Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 888: Chapter 889: The Lucky Roland

Today’s Tobesk is destined to be bustling, but according to the schedule, Princess Margaret Anjou and her entourage will be hosted by the royal family today, so Shard won’t have a chance to approach the princess today.

Therefore, after leaving Tobesk Train Station, Shard didn’t seek out Miss Galina or track Miss Sylvia but instead left with the group from Dawn Chapel and had lunch with Priest Augustus at the church.

In the afternoon, after lunch, he received his early winter gift as a core believer. Among the seasonal fruits and vegetables, Shard kept the autumn tomatoes, which he shared with Mia on the foggy road. The cat seemed to enjoy this vegetable… or fruit.

Taking advantage of the free time at noon, Shard went to the garbage disposal center located in the west of the city to inquire if the gemstones could be reimbursed. Afterwards, at the entrance of the garbage disposal center, Shard stopped a little girl selling flowers to ask if there was a market nearby selling fresh vegetables:

“Yes, sir, turn right at the end of the street.”

The little girl said timidly, not daring to get too close to Shard, but still curiously looking at the yawning cat carried by Shard.

“Thank you.”

Shard smiled and thanked her. As he was about to leave, he felt someone tugging at his sleeve and realized the girl had followed him:

“Sir, would you like to buy flowers?”

In Tobesk’s Delarion language, with a childish voice, the girl, with some dust on her face and her clothes patched up, mustered up the courage to stop Shard.

“No need to buy flowers; buying flowers just to gift them is a burden for me. But, here, this is for you.”

He carefully placed the heaviest item from the paper bag he was holding at the girl’s feet, smiled at her, and then happily walked towards the end of the street to complete his solo grocery shopping task.

“Meow~”

The cat on his shoulder wagged its tail, complaining about Shard not taking it home for a nap.

The girl watched as the young gentleman carrying the cat and the swaying tail disappeared into the fog at the end of the street, then went to check the paper bag, surprised to find it was full of fresh vegetables. Meanwhile, Shard’s superior, Director Anlos, leaned against the shoe store next to the city’s garbage disposal center, watching the scene with a blank expression.

After some consideration, he felt his pocket, and Director Sir Dark Anros of MI6 decided to go buy a bouquet.

Returning home in the afternoon, Shard placed the purchased vegetables in the snow in the basement (note), advising the lazy cat to guard the house, before setting off once again for Huntington City. He had a feeling that the mysterious lake might be waiting for his visit as well.

Although he saw the mysterious lake by Rutherford Lake last evening, Shard didn’t think the lake would appear at the same location again. Therefore, yesterday he asked Professor Drake for more information on those who encountered the ‘Lake Goddess’, and after searching last night, he decided to visit Mr. John Rowland, who resides in the city.

Starting again from the White Valley Vineyard, only today the weather in Huntington City wasn’t great. As Shard rode into the city, he thought there might be rain or snow today. But when he transferred to a carriage and reached the apartment building of Mr. John Rowland located in the city, although the sky remained overcast, it hadn’t rained yet.

Mr. John Rowland is a local poet, fluent in Delarion language. Although poetry doesn’t earn him much, he also works as a translator in a bookstore. At 36 years old, he is single and lives alone. Information provided by Professor Drake shows that Mr. Rowland encountered the Lake Goddess in the spring of this year while he was taking a walk outside the city to gather inspiration.

Unfortunately, it seemed no one was in the apartment at 7 Shuman Bishop Street, paved with uneven cobblestone bricks, that afternoon. But Shard eventually found the poet, with the help of neighbors’ guidance, at a tavern at the intersection of Shuman Bishop Street and Garden Walkway, playing Roder Card with others.

The poet wasn’t the frail figure Shard had imagined; instead, he was taller than Shard and exceptionally robust.

He sat at a square table against the wall, his right hand tightly clenching his fist against his thigh, with his left hand holding the face-down cards. His sharp eyes cautiously darted between his cards and his opponent’s expressions.

Noteworthy is that he has only three fingers on his right hand, missing the outermost thumb and little finger. Each of the remaining fingers bore a golden ring. As Shard approached, he discovered that the three rings seemed to be made of pure gold and were ancient antiques:

“This wealthy?”

The poet was evidently left-handed, skillfully placing the cards on the table with his left hand, then asked the man with the round hat opposite him:

“Do you want the fourth card?”

His tone was marked by emphasis, a method of exerting psychological pressure on his opponent through language, similar to boasting about winning many games or the legendary history of his deck before playing.

The onlookers raised a clamor, and Shard mingled with them, hearing people refer to Mr. Rowland as “Lucky Rowland.”

In this card game, Mr. Rowland defeated his opponent with 20 points, winning 20 finny. In Carsonrick’s currency, the main currency is the Carsonrick Crown, with finny being a subsidiary currency, where 95 finny equals 1 crown. Considering the current exchange rate of 11 to 12 gold pounds per crown, their stakes were not small.

Of course, there’s another subsidiary currency in Carsonrick called ore. “Ore” is a small coin made of pure silver, usually set at 1 crown equaling 7 ore. The currency system composed of “crown, ore, and finny” is more complicated than Delarion’s, which is related to the chaotic currency system among federal states when the United Kingdom of Carsonrick was formed.

The man wearing a round hat wanted to turn the tables after losing the game but had to give up his seat to others as his pockets were empty.

Shard didn’t speak up to join the game, instead exiting the crowd to approach the tavern’s bartender for information.

Whether in Delarion or Carsonrick, bartenders seem to have a fondness for information trading. When Shard took out a few copper small coins, the bartender polishing a glass understood Shard’s intentions.

Mr. John Rowland is a relatively well-known Roder card player locally, and “Lucky Rowland” refers to his high winning rate, often beating opponents with surprising luck. He even defeated a “King” with 21 points, momentarily making this poet a legendary figure among local Roder card players.

Mr. Rowland has two special cards in his hand and frequently visits the Prophet’s Society. Some have questioned his fair play, but no one has ever provided evidence. Despite his high win rate, Mr. Rowland is not a gambler and only occasionally visits taverns during leisure time. He is always passionate about poetry composition and takes pride in his poet title.

“Has Mr. Rowland always been very lucky, or did he just start having luck recently?”

Holding a mug of barley wine, Shard inquired of the bartender, who leaned on the counter while watching the people playing cards:

“Sir, your Casenric language isn’t great… Since this year, Rowland has been lucky. I’m not jealous but always believe a person’s luck maintains a balance, so it’s likely this year is when luck favors this gentleman.”

Although the specific information about Poet Rowland appeared in Mr. Drake’s data, the latter did not reveal what deal he made with the “Lake Goddess.” Despite being investigated by the disabled-legged professor, no results were found. Now, it seems extremely likely that John Rowland received a Lucky Blessing.

“I’ve noticed he’s missing two fingers—Is this a congenital disease, or due to other reasons?”

Shard asked again, having noticed that all three individuals he encountered who had met the Lake Goddess had physical disabilities.

The middle-aged bartender thought for a moment:

“I also don’t remember exactly when he started having issues with his fingers, but he’s always been left-handed, so it hasn’t affected him much. This appearance is quite intimidating, after all, when people see their Roder Card opponent missing two fingers, they instinctively imagine whether he encountered something at an underground casino.”

He laughed as he spoke, and Shard leaned against the counter, peering through the gaps in the crowd at the card-playing poet:

“Lucky Roland, is it? Yes, I understand.”

Concerned about running into the same bad luck as yesterday evening—finding the lake only to watch it vanish again—Shard didn’t waste much time. He bid farewell to the bartender and squeezed back into the crowd watching the Roder Card game, seeing another person lose their spare change in a round, he quickly took an empty seat.

The men playing Roder Card in the tavern were evidently familiar with each other, so they curiously asked about the new player’s origins when they saw a stranger joining the game:

“I am an outlander traveling from Draleon to Casenli, mind if I join you in playing cards?”

Shard shook his deck at Mr. Roland, who was counting his banknotes:

“We can play for higher stakes. I haven’t encountered a worthy opponent in Casenli yet.”

His boast naturally elicited laughter from the onlookers in the tavern, and Mr. Roland, who originally didn’t want to play against a stranger, was intrigued by the foreigner’s attitude. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Shard:

“Mr. Draleon, please make sure you’ve saved enough for your journey home.”

“Of course, I earn my road fee by playing Roder Card.”

Shard slapped his deck onto the wooden table, pulling it to the left to spread the cards in an arc. This flashy move demonstrated that he wasn’t just bluffing:

“Look, I have no special cards.”

He smiled, noting the poet’s cautious expression, knowing that Shard was a “professional.”

Since Mr. Roland was unwilling to talk about his encounter with the Lake Goddess in detail, Shard had to find a way to make him speak.

Besides, he was quite curious whether the unknown Lucky Blessing given by the Lake Goddess was stronger than the blessing given by the bygone deity, the Black Hunter of Clamor.

[And the luck brought by Impermanence, and the gift from the myriad souls of Midshire Fort.]

The voice beside his ear gently reminded him, and they had begun exchanging shuffles.

Poet Mr. Roland appeared very confident, and this level of confidence was something Shard rarely saw in his opponents.

However, due to his blessings, Shard did not presume he would definitely defeat his opponent, so he approached the game seriously, as he did every game.

Mr. Roland’s deck contained two special cards, while Shard’s did not. After checking and shuffling, the game began in earnest. In small taverns, they usually didn’t play with overly complicated rules. Mr. Roland and Shard played a total of nine rounds; each victory awarded 5 points, and a draw 2 points. At the end of nine rounds, the player with the most points won and received a bet of their total points multiplied by 5 finny. It was a significant bet because if luck was bad and they lost all nine rounds, it would be a loss of about half a crown, equivalent to five to six pounds.

Mr. Roland’s luck seemed genuinely strong. After the first round’s first card, he took one look, then beamed as he flipped the card over:

“Mr. Watson, it seems my luck is still holding today.”

He loudly called for the bartender to bring him another barley wine, placing the “King” card at the center of the table thereafter. Discussions erupted around them, and Shard craned his neck to take a look, marveling at how good luck truly was impressive.

“Mr. Roland, you should join this fall’s Big City Player.”

Shard praised, not checking his hole card but directly asking for a second card. According to Roder Card rules, you must take a second card; Mr. Roland was technically breaking the rules by not taking a second chance on a king.

“Gather some crowns and go to Tobesk in Draleon, and maybe even Rejed’s Hamilton couldn’t beat you.”

Shard said.

“No, no, you can’t say that.”

Mr. Roland acted very modestly:

“I might only just slightly win against him.”

The onlookers burst into laughter, and Shard received his third card, hesitantly asking:

“Then Mr. Roland, why haven’t you gone to Tobesk?”

He looked at his card face, about to turn it over when suddenly feeling something, he blinked and stared at the back of his hole card.

Da~ da da~

At the instant his fingers touched the hole card, he seemed to hear the sound of dice hitting and spinning across the tabletop, just like the Twenty-Sided Die of Destiny suddenly moved on its own. Then, Shard naturally understood that he was certain to win this round.

“What’s happening?”

In the brief moment, he felt he had insight into ‘Fate’.

[Outlander, as you intertwine with your opponent’s luck, you gain insight into ‘Luck’.]

“Luck, is it?”

If the next moment Shard gained the Spirit Rune of “Luck,” he wouldn’t be surprised at all. Since coming to this world six months ago, Shard thought gaining “Luck” at the card table seemed most plausible.

“I recall one of Luviya’s four core Spirit Runes is [Misfortune]… If I do gain the Luck Spirit Rune, what Arcane Technique could it relate to?”

He pondered as he flipped over his hole card, placing it on the table.