Without raising her head, she replied.

"Speak."

"First, you have to guess my past. After hearing them, if you match an important event correctly, I"ll give you 30 Rojonds per correct answer. How about it?"

"70 Rojonds."

"Then 50 Rojonds"

"Deal."

Ryujia who previously returned back to knitting raised her head. Whew, she can"t be compared to the girls in my neighborhood. After focusing on preparing and strengthening myself mentally in antic.i.p.ation of what she will potentially point out, I nodded for her to begin.
Ryujia raised her head from the knitting she"d been working on.

"Then, let"s begin."

"Good, from this it"s now 3 Jonds 50."

Ryujia, different from before, was quite excited. Of course. I did kind of combine all the points she made out into one, and despite some of the more important points she spoke about, I tried to keep my composure. Nevertheless, I could sense that the girl in front of me was slowly revealing her true self as she became more determined to try and milk as much money out of me as possible. Against my will, I was in quite a flushed state.

"… … So, you don"t have a girlfriend? Not even once till now?"

"… … 4 Jonds."

Ryujia - how formidable you are. After guessing what dishes I make, and my birthday, if you combine everything she said together, she had already matched 8 of them. Now my proposed 5 Jonds was only two answers away from being taken.

" I see, so…your father… he doesn"t live with you, but he still lives somewhere else right?"

"No, you"re wrong. My father had already been deceased ever since I had been born."

"What?"

Ryujia, tilting her head, frowned.

"No, he"s definitely alive."

"Stop saying such nonsense. We even have a grave."

"That"s fake."

"Stop with the farfetched allusion. I might start subtracting 50 Rojonds if you keep on like this-."

"…No I"m certain…"

Ryujia, with an unsatisfied look after hearing that I would subtract 50 Rojonds away, started to attempt and find something else as she inspected my face. Why did you even try to make such a farfetched claim in the first place?

"Your mother and father didn"t have an official marriage? Right?"

"I don"t know about stuff like that. I can"t acknowledge it."

"Sheesh, you"re just saying that since you don"t want to reveal it, right?"

Ryujia was slowly stripping away my mental fort.i.tude. I need to start being more focused. It"s a mental attack.

"Do you have evidence that I lied? A fortune teller should know that at least, right?"

Stuck in a dilemma, Ryujia took a glimpse at me and skipped the question. Of course. How would a fortune teller that can"t tell whether her customer is lying possibly know the past?

"Mm, Mmm…, you, you weren"t born from this village?"

"What are you saying? Didn"t I say that I came from Habiyanak. I was definitely born in Habiyanak. I can"t acknowledge it."

So, are you saying that I was born in Grillard? Looks like this girl is using whatever means now.

"No, it"s not that. Weren"t you born in a place far away from Ember?"

"I told you I was born in Habiyanak."

Coming to think of it, didn"t the doctor in my dream say that as well?
Making a weird expression, Ryujia apologetically looked up into my eyes. It"s as if she wanted to know something.

"Were you born from the forest?"

Momentarily, everything stopped. Wasn"t that what was said from the dream as well? I had a strange feeling. If you think about it, Ryujia"s voice was quite similar to her brother"s voice.
It"s strange, very strange.
To hear these words twice now.
Seeing me speechless, Ryujia asked again for the second time.

"Is it, ain’t it? Are you telling me that you didn"t even know where you were born?"

"Ah.. … I"m not really sure…."

Why am I like this? Wasn"t I born under the roof of my house when I was born? As a result, it was hard to come up with a reply. I was somewhat very confused.
At this time, Ryujia, despite being at such a young age, gazed at me with eyes as if she had lived for a very long time.

"Don"t…know?"

The chilly wind shook the windows.

In the end, I negotiated with Ryujia for 7 Jonds. For some reason, I feel like taking a loss. Although 7 Jonds isn"t a lot, compared to the useless mental attacks I was afflicted upon, I feel like I could have settled down to 6 Jonds. Sigh, to spend this much time trying to get a discount of 1 Jond 50, Fabian you sure are not of your right mind.

"Good, now try and prophesy."

"You could be a Rieju merchant, and could not be one."

What the heck was she saying? Is she determined to revert back to a traditional prophesy-like tone? At once, I began to counterattack. Considering our last exchange, it seems that she was used to employing these kind of methods.

"You seem like a real fortune teller, and then again not a fortune teller at times."

"Stop joking around."

Conflicted inside, anger rose as the wood plank started to burn from within me.

"Then what the h.e.l.l did you just say? Say it so I can understand. Don"t you know how to interpret prophecy to a normal person like me?"

"Normal? Haha, what nonsense are you spouting?"

It seems Ryujia had quite a brilliant look in her eyes. Where have I seen those kinds of eyes before…ugh, it"s very shaman-like.

"You"re not normal at all. Even the distance between you and the word normal is too far to count."

What nonsense is she saying exactly?

"…I think you"re the one that"s not normal."

"And who doesn"t know that?"

Ha, that firm voice again.

"Considering how such a talented fortune teller girl isn"t normal, aren"t you extending too much trying to drag me in as well? Why don"t you try your brother? If you talk with him, you can see that he has some strange qualities."

"…Anyways if you think that you would live normally and quietly, you"re gravely mistaken."

It was as if it was a threat. What are you going to do if I live normally? No, if you consider a great merchant travelling across the continent, then you"re right to say that"s not normal. Okay, Ryujia. You"re right. I"m not normal, ahaha.

"No, not like a merchant."

Wait, did this girl just read my mind?

"Alright, you are perceptive . Explain it to me specifically so I can understand."

Ryujia without hesitation spoke.

"You"re going to leave this village soon."

Huh.
"Why would I?" I asked myself.
So, opening my mouth, I spoke.

"Mmhm, after this, I"ll be returning back home."

Ryujia, as if staring at a hopeless fool, turned her head away. Ah, there"s no need for you to be angry.
Nevertheless, she continued her prophesy. That"s natural. After taking my money, it"s only fair to finish what you started.

"…… Next year, you will see a lot of amazing things. You will leave this village, and meet a lot of new people……but above all, you will mature and grow up a lot. A lot of difficulties lay ahead, but also a lot of hope."

Hmm, I immediately expressed my opinion.

" … Isn"t there a realistic prophesy that could make the person in front of me shut up?"

After hearing this and that, due to having an unsettling weird feeling, I burst out at her in vain. Anyhow, after speaking those words, feeling a bit sorry, I looked at Ryujia.
Ryujia calmly gazed at me. Why is she like this? No matter how you look at it, I can see that she has a lot of complaints.
So after gazing at me for quite some time, with a clear and high-pitched voice, she firmly shouted. Her eyes looked as if she was in the mood of yelling "Great!"

"Today, you will experience and overcome a trial of life-and-death!"

Oh, oh. In that instance, as if I was in enemy territory, horrifying gooseb.u.mps spread across my body.

TL Afterword

G.o.d it"s getting so exciting. I was having gooseb.u.mps myself just thinking about the scenes that are to come soon! *drools.* And that forest reference seems so mystical~

Ryujia was also so savage with that "no girlfriend – even till now" comment

PR Afterword

Sai101: LMAO!

Kajin:: Harsh…

Translator: Calvis
Proofreader: Sai101, Kajin