SCIAW: Chapter 409/410

Chapter 409: Satisfying Your Curiosity a Little

After lining up again and entering the cruise ship more formally, the two walked toward a corner. Jii, who had already changed his appearance, lowered his head slightly.

"Master, was there an accident?"

"Um."

Kaito nodded slightly.

"This incident really exceeded my expectations. I didn't expect that Mrs. Suzuki would play such a big game. To mess with me, she actually threw her heirloom into a pile of real and fake items."

"I originally thought that she wouldn't hand it over so easily. But when I saw that the black pearls on her chest were translucent, I knew that she really did it."

Only then did Jii understand why the young master had reacted like that.

No matter how much planning there was, as long as Mrs. Suzuki casually handed out the Dark Star, all of Kaito's plans would come to nothing.

And Jii finally understood why the young master chose to give up.

This wasn't about wanting to give up, but about losing all other options and being left with only that.

This wasn't a matter of winning or losing anymore. The one who defined victory and defeat had removed all her own risk and left no choice for him but defeat.

In the end, he had no choice but to accept the loss.

"Besides, your switch failed, and even your identity was exposed."

"!?"

Jii was slightly startled, then realized why Kaito had suddenly come over and pulled him away.

He glanced at the black pearl on his chest.

"Is this… real?"

"Um."

Kaito nodded. The black pearl on the old man's chest was real.

"It's clearly a real black pearl, though its quality is probably not as good as the Dark Star, and its color isn't pure. But there's no doubt that the value of this black pearl isn't low."

"At least over a million."

Jii couldn't help but suck in a breath when he heard this. He wasn't shocked at the price itself, but at Mrs. Suzuki's boldness.

Looking around, everyone here had been given a black pearl accessory.

"I observed that over 30% of the people received black pearls of this grade. Each one worth more than a million."

"And then there's Mrs. Suzuki, wearing pure, translucent black pearls."

"Black pearls are made of calcium carbonate, which is easily corroded by acid. As time goes by, no matter how pure, a black pearl won't stay translucent. That means it's a brand new pearl."

"And there were several people at the venue wearing black pearls similar to hers."

"As for those that meet the Dark Star's standards, there are quite a few. By my estimate, at least 20% of them are real black pearls, and among these 20% there is the only genuine one. The Dark Star."

"Faced with this situation, even my dad might not be able to figure out where the real one is."

With that, Kaito lowered his head helplessly.

"As for those associated with the Suzuki conglomerate, their black pearls don't meet the Dark Star's requirements. In other words, Mrs. Suzuki really did scatter the Dark Star among the genuine and fake ones."

"This is no longer something that can be solved through speculation or observation."

Having lost the ability to read human nature and use it, Kaito also lost the ability to find the real Dark Star.

That was what forced him to surrender.

In a match of wealth, decisiveness, determination, and will to win, he had been completely defeated.

It was really ironic. He was the one who had invited Mrs. Suzuki to a duel, but in the end, he had no choice but to run away when he saw the result.

Faced with this kind of situation, Kaito had no choice but to retreat. Otherwise, Mrs. Suzuki and the police really would have sent him to jail.

Once he was caught, everything would be over.

If he failed to uncover the organization that assassinated his father, it might even draw that organization's attention to him, bringing fatal danger to his friends.

As long as you carry any concerns in your heart, you will be restrained when facing someone who has none.

And that was exactly how Kaito felt when facing Mrs. Suzuki.

He was usually someone with no taboos, but this time he felt completely restrained around her.

Especially when he guessed that Jii was being targeted, he admitted he was completely panicked.

He could admit to failure, but he could not allow himself to be caught by the police.

His immaturity might even have caused Jii to be arrested.

Jii carefully thought about the situation the young master had been in. It really was hopeless. Even Toichi would likely have been helpless under these circumstances.

A real Dark Star scattered among thousands of genuine and fake pearls. Even the best thief couldn't steal it without any clues.

That was no longer a trick. That was true magic.

"So, I told you. The outcome this time was already decided."

Just as Kaito and Jii finished speaking, Akako, dressed in a bright red one-piece gown, walked over with a glass of wine.

"My divinations have generally never gone wrong. I warned you about this before you acted."

Kaito glanced at Akako. He wasn't surprised by her sudden appearance and just sighed.

"Who would have thought your divination could be so accurate."

"Hmph! I am the heir of the famous Red Magic. Do you think my divination is a joke?"

Akako snorted unhappily.

As the legitimate heir of Red Magic, she knew that nowadays most people didn't believe in things like divination or magic. However, these things had once truly existed.

But as times changed, there were fewer and fewer heirs, and fewer and fewer people with magic power, so magic declined.

"Then, Miss Akako, can you predict who has the real Dark Star?"

"Hmm? You still have something on your mind?"

Kaito simply waved his hand.

"Forget it. Mrs. Suzuki has already done this, and I've already shown through my actions that I've given up. I'm just a little curious whether she really scattered the Dark Star or used some kind of trick."

Akako pursed her lips, but didn't refuse.

"If it's just to satisfy your curiosity, that's not hard."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 410: Strange Tarot Arrangement

For a witch, divination is indeed a simple matter. Even if the space is not ideal, Akako can still use tarot cards to perform a basic reading.

After shuffling the cards, she began to draw.

The first card was The Fool, the second was The Hermit, and the third was The World.

"???"

"Why is this spread so strange?"

These three cards correspond to the person holding the Dark Star, but seeing these three appear together was rare.

The Fool is a special card with a very unusual meaning.

This card had never appeared before in Akako's previous readings.

Following The Fool came The Hermit, representing someone who is good at hiding and dislikes being exposed.

And then came The World, a card that directly opposes The Fool.

The Fool stands for the beginning, and The World symbolizes the end.

All three cards were upright, which meant they were all favorable. It indicated that the person's fate was just like the cards: beginning and end connected, with the middle focused on concealment.

A person who has a touch of perfectionism, avoids the spotlight, and values starting and finishing things.

"Got it?"

Kaito was curious.

"All this tells us are the person's traits. But this person is special. They are accompanied by The Fool and The World, with The Hermit in between."

"So, what does that mean?"

"The Fool represents the beginning of everything, the start of an adventure, and freedom of travel. It is both the beginning and end of the tarot deck. Everything in the cards is like what The Fool experiences during the journey."

"The World represents the destination of that journey. It is the result of The Fool's travels. Whether good or bad depends on the card's upright or reversed position. But both The Fool and The World point toward a path of freedom."

"It is very rare for these two cards to appear together. Even rarer for them both to be upright."

"The Hermit in the middle represents rationality and calmness. These three cards together point clearly to one person, making it easier to understand who they are."

Akako paused here.

"That was how it should have been, but this time the reading was interrupted."

"Interrupted?"

Kaito's curiosity grew.

"Can a reading even be interrupted?"

"Of course."

Akako rolled her eyes.

"My divination is strong, but this is just a quick reading. No special rituals, no crystal ball to assist, just an ordinary deck of tarot cards. To be able to describe that person with this much accuracy is already very good."

"Also, I'm a witch. My divination is a way to determine luck and direction. It's not some search engine that pinpoints someone's location."

"If I really had that kind of ability, do you think I'd be the only witch left in this era?"

Kaito thought about it and realized that she was right.

Even if she hadn't pinpointed a person directly, the amount of information she provided was enough that, with further investigation, the person's identity could be found.

It was already surprising enough that a divination could reach this level.

If Akako could precisely locate someone, that would be terrifying.

Kaito didn't dare imagine such a thing.

"It's still impossible to confirm whether Mrs. Suzuki knows this person or not."

Although Akako had clarified the traits of that person, it was still true that she could not immediately confirm their identity.

"You think she knows them?"

"With so many black pearls scattered around, do you think a thief like you can tell which one it is?"

Kaito paused, then shook his head helplessly.

"I can't be sure."

In this mix of genuine and fake, old pearls and brand-new ones, he had no way to be certain which pearl was the Dark Star.

"You can't even be sure. How could she be?"

"If she knew, you would have already found a way to figure it out. Do you really think she has such a plan?"

Kaito thought for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"So you should have let me divine from the start to see if she knew who held the Dark Star. Why go through so much trouble?"

In fact, no matter who performed the divination, the outcome could be predicted. Unfortunately, right now the circumstances weren't ideal. With no proper ritual tools and the scene being noisy, the reading was bound to have distortions.

Akako sighed. Why was she even doing this here?

She grumbled in her heart but still quickly focused on the reading again.

Keeping the question simple helps make up for the loss of accuracy.

Because this question was simple, only the upright or reversed position of the card would matter.

So this time, she just shuffled the deck and drew a single card.

The card drawn was Death, reversed.

"The card is reversed. So Mrs. Suzuki doesn't know who owns the black pearl."

Akako's answer made Kaito's expression turn pale. It was now clear that he had completely lost to Mrs. Suzuki this time.

This loss wasn't just because he had been outmaneuvered, but because of the method she used.

She cut off all her own retreat, leaving herself no way out, which also completely destroyed his retreat.

Mrs. Suzuki won by eliminating all her own options.

This victory was not a surprise. It didn't rely on any tricks. It simply surpassed his predictions about human nature.

"Well… alright. I've completely lost this time."

Kaito quickly composed himself.

It wasn't that he couldn't accept failure, especially when Mrs. Suzuki had gone to such lengths.

The only thing unclear now was how Jii had been exposed.

But there was no need to pursue that. As long as a person leaves traces, this kind of result is much more reasonable than anything else.

Perhaps the Suzuki conglomerate's investigation was just that thorough.

(To be continued.)