Magician in Type-Moon

Page 402

Even the clock tower maintains a state of non-aggression with it.

As for why Matouike boarded this ship...

Actually, there weren't many twists and turns in the story.

However, while preparing to head to London, they caught a whiff of the Dead Apostles in a seaside town along the way.

Then, following the clues, they found this place.

Furthermore, when Matouchi arrived at the barrier set up outside the ship, the owner of the luxury cruise ship immediately appeared to "personally greet" him.

So much so that the two sides almost engaged in a fierce confrontation in the crowded resort city, one that could have completely shattered the "mysterious concealment clause".

Furthermore, because the city had a branch of the Magic Association, it was through their mediation that the city was prevented from being destroyed.

After learning Matou Ike's name, the other party changed their initial hostility and directly opened the sealed barrier, inviting Matou Ike to board the ship in an almost "joyful" manner.

At this moment, Medea was standing by the railing, her long purple hair slightly raised, gazing at the distant horizon.

She wasn't wearing the black robes she usually wore in battle, but rather a light, flowing dress with loose sleeves, giving her a casual and natural look.

"They are really sincere. They even waived the one million euro participation fee for us. That's roughly equivalent to one million three hundred and seventy thousand US dollars, one hundred and sixty million yen, or sixty-seven thousand pounds. That's quite a sum."

Medea said lazily, "Over the years, I seem to have picked up an extreme sensitivity to money from Orange."

Matouchi looked at the cruise ship, which was almost full.

"It's definitely not a realm that most magicians can afford, but there are quite a few guys who are willing to pay high participation fees to squeeze in. There are just too many rich guys."

The murmurs mingled with the sea breeze.

For a magician, this should be an amount that is not difficult to come up with.

But if it's just for admission, it's far too extravagant.

Money, in particular, is an important medium of exchange for magicians, so they generally don't have the idea of ​​saving it.

The most typical example is Aozaki Touko.

Whenever she has some spare money, she will use it to buy all sorts of strange and unusual historical artifacts.

As Matou Ike was thinking this, a voice drifted over from behind.

"You're wrong. It's not that there are too many rich people, but that for those guys, getting on this ship means gaining some kind of hope."

Matouchi turned around to look.

They discovered that the person who had approached them was a girl who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.

A slender body wrapped in a blue dress.

Her eyelashes hung down over her high, straight nose. Even the faint traces of youthful innocence on her profile were not enough to detract from her perfection.

Her extraordinary curly hair is reminiscent of a naturally formed gemstone.

Behind her were servants with distinctive mohawk hairstyles.

Even through his suit, you could see his strong physique, making you wonder if he also worked as a bodyguard.

You should know that participation fees are calculated per person, and bringing servants to a place like this...

All I can say is that they are just too rich.

It seemed that he noticed the confusion between Matouchi and Medea.

The girl took the initiative to reveal her identity.

“My name is Luvia Celinta Edfeldt.”

She bent her knees slightly and curtsied.

The name Matouike is certainly familiar to everyone.

The current head of the prestigious Finnish magic family, the Edelfeldt.

Dubbed "Finland's Rising Star" (Lady Crane)

A distant relative of the Tohsaka family, one of the three main families of Fuyuki.

He should now be a member of El-Melloi II's classroom.

"Well, I am..."

Matou Ike was interrupted by the other party before he could say his name.

“I know, I know.” The girl stood up gracefully (crossed out), “A genius magician who participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War, the heir of the Matou family, one of the Fuyuki Holy Grail families, and a collaborator of the monarch family El-Melloi, Mr. Matou Ike.”

Then, seemingly to avoid any misunderstanding, she continued:

"I heard all of this from the teacher, Rin, and Sakura."

The implication is that no information about Matou Ike was deliberately investigated.

“Rin and Sakura…” Matou Ike remembered that when he was gathering information about Tokiomi Tohsaka, it seemed that he had sent his two daughters to the Edelfelt family, a distant relative of the Tohsaka family.

Hmm, I wonder if, after all these years, that guy Kariya has finally managed to win over the widow.

If it succeeds, according to Japanese surname requirements, shouldn't that widow now be called Matou Aoi?

Have you had a child all these years?

Under the influence of memory saturation, the leaps in thought were astonishing, but Matouchi quickly suppressed the impending "brainstorm."

Then he asked:

What exactly is this 'hope' you're talking about?

Chapter 442 The Moving Town

Luvia gave a strange look and tilted her head to look at Matou Ike.

"You didn't know? Then why did you come here?"

"All I knew was that this was supposed to be a gambling ship, and I boarded it simply because it would dock at Belfast (a British port)."

Matou Ike raised an eyebrow and answered Luvia's question calmly.

Luvia's expression seemed to become even more confused. She shook her head slightly, seemingly not understanding why Matou Ike would be completely unaware of this.

Although she was somewhat puzzled, she still explained.

“At the casa of Fim, the winner of the gambling ship owner Van Fim can have the loser grant his wish.”

"I see." Matou Ike nodded, now he understood.

Van Fem is indeed a Dead Apostle with an impressive track record. So many magicians are willing to spend a lot of money to try their luck, probably because they all want to win what they need from Van Fem as the victor.

Whether it's money, spells, or any other kind of magic.

"And what about the loser?" Matou Ike asked again.

"Loser?"

The girl, holding the blue ribbon, smiled.

"Judging from past records, they were usually kept in captivity as blood bags of Dead Apostles, or they might have been auctioned off as raw materials."

She seemed to find this very interesting.

But Matou Ike immediately noticed something strange in Luvia's words.

He asked again:

"Shouldn't magicians be creatures who follow the principle of equivalent exchange?"

In Matou Ike's eyes, gambling is not a big deal in the mystical world; in fact, there are even gods in the Age of Gods who specialize in gambling.

It can be said that something with a long history of images in human history is itself something containing mysterious symbolism.

However, as a concept, the costs paid by both sides in a bet must adhere to the principle of equivalence.

“…Hmm.” Luvia was taken aback by Matou Ike’s words. She couldn’t understand why the man in front of her would bring up a question in such a strange direction.

She thought for a moment before answering:

"Perhaps they are equivalent?"

Matouchi nodded; that was indeed a possible reason.

As the losing magicians, their lives may only be equivalent to what they wanted to get from Van Fem.

Since the other party didn't really know, Matou Ike didn't dwell on the matter further and instead asked:

"Aren't there too many people willing to participate? Are all of them confident they can win against that Van Fem ship owner? Is his gambling skill really that bad?"

Matou Ike's gaze fell on the groups of magicians on the deck.

The number of magicians gathered on this ship was even greater than the total number of magicians in some small countries.

Luvia fell silent for a moment, unable to understand why the man in front of her had so many questions.

She clearly only wanted to get to know him, because that annoying Professor El-Melloi II liked to use this man as an example when explaining certain magic tricks.

Moreover, negotiations between unfamiliar magicians like these shouldn't be...

She turned her head and glanced at the magicians behind her, who were holding wine glasses and exchanging quiet greetings while sipping their drinks.

Turning back to this place, it's a world that feels like a question-and-answer hell.

For a moment, she thought she had returned to El-Melloi classroom.

Despite her some distress, Luvia still answered Matou Ike's question.

"Because this is a casino, participants can not only gamble with the ship owner, Van Fem, but also freely initiate games among themselves, so it's not that the ship owner was a bad gambler."

As soon as Luvia finished answering, Matou Ike's next question came.

"But wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse? Spending a million euros to participate in a game customized by the master, but not actually gambling with the master, isn't that just a waste of money?"

Matou Ike asked to himself, completely oblivious to the black lines that covered the girl's forehead.

"Because the order here is stronger."

After saying those words, Luvia briefly bid farewell and left without looking back.

It seems some of them want to escape this place as quickly as possible.