The Fortune-Teller's Reading
The old woman smiled wistfully and took Simon's hand.
"Then let's start with this young man."
"...Ah, thank you. Please, go ahead."
She pulled Simon's hand onto the crystal ball, then laid her own on top of it.
"Close your eyes."
Simon shut them. The old woman's hand glided softly across the crystal ball and his.
"What do you see right now?"
"Huh? I don't see anything."
"Figures."
It was the first fortune-telling session of Simon's life, so he waited with a pounding heart. If she'd told him to close his eyes, was something supposed to form in his mind like an image?
"Ooh!"
Just then, an exclamation escaped the old woman's lips.
"There it is! I see it! I can see you, young man!"
She's the one seeing it?
"You're flying! Flying! You're soaring high through the sky!"
For a while, the old woman did nothing but repeat variations of 'You're flying! Flying, I say!'
Simon, hand still held in hers, waited quietly, while Lethe leaned against the wall watching the whole thing with an expression of pure disbelief.
"And flying you are! Flying! And—and what's that thing you're in! A—a wheeled thing!"
"A carriage?"
"Not that! The thing merchants haul their goods behind them with...!"
"A cart?"
"Yes, a cart! You're being dragged along, riding in the cart!"
"...Weren't you saying I was flying through the sky just now?"
It was an unfolding impossible to predict.
"Uh, uuuuh!"
Then the old woman's voice rose. And with her own mouth—
"BOOM!"
—she let out an explosion sound and opened her eyes.
"That's all I can see."
"???"
Simon withdrew his hand with a baffled look on his face.
Lethe gave a few mocking claps of 'waah' applause and rose from her seat.
"That was fun. Well then, ma'am, we'll be on our way—"
"Oh no you don't! The young lady should have her turn too. Where do you think you're going?"
With that, the old woman forcibly grabbed Lethe's hand and pressed it onto the crystal ball.
Left with no choice, Lethe sat back down with a sour look on her face.
"Close your eyes."
Lethe reluctantly closed them.
"What do you see?"
"...Obviously nothing."
"O-oooh! Oh! Yes! There it is! I see you, young lady!"
The exact same routine as before.
"You're flying. Flying, you are! Soaring high through the sky!"
Even that part was the same.
Are we both flying off somewhere?
Simon was watching with that thought in mind when suddenly, the old woman's face twisted.
"How dreadful!"
"Excuse me?"
"Blood. Blood. Nothing but blood! Blood soaking everything, the clash of weapons. Flames. And screams and moans drenched in agony. So many people lying motionless on the ground."
Lethe's brow furrowed slightly, her eyes still closed.
"Ah! Ahh! And you're standing right in that place of blood and slaughter, young lady!"
The old woman's voice swelled to the point of bursting.
"You're making strange gestures, young lady! And then the people lying cold and still on the ground begin to rise, writhing! And then they take up their weapons once more—!"
Swish!
Simon jumped in surprise.
Lethe had abruptly yanked her hand off the crystal ball. And then she was glaring at the old woman with bloodshot eyes, terrifyingly fierce.
"L-Lethe?"
She shot to her feet, turned her back, and strode straight into the alley.
"I-I'm terribly sorry! Please excuse her."
The old woman, as if used to this, lifted her crystal ball and smiled gently.
"Safe travels to you both. May the Goddess's blessing go with you."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Lethe, biting down on her lower lip, marched down the alley without breaking stride.
Simon hurried after her and grabbed her wrist.
"Lethe! Wait!"
Slap!
She shook off Simon's hand violently. He stepped around to block her path.
"Calm down! What's gotten into you?"
"You heard it too, didn't you!"
Lethe shouted, her eyes wild.
"That scene just now! Anyone would know it was a necromancer raising corpses to fight! And I'm that horrible necromancer? Me?"
Simon's face fell. I should've seen this coming.
As a child, she had lost her parents in a necromancer attack and been left an orphan.
The image of necromancers raising her dead parents and the villagers as skeletons had left a virulent trauma behind.
It would be a disaster if her necromancer-hatred, quiet for so long, came surging back now.
"It was just a fortune told for fun. There's no need to take it so seriously."
"There are limits to what counts as fun! I can accept whatever happens in my own future! But why, of all things, that...!"
Simon approached calmly, holding out his open palm.
"Let's put the investigation on hold and head back to the inn for now. We can rest a bit there and—"
"Don't touch my body! You necroman—!!"
Lethe, in the middle of unleashing a fiery tirade, froze.
"......"
"......"
She stood trembling for a long moment, then ran her palm down her face and let out a long, long sigh.
"I'm sorry."
Thud.
Lethe turned away.
"The investigation. We'll continue it."
"...Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes."
She said it with a drained smile.
"I'm just a little tired, that's all."
The last place the two visited was the lord's castle of this city.
However—
"The Lord is currently in an emergency council session and cannot receive visitors. Our sincerest apologies."
In the end, the two of them had to leave the lord's castle empty-handed.
Lethe shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, what did you expect~ The city's in this state. No way the Lord is going to meet outsiders like us."
"You're right. I wasn't thinking."
Lethe was acting as naturally as if the scene from earlier had never happened. Watching how quickly she'd steadied her mind, Simon felt a quiet sense of relief.
Though he'd have to take his time and check whether she was truly all right.
Now it was time to finally head to the inn Israfil had arranged and get some rest.
It wasn't some ordinary lodging—astonishingly, it was supposed to be one of the largest inns in the entire city.
"Why, it's been six months and two whole days since we last had a guest!"
The innkeeper greeted them with a beaming grin.
Simon looked around. Though they were inside a building, a biting chill cut through the air, and it was terribly cold. His breath fogged with every exhale.
"The rooms are warm, so don't you worry."
The innkeeper said quickly.
"The building's this big, and you have no guests?"
"Ahh, a few years ago we couldn't keep a room empty. But now the city's half-dead, so there's nothing to be done. Anyway, I've cleaned your room out nice and proper for you two!"
The innkeeper looked back and forth between Simon and Lethe, then let out a peculiar little smile.
"Hope you have a delightful, heated evening! Here's your key."
He handed Simon the room key and excused himself, saying he had other business to attend to.
Ordinarily guests could pay extra for meals, but the city had no food to spare at the moment, so apparently that wasn't on offer.
The two climbed the stairs up to the third floor.
Simon jingled the key he'd received and held it up.
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"Just realized something."
Simon gave an awkward smile.
"There's only one key."
"!"
Lethe went pale, snatched the key out of Simon's hand, and checked it with her own eyes.
"No way, seriously! I know there are no guests, but how does anyone run a business like this!"
She spun around and thundered down the stairs at a frightening pace.
"Excuse me, sir! The room is a single?!"
She shouted at the top of her lungs, but the innkeeper was already long gone.
Lethe trudged her way back up.
"Unbelievable—!"
"Let's just take a look inside. Sure, there's one key, but there might be several rooms once we're in."
A flicker of color returned to her face.
"...Mm. You're right. I suppose that could be it."
The two set off for the third floor again, chattering away as they went.
"The moment we're in, I'm taking a shower. A booth would be lovely."
"Apparently this was a city of wealth, so it has proper sewers. The water should work fine, too."
"Thank goodness. You really notice the infrastructure gap when you come down from Sky Island to some backwater village."
"I tried the baths at Kizen for the first time myself not long ago. Ah, here we are. Let me get the door."
Reaching the door, Simon slid the key into the keyhole and turned it. With a click, the door swung open.
He sent Lethe in first, then stepped through while pulling the door shut behind him—
"What's wrong?"
Lethe had stopped mid-step and was standing there, frozen. Simon walked in, and right beside her, his own movement locked up just the same.
"......"
"......"
The room was bathed in an ambiguous crimson glow.
The wallpaper was red-toned, and in the spacious room stood one single large bed, all by itself. Worse still, the bathroom wall attached to the room was made entirely of glass, leaving the interior plainly visible from the bedroom side.
Simon's face flushed scarlet.
And then, belatedly, one fact dawned on him.
Israfil had been far too well-prepared for this entire trip.
"...Haha. Ahaha."
Lethe backed away as if she couldn't believe it. Then, gripping the door with both hands, she said one thing:
"Goodnight."
Slam!
Lethe shut the door, and the sound of running footsteps echoed away down the hall.
When Simon opened the door again and peered into the corridor, he found her—brimming with fury and mortification—violently yanking at the doorknob of another room.
"This is—this is crossing SO many lines, goddammit!"
Bang! Bang!
She soon checked every guest room, but they were all locked. The only room open in the entire inn was that one red room.
"...Ugh."
Lethe, raking her hands through her hair in despair, suddenly had her eyes flash, and she hoisted her leg up high. Simon shrieked in alarm.
"Lethe! Hold on a second!"
"You can have that room all to yourself!"
Lethe ground her teeth.
"I would rather DIE than sleep in the same room as a man!"
Crash!
In the end, Lethe broke the doorknob with brute force and barged into the room next door. Simon scrambled after her in a panic.
"What do you think you're doing?! You'll have to pay for all of this dam—huh?"
But the room next door was far worse.
Dust piled deep across the floor and the bed, cobwebs draped from the ceiling. And there was no heating, so it was freezing out of its mind on top of everything else.
The moment Lethe caught sight of a centipede wriggling its way across the floor, she shut the door with a bang.
And a little while later—
"......"
—there she was, having walked into the red room of her own free will, sitting primly on the edge of the bed.
Simon let out a laugh.
"I thought you'd rather die than share a room?"
"...Shut up."
Still chuckling out loud, Simon plopped down on the bed himself and groaned. His legs ached badly from all the walking.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted. I want to sleep so badly."
Thwump!
As he was saying it, a pillow dropped to the floor in front of Simon. He turned his head quickly to see Lethe bowing her head politely.
"Goodnight to you."
"Whoa, hold on! This is not how this works!"
Even the patient Simon couldn't let this one slide. Lethe wrapped her arms around the blanket like a fortress defender, hiding herself behind it.
"Like hell it isn't! What, am I supposed to sleep in a bed with a necromancer?!"
"If you're going to make me sleep on the floor, at least give me a blanket!"
"Then you'd see my whole body!!"
Yap yap yap—this time the two of them were fighting over sleeping arrangements.
After thirty minutes of debate and struggle, they finally settled it: instead of Simon taking the floor, Lethe would concede all the blankets. She would make do sleeping wrapped in her robe.
"How did I end up like this... O Goddess, why do You keep heaping trials upon trials on me?"
Leaving her to her prayers on the bed, Simon took out his bag and began unpacking.
"Lethe, want to wash up first?"
"......"
Lethe opened her eyes, finished with her prayer, and answered icily.
"Don't try any funny business."
"?"
Truth be told, Lethe was every bit as eager as anyone to wash in warm water.
No—she genuinely needed a wash.
But.
"Seriously, how is anyone supposed to bathe here?!"
She grabbed the bathroom door and rattled it back and forth.
The glass wall left the interior in full view of the bedroom, and above all, the door had no lock.
It could barely even be called a door.
"Well then."
Simon rose from his seat.
"I'll go first, then."
Lethe flinched, her expression tightening.