Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Can't You Protect Me?
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-Clink.
"Here, have some tea. It has a calming effect on the mind."
"..."
I handed the tea to the man before me.
To sum him up briefly, he was the guy who'd come to me for a fortune about a business trip two weeks ago. Back then, unlike now, he'd been with two friends.
Yeah. That was then.
"You said it would go well... You... You..."
"...I have nothing to say, even if I had ten mouths."
Back then, I'd told them their business trip would go smoothly.
They'd left the shop grinning from ear to ear.
And now, a week later, three had become one.
'...'
I always tell them.
I'm just a sorcerer who peeks at heaven's records—don't put blind faith in me.
But people treat it like a formality. More than one or two do.
They think I'm some prophet.
When I'm just a lowly fortune teller who knows a bit of divination sorcery.
"I don't know how to comfort you."
"...Say something. Anything—an excuse is fine. Work that mouth like you did back then."
A voice laced with hatred, rage, and resentment.
No matter how many times I hear it, it never gets easier.
"Heaven and earth don't prepare just one story from the start."
I'll try giving him the excuse he wants.
The reason fortunes can be wrong.
"The records I can glimpse are merely the most likely ones—the most prominent and probable paths. There are countless untold branches stretching out beyond what I can see."
Heaven isn't careless.
It doesn't prepare just one tale and let things flow only that way.
It always leaves stems of other possibilities open, ready to continue the record from there if needed.
What I see is only the most probable path right now.
There are endlessly thin stems heaven has prepared that no one could dare read.
"...My deepest condolences for your departed friends. May they rest in peace."
"...Make me pay. Compensation..."
"..."
Strictly speaking, I bear no responsibility for his business failure or his friends' deaths.
Still.
-Clink.
"Twenty silver nyang. It isn't much, but it's all the money I have right now."
This much consolation seems appropriate.
I read his fortune.
And that fortune was wrong, so his friends died.
"Don't make me laugh... I know you make good money... Faceless Golden Ghost... Heard you drink expensive booze and gamble every night..."
"I spend everything I earn in a day."
"..."
His words were getting rude, but I held my tongue.
If I'd lost close friends, I'd react the same.
"You can stay until your anger cools. Want more tea? I'll bring as much as you like."
"...Forget it. I don't even want to look at you. With that ghostly face..."
"Haha... I don't like my looks much either. That's why I cover up."
"Damn bastard."
The man spat curses as he rose from his seat.
Then, as he headed for the door, something slipped from his mouth that I couldn't ignore.
"You said it'd end safely, so I canceled all the escorts I'd hired and loaded up extra cargo instead. Damn... You swindling con artist."
...Hold on.
"You went without escorts?"
"Yeah, you con artist."
They went on a business trip without hiring escorts?
"You crazy..."
Is that something you just blurt out now?
No... Wait. More importantly—
"What do you mean you canceled the escorts?"
"What else? Before coming to you for that fortune, I'd already hired them, but I canceled after."
"...You call that something to say?!"
The more I heard, the more I realized this guy wasn't just any lunatic.
"I said the trip would be safe assuming you had escorts! What did you think would happen if you canceled?!"
The presence or absence of escorts makes a huge difference on a business trip.
Thinking "we won't get attacked anyway, so who needs them?" means you know one thing and not the other.
Escorts alone can scare off bandits or beasts without a fight.
Heading out without them is like advertising, "Hey, we're defenseless—come and get us!"
Of course, with good luck, you might pull it off without them...
"Ha... What the hell..."
I was too dumbfounded to speak.
I'd never imagined something like this.
"...So the trip failing is my fault?"
"Then whose is it?"
Any sympathy I'd felt evaporated.
I tell them every time: don't take it on blind faith.
But they ignore it, think "We're gonna succeed!" get complacent, cancel hired escorts, and buy more cargo with the savings—like greedy pigs. What am I supposed to say to that?
"Eeeeek..."
The man's face twisted in fury.
'Oh. Right.'
"You damn bastard!!"
-Crash!
The man lunged at me.
For the record, I'm not hiding any strength or anything. I swear on heaven, I couldn't beat a regular person.
'Maybe a regular woman...?'
Anyway, that wasn't important right now.
The man had mounted me, fist raised, ready to strike any second.
'This is gonna hurt.'
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact—
-Thud!
"Gaaahhh!!!"
No impact. Just the man's scream.
"Sorry, but I'm the one who wants to ride that man."
"People will misunderstand."
"Oh? A misunderstanding might not be so bad. I could even demand responsibility for blocking a daughter of the Tang Family on her way to an arranged marriage."
"Don't say scary things."
To an outsider, it sounded like lovers' banter, but we weren't involved like that.
Somewhere between friends and business associates?
"I'd miss you a bit, but if the family could monopolize that ability of yours, it wouldn't be a bad trade."
"...Handle this guy first."
"Guhhh...! My hand...!"
The man writhed on the floor, clutching his hand.
A dagger was embedded in it.
Perfectly piercing right through the palm's center.
"For free?"
"...I'll read one piece of info for you?"
"Deal. Anything."
"Not the face."
"...Tch."
She'd tried to sneak a peek in that split second.
Typical Tang Family. Assassins through and through.
Can't let my guard down.
As I straightened my clothes, Dang Ayoung approached the man with light steps.
Her movements looked casual, but not a single footfall made a sound.
"Hey? Can you hear me?"
"Guh...! Hic...!"
"No answer, and I'll do the other hand the same."
"I-I hear you! I do!"
The brute I couldn't beat even with all my strength trembled before a woman half his size.
This was martial prowess.
The kind I could never have.
"It might sting a bit, but bear with it?"
"W-Wait... What are you—"
-Squish!
"Gaaahhh!!!"
Dang Ayoung yanked the hidden blade from his hand in one motion.
'Oof...'
Blood sprayed out. Bad for the heart.
"Here, a cloth. It's clean, so wrap it without worry."
"Hic... Hic..."
"How'd you get hurt today?"
"...D-During... m-meal... slipped..."
"Good boy~"
'Was she always like this?'
I'd only seen her bright and kind side. Guess she's merciless to enemies.
"Did you come to this fortune shop today or not?"
"N-No..."
"Right. You're good to go now."
"Ughhh..."
The man clutched his bandaged hand, face pale with terror, and bolted for the entrance.
"You know what happens if you talk, right?"
"H-Hiiik!"
He nodded frantically and vanished like the wind.
"I chased him off. Happy now?"
"...Thanks, Lady Dang Ayoung."
"No big deal. It's not like it's our first rodeo."
I grabbed a rag to wipe the blood from the floor.
"By the way, you really are weak, huh? Couldn't even handle a guy like that."
"Didn't I tell you? I can't learn martial arts..."
"Still thought you'd have some way to protect yourself."
'A way to protect myself...'
I stared into space at her words.
'...Expensive.'
Still a long way off.
I swirled my translucent cloak and bent to scrub the blood.
"Want me to teach you something?"
"...I can't learn martial arts."
"No, our family's arts can't be shared lightly anyway. But I could teach you the Golden Claw Technique."
Golden Claw Technique.
A bare-handed restraint skill.
More of a supplement to martial arts than true martial arts itself.
"You won't beat a martial artist, but if you're going to keep doing business, you need to handle regular thugs like that. Once you're famous, challengers won't be few and far between. I can't guard you all day."
"...Can't you guard me all day?"
"Pardon?"
"Kidding."
Learning the Golden Claw Technique was worth serious thought.
Since it wasn't true martial arts, my ruined dantian wouldn't matter. I wouldn't beat martial artists, but handling guys like that? I agreed a hundred times over.
It wouldn't make me noticeably stronger, either.
"I'll learn it."
I decided it was for the best.
"..."
"Lady Dang?"
"Ah."
Dang Ayoung's face flushed red.
"Ahem. Then after you close shop. I'll come by before the evening drinks."
"Ah. Never mind, I won't learn it."
"Why?!"
"Gotta hit the tavern then."
After a brief back-and-forth(?), we settled on her coming in the afternoon.
