I Don't Know How to Tell Fortunes
The next afternoon.
It rained.
Exactly as I had said it would.
Sunlight had poured down all morning, then after lunch the clouds rolled in. By the time class was ending, fine raindrops had begun to tap against the windows.
It was an ordinary shower.
The problem was that the students refused to take it that way.
"She was right."
"It really is raining from the afternoon."
"Did she even know the exact time?"
"She only added 'probably' so she wouldn't mess with the future by saying it outright."
No.
I added it so I wouldn't look like an idiot if I was wrong.
I clutched my head at the window, watching the rain come down. Of all the days for it to be this precise. If it had come a little earlier, or at night, people might have written it off as coincidence. Even the weather was cooperating with the misunderstanding route.
"Cheongha."
Lydia draped a dry towel over my shoulders.
"You'll get wet if you stay so close to the window."
"We're indoors."
"If the wind picks up, the rain can still come in."
She closed the window for good measure. I hadn't even been hit by a single drop, and I was already wrapped in a towel. My baby-of-the-group position was solidifying by the hour.
"Also, there are students waiting outside."
"Why?"
"They say they have something to ask you."
A bad feeling settled in my gut.
When I opened the classroom door, a line stretched down the hallway. One person. Two. Three. The end of it vanished around the corner of the stairs.
I shut the door again.
"Can I just sleep in the dorm today?"
"In the classroom?"
"I'm scared to go outside."
A knock came from the other side of the door.
"Cheongha, just a second!"
"It's a really simple question!"
"Just tell me if there's a test tomorrow!"
I had met an enemy more relentless than the demons.
In the end, Lydia decided to let the students in one at a time.
"The moment Cheongha looks tired, we're stopping."
She set a chair beside me and sat down. She was smiling, but every student in the hallway instantly went quiet. A Saintess's authority was no joke.
The first student came in clutching a small scrap of paper in both hands.
"If I confess today, will it work?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"You can see the future, right?"
"I keep telling you I can't."
The girl's face fell at once. Looking at an expression like that made it hard to throw her out coldly. I glanced at the paper.
Pink stationery. Tiny flower patterns. She had gripped it so tightly for fear of crumpling it that her fingertips had gone white.
And just outside the open door, a boy was pacing. He was hiding a letter of the exact same color behind his back. Every time their eyes met, they both looked away.
You didn't need foresight for this one.
"I think it'll work."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Probably."
Her face lit up. The moment she left, a short scream rang out in the hallway. A little later, the two of them ran off hand in hand.
The students still in line stirred.
"She got it right on the spot."
"It didn't even take a few minutes for the result to show?"
I pressed a hand to my forehead. Wouldn't it be weirder if those two didn't realize they liked each other?
Lydia set a warm cup of tea in front of me.
"Take a sip after every person."
"So we're definitely continuing this counseling thing?"
"You have a hard time turning people down. That doesn't mean I can let you collapse."
She had read my personality perfectly, too. Lydia set a small hourglass by the door.
"Five minutes per person. When time's up, I'll send them out."
The students in the hallway nodded with tense faces. Talking to the Saintess seemed to have become more terrifying than foresight counseling.
The second student came in.
"What's for dinner tonight?"
"Go ask the cafeteria."
"They said it's a secret."
I sighed. Right then, a savory smell drifted in from the hallway—the same one that had been coming from the cafeteria direction since lunch. Butter and roasted meat. Even the ingredient list I'd seen on the cafeteria board yesterday floated up in my mind.
"Probably meat pie."
The student's eyes went wide.
"Really?"
"You can smell it."
"I can't."
Being a dragon must have sharpened my nose, too.
There was no need to wait until evening for confirmation. A student in cafeteria whites walked past the hallway and shouted,
"It's meat pie tonight!"
The line stirred again.
"That's two."
"Is that not real foresight?"
It is not.
The third student asked about the exam range—then added,
"Do you think I can pass this test?"
I looked at the textbook in his hands. The spine was still clean as new. Barely any sign it had ever been opened. Meanwhile, cards and a tiny die were sticking out of his breast pocket. He had clearly been more dedicated to games than studying.
"If you start studying today, maybe."
"Starting today?"
"Yes. Very hard."
His face went pale.
"And if I don't study?"
"I think you can figure that out without seeing the future."
He clutched the textbook to his chest and bolted. Murmurs rose in the hallway.
"Looks like he saw a terrifying future."
"His face completely froze."
I had only looked at the condition of a book. But if the result was one more student actually studying, that wasn't a bad thing, was it?
The fourth student asked where his lost sock was. I did not want to know either.
The fifth student asked whether he would grow any taller this year. I looked at the enormous horns rising from his head.
"Your horns will probably keep growing."
He left satisfied. I still don't know why that was satisfying.
The sixth student came in carrying a small box.
"Which of these two eggs will hatch first?"
Inside the box, two Familiar eggs the size of a palm sat side by side—one red, one yellow.
"I honestly have no idea."
"Just look a little closer."
I leaned my face toward the box. From the red egg, I felt nothing. Inside the yellow one, a tiny movement kept repeating.
Tap.
A vibration of something pecking the shell from within.
"Maybe the yellow one?"
The moment the words left my mouth, a crack split the yellow egg. A tiny beak punched through the shell.
The student and I both gaped at the same time.
"She was right!"
"No—it was moving just now."
"You knew right up until it hatched?"
"I could hear it."
The student left cradling the Familiar egg, face glowing with emotion. I had only noticed because a dragon's hearing was good. Explaining it only made my supposed power sound more impressive.
The longer this non-counseling counseling went on, the worse my head ached. I was not seeing the future. The weather, I had felt in the sky. The confession, I had read on two faces. Dinner, I had smelled. Anyone who paid a little attention could have figured these things out. The students were only looking at the results.
Around the time I had turned down three more questions, a familiar head of red hair walked through the door.
Erika.
"You stood in line too?"
"Why would I stand in line?"
Meaning she had cut it. Lydia's smile deepened a fraction.
"Erika. Other students are waiting."
"This'll be quick."
Erika planted both hands on my desk.
"Who wins the next duel?"
"Who's the opponent?"
"You."
I didn't need to think about it.
"I don't see a future where I win."
The corner of Erika's mouth lifted.
"So you can see it after all."
"I know the difference in skill."
"When are we doing it?"
"Is 'we're not' an option?"
"I don't see that future."
She was already reverse-using my fortune-telling against me. Lydia took Erika's wrist and pulled her hands off the desk.
"Cheongha is still tired from the investigation."
"It's been three days."
"It's only been three days."
Invisible sparks flew between the two of them. One student, reading the room but still raising a hand, asked,
"Then does Cheongha have someone she likes?"
The classroom went quiet. Lydia looked at me. Erika turned her head. Even Noel's Familiar, sitting by the window, pricked up its ears.
Why is everyone listening?
"I was originally a g—"
I stopped mid-sentence. I couldn't say I used to be a guy. And saying I liked guys would mean something completely different in this body. Kyle's face floated up in my mind. That was even worse.
"Now's not the time to be thinking about that kind of thing."
I went with the safe answer.
"Why?"
Erika asked.
"There are demons wandering around, I can't even use my powers properly, and the original—"
I clamped my mouth shut. Dangerous.
"Anyway, I'm busy."
Lydia looked faintly relieved. Erika looked disappointed. The Familiar scribbled something in a tiny notebook with its front paw.
"What are you writing?"
"Romanceable status."
"Erase that."
Lydia flipped the hourglass.
"Counseling ends here for today."
Disappointed voices poured in from the hallway.
"I haven't even had my turn yet!"
"Just one question!"
"Cheongha has answered more than enough. If you have further questions, please submit a formal request to the Student Council."
When Lydia said it with a smile, the protests died fast. The students scattered one by one, still looking regretful.
I collapsed face-down on the desk. I was more exhausted than when I had been tracking demons.
"It's over now, right?"
"Yes. Rest well today."
Lydia cleared the empty teacup and stroked my hair. I didn't even have the strength to push her hand away. The real problem was that I was getting used to this treatment. At this rate, I really might turn into the baby of the group.
Just then, two more Familiars flew in from the end of the hallway, paper bundles clenched in their mouths. They started handing a sheet to each student who had been in line. With a sense of dread, I snatched one.
Future Counseling — 10 Minutes
Reservations Available — No Waiting
Special Outfit Options Available
Below that were the location of Noel's room and even a little drawing of a Familiar.
I slowly crumpled the paper.
"Noel."
"Yeah."
"What is this?"
"Business."
Without my knowing, a fortune-telling shop had opened.