Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 1 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Fund-Raising

“…Ah, this is bad.”

I had arrived at a small country that didn’t seem to have any defining characteristics, but I wasn’t lamenting the clichéd townscape. My purse, on the other hand, was in terrible shape.

After I was forced to sacrifice three silver coins for the entrance fee, the remaining three coppers and single silver coin had to huddle together into a pitiful little quartet. Sadly, the silver coin was so old and tarnished, you couldn’t distinguish it from the coppers at all if you didn’t look closely. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to use it.

A copper coin was usually enough to buy one loaf of bread. With a silver coin, you could get one night at a cheap inn, and if you had gold, you could buy some high-class accessories.

Which meant the best I could do right now would be to sink my teeth into some bread at a drafty old inn, curl up beneath some thin sheets, and try to sleep away the hunger pangs. That was about it.

In short, I was close to death.

“…What am I going to do?”

I always feel most like spending money when I’m having money problems. Holding my grumbling stomach, I walked along a large avenue. Food stalls were lined up like sparkling jewels, selling bread, fruits, vegetables, and more. Famished as I was, I could almost hear them calling to me.

Ah, I want to eat everything…

I want to eat—

“Um, I’d like some bread, please.”

When I came to, I was standing in front of a food stall. The rich scent of wheat wafted through the air. There were no prices listed.

The good-natured older woman seated on the other side of the tray of bread looked at me and smiled. “That’ll be three coppers.”

Oh, the nerve. Coming here was a mistake.

Turned out she was an old bat who extorted money from the poor.

“Hmm? Please excuse me; maybe my hearing isn’t so good anymore. Could you say that once more, please?”

“That’ll be three coppers.”

“I see, so three pieces of bread cost three coppers?”

“The price is for one, obviously. Something wrong with your head, missy?”

I should be asking the same thing! Are you stupid? Why should I have to turn over three copper pieces for some stale bread that’s been left out for who knows how long? I wanted to let her have it with one of the several complaints that came to mind, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the energy to raise my voice.

In the end, I said nothing and left. Still exhausted and sustained by nothing but air and my own saliva, I passed by the awful food stalls that were tempting me.

Proceeding straight down the broad avenue, I came to an open square where a large fountain stretched up toward the sky. There was nothing unusual about it; it was the kind of architecture you might see anywhere. And on the bench next to the fountain sat a man and woman chatting and laughing, paying no mind to their surroundings—another completely ordinary scene.

……

I decided not to dwell on whether my irritation actually justified the desire to roast them alive and headed toward the fountain instead. Scooping up the running water with both hands, I drank. The cold liquid ran down my throat, and I felt instantly refreshed.

“Oh, look, darling, that witch is drinking the fountain water.”

“She really is! How uncouth! Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“……” I gathered magical energy in my hands, pulled out my wand, and turned around silently.

Instantly, with a subtle crack, the bench split in two.

“Kyah! What on earth happened to the bench?”

“Maybe it’s jealous of our love! Ha-ha-ha!”

“……”

They were so stupid, I couldn’t even be mad at them anymore.

The fountain water had soothed my empty stomach somewhat, so after putting my wand away, I continued on.

First of all, I had to find a place to spend the night.

“You want to rent a room? That’ll be three silver coins.”

“For three nights, yes? Sorry, I only want to reserve one night.”

“No, one night is three silvers.”

“……”

This was already the sixth inn. I had started my search with the cheapest-looking hotels, so how was this happening? Every single inn was at least three times the usual price.

This place had cracks in the walls and didn’t even have a bath, but the proprietor was saying that one night cost three silver coins? What a joke.

I kept at it. “Can’t we negotiate? I only have one silver and three coppers…” I turned my purse upside down on the counter. Clink—you could hear the sad truth.

“Isn’t that only four coppers?”

“Ah, this one’s silver.”

“…Oh, so it is. It’s very dirty.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“There’s nothing I can do.” The man running the inn sighed. “Please understand, miss. This is a business.”

“So extorting money from the poor is a business?”

“Commerce has always been this way.”

“Aughhh…” There was no denying that, and it looked like staying at this inn was not an option. “I have a question for you.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t you think that the prices in this country are a little too high? The town doesn’t even have any sights to see or any unique local product that would justify raising all the basic consumer prices so much.”

“Uh… Miss, you’re a traveler, so you wouldn’t know…,” the innkeeper murmured.

As I expected, there was more to it.

After glancing around, the innkeeper lowered his voice. “The newly crowned king is a foolish man, and he artificially inflated the local currency.”

“Artificially? Do you mean counterfeit money is circulating through the market?”

The innkeeper nodded. “Indeed. And with all the counterfeit money going around, the value of our currency crashed. As an outsider, the prices in this country would seem a little high, but for everyone who lives here, everything’s a reasonable price.”

“Reasonable, hmm…? But it’s counterfeit money, right? Isn’t there any penalty for using it?”

“The king’s the one who put it into the market, so I should hope not.”

I see.

I finally understood what was going on in this country. I didn’t know what the king was trying to do, but if he thought he could stimulate his economy with counterfeit currency, he must be bona fide fool. However, there apparently hadn’t been much pushback from his citizens about it…

“It doesn’t really matter if the money we’re using is real or fake. If the king increases the amount of money in circulation, the citizens can just increase prices. It doesn’t cause problems for us locals. Only travelers like you run into trouble.”

“…We sure do. People coming from outside are liable to have their hearts broken by the high prices.” People like me.

The innkeeper glanced quickly at something behind me. When I looked, another customer had lined up behind me, and I saw the three silver coins for one night. Apparently, paying triple the ordinary price really did seem appropriate to the locals.

“Will that be all, miss?”

“Yes. Thank you very much for your valuable information.”

I bowed and left the inn.

I would have to work to earn money for a room.

I went back to the broad avenue where I had failed to buy bread and sat unobtrusively on the side of the road to watch the people walking by. They seemed so carefree, going about their shopping.

Even knowing that they were using counterfeit money, they were happy as could be.

“……”

Since I was a traveler, sooner or later I was bound to use up all of my money. I had never settled down somewhere and taken a job, so it was inevitable. I had run into cash problems many times before now. I couldn’t even enter a new country if I ran out of money, after all.

Normally, I would pretend to be a shopkeeper, or help out someone in need, or do something else to earn a little pocket change. But, I thought, if it doesn’t matter whether the money people are using is real or fake, then there’s no reason not to use that to my advantage, is there?

This time I’ll sell my services at three times the usual price, too. Then I’ll be just like everyone else around here—someone who can use counterfeit currency without a shred of guilt.

“Hey, you,” I called out to a young man walking down the street with a sullen expression.

His shoulders hitched in surprise, and he turned toward me. “Huh, me?”

I nodded and beckoned him over. “There’s something troubling you, isn’t there?”

“Um, who are you?”

“Goodness, how rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself. I am a traveling fortune-teller,” I said shamelessly, then pushed up my pointy hat and stared at the sullen youth.

“Something troubling me…?” he replied, still skeptical. “Do I really look that upset?”

“Indeed. It’s the only emotion I see on your face.”

“Really…”

“Truly.” I nodded vigorously.

In my experience to date, when it comes to business dealings, hesitation is directly connected to failure. The moment you show hesitation—the moment a crack becomes visible—that’s when the other party starts to be suspicious of you. In other words, it’s best to act with confidence.

That’s why I promptly asserted, “Quite often we don’t know what is bothering us. For example, lack of confidence in your personal appearance, or problems at work, or feelings of dread about failing to meet our soul mate even after such a long time—”

“……!”

I spotted the slight change in his expression. Aha, so he’s having trouble finding a girlfriend. Is that it?

“You’re feeling troubled because…you cannot find a girlfriend. Isn’t that right?”

“…I guess so, yeah.”

He turned to look away, and I spoke again. “Shall I read your fortune and find out when your soul mate will appear before your eyes?”

I took out my wand and summoned some magical energy. With a cute poof! sound, a small flame appeared.

“…Ah.” And immediately after it appeared, it was blown out by a breeze. Apparently, I hadn’t summoned enough magical energy. Smoke drifted from the tip of my wand in a reluctant farewell.

I was supposed to examine the flames to tell a fortune, but it wasn’t happening.

After blowing all the rest of the smoke out, I waved my wand around. “Ah, I see, I see.”

“Huh? That was enough?”

“Yes. What I just performed is known as a smoke reading, a style of fortune-telling in which I predict your fortune by examining the smoke.” A lie, of course.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

“That may well be so. This style of fortune-telling is a secret art, passed down through the generations of my family, so it’s not something that most people would know about.”

I couldn’t afford to blow my cover, so I had to cut off the idle chitchat. “By the way, regarding your soul mate…”

“Y-yeah. So? When can I meet her?”

“Today.”

“Huh, today? Wait, are you saying it’s y—?”

“This evening, your soul mate shall appear before your eyes,” I continued, before he could embarrass himself and say something he would regret. “If you go straight ahead from here, there’s a plaza with a fountain, right? There should be a broken bench next to the fountain.” I took something out of my purse and held it out to him. “If you wrap this around your hand and stand next to the bench, your soul mate will appear before you.”

He took the object from my hand and tilted his head in confusion.

“…What’s this? It just looks like an ordinary piece of string.”

“It most certainly is not. That is a magic string, imbued with my magical energy. It has the power to draw your fortunes to you.”

I hadn’t actually put any magical energy into the string, of course. And even if I were to do so, it wouldn’t have the power to draw anyone’s fortunes closer. In fact, I had picked up the string earlier at one of the stalls.

“If I have this string…I’ll meet my…”

“Your soul mate, yes. Now look sharp and go wait until this evening. You wouldn’t want to disappoint the one you’re destined for, would you?”

Somewhat puzzled, the young man gripped the string tight. “Got it. I’m going to wrap this string around my hand and wait by the bench.”

He stood up to leave, wearing a renewed smile, but I stopped him immediately.

“Sir, the fee for the string and the fee for the fortune-telling come to one gold piece all together.” The youth grimaced visibly, until I said the magic words: “Worry not. If by chance you do not meet the one, I shall offer you a full refund.”

About an hour had passed since the gloomy-faced young man had left.

A single young woman walked by. Her dress was plain, and so was her face—everything about her was plain, really. She looked about the same age as me.

There was plenty to work with, but she was squandering her potential with clothes that looked like they came off the closet floor, to say nothing of her poor skin and hair regimen.

Just like my dull silver coin. And so my next customer had been chosen.

“Hey, you!” I called out to her as she passed by, head down. “Am I correct in assuming you are struggling to find a lover?”

The young woman jumped in surprise and turned toward me. “…M-me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Um, who are you?”

“Goodness, how rude of me. I completely forgot to mention that I am a traveling fortune-teller,” I said shamelessly, then pushed up my pointy hat and stared at her.

The girl trembled like prey caught in the eyes of a predator. “H-how did you know that?” she fearfully asked.

“I know these things. I am a fortune-teller, after all. I can see everything, from your troubled feelings to your fated soul mate.”

“M-my soul mate? Y-you can really see that?”

“Indeed. I can see him clearly before my very eyes.” Of course, it was all lies.

“Then when will he appear?”

“Today.”

“T-today…?”

The girl looked at me with apprehension, her heart racing at the mention of a soul mate. But I was in no rush. Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.

“If you go straight ahead from here, there is a plaza with a fountain, right? There should be a broken bench next to the fountain.” And so, keeping a very even composure, I told her the rest. “This evening, a young man with an old piece of string wrapped around his hand will appear there. He is the one.”

Things continued in this fashion for a while.

I picked up some rocks around the area and told people they would improve their fortunes, manipulated soul mates into meeting each other, and so on. After several days of excellent business, my purse was bulging with coins. By my estimation, I had made enough to live large for several months here.

Well, well, I must give my thanks to the king who made the counterfeit coins.

Since the prices were so high in this country, I used up a lot of money on room and board, but everyone was happy to pay a much higher rate for my “services” than usual. The actual value of money in this country was lower than in other countries.

“…Yes—I have imbued this HALF-OFF sign with my magic power. If you hang it in front of your shop, bread will be flying off the shelves.”

“Really? I’ll try it right away.”

“Is that so? Well, the fee for the sign and the fee for the consultation come to three gold pieces all together.”

“Are you giving me three signs?”

“The price is for one, obviously. Something wrong with your head?”

The coins in my wallet multiplied once again.

I sold my handwritten sign to the woman from the bread shop, who had come to me after hearing rumors about my services, and with that my work was over for the day. A joyful jingling noise was coming from my very heavy wallet.

Well then, time to return to my pitiful lodgings. I stood up, stretched a bit, and collected my belongings.

“You there!”

Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulders from behind, and I turned around in surprise. Standing there was a soldier.

Several soldiers, in fact. There were about ten of them, all dressed alike, and they slowly fanned out to surround me. Each one was holding a spear, and they had guns slung across their backs. They didn’t really seem to belong here.

“You’re the fortune-teller, right?” the man standing directly in front of me demanded.

“No, you’re mistaken.”

“Don’t lie. We’ve been watching you interact with customers.”

“……”

Sweat broke out on my cheeks.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap.

What do I do? Someone must have made a complaint about me running a scam—but it’s not like I really cheated anybody. Ahhh, what do I do now…? I can’t run; they’ve got me surrounded. I could use magic to escape, but I don’t want to make enemies of an entire country…

“Come with me,” the man in front of me said dispassionately. “The king wants to meet you.”

I couldn’t believe my ears—but I’m sure that’s no surprise.

The circle of men around me brought me through their bland city and arrived at a very bland palace. Save for the ludicrous prices, there was really nothing interesting about this country at all.

On a raised dais where two staircases met in the most spacious room in the palace, a young man sat on an expensive-looking chair between two thrones.

From his seat, the young king looked down at me and spoke. “So you are the traveling fortune-teller, hmm? You’re quite young.”

“You are quite young yourself, Your Majesty. I thought you would be more advanced in years.” The soldiers glared at me coldly, but I hadn’t meant to be snarky. I really was expecting someone older.

The king addressed the soldiers. “You can all go. Leave us,” he said, brushing them away with his hand. The soldiers withdrew, leaving only the two of us in the spacious chamber, and the king spoke again. “I’ve heard rumors that you can actually predict the future. Is that true?”

“Yes, well…it’s more accurate to say that I help the future along.”

“And do your abilities only work on humans?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if it might work on a broader scale as well.” His voice was quite calm. I couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking at all.

Does he believe in my abilities? Or does he doubt them? Or did he see through my lies?

I skirted the question. “What kind of future do you want to know about?”

“The future of this country,” the young king replied.

“The future of the country… Huh.” As I was nodding obediently, I thought, That’s it? You didn’t need to be a fortune-teller to predict the future of this country. It was simple.

Oh well, I’m not really a fortune-teller anyway.

“Before I answer your question, there is one thing I would like to ask you, Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“Please tell me your reasons for putting counterfeit money into your country’s economy.”

He knit his eyebrows and let out a sigh. “That’s nonsense.”

“What, it’s all real money?” I thought of the coins straining my wallet. If all of them are real, I’m outrageously rich! Yay!

“…Yes. I put real, authentic currency into circulation—though it wasn’t my idea.”

“Did someone tell you to?”

The young king nodded. “There’s someone who was very close to the previous king. Since I’ve only just ascended to the throne, I am entrusting all matters of economic policy to him. His plan was to stimulate our economy by circulating the newly minted currency, but it hasn’t been going so well.”

“……”

That doesn’t seem like the issue here, but…

“After the sudden increase in coinage, word spread that the new money was counterfeit, but that is complete nonsense.”

“…Is there no chance that this close adviser has been telling you lies?”

“No chance at all. I secretly summoned several experts to the palace and had them investigate the matter, but the newly minted coins are without a doubt the real thing. The rumor about counterfeit money is false,” the young king said, then stood up.

He slowly descended the stairs from the dais and approached me.

“My adviser has really done well for this country. In fact, I think he ought to be king instead of me, though the hereditary nature of our monarchy makes that impossible. In addition to advancing government policies, he is always by my side to advise me. If he weren’t here, I would have lost my crown already, I’m sure.”

“……”

Coming to a stop directly in front of me, the king wore a pained expression. “But this time, I’m beginning to wonder. I don’t think he is guiding us to future prosperity. I don’t want to doubt him, but the current state of our economy is not good. These baseless rumors about false currency are running rampant, and now that prices are rising, travelers are staying away. Trade isn’t going well, either.”

After hearing his troubles, I could think of only one thing. He wants me to reassure him. He wanted someone to tell him the future of the country would be peaceful, that the adviser he trusted wasn’t lying to him, and put his fears to rest.

He seems like a very straightforward person. No, it’s probably more accurate to say that he’s honest to the point of tactlessness.

“And that’s why I want you to predict the future of this country. Can you do it?” he asked.

Of course, my answer was already decided.

“I can.” I nodded, and the young king’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh, really?!” He reached for my hand in his enthusiasm, so I pulled my hand in and took a step backward.

“Yes, I never lie,” I said. Is this what people are talking about when they say lying is as easy as breathing for some people? “However, before I predict the future of your country, I have some conditions.”

“Name them.”

I put up my index finger. “First of all, allow me to stay here for one night. Fortune-telling for a whole country is a demanding job. Plus, it’s necessary for me to understand the whole country from the palace that stands at its center.”

“Okay. Understood. I’ll arrange for it at once.” The young king nodded enthusiastically.

I put up the next finger. The first condition had just been a freebie. It wouldn’t be wrong to say it was a preparatory step to assist in my actual plan. The next condition was the important one.

“And secondly…”

After that, I went to the room provided by the young king, lay down on a soft, fluffy bed for the first time in a long while, and reviewed my strategy. I had to wait until it was time to act.

When the sun outside my window had completely set and the sky had been painted in darkness, I opened my eyes.

It’s finally time.

I took out my wand and placed the tip against my head. “Ey.”

With a little poof! I became a small mouse.

I had cast a spell on myself to change shape. I was tired, so I didn’t really want to do it, but there was no way around it. My transformation let me move about with ease as I ran toward my goal, recalling the map I had asked the young king to show me earlier.

Since there was a possibility I would meet a violent end if I went down the wrong corridor, I chose to move through the attic instead of the dazzling palace interior. I pitter-pattered along the dusty floorboards until I arrived directly above the room of the king’s adviser.

Peering down through a crack in the ceiling, I could see a middle-aged man with his elbows propped up on a writing desk. A single soldier was standing at attention across from him, wearing the same uniform as the ones from that afternoon.

I could guess from the tension in the air that this wasn’t a friendly chat.

“Well, how about it, Father?” the young man said.

“How about what?” The older man scratched his head. “The plan is proceeding well. Before long, it will be time to oust that king, I think.”

“And when will that be? You’ve been saying ‘before long’ for a good while now.” The young man’s voice was strained with frustration.

Wait a second—I’ve heard that voice somewhere before. My tiny mouse brain tried to remember, and one person came to mind who bore a close resemblance.

I think the young man speaking with the older man is the soldier who seized me by the shoulder this afternoon. If I’m not mistaken…

“The king summoned a traveling fortune-teller to the palace, and I’m sure he asked her about the future of our country. It’s likely that our plan is now known to the king.”

The older man smiled. “That boy is utterly devoted to me; I doubt he would do such a thing. He probably just had her predict his luck for tomorrow.”

“……”

“Besides, that traveling fortune-teller is suspicious, too. She’s probably a petty con artist.”

Ack.

“…The fortune-teller is just a young girl.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

Yes, you’re exactly right. I’m not simply a young girl, you know; I’m a witch.

Perhaps tiring of the conversation, the young man sighed heavily. “Anyway, keep your promise,” he said.

“Yes, I intend to, so you carry out your part of this, too. Your actions are critical to my plan, after all.”

“…I understand.”

The young man was about to leave the room when it happened.

The ceiling creaked, then broke open with a loud crack and crunch, and a witch with ashen hair and a wand in her hand tumbled down into the room.

I wonder who that could be?

If you guessed me, you are correct.

“…Hah, hah, whew…”

Ahhh, I must look so uncool.

My spell had worn off halfway through my mission. I should be more careful about attempting unfamiliar spells.

Apparently, the ceiling was just right for a mouse to peer through a crack to look below, but not a whole human body. It broke the moment I returned to my normal shape.

Maybe it was rotten with age? Certainly not because I’m heavy…probably.

“Wh-who’s that?!”

When I stood up, brushing off dust, I found that the older man had a gun trained on me. It must have been concealed in his desk.

Well, he’s prepared.

I waved my wand. Instantly, a bouquet of flowers blossomed from the gun’s muzzle. It was a beautiful arrangement, if I do say so myself.

“Why, you—! Th-this is…”

In my admiration for the flowers, I had forgotten all about the fact that there was another person behind me. But turning around would have been too much work. Tonk. I tapped the floor with my wand and gave orders to the scattered fragments of wood from the ceiling.

The fragments suddenly sprouted green vines of ivy that flew toward the two men and captured them.

“You’re the king’s adviser, right?” I stared at the older man, whose hands and feet were now bound.

He glared at me with confusion and hatred. “Who are you?”

“Father, this is the traveling fortune-teller,” the younger man shouted from behind me.

I nodded calmly. “He’s right. Traveling fortune-teller, at your service.”

The older man wriggled his body like a caterpillar, completely immobile. “…What do you want with me?”

“Come now, don’t you already know the answer to that?”

“……”

Silence.

I turned around. The man who had escorted me here this afternoon was glaring at me.

“What are your intentions?”

And so I answered, “I intend to predict a peaceful future for this country.”

After that, the two men were arrested when the palace guards came to investigate the commotion. They were brought before the king and forced to spill the whole truth.

Father and son had been scheming to take over the country.

As I suspected, the new currency had been counterfeit. Apparently, the experts who had told the young king the currency was genuine had accepted bribes from the adviser and were dirty fakes themselves.

The two had tried to plunge the country into chaos on purpose, creating doubt about the successor to the crown. Their plan was to direct the blame onto the young king and orchestrate his fall from grace. They must have hoped the adviser could become the new king, with his son as his heir.

Well, that plan ended in failure.

Now they were locked up in jail. I didn’t know what would become of them, but I didn’t need to involve myself in this any further.

After the cross-examination of the two conspirators was complete, I was summoned up between the thrones to accept a gift from the young king.

“Thank you very much.” I checked the contents and nodded. Inside my purse was a large number of antiquated coins.

As my second condition for predicting the future of the country, I had him exchange all the money I had earned for the old type, to rid myself of any counterfeits.

“I will exchange all the counterfeit money that circulated throughout the country.” The young king sounded exhausted. “It seems the majority of the money in your wallet was counterfeit as well.”

“I expected as much.”

The meaning of my promise to predict the future of the country had become a bit vague. Since I had rid the young king of the real problem plaguing him, he was no longer in need of a fortune-teller.

I was relieved to find I didn’t have to stretch the truth any further.

There were some things that worried me a little about what would come next for him and his people, but I would have to leave this place soon. I was a traveler, after all. As for what path this country would follow, unless someone really did look into the future, nobody would ever know. Including me, of course.

“But it is really too bad.” The young king sighed deeply. “To think, he was lying to me all along.”

“That’s the thing about liars,” I replied. “You can never see it in their face.”