PLIGHT OF THE PROPHET
“Um…excuse me! Ms. Erde! If you go any further, something terrible will happen!”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“I…I don’t really know either, but there’s something down there that will be the death of you all! Only Bell will be spared!!”
“What on earth are you talking about?! I don’t have time for this nonsense. If you don’t have any basis to be throwing around such claims, then leave me alone! We need to make contact with Ms. Lyu before anyone else!”
“M-Mr. Crozzo…er, Welf, please listen to me! If you go down to the lower floors, you will be torn to pieces!”
“Whoa, be chill. Don’t go jinxin’ me now. I can’t die yet, not until I catch up to Lady Hephaistos and become the greatest smith this world has ever seen.”
“I-I understand, but I’m just saying what will happen if you—”
“Come on. This ain’t the time for jokes. Let’s get moving before the others leave us behind.”
“M-Ms. Mikoto! My fortunes are always one hundred percent correct, and this time, they’re telling me that something terrible is going happen!”
“Is that right?! Well, not to worry! Adventurers are brave souls who stand up and defy fate! I shall protect you, Lady Cassandra, whatever comes your way!”
“Th-thank you, but…it’s not about me! It’s about all of you and Gale Wind and…!”
“I see what you mean. It would be terrible if the bounty hunters found Lyu first. But we believe in her innocence! We must hurry and prove it to everyone else!”
“M-Ms. Chigusa! I just remembered! The Guild put out a bulletin saying that there are monsters deadlier than a moss huge beyond this point!”
“Huh?! Is that true?! We’d better tell Daphne and the others fast!”
“Ahhhh! Wait, no! Don’t tell Daphne—Owww! Don’t hit me, Daphne! I’m sorry I was lying! I mean, I was lying about the monsters, but my dream was real!!”
“M-Mr. Ouka! The truth is…I have a skill that lets me see into the future!”
“That can’t be right.”
“………”
“If you had a skill like that, then how did Apollo Familia ever lose? How did you even wind up here?”
“…That’s true.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve, but I’m a little hurt you thought I was so gullible that such an obvious lie would work on me.”
“But that’s not…!!”
“Ms. Aisha! I promise I’m not lying to you! I had a dream of something terrible happening, and it’s definitely going to come true!”
“What kind of adventurer wets their pants over one measly nightmare?! Pull yourself together and do your job, healer!”
“Urgh…It’s no use…” Cassandra whined, clutching her staff to her chest.
She walked through the Colossal Tree Labyrinth, descending toward the lower floors alongside the search party formed by the residents of Rivira who wanted to take out Gale Wind. On the way, she had worked up the courage to approach various adventurers about her prophetic dreams, but she was mercilessly ignored or denied every time.
Cassandra’s curse was as unhelpful as ever. While blessed with the ability to see the future, no one she told would ever believe her oracles. She had followed the group after they departed from Rivira and practically begged them on her hands and knees to change course—but to no avail. If the curse could be broken so easily, then perhaps Cassandra would not be so prone to despair after only eighteen short years of life. No matter what she tried, no one ever took her seriously. If anything, she seemed to make people angry.
The only one who might listen to me is Bell…but he’s already made up his mind to help Gale Wind. Telling him about the danger that lurks down there will only make him even more determined to save her.
The pain of misunderstanding was not new to her, but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach. Mired in despair, Cassandra turned to the last adventurer she hadn’t yet tried speaking to—a renart sorceress somewhat similar in abilities and personality to herself!
Ms. Haruhime! If it comes from her mouth instead of mine, then maybe Aisha will listen…!
Fight on, Cassandra! It isn’t over yet!
“M-Ms. Haruhime! I have a favor to ask!”
“Hmm? Lady Cassandra? Whatever is the matter?”
Her innocent eyes reminded Cassandra of Bell’s, and she suddenly got cold feet, but she pushed her guilt aside and set her plan into motion.
“H-have you ever had a dream come true, Ms. Haruhime?”
The crux of her plan was sympathy.
Leading with her calamitous prophecy was likely to invite nothing but suspicion. Perhaps if she started the conversation on the topic of a similar experience from Haruhime’s past, she would be more likely to trust Cassandra’s warning. Yes, it was grasping at straws, but what else could she do?
“A-a dream come true, you say?!”
Haruhime’s ears pricked up, and her whole body shook. It was clear Cassandra’s remark had elicited a strong reaction.
D-does this mean…there’s a chance?!
Encouraged, Cassandra launched into her spiel.
“Y-you see, the truth is, my dreams quite often come true, and I thought maybe we might have that in common! Maybe we’re kindred spirits or connected on a deeper level or psychically paired…or, as the gods say, best friends forever!”
“You’re saying Cassandra and myself are…twins? Best friends forever?”
“Yes, best friends forever! BFFs! I wondered if maybe, like me, you sometimes suffer because of those dreams…?”
“Yes, I have! In fact, it happened just the other night!”
Yes! I’m in!
Glimpsing a ray of hope, the ill-omened prophet leaned in closer.
“A-and what kind of dream was it, may I ask?! A-and perhaps you’d like to hear about mine as well…?”
“W-well, you see…It all started when I woke up early and decided to go for a bath but I was still half asleep and I accidentally walked into the male baths by mistake and Bell was there because he’d just finished his early-morning training and my foot slipped and I fell on top of him completely naked and then we both toppled over and I passed out from seeing his collarbones and his ni-ni-ni…the pink part of his chest while Bell caught me but fell and hit his head and he got knocked out because he’d been in the baths for a while and was quite dizzy already and we stayed in each other’s arms until Lady Hestia and the others wondered where we were and came to find us!!”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! And that really happened?!”
“Y-yes, but it’s not my fault! It felt like a dream but so real as well! I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or not! B-but I’m certainly not saying that if it was a dream, then I would have liked for it to go on a little longer or anything like that!”
“Wait! Ms. Haruhime! You’ve got to tell me everything again from the top! Every last detail!!”
Cassandra had hoped to garner sympathy by asking about Haruhime’s dreams, but the utter bombshell the foxgirl dropped was enough to send her into a panic instead. Her plan lay in tatters, her face bright red, as she desperately urged the blushing renart to spill everything.
“Are you clowns screwing around back there?!”
“Don’t slow the rest of us down with your nonsense!”
““We’re sorry!!””
Aisha and Lilly turned and gave our two dreamers a cruel reminder of reality. Cassandra’s plight went unanswered, her dreams dashed by a fox’s delusions, and the group reached the twenty-fourth floor before she could do anything about it.
Incidentally, Cassandra may or may not have remained bright red for some time, unable to think and casting furtive glances at Bell and Haruhime until she suddenly returned to her senses.
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