“…!”
After making a slip of the tongue, they hushed and did not get to the point.
Nevertheless, I quickly grasped the context of the conversation they were having because, thanks to the novel, I had prior information that no one else knew that Diera had the holy beast egg.
“I-It’s not…”
Guillaume hesitated with a stunned face, and Thierry snorted.
“The Princess must have made a rough guess after listening to the conversation.”
“I don’t do bluffing. Since Sir Thierry is sloppily feigning innocence, why don’t you sell me that holy beast egg and we become accomplices together?”
“Accomplices? Does that mean I’m already a criminal? On what basis?”
He stared at me expressionlessly. When his peculiar carelessness disappeared, he looked quite sharp.
I was almost daunted as Thierry suddenly became serious, but he was not scary compared to the Master, so I continued in a relaxed tone.
“I see that Sir Thierry is bluffing. What if I tell Sir Diera later to check again if the fossil is genuine?”
“…”
“Just hand it over to me. I’ll pay you more than the black market. I have a lot of money.”
Thierry tilted his head slightly.
“The hatching artifact hasn’t appeared until now, so it’s nothing but a rock… Why would you want to buy it for more than the black market?”
‘He’s sharp.’
Seems like he didn’t enter Epsilon for no reason.
‘If I keep obsessing about the fossil, he might suspect me. It will be troublesome if he finds out that there is an artifact that can hatch it.’
I shrugged once.
“I enjoy the possibility of hitting it big because I like to make a fortune in one stroke. Don’t you think it would be something fun in our boring life?”
“Amazing…”
Guillaume let out a small exclamation as he thought that I really was the Seymour’s ruffian, as rumored.
Fortunately, he was a simpler guy than Thierry.
“I’m not only interested in the holy beast egg, but also in the red horse that Sir Thierry mentioned earlier. Is that sure information?”
“Don’t tell me, you’re saying you’re going to join the horse race?”
“Am I just going to join it? As an accomplice, I should do that much.”
Their eyes widened at the words that followed.
“Are you serious?”
“By what means?”
“It’s no fun if I tell you beforehand, so I’ll see you at the race track.”
***
‘… Ah, I really went all the way.’
I couldn’t believe that I, who was a petit-bourgeois who had never stolen 100 won from someone else’s pocket in my previous life, came to a racetrack like this.
The way to the racetrack was also difficult.
Thierry had a rather meticulous organization, even though it looked reckless.
After entering the basement of a large pottery shop, he shared a map of the back alleys that followed along deep passages and lead to the racetrack.
Thanks to that, I could easily evade my guard and come to a place like this.
It was obvious how worried I was because of that Thierry guy from the Orgo family.
I tried to calm my thumping heart down in front of the dreary racetrack.
Yeah, this place was better suited for a villainess.
When the afternoon tea party, which had been completely ruined, came to my mind, I became bitter for some reason.
A few days ago, I arrived about ten minutes late to the tea party I had been secretly looking forward to because I was talking to Thierry and Guillaume.
It was a small tea party, not a formal one, and the Epsilon ladies didn’t say much about my being late.
“P-please don’t worry about it. Lady Deborah.”
“Exactly! Sit h-here. It’s the spot that gets the most sunlight.”
‘Don’t tell me, are they keeping quiet and letting it go because they’re scared of me?’
Maybe it would have been better to not go at all instead of going late.
“Ohoh. Princess Deborah. Your clothes are so beautiful today.”
Thinking about it now, it was a somewhat artificial laugh.
“E-exactly, how should I say it, they’re elegant while also being simple.”
I only went to listen to the chatter about the ladies’ daily lives, but I felt overwhelmed because the conversation seemed to revolve around me.
‘I even wanted to see the 5th Princess, who did things her own way.’
Should I give up on the regular tea parties?
I still couldn’t give up hope that it would be better if the 5th Princess or an executive attended.
‘If the 5th Princess had been there, I think I would have someone higher to restrain me, so the atmosphere would have been better than it was.’
I tried to shake off the ambiguous feeling as I grabbed my pocket watch and walked around.
‘But why aren’t those two coming? Even though they told me many times to come a lot earlier than the start of the match.’
“You’re here! Princess.”
At that time, I heard a familiar voice behind me, and Guillaume waved his hand.
“I didn’t expect you to really come.”
Thierry looked at me and muttered in a low voice.
As promised, they appeared wearing robes of the same color as their hair. I was also wearing a dark purple robe.
“Finally, the day of the deciding race has come.”
Guillaume said in a serious voice.
“If we don’t win today, there will be no tomorrow.”
“We won’t see the sun tomorrow.”
‘Then don’t gamble in the first place. You guys.’
I looked pathetically at the two needlessly resolute figures and walked towards the entrance of the racetrack.
There was still a lot of time left for the race to start, so the place where the betting tickets were bought was quiet.
In the field, which was visible beyond the window of the ticket office, the horses that were scheduled to race today were in the middle of training.
Thierry, whose carelessness was nowhere to be seen, patiently watched the horses training with his arms crossed.
“How is it?”
“The red horse is in much better shape than I expected. Both the condition of his fur and stride are satisfactory.”
“Is number 3 the horse that Sir Thierry is certain will win?”
“Exactly.”
Thierry answered briefly.
After I decided to join the boat as an accomplice, he began to talk comfortably to me as if he had given up his chivalry.
“But I’ve never seen a jockey like number 3.”
Guillaume muttered as he looked through the pamphlet with the jockeys.
“I saw that jockey training for a while last time, and his ability to handle horses wasn’t normal. I’m certain he can win both obstacle races and flatland races.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Guillaume explained.
“Swordsmen and horses are inseparable. In particular, the Orgo family ran a huge horse ranch, and Thierry grew up seeing many horses since he was a child.”
“Then he knows which horse is the weakest.”
“The movements of number 1 look somewhat sluggish today.”
As soon as Thierry finished speaking, I pulled a bundle of gold coins from my bag and bought a betting ticket for horse number 1.
“I thought I said number 3…”
Thierry clenched his teeth and muttered. The veins on his neck popped out, and his fists were trembling.
“H-hang in there, Thierry. It’s just Princess Deborah’s money since we haven’t handed her the item yet. And we’re broke.”
“Haa.”
“Princess Deborah, do you not trust Sir Thierry’s discernment? Shouldn’t we be in harmony if we’re in the same boat?”
“It’s because I have an idea. Just wait.”
After about 40 minutes.
5 minutes before the start of the match.
“We’re screwed. We can never win with horse number 1.”
“Princess Deborah, this is not the time for jokes. The two of us are in a really serious situation. Didn’t you hear everything in the music room?”
“Alright, I get it. It’s time for us to move.”
“… What are you going to do?”
I began to refund all the betting tickets I bought today.
And then bet all the money that was refunded and all the money I brought on the horse that Thierry had pointed out.
“If you were going to bet on number 3, why did you do this cumbersome thing? You just lost the commission.”
Thierry was slightly irritated.
“Over there, look at the renewed odds.”
This racetrack updated its dividend rate every 10 minutes.
And now, 5 minutes before the start of the match, the amount of money won when betting on horse number 3 had increased beyond comparison.
Because everyone was betting only on horse number 1.
“I told you I could give you quadruple the money. Did that sound like a joke?”
Thierry’s eyes widened at my words.
“Princess, are you saying that you created that dividend rate?”
“Yes, by using crowd mentality. Everyone is betting only on horse number 1, which I had bet on at the beginning.”
I explained it kindly to the two of them, who looked confused.
