Chapter 417 - Fool and Demon

Richard looked at the enthusiastic Divination Woman and raised an eyebrow. "Do you charge?" he asked."No, the divination is free," the woman shook her head.

"So... the divination is free, but explaining the cards is charged?"

The woman paused, then fell into a long silence.

After a while, she shook her head again, very certainly. "Both the divination and the explanation of the card meanings are free, all free."

"Is that so?" Richard squinted, feeling even more suspicious about the matter.

He never believed in a free lunch. The freer it was, the more costly it could be. If a free lunch were really delivered to his door, he’d have to be wary of what followed.

Richard pondered.

Seeing Richard’s hesitation, the woman asked, "Well, don’t you want it?"

"I think, I probably don’t need that kind of divination." After thinking for a moment, Richard spoke, looking the woman in the eye to gauge her reaction.

Her reaction was noticeably strong.

"You think you don’t need divination? How could that be!" the woman raised her voice, her tone full of drama. "Each and every one of us is like a lost sheep, wandering aimlessly in the river of fate, stumbling along without knowing where salvation lies. But divination can guide you, can light a lantern for you in the river of fate, can save you from detours and help you avoid pitfalls—it’s very important. Come, child, let’s do a divination. You won’t regret it."

"Uh..."

"What now?"

"If we are sheep, why would we walk in the river? And wouldn’t lighting a lantern in the water snuff it out?"

The woman was silent.

Because her face was obscured by black cloth, her expression was hidden, but her eyes widened, glaring with... a bit of a biting look.

"Whew—"

The woman under the Black Robe took a deep breath as if trying to calm herself down. She stared at Richard and said, "What I said was just a metaphor, a metaphor! In short, in a word, divination is very important for you, you must get one done!"

"Forget it," said Richard. "I don’t really believe in fate, so I truly don’t need divination."

Having said that, Richard stood up to leave.

The Divination Woman grew anxious, stretching out her hand from under the black robe to grab Richard’s clothes. "No, no! You can’t just go like this! There’s great danger for you right now, you must let me do a divination, you must!"

Richard stopped in his tracks. It would have been very easy for him to break free from the woman’s grasp without using any spell, given his strength. But he didn’t do so because he suddenly noticed that the hand grabbing his clothes was somewhat abnormal.

It was a delicate, white, and tender hand, as if it had just been fished out of milk. Logically, such hands should belong to a pampered young lady of rich and noble upbringing, not a woman in her forties or fifties.

Even constant care and ointment application couldn’t achieve such a degree.

What made Richard more suspicious was that as soon as his gaze fell on the woman’s hand, she quickly withdrew it into the robes as if she were wary. However, she did not give up entangling him and kept repeating, "You have to get a divination, you must!"

"I must get a divination?" Richard thought to himself. The next moment, he sat back down and looked at the Divination Woman. "Alright then, please do a divination for me."

Richard decided to see just what kind of medicine the Divination Woman was selling in her gourd.

At Richard’s words, the woman gave a slight start, and then let out a sigh of relief, her eyes showing a flicker of surprise. Settling back into her seat, she said, "Let’s begin then, I’ll teach you how to operate the Destiny Cards."

"No need, I’ll do it myself."

"Are you sure that’s okay, child?" The Divination Woman sounded somewhat distrusting, her tone very serious. "I must tell you that every step in handling the Destiny Cards is important. A mistake can seriously affect the final outcome, leading to incorrect information or even the complete opposite."

Richard answered with action.

Shuffling.

"Shuffle, shuffle..."

He placed the face-down Tarot Cards in his hands, took a portion from the middle and set them on top, and repeated this three times.

Then he spread the cards out on the table in a circle, shuffling them clockwise with both hands.

Shortly after, he gathered them back into the center, also clockwise, and restored them to a stack, placing them horizontally in front of him.

Shuffling complete.

Cutting the deck.

"Shuffle, shuffle..."

He swiftly picked up a portion of the horizontally stacked cards from the top and placed them closer to his body, dividing the stack in two.

Next, from the second stack, he took another portion and placed it farther away from his body, turning the two stacks into three in a ’three’ shape.

Then he picked up the first stack and placed it on top of the second, before stacking them on the original third stack, restoring them back to one stack.

Finally, he rotated the deck from horizontal back to vertical.

Cutting the deck complete.

The Divination Woman looked on at Richard’s actions, somewhat dazed. Not for any other reason than the fact that Richard’s movements were too smooth and capable, possessing an oddly aesthetic charm.

But this was divination! What use was skill and fluency? Sincerity was what mattered most!

During the divination process, one should constantly think about the question they wish to ask.

Yet Richard seemed anything but sincere.

He appeared to be treating the cards like a craftsman with tools.

As the Divination Woman thought this, Richard had already drawn a card from the deck, turned it over from left to right, and revealed its pattern.

Pushing it to the woman’s front, Richard said softly, "Alright, you can explain the card meaning now."

"Uh..." The Divination Woman returned to her senses, feeling a mix of emotions. She realized that Richard had taken control, doing everything that was and wasn’t supposed to be done, leaving her no chance to show her skills. It seemed all she could really do now was explain the card’s meaning.

So she would explain.

"Huff—"

The Divination Woman took another deep breath, steadying her emotions as she looked at the image on the card. She saw a young man depicted there.

Clad in fine clothes and adorned with a luxurious headdress, the man held a rose in his left hand and a wand in his right. Tied to the wand was a bundle representing all his worldly possessions, as if he was happily wandering.

At that moment, the man was walking at the edge of a cliff while a little dog bit at his foot fiercely, as if trying to prevent him from going any further.

The Fool!

This card is "The Fool" from the 22 Major Arcana cards in the Tarot Cards, numbered 0.

"0" signifies emptiness, representing nothingness but also immense potential. Within the Major Arcana, "The Fool" holds a very special place, said to be both the beginning and the end of everything, and open to countless interpretations.

After observing for a long time, the Divination Woman spoke to explain, "Child, this card very much reflects your current predicament. The figure on the card portrays some aspects of your situation:

See, walking at the edge of a cliff signifies that you’re embarking on an adventurous venture; carrying a bundle with a wand suggests that you are far from home; dressed in fine clothing and wearing a gorgeous headdress implies that you are confident about the future; but the little dog biting at your foot is a serious warning."

The Divination Woman looked at Richard, enchantingly proposing, "Child, your situation may seem safe but is actually fraught with danger, and you must heed the advice of your elders carefully to turn peril into safety. You are setting out on a voyage, aren’t you? I advise you not to act rashly in the coming days. It would be best to wait for an opportune moment to leave, so you won’t run into any trouble and have a smooth journey."

Richard asked the Divination Woman, "Then when would it be appropriate to leave?"

"I do not know that; only the Destiny Cards can tell you that," the Divination Woman said earnestly. "If you wish, I can perform a divination for you again in three days, and then you will know the answer. Of course, it will still be free of charge."

"Why does it have to be three days later?"

"Child, you must understand that interpreting card meanings requires a great deal of energy. Therefore, I need to wait at least three days before I can perform another divination. Do you understand?" the woman explained.

"If you can only perform divination once every three days, then you can only carry out seven or eight divinations in a month. Offering free divinations so casually, this ’enthusiastic’ and ’generous’ Divination Master not starving is a miracle in itself," Richard thought, feeling he had begun to guess the Divination Woman’s goal. That was to keep him from leaving the harbor within those three days.

"Are you trying to buy time, waiting for your accomplice to carry out some action?" Richard pondered to himself, looking at the Divination Woman, and then said, "That makes things a bit tricky. If there’s a ship, I might leave ahead of time; if there isn’t, I could wait until three days later."

"No, you must wait until after three days." The woman spoke loudly, like a bad actor in a hysterical proof of performance, "If you leave before three days are up, you will encounter many unimaginable things! You will..."

"Let’s do this," Richard interrupted the Divination Woman, "Actually, the reason I don’t want to wait three days is that I don’t trust you. After all, you are a stranger to me; I don’t know if you are kind-hearted or have ulterior motives."

The Divination Woman’s expression became slightly unnatural as she said, "Then how can I make you trust me?"

"Simple, since you are a Divination Master, then prove it with the simplest method—divination.

"But I told you, I can only perform another divination in three days."

"Don’t misunderstand, the divination I’m referring to is you asking, and I’ll interpret the card meanings. Although I’m not a professional Divination Master, I’m quite familiar with Tarot Cards—ahem, Destiny Cards—as you’ve seen from my handling earlier. How about it?" Richard said.

"This..." the Divination Woman hesitated.

Richard looked at her, patiently waiting for an answer.

After a long while, the Divination Woman couldn’t help but say, "Alright, I agree to the divination, but I hope you won’t misinterpret the card meanings. Each card of the Destiny Cards is shrouded in mystery and has a duality to it. Don’t let your inner biases speak the wrong messages."

"Then why was your earlier interpretation of the card so negative? If I remember correctly, ’The Fool’ tends to be more neutral; the positive interpretations even outnumber the negative ones," Richard said in a measured tone.

The woman fell silent as if she heard nothing and began shuffling the cards with her head down.

"Whoosh..."

The woman’s shuffling was clearly not as skilled or smooth as Richard’s, but she managed without any mistakes.

It wasn’t long before she had finished shuffling, and she began to cut the deck.

After cutting the deck, the woman finally drew a card.

"Turn it over," said Richard, "I hope it can reveal your identity."

"You shall have your wish," the woman replied. "I bear no malice toward you, and the Destiny Cards will prove my words."

After speaking, the woman turned over the card, and her expression changed instantly.

She revealed a card depicting a sneering Demon, with two Slaves chained at its feet.

The Demon Card!

This card didn’t need any special explanation; its meaning was clear enough—utterly negative!

Deceit, temptation, desire, greed, unspeakable acts, uncertain futures...

Richard looked at the woman with a faint smile: "Would you like to say anything?"

"I...I..." The woman was clearly flustered, her eyes flickering constantly. After a long pause, she tried to compose herself: "Child, as I said before, every card of the Destiny Cards is mysterious and dual-natured..."

"But yours is the Demon Card," Richard said seriously.

"That’s not the point; think about your own card—the Fool! The card portrays you walking on the edge of a cliff, you must be cautious!"

"Indeed I must, thank you for the reminder. But... yours is the Demon Card."

"Child, listen, I truly have no other intentions toward you, only..."

"Your card is the Demon Card," Richard reminded her, quite earnestly.

"I..." The Divination Woman seemed on the brink of madness, "Can we not keep mentioning the Demon Card? The Demon Card can’t prove everything, it surely doesn’t mean I am a bad person!"

"Then let’s not talk about the Demon Card," Richard said, changing his tone, and looked at the Divination Woman, "I’ve always been curious about your hands, they do not seem to match your age, would you be interested in telling me how that is so?"

"You!" The Divination Woman’s voice stalled, and her eyes widened, as if a sensitive spot had been touched, she burst out furiously the next moment, "What concern is my hands to you! Just mind your own eyes!"

"Well then..."

"Enough! Kid!" the Divination Woman shouted, "My patience has run out, do as you please, go out to sea whenever you like! But I must tell you, if you don’t heed my words, calamity will surely befall you, yes, Calamity will strike! Starting tonight!"

After that, the Divination Woman collected the cards on the table and hurried out of the tavern, looking somewhat disheveled in Richard’s eyes.

"Can’t keep up the act?" Richard muttered to himself, not taking it too seriously. He stood up, turned to the tavern keeper, and asked, "Innkeeper, is my room ready?"

"Second floor, last one on the left."

"Thank you." Richard nodded, glanced in the direction the Divination Woman had left, and went upstairs with Pandora. As he ascended, he mumbled to himself: "Calamity from tonight onwards? Hmm, any more tricks up your sleeve? Well, I’ll be waiting."