Even a Straw Sandal Has Its Match…! #2
They told me that a tarot reader known as the Madam had been all the rage in the fortress lately.
A fortune-teller of awakener stock, apparently extraordinarily gifted—so the rumors went. She was said to be wonderful at telling people when they might meet their destined partner, and what they needed to do to make that meeting happen. From what I heard, she possessed some peculiar form of precognition.
Whether it's real or not, I have no idea.
After no small amount of trouble, Seo Yerim managed to snag two consultation tickets, and so she and Ha Ildo found themselves sitting across from the Madam together.
The Madam seemed like a rather capable awakener in her own right, and it was from her lips that Seo Yerim heard a truly astonishing thing.
I'm going to have three children?!
Believe it or not—Seo Yerim was floored to learn she would bear three children someday. In truth, if she ever did marry and have a family, she'd always wanted exactly three.
Two daughters and one son.
That, she had decided, was the perfect number.
Then Ha Ildo asked his question.
"And how many children will I have?"
"Twelve."
Twelve.
At that number, Seo Yerim felt the world tilt before her eyes. How much suffering would a wife have to endure to bear twelve children? She'd be pregnant with a child in her belly for her entire youth, practically without pause.
That bastard Ha Ildo—he's actually planning to kill me!
To birth twelve children, she'd have to give up being an S-Rank hunter altogether.
And yet—
The more she turned it over in her mind, the stranger it seemed.
I'm supposed to have three. So why does Ha Ildo get twelve? Why not three?
What was that even supposed to mean?
In the end, Seo Yerim couldn't hold her tongue.
"Excuse me. If I'm only having three, why does this guy get twelve?"
"Well... every person is different when it comes to having children, you see."
It was the most obvious answer imaginable. But because Seo Yerim had simply assumed she and Ha Ildo would have the same number of children, the revelation landed on her like a thunderbolt.
After fumbling through her thoughts in every direction, her rattled brain produced exactly one conclusion.
Lies! All of this fortune-telling garbage is nothing but lies!
This was the era of the 5th Industry. In a world where AI grew more sophisticated by the day, believing in superstitions like fortune-telling was, frankly, laughable.
"You. It's all a scam, isn't it?"
Jab—
Seo Yerim pointed an accusing finger straight at the Madam. Watching her, Ha Ildo was the one who panicked instead.
"Hey. What are you saying that out loud for?"
"Let go of me! Isn't this all just fraud? If you really know everything, then guess what color the underwear I'm wearing today is!"
"...!"
The woman called the Madam was visibly flustered by the question. She looked for all the world like someone who had just been ambushed by the customer from hell.
"See? You can't! You can't even manage that, but you claim to know how many kids a person will have? You're a total con artist! I don't believe a word of this!"
Whoosh—
Finally, Seo Yerim lost what remained of her patience, shot to her feet, and stormed out.
Fortune-telling.
Horoscopes.
I didn't believe in any of it. But I figured it couldn't hurt to have a reading done once, just for fun. And yet the moment Seo Yerim heard her fortune, she started breathing fire, and apparently unable to contain herself any longer, she flounced right out the door.
Well, this was awkward.
Calling it a lie and a scam to a person's face—wasn't that a bit too blunt, even for her? Never mind that Seo Yerim was one of the most famous celebrities in the country. I half expected this to end up on the nine o'clock news, which made me nervous for no good reason.
But the tarot reader known as the Madam simply chuckled to herself, perfectly at ease.
"Clients like her come through fairly often, actually. That said, I'll admit my condition wasn't at its best today. Hehehe. The mana inside my body has been thrown out of alignment, you see."
Mana in the body.
As an awakener myself, that was a familiar, almost nostalgic way of putting it. So she read fortunes through an awakener's skill of some kind, after all.
"Mr. Ha Ildo, master of the dog-squirrel. You're quite a fine awakener yourself, aren't you? Since we've had the pleasure of meeting, there's a request I'd like to make of you."
A request?
Wait—she knew who I was? She even knew that I kept a dog-squirrel?
"What kind of request?"
"These cards are special items crafted from a unique parchment obtainable only in B-rank rifts. The ones here just broke, thanks to Ms. Yerim storming off in a rage."
So that was it. Now that I looked, the ink on the cards had melted and smeared. Seo Yerim's tantrum must have sent the ambient mana in the vicinity spiraling out of control. Was she that furious over being told she'd have three children? Was Seo Yerim secretly a DINK-lifer at heart?
"Mr. Ildo. If you happen to acquire an Unopened Card Deck while clearing a B-rank rift, please bring it to me. I'll pay you properly for it."
An Unopened Card Deck, was it? I'd heard that such items did occasionally show up in rifts, true enough.
Then the Madam added something more.
"Mr. Ildo. If you wish to meet your destined partner, she may be closer than you think. I see a woman dressed in a white gown. A nurse? A doctor?"
"Are you saying that one of the nurses or doctors around me is my destined partner?"
"Hmm, that much I can't quite say... But I can tell you this—she is your benefactor, and she has been devoting a great deal to you, quietly and without your knowledge."
"Oh..."
The only woman around me in a white gown was Ari.
Yu Ari. Her, my destined partner? The thought had never once crossed my mind. She was so fresh and bright, like a high school girl—she felt exactly like a little sister to me.
"Hey! What are you doing in there?! Get out here!"
Just then, a voice came shouting for me from outside. It was Seo Yerim. Judging by the looks of things, if I stayed any longer she really might set the shop on fire, so I had no choice but to bow my head to the tarot reader, the Madam.
"I'm, ah... very sorry about everything today."
"Not at all. It was a pleasure to meet you."
Slide—
I apologized once more on Seo Yerim's behalf and left the shop. Outside, she was waiting for me with her arms crossed, fuming.
"What took you so long? Fortune-telling, horoscopes—all of it is nonsense. Don't you know it's not worth listening to for even a second?"
Uh, excuse me—
Weren't you the one who dragged me here in the first place? But I had a feeling that if I said so, I'd be roasted alive like a squid on a grill, so I simply kept my mouth shut. Women were fickle creatures by nature, after all.
I had a little sister, so I knew this better than most.
We had dinner together afterward, and then made our way home without incident. When we returned, Oinoi was standing in the front yard, waving at us.
"The master of the house has returned, and so it is…!"
"And this Illinoi has been waiting as well, it is…! So, what did you do on your date, it is…? Regale this Illinoi with the tale, it is…!"
The nymphs, it seemed, absolutely loved gossiping about other people's romances. I gave Oinoi and Illinoi a light rundown of what had just happened, and Oinoi threw her hand up in the air as though it were the most entertaining thing she'd ever heard.
"This Oinoi has heard tell of fortunes and destiny as well, and so it is…! But one must never lose oneself in such things, and so it is…!"
Quite right, that.
I agreed wholeheartedly. Then Illinoi snickered—mwehehe.
"This Illinoi once made a journey to Delphi, the city of prophecy, back in the day, it is…! It brings to mind the memory of listening to a most fascinating story there, it does…."
And she kept giggling to herself. Mwehehehe.
"It was a truly fascinating story, it is…!"
Nothing important, apparently—she was just laughing because she remembered an amusing tale she'd once heard. How entertaining could a story possibly be, for her to crack up like that all by herself? I kind of wanted to hear it too, honestly.
"Hey! Illinoi! Time to go home!"
Just then, Seo Yerim called for Illinoi from outside. Illinoi opened her mouth as if to say something, then scurried off in a flash. When I stepped into the yard, Seo Yerim was starting up her car.
"Today was fun."
I told her honestly. How long had it been since I'd enjoyed a holiday that actually felt like one?
Seo Yerim, who had been sulking ever since we left the tarot café, seemed to brighten slightly at my words, her expression softening.
"What's that supposed to mean? You spent the day with me, so of course it was fun. I deliberately kept to quiet, low-key places just to dodge the paparazzi. Don't you forget—that wasn't even my full power."
Well, fair point.
We really had only visited quiet, out-of-the-way spots today. If a photo had leaked and headlines started circulating—Seo Yerim, Dating an Unidentified Man—it would have taken forever to sort out the mess.
"So? Doesn't this prove I'm the number-one bride candidate?"
Did it, though?
The whole reason Seo Yerim had asked me on this date was to prove that she was a far better catch than Lee Jina. I'd been little more than the judge presiding over the contest.
And by my judgment—
Yes, today's date had been fun. But if you asked me whether Seo Yerim had proven herself the number-one bride candidate, well. Honestly? Hard to say.
If anything, she'd nearly gone off the rails at the tarot café and left me on edge. I genuinely thought we were about to make the evening news.
Still, all things considered, it had been a genuinely enjoyable date. Whatever the reason, the fact remained that I'd spent the day on a date with a famous celebrity.
One I'd remember for the rest of my life.
"Here. Take this milk tea. It's yours."
As thanks for the experience, I gifted Seo Yerim a bottle of milk tea. She gave a little snort—"Hmph."—and left the neighborhood without so much as a thank-you.
Seo Yerim's electric car glided smoothly out of Taecho Village.
The road home.
From the back seat came the soft clink-clatter of the paper bag holding the milk tea.
He didn't show it, but he must have absolutely loved going on a date with me. Giving away precious milk tea like that. Honestly, men—
Seo Yerim read some deep meaning into the milk tea Ha Ildo had given her.
"Don't you think so, Illinoi?"
Vrrrm.
Illinoi, seated beside her, was already fast asleep.
This one falls asleep the second she's in a car.
A quiet drive home in every sense. Seo Yerim replayed the day's events in her head and shuddered.
That Ha Ildo. He'll never forget today for the rest of his life, will he? Well, of course not—I graciously took him on a date myself. No way he could forget. Though... it was awfully tame, as dates go.
Seo Yerim was a celebrity. Crowds gathered wherever she went, which meant loud, extravagant dates were simply off the table. That was why she'd chosen the tarot café in the first place.
And it had turned out to be far more unpleasant than she'd expected.
Fortune-telling, tarot—I am never doing that again as long as I live.
Just as Seo Yerim let out a disdainful snort—
Blink. Blink.
The hazard lights on her car began flashing.
"Huh? What's wrong with it?"
She pulled over onto the shoulder. But once the car stopped, the engine refused to turn over again.
"Ugh, seriously? Now? What rotten luck."
Even past the village limits, this was still deep countryside. Even if she called for emergency roadside service, she'd be waiting a good long while—
As she reached for her phone with that thought, she saw someone standing in front of her car.
"You scared me. What is this? Who are you?"
"Bad luck—what careless words. Fortune and luck can shift at the utterance of a single careless phrase, you know. Well, since we're on the subject, shall I read your fortune?"
It was a woman with a black hood pulled low over her head. Under the dim moonlight, the only thing clearly visible was her smile—white teeth bared in a grin.
Watching the woman drift slowly toward her, Seo Yerim felt something crawl unpleasantly under her skin.
"I don't believe in that stuff. And unless you want to get hurt, you'll walk away. Do you even know who I am?"
"Of course I do. The Witch of Fire. Honestly—calling a girl like you a witch."
Shing—
The woman in the black hood drew a short blade from her pocket. Seo Yerim exhaled slowly and snapped her fingers.
"So it comes to force in the end. Fine. This counts as self-defense."
Crack—!
But then, something astonishing happened.
Despite the snap of her fingers, no flame rose around Seo Yerim's body.
"What?! What the—"
Pop—!
The woman lunged straight at her. In one fluid motion she sheared through Seo Yerim's hair with the razor-sharp dagger—and then she was gone, vanished into the dark.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye, and Seo Yerim was so stunned that no words would come.
"Wh-what the hell was that?"