Is the conclusion drawn through divination absolute?
From a professional perspective, Rom could only give an ambiguous answer: Yes and no. It entirely depends on the diviner's ability. If the diviner is a genuinely learned and spiritually capable person, then the raw divination results will inevitably be further investigated and refined based on the esoteric clues they have already deduced. The result obtained in this way is basically accurate.
But clearly, Rom was not such a capable person. He was just a charlatan whose heart was blinded by the smell of money. Although he once studied under Granny Mitsue, only Rom himself knew how little "real talent" he actually possessed. Therefore, Rom had always regarded Granny Mitsue's old, traditional stubbornness as worthless. Since he had learned the psychological skills, what was the use of learning them if he didn't use these "abilities" to make a fortune?
But now...
His expression was completely blank as he stared at the cafe table.
'This... Is this actually possible...?' he thought, his breathing growing shallow. 'It shouldn't be...'
After a long, suffocating silence, Rom, unwilling to believe the terrifying web he had just woven, frantically drew the three tarot cards together again.
The Hierophant. Temperance. The Chariot.
He analyzed them using the concept of "Fate."
First, Miko Yotsuya's extremely bad luck leads her into mortal danger through misinformation. Second, Yukino Yukinoshita has a desire to help but possesses no power, forcing her into self-restraint and the abandonment of rescue. Third, Saeko Busujima violates the rules and resorts to violence to intervene, ultimately leading to a catastrophic failure that harms both herself and others.
He analyzed them using the theory of "Cause and Effect."
The First burdens the Second. The Second's inaction leads to the Third's involvement. And the Third's violent intervention physically harms the First and the Second.
He analyzed them using the theory of "Good and Bad Fortune."
Miko: Major misfortune. Yukino: A minor good fortune wrapped in a major misfortune. Saeko: A partial good fortune leading directly to a major misfortune.
Incredible. Absolutely incredible…
Rom was like a desperate gambler, sweating profusely, using all his accumulated, half-baked occult knowledge to analyze the divination from dozens of different angles and in different ways. But no matter which esoteric aspect of knowledge he applied, he could only arrive at the exact same, strikingly grim conclusion.
Miko Yotsuya is in lethal danger. Yukino Yukinoshita is powerless to help but remains safely uninvolved. And Saeko Busujima will violently intervene, ultimately dooming them all.
After trying the very last analytical method he knew and arriving at the exact same conclusion, Rom finally collapsed back into his booth seat, utterly exhausted.
He stared blankly at the colorful tarot cards on the table.
He had never felt that the tarot cards he was once so familiar with could be so alien, so terrifyingly alive. In fact, two people drawing tarot cards in a short period of time might unexpectedly encounter one or two similar, vague coincidences. That was basic probability. But the probability of three completely unrelated people drawing a perfectly interconnected, sequential karmic web was mathematically impossible. It wasn't a probability of tens or hundreds of percent. It decreased exponentially.
For three people to simultaneously meet all the interpretations and link their fates so perfectly... the probability was like being struck by lightning on a cloudless day.
There was almost no secular possibility of it.
And yet, this impossible possibility was right here in Rom's own hands...
Coming back to his senses, Rom was suddenly overcome with a suffocating, primal sense of fear.
He realized he was a hypocrite, much like Lord Ye in the old idiom who professed to love dragons but was terrified to death when a real one descended upon his house. Rom had always thought that what he had learned was merely a psychological tool for making money. But now, it seemed that the waters of the occult were as deep and lethal as an abyss...
'Is this real?' Rom was somewhat dazed. He was a professional charlatan, after all. But he had studied diligently under Granny Mitsue for years. Therefore, the more professional he was, the more he could feel the incredible, terrifying strangeness of this spread.
A perfect fit. An absolutely perfect karmic fit.
Everything he had cynically learned was being confirmed as reality at this very moment.
Splash—!
It started to rain.
The sudden torrential downpour against the cafe windows startled Rom from his trance. Cold sweat soaked the corners of his eyes, making them sting and difficult to keep open. His hands trembled violently. He wanted to touch this mathematically perfect tarot deck, but he was too afraid. He hesitated to touch the cards for a long time, terrified that his recklessness would somehow trigger the doomed divination.
Almost no one could empathize with his trembling, unless that person was also a professional who realized they had just peaked behind the curtain of the universe.
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something else. He abruptly turned his head, staring intently out the window in the direction Yukino and Miko had left.
'Something was wrong. Something was very wrong,' Rom thought, his eyes widening.
From the moment he had approached them and offered to do a tarot reading, their behavior was completely unlike that of ordinary, naive teenage girls. It was far too stoic. It was as if they already knew the supernatural existed, and had simply received grim confirmation from his cards.
'What the hell are they mixed up in...?'
A freezing chill ran down his spine. Goosebumps rose on his arms, a sudden coldness creeping up his chest.
Go! Go now! He couldn't get involved in their cursed affairs!
Gritting his teeth, Rom hurriedly swept the tarot cards into his pocket, slapped a 10,000 yen bill bearing Fukuzawa Yukichi's face onto the table, and rushed frantically out of the cafe. Even the torrential rain couldn't stop Rom's hasty escape. He didn't even hear the cafe waiter calling after him with his change.
'I have to go! This time, it can't be covered up with a few magic tricks and video editing. This time, it's the real deal...'
The real deal?
Rom, who was running headlong down the wet sidewalk, stopped in astonishment, his suit soaked.
'Does real magic even exist...?' he thought, panting heavily. 'Am I just scaring myself over a mathematical anomaly?'
He turned around. Through the rain, he saw the coffee shop waiter still standing under the awning, waving the receipt and shouting something he couldn't hear.
A sudden, irrational terror gripped Rom's heart. He couldn't help but shudder violently. Immediately, he took off running again. This time, he ran even faster...
The Busujima Residence
It's raining...
Saeko Busujima wasn't deterred in the slightest by the less-than-optimistic fortune-telling result. She had merely humored the man out of curiosity, not truly willing to believe in the cards.
Of course, if the man had said something auspicious and flattering, she might have chosen to believe it for the novelty. But since the outcome was bad, she immediately dismissed it as mere superstition. It shouldn't be allowed to affect her mood.
In fact, Saeko Busujima preferred to believe in only one thing: her own sword.
Thinking of the sword, Saeko impulsively went to her private tatami room and, with great interest, retrieved her family's most prized heirloom.
The katana: Murasame.
She had seen this "Murasame" when she was a child. She had once held great, romantic expectations for it, gazing at the blade with profound longing. That was until she grew up, studied history, and learned that the so-called Murasame—the legendary demon sword that summoned rain to wash the blood from its blade—was just a fictional, fabricated historical sword from an old novel.
This revelation had given her a much clearer understanding of her ancestors' boastful, dramatic personalities. No wonder her father was so impatient with the family lore. He had even said something as outrageous as wanting to break their ancestors' legs for making up such cringe-worthy names.
A great, pragmatic modern swordsman wielding a purely fictional katana from a storybook? He would probably be laughed out of the dojo by his peers.
'Isn't that as ridiculous as a fat otaku trying to wield Ichigo's Zangetsu Greatsword in real life...?' Saeko thought, a wry smile crossing her lips.
Murasame...
Saeko knelt on the floor and slowly drew half of the sword from its worn scabbard.
It was fairly sharp, though there were some visible signs of corrosion and age along the hamon line. It was an old antique passed down through generations. Even with the fabricated, chuunibyou name "Murasame," it was still a physical treasure of the Busujima family.
She gently stroked the flat of the blade, her brow furrowing slightly.
Hiss.
Her fingertip was accidentally cut. A thin line of crimson blood welled up on her skin.
She blinked in surprise. She had been careful enough. She knew exactly how to handle a live blade without cutting herself. Yet the edge had bitten into her flesh almost eagerly.
She sighed, wiping the blood away.
'It truly is a precious, masterfully forged sword,' she thought. 'So why did our ancestors insist on using the fictional title "Murasame"? Isn't this just self-degradation? Even a cursed title like "Muramasa" would have been better and historically accurate… What a pity…'
Saeko reluctantly placed the sword back into its wooden display box and pushed it deep into the storage closet. She dared not use "Murasame" in her actual practice. She was too afraid of disgracing her father's practical teachings by swinging a fairy-tale sword.
.....
.....
.....
Support me and read advance chapters on patreon.com/ImmortalDaoWriter