Vol 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)
Time flows on, and few days later
Not including Dorothy; Me, Maria, and Lily are at the Bilderberg hotel, located in Oosterbeek, Netherland, a popular resort for tourists
I asked Maria as to why Dorothy wasn’t here with us, to which she replied with “This event does not concern her” As we near out destination, I know fully well that the idle ti short of luxury
Yes
This is clearly my problem to solve
Maybe one a little funny under this intense pressure Soement when they’re driven into a corner; I think they were talking about me
It was someone who hired a bunch of ar Thankfully the situation concluded as an “atte
Another “Blackhazel” that I’ve never seen before, other than Maria and Dorothy
I can assume for myself what this ‘hatred of Blackhazel’ symbolizes And this fear I feel when I think that this ‘hatred’ is directed straight at , I think I can figure out that much
‘I really don’t want these guys as eneht now
And fros right atbrute
“Are you nervous, Onii-sama?”
Maria, seated next to me, looks to my side with a worried look on her face
“Ah? Er, well, just a bit”
“Are you afraid of them?”
It’s all because of you, geez
The person who made me realize what ‘fear of Blackhazel’ symbolized
“I, I guess so? Probably”
Maria ihts momentarily
And suddenly, she reaches forward and grabsme surprised by the skinshi+p I didn’t expect
“I can understand the worries that are going through your head right now”
“Ahaha”
I aardly scratch the back of my head
“But reht beside you, by Onii-sama’s side”
“Ah, okay”
“Yes Even if the whole world turns against you, just remember that I will always be on Onii-saet that”
It does sound pro
“I am Maria Lunalady Blackhazel The one and only master of the Blackhazel family, in possession of all the wealth there is to exist in this world I th There is nothing to fear”
Yes
No matter how rancorous the Blackhazel fas, Maria is the one and only master of the Blackhazel family She is on the apex of hierarchy
What she said is definitely giving th
Maria then reaches into her pockets, fu
“But before that, Onii-sa to show you”
Eraph
“This is…?”
On the photograph is a boy and a girl, noheterochroirl is Maria
S like a child, Maria has a balloon in her hand
The boy is hugging her fro away mischievously
Then this boy is…
“Do you remember? It’s a picture of ”
This boy is me?
A boy like this, hugging and laughing with Maria like it’s nothing, is really me?
“It feels strange”
Maria sh aardly
“Do you understand now? This girl will continue to make more and more fond memories with Onii-sama, like we have before”
Call it a defiant willpower? Well, I’ froht now
“To suive up on Onii-sama”
“Haha”
In a situation like this, I really don’t kno I should respond to her
“Whether it’s the other Blackhazel family member or an omnipotent, omniscient God…”
“God, you say”
“Nothing in this world can tear apart this feeling I hold for my Onii-sama”
Realizing the truth eli she held towards me
I’m positively sure there’s not ainst Maria’s willpower straight on
Even If they can, I’ that they’ll come out in one piece
Even if that person really is God itself
Yes
This girl is dependable to the point where it starts to feel unco and fussing too much about it
And no uard Lily beside me
It’s not like I’, it’s just a ‘faestions here and there
Let them come I can take ‘em
◇◆◇
Travelling past the Dutch border, we arrive at the Hotel de Bilderberg’s heliport, located on the roof of the hotel
“We have been waiting for you, Master”
There awaits a group of reet us They somewhat lacked the soft humanistic quality most of us have, but rather, an air of professional coldness could be felt around these men in black
“There is no need for formalities Please, escort us to the conference room”
Maria, in turn, replies back in an monotonous voice devoid of e all the useless forht to the issue It’s si cruelly efficient
But as soon as we move our feet to proceed to the room, one of the men steps forward to stop us
Facing Maria, who see on, the man explains
“Carrying weapons inside the conference is forbidden I would ask you to leave the weapons that child over there carries with us for the ti”
Aha, so it was so like that
But contrary to my expectation, Maria narrows her eyes to a slit in suspicion, and replies back in protest
“How rude Just who do you think I am?”
“We’re only following the rules, ma’am”
“You speak as if I will massacre everyone inside the conference hall”
“There’s no telling if you will”
These ht poker face aren’t too bad with their words, either
“You, how dare…!”
Maria is the first to show her eains her coesture for Lily
Lily nods in dull silence, and steps forward to the man in suit
“First, the violin case”
“…”
Lily quietly hands over the violin case
But as soon as the man in suit take a hold of the violin case:
“-Urf?”
He collapses on the spot, unable to take the weight of the case
At the same time, Lily dashes forward and dives into the chest of a different man, and let loose two consecutive jabs Perhaps he was underesti the power of her jabs: thehis chest in pain, clearly suffering from a formidable impact
“You brat!”
And the men take on a formation around Lily, a situation that is all too familiar
But even these poker face ainst Lily In a sense, think of Lily as an anonyh school student) shouting off to the eneainst ht about why the protagonist, ears less ar?
Approaching the rees She approaches a different man nearby, and unleashes a jab on his face
“Arrgh!”
Teeth shatter, and noses break You guys really are progressive when it coressive when it co injuries
And so, the situation draws to a finale
“Hmph Lily, never hand it over…”
All this happened before the et up and regain his posture
Call it split-second, lighting-fast, but the point is that it happened in a blink of an eye
But really, all you had to do was hand the weapons over, was there really a need to brandish violence idiotically like this?
Maria, who seeh my head, adds on her explanation as to what happened
“If Lily really did hand over her weapons, then these ”
“What?”
“These men are fake”
While I try to piece together what Maria has told azes at me
“The real guards that’s supposed to be here should be sinking to the bottom of the lake somewhere”
With that, Maria waltzes inside the hotel entrance without a moment’s delay, with an air of coolness
…
I said in a sense, you could say that I’ too much about it
It’s not like I’, it’s just a ‘faestions here and there
Oh my God
It wasn’t as simple as that!
◇◆◇
Co down a floor from the hotel roof, we board the elevator at the 40th floor
The conference rooht below the hotel penthouse, a second penthouse in hiding, if you will Since it’s different fro to Maria, it’s impossible to enter by conventional means, nor is its existence known You could only enter the roo a special premium card in the elevator
So, normally the floor itself wouldn’t even be marked With that, the hotel ‘penthouse’ would be located at the 41st floor, and the real 40th floor existed just for this secretive conference to take place in
After the card iped into the elevator, the elevator heads to the Secret Floor: 40, and stops on it
As the door opens, a dull light shi+nes on the Greek-style s inside The floor of the lobby is covered in undeniably exquisite carpet It feels like I’ue of evil somewhere
“I have few things to ask of you”
“Hmm?”
Maria opens her mouth to speak, just before we try to step inside the lobby
“To get you started, those that await us inside are nothing but a reed in human skin”
“…”
Within Maria’s voice, I could sense an uniinable hatred of deepest rancor, imbued with her every words
“No matter what taunt or threat they may use, Onii-sama must never react nor reply to it at any cost”
“I got it”
“And no ht straight, but please look to the wall behind them if you must”
“Er, alright”
Pretty detailed co out
“If you cross eyes with the that is considered subive a little nod, and look away gently”
I think I can understand where she’s getting at
Do not be seen submissive Keep your formalities, but keep your pride up, act like a Blackhazel would act against another Blackhazel, befitting of your heritage
“I understand where you’re getting at”
“And finally, another thing”
“…There’s still some left?”
“Yes This is the oneyou absolutely must keep in mind”
Like what she’s asking of h
But contrary toraive off a gentle smile
“Remember I will always be on Onii-sama’s side”
“…”
She’s really got a talent forme feel needlessly uneasy
But the words she’s saying do sound pro
“Okay, shall we get going then?”
“Yes”
Maria lessens her grip on ain continues our walk, our stepsthat of Maria
Towards the other Blackhazels
◇◆◇
They are the nameless conquerors
The incidents they have plotted and schees of history Their wealth are divided up to funds, loans, gold, or priceless artworks; it takes on round factions everywhere
The Swiss Bank, FRB (Federal Reserve Board), IMF, and e the wealth this world has
Wars and revolutions, depressions, civil movements…
While nuh the ups and doith the flow of tidom they have erected has never experienced a shake in their foundation
Authority is as fragile as a candle is to a gust of wind, but wealth is ato materialize
In their kingdom, there are no citizens, nor are there territories
There exists only a solitary emperor, its sole citizen and deputy
Therein lies the empire, dubbed with the name ‘Blackhazel’
Bounded by the shackles of blood, the chains that wound shut, forbidding escape from anyone inside
They are the dark hands that guide forth the world’s econo behind veils of shadow
“You are late, Master Maria”
Opening the door, I could see about five to sixinside
They were sitting around the circular table and their vivid rancor could be felt froaze headed towards my way, to the end of the table
“It has been a long time, elders of the Blackhazel family”
“There;s no need for useless greetings Let's get right to the point”
Abeard and tall posture, opens his mouth to reply
That’s that, but cutting right to the point seems to be the characteristics of this family I’m in
“You seemed to have prepared a fun little trick for me, uncle”
When you say ‘fun little trick’, then is she talking about the…
“Het swindled by those uneducated fools in the first place Think of it as a little play”
And this person who regards so to be easy to deal with, either
“’Play', you say”
Maria snaps her finger as a gesture for Lily
Bang!
And at the same time, Lily pulls out a pistol from underneath her coat and fires a shot towards her uncle
“So like that can’t even be considered a play, at best”
But the bullet whizzes past his head and lodges itself in the wall behind him
This person called Maria’s uncle ; he only sat there with a cold shtly
Nothing here is normal
Even if she did miss How many people in this world could just sit there and not even blink their eyes, with a bullet whizzing right past you?
It’s a façade I can’t even begin to iine
Call it unflinching? It’s a façade that norin to recreate
Not only that, but no one inside the conference roo If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that everyone in this room was deaf
“With this, we are even”
“Do you understand just what you are doing right now?”
“I a what I have received”
“I a yellow ht over there”
Her uncle raises his voice and points toLike Maria said beforehand I only gaze at the wall behind him, like a tombstone
“Yellow monkey, how rude This person is my Onii-sama”
“So you dare defile the noble Blackhazel heritage with the pitiful blood of Asian race!?”
“Half the blood that flows through hihtful Blackhazel line His blood is not that thin to be defiled by the pitiful Asian race”
Mmhmm So she doesn’t deny the fact that half my blood is pitiful
Not that I’m in any position to complain about it now here, of all place
“I need not hear about such nonsensical excuses!”
“Master Maria Will you defile the Blackhazel bloodline with a pitiful Asian blood, starting with the Decayed Blood (劣化の血)?”
Decayed Blood…?
What the hell are they talking about now?
“Until ill you stop letting such trivial traditions get in the way?”
In response to Maria shaking her shoulders and half- the company, one of the family rises up to complain
“How dare you call it trivial traditions! Just what do you take the Blackhazel bloodline for? It’s a heritage born fron and dominate over plebeians!”
“Don’t e for emperors?”
Maria ridicules softly, and continues her words