#042 Looking at the Fortune
Basically, there were no restrictions on academy students going out. So, most students went out on the weekends.
However, Ruby, who was a serious homebody, was a bit of an exception.
Ruby spent half of her weekends lying in her bed, and I was the maid who stayed by her side, so her going out was not a consideration.
“This way, Amber.”
Coral grabs my sleeve and pulls me with an excited expression.
Today, thanks to her, she was able to feel the outside air for the first time in a long time.
“Where should we start from?”
“Let’s go from where Coral had in mind. “I’m more comfortable that way too.”
I decided to leave the entire outing course to Coral.
To be honest with her, I don’t even know what’s going on in the city around her, and my goal today was to make her as happy as possible.
She led me past the fountain plaza and the posh restaurant district and into a dark alley.
It was a narrow alley with very little sunlight even though it was daytime, so I was a little embarrassed.
“Coral, are you sure you want to go here?”
“Yes. There is a very useful fortune teller here.”
“It’s a fortune teller…?”
“It’s well-known that it fits well. I really wanted to try it.”
I never thought she would be interested in something, even though I could see her ghost.
Wouldn’t most questions be answered just by talking to a dead person?
Well, even ghosts don’t know what will happen in the future.
When she and I arrived, it was in front of a purple tent with religious decorations hanging in abundance.
The sign in front of the tent reads, ‘High hit rate. ‘No refund.’ There was a suspicious writing written on it.
I quietly whispered to Coral.
“Is this really trustworthy, Coral?”
“Of all the fortune telling stores around here, this one had the highest hit rate.”
“How did you find out that?”
“Ghosts come to this place quite often because they are free. When a customer reads a fortune, they follow that person and personally check to see if the fortune is correct. They all told me.”
So, that means I too will be followed by a ghost from the moment I come out of my fortune telling.
For some reason, I feel even more reluctant to go in.
However, Coral seemed too excited to pass by like this, so she had no choice but to go inside as if she was being led.
When I went inside, there were only a few candles lit in the dark space.
I would say it feels similar to the tarot houses and fortune telling stores I saw before being possessed.
As I sat shaking in the unusual atmosphere, an old woman walked out from inside, giggling.
“Who will look at the fortune? Both of you?”
“Yes.”
Coral nodded her head in response to her question, and the old woman sat down in the chair across from us.
As I looked at her eyes, which had turned white as if one of her eyes was blind, the tension rose even more for some reason.
The old woman took out her pack of cards, poured them out on her table, and began to shuffle them.
I expected something quite fantasy-like, but surprisingly it was just an ordinary solitaire.
She gathered her cards back into one pile and set three on the table.
“Choose just one of these.”
The old woman said, pointing to Coral.
“Umm…”
Coral looked at the three cards in turn, then boldly flipped one over.
The overturned card showed a picture of a four-legged animal looking at the moon.
An animal that looks like a wolf, but is strangely small in size.
As we were looking at the picture with puzzled expressions, the old woman picked up a card and explained.
“This is a wild dog. “This beast represents you.”
Coral, who had heard that he was a wild dog, looked puzzled.
“A wild dog?”
“Since ancient times, dogs have been said to be animals that connect the afterlife. “Do you perhaps have a better spiritual sense than others?”
“Yes, that’s right…!
Coral looked at me in surprise at the old woman’s accurate point.
“Wow. I got goosebumps. Amber…”
The saying that the hit rate was good seemed to be true.
The old woman trembled with her hand and pointed to the picture again. Then, she tapped the moon drawn in the sky and continued.
“And this… Is probably your goal.”
“Goal?”
“Okay. “No matter what it is, it is the goal you desire the most.”
“···Can that be achieved?”
“It’s not impossible. But it’s too far.”
“···.”
When Coral heard that it was far away, her expression looked slightly pitiful.
“Being born as a wild dog and chasing the moon will most likely require tremendous patience and effort. “It is your choice whether to be satisfied with just looking at it or to keep chasing it…”
“···I see.”
The old woman, who gave meaningful advice to Coral, gathered the cards together and shuffled them again.
She may have her own standards for drawing her cards, but she quickly placed her three cards back on the table.
As I was staring at the skill, Coral said to me.
“Amber. “Now it’s your turn.”
“Oh, yes.”
I have never been the type to believe in fortune telling.
I have been a non-religious person since before I was possessed, and I have been a person who believes that there is no such thing as life after death.
But Coral, who is next to me right now, is a girl who really sees ghosts.
At least this world is quite different from the one I was in, even if the rules are different.
Thinking of being fooled and giving it a try, she turned over the middle one of the three cards.
“···Huh?”
Huh, the reaction came out automatically.
“There’s nothing on the card…?”
When I pointed out that there was only a blank white card on the card, the old woman frowned, picked up the card, and muttered.
“What a truly strange thing…”
“Why…? “Is it bad?”
The old woman looked at the card with a serious expression for a while and spoke with a confused expression.
“There are usually two cases where a blank card appears. One is that something is wrong…”
The old woman paused for a moment, then looked at me and opened her mouth.
“···Someone who has already died and passed away.”
‘I am a dead person…?’
That doesn’t make sense.
I am alive and well here…
“Otherwise, there are very rare cases…”
“What is it?”
The old woman stretched out two wrinkled fingers towards me.
“When one person has two destinies. “It is something that cannot happen in the first place, but they say that sometimes there are people who get caught up in the play of cause and effect.”
The words “Two fates” Sounded somewhat credible, so I unconsciously focused on what she said.
The old woman said as she put her blank card back into her deck and shuffled it.
“Are you going to try one more time? Also, I can’t guarantee that a blank card won’t come out… ”
“···Yes. “I’ll do it one more time.”
I refused to have my fate compared to such a blank slate.
The old woman set three cards from the pile as before and turned over the card on the left, hoping that the same card would not come out this time.
‘Phew…’
Luckily, it wasn’t a blank slate this time.
When the card was completely turned over, the picture hidden on the bottom was revealed.
From Noble mtl dot com
An illustration of a black hand reaching out to a fruit placed on the floor.
“It’s a fruit…?”
The old woman pointed at me and said.
“···This is the forbidden fruit, the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
“Then what is the hand reaching out behind you?”
It was an ominous-looking hand that I didn’t know why it was black.
“Something is coming… “To you in the very near future…”
Her explanation was somewhat creepy, so I naturally wrapped my hand around her shoulder.
“What is that? “Is it bad?”
“I don’t know exactly about that either. “I am just a fortune teller, not a prophet.”
“···.”
How irresponsible this statement is.
‘It would have been better if you hadn’t told me, it’s uncomfortable…!’
With the anxious feeling that kept coming, I grabbed Coral’s wrist and stood up.
“Are you going already, Amber?”
“Yes. “I’m a little hungry after sitting still…!”
“Really? “Then let’s go eat something.”
After briefly paying the bills with Coral, she left the fortune telling shop as if running away.
Just before leaving the store, the meaningful words the fortune teller said kept replaying in my head.
“Something is coming… “Something…!”
***
“It’s strange…”
After passing the fountain square, two girls peeked out from the alley.
Wearing black hats and sunglasses, they looked around suspiciously.
“You must have seen the two of them going in here…?”
As she rolled her red eyes under her sunglasses back and forth, looking for someone, the silver-haired girl next to her asked, scratching her head.
“Ruby. “Is it really necessary to do this?”
“Yes? “Amethyst, you were the one who said you would follow me.”
“No, that’s true, but… “Isn’t this definitely stalking?”
“···.”
Ruby, who was speechless for a moment at Amethyst’s words, quickly shook her head and spoke confidently.
“It is the owner’s duty to ensure the safety of the maid. “Isn’t that right?”
“···Well, there is a point.”
Amethyst shrugged her shoulders and began exploring them with Ruby.
Then she pointed to something and said:
“Should we go to the tent over there and ask? “You might have seen it pass by.”
“Let’s go…!”
As Ruby pushed her pouty face into the purple tent filled with strange decorations, she made eye contact with the old woman.
“···Did you come to see your fortune?”
“No. I’m looking for someone. “Have you seen the girl with pink hair and two braids?”
In response to her question, the old woman scratched her face and said.
“Pink hair? “She was one of the guests who just left.”
“Where did you say you were going?”
“They said they were going to eat earlier…”
Ruby’s eyes sparkled at the word meal.
“Thank you, then…”
Why is Ruby disappearing so quickly?
Looking at her, the old woman had a puzzled look on her face.
‘···There are a lot of unusual guests today.’
Doesn’t a seemingly fine customer draw a blank card or say they are looking for someone?
‘Hmm…!?’
The old woman slapped her knee, remembering Ruby’s facial expression that she had just shown.
A woman with jet-black hair waving around, looking for someone.
Black…Black…?
‘That’s right, that woman just had a black hand…!’
The old woman smiled slightly, feeling proud that her fortune had come true today as well.
__(+)__(Fan art received from an acquaintance)
Apo, who gave me the Amber fan art (illustration) last time, drew Ruby and sent it to me!
The atmosphere seems mature. Heh…
