Chapter 36
This Fortune Teller Does It For Free (2)
『 Translator – Divinity 』
Why is it that…
“…Hey, Fortune Teller bastard. What are you doing?”
“Uh, um. Miss Liu.”
Why? Why do I feel like I’m the one in the wrong?
Strictly speaking, I’m also a victim(?). I’m being sexually harassed(?) by a stranger on the street.
Anyway, that’s what’s happening!
“…No, wait.”
“Huh, Miss Liu?”
“There weren’t any female family members or girlfriends mentioned in the background check.”
…The misunderstanding is cleared up, but it feels a bit strange that it’s thanks to the background check.
Or is it? Is it better this way?
“And you’re not even smirking, so this isn’t a normal occurrence. You raise your right eyebrow when you’re flustered, and you’re doing that now, and you raise the left corner of your mouth when you have something up your sleeve, but you’re not doing that now.”
Uh, I don’t know why, but it feels like Liu knows quite a lot about me.
Is it… thanks to the background check? It feels very strange.
Anyway, Liu, who seemed to have come to a conclusion, approached the girl who was still forcibly(?) hugging me.
“Hey, you. Do you know whose lackey you’re clinging to? When I’m being nice, just…”
Clank.
“Huh?”
What, what’s that sound?
Suddenly, a chain sound—
“Unbeliever.”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“Die.”
Crack!!!
—A flail struck down where Liu was standing.
Liu narrowly dodged it, and the flail, flying past her, shattered the pavement and embedded itself deep into the ground.
And the girl who suddenly swung the flail… the girl who was hugging me,
was glaring at Liu with an expression devoid of any guilt.
“Huh? Hey. You were really trying to kill me, weren’t you?”
“Die.”
“She’s a real psycho. That malicious bitch and now this, why do only crazy bitches flock around my lackey?”
Well, if we’re being precise, I think you’re the biggest one, Liu.
I’m not oblivious to the atmosphere, so I just shut up.
More importantly, this girl hugging me while swinging a flail is terrifying. Just how strong are her arms? She’s holding me with just one arm, and I can’t break free…!
Liu, save me!
“But you know, did you think I would be intimidated by this?”
Even though Liu almost got hit by the flail just now, she chuckled as if she wasn’t afraid.
Woooong—
Rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, jewels embedded in her clothes, her belt.
The jewels and accessories adorning Liu’s entire body started to shine and emit an ominous sound.
‘Those are all… artifacts.’
The 10 rings on her fingers, the 3 necklaces around her neck, the 4 bracelets on her arms, and the jewels attached here and there.
All of them were artifacts, and their value was on a different level from the necklace with <Observe> that I found through treasure hunting.
Even in the game, according to the setting, all of those were end-game level artifacts.
In this reality, each one was easily worth hundreds of billions of won, but it wasn’t a big expense for a <Billionaire>.
That was also why Liu could act so confidently.
‘Artifacts were an exception to Liu’s paranoia, and I remember her having a collector’s tendency.’
The girl glaring at Liu with the flail in her hand, and Liu Yan, who seemed ready to unleash her artifacts at any moment.
I didn’t really want to intervene, but…
“Um…”
“Don’t worry, lackey. I’ll break that crazy bitch’s head and save you.”
“Mr. Namgung Min, don’t worry. I will purify the unbeliever soon.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Putting aside whether they were going to fight or not,
“You haven’t forgotten that this is the middle of the street, have you…?”
“…Ah.”
“…Ah.”
In the middle of Romance Academy, during the time when academy students and faculty without classes would be coming and going.
Leaving aside the details of the situation, outwardly, it was two girls confronting each other over a Fortune Teller.
People started to gather at the sight that would be entertaining to any third party.
Click.
Ah, someone took a picture?
Damn it.
“First… shall we go to my base?”
“…Alright.”
“As Mr. Namgung Min wishes.”
***
A small building on the outskirts of Romance Academy.
The basement of the building I bought with the 200 million won I received from Liu, using the academy student discount, was my base.
Although it was mine only while I attended the academy, it was a three-story building, so it was a great place where I could rent out the upper floors or open a shop!
“It’s cramped, but please bear with it.”
“Ah, no. It’s not that cramped.”
“Any place where Mr. Namgung Min resides is no different from heaven.”
After carefully locking the door to my base, I made some instant coffee and offered it to the two girls.
Liu was glancing around the base, and the unidentified girl, for some reason, was stroking the bed I slept in.
It wasn’t a place I intended to invite anyone to, so the hospitality was lacking, but please bear with it.
And please don’t swing any flails or use artifacts!
If this place gets destroyed, I’ll cry tears of blood, seriously.
“Well, first, let me ask just one thing.”
I looked at the girl who was the cause of all this, looking around the base with what seemed like admiration (?) in her eyes.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, she smiled brightly and faced me. She was truly beautiful, but…
“Who… are you?”
If there was a student like this in the game, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember her.
Who are you?
“…Oh, right. I apologize, Mr. Namgung Min. I was so overwhelmed with the joy of meeting you that I forgot to introduce myself.”
“Ah, no worries.”
“My name is Eileen Teddybear.”
…What?
Eileen Teddybear? Instructor Charles Teddybear’s daughter?
Really?
“I am… your devotee, here to serve Mr. Namgung Min.”
“Ah…”
I finally noticed the necklace she was wearing.
That necklace with a teddy bear drawing. It was the item Charles Teddybear always carried when he couldn’t cure Eileen Teddybear’s illness.
A kind of… memento.
Since she was wearing that, I could tell she was Eileen Teddybear. I understood, but…
“…Hey, are you really Instructor Charles Teddybear’s daughter?”
“Yes, unbeliever.”
“What? Why are you speaking informally to me?”
“Don’t misunderstand, everyone except my father and Mr. Namgung Min is equal to me. I’m not just speaking informally to you.”
“What is that…”
Um, was she originally like this?
In the game, there was no opportunity to properly talk to Eileen Teddybear. It was practically an event for Instructor Charles Teddybear.
Naturally, all I could see was her lying in bed, and since I couldn’t see her after that, I didn’t know much about her.
But this is strange?
“Um, Miss Eileen?”
“You can just affectionately call me Eileen!”
“Miss Eileen?”
“Eileen.”
“…Eileen.”
“Yes! Please, ask me anything!”
“When I saw you last time, you seemed a bit smaller.”
Yes. Although I don’t remember clearly, according to the setting, Eileen was either 18 or 19 years old.
She was quite young, and since she was always confined to her house and bed, I remember her being small and petite like Liu?
She wasn’t this… fatally curvy with prominent curves and a slender waist?
“That’s… true. I’m truly sorry, Mr. Namgung Min, but I can’t tell you when an unbeliever is present…”
“Hey, are you talking about me now?”
“Then who else would it be? If you have any sense, you should get lost right now.”
“You crazy bitch?”
…Right, is this related to the <Saintess> issue?
I received a separate message from the Saint after class. He said he had dealt with the Saintess issue in secret.
Then the only ones who knew that Eileen was a <Saintess> were Charles Teddybear, the Saint, and me.
I apologize, but it’s definitely something I can’t tell Liu.
“Then let’s talk about that later.”
“Yes!”
“…Hey, Namgung Min. Are you going to meet with this crazy bitch alone?”
“Yes? Uh, of course?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Miss Liu?”
Liu, Liu, what do you mean?
Liu, suddenly voicing her strong opposition, crossed her legs and glared at Eileen with burning eyes.
“Didn’t you see earlier? You never know when this girl will suddenly swing her flail, she’s a real nutcase. If you meet with someone like this alone, even three heads wouldn’t be enough.”
“…Unbeliever, you’re going way too far. Do you think I would do that to Mr. Namgung Min?”
“You’ve been going on and on about unbelievers since earlier. Are you a chuunibyou? You’re not even one of those religious fanatics, what unbeliever?”
Uh, I was curious about that too.
Calling me “Mr. Namgung Min” and suddenly calling Liu an unbeliever.
Is that also related to the <Saintess> job? Among the playable jobs, there was no <Saintess> or <Saint>, and I didn’t play the <Saint> related hidden event, so honestly, I don’t know much about it.
Just that she has to pass a test called the pilgrimage to be recognized by the Church, and if she passes, she has more authority than the Pope?
“An unbeliever is an unbeliever. That’s all.”
“Hey, Namgung Min. I’m telling you again, don’t even think about meeting with this chuunibyou. If you do, you’ll have to cough up all the debt from before.”
“Didn’t you say I didn’t have to pay that back?”
“I did until just now, but not anymore.”
No matter how I look at it, it seems like Liu is the ‘real one’.
Liu, who didn’t even spare me a glance at my dumbfounded expression, was having a heated staring contest with Eileen.
A staring contest between the <Billionaire> and the <Saintess>? This is truly magnificent…
Whoa, whoa, put away the flail. And Liu, stop fiddling with your rings.
This is my house, you guys!
“Okay, okay, I understand. Eileen, then let me ask you one more thing.”
“Anything!”
“You’re in Romance Academy, so you’re a student, right?”
“Of course!”
Then at least the vice-principal and the principal would know that Eileen is a <Saintess>. They’re neutral figures, so there’s no way the story of Eileen would leak outside.
And it’s safer to be attending the academy than to be outside.
The Saint and Charles Teddybear must have used all their influence to get her enrolled.
…Thinking about it, with Liu as well, is this an admissions corruption gathering?
“Then, by any chance,”
“Yes!”
“Do you have many friends?”
“Uh… yes?”
Yes.
Whether Eileen is a Saintess or calls me with honorifics,
The most important thing is that my ‘acquaintances’ have increased by one.
“I think… I have quite a few. There are people I usually hang out with.”
“Why? Don’t you call them unbelievers?”
“I do. But they just laugh it off.”
“……….”
Maybe they think it’s a character concept. Since she’s a perfect beauty on the outside and the daughter of Instructor Charles Teddybear, it seems like it was accepted without much trouble.
If it’s true that she has quite a few friends, that’s enough.
…More than enough…!
“Eileen, could you help me out a bit?”
“Of course! If I’m with Mr. Namgung Min, anywhere is…”
“Ha, Namgung Min. You’re really ignoring me and going with this girl—”
“Miss Liu too! Please help me!”
“…Uh, uh. Okay. Sure.”
Ah, I got a bit excited and unconsciously held her hand while talking. It’s a relief that Liu didn’t immediately break my hand.
As I let go of Liu’s hand for the sake of survival, she caressed her hand with a strange expression.
Judging from her reaction, my hand would have been gone if I had held on for a bit longer, that was close.
“Hehe…”
A human bank with an infinite credit line, and an acquaintance who’s a friend?
To think the things I was worried about would be resolved in less than a day.
‘I’m lucky.’
I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at this moment.
“……….”
“………….”
Somehow, it felt like Liu and Eileen were looking at me with strange eyes.
Must be my imagination.
***
It had already been 5 minutes since we left Namgung Min’s base.
Step.
“………….”
Step.
“…………….”
The two girls, with their footsteps sounding different, were walking in the same direction without looking at each other.
Perhaps because it was a building on the outskirts, there was hardly anyone passing by on the street.
The girl walking ahead, Liu Yan, suddenly stopped.
“Hey.”
“………….”
“Hey, chuunibyou nutcase.”
“…You have a long tongue. Unbeliever.”
Eileen, who was about to pass by regardless of whether Liu stopped or not, also stopped.
Clank.
The flail, which she had somehow stored in her clothes, appeared with a metallic sound.
“Do you want to die?”
“Can you kill me?”
“Of course I can.”
Liu Yan’s eyes, fixed on Eileen, were filled with nothing but murderous intent.
However, Liu’s eyes, glaring back at Eileen, were overflowing with deep suspicion.
“I’m suspicious of you, bitch.”
“Why?”
“Are you seriously asking that? How could I not be suspicious of a whore who’s rubbing herself all over my lackey?”
“……….”
Whore, whore, she says.
Eileen responded to that harsh provocation.
“I don’t want to hear that from a mentally ill person who memorizes every word and action of Mr. Namgung Min.”
“………What?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? Unbeliever, I can see everything.”
<Saintess>’s job skill, <Eyes that See the Heart>.
That skill allowed the Saintess to peek into the hearts of others, albeit fragmentarily.
That’s how Eileen could read the inner thoughts of the <Billionaire> Liu.
Thanks to that, she also knew that Liu memorized and wrote down every action, word, and reaction of Namgung Min.
“Ha, fine. Let’s say that’s true.”
But despite having all that revealed, Liu’s inner thoughts were calm.
As if it meant nothing even if she knew.
“Do you like Namgung Min?”
“……….”
“That bastard seems clueless, whether he’s thrown away his ability to notice or is convinced that no one would like him.”
The fact that Eileen Teddybear had feelings for Namgung Min that went beyond simple affection,
Anyone could tell just by looking at this girl for a moment. Although Namgung Min himself, for some reason, was completely oblivious.
“You love that Fortune Teller, don’t you?”
“Love, love you say.”
“Isn’t that right?”
“Could this truly be called love?”
“…What?”
As Liu expressed her confusion at Eileen’s unexpected answer,
Eileen looked up at the sky.
“This isn’t a simple emotion like love. This is reverence for a god.”
“Reverence?”
“Just like a sunflower follows the sun, a moth throws itself into a flame, and one submits to the great beings in the sky.”
Her eyes were filled with an emotion that couldn’t be defined.
Emotions overflowing, as if about to engulf the ground they stood on, were deeply ingrained in her eyes.
“I am simply, following Mr. Namgung Min.”
“You really are a crazy bitch.”
“So are you.”
The two girls finally understood each other’s essence, even if just a little.
The billionaire who, out of suspicion, memorized and remembered everything about him.
And the Saintess who followed him with an affection deeper than love, as if serving a god.
Knowing that their hearts were similar in some ways, despite their mutual dislike,
Liu and Eileen couldn’t help but deny each other.
“……….”
“………….”
And so, the two girls, unable to acknowledge each other,
Stood facing each other for a long time.
Continuing on.