"Special Rule Card?"
Shard looked at the man across the table in surprise:
"Of course I'm interested."
But he didn't think that a person he met at an inn in the dockside slums could just pull out a special card.
The man lowered his voice, speaking with an intonation, with a tendency to press down the last syllable. He touched his own scalp:
"I heard your conversation with the owner here just now and saw that you could patiently look at a notebook for half an hour. I bet you're certainly a Roder Card player, and quite a seasoned one at that. Such an aura is unmistakable. Would you be interested in betting on a game with me, using a special card as the wager?"
"Sorry, I don't have a special card."
Shard shook his head, not wanting to complicate matters while on an investigation.
"No matter, then let's bet something else. If you win, you can buy my card for the low price of 20 pounds. If I win, you give me 20 pounds directly."