The Trust on the Servants
Kinzo: ...Hmph. They're doing something interesting. Well then, what are the conditions that they attached?
Kanon: ...Yes. Whether or not Krauss-sama actually discovered the gold, he would pay Eva-sama, Rudolf-sama and Rosa-sama a total f 7.5 billion yen for their shares. However, ten percent of that would be paid before March.
Kinzo: Hahaha... Krauss, you dunce. That he would have his feet swept out from under him by his younger siblings... Isn't that truly pleasant. ...But it seems their trap was naive?
Kanon: ...Yes. Krauss-sam exposed that Eva-sama and the younger siblings all had an urgent need to get money.
Kinzo: Hmph. Can you really call something of that level exposing? That incomplete, incompetent man. ...What are they doing now?
Kanon: ...That conversation has been put on hold for the time being. Now, Beatrice-sama's epitaph is being discussed.
Kinzo: So, they are trying to solve the riddle and find out where my gold is hidden?
Kanon: ...Yes.
Kinzo set down his glasses and snorted.
Kinzo: ...Will the miracle be fulfilled first, or will those fools expose the gold first? ...What a sight. ...If those fools solve my puzzle, at that time I will be completely defeated. They cna suck my corpse down to the last fragment of bone. Great magic can house a miracle from the fool's greed. ..And yet! If the fulfillment of the miracle comes first... If it comes first! Beatrice will be resurrected again! That smile which I have been chasing half my life will be restored...! Oooh, Beatrice! The sacred night when the miracle is wagered will come, and the devils' game will begin...! I will definitely win, and will definitely remain alive! I'll give up the other people's lives! I don't need wealth or honor or assets or gold or anything! I only want to see your smile one more time! *cough*
Kinzo choked, apparently in great pain. Kanon got closer and tried to pat his master's back, but Kinzo signaled that he didn't need to.
Kinzo: ...Do you know why I went to the trouble of exposing the hidden location of the gold so that everyone could see it?
Kanon: ...No.
Kinzo: It is because magical power is decided by risk. If the number of people who try to discover Beatrice's gold is great, and the danger of that happening is great as well, then assuming that the bet is successful despite those long odds, the magical power will bring about a grand miracle... In other words, magic is a game. It is not tru that the most superior person will become the winner. The winner is superior because he is granted magic. Do you understand? The miracle of life can be granted only after winning against the divine odds of several hundred million to one. ...Is this a little difficult for you to understand?
Kanon: ...My apologies.
Kinzo: That's fine. It all comes down to this. To the one that solves the mystery of Beatrice's epitaph, I will give all of that which I have built up. Wealth, honor, gold, and the inheritance of the Ushiromiya family. Everything that I have established! Since tackling the riddle is the only condition, it is not limited to my children. For example, if you succeeded in solving it, that would make you qualified to gain everything.
Kanon: ...Yes. However... I couldn't possibly understand such a difficult riddle.
Kinzo: Of course. I made it difficult. ...But you must also challenge it. That will become the seed with which the miracle of my magic will be summoned. If everyone challenges it, and everyone fails, that will be that. However, if the miracles are gathered and the magical power is born, it will happen then! Beatrice will revive. Therefore you too must challenge it. Everyone must challenge it. And in doing so, they must give strength to my magic! Do you understand?!
Kanon: ...Yes. ...I will try.
For a long while, Kinzo repeatedly muttered to himself, agitated and grabbing onto his head. Kanon stayed where he was, alert and unmoving, until he was given the next order from his master. ...Kinzo finally realized this.
Kinzo: Very well, leave me. ...There is a bag of sweets on the liquor ccabinet. You can take some with you as a reward.
Kanon: ...I'm fine. After all... I am furniture.
Kinzo: ...Hmm. ...So furniture doesn't eat sweets? ...Indeed. In that case, leave me.
Kanon: Yes. ...Excuse me.
Kanon bowed and left the study. As the door was closed, a heavy locking noise resounded.
But that was not the sound of Kanon locking the door. It was the door locking automatically.
No one could enter without Kinzo's permission, and once they left, they could not enter again. ...It was a mechanism that Kinzo, unable to trust his blood relatives, had created to lock himself up in his own study and isolate himself from the outside world.
He was already unable to trust anyone excepting, not the sons who shared his blood, but those servants who called themselves furniture...
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