Chapter 32: Fortuneteller

Translator: Soafp

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The group event for the first-year students concluded smoothly, marking the end of the morning session. The afternoon session would feature competitions for the second and third-year students.

Our class, 1A, emerged victorious in the class tug-of-war, both individually and as a team. I think we approached the games with a good mindset.

Even the organizing committee was given a short lunch break, and I finally had a chance to settle down. Now, I had something else to consider apart from the sports festival.

I had read the “if Story” up until the third volume in my previous life. If there were more volumes beyond that, I would have no knowledge of it. There was only one volume left, and anything beyond that was impossible.

The author explicitly stated that all the bad endings occurred in the same world. If Gindou Kohaku died in the first volume, there would be no bad ending with the fifth Magical Girl. So, if I could save the remaining two girls, the problem would be solved.

I knew about the bad ending for Kikawa Moegi, but after that…

“The fourth girl.”

I have no idea about this fourth girl.

I had collected all the published “Stories” and “if Stories,” but I didn’t know everything about her.

Gindou Kohaku, Hihara Karen, and Kikawa Moegi. I had covered their stories up until the past, but I had no way of knowing the contents of the canceled “if Story.”

I have a general idea of where she lives, but I don’t know what fate awaits her. So, protecting the fourth girl would be incredibly difficult.

I couldn’t confidently claim that I had saved the two girls perfectly, but the results were acceptable… I hope. I might have been able to handle things better, but that was the best I could do. I wanted to believe that things were going well.

However, that was because I had knowledge from the “if Story.”

I don’t know what will happen to the fourth girl. In the original “Story,” she transferred to Mina no Iro High School, but what about the “if Story”?

Was it after she moved, or immediately after Kikawa Moegi’s bad ending? I couldn’t make a judgment about that.

However, I could speculate on her current place of residence. I had planned to go there immediately after resolving Kikawa Moegi’s incident…

But there was an unexpected presence, the “Fortune Teller.” Although she had no direct involvement in the “Story,” it wasn’t surprising to have such a person. After all, this world was a fantasy. I hadn’t experienced much of it yet, but it was undeniably a fantasy world.

Yokai, urban legends, and various other things existed here. Noguchi Natsuko has a “superpower” with exceptional intuition. Also, there were seven mysteries at Mina no Iro High School. I genuinely dislike ghosts, but I envied superpowers.

Well, surely the fortune teller had her disadvantages and weaknesses. She offered her cooperation, so I just needed to ask her directly. There was no need to worry any further.

Overthinking wouldn’t do any good. Action was more important. I immediately dialed the number on my smartphone. The phone rang five times. It connected.

“You must be Kohaku Izayoi?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Nice to meet you.”

“I understand that you received my contact information from Ai and contacted me. What is your business?”

Something’s off. The way she speaks is peculiar. Referring to herself as “I”. Trying to make sense of it wasn’t important now. What should I ask first…?

Hmmm… Let’s ask them how well she can tell fortunes.

“Um, can you do fortune-telling?”

“More or less”

“How well can you see?”

“I don’t know.”

“Eh? You don’t know?”

“My fortune-telling is definitely accurate, but it doesn’t mean I can see or know everything.”

“Can you please explain it more clearly?”

“First, I need to know the face of the person I’m reading and the conditions of the fortune-telling.”

“And then?”

“After that, I just have to wait for the result.”

That’s too simple!!! Fortune-telling is so lenient. If that’s all it takes to do fortune-telling, it’s like cheating. I want that power too, like a cheat.

Like the Eye of the Mind, the sealed right hand, or the Akashic Records. But those are impossible, aren’t they? If I had them, I could easily solve the bad end. It’s no use longing for something that doesn’t exist.

“It’s amazing. I can understand why you’d become a recluse in the countryside because it’s too accurate.”

“Well.”

She seems quite confident. I’ve never heard someone say “well” like that before. But I can understand her confidence considering her abilities.

If I can get this person’s cooperation…

I’ll have a significant advantage even in the bad end of the “fourth person.”

“Uhm, I have something I want you to read…”

“I don’t mind. But before that, let me tell you the drawbacks of this fortune-telling.”

“Oh, okay.”

Of course, there must be drawbacks. Such an extraordinary power must come with some serious downsides.

“The time for my fortune-telling results is random. And the results themselves are also random. Sometimes they appear abstract, sometimes they’re vivid. Even if they’re vivid, they might not be usable. Sometimes they just feel weird.”

Oh, it sounds quite complicated… Weird feeling? Not usable?

“Uhm, what do you mean by a weird feeling?”

“Well… It’s like seeing a weather forecast or suddenly seeing it as an animal.”

I’m starting to feel less confident in her. Is she really okay? She seems suspicious. I should ask for more details.

“You mentioned that the time is random. Could you explain more about that?”

“Just as it sounds. It could be three seconds or one year later. It varies.”

It varies? Three seconds or one year later? Seriously?!

“You mentioned that sometimes the results appear abstract. What does that mean?”

“It could be seen as colors or animals.”

“And what do you mean by vivid but not usable?”

“For example, if I read the location of a bicycle lock, it might show an image of somewhere in the town.”

It’s… not usable. What kind of fortune-teller is this? It feels like I’ve got the worst possible help! Useless!

Give me back that feeling when I believed in something so ridiculous! This is ridiculous!

Wait a minute. How did she know so much about my current situation with such a half-hearted fortune-telling? Could it be that there’s some unbelievable secret…?

“Uhm, you seemed to know quite vividly about me and my current situation. How did you know so much? It doesn’t feel like you just found out through fortune-telling by hearing our conversation.”

“Fumu, so you noticed that.”

It feels like some unbelievable secret is about to come out. What kind of secret could it be?!

“The truth is, when I was reading you, my abilities were unusually sharp.”

“Ha?”

“The results of your fortune-telling. When I first looked into the future and then the past with conditions, both appeared within three seconds. And there was quite a lot of information. It surprised me a bit, haha.”

“That’s not funny at all! I thought you were an amazing fortune-teller, but what’s this?”

“Sorry, my bad, haha.”

“Don’t mess with me! What’s the matter with you?! Weren’t you living as a recluse because your fortune-telling was too accurate?”

“Oh, that… Well, I just wanted to go back to my parents’ house. Sorry for pretending to be all grand. Haha.”

“You are not sorry at all! Seriously?! I can’t believe it! She has been classmates since high school with you, and she couldn’t see through such a ridiculous lie. My mom is also something else!”

She’s definitely an airhead, but I never thought she’d be so easily fooled by a third-rate fortune-teller’s pathetic lie.

“Ai is not at fault. You see, in high school, I deliberately hid Ai’s bicycle lock every day and made it seem like I found it through fortune-telling. It’s not surprising that Ai believed in me.”

“This is ridiculous! You are the worst… I had hope…”

“Well, I did show you a little bit of your future and past. I don’t know everything, but I understand some circumstances. If there’s something I can do for you, let me know. It may not be much, but there might be something I can do.”

“By the way, how did my fortune-telling appear? You told me the result, but I’m curious about how it actually looked.”

“At first, as Ai suggested, I looked into the future. Ai still believed I was an amazing fortune-teller. So I tried to make it look like that, but in reality, it was nothing special.”

This fortune-teller… She’s something else. I guess you could say she has a habit of teasing others. And I’m embarrassed that I was also deceived by it.

“Then, it went surprisingly well. As I mentioned earlier, I saw the scene where you called me very vividly. That’s why I gave Ai my phone number. I thought it would create that kind of atmosphere.”

It’s so absurd and trivial. Such a lame reason.

“After that, it became quite abstract, but I saw various colors surrounding you. Although I said it was a woman, I didn’t say anything about a bride. It was Ai who assumed that. I didn’t know anything about it. I’m sorry I got your hopes up.”

“Well, it’s not…”

“You must have had quite a vivid imagination at your age. I’ll scold Ai later for making such wild assumptions, haha.”

Normally, you would say something like that right after you’ve misled someone. This person definitely didn’t say it to be funny.

“And since I was on a roll after that, I took a look at the past as well. As I said before, in three seconds I saw the abstract, and I was surprised to see you brush away two beautifully colored mud-like particles.”

“Is that so?”

“Such things are like predetermined fate. Usually, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I see.”

“Yes. When I was young, I once did fortune-telling for my pet, and coincidentally, I saw mud. As the mud grew thicker, it swallowed my pet, and it died. I’ve seen that kind of thing a few times, including humans.”

“I see.”

It’s tough to face the outcome without being able to do anything, even if you can see it.

“Since I’ve only seen it a few times, I have a gut feeling that it’s something that can’t be changed. That’s why I was surprised to see someone who got rid of two of them. And furthermore, there’s someone who got rid of two more from there.”

“I see.”

“Umu, that’s how it is. Well, I’m not that great of a fortune-teller, but I was in a good mood and saw various things. Sorry for getting your hopes up.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I forgot to mention. It wasn’t just that I was able to see through you easily, but there might also be a reason on your part.”

“Eh? Really?”

Could it be my hidden power? If that’s the case, I want to use it in the future.

“You probably have good luck.”

“Eh? Luck?”

“Fortune-telling can be seen as having elements of a gacha. Maybe you had good luck, and that’s why the results were more apparent for you.”

“Gacha?”

“There are differences in the amount of information, and everything is unstable. Doesn’t that remind you of gacha?”

“Well, I guess so?”

It’s hard to describe. It sounds like she’s saying it well, but at the same time, it feels like she’s not quite able to express it. Well, this person is quite laid-back, albeit a bit late in realizing it.

“Yes, that’s right. So, do you have any other questions or something you want me to fortune-tell?”

“Well, can you do a reading about the deep blue sea? I want to know about her muddy-like thing.”

“That might be difficult.”

“Why?”

“Because I haven’t seen her face. I mentioned it before. I need to see the face. The future, past, belongings, and everything else of the person are seen through the face. The mention of the deep blue sea was only related to your fortune-telling to some extent. If you want to know more about her, I need her face. Well, how the fortune-telling will turn out is a different issue.”

“I see. I probably have some favor to ask in the near future. Would you be willing to help me then?”

“I don’t mind. Ai’s child is always welcome.”

That person seems to be a good person after all. I initially thought she was just joking around, but she’s willing to help despite going through her own struggles.

“Thank you very much. Well then, excuse me for now.”

“Understood. And please apologize to Ai for me, regarding the bike key incident and pretending to be a great fortune teller.”

“I understand. Well then, see you later.”

“Until then.”

Now that things have been settled, it’s time to relax and stretch my back. I’ve been quite tense. Oh, homemade bento, right?

“Izayoi-kun.”

“Izayoi.”

A voice comes from behind the bench. They must have been waiting for me while I was on the phone. So, it’s time for a lunchbox showdown. I wonder how it will turn out? I’d like to bring the two of them closer together if possible.