MaruMA:Gaiden03:Chapter 5

Losing One's Most Important Person

Even if that person believes in ghosts, the arrogant fortune tellers do not.

Take a shortcut through the forest.

Can't ride the horse into this tunnel that goes into the ground because it isn't high enough.

Especially near the exit, where there are a few stones that are close together. It's possible that we'll hit our heads.

Lord Weller gently brushed the hair of the person sitting in front.

"Were the people before me all shorter?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not possible to charge in at full speed because we could get injured, but won't we just fall off the horse?"

"The problem is those stones blocking our path."

As they rode through the dim place and came out to the brick road leading into the city, Yuuri couldn't help but let out a big sigh, letting his shoulders relax. Conrad, sitting behind him, slowly pressed closer to him.

"What is it? Are you nervous about something?"

"Because the place just now was really dangerous."

"Dangerous? This is Your Majesty's territory. Although it does feel a little dark and gloomy, this area has actually never experienced any unrest.

"Aaah-- I wasn't referring to crime rates. When my mom passes by places like this, her expression is always really ugly. Also: 'nine times out of ten, there will be a ghost'."

"A ghost?"

"That's right. You know, those people who were unable to go to heaven. If we use that theory to explain things, they're people who still have unresolved issues in this world - people who aren't willing to be reincarnated yet."

Hearing his young master say these unexpected words, Conrad couldn't help but see in his mind the face of a woman from more than a decade ago.

She had a gentle personality, but wasn't afraid of anything.

"Actually, I don't believe in ghosts, but every time I listen to my mom talk about these things, I start to think it's possible that they're real. My mom also said... If, from the very start, you make your face look really ferocious or brimming with hatred, then there's nothing to worry about. Just don't let them see you and don't get close to them. It's said that the happily smiling women and children are the scariest, because their features can suddenly become very sinister. Do you believe them? These are all ghost stories!"

He turned his head to ask.

Conrad very cunningly turned the question around.

"What does Your Majesty think?"

"Don't call me Your Majesty! I've never seen anything ghostly at all, but my mom is way too serious about it, which makes it so that I can't help but suspect that they could exist... So when I found out about having Mazoku blood in the family, my first thought was that it was my mom! I thought, 'Wah! My mom's the devil...no, I mean, Mazoku! No wonder she can see ghosts!"

Conrad shrugged a little. The way this person spoke was very sincere, and it let people feel comfortable around him.

"You've got Mazoku and mediums mixed up."

"I should have said that I classify them all as the supernatural."

On the eve of the Temple Fair, the streets were much more lively than usual. This was also proof that the city was flourishing. Because there were children walking beside them, they thought it would be best to walk on foot.

Yuuri had prepared everything before he could be discovered, putting on the hood of his cloak and lowering his head.

It looked like he was becoming more and more conscientious now.

"It's not only the Mazoku; some humans also have a sixth sense."

Yuuri looked extremely surprised.

"Then do you have a sixth sense, too?"

"No, I don't."

If he really had that kind of ability, he would have long since run off to become a monk in order to make it up to those who died under his command.

"That's great. If there was someone next to me who could see ghosts, I'd want them to tell me if there were ghosts around me. Because if they keep looking at my back, I'll suspect that there's something attached to me, and it'll scare the crap out of me."

The two of them passed by a group of street vendors, entering into a bustling street with shops lining both sides.

Yuuri stood in front of a store specializing in foreign goods, childishly shouting loudly.

"Look, Conrad, a globe, a globe! Although it's not the Earth, as long as I have this, I can control the entire planet. It's as if the whole planet belongs to me...except that it's a model."

"Don't say that it's just a model. Please, by all means, you must receive this world as your own. However, we might not be able to bring that with us. It would be in the way while we were walking around."

In this situation, getting that would cram their arms full before they found all that they wanted to buy.

Therefore, they left a note with the shopkeeper asking him to reserve the model for them, and then continued walking down the street.

In the end, they even bought the star chart next to it as well. The young master found it hard to resist round objects.

"That was rude of you to say. It's not only because I like spheres... Conrad?"

There was an unusually large crowd of people at the bend in the road. Lord Weller stopped walking as he saw a few familiar faces.

"What is it? What kind of shop is it that you have to line up for? A ramen shop? But I don't smell anything."

He remembered that this area was rented out to wandering artists and performers from the south.

"Your Majesty. Do you believe in fortune tellers?"

"Fortune telling? Don't even talk about believing - I hate that stuff. Once, before a competition, I wanted to ask if I had a chance of entering the game as a pinch hitter, so I went to a fortune teller, and the fortune teller said, 'Tomorrow will hit!' I had no idea that on the day of the game, during warm-ups, a stray ball would bludgeon me in the back of the head. Not only was I unable to be a pinch hitter, but I was being sent to the hospital during the game."

"In a way, wasn't it very accurate?"

"If I was going to have bad luck, why didn't the fortune teller just say to be careful?"

Conrad grabbed Yuuri's hand, then gave a secret signal to a man in his line of sight.

The man immediately left his position to run toward them. On the streets, there were many people dressed similarly, but it looked like he was a soldier rather than a merchant.

Actually, his astute expression and characteristic pace could not be concealed.

"It's been a long time, Your Excellency. What brings you here? Is it an inspection?"

"No, just passing by. However, I'm seeing many familiar faces. What are you all doing here? Why is everyone lining up at the fortune teller? Could it be that you're asking if you should retire from the service?"

"Nonono, there's no way! I wasn't thinking of that at all. I'm just here for work... As for this...could it be? Your Ma--!"

"Shh--! It was really hard for me to come out shopping."

Upon hearing of the king's plight, the soldier covered his mouth at once. Conrad continued to speak.

"But this is a fortune teller with a lot of business. The intelligence reports don't have anything on this, do they?"

"This is... Because there's been a sudden increase in followers. Compared to other fortune tellers, she has a lot more religious followers. I've sent a few subordinates inside disguised as followers, and as soon as she shows any sign of betraying the king, we'll arrest her."

"You're exaggerating the problem."

"Your Excellency, you can't mean that. Have you forgotten the Orviete Insurrection ?"

"That was over 200 years ago."

"But still--"

The man closed his mouth. He was silent for a while, but then tried to speak again.

"Still, as long as their spokesperson has power, we must be careful. Technically, the fortune teller hasn't been found guilty, but even if there's been only a little bit of evidence that there's a strange phenomenon going on, if they carelessly speak up that it's Shinou's royal decree, then it will be the same as that time. She'll become the leader of a crime that shakes the nation. We absolutely cannot treat this lightly."

Lord Weller touched his chin and looked over at the riotous, winding line of people.

"...Let's go take a look, then."

"Huh?"

"I will personally go to confirm whether she's a harmless amateur fortune teller or a threat. Young master, please wait for me here."

"I want to go with you."

However, since Yuuri couldn't reveal himself, he couldn't get his fortune told, and had to just tag along.

The two of them entered the dim, cold room and sat down.

Lord Weller thought that the interior was especially uncomfortable.

Sitting behind a table that was draped with too much fabric was a young woman. She tilted her neck, which was so thin it looked like it was about to snap. Her hair was green from plant-based dyes, a chunk of green hair hanging down in front of her chest.

"The events of the past have a great effect on your future."

It's like that for everyone! There's no one who can completely break free from the past, is there?

Conrad let out a sarcastic smile, but right before the other could discover it, he quickly recovered and steadied his manner.

At that same time, Yuuri, sitting next to him, shifted a little.

"Wait! Don't keep going yet... It's a matter of personal privacy, after all. It's better if I don't listen."

"It's not a problem, young master."

Yuuri lowered his head, using both hands to cover his ears. This way he wouldn't be able to hear anything.

The woman looked over at Yuuri's lowered head, but could only see the light brown hood of his cloak. Since the light was also very dim, it looked rather grayish.

She probably decided that he was not worth her attention, so she turned to face Conrad and continued to speak.

This was standard amateur behavior.

"You...lost someone very important to you in the past...and this has caused you to become very cowardly now... You let this grief hold you back, so that you are unable to take that important step forward..."

The woman's voice was low and sweet. It was capable of letting people enter a light state of hypnosis. Even if her words weren't anything out of the ordinary, for the people who sought her help, hearing her say them seemed especially beneficial.

But Conrad, who had his arms crossed over his chest, let his slight nodding take the place of a response. He couldn't help but start to smile.

"You must never let the past trap you. As long as you have even one worry binding you to that person, the spirit of the one you've lost will be unable to start a new life. That person also wishes for you to have a happy life. You most definitely must not keep holding on to your bonds with that person, blaming yourself..."

Keep those words and say them to Adelbert instead.

"Young master."

Conrad lightly touched Yuuri's stiff hand, then gently held the hand, slowly pulling it from its place on Yuuri's head. And, since they were in a place where no one would hear, he softly called out his name next to his ear.

"Yuuri, it's over."

"What was it like? Was it accurate? Oh, that's right, it's okay if you don't want to tell me about it."

Quickly walking out of the dark passageway, Yuuri grabbed his companion's arm.

Conrad gave him a reassuring smile and pulled up his young master's hood.

"She's just a harmless amateur fortune teller. She said to me, 'You've lost someone very important to you, and you are being held back by that incident, unable to move forward.'"

"That..."

Yuuri swallowed the impulse to say, "Isn't that accurate?", and looked up with his pitch-black eyes.

"It's superficial terminology that you can hear fortune tellers use anywhere. No matter who it is, everyone has lost one or two important people. If it's someone young, who hasn't seen many people pass away, it can be covered up by saying it was a famous person they looked up to, or a beloved family pet. Even property or possessions can be brought into this analogy. As soon as those with blind faith hear, 'You've lost someone very important to you,' in their mind they'll search for that person, and then unconsciously try their best to find it."

He gently shook his head:

"That one phrase can apply to anyone, indiscriminately."

When they returned under the afternoon sun, they let out small sighs.

Dark environments make people feel nervous.

That's the only reason this shop is so successful.

"Even if we need to keep up the surveillance, it doesn't have to be too intense. That group will definitely destroy itself as it grows."

Conrad, returning completely unaffected, said these words to the man who used to be one of his subordinates, then turned to Yuuri with a heartfelt smile.

"All right. Young master, where would you like to go? The jeweler is our last destination, right?"

"We're here to look for pomade, Conrad! We're looking for something to replace that stuff!"

Whenever he passes through the streets with their cacophony of sounds and streams of people, he'll definitely remember.

Lifting his head toward the gradually darkening orange sky, Lord Weller sighed deeply.

He really had lost his most important person.

He didn't need a fortune teller to tell him that.

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