The Fortune-Teller, Wada Tsun (Part 1)

Tanimaki and the others arrived at the inn.

Then, from the direction of the dining hall, they heard raised voices.

“You bastard! How dare you give me a bogus fortune! Give me my money back!”

A drunk was grabbing another guest by the collar and shouting.

“What happened?” Mayutan asked one of the onlookers.

“That fortune-teller read the drunk’s fortune. Then the drunk was told, ‘One year from now, you’ll be diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, and three months after that, you’ll die.’”

Apparently, the drunk had not liked the result of the fortune-telling and had flown into a rage.

“That’s why I warned you! Once your fortune is read, your fate becomes fixed, and no matter what you do, you can no longer change the future!”

The fortune-teller desperately tried to explain.

“Yaaawn… I’m sleepy, meow. I wanna hurry up to the room we reserved and dive right into bed, meow.”

The idea of helping someone in trouble did not exist in Tanimaki’s mind in the first place.

“Tanimaki! If you don’t help that fortune-teller, we’re leaving you here.”

Mayutan said, giving him a slightly stern look.

It seemed he had finally had enough of Tanimaki’s selfish personality.

“Meow! What a pain, meow…”

That was what he said, but if they abandoned him here, someone would probably kidnap him again. With no other choice, Tanimaki stepped in to mediate.

“Stop right there, meow! You drunkard! Yours truly is a defender of justice, meow!”

“What the heck is this guy? He’s still just a kitten!”

The drunk burst out laughing. The onlookers started laughing along with him.

“Meow… Don’t look down on me, meow!”

Tanimaki was outraged. But he was not intimidating at all, and the drunk did not take him seriously.

“Please stop. Violence is not acceptable.”

Debiru stepped in like a gentleman, speaking in a polite tone.

“Wh-who the hell are you?”

Debiru was not angry at all, yet the drunk flinched. That was because his face looked scary.

“D-don’t you forget this!”

Not that anyone was likely to remember him just because he said that, but at any rate, the drunk fled back to his room.