Frontal Thunderstorm[1]
There’s an old man with what seems like very deep desires in front of the fireplace.
That ugly skin with the color of dirt hangs loosely, those drooping eyelids threatening to block off his vision completely. But the décor of this house and the clothes on his back are both far too extravagant for the average civilian. As for the jewelry hanging around his neck, it’s worth enough to buy large swathes of farm land.
He tied up one bunch of long white hair, even decorating it with all kinds of jewels. Some people may sigh or frown at such a crass sense of taste, but it’s more than enough to fool clients.
The man walks right up to the old man as soon as he enters the house, and sits on the other end of the large round table.
His shoulders and hair are wet. Outside, there’s an out of season thunderstorm.
All the furniture in here is painted with plant dyes, shining with a gentle brown sheen under the firelight. The high grade firewood, completely dry all the way through, is making a comforting sound in the fireplace.
“You read fortunes for people, right?”
The old man nods presumptuously in response to the man’s question.
The flames that were lit as soon as the sky turned dark light up the client’s honey-colored hair. Since there aren’t any more fires in the house, his hair and face seem a little bit closer to red, but only the color of those sharp eyes, underneath golden eyelashes, has been distorted beyond recognition.
“I can see through the past and future of humans… as well as the secrets hidden deep within the heart.”
“Interesting.”
The client taps the table with his index finger, leaning his whole body against the back of the chair,
“Try it out.”
The old man holds up a brass bottle and fills the basin in front of them with water, then he puts his palm above the basin and starts muttering under his breath. Suddenly, the water starts to roil, ripples spreading slowly from the center.
The client watches the happenings with an expression of contempt. But compared to the surface of the water, he seems to be more interested in the water basin, observing it despite himself—It’s a perfectly ordinary water basin, large enough to hold with both arms.
The old fortune teller doesn’t notice anything amiss, muttering a bit more before finally raising his head,
“I see your future.”
“Tell me.”
“I see you taking a wife at the end of your journey, and having many descendants. I also see you ruling over a small but prosperous land…”
Before the old man can finish, the man sweeps everything off the table with his unsheathed sword.
The fire is instantly put out by the spilling water, producing huge clouds of steam. The basin, rolling onto the soft carpet, miraculously doesn’t crack.
“You dare speak such a nonsensical joke!”
Thinking he had angered his client, the old fortune teller is almost scared to death, but the man is smiling. Even though the firelight in the house has been extinguished, he can still hear the amusement in the man’s voice,
“Fraudster fortune teller, I commend your daring. You truly know how to trick others, and you earned quite a living for yourself as well, but your old eyes have none of the light to see the truth. No, perhaps you never had that from the moment you were born!”
The old man falls off his chair in fear, landing on his behind as he desperately prays that the man wouldn’t draw his sword. Thankfully the man seems to have no interest in killing the old man, and thus the sword stays sheathed.
“Listen to me carefully, fraudster fortune teller. I give you enough time for the moon to move three fingers worth of distance, and in that time you will immediately get the hell out of this village. Put of the fire right and now and leave the village, don’t come back within the next seven days. I’m not a barbarian, so I won’t take your life, but if you disobey me, if I see doing business again the next time I come here, I’ll give you a taste of an end worse than death. Do you hear me?”
In front of the desperately nodding old man, the man bends down and picks up something.
“T-that’s…”
“You don’t need this. You’ve swindled enough, and earned enough.”
It’s just that, without this basin, he won’t be able to get others’ respect using his position as a fortune teller—that’s why the old man wants to grab onto him and plead, though in the end he can’t win over the terror in his heart. Even though he really wants to curse at this man in front of him, he just can’t say the words.
As though sensing the old man’s thoughts, the man says happily,
“I bet you really want to say, ‘I’m going to curse you’, right?”
The man stands up and continues,
“But unfortunately, my blood has already been cursed long ago, so your wish will never come true.”
The flash from outside the window lights up the man’s pale face for a split second.
“Where did you go last night?”
Leaving the room in the inn at the border of the village, with their water and supplies piled on horseback. They’re departing a little later than usual today.
They only speak up once the village is out of sight.
The weather today is sunny, as though it never rained last night. However, under the warm sunlight of the near-spring, the wet ground keeps emitting steam.
The traveler bathes in that sunlight, his sparkling gold hair looking even more beautiful. The man’s eyes, seen under the sun, are the color of the sea, that beautiful bright blue approaching the pure white sand on the beaches. The other traveler looks at those blue eyes bitterly, asking,
“You didn’t go to the bar, did you?”
“I was in a prettier room. On the other hand, why didn’t you come out to eat? Don’t tell me you were afraid of the thunder, so you hid in your room, holding your knees and trembling?”
The young man, who had a question thrown back at him, sighs with an expression that says ‘here we go again’. Although it’s covered with a hooded cloak, he’s the wielder of darkness, his hair and eyes a black color that would surprise anyone who saw them. It is said that the only people who have this color are a small tribe who live in the far east.
“…I am no longer a child who fears the thunder. I came to this village to find a renowned fortune teller, apparently an old man who can see the past and future of a person through his water basin.”
“You were looking for your past again! Seriously, you never learn your lesson. That’s just a waste of time.”
“It’s still better than using your money on a prostitute.”
“I never used any money, y’know?”
Is that so? The black-haired young man looks at his traveling companion with an expression of impatience. This man doesn’t need any money at all to spend the night with a woman. Even if he doesn’t use his money to attract attention, women would throw themselves all over him. On the other hand, the blonde man seems to be in a very good mood today, repeating what he had already said dozens of times,
“So? Did you find that past you’re so hung up on?”
“No, I figured out where he stayed and paid him a visit, but there was no one there. The doors and windows were all locked up, and there was no indication of a fire… Maybe he decided to travel on a whim.”
“Is that so?”
The man doesn’t say, “I told you so, it’s just a waste of time, right?” or “What a pity”. Instead, he harrumphs conceitedly. But in contrast to his delighted expression, his mouth starts nagging non-stop,
“Speaking of which, are you still going to continue searching for your past from now on? You look up the local fortune teller the moment we step foot in a village, you rely on weird shamans, you even buy strange medicines to listen to your ancestor’s voices…”
“That’s why I said, it’s still better than using your money on a prostitute!”
“Didn’t I tell you I didn’t spend any money?”
The travelers ride on horseback, slowly making their way on the road that heads towards the country’s borders.
And the two of them ride side-by-side.
References:
1. Early/Morning Thunderstorm
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