Chapter 70 Chapter 70 So this one in my hand is asking me to...
"It's different from the other three cards," Elio added, holding it up. "They crumbled when touched, but it was sitting in my pocket until I found it."
There was definitely something different about it from the other cards. Although Elio didn't know what kind of magical item it was, he could roughly guess it. But when Constantine studied the card for a moment, then seemed to purposefully turn the pages back a few times, looking up at the camera, then back at the page, finally giving him a look as if he was about to say something but hesitated, Elio suddenly had a subtle premonition.
"It's okay, go ahead," Elio said, "I'm mentally prepared."
"This is, uh, a set of ancient magic cards from thousands of years ago," Constantine touched his nose. "The one chosen by it—let's put it this way, now you have to do what the card demands, and then you can break it. It's not difficult. I think it's more of a prank than a curse, but..."
But this wasn't just some mild prank. Constantine reached for his phone and pointed the camera at the cards on the page. Elio identified them one by one from memory; this set of cards made four demands, the simplest of which required the owner to spend money... uh...
Constantine frowned for a moment as he deciphered the Arabic words, which looked like noodles, searching his vocabulary for the closest English translation. It looked like something like "luxury," but the whole point was that it required money. Elio, upon learning this, suddenly realized, "Oh, I bought a bunch of trinkets on that street."
But there are also more difficult requirements, such as cards that require the owner to fight a battle, defeat a beast or an army.
"Seriously?" Elio frowned. "I'm pretty sure I haven't been this active all day."
"...or some similarly justifiable act of seeking death." Constantine flipped through the records. "It mentions a player who climbed a snowy mountain alone and nearly died there, but was still counted as a qualified player by the card when he finally reached the summit."
Elio was lost in thought. After learning of Elio's leap from hundreds of meters in the midst of a sandstorm, Constantine looked at him with a look of astonishment for a long moment. He even tried to tell Elio that he had seen many instances of the dead communicating with the living, and that Elio didn't need to pretend to be alive in front of him. Naturally, masters of the dark arts were probably among the least discriminatory towards the dead. And naturally, Constantine received a silent roll of his eyes from Elio.
There's also a more clear and intuitive card... a card of a person holding a knife.
"Anyway, we are now very sure that this thing is definitely not asking its owner to commit suicide," Constantine said.
Elio nodded silently. They didn't discuss how Elio had completed the card.
Furthermore, the cards also have a certain level of requirements for the executed. This strange requirement makes the whole thing seem even more like a ridiculous game. Seriously, what kind of lunatic would classify people into gold, silver, bronze, and stone levels? At least, Elio doesn't like this.
After completing the card requirements, they will disappear on their own. After completing the requirements of a full set of cards, the game is over. Maybe.
Elio repeated, "Maybe?"
"I didn't say that," Constantine tapped the page. "It's written right here. But judging by the age of this book, this game probably never ended."
"We have to find a way to end this game," Elio said.
Constantine raised his eyes from the book and looked at him for a long time with raised eyebrows. Until Elio also raised his eyebrows and asked him what was wrong with his eyes.
"I can find only one way to destroy it completely," Constantine said, "and that is to burn it with dragon's breath."
Elio's eyebrow, which had just been raised, jumped in shock. What, there really are dragons?
"But as far as I know, the last dragon in this world died thousands of years ago."
Elio's eyebrows flew up in even greater shock.
"So I don't have much else to offer." Constantine spread his hands. "Unless you can find some extremely strong and fierce flame to replace the dragon's breath, I can only suggest that you try to follow the card's instructions first."
"Either find a dragon, or do what it asks?" Elio looked down at the cards in his hand. "That's fair enough."
But at this moment, Elio suddenly realized that this set of cards should have four types. Constantine had only mentioned three types just now.
"Wait," he pressed, "So what does this piece of paper in my hand ask me to do?"
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"It's recorded that players of this game can temporarily hand over cards to others to resolve." Constantine led Elio down the wooden steps. "So just give this card to me. I just need a harmless card to study."
"Or you could just tell me what this card is for," Elio complained. "Either way, I think I deserve at least this little bit of information."
Constantine stopped, leaned against the armrest, and turned around. He didn't answer immediately, but looked at Elio mysteriously, the corner of his mouth raised, revealing a subtle smile.
Elio paused, too. The assassin had one hand in his pocket, the card with the heart tucked away between his fingers, almost ready to hand it to Constantine. But he persisted in staring at Constantine, trying to make his point, even though Elio knew it was probably unconvincing.
He had just flown from Saudi Arabia to London Heathrow, took an hour-long Piccadilly Line subway ride to King's Cross Station, and then transferred to the North Eastern Line train of London Railway, which rattled for three hours before arriving in Northumberland. It was not over yet. Even an assassin had to prepare himself mentally before boarding the black hearse that came to pick him up. If Constantine's messy blond head had not popped out of the window, Elio would never have boarded.
So yes, he traveled all this way just to give this card to Constantine to solve.
But he still wanted to know what the card was and what was behind Constantine's strange smile.
"In that book," Constantine said, looking at him, "there's a word written under this card. 'Al-Ra'ba'"—he pronounced the word with a syllable similar to that, with a trill and guttural sound typical of Arabic regions—"in English, it means 'longing' or 'desire.'
Elio closed his mouth silently. His expression suddenly became obedient, especially when he took out the card and his fingers accidentally touched the heart between the embracing figures.
"Leave it to you, John," he said calmly.
Then, without further questions, as Constantine took the card from him, Elio turned away impatiently, fleeing from the magical manor in Northumberland at a breakneck speed, even though on the way here, Elio had been muttering about how sleepy he was after the long journey and the three-hour time difference.
Constantine, who had been planning to let him sleep for the night, laughed loudly behind him. Elio pretended not to hear.
This was not news to Elio. Yes, "this," although Constantine's wording left room for interpretation, but Elio immediately realized that the card was asking for sex.
Perhaps for other players, this card is the easiest and most relaxing one. But for Elio, sex is the most difficult requirement. He can break three different cards in a day—as he just did—but sex is the only one he can't break.
Elio would never understand those who indulged in such activities for pleasure and relief. To him, it was a serious matter... well, pleasure, of course, but it was still serious.
Elio was relieved to be rid of the card. His freedom had been squeezed to the bone by fate, and he didn't want to be "demanded" of even this. Fortunately, after all the hardship it had dealt him, fate was still generous to Elio.
At least, when it comes to spending, Elio, who has started exchanging gold coins from the bounty list, will no longer let himself suffer.
After checking into the Continental Hotel in London, Elio immediately allowed himself to collapse into bed and sleep soundly all day. He barely woke up until nightfall the next day, yawning as he climbed out of bed and ordered room service.
Besides delivering the card to Constantine, Elio had another reason for traveling all the way to England. In Farhad's memories, he'd discovered another clue about the Templars, giving him strong reason to suspect they were hiding in London. Well, not quite hiding, since he was a high-ranking colonel, after all.
The one hiding in the crowd should be the assassin.
The weather in London was excellent, at least from an assassin's perspective. The overcast, rainy weather and the dim light made it a perfect place for an assassin to wander around. Elio changed out of his white jacket and bought a black, hooded jacket on the street, which he wore over his work vest.
The weather was getting hot, and he couldn't wear his old shirt, trousers, and trench coat anymore, even though it was really cool. For his trip to the Middle East, Elio had changed into something lightweight and packable, where white was just as inconspicuous as black at night (no wonder assassins wore white back in the day); but in London, white wasn't very effective. So now he was back in black, and as he walked past the glass windows on the street, Elio thought to himself that it still looked cool.
Elio, who felt pretty good about himself, didn't notice that another card had quietly appeared in his pocket. It was exactly the same as the one he gave to Constantine, or rather, it was the same card he gave to Constantine.
The card does not recognize "games" played by anyone other than the players.
Elio didn't know this yet. He trudged briskly through the puddles and into a small, open restaurant, where he ordered fish and chips for a late-night snack. When he casually glanced up and saw the financial channel broadcasting an interview with little Mitchell, Elio didn't immediately connect Leopold's request with the card's request—no one in their right mind would make that connection.
So Elio just did what any normal person would do when they unexpectedly discover that a friend they haven't seen in a long time is in the same city as them.
"Are you in London, Leo?" Elio casually wrote. "I was just passing by and brought you something. Are you free?"
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The author has something to say: Oreo: Great, this indulgence card is not my responsibility (Card: Fly back)
And although I haven’t mentioned it, Oreo has never been in a relationship because he was always either working part-time to make money or studying hard and doing extracurricular activities to prepare his resume. And then you all know what happened (…)
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