Barbara ------------------------------------------------------------------------
“A fortune reading?”
When Sunyul offered to read my fortune, I felt a flicker of interest. But after thinking it over, I realized there wasn’t anything I was particularly curious about.
I tilted my head in thought for a moment before finally shaking it slowly.
“Well, I can’t say there’s anything I’m dying to know… I’m fine, thank you.”
“Oh my, are you turning me down?”
“It’s not so much a refusal… I just don’t have any burning questions. But thank you for the offer.”
“Come on, just give it a try. You might not get another chance. I don’t usually offer this to men, you know.”
Was it just my imagination, or did her voice have a slight edge to it?
No, it wasn’t my imagination. Sunyul seemed genuinely surprised by my refusal, her expression turning a bit sour. Her previously composed demeanor was fading, and she seemed a bit miffed.
“Since you insist… It would be rude to refuse again. Alright, I’ll give it a go.”
“Good choice. Just think of it as a bit of harmless fun. It won’t take long…”
Seeing her expression return to normal, I felt relieved that I had changed my mind.
“Phew. It’s been ages since I read for a man…”
With a sigh, Sunyul muttered to herself and began shuffling the cards with a serious look on her face.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
The rhythmic sound of the cards being shuffled was surprisingly methodical. Despite calling it a bit of fun, her hands moved with careful precision.
As I watched her prepare for the reading, a question suddenly popped into my mind.
“Why don’t you usually read fortunes for men, Sunyul?”
“Oh, that?”
I hesitated to interrupt her concentration, but her response was calm. She continued with a nonchalant expression.
“I used to read for everyone, regardless of gender. But after a bad experience, I became reluctant to read for men.”
“A bad experience?”
“Yes, it was back when I was still a novice, before I got my secret class. I was barely scraping by, using makeshift cards to read fortunes as a side job… I still remember. The guy took one look at me and said, ‘I hear you’re good at… breast reading?’”
‘Breast? Surely he meant fortune reading?’
It had to be fortune reading. The words weren’t technically wrong, but something about it felt off.
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
At that moment, the sound of Sunyul shuffling the cards grew more intense. Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if recalling the incident was stirring something inside her.
After a moment, the shuffling returned to its original rhythm. Sunyul’s lips parted to speak.
“He suddenly dropped his pants and exposed himself.”
”?”
I looked up, bewildered by her sudden revelation. I could have sworn she said ‘breast’ instead of ‘fortune.’ But her face remained calm, focused on the cards. There was no hint of jest.
‘Is she serious?’
Just as confusion began to cloud my mind, Sunyul continued her story.
“Turns out, he was talking about breast reading, not fortune reading. You know what breast reading is, right? In technical terms… it’s called mammary intercourse. In Japanese, it’s paizuri.”
“A, a madman! What did you do?”
“What could I do? I was just a novice with no power. I did what he asked, quietly.”
”…Excuse me?”
How could she recount such a story so calmly? I stared at Sunyul, feeling dazed. Her hands had stopped their intricate dance, the cards now fully shuffled.
”…”
”…”
A moment of silence passed.
Sunyul placed the cards on the table with a decisive thud and spoke with a calm voice.
“I’m just kidding, just kidding. Don’t look so serious. I was just cutting the deck.”
“What…”
Before I could respond, Sunyul’s arm swept over the cards in a wide arc. She then placed a small hourglass next to the fan of cards and spoke in her usual composed tone.
“Alright, shall we begin? Since you said you have no questions, I’ll read the cards as I see fit.”
“Magic Tower Road.”
“Oh, don’t mind the hourglass. It’s just a tool to aid the reading.”
”…”
‘She’s truly an enigma.’
As the tension suddenly left my body, a weary sigh escaped my lips. I watched Sunyul with a mix of disbelief and amusement. I might have imagined it, but I thought I saw a faint smile on her lips.
“Now, let me explain how this works. It’s quite simple.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
For some reason, Sunyul’s casual demeanor was starting to annoy me. My response came out more curtly than I intended.
“Heh. You see the cards laid out here? Just pick one at a time.”
”…That’s it?”
“Yes, usually it ends at twelve cards, but there are rare exceptions. Just remember these three rules: pick one card at a time, stop when I tell you to, and place the chosen cards in order from left to right.”
“Oh, alright…”
Hearing her instructions, I felt a bit deflated. I knew it was just for fun, and I hadn’t placed much importance on it. Yet, I must have been expecting something more.
So, I relaxed and reached for a card. Just as I was about to pick one, a thought crossed my mind.
“What exactly is this reading about?”
“It’s a general reading.”
Sunyul answered clearly.
I hesitated for a moment but then reminded myself it was just for fun and picked a card. As I watched her, I noticed her gaze shift to the hourglass.
Sunyul nodded slightly.
“We’ll reveal the cards after you’ve picked them all. Place them face down from the left. Keep going.”
With her assurance, I nodded back and began selecting cards quickly.
One… two… three… four… five… six…
I swiftly picked the cards, and as I reached for the thirteenth, I felt a strange gaze on me. I paused and looked up to see Sunyul alternating her gaze between the cards and the hourglass.
The difference now was the faint hint of surprise in her eyes.
Feeling a bit uneasy, I glanced at the hourglass, which had noticeably less sand than before. Perhaps four-fifths had already trickled down.
I resumed picking cards. When I had arranged fifteen cards in a neat row, Sunyul finally stopped me.
“Stop, stop, stop!”
Her voice was noticeably shaky, even to my ears. The sand in the hourglass had completely run out.
Sunyul took a moment to steady her breath, her voice slightly calmer as she spoke again.
“Fifteen cards… I’ve never seen this many before. Anyway… I’m really curious now. Could you reveal the first four cards on the left?”
She had mentioned it usually ended at twelve cards. But she did say there were exceptions, so I obediently flipped over the first four cards.
On the table appeared a large pool of blood with a man screaming within it, a clock running backward, a clear flame burning something dark, and a lone man standing in a landscape with a sword in his chest.
One peculiar detail was the tiny writing on the bottom of each card.
Sunyul examined each card with intense focus before speaking with a thoughtful hum.
“Hmm. This is tricky. But I’ll interpret them one by one. The pool of blood. You were born with a very tumultuous fate. The backward clock. But something unknown has intervened in that fate. The clear flame. This card represents that entity… ancient, the world? I’m not sure what exactly it means. Lastly, the man with a sword in his chest in the landscape. The first card transforms through the second and third into the last card.”
“What does the last card mean?”
At my question, Sunyul let out a thin sigh.
“Interpreting it with the previous three… Two factors have intervened, and as a result, your fate has completely changed. The clear flame represents the ancient or the world, and you are favored by the world.”
“Favored?”
“Yes. But be careful. This isn’t unconditional favor. You see the sword in the man’s chest? It seems to represent a double-edged sword. So if you’re not careful…”
As Sunyul trailed off, a chill ran through me. I blinked a few times and cleared my throat.
“Hmm. Interesting. Shall we flip over four more cards next?”
“Yes.”
Eager to move past the previous four cards, I quickly turned over the next set. The cards revealed this time were incredibly intricate, each adorned with multiple complex illustrations.
I focused on the first card.
It was divided into four neat squares, each depicting a beautiful woman. The backgrounds around them hinted at their respective atmospheres.
“Blood and steel. Beautiful yet scarred sword. Shadows. And… what’s the last one? Light?”
The woman in the bottom right corner stood out. Her background exuded a sacred aura, yet she alone was weeping tears of blood. Despite the light-filled backdrop, the image conveyed a somber, rather than bright, mood.
The second card was nearly indecipherable. The illustrations were so small and numerous—humans, animals, swords, flying dragons—that it was hard to make sense of it all.
The third card, though less crowded, was even more enigmatic.
At its center was a baby, surrounded by both clear and fiery red flames swirling chaotically. The flames felt oddly familiar, but the red ones left me with an unsettling feeling.
Thankfully, the fourth card was much simpler compared to the others. It depicted a single man wearing a crown.
I instinctively looked at Seonyul, curious about her interpretation.
But the moment I saw her face, I closed my mouth. Her expression was priceless.
Usually calm and composed, she now had her eyes wide open and her mouth agape, emotions like confusion and disbelief pouring out.
After a long pause, Seonyul finally began to speak, stammering.
“M-Mercenary Lord.”
“Yes.”
“Why is your relationship with women so complicated? What is this? What does it mean?”
“Excuse me?”
I wanted to say, “Why are you asking me?” but held back. Seonyul was still muttering to herself, clearly bewildered.
“Well… he’s a king, so four queens make sense… Oh, three? One seems to have been pushed away. Poor thing…”
”…”
“A wizard, an archer, a priestess, a witch… Fine, I can stretch my understanding that far. They’re human, after all. But… a sword? A cat? A spider? A dragon? Are they divine beasts? How can a sword love a human?”
”…”
“The third card… one flame purifies, the other destroys. Opposing forces, naturally. But why does it suddenly depict the birth of new life?”
Listening to Seonyul’s mental unraveling was almost painful.
Feeling a sudden pang of sympathy, I waved my hand.
“Tower Lord, let’s stop here.”
“M-Mercenary Lord.”
“If it’s too much, we can stop. It’s all just interpretation and fun, after all.”
”…”
Seonyul hesitated for a moment but then slowly nodded, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“I’m really sorry. My cards are magical and change depending on the situation, but I’ve never seen them like this before… I can’t interpret them at all. Maybe we should look at the remaining four, or seven…”
“Calm down. What do the other cards mean?”
I gestured again, and Seonyul finally seemed to realize her own flustered state, taking a deep breath.
“Phew. So, the next four cards represent what the Mercenary Lord desires—essentially, a glimpse of the future. The remaining three are… well, they could be turning points or additional interpretations, but we’d have to see them to know.”
“I see… That’s enough.”
“Pardon?”
It might be a bit rude, but I decided to stand up. If it were anything else, I might have been interested, but when it comes to the future, it’s a different story.
Honestly, I’m curious. But ever since I learned that the future could change, I’ve made a vow. Seeing these cards now might shake the resolve I’ve just managed to steady.
“My fate at first, my love life second. That’s fine. But I think it’s best not to look at the future.”
”…”
“Rather than letting it influence my path, I think it’s better to stick to my original plan.”
“Well… that’s true. The future is something you carve out yourself. Although it’s not quite what you wanted, I understand. If that’s the Mercenary Lord’s wish, we’ll stop the reading here.”
Though still a bit flustered, Seonyul agreed with my decision.
I nodded a few times and stood up.
“Then I’ll be going. It was an enjoyable time, Tower Lord.”
“Phew. I’m just embarrassed. I was so confident… It’s humiliating.”
“I understand your pride. But I’m really fine, so please don’t worry too much. I’ll be off then.”
I bowed slightly, glancing at the seven unopened cards.
”…”
“Goodbye.”
But I quickly shook off any lingering thoughts and turned to leave.
The next day, despite the previous night’s events, I greeted the morning as usual. After a routine check, I joined the final march towards Barbara in the east.
We’d already traversed most of the regions. No more barren fields or wild forests in sight. Well-paved roads and orderly meadows stretched out around us.
Aside from a brief visit to the third division, I stayed in formation during the march.
In the morning, I confirmed that Shin Sang-yong had returned to the third division. But he seemed too troubled to approach, walking alone at a distance.
Still, I turned back because it seemed like he knew I was there. We even made eye contact once. But he bowed politely and avoided my gaze, indicating his mind was preoccupied.
So, rather than forcing a conversation, I decided to give him more time to sort things out. I wanted to trust the resolve Shin Sang-yong had shown before we set out.
After returning to my position, the march continued.
Looking up at the sky, I saw the sun slowly setting. The twilight cast a golden glow, painting the meadows a deep red as we walked through the crimson light.
Soon, the path led us to the outskirts of Barbara.
At this time, the road should be bustling with adventurers returning from their explorations or hunts, laughing or lamenting. But as dusk slowly settled, the path was eerily silent, filled only with a tense anticipation.
As time passed and the twilight faded, the call came.
“Five minutes to Barbara! Prepare yourselves!”
In the vast plain ahead, the shadow of a great city began to emerge.
---------------------------= Author’s Note ---------------------------=
The reading was quite challenging. Initially, I planned to focus on the remaining seven cards. However, I cut it short to ensure we reached Barbara. Haha. I’ll reveal more during a flashback later. Of course, Kim Soo-hyun won’t be there then.
If you have questions about this reading, feel free to message me. I’ll do my best to answer.
I’ve received a lot of messages. I’m quite busy during the week, so I’ll reply over the weekend. By tomorrow afternoon, all messages should be answered. :)
『 Reader Comments 』
ROK1198: Congrats on being first. ROK reminds me of the old Sudden Attack knife clan. Haha. (Is that right?)
갸갸겨겨 + 오리콘: Thank you for the coupons. (__) I’ll work even harder!
Nodens: Hang in there. Pat, pat. I feel so much better after giving up on being first. :)
katalina: If there’s anything you don’t understand or are curious about, feel free to message me!
SHarPº: Yes, that’s right. You can interpret this reading similarly. It’s all about interpretation. :D
hohokoya1: Haha. I’ve taken on so many credits this time, so I might need some understanding during exams. Thank you!
이런남자이니까: Whoa~. That would be too much! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ. Seonyul isn’t part of the plan for now!
하얀불: Kim Yoo-hyun and Shin Sang-yong. I’ve intentionally reduced their roles in this march. Why do you think that is?
chlghsk: Think of it the other way around. I like strong, warm, gentle, and soft older sisters. I want to be tamed. Haa haa.
참수리358: Ah, the spy thing was a joke. It was a parody of “There’s a spy among us.” The surprise appearance was by Noh Yumi. ㅜ.ㅠ
Thank you for always reading. I hope you enjoy the story with a relaxed mind.