Chapter 58: Divination House

If you wanted information about the man in the black robe, there was only one place to go—the Divination House.

Just three simple characters: Divination House.

In the game, the Divination House served a few important functions.

One was as a place to review past events.

Another was to check the current progress of the Main Storyline and Heroine Route, and whether the future development had any problems.

Yes, as a galgame, “…Hero… Demon Lord…” did not provide a direct interface for affection points or route tracking.

Players had to find the Divination House somewhere in the Imperial Capital themselves to obtain that information.

This was also the part that made Liliane consider the game the worst.

Heaven only knew how many times she’d hit a Bad Ending or had to SL because she forgot to come here and check affection and route progress.

Each time a player entered the Divination House, they could pay a price to ask for a Main Story hint.

Liliane planned to use this hint to find that black-robed man or at least learn something related to him.

As for the price—in the game, it was drawing Tarot Cards, which revealed the current route’s status through the card faces.

This wasn’t much of a cost to Liliane.

After all, those cards could foresee the future.

She was genuinely curious about what cards she might draw.

The Divination House was located near Newbud Avenue, also called March Avenue.

When the Imperial Capital was first constructed, it was designed as a regular dodecagon, centered on the palace in the inner city, with twelve main avenues radiating outward, each named after a month and assigned specific functions accordingly.

However, as time passed and the capital expanded outward, the functional distinctions of the outer districts became less obvious.

Specialized streets selling particular items—like the Herbal House on Old Barton Street—only existed near the inner city.

Liliane and Eileen strolled along March Avenue, stopping and starting.

“Liliane, what are you looking for?”

“A street lamp.”

In the game, the method to enter the Divination House was quite peculiar.

At exactly noon—12 o’clock—on March Avenue, you had to find a street lamp that never lit up.

From that lamp, walk 42 steps east, then turn right and walk 24 steps to reach the Divination House.

Obviously, this was the developers’ idea of a cruel joke.

Just like ↑↑↓↓←→←→baba.

Fortunately, the developers had included this entrance method in the Tutorial, or else the game would’ve been even worse.

“Eileen, didn’t you want to buy some snacks? Why don’t you go first? I think I’ll need to keep looking a bit.”

“Oh, okay?” Eileen had wanted some snacks for a while and didn’t mind Liliane’s suggestion.

“Let’s meet back at this intersection later.”

“Alright.” Eileen waved and ran off in another direction.

Liliane muttered to herself as she searched, lamp by lamp.

Finally, when passing a street lamp, Liliane sensed something was off.

In an instant, it felt as if she passed through a thin membrane, and all sounds vanished.

This was it.

Liliane confirmed it.

She stood beneath the lamp, waiting for the church bells to strike noon.

Soon, the bell from the great cathedral in the inner city rang out.

Liliane faced the right direction and silently counted her steps.

“Forty-one.”

“Forty-two.”

The city’s noise faded, becoming distant and muffled, and the surroundings distorted.

Liliane turned right and walked forward slowly.

The gaps between the buildings on the street stretched and widened, as if trying to envelop her.

“Twenty-four.”

An ancient wooden door appeared before Liliane.

This was the place—the Divination House.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Ding-ling~

The Bell at the entrance chimed crisply.

Inside, the room was dim, with only faint light filtering through small windows, making the dust particles visible in the air.

Thick, heavy scrolls lay scattered everywhere, piled carelessly.

A faint scent of Incense—lavender, perhaps—lingered, calming the mood.

Liliane liked the atmosphere here.

Hearing the sound, a girl sitting behind the desk, wearing a wide-brimmed hat embroidered with the number “42,” looked up.

Her eyes locked onto Liliane, and she kept wiping a Crystal Ball in her hands.

“People who come here with a purpose like you are truly rare.”

Her voice was cold and clear.

“To receive a revelation, you must pay a price.”

What price?

The girl didn’t say.

Ordinary people would probably be scared off if they heard about the cost.

But Liliane understood.

Draw three cards to foresee fate—how was that a price?

The girl pulled out the Starry Tarot Deck and casually laid the cards on the table.

“Draw three.”

Following her intuition, Liliane randomly selected a few cards.

The other Tarot Cards gradually disappeared, leaving only three cards with indistinct faces.

Next was the interpretation phase.

Liliane felt a flicker of anticipation.

“What do you want to ask?” The girl gathered the cards and asked Liliane in a neutral tone.

Huh?

The interpretation phase?

As if sensing Liliane’s thoughts, the girl chuckled softly.

“The fate the cards reveal is only for those who harbor doubt in their hearts. Since you are so certain of the cards’ power, you naturally cannot hand the future back to yourself.”

“Ask your question silently,” she urged, her small hands caressing the Crystal Ball.

Hearing this, Liliane sighed helplessly and pictured the man in the black robe in her mind.

‘I want to know—who is he?’

The Crystal Ball’s light dimmed, then a surging darkness engulfed Liliane.

It felt like someone was strangling her throat; Liliane suddenly found it hard to breathe.

The darkness coiled around her body like sticky tentacles—cold and clammy.

Deep in her soul, uncontrollable thoughts began to surface, fragmented whispers ringing in her ears.

Click-clack, click-clack.

…It’s all meaningless…

…Reality is darkness… dead silence…

…Give up… dissolve… return…

Click-clack.

Click-clack.

Click…

“Liliane?”

“Mom?” Hearing her mother’s voice, Liliane jolted awake and turned around.

She was still in that dim little room.

At the door stood Eileen, looking somewhat shy, lightly scratching her cheek.

“Huh? Even for you, Liliane, calling me that is a bit much…”

Eileen lowered her head, blushing. “If you like it, it’s not impossible…”

Liliane’s breath was a little rapid, her back soaked with cold sweat, as if everything that had just happened was a hallucination.

Whenever she thought back to that moment…

An indescribable nausea flooded her mind.

“It’s over. Nothing’s wrong. Please leave now.”

The girl behind the desk remained cold and indifferent, seemingly unaffected.

“Thank you.”

Liliane nodded and pulled Eileen out of the place.

“Eileen, how did you find this place?”

“After buying my stuff, I saw you come here, so I followed,” Eileen answered matter-of-factly.

“Oh…” Liliane didn’t pay much attention. Her mind was still full of what had just happened.

【Consciousness EXP +5】

【Lv.1+ (5/100)】

【You understand this world more deeply】

The system’s prompt appeared.

If her guess was correct,

that man must be connected to the Evil God…

Tsk.

Inside the Divination House, the girl pulled the three Tarot Cards from her sleeve and placed them on the table.

The Tower (Reversed) would bring destruction to her, The Devil (Upright) would bind her, Strength (Reversed) would consume her desire, and meanwhile, she was still probing matters related to the Evil God.

Even with her broad experience, such an unlucky child was extremely rare.

And that last child who came in…

Truly interesting…