WE MET A STRANGE FORTUNE-TELLER
That day, the family and I went out to Nascúte to do some shopping. We mainly went there to get whatever we couldn’t find in the village of Flatta.
“Mmm… It feels so strange to be near my workplace on a day off…,” Halkara said, stooping forward slightly.
“Oh, that’s right. I guess you can’t really relax when your factory’s in town, huh? Well, you can chill at a café or something, okay? Nothing says we all have to stay together.”
Once in my past life, when I finally had a day off after twenty days straight of work, I ended up going near work and had to tell myself to go shopping somewhere else.
Actually, Flatorte was carrying Sandra off to the market now. Our little mandragora was already tired of walking.
Then, Falfa and Shalsha had hurried off to a bookstore where they would be for the rest of the trip, so they weren’t with us. We were all pretty separated.
“Well, no, I can’t take strolls around town when I’m working, so I do like to walk around when I’m doing research for a new product.”
“Huh. So which is it?”
“It’s just that I know I need to study, but I don’t want to study—do you know what I mean?”
“I get it. That makes more sense to me.”
If studying was so unbelievably fun to do, then no one would ever relax and enjoy themselves. If people found themselves avoiding the task, then that meant they found more pain than pleasure in it.
“Ah, that’s right. I heard from one of my employees that there’s a strange booth that appeared in town. I believe it was between two buildings like this nearby.”
“What? Between buildings?”
A booth could be anywhere, but why in a tiny alley?
“You sure they’re not selling creepy items or anything? I’m not really looking forward to being arrested for accidentally buying something on the black market.”
“If it seems too dubious, we’ll pretend we didn’t see anything. It’s all right, it’s all right!”
“Halkara, you really like making yourself sound completely untrustworthy, don’t you…?”
There was no proof that this wouldn’t go horribly wrong.
Then, Laika pointed down an alleyway.
“Oh, could that be it?”
Sure enough, sitting between the buildings was a square table and some chairs, with a sign next to the table saying exactly what services they were offering.
“I see~ A booth doesn’t take up all that much space, so setting up shop in the open isn’t too strange. But it’s still”—I cleared my throat—“very suspicious!”
“Do you think so, Madam Teacher? I find it hard to believe fortunes, you know~ What is the moon’s power anyway?”
“No, Halkara, I’m not talking about fortune-telling in general. I’m saying that this booth specifically is fishy!”
What “media” were they talking about? I’m pretty sure there wasn’t much in the way of media around here.
Plus, people in this world had a real tendency to come up with really sketchy-sounding advertisements. It was so exaggerated…or everything was just embellished. There was no appreciation for the art of minimalism.
Anyway, I wondered what kind of person was running the booth.
The apparent fortune-teller wore a robe with a hood pulled down over their eyes. They certainly had the vibe, but I didn’t know much about the typical dress for this trade in this world. Maybe this was unusual.
—Then, they looked at us. Or I assumed they did—their eyes were still hidden behind the hood—but I knew they’d noticed us.
Oh no, now we’ve got their attention… It’d be hard to say no if we got called over…
But luckily—if you could say that—a customer happened to be sitting at the booth already.
Phew. We weren’t going to be pulled aside.
And the customer was none other than…Flatta guild employee Natalie!
“Why is Natalie here?!”
“This is perfect, Lady Azusa. We can see what sort of fortunes this fortune-teller tells.”
“O-okay… I’m not a fan of voyeurism, but if it’s just a fortune…”
Natalie once leaked the fact that I was max level, which was technically personal info… So this would make us even in a way.
“Welcome. What would you like to know?”
The fortune-teller’s voice told us that it was a woman. The profession definitely seemed to skew female, in my experience.
“Well, my luck in marriage, of course!”
Natalie always had marriage on the mind…
“I would love if you could tell me how I can find myself a wonderful—”
“I don’t really need to do any divination because to be honest, you have no hope.”
That was too honest!
“What?! What an awful thing to say! You haven’t even tried! I will pay you, so please, do it properly!”
We were shocked, too—she wasn’t even going to bother with the fortune-telling?
“Ha-ha~,” said Halkara. “Some fortune-tellers take on a condescending persona and say whatever they want~ I suppose this is that kind of booth~”
Halkara sure knew a lot, being a businesswoman herself…
Now then, how was the fortune-teller going to handle this?
“Listen. If you can’t find a partner to marry, that means there’s a problem with your work environment or living environment. I mean, you work in a place with a small population and limited customer base, right?”
“Omigosh! You’re right!”
“Then, obviously, you’re not meeting anyone. You have no choice but to move to a place where you’ll find more people, and if you still can’t manage it even after changing the basics in your life, then you’ll have to ask for introductions. And if you don’t do any of that, then you’re just relying on me instead of looking to the real problem.”
Natalie nodded vigorously.
The fortune-teller had won total faith from her customer.
“And if I told you that your ‘the one’ is in blah-blah town of so-and-so province in this country, so you should take off work and go right now, you wouldn’t just believe me and set out right away, would you?”
“No… To be honest, it’s more important to have a stable job…”
“If I went that far, then I’d be telling your future, not just your fortune. See? I didn’t actually have to do any divination for you. I don’t need your money.”
“Oh, no, no, you gave me plenty of advice, so I must pay you!”
“Oh, you will? Two thousand gold, then.”
As Natalie went home, I could hear her muttering, “Maybe I should ask the guild to hold a mixer… Or maybe I should just send a request to the guild that I’m looking for someone to marry…”
Mmm, that second option might attract some real weirdos, so maybe better not with that…
“We did not get to see her craft in action, Madam Teacher.” Halkara seemed a little disappointed.
“Well, she seems a lot more put together than I originally thought. I’m not sure if this strictly counts as fortune-telling, though.”
Meanwhile, another customer came to sit in the chair. Business sure was booming.
And it was another familiar face, a girl wearing a whole lot of white, which meant—
“Now it’s Wynona! My stepdaughter…”
Why are all her customers people I know?
“Welcome. What fortune would you like told today?”
“I’m an adventurer, so I want you to tell me which region I should be going to next. I do not mind vague directions, either.”
I see, I see. A very adventurer-type question.
“Understood. Now I will use the power of the moon to tell your fortune.”
Finally, we’d get to see what methods she used.
“First show me your right hand. I will need to check the lines of your palm.”
What?! Palm reading?!
The fortune-teller looked down at Wynona’s palm. “Oh, ma’am, your hands…”
“What? Are they remarkable in some way?”
“They’re so doughy.”
What the hell? I thought as I watched.
“You think? I don’t pay much attention to my skin; I’m an adventurer, after all.” But Wynona seemed a bit happy about having soft hands anyway.
“They’re like a slime.”
Well, she is a slime spirit…
This fortune-teller was generally on the right track, but there was nothing she’d done so far that looked like actual divination.
“This line tells us that you toiled in your youth, but that hardship has paid off. You must be well-off now, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I live in a large mansion.”
Hey! She was right!
“Well, it could go either way at this point~ Anyone with a bit of skill and charisma could probably do this.” Halkara was taking the cynical approach. For how interested she was before, she seemed to be a skeptic of divination in general. Maybe she was just curious to see how this all worked from the business side of things. The management perspective.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Laika was watching intently with great interest.
I guess at her age, fortune-telling was the thing to think about. Wait, maybe age didn’t matter. Middle-aged women liked to do this stuff, too.
“So where should I go? Or not go?”
“I need to use the moon’s power for that, so I must muster my energy.” The fortune-teller then flung off her robe.
I was right; it was a woman. Her hair was rather long, and both her hair and eyes were blue. This was probably a part of her act, but there was an awe-inspiring aura around her.
“Look into my eyes, as I will look into yours. Receive the moon’s power, and you will see the path you are to take.”
Ooh, it’s about to get real!
“Very well. Please look into my future.” Wynona gave her approval.
“Good. I will now begin an incantation that will amplify the moon’s power.”
Ooh, what kind of incantation?
I was excited to get a glimpse of unfamiliar magic.
“Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Lunaluna~ Moomoonmoon The full moon, the half-moon, the crescent, all kinds of moons~ ”
What a stupid incantation!
Suddenly, her aura was more fishy than inspiring… Why does this feel like a variety show…?
“Pff… Pfft…”
Wynona couldn’t help laughing. Anyone would, really.
“No, no, that won’t do. Laughing will obscure the vision of your path,” the fortune-teller warned her with utter seriousness. She wasn’t seeing the humor here.
“Oh, your song is just so…unique…and distinct…”
I think stupid was the word she was trying to avoid.
“This is the most effective way to gain the moon’s power. I sing it thrice every morning.”
“Pfft… Three times…?”
She was laughing again!
“I will do it again. And sing the last part together with me. I’ll give you separate instruction for that, all right?”
“What? I have to sing that stupid song with you?”
Whoops, and the truth comes out!
“Stupid? What?! This is the best way to gain the moon’s power!” The fortune-teller was a stickler for specific things.
“Madam Teacher, the more serious the fortune-teller acts, the funnier she seems. Pffft…” Halkara was treating this whole thing like a comedy show now.
“She was serious at the beginning, but then all the jokes just came rushing out at once. Do people usually tell fortunes like this?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s what I thought…”
As we chatted, the song started again.
“Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Lunaluna~ Moomoonmoon The full moon, the half-moon, the crescent, all kinds of moons~ But the moon stays perfectly round all the time~ How strange is that~ Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Moonmoonmoomoonmoon ”
“Pfffft! That last part with the moonmoonmoomoonmoon…” Wynona was laughing again… Maybe she had an extra ticklish funny bone.
“Ahhh, I told you that you can’t laugh. You won’t be able to see the future.”
And the fortune-teller was still completely serious about all of it…
“Sorry, I was just thinking about how unique your sensibilities are…”
She’d already said it was stupid out loud, so she didn’t need to be nice about it anymore.
At that moment, Halkara leaned over and whispered to me, “Moonmoonmoomoonmoon!”
“Bah-ha! Halkara, you coward! You can’t take me by surprise like that!”
Dammit! She was hooked on the joke now!
I pressed my hand hard against my mouth.
Laika was chuckling, too.
“Gosh, I’m so sorry,” said Halkara. “I know this will be going around the factory for a little while. We have such a skilled comedian here today.”
“She’s a fortune-teller. Not a comedian.”
“Oh, I love comedians that sing,” said Laika. “Children can hum along, too.”
“All I’ve learned from you today is that you don’t believe in fortune-telling.”
Even if she did, I doubted she would believe in this fortune-telling…
That song kept going, by the way, but I’m cutting it out.
At the end, the fortune-teller said to Wynona, “Now sing along with me!”
But Wynona burst out laughing. “Lunaluna… Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! I scarcely knew song lyrics could be so stupid!”
“Oh, please! Just go home if you’re going to tease me. The moon’s power isn’t something to handle carelessly! There can be serious side effects if you do not stick to the proper dosage and directions of use!”
I was really glad this wasn’t one of those challenges where you got hit with a stick if you laughed.
“Understood. I will not laugh anymore… Pfft…”
“You’re laughing, and we haven’t even started yet.”
After that, Wynona sang along with the “Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Moonmoonmoomoonmoon ”
“Now, to finish, please repeat the ‘Lunaluna’ part three times.”
“Are you serious about this, Miss Fortune-Teller?”
Wynona was starting to treat all of this as a joke already.
“I am serious. I swear on the moon it is! We’re singing now. Ready, go!”
““Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Moonmoonmoomoonmoon ””
Lord, it was a chorus now…
The fortune song ended in a strange feeling of unity.
“Madam Teacher, the melody has gotten stuck in my head after hearing it so many times. Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon ”
“I’m not really sure what to do with that information…”
But this finally meant that we’d see the results.
“Here we go. You are sailing smoothly right now. No matter where your adventure leads you, you will be all right.”
“My result was rather mundane for how much you made me sing…”
Wynona didn’t seem very happy with her reply. She was probably thinking all the singing wasn’t worth it.
“But you must be careful when it comes to forming a party. Your attitude often brings trouble.”
Anyone could tell that after a few seconds with her!
“Laughing at another who is passionate about something will often sour your relationships. Look at things objectively and refrain from offering commentary, even if you think you’re in the right. The other person may see it as an insult.”
She was just complaining that Wynona laughed at her song!
Wynona looked like she wanted to say something else, but she only paid and left.
The song was entirely suspect, but it was still a fact that she successfully told Wynona’s fortune, so I couldn’t call it a scam. This was par for the course for this kind of thing.
But things didn’t end there.
“You there, you’ve been watching this entire time. Interested?”
The fortune-teller spoke to us!
Well, considering how closely we’d been watching, it was a given that she was paying attention to us, too.
“Oh, we don’t have any fortune-tellers around where we’re from, so we thought it’d be interesting to watch. Ha-ha-ha…”
I didn’t really want to get wrapped up in all this, so I gracefully parried her invite.
But Halkara marched right over and plopped in the customer seat. “Please tell me how the company I run now will be going in the future.”
After all that mockery, she was raring to go!
“See, Madam Teacher, managers tend to ask about their own futures. I’ve decided to jump right in by starting with the superficial!”
She didn’t have to tell me any of that.
“Don’t knock it till you try it. And I’ll give you a good and proper fortune if you pay the fee.”
She was a real pro, not even breaking her stride. If she’d admitted to joking around, then she wouldn’t be a fortune-teller but just a street performer.
And Laika’s been concentrating on the fortune-telling this whole time. She had the same expression as the fortune-teller—not in the sense that she was going to bust out in another round of lunaluna but more with pure, genuine interest.
“You can have your fortune told afterward, too, Laika.”
“What? But…it’s two thousand gold for ten minutes…”
“That barely counts as an indulgence. This’ll be an important experience, too.”
Halkara sang along with the song perfectly. As the one having her fortune told, she had to join in on the last verse (if that’s what it was?). It was a big hurdle that appeared to accomplish nothing.
“I see you’ve memorized the whole thing just by listening… But please don’t sing it carelessly. You should be very careful about using the moon’s power, or it could hurt you.”
“Understood! I will be careful!”
I doubted Halkara believed it would actually cause her harm, but she probably wouldn’t go around singing it anywhere else, either…
“As for your company, well… It’s going well, but to be more precise, the gap between you and a rival company is widening. Fortunately, your conflict will settle without coming to blows. You basically just need to keep going as you are.”
“Ooh! I think you’re right!”
“Your work is on the right track. I doubt you have any real worries regarding management of your company right now, and so long as you keep steadily moving forward, you shouldn’t have any problems.”
I guess that “rival company” she was talking about was Eno. I doubted Halkara Pharmaceuticals was in any kind of imminent danger, so it sounded, all in all, correct.
“My, you did give me a solid fortune~”
“Of course, of course. If you’re happy with it, then I’m glad. When the song of the moon guides you, then I benefit as well.” This fortune-teller sure was used to being treated as a joke…
“Actually, there is one more thing I’d like you to tell. Is that okay?” Halkara said, leaning closer.
“As long as you pay… What is it?”
“Please divine what it is that’s worrying you, Miss Fortune-Teller.”
Both Laika and I stared at her blankly.
To be honest, I had no idea why she wanted to do that.
The fortune-teller seemed just as clueless as us. Her face read, I sure have a weird customer here today.
“Well, I could. But could you tell me your motives for this? I can’t really tell a fortune if the intentions behind it aren’t good. Fortunes are to make people happy. I make it a point not to use it to make people unhappy.”
“Whenever I see a fortune-teller, there’s always one thing that bothers me. Do you tell your own fortunes? If you keep choosing your own path of success, you could have such a fulfilling life outside of work, you know? In my opinion anyway.”
Once she explained herself, I got what she was going for. It was a very Halkara-esque train of thought.
“But I don’t get the impression that fortune-tellers tell their own fortunes very often. And if that really did bring you success after success, then you would expect every legitimate fortune-teller to live in a fancy manor. So I was wondering about that~”
In short, Halkara the realist was trying to step into the backstage of the industry.
Her reasonings could be considered a breach of the rules, so the fortune-teller might say no.
For example, if there’s an employee who works for a company that sells lucky stones that are said to bring in billions of yen, but their salary is only five million yen, then you’d probably want to tell them to just use the stone to make money if it’s so effective.
Or if there’s a publishing company that releases books on how to change your lifestyle to something happier, but the editors all look miserable, then you’d probably want to tell them to practice what’s in their book. Following that logic, it’d be easy to see the inconsistencies in the work.
“I see.” The fortune-teller inhaled, then exhaled, and then replied in a relaxed manner. “First, let me explain the rules. Fortune-tellers often refrain from telling not only their own fortunes, but usually of their friends and family as well. When someone is too close, it becomes harder to give them suitable advice.”
That was easy to understand.
“Oh, I see~ So for example, if you tell an acquaintance’s fortune and come to the conclusion that they should make a major lifestyle change, then you either have the option of telling it to them straight and risk getting into a fight, or hiding it and lying about their fortune. Is that right?”
“Yes. That’s exactly it. When it comes to giving advice, you have to remain impartial to some degree. If you would listen earnestly to what your friends say, then you wouldn’t need to ask a fortune-teller.”
“I see. But an unassociated third party would be more likely to lend an ear.”
“Not only that, but telling my own fortune often means that I’m unable to make objective judgments, which defeats the purpose. There are plenty of other fortune-tellers who have made the clear decision not to divine themselves. And fortune-telling isn’t magic that will discover hidden troves of treasure, so telling my own fortune won’t necessarily make me rich.”
The fortune-teller was a pro at this, deftly dodging the point of Halkara’s attack.
I guess this wasn’t her first go-round with the meta questions, huh?
“Understood. I am a businesswoman. I am not aiming to complain about your industry, so I will stand down here and pay.” Halkara seemed satisfied.
“But that aside…I don’t mind divining my own worries.”
“Oh! So you will do it!”
That was an unexpected turn of events.
Laika edged forward toward them. Why not just stand next to them at this point?
“But you still have to pay. This is my business, so I’ll do it. And I’ve never divined on myself, so this might be a good chance for that. I will face myself as objectively as possible.”
Hey, so it turned out to be a win-win.
And once again, the Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Lunaluna~ Moomoonmooooon Moonmoonmoomoonmoon song rang out around us. I’d started to memorize a good chunk of it, too…
And since she was divining her own troubles, she sang alone at the part that the customer was supposed to sing along to.
People passed by us, but they didn’t really pay us any mind. Had they already heard it a lot?
“…There we go.”
Once the song was finished, the fortune-teller spoke with a calm expression.
She was wasting her time with that song. She could probably establish herself as a more mysterious and genuine fortune-teller by finding something better…
“Miss Fortune-Teller, where did you learn that song?” Halkara asked exactly what I was thinking.
“Do not ask me such trivial questions.”
No, it sounded pretty important to me, but…we would not be getting an answer.
“And as for the results of my divination—”
This wasn’t for me, but I still held my breath.
What was bothering the fortune-teller?
“—What the hell is a moon spirit?! At least make me fire or air or something that’s easier to swallow! I hate to say it, but this is too enigmatic for me! I tried becoming a fortune-teller, but I still don’t know anything! What on earth is going to become of my life?!”
What a rant!
Wait, this has nothing to do with her fortune! She’s just venting! I bet she’s just voicing what she regularly thinks about!
That said, I caught a very important bit of information there. She said moon spirit, didn’t she?
I thought she was a little weird, but she wasn’t even a weird person.
Another spirit… I sure come across a ton of spirits in my life, huh?
But all the spirits I’d met were after Falfa and Shalsha invited me to the World Spirit Summit. Strictly speaking, I hadn’t met any spirits before my daughters came—but either way, all these encounters were clustered at the very recent part of my three-hundred-year life span. Maybe I have some bizarre connection with spirits now.
I approached the self-professed spirit fortune-teller.
“Excuse me, did you say you were a moon spirit?”
“Yes. You’re probably wondering why I’m working this job—it’s because most spirits get treated like caricatures once they reveal who they are. Whether you believe me or not, I don’t care as long as you treat me no different from before… I’d probably be thinking the same thing if I were in your shoes.”
She was really sulking; her true colors were front and center now.
“No, I believe you. I know quite a few spirits. Actually, I live with them.”
“What?! You live with spirits? Are you serious?”
Yes, I got her. I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing, necessarily.
“What kind of spirits do you live with? Tell me, tell me!”
“Slime spirits.”
Falfa and Shalsha, obviously.
But the spirit went back to sulking. “I knew it—you’re pulling my leg… Slime spirits don’t exist…”
My girls had no notoriety whatsoever! Did the spirits not network with each other at all…?
“No, no, no! I’m not lying! They’re genuine water-type spirits! And I also know a droplet spirit and a pine spirit! I’ve even attended the World Spirit Summit!”
She’d believe me if I name-dropped the World Spirit Summit.
“Huh? The what summit? What on earth is that?”
“You don’t know?!”
Not only had she never gone, she’d never heard of it!
“I’ve been alone my whole life. I’ve never met another spirit.”
Technically speaking, she had just now. Wynona was also a slime spirit. But just because they’d had a brief encounter didn’t mean they’d realized what they had in common.
“Madam Teacher, my theory is that the moon spirit is so unique that she might not be aware of those like Miss Yufufu.” Halkara’s guess was probably right.
“Yeah. I was surprised to learn about the jellyfish spirit way back when, but it does make sense that a jellyfish would be a water element. On the other hand…what element would the moon be?”
“What? There are jellyfish spirits? Are there really that many kinds of spirits? I thought there were only a handful in the whole world…”
Why am I teaching a spirit about spirits? “There’s enough for this big meeting—more of an event, really—called the World Spirit Summit. There has to be over a hundred. Well, maybe not a hundred… If we have droplet and jellyfish spirits, there’s probably two thousand or so…”
“I see… I honestly thought there was only the earth, water, fire, wind, and lightning spirits…” That was the image people had when they didn’t know anything about spirits.
“Lady Azusa, I do not think calling over spirits in a place with so much traffic is a good idea, so shall we go somewhere else?” our reasonable Laika suggested.
Yeah, this definitely isn’t the best place to talk. “Sure. Let’s move. We’re here shopping with the family, so we’ll have to go find everyone else first, though.”
“Okay, then come to the room I’ve got at the inn here in town,” said the fortune-teller. “Now’s not the time to do any work anyway.”
Same for us—now that we’ve met a moon spirit, shopping has to drop a few spots on the priority list.
“My name’s Azusa. What’s yours?”
“Canimeow.”
It was like a name for a dog and a cat at the same time.
I thought something like Rabbihop would suit the moon way more, but the whole “rabbit in the moon” thing was from my past life in Japan.
“I know it’s a weird name, but the spelling and sounds were almost perfectly auspicious. I named myself.”
I’d always wondered where spirits got their names, and now I knew—themselves.
We went and rounded up the family and went to the moon spirit Canimeow’s room at the inn.
“I’m Falfa, slime spirit!”
“I am Shalsha, also a slime spirit.”
My daughters greeted the supposed spirit right away.
“I’m Canimeow, the moon spirit… Neither of you really looks like a slime.”
“And you don’t look anything like the moon, either!”
“Yeah… I know… That’s what bothers me…” Canimeow’s head drooped in Falfa’s direction. “I guess it was sixty—no, eighty years ago. Well, we’re rounding anyway, so a hundred years ago is probably about right.”
She was just as vague as all the other spirits…
“Next thing I knew, I was alive in this world. All I knew was that I was the moon spirit.”
Huh, so that’s how it works. I didn’t know a whole lot of stories of how spirits came to be, after all. Spirits didn’t seem to be very interested in their own existence.
“Does that sound similar to when you two were born, Falfa, Shalsha?”
“Yes, we were also born suddenly.”
“But Shalsha was aware that we were an amalgamation of slime souls and of the misfortune that led to our birth. That would be a bit of an exception, but Shalsha and Sis could also be called an exception ourselves. Essentially, spirits do suddenly come into being.”
Shalsha’s explanation was a bit technical, but if we broke it down, it sounded like Canimeow’s experience was fairly typical.
“I’m the moon spirit, but I still don’t have any special powers so I’m just…baffled. I can’t even do anything with the moon, as far as I can tell.” Canimeow thought back to the past.
I guess it would be tough to get a start when the only thing you knew was that you were a spirit of some kind.
“Still, I couldn’t really do anything about it, so I took a part-time job at a cafeteria. I read moon books after that, but it was basically all just myth and no facts. So I quit.”
Well, I guess this was a fantasy world, after all…
Actually, I wondered what was going on with the heavenly bodies in this world.
I spent most of my life not thinking too hard about any of it, but did this world also exist in a Milky Way–type situation…? We had night and day, and we also had a sun, a moon, and stars in the sky…
But the question still remained if the moon in this world was the same one I saw on Earth.
Digging deeper, the question was basically, What kind of world is this? Goodly Godly Godness probably knew the answer to that.
I wondered if she’d dodge the question. Or maybe she genuinely had no idea…
Canimeow’s story went on.
“Afterward, I sort of searched around for my place in the world, but I have no relatives or any knowledge in any trade, so I spend about thirty years at the cafeteria thinking.”
Leave it to a spirit to dawdle for three decades.
“I mean, I obviously wanted to do work related to the moon, right? Then one day, as I was walking around town, I spotted a booth doing astrology, and I knew that was it.”
“The moon is a heavenly body, huh?”
“After that, I mastered my own fortune-telling style, established myself as a fortune-teller, and here we are now. I eat pretty well for a wanderer.”
“Um, may I ask you something?” Halkara raised her hand. “So all that about the moon’s power and that original song of yours… What does it all mean?”
“The moon’s power is how you feel,” Canimeow gave an answer that was basically just fluff. “And the song, I made up.”
No depth to any of it!
“But I like the song. I often sing it to myself as I walk around.”
She never attracted much attention since she moved around so much, but rumors of her would most certainly start to spread among her neighbors if she settled down somewhere…
“Oh, I’ve got a solid base as a fortune-teller. When I was at the bottom of the ladder, I wrote horoscopes for the town’s information brochure, and I read a lot of books about fortune-tellers in my free time. After that, I also studied by taking an apprenticeship.”
So she became a fortune-teller based purely on technical skills.
“I must applaud you for how stable you sound professionally, but there’s nothing spiritual to your story at all… I believe you would make more money by taking on a job as a divine oracle or something…”
As always, Halkara’s notion of moneymaking served as her point of reference.
I could see where she was coming from. People go to fortune-tellers when they want to call on a power greater than they could imagine.
“It’s all right. I’m in the top twenty percent of earners among all fortune-tellers. Plenty of us have to take a second job to make ends meet. And there are a lot of housewives who use their own houses and treat the job as a side gig.”
I wasn’t really asking about the intricacies of the fortune-telling industry.
But then, Canimeow buried her head in her hands.
“But the more I advance my career as a fortune-teller, I start wondering more and more…what even is a moon spirit supposed to be? As my life gets more stable, I instead start tearing my hair out over that fundamental question…”
This was a surprisingly heavy topic.
The eternal question: What am I?
In my case, I have firm memories of being reborn as an immortal, unaging witch, so that never bothered me. I thoroughly enjoyed my slow, relaxing life, and if I ever felt bored, I could go off on a journey or give myself new goals.
But if all you were given was that you’re a moon spirit and literally nothing else—that’s hard.
“I’m a moon spirit, but I have no influence over the moon at all? Do other spirits even exist? I’ve never met one before! I don’t even really get the concept of spirits in the first place! There’s no one around to answer any of my questions!”
Laika and Rosalie listened on with pain in their eyes.
On the other hand, Flatorte was asleep… One of us had a bit less empathy than the others. But I didn’t mind; how weird would it be if Flatorte started questioning what it meant to be a dragon?
Anyway…I got the sense Canimeow was happy to have met us.
“Falfa and Shalsha can talk to you about what it means to be a spirit! We can get help from other spirits, too!”
“If you talk to Miss Yufufu, then you should receive a notice about the World Spirit Summit in a few decades or centuries or so. No need to worry.”
Falfa and Shalsha immediately offered some ideas. They’d be great to teach her about spirits.
“Thanks… This is a miracle.” Canimeow was tearing up.
I had no idea we’d end up helping a spirit today. It was nice seeing how happy we’d made her.
“As thanks, I’ll divine your fortune for free. Any takers?”
I clapped my hand on Laika’s back. “You’re up, Laika.” She was the type to get into this.
“A-all right…”
Laika was pretty shy when it came to these things, so I had to give a bigger push. I was her teacher, after all, so I had to be mindful.
“Ah, the dragon-girl. What fortune would you like told?”
“When I fight, should I step forward with my right foot, or should I do so with my left foot?”
Her question was more for practical fights than anything else!
“Uh… I think…you should ask a specialist…” Canimeow was perplexed by the question, too.
Even if the moon was guiding her in some manner or another, she still probably wouldn’t know the answer to that.
“A-all right, then… I never know when exactly I should use fire during battle, so what would be the optimal way? I create many more openings on myself if I miss, so…”
“Please ask that to a specialist, too. I’ve never breathed fire before, so I don’t know… Are there any decisions you’re having trouble making?”
“Not particularly—I choose my own paths! And even if I decide a choice I once made was wrong, I fully intend to live a life with no regrets!”
“You’re too emotionally strong for fortune-telling!”
That’s what I thought! Even with an interest in fortune-telling, Laika still had absolutely no idea what to ask the moon!
“Okay, then… Should I divine your luck for the next year…?”
We should probably leave this to the professional at this point.
“Yes, please! But…will I have to sing that peculiar song that you used for your divining with you…?” Laika drooped her reddened face, embarrassed.
“Oh, if you’re planning to ask, then just go ahead and call it silly! I’d rather you just do it already! I see you’re trying not to hurt my feelings, but that only leaves a deeper cut! Has anyone ever used the word peculiar to compliment you in your life, ever?!”
Canimeow was right…
“I am sorry… I will cast away my shame and sing with pride!”
“You can’t sing the song with shame! I put a lot of effort into making this song!”
One thing we do know about this moon spirit is that she has no musical sense at all!
Laika’s luck for the next year turned out to be the abstract “pretty good.”
A “pretty good” life was the best kind. If it’s really really good, then there’s only one way to go but down. But if it’s going not-so-great most of the time, then that itself is hard to deal with.
Taking things slowly, bit by bit, and enjoying life—that’s the way to go.
And since Canimeow was offering free readings, almost everyone had their turn after that. I say almost because Flatorte showed absolutely no interest.
“Next is you there, the dragon. What would you like me to divine?”
“Laika said everything I wanted to say—I’ll carve out my own future. Who cares what you tell me in a fortune? I, the great Flatorte, am the great Flatorte.”
“Wow, it sounds so cool when you put it that way…,” I remarked.
It sounded like real wisdom, even though she’s clearly just soaring through life with an empty head.
“Yeah. Single-minded personalities like yours don’t need their fortunes told. Fortune-telling gives courage to people who are hesitating to make the first step. The people who need it are anxious about something or other, so those with no hesitations just need to keep moving forward.”
Canimeow sounded like a real pro there. Even with her own worries, this moon spirit took her craft seriously.
I bet she’d made a ton of people happy with her fortunes in her career.
“Also, that moomoomoon, moonmoonmoon song is stupid.”
“You have it wrong! It’s moonmoonmoomoonmoon ! You need the energy!”
She was extremely attached to that song.
“Whatever you say. It still doesn’t change how stupid it is. The melody is flat, and it’s hard to sing. At least add a little variation to the end refrain.”
Flatorte’s criticism had some real musical knowledge behind it. She had a keen sense for these things, after all.
“I, the great Flatorte, will arrange it for you. Although it would be easier with a lute.”
It took about fifteen minutes.
“You said to me~ I wanna be reborn as the sun~ But the quiet moon~ Is who I’d rather be~ (Skipping the middle part) I wanna show you the way~ On the darkest nights~
“—It’s kind of rough, but I arranged it for you.”
Falfa and Shalsha clapped in excitement. I gave her a good round of applause, too.
If she had a guitar for accompaniment, I’d be transfixed listening to her.
“You really are musical, Flatorte. That was a real song.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Mistress.” Flatorte wasn’t as airheaded as I thought.
But—
“This song isn’t anything like the original at all! Do it again! No, don’t, because I’m sticking with the old version!” Canimeow had no intention of accepting it.
“The original was so terrible there was nothing worth keeping. What else am I supposed to do?”
“If it doesn’t give any inspiration to the fortune-telling, then there’s no point! The musical merit doesn’t matter!”
Well, whatever Canimeow herself decides to use is best.
In the meanwhile, I had her tell my fortune of what my luck would be like for the next several years. And yes, I sang the weird song. I’d heard it so many times that it would be showing up in my dreams soon…
“While you yourself are sturdy and unmovable…you’ll be finding yourself encountering all sorts of trouble… And I mean, there will be a lot, so please live carefully.”
“Okay… That’s pretty standard for me already…”
Ever since I maxed out my level, it’d been nothing but trouble. At the very least, I now knew just how accurate her fortunes were.
Whether you’re spirit or human, you should make the most of your natural gifts.
Afterward, I brought Canimeow to Momma Yufufu, the droplet spirit.
The goal was, of course, to give Canimeow information on spirits.
I didn’t want to trouble Momma Yufufu by bringing in too many people, so I was the only one who came from the house in the highlands.
I also had Momma Yufufu invite Misjantie the pine spirit over. The more participants, the better.
“Oh, my~ The moon spirit~ Now you are quite the valuable one~”
Momma Yufufu accepted Canimeow with her usual smile.
“So you’ve never heard of spirits for heavenly bodies like me, then?” Canimeow asked, barely waiting for Momma Yufufu to finish talking. Canimeow was starting to look more like a customer at her fortune-telling booth herself.
“I haven’t. I’ve never heard of a sun spirit, at least. I would think they would be a bit too powerful. The ability to freely manipulate the sun could create some genuine problems… Not that I know much about astronomy, however.”
Yeah, that would probably result in the destruction of the world. Although actually, no one here had even proved our planet was round.
I’d never heard of anyone who successfully traveled around the world. Even the demons, who’d made advances in all kinds of different fields, still didn’t know. I hadn’t heard of any fast-flying dragons who’d pulled it off, either.
I guess this was something I needed to ask the gods about. If it came down to it, I’d probably end up asking Godly Godness or Nintan…
“Spirits typically preside over a natural phenomenon, man. Like Yufufu for water droplets and me for pine trees. We know the moon’s a heavenly body, and now that we know there’s a moon spirit, we gotta assume the others might have spirits, too.”
Misjantie was good at explaining, probably because she worked as a wedding coordinator. I was glad she’d come along.
“But Yufufu’s right, man. We’ve never met any celestial spirits. The moon is outside of the world, so…this whole new celestial spirit thing is kinda huge.”
Right—if we suppose this world is a planet on its own, then the moon is something else.
“Man, if the other spirits catch wind of this—literally, if the zephyrs find out—this’d be a scoop to shake the whole spirit world.”
“Y’know, I keep hearing about the wind spirits. What are they like…?”
“They take all kinds of info and spread it around on the wind, man. Lots of it is fake, though, so you need some careful critical-thinking skills. Some spirits you can’t trust at all since they get all their information on the wind.”
Ah, so tabloid-level trustworthiness, then…
“But now that we know you are a spirit, I’ll be sure to send you a notice for the future World Spirit Summits~ We haven’t decided when we’ll hold the next one, but we are planning on it~ It may be another three or five centuries~ Or perhaps next year as a surprise~”
So long as spirits remained this vague, I doubted they would ever start sticking to anything resembling a schedule.
“Thank you, Yufufu and Misjantie. I think I’m getting a better grasp of who I am.”
It was like a weight had been lifted off Canimeow’s shoulders.
She’d gotten a little closer to her roots, and more importantly, she could now join the spirit community. It’s so much easier to get through life with help from others instead of trying to make it through entirely on your own. I hoped the spirits would keep working together into the future.
“Could I come here again if I feel like it?”
“Of course. I’ll whip up some yummy pancakes for you.” Momma Yufufu was never the type to turn down guests.
“But how am I supposed to get here…?”
“Oh, can’t you teleport?” Yufufu asked.
“Not all spirits can do that, man.”
The definition of spirit was already shaky… Couldn’t they figure this out among themselves?
“And thanks, Azusa. I think I can finally say goodbye to my life of loneliness.” Canimeow also thanked me.
“I should be grateful to you, too. Both spirits and witches are kind of the odd ones out in this world, so I hope we get along well enough that we don’t annoy each other.”
“Yeah. I think I’ll be sticking around Nascúte and that whole province, so I’ll see you when I see you, I guess.”
Great! We ended up helping someone, and I felt pretty good about it, too.
But there was someone else in this room who had business with Canimeow.
“Hey, Canimeow, I want ya to work in front of my temple,” Misjantie offered as she rubbed her hands together. “I promise I’ll treat you good, man. Just listen to what I gotta say, ’kay?”
I had kind of a bad feeling about this, so I decided to keep a close eye on what Misjantie was going to do…
A little while later, I hopped on dragon Laika, and we made our way to the main Misjantie Temple.
The once-dreary street in front of the temple had gotten a bit of life back.
This was fantastic. I thought I saw a few more young women, too.
But that wasn’t enough to soothe my nerves.
There was a store near the temple that had a lot more activity than anywhere else. Miraculously, it even had a line snaking out of it.
I looked up at the sign.
“I knew it!”
Ignoring the jacked-up price for now, I was bothered by something else. I decided I’d come back once she closed up for the day.
Also, I could hear that “Lunaluna~ ” song coming from her shop. She was definitely not planning on changing that part.
The customers lined up were laughing, too.
“Yeah, it’s really weird.”
“I’ve never heard it before, but it’s hilarious.”
That weird song was increasing her fame… I guess all’s well that ends well.
When the sun started to set, the fortune-telling shop closed, and I visited Canimeow inside. As a permanent establishment, the inner decorations were rather well put together, including pictures of the moon shining in the night sky.
“Oh, Azusa. Misjantie asked me to set up shop, so here I am.”
“Yep, Misjantie told me all about it when I brought her along, so I know.”
Misjantie herself was pale. I suspected she was feeling a bit guilty.
“It’s uh, y-y’know… I thought it’d be perfect to open a fortune-telling joint right in front of a temple with a history with marriage… That’s all, man… She could divine the perfect date for a wedding, too…”
“Hey, Canimeow. Did Misjantie tell you to tell your customers that holding a wedding at the Misjantie Temple will bring them happiness forever?”
“More or less. If I’m being honest,” Canimeow replied easily.
I turned to glare at Misjantie, who turned her head away.
“But I haven’t. My career as a fortune-teller would be over if I started saying lies. I tell people who shouldn’t get married that they shouldn’t, and if someone doesn’t appear to have money for a ceremony, then I tell them not to worry about it,” Canimeow replied with a bright smile.
“I’m so glad you’re honest, Canimeow.”
I really hoped our moon spirit would get rewarded for this one day.
“See? No problem, man…”
“If I ever hear anything about you scamming people, I’m going to tell the wind spirits to spread rumors about the Misjantie Temple’s awful business practices.”
“P-please don’t, man!”
Misjantie flung herself to the ground, so I forgave her.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login