The man who had barged in unannounced was the father of the triplets, and his name was said to be
Bowen.
Despite his name, he had anything but a calm temperament, and his disruptive intrusion had forced the match to a halt.
He appeared to be aware of Jinshi and the Eccentric's presence, but he had far more pressing reasons for being there.
"So this is your son's finger..."
The commotion had driven the spectators away, and only the concerned parties remained in the theater.
The match was suspended. The Eccentric strategist had seemed eager to say something, but before anyone realized it, he had slumped face-first onto the go board and fallen asleep.
He must have been thoroughly exhausted. In a corner of the theater, an attendant was tending to him. He had the look of someone wanting to ask Maomao to take over for him, but when she glared at him, he fell silent.
Instead,
Enen
and the others came by to see what had happened. They seemed curious about the whole affair and simply settled in without leaving.
Yao nearly fainted at the sight of the fingers lying on the table. Even if one had grown somewhat accustomed to such things, the sight of a severed surface was still hard to bear.
With both the intruder and the Eccentric in this state, the resumption of the match was still a long way off.
"I've kept proper records, so there shouldn't be any problem."
Raban had told Jinshi, "Once things have calmed down, we'll pick up where we left off." Jinshi looked somewhat put out.
To think he had gone to such lengths to secure a flawless victory—brazenly resorting to every underhanded and despicable trick in the book.
(Then again, with that kind of advantage, even the Eccentric could hardly have won.)
But it did seem he had been in league with Raban.
He was the sort of man who would sell out his own father and grandfather, so if their interests happened to align, he would readily sell off one foster father without a second thought.
(Should I press him on this?)
No—pressing the matter would only drag things out.
What bothered Maomao more, though, was Bowen confronting the old man.
"Won't you explain what's going on?"
Bowen was being held back by his two sons.
The three people who had barged in looked utterly out of place, and if the father so much as laid a hand on them, they would have been restrained without complaint.
Jinshi was left wearing an indescribable expression. The match had ended on a sour note, and his face clearly showed his displeasure.
"Perhaps you could explain? We had our water poured out too, you know. I trust there's a good reason for this."
Bowen did not seem to be in any state to defy Jinshi's words. He appeared to struggle with how to put it, and instead, one of the triplet brothers standing behind him spoke up.
"Brother — Second Brother has gone missing."
Second Brother — the second-born, meaning the middle triplet. He had apparently been under scrutiny lately for causing trouble on the day of the thunder ceremony.
"He's been missing for three days. This morning, this cloth-wrapped parcel arrived at our house."
The fingers belonged to an adult man. They supposedly belonged to the second son, who was not here.
"May I see it closely?"
"Who the bloody hell are you?!"
Bowen shouted, but when Jinshi glared at him, he fell silent.
He was not exactly a party to the matter, but he was aware of the situation — as were Yao and the others.
However —
(Why is even that man still lingering around?)
It was the so-called Go Sage who had been watching Jinshi's match.
He sat in his chair with a perfectly innocent expression, looking so thoroughly composed that Bowen and his father said nothing to him.
They clearly had plenty they wanted to say, but with Jinshi watching, they needed to collect themselves and explain properly. Bowen took a deep, slow breath and continued.
"Because of you, my son was accused and arrested. And on top of that, accusations from people who claim they were victimized in the past have been piling up."
He brought it on himself. The youngest triplet glanced away. He had surely pinned his own misdeeds on his second brother as well.
The father was worried about his son, though it was hardly a new development. He had apparently been sheltering the prodigal boy all along — was he truly incapable of realizing he had raised him wrong?
"And one of these people kidnapped my son?!"
"That's exactly what happened!"
Bowen slammed the table in response to his father's question.
"Do you have any idea who it might be?"
"How should I know?! Do I monitor my children's every move?!"
(Maybe I should have done it after all)
Maomao examined the finger. The cross-section was already darkened.
(If it had been fresh, it could probably have been reattached)
Beyond that, it was likely severed after death, not while alive.
She had heard that there was a difference when cutting through a human body, whether the person was alive or dead. Her father would know, and more importantly, the sorrowful expression on his face as he looked at the finger spoke volumes.
And then, one more thing.
(Its nail has discolored)
Around the center, it had turned a dark, blueish-black hue.
"..."
Maomao tugged on the sleeves of Yao and Yan Yan.
"What is it?"
"I think we should offer some tea. Could you help me?"
"Oh, sure."
The presence of a third person wasn't strictly necessary, but inviting Yao meant Yan Yan would come, and inviting only Yan Yan would make Yao pout. It couldn't be helped.
"But, is there any tea?" Yao asked.
"There is, but perhaps something a little higher quality would be better."
Yan Yan glanced briefly toward Jinshi. Since she knew who he was, they couldn't serve anything odd. She was a capable court lady who, despite no personal affection, possessed that level of consideration.
"He's not going back?" Yao wondered.
"He likes sticking his nose into strange matters, so I suppose it's inevitable," Yan Yan remarked.
Yan Yan was indeed unsparing. Listening, Maomao thought it was harsh, but then she recalled that she herself used to say similar things quite often.
"If it's fruit water or something like that, there's plenty. It was a gift from Master Luomen."
"Fruit water, you say..."
Maomao stroked her chin.
"Is there any grape water?"
"I think so. It was stored in beautiful glass bottles, so the quality is likely good as well."
"Then let's go with that, shall we?"
Maomao headed for the dressing room backstage.
"Um, is it really okay to just take them?"
Yao looked worried.
"You received quite a lot, didn't you? He's asleep, so he won't notice one bottle gone."
"…If Maomao says it's fine, then I think it should be alright."
En'en also agreed, so they decided to help themselves to the tribute gifts that had been left there.
She poured into cups and prepared enough for everyone, then returned — but the discussion seemed to be going in circles.
Hakuun was shouting up a storm while the old man sat and listened in silence.
Jinshi sat motionless without doing anything in particular, but the tips of his fingers were shaped as though gripping a go stone, so perhaps he was contemplating his next move.
The Meijin's expression remained unreadable. It was unclear why he was even there.
Rahan was still present as well, but he looked exhausted from handling the aftermath of the tournament. The physical cleanup was part of it, but he had apparently already collected an advance payment and was now writing a document about how to handle the eccentric's instruction.
"Please."
Yao and En'en distributed the fruit water.
Rahan briefly wrinkled his nose as if to say "Is this sake?" but after sniffing the scent, he seemed to realize it was fruit water. Like the eccentric, he wasn't much of a drinker. Since it had been served in vessels commonly used for sake, it was hardly surprising he'd mistaken it.
Just then, En'en held out a cup to the man who appeared to be the eldest of the triplets.
With a *clink*, the cup was slapped away.
Red liquid danced through the air. The metal cup hit the floor with a clang and rolled away.
"Big sister…"
The youngest child wore a bitter expression.
En'en was drenched with red droplets from head to toe, but her expression didn't change.
(Thank goodness it wasn't Yao.)
If it had been, then En'en truly was terrifying. The same En'en who wouldn't so much as flinch if fruit water were splashed on her became an entirely different person when it came to her young mistress. Of course, En'en would never have subjected herself to standing before a known womanizer, but still.
"My apologies. I wasn't sure what you'd prefer."
En'en tidied up with measured, unhurried movements.
Maomao deliberately had it served to the two of them.
(Just as expected.)
The wrinkles on the old man's face deepened. His eyebrows drooped sadly.
If Maomao had noticed, there was no way the old man hadn't.
The old man let out a quiet breath and rose from his chair.
"Do you dislike wine?"
The old man asked the eldest son.
"...No."
His answer was somewhat halfhearted.
"You're fond of wine, aren't you?"
Hirofumi tilted his head.
"No, that's not relevant right now. What matters is finding my son. Otherwise—"
"I already know where your son is."
The old man shook his head sadly and looked up.
"W-Where?!"
"Your son—you're looking for the second son, correct?"
"That's right!"
Though not the old man himself, Maomao also felt a pang of melancholy.
(He really doesn't understand.)
This troublesome man called Hirofumi truly believed his child had gone missing.
But.
(He can't even tell his own children apart.)
The one the old man pointed to was the eldest son who had overturned his cup. No—the second son pretending to be the eldest.
"...What do you mean?"
"The one who disappeared was your eldest son. As for that, I believe you should simply ask the two sons who are present."
Hakubun stood up and tried to lunge at his father. But the remaining guards stepped in to restrain him.
"What are you talking about! Don't be absurd!"
"It's not absurd. It's the truth."
Maomao couldn't help but blurt it out.
The moment the words left her mouth, she took a half step back, thinking, *I've done it now.*
"Would you mind explaining this in a way even I can understand?"
Jinshi finally opened his mouth. Kisei, standing beside him, nodded.
"Hakubun, I understand what you want to say, but be quiet for now. We won't get anywhere with the conversation. And the two behind you—don't even think about trying to run."
He made sure to hammer the point home.
"Luomen. If this is difficult for you to say, shall I have your apprentice speak instead? It seems your capable apprentice has already arrived at the answer."
He sure liked to run his mouth.
"If I'm wrong, the master can just do what a master should and check my work."
"...Maomao."
Her father looked at her.
With everyone's eyes focused on her, Maomao had no choice but to step forward.
She considered where to start, then first examined the finger.
The owner of the finger was probably already dead. She'd begin with the question of how—and whether—the person had been killed.
"Please pay attention to these nails."
Discolored nails.
"The color of these nails indicates ingestion of poison. It's likely either arsenic or lead."
"Lead poisoning."
Jinshi would remember that well enough.
Maomao looked at Hakubun.
"Your eldest son had quite a fondness for wine, didn't he?"
"...Yes. I believe so."
"Didn't he have a fondness for Anshu wine?"
Maomao remembered. When she had taken the deposition before—on her father's orders—the eldest son had testified that he'd been going out drinking Anshu wine.
And the crackdown on the poisoned wine had been just shortly before that interview took place.
There may have been wine that hadn't yet been collected from the market.
If he'd kept drinking it, the poison would have shown in his nails.
At the time of the deposition, there had been nothing unusual about the eldest son. After that, symptoms of poisoning appeared.
And—
"Isn't it possible he died of lead poisoning? Right in front of the two of you?"
Maomao looked at the remaining two of the triplets.
"Wh-what are you saying?"
"I don't understand what you mean."
What good would feigning ignorance do?
"I have a question."
"Yes?"
Kisei raised his hand.
"Earlier, you mentioned the second son pretending to be the eldest, but from what you're saying, it sounds as though the third son knew about it too?"
"Yes. Even though the triplets look very much alike, I don't think they could fool their own triplet siblings—even their own father couldn't tell them apart."
She said this in a teasing tone aimed at Hirofumi.
"…So you're saying the two of them cut their fingers and staged the whole thing?"
"Yes."
"Why would they go and do that?"
(Could he already know?)
As expected of Kisei, his mind seemed to work quickly. But the answer to his question would be easy enough to explain to everyone.
They might very well be doing it on purpose.
"Because if the second son disappears, the crime can be cleared. Isn't that right?"
Maomao looked at the eldest brother — no, the second brother.
He glared back at her, but couldn't muster a retort, his fists clenched tight.
"…I-Is that true?"
Hirofumi looked at his two sons.
"Can't you see for yourself? Are you unable to tell your own son's face apart?"
"…"
Hirofumi squinted hard.
"…Maomao."
The old man called out to her.
"Pardon me."
Maomao quietly stepped back.
"Then the two of you remaining must know where the eldest son is," Jinshi said.
When Jinshi said it, there was nothing to do but speak. A beautiful face carried an overwhelming force.
"…We buried him in the garden. We didn't kill him. He was drinking and suddenly started acting strange. His complexion was bad, and something was clearly off. Then…"
They thought he had suddenly flown into a rage, but he had stumbled and hit his head.
"I thought about calling someone right away. But my elder brother—"
The third son looked at the second brother.
"Let's say I died. And then I'll become the eldest brother."
For that to work, it was better for everyone to remain unsure whether he was truly dead or not.
They had severed fingers from the corpse and delivered them to the household along with a threatening message.
"What did you say?!"
Hirofumi's voice rose to a shout.
"This is all your fault, old man!"
The second son slammed his hand on the table.
"Now that you can't protect all of us, you're trying to pin the blame on me alone? The worst one of all was my elder brother! And you're no different! Who was it that tried to cover it up when Father's mistress had her hands on—"
"Hey, is what you just said true?!"
Hirofumi, the eldest son, was breathing heavily as he confronted the third son.
"Yeah, the three-year-old girl you're so fond of right now—that's his kid, isn't it? You doted on her because she was your first girl, didn't you?"
"Brother! You promised you wouldn't tell—I helped you with that!"
"Is it true? Is it really true?!"
(What a load of crap.)
Not just Maomao, but everyone else was probably thinking the same thing.
(Cutting off fingers just because someone's dead...)
Maomao believed that once someone was dead, they were dead. They wouldn't be able to tell what happened to their corpse anyway.
Still, just watching this play out, there was nothing to do but be appalled at how repugnant it all was.
She looked outside, where the moon illuminated the night sky, and wished she could return to the dormitory sooner.