Chapter 22: Why!? Just Why!!?!??!!?
Anyway, I was due for a consultation with the fortune teller I had met by chance.
Fortune tellers met on the street were usually viewed with suspicion, but I could tell she was different from the usual ones.
From our first meeting, she accurately grasped my personal details and actions, even though we had never met before.
Mr. Woo Hyo-sung.
It was an opportunity to know her true nature, which I hadnt realized during that time.
With this feeling, we sat down seriously, and she began to write quietly on a piece of paper in front of the crystal ball.
Before I read your future, as I have discerned, I will ask a few questions about what happened before you came here.
Ah, yes. Please go ahead.
Do you know the name Tacchia Pheloi?
I knew the name.
It was a name she shouldnt have known.
Yes, I just met her before coming here.
The armor and weapon you are currently wearing were made by her, right?
Yes, thats correct. Especially the weapon on my back is
made of mithril, an Ego Weapon.
Before I could finish, she spoke, and then she revealed the content of the flipped paper to me.
It contained exactly what she had just mentioned.
You were about to say that, werent you?
Yes, thats accurate.
Her feat was impossible unless she knew anothers past accurately.
It could be viewed as a kind of performance to prove her ability as a fortune teller.
However, despite proving her ability, the look on her face as she gazed at me was not one of pleasure.
Although it might be unpleasant to hear, you seem to be cautious, so allow me to say
She then looked at me with half-closed eyes and spoke in a serious tone.
Its good to be cautious in your answers, even if the other party has mentioned the truth, as was the case just now.
Yes?
In a harsh world where you never know what might happen at any moment, if people learn that the weapon you possess is of significant value, it could attract many with ill intentions toward you.
Was her solemn advice the result of reading something in the future?
No, it was more of a caution against an action whose outcome was clearly predictable without the need for foresight.
Ah, you dont need to worry about that. Im also being cautious about it
I realized there was a problem with my previous actions, but I didnt think I had done anything particularly serious.
That was because I believed the person in front of me wouldnt do such things.
Most of all, since I like Ms. Airi, I can say these things without hesitation.
What?
Ah, that. I dont mean like in that sense, but rather, my first impression of you wasnt bad.
Her face, as well as her demeanor, was mature, and her aura was mysterious.
Such an atmosphere might seem suspicious, but she also possessed the human aspect of making mistakes in front of others In this harsh world, wouldnt that kind of attitude make someone feel at ease?
Moreover, seeing that you give advice like this, you seem to be a very kind person
Airi bowed her head silently at my words.
Was it because she disliked being evaluated, or was it because she felt embarrassed and considered it a compliment?
Even though youre going to do something harsh to me.
What? What did you just say?
She said she would start soon.
Airi coughed, trying to cover up her previous muttering.
I was concerned about what she had said before, but after seeing her serious expression, I eventually lost interest.
Then, lets check the future now.
-Whoosh.
She made a swish gesture in front of the crystal ball.
With that, a vibration occurred, and soon, the light leaking from the crystal ball began to illuminate the surroundings.
It was the same phenomenon I had seen last time.
But no sound was heard outright.
Did she block out the noise from her side?
Mr. Woo Hyo-sung.
While I thought about this, she, who was gazing into the crystal ball, addressed me in a serious tone.
You planned to go to the adventurers guild and undergo the official adventurer procedures, right?
Yes, that was my plan.
Everything I had done so far, including gathering money and fitting out my equipment today, was to become an adventurer.
That purpose had grown stronger after I realized I couldnt even stand freely beside the woman I liked.
After completing the procedures, you would have gone to the bulletin board to look for job postings, and there, you would have chosen the task you thought most appropriate for yourself. A mission that is stable and guarantees adequate compensation and opportunity for someone with your limited experience.
Yes, first, I needed strength.
I believed that to gain strength, one must adventure, accumulate experience, and chase after wealth and fame
Without knowing that such a choice would lead you to your death.
What she had uttered was about the futile and miserable end that awaited me, even as I dreamed of it.
This made my hopes for a brilliant future on the path I had boldly chosen seem pointless.
Is it hard to believe?
No, I believe you.
It was all too realistic.
I had seen countless adventurers die without achieving their dreams and goals while working as a porter.
In a world where even heroes die like dogs, would having better equipment really increase the survival rate significantly?
In such a world, it would be strange to walk into danger and expect to survive.
Youre quite detached.
Thats how you should think to live at ease in this world.
But hearing such things from someone I had come to trust filled me with considerable sorrow.
If I had known nothing, I might have accepted failure after a challenge, but knowing this future, I realized that even the attempt would be pointless
So now, please tell me about the future you desire.
Just as I was about to resign myself to giving up on the path of an adventurer, Airi seemed intent on continuing the prediction.
My eyes, not expecting this response, began to widen.
The future I desire?
Mr. Woo Hyo-sung, I certainly have the power to read the future.
Her serious expression, with the crystal ball depicting the future in front of her, held my gaze.
But compared to the bitter tone she had before, her eyes now held considerable strength.
And once the future is observed, it unfolds exactly as observed unless there is a variable significant enough to affect the movement of the stars. The future read by people like me can be considered certain to happen.
Yes, so if I continued toward the adventurers guild and started my first adventure, I would surely die.
But, Mr. Woo Hyo-sung, you were probably thinking of giving up the path of an adventurer after hearing my prophecy, werent you?
Yes?
Yes, you definitely would have given up. To prevent a future where you die.
Indeed, as she said, there was no need to aim to be an adventurer if death was certain.
Even if I pursued something other than the quest I had in mind, the future might not change, so not aiming for that path might be the right answer in the current situation.
If that can truly change the risk of death, then for someone who has encountered the future, it means they can change it.
By acting so, the future changes.
I exclaimed as I realized the fact I had overlooked, though I had certainly aimed for it.
Can the future be changed?
It can be changed. Observing the future is, in fact, almost like intervening in a predetermined future.
-Whoosh.
With a flick of her hand, the crystal ball emitted a brilliant light.
In front of the ball, Airi told me the conclusion of her story with an extremely serious face.
Fate, influenced by human hands, is ultimately affected by the desires of those who navigate it. If you can intervene in an observed future, the direction of that change can lead to a result faithful to your own desires.
That that means
So, I will ask you firmly now.
With an utterly serious face.
The moment she offered choices while considering my future deeply
Mr. Woo Hyo-sung, will you give up being an adventurer to save your life, or will you tell me your wishes and risk your life to pursue the possibilities that match them?
A safe and empty life.
Dangerous, but an opportunity to change a predetermined fate.
When the woman who read my future spoke about those two choices, I immediately told her the answer that came to mind.
I wasnt
Even though I should have thought it over.
The honesty that I blurted out without even realizing it
I want to be an adventurer.
Without dying, right?
Yes, I want to try as much as I can.
As soon as I uttered that desperation, brilliance emerged from the crystal ball.
Airi, who captured the scene with the light in her eyes, smiled contentedly and quietly withdrew her hand, picking up a pen.
Take this.
She finally handed me a single note. However, unlike the ones given before, it was folded several times.
As if cautioning me about unfolding it immediately.
After you finish the procedures at the adventurers guild, please unfold this note and follow what is written on it.
Arent you going to tell me directly?
Ironically, changing the future precisely is not an easy task. To reduce even the smallest variables, its best to minimize actions that could cause them until the critical moment.
Minimization of variables
It meant to follow the actions intended before hearing the current prophecy and to minimize unexpected variables by acting for change only at crucial moments.
Blocking the possibility of a future that should have happened might lead the attempt itself into different dangers.
Mr. Woo Hyo-sung. Your choice is not something for a mere fortune teller like me to interfere with, but know this.
She, who handed me the note with the necessary advice, grasped the note in her hands firmly and said quietly,
I truly hope you survive.
It was a soft and delicate hand.
A hand that had never directly experienced hardship
Yet such a hand, boldly taking mine, a man like me, must mean her feelings were sincere.
Thank you for your words of encouragement.
Yes, then next time, if theres an opportunity
The farewell after she released her hand was as short and concise as her firm voice, but I felt no regret.
If her advice could help me escape the future that most likely awaited me, then I couldnt say that today would be the last time I saw her.
I dont know if things will go well just because I received a prophecy, but Ill give it a try!
Whatever would happen, Id stay strong.
Holding the note like a talisman, I stepped briskly toward the adventurers guild, feeling the long-awaited moment had arrived.
And then
A being called the greatest disaster before the worlds downfall is something unpredictable.
Yes, even if it had fallen, it was still a dragon.
That such a being had so abruptly changed its mind was natural for the distant Goddess of Destruction to not foresee this movement.
The most certain solution would be to return the weapon, but
Even with the risk of such a being rampaging, Airi chose to encourage the man she faced to head toward danger.
Even though he might not properly follow her advice, or might make a mistake despite listening, which could lead to an irreversible situation.
But such advice is ultimately just a cover. Even if you know the future, the right to change it is given to those who act.
Fate was like a tower.
What would happen in the distant future depended on the past, so to reach the future you wished to alter, you had to build it step by step from the past.
If you only choose to run away and avoid danger, the more you repeat it, the less likely you are to change the future, right?
Yes. Even if a disaster awaits in the future, if you cant even change the future of one person, you cant save the world.
The future did not provide opportunities for those who stood still.
Remembering her fathers teaching that a fortune teller must always make that clear, she once again infused power into her crystal ball.
To check what the changed future would look like as a result of her contact with him.
-Whoosh.
The crystal ball emitted light with a vibration.
The scene revealed at the end was far from the previous dire one.
Yes, by keeping the promise, the dragon did not rampage, and everyone on this land, including herself, survived.
So, one might think it was time to feel relieved
-Hehe, Mr. Woo Hyo-sung~
Eh?
I cant take it anymore. Please, make a mess of me
Eh. Eh?
Airi exhaled a dazed breath at the scene revealed in the newly modified future.
But what appeared in the crystal ball was undeniably reality.
More precisely, it was a future likely to be realized soon
Why?
Why!? Just Why!!?!??!!?
From Airis mouth, as she looked at the scene.
She began to express greater astonishment than when she had seen her own death.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com