Chapter 30
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Rest (4)
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Agnes stood rooted to the spot. In her hand was the tanghulu skewer Deron had handed her.
"…."
She pursed her lips and stared at Deron. A strange man. An unusual man. Somehow, he seemed to know all about her.
From the moment they first met until now, when he'd given her the tanghulu.
He felt somehow detached. Deron seemed to know everything about her.
Yet Agnes herself knew nothing about Deron.
Nothing beyond the superficial—his rank, his face.
Even this tanghulu in her hand proved it. Something she'd mainly seen at the Bayern barony before its fall.
The food her younger self had loved most.
She stared blankly at the tanghulu. A remnant of her childhood, that sweet-and-sour taste.
She opened her mouth and bit into it. Crunch, crunch. The fruit pieces tumbled in her mouth amid the shattering sounds.
After finishing the tanghulu, she silently discarded the trash and rejoined Deron.
The taste of the tanghulu...
She felt nothing at all.
"So..."
I made a dumbfounded face. I had no idea how to even describe the scene before my eyes.
"This is the Fountain of Luck?"
"Yeah. I've always wanted to toss a coin in here."
In front of a massive stone building stood intricately carved statues of someone. And below them, water flowed out.
A fountain reminiscent of Rome's Trevi Fountain stood before my eyes.
"It certainly seems to be a famous landmark."
Agnes said that.
Whether it truly symbolized luck or not, people were throwing coins into the fountain, each carrying their own wishes.
Erina excitedly pulled a silver coin from her pocket.
"Please let me graduate from the academy without any incidents!"
A common wish.
It was probably exactly what Erina Philstein wanted. She was the honest type, after all.
Agnes followed suit, silently tossing in a coin just like Erina.
They each had their own wishes, no doubt, and had prayed them to the fountain.
Since their wishes weren't the kind to blurt out lightly, they'd kept silent.
Erina pestered them about what they'd wished for, but they remained mum.
Then her gaze turned to me.
"Aren't you gonna throw a coin, Deron?"
"Me?"
Agnes and Han's gazes shifted my way too.
They seemed to be inwardly expecting me to throw one.
I indicated my refusal.
"I don't believe in that kind of superstition."
Before possession, after possession.
I'd never even built one of those stone towers.
Even if luck came calling, I'd never earnestly prayed for it.
To begin with, wasn't being forcibly dragged to this place the greatest misfortune of all?
"Aw, come on, just try it once? You never know~"
"No."
"Don't be like that. Just once."
"I said no."
Even as I kept refusing, Erina clung persistently.
Only then did I realize she must have known Han didn't believe in superstitions either.
'What a pain. This jerk.'
I brushed off Erina's whining and shot Han a glare. He silently looked away without a word.
"Fine."
"Really?!"
She backed off immediately.
With a deep sigh, I pulled a silver coin from my pocket. It was worth about ten thousand won anyway, so no big deal...
I glared at the fountain.
A finely sculpted statue entered my view.
The Fountain of Luck, which hadn't appeared in the original story—couldn't have appeared.
The fountain that should have been destroyed by Morax.
I tossed the coin.
Plop.
The coin fell with a clean sound, and a message appeared before my eyes.
[You have encountered a change in history.]
[According to the original history, the Fountain of Luck that should have been destroyed remains intact, and you have thrown a coin into the fountain. An unknown someone expresses goodwill.]
[Someone's luck resides in your body.]
An intangible energy burst from the fountain.
Before I could react, the energy burrowed into my body.
A strange sensation made me drop my staff to the ground.
"Deron?"
Erina looked at me with worried eyes, but I blinked and glared at the fountain.
But nothing else appeared.
Even checking my status window showed no changes.
Then, another message rang out.
[You encounter a scene you were supposed to miss.]
What the hell?
No upheaval followed the message.
I scratched my head and picked up the staff I'd dropped.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine."
Like a puppy gazing up at me, I patted Erina's head and moved on.
The day was still long, and the festival was in full swing.
The spring evening was refreshingly cool.
A cool breeze brushing past my face always felt surprisingly invigorating.
Thankfully, this world in the novel replicated that breeze just the same.
Between night and day, when the sun dipped beyond the horizon.
The evening festival took on an atmosphere fitting that time.
Especially the food and events that changed by the minute.
The vendors who'd simply been selling skewers, food, and clothes had now pulled out small dartboards, hawking dolls and crude statues.
Children dragged balloons bigger than their faces, held aloft by mere strings.
Their innocent expressions had a way of lowering people's guards, regardless of intent.
And the people around me were no different.
No need to mention Agnes or Lee Han. How could a novel sustain itself without the protagonist's appearance buff?
Lee Han had a slightly feminine vibe, but whatever.
Among them, the one drawing the most stares was Erina.
Her distinctive red hair blended with the sunset, emitting a natural glow.
Her sparkling eyes and overflowing cheer drew admiration from onlookers.
She couldn't evoke the jaw-dropping, otherworldly awe that Agnes or Rebecca did.
But her looks definitely shone brighter in the evening.
Plus, Erina's free-spirited nature and petite stature combined...
The uncles staring at her all wore fatherly smiles.
I almost cracked one myself but barely controlled my expression.
"This looks fun!"
Erina tirelessly roamed the festival grounds without tiring.
Even as we started feeling a bit hungry, her flame didn't flicker.
As she kept moving, her eyes landed on a dartboard.
The only oddity was the blatantly huge "loser" zones with just one winning spot.
"Throw five times and land it in there, and you get the accessory of your choice!"
The vendor approached us as we showed interest and explained the rules.
Without us even saying we wanted to play.
I turned to leave, but Erina grabbed my hand.
Her eyes burned with determination to do this.
Sigh.
I rummaged in my pocket and asked the vendor,
"How much?"
"You're all such fine-looking folks. How about 2 silver for all four of you?"
"Hmm."
Not bad.
About a thousand won per dart.
Honestly pricey, but considering this was the festival hub, worth paying.
Whatever, we'd win it anyway.
Thud, thud!
"Yes! One hit!"
"I got one too."
As Agnes and Erina each succeeded once, the vendor's eyes nearly bulged out.
Lee Han had already set his darts down early.
I had no intention of trying either.
"C-Congratulations! Pick one each from here..."
The vendor's voice grew smaller. I could fully understand his feelings.
Who told him to set it up like that?
Pitying the man whose eyes looked like rotten pollack, I handed him 2 more silver.
"All picked!"
I turned at Erina's voice from behind.
And my eyes widened.
'Wow.'
A golden butterfly perched atop Agnes's silver hair, perfectly matching it.
As if ready to flutter away any moment, in a delicate pose.
Erina grinned confidently.
"Picked well, right? She was gonna go for some weird fruit shape, so I snatched it away."
"What's wrong with fruit?!"
"It was too weird!"
Erina and Agnes bickered. Did they really want to fight in public like that? Felt like I was here as a guardian.
After stopping them, I asked Erina,
"What'd you pick, Erina?"
"Huh? This."
She held out her hand. A ring on her index finger, with a standout red gem.
"The red really caught my eye. Snagged it right away."
Looks familiar...
I tilted my head, but couldn't recall, so I let it go. Probably just some ruby ring I'd seen before possession.
We enjoyed the evening festival after that.
In an atmosphere utterly different from daytime, like a party venue.
For once, I felt truly rested.
"I'm hungry."
At Han's offhand remark, we all looked at each other.
Yeah, after wandering aimlessly, we craved a proper meal.
Skewers and fruit were snacks, not dinner.
Looking around, I pointed at a restaurant with my finger.
It had an old-fashioned vibe and looked delicious.
"How about there?"
"I'm in."
"Me too!"
"Sounds good."
With three in agreement, no hesitation. Clutching our growling stomachs, we headed to the restaurant.