How This Fortune Teller Becomes Famous
Answer. That's the answer. Princess Kim Eun-ha furrowed her brow at the shock that seemed to rattle her head. What kind of answer was he looking for? Did he want her to admit it with her own mouth? ……Infuriating as it was, she couldn't deny that the initiative had already passed to that fortune teller.
"It's intentional."
"Intentional……you say?"
"You wouldn't call this card a coincidence."
So she had no choice but to break through head-on. The Strength card she had just drawn in this moment. Even a simple calculation made it one out of seventy-eight tarot cards. Of course, the fortune teller's intention had to be involved. Whether through sleight of hand or through divination, the result was clear. Major Arcana number eight, Strength. It felt as if it were directly speaking of the secret that bound her.
That was why she had to push even harder.
"What do you want?"
"………."
"That answer you claim to know—what do you want in exchange for keeping it secret your entire life?"
Kim Eun-ha threw out a blank check with bold generosity. The fortune teller tilted his head, his smiling face showing a hint of surprise at the unexpected reply. It felt satisfying to land a blow on that leisurely attitude, but more than that, it was the reaction to her taking a step back.
'No need to stir up unnecessary trouble.'
She was no fool. This was an opportunity. If that fortune teller had revealed the secret called "the answer" to another country or the press? She could smooth it over somehow, but it would mean enduring headaches and making major national concessions for a while. Naturally, neither she nor the imperial family wanted that. If possible, simply giving him what he wanted and shutting his mouth would be far cheaper.
"Money? I can give you amounts in the trillions, far beyond billions."
"Honor? The imperial family will back you. We'll make you the most famous fortune teller in the world, beyond even the Unified Korean Empire."
"Women? I'll bring all sorts of beauties into your arms. If there's a woman you can't reach, I'll help you reach her, and if you want to break one completely, I'll cooperate."
"So tell me."
What do you want? Her sharp, dignified gaze turned toward the fortune teller. Though she was clearly in the weaker position, she had somehow regained control of the conversation. This fortune teller had approached her holding the princess's secret because he wanted something. And the princess had the power to give him whatever he desired. She was a princess of the Unified Korean Empire, someone who stood above others, not someone who begged for mercy from below. No matter how cornered she might be, Kim Eun-ha would always remain dignified.
Namgung Min's smile deepened as he looked at her.
"There's only one thing I want."
"Speak."
"I would like you to help me."
"So, what exactly do you need help with?"
No, more importantly, she needed to contact the imperial family first. She had to summon a Mediator who could broker and enforce their agreement……
"What do you mean? Didn't I already tell you earlier?"
"…………Yes?"
"We need to break down the wall. That's why I said I needed Your Highness the Princess's strength."
"………."
──What was he saying? Was he deceiving her? Did he mean this deal wasn't enough? Was he threatening her to act more subservient? ………Or.
Was he serious? Not money, not honor, not women—nothing like that. Just that?
"……I don't like jokes in situations like this."
"Oh, if you took it as a joke, that would be my mistake. Ahem, then allow me to say it again."
Suddenly, Kim Eun-ha realized something. This fortune teller……from the moment they first met until now, had never shown any expression other than a smile. He had offered a playful greeting. He had threatened her. She had presented her conditions. And even in this moment as he spoke again. The only thing she had seen was that smile.
'……Then how is that any different from having no expression at all?'
For just a brief, fleeting instant, Kim Eun-ha felt……that this fortune teller was terrifying.
"I need Your Highness the Princess's strength."
His hand extended along with the smile.
"Let's break down the wall together with everyone and escape outside!"
That even brighter smile and those energetic words.
"…………."
She couldn't read what lay behind them at all. That was why she……
*
Bang! Bang! Kwaaaang!!!
"Break through! Break through no matter what!"
"Mages! Aren't your spells ready yet!"
"There's too much rubble here!"
"Destroy it somehow!!!"
'Damn it.'
Even as Liu Yen scattered all sorts of consumables from her pockets, she urgently looked up at the sky. Current time: 11:59. Less than a minute remained. Only one wall left. Through the cracks in the shaking, crumbling wall, the outside of the maze was visible.
"Shit! Just eat this already!"
"Th-thank you, Lady Liu Yen!"
"Shut up and run after you eat it!"
The question of why she was moving so proactively had long since flown away. This was a transaction. In exchange for hearing Namgung Min's secret, she had agreed to cooperate with him.
'That's all it is!'
What meaning did it hold for her if all the students desperately worked toward a single goal? This couldn't possibly succeed anyway. That fortune teller had said so himself……
"Everyone fall back! The magic is ready……!"
"It's Lord Lucas's order! Everyone, move away from the wall!"
"Get back, all of you!!!"
Lucas, leading the mages, completed his spell while his hands trembled violently as he squeezed out mana. The mages behind him were no different. In an instant, dozens of magic circles appeared in the air, and a corresponding number of spells rained down.
Bang!! Kwa-bang!!!
"Everyone move!"
"L-Lady Lane…!"
Lane Arthur stopped the debris from the cracking, collapsing wall in midair and hurled it back at the wall. She teleported rapidly, used telepathy to make students retreat, and used psychokinesis to smash everything she could. In a way, that all-rounder girl might be the real protagonist here. Just as Liu Yen idly thought that—
"Everyone, charge! Getting hit by those fragments will only knock you out for a moment!"
"F-follow Sasaki! Physical class students, ram it with your bodies! Non-combat classes, throw rocks!!"
"One minute! We only have one minute!! We can't stop here!!"
Students with swords, students with hammers, students with bare fists, even students without combat classes. All of them charged toward the wall.
"We will escape no matter what!!!"
"……Right."
No, what was she saying? Startled, Liu Yen covered her mouth. Had she just empathized with them? Without any suspicion? Liu Yen stared blankly ahead. That fortune teller had said reaching the end would be difficult. Yet……little by little, the final wall was crumbling.
"Did we do it!"
"Who the hell said that just now!"
"Did it fall!"
"That wasn't what I meant!"
"Please just break already!!"
"It's ridiculously sturdy, damn it!"
But the final wall remained standing. Despite all the magic, bodies, weapons, and impacts pounding against it, despite cracks forming and sections collapsing, it wouldn't break.
"Damn……it!"
A mage who had joined to keep an eye on the fortune teller but had somewhere along the way poured out magic in earnest fell to his knees.
"Huff………huff……."
A psychic who had pushed his body beyond its limits, unable to draw out any more class skills, gasped for breath.
"……Damn it."
"Agh, seriously!"
"It……won't break……."
Swordsmen and others battered by rubble and debris collapsed.
"…………it."
And the great heiress who had watched the entire scene alone—
"……Where is he."
Without realizing it, she had clenched her fists in frustration. Thinking of a certain fortune teller who had run off somewhere and not returned.
"Did he run away?!"
Even though she knew deep down that wasn't the kind of person he was. In the end, he wasn't here right now. Liu Yen poured out her resentment. She began to doubt the fortune teller. Just as despair felt greater after briefly tasting hope. Having briefly escaped the mental illness called suspicion, she was once again consumed by it—more violently, more deeply—
"That damn fortune teller bastard! He planned this from the beginning, he was thinking of abandoning everyone like this!"
"Abandoning everyone, what do you mean?"
"Of course he abandoned everyone! He ran……a……."
"Who did? Surely not me?"
──Before she could sink any deeper, a single fortune teller stopped her.
"Uh……ah?"
"I'm here, Miss Liu Yen. We don't have much time, so I'll explain later!"
With that ever-present smile, Namgung Min passed by her. Liu Yen could only stare at his retreating back as he ran forward.
"Everyone! You've all worked incredibly hard. We made it this far because of you!"
"N-Namgung Min!?"
"It's the fortune teller! The fortune teller's here!"
"Hey! You started this, so come up with something! We don't even have twenty seconds left, let alone a minute!"
"Haha, don't worry. I've brought the problem solver!"
……Problem solver? The moment the students who heard Namgung Min's voice unconsciously muttered that strange title, a shadow leaped over Namgung Min as he reached his hand toward the wall.
"Go! Princess Punch! Princess Punch!"
"Don't call it that……please!"
The wall that neither mages, psychics, the great heiress, nor hundreds of students could break. A single fist swung toward that still-sturdy wall. The moment a slender arm collided with it—
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
"I-it's breaking……?"
"Th-the wall! The wall is breaking!!"
"Who is that! Who the hell is that!?"
"……Didn't the fortune teller call it Princess Punch?"
"………The Princess? Princess Kim Eun-ha?"
The wall that had remained unmoved no matter what they did flew apart like a cookie. The sight seemed even more unreal because they had personally experienced just how sturdy that damn wall was. In a way, it could even be called hollow. But what the students felt was entirely different.
"It broke!!!!"
"It flew away! It just flew away like paper!!"
"Princess Punch! Princess Punch! Princess Punch!"
"Her Highness the Princess is a god!"
The stronger the final wall had been, the more it had withstood every assault, the greater the students' despair had grown. It was only natural that they would be ecstatic over the princess who had swept away all that negativity with a single, exhilarating punch.
"There's no time to celebrate! Everyone, get out now!!"
"R-right! We don't have time!"
"Run, all of you! Squeeze out your last bit of strength!!"
"If you still have energy, help those who can't move!!"
"Mages, take the other mages too!"
But it was still too early to feel joy. At Namgung Min's shout, the students came to their senses and began moving hurriedly. These were students who had spent a full hour coordinating to face the common enemy called the wall. Countless people weren't just leaving themselves—they were helping those who had collapsed or were exhausted. Perhaps a kind of camaraderie had formed. Lucas was being led away by other mages' hands, and the fallen Lane was taken by students from her faction. And Liu Yen—
"……You brought the princess?"
"That's right. In this situation, is there anyone better than Her Highness the Princess?"
"Ha, haha. Normal people wouldn't even think of something like that, you bastard. Bringing the princess to break a wall? You crazy bastard……."
Liu Yen, who had been chuckling at Namgung Min's confident words, soon looked at him with suspicion in her eyes.
"What did you do?"
"Pardon?"
"The Kim Eun-ha I know isn't the type to help with something like this out of goodwill. She's someone who believes firmly in give and take."
"…………."
"You must have paid a price, right? What was it?"
"Hmm, no comment on that……."
Right. She had known this fortune teller would say that. He wouldn't tell her so easily. But. From someone who had been fooled by that smile multiple times, she wanted to wipe it off his face at least once.
"I'll help you."
"……Yes?"
"Whatever price you paid to the princess, I'll pay it."
Liu Yen brushed the dust off her body as if it were nothing and looked up at Namgung Min. No matter how much it was, it was pocket change to her. If she didn't want to spend it, she could hide and deceive like she had with the consultation fee last time, but once she decided to spend, she was the type to throw away hundreds of billions, trillions, even amounts in the quadrillions without hesitation. It wasn't a significant expense compared to her total assets anyway, and it was an amount she could earn back quickly by playing the stock market a bit. If it meant landing a blow on Namgung Min's infuriating smile, it was a guaranteed profit. That was why she had said it.
"Uh. Um."
For the first time, Liu Yen saw Namgung Min's flustered expression.
"Why? Are you surprised because I'm not the type to say something like this?"
"N-no. It's just……."
"But so what. If I'm doing whatever I feel like, what are you going to do about it?"
"R-really? There's no way……."
Namgung Min was the highest-priority suspect. Both his competence and his nature were more than enough to threaten Liu Yen herself. This was, in other words, also an intentional approach. She couldn't entrust it to other suspicious guys. Information she uncovered herself was the most reliable. ……And now, Liu Yen felt like she finally understood a little about Namgung Min. Not the sentences in reports from background checks. But the 'real' Namgung Min.
"You……are surprisingly weak to things like this, aren't you?"
"N-no, I'm not."
"Don't be ridiculous. I can see your eyes spinning, you bastard. What, are you going to erase the debt you owe this time too?"
"Why are you doing this to me!"
Liu Yen smiled brightly. It was a sly smile she had seen somewhere before.