[Miss Ophina left in a huff.]
A new log entry appeared. Simon sighed inwardly.
Miss Elisa was far too unreliable. She had nearly blown the whole thing. Fortunately, he had managed to turn things around and cover for her.
He absolutely couldn’t let anything go wrong with the Magic Mirror. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to rob Elisa with it yet.
The blue-eyes and red-eyes question was bait he had deliberately dangled in front of Elisa. He had known all along that Elisa would eventually bring it up at one of her gatherings.
In this new era, noble bloodlines had already fallen from their pedestal. To prove their superiority, members of high society had been forced to adopt another standard by which to judge a person’s standing: intelligence.
The blue-eyes-and-red-eyes logic puzzle was precisely the sort of thing that demonstrated intelligence.
Bringing up a question like that at a gathering was certain to make someone the center of attention. The person posing it would also be regarded as a wise individual, someone whose intellect befitted their lofty status.
However, Simon seriously doubted whether Miss Elisa had fully grasped any of that.
That wasn’t important. What mattered was that Elisa had already fallen into his trap.
Hehe. The riddle was free, but the answer certainly wasn’t.
It was time to reclaim the gold pounds that had been taken from me!
***
Miss Elisa had yet to realize that her gold pounds were in grave danger. She continued attending the gathering, drinking two cups of black tea and eating two slices of almond cake as she pondered her male servant’s words.
Although I’m very happy that you said I’m the most beautiful woman you’ve ever met, that was definitely a lie! You can’t even be bothered to spy on me!
Elisa figured that her male servant must have been wary of Princess Ophelia and her [Charm] ability. He wanted to make it clear that he had no interest in her, so he had used Elisa as a convenient shield.
There was an old saying in the Archipelago that roughly meant: A man who becomes a shield can never become armor. In other words, a man who makes a woman feel safe can never become her husband.
Elisa didn’t know whether she should be happy or sad.
That male servant was always so infuriating!
Outside the window, the sky had grown dark, and the gathering was drawing to a close. The three young ladies departed one after another.
Elisa was about to say goodbye as well, but Eleanor and Mabel stopped her and asked her to stay the night.
Mabel sent Miss Julia to the estate to inform Maria, while Eleanor took out a spare nightgown for Elisa to wear.
After dinner and a bath, Mabel dragged Eleanor and Elisa into her room to play cards and board
games.
They soon grew bored, each of them yawning.
Elisa glanced at the screen and decided that cards and board games weren’t nearly as entertaining as [Simon’s Log].
Eleanor glanced downstairs. Compared with playing cards with Mabel, she would much rather have Elisa’s male servant tell them a few stories.
Mabel pushed the board aside and sprawled lazily across the bed. “I’m so bored. Let’s have Mr. Simon come up and play with us.”⁴
“No!” Elisa and Eleanor objected in unison.
Although they were thinking the exact same thing as Mabel, this was a sleepover for young ladies. How could they possibly let a male servant join them?!
Eleanor glanced at Elisa and suggested, “Why don’t we discuss that logic puzzle?”¹
“No.” Mabel protested. “If I think too much, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”³
Elisa breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness Mabel didn’t agree. I have absolutely no idea how to solve that puzzle. No, I need to hurry up and ask my male servant through the [Mirror of Mist]!
Mabel came up with another suggestion and asked Eleanor to play some music.
Eleanor had a maid bring her violin and played a classical piece.
Mabel slept soundly through the whole thing.¹
Eleanor sighed helplessly, tucked Mabel in, turned off the gas lamp, and left the room with Elisa.
“See you tomorrow,” Eleanor said.
“See you tomorrow,” Elisa replied.
Elisa headed toward her bedroom, thinking back on the sleepover they had just had. Aside from being a little boring, the atmosphere had been quite pleasant. Her mind was relaxed, and her heart was at peace.
Is this what it feels like to have friends?
It was the complete opposite of how she felt around her male servant. Her male servant was interesting, but he was also infuriating! Her emotions were constantly rising and falling, like sailing through the Stormy Sea!
After closing the bedroom door, Elisa mentally prepared herself and took out the [Mirror of Mist].
I need to hurry up and ask him for the answer to the riddle before he goes to sleep.
She poured spirituality into the mirror, connecting it to the small mirror her male servant kept close to his body. She had previously instructed him through the Magic Mirror to prepare the small mirror for this purpose.
[Simon felt the small mirror inside his clothes begin to tremble, giving off a cold, eerie aura.]
[Simon took out the mirror. Words slowly appeared on its surface.]
What is the answer to the blue-eyes-and-red-eyes puzzle?
Elisa wrote the question on the mirror.
Her male servant’s reply arrived almost immediately. It was equally brief.
10 pounds.
I knew it!
Since the Magic Mirror charged for its answers, of course her male servant would charge for his as well.
Ten pounds was actually pretty reasonable.
She took out two five-pound gold coins and tossed them into the mirror.
[After accepting the gold coins, Simon wrote the answer on the mirror: The fourth day.]
Elisa waited for a long time, but no other words appeared on the mirror.
“……?”
Where’s the explanation?!
[Simon told the Magic Mirror that the explanation was sold separately, with three pricing tiers: 10 pounds for the basic version, 20 pounds for the advanced version, and 30 pounds for the ultimate version.]
What?! He’s actually selling the answer and the explanation separately! And there are three different tiers for the explanation?!¹
There’s nothing wrong with my intelligence. The basic version should be enough.
[Simon reminded the Magic Mirror that his shop did not allow customers to pay the difference to upgrade. If the basic version proved too difficult to understand, the advanced or ultimate version would still have to be purchased at full price.]
Huh? Are you questioning my intelligence?
Elisa tossed two gold coins into the mirror and firmly chose the basic version.¹
[Simon wrote out the basic explanation: By observing whether anyone died on the previous nights, the villagers gradually eliminate the possibility of whether they themselves have blue eyes, eventually determining their own eye color.]
Elisa fell silent for a long moment, then clutched her head.
Why was I so confident?! What the hell is this explanation even talking about?!
[Simon once again tried to sell his packages to the Magic Mirror. The basic version could teach a Homo sapiens, the advanced version could teach a curly-haired baboon, and the ultimate version could disguise a curly-haired baboon as a university professor.]
Are you saying I’m not even Homo sapiens?!
Elisa clenched her fists.
Your standards for intelligence are way too harsh! All those other young ladies are on the same level as me! They’re curly-haired baboons too!
Helpless, Elisa took two banknotes from her purse, one worth 10 pounds and the other 20 pounds, and fed them into the mirror.
Damn it! I never should’ve bought the basic version!
This time, the explanation was much longer. Instead of writing it out, her male servant used a voice message.
“The logical deduction works as follows. The villagers begin with a hypothetical scenario. Scenario One: If there is one blue-eyed person on the island, that person sees no other blue-eyed people and immediately realizes that he must have blue eyes. He will die on the first night.”
“Scenario Two: If there are two blue-eyed people, each sees that the other has blue eyes and reasons according to Scenario One. When each discovers the next day that the other person has not died, they know Scenario One must be false. There must be one more blue-eyed person on the island, and that person can only be themselves. They will both die at midnight on the second day.”
“Scenario Three: If there are three blue-eyed people, each of them will see two blue-eyed people and reason according to Scenario Two. On the third day, when they discover that the other two haven’t died, they’ll know Scenario Two must be false. There must be one more blue-eyed person on the island, and that person can only be themselves… And so on.”
“In this logic puzzle, the villain didn’t actually provide any new information. The villagers already knew that blue-eyed people existed. All the villain did was turn a piece of information that everyone individually knew in private into common knowledge that everyone knew everyone else knew.”
The ultimate version of the explanation came to an end. Elisa blinked.
I feel like I understood it, but at the same time, I feel like I didn’t. This reasoning is so convoluted!
I’ll write it down for now and study it more carefully later.
Tsk. I can’t believe that male servant knows how to solve such a complicated problem. No wonder Miss Susanna said before that he should go to university and continue his studies.
Could I actually be holding him back?
Elisa felt a little guilty.
[Simon counted the money in a joyful mood.]
What are you so happy about? I’m only letting you hold on to it for me!
Damn it! I spent a whole 50 pounds! It should’ve only cost me 40!
[After putting the money away, Simon reported the matter concerning Ophina to the Magic Mirror. He felt that Ophina’s identity was far from simple, and that the finger bone left behind by Butler Sheldon seemed to be connected to certain affairs among the upper echelons.]
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