Chapter 107
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: 25. Master's Grace. (2)
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"Yupi!"
A radiant beauty warmly greeted the person entering the room. She had a cigarette dangling from her lips and was carrying a young lady on her back. The girl was fast asleep.
"Oh my..., don't tell me she's a secret child between you and Magnus?!"
"Spouting nonsense again."
"Hehe."
"Mind if I lay her down for a bit?"
"Of course."
The young lady, just beginning to bud like a flower, stretched out her limbs the moment she was gently laid on the bed and fell into a deep, carefree sleep. As if this were her own bedroom. Seeing her young disciple's nonchalance, her master couldn't help but let out a hollow chuckle.
The beauty, the prophetess Aloa, first gazed at the young lady with a smile, but gradually the mirth faded from her expression. ...It didn't take long for her to realize this child was no ordinary person.
"Who's she?"
Yupi, rolling and lighting another cigarette, took a sharp drag and exhaled a thin plume of smoke before answering.
"Dunno. Picked her up a while back."
"No joke, for real."
"For real."
"......She's a bit unusual, isn't she?"
"That's why I brought her to you. Take a look. ...What do you think?"
Aloa rose from her chair, approached the bed, perched on its edge, and gently stroked the girl's heterochromatic hair. Beneath the prophetess's closed eyelids, intense eye movements stirred. Occasionally, she'd furrow her brow and let out a faint "Mm."
......Quite some time passed. After a long struggle, she opened her eyes, her body drenched in sweat.
"......She'll have a rough life. Lots of twists and turns ahead."
"Meeting me was already hell for her."
Her master Yupi cracked a faint smile with that joke.
"So..., what do you think?"
"Raise her well. She'll rise high someday. ...And she's got the look of someone who'll get rich. You love money, sis. Good catch."
"I don't traffic in people."
"Who said anything about trafficking? Just enjoy the blessings of a disciple."
Hmph. As if the great Yupi would ever mooch off her disciple—!
"Don't brush it off. Give me the details."
"Take her to the Holy Kingdom and raise her there. Temper that wild streak. She'll get in big trouble if she picks the wrong guy. Let the Holy Faith cleanse her mind."
"...Am I her nanny now? Gotta manage her love life too?"
As Yupi spoke, Aloa lightly smacked her standing leg with her palm.
"Ow, don't interrupt when I'm talking. You're breaking my focus."
"Fine, fine. Go on."
"......She'll tangle with important people. She's got great connections. When corpses start rising on their own, her first journey begins. To the west. Head west. But once it's done, she'll come right back. She'll feel her shortcomings and return to you for more teachings. And when the great war starts, she'll finally be complete. ...Then she'll leave you. But don't grieve too much. It's an inevitable fate."
And the prophecy ended.
"...I see."
Aloa's prophecies had never missed the mark. ...Yet Yupi didn't fully believe in prophecy. Fate was a fickle thing, after all.
"...But it's not set in stone, right?"
"Hah, really? Don't you know me? I'm Aloa! The continent's greatest prophetess!"
"Fortune-tellers are all the same."
"This sister's seriously offended. Comparing me to some street charlatan—?"
"Okay, okay. Just kidding."
"......Of course, minor branches might shift. I don't bother mentioning those. But the main trunk never changes. What I said is unchanging truth—truth!"
The beautiful prophetess declared firmly.
"So you're saying..., raise her in the Holy Kingdom?"
"Yes, for her future."
Aloa gazed lovingly at the young lady with a warm smile.
"......She'll become the Blind Saintess, revered by all someday."
· · ·
......I'm screwed......!
That was Odd Eye's first thought upon seeing her master casually smoking a hand-rolled cigarette.
Honestly, she'd completely forgotten about her master's existence until now. She hadn't even imagined her master would show up here.
"Long time no see, my disciple."
"...H-Have you been well all this time, Master...!"
"What's with the weird formal talk, you ditz."
"This unworthy disciple has wandered the vast continent, seeing and learning much. All thanks to you, Master!"
The Cheap Saintess showered flattery, desperate just to survive.
"And yet you vanish without a trace, ignoring even corpse peddlers? Said you'd make a fortune, you wench."
"That's...!"
With irrefutable truth thrown at her, Odd Eye had no retort. Looking back or forward, it was undeniably her fault. But spilled water couldn't be gathered, and what was done couldn't be undone.
Still, scraping for any excuse, Odd Eye forced one out.
"Th-That... I haven't... made enough money yet...!"
Yes, this was it.
The sly Cheap Saintess found her lifeline. Her greedy, money-loving master might buy it if she played it right.
"This unworthy disciple couldn't bear to return empty-handed to you in the Holy Kingdom. I got carried away thinking I had to earn big to treat you right...!"
Her master puffed smoke rings, eyeing her pathetic disciple like, Keep yapping, see what happens.
The Blind Saintess rattled on with excuses, but nothing got through to her master. ...She just couldn't grasp why the prophecy had gone awry.
..........Why did it turn out like this..........?
According to that overconfident fortune-teller, Odd Eye was absolutely, inevitably supposed to return. It was phrased like the first step of a grand journey. She was so sure the main path wouldn't change...!
Yet the prophetess's bold words missed. The disciple never returned to her master—and showed no intention of doing so.
...Why? What for?
No matter how much the disciple loved money, she wouldn't ditch everything for a paltry sum.
Tracing what changed her led inevitably to Mercenary Leader Allen. Handsome face aside, nothing special stood out. Not exceptionally strong, either. ...But Odd Eye had seen something in him. A radiant golden light no one else had.
He seemed to harbor something even she, the continent's top prophetess, couldn't fathom. Something that fooled even her eyes.
As these thoughts swirled, the Blind Saintess prattled on. Her flustered demeanor seemed a bit different from her old brazen self... maybe.
The moment she finished one cigarette and rolled the next, a thought flashed through her master's mind.
...Could it be...?
Odd Eye was a woman at heart, after all. A handsome, talented man would stir feelings anyone. ...Might be off-base, but couldn't rule it out.
"So anyway...!"
"Shh."
Her master silenced the chattering disciple.
"Excuses like that are pointless. I'll talk to Mercenary Leader Allen."
After she smoked two more cigarettes, Allen finally returned from his errands.
"Ah, there you are.... Long time no see, Mercenary Leader Allen."
Her master exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"Came looking for my wicked disciple who ditched her poor master...."
"When did you arrive...?"
"Couple days ago. Been imposing a bit."
"Imposing? You're Odd Eye's master—it's only right we treat you well! Haha."
Our?
The word felt oddly intimate. ...And there seemed some rapport between them now.
"How've you been?"
"Not great. No one comes looking for a poor master...."
"Master, I was just explaining...!"
As the frantic disciple butted in, her master's eyes sharpened.
"Odd Eye, adults are talking! ...Go wait outside."
The Cheap Saintess slunk away. Once the door clicked shut, her master exhaled smoke and calmly continued.
"Before she left, she promised to finish this job and come right back. But here we are. ...She's not one for empty words, though."
The leader stared piercingly at the Blind Saintess's master with a serious expression. It somehow resembled someone else's gaze.
After a long silence, Allen cautiously spoke.
"We've had many talks lately. In the end, Odd Eye agreed to stay with me. That's the result."
"What kind of talks?"
"Can't disclose that."
"I'm her master."
"Sorry, but I can't say it myself. It's a principle."
Outwardly calm, Allen was tense inside.
Odd Eye's defection clearly twisted the scenario. What backlash it'd bring, even he couldn't predict. He'd played [Guild Master] countless times, but this was a first.
Still, in a game where named characters dropped like flies, keeping Odd Eye longer probably wouldn't cause drastic shifts. It chugged on even after bigger losses.
...Is she gonna force her back...?
With the contract signed, principles made it near impossible legally, but worry gnawed. If she insisted on dragging her off by force, he had no counter. How to stop someone stronger than a 10th-rank leader?
Her master eyed him silently, puffing smoke, before finally speaking.
"Then tell me this. ...Why choose my disciple specifically?"
"Obviously, she's essential talent my corps can't do without."
"If that was all, she wouldn't have stayed. She's not that duty-bound."
Allen couldn't say, Actually, your disciple sold out for 40 gold♥. ...The fallout would be obvious.
Nor could he fabricate some nonexistent sense of duty, as her master well knew.
Watching the pondering leader, she broke the silence.
"...There some reason that's hard to say?"
"Uh...!"
He flinched. Hit the mark. Her master surely knew Odd Eye's money obsession. The status window hinted she'd guessed the context.
Resigned to confessing, when...!
"You're... in love with Odd Eye."
"......Pardon?"
Caught off-guard, Allen faltered. Her faint, knowing smile suggested it sealed her conviction.
His mind raced.
"......Yes......!"
..........Better than admitting the 40 gold, anyway.