[580] The Probability of R (3)
"Ah…."
Shirone and his group finally understood.
"See? There's another probability hidden in R. If we use it, we can manipulate probabilities even more powerfully than Hershi."
"…That's what you'll think."
Hershi smiled.
"The Scramble Royal's been running for thirty years. Its hidden rule is an unwritten law: whatever happens in a match is never spoken of afterward."
"Then how did you find out?"
Hershi rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.
"Money. People follow unwritten rules while they're still at school, but do you think those who graduated decades ago care? Especially the ones who led the underground research circles—many of them are wrecks. Drinkers, gamblers, womanizers, addicts. Slip them some cash and they talk."
"So… why tell us now?"
Hershi glanced at Prings, who sat kneeling in the corner of the forest.
"I won't forgive them. I'll get my revenge. I'll drive them mad with anger. I'll dig up every secret."
He muttered that with all ten fingers swathed in bandages; none of his old sharpness remained.
'He's completely lost it.'
Still, his madness would be useful when the time came.
"We need someone who can manipulate probabilities tactically. Prings is useless right now, and Eden won't show herself until the end. The only consolation is Kaiden will join tomorrow."
Pisho asked, "What do I have to do?"
"Collect as many Scrambles as you can and bring them to me. If they also make an Infinity over there, the result will be decided by the next ranking. I'll win the tiebreaker. The duel ends in two days. From now on it's focus over choice."
"—There's a high probability they'll adopt that strategy."
Iruki slammed his fist into his palm.
"In short, concentrate the losses on Hershi and finish the match. There are 144 Scramble cards left to collect. We have to settle it within those."
"I won't let Pisho lose. If Sabina keeps him in check I can gather at a similar pace," Dorothy said.
Amy asked, "So what's our counter to Hershi's plan?"
Iruki smiled. "Spread the cards as widely as possible."
No one objected.
* * *
The next morning.
A visitor arrived at the Aramones Orphanage on the outskirts of Bashka.
The children planting sweet potatoes in a small garden stopped when they saw a young man in a neat suit.
"Hello, little ones."
"Who are you?"
The young man looked around without answering.
"This place is the same as ever."
A woman in her early forties who'd been working the plot with the kids slowly stood up.
"Fermi."
"How have you been, Rachel? You're still as beautiful as ever."
The compliment was appreciated, but not something a friend's son should say.
"Why have you come?"
"Is coming home a problem? Has it been fourteen years?"
After losing her mother, Fermi had stayed at the orphanage for a time because of family circumstances.
"Come in for now."
Fermi smiled at the children and entered.
"That man is so handsome."
"Yeah. But there's something… scary about him."
Rachel brought out tea as he entered.
"I thought you'd never come back."
"Why would I not? It's already been fourteen years."
Rachel hurriedly began, "Fermi, about that day—"
"It's fine. I've already forgotten. You don't need to feel guilty. I was the one who tempted you, after all."
Rachel's face flushed.
"Please—accept this."
Fermi produced a check from his inner pocket.
"This check is issued by the Tormia Central Bank. Use it without worry."
Rachel's eyes fixed on the amount.
One billion gold.
She exhaled and shook her head.
"Fermi, this is—"
"Please accept it. If the Yolga Foundation hadn't gone bankrupt, none of this would have happened."
The Yolga Foundation had been the child welfare foundation Fermi's mother, Yolga, established.
"I can't accept it."
"Why? Worried it's dirty money? Don't be. It's a legitimate transaction."
-Director, it's a legitimate transaction.
The memory of a nine-year-old boy's red lips stayed vivid in Rachel's mind even after fourteen years.
'Don't think about it. Don't remember.'
"I'm sorry."
Rachel looked up. Fermi watched her with clear, unreadable eyes.
"I never meant to hurt anyone. I truly mean it."
It had been nothing more than a light kiss between a nine-year-old and her, but the permissive feeling she allowed then became a lifelong trauma for Rachel.
"You… haven't changed at all."
When Yolga—officially declared dead though actually disappeared—was recorded as deceased, the orphanage that had relied on her support teetered.
Back then the Ardino family could hardly show their faces in public, and Fermi had come to the orphanage seeking a place to hide.
Crushing debt, collectors who visited daily and turned the place upside down, temptation reaching for a beautiful woman.
Rachel stubbornly endured because she couldn't abandon dozens of children, but she eventually reached her limit.
-Director, I'll get the money.
At the bold words of a nine-year-old, she could only laugh.
She thought the child craved love.
They had lost Yolga, the great mother, overnight, and Rachel, as their new mother, had to divide her attention among dozens of kids.
'Fermi was a special child.'
His intimidating intelligence and insight, the way he seemed to understand the world—Rachel, even as an adult, felt humbled.
Maybe that's why she was harsher. She feared she might come to rely on him.
-I earned one gold.
When Rachel saw the coin the nine-year-old brought, her eyes widened.
-Where did you get this?
-I earned it.
-Tell me honestly! Did you steal it? No matter how poor you are, stealing—
-I really earned it. Will you not take it?
Facing money that could feed every child, Rachel clenched her teeth.
-Shall I pay it back, Director?
-What?
-The debt. Shall I pay it all?
Back in the present, Rachel stared at Fermi.
His confidence hadn't changed; his mysterious composure made it seem as if nothing in the world was impossible, and it reminded her of an old friend.
'How could he be so much like Yolga?'
-If I pay your debts, will you be only my Rachel?
-What are you saying, Fermi? I've always been there for all of you—
-I don't need dozens of siblings.
Rachel fell silent.
-I only need someone who will love me and only me.
It began as a desperate hope. It was madness.
Six months later, Fermi paid off the orphanage's twelve million gold debt in full.
No one knew how he had raised such a fortune.
"Fermi, I'm sorry."
Rachel's voice trembled. "I can't be your mother."
Fermi's expression barely changed, but his brows lifted faintly.
"I understand."
He rose. "Use this money to establish a foundation. Protect the dream my mother couldn't finish."
He left the check on the table and headed for the door. Rachel sprang up.
"Fermi—"
"Don't worry."
He turned his head slightly as he opened the door.
"…I won't come back."
He closed the door and walked the same corridor as fourteen years ago toward the shabby exit. The children were waiting.
"Who is that man? He came to bully our director!"
"He must be. His eyes are narrow — he looks exactly like that debt collector!"
Fermi asked, "Do you like the director?"
"Of course! The director is our mother!"
-Fermi! The director is our mother!
Hearing the voices from fourteen years ago, Fermi slowly reached out his hand.
The child couldn't move until a shadow fell over his face.
Fermi made a small choking sound and knelt to meet the child's eye level.
"Here, buy something tasty with this."
He handed over a small silver coin.
The child, unable to hide his conflicted feelings, spoke in a trembling voice.
"Ah, we shouldn't accept things like this. Director will scold us."
"It's fine. It's a legitimate transaction. Take it, but promise me one thing."
Fermi put the coin into the child's hand. "When hard times come, you must protect Director Rachel."
The children shouted in unison, confident.
"Of course! When we grow up we'll punish all the bad men who bully the director!"
"All right."
Fermi smiled faintly and left the orphanage.
He looked up; the sky was cloudless, and Yolga's face flickered before him.
'Mother, is this enough?'
Fermi's face twisted, hatred filling his eyes.
'This is the beginning of my revenge.'
* * *
At noon the sixth-day Scramble Royal began.
With 144 combinations left to determine the outcome, both teams moved with swift caution.
Pisho's insect magic was the fastest at gathering Scrambles, but while Sabina kept him in check, Dorothy struggled to keep the ratio at five to five.
'Nade didn't come.'
Shirone's head was in turmoil as he searched for Eden.
'She hasn't left the battlefield. What on earth happened?'
The master card status made it clear: Nade had claimed one Scramble.
A friend acting on their own without telling anyone meant something had changed mentally.
Iruki had told them to leave him be for now, but Shirone, who didn't know the situation, was frustrated.
'Found it! A Scramble!'
He pushed thoughts of Nade aside when he spotted a glittering Scramble in the distance.
At the same moment, the underbrush parted and Eden appeared.
"You don't know how to give up."
She still stood naked, and the master card was nowhere to be seen.
'I can't establish a link to her.'
With no time to relax, Shirone raised a Photon Cannon. Eden shook her head.
"I already told you: so long as God watches over me, no one can harm my body."
"Is that really so?"
Shirone teleported the moment he fired the Photon Cannon and snatched the Scramble.
'Tch, she doesn't even flinch.'
He grew angrier watching her remain unfazed even while struck.
'But if she's like this, it's actually convenient.'
Shirone cast Elysion and gathered Ataraxia into the sky.
If this was invulnerability, it was total—she paid him no mind and faced only forward.
'I can't inflict shock, but—'
Shirone wrapped Eden's body in a complex weave of Shining Chains and flung her into the air.
He canceled the time-splitting and focused all his mind; the Ataraxia in the sky began to accumulate at a terrifying speed.
Even bound, Eden looked drowsy and merely waited for the next moment.
"O God, I believe in your presence."
As her prayer began, the Ataraxia flashed prismatic colors and started to spin.
'Immortal Function!'
Shirone pushed his mental strength to the limit and compressed the Photon Cannon above his crown.
Eden, the Ataraxia, and the Photon Cannon aligned in a straight line, perfectly aimed. Shirone's jaw clenched.
'If it's aimed at the sky, I don't have to worry about power!'
At that thought, a massive flash pierced the Ataraxia.
For the first time, Eden's eyebrows twitched under the overwhelming amplified light, but even that was swallowed by the flash.
'It's begun!'
Everyone in the Scramble Royal froze, mouths open as a colossal column of light shot up into the sky.