Amidst the thin mist, a beautiful woman dressed as a man walked forward slowly.
This so-called “Amusement Area” was made up of a series of small tents.
In front of each tent stood a small signboard, listing the entertainment activities inside.
There were quite a few people here, and among those in the Circus… their expressions were clearly much softer.
At the very least, no one here looked particularly angry.
But… Ileya didn’t pay attention to any of this, nor did she even bother fulfilling her purpose for coming here—to look for that fool.
Her gaze merely swept across the rows of signboards, scanning the names written on them.
Just as it said in [Tip Eight], there were many projects here for visitors to choose from.
However, after a round of looking, the Lady still didn’t find what she was seeking.
She stood still, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Then she glanced to the side… at the Clown surrounded by a dozen or so people.
The Clown’s face was painted in a riot of colors, his smile genuine and joyful as he tossed four small balls into the air, catching them and striking various comical poses, drawing peals of laughter from the crowd.
This was an interactive Clown in the Amusement Area.
If you encountered a Second-Payment Project, you were supposed to notify the Clown.
In other words, the Clown was unable to see the project that required a second payment.
That’s right, what the Lady was searching for now was that so-called “Second-Payment Project.”
Because in all the [Tips], things you shouldn’t do were always stated in the form of a [Warning], or in stern terms to alert the reader.
Except for [Tip Nine]. This tip also mentioned something not to do… but there was no warning, merely an instruction to find the Clown if you saw a paid project.
Was it because this matter wasn’t serious?
No… quite the opposite, Ileya believed this was the only thing that truly required the attention of “Official Personnel.”
For those people, this was the most serious matter.
And if something was bad for the enemy, then it was the best thing for herself~
That was why Ileya was here.
“Found it…”
Very quickly, she found what she was looking for in the Clown’s blind spot.
It was a modest tent, with a sign at the entrance that read…
“Divination, ten copper coins per session”
Hoo! There was nothing to hesitate about. Ileya lifted the curtain and walked in.
Instantly, the dim light made it hard for the Lady’s eyes to adjust.
She could only see little points of starlight scattered within the tent.
Looking closer, they appeared to be ceiling decorations imitating the starry sky, while the floor was etched with strange symbols that seemed purely decorative.
Amidst an air of ancient mystery… was a faint sense of cheapness.
As her vision slowly recovered, Ileya saw a table set near the back of the tent.
On it rested only an incense burner, with smoke drifting lazily upward.
Behind the table sat a figure entirely wrapped in a deep blue starry cloak.
“Good evening, beautiful lady…”
Perhaps noticing the gaze of the beautiful woman dressed as a man, the cloaked figure—seemingly the Fortune Teller—greeted Ileya with a chuckle in their voice.
Their voice was strange, neither distinctly male nor female…
The only thing certain was that it sounded young.
“I’ve heard that in this Circus, there aren’t supposed to be any Second-Payment Projects… So what’s going on with you?”
Yet the beautiful woman in front of them did not answer the greeting… She simply lifted her waist with one hand, holding her staff in the other, and asked softly.
“Hehehe, you probably already know the truth, don’t you?”
The Fortune Teller replied with a smile.
“Since you could find your way here so calmly, it means you’ve noticed… that I’m different from the others, right?”
“Heh…”
Facing the other’s reply, the Lady merely curled her lips in a smirk, as if agreeing with the statement, and stepped forward to sit opposite the Fortune Teller.
“By the way, you sit here in the Amusement Area, your sign clearly stating you charge money… Aren’t you afraid that Clown will come after you?”
“No worries, it can’t read.”
This answer left Ileya silent for a moment.
A rather good reason.
“So… what exactly are you all? What’s your purpose?”
“That… I cannot say.”
The Fortune Teller replied to Ileya’s blunt question with equal straightforwardness.
“I am a Fortune Teller, not an information broker… If you’re here for a reading, ten copper coins per session.”
Ding~
With a crisp sound, a golden coin drew an arc through the air and landed on the table in front of the Fortune Teller.
“Sorry, I don’t have small change~”
The scene fell silent for a moment before the Fortune Teller slowly spoke again.
“What would you like to divine?”
Ileya thought for two seconds…
“Will our journey this time go smoothly?”
This was, in a roundabout way, asking whether this trip to the Circus would be dangerous.
The Fortune Teller didn’t answer right away. Instead, with impressive professionalism, they took a deck of cards from within their cloak.
Huh? Shouldn’t it be… a crystal ball or something?
“This time… we’ll use Tarot for divination.”
The Fortune Teller spoke as they pushed the Tarot deck toward Ileya.
Their hands… were revealed to Ileya at that moment.
Those were… hands covered in “patches.”
It was as if the skin of different people had been sewn onto someone who had none… Fine stitches covered them everywhere.
These corpse-stitched hands began shuffling the cards skillfully and asked once more.
“Speak the matter you wish to divine… Of course, the reading can only concern yourself.”
“Then, will my journey go smoothly?”
Jingling…
As she finished, the starry decorations above seemed to sway gently in unison.
That clear sound, mingling with the faint fragrance from the incense burner in the tent, made Ileya feel her spirit had been cleansed.
In that instant, she felt an unprecedented peace and serenity.
Hoo… At this moment, the Tarot cards were already laid out by the Fortune Teller in a spread.
Three in front, five in the middle, eight behind, seemingly corresponding to the development of this World.
But Ileya, the unlearned Lady of embroidery, clearly couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
“You may choose a card.”
As the Fortune Teller made an inviting gesture… Ileya slowly reached out and touched the card in the very center.
She flipped it over.
On its face was a goddess… A golden-haired goddess standing before a white doorway, reaching her hands out toward the observer outside the card.
“Upright [World].”
The Fortune Teller’s voice sounded again, this time with a note of laughter.
“The Victory Goddess welcomes you before the gate of success, signifying you will solve problems perfectly and fulfill your mission… Congratulations.”
Ileya was not at all surprised by this result.
Besides the fact that she never planned for failure from the start…
More importantly, she didn’t trust this so-called “Fortune Teller” in front of her at all.
Or rather… aside from herself, the Lady rarely trusted anyone else.
So… no matter what the result of the divination was, Ileya didn’t care.
She would still proceed according to her own will.
However… given the chance, there was one more thing Ileya wanted to ask.
“For the next question, what fate awaits me in the future?”