The Whispering Verses Chapter 129: A city player
However, Xia De was grabbed by the wrist as soon as he walked into the hall.
The tall, thin middle-aged man wearing black leather shoes stood next to Shade almost face to face. Mr. Cindia Mark, the vice president of the Tobesk branch of the Prophet Association, really shocked Shade. .
"Mr. Hamilton, you are finally here."
Mr. Mark's voice is hoarse today.
"Am I late?"
Xia De asked hesitantly.
Mr. Mark let go of his hand, giving Shade a chance to get his pocket watch, but it was only half past nine in the morning.
"You are not late, I am too early."
"Mr. Mark, what time did you wait for me here?"
Xia De could imagine this middle-aged gentleman walking around in front of the association with his hands behind his back, waiting for him.
"Nine o'clock. Mr. Hamilton, you don't understand how important today is to me."
As he said that, he led Shade towards the stairs leading to the second floor. A group of people standing at the stairs spontaneously made way for Mr. Mark and looked at Shade curiously.
"Is it important to you?"
Xia De thought he heard wrongly.
"If your Rhodes card is successfully identified, then the Tobesk branch will be the first branch in the past 30 years to identify the original series of Rhodes cards. We will completely overwhelm everyone, including Mr. Lane. All associations, including the Association, will become this year’s... In short, this is also a very important thing for us. ”
It can be seen that the Prophet Association has really worked hard to prepare. Today, the entire third floor of the association is closed to the public. Compared with the last time Shade came up, the carpet has been replaced with a brand new one, and the oil paintings hanging on the wall have been replaced with new ones that look like antiques at first sight. The gas lamps hanging on the walls were carefully wiped, and even the door numbers of each room were replaced with a new style.
Xia De calculated the cost of such decoration, and found that it might actually be more than what he received yesterday.
The association opened the main conference room on the third floor, which is only used by important agendas, as today's appraisal venue. The room had been cleaned and renovated, and the interior was divided into two parts. One part was the working area of the gray-haired Rhodes card appraisers who had arrived early. Each of these old gentlemen seemed to have graduated from Tobesk City University. An old professor who came out of the district.
The other part let Shade rest and talk to the Prophet Association about some things.
The president of the Tobesk branch is still away today, and Vice President Mark will receive Shade. He introduced to Shade Mr. Lister Rimmer, who came specially from the headquarters of Lane City, the capital of the Principality of Lagson, located in the center of the United Kingdom of Kasenlik.
Mr. Rimo is a middle-aged man with no hair and a somewhat big head, but is taller than Shade. He is also the vice-president, but he is the vice-president of the entire Prophet Association.
Everyone sat down, and Shade took out his notebook and showed the [Creation Silver Moon] in it.
Mr. Rimo and the gray-haired appraisers all showed expressions of wonder:
"It's really amazing. Even after just one glance, I feel like I've seen a miracle."
Mr. Rimmer said very exaggerated words, and then called the secretary of the association to record the rest of the conversation. This is a very formal occasion and the conversation needs to be recorded for archiving reports.
For this purpose, the Tobesk branch prepared three secretaries, two men and one woman. Shade felt that the older lady with short brown hair wearing an association uniform and an Ouroboros pendant looked familiar, and then he saw that it was Miss Anat, the three-ringed sorceress of the group.
"Putting this uniform on, your temperament changes so much."
He sighed in his heart.
The lady with beautiful purple eyes looked up and was very shocked when she saw Shade. She was even shocked. Her reaction was not like seeing an acquaintance, but like seeing an evil **** appearing in front of her.
She sat in a chair behind the sofa where Mr. Rimmer was sitting, preparing to record. So I could only control my expression and nod to Shade as a greeting, but I thought there were many things I wanted to ask.
"Speaking of which, Dr. Schneider, Miss Louisa and Priest August all knew that I had this card, but they didn't tell Miss Anat... However, the look in her eyes just now was What do you mean, is it too exaggerated? ”
Thinking in his mind, he put on the white gloves prepared by the association, took out [Founder Silver Moon] from the notebook, and handed it to the old gentleman sitting on his left. The old appraiser looked like he was about to faint from excitement.
The appraisal site is right next to it, ensuring that the cards will not leave Shade's sight throughout the process. While the appraisers were working, Mr. Rimmer and Mr. Mark talked with Shad.
Of course, the association is not qualified to interfere with the ownership of card owners, but the founding series of cards has important significance to the association:
"Mr. Hamilton, I want to confirm again, do you really want the association to help find a buyer and sell this card?"
Mr. Mark, the vice president of the Tobesk branch, asked, and this time Shade gave the opposite answer:
"Sorry, I don't want to sell at the moment."
This is not only because he is not in a hurry to spend money now, but also because through this card, he has established a relationship with the high-level warlock Carina Cavendish, which will not only help the detective career, but also the high-level warlock. There are also great benefits to your studies.
"You really think so, no one can refuse the Rhodes card. There is a wonderful saying that every Rhodes card will choose its owner, Mr. Hamilton, it is destined to belong to you."
This is probably some kind of superstition surrounding gambling, a method concocted by the Prophet Association to promote the sales of Rhodes cards.
The bald Mr. Rimmer’s Delarian is not very good and he has a very strange accent:
"Mr. Hamilton, I'm sorry, may I ask, what are your future plans for this card? Is it just a personal collection? Or maybe it will appear in the Rhodes Competition."
"I would probably use it, but I wouldn't gamble."
Xia De emphasized, seeing the two vice presidents looking at each other, he added:
"I know the value of this card...but I recently met a nice person, just yesterday, Miss Carina Cavendish, who invited me to bring this card to Sunday The night's Rhodes game, with...what's the name of that Duke?"
"Duke Lucas?"
Mr. Mark asked tentatively. When Shade nodded, the gentleman showed a pleasant smile:
"We have always advocated that Rhodes cards should appear in the game and not be hidden. Mr. Hamilton, I am glad that you can make such a choice. It just so happens that the Rhodes cards game on the weekend, the Prophet Association There will be a notarization."
"Isn't this a private game?"
Xia De asked hesitantly, and Mr. Rimmer, who had a strange accent, explained:
"I also know about the weekend game. This is probably the most important Rhodes game in the Tobesk region this month. Duke Lucas openly invites the Rhodes fans he knows to watch the game, although it is only A match between two people, but the Prophet Association will also notarize it in the strictest way.
Instead of saying that the weekend is a game, it is better to say that it is a salon for nobles and Rhodes enthusiasts. However, I didn’t expect that the other party facing Old Duke Lucas was actually Miss Carina. ”
"Do you also know Miss Carina?"
Xia De asked curiously. He still didn't know what this lady looked like.
"Although Miss Carina rarely participates in social activities, this lady is quite famous. After all, she is an unmarried duchess..."
He winked at Shade:
"There is never a lack of discussion about her in social situations. You are really lucky to be favored by Miss Carina, Mr. Hamilton."
When it comes to luck, Shade was shocked and realized one thing:
"Speaking of which, I was also invited to participate in a Rhodes game on Sunday night last week, and then... this Sunday night, it was this kind of event again."
He planned to ask about the whereabouts of the other people in the same group on Saturday.
After going around in such a circle, Mr. Rimmer finally mentioned the topic he wanted to ask:
"Since you don't care about using this Founding Series card to participate in the Rhodes game, are you willing to participate in the 'Big City Players' Rhodes Competition held in Tobesk this fall?"
This is the reason why Mr. Rimo traveled all the way from the south to Tobesk. With the "Original Series" Rhodes cards appearing in the competition as a gimmick, this year's "big city players" will definitely be able to attract more of participants.
"Sorry, I don't gamble."
Xia De immediately shook his head.
Vice President Mark immediately explained:
"But this is not gambling. The association has never organized gambling activities. This is just a Rhodes competition. It is not a bet between the two parties. It is about paying a small registration fee and receiving prizes provided by the association according to the ranking. The association You can gain connections and promote Rhodes through competitions like this, where you can meet all the Rhodes masters from the New World and the Old World.”
"If so..."
That's no problem, but Shade is waiting for the other party to make an offer. Sure enough, the gentlemen here understood it all. Mr. Mark immediately said with a smile:
"We can even contribute a sum of money as the invitation fee..."
He stretched out his hand and twirled his fingers, but was immediately "reprimanded" by Mr. Rimmer, the vice president of the Prophet Association:
"There is no such rule. This is not okay. Spending money to invite Rhodes players will destroy the fairness of the competition."
The bald Mr. Rimmer’s tone was serious, but before Vice President Mark could apologize, he said to Shade:
"If you participate, I think the association can provide an additional fee to pay for your lost work, transportation, food, accommodation, and clothing expenses for participating in the competition. Of course, this is not to spend money to invite you to participate. , just to make up for your losses in participating in the competition, this money can withstand scrutiny."
This is probably the reason why Mr. Rimmer is the vice president of the Prophet Association, and Mr. Mark is only the vice president of the Tobesk branch.
"In this case."
Shad, Mr. Mark and Mr. Rimmer leaned back on the sofa together, and the three men all had smiles on their faces:
"That's totally fine."
Miss Anat smiled and shook her head as she recorded.
The southerner bent down and wrote a number on the letter paper on the coffee table and handed it over:
"This is the reward, Mr. Hamilton, you will probably be satisfied."
Xia De squinted his eyes and looked at the numbers:
"Let me confirm, is the unit in gold pounds or kasen rik krona?"