52. The Fortune Teller Doesn't Know Her Own Future
52. The Fortune Teller Doesn't Know Her Own Future
The astrologer, Airi Haven.
The last successor of the Haven clan, bearers of the God of Destruction's blood, she had come to this Empire to prevent the world's end foreseen by him.
Yet it was a goal one could hardly call guaranteed, even with the power to see the future.
For even that foretold future could be overturned by the whims of those who had reached the rank of 'Transcendent'. To glimpse the future once was not to fix it in stone.
Thus, for the sake of examining variables, confirming one's own future again and again was a necessary task...
- Heee, heeeuuuu~ Mister Hyosung~ My Hyosung~♥
But why was it?
Why, despite experiencing her future change multiple times since coming to this Empire, did this one result continue to show itself without fail?
- Fufu, you were so shy at first, and now you've turned into a complete bitch.
- Heeeuuu~ To think I've lived without knowing something this good~ I've wasted half my life~♥♥♥
It was beyond embarrassing; it was utterly mortifying.
It was bewildering to see herself become like this in the distant future, but more than that, she had never imagined he would turn into such a frivolous person after showing such an unguarded side before her.
"L-let's just ignore that for now. Right now..."
Of course, that fated union was only set to happen if nothing was done.
Knowing the future allowed one to change it. That time had not yet come, so the possibility to alter it remained.
"Yes, let's calm down first and try to sort out the situation."
-Swish.
Airi swept her hand over the crystal ball, intending to organize everything that had happened so far.
Reacting to her will, the first thing to surface was information about a demon who was a close aide to the Demon King and one of the longest-serving members of the Demon Lord Army.
'The Frenzied Clown, Mephisto... To think the God of Destruction would guide Mister Hyosung to her.'
Though it was difficult to fully grasp Mephisto's nature without meeting her directly, merely perceiving the subject through prophecy allowed Airi to vaguely ascertain fundamental information such as origin and race.
And by reading her past, Airi could understand why the God of Destruction saw a chance for his survival in her.
Because even a demon who felt no affection for her own kind might create a variable in the garrison invaded by demon forces, opening a path through that situation.
'But after Mister Hyosung survived thanks to that variable, Mephisto simply vanished from the future he was supposed to be tangled with... Why on earth?'
A member of the Four Heavenly Kings submitting to a mere otherworldly human was absurd enough, but a future that had been confirmed changing once again was a cause for alarm for Airi.
A change in the future meant a Transcendent had intervened, and the sudden whims they caused acted as variables that even prophets had to be wary of.
'Someone on Mephisto's level could certainly alter the future on a whim... but what if some other being intervened?'
She had witnessed such whims several times in recent days.
That was why Airi could not blindly confirm the futures she saw. She constantly checked for changes at every moment, watching her own path.
Ever since Mephisto disappeared, an unchanging future of her shaking her hips beneath him without a shred of dignity, over and over...
-It feels so good, harder, go harder~~~♥
"...Ugh, guh."
Airi buried her face in her hands at the scene.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she turned her flushed face back to the crystal ball and stewed in her frustration.
'If I could properly grasp the process, I could understand why this result came about, but frustratingly, it's not easy to selectively view the gap between the present and the observed future.'
Foreseeing the future was, by analogy, like aiming a target with a ball in your hand.
For a target right in front of you, you simply pull back and throw. For one on the opposite wall, you throw with all your might. But to put the ball into a hole between them, you must throw in a parabolic arc.
Anyone who understands the precision and control that requires can see why grasping the process is harder than knowing the cause and result.
'Yes. The future is ultimately a destination, a result built from the foundation. If the present that starts it all changes, the future will change drastically alongside it.'
So, worry not about the future, but first consider and decide how to handle the present.
Reaffirming her clan's teaching once more, Airi pulled herself together and poured her power into the crystal ball again.
She could feel that the decisive moment she'd kept in mind—the catalyst that would set that future in motion—was just around the corner.
"It's almost time... isn't it?"
The moment was today, roughly thirty minutes from now.
It would begin when, as she settled here to sleep rough for the night, he recognized her tent and came to offer his thanks.
In the process, she would learn of his worries, and they would enter a tavern to discuss them over drinks, chatting about this and that.
Eventually, they'd stumble drunkenly into an inn room, carried away by the atmosphere and what followed.
-Miss Airi, wa-wait... th-this sort of thing should be approached more carefully...
-It's okaaay~ I've seen this sort of thing a lot, so I'm good at it~♡
Pushing him down onto the bed as he hesitated, kissing him, then undressing him and proceeding with the act.
Though she didn't know the exact details, this was convincing enough to be certain that the relationship formed here would directly lead to a 'corruption' in the far future.
And that the one leading the whole affair was her, drunk on alcohol.
"...To think the cause was me."
Wasn't it utterly pathetic?
That an innocent young man would change in such a way, and the reason she would suddenly change was simply one wrong night of drinking.
'But in a way, maybe it's a relief it turned out like this. At least it's confirmed I didn't abandon my mission and cause this knowingly.'
Convincing herself of the situation, Airi mulled over the soon-to-come future and began to sink into worry.
'Then, what should I do now? The surest way is to keep my distance from Mister Hyosung, but...'
No, that was too extreme a choice.
Even if he was a lowly Foreign Worker now, he was already entangled with two Transcendents, and for some reason, one of them was observed with a possibility of submitting to him.
If the process was unknown but the outcome was that, it meant he was born with an extraordinary fate.
Then, he might not be the Hero she was looking for, but he could have influence on that scale.
'Yes, so rather than keeping my distance here, it would be better to build a rapport and secure an opportunity to involve myself in his affairs...'
-Bzzzzt!
"...Huh?"
A sharp noise erupted just before she could reach a conclusion.
The moment the entire screen distorted following that, confusion began to bloom on Airi's face.
"W-what in the world...!"
Panicked, Airi poured more power into the crystal ball.
This meant something was wrong with her ability to observe the future, but no matter how much energy she poured in, there was no sign of the image restoring.
The state persisted for a long thirty minutes without change.
'This is troublesome. I don't know what's about to happen, and if I can't properly communicate with him...!'
Growing impatient, Airi hurriedly grabbed her crystal ball and left the tent, stepping out into the street.
Perhaps the movement of the stars was disrupted and caused this. She thought she had to divine from a place where the sky was more visible.
"Miss Airi!"
A familiar voice reached her in that instant.
Unable to ignore it, Airi stopped her steps and quickly turned her gaze toward the sound.
What she saw was a man who looked as if he had sprinted down the street, panting heavily on the spot and staring straight at her.
"H-Hyosung... Mister Hyosung...?"
She realized it belatedly.
While she had been lost in confusion, the moment of the prophecy had already advanced.
"...Miss Airi."
But if trouble hadn't broken out somewhere right this moment, she couldn't just keep her distance from him.
So, for now, she would assume the future she'd seen and join him. Then they'd enter a tavern, talk, and she would watch the situation unfold.
Of course, in that process, she would drink juice, not alcohol. And afterwards, she'd drag him, passed out drunk, to an inn room before slipping away alone.
"There's something I want to say."
Just as she was devising a plan to get through the immediate situation.
He looked straight at her and voiced the resolve he had been nursing.
"Please have sex with me!!!"
"Yes, s-sex... excuse me?"
-Drop.
A moment where her body froze and her mind went completely blank.
As she blinked her wide, round eyes, his face plummeted downward right there on the spot.
-Thud!!!
A thunderous noise you wouldn't think was made by knees hitting the ground.
Having created such impact, he slammed his head into the dirt and shouted with every fiber of his being.
"Please just have sex with me this once!!!!!!"
-Whoooosh!
A fierce wind tore through the alleyway right at that moment.
As the wave of sheer force that exploded with it slammed into her face, Airi, her spirit utterly overwhelmed by the pressure, began to stiffen up.
"...Huh?"
Her breath caught, her vision quivered.
Still unable to grasp what was going on, she took a moment to process the words the man bowing before her had spoken.
'Please have sex with me.'
Yes, he had definitely said that.
Not swept up in the atmosphere, but of his own will, directly.
"Wha... what did you just..."
'Please have sex!'
"S-s-s-s..."
'Sex!! SEX!!!'
"Eh, eeeh, ehh?"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeh!?!?!??!?"
A scream burst out as she finally understood everything.
But while her mind understood it, her heart couldn't accept it. Unable to contain her bewilderment, Airi began flailing her arms urgently.
The current situation was beyond unexpected; it was something she couldn't even imagine unfolding before her.
"Wh-what are you saying! Mister Hyosung! Wh-what on earth is this all of a sudden...!"
"It's the dearest wish of my entire life!!"
She thought she might be dreaming, but he just slammed his head into the ground once more, determined to drive the stake of his request home.
The overwhelming intensity she felt alongside it could never be an illusion born of a dream.
"Just once, one time is enough. Please spend just one night with me!"
"Ah... aah...!"
"Please, I'm begging you! Please!!!"
"Waah, waaaaah!!!"
Clutching her own face in both hands, Airi Haven was at a complete loss.
Yet his head showed no sign of lifting from the ground.
As if declaring he would not move until she gave a proper answer, he pressed his head into the dirt as if nailed to the spot.
"That's i-i-impossible! We're definitely supposed to go drink together here, so why is Mister Hyosung saying this himself...!"
Yes, the man she knew was absolutely not someone who would do this.
She had read his past and absorbed every scrap of information about him—the man she knew would never behave like this.
With that knowledge, it wasn't difficult for Airi to figure out what state he'd fallen into at this moment.
'This ominous magical power I feel from Mister Hyosung right now... R-right. He's under the bewitchment of a Vampire!'
And not just any run-of-the-mill Vampire.
A being whose immense power and spontaneous actions even the God of Destruction dared not predict... a so-called 'True Ancestor' class Vampire had appeared before him and intervened in his fate.
'A Decayed Dragon, a Four Heavenly King of the Demon Lord Army, and now a True Ancestor on top of that... Just how many Transcendents are you going to get tangled up with?!'
As resentful as she felt, she realized he had no control over it and couldn't bring herself to blame him. Airi slowly lifted her head and met his eyes.
They were eyes that shone with unyielding will.
Even though some Vampire was clearly toying with him from afar, and his face was flushed red as if drunk.
"Miss Airi. Please give me an answer."
As if to show that the core of this act, at least,
stemmed from his own heart.
"Will you be with me?"
Yes. He was not forcing her.
Even in a state far from sound mind, he was leaving the choice to her, as if being considerate of her.
'N-no, but still... This isn't... normal.'
And Airi realized.
The reason the future had become opaque this moment was that the variable created by the True Ancestor class Vampire was aimed at none other than her.
Just as the future is changed by the whims of Transcendents and the actions of those who know it, the future path would be decided by the answer she gave right now.
'Refuse...'
The answer she should give was obvious.
Considering the mission she carried on her shoulders, forming such a relationship with another was something she had to decide with extreme caution.
'I have to... refuse... but...'
So why couldn't her lips move easily?
Now that she remembered her mission, and knew the future showed nothing more than a drunken fling,
the natural course would be to put some distance between them first and then carefully manage their relationship.
-Thump, thump.
Why on earth?
For someone she had simply never been able to forget since their first meeting.
For the absurd proposal of a man whose future she checked every single moment because she couldn't stop thinking about him, imagining what a relationship might be like even when not divining... she simply couldn't bring herself to refuse.
"...Ye... yes."
That turmoil eventually clouded her judgment completely.
Soon, the lips of the woman who had lost her sense of self parted slightly, and her innermost thoughts began to leak out, faint and precarious.
"I-I am... a lacking person, but... I will... entrust myself to you..."
An answer she could only utter because her reason was gone, perhaps.
An answer she might have to call her true feelings.