A Blessing in Disguise (2)
It seemed the culprit had been mana depletion after all. Well, even simple spells would drain you if you fired them off like that. The power had been underwhelming, but then again, Patrick’s own skill was nothing to write home about, so who was he to complain?
“Still, thanks to that I managed to get some oil. Might as well make some potato pancakes.”
The village chief, moved by Patrick’s willingness to collapse from mana exhaustion while helping with the fire, had sent over various seasonings and kitchen tools. Apparently he thought these would be the most useful.
Sizzle—
For the first time, the kitchen produced the proper sounds of cooking instead of just boiling water. This was why it paid to listen to your elders.
Without a grater, Patrick sliced the potatoes as thinly as possible, mixed in a little flour to bind them, and fried them in oil. A savory aroma quickly spread through the morning air.
“Mister, are you home?”
Just as he finished the first batch, Ben appeared at the door with a bundle on his back. That kid really does have a knack for showing up at mealtime.
Patrick chuckled and welcomed him in. As expected, Ben plopped down across from him and asked, “Can I have some?”
“It’s hot, so let it cool a bit first.”
“Yes, sir!”
Watching him, Patrick could already tell the boy would polish off an entire pancake right where he sat. How does someone so small eat so much?
“So, what brings you here first thing in the morning?”
“First thing? The sun’s already high. Oh, this. Mom told me to bring it to you. She said thank you for yesterday.”
Ben set the bundle down and unwrapped it, revealing two bottles.
“What’s this?”
“Liquor. And this one’s sugar. I snuck the sugar out. You said you’d give it to me yesterday, remember?”
But the sugar was already invisible to Patrick. For a man thoroughly steeped in worldly desires, a single drink was far more tempting than sugar.
Pop!
When he pulled the stopper, a refreshing sound accompanied a sweet scent that tickled his nose.
“Soju?”
“Yes. Made from sweet potatoes. Merchants from the mainland come all the way here to buy it, so it should taste good.”
“Merchants come here?”
With superhuman restraint, Patrick forced the stopper back in.
“I was told there weren’t any regular merchants when I first arrived.”
“They don’t come on a fixed schedule.”
“But they do come?”
“Yes. When the adults gather things to sell, the merchants buy them with money. Sometimes they even bring pre-ordered goods. Ah, I heard a fortune teller is coming this time too! That’s why the chief went out yesterday, according to the grown-ups.”
Ben stuffed the last piece of potato pancake into his mouth and patted his belly with satisfaction.
“A fortune teller?”
“Actually, strange things have been happening in our village a lot lately.”
“Strange things?”
“Sudden gusts of wind, huge rocks rolling around, flowers blooming in winter when they shouldn’t… things like that.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes! And all within just a few months. The fire yesterday was the same. That place shouldn’t have caught fire at all.”
“Come on, aren’t you stretching it? The cooking fire probably just spread.”
“No, the fire was already completely out before dinner.”
“……Is that so?”
“That’s why they called the fortune teller—to check if the village has been cursed.”
“Let’s hope they’re competent.”
Listening to Ben, Patrick had to admit it was odd. One or two incidents could be dismissed as natural coincidences, but repeated occurrences over several months couldn’t be chance.
Usually weather anomalies like this are caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, right?
If that were the case, it would be serious. Patrick looked up at his ceiling.
An earthquake? This place would collapse if a stray cat climbed on the roof.
If he was going to live here long-term, he’d eventually need to do some repairs.
Fortunately, the feared earthquake never came. During the uneventful ten days that followed, Patrick became a proper resident of Dunbrook, the island village.
His reputation had soared after the magic he displayed during the fire. Even his rather humble tastes for someone supposedly from the capital worked in his favor.
He helped the villagers till their fields in preparation for farming, assisted at the workshop with processing seafood, went gathering wild greens with the children, and learned several good fishing spots from the traps he’d received.
“The kitchen’s looking pretty well-stocked too.”
Thanks to the ingredients he’d gradually received while helping out, he now had enough variety to actually choose what he wanted to eat.
“Mister! Mister! The fortune teller just arrived!”
“Really? Did the merchants come too?”
“Yes!”
While Patrick was preparing a late breakfast, the ship from the mainland had apparently docked. Ben seemed excited to finally see a real fortune teller, but Patrick had other expectations.
I wonder how much I can get for these.
Following the advice of the women at the workshop, he had gathered clams, conches, and abalone to sell. Food is plentiful, but you still need money.
Though he couldn’t leave the island, that didn’t mean he had no use for money. With fewer than a hundred households, most necessities had to be brought in from the mainland. There was no blacksmith or fabric shop here, so even something as simple as a sickle for farming required taking a boat.
When someone went to the mainland, they would take shopping lists from their neighbors. If the order was large enough, the general store owner would sometimes deliver the goods directly.
— So you can get pretty much anything?
— Of course. As long as you have the money.
— Ah, money……
This was why Patrick had dragged himself out at dawn, rubbing his sleepy eyes, to scour the shoreline.
“If I sell all this, I might be able to buy a few chicks.”
“You’re going to raise chickens and eat them?”
“I’ll make sure to call you when the time comes.”
“Wow! You promised?”
Ben bounced with excitement.
“Should I help you build a chicken coop?”
“You know how?”
“Of course! I helped my dad build our goat pen. I could do it with my eyes closed!”
Chatting with the endlessly talkative Ben—who insisted raising chicks wasn’t easy—they arrived near the workshop.
The merchants were nowhere in sight. Instead, a young woman in a black robe stood with two large men flanking her like bodyguards. She was sprinkling white powder and muttering what sounded like incantations.
“What are they doing?”
“Ah, they’re checking whether our island has been cursed, sir.”
The village chief answered with a slightly serious expression.
“Do you really think there’s a curse?”
“Of course not. But with so many strange incidents happening, the villagers are uneasy. This is just to reassure everyone that nothing’s wrong.”
Patrick nodded at the chief’s words.
She looks like a fraud.
To the eyes of a twenty-first-century person, the so-called fortune teller was the very picture of a con artist. The way she sprinkled powder to dazzle the crowd, chanted bizarre incantations, wore heavy makeup and long nails, and even flailed her arms at empty air—there was no doubt she was a scammer.
“W-what do you see?”
“Hey, don’t scare people like that!”
But being stereotypical also meant she could easily sway people. Many of the villagers were glancing at each other with anxious eyes.
“Something sinister has appeared! Something sinister!”
Suddenly, the woman strode forward and rushed straight toward Patrick.
“Aaaah!”
Startled, Patrick instinctively shouted and took a step back.
But the fortune teller’s target wasn’t him.
“W-why are you doing this? It hurts! Let go!”
“How vile, how vile! How can something give off such a foul stench? Come out! Come out of this child’s body!”
“Koff, koff!”
She grabbed Ben—who had been standing beside Patrick watching—by the wrist and began sprinkling strange powder over the struggling boy’s head.
“Ben! Ben!”
“I’m in the middle of treatment. Do not interfere!”
“Lady Eron has discovered an evil presence inside the boy. If you get in the way, you’ll only bring greater calamity!”
Ben’s parents tried to rush forward in shock, but the burly men behind the fortune teller blocked them.
“Treatment? An evil presence?”
“Wasn’t this child near every location where strange things happened on this island?”
“What?”
Leaving Ben retching on the ground from inhaling the powder, the fortune teller turned to the chief.
“This child was present at every place where strange incidents occurred, wasn’t he?”
“W-well……”
The villagers began murmuring at her words.
“The place where the gust of wind blew—wasn’t that where the village children played?”
“The spot where the rocks rolled around was behind the brewery……”
“Oh dear! Now that I think about it, the place where flowers bloomed in the middle of winter was right after Ben finished making a snowman!”
Seeing the villagers’ reactions, the fortune teller pulled out a small orb from her robes as if she had expected this.
“You! Come here!”
“I-I don’t know anything!”
“Place your hand on this. Now!”
“No! I don’t want to! I’m scared……! Mom, Dad! Mister, ma’am!”
Ben desperately called out to the adults, but they stood frozen, unsure what to do in the sudden situation.
Meanwhile, the fortune teller forced Ben’s hand onto the transparent orb.
Whoooosh—
Black smoke swirled inside the orb, turning it completely black as if it had always been that color.
“Oh my. A particularly vicious one has possessed him!”
“What? Fortune teller! What does that mean for our child?”
“P-please save him, fortune teller!”
Ben’s parents dropped to the ground and began begging.
“This has become troublesome. I accepted the request thinking it would be simple. Tsk!”
“Please, fortune teller!”
“We’ll pay you. We’ll find a way to get the money somehow!”
“Tch. Take the child for now. We need to save him first, don’t we?”
“Yes!”
The fortune teller sighed as if she had been saddled with an annoying burden.
“Then, about the cost……”
“Forget it. I’ll take it after we succeed.”
“Th-thank you, fortune teller!”
While Ben’s father bowed repeatedly in gratitude, the two men grabbed Ben by both arms and began leading him toward the ship they had arrived on.
At that moment, Patrick stepped in front of them with a crooked smirk.
“Why hasn’t your scam changed in over ten years?”