Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 5 - Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

A Certain Girl’s Predictions

Somewhere, there was a girl who possessed a mysterious power.

This peculiar individual, head always concealed by a hood pulled down, showed no one her face. She could, to put it clearly and concisely, see the future.

Exactly how long she had been endowed with such a power was not for others to know, but she could see things—the futures of countries, of individuals, of it all.

However, the girl with the mysterious power did not seem inclined to put it to any good use. Maybe she had a cruel heart. Or perhaps she simply hated other people.

One day, the girl pointed at a couple walking through town and said, “You will break up in the next three days.”

The couple laughed her off. They had a wonderful relationship. They could never imagine splitting up. Three days later, however, it came out that the man had been having an affair. The couple broke up, just as the strange girl had predicted.

Had it been a simple coincidence?

On a different day, the girl pointed at a boy who was searching for a missing pet cat.

“Your cat will be eaten by a wolf that slipped into town.”

The townspeople immediately set out on a huge search for the missing feline. It turned out to be just as the girl had declared. Sure enough, a wolf had snuck into town, and they found the boy’s cat in a terrible state.

Surely this, too, had to be a coincidence.

On yet another day, the girl said to a woman walking down the street, “Your husband will only live for one more month.”

That woman’s husband was suffering from a horrific disease, but she had been keeping it from everyone else. The strange girl spoke just as if she had seen what was to come.

And sure enough, one month later, the husband passed away.

With each coming day, the girl pronounced a new and terrible prediction.

“The new business that you’re thinking of starting is going to fail.”

“A burglar is going to rob your house.”

“You’re going to injure your left leg soon.”

Her predictions were always ominous.

Eventually, people began to spread rumors that she could see the future. They feared the girl and spoke of her in hushed tones.

Soon, fear—unfocused fear—spread throughout the city. The people were frightened by the girl, and eventually, no one would have anything to do with her, though they couldn’t do anything against her either.

For example, soldiers tried to restrain the girl, but she had slipped away, as if she had known that they were coming. When they tried to poison her, she neatly avoided it. Nothing the people could come up with could harm the girl who could read the future.

She always wore her hood pulled far down over her head, so not a single person knew anything about her—not her age and certainly not her face. No one even knew whether this girl—who seemed to spontaneously materialize, seemingly out of nowhere, to lay down some dire prophecy before vanishing completely—was even a citizen.

The people of the city feared this girl whom no one knew. They lived their lives dreading when, where, and to whom she would deliver her next unfortunate prediction.

Then it happened one day.

A lone witch appeared in that city.

Her ash-colored hair was sleek and long. This witch was a traveler and wore a black robe and a pointy black hat. She could not foresee the future and had not been endowed with any special powers, making her just an ordinary witch.

She passed through the gate into the city.

Just who could she be?

That’s right. She’s me.

“Ah. I’m out of money…”

As I paid the toll on my way into Laurent City, it occurred to me that my finances were in a fairly wretched state.

My goodness. Did my wallet develop a taste for gold and gobble it all up? How greedy.

It was a mystery to me why, as a traveler, I lived my life without a plan. I only ever decided to make money when it became unclear if I’d be able to pay for lodging for the night.

How about we plan ahead a little more?

……

Curing myself of my reckless lifestyle wasn’t going to do anything to help the current state of my wallet. It certainly wasn’t going to bring money raining down on me.

In any case, I was currently looking at a night spent under the open sky if I didn’t do something. To put it simply, you could say I was in a very bad situation.

If that was the case…and if my wallet was at death’s door…

“…I guess this is the only way.”

It had been a while since I’d done this.

“Hey, you…! You there! How about a reading…?”

In a small alley off the brick-lined street was a suspicious girl holding a crystal of questionable value, waving her other hand over it as she muttered to herself. By the way, she was me.

“You there…” I kept repeating, not to anyone in particular.

“Um, me?”

About one person in ten was dumb enough to fall for it.

“Ah, yes. You over there. You’ll do.”

Let’s just say I meant to beckon you from the start.

“…You lead a troubled life, right?” I asked gently. “Allow me to solve your troubles for you.”

“…Not particularly. And you don’t look like a fortune-teller, but more like a witch—”

“I’m both a witch and a fortune-teller.” I puffed out my chest. “You are troubled. I know that for a fact. You’re pretending like you don’t have anything to worry about, but the truth is that you are carrying a great many burdens… If I put my powers to work, I promise I can make your future brighter!”

That sounded like a scam.

I wonder how many people will take my words at face value? Probably not even one out of ten.

The youth standing in front of me was no exception. “Mm, it sounds interesting, but can you really see the future? Seems sketchy.”

“So you’re saying you don’t believe me?” I could understand his skepticism. “All right. In order to prove my powers to you, I will accurately describe your personality. If I do that, will you believe in me?”

“Huh?”

I must have piqued his curiosity, if only a little bit. The youth sat down in the chair across from me, with the crystal between us.

“…Mmmm…” I waved my hands over the crystal, and chanted, “Money-money-money-money…,” like an incantation, quietly enough that he couldn’t hear me.

The spirit of money was with us.

By the way, she was an extension of me, too.

“I have seen into your very soul,” I said. “You’re always concerned with how other people see you, right?”

“…Mm, well, I guess?”

“You have a kind heart, and you can’t help but lend a hand when you see someone in trouble.”

“…That’s…probably accurate.”

“Sometimes, when you’re by yourself, you’re stricken with loneliness, right?”

“Oh… That’s right.”

“You’re always worrying about being judged, so you have a bad habit of losing your drive even when you do try to act, right?”

“That’s right…! Oh, what should I do, Miss Fortune-Teller?”

“Have no fear. I’m going to solve your problems for you.” I flashed a toothy grin.

By the way, the things that I had just said mostly hold true for anyone. Over the course of a conversation, a shrewd fortune-teller can make these universal experiences seem intimate and unique. You could call it a form of low-key hypnotism.

“Please, Miss Fortune-Teller…! Tell me!” The young man leaned toward me desperately. He was clearly under my spell.

“Okay, if you want to become happy, the first thing to do is to pay the fortune-telling fee. We’ll talk after that.”

“…Oh. It’s not free?”

“It’s foolish to imagine that you can come by true happiness for free.”

“……”

I waved my hand impatiently. “Money, please.”

In other words, this was behind a paywall. Money and happiness went hand in hand, after all.

“…Fine. Here.” The young man pressed a single gold coin into my palm.

“Thank you!”

After tossing the coin into a box I had set to one side, I began.

“Well then, allow me to solve your problems for you—”

I think that a traveler’s true wealth lies in the encounters she has with people along the way.

“…Nice. A big catch.”

Here in Laurent City, too, it seemed I would be able to repeat that pattern. As the sun set, I found that my wallet had fully regained its heft.

I felt happiest when my wallet was heavy. It’s terrific. It’s the best. I was so easy to please. So long as I have that one thing, I can travel comfortably.

…But it was somehow a little too easy here… This must have been the single biggest payday ever. I guess there are a lot of suckers around these parts.

Of course, I would never pretend to be a fortune-teller and lie as easily as I breathed. I listened seriously to the people’s problems, and only after did I graciously accept their tokens of gratitude. I’m sure there are some brazen folks out there who might mistake my extremely serious business for some crass money grab. The job comes laden with unfortunate misconceptions, it seems.

That’s why it’s important for any fortune-teller to know when to quit. Once you earn enough money, it’s best to remove yourself. Otherwise, you might have to deal with these inconvenient misunderstandings.

And so, I began packing away my crystal to close up shop, checking the feel of my wallet as I did.

“Say, could I have a second?”

Just as I was storing the crystal in my bag, a girl plopped down in the chair and faced me.

Under a black hat, she had her lovely, long, light blue hair tied up in a single bunch on the back of her head. Her eyes were lapis-colored, like the sky that was now losing its light. She was dressed in a formal black jacket and matching skirt. She looked properly warm for the chilly autumn evening.

Oh, another customer?

“I’m sorry. I’m closed for the day. My powers of prognostication fade with the setting sun, you see.”

That was my story anyway. I could never actually read fortunes in the first place.

“Ah, no, I didn’t come to your stall to have my fortune read.”

She waved her hand in front of her face. I noticed she was wearing white leather gloves and holding a notebook.

“…? Well then, what is it?”

Are you here to interfere with my business? Well, I guess I’m just about finished anyway.

I had my head tilted questioningly, and she held her notebook up so that I could see. She had a proud look, as if to say, “Can’t you see this?”

“……?” I stared at the notebook.

Below some sort of emblem or crest was embossed: LAURENT CITY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.

……Oh…? What’s this?

“Ah. Are you from a foreign country? But you know what this means, right? The Department of Public Safety is, to put it simply, made up of officers who patrol this city and protect the peace. My name is Anemone. And you are?”

“…My name is Elaina. The Ashen Witch. A traveler…”

“Elaina, is it? Yes, yes.” Anemone of the Department of Public Safety scribbled something down in her notebook. “By the way, what was it that you were doing here today?”

“Umm…I was just…about to take a break…”

“Hmm?” Her eyes focused on my bag. “What’s inside that bag?”

“A change of clothes.”

“May I look inside?”

“I exercise my right to remain silent.”

“Come on. You can show me.”

“I have underwear in there, so I can’t show you.”

“We’re both girls, so I think it’s fine.”

“……” That’s true, I guess. I knew that already. Right.

“By the way, Elaina, it’s probably best not to hang around this area too much. There was a report from a resident of the neighborhood, you see, and it sounds like there is a woman around here with a suspicious crystal pretending to tell fortunes and ripping people off. I suppose you should be careful, too, Elaina.”

Didn’t she just describe me? Crap.

“That’s…scary…I’d better get going soon. All right then, I’ll be going.”

“Of course. That is probably most prudent. Before you go, can I look inside your bag?”

“Nope.”

“Sorry, Elaina. It’s not that I suspect you might be the fortune-teller or anything, but this is one of my duties, you see, and I would be grateful for your cooperation. Show me the bag.”

“You—you sure are persistent! I’ll call the police! Officer!” I made a prediction that my lucky deed of the day was feigning indignation and making a hasty retreat.

“Fine, fine. I suppose your anger is only reasonable. But I am the police.”

“……” My anger sputtered out in a second.

Some luck, huh?

“What’s inside your bag?”

“……”

I balked for a while, but she brandished threatening words—“Shall I call for backup?” and “If you continue to hold back, I will have to employ more forceful methods, I think.”

In the end, I cracked.

“Hmm…? What’s this?”

Then, unfortunately, there was no need to go fishing through my bag, for the crystal that I had stuffed in there was peeking out, along with my fat wallet. It didn’t take a police officer to suspect that something shady was going on.

“………That is, um…you know, my hobby is crystal collecting, and so—”

“But, Elaina, you seem to have an awful lot of money. Might you be a celebrity traveler?”

“…………Ah, that’s right.”

“Mm-hm, is that so?” Her expression did not falter in the slightest; she kept smiling and clapped a hand down on my shoulder. “By the way, might I ask you to come with me?”

I’m sure there’s no need to explain what those words meant. First of all, she had already confiscated my crystal and my wallet in her search. I could see where this was going. But I predicted that, just in case, it would be lucky to hang on to the slightest thread of hope—

“Do I have the right to refuse?”

“I don’t suppose you do.”

…And there goes that.

I was certain that the only thing in store for me was torture. I would be thrown in jail, be raked over the coals, and then have all my money confiscated. After getting mentally drained from a scolding over the course of several days—a so-called interrogation—I would be asked in a gentle voice, “You won’t do that again, right?” and made to repent my actions.

The road that Anemone took me down, however, didn’t seem to lead to the jail, or to any place associated with the aforementioned Laurent City Department of Public Safety, or whatever it was called. Far from it, the road gradually became deserted as we went along.

“…Excuse me, but where might you be taking me?”

“Hm? It’s a secret.”

I looked around at our surroundings, but the full moon illuminated only swaying trees and the slow scattering of red and yellow leaves in the darkness.

There wasn’t a sign of human life.

“Um…I was sure you were taking me to the station at the Department of Public Safety or something, but…was I wrong? Or is the station up ahead?”

“I cannot say there is any such thing up ahead.”

“…Then, what is there?”

“Oh? My house.”

Huh? Why?

“Um… Is there, ah, some kind of rule that says that Department of Public Safety agents have to invite criminals to their homes or something?”

“I would not say there is any such rule.”

By the way, why does everything you say sound like a guess? Haven’t you got any confidence in your own words?

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re thinking,” I said.

I thought I was glaring stiffly at her, but I could tell from her expression that whatever face I was making didn’t pack even the slightest punch.

“I suppose I don’t understand either,” she admitted. “But I do think that you’re someone who deserves better than to be arrested.”

She smiled cheerfully.

In the end, I still had no idea what she wanted to do with me as the two of us arrived at her house. There were no signs of pedestrian traffic, and the road under our feet was completely carpeted in red and yellow autumn leaves, leading up to the timeworn house.

“I suppose I should welcome you to my home,” she said. “All right, go on in. There are, I believe, many things I wish to discuss with you.”

Keeping her back turned to me, she went straight into the house.

I didn’t even consider the possibility of turning and running on the spot. How naive I am. It would have been a total piece of cake for someone with my powers to disappear.

All right… While she’s far enough away, let’s make our escape and—

“Oh, of course, I don’t suppose you have the right to refuse.” She held up my wallet.

Apparently, I was now in a situation where she was literally pulling my purse strings.

“……Siiiiigh.”

After letting out a huge sigh as my one act of rebellion, I trudged into her house.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was shown to a seat on one section of the sofa with a built-in table, and she tilted her head as she asked me, “Will you take coffee? Or tea?”

“Uh, coffee,” I answered without a hint of nervousness.

Before long, she appeared from the kitchen carrying two cups of steaming coffee. “Here you go,” she said, handing me one.

“Thanks.”

I drank the coffee without hesitation. Just the right amount of warmth flooded my body, driving away the autumn chill. As relaxed as I may have been, however, I still didn’t really understand what was going on.

What on earth is happening here?

I’d done a little fortune-telling—some people might describe it as fraud—and this police-type person had arrested me, except she had taken me to her home instead.

What did I get myself into?

“To put it simply, I suppose you could say I brought you here because there is something I want to ask of you, Elaina.”

She could probably tell I was growing suspicious. Anemone blew on her coffee and stared at the ripples she created.

“Elaina, do you know about the prophet who lives in Laurent City?”

“A prophet…?”

“Seems like you don’t know, huh?”

I nodded.

“All right, I’ll tell you. In this city, there is a terrible prophet who gives the most horrific predictions. She’s a mysterious figure who always wears a hood pulled down over her head, and we don’t have a clue about her age, or even what her face looks like. But the prophet always predicts doom, and it quickly becomes reality.”

“……” Is this some kind of urban legend?

“I’m sure it’s difficult to believe, but whatever the prophet says, it always comes to pass. For example, if she predicts someone will have an accident tomorrow, then without fail, said person will have an accident. Or if she predicts you’ll be dumped by your girlfriend tomorrow, that’s exactly what will happen, I suppose.”

I didn’t understand why she kept speaking as though she wasn’t sure of anything, but to sum it up—

“So there’s a prophet in Laurent City who only makes disastrous predictions?”

“I suppose that’s it exactly.”

I see.

“So…what about it?”

“You’re a witch, right, Elaina?”

“I am, but—”

“That means you are very powerful, doesn’t it?”

“I guess…” I was bewildered by this whole conversation. I couldn’t even predict where this was all leading.

Anemone looked directly at me. “To get straight to the point, I suppose you could say I want you to eliminate this prophet.”

……

Nope, nope, nope.

“Eliminate the prophet? Are you serious?” I asked.” There’s no reason to think that would ever work, no matter what scheme we come up with. She’ll always escape!”

As far as I can tell, the prophet can see the future, right? You want me to catch an opponent who’s always one step ahead? You have to be joking.

“But a witch might be able to do something, right?”

“You’re way overestimating me. Witches aren’t miracle workers. We’re just humans with a few extra abilities and magic to a certain capacity.”

Besides, isn’t it your job to deal with this stuff, Miss Department of Public Safety?

“I suppose I’m making this request because nothing we’ve tried has even come close. As a witch, you must command great magic. Couldn’t you stand up to her?”

“No way.”

“You’ll never accomplish anything if you give up before you try, I suppose.”

“And you’ll never accomplish anything if you give up halfway through and leave the job up to someone else!”

“I haven’t given up, I don’t think. Even now, I suppose I’m moving toward accomplishing my goal.”

It’s obvious you’re giving up without much of a fight. Just as I was about to answer her, I suddenly had a thought. My, my…don’t tell me…?

“Could it be? Are you saying that in exchange for your silence on the crime I committed in town, you want me to catch the prophet and give you all the credit?”

“Yep.”

“Public order in this city is really hopelessly corrupt, isn’t it…?” Isn’t this unethical?

“It would be unacceptable to allow incidents like this one to continue spiraling out of our control…I suppose.”

Now, you’re basically admitting to it…

It was clear that as long as she held a tight grip on my lifeline, I didn’t have much choice except to follow her lead.

The heavens might smile down upon me if I obediently play along…

I wanted to reject the offer, however, since I really could not imagine anything more bothersome than this particular mission.

Let’s decline, but in a roundabout way.

“Well, I don’t mind cooperating with you. Unfortunately, I don’t have any money. Because you’re holding on to my wallet. So I obviously can’t pay for lodging here in Laurent City. Which means that I won’t be able to investigate that prophet of yours. Do you get what I’m hinting at? It’s a problem that will significantly impair any sort of investigation.”

“It’s all right. You can stay at my house, I suppose.”

“……” Problem solved…

“Oh, but if you’re staying at my house, I suppose I have a condition in exchange.”

“You’re adding yet another condition…?” Someone’s evil.

“It’s all right. I don’t believe it’s anything too extreme.”

Then, wearing a gentle smile that was poorly suited to our conversation, she made one astounding request, something that diverged wildly from anything we had discussed so far.

“I suppose I want you to tell me the stories of your travels, Elaina.”

Of course, I really had no right to refuse, as she still held my wallet—and therefore my very life—in her grasp.

I shall present my daily schedule from then on.

I would rise early in the morning, roused by Anemone, who woke up at an ungodly hour, and then I ate breakfast while complaining, “But my body is still asleep…” Alas, her expertly made breakfasts were rather delicious, and my body would snap awake from its slumber.

After indulging in a bit of friendly post-meal chat, we would leave the house together. As we approached the main avenue through the city, she would say, “Well, I suppose I’ll leave the investigation to you,” and disappear into the city with a wave.

As instructed, I would carry out my investigation of the prophet, searching until evening, then returning home.

Either people working for the Laurent City Department of Public Safety had a lot of free time, or she was in an administrative position, because when I got home, she would already have returned and—what’s more—would already have finished making dinner.

Then, after having my fill of her home cooking for the second time in a day, I would tell her a story to thank her for the food. After I told each story, Anemone would get wildly excited and beg me.

“Tell me more! More!”

But I would ignore her pointedly.

Reading aloud from my travel diary was terribly humiliating. And so, pretending to be calm, I would shut myself away in the room she had prepared for me to use and wallow in embarrassment at the very thought of sharing my stories, which I had never intended to let anyone else read. I would end my day with my face buried in my pillow, wailing and sobbing and feeling like I would rather drop dead than do it again.

That’s roughly how I spent my days. My drive to live was being ground down to nothing, night after night.

Maybe that was why my investigation of the prophet was not going well.

“Hm? The prophet? Yeah, it’s because of her I lost my wife… Huh? You want to know who the prophet is and where she’s from? I have no idea. I’d like you to tell me, in fact.”

“Who’s the prophet, huh…? Say, I’d like to know, myself. By the way, you wouldn’t happen to be the witch who was telling fortunes earlier—hm? That was someone else? You sure do look like her…”

“It’s that prophet’s fault that I weigh double now! Look at me! Look at this body! This is all because the prophet said I was going to gain weight—huh? It’s because I’ve got bad eating habits! Shut up!”

I frequently interviewed the locals as part of my daily investigation, but this produced no results worth mentioning.

From testimonies, I could assume that the prophet probably did actually exist, but…the rumors had taken on a life of their own, and I couldn’t get a handle on the prophet herself.

While I was doing all this, I was faithfully continuing to read aloud to Anemone.

“Let’s see… In that country, there were, strangely enough, a whole lot of me, and I met sixteen Elainas in one room. Yeah. It was totally chaotic. And then—”

If I remember correctly, the story I was telling that night was the one about the time I had encountered all the other possible Elainas. This one did well with Anemone.

“How fun! By the way, this is a little off topic, but do you like girls, Elaina?”

“Huh? Why would you ask that? I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Well, you said that among the many Elainas, there was one who obviously liked girls—”

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

That night, I slammed my pillow down on the bed.

I think it was the following day.

Figuring that canvassing was a dead end, I decided to go all or nothing and go question the city’s elites. In a surprising turn of events, the governor of the realm—the leader of the city was a rather young woman—had quickly agreed to meet with me.

“But I’m sorry to say…there’s no one who knows any details about the girl. I’m sure that since she can see the future, she must know some method for disappearing without being pursued. We, too, have tried many times to follow her in hopes of ascertaining her true identity. However, we’ve still got absolutely no idea who she is or where she’s from.”

To get straight to the point, even turning to the governor for help was a strikeout.

“Just in case they find anything, I am having the Department of Public Safety go around town and get a feel for whether there is anyone who seems to fit the description, but—well, as you can probably guess, the results haven’t been good.”

“Uh-huh.”

So what you’re saying is that’s why I was mistaken for a suspicious fortune-teller, hm? I’ll never forgive that prophet!

“I’m not sure we’ll ever properly identify the prophet—” The governor wore an expression that told me she had already given up. “Though if we could see into the future and know we’ll never find the prophet, I wouldn’t place this burden on the Department of Public Safety.”

“……” Perhaps my investigation has run aground.

Of course, on that day, I returned home and read aloud to Anemone.

“…Let’s see, so this is the necklace I got from Saya when I ran into her again.”

“Oh. You’re wearing it now.”

“…Sure, yeah. It was a present.”

“Elaina, you’re definitely—”

“Nope.”

At this point, the pillow in my room had been beaten so much that the stuffing was coming out. It was in a terrible state, so I stealthily exchanged it with Anemone’s pillow.

She got extremely mad at me.

A few days later, my investigation into the elusive prophet met a new development. When I went to visit the governor to ask for any new information, she was waiting for me with the following report:

“Apparently, the prophet has made another appearance. The subject of her prophecy was the daughter of a city official. She appeared suddenly in the middle of the day, predicted that girl would be taken hostage by a band of brigands before the sun set, and then vanished.”

“Taken hostage…?”

And we don’t know what time it’s supposed to happen… How annoying.

“Where is the girl now?” I asked.

“She’s on alert at home. By the way, Miss Witch, if it’s all right, I have a request.”

“……” I understood what she was trying to tell me. “You’re asking me to protect the child from the outlaws, right?”

“It’s that obvious, eh?” The governor’s eyebrows knit together, and she let out a sigh. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think there’s any way to avoid the prophecy.”

This would be a good chance to put the prophet’s powers to the test—or so I thought. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like I would have the opportunity.

“……”

When I arrived at the city official’s house, the outlaws had already forced their way inside. One of them was pressing a knife to the girl’s throat, holding her hostage.

Surrounded by agents of the Department of Public Safety, one of the robbers shouted, “Dammit…! How was our plan discovered?! I thought it was perfect—”

The man seemed awfully flustered. But it was also clear that as long as he had the girl as his hostage, the Department of Public Safety couldn’t make a move. They were locked in a stalemate.

“…Hup.” From the shadows, I stealthily blasted off a spell, just in time to freeze the brigand’s hands in ice.

I found out later that the group of thugs had snuck into the official’s house quite a while earlier, posing as butlers and maids, and were attempting to kill the city official.

The situation was resolved without incident, but as I headed for home, I was sure that there was something I was still not understanding.

“…So, in the end, the dragon and the innkeeper were married and lived happily ever after. The end.”

“Are you good with anyone who’s a girl, Elaina?”

“……” For some reason I couldn’t understand anything this girl said.

Ever since the robbers had forcibly entered the city official’s house, the prophet had started appearing somewhere each day. It was hard to believe she had ever been in hiding.

“Today, she appeared before a man living alone.” To tell him that he had contracted heart disease.

“Today, she materialized before a girl who dreams of being a singer.” To tell her that her dream would not come true.

“Today, she emerged before the head of a company.” To tell her that the business would go bankrupt in several months.

“Today, she—”

Every time I saw the governor of the city, she would tell me such stories, then I would head for the location of the prophet’s latest appearance. By talking to the people who had been singled out by the prophet, I came to understand very well that her predictions were, above all, guaranteed to be true.

The man who lived alone told me sadly, “When I went to the hospital, I really did have heart disease. I’ll spend the rest of my life fighting this illness.”

The girl who had dreamed of being a singer shook her head. “I’m giving up on singing. I’ve decided to take a different path.”

The head of the company ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. “I’ve got to find new jobs for my employees before we go bankrupt!”

They were all already operating on the assumption that the predictions would come true.

It must have been because they understood that if they didn’t, it would bring even more misfortune.

“……”

Even so, something about this situation didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something about the identity of a prophet who entrapped others in hardship that I could not stop turning over in my head.

“Excuse me. I’d like to research some things about the past words and deeds of the prophet…”

One day, I pressed the governor for more information.

She gladly approved my request but shook her head. “Of course, I wouldn’t mind helping you, but the detailed documents are stored with the Department of Public Safety. I’ll pass on the request, so would you be so kind as to head over there?”

The governor was a very kind person. “Sorry for the trouble,” she said as she wrote me a letter of introduction.

I set out for the Department of Public Safety that afternoon. After looking over the letter of introduction, the clerk showed me absolutely everything—from the inquiry documents written when the prophet first appeared, all the way up to the present.

“This is all of it! Here you go!”

There were so many documents that if you were to stack them all up, they seemed like they might be about my height. It was dreadful.

I didn’t want to investigate in this much detail…

“I heard everything from the governor. You’re helping to identify the prophet, aren’t you? I’ll be at the reception desk, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!” The clerk bowed cheerfully and shut me into the documents room.

She seems to be giving me way too much credit.

“…Hmm.”

However, I can’t say that I didn’t get what I was looking for. I scanned through the documents for several hours. Around sunset, I showed my face at reception again.

“Thank you for the materials.”

I bowed, and when I looked back up, the clerk asked, “Sure! Did you find anything out?”

“Yes. Well, to a degree.” I avoided letting any more than that slip, because I hadn’t yet gotten definitive proof of the information I had found. “By the way, is Anemone here? I’d like to see her if she’s around.”

It was already evening, and I was here at the Department of Public Safety, so if she was working, I thought maybe we could go home together.

“…Anemone?” The clerk knit her brow. “…Wait just a minute, please. I’m sorry. I don’t have every staff member’s name memorized, so…” She started flipping through a register.

I waited a little while.

Outside the window, the sun had already set and was in the middle of being swallowed up by darkness.

Before long, it would be night.

We would have to make the final trek through the forest to Anemone’s house in pitch-black darkness.

“Miss Elaina?” The clerk came back to where I was waiting.

Her cheerful demeanor had evaporated, and she looked at me with a clouded face, as dark as the night. She looked perplexed.

“…Is the person you asked for…is she really a Department of Public Safety agent?”

Then the clerk revealed, “You see, there’s no record of anyone named Anemone…”

That night—

As always, after we’d finished dinner, Anemone pestered me into sharing more stories of my travels.

“Elaina, what story are you going to tell me tonight, I wonder?”

Anemone had flopped down in the seat across from me, holding two coffee mugs.

I suppose you’re looking forward to another late night making me tell you story after story… Although…

“…Hmm.” I flipped through my journal to be sure. I had already told her practically all my tales.

I’ve already told her every story in here. Maybe we’ve been with each other for too long.

“Have you got any interesting stories to share?” Anemone tilted her head as she asked me. She looked like she was wondering why I was hesitating. She didn’t seem to be harboring any suspicions.

“Sure, I have one.”

I certainly did not record every single one of my traveling tales in my journal. I had many more stored in my head…though I was a little bit reluctant to tell her.

“Tell me.”

“……”

If she’s going to demand it, well then…here goes nothing.

When I had closed the journal and stared directly at her, her deep blue eyes looked back into mine. Just like an abyss.

And then, I told her the story.

“In a certain place, there was a lone girl who had a mysterious power—”

I told her the story of the prophet who told inauspicious futures.

While I was investigating the prophet, I had arrived at one key fact.

Right from the very start, several things about this prophet had roused my suspicions.

For this to work, we’ll need to assume that the prophet can predict the future of an individual or even a whole country. Why do you suppose the prophet would only predict calamity to befall others?

And why do you suppose she would go out of her way to incur people’s enmity?

Because she could see the future, the prophet must know where it led. At some point, her identity was bound to be revealed, and she would face retribution from all the unfortunate souls she’d trapped in adversity. Even a fool could guess as much, if they had the power to see the future. I, however, refused to believe that was what she was trying to accomplish.

Then why on earth did she do it?

I had mulled all the possibilities over while I’d been fishing through the documents.

There was no end to the recountings of the prophet’s past deeds, and I could confirm that her predictions all came true and spelled out grave misfortune for their recipients, who then resented her.

At first glance, it even seemed like the prophet was being evil for evil’s sake.

But wasn’t it possible to look at this situation from a different angle?

What if worse things might have happened if she hadn’t made her predictions?

“You will break up within the next three days.”

Upon receiving that forecast, the couple broke up and married other people, and each remained happily married for the rest of their lives, it seems.

“Your cat was eaten by a wolf that slipped into town.”

If the adults of the city had not hunted down the wolf, it certainly would have caused even more harm.

“Your husband will only live for one more month.”

The couple presumably realized how precious their remaining time together really was.

“The new business that you’re thinking of starting is going to fail.”

“A burglar is going to rob your house.”

“You’re going to injure your left leg soon.”

Such were the words of the prophet, but strangely enough, it seemed something worse would have happened if the recipients had not known that misfortune was going to visit them.

In other words, the prophet was only telling them these things so they could avoid the worst situations, and she was risking blame to do so.

That was my guess.

“…So you’re trying to say that the prophet is not a bad person?”

That was the first time that Anemone had interrupted while I was telling my story.

I replied in the affirmative. “That’s what it comes down to, yes. Though I have no idea why on earth she is doing such a thing.”

Even after I’d fished through all those documents and spent the last several days in this city, that was the only conclusion I had managed to reach. Everything beyond that was completely incomprehensible.

“Even if the prophet isn’t necessarily bad,” I said, “I don’t think she’s some amazing person who has never done a bad deed in her life.”

Anemone looked at me with a cloudy, puzzled expression. “…What do you mean?”

I don’t suppose she knows what I’m about to tell her.

I continued, smiling as much as possible, “I mean, she’s been doing things like bullying travelers while impersonating an agent of the Department of Public Safety, you know?”

And if that’s not a bad deed, what is?

“…I’m sorry. I can’t quite understand what you’re saying, Elaina.”

“In that case, shall I break it down a little bit more? You are the prophet.”

I had stated it in the most basic terms. Will you understand me when I put it that way?

“In order to get me to tell you the stories of my travels, you, the prophet, impersonated an agent of the Department of Public Safety. Though I don’t know why on earth you wanted to hear such things.”

“……”

“I don’t necessarily have any concrete evidence, but I cannot imagine any other possibility except that you are the prophet. There are just so many suspicious things about you.”

Anemone wasn’t even a part of the Department of Public Safety. She, nevertheless, had approached me and ordered me to find and catch the prophet. This alone was more than sufficiently strange.

“…I see.” So it seemed my reasoning—half guesswork—was not totally off the mark. “That’s weird. And here I thought I had cleverly disguised myself… But you found me out.”

“It wasn’t much of a disguise if all I needed to do to uncover you was visit the Department of Public Safety.” Though I’m certain Anemone could see this turn of events.

Since she can see the future, she must have known from the beginning that her lie would be discovered.

“Will you tell me about yourself?”

“……” Anemone answered me with silence, but her expression bore no trace of clouds. She, in fact, looked the sunniest she had.

“You’ve heard everything about my life up until now. In return, I will listen to everything about you. On top of that, I’m going to write about you in my journal, so prepare yourself…”

After keeping silent for a long time, Anemone said, “…All right. You should mentally prepare yourself, Elaina, and listen.”

She placed a hand on her chest and sucked in a deep breath. She looked like she was trying desperately to quiet a beating heart or about to confess her love.

Finally, she fixed her gaze on me.

She stared at me with her beautiful eyes, as she always did when she badgered me for my stories.

“I’ve been yearning for you long before we met—I think.”

And then, Anemone told me the story of her life.

Let us unravel the workings of time using a broom as our model.

If we take its handle to represent the past, then the cord tying the brush end is the present. The brush head, which branches out and separates, we’ll call the future.

Anemone told me that from the time she was a small child, she had always vaguely been able to see things that had not happened yet. She said that, in the same way as scenes from the past might unexpectedly float up in the mind, she saw scenes from the future. She did not herself understand why she had this ability. But she, being able to see the future, came to walk a different path in life from others.

When she was very young, she envisioned her parents going their separate ways, several years down the road. No matter how hard she tried to avoid it, she always saw her father and mother living in independent houses in the future.

She was understandably saddened, and not wanting to stay and watch the future play out, she ran away from home.

After that, she passed through all kinds of countries.

Sometimes, she would imitate a fortune-teller and make money by guessing the futures of passersby. Sometimes, she would try giving advice to the monarchs of certain countries.

Unlike me, Anemone possessed real powers, revered by the people wherever she visited. However, she never stayed in any one place for long, and she never got close to anyone.

Unfortunately for her, she could see the future.

She knew that if she were to remain in one place and continue to tell others her prophecies, then she would come to be treated not as a human, but as something akin to a god. She knew also that if she formed relationships with people, then she would arrive at a future where they split up and became estranged.

Because she could see the future, she lost touch with the rest of the world. She was afraid to build a relationship with anyone. However, she could not ignore her fatalistic visions, and so, as she moved from place to place, she discovered a way to share her predictions.

She would become a prophet to whom no one was grateful.

That was a very simple thing to do. She would appear unexpectedly around town, deliver an unfortunate prediction, then disappear.

She knew that this tactic would allow her to avoid the worst-case scenarios. At the same time, she knew that people would come to hate her. By doing this, she would completely destroy any chance she might ever have at a normal relationship.

“I can see the future that lies ahead, I suppose. I will continue giving dire predictions, and everyone will hate me. I think I can see such a future clearly.”

She spoke matter-of-factly, with a detached affect.

“……”

Was she fixated on bad outcomes because she could see the future? Was that why she’d become so pessimistic?

“…I could have kept on living that way forever. But you were the one person I wanted to meet, Elaina. Just once was enough, but I wanted to hear your many stories, I suppose.”

“…Why is that? If you can see the future, why should you need to hear them from me? Shouldn’t you know how they all turned out?”

She shook her head at my question. Her blue hair, tied up in a single bunch behind her head, gently swished through the air.

“You could say I can only see flashes of the future, momentary glimpses, I suppose. I can’t see the whole picture at once.”

I hate to bring it up again, but Anemone spoke in a way that lacked conviction, even though she could technically see the future.

I was squinting at her, and she smiled, looking embarrassed.

“My visions were never precise enough to see the details of your stories, but ever since you started appearing before me long ago, you’ve always looked so happy recounting them to me. For someone like me, who’s only lurked in the dark, your stories were so bright—blindingly so—and happy…I suppose.”

“……”

“I made all sorts of preparations to meet you, I suppose. I stayed longer than usual in this country, became the target of a police investigation, even stole a uniform from the Department of Public Safety, all to meet you.”

“…And then you threatened me and made me tell you stories, huh.”

Anemone nodded.

What’s going on here? I thought. I didn’t think the stories of my travels were such a big deal. They’re very boring, nothing but a way to pass the time. Silly little stories, seriously.

“…You’re a dummy. A big dummy,” I managed to say with the utmost sincerity, voicing the emotions smoldering inside me.

“I can be a dummy, I suppose. Since I got to meet you.”

“…Oh yeah?”

I didn’t try to console her or anything. I had no reason to speak self-importantly and didn’t even have the standing to do so in the first place. I was just a traveler who frankly stated the facts of what happened.

And I might lie on occasion.

“Anemone.” I said, “If you can see the future, naturally you must know what is going to happen next, right?”

Without hesitation, she nodded just once, as if she had known I was going to say that. “You will run out of patience with me and leave today—I suppose. I will cry as I see you off and continue to prophesize doom, I suppose.”

As she was saying this, I wondered if the future she had predicted for herself had, in fact, become a reality.

“…You really are a dummy, aren’t you? A big dummy.”

Sure enough, I did leave her house that day.

Somewhere, there was a girl who possessed a mysterious power.

This peculiar individual, head always concealed by a hood pulled down, showed no one her face. She could, to put it clearly and concisely, see the future.

Exactly how long she had been endowed with such a power was not for others to know, but she could see things—the futures of countries, of individuals, of it all.

However, the girl with the mysterious power did not seem inclined to put it to any good use. Maybe she had a cruel heart. Or perhaps she simply hated other people.

“Tomorrow, you will—”

On the morning that the traveler left, she paid a visit to the city.

The people there surrounded this girl at a distance and stared at her, avoiding her as they went about their daily lives.

But the people of the city knew something.

In fact, they had known for a long time.

They knew she was not a bad person.

“I don’t know when it was that I first had my doubts—but we have had them for quite a while now.” Those were the words that the governor muttered as she was writing the letter of introduction for me.

Sighing, she dispelled the sense of discomfort I had been feeling this whole time. “I definitely don’t think she’s a bad person. Though she does appear to be very skilled at lying.”

Frankly, telling fortunes that are guaranteed to be true was certainly not an evil act in itself, no matter how unlucky or disturbing those fortunes may be.

“Is that because when you’re given a bad prediction, you can try to prepare for the bad events that might occur in said future?”

She nodded at me. “A short while after she arrived here, many people did just that. All the people who met with her would heed her warnings, and though they still met with misfortune, they avoided the very worst of it.”

Come to think of it, the people of this country are all awfully gullible when it comes to fortune-telling. It had crossed my mind on the first day I had arrived here.

“So even a bad future is better to know than not… Is that it?”

“That’s right.” The governor nodded. “And I’m sure that, although she can see what was yet to come, our prophet has great difficulty seeing what’s right before her eyes,” she replied.

I knew the governor could not be the only one thinking that. Most of the people living in this city must have been on the same page.

“If I could meet her, I’d like to tell her that if you don’t watch your feet, you’ll trip.”

The governor was gazing out the window.

The other side opened out to the city—undisturbed as always.

The reason the people of Laurent City were searching for the prophet was simply because they wanted to thank her for continuing to help them avoid the worst disasters.

When she made her predictions, the targets did certainly meet with misfortune. However, at the same time, they knew that if they hadn’t heeded her prophecy, something even worse would have transpired.

During my investigation, I had felt uneasy about something. Surely that was it. When we had caught the robbers who’d forced their way into the city official’s house, the official had thanked the prophet, even though I had been the one to freeze their hands.

The governor had instructed the Department of Public Safety to investigate the true identity of the prophet only because she wanted to present her with a certificate of gratitude.

That’s simply all it was.

I can actually bring this story to a finish with just one simple statement.

“In short, this is just a story about a prophet who kept predicting people’s misfortunes but was the most unfortunate of them all.”

Her own future had faded to gray, because she was so pessimistic.

That’s all this story is about.

“…You’re wrong. Elaina…I’m…” Anemone was in visible dismay.

“This is the truth. No, really. Can’t you see a future where you can live honestly among the people of the city?”

She shook her head slowly.

Come on now. Don’t lie.

“You’re just averting your eyes. You’ve decided arbitrarily that such a future is impossible. You’re supposed to be seeing it. You just don’t have the courage to walk toward it.”

“…You’re wrong, I suppose.”

“I suppose I’m not.”

I had been running around, investigating, carrying all these preconceived notions about what kind of person the prophet might be, but she actually wasn’t much of anything. She was just an ordinary girl.

“There’s no more need for you to hide yourself. The people of this city know all about you and understand your suffering, and they want to face it with you.”

“……” Her lips were trembling.

Her fingertips, which had been extended toward me, moved to cover her mouth. Her legs had been staggering toward me in bewilderment, but now, they buckled under her.

“I’m sure it must have been painful to continue predicting people’s misfortunes. I’m sure that always looking over your shoulder must have cramped your neck. But you can look forward now,” I said to her.

For a few moments, no words passed between us.

Then, I heard the faint sound of sobbing.

“That’s right…I…really was…a dummy…I suppose…”

There’s no question there. “A big dummy,” I clarified.

Her prediction that I would leave had, sure enough, come true.

She was crying, and I was going to depart the house. She had been right about that.

The only thing that had been wrong about her predictions was that she had been viewing the world from the wrong angle. I didn’t think such misunderstandings would happen any longer.

“…What kind of future can you see now?” I asked.

She looked up and smiled slightly.

“Because of you, Elaina—I can’t see anything at all.”

A single tear fell from her closed eyes.