12
Chapter 12
[Rien was not killed.]
[The Demon King of Slaughter descends upon the mortal realm.]
[......Rien's affinity is above a certain threshold.]
[Hidden route discovered. Rien commits suicide to keep you out of danger.]
[Rien commits suicide.]
[R■en c■mmits su■cide.]
[■■■ ■■■■■,]
[......Sovereign's Grace absorbs the aura of Slaughter.]
[The Vessel's awakening state has been reset.]
[A critical error has been detected.]
[Resetting Destiny Path.]
*****
Fortunately, the situation was wrapped up much faster than expected.
Like last time, incomprehensible message windows had popped up and vanished at an unreadable speed.
Rien had hugged me tighter and more intimately than before, forcing me to desperately suppress my Healthy Body trait by singing the national anthem.
I had watched Rien reunite with her father, the two of them apologizing and tearing up.
The High Priest had smoothly fabricated a story for the villagers, blaming Rien's rampage on the Imperial Army—which was surprisingly easy since everyone was unconscious—and somehow took charge of recovering the bodies.
Since both Rien and I were exhausted and in no shape to travel today, I asked the High Priest to rent out one of the relatively intact houses for us to stay in.
A lot of things had happened.
Still, considering the scale of that massive incident, getting things settled this smoothly was a best-case scenario.
That was why only one question filled my mind.
'Just why?'
A sense of disconnect.
An inescapable sense of wrongness washed over me.
In a way, it was only natural.
These villagers were far too normal.
It was a bit off from the explanation in the spoiler post, which described them as cultists who persecuted Rien solely based on their bogus fortune-telling results.
Rien's father did try to kill her because of the fortune-telling result....... but out of pity, he couldn't bring himself to reveal it to everyone else.
Half-hearted.
Was I misremembering the spoiler post?
Were my memories a bit jumbled?
But that wasn't the only issue.
'Ultimately, regardless of the process, that fortune came true.'
Rien had almost awakened as a Demon King.
Of course, I figured it was just a coincidental byproduct of the butterfly effect.
Even so, I couldn't shake the thought that it was all too perfect.
'......I guess I have no choice but to check.'
I told Rien to get some rest in bed, then opened the door and stepped out.
Perhaps because most of the houses had burned down, the High Priest gave us quarters with only one bed.
I wouldn't have been able to sleep there anyway.
......I really need to do something about this damn Healthy Body trait.
It feels like I'd lose control if I slept next to someone, so I can't share a bed with anyone.
Pondering this, I went to look for the High Priest again.
"Oh, it's you? What brings you here 'at such a busy hour'......." I had no idea why he was emphasizing the 'busy hour' part, but I forced myself to ignore it and spoke up.
"Could you read my future for me?"
This was the plan I had come up with.
There was no better way to verify the reliability of that spoiler post.
Think about it.
What if that man actually produced a legitimate fortune?
Then it would mean I need to act on the premise that the spoiler post might contain some inaccurate information.
On top of that, if I could learn my own future, it would make up for my lack of original story knowledge.
And what if the fortune is a fake?
Then I'd just be confirming that I can trust the spoiler post. I had nothing to lose.
Either way, it was nothing but beneficial. It'd be weirder not to do it.
"That girl, Rien. No matter how much she likes a boy, to just blabber about the Tribe's Secret Technique, Astrology......."
The High Priest grumbled about how raising a daughter was pointless, smelling strongly of a bitter parent, and began preparing the ritual.
......Now that I think about it, I did read about Astrology in the spoiler post.
I felt a little bad for Rien, who had cried herself to exhaustion and fallen asleep the moment she hit the bed.
For now, let's just say Rien told me about it.
"What did you say your name was?"
"It's Ian."
Hearing that, the High Priest drew a double circle with blood.
Various symbolic objects were placed all around.
And.......
"This can't be right."
Nothing happened.
I tried to hide my expression as it grew visibly cold, but it seemed I was caught.
Concerned about saving face, the High Priest fumed that he couldn't look cheap in front of me and offered to read someone else's fate instead.
A simple method that only required a name and physical description.
I gave him a suitable name.
"Please read Ciel's fate. She has black hair......."
Once I finished explaining, the High Priest rambled off incomprehensible words again and drew another formation with blood.
And.......
Instantly, the High Priest's expression was colored with shock.
"Y-You! I don't know who this person is, but you need to cut ties with them immediately!"
......What was he talking about now?
As I stared at the High Priest with a bewildered look, he excitedly continued.
"She has a fate that will bring disaster! The embers of revenge hidden deep within her heart will ignite, and she will burn everyone around her.... no, she will burn this entire world to the ground!"
......Revenge?
Her?
That naive and thoughtless little kid, an Avenger?
This is beyond absurd.
Of course, I already knew Ciel had lost her mother; I'd heard about it last time. I was even worried enough to ask if she was okay.
-I'm fine.
-......Really?
-Because I knew I was loved. That's enough.
She had said she would go to her mother's grave, tell her she loved her, and comfortably bid her farewell.
And that girl is going to destroy the world out of revenge?
"......You need to take this seriously! Fate can never be avoided!"
The High Priest shouted, losing his temper.
However, if he was going to act like that, I had something to say too.
"Rien is perfectly fine right now, isn't she? Is fate really that absolute?"
"......Well."
Whether Rien almost awakened as a Demon King or not, she was currently just sleeping soundly.
Was he really just a cultist after all?
I was about to back down with that thought in mind.......
But I soon changed my mind.
I had a strange intuition.
A gut feeling that I shouldn't back down here.
"I'd like you to read one more person's fate......."
Saying that, I explained Yulli's name and appearance.
The reason I asked about Yulli was simple.
Partly because she was a companion I needed to gather.
But a bigger reason was that Yulli was someone I had seen firsthand in the previous game.
From the moment she was born to her growing up.
I knew her inside and out.
Because Yulli was the protagonist's daughter in the previous game.
A Saintess born with Divine Power.
A cute little girl who healed the player's heart in the bleak world of Bone and Blood.
If I tested him with this, I would know for sure.
The High Priest prepared the ritual once again.
And.......
"How ominous. So ominous. I sense a wicked and terrible aura. ......Why on earth do you only associate with such people?"
Ultimately, there was no plot twist.
What?
A wicked aura from a Saintess?
At least make some sense.
I finally understood why this mister was rambling about Rien being the Heavenly Killing Star and having a fate that would kill countless people.
He's just spouting random bad omens.
"......Is it because of my age? It's taking a bit of a toll on me. I'm sorry, but I can't do any more than this."
The High Priest shamelessly played the part of an exhausted man. Did he figure his scam would be discovered if he pushed himself any further?
However, he wasn't rude enough to say it to my face. I gave him a polite word of thanks and took my leave.
'......That's strange.'
My intuition is usually spot on.
This is the first time it's missed the mark so wildly.
But with this much evidence proving otherwise, I couldn't just stubbornly insist on a gut feeling.
'Well, I guess everyone has an off day.'
With that in mind, I trudged along, feeling a bit empty.
*****
Left alone, the High Priest fell into a daze, lost in thought.
The reason was simple.
The young man from earlier simply refused to believe the results of his Astrology.
Normally, he wouldn't have cared that much.
But.......
'We're going to be family, after all....... I can't show my future son-in-law an embarrassing side of myself this early on.'
That thought kept nagging at the High Priest.
When that man, Ian, and his daughter had come to visit, the High Priest had instantly noticed the feelings in his daughter's heart just by the way she looked at him.
Of course, the High Priest hadn't asked how Ian felt about his daughter.
He had seen them embracing so affectionately. What more was there to ask? Besides, unless he was completely blind, who would turn down a girl like his daughter?
"Hmm......."
So, after pondering for a moment, the High Priest spotted a strand of Ian's white hair on the floor.
He then realized why he couldn't read Ian's fate earlier.
It was because Ian wasn't the man's real name.
......Well, considering how many orphans there were in the Empire, it wasn't that unusual.
How many people lived under a second name they created themselves after being abandoned, rather than the one their parents originally gave them?
'But with this.'
If he had a piece of his body, he could read his fortune again.
If he used this for the ritual, he would definitely get a result this time.
With that in mind, the High Priest prepared the ritual once more.
And.......
Complete silence.
The heavens were unnervingly quiet.
"I must be getting old."
The High Priest finally muttered to himself with a lonely smile.
In a way, it was only natural.
That a single person's soul was heavier than this world, and so noble that it surpassed the very heavens they served, making it impossible to dare read his fate.
Who could ever realize such an absurd truth?