A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 359

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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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[Hey.]
“Yes?”
[Run. Now.]
“What do you mean all of a sudden?”
Sena, who had been preparing for her first class, widened her eyes at Rube’s sudden voice. Run away? Just like that?
[It’s a sacred relic.]
“A sacred relic? What do you—”
[I can sense its aura! That faint feeling I had last time wasn’t a mistake after all.]
Rube’s voice trembled with an uncharacteristic panic that came through crystal clear.
“What kind of sacred relic?”
[One that resurrects the dead.]
“…Again?”
Sena’s brow furrowed slightly. First, a sacred relic that transformed the bodies of the elderly and infirm into youthful, vibrant flesh had thrown the world into chaos for a time. Now another one that could raise the dead?
“If such a relic exists, why would they bother stealing other people’s bodies?”
They could have lived their entire lives without possessing anyone else’s body, never dying.
Of course, it wouldn’t have been a young and healthy body, but wouldn’t it still be better to live one’s whole life in one’s own form?
[Because resurrecting a single person required the lives of countless others. And worse—the lives of children.]
“…Children?”
[To resurrect one person required so many… no, so many children as material that it was far more efficient to simply steal a young body and live a new life.]
Resurrecting a single life demanded the lives of dozens, hundreds of young and innocent souls. Knowing such inefficiency, no one had ever used that relic.
[This is no time to dawdle! Escape before your life force is completely drained!]
She bolted upright.
Only then did Sena spring from her seat with desperate speed.
“What about the others?”
[There’s no time to explain or convince them. Just run—now!]
“I need to find Rio. I have to warn him.”
[What? There’s no time for that!]
Rube tried frantically to stop Sena from leaving, but her pace only quickened as she bolted from the classroom.
* * *
“Bird, did you come to play with me again today?”
[No! Why would I play with you? Do I look like I have time to play with you? I am the great Shinsu!]
“Should we sing together again?”
[No, absolutely not!]
“I thought you’d like it, so I brought an apple. You enjoyed it last time.”
[…An apple?]
Zetti had come to Rio’s classroom again—not to play, but to check in. His eyes gleamed at the sight of the apple the boy produced from his bag.
[Well, hand one over then.]
Zetti, perched on Rio’s shoulder, immediately flew toward the hand holding the apple.
[…Huh?]
But Zetti’s gaze suddenly shifted toward the window, and his eyes transformed in an instant—fierce and predatory.
“Huh? Look at that!”
“Black fog.”
“Wow, how strange.”
At one child’s cry, the others in the classroom rushed toward the window in unison.
[Everyone, step back!]
Whoosh!
Zetti’s body swelled to enormous size in an instant.
“Aaaah!”
“What, what is this!”
“Kyaaaah!”
Zetti shot toward the window and spun in a circle, sweeping the children away from it in seconds.
Some of the children tumbled to the ground, but Zetti had no time to concern himself with that.
[What in the world is this….]
The black fog crept slowly through the window cracks, beginning to seep into the classroom.
Whoosh!
Zetti summoned his power. Massive flames erupted from the window, and the black fog recoiled hesitantly.
[Tch, what exactly is that thing.]
But soon the black fog seeped back into the classroom.
Zetti continued to conjure flames, but it was only temporary.
“Bird, what is that? Is it something bad?”
[You stay right behind me.]
With that instruction, Zetti summoned flames once more.
* * *
“What in the world is happening inside?”
“Where are the Priesthood?”
“They’ll arrive shortly.”
Countless people were gathering at the Academy. Yet no one could easily enter.
The black fog blanketing the Academy refused entry to anyone.
“Grrgh!”
Soldiers continued attempting to push through, but the black fog swallowed them whole and spat them back out.
Those ejected were covered entirely in blood, as if something had torn them to shreds.
“….”
There was one who watched this scene quietly from afar—a man in a deep gray robe.
Standing atop the Bell Tower overlooking the Academy, he wore an expression of barely concealed anxiety.
‘It will succeed, won’t it?’
My dear Remy will come back to life, won’t she? No—she absolutely will. The man clenched his fists.
“Is it you?”
“…!”
But at that moment, someone appeared silently beside him.
“Did you do this?”
The man who turned toward the sound—Maian—couldn’t hide the tension in his eyes at the appearance of this stranger.
“Hmm, are my ears not working well in this life? Do I need to ask again? That black fog—did you do it?”
It was Jainer, displaying an easy smile as though the urgent situation surrounding him had nothing whatsoever to do with him.
“Who are you?”
Wait, his face looks rather familiar. I think we attended some classes together at the Academy long ago? Though we’ve never properly spoken.
“Answering a question with another question isn’t very polite, you know.”
Jainer chuckled softly and stepped closer to Maian. Maian’s wariness only deepened at the approach.
“As for who I am, I’m someone who came on a request?”
“A request?”
“Someone asked me to find you.”
Jainer gazed intently at Maian, whose appearance had grown far more gaunt than he remembered.
Had it always been like this? After he died, that is. Jainer, who had never lived through such times before, felt an odd emotion stirring at the sight of his old friend’s transformation.
“So you bribed someone from the Imperial Court and used a stolen sacred relic to do all this?”
“…!”
As it became clear that Jainer knew everything Maian had done all this time, his eyes wavered dramatically.
“Does that sacred relic perhaps bring your dead daughter back to life?”
“How could you possibly know that…?”
Jainer clicked his tongue lightly as he faced the hardened expression on Maian’s face.
Following Maian’s movements at Camilla’s request, Jainer had even discovered that he’d bribed someone from the Imperial Court to steal a sacred relic.
Though he couldn’t determine the relic’s exact effects, the mere fact that it belonged to the Eba Cult led Jainer to suspect it might somehow be connected to Maian’s dead daughter.
‘He said everything changed after his daughter died.’
He’d closed his shop and disappeared suddenly—it all started after the child’s death. And the last place his trail led was here, the Academy.
“Why not stop this while you still can?”
Jainer gestured toward the Academy, where the black fog grew increasingly dense.
“…I can’t. No, even if I could, I won’t!”
Maian was resolute.
“If I stop this, my daughter… my daughter…”
Jainer clicked his tongue lightly once more.
Those weren’t the eyes he remembered—the eyes that had once shown interest in new things and burned with passion for knowledge.
Meeting Maian’s half-crazed gaze, Jainer lowered his head slightly.
“You’ll regret it.”
“Even if you kill me, I won’t stop…”
“No, no. Not me, but…”
Jainer’s gaze shifted downward.
“Someone else might beat you instead.”
With very sharp heels, at that.
“What?”
“She’s here.”
Jainer’s eyes crinkled with amusement. In his gaze, the figure of Camilla, who had just arrived at the Academy’s entrance, came into view.

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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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