Trashes of the Counts' Families || Trash of the Count's Family || OC

53

She did not mind that they would not play easy because, at least for tonight, she was surrounded by people who did not know who she was.

Gromm, from next to her, signalled to the barkeep. "Oi, Barrold, bring us another round, on our new friend here!"

Barrold sighed and came with the tankards. She was content with taking a sip of her wine.

She was not the only woman at the table, however, because on her other side was a beautiful woman with skin paler than hers and hair an ashy blonde.

And this woman, Cecilia, leaned in closer to her and smiled a wide smile with her sharp canines on show. "Have you ever played this game before?"

Adara caught her breath in her throat. "Not at all. First time, looked fun."

Cecilia smiled even more at her response. "We're playing a friendly easy game now, it's almost finished. Should I explain the various cards before you start playing?"

Adara nodded.

For the rest of the game, Cecilia was leaning close to Adara, whispering various cards she had in her hand and their function. "These are the currency, pretty simple cards, you have bronze, silver, and gold. You use the money to buy the resources. The resources are needed to conquer the territories. Every territory has different resources needed. Since we're playing a simple game, we only have 17 territories, but usually there are 29. Have I lost you, yet?"

Adara grinned at her. "Not at all. Do go on."

Cecilia pointed to another card in her hand. "These are all action cards, you can only play three action cards in total in a round. You have the passive action cards, ones that help you get more resources or let you play more action cards, and the aggressive action cards, like the robber and thief. The aggressive action cards either steal resources from other characters or skip over their turn. The assassin, for one, is known for injuring the weak in the dead of night, in this game the 'injured's turn is simply skipped. The thief, to name another one, is known for stealing dragons."

"What's the difference between the robber and the thief?" Adara asked, knowing they were similar.

"Well," Cecilia responded, leaning in closer, making the hairs on the back of Adara's neck stand up, "the thief can only steal one resource, though it is usually a very important one, while the robber can steal a maximum of three. But, of course, if the person they are stealing from only has two action cards in hand, they will take only those two. But if it's a less friendly game, then the robber can choose one of the other cards to steal, like the money."

Adara nodded, absorbing the information. "There has got to be a way to protect yourself from the robber or the thief, right?"

Cecilia had a small smile on her pretty lips. "You're pretty smart. There is. Both the guardian and the mage can protect you. But the mage also flips the aggressive attack, letting you steal one or three of their resources. You can buy both aggressive cards and passive cards with the money you have, you can also buy more money with the money you start out with."

Adara nodded again, resolving to watch the other players play.

She soon saw something interesting. She saw that some of the players had some sort of alliance. "Do they have an alliance?" she asked Cecilia. "They're sharing resources, not trading."

Cecilia looked at the player she was talking about. "Yes, they do have an alliance. Trading requires both sides to agree and to give each other the resources the other wants. But as you said, they are sharing."

Adara looked up at Cecilia, her eyes flickering from her eyes to Cecilia's lips. "But I thought only one player could come out as the winner? What use would there be for an alliance?"