On the last day of the Six Kings Festival, Elise, a high-ranking Demon,
set up a small store in a very crowded corner of the venue and was
pondering to herself.
Her fortune-telling store had been fairly popular for the past six days,
and thanks to that, she was able to gain permission to open her store on
the last day of the festival.
(As for trouble… I've experienced quite a lot of them. I mean, my nerves
are already frayed. I mean, isn't all of it that human's fault!? What the
heck is with that human!? Death King-sama, World King-sama, I don't
know the names of that Human noble, but she's obviously on the level
of a Count-level High-ranking Demon… and yesterday, he brought
Underworld King with him here… He's too much of a monster.)
Yes, that was the reason why her store was very popular throughout the
six days. That's because Kaito was asked by her lovers multiple times to
bring them to this place.
Thanks to this, rumors about this store spread around the people and
she was able to make quite a sum of money, but Elise, whose train of
thought used to be normal, was exhausted.
(…In the end, all the rumors about that human were true, weren't they?
Hmmm, but well, thanks to him, I made more money than my original
goal. Now, maybe I'll be able to own that store "in the Human Realm
that I long for".)
She has a small fortune-telling store in the Demon Realm, but she had
been wanting to launch her business in the Human Realm. This is
because the Demon Realm basically has few big cities. Because of the
variety of species living in the Demon Realm, most of the towns are
either small to medium-sized ones, and the store Elise had was in a
small town.
That's why the Royal Capital of the Human Realm, which had excellent
facilities as a city, which makes it a place small store owners living in
the Demon Realm longs for. Elise, who had accumulated the funds to
buy a small plot of land there, continued to ponder with a smile on her
face.
(Now then, the question is which country's land should I buy… In terms
of the size of Royal Capital, the Archlesia Empire is the largest, and that
country is putting a lot of effort into subsidizing private stores, so
setting up my store there would be profitable. But hmmm… I don't
really like the cold weather, so I would have to consider it.)
Since the Archlesia Empire is located in the northern part of the Human
Realm, the winters are quite cold and it often snows. They even have
special products to survive in their climate.
(The Hydra King is a lively place for commoners, and there are many
opportunities for advancement… But that country is quite innovative
and their trends quickly change, so I'm not sure if I would be able to
keep up with them.)
The Hydra Kingdom is a country with a lot of cutting-edge aspects in
their life, including their politics, and their trends change very quickly.
And just by the fact that they're called Hydra of Clothing, their fashion
trends especially change on a yearly basis.
To succeed in such a Hydra Kingdom, it would be better for one to be
trendy but… Elise wasn't really a trend follower.
(In that case, the Symphonia Kingdom is my best choice. The climate is
stable all year round, and their food is delicious. It's a nice country with
lots of tourist attractions. It's a bit too nature-y for me, and Flying
Dragons Services were used a lot in that place, so the transportation
cost would be expensive…)
Imagining her life in the Royal Capital she had been yearning for, a
happy smile appeared on Elise's lips… but that smiled immediately
froze.
(…So you've come again, Human-san. You've been here almost every
day. You've totally become a regular. Haahhh… Who did he bring with
him this… time…)
Noticing the arrival of Kaito that she had become familiar with, Elise
moved her gaze forward, wondering which outrageous person he had
brought this time, and her face turned pale.
(…A… Abababa, G- G- G- God of Creation-sama!? H- Hey, Human-san!?
What kind of person did you think you're bringing with you!? Please
stop! Don't come here! Please don't bring her to me… She isn't the kind
of person an insignificant Demon like me should be dealing with!)
She desperately shouted to Kaito who was coming towards her with
Shallow Vernal in her mind but… It was all in vain, as Kaito and Shallow
Vernal arrived in front of Elise's store.
[…Errr, please read our compatibility with each other.]
[…Yesh.]
Hearing Kaito apologetically tell her this, Elise nodded, looking like
she's about to cry.
(Awawawawa, this aura… Her Godly Aura!? I feel like my body is going
to shatter just by looking at it… S- So she's God of Creation-sama… TThis is the first time I've seen her this close. I mean, this is that, right? I
hope that this isn't the case, but this is where I die when a bad result
appears, right?)
As she was thinking about this, Elise shuffled the cards she was going to
use for divination while moving her gaze.
Chronois, the God of Time and Space, is sitting on the roof of a building
quite a distance away, looking at them with her arms crossed. Fate, the
God of Fate, looking as if she was lazily slouching on her cushion
floating in the air, but her eyes were sharply looking at Elise. Life, the
God of Life, was peeking out from the shadows with an intimidating
smile on her face.
(…Ahh, I'm totally dying here. This is where I would be instantly turned
into minced meat if I get a bad result. I certainly like eating minced
meat, but I don't want to become one…)
In the face of what could be called the pinnacle of this world, Elise
shivered, but did not despair. Ironic it may be, it was actually because of
the presence of Kaito in this place.
(I- It's alright. This human's luck is on crazy levels. He had always been
drawing four hearts, so if he drew them again this time, everything
would end peacefully.)
The compatibility reading done by Elise is something made for the
public, and is relatively easy to get good results from. In particular, if
either the man or the woman draws four hearts in a row, it will be set
up as the best match, so it would be better if either Kaito or Shallow
Vernal draws four hearts in a row.
Under normal circumstances, the probability of drawing the same four
cards in a row from a 28-card deck with 7 types of cards is not high.
However, Kaito had always been drawing four hearts from the second
day of the Six Kings Festival until now.
That is why Elise had not lost hope.
[W- W- W- Well then, God of Creation-sama… P- P- P- Please draw four
cards.]
[...]
Hearing Elise's words, Shallow Vernal beautifully drew four cards from
the deck of cards… and they were all hearts.
(A- As expected of God of Creation-sama! With her four hearts in a row,
it will be the best result no matter what Human-san draws! Thank
goodness… my life is spared. Now, all that's left is for Human-san to
draw his cards…)
Relieved that her life wasn't in danger anymore, Elise urged Kaito to
draw his cards. And the cards that Kaito drew were…"Four hearts".
(Hwoeehhh!? H- How the heck did he pull out hearts again!? I'm pretty
sure there should have been only four hearts in the deck… Eh? Did I mix
up this deck with my spare cards?)
Elise is stunned by the sight of eight heart cards being drawn in a deck
that should only have four, but she straightened up when she noticed
Shallow Vernal's gaze.
In any case, according to her fortune-telling, having four hearts in a row
is the best result.
[I- It's the best match!]
[I see… Let me ask you something.]
[Yesh!?]
[Which is better, this result or "four suns and four hearts"?]
Shallow Vernal asks in her usual intonationless voice to Elise, who was
clearly being shrunk back by Shallow Vernal's presence.
(T- This is the first time I've heard God of Creation-sama's voice before!
H- How beautiful… wait, stop thinking about that! Errr, four suns and
four hearts… four hearts in a row makes it the greatest compatibility,
while four suns in a row makes it the second best compatibility…
Assuming that four hearts is the best match, in a sense, wouldn't that
mean that having it drawn twice makes it the best?)
Incidentally, the four suns and four hearts were the results of the
compatibility fortune-telling that Kuromueina and Kaito had done the
day before, but Elise, who was greatly panicking at the moment, did not
notice this.
(H- Hmmm… In the first place, there should have only been four cards
of the same type in my deck, so there's no way that one should be able
to draw eight hearts or anything like that. This might be an
irregularity… but since the two of them drew the best compatibility…)
Elise pondered for a moment before she spoke somewhat anxiously.
[…Errr, I guess… the one with eight hearts would be better?]
[...]
As Elise timidly told this to her, Shallow Vernal didn't say anything.
(W- What's going on? Is my answer a hit or a miss? Did I give the wrong
answer? I- I can't tell anything from her expression…)
As Elise remained silent, profusely sweating like a prisoner waiting for
her sentence, Shallow Vernal was silent for a while before she spoke.
[…God of Time and Space.]
[Hahh! By your command.]
[This is a wonderful store. I think that this store "should be great in the
Capital of the Symphonia Kingdom".]
[As Shallow Vernal-sama's wills it.]
Hearing Shallow Vernal's nonchalant words, Chronois deeply bowed
and disappeared.
After the completion of the Six Kings Festival… Elise is visited by a
messenger from the King of Symphonia, and she was asked to "open up
her store in the Royal Capital", though it's more of a story for the near
future…
As Elise had set up her store in the capital of the Symphonia Kingdom, it
was only after she had lived in that place for a while that she despaired
when she found out that Kaito lived rather close to her…
And… She had somewhat liked Kaito's personality, looking forward to
his visits a bit more… though it's a story for another time.