A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 317

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[A favor? You’re asking us for a favor? How dare you make such a request of us?]
[Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable! You think you can command us to work?]
[Do you truly believe we are the sort of beings who simply obey human orders?]
[Silence.]
[….]
[….]
[….]
The three dragons, who had been shrieking moments before, fell utterly silent at Aislah’s quiet command.
[What sort of favor are we discussing?]
[Is it urgent?]
“Yes, it is urgent.”
Thump!
I nodded and placed something across the table in front of them.
“I need you to find a person.”
It was a photograph—a portrait sketch that someone had drawn and captured.
‘Isn’t it true that you draw the best portraits at our Academy?’
‘Pardon? Well, my grades are the highest, but….’
‘Let’s create a composite sketch—no, a portrait of someone.’
‘A portrait? Of whom…?’
‘I’ll describe him to you. Would you mind drawing him? I’ll make sure you’re properly compensated.’
And so I had completed a composite sketch—of the man from the memories of the child who had come to curse me.
A man in his early thirties with an unremarkable, pleasant appearance. His features were utterly ordinary—the kind of face one might pass on the street without a second glance.
‘Indeed, one cannot judge a person by appearance alone.’
Who would ever suspect such a face belonged to someone who had starved a child to death?
In any case, having completed the composite sketch, I resolved to deploy every resource at my disposal.
I naturally informed my butler Rube and submitted a request to Jainer, the head of the Assassination Organization. I mobilized every information network I could access.
Inevitably, word of my search would reach Duke Sorpel and others, but I cared not.
‘I must find him before more victims fall.’
This man killed children to harness their power for himself. It would not end with just one.
Perhaps countless others were dying even now.
‘Could these recent disappearances be connected…?’
It was a suspicion that naturally arose. Had I not witnessed it with my own eyes recently?
Children vanishing, soldiers patrolling the streets in response to the disappearances.
The connection between missing children and a curse wielded by the spirit of a dead child was impossible to ignore.
“Please find the man in this photograph.”
I decided to seek aid from the spirits and ghosts as well. They were far better suited to searching places humans could not easily reach.
‘Their mobility is exceptional too.’
I sensed that the power of those nature-aligned Spirit Kings would prove invaluable in locating this man.
After all, there was a saying in the texts: there exists no place in this world without spirits.
[Who is this man?]
“The one who sent that child back then.”
[That child? Ah….]
Zeno stared intently at the portrait in the photograph with renewed interest. So the one who’d sent that disagreeable child I’d encountered was this man?
“Please, each of you take one.”
[How are we supposed to take a photograph? We’re dead… huh?]
Amy, who had been protesting against Camilla’s request to take the photographs, faltered. The moment Amy casually reached out to accept the photograph Camilla offered, the photograph actually became tangible in her hands!
[What? How is this possible?]
In exchange, the photograph Camilla had been holding turned black, and no image remained visible within it.
‘I can feed them, so why couldn’t I give them a photograph?’
Leaving the wide-eyed Amy behind, I distributed photographs bearing the man’s face to the others one by one.
“Do any of you know other spirits? If not, use this opportunity to expand your connections.”
I intended to enlist the help of as many spirits as possible to find that man as quickly as I could.
[The dead aren’t exactly the most cooperative sort. They’re not the type to search diligently just because you ask them to.]
“We should offer them terms.”
I nodded in agreement with Zeno’s suggestion. I understood this well enough myself.
Spirits weren’t beings who took much interest in matters unrelated to their own concerns.
“Tell them that whoever finds this man will receive one spirit released by me.”
…Damn it, did those words really just come from my mouth? Promising to release a spirit? Well, there’s no help for it. I need to find that man quickly.
[Oh! Really? I’m pretty good at spreading rumors, you know! Don’t worry! I know tons of people around here! Just trust me!]
Amy was the first to dash outside excitedly, clutching the photograph.
[My goodness, my goodness! How dare you ask a spirit king to do such a thing… So, what are you going to do for us?]
[That’s right, that’s right. What will you do for us?]
[We don’t have anything like that.]
“You all owe me a debt.”
[A debt? What debt?]
[We never made any such thing.]
Look at these spirits, pretending not to remember so casually.
“Aislah, I’m starting to miss winter again.”
[Just do it! Just do it!]
[This man? We just need to find this man, right?]
[Let the children go. The children!]
The three spirits hurriedly fled the spot as if escaping.
Aislah, who had been perched on my shoulder and watching her companions with some disdain, slowly took flight as well.
[Is this man bothering you?]
“You could say that.”
For reasons I don’t fully understand, he tried to curse me.
[If we find him, can I kill him?]
“…No.”
Sigh, still so extreme.
“Just identify his location for now. I’ll meet with him myself.”
There was something I wanted to ask.
‘Why on earth did they send that child to me?’
What grudge could they possibly hold against me? No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t deduce an answer. After all, it was clearly a face I’d never seen before.
‘Well, I’ll understand once we meet.’
I’d done everything I could, so now all that remained was to wait.
“…What on earth is all this?”
Moments later, Ravi, who had stopped by Camilla’s Room on business, discovered the blackened photographs stacked on the table and gasped in shock.
“What are these photos? Why are they all so dark?”
With the darkened photographs piled high, it was impossible not to find it unsettling.
“Why? Are you curious?”
Camilla’s expression turned enigmatic as she lifted the corners of her lips in a subtle smile.
“…No, I’m not curious.”
Ravi instinctively stepped back and shook his head vigorously. Could it be… what I’m thinking right now? Those are… spirit… spirit photographs…!
“These photographs are—”
“No, no! Don’t tell me!”
Ravi bolted from the room.
“Sigh.”
My brother is far too timid for his own good.
“He makes me want to tease him even more.”
Next time, I should take some genuine spirit photographs and give them to him as a gift.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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