Baron Fulk, along with his attendants, headed in the direction they had been informed about.

Before arriving, he could see a serpentine queue of people, and even more new arrivals were joining in, making the road increasingly congested.

He instructed his attendant to hold the horse and wait aside, then pushed through the crowd with effort towards the middle.

Some were pushing their way in, while others, waving bundles, were pushing their way out.

A male sailor with thinning hair and a face roughened by sea winds, tore open the parcel in his hand, glanced at it briefly, and began cursing.

"Damn it, just ten ordinary cards again!"

The sailor's face was filled with indignation: "This is already the third pack of cards I've bought, and yet not a single Legendary Card!"

At this moment, a man dressed as a stonemason raised a card in his hand and jubilantly shouted, "I got it, I got a Legendary Card of Count Losa. Haha, tonight, I'll be invincible at the 'Trees and Fists' tavern and make a bloody fortune!"

The joys and sorrows of people do not connect with each other.

The sailor, holding a stack of cards, gritted his teeth in anger, wishing he could smash his head with a hammer.

Just then.

A merchant shouted loudly: "Hey, buddy, I'll pay ten solid Florin Gold Coins for the Legendary Card in your hand. How about it, willing to sell?"

The man's face immediately showed a moved expression.

Ten Florin Gold Coins could buy five plump pigs or two strong pack horses, while he only spent ten Dinar Silver Coins to purchase the card pack.

Even if he dominated the tavern for several days, it would be hard to win such a significant fortune.

So he gritted his teeth and said, "Deal."

The merchant smiled and said, "A wise choice, we can immediately sign a contract to ensure everything in the transaction is legal."

His offer at such a high price was to give a gift to the lord he pledged loyalty to.

Both his lord and the lord's wife were avid readers of the novel "Demon Hunter," and they would surely be delighted to receive such a novel gift.

Does it matter if it's worth it?

As long as the Lord entrusts him to manage his business, he can naturally earn ten times the profit.

Fulk, witnessing this scene, thought to himself.

Heavenly Father above, these people in Jerusalem are utterly mad, using ten gleaming Florins to exchange for a card.

Although the card's craftsmanship is indeed exquisite.

He waited a long time before finally squeezing to the very front position.

Without thinking, he said, "Give me ten packs."

The young sales boy showed an apologetic smile: "I'm sorry, each person is limited to three packs. Three packs are enough for you to assemble a deck for battling others."

Fulk showed a surprised expression: "Why is there a limit?"

The young salesman smiled and said, "Because my Lord hopes more people can participate in such an entertaining activity rather than just making money."

"Also, it's to prevent someone from developing a gambler's mentality, spending the money meant for living expenses on buying cards."

Spending living expenses on something like this? Are there such fools?

Fulk sneered inwardly: "Then I'll take three packs for now."

The salesperson stacked three card packs together and handed them to Fulk: "Thank you for your patronage, a total of thirty Dinar Silver Coins, or a Solid Gold Coin."

"So expensive?"

Baron Fulk felt a twinge of pain in his heart.

His estate in Languedoc, near the Pyrenees Mountains, consisted mostly of bare white limestone mountains and barren shrubs.

Therefore, thirty Dinars were not an insignificant sum for Baron Fulk.

"Esteemed customer, this is actually not expensive. We use precious paper transported from the Eastern Song Empire and even have metal edges to prevent creasing."

"If you have seen the quality of our cards, you would know that the lifelike images on them, if framed, would be regarded as masterpieces by an artist?"

Fulk pondered for a moment, acknowledged the reason, and was placed in a position where he couldn't back down due to the urging from behind, so he said, "Alright then, I'll just take one pack for now."

The salesperson's expression remained unchanged, still politely saying, "Alright, that will be ten Dinar Silver Coins."

Fulk held the card pack and struggled to squeeze out of the crowd.

Ripping open the paper seal.

He opened the first card.

The back glowed with a golden hue, and Fulk even believed it was gilded.

The image depicted Baldwin IV wearing a silver mask, leading an army charge on the battlefield.

[Heaven Bless Our King Baldwin]

Points: 6

Effect: Place it in your melee row, and all melee subordinates will gain a two-point boost.

His hands started trembling slightly.

It's worth it!

Just the cost of making this card probably exceeds the ten Dinar Silver Coins he paid.

Flipping further, there was another card with a similar golden glow.

[Count Raymond of Tripoli]

Points: 6

Effect: Place it in your melee row, and it will destroy the first card on the left in the opponent's melee row.

"My God, a double gold in a single pack, what kind of luck is this?"

The onlookers gasped in amazement.

Many people were green with envy, itching to snatch it—if not for the nearby patrolling Royal Knights in armor.

Baron Fulk felt as if he was floating, two golden cards, at the same purchase price as the merchant earlier, meant he had just turned ten Dinar Silver Coins into twenty solid Florin Gold Coins?

His mouth went dry.

"I think I understand why they only sell three packs to each person."

He immediately turned around and pushed his way back into the crowd.

...

Kurs stood on the top floor of Constant Manor, observing the scene unfolding in front of the shop with a satisfied smile.

The development of events was all within his expectations.

In the first batch of all card packs, only one pack contained two Legendary Level, or Golden Cards.

In fact, even placing a few more would still yield significant profits.

What is humanity's greatest, most uncontrollable nature?

Greed!

"Gambling" exploits the greedy heart of humans.

People sometimes think their luck is good enough.

But little do they know, the more probabilistic something is, the less transparent it is, making it easier to satisfy desires, and such probabilistic things attract people even more.

If someone only has one hundred Silver Denars, they might be tempted to spend ten Denars to try once, with the chance of multiplying their money many times over, who wouldn't be moved?

If, however, every Legendary Card had a fixed price of one hundred Dinars, customers would become more rational.

"What a pity, if not for the Lord's explicit prohibition, I could even tempt these people to spend their last copper plate meant for meals."

Kurs revealed a signature vampire's cold smile; he never regarded humans as his equals, nor had a trace of mercy.

Today alone, Kurs dispatched twenty or thirty "plants," all retired old soldiers stripped of armor, loyal, reliable, and good actors, many of whom could be said to be playing their true selves.

Since during their time in the City Guard Army, they were naturally rogue and ruffian types.

The reason Losa had preemptively issued orders was in concern for triggering a different kind of "Tulip Mania" (17th-century Holland tulip speculation), though it was unlikely to happen.

However, he was not merely a businessman; profit was never Losa's primary concern.

Law, Prestige.

Two invisible, intangible words.

But they are genuinely existent.

He was unwilling to let this matter ruin his reputation, making him an "emptying people's wallets vampire" kind of figure.

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