eleven, as the card players looked forward to playing rather than listening to lengthy speeches, so the main content was the announcement of the rules for this edition’s “Big City Player.”

Shard, too, entered the Prophet’s Society with a smile along with the others. He had barely entered the main hall on the first floor when Vice-President Mark came hurrying over:

“Oh, Mr. Hamilton, I’m so glad to see you. When they sent you the invitation, they somehow forgot to include this in the envelope!”

Vice-President Mark, looking almost out of breath, greeted Shard and handed him a Roder Card:

“This is for you.”

The Roder Card he handed over was not a Special Rule Card but one that only had a special face.

Suit of Sun three, identical to Shard’s “Genesis: Silver Moon.” The special feature of the card’s face was a silhouette of the Tobesk Branch of the Prophet’s Society located on Silver Cross Avenue. On the card’s face, “Big City Player 1853” was written vertically on the left side, and “0003” was also written vertically on the right.

“What is this?”

Shard was curious, as this was his first special face card, and even though it did not contain any rules, he still liked it very much.

“This is a card from the ‘Big City Player’ series and also a qualification for participation.”

“Qualification?”

“Yes, after paying the one-pound registration fee, you can get this special card for free. You are a specially invited player, so your number is near the beginning. This represents not only the qualification to compete but also a card that you can use on the table.”

Vice-President Mark explained with a smile:

“Mr. Hamilton, I know your ‘Genesis: Silver Moon’ is a Sun three, but you can’t possibly use that card in every game. So, I selected a Sun three especially for you to substitute for it.”

“Will the ‘Big City Player’ series of cards be available for public sale?”

Shard asked another question.

“Of course not, you can only get them after registering.”

“That’s really nice.”

Shard flicked a card and inserted it into his own deck. He could only sigh at how these Diviners had such a keen business sense.

He greatly admired such business acumen. While the one pound registration fee was steep, the unique Special Face Roder Card offset the cost.

The card players who truly wanted to compete would definitely be satisfied with both participating and getting a “free” card, while all the Prophet’s Society had to pay was merely the design and printing costs.

It was a true win-win.

The number of contestants for each ‘Big City Player’ tournament was roughly around one to two thousand. Although that might sound like a lot, it was actually quite few compared to the entire world of Roder Card Players.

It was not just the high registration fee that dampened the enthusiasm of lower-tier players to sign up. Moreover, the entire tournament process lasted two weeks, which wasn’t a major inconvenience for locals, but not all out-of-towners could afford to spend two weeks away from home just to play cards.

Therefore, ‘Big City Player’ not only referred to the scale, but also meant that the tournaments were held in big cities to attract more players. In each tournament, the number of local players could account for at least one-third, which also provided convenience for the hosting city’s association.

Thus filtered, the Roder Card Players were truly those with either the skill or the money. The gathered players would, over the course of two weeks, through preliminary rounds, re-matches, and finals, compete to determine the ultimate winner, who would then receive honors, ‘Big City Player’ Special Rule Cards, and a monetary prize.

The ‘Big City Player Roder Card Tournament’ was supported by the official backing of the Kingdom because each edition could raise the profile of a city, and over the decades, the Prophet’s Society had accustomed people to the idea of this gambling activity as long as both parties were well-dressed, thus it became a very high-class game.

So when Shard and Vice-President Mark arrived together at the usually closed-off third floor of the Society, they found that today’s opening ceremony featured not only Mr. Rick, the Vice President of the Society from the Duchy of Lagerson’s capital, the City of Lain, but also Mr. Johnson Watt, the Mayor from Tobesk City Hall.

He was a kindly looking man with a portly belly, dressed in silk formalwear resembling a businessman more than an official, and even took the time to approach Shard before the opening to make small talk about the weather.

Shard didn’t know much about the Mayor, after all, although the man was the Mayor of Tobesk, this was the capital of the Draleon Kingdom. And coincidentally, the current King of the Kingdom, Fire Jumper Larus III, happened to be someone who cared quite a bit about power. Thus, in a sense, the Mayor of Tobesk had a rather idle position.

“Good morning, Shard!”

Shard’s friend, Baron Lavende, and Baron Rwanda, with whom he did not get along, arrived together. The three greeted each other and gathered amidst the noise, discussing the upcoming tournament.

The bustling crowd filled the hall, and the Roder Card paintings on the walls were collectibles that everyone wanted to get their hands on. Men in formal wear were not there to discuss politics; what everyone cared about were the cards.

In any case, on the first Friday of the Month of Harvest in the Common Era Calendar 1853, card players who were sufficiently prestigious to be invited gathered in the heart of Tobesk City, at Silver Cross Avenue, on the third floor of the Prophet’s Society, to jointly celebrate the official beginning of ‘Big City Player 1853’.