By Zephyria =======
“……Eh? No, what do you mean! Prince!”
“I’m not a prince. We’re already dead. Though we’ll probably die again.”
Red Eagle wiped his eyes with his sleeve and smiled.
“I meant what I said earlier. I’ve always thought you were more mature than I am. By that standard, you are the true prince.”
“You’re mistaken. Any commoner boy has no choice but to grow up early.”
〔The Jester’s fifth rotation has ended.〕
〔The Jester begins the sixth rotation.〕
Wolf’s mouth went dry. He had boasted about accepting death calmly, but now that time was running out, he grew anxious. His hands kept twitching, wanting to flip over the hem of his robe. Let go of the lingering attachment. What’s the point of looking at those dizzying scraps of text again? Just pray the Fairy is in chest number 3.
“Prince and Attendant! Why the long faces!”
The Eyepatch Woman approached, splashing clumsily through the water. Silver followed behind her. Both were clutching liquor barrels as if they were honey pots.
The Eyepatch Woman gestured with her chin toward Black Weasel.
“Why don’t you two tell this guy too? Tell him let’s just open the chests together.”
“What?”
Wolf jerked his head back. What on earth was she talking about?
“Isn’t it cleaner to just die quickly rather than trembling and stalling for time? Two of us open one chest together, and the rest of us open the others one by one. Everyone will die except for one unlucky bastard.”
In sync with the Eyepatch Woman’s words, Silver made a slicing motion across his own throat with the edge of his hand.
“That…… excuse me, that’s……”
“Haha! Don’t be scared, rookie! You saw when the Warrior Chief died earlier, right? They send you off in one shot without any pain!”
“No, it’s not that issue I’m talking about……”
The situation was a spectacle. He had been appalled when Black Weasel pushed the Eyepatch Woman to the front, but now she was taking it a step further by encouraging a mass suicide. Even Silver was playing along.
Do people from Stohl value their own lives as lightly as they do others? Even if there’s no pain, it’s still death in the end. No matter how desperate the situation, is it okay to give up on life this easily? This doesn’t seem right.
Right! It’s not! I don’t want to commit suicide, I don’t!
Wolf whipped back the hem of his robe. Atanian proverbs lined up in his head. Truth reveals itself, though it may be slow. Morning comes even to the endless road. The sun is always behind the clouds.
It was premature to give up. The voice guiding the people was fluent in the Atania language. This was proof that the skeleton wraith was well-versed in Atanian culture. Perhaps the problem of rescuing the Fairy was taken from the
I will definitely go back. I’ll roll around in a field of blooming flowers with Silver.
“Kid, are you staring at that thing again?”
The Eyepatch Woman gaped.
“My eyes were spinning just looking at it; I guess you’re unfazed? It’s number 6, kid. My gut says so.”
“Aunt, there are only five chests. I’m going with number 2!”
Silver spoke with a loud burp. Wolf focused all his mental energy on the problem. I just couldn’t find the clue because I was stupid. But this time is different. I will definitely find the clue. I will!
…….
…….
I can’t find it……
“It’s all the same, isn’t it? Stop wasting your breath and just pick one.”
Silver chuckled, slapping Wolf on the back. Wolf’s shoulders slumped.
“You’ve played card games before, right? There are four chests left. Even if it’s a guess, the odds are much higher than in a card game. Honestly, there’s no guarantee that the conclusion you reach by racking your brain will be the right answer.”
“Silver is right, Wolf. You did your best. You can stop now.”
Red Eagle added a word cautiously. After a moment of silence, Wolf pushed out the hem of his robe and smiled faintly.
“Then shall the Prince and I also try guessing? Prince, you go first.”
“Hmm…… number 2.”
“The same as Silver?”
“Well, uh, I just followed him. I decided to trust a gambler’s intuition.”
“How wise. Then I……”
Wolf scanned the text written on the lining. An unexpected sense of déjà vu suddenly struck him. The memory of visiting a famous witch’s shop with friends last year out of curiosity to get a card reading flashed before him. The moment the witch laid out several cards and said, “Pick the card you are drawn to,” his eyes had snapped toward a specific card. It was the same now. And surprisingly, it was number 2.
“I’ll also…… go with number 2.”
At Wolf’s words, Silver stopped drinking and glanced over.
“Copycats.”
“Don’t misunderstand. The Prince might be a copycat, but I picked based on intuition.”
At those words, Red Eagle’s cheeks flushed.
“Hey! What you said about me copying Silver isn’t true! Actually, my eyes were drawn to number 2 as well!”
“Excuses, excuses.”
Silver snorted, but Wolf’s expression hardened. Even the Prince was drawn to number 2?
“Aunt! Which number are you going to pick?”
Wolf held up the robe lining toward the Eyepatch Woman. The Eyepatch Woman pulled her mouth away from the liquor barrel and said in a slurred voice, “Number 8.”
“You rude little brats, can’t you see my eyes are spinning! I see dozens of you right now! Don’t disturb an adult when she’s drinking!”
“Ah, yes…… sorry……”
It was the moment Wolf bowed his head. Silver spoke.
“The Aunt picked number 2 at first, too.”
* * *
Wolf couldn’t even move a fingertip for a moment.
“Really?”
When he finally managed to squeeze the words out, Silver cast his gaze into the air.
“When you were solving the problem, she shouted number 2. My memory is good. Only in crisis situations.”
“Even the Aunt picked number 2……”
“I told you so. Fuck.”
Silver tossed the liquor barrel aside and splashed water on his face. Rubbing his cheeks vigorously with both hands, he took a step toward Wolf.
“Hey, let’s look at those scraps of text again. There’s definitely something there.”
“Yes!”
Four people had picked the same chest. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
Wolf and Silver scanned the text on the lining. Beside them, Red Eagle watched without even making a sound. Before long, Silver frowned.
“Hmm. I get it.”
“What?”
“Look.”
Silver pointed to each line with his fingertip.
Chest 1: The Fairy is here. The statement of Chest 3 is false.
Chest 2: The Fairy is here. The statement of Chest 3 is false.
Chest 3: The Fairy is here……
“In the phrase ‘The statement of Chest ~ is false’ in each line, number 2 is the only one not mentioned. They say when you’re told not to think of something, you end up thinking about it.”
“Ah…… because number 2 wasn’t visible, everyone subconsciously thought, ‘What about number 2?’”
“Probably. I skimmed through it half-heartedly again just like before, and the thought ‘I don’t see number 2’ popped up. Then my eyes naturally went to the line for number 2.”
“Silver, you’re amazing!”
Red Eagle spoke with wide eyes. Wolf also held his breath for a moment and stared at Silver. Silver’s brain spins like crazy in a crisis. He’s like a carnivore that only becomes diligent when hunting.
Silver’s reasoning hit the mark. When Wolf skimmed the text, he had felt a desire to verify something, and his gaze had slid toward number 2. Is this how a deer feels when a wolf bites its neck? A deep sense of despair washed over him. People picked number 2 for a reason like this? Damn number 2, if it hadn’t been tucked away by itself, my heart wouldn’t have swelled with hope again……
Eh?
Wait……
His mind suddenly cleared. Wolf pulled the robe hem right up to his eyes and scanned it again from the beginning.
Chest 1: The Fairy is here. The statement of Chest 3 is false.
Chest 2: The Fairy is here. The statement of Chest 3 is false.
Chest 3: The Fairy is here. The statement of Chest 1 is false.
Chest 4: The Fairy is here. The statement of Chest 5 is true.
Chest 5: The Fairy is not here. The statement of Chest 4 is false.
That’s it! Only Chest 2 is tucked away by itself!
Chest 1 and 3, and Chest 4 and 5, are in corresponding relationships. Number 1 claims “The statement of number 3 is false,” and number 3 counters that “Number 1 is lying.” Chest 4 claims “The statement of number 5 is true,” and Chest 5 rebuts that “The statement of number 4 is false.” Only Chest 2 has no corresponding partner.
One more thing. Among chests that correspond to each other, one must be lying. Since Chest 2 is outside of these corresponding relationships, the probability of it telling the truth is relatively higher.
It pretended to be a logic problem, but it was actually a pattern recognition problem.
“It’s number 2.”
Wolf spoke in a firm tone.
“The Fairy is in chest number 2.”
45 – Hell Execution Order