Chapter 534: Fortune Telling

“I’ll be heading out! There’s a marketplace really close to the inn, and I’ve been going there to get the groceries.”

Aoi said with a smile while putting on her shoes and preparing to leave with a summer dress on and a handbag over her shoulder.

She looked really lovely.

“Mmh, be safe out there.”

Kiernan put the dishes on the counter and turned to give Aoi a quick kiss on the cheek.

She smiled, like a young woman in love, and with a skip in her step, she left and closed the door behind her.

When the door closed with a bang, Kiernan put the dishes down, dried his hands on the towel, and headed to the vacant room.

‘I must finish the ceremony circle before she returns.’

Kiernan thought, and with a snap of his finger, the inventory opened up in front of him, and he pulled out a pen marker and stood on the desk.

In the ceiling, he drew a very interesting-looking circle—it wasn’t the same as the trade and teleportation ceremony circle—it was completely different.

When he was done drawing it, based on the instructions given by the Old King, a drawing of a half-closed eye was on the ceiling.

Kiernan hopped off the desk, stood under the half-closed eye, and made sure that he was standing in the center of the circle.

‘It’s a special kind of ceremony that will take every member of Martial Order straight to the Old King’s place, where the meeting will be held.

‘With this circle, he can also send us back to our respective homes once the meeting is over, so I don’t need to have Aoi help me with it, and I don’t need Old King to be on the other side doing the ceremony with me.

‘Teleportation Ceremony is so bothersome because of it, but apparently Old King has a way to make a gateway between two points of space.

“Also, I can’t tell Aoi what I am doing here. If I mention the Martial Order to her, I will die because of the God Contract.’

With the ceremony circle finished, Kiernan put a mat under the circle—it was for meditation—and when he was done with it, he left the room.

He finished the dishes and then went to sit down on the couch.

After pulling out the phone, he checked the Martial Order app, and saw that the meeting had been scheduled for tonight.

He already knew and, luckily, was able to reach Rodero in time, so he didn’t miss the first meeting of the Martial Order.

The meeting made him quite nervous, as he didn’t quite know what they were going to talk about.

…

In the crowded marketplace, with the scent of freshly baked bread wafting through the air, Aoi checked the selections on the meat stand.

There were chickens stabbed through the throat, their bodies hanging limply from hooks, and even a few pig heads displayed prominently.

“What do you want, miss?”

The butcher asked, looking at her with a wide grin that showed yellow teeth.

“I want two pounds of ground beef, please.”

Aoi said with an awkward smile, and the butcher turned to grab the meat—he stuffed it inside a brown paper bag and handed it to Aoi.

She took the brown paper bag, thanked him, and went to other stalls to get some vegetables, grains, and fruit.

When she was done with all that, she headed down the cobblestone street, and made her way back to the inn.

“Hey, young miss, do you want to have your fortune read?”

At that moment, an elderly woman said from the entrance of an alleyway, tucked between the inn and the local tavern.

She had a small knee-high table in front of her, with a stack of cards neatly piled, with one card facing upwards.

“How much?”

Aoi asked with a curious look.

“It’ll be free. I am doing this because I love it.”

The elderly woman took the cards, shuffled them, and smiled.

‘Nothing is really free, but I am curious.’

Aoi pushed her sunhat to cast a shadow across her beautiful face, and she nodded to give the elderly woman a confirmation to go for it.

With a smile on her face, the elderly woman put three cards on the table—the past card, present card, and future card.

“Which one do you want me to read for you first? Past, present, or future?”

She asked.

“Present…”

Aoi said.

The elderly woman flipped the present card over—it was a card of an angelic figure, hovering a few meters above the ground and holding a bouquet of flowers.

“The angel card presents joy, blessings, and harmony in your life. You’re pleased with your current life situation and know that good things are on the horizon.”

She said.

‘That… is true.’

Aoi’s eyes shook.

“Past or future?”

The elderly woman asked.

“Past.”

Aoi said, with more eagerness this time around and a twinkle in her eye.

The past card got flipped over—it was a card of two-faced smiling and frowning masks, torn in the middle by a crack.

“Your past was of sadness and joy—you have lost people and lost a part of yourself as well—but good things started to come your way just recently.”

She said.

‘I lost my parents, my voice, and my hearing, but all that sadness disappeared when he came into my life, and it’s been joy ever since…’

Aoi thought.

The elderly woman then flipped the future card—it was a card of dark clouds, but there was one ray of sunshine breaking through.

Aoi looked at the card with a bad feeling—it didn’t look good—and it made her heart sink.

“Your future looks bleak and dark—it doesn’t mean that something happens to you, but something will happen in your life that will put a dark cloud over your head.

“However, there is one ray of sun in that darkness, something that will be your driving force to keep pushing forward and never give up hope.”

The elderly woman said.

“How far away is that future?”

Aoi asked.

“I am not quite sure.”

“How long does that bleak future last? Can it change?”

Aoi asked with a frown.

“I do not know. I do not know how far that card will see your future.”

The elderly woman said.

With a frown, Aoi walked away with the handbag clutched tightly in her hand, entered the inn, and looked towards the elderly woman briefly.

She was creepily smiling at the air in front of her—not necessarily at Aoi—but at something invisible.