Eldritch Horror Theatre

Not bad. This was one of the core values of having your fortune told.

Whether you paid for it or not, everyone loved hearing good news.

This was the very thing he wanted to confirm most on this trip. Hearing Kisaragi Chie state it so plainly left Fu Qian deeply satisfied.

A second-rate fortune teller wouldn't have been able to guess this much just by reading his expressions. Nor was there any sign of Nepheli showing up to interfere with the reading, as he had half-expected.

The answer she'd given felt more like a pure analysis of the cards.

Fu Qian's gaze fell on the third card she had turned over.

It took a professional, after all. The design on this one was far more abstract—because there was no design at all.

"I know this one. It's a blank tile. So what does it mean?"

Eager to engage, Fu Qian immediately offered his own two cents.

Though Fu Qian's name for it was apt enough, Kisaragi Chie still looked a bit stiff as she carefully corrected him.

"Its meaning isn't always negative, but regarding the question you asked, it's not exactly good news... The position of this card represents the obstacle preventing you and your old friend from meeting again."

She didn't wait for him to ask before diving into a detailed analysis.

"So you mean there are no obstacles now?"

This was getting interesting. Fu Qian boldly followed her train of thought.

"Right. That's why I can tell your old friend is still alive. But based on the results, there's absolutely no possibility of you two ever meeting again, so..."

Kisaragi Chie finally laid out the entire reading, though her brow furrowed in confusion as she spoke.

...

No obstacles, but no chance of ever meeting again? It was a complicated situation indeed.

Kisaragi Chie's interpretation was fascinating. Fu Qian picked up the blank card, feeling as if he had just grasped the legendary concept that emptiness is form.

The fortune teller's reasoning for Nepheli still being alive was admittedly a bit flimsy.

But wasn't that the whole point of fortune telling? Reaching conclusions that lay beyond the bounds of common sense.

And once you had a conclusion, you tried to rationalize it within the realm of logic.

"Understood. Thank you very much."

Seeing the fortune teller still racking her brain, Fu Qian didn't press her any further. He simply pushed all the cash on the table over to her.

"This is too much. My divination skills are still far too lacking—"

Faced with such a generous, undemanding client, Kisaragi Chie looked entirely overwhelmed. She immediately protested that, as a second-rate fortune teller, her services weren't worth such a high price.

"You think I'm paying this much because your reading was good?"

Fu Qian, already on his feet, frowned slightly. He couldn't fathom her overly naive train of thought.

"Remember this. I'm not paying you for what your skills are worth, but for what my good mood is worth."

Tossing out that casual bit of business wisdom, Fu Qian turned to leave with the air of a man who had money to burn, making sure to grab the mask he had taken off earlier.

This...

Kisaragi Chie watched him go, finally gathering up the hefty pile of bills from her very first reading of the day. She still couldn't quite believe the man had really just come in for a genuine fortune-telling session.

But her greatest relief of all was that he had actually left, seemingly having lost all interest in her "sister." Wait a minute—

Kisaragi Chie's eyes widened in sudden realization.

There was one card missing from the three. Under the guise of grabbing his mask, the man had actually swiped the final card!

...

Little Formless, huh?

He had to admit, the name perfectly suited the current state he imagined Excellency Nepheli to be in.

Though he called it a blank card, it wasn't completely empty. It still had a border, at least.

But that only made it look even more like a blank mahjong tile.

Toying with his pilfered prize, Fu Qian decided the name even fit the aesthetic he had in mind.

Theoretically, despite the exorbitant amount he'd paid, the results of this trip were somewhat lacking.

Kisaragi Chie had fully lived up to her second-rate nature. From start to finish, she had failed to grasp the core issue: that Excellency Nepheli hadn't shown up.

But regardless, he'd at least heard some auspicious words.

Plus, he had shuffled and cut the deck himself. In terms of divination, he had technically gotten a result.

As for how to interpret it, the fortune teller's limited abilities should have been expected.

So all things considered, he had shown up with ulterior motives, only to end up getting a completely legitimate fortune reading.

Fu Qian wasn't going to dismiss the reading out of hand, which was why he had swiped the card on his way out.

He just wondered what Madam Hayami Suzune would think if she ever strolled by on a whim and spotted a tarot card sitting on Dancy Crawford's table.

He hadn't wasted any time wandering around after that. True to his word, he had absolutely no interest in crossing paths with Kisaragi Kana. Fu Qian simply retraced his steps, and soon found himself sitting right back where he'd been drinking tea earlier.

After pondering it the whole way back, he casually tossed Little Formless onto the table.

He had to admit, Kisaragi Chie's divination tools were rather second-rate. They were fine for bluffing people in the dim lighting of the Fortune Teller's Cabin, but here among the high-end furnishings, the card looked entirely out of place.

So what would actually suit this place?

Fu Qian downed the rest of his tea, still in no rush to leave. Instead, he thoughtfully surveyed his surroundings.

Actually, there was something... Thump!

...

It was about the size of an eyeball, though it didn't look much like one. It was far too heavy to be made of flesh and blood, yet it felt slightly warm to the touch.

The reason he was comparing it to an eye at all was simple: theoretically, this was an eyeball.

The Eye of the Punished Consort.

Yes, it was the very gift Excellency Nepheli had given him so they could keep in touch.

And it had indeed served its purpose, allowing them to successfully arrange a meeting.

The only pity was that, from start to finish, he had never seen the other eye.

Considering that Excellency Nepheli had already "died"—and even going by the fortune teller's more auspicious reading that she was still alive, their paths were destined to remain as parallel lines that would never cross—this item seemed to have lost all purpose.

If that was the case, perhaps there was one last way to wring some use out of it?

And doing it here felt exceptionally fitting.

Here, in Mister Dancy Crawford's restaurant, he would savor a weather-beaten human organ.

Even if it no longer looked organic, having transformed into an opaque, stubborn stone.

Fu Qian reached out with his right hand and pressed it against the black orb.

A mouth skillfully opened up in the center of his palm, swallowing it whole.

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