Alright. Let’s clear one thing first.

The woman is the fortune teller.

Avoros once called her Alicia.

She called herself Marquis Bluenote.

Whatever is her real name, I leave that to your imagination.

Thanks to Jorgelotr, I changed also the name of the Marquis’ book to

I know it sounds strange. But after reading ahead (Ch 400’s), there is a reason why it was named like that. *smirk*

Now then, this is chapter is a huge chunk of foreshadowing. Mainly, it centers around Marquis/Alicia and the Past. So make sure to bookmark this chapter for future reference.

With that said, the plot is building again, and strangely I could relate myself to Alicia (I’ll keep it to myself for now)

Enjoy Chapter 256! Hiiro returns next chapter.

"…a clairvoyant? That"s impossible.."

Judom raised both of his hands to his head in exaggeration as he shrugged his shoulders. However, he knew that it wasn"t a joke because the elder"s expression was serious.

"….hey old man, are you serious ?"

"Yes. It"s the only explanation that makes sense about this. If one could antic.i.p.ate where would we be likely headed, then coming here easily isn"t an impossible feat."

"If you say it like that, then I guess so, but a clairvoyant? Man, this is too much…"

"It"s certainly an amazing ability. There was another person a long time ago who had the same power, but after that person, no one else had it until this day."

"Heh~ as expected of the wise elder."

Judom who still couldn"t believe it faced Marquis again. She was still smiling fearlessly.

"…so it really was true, huh?"

"Yes, if it"s of any comfort, I only saw it just recently."

"Just recently? What do you mean?"

"I was able to come here because I foresaw it happening a little before I came here. This is the result of my fortune-telling, it is not versatile at all."

"Fortune-telling? You"re a fortune teller?"

"Yes, and it"s actually my main profession."

"I thought you were a writer?"

"Like I said before, I wasn"t writing a book for fame or money. My profession is a fortune teller."

"But…I haven"t seen a fortune teller that looks like you…"

After his words, smoke appeared and wrapped her whole body. Judom stands ahead of Farah promptly. As the smoke gradually cleared up, an old woman wrapped in a black robe appeared on the inside.

And as Judom saw her appearance, he was convinced of her words and nodded.

"I see…so it was you. You used to foretell at the town district."

Judom recalled that she was the one fortune-telling at the corner of the road with this form. Smoke wrapped her body again, and she returned to her former beautiful appearance.

"Then, who"s the real y…"

"For your information, this is my true appearance."

There was a sense of intimidation when Judom heard her words, and he could only nod in agreement.

"Anyway, I see. A fortune teller, huh? …. You found this place due to your divination, does that also include the princess" awakening?"

"Yes. It was a piece of cake."

Apparently, the woman in front of him was a fortune teller with a considerable mastery of it. Judom had met a lot of fortune-teller, but not with a high rate of success like hers.

And Marquis said as if it was a trivial matter. She really must have an amazing talent in fortune-telling.

"Well, thanks for telling us about yourself, but what are you going to do from now on?"

"What could you be implying with that?"

"I"m sure you know. The moment you saved us, you already have an idea what is happening within the country."

"……"

"You know who we are, and you came with your original appearance. What"s your aim?"

"Ara, did I say I was going to explain anything when the princess woke up?"

"Stop with that attempt to cover up with your words. I ain"t foolish enough to not notice why you would want to get in touch with us right now, considering all the things happening in this country."

The Predecessor Demon Lord tried to kill Judom. And Farah who was also in here, would be likely targeted in the near future. Perhaps Marquis knew this already through her fortune-telling, what he did not know is why was she revealing her true existence right now.

After the mention of his words, the silent Marquis quietly stared Judom. Then, she lightly sighed.

"…it is as you say. I certainly did came here to introduce myself and all, but I wasn"t doing it to thanked or appreciated. I came here to give you an advice."

"An advice you say?"

"Yes."

"…then what in the world is it?"

Not only Judom, but Farah and the elder all held their breath and quietly waited upon her words.

"….give up on this country."

"Give up on it!? What the heck are you trying to say! Do you know who took over the dominion of the country! It may sound unbelievable but it"s the Predecessor Demon Lord!"

"Yes. I"m aware of it."

"If we leave him in control, a lot of people will surely suffer! I have to take some measures as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the people!"

Judom strongly thinks of the people, he couldn"t leave them alone suffering. Especially now that he became the representative King of his old friend Rudolph"s former dominion. That"s why he can"t let that Demon Lord do as he pleases in this country.

"I understand how you feel. However, your opponent is the Predecessor Demon Lord which is why I"m advising you to give up."

"Are you forcing me to abandon my people?"

Anxiety was mixed in his voice as he glared at Marquis.

"B-being glared like that is kind of difficult you know…"

When Judom saw her gross-grained expression, he hurriedly losses his expression.

"S-sorry, I became too angry.."

"I-it"s alright."

Marquis sighed in relief.

"But I can"t abandon my country, I have a lot of important things in here."

"….that"s impossible."

"Ku…"

"Judom, even if there are two of you in here who are an SSS Ranker, can you even defeat the Predecessor Demon Lord and his subordinates which their abilities are still unknown to us?"

"I know that…..Hm? Did you just say two SSS Ranker?"

"Yes I did."

"…you knew?"

"Naturally."

Farah who was watching the exchange of the two people, had not been able to keep up with the content of their recent conversation and was blankly looking at them in puzzlement.

"U-um..Judom-sama?"

"Hm? What"s the matter Farah?"

"You"re an SSS Ranker right?"

"I was a former one, yes."

"But Marquis-sama said there were two SSS Rankers present…. does that mean…"

Farah slowly glanced her direction to the elderly person.

"Ara? Have you perhaps not introduced yourselves yet?"

When Marquis said so, Judom and the elder expressed a wry smile.

"Judom-sama?"

"It"s as you think…how do I say it, despite what he looks like, this old man is also an SSS Ranker."

"….excuse me?"

"Well, I"m also former one too though."

Even though the old man said that, the fact that he admitted was no longer a mistake.

"Then, that means…"

"Let me introduce him Fara, this old man was a formerly Rank SSS adventurer just like me, although right now he"s just a poor doctor, he"s Tendok gramps"

"T-Tendok!? If I"m not mistaken, that name was known to be the 『The Great Doctor』 who had traveled around the world treating numerous kind of injuries and diseases!"

"Uwa~ it"s kind of embarra.s.sing if say it like that. However, I"m just a simple doctor right now."

"Tendok-sama…"

"I have learned from the old man how to make that soup awhile ago. And he"s also the one who nursed you for three whole days."

"I-is that so. I apologize if I had troubled you a lot. And I also wish to express my grat.i.tude for nursing me in these past few days."

(TL Note: New name: テンドクってジイサンTendoku tte jiisan, I read it as Tendok gramps. Feel free to suggest better names.)

Tendok smiled gently when Farah bowed politely towards him.

"No need to, you don"t have to make a big deal out of it. In these past three days, seeing a young girl like yourself with such an unbecoming condition, it left my heart beating harshly… I thought I was going to die."

"A-are you alright!?"

"Hey old man, Farah"s an honest child, she would really believe your joke if you leave it as it is you know?"

"It was a joke!?"

Tendok heartily laughed in response to her embarra.s.sed expression. She was pouting due to them teasing her, and Judom couldn"t help laugh when he saw them.

"Ufufu, looks fun."

Marquis made a warm smile in face of the appearance of the three.

"This old man is really fond of teasing people. Returning back to the topic, I agree that we can"t take back the country with just the two us, but I have some comrades who would help me do it."

"…like the people outside of this shed?"

"Yeah, I can even summon those people in the other provinces to gather a strong force of our own. Does it still not suffice with this?"

"Yes, it"s insufficient."

This woman was really a frank one. Judom unexpectedly expressed a wry smile in response to her remark.

"Have you experienced fighting against Avoros before?"

"Direct confrontation? Yeah."

"I see."

"But the one I fought back then was his subordinate, Aquinas."

"Heh, that Aquinas, huh?"

"You know him?"

"Yes, just a little bit. He was a fine warrior among the 『Evila"s』. You could also say he was a man with a good sense. But I believe you know this best since you"ve fought with him"

"I agree. He"s a guy who fights fair. A guy who always fight head on."

"However, Avoros is different."

"……"

"He would use anything to accomplish his objectives. Taking hostages and setting up traps is something he would naturally d. He"s sly and cruel….the worst opponent for you."

Judom felt that Marquis seemed to have a close relations.h.i.+p with Avoros as he witnessed her bitter expression when she was speaking.

"…..say Marquis, if it"s alright with you, won"t you fight with us?"

"Eh?"

"Although I say fight, I won"t force you to actually fight anyone against your will. I understand that even you wanted to regain something from them, so I will respect how you would fight this war with your own terms, how about it?"

"Judom…"

"I do not know what burden you are actually carrying, but at least, a woman like you shouldn"t be making such a sad expression."

"…you may regret it you know? I carry a tremendous bomb after all."

"Hey now, don"t take me lightly. If a woman carries a bomb, wouldn"t a man try and share the burden with her?"

"You really are…..ufufu, a foolish person."

In some way, Marquis had a refres.h.i.+ng expression on top of her usual. However, she refused his offered quietly.

"Thank you for the offer Judom. However, there are still things I have yet to do. It was due to your words, that I remembered them all again."

"…that"s unfortunate."

"To tell you the truth, back then, I was about to abandon both of you."

The three people became silent as they listened to her story.

"…but I couldn"t"

Marquis then stares at Farah"s face. And Farah who doesn"t understand the strange gesture of her, inclined her neck in confusion.

"Because you were a princess….I could sympathize with you."

"Eh?"

The smile that Marquis expressed was very fragile, almost transient. When she turned her heels back,

"Say Judom, I have one more advice for you."

"What is it?"

"If you are planning to fight, I recommend a certain person."

"A certain person?"

"Yes. To be specific, a young boy."

"A young boy…"

"I"m sure that person would help you. If it"s that boy he would…"

Marquis went straight out when she opened the door.

"W-wait a minute Marquis! What"s the name of the young boy you speak of?"

When Judom asked in panic, Marquis turned her face sideways and said the boy"s name.