Chapter 99

EP.99 Prophecy-4

The fortune-telling tent was even more shabby and dilapidated than expected.

It was merely a makeshift space created with a tent in an alley between large buildings, lacking any sense of a proper structure.

"Why is it so shabby...? Didn't you say business was good?"

"Many people come. It's just that the business acumen is terrible."

He added as a bonus that that's why he lived like a beggar.

"Seer, it's been a while."

Anus entered the tent, pushing aside the entrance with his usual brusque tone.

"Yeah, it's been a while."

The seer was dressed much more neatly than expected. It was quite different from the shabby attire he wore in the slums of the city where child trafficking took place.

He looked even older than before the regression, yet he had no gray hair, and his eyes were much more lively.

"The group is just right."

It was a mysterious statement.

Anus was the one who directly invited them.

Din was the only one whose presence could be anticipated.

Leo and Aria were clearly added without any prior notice.

But she seemed to already know, exclaiming in amazement.

"Have you always been so many?"

Anus, not surprised by her reaction, calmly shot back.

"Never been few. That's why I became friends with you."

"Unlucky woman."

As he said this, Anus placed a bottle of tequila on the table. Despite appearances, it was the finest tequila from the best bar in the capital, which he had specially requested.

"Since two guests have arrived, I'll drink later."

"When did you become so diligent?"

"I guess... after I realized that what I see isn't everything."

It was a vague answer, not tied to any specific time or period. Perhaps in the context of seeing the future, tenses were unnecessary adjectives.

"You mean it hasn't been long."

"That's right."

"Then are you leaving?"

Holding the tequila bottle, Anus turned to leave, lifting the tent flap.

"I'd appreciate it if you did."

"Then I'll leave. You two, take your time."

Din followed Anus, intending to wait outside the tent.

"Wait, 'White-Haired Black Knight,' aren't you going to leave as well?"

"..."

Leo's eyes narrowed at the words.

It wasn't just because he was being told to leave.

'...White-Haired Black Knight...'

[...Isn't that your nickname before the regression?]

I don't know.

Was it a comment on the disguise magic he was using now?

Or was it a reference to his infamous past, which should have been erased?

He wasn't sure yet.

"Still, it would be good for Leo to hear this..."

At these words, the old woman immediately stood up and whispered something in Aria's ear. In just about four seconds, Aria's expression changed dramatically.

"Please wait outside...!"

"Excuse me?"

Aria, with a flushed face, pushed Leo away.

Considering her usual attitude of making even the temple's oracles accessible to the hero's lineage, this was truly bizarre and incomprehensible.

"Hurry! Quickly!! Don't be negative about the prophecy!!"

Excitedly, Aria pushed Leo's back, who was flustered.

[...She definitely didn't ask about the oracle.]

<...I doubt it.>

Surely not.

Perhaps she was worried about the burden of hearing the oracle and didn't want him to hear it.

Or maybe the seer was using a petty trick to create confusion and wanted to confirm something alone.

As long as he wasn't a fool, he wouldn't forget the purpose of coming here.

Would a genius like Aria, known for her brilliance, make such a mistake?

"So...! Who does Leo like?!"

Aria, who was clearly a genius, deliberately derailed the conversation.

Aria was indeed a genius, but when it came to stories involving Leo, her intelligence and perceptiveness dropped below average.

"First, calm down."

The seer touched the tent and snapped his fingers.

A black curtain enveloped Aria and the seer, adding another layer around them.

"...This is..."

It was the same soundproof and blackout barrier used when Leonardo beat up the daughter of the Blue Tower's master.

"It will look like you're having a normal conversation from the outside."

From the outside, it would appear as if they were just talking, and the conversation would be muffled by the wind and the tent.

"It's a kind of service. I haven't seen my benefactor in a long time, so I thought this level of courtesy was necessary."

"Ah... Sir Anus must be a close friend."

Aria simply thought the benefactor was Anus. The seer smiled kindly, finding her assumption amusing.

"That's right. A good friend. Anus is."

"...So... were you going to tell me something...?"

Despite her sudden excitement, the content the seer was about to reveal was too embarrassing for her.

Aria blushed, running her fingers through her hair, trying desperately to regain her composure. Still, her intelligence was indeed lowered.

"That's not something I can say on my own."

The seer took out a crystal ball, smiling. The smile's curve distorted strangely through the crystal's round surface.

"Ask what you want to know. The essence of a seer is not in revealing but in answering."

A seer who only boasts about what they've predicted is undoubtedly a third-rate one. No one would easily listen to such stories.

A seer who only reveals favorable information about the future is likely a second-rate one. While they might satisfy you initially, you'll eventually become a slave to the future and fate.

Therefore, a first-rate seer leads the prediction in a very natural way.

"I'll only answer the questions you ask. No more, no less."

They answer only the questions asked, without lying but revealing the truth of the future in fragments.

That was the true way of a seer.

"...I see."

Aria faced the seer, slightly tense. Even sitting in the prepared chair and avoiding eye contact, an inexplicable tension enveloped her.

It was a different kind of emotion, not unpleasant or malicious.

Perhaps it was a sense of fear.

"...Does Leonardo have secrets?"

"He does."

A plain answer, the seer seemed disappointed. This was likely because the seer saw the mistake of a novice in such a conversation.

"Everyone has secrets. You have many things you can't talk about, don't you?"

Aria's head started to heat up again. Recalling that her most sensitive and delicate secret was already known to her closest people, she couldn't help but blush.

"People of that age usually have secrets they can't talk about. The issue isn't whether they have secrets, but why and what kind of secrets they keep."

The seer, unusually, provided a clear focus on the problem. If Aria had no connection to the seer's benefactor, the seer would have given dry information without hints.

"...Does Leonardo... like me?"

It was a simple, young girl's question, but this time it was a decent one to answer. Of course, it was a question worth answering because the seer had a favorable attitude.

"My answer will include my subjective opinion. If you're okay with that, I can answer."

"...I'm okay. I want to hear it."

Aria seemed weak but determined. If Leo was gay, she would consider becoming more masculine or even becoming a man. If he was asexual, she would find a way to stimulate his libido.

"Leonardo, in terms of love, is likely more devoted to you than anyone else."

"...R-Really...?! But he seems so indifferent...!"

She tried to deny it, but Aria couldn't stop her lips from curling up to her ears. Even if it was a subjective opinion, the idea that the person she liked the most thought of her that way was hard to dislike.

"Indifferent towards you? Do you really think so?"

"...That's..."

Upon reflection, it was strange.

Leo's actions were too abnormal to be attributed to mere loyalty or friendship.

Would anyone beat up a senior or a senior knight for insulting them?

Would a friend refuse a prestigious position to stay on equal footing?

Would a warrior train relentlessly to help his family and himself?

Would a knight remain by your side no matter how much they were humiliated, and never betray you even with tempting offers?

Even in a life-or-death situation.

Would there be a person who always puts others first?

"...But..."

Just as she thought they might be in love, Leo would cut off the story, intentionally or not, in a strange way.

"...I understand."

"...This?"

There is love. But she doesn't want it to be reciprocated.

Can such a contradiction exist?

"It's not impossible. Contradictions are ultimately a matter of perspective."

What would happen if an all-piercing spear met an all-blocking shield?

Focusing only on the problem wouldn't solve it.

That's what a contradiction is.

This applies to the contradiction Aria was experiencing.

"...Does Leo not want to be loved by me?"

It was an absurd question if viewed through a common lens.

Being loved by the person you love should be the happiest thing.

"...Now you're getting to the heart of the matter."

Rapid growth, the reason Ira is called a genius, the seer understood a little.

"That statement can be answered with 'yes.'"

It was truly a contradiction.

To be devoted to the person you love but not want to be loved in return.

It must be a chaotic emotion that can't even be compared to service or devotion.

"More precisely, he finds it revolting to be loved by someone he despises."

"...Does Leo hate himself...?"

The seer smiled, relieved. At least it didn't seem to be a random obsession.

At least he seemed to care about his counterpart's psychology.

"I don't think it's just dislike. He likely hates himself to the point of being unable to forgive."

At the word "forgive," Aria recalled.

No, she couldn't help but recall.

"They're dead. My parents."

The reason Leo started his journey outside the village.

"I was harshly rejected by my first love."

"When I tried to contact them, I found out they were dead."

The reason Leo was obsessively attached to power.

"...Is this because of something that happened to Leo in the past?"

"That's right."

Then...

"...Is this because of the first person Leo loved?"

"..."

The seer, who had been silent, extended the crystal ball.

"I need to help you solve this problem a bit. Even if it's hypothetical."

"Can you read the future with the crystal ball?"

"Think of it as seeing time. The time containing that person's memories. The important part is the catalyst, and while a part of the person's body is needed, with my skills and your body as a catalyst, it's possible."

The seer was about to say this, but he didn't get the chance.

"...Will this do!?"

A bag containing a bunch of black hair, and another bag filled with white crescent-shaped fingernails.

"...This is..."

The seer already knew what these were. He knew who the owner of these body parts was.

Yet, he was sweating, not because of the content but the quantity. It wasn't something that could be collected in a day or a week.

"...Do you need blood as well...?"

"No...! This is enough!"

With a flustered expression, the seer took a pinch of the fingernails and hair, ground them into powder.

He placed the powder in a bowl under the crystal and set it on fire. Smoke rose with a strange smell of burning protein.

The smoke soon rose to the crystal ball, forming a shape.

"...What do you see?"

"...It's the place where I first met Leo."

The place where Leonardo and Aria had their first confrontation.

Aria pointed out that Leo had cut off someone's head and hung it on a tree, and beaten a guard into a scarecrow.

Leo, seemingly amazed, mocked her and ultimately challenged her to a duel by throwing his glove.

"...I didn't know... but it turned out they were both really bad people."

According to the former knight, Jehad, who investigated for Leo, the guard was indeed corrupt, and the person whose head was cut off was the leader of a bandit gang who had killed over a hundred people.

"...Thinking back, Leo seemed a bit strange and rough at the time..."

Thinking back, when she first saw Leo, he seemed to lack basic manners and looked weak.

But then he said something strange, his eyes changed, and he overwhelmed her.

It was still a surprising event to think about.

"...I miss it..."

The only person of her age who could beat her.

That was...

Clang!

Thud!

Leo...

"...I..."

Why was she the one who won?

"I won...?"

And overwhelmingly.

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