Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 474: The Dice-Shaking Maid

"Is anyone willing to be the dealer?"

As both parties took their seats, the onlookers gradually lowered their voices, and then Mrs. Sangmi called out.

Following that, an elderly gentleman in the back of the crowd raised his hand:

"Perhaps I should do it!"

He squeezed through to the front of the crowd to introduce himself, a regular at the Three Cats Inn and the owner of a nearby antiques shop.

"So, what rules shall we play? Basic three rounds, two wins? Draw until the deck is depleted, compare points? Or do you have another game in mind?"

Shard asked, left hand holding the deck, right hand pulling up, causing the 54 cards to oscillate between his hands, then he fluidly shuffled them there, sparking a highly enthusiastic discussion among the people.

Due to the Arcane Technique power of the "Treasured Item," he could now easily perform the card shuffling techniques seen only in films from his hometown. This made him look more professional and caused Miss Maid behind him to raise her eyebrow, probably wondering if Shard was a compulsive gambler.

"Since it's a game against a new opponent, why don't we try some fresh rules?"

Mrs. Sangmi was also shuffling cards, equally skilled. Next, she pulled a die from her pocket and threw it on the table—an intriguing six-sided metal dice looked toward her opponent across the table:

"Detective, since you also brought a companion, how about this—we each choose a representative who will throw the dice once before each round. The sum of both numbers divided by two, rounded down if odd, will be our draw count for that round. Three rounds, two wins is too boring; let the number of rounds be decided by the two throwing the dice. If either side throws a six during this process, that round will be definitive. The side with more wins after the definitive round will be victorious. How about that?"

Although it sounded a bit complex, it was just adding a step to decide the number of cards to be drawn by throwing dice. Moreover, as the number was determined jointly by both dice, it was quite fair.

This was Shard's first encounter with such a method of play, and he was quite willing to try it:

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"Then I will have my assistant, Miss Tifa Servet help me throw the dice."

Although traditional superstition claims that letting women deal cards brings misfortune, there were no such sayings about throwing dice.

"Very well, James, you help me throw the dice."

The female innkeeper called over the young helper who had come from the kitchen to watch the excitement, a lanky young man about sixteen or seventeen years old. Although he wore the attire of an inn's servant, he was a very handsome young man by any standard of aesthetics.

"Mr. Hamilton, what number do you need me to throw?"

Before the match started, Miss Servet, who was standing behind Shard, bent slightly and whispered in his ear.

Shard turned in surprise, his gaze meeting those vivid eyes close by:

"You mean you can... no, no, anything is fine."

He was very confident in his card-playing luck and since it involved special cards, he was also unwilling to cheat and take advantage of others.

So the match officially began, not with a direct toss, but with a brown wooden dice cup brought by Mrs. Sangmi. First was the young man known as "James," who shook the dice cup a few times before setting it down, revealing the number three.

Next was Miss Servet. Leaning down, she lifted the dice cup with her pale hand, glanced at Shard, and winked at him. Gently shaking the container, she allowed the dice to strike the inner walls producing a sound, then set it down with an expectant expression, uncovering the dice.

The number one.

She looked at Shard again, winked at him, indicating that this was the number she had intentionally shaken.

Thus, the number of cards to be drawn for the first round was two. The match had just begun, and neither side had drawn a special card. Mrs. Sangmi had 1+9=10 points, while Shard held the Sun 5, Flower 10, winning the first round.

"Detective, it seems you were quite lucky today. But people always think that the party who wins first in a gambling game often struggles to secure the final victory,"

the onlookers murmured softly, Mrs. Sangmi spoke with a superstitious saying she must have heard somewhere, discarding her two cards aside, gesturing for James to continue shaking the dice cup.

In the second round, the first die showed a 5, and Tifa, smiling with her lips pursed, blinked again at Shard before rolling a 2.

The spectators marveled at the beautiful girl's luck as she maintained her pursed-lip smile, and Shard also looked at her, surprised that Miss Maid could still play a role in rolling dice in a gambling game following him.

Thus, in the second round, both drew three cards.

Mrs. Sangmi carefully took the cards passed from the antique shop owner, revealing a smile as she flipped them one by one.

Stars 7, Moon 5, Sun 4. Although it was 16 points, with Shard also drawing only three cards, this already had a high chance of winning.

It was uncertain whether Tifa's dice "luck" had exhausted Shard's card luck, for despite removing the Genesis Series from the deck, there were still six Special Cards in the deck, yet Shard didn't draw any.

This round ended in a tie, with Shard's three cards all being of the Flower Suit. Flower 13, Flower 2, and Flower 1, also totaling 16 points.

The gathered crowd sighed together, complicating the situation but also making the card game more entertaining to watch.

"It's still me leading by one round,"

Shard said with a smile to Mrs. Sangmi, his right hand index and middle fingers pinching the cards, flicking the three cards aside lightly.

"No worries, it's just one round,"

she was still confident, while the onlookers discussed how last week, Mrs. Sangmi had won a card game even when she was trailing by two.

But just as the third round started, James, helping Mrs. Sangmi shake the dice cup, surprisingly rolled a six.

Not only the onlookers but even Shard was quite surprised.

Inside the kitchen, a young helper with an unpleasant look on his face glanced at his boss, but Mrs. Sangmi's expression remained unchanged:

"It's okay. If I win this round, then it will be a tie. We can add an extra round to decide the winner,"

"But it could also be me winning or another tie,"

Shard said, signaling Tifa to shake the dice cup.

The smile on the black-haired girl's face grew more evident as she gently swayed the dice cup, looking at Shard as she set it down.

Shard suddenly guessed what number she would roll.

"Oh, it's also a six!"

The crowd stirred up again, meaning both had to draw six cards. Under the rules of 21, the chance of not busting with six cards was probably lower than the chance of both throwing a six.

If both parties did bust, resulting in a tie, then Shard would win outright.

At this, Mrs. Sangmi's expression finally turned unpleasant.