The Lakatus Family Shall Endure Forever
Who would've thought the Imperial Prophet was the match-fixer. No—maybe it was precisely because he was the Imperial Prophet that he had reason to fix the match.
For the other contestants, elimination would end with a simple "what a shame." But the Imperial Prophet had to prove his skill in this tournament. Men like him only clung to the Imperial Family because of their prophetic abilities—if he were exposed as incompetent, he could be cast out of the palace entirely. That pressure was what drove the Imperial Prophet to give in to the temptation of match-fixing.
Well, if the pressure was too much, he should've quit being Imperial Prophet ages ago instead of cheating.
Excessive greed had led him to do the wrong thing. I could understand why he'd done it, but I didn't empathize. Understanding and empathy are two different things.
How should I punish this match-fixing bastard?
Roughly two hours and fifty minutes remained until the evaluation ended. Not even ten minutes had passed since the first round of the finals began. I had plenty of time.
"You may not pass beyond this point."
"Ahem, ahem! I'd like a closer look, if that would be possible?"
"It is not. Step back."
The Imperial Prophet was arguing with a knight. He stood pressed right up against the knights, squinting hard as he tried to get even a little closer look at the remains.
Is he too far away to tell which one is the holy relic?
Several contestants stood pressed as close as they could to the boundary the knights were guarding, examining the remains. The Imperial Prophet was among them, cold sweat beading on his brow as he paced back and forth, scrutinizing the bones.
He fixed the match in advance and still can't tell which one is the answer. Talk about a blind man with open eyes.
The holy relics and the remains were all human bones. The Church would have a fit if they heard me say it, but the holy relics didn't particularly radiate any sacred power. Honestly, from a distance, they were completely indistinguishable. An Imperial Prophet who wasn't a physician would have had a hard time memorizing the shapes of bone fragments. He'd seen which ones were the holy relics beforehand, but now that he was here, he couldn't recognize them.
This is why even scams need a clever operator. He clearly hadn't anticipated the variable of not being allowed a close look at the remains on-site.
A variable, huh… I've just thought of a great way to mess with the match-fixer.
I formed a plan. Thud, thud. With unhesitating steps, I walked over to the Imperial Prophet and joined the group examining the remains.
"Even from here, I can't make heads or tails of any of it. Wouldn't you agree?"
Standing beside the Imperial Prophet, I struck up a conversation as naturally as if I were simply examining the remains. The startled Imperial Prophet turned to look at me.
"E-er? Who are you?"
"Who I am isn't important. What matters is passing the finals evaluation."
"I'm busy right now, so if you have no business, kindly get lost. Go chatter with someone else."
The Imperial Prophet scrunched up his face in irritation and turned away. Apparently he was too busy examining the remains to spare time for talk.
"That bone over there is called the radius. It's the long bone that supports the arm from elbow to wrist."
I lowered my voice so no one else could hear and whispered quietly.
"…You can identify bones?"
Hooked. The Imperial Prophet was starting to take an interest in me.
"It's a modest bit of knowledge, but it's a personal hobby of mine. I can identify human bones."
"What a strange fellow. What kind of bizarre hobby is that?"
"Haha. Hobbies come in all sorts, don't they?"
Of course, it was a lie. I had no such hobby as identifying human bones. I'd just been spouting whatever came to mind.
"That bone over there is the ulna. Like the radius, it's a long bone running from elbow to wrist. They look similar, but if you look closely, you can tell them apart."
"…What exactly is different about them? They all look like the same bones to me."
"The radius has a rounded, flat disc-shaped head at the top. And as it goes down, it gradually thickens into a trumpet shape."
I said whatever came to mind as I looked at the bones. The Imperial Prophet was doing his utmost to listen carefully to my nonsense.
"The ulna, on the other hand, has a hook-shaped depression at its upper end. And as it goes down, it tapers like the tip of a walking stick. At a glance it resembles the radius, but a closer look reveals the difference."
"Hmm. Now that you've explained it, I think I can see some differences…"
The Imperial Prophet squinted hard, staring intently at the remains. He was trying to figure out which one was the 1st Class Holy Relic.
"If you keep examining them like that, it'll take you half a day to find the holy relic. The evaluation limit is three hours total, so you're guaranteed to fail."
"W-what nonsense! I'm not looking for the holy relic! I'm merely examining the aura!"
The Imperial Prophet snapped out an excuse, getting heated. To claim he was examining the aura while staring that hard—his insides were so transparent it was almost absurd.
"How dare you be so rude! You're the most suspicious person here. Having the ability to identify bones is suspicious enough on its own!"
"Keep your voice down. Fighting in front of all these people won't look good for either of us."
At that warning, the Imperial Prophet seemed to realize his mistake and cooled his temper. With so many spectators watching, he couldn't afford to lose his composure.
"Who are you, that you approach me like this?"
The Imperial Prophet eyed me with a gaze full of suspicion. I carefully stepped closer, leaned in slightly, and brought my lips to his ear.
"The Lakatus family shall endure forever."
I whispered.
"What…!"
The Imperial Prophet's eyes went wide as he stared at me. His expression was that of a man who'd just spotted a lifeline dropped from heaven.
"Ha, haha. So that's how it is…"
He nodded as if he understood everything, a faint smile on his lips. A smile of certain victory.
It worked.
The Lakatus family shall endure forever. When I'd seen the holy relic's past, I'd heard the people gathered for the match-fixing say those words. It had been such an odd phrase that I'd guessed it was a contact code—and that guess seemed to have been spot on.
"Just trust me. I'll identify the bones for you."
"Shh! What if someone hears you!"
The Imperial Prophet scolded me with a beaming face. He trusted me completely.
"Sorry about earlier. You should have revealed yourself sooner—you dragged it out, so can you blame me for misunderstanding?"
"It's fine. I was testing you as well, to earn your trust. Please forgive me."
"You have no reason to ask my forgiveness. You were only doing what needed to be done."
The Imperial Prophet began showing me boundless affection. A strange man who could identify bones had approached him and put him on edge—only for that man to turn out to be on his side. To him, I was nothing less than a lifeline dropped into a desperate situation.
A rotten lifeline, of course.
Naturally, I had no intention of giving him the right answer. My plan was to feed the trusting Imperial Prophet a fake one. He'd grabbed hold of a rotten rope.
That's what you get for not playing fair.
"Shall we? I'll take my time explaining the other bones as well."
"Heh heh heh. There's plenty of time, so I'll listen at my leisure."
I led the slyly grinning Imperial Prophet over to examine the other remains.
"These two bones are the tibia and fibula. They run from below the knee to the ankle, and their structure is similar to the arm."
"Hmm, hmm. I see."
"Those are finger bones and toe bones. They look so similar that telling them apart is extremely difficult. Of course, I can tell them apart."
"Haha. You're quite the capable fellow. What a fine hobby."
"And among all these bones, that one is the most special."
I pointed to one of the remains, putting emphasis on the word "special."
"It's an extremely important bone—one the human body cannot do without. You understand what I mean, don't you?"
"Heh heh. Of course I understand. That bone is the most important one, isn't it?"
"I see you've got it. Then I'll end my explanation here."
"Thank you. Once this evaluation is over, I'll be sure to repay you."
I nodded at the Imperial Prophet without a word. He nodded back, wearing a smile of victory.
My work here is done.
The operation to deceive the Imperial Prophet was complete. I found the examiner, submitted the correct answer, and came back out. A moment later, I saw the Imperial Prophet go into the examiner's screened-off area and come back out. His face looked thoroughly relieved.
His face when he hears the evaluation results is going to be something to see.
A match-fixer absolutely certain of his own success. I couldn't wait to see how he'd react when he failed.