Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"Ayla, any clue?"

"Those are 'bag carriers', Lady Luna."

Ella seemed to be very familiar with all of this. At least on topics about countries and cities, she knew more than Ashleelin - after all, the latter might not have seen "humans" outside of Lunicia for a long time, and there was really no way to force her in this regard.

"'Bag carrier', you mean?"

"They can be described as a cheap version of tour guides. As long as you pay a relatively small amount of money, you can have them help plan your travel arrangements, provide hotel rooms, recommend restaurants and shopping places, lead you to visit tourist attractions, and some even make a living as scalpers."

"Yeah, I see."

"Most of them have cooperation with hotels, shops and restaurants. If they can bring customers there, they can also get a dividend from these places. The better ones will focus more on these legitimate businesses, otherwise they may also work as pickpockets or pimps. These 'bag carriers' often form small groups spontaneously, and a large number of them are not so honest and reliable. If possible, I hope that Lady Luna will not pin her hopes on them."

Ella said this quite seriously, and it seemed that she really didn't want Lunicia to have anything to do with these people who made a living, not at all.

"Can't you... help them as much as possible?"

Lunicia still looked a little unwilling.

Some of those voices sounded like they were approaching middle age, while others seemed to be teenagers, or even young children. Although there were great differences, they all had that slight hoarseness in common.

"Since it's a job of this nature, a large portion of their income will not be kept by themselves, but will be handed over to their 'superiors'. Even if Luna can provide a job for one of them, it won't be of much use."

Ella couldn't help but glance at Ashlee - it seemed that she had quickly understood the nature of the "bag carriers'" work and had formed her own understanding based on their experience.

"Besides, this is something that the city's managers should think about. They now have jobs that are not too serious but can support themselves, instead of begging for a living for various reasons. In this sense, Luna taking care of their business, or spending money in the city and providing tax revenue for the city can be considered as bringing some help. Luna can also consider it this way."

"Even so..."

"The current situation in this world is not optimistic. There are still many people struggling on the line between life and death. Although Lady Luna is the savior, at least for now, Lady Luna does not have the ability to save everyone. At least for now... I hope Lady Luna can also pay attention to herself and her own limits."

It sounded like a sermon, but Ella's voice was quite soft, as if she was soothing Lunicia.

"So..."

During the conversation, the three people had already deviated from the center of the crowd. Because they were unable to flow with it, they were gradually pushed to the edge and came to the edge of Mulandan.

This place cannot be considered the main urban area of ​​Muirand, it can only be called the "outskirts of Muirand", so it is unable to showcase the unique scenery of Muirand. On the contrary, it actually appears to be relatively closed, and the towering dark gray stone walls make the boundary line of this area particularly obvious, and therefore there is an indelible sense of oppression.

And under the stone wall, there is an existence that breaks this oppression.

"Or, Lady Luna, you could also consider helping them? At least it won't bring any possible losses."

"Ok?"

Following Ella's fingertips, Lunicia understood what she was referring to.

What breaks the depressing atmosphere is actually a group of vendors gathered under the high walls. They are not real merchants with shops, but just a group of street vendors. Not all travelers are interested in these stalls, but they still attract quite a few tourists, and the sounds of bargaining and transactions can be heard everywhere.

“It’s a small stall.”

"Luna, is there anything you want to buy?"

"Well, let me think about it..."

The types of these stalls are as numerous as their numbers. In addition to the so-called souvenir stalls, which sell Muirand's special chocolate snacks, homemade wine and the like, there are also stalls selling cheap items such as trinkets, toys, parchment, magic props, and food trucks selling fried food and pancakes.

and……

"What is this, a fortune-telling booth?"

…There is such a thing.

"You're right, the little girl has good eyesight."

The old man sitting behind the long table snapped his fingers, an action that seemed somewhat out of place for him.

Anyway, the two old men who seemed to be the stall owners, one was enthusiastic and the other was silent. If they had anything in common, it was that they were both quite old and wearing black robes like the magicians in classical novels, with half of their faces covered by hoods. Such people were either mysterious fortune tellers or suspicious characters, and it should be the former here.

"Although there are some masters of the prophecy school who use this method as a joke and take the initiative to help some civilians with divination, most of the time people encounter scammers. Whether it is cards or crystal balls that change color, it is more like psychological analysis than telling fate..."

Ella seemed to ignore the two of them and taught Lunicia some common sense about fraud prevention.

"Fate, huh..."

Ashlee was mumbling to herself in an inaudible voice.

As if noticing what she said, the old man who had been silent all this time raised his head slightly, as if staring at her with his eyes under the hood, but still said nothing.

"Hey, young lady, this may be a bit hurtful."

The more active old man couldn't help but wave his hand.

"It seems that when I was in the Divine Court, sometimes someone would help me make predictions and divinations, but I never knew the final result... Old sir, what principle do you use for divination here?"

"Of course." The old man stretched out a hand and pointed upwards, "Of course it's fate."

"Hey - is that so -"

"Mrs. Luna, are you really going to give it a try?"

"Why, you still don't believe it?"

"That's not true..."

“…How about this.”

The old man, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke for the first time and offered suggestions in his steady and deep voice.

"Since you feel that it is untrustworthy, why not have a free divination? If you feel that the result is accurate, you are welcome to come back next time. If you feel that it is not satisfactory, then please do as you please. How do you do it?"

"Well...then it's up to Lady Luna."

Since there was no need to spend money, there was no need to worry about being cheated, at least for now. So Ella had no reason to continue to insist on her opinion. After all, Lunicia seemed eager to try.

"Then I will gladly accept it. What form of divination do you want? Do you have any other requirements?"

While pulling out the bench in front of the long table and carefully sitting on this thing that looked like it would collapse easily, Lunicia asked the two stall owners.

"Use the 'Impermanence Card'."

The old man who had remained silent before took over the conversation. It seemed that he was the one in charge of divination, while the more active old man sat aside, watching the show.

"The Card of Uncertainty...? I only know of a legendary magic item with this name."

"You're right, there really is such a magic item."

The old man nodded, merely in affirmation, without any approval, as if this was common sense.

"Similarly, there is also a divination tool based on the 'Vanity Card', also called the 'Vanity Card'. It does not have the ability to reverse fate like the original 'Vanity Card', but it can also predict fate."

As he spoke, the old man picked up a deck of cards from the table.

The number of cards in this set does not seem to be large, only twenty-two, but unlike the common thin paper cards, they are quite thick, giving people a feeling of weight. The patterns on the front of them are currently unknown, and the back is painted with the holy emblem of Shahar, the god of stars and fate, in pure black. The light gold paint looks dazzling even in the daytime.

"This is indeed a common divination method, which uses methods such as drawing cards to predict the past, present, future, or the development and outcome of a certain event."

Ella explained on the side, while Ashlee looked at the two old men in silence.

"Can I see these cards? It's the first time I see them, and I'm a little interested."

"Of course, no problem."

As the old man answered, he laid out the twenty-two cards in front of Lunicia.

A main deck of "Impermanence Cards" has twenty-two cards, and the pattern of each card is different. They are respectively painted with patterns of "Libra", "Sun", "Moon", "Stars", "Comet", "Eye of Destiny", "Amber Throne", "Key", "Knight", "Gem", "Claw Marks", "Nothingness", "Flame", "Death", "Fool", "Castle", "Ruins", "Banshee", "Ronin", "Clown" and "Foolish Brain". For the original "Impermanence Cards", each card represents a different effect. For the "Impermanence Cards" used as a divination tool, it represents a different direction of destinies.

"Let's shuffle the cards first. Do you want me to do it for you, or do you want me to do it for you?"

This question surprised Lunicia, as she had never heard of such a statement before.

"If I have to shuffle the cards myself, then there's no point in coming to a place like a fortune-telling shop. Why don't you do it yourself?"

Upon hearing this, the old man did not reply, but grabbed the deck of "Impermanence" cards from the table. Without looking down, he looked straight at Lunicia and her group while shuffling and cutting the entire deck of cards. His technique seemed so smooth that people could not help but applaud.

After shuffling the cards, lay the twenty-two cards face up on the long table one by one, forming a neat circle.

"Just turn over one, and the one you turn over will reveal your fate."

The old man's words seemed to have the power to calm people, to make them feel at ease, and to strengthen their will, so that Lunicia decided which card to choose at the first moment - she reached out, pinched the corner without hesitation, and flipped it upwards.

A hanging sickle, a huge black sword, in a city surrounded by wind and snow, the noble lady holding the oars is masked with a black veil, using bones as candles and a skull as a seat. She is both a symbol of stagnation and a ferryman to the end. Just looking at this vivid picture, it seems as if you can feel the gaze of the goddess Lucy and look into the eyes of the gods.

——It was an inverted picture of “Death”.

Chapter 14: Record of Muland's Travels

Whether you look at it right sideways, backwards, sideways, at an angle, from the back, from top to bottom, left to right, the appearance of this card will not change. Goddess Lucy, with her face covered with a black veil and dressed in mourning, still looks beautiful and noble. Neither She nor the pattern on this card will change, nor will its meaning.

"It's clearly divination, but there's no interpretation given... What a weird stall."

Lunicia looked quite puzzled as she tossed the card with the image of "Death" up and down.

The symbol of Goddess Lucy is not completely negative, but in terms of divination, the negative meaning of the "Death" card is quite strong. Even though Lunisia has basically no knowledge in this area, at least she has some basic understanding of it.

"When Luna turned over the cards, what did she want to predict?"

"Well...it's about this trip to Muirand."

"Only Muirand, and not the others?"

"Yes, I only considered what would happen in Muirand."

"I see. Then, it may not be all bad."

Normally at this moment, Ella might have added, "I didn't expect you know divination, when you know almost nothing about human society," etc. But she said nothing now, just followed Lunicia and Ashtherin forward, with a rather unhappy expression on her face.

In fact, she was still recalling what had just happened at the fortune-telling stall.

Until Lunicia turned over the card she chose, Ella watched closely everything that happened at the stall - she had a natural distrust of Lunicia and everything that Lunicia accepted. Even though divination was not a big deal and there was no charge, she still didn't want Lunicia to be deceived, so she paid special attention to whether the two old men were cheating.

The result of observation is that they did nothing.

There were no signs of spell fluctuations, nor any small movements on hand, just one with a hint of playfulness and the other calm and composed, observing the result of the card draw with two completely different attitudes.

And when Lunicia turned over the reversed "Death" card, Ella did not do nothing. On the contrary, she secretly turned over a card for herself.

——Also the reversed “Death”.

This made her eyelids jump. While Lunicia and Ashetherin were talking and the two old people's eyes were focused on Lunicia, Ella couldn't help but use her physical fitness as a spell swordsman to turn over all the cards in a circle at an extremely fast speed.

——Each card is the reversed “Death”.

Ella's fingertips began to tremble. She didn't think this was a scam. On the contrary, she felt that something was really happening that she couldn't understand at all.

When she drew a card like "Death", she would inevitably suspect the possibility that the other party was bluffing. However, when did they replace the cards on the table? Or were these cards originally "Death" cards, but were covered with a veil called illusion? If so, why couldn't she feel any magical fluctuations, and even the "Sin and Punishment" around her waist had no reaction at all? She couldn't understand it and couldn't figure it out. She just felt like she had been hit by a blow to the head.

"When the card is turned over, the fate is already determined. Whatever you think when you turn it over, the card will show you what your path will be. In this case, please accept this card as a gift for a rare meeting."

"It's rare to meet?"

"Although we agreed that if this is accurate, please continue to take care of our business next time." The teasing old man smiled and took over the conversation, "But fate is unpredictable. Maybe there will never be a chance to meet again. In this case, it is better to regard each meeting as a farewell, and this card is a farewell gift."

These words made Lunixia feel a little dizzy. She couldn't help but ask, "You two are not going to continue to set up stalls in Muirand, and it's just for the next two days?"

"'Fate is unpredictable'."

Having said this, there seems to be no need to ask further.

The playful old man shrugged his shoulders, stretched out his hand, and swept the "Impermanence Cards" that were arranged in a circle. All twenty-one cards returned to his palm. Then he turned the entire deck over and arranged it in a circle again.

"Libra", "Sun", "Moon", "Star", "Comet", "Eye of Destiny", "Amarel Throne", "Key", "Knight", "Gem", "Claw Mark", "Nothingness", "Flame", "Fool", "Castle", "Ruins", "Banshee", "Ronin", "Clown", "Foolish Brain" - the only one not on the list is "Death".

Ella Hepper was speechless.

After the three people went away, the surroundings seemed to be unchanged from before. People stopped in front of the stalls, using their change to exchange for things that caught their eye, or to satisfy their small appetites. It seemed that no one was interested in this unpretentious fortune-telling stall. The two old men also did not even glance at the passers-by. It was as if this place had become a vacuum in the real sense.

"This routine should be fine."

"Humph……"

In response to the teasing old man's question, the latter simply snorted indifferently, sounding quite dissatisfied.

"Okay, well... do you think they'll be OK?"

"If it goes well, it won't be 'Death'."

"of course."

"You are just asking even though you already know the answer."

"Of course, of course, it's the same old problem."

The playful old man shuffled and cut the cards in his hand repeatedly, adjusting the order of the cards. He never looked at the front of the cards, but only stared at the holy emblem on the back.

"How long has it been since I last talked to her? ...Oh no, it's almost time."