And so, after arriving at the port town of 'Ittle', we immediately went
to check into an inn before having a late lunch.
Perhaps I should say as expected of a port town.
We were able to enjoy plenty of different plump and fat fresh seafood
dishes, which made it a very satisfying meal.
Even Ophir uttered, "Damn, maybe I should settle down 'ere…"
without her knowing.
I bet that the reason why the fishes here were overflowing with more
vitality than in other port towns were because the goddess of water
was nearby.
However, looked like a monster frequently showed up in the adjacent
seas these days, causing the catch to decrease.
A quest to subjugate it been put up in the guild, but unfortunately, the
subjugation wasn't going well because the monster was under the
sea.
As such, I planned to take a look at the quest bulletin board if I had
time later.
"Off we go."
Anyways, after the satisfying lunch, we decided to split up to go
collect information.
Speaking of which, it sure has been a long time since I moved alone,
with that thought popped up in the back of my mind, I asked the
people on the street about the legend of the mermaid.
But I didn't get anything particularly useful, and the best thing I got
was the story of a man who fell in love with a mermaid in the past.
Of course if the man was still alive, it would be a different story, but
although the mermaid might still be around since the lifespan of a
mermaid seemed to be much longer than that of a human, but I was
sure that the man had long since passed away.
After all, the one who told me the story was a lady who was pretty
old.
She said that she heard of the story when she was young, hence I
believed the prospect the man was still alive was dim.
"Hmm, now what should I do…"
And so, I was wondering if I should go back to the inn and join up
with everyone for now.
I mean, the sun was about to set, and perhaps one of them already
got a useful lead.
But.
"—Is there something troubling your mind?"
"Huh?"
All of a sudden, a voice called out to me from the back alley, and I
turned my eyes in that direction.
There I saw a young woman whose upper half of the face covered
with a black cloth, in fact, she was dressed completely in black from
top to bottom.
――A fortune teller.
Looked like she was doing business in this narrow back alley.
I didn't know if it was because the upper half of her face were
covered, but I felt that her lips were giving off an indescribable sex
appeal… well, let's leave it at that.
I was interested in her for some reason, so I went into the back alley
at her invitation.
Well, I'd heard that some skills had an effect close to 'clairvoyance',
she might have one of them, who knows.
It wouldn't hurt to give it a try.
"Ah—, I'm looking for the mermaids, do you know anything about
them?"
"Mermaids, eh… You're looking for some very unusual people, aren't
you?"
"Well, yeah. I have some circumstances, you see."
"I see. In that case, let me try tell your fortune real quick."
"Oh, please do."
After I said that, the woman held her hands over the crystal ball in
front of her.
When she did, the crystal ball began to shine faintly.
I wondered if it was a tool that reacted to magical power or some
sort.
"I see. You're very popular, it seems. I can see your figure being
surrounded by plenty of women."
"Eh, no, that…"
That's not wrong but, but does that have anything to do with finding
the mermaids…? I made a pensive look, but,
"—Seven holy maidens surrounding an undying bird."
"—!?"
The woman said something like that all of a sudden, causing me to
go wide-eyed.
What, did she just say…?
An undying bird and, seven holy maidens…?
Isn't that about me and the saintesses!?
As I was petrified, astonished, the woman continued, "One of the
seven has ties to the mermaids, it seems. However, I see that it is
very tangled. And you already know where she is—that's the result
of the fortune-telling."
"H-hold on a second!? I don't where that person is and to begin with,
how do you know about us!? Do you perhaps have some sort of
clairvoyance skill?"
To me who asked on and on, the woman, "Fufu," chuckled in alluring
fashion and said, "that's a trade secret. But I'll give you one piece of
advice. —Make sure to keep my fortune-telling in your mind. You'll
eventually fight against some great fate along with the seven
maidens. At that time, you'll require their power. Get it? You
absolutely have to gather the seven maidens. Is that understood?"
"U-understood. I'll be sure to keep your advice in mind."
"Fufu, good boy. Look, your companion has come to pick you up,
you know?"
"Huh?"
I looked back following the woman's line of sight, but I didn't see any
of the girls I was expecting there.
"Uhh, but there's no one there though… huh!?"
When I turned my gaze back to the front, the woman had
disappeared.
"Huh, huh!? O-Onee-san, where are you!?"
Fwp fwp, I looked around in a hurry, but unable to find the slightest
trace of her, I became stunned.
But then.
"—Oh, so you were here. I'd been searching around for you."
"…Arca?"
As the woman said, one of my companions—Arca, showed up.
Does that mean, everything up till just now was real…!?
"—!?"
There, I came to a realization.
She said that she saw seven holy maidens—in other words
'saintesses' surrounding me.
――Yes, 'seven' of them.
In other words…
T-that includes Elma, doesn't iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt!?
Needless to be said, that hysterical inward scream was let out by
me.