[704] God of the Desert (3)
Shirone stared steadily at the girl's face.
She's not Middle Eastern, is she?
There was a crystal ball on the table, so she was clearly an astrologer—but she was white, with blond hair.
"Now I know why she has no customers," Shirone said as he sat.
"The Akad Desert is the birthplace of astrology. If you're not from around here, people don't trust you."
He admired her courage for setting up a tent in the Vanguard.
"Why's she still sitting? She won't even get up when we shout. Might as well tell her to dream about striking it rich."
Shirone wasn't exactly trusted either, but sharing the same outsider status made him sympathetic.
"Let's just get a reading here. Maybe she's actually skilled but being discriminated against because of her looks."
Kido and Rian pulled chairs over and sat on either side; Shirone cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, customer here."
A soft snore answered.
"Hey! Customer here!"
Kido slammed the table. The girl shivered as if electrocuted, then opened her mouth.
"Se—"
"Sea?"
"Seafood pasta?"
She spoke the Common Tongue.
Half-asleep, she blinked at Shirone's group, then snapped upright and fixed her posture.
"Oh! Welcome, please come in!"
She hurriedly pulled her veil back over the scattered cloth on the table. Shirone said, "Take your time. I already saw your face."
"Hohoho! Sorry. I haven't been sleeping well. Normally an astrologer shouldn't show her face."
She seemed pleasant enough.
"You speak the Common Tongue. Where are you from?"
"Tormia."
"Nice to meet you. I'm from the Kingdom of Märchen."
The country below the Mediterranean—Shagal's homeland.
"I was interested in astrology since I was a child, so I studied in Kashan. I apprenticed under Roji."
Shirone didn't recognize the name.
"She told me not to return to Vanguard until I'd earned ten thousand gold. It's a kind of training."
"How much do you charge for a reading?"
The girl stuck out her tongue.
"Two gold. I earned three hundred sixty gold in two months."
That was decent compared to city rates, though desert living had its own costs.
"You might not make it back," Shirone said.
"Heh heh, it'll be fine. Once word spreads, customers line up. Then ten thousand gold will be easy."
"Keep the veil on," Shirone advised.
She laughed, understanding his meaning.
"That helps. But there are also people who come because they find it interesting. Of course, business's dried up now."
She sighed.
"I'm not very tactful. People like hopeful interpretations, but I get absorbed and overwhelmed, and I blurt things out. That's probably why Roji told me to try working in Vanguard."
Someone formally trained in astrology sounded promising.
"Who should I read for first?"
Shirone set down two gold.
"I'll go. Astrologers are supposed to foresee the future, right?"
That was the attraction of astrology.
"Of course. That's my work."
She adjusted the crystal ball's stand so Shirone's face reflected in it, then rested both hands on the sphere.
"Then I'll begin."
Her gaze into the crystal was sharp; there was no trace of the earlier flippancy.
"Does the crystal show the future?"
"No. It's a feeling. If I concentrate, your face melts away like a ripple and certain emotions come through."
She stared for a long time, then tilted her head.
"Hmm, strange. Why can't I feel anything? I've never had this happen before."
Shirone wondered if she might be a fraud.
"Huh? Now I feel—"
She suddenly stopped, stared into the crystal as if through it, and began to tremble, struck by something.
"A…ah."
Even after the divination ended she remained dazed for a long moment, then threw off her veil and said,
"I'm sorry, but I think there are futures people don't need to know."
She'd said she lacked tact, but now she sounded convincingly serious.
"Ha! It's fine. Just tell it like it is. I won't be mad," Shirone said.
"But it's not like that. This is—"
She bit her lip, hesitated, then seemed to decide and began to speak.
"All right. In the future you will fall into terrible despair."
Despair.
"You'll be swallowed by pitch-black darkness where you know nothing and can do nothing. That was all I could see of your future."
It sounded less like a prophecy than a curse.
"A colossal enemy will wrap itself around you. And then… you'll strangle yourself to death."
"What? Shirone strangling himself?"
Not only the person addressed, but Rian listening beside them looked stunned.
If Shirone died in a fight it would be one thing—he was the last person anyone would call suicidal.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say."
Is that it? Shirone thought. She really did lack tact.
"Heh heh—what a hell of a future!" Kido laughed, and Shirone forced a smile, though his legs were a little weak.
Rian stepped forward.
"Will you read mine?"
Rian laid two gold down. The girl composed herself, tilted her head to shake off the earlier feeling.
'Maybe she just needs a bit of sleep—she seems unusually clear-headed today,' Shirone thought, uneasily.
"I'll begin."
Her eyes calmed and she stared into the crystal for more than a minute; the color drained from her face.
"This… this can't be—"
Rian frowned.
"What is it? Now what?"
"You will suffer endless torment. You'll struggle but never escape."
"Huh. That's not so bad—so then what?"
"Nothing. Only pain—unending pain. In the end you'll die in the most horrible state."
She seemed almost eager to use cruel words.
"I… die?"
He had hoped Smille's whispers might someday stop, but this was hard to believe.
"Puhahaha! That's spine-chilling—I like it. Okay, my turn!"
Kido tossed the coins Uorin had given him onto the table.
"Read mine. How do I die?"
She took a breath to steady herself and looked into Kido's reflection in the crystal.
Five long minutes passed.
Kido yawned and kept thumping the table, but the girl did not move.
"Hey, what are you doing? Making up some goblin's demise is—"
The girl's face slowly shifted.
"What? What's wrong?"
She looked at Kido with huge pity in her eyes. A tear rolled down one cheek.
"Hey! What are you doing? Why are you crying?"
"You are—"
The girl squeezed out the words in a choked voice.
"You will love so painfully."
"Love? What love does a goblin have?"
Goblins were a people of pleasure.
"A love that tears your heart to pieces. You'll wither away. Twist and rot. Even so, you can't let go—"
She couldn't finish and covered her face.
"Is she insane? I'm supposed to die over something like that? And if it hurts, it's me who hurts—why are you crying and making a fuss?"
That only made things worse.
The girl, shoulders shaking with tears, suddenly snapped back, pulled her hand away, and said,
"Oh my, I'm sorry. I must have lost myself."
She slapped her cheek and made a miserable face.
"Am I really that terrible? Do I have no talent?"
"…"
Shirone didn't know how to answer.
"To hell with it! What a bust! Is this astrology? I could hurl insults better than that!"
Kido strode out of the tent, shouting loud enough for the girl inside to hear.
"Stop it. You're scaring customers off. Don't take it to heart. Honestly, where's a happy death? There isn't one."
"Ha! Who's afraid of dying? This is ridiculous. You say I'll strangle myself—where do people even do that?"
Shirone felt unsettled too.
"Forget it. Let's forget it. Want to get drunk? Sleep on it and you won't think about it."
Sometimes Rian's simple fixes were exactly what was needed; Kido agreed eagerly.
"Yes! Bring the strongest liquor!"
They went to the tavern on the first floor of the apartment building.
Loud, dizzying music thumped. On the riser, dozens of dancers veiled only over their faces performed.
"Bring the expensive stuff! The strongest liquor! Now!"
Rian translated Kido's demand. Shortly after, a banquet threatening to collapse the table was laid out.
"Perfect. Snacks are here. Let's forget everything!"
Kido downed hard spirits as if trying to wash his brain; Shirone and Rian's drinks slid down easily tonight as well.
"She's a fraud, a swindler!"
Kido slammed his cup down.
"She's just carried away, babbling whatever comes to mind like prophecy. Human fantasies, that's all."
That was possible.
"Hey, you lot. You had a reading from Clarice earlier, right?" a drunk at the next table called over.
"Clarice?"
"The one who foretells with a crystal ball."
"Yes. Why?"
Rian translated Shirone's reply and the drunk exploded with laughter.
"Puhahaha! So that's why she looked like she'd swallowed something awful! She's notorious in Vanguard for being vicious. No one trusts her readings. Don't worry about it."
"You've got to be kidding me!"
The drunk raised a hand to calm Kido.
"Best to forget it. By the way, nice liquor you're drinking—let me buy you a cup."
When Shirone poured him a drink, the drunk leaned in conspiratorially.
"Forget everything and enjoy. Looks like you've got money—try tipping the dancers. You'll get a proper show."
"If it's money you want, I've got plenty!"
Kido plunged his hand into his pouch. Shirone warned him.
"Kido, don't spend on impulse."
"So what? We'll all shrivel up and die anyway. Let's have a blast. The ones planning to kill themselves can come watch."
The coins Kido scattered rolled across the stage.
"Here—have at it! Tonight we live it up!"
The dancers swarmed, scooped up the coins, and knelt, bowing to Kido.
Patrons applauded as the dancers' garments slid softly to the floor.
The veiled dancers—faces covered, nothing else—struck poses that made Kido grin and laugh.
"Khehehe! So this is it? Hey, you lot—"
When Kido turned, Shirone and Rian sat frozen, drinks spilling unnoticed.
"What's with that reaction? Haven't you seen it before?"
It was their first time, and it felt utterly strange.
'Completely different from men,' Shirone thought.
"You're too tame. How are we supposed to travel together like this?" he muttered, wiping his mouth and averting his gaze.
"W-who said it was my first time? It's just unfamiliar," Rian stammered.
Seeing a woman's body on a battlefield was common—this shock was something else.
"Hohoho! Tonight's a hit again!" Momodo watched from a distance, covering her mouth with a fan and laughing.
Selling pleasure in the middle of despair—that was Vanguard's very reason for being.
"Manager, Noskarta will arrive in an hour," a watchman called.
"We're closing Vanguard at this hour. Activate the discharge device and drain Luna's reservoir. Don't forget to cut the source flow from the underground," another soldier said as he climbed down the ladder.
"Manager! About forty people are descending from the north rapidly. They'll be here in ten minutes."
"Latecomers, huh. Lucky for us. Let them in."
"But… they're not merchants."
"Not merchants?"
"Judging from their banners, they look like the Maga bandit gang."
Momodo's expression turned cold.
"Oh?"
They were one of the most notorious bandit gangs in the central Akad Desert lately.