Starting With The Sefirah Castle In The Anime World

The 60th anniversary of the Suzuki Zaibatsu was a major event recently.

In particular, a thief openly provoked the Suzuki Zaibatsu, even attempting to target the black pearl that the Zaibatsu had showcased earlier that morning. This incident caused quite a stir.

The previous theft at the Beika Museum had ended with the thief leaving yet another taunting notice.

However, the tone of that letter had been extremely provocative, forcing the Suzuki family to bring out the real black pearl and engage in a high-stakes gamble with the thief.

In the end, would the Suzuki family manage to protect the black pearl, or would the thief successfully steal it?

Of course, such an event unfolding during the 60th anniversary celebration of the conglomerate made the whole thing feel like a joke.

To put it bluntly, if the Suzuki Zaibatsu could defeat a thief, that was expected.

But if they couldn't even do that, it meant they were no better than a thief.

Risa Asakaze's eyes flickered slightly. Then she said cautiously, "Honestly, everyone's watching the Suzuki Zaibatsu's 60th anniversary event."

"Waiting to laugh at them, huh?"

Nagi wasn't nearly as cautious, saying out loud what others merely implied. Her expression didn't show the slightest concern about what others thought.

"If they want to watch, let them watch. Do you think Suzuki would care?"

Sonoko, whose name had come up, chuckled with a casual smile.

"That's right, laugh if they want. If our Suzuki family cared about stuff like that, we wouldn't be doing it this way in the first place."

Sonoko was well aware that many other conglomerates were mocking the Suzuki Zaibatsu.

But so what?

Maybe it used to matter to the Suzuki family in the past, but it didn't mean anything now.

They could've avoided the whole joke to begin with. Just look at what her mother had done initially—swapping out the real black pearl at the last second. That move alone could've completely undercut the thief's arrogance.

But didn't Ren change everything?

He restored the black pearl's original luster and even made modifications to it, turning what had once been a symbolic heirloom into a real one. How could they keep a low profile after that? The Suzuki family had no choice but to shift focus to substance.

"???"

Seeing Nagi and Sonoko's reactions, Risa Asakaze was full of question marks.

"So, there's a secret behind all this?"

"Well, sort of. Like Nagi-chan said, if you can find out, then go ahead and try."

Sonoko didn't seem to care much. She knew a few things, but some details weren't so easily uncovered.

"You're seriously saying that…"

Risa looked skeptical. The way Nagi and Sonoko phrased things clearly meant there were layers to this mystery. Still, it seemed obvious that the hidden story behind it wasn't something easy to uncover.

"In that case, can we also attend the Suzuki Zaibatsu's 60th anniversary?"

"Yeah, sure."

Sonoko thought about it briefly and didn't decline.

"My family should've sent an invitation to the Asakaze Shrine already, but your parents probably haven't responded."

"Then I'm sure there's been no reply."

Risa muttered bluntly.

"My old man hates social events. My mom always says he was born to run a shrine."

"And every time, he replies with the same thing. 'What's wrong with guarding a shrine? Maybe the gods will appear someday.'"

That was clearly a complaint from Risa's dad.

But his words immediately caught the attention of many in the room, and their eyes instinctively drifted to Ren, who was quietly eating cake.

The existence of gods was supposed to be impossible—especially in a scientific world like this one. Such things were unrealistic.

But even in a world so grounded in science, there now existed someone who might genuinely be walking the path to godhood.

In a way, Risa's father's complaint could be seen as a kind of prophecy.

Sonoko quickly came back to her senses and shifted her gaze.

"In that case, I'll have my sister send you an individual invitation after the party."

"Ms. Katsura Yukiji, Miss Katsura Hinagiku, do you want to join us too?"

"Oh my gosh!"

Yukiji's eyes lit up green with desire. The only thing on her mind was the lavish banquet.

Even though Hina was restricted from drinking too much, there was no rule against having alcohol. That made Yukiji genuinely excited to attend a party where fine liquor would clearly be served. After all, this kind of premium alcohol was rarely available unless you went to events of this level.

"…Sister."

Seeing her older sister's expression, Hinagiku knew it would be impossible to decline.

"Thank you, Ms. Suzuki."

"Ah, it's no big deal. It's just an invitation. Miss Hinagiku can also try investigating the secrets we're hiding. If you do figure something out, I think that would be kind of fun."

"Hmm? Sure, I'll give it a try."

Hinagiku wasn't sure why someone would be so open about letting others dig into their secrets, but since the person involved had given the green light, she figured there was no harm in looking into it.

Sometimes, the more something was hidden, the more people wanted to uncover it.

"Well then, let's wrap up the serious talk."

As the host, Nagi was the first to stand up, raising a glass of juice.

"Yesterday was Hayasaka's birthday. Today is Sakuya's. Tomorrow is Sonoko's."

"I think it's fate that our birthdays are so close together. So since fate brought us together, let's celebrate all three of our birthdays at once."

"I just feel a little bad for Hayasaka, since her birthday was yesterday, and for Sonoko, since hers is tomorrow."

In truth, Nagi had only learned yesterday that all three of them had April birthdays—each just a day apart.

So, this birthday party had been organized hastily, with only close friends invited.

"In any case, I still want to wish the two of them a happy birthday today."

"This is our first birthday party together. I believe there'll be many more to come."

(To be continued.)