Distinguishing Fortune-Telling from Fraud
"I did it……! I really did it!"
Huff. Huff. Sister Luina sprinted toward the church. Her lungs burned, but she never slowed her legs. Passersby shot her curious glances as she dashed past, yet she didn't stop. There was no real reason to hurry, but Luina had no desire to walk at a leisurely pace.
"The Saintess! She's the real Saintess!"
That child named Aileen, the one the Saint often visited. The glimpse had been fleeting, but there was no mistaking it. A Saintess. The Saintess had appeared—the one destined to stand against the Saint!
"Ha, haha, hahaha!!"
Looking back, it had been a long road. Ever since her father was excommunicated because of that damned Saint, Luina's life had plummeted into poverty. The fine meats and banquets she once enjoyed became cheap pork belly she could barely stomach. The grand mansion shrank to a cramped house. Her monthly allowance dwindled to a mere few hundred thousand won.
She had resented her father for it, but he had clung to one desperate hope: reinstatement. He had pulled every connection he had to make his daughter a nun and plant her at the Saint's side.
'Honestly, I thought there was no chance……!!'
Collect information to bring the Saint down? At first Luina had been eager, but the Saint's daily life quickly drained even her enthusiasm. Abstinence. Discipline. Diligence. His existence hardly seemed human. Six hours of prayer every day, rigid control over food and sleep—who lived like that?
Worse still, as an inquisitor the Saint was mercilessly diligent. He personally executed at least one heretic every single day. Even when he killed with his own hands, it was only the worst of the worst, yet still one per day.
Luina gave up after six months. The man had no private life to speak of; there was nothing to gather. She simply lived as an ordinary nun, day after day.
'My luck turned! It really did!'
Everything changed after the Saint met that little girl—Charles Teddybear's daughter. While other clergy avoided the Saint out of reverence, only Luina, who had been desperately hunting for information, noticed his reaction.
──Right after examining the child, the Saint had been visibly shaken. The moment was brief, but it had been enough for Luina to catch it. Even though he claimed he couldn't be sure, he soon decided to enroll her at Romance Academy.
It could have been coincidence, but Luina had staked everything on that possibility. She was certain the girl held something the Saint wanted desperately to hide.
Using every connection she had built as a nun, she secured a transfer to the church at Romance Academy. And today, at last, it had paid off.
'A Saintess! I was expecting some hidden family scandal or secret lover, but a Saintess? Really?!'
She had been rewarded. All the poverty she had endured, all the nun's duties she had hated, all the prayers she had drowsed through—every bit of it had been worth it.
Luina kept running. She took the shortcut through the back alleys to reach the church faster and contact her father. Normally she would never have gone near these narrow, gloomy passages, but right now they felt like a highway.
"Now I can go back to how things used to—"
Thud.
………Thud.
Observation
"Mr. Namgung Min?"
"Someone might hear. Just call me Namgung Min."
"H-Hiik! How could I possibly……!"
"Call me."
"……Y-Yes. Namgung Min……"
Did it really tire her out that much to add "nim" every time? Honestly, it was embarrassing for me to hear, too. And terrifying in case anyone overheard.
"So, why?"
"Ah. Well…… Even so, tailing the Saint doesn't seem right, does it?"
"Don't worry. Since you're using your psychic ability, it's not tailing—it's more like reconnaissance."
"That's still a problem……"
Was it, though? I sat in the café sipping my drink while watching Lane fidget restlessly. The guy who regularly used his powers to dig up Liu's weaknesses was acting like this now?
"…………"
"Ah, understood……"
Of course, Lane's half-hearted resistance crumbled the moment I gave her a serious look. Knowing her background, exploiting her "strong to the weak, weak to the strong" mentality did weigh on my conscience. I was promising to cure that very condition while taking advantage of it.
So…… even if it was only for my own peace of mind, I wanted to give her something in return.
"Is meeting me a burden?"
"Huh, what?"
"You're being excessively polite. Of course you'd want to avoid me. This time I came to you, so you had no choice."
"…………"
"So if you're receiving something, you should give something back."
"……Yes?"
Even when I struck at her honest feelings, she only lowered her head. Her illness made it impossible for her to speak or act freely in front of a "strong one." In rebellion, she became cruel to the weak, earning her the title of villainess and endless hate.
The Saint and Aileen's situation was urgent right now, but once that was settled, Lane would be next. For that reason alone, I had to give her the best I could.
"I'll read your fortune."
"My…… fortune?"
"Yeah. For example……"
The best thing I could offer Lane Arthur was the one thing she truly wanted to know.
"……your mother's whereabouts."
"………!!!"
Crash!
In an instant, Lane shot to her feet, knocking her chair over. For someone who normally watched every action around a stronger person, this reaction meant her mother's story was her reverse scale.
"……That statement."
"…………"
"Can you…… take responsibility for it?"
The head of the Arthur family—Lane's father—and even Lucas Arthur never mentioned Lane's mother. Even someone trapped inside the shell of "strong to the weak, weak to the strong" needed at least one spark to break free.
……Tables, chairs, and teacups around us began to float. Lane's psychic power flared to its peak, naturally targeting me. One wrong answer here and she would charge without hesitation, even if she still recognized me as strong.
"That statement just now—wasn't a joke, but truly──"
"Of course."
"──you can take responsibility…… for it?"
But through my eyes, now using the general skill Observation, I could see it. Lane was trembling ever so slightly. Her "strong to the weak, weak to the strong" condition wouldn't allow this behavior. She still saw me as strong and remained terrified. Knowing that, I didn't flinch at the surface-level threat.
While glancing at the forks and knives that kept trying to stab my neck, I maintained the calm composure of a strong person.
"Lane Arthur, you've seen my fortunes several times already, haven't you?"
"…………"
"During the entrance exam interview with Liu, the speech at the entrance ceremony, and the escape from the maze. I thought you had at least some trust in my readings by now."
"That's……"
Hey, you're hesitating, right? The fork and knife are still poking at my neck. This is going to draw blood if I'm not careful. Whoa, the chair and teacup are creeping closer too? Could you decide before those things smash into my head?
"……I understand."
Clang!
"Good. You made the right choice."
The furniture that had been surrounding me returned to its place. The fork and knife that had been aimed at my throat dropped limply to the floor.
Wow. If they'd gone any deeper, I would've been bleeding. I almost blew my "strong person" act in the most ridiculous way. Still, I absolutely couldn't show it. I had to act relaxed, as if none of it had bothered me from the start.
……My hands kept shaking, so I decided to stop drinking.
"Once this matter is over, you'll read my fortune right away…… right?"
"Naturally."
Come to think of it, I had also promised to tell Liu a secret. I could do that the next time I saw her. If I accidentally forgot, who knew what would happen. As the Tycoon, she could force penalties on anyone who broke a deal.
After firmly engraving the deals with both Liu and Lane into my mind, I looked at her.
"Where…… is the Saint right now?"
"Ah…… Yes. He's currently at the house you mentioned……"
Lane didn't know the house belonged to Charles Teddybear. There was no need to tell her. Still, it was about time to move. I needed to get there while the Saint was still inside.
"……He's not there?"
"What?"
"Huh? Just a moment. He was inside until a second ago……?"
Not there? That couldn't be. It hadn't even been three minutes since the Saint entered and that suspicious nun left. There was no way he could have come out in such a short time.
"Can you find out where he is now?"
"W-Well…… Hmm……… Ah!"
Lane, who had been frantically using her ability, suddenly lifted her head as if she had found something. But for some reason…… an ominous feeling refused to leave me.
"The back alley. The back alley near the church. It's dark so I can't see clearly, but…… hmm? It looks like he's with that nun from earlier……?"
"Damn it."
Thud.
"Huh, Namgung…… Min?"
"We're going. Right now, Lane."
What had I missed? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't figure out the cause. Maybe it was only natural, given that everything had been twisted from the start because of this damned Fortune Teller class. Perhaps relying solely on game experience to predict everything had been impossible from the beginning.
But I hadn't been sitting idle either.
"Lane, contact the people I mentioned."
"The church? Even then, we'll only be able to enter as guests……"
"That's enough."
Being the young lady of the Arthur family meant she could enter the church where the Saint stayed as a guest. Though she still looked confused, Lane took out her phone. I gave her one last glance before hurrying forward.
Saint, Raphael Martina. I never cleared the hidden event involving you that my sister told me about, so I can't claim to know you completely. She said there was a twist about the Saint in that hidden ending, but honestly, I wasn't even curious. Still, I know what you're trying to do right now.
"Let's go!"
"Ah, yes!"
Tap.
We rushed out of the café toward the church. It was fortunate we had already been at a café near the church, but my catastrophic physical aptitude made even this short distance difficult. I squeezed every ounce of strength from my body to run at full speed, but after barely a minute my breath grew ragged and my breathing turned shallow.
"Namgung Min……?"
Showing Lane this pathetic side of myself was terrifying in its potential consequences, but what the Saint might do terrified me even more. My legs trembled and a sweet taste filled my mouth, yet I kept running until I reached the church.
"…Huff, huff. I'm counting on you."
"………Understood."
Lane's suspicious gaze lingered on me, but my eyes were fixed solely on the church. More precisely, on the basement that might lie beneath it.
"This is Lane Arthur, as I mentioned earlier."
"Ah, welcome. And the person beside you……?"
"He…… is my servant. Didn't I contact you in advance?"
"Ah, confirmed. The Saint is currently out, so Priest Robert will be receiving guests──"
I was sorry to interrupt the nun's kind guidance, but there was no time.
"──I'm sorry, but may I use the restroom for a moment?"
"Of course. The restroom is down the right corridor after you enter, at the very end."
"Thank you. Lady Lane, I'll catch up shortly."
"Right, got it…… huh."
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
My heart raced violently. Even taking deep breaths didn't slow it down. Leaving Lane's doubtful stare behind, I walked down the corridor. Right corridor, around the corner, third door before the restroom at the end.
Standing in front of it, I turned the doorknob.
"Observation."
Throb.
A vivid pain shot through my right eye. The pressure felt like my eye was being forced wide open. But the price of pain was sweet.
'……I see it.'
From the outside it looked like an ordinary door and handle, but in reality it was a dial like a safe. Three turns right, two turns left, four pushes, two turns right again, then a brief pause before three turns left.
Click.
With a soft sound, the door slowly opened. But what lay beyond wasn't someone's room or a prayer chamber.
'……Stairs.'
Dark, damp stairs leading downward into heavy air. My hesitation lasted only a moment.
Step.
Step.
I closed the door and descended the dark stairs. The stairs…… weren't very long. There was no door at the bottom, nothing blocking the way. The church basement was laid bare.
The church basement. The torture chamber permitted only to the Saint and inquisitors. Since this church's only inquisitor was the Saint, it was effectively his private room.
"………Ah, fellow sinner."
Holding a mace dripping with blood, the Saint smiled at the nun tied to the chair, who was bleeding just as heavily.
"……Yes, Your Holiness."
So I, too, forced a smile somehow.