D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 180

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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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Side Story 2-2
“Natalia Constellation? I am Franson de Germain.”
“Ah, yes.”
Tasha nodded perfunctorily while organizing hundreds of tentacles.
Her demeanor suggested she had no interest whatsoever in why Franson had suddenly sought her out.
And for good reason—hundreds of Constellations visited her chamber daily, all seeking her knowledge.
“Hmm… Are you busy?”
“Not particularly. But you came here to ask something, didn’t you? If you have a question, just ask quickly so the next Constellation doesn’t fall behind.”
Tasha waved one tentacle toward the long queue of Constellations lined up behind him.
It had been over two hundred years since her chamber had become a makeshift consultation office.
At this point, it would feel strange if someone weren’t waiting in line.
“What? I didn’t actually come here to ask anything in particular.”
Yet Franson’s expression betrayed his bewilderment.
His eyes darted about as if wondering why he was being treated as though he should have a question.
Tasha found herself equally perplexed.
So he had simply stood in line without knowing what it was for, walked in, and greeted her?
“This line is typically for those who have questions for me. If you have nothing to ask, you’ve simply wasted your time.”
The Constellation of Solitary Knowledge’s Prodigy was remarkably defensive about interacting or conversing with other Constellations.
As if questioning why she should exhaust herself with such tedious matters.
A cold demeanor that neither welcomed incoming visitors nor detained departing ones.
Had she been a client, this attitude would have rapidly eroded the favor of other Constellations, but Tasha was a Constellation herself.
Thus, her manner of efficiently dispatching business and sending visitors on their way actually attracted popularity.
“When would you have some free time, then?”
Yet Franson found this cold attitude rather disagreeable.
Despite his negligence of his duties, he possessed an innate gentleness and genuinely enjoyed empathizing with others.
Whenever he heard of others’ difficulties, he would become more excited than they were, and he had often needed to restrain himself.
“Free time, you say…?”
“Just time to have a conversation. Surely you haven’t spent years standing here answering questions without pause.”
“Actually, I have.”
To Franson, such an attitude was genuinely astonishing.
So she had answered Constellations’ questions for hundreds of years without rest.
Even the sages from his own world would grow exhausted after talking all day.
“Doesn’t it tire you?”
“It’s more like a search function, so there’s nothing tiring about it.”
“If it were me, I’d be so exhausted I’d eat some bread…”
“What bread?”
At Tasha’s question, Franson’s expression became peculiar.
His face bore the shock of someone hearing such a remark for the first time in his life.
At Franson’s reaction, Tasha herself seemed to sense a subtle oddity.
“Since there are many Constellations waiting, let’s discuss bread another time.”
“Ah….”
“I’ll block things for a moment once I’ve heard enough questions, so just come by then. I’ll send you a separate message with the details.”
Tasha, having filed away information about Franson de Germain in her mind, issued the dismissal.
She thought it was amusing that there existed a Constellation who would travel all this way just to exchange greetings—truly, Sungdo housed every conceivable type.
Franson himself was momentarily dizzy, encountering a Constellation with inclinations he’d never witnessed before in his entire existence.
‘What’s this line for?’
‘Oh, just someone who answers all sorts of questions…. It’s like a divination parlor. But the fortunes are incredibly accurate. People say to come here if you’re troubled.’
‘Ah, I see.’
‘Honestly, I’m not entirely sure either. Everyone was standing in line, so I just joined in.’
Hearing such an explanation and thinking it sounded entertaining, I had lined up as well.
Though Constellations ahead and behind me grew weary and abandoned the queue, or departed due to clients, I remained undeterred.
Since becoming a Constellation, I had deliberately lived as a vagrant, lacking confidence in my ability to take responsibility for someone’s life.
Had my one-time client not ended their life by suicide, I likely would never have stood in such a line.
For certain individuals to become friends, the flow of stars must align countless timings under the guise of coincidence.
I believed my meeting with Tasha was precisely such an occurrence.
* * *
[ Natalia: Do you have a moment now? Would you mind coming to my room? ]
[ Natalia: Or I can come to you. If you’ve lost the desire to talk, feel free to ignore this. ]
It was an attitude of: you’ve sought me out, so I’ll extend the courtesy you deserve, though I’m not particularly curious.
I understand now that such understated composure stemmed not from genuine indifference to the other party, but back then, Franson had been quite wounded by it.
[ Franson: … ]
[ Franson: Come over ]
Normally, I would have rushed over immediately saying I was on my way, but my pride had been a bit stung.
Afterward, I worried somewhat whether I’d been too demanding of the Constellation.
Here I was, the one who should have been going to meet her, yet I’d let my feelings get hurt and told this unfamiliar Constellation to come and go as I pleased.
Such self-recrimination continued until Tasha arrived at my room.
“Constellation Germain.”
“Ah, Constellation Natalia.”
“We were supposed to discuss bread eaten when one is struggling. Before coming, I examined your world somewhat, and it seems there isn’t a particular cultural bread meant to soothe hardship.”
“No, that’s just…. Shouldn’t the focus be on the hardship itself, not the bread, when someone says they ate bread because they were struggling?”
I completely forgot what I’d originally intended to say and spoke with irritation.
What did bread matter when the other person was suffering!
“If someone said Constellation Natalia drank tea because she was struggling, how would you feel if they asked what kind of tea it was?”
“They must have been curious about what tea I drank. I suppose I would have thought about it and told them what kind it was.”
“….”
Wrong!
This Constellation before me operated on an entirely different cognitive framework than I did.
“Did I give another incorrect answer?”
Tasha carefully observed Franson’s expression.
The look of astonishment seemed to express surprise at some action of hers, but she couldn’t quite discern which one.
I simply answered when he asked for my opinion.
“I actually lined up because Natalia Constellation is said to be a fortune teller. I heard that when you ask her a question, she gives a surprisingly accurate answer.”
“Well… unlike fortune telling, I do answer based on truth, but…”
So that rumor had spread.
An interesting assessment of myself. Tasha filed it away in her mind.
Public opinion always offered fresh perspectives, so she thought it might be worthwhile to collect such views regularly.
“Then, if I were actually a fortune teller, what would you have wanted to ask?”
Tasha leaned casually against the doorframe.
If it was something she could answer by listening to the question, she was willing to share.
Having heard this new assessment of herself as a fortune teller, she was inwardly satisfied that today’s visit hadn’t been entirely fruitless.
“Ah, but this isn’t really related to truth…”
“Go ahead and speak. I might be able to resolve it anyway.”
Franson hesitated for a long time.
Fortune telling had a superstitious quality—if an unpleasant result came up, one could simply dismiss it as unease and move on.
But this Constellation seemed like she would reveal truly painful truths or objective facts, and he was already afraid.
‘Or is it better for me to hear a new answer at this opportunity?’
Unable to reach a conclusion even within himself, he wavered—until he finally lifted his head with resolve.
Yes, I’ve lived over a thousand years. Surely I won’t be wounded by every word a Constellation speaks!
“I just wanted to know if my choice was right in my world where I ultimately developed the cure…”
“Well, you could say the timing was late since you negligently delayed making a cure you could have created earlier.”
“…”
“However, the choice to create the cure itself was the right action. The immense karma that made you a Constellation proves it.”
Wounded… I was wounded.

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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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