The only thing that was somewhat novel to him was that these nobles had incorporated gambling. If the knight (landlord) won, he could collect betting chips from the pirates (peasants); if the pirates (won), the knight (landlord) would pay the betting chips to both pirates (peasants). The amount of the betting chips was calculated by multiplying the number of cards remaining by the corresponding amount of currency. If one side lost without playing a single card, they had to pay three times the amount of betting chips.

Viscount Kennard then found a familiar nobleman, and together with Todd and the other two, they began playing the game of "Knights and Pirates".

In the first few rounds, the two nobles deliberately threw the game, and Todd won quite a few rounds.

Soon, the stakes increased from one silver coin per card to five silver coins per card, and finally to ten silver coins.

Todd lost more and more money, and after he had lost all his cash, the nobles demanded that he bring the grafted roses from the carriage outside as payment.

Knowing that those two bastards were definitely cheating, Todd silently told himself to be patient and restrained while deliberately pretending to be a gambler who was desperate and reckless after losing.

One pot, two pots, three pots... all the way up to the tenth pot used to pay off the debt, these insatiable Silver Ring nobles showed no intention of stopping.

Todd pinched his thigh with his fingers, knowing that now was definitely not the time to act impulsively, and that controlling his emotions was the best choice.

That was his original thought, until he saw something.

As Todd delivered the eleventh bowl, a jubilant Viscount Kennard took a sip of his red wine, frowned, swirled the warm liquid in his hand, and snapped his fingers. Under the priest's astonished gaze, servants led out a thin girl of eleven or twelve years old, chained and collared.

The girl was barefoot, wearing a coarse linen coat, an iron spiked collar around her neck, and a wooden cross hanging on her chest. Her face, arms, and legs were covered with wounds of varying ages.

The viscount handed the bottle of red wine to a servant, who then shoved it into the girl's hand. With a sharp tug on the chain, the barbs on the collar pierced the wearer's skin, and the blood immediately soaked the victim's collar.

The girl cried out in pain, slowly releasing icy air from her hands to cool the liquid in the bottle.

Seeing Todd's shocked expression, Viscount Kennard took a sip of the red wine with ice crystals floating on it, handed to him by a servant, stroked his mustache with a leisurely air, and said to the priest with a mocking tone, "I really don't understand the Church's thinking. Killing all the aliens is such a waste. Even the most rotten wood can find its place in the furnace, can't it?"

A string in Todd's mind... snapped.

Queen Mary counted the number of flowerpots, nodded slightly, and was about to announce the end of the betting when Todd stood up and said to everyone expressionlessly, "Don't you all think this betting is too slow? If you're going to play, why not go for a bigger game?!"

"To hell with patience and restraint!"