NOVEL NEXT chapter 24
24 – 5. How to differentiate between divination and fraud
“……It’s an unexpected encounter.”
A dark basement with only a few torches shining.
In the place where the damp and heavy air oppressed him, the saint held his mace and turned it.
At first glance, it is a very leisurely action.
‘I’m perplexed.’
It looks different in the eyes of Namgoong-min who activates ＜Observation＞.
He keeps wiggling his feet and seems to be smiling, but the corners of his mouth are stiff. Even the one-handed mace makes several mistakes and stops and turns sparsely.
These are small signs that would have been difficult to see normally, but when they come together, it is not difficult to deduce emotions.
‘calm down.’
let’s get some rest
If you get caught up in the face of a saint, you will definitely fail… … … hey… … …
“……ah.”
“……? Criminal comrade?”
behind the saint.
There was a nun tied to a chair with her head down and bleeding from her head.
… … It resembles someone in Namgoong Min’s memory.
It’s not even the face that can be seen, it’s just the head.
The lifeless, drooping figure with the black hair mixed with blood hanging down helplessly.
“………mom.”
“comrade?”
“……Saint-sama, what’s bothering you?”
“Yes, of course…”
The saint, who was about to answer involuntarily, suddenly noticed something strange.
In the meantime, Namgoong Min was acting. Apart from that unknown point and ability, he was acting relaxed, mysterious, and omniscient.
Even though it wasn’t perfect, he was a saint who had guessed that fact, albeit faintly.
… … It’s different now.
“Is it because I came here? Or is it because you attacked the nun in the back alley? Or is it because you lied to me about your pilgrimage?”
“………ha ha ha.”
Namgoong Min smiles. It was the same as always, but it was a different sad smile.
he was really laughing
The saint, noticing the change, firmly gripped the mace he was turning.
Wooddeuk.
A grip that can slightly distort even a mace made of solid steel.
Even in the face of violence that seemed imminent, the fortune teller smiled.
relax and smile.
As if you always know everything. Like seeing through everything about you.
A fortuneteller who has no leisure is an amateur, and he was by no means an amateur fortuneteller at this moment.
“…Comrade Sinner. Let me say this last.”
“Tell me.”
“Go back. If you do, I’ll tell you everything later.”
As a saint, he made great concessions.
I didn’t ask her to pretend she didn’t see this scene, and I didn’t ask her to keep her mouth shut.
An unconventional offer to tell all the secrets if you just get out of here.
This, too, would have been a possible suggestion since the saint regarded the fortuneteller as a fellow sinner.
“I will refuse.”
“……I’m sorry.”
Paralock!
Before the saint can answer, Namgoong-min scatters the tarot cards he created with his job skills.
That brief moment when a card floats in the air and then falls to the ground.
“I won’t kill you…!”
Whoo!
The saint who did not tolerate even that brief moment dug into the pile of cards at once.
With a single light swing of the mace, I pushed away the card that got in the way.
＜My little fortune teller＞.
“……!!”
In an instant, the surroundings of the saint are covered with blackout curtains.
Seongjae, who was forcibly invited to the fortune teller, was momentarily taken aback, then glared at Namgoong-min in front of him.
In the end, there is one thing you need to aim for.
“Nam Goong Min!!”
Kang! Clumsy!
The candlestick thrown by the fortune teller is lightly bounced off, and the table and chair that seem to be used as a shield are smashed with one accord.
＜Saint＞ is not a job that directly combats like ＜Swordsman＞ or ＜Martial Artist＞, but as it is a special job, it is a sight that is possible because it possesses physical abilities that exceed those of quite a few combat jobs.
In less than a few seconds, the saint who shattered the fortune teller’s resistance accelerates towards Namgoong Min beyond the table being split.
And the moment the body passes through the breaking table.
＜Cleanliness＞.
“What!?”
The split table instantly reverts back to its original form. The ＜Clean＞ skill cleans broken or blown objects back to their original location.
As a result, the table divided into two is only attached back to its original state.
If the saint is in between, the story is a little different.
That’s it!!
“Kuk!”
The saint was unable to react to the sudden attack of injustice that penetrated the careless gap.
While feeling the pain of being squeezed between the tables that were merging into one, he swung his mace again and smashed the table——
kang!
“Ouch!”
——Before it was crushed, the shock felt in the back of the head let out a scream.
It had been a surprise attack the other day, but this time the shock was even greater.
In an instant, my vision is dizzy and my mind is spinning. My body stiffened for a moment at the pain beyond my imagination.
Even in the meantime, the table is pressing on the saint who is stuck in between.
“fortune-teller!!”
How?
Seongja remembers Namgoong-min, whom he saw at Aileen’s house. He couldn’t react to even the slightest movement of the saint.
But how are you reacting now that you’re serious?
Even in the pain of the back of the head and the pressure between the tables, the saint managed to raise his head.
“……ah.”
I looked at Namgoong Min, who was bleeding from his right eye.
Holding the candlestick he threw earlier, Namgoong-min looks down at him with a smile and bloody tears.
The pupil of that right eye had shrunk like a dot, and bright red blood was oozing out.
“How are you, saint?”
“………….”
“You made me look too easy.”
As the saying goes, the saint was careless.
＜Fortune teller＞ is a non-combat job, and I made a mistake because I easily gained the upper hand in my first meeting with him.
But things were different then and now.
＜The Saint＞ was a little tired of catching the nun, and didn’t even think that he would meet Namgoong-min here, so he rushed at it recklessly.
＜Fortune Teller＞ came here with a new skill called ＜Observation＞ with the mindset of dealing with a saint from the beginning.
“In fact, doesn’t the Holy Son know? This is also a temporary advantage.”
“……fortune-teller.”
“Because I’m not the only one with skills. Doesn’t the Holy Son also have skills?”
okay. Namgoong Min is not the only one with unknown skills.
Of course, the saint also has the skills to overcome this situation… …
“＜Self-Recovery＞, ＜Star Hwi＞.”
“……!!”
“One doesn’t mean much, and using the other doesn’t have too many side effects?”
… what.
Now the saint did not even try to hide his astonishment with a smile.
While enduring the pain, she just glared at the fortune teller with wide eyes.
“Ah, you look like you know how.”
“…….”
“By the way, you already know the answer I’ll give you, don’t you?”
“…Dots?”
“What else would it be?”
dot? You figured it out by point?
Reciting the saint’s past, predicting the future, looking through Liu Yan’s pockets and labyrinths.
If anything, I could understand it pretty well. Because that’s what divination is all about.
But, the dots are abstract.
With that, you can find out exactly what skills I have? Even in the church, is it strictly a secret?
“That’s… not a point.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“……yes?”
“Whether it’s a dot or not. I asked what you would do with it.”
pop. pop.
Namgoong Min’s bloody tears fall in front of the saint’s eyes.
He seemed to feel no pain even though his eyes were bleeding incessantly.
otherwise… … You can’t have a natural smile like that.
“Oh, right. Why don’t you try it out?”
“A test, you mean?”
“Yes. It’s very simple.”
Charak.
The fortune teller takes out a stack of tarot cards from his pocket and holds it out in front of the saint as if to show off.
The saint still moaned in pain between the tables, but couldn’t take his eyes off the tarot.
“Mix this well, and I’ll give you one of them, the Holy Son, if you want.”
“……so?”
“I’m going to match that. How are you?”
“under.”
Isn’t that magic that’s not a point or anything?
More than that, the pain in the back of his head was gone now.
If we continue the conversation like this… …
“If only we could continue the conversation a little longer like this.”
“……what?”
“Do you think you can do anything?”
kang!
“Cuck!”
The fortune teller puts the candlestick down on the saint.
Saints who are job holders do not have their heads crushed or die from just this much impact.
Just as before, the pain and shock continued.
“If you observe the saint’s expression now, you will see everything. What is he thinking and what will he say?”
“…….”
“So, it’s a simple test. Choose 3 cards… and if I don’t get it right once…”
As if singing, muttering slowly as if falling asleep.
The fortuneteller still smiled.
“I will be on your side.”
“yes?”
“Aren’t you going to overthrow the entire church? You’ll be coveting mine, right?”
“…….”
from now on
I don’t ask how you knew my true intentions, or how you knew the purpose I hadn’t told anyone about.
The saint simply nodded.
“Good! Very good.”
Cheer la la rock.
“…with that.”
“Yes, is this card correct?”
“you’re right.”
yeah let’s think about it
There are 78 tarot cards in all, and the odds of getting one of them right is obviously 1 in 78.
Even the cards were chosen by the saint himself, and there was no hand technique at all.
therefore. For sure.
“Major Arcana No. 12, ＜The Hanged Man＞.”
“……how?”
For sure.
It must be a coincidence.
“You don’t believe it. This is the second.”
Chara la la la rock.
“…with that.”
pick a card
“Major Arcana No. 12, ＜The Hanged Man＞.”
hit it again
“Twice in a row…?”
“Isn’t that impossible?”
If one of the 78 cards is drawn, what is the probability that the card will be the same card twice in a row?
Of course, there is no choice but to suspect manipulation.
“Holy Son, isn’t it the card that I didn’t pick, and the Holy Son picked it himself? You chose that in a completely different place. Have you ever seen me swapping cards?”
“……no.”
But there is no evidence. It is true that Namgoong-Min randomly shuffled the cards, that he did not manipulate them, and that Sung-ja chose them himself.
The fortuneteller with a smile was about to shuffle the cards for the last time.
“Third. It’s already the last.”
“Don’t shuffle the cards.”
“yes?”
“…The top card.”
That was the saint’s final outburst.
At least ＜The Hanged Man＞ is not at the top. I’ve seen it clearly mixed up in the middle.
In a way, it was like raising the probability of 1 in 78 to 1 in 77, but the saint believed that there was something in that ＜Hanged Man＞.
Otherwise, there’s no way it’ll come out twice.
“Major Arcana No. 12, ＜The Hanged Man＞.”
“……uh?”
therefore.
Can’t it come out three times?
“Below ＜The Hanged Man＞. Below that ＜The Hanged Man＞. Below that ＜The Hanged Man＞.”
“This!!”
All Tarot cards are ＜The Hanged Man＞.
In an instant, the saint widened his eyes at the fact that he had been deceived.
He was sincere in drawing cards, but Namgoong Min was just fooling around.
“This is a scam!!”
So the saint cried out loud. With anger and resentment.
Also, even after taking the side effects, the ＜Stellar＞ skill——
“So what?”
“what?”
“Didn’t I tell you when we first met?”
──The only thing he knows how to do is read the hearts of desperate people and cheat them.
“Pseudos who talk all kinds of bullsh*t and claim a fate that doesn’t exist.”
“…….”
“I’ve only done my duty as a fortuneteller. A scam.”
“………….”
pop.
The blood that flowed from Namgoong Min’s eyes stopped.
Namgoong-min, who had stopped observing, looked down at the speechless saint as he splashed through the puddle of blood he had created.
“Are you worried about Eileen?”
“…….”
“Because she’s a saint? Is it because she has to walk the same ‘pilgrimage route’ as you to be recognized by the church? In the middle of it, even a mouse or a bird could die without knowing?”
“………….”
“That’s true, but the most fundamental reason must be different.”
saint woman.
In fact, a saint and a saint are the same job, only the gender is different. Their job skills and aptitudes are exactly the same.
However, since ancient times, ＜Saint＞ and ＜Saint＞ were not the only jobs.
They were deeply intertwined with the church.
… … In terms of shaking the existing church power.
“When the saint exists intact, what will happen if the saintess appears?”
“…….”
“Starting with the saint, there will be forces to serve her. Then, if you pass through the pilgrimage without dying? In terms of doctrine, one more power will emerge that reigns above the pope.”
“………….”
“If that happens, the church will split and self-restraint will occur. Humans are a people who feel safe only when they completely clear their enemies, so they will fight until only one remains between the faction of saints, the faction of saints, and the existing papal faction.”
“…….”
“Isn’t that what the Holy Son wants?”
The saint wishes for the perfect purification of the church. We want a church that serves God freely and with integrity, not clergy obsessed with power and corrupt.
But for him, paradoxically, he needs perfect power.
Absolute power to the extent that there would be no problem even if he reformed the church as he wanted.
Therefore, in the game, the saint was a character who suffered and agonized.
Because they feel the need for power but are reluctant to pursue it.
“Eileen is a saint. If the church is informed like this, the relationship of power within the church will be greatly disrupted and even me will be affected. Above all, she could die on the pilgrimage.”
“…if you leave it as it is.”
“You will continue to suffer. Unless you find your own God.”
“So…the way…”
“there is.”
Namgoong-min squatted at eye level with Seongsu.
A normal left eye and a right eye with an abnormally reduced pupil.
The saint inadvertently swallowed his saliva at that odd sense of incongruity.
“I’ll help you.”
“……How do you mean?”
“It’s none of the saint’s business. You just have to follow my words carefully.”
“Do you believe that…?”
“Haven’t you seen it? My bizarre divination. Knowing anything, guessing anything, doing anything.”
“………dot.”
“So just trust me and leave it to me.”
“…”
“I’ll save Eileen.”
“………….”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
I tried to move something, but in the end, I just stayed still.
The saint was agonized and agonized.
Even though he sincerely wanted to help Eileen, he also had feelings of trouble for Eileen.
That’s why I called myself a sinner to her.
The saint… … …
“Good job.”
… … He nodded.