Super God: If I punch you, you will die

Upon closer inspection, Maria was now holding a beautiful European-style envelope. The front of the envelope was embossed with the Ushiromiya family crest in the shape of a single-winged eagle, and it was sealed with a red and black wax seal. The entire envelope exuded an air of authority, and it was not something Maria could casually take out and play with.

"Maria, what's that in your hand?"

Princess Natsuhime Ushiro also seemed to notice the unusual envelope Maria was holding. Her tone was far too harsh for a child, which is why the other relatives also noticed that something was wrong.

"Sister-in-law Xia Fei, what's wrong?"

"What's this?"

“Maria, where...where did you find this?”

"This envelope is from Mr. Kinzo..." Nanjo murmured, making Lin Yan and the other juniors understand why the atmosphere had frozen on the spot.

The envelope Maria was holding was a specially made envelope for the private use of Kinzo, the head of the Ushiromiya family. In other words, it could only mean one thing: that the envelope contained a message from Kinzo.

Ushiromiya Kurausu and Ushiromiya Ryūfū also looked at the envelope with great interest, and said in succession:

Why would this kind of envelope be here?

"This time, something interesting has come out."

"Let me take a look too."

“No, Maria has to read it. She said Maria should read it to everyone.”

Ushiromiya Hideyoshi's uncle reached out to snatch the envelope from Maria's hand, but Maria held onto it tightly, refusing to let him take it.

"Brother-in-law Hideyoshi, you can't force a child. Maria, where did you get this envelope?"

“Beatrice borrowed Maria’s umbrella along with this. She said that after dinner, Maria would read it to everyone. Maria is the witch’s letter, the messenger.”

"A messenger? The witches on this island are quite fashionable." Lin Yan joked deliberately, but no one laughed along.

"What exactly is written in there? Maria?"

"It's time to read it."

Maria casually opened the envelope. Since the envelope was only sealed with wax, the wax peeled off immediately, and the envelope was opened like that. The wax rolled onto the table, and Hideyoshi Ushiromiya immediately picked it up and examined it carefully.

He then placed the wax block in the center of the table, and Natsuhi, Kirie, and Nanjo all stared wide-eyed at it closely. The wax block was imprinted with the crest of the Ushiromiya family, which was also the single-winged eagle emblem used by Kinzo.

“This is the head of the family’s badge.”

“I have also received letters from Mr. Kinzo, so I know very well that this is Mr. Kinzo’s seal.”

But Kirie questioned this possibility:

"But there should be another identical emblem in this house, right? For example, if there is another seal specifically for sealing wax, even if it's not Kingzo himself, he could still make the same sealing wax, right?"

"No, when Mr. Kinzo sealed the wax, he would definitely have used the ring he wore on his finger, the one that bears the inscription 'Proof of the Right Head of the Shinomiya Family,' to imprint it. The shape and intricate pattern—it can't be wrong, it's Mr. Kinzo's wax seal."

Upon hearing Nanjo's statement, Ushiromiya Zangusu interjected with a rebuttal.

"That's not necessarily true. Every child in this family should have received a letter from Dad. If we use the wax seal from the letter to forge the badge, it's not impossible to impersonate Dad's seal."

“I agree. No matter how similar the badge embossed on the wax seal is to my dad’s badge, it doesn’t prove with 100% certainty that my dad made it, so there’s no way to prove that this envelope is my dad’s.”

“I completely agree. I simply cannot accept the conclusion that it is my father’s letter based solely on the pattern embossed on the wax seal. Dr. Nanjo, could you please refrain from making such statements?”

"This is very rude of me. I have been too presumptuous."

Ushiromiya Kōsū and his siblings successively refuted Nanjō's words, saying that the envelope in Maria's handwriting might not actually belong to Kinzō. They were afraid—genuinely afraid that the letter contained Kinzō's intentions, and that its contents would have a decisive and adverse impact on the distribution of the inheritance.

"Maria, this envelope was given to you by the person who lent you your umbrella, right?"

"Uuuuuu——"

"Who can understand what I'm saying... Is it true or not?"

"Uh... um..."

"So, it was the witch Beatetori who gave the umbrella and this letter to Maria?"

"Woo!"

Maria nodded vigorously.

"I feel the same way as my husband. This is just a smear letter from someone of dubious origin; there's no need to even look at it."

052 The Contract [Please Subscribe]

"It won't hurt to take a look, will it?"

Lin Yan pretended to be a rogue and said this to Zhu Zhixiang. He thought he had lowered his voice, but Xia Fei heard him clearly and glared at him fiercely.

"So, Maria, it was...Beatrice who asked you to read the letter to everyone after you finished eating?"

"Woo——"

"What does it matter? Everyone, this isn't Father-in-law's envelope, it's Beate Lizzie's. Let's not discuss whose it is yet; we can judge after we read the contents, can't we?"

“That’s true. Although it may not necessarily have been written by my father-in-law, it’s true that we’re very curious about what’s written on it. Maria, I shouldn’t have tried to take your letter from you. I’m sorry. Please apologize and read it aloud in front of everyone.”

“Maria, read it out loud.”

"Woo——"

Maria unfolded the letter under the intense gaze of the entire family.

"Do you really think it's a letter from Dad?"

"It's probably impossible. When Dad wants to tell us something, even if he doesn't say it himself, he does it through Genji. I really don't think he would say it in such an elegant way."

"Besides, calling Adam the messenger is even less like something Dad would do. Louzai, it must be that Adam wanted to scare us, so he came up with this performance, right?"

"Maria wouldn't do something so clever."

"It's time to read it."

These words were clearly spoken by Maria, but her voice sounded different from her usual self, leaving everyone speechless.

"Welcome to Rokkenjima, members of the Ushiromiya family. My name is Beatrice, and I serve Lord Kinzo as the alchemist advisor to the main family."

"That's outrageous."

"Shut up."

Mari Abu Hideyoshi spoke with Ewa and continued reading.

"I have served this family for many years in accordance with the contract. However, Lord Kinzo has declared the contract terminated today. Therefore, from today onwards, I will resign from my position as the main family's advisor alchemist. I hereby inform you of this."

"Boring, all nonsense."

"I can't listen to this anymore."

Ushiro-no-miya Kurausu and Natsumi expressed their indignation, but Maria continued reading:

"Next, I must explain some of the contents of the contract to you all. When I, Beaterich, made a condition, I lent a large amount of gold to Lord Kinzo. The condition was that when the contract ended, he had to return all the gold, and I would take back everything from the Ushiromiya family as interest."

"That makes no sense."

"This is absurd from the very beginning."

"To put it bluntly, isn't it just a so-called devil's contract? And now that the contract has ended, she's here to collect interest, no, it should be considered as collecting her accumulated retirement funds? This witch really doesn't want to suffer any loss."

"Lin Yan, it's best not to joke around right now,"

Lin Yan wore an expression that seemed to say, "If we don't joke around now, when will we?" Because every adult around him was either pale-faced or looked completely bewildered.

"Upon hearing this, most of you will likely resent Lord Kinzo for being too ruthless. However, in order to provide you with the opportunity to leave your wealth and reputation, Lord Kinzo has added a special clause. Once the conditions stipulated in this clause are met, I will forever lose the opportunity to reclaim the gold and interest."

"Special terms?"

What are the terms?

"Special terms. Upon the expiration of the contract, Beatrice has the right to reclaim the gold and interest. However, if anyone discovers the hidden contract gold, Beatrice must forever relinquish all rights. Interest will begin to be collected from now on. But if any of you fulfill the provisions of the special terms, including the portion already reclaimed, I will return it all. In addition, I have already accepted the 'Ring of the Head of the Ushiromiya Family,' symbolizing the succession to the position of head of the Ushiromiya family, as the first interest to be reclaimed. Please check it through the seal on the wax."

"You mean this piece of wax? How could Dad possibly give up the ring?"

Ushiromiya Kurausu stared at the seal wax as if he wanted to bore a hole through it, while Ushiromiya Eiha and Ushiromiya Ryufu were staring back at him with the same look.

“Indeed, when we were playing chess before, I felt that Mr. Kinzo's fingers seemed to be missing something,”

"Dr. Nanjo, please don't speak carelessly based on vague memories."

"We can't tell whether it's true or false here. Whether Father-in-law really gave the ring to someone else, and whether what this letter says is true, we can just ask Father-in-law directly, right?"

"Yes, Sister-in-law Wujiang is right,"

"I wonder if Mr. Kinzo will be willing to answer; sometimes his thoughts really can't be deduced by common sense,"

"In any case, this is all nonsense. This golden fantasy is just a smokescreen created by Dad. If you want to talk about this fictitious gold, you guys can talk about it yourselves."

"But brother, didn't the witch say she would hand over the position of head of the family and all the property to whoever finds the gold? Does that mean Miss Beatrice is also Father's legal counsel, or rather, the vault manager?"

"I can't believe that such a strange person would hand over such dubious documents to a child."

Xia Fei refused to acknowledge the letter. Rufus stopped her and instead pressed his elder brother for answers:

"I want you to tell the truth. Is it possible that Dad's assets are being managed by someone I've never even heard of?"

"Impossible. As the acting head of the family, I have a clear understanding of all of my father's assets. Logically speaking, no one can do whatever they want without my knowledge."

"Doesn't that mean there's actually a sum of property that's not under Brother Zangjiu's control?"

"How is that possible? There's no way such a thing could exist."

"Dad possesses assets that my brother didn't have."

"Such a thing is impossible."

"No, there is one, that is my father-in-law, no, it is Beatetrich's gold."

"Let's clarify this whole thing first. To put it bluntly, Dad has a confidant whom even his brother doesn't know about, and this batch of gold has always been entrusted to this person for safekeeping and use. Or maybe some rich guy is just looking for trouble, offering Dad financing with these terms that look like a devil's contract?"

"Could it be that this confidante, Beatrice, wants to test our generation and see who is qualified to let her finance gold?"

Ushiromiya Kirie's words were something that all of them, her brothers and sisters, wanted to understand.

Looking back now, there was always that strange inscription below the witch's portrait in the hall, which hinted that whoever deciphered the mystery of the inscription would gain everything, but to this day no one has understood or confirmed this.

This is simply because they are dreaming and believe that this idea will come true.

And this beautiful dream was revealed here and now through a letter from Beatrice. The letter clearly declared that whoever could find the hidden gold would obtain everything from the Ushiromiya family.

"The location of the hidden gold has been revealed by Master Jinzang through the inscription placed below my portrait. The conditions are fair to everyone who can see the inscription. As long as the gold is found, I will return everything."

So tonight, please enjoy the thrill of wits against Master Kinzo. I sincerely pray that tonight will be an intellectual and elegant night.

—The Golden Beatrice

The study of Udai-no-miya Kinzo.

"Dad, you can hear me. Please answer me."

The door to Ushiromiya Kinzoku's study was being pounded on repeatedly, as if it were a percussion instrument. The shouts coming from outside were from Kurausu, Lyufov, and sometimes Eiwa's voice could be heard. It was his children trying to find out the truth about that suspicious letter.

Ushiromiya Kinzo was having a meal. An elegant tablecloth covered the table, recreating the lavish dinner served in the downstairs restaurant. Ushiromiya Kinzo ate in silence.

Shana removed the empty plate and nervously glanced at the door that was still making knocking noises and at Kinzo Ushiromiya's face.

"They are calling you, should you respond?"

"Just ignore them. Silence is the best form of supper for both God and me."

Should we ask them to be quiet?

"No need, Genji. I can't hear them no matter how they call."

Ushiromiya Kinzo enjoyed his dinner without a care. Genji bowed quietly, took a step back, and then Kanon, who stood like a shadow behind Genji, spoke.

"I heard that Miss Maria received a letter from Beatrice. Should we go and verify its authenticity?"

"Hahaha... That girl's starting so soon? Come on, Beatrice, I have plenty of coins to bet, let's enjoy this night to the fullest, I don't intend to lose. Your smile will always belong to me. Just one more glance, and I wouldn't care about wealth or fame, not even my life. Alright, the roulette wheel starts spinning. Where will the ball land? Black? Red? Or will the house win? Come on, let's begin, Beatrice. I'll show you the power of miracles once again."

Chapter 053: The Golden Legend [Please Subscribe]

October 4th, Saturday

Sat. 4 October 1986

living room.

The mysterious letter that the witch asked Maria to deliver filled everyone's minds, even banishing memories of what dishes were served at dinner.