Chapter 274
Chapter 274
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 274
Chapter Title: Adversarial Friendship (3)
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Uorin scratched the floor where Shirone had fallen. A transparent vinyl sheet peeled off smoothly into her hand.
“Ta-da! This is it. Check the floor again.”
When Shirone pressed it with his foot, he felt the familiar hardness of marble, unlike when he had fallen. He even put his full weight on it and tapped, but it was the same.
“Isn't it amazing? With this, you can take a nap even on rocky terrain. You can even do this. Watch.”
Uorin walked over to an eagle sculpture taller than her and covered it with the vinyl. Like magic, the sculpture sank, revealing a flat floor.
Holding down her skirt, she jumped up and landed on her bottom. Her rear sank into the soft surface before bouncing up and down.
Her actions were childish, but Shirone watched her seriously. He couldn't fathom the principle behind what was happening.
It wasn't science. Nor was it magic.
Shirone looked around grimly. He finally understood why the items in the room didn't look luxurious. This was a place where the most expensive objects in the world were gathered.
Uorin smiled brightly and said.
“That's right. This is a place for collecting Objects.”
He had expected it, but hearing the words spoken aloud sent a wave of shock through him.
He recalled the Object of Sleep owned by the 2nd Horn Mara, Baalve, in Heaven.
He had shuddered at its strangeness back then, but the shock he felt now was on a completely different level.
‘Are you saying everything here is an Object?’
Utensils belonged in the kitchen, books in the library; objects were typically arranged according to their function. But here, the items were placed haphazardly, with no discernible consistency in their arrangement.
A rough count revealed over fifty items on display. It was a feat only possible for the Theraze family, rulers of the continent.
While Shirone was lost in thought, Jion approached. In his hand was a Spirit academic journal.
His reaction was, as expected, cynical. With a contemptuous smirk, he thrust the magazine forward and spoke.
“So you're the genius mage-in-training, I hear?”
Shirone didn't even want to respond.
“Of course, magic is a great power. I'll admit that. But, compared to these Objects, such an ability is nothing, isn't it? A 3rd-class Archmage working at the Kazra Royal Palace earns about thirty million gold a year. How many Archmages do you think we could hire by selling just one of the items here?”
“What's your point?”
“That no matter how brilliant a mage you are, you're ultimately just a dog of the royal family. A ruler's talent isn't determined by something like magic.”
Jion held the Spirit journal at Shirone's eye level and dropped it. Then, as if he knew nothing, he stepped on the journal as he walked past Shirone and turned around.
“Must be nice, becoming the First Prince in three days. How does it feel? Like you're already king?”
With the paternity test over, it was obvious the nobles' political maneuvering would intensify. In such a situation, it was natural for Jion, a key figure of power, to probe Shirone's state of mind.
“I thought I made myself clear. I'm not interested. Once the results are out, I'm going home.”
“Hmph, I'm sure you are.”
Jion didn't believe him.
Who in the world would refuse the throne? Even if such a person existed, it would only be because they had yet to taste the sweetness of power.
Power guarantees every kind of pleasure a human could desire.
Once he became the First Prince, no matter how disciplined Shirone was, his mind was bound to change.
“It's useless to act all high and mighty. This is the royal palace. And such tricks won't work on me, especially.”
Jion snatched from Uorin and threw it onto the floor.
“With one toy like this, I could buy your entire magic academy. In an instant, I'd become your master. Your teachers would have to crawl between my legs. And what? You're not interested in the throne? You think I'd believe that?”
Shirone realized Jion was an utterly materialistic person. The reason for attending school was to acquire the intangible values within, not just the visible things.
Hearing that was worth hundreds of millions, yet seeing him dismiss it as a mere child's toy, proved it.
The reality-defying abilities of an Object could be worth any amount, depending on its use.
For example, what if it were used to conceal a vault containing an 'Elemental Essence'?
No matter how expensive the Object was, compared to an Elemental Essence—of which only seventeen existed in the world (two fire, three water, five wind, seven earth)—it was worth less than a loaf of bread.
Once equipped, it not only allowed the user to cast magic of the corresponding element but also provided 100 percent resistance to magic of the same element, making its value known to surpass the budget of a small kingdom.
Ultimately, there would always be people in the world who desperately needed it, and they would spare no expense to obtain what they wanted.
A family like the Theraze might buy them for fun, but to think Objects were expensive simply due to a collector's desire was Jion's delusion.
“In my opinion, should be given to someone else. After all, even a good book is useless to someone who uses it as a pot stand.”
“Haha! That's the privilege of royalty. A good book? I'd use gold as a pot stand.”
Shirone clenched his teeth and swallowed his anger. They were different from birth; they couldn't find common ground even on the smallest things.
“That's enough. If you're done talking, I'm leaving.”
Staying any longer would only hurt his feelings, so he headed for the door, but Uorin ran up and tugged at his sleeve.
“Wait! I have something to discuss with you too, Shirone. There's something I want to show you. Come this way.”
Even Shirone couldn't bring himself to refuse Uorin so firmly.
First, she was someone he could reason with, and she had supported him among the arrogant royals. Above all, she was the daughter of the immensely powerful Theraze.
“Hurry, hurry. This way.”
As Shirone was dragged away by Uorin, Jion sneered, but in reality, his own situation wasn't much different.
The fact that he said nothing and followed his younger sister when she said she had business proved it.
After seating Shirone at a table, Uorin brought over a small box.
It was a worn, rectangular wooden frame with a hemispherical depression inside. In the center was a stained, arrow-shaped needle, seemingly a roulette wheel meant to be spun with a flick of a finger.
“This is an Object called . It leaves a gift once a day.”
The words were simple enough for a child to understand, but Shirone felt as if something crucial was missing, like a sentence without a subject or an object.
“Hehe, strange, isn't it? Everyone's like that at first. Objects are items that exist outside the realm of common sense, so their often don't make much sense when you first encounter them.”
“I see. The strangest part is that it 'leaves' something. Who, exactly? It's just an object.”
“The implies two things. First, for it to 'leave' something, there must be gravity. Also, it 'goes' but doesn't 'come.' Therefore, there needs to be a space that can't be observed from either the inside or the outside.”
Shirone understood why the entrance here had a double-door structure.
A third space, where no one passed through from either inside or out, was necessary.
“ and <no observer="">. When these two conditions are met, it gives a gift once a day. If you look closely at the roulette, you'll see it's divided into four colors, right?”
Shirone turned his gaze to where Uorin was pointing.
It seemed to be a very old item; the paint was peeling, but the brightness of the colors differed. The size of each section varied, and there was writing engraved inside. It was faint and hard to see, but it definitely wasn't the Tormian language.
Uorin pointed to each of the four sections and explained.
“The writing here is a language used by the gypsies of the eastern mountain range. Translated, they mean Humble Gift, Nice Gift, Excessive Gift, and Miracle. We measured the radian values and found that Humble Gift takes up about 75 percent, Nice Gift is 20 percent, Excessive Gift is 4 percent, and Miracle occupies 1 percent of the area.”
“Hmm…”
The fact that Humble Gift was 75 percent meant there was a significant difference in the quality of the gifts. The 4 percent chance of an Excessive Gift was enticing, but he was even more curious about what the Miracle could be.
Since it could only be spun once a day, a simple calculation suggested a Miracle would occur within 100 days. However, considering the nature of probability, it could take much longer.
Careful not to even touch it with his fingertip, Shirone pointed at the roulette's needle.
“Do I just spin this arrow?”
“Yes. That's why I was waiting for you.”
“Huh? For me?”
“Go ahead and spin it. I'll give you whatever gift comes out.”
Shirone blinked at the unexpected offer.
With Uorin's wealth, she likely wouldn't be attached to even the best gift, but since there was no telling what it could be, it wasn't something one would readily give away to someone else.
“Probability…”
In any case, it was a chance to experience an Object firsthand.
Shirone himself didn't feel any particular greed for a gift. He was, however, extremely curious about what kind of gift would appear.
Perhaps that itself was the value of this Object.
The thrill of imagining the gift.
In that sense, was an amusement device that understood human psychology very well. Unlike other forms of gambling, there was no failure.
“At the very least, a Humble Gift is guaranteed. In that case, may I give it a try?”
“Of course. I do it every day.”
Uorin readily agreed and added an explanation.
“You just have to flick the tip of the needle. We've experimented and found that it's void if it doesn't spin at least ten times. But it doesn't use up the day's chance, so there's no need to be nervous.”
“Oh, I see.”
Shirone's eyes shone with interest.
Why must it spin at least ten times? If there were no limit on the number of rotations, one could simply nudge the needle to land on Miracle.
‘How fascinating. It's just an object, yet it has its own set of rules.’
At that moment, a good idea popped into his head.
“This… it might be possible to make it land on Miracle every time.”
At that, Uorin's eyes lit up just like Shirone's.
The insight to analyze a single object from multiple angles is an essential requirement for an Object collector. In that sense, Shirone had the makings of a collector.
“As expected of a mage. You mean by controlling your senses to spin it exactly 3,600 degrees, right?”
“Exactly. Or hire a professional gambler. If they can feel the roulette's sensitivity and control their strength, they can get the same result every time.”
“That's a good idea. But unfortunately, it's impossible. We've already tried. It seems that when you spin the roulette, the position is determined through a specific random number transformation.”
“Hmm, that means is manipulating the probability, doesn't it? The 1 percent for Miracle might be a trick, too. If so, it wouldn't be a fair gamble, would it?”
If it was a gambling Object, the probability should at least be fair. Otherwise, there would be no need for it to have an interface for testing probability in the first place.
Uorin felt a strong sense of kinship with Shirone.
In truth, she had let several people other than Shirone spin the roulette. But most of them were more captivated by the gift they might receive than fascinated by the Object's properties.
She had even gotten annoyed and left when she saw them praying for an expensive gift in front of the roulette.
They say an Object collector needs two things: one is an interesting Object, and the other is an audience that recognizes the Object's true worth.
Jion sometimes acquired decent Objects for her, but when it came to having an eye for them, he was a total dud.