Chapter 204

In any case, Espard also seemed to judge that there was no problem with Roan purifying (?) the ring for now.

“Good, now let’s go look at other things. Instead, we are absolutely not stopping by a magic shop anymore. Roan, even if you throw a tantrum, it won’t work!”

“Yes.”

Roan readily nodded at Espard’s assertion.

Having obtained a rare circuit item, it would be greed to try and find something more.

‘And since I have to move tonight anyway.’

Thus, the three headed deeper into the market.

Pause—

“Roan, wait a moment.”

“?”

However, Espard temporarily halted his steps and called Roan.

Roan flinched, as his expression was unusual.

‘Was I caught?’

Could it be that wearing a dark mana item made things look different…?

Of course, that wasn’t the case.

Espard warned Roan with an extremely serious expression like this:

“Just in case, take off the ring before going into Professor Kaina’s class.”

“……Yes. Of course.”

Roan nodded, engraving Espard’s warning deep in his heart.

Even if he hadn’t warned him, he had intended to take it off.

Because she might not know it was being purified and instinctively strike his head with a hammer.

‘No, if it’s Kaina, she would definitely do that and more…’

* * *

On the way back to the Horn of Jane after finishing the market sightseeing excitedly until their legs gradually grew sore.

“Didn’t we buy too much…?”

Sion spoke worriedly, looking at the items held in her hands.

Hiloa had said to keep away from greed, but she had fun playing around and bought everything.

And with Roan’s money at that!

Espard laughed heartily and spoke.

“That much is fine. Rather, having come out when you’re a freshman, if you only bought that much, it is sufficiently frugal.”

“The Saint’s words are correct.”

Roan also agreed, nodding his head.

All they had bought was just holy and divine beast supplies, plain clothes to wear outside when needed, a few books, and miscellaneous accessories.

For reference, after he bought Bell a fake gem that was 1.5 times larger than the one bought in the commercial district, it had entered the backpack and wasn’t coming out at all.

Although it squirmed occasionally.

“Whew.”

At the words of the two, Sion sighed in relief.

Roan spoke, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“Rather than this, you should be careful about how much you eat.”

Flush—!

Sion’s face flushed red like a carrot, as if she had never felt relieved.

Cotton candy, toast, muffins, hot bars, pastries, and waffles.

‘Th-Thinking about it like this, I did eat a lot…’

Sion was someone who had swept through all the foods boasted by Gilsburg’s street vendors in a single evening.

‘But what can I do when all of them look delicious!’

At that moment, Espard frowned and scolded Roan.

“Roan, no matter how close you are to Sion, you shouldn’t talk about a girl’s eating like that.”

“That’s right! A-And we’re not even that close!”

Sion immediately chimed in to agree with his words.

Espard stroked Sion’s soft pink hair and spoke.

“In times like this, you should say ‘You seem to eat a lot, but you are really slim.’”

“Tha…???”

Sion reflexively tried to nod, then looked up at him in question.

In other words, wasn’t Espard also saying that she ate a lot?

Sion’s complexion turned similar to her hair color.

“I see.”

Roan nodded as if he had realized something deeply.

“What do you mean ‘I see’!”

Sion let out a sharp yell and walked ahead with quick steps.

Then she soon wore a tearful face and looked back.

“Huh? Why aren’t you going ahead?”

“……I don’t know which way it is.”

“Pfft…”

Espard had to suppress his laughter seeing Roan’s casual question and Sion, who was on the verge of crying.

Around the time the three were performing their comedy skit.

“There… precious people are passing by…”

A voice was heard from the dark alleyway beside them.

A faint and rough yet clearly audible way of speaking.

When Roan and Espard turned their heads, they saw a blind old woman sitting on a straw mat wearing a robe.

As if telling fortunes, she had placed a few old cards on a low, small tea table.

‘Hmm.’

Roan kept his eyes on the old woman seriously for a moment.

“Elder, my apologies but we are clergy. We do not tell fortunes.”

Espard, on the other hand, politely declined and tried to leave.

Woooong—

From ancient times, there has been nothing worth listening to in the words of fortune tellers.

The False Divinity also did not seem to like it very much.

Naturally, even in this world where magic and holy magic existed, fortune-telling was not treated very well.

Rather, it was treated as a superstition belonging to neither magic, holy magic, nor science, so the situation was worse than on Earth.

However.

“Just once… might be interesting.”

Roan, who had been lost in thought silently, stepped into the alley before Espard had a chance to stop him.

“Roan!”

“What is going on?”

Espard called Roan as if he didn’t like it much, and Sion belatedly poked her face out from the alleyway.

Seeing that Roan had no intention of turning back, the two had no choice but to step into the alley.

“I am merely grateful that you listen to the words of a humble old woman…”

Despite being blind, the old woman knew exactly that Roan was standing in front of her and bowed her head to greet him.

‘Normally it would just be an insignificant fortune teller, but…’

Roan also didn’t have very high expectations.

However, there was a very low probability that it could be a proper event.

Even if she awkwardly tried to tell his fortune, he could just go on his way.

“What can you show me, elder?”

Roan asked calmly.

At that, the old woman shook her head.

“How could a wretched old woman like me see the future of precious people. I simply wished to deliver this…”

The old woman reached into her sleeve and took something out.

Clack—

It was five charms woven with coarse, colorful threads.

Roan twitched an eyebrow, confirming the number of charms.

“There are only three of us, though.”

“Please deliver them to your companions as well… Of course, you may throw them away without concern.”

“Elder, how did you know that?”

Espard, who was listening to the conversation, asked with slight vigilance.

Companions meant she even knew about Tirmi and Yusina, who were not present here.

However, Roan did not wait for the old woman’s answer and simply lowered his posture quietly to gather the charms.

“Thank you. Then—”

And before standing up again,

Slide—

Roan flipped over one of the few cards placed on the tea table as his heart inclined.

“Roan!”

Espard scolded Roan in surprise.

There was nothing good about touching such a suspicious fortune teller’s items without care.

Roan briefly checked the drawing on the card, flipped it back over, and returned to Espard.

“It’s just for fun. Let’s go back now.”

“Well…”

Espard hesitated for a moment and walked out of the alley ahead.

Just as Roan also reached the end of the alley,

the old woman’s faint voice was heard once more.

“You are very skilled. As if you know exactly who I am… I wish you luck, non-existent entity…”

Espard and Sion showed no reaction.

It seemed the voice was heard only by Roan this time.

Roan glanced back.

Not only the old woman but also her belongings were nowhere to be seen.

As if it had been an empty alley from the start…

‘Wishing me luck?’

Roan clicked his tongue, recalling her words.

The card he had flipped over at the end.

A shadow inside a black robe holding a large scythe.

That card symbolizing death could not possibly have a good meaning.

Of course, even the same card could have multiple meanings depending on the situation and interpretation, but.

‘How does that look like a picture to wish luck for?’

The lingering unease was just the same.

At least it was a relief that Roan had flipped it over voluntarily, not the old woman.

Meanwhile, Espard was still grumbling.

“Roan, it will be troublesome if you move around carelessly now. Hiloa is watching even the smallest actions.”

Roan handed one of the charms to Espard.

“Take one as a souvenir anyway.”

“What? No thanks. You shouldn’t accept things like this carelessly. Feeling a strange energy makes it even more uncomfortable.”

Espard shook his head.

Next was Sion’s turn.

“Will you take one?”

“Ah, um… yes. Since it’s a souvenir.”

Sion seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon accepted what Roan handed her.

It seemed that only Roan knew the true nature of this charm after all.

‘This might actually be a bigger gain than the ring.’

Roan looked at the charm of coarse thread again.

In fact, this was not a simple ornament.

Traces of an ancient god, like Aurel Sol, different from the Hiloa religious view, but almost forgotten now.

A very small minority of believers who still serve them exist under the name of shamans.

And this charm was an amulet made by those shamans.

Although Espard said he felt no energy from it, that was strictly because it was unfamiliar, belonging to neither holy power, mana, nor dark mana.

In the eyes of Roan, who knew the amulet’s true nature, he could see a subtle auspicious and mysterious energy lingering.

‘In “God and Devil,” it simply raises the luck stat slightly. And…’

In any case, it wouldn’t have much effect right now, but since he could use it quite meaningfully in the future, he intended to keep it.

“Geez, was Gilsburg market originally like this? Suspicious people have increased significantly…”

‘That’s because you came with a player…’

Listening to Espard’s mumbling as he tilted his head in bewilderment, they had arrived at the Horn of Jane before they knew it.

On the corridor of the seventh floor where the guest rooms were located, Espard spoke with a stern expression.

“Now, great job today. We have to leave early tomorrow, so everyone rest well. You saw many suspicious people today, right? If you sneak out at night and get caught, be prepared to get scolded!”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Roan and Sion replied gently and scattered to their respective rooms, while Espard knocked on Tirmi’s door.

It seemed he intended to report that they had returned.

Creak—

A luxurious room, even looking at it again.

“Bell, you may come out now.”

Roan spoke to Bell, who must have felt stuffy inside the bag.

[…….]

However, far from coming out, Bell didn’t even reply.

When Roan placed the bag on the bed and opened it,

Soft breathing—

he saw Bell, who had fallen asleep while tightly hugging the large fake gem.

Bell, perhaps due to the sudden light, trembled its body and half-opened its eyes.

[Uh… where is this?]

“Where else, it’s the room.”

[Aha.]

Stagger, stagger—

Only then did Bell walk out of the bag, staggering.

Even in the midst of that, it managed to carry the gem that was the size of its own body on its back.

[I’m tired… but it was so much fun.]

“We have to go out once more later, though.”

Although Espard had told them to be prepared to get scolded if they got caught sneaking out,

‘If you don’t go out after hearing that, you’re an amateur.’

It was fine as long as he didn’t get caught.

Had he not bought plain clothes at the market for that very purpose.

As Roan spoke with a smirk, Bell seemed to fall into a massive internal conflict.

It was sleepy, but it also wanted to follow its master.

Roan decided to lie, fearing that the young Bell would overexert itself for no reason.

[W-Where are we going? Are we going to eat something delicious?]

“To get a scale to place you on.”

He was going out to get the Corrupted Holy Mark right now, but he lied that he was going to get the Balance of Light and Dark!

The effect was outstanding.

[H-Heek──! Trafficking!]