Capítulo 1344: Chapter 1344: New Deck and the Sin of Pride

After leaving the Wilder Opera House, Shard braved the snow with a suitcase and arrived at the local Prophet’s Society. Although the heavy snow was flying, it still couldn’t dampen people’s passion for Roder Cards.

The square in front of the Prophet’s Society was filled with countless carriages, and the staircases flanking the fountain statue were bustling with people. Shard was curious about what day it was, and it wasn’t until he met Luvia that he learned that today, the entire Old Continent was simultaneously launching a new Roder Card deck series called “Phantom Opera House Series.”

The so-called “Phantom Opera House” is not a real opera house; it is a fictitious name used to refer to opera houses in general. This card set is not a reprint of previous cards but a brand new series. The issued deck includes more than a thousand cards with unique designs and a total of 52 Special Rule Cards corresponding to each number suit except for the Kings and Queens.

Among Roder Card players, there is a superstition that if you buy cards on the first day of a deck’s release, you have a higher chance of encountering a Special Rule Card. Therefore, despite the heavy snow, so many people still came to the Prophet’s Society to participate in the event. The local society held regional competitions, with the top three winners receiving ten, five, and three boxes of new cards for free.

“I’m surprised you’re not tempted by this.”

The Prophet’s Society in Randall Valley City covers a larger area with more rooms, so Luvia found an empty room for her conversation with Shard. She doesn’t work as a Diviner here, so Shard couldn’t seek divination from her.

“When have you ever seen me actively purchase issued cards?”

Shard said with a smile:

“I win all my cards.”

“I can’t imagine how determined you were not to gamble when I first met you… You don’t need to explain; I know you still don’t gamble. You’re just interested in the Roder Cards themselves.”

Luvia knew Shard well:

“Coming to see me so early must mean you’ve made an important discovery, right? Yesterday, in the Night Shrine with that lady, besides acquiring the Sand of Time tainted by Darkness, did you also find new clues?”

“There are indeed new clues, but very few. The main point is that the seventeen-year-old girl in Tobesk obtained new information from her workplace.”

Shard handed over the notebook, trying to avoid directly mentioning key information in a place like the Prophet’s Society.

Luvia frowned and glanced at it:

“Heart of Stone… except for the third line being a bit obscure, everything else matches your hypothesis completely.”

“Yes, but it only corroborates my speculation. I need to quickly contact the Guardian again to confirm my thoughts. But if this goes smoothly, we could meet someone stronger than Sister Delphine as The Chosen One.”

Luvia nodded:

“So what are you going to do today? Visit Earl Granger to get that antique key?”

“The Earl won’t be back from outside the city until tomorrow. Today, I’m going to visit the haunted Worsent Manor.”

“Haila Osenfort’s family… Be careful.”

Luvia said softly. Seeing Shard stand up and pack his suitcase to leave, she called out to him again:

“Since you’re here at the Prophet’s Society, let me give you a little gift. Wait a moment, I’ll go buy a newly released card for you to keep as a brand new backup deck. Plus, I can get it at a very cheap price using my insider identity.”

Seeing her willingness, Shard didn’t object. After Luvia left the room, she quickly returned, handing Shard a very ordinary flat wooden box.

The decks potentially containing special cards sold at the Prophet’s Society came in this kind of packaging. Card decks guaranteed not to contain special cards were available everywhere, packaged in cardboard. To prevent people from using strong light to determine whether a deck from the Prophet’s Society contained special cards, the exterior packaging of Roder Cards was made of wood.

Of course, compared to the lacquered wooden card box Shard received when he exchanged the “Sage’s Glowstone” for “Genesis: Knowledge” with the society, this kind of wooden box seems much simpler.

This is Shard’s first time opening a brand new Roder Card deck. Although he had claimed earlier that he wasn’t interested, when he held it, a smile appeared on his face, which naturally pleased Luvia.

Due to packaging costs, there were no mechanisms for opening the wooden box; the box itself comprised two parts, sealed with wax where they joined. Shard used a small knife to scrape off the wax, opened the box, and took out fifty-four brand new Roder Cards.

The smell of ink wafted over him, and the aroma of new cards was truly intoxicating.

He happily weighed the card deck, then placed it on the table, spreading it out in an arc so any special patterns on the fifty-four cards could be visible at a glance:

“Oh, look, Luvia, your luck really is good!”

Since it’s a brand-new deck, the cards are arranged in order by suit and number. Shard immediately spotted the exquisite pattern on the second-to-last card of the Moon Suit, which is the Moon 12. After picking the card out, he saw a line of small text printed at the bottom of the card, clearly indicating that this is indeed a Special Rule Card:

“Luviya, you really are my lucky lady!”

The violet-eyed girl was also slightly surprised, not expecting her luck to be this good today.

The card’s image is divided into two parts, the upper left and the lower right. The upper left side of the card shows a bright-lit stage where faceless dancers are dancing; the lower right side is a pitch-black neatly arranged audience seat, with a blurry figure outlined by a paintbrush sitting alone in the center of the second row of the audience, right in the center of the entire card.

“[Phantom Opera House: Silent Audience], Suit: Moon 12. If the card drawn before this one is also of the Moon Suit, all players except the player who drew this card must skip the round.”

He read the rules of this card with a smile:

“This rule is really great, especially in multiplayer games, the effect will be even greater. I really look forward to it… I mean, I’ve got another special card now, making it 23 in total.”

“You’re still 31 cards away from completing the entire Special Card deck.”

Luviya concluded, as Shard stood up and gently kissed Luviya’s forehead:

“Thank you so much, Luviya.”

“I wish you’d kiss me for another reason… But it’s alright, as long as you’re happy.”

Luviya didn’t mind Shard’s love for playing Roder cards too much, considering that besides Roder cards and Mia, Shard’s personal life was bland to the point of extremity. She and Dorothy actually shared the same concern, that Shard’s low-materialistic life felt like he was gradually distancing himself from them. So they must seize the time to corrupt him before he truly wishes to become a “Saint”.

“Speaking of which, I went to see those two ladies this morning, why did they say you were injured?”

Seeing Shard preparing to leave, Luviya asked again. Shard blinked and immediately shook his head:

“It’s nothing now, there was indeed some accident, but it was just a minor one, not even triggering the [False Immortality] state. It’s really nothing.”

The violet-eyed girl looked at him:

“I always feel a bit off when you say that. But if you don’t want to tell me, I won’t press you, just take care of yourself. And who hurt you? The ladies were quite vague about it.”

“It’s… the person I hurt. Although I got hurt, it was expected.”

Luviya’s gaze at him grew even stranger:

“Your physical injuries are healed, I hope your spirit isn’t affected? Alright, alright, I know you’re okay, you don’t need to prove it to me.”

She gently kissed Shard’s cheek:

“Be careful, don’t underestimate any opponent or enemy. The path we walk is destined to be extraordinary, but never arrogantly assume we are the ones chosen by Fate… Arrogance is an Original Sin.”

But Shard always felt that this statement applied more aptly to Long-Haired Luvia than to him. The methods of Long-Haired Luvia were very different from Short-haired Luviya.

After saying goodbye to Luviya, Shard ventured into the snowstorm and headed to his true target for the day, the estate of Haila Osenfort’s family, brutally annihilated.

Worsent Manor is also located outside the city. Although the Worsent Family was once a very successful merchant family, they were far inferior to the local old nobles. The manor is located in the northern suburbs, but fortunately not far from the city.

Because it was unknown whether strange events might occur near the manor, Shard didn’t ride there but took a carriage to the outskirts, then walked to his destination.

The Worsent Manor has been abandoned for three years due to ghostly rumors, and even the surrounding forest is avoided by people. Three years are enough for weeds to flood the original paths and erase traces of human activity nearby.

Using the map’s guidance, Shard searched for the manor’s location at the end of a country lane, barely discerning traces of a former fork in the snow beneath. Following the traces deeper into the Cedar Forest, he could faintly see the manor standing not far away between gaps in the trees.

The closer he got to the manor, the more gloomy the sky became. Although it’s winter and the tree branches have no leaves, their intertwining claw-shaped branches made the forest appear eerie and unsettling.

The snow fell more heavily as Shard pressed down on his hat, advancing against the wind, squinting as he watched the manor rise above the forest. Even in snowy weather, three crows circled above the manor, shrouded in gloomy black clouds, twisted and deformed dry branches interwove, as if part of a horror story where an unfortunate protagonist braves the storm to seek refuge in a haunted house.

The manor was in sight, but in the snow-covered Cedar Forest ahead, there sat three figures. Approaching closer, he saw that they weren’t three living people, but three skeletal frames dressed in ragged clothing.