I Became a Fortune Teller in the Game My Little Sister Made – Chapter 25

I had a dream.

‘………Ah.’

In the dream, she could fly like a butterfly.

Over the body of me sleeping on the bed, over the roof of the house, past the people walking on the street.

No one noticed, only she was free.

‘So… beautiful.’

It had been several years since she came to this aerial city following her father, but she had never been able to explore it freely.

All she could do was lie in bed and gaze out the window.

For her, the world beyond the window was everything this city had to offer.

But now it was different.

‘So beautiful!’

True to its name of an aerial city, clouds floated nearby and birds were in sight.

The roads and buildings were beautifully aligned, clean without a spot of dirt.

Tall mountains and clear lakes welcomed her, and beautiful nature sprawled out everywhere.

It was indeed close to paradise.

‘But I can’t touch it…’

Landing near the lake while soaring in the sky, she reached her hand into the water.

But nothing could be felt. Not even a ripple in the water.

A little disappointed, she soon felt her heart swell with excitement as she beheld such a beautiful sight.

Flying, soaring, and flying again.

It took a while to engrave the city’s beauty into her eyes.

‘…Huh?’

A pull.

She felt a strange pull towards a beautiful church on the outskirts of the city.

Though it was her first time experiencing such a bizarre feeling, she found herself flying towards the church before she knew it.

Was it instinct?

Her heart was crying out.

Over there, it’s right there.

There was something she had been searching for so long.

‘Searching for…?’

I don’t have anything like that. What would a girl who only lies in bed all day be searching for?

Despite her questions, she crossed over the church’s wall.

Beyond beautiful decorations, past praying people, over a priest arguing with a girl with a bob haircut.

Downward. Downward.

There, she found—

“What… should I do?”

“First, you need to talk to that Sister.”

‘It’s her.’

──Someone who came to her every day and made her feel at ease.

Could that person be the one she had been searching for?

‘…No.’

Rather, it was the opposite.

Deep in her heart, there was a resonance crying out that that person must not be accepted.

Not their character or actions, or appearance. Just the very existence itself was something she could not acknowledge.

But that person was someone she was grateful to.

Why did she feel such… rejection now?

“What do you think, Saint? What will you do with this Sister?”

“……I’ve already erased her memories. To avoid any future troubles… I suppose I’ll have to kill her.”

‘Kill? Kill?!’

At that moment, her eyes widened.

Killing someone? Did I really feel gratitude towards someone like that?

The walls in her heart crumbled, and she accepted her previously unacknowledged sense of rejection and hostility.

‘They were trying to kill me… all along?’

She glared at the man wielding a mace, the one known as the Saint.

Gratitude turned into betrayal, and in an instant, hate followed. And even that turned into a feeling of rage.

It was just then that Eileen approached the Saint.

“No, we mustn’t kill her.”

“……Yes? Sister Ruina is a spy sent to me. It is right to get rid of her in this opportunity.”

“We use her instead.”

“Use… her?”

“Yes.”

She turned her head towards the source of the voice.

A girl with black bobbed hair, wearing a red dress shirt and a black suit. A mournful smile, and a right eye with strangely tiny pupils.

Her face was stained with blood of unknown origin, which she wiped away with the white gloves on her hands.

Interestingly, the blood gradually disappeared as she wiped it, and the gloves remained clean.

‘…Ah.’

That person.

Before thought even crossed her mind, before she could speak, she understood deep within her heart.

That person was indeed what she had been searching for all along.

Without reason, logic, or evidence.

She just knew.

‘This is…’

Is this what they call love at first sight?

She had never experienced the feeling of love before. Since she had been sick since childhood, she had spent almost her entire life at home until she was nearly twenty.

Thus, she couldn’t be sure of this feeling, nor could she recognize it.

Ironically, it was because of this that she fell deeply into the emotion she was experiencing for the first time.

‘It feels nice…’

When she saw that person, she felt good. When she thought of that person, a smile appeared effortlessly. Approaching that person felt like her heart might burst.

The dreamy, fluffy feeling she was feeling for the first time in her life.

Without thinking, she moved closer and stood beside him.

‘…This is nice.’

Standing next to him, walking side by side.

He didn’t know her, didn’t notice her, couldn’t even touch him, yet she was satisfied.

Just being together like this made her happy.

As they walked, someone soon came into her view.

‘The Saint.’

She now knew who he was. There was no way living at home all this time, she wouldn’t know that famous <Saint>.

But seeing the person in front of her, she felt nothing but displeasure.

Prejudice that he was trying to kill her, a murderer intent on the Sister’s death, surpassing the instinctive animosity from deep within.

‘Why are you in front of me?’

It felt like he was blocking her path.

She would forgive everything; couldn’t he just go away?

Even knowing that she couldn’t touch him, that moment she clenched her fists.

“Stay right there and wait.”

“Yes, of course.”

‘………Yes.’

With just his words, all her displeasure washed away.

She understood. Those words were not directed at her, but rather at that untrustworthy Saint.

And yet she complied.

Because it was his command.

Standing stiffly, she put her hands together respectfully and awaited further instructions.

“Let’s give her false information.”

“False information?”

“Since it has come to this, let’s find out who sent her to infiltrate as a spy.”

“But what kind of information will we give her? If they have a mind of their own, they’ll suspect ulterior motives.”

“Saint, didn’t you say to leave everything to me?”

‘…Huh? Huh?’

While listening to the pleasant-sounding voice and the voice that raised instinctive disgust, she suddenly felt her body beginning to move.

Not by her own will, but as if being pulled somewhere. As if the time had come.

‘Oh no!’

She was told to wait right there, it was his command.

At the very least, just the name──

“Alright… Namgoong Min.”

“We have much to do from now on. Just leave this much to me.”

──Namgoong Min, Namgoong Min, Namgoong Min.

Repeating that name to not forget it, to remember it at all costs.

Crossing over the church, over the sky, entering through the roof, and finally back into bed.

“Namgoong… Min.”

She awoke from the dream and fell asleep.

*

The Saint trudged out.

He looked utterly exhausted.

‘…It wasn’t a fellow sinner after all.’

It had been a misjudgment. Mistakenly thinking him a fellow sinner punished by the same god.

As he climbed the stairs and opened the door, the Saint mumbled.

‘He is suffering a far worse punishment.’

Even while despising the fortune-teller, he played the role of one. Degrading and insulting his own profession while at the same time exhibiting the traits of a true fortune-teller more than anyone.

That was not merely a self-contradiction but rather a sickness he was unaware of.

What kind of past did he have?

How could someone who detested fortune-telling more than anyone, understand it better than anyone?

That was why the Saint accepted Namgoong Min’s suggestion.

A being who was punished severely, in a way, was closer to the divine than anyone else. He received the punishments directly imposed by the divine.

‘God is perfect and flawless; this must also be a necessary arrangement.’

Ever since he felt that ‘pull’ from the god above during a pilgrimage in his childhood.

That had become the most important element shaping the being known as the Saint.

“Really! Where could he have gone…!”

“……?”

Lost in thought about Namgoong Min, the Saint pricked his ears at a voice coming from around the corner.

It sounded like someone excessively annoyed.

As he walked further, he encountered a girl with a bob haircut who was huffing and puffing.

“Rain Arthur?”

“Ah, Saint! It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Not at all. But what brings you here…?”

He hadn’t heard that the Lady of the Arthur Family was coming.

As he observed her, he perceived that she was feeling angry.

“Saint, have you seen that person?”

“That person?”

“The fortune-teller, Namgoong Min! He said he was going to the bathroom but hasn’t returned… And he was panting when he was running earlier, what a weakling pretending to be strong in front of me and then ran off…!”

Weakling, weakling.

“No, he isn’t a weakling.”

“What, really?”

“I just got into a bit of a scuffle with him.”

Only then did Rayne seem to notice the condition of the Saint.

His usually pristine clothing was torn and tattered, and he bore scratches throughout his body, with blood pooled in his hair along with a bump.

At the sight, Rayne was momentarily stunned.

“Wait a second. So, you just had a fight with… Namgoong Min?”

“Yes. Embarrassingly enough, it was a complete defeat.”

Considering how absurdly naive he had been to engage, it was no wonder he lost.

Reflecting on his complacency, the Saint bowed his head.

“He is absolutely not a weakling. Rather… he’s someone much stronger than me.”

“Strong… stronger than the Saint…?”

“Yes.”

Yet he felt an unexpected lightness within his heart.

Perhaps, thinking he could do everything alone in purifying the church was misguided.

Though the process was rough, everything may work out if that talented fortune-teller lends a hand.

Gone are the days of worrying whether he might be a spy or a member of the Pope’s faction trying to exploit his weaknesses.

Now, it seemed he could relax a bit.

More than that, he had gained an ally who is enduring even worse punishments, yet appears reliable.

“Stronger… stronger than the Saint? Then, that means he’s stronger than me…!”

“Hm, Rain?”

“I have to go get Namgoong Min! This way, right? I’ll be back soon!”

“Ah, yes.”

Her complexion turned pale, and she dashed down the hallway past the Saint.

Soon, Namgoong Min emerged alongside the memory-lost Sister Ruina, and Rayne approached in a strangely obsequious manner.

──Thank you for your struggles… Namgoong Min!

──What, Miss? But first, can you help me with that Sister? She seems to have fallen down the stairs…

──Ah… I apologize. I genuinely can’t remember… Considering the blood, it looks like she has indeed fallen down the stairs.

──No, no! This isn’t something Namgoong Min should do! You must look after yourself before anything, while I’ll help the Sister!

──Ah, thank you.

“……In the end, it turns out it didn’t matter whether it was a fortune or a scam.”

The Saint rummaged through his pockets and his hand landed on a wrinkled tarot card, <The Hanged Man>.

He tried to differentiate between fortune and deception. Pondering what Namgoong Min did that was a fortune and what was a scam.

But to Namgoong Min, all of that was meaningless.

To him, fortune was deception, and a fortune-teller was a scammer.

Thus, identifying between the two was irrelevant.

“Let’s go.”

His matters with the ally had concluded, yet he still had much to do.

The priority was… to visit Charles Teddy Bear and tell him everything.

About Eileen being the Saintess. And that the Saint had concealed that fact. That she must never let it be known she is the Saintess.

And…

“Find your god… please.”

Will Eileen be able to find the god she needs to feel the pull in her heart?

The Saint had to walk a pilgrimage of over three years to find the god he sought. He had to endure countless hardships to find the one referred to as God in the church.

It would be a harsh path for Eileen, but he must do all he could to help her.

If she cannot find her god, the <Saint> and <Saintess> would feel endless suffering. The reason Eileen was bedridden now was all because of that.

Not a solitary job, but one that required faith in another.

The Saint resolved to apply all the strength he possesses to aid Eileen.