Starting With The Sefirah Castle In The Anime World-Chapter 161 - : "Clown"

[Today, the police arrested a groom for poisoning someone at a wedding.]

Because the incident was quite serious, the news was reported on the evening broadcast.

Of course, the report only mentioned the groom who committed the poisoning.

The bride's involvement and the identity of the victim were deliberately omitted.

The implication was clear—the details of those involved were being kept confidential.

But in reality?

It was an intentional suppression of information.

Even the media were downplaying the incident between the bride and the poisoned individual.

After all, the culprit was the groom, which meant the bride was implicated as well.

Especially considering that the bride was the daughter of a police inspector, this part of the news needed to be concealed even further.

As for the identity of the poisoned victim, it had to remain hidden.

She was the second daughter of the Suzuki Zaibatsu and the future heir of the conglomerate.

If the heirs of major corporate families had to face assassination attempts not from internal power struggles but from rival conglomerates, the implications would be catastrophic.

If the families collectively decided to flee the country, the situation would become even more problematic.

After all, if the business environment within their own country was so dangerous that heirs faced poisoning attempts from competing conglomerates, wouldn't every conglomerates heir have to start worrying for their lives?

Thus, certain matters had to be suppressed.

On the other hand, the Takasugi Zaibatsu, which had become the butt of a massive joke, was utterly doomed.

Public opinion crushed the last remnants of the Takasugi Zaibatsu's reputation.

Their former leader, Takasugi Minami, was so enraged that he died in the hospital, a devastating blow.

Meanwhile, Takasugi Mikako faced accusations of illegally transferring assets, along with suspicions of liquidating stocks for cash.

Originally, those funds had been meant for her retirement, but now, they were frozen pending investigation.

With the collapse of the Takasugi Zaibatsu, the company's stock prices plummeted, and many of their assets were seized.

In short—the Takasugi Zaibatsu had lost everything.

And as the sole heir of the Takasugi Zaibatsu, Takasugi Toshihiko now faced attempted murder charges alongside an insurmountable amount of debt.

It was as if he had been pushed off a cliff with no way to climb back up.

At this point, Toshihiko's best hope was receiving the maximum sentence for attempted murder.

Otherwise, life outside prison would be far worse than a lifetime behind bars.

Seated on the sofa, Ren shook his head slightly as he switched off the TV.

Then, he opened his diary, preparing to complete the final entry for the day.

---

[As expected, the fall of the Takasugi Zaibatsu also brought down Takasugi Toshihiko's adoptive parents.]

[But this was inevitable.]

[His adoptive father died from anger. His adoptive mother's assets were frozen for investigation, leaving her future retirement in question.]

[And as the only heir of the Takasugi Zaibatsu...]

[With his adoptive father dead and his adoptive mother losing all financial support, he is now burdened with every debt owed by the Takasugi Zaibatsu.]

[Even if they sold off every last asset, it wouldn't be enough to pay back what was owed.]

[For him, prison is probably the safest place to be right now.]

[If he receives a life sentence, at least he can live out the rest of his days behind bars.]

[But if he only gets ten years... then his remaining time in this world might just be ten years.]

[Still, his fate is a fitting consequence for his actions.]

---

With that, Ren stopped writing—today's diary entry was complete.

Closing the diary, he quietly focused on the sensation of the magic potion digesting within his body.

His Seer sequence had progressed significantly today, thanks to his guidance of Sayuri and the divinations regarding Toshihiko's past.

In a way, he had unknowingly fulfilled the role of a Seer, accelerating his potion digestion.

"Already?"

While examining his spiritual energy, Ren noticed something surprising—his Marauder and Apprentice potions had also progressed in digestion.

There was now only one-fifth left to complete their full digestion.

This pace was honestly a bit shocking.

It had been less than two weeks since he drank the potions, yet all three pathways were nearly digested.

And that was without even intentionally role-playing any of them.

"At this rate... one more week?"

"No... I won't even need a week to finish the rest."

"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be facing a severe potion shortage soon."

A sigh escaped him.

Originally, he wasn't worried about potion progression since he assumed it would take time.

But now, what had previously not been a problem was becoming a major issue.

"Well... I'll do a divination later to see if anything interesting happens."

That could wait.

For now, he had to complete today's lottery first.

The giant roulette wheel spun and slowly came to a stop.

---

[Lord of the Mysteries]

[Acquired: Sequence 8 Potion – Clown]

---

A blue potion bottle appeared before Ren.

He was no longer surprised by such occurrences.

It just so happened that he had finished digesting Seer today, and now the Clown potion had arrived—right on time.

Without hesitation, he pulled out a maple leaf coin and flipped it.

There was no problem with drinking the potion.

The coin landed safely.

Confirmed.

Uncorking the bottle, he tilted it back and downed the potion in one gulp.

The Clown potion had a rather stimulating sensation—akin to carbonated soda, tingling and numbing his tongue.

It was also intensely sweet.

So sweet, in fact, that it was even sweeter than cola—almost sickeningly sweet.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Ren examined the empty bottle in his hand with mild surprise.

"Weird..."

"It's not exactly bad, but why do these potions always taste so strange?"

"!?"

Suddenly, Ren paused.

Something felt off.

The potion he had just swallowed was already digesting.

His mind filled with a single question mark.

"Wait... what's happening?"

"Did I already play the role of a Clown before?"

"Why is it digesting immediately after drinking?"

Ren thought back carefully.

He couldn't recall doing anything that fit the role of a Clown.

He had never made a confession to a girl, nor had he ever visited a circus.

In the past, he had simply been an ordinary high school student.

He didn't see how any of his behavior resembled that of a Clown.

But the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

"Or... have some of my past actions already been judged as Clown-like?"

(To be continued.)

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

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