Chapter 291

After witnessing the tragedy hinted at in the proposal for the future, Luna began wandering around the Academy with even more determination.

She searched every nook and cranny, looking for anything suspicious and checking to see if there were any questionable outsiders lurking around.

Going beyond just visually scanning, she even went so far as to use her abilities.

It was incredibly inefficient, but the shock she’d received was immense.

It wasn’t just a simple tragedy; it was brutal and horrifying. Such a future must never come to pass.

“Ugh… my eyes…”

Luna rubbed her eyes while sitting on a bench. They stung terribly.

Even she had limits, physically and in terms of her abilities.

As much as she’d like to use them more, it felt like blood might start oozing from her eyes, so taking a break was a must.

Hadn’t there been a time when blood actually flowed from her eyes? Not a pleasant experience at all.

‘But it’s too early to give up…’

With a worried glance, Luna looked around. Most people wore joyful expressions.

No one knew what might happen in the future. Perhaps ignorance was indeed bliss.

Isn’t it better to not go insane from knowing too much? Luna sighed deeply.

‘What on earth could cause them to kill each other?’

The future she glimpsed through the proposal was truly horrific. It surpassed her wildest imaginations.

She had thought it would be a slaughter by monsters or demons, but never in her dreams did she expect people would turn against each other.

Seeing that, it was clear the Demon must have some role in this. She wanted to stop it somehow.

‘There’s still time left.’

There were roughly three days until the anniversary. During that time, she planned to search diligently.

It was the epitome of inefficiency, but if she didn’t do this, she felt far too anxious. She hadn’t even been sleeping properly.

‘Does Sivar know about this future? No, he must know.’

Luna recalled the wall paintings from the cave where Sivar had lived. Similar images were depicted there too.

At first, she had thought the killing depicted was not much to fuss over, but now it seemed deeply significant.

Perhaps Sivar was also aware, running around like a maniac for that reason.

“Haah…”

Luna sighed again. Despite all her efforts, it felt like not a single thing had come from them.

There were simply too many people around. It was impossible to identify if one among them was a Demon.

Even if she had special eyes, it wouldn’t change a thing.

‘I want to go home.’

She didn’t understand why all this was happening. All she wanted was to enjoy a normal life at the Academy.

The cause of all this was the Demon. And the reason the Demon was enraged was none other than Sivar’s existence.

‘Now that I think of it, it’s odd. Why was Sivar in the forest?’

Lost in thought, that question suddenly struck her. Why on earth had Sivar been born in the forest?

While his birth had preceded that moment, it was said his thoughts originated from there.

This meant someone must have brought him to the forest, but she had no clue who that could be.

Who would benefit from such an act? It was utterly baffling.

‘Or was it a scheme devised by one of the Demons?’

It wasn’t out of the question. That had been a common method since ancient times.

There must be a quiet, moderate faction among the Demons and a more aggressive, hardline faction too.

As Rize said, not all Demons were evil. But the label of ‘enemy’ remained unchanged.

Just like soldiers don’t harbor personal feelings towards soldiers from enemy nations. They merely direct hostility towards that group.

‘I’m quite curious.’

Besides their demon-like deeds, there were many questions she wanted to ask.

Thinking along those lines, Luna found herself staring blankly into space.

Her mouth had slightly opened, suggesting she was a bit dazed.

“Child. You might catch a fly with that open mouth.”

“…?”

Just then, an old man’s voice reached Luna’s ears.

Startled by his words, she quickly closed her mouth and turned her head to the side.

An old man in shabby attire was staring at her. He had a hunched back supported by a cane.

The wide-brimmed hat obscured his expression, but his bushy beard left a strong impression.

“Who are you?”

“Heh heh, just an old man passing by.”

The old man, Warden, said this as he sat down next to Luna. It felt remarkably natural.

Luna looked at Warden with a puzzled expression. What in the world did he come here for?

“I believe you mentioned someone earlier? My name is Warden. I came to the Academy to find my friend’s child.”

“Oh.”

She could somewhat guess what brought Warden to the Academy. There were quite a few people like him.

Most parents overflow with love for their children, and Warden was probably no exception.

Given that he’d come looking for a friend’s child, they seemed to be quite close.

“What’s your name, then?”

“I’m Luna.”

“What a pretty name! Who gave it to you?”

“The village chief named me. I don’t have parents.”

Luna didn’t have parents. The wording might sound odd, but that’s how she remembered it.

She had heard the village chief picked her up. She found it a bit strange since the village itself was rather remote.

“You don’t have parents? That sounds like you’ve never had them from the start.”

“Well… they’re probably somewhere safe? Or they might have passed away.”

“There are many such things in this world. It’s a rough world, isn’t it?”

A rough world indeed. Luna agreed with Warden’s statement.

Conflicts, small and large, erupted worldwide, and threats like monsters still existed.

Because of this, many people grew up without parents. As a result, some didn’t take it too seriously.

“Grandfather.”

“What?”

“Did you have parents?”

“…”

At Luna’s question, Warden instantly showed a reaction as if he had nothing to say.

This wasn’t an insult towards parents, so it wasn’t disrespectful. It was a purely innocent question.

But the phrasing felt a bit strange, and Warden was an old man. In this day and age, it was improbable for parents to still be alive.

In other words, the question was simply whether he had had parents. Luna was simply saying something that felt odd, but it was completely normal.

“Hmm. Hmm. Child, there are no lives born without parents in this world. One life must exist before another can be born.”

“That means you did have parents. What kind of people were they?”

“They were gentle and kind. Sometimes they would scold me with a switch, but that’s how true parents should be.”

“Is that so?”

Luna nodded her head. Although she had no parents, she had grown up without lacking anything thanks to the villagers.

Morally, she was sound too, primarily because the villagers had filled the role of parents for her.

Though she hadn’t managed to rid herself of bad habits, Luna had grown to be a good child.

“By the way, you wear a troubled expression.”

“Yeah. Well…”

Luna scratched her cheek. There wasn’t much point in voicing her concerns to Warden.

She merely wanted to express her feelings. But there was only one person she felt she could do that with.

‘But just because it’s Sivar doesn’t mean I can find a Demon.’

She was the only one with eyes like hers. Even if it was inefficient, she could at least try.

Luna let out a sigh inwardly. It felt overwhelmingly suffocating.

“…Grandfather.”

“What is it?”

“When you faced difficult situations, what did you do?”

“Heh heh, that sounds like the kind of worries a child your age would have.”

Warden chuckled warmly as he listened to Luna’s concerns. Regardless, Luna maintained a blank expression.

It was strange to share her worries with a person she had just met. Yet, that made it easier to open up.

If she were to share with someone who already knew everything, they’d likely guess something was up.

Besides, Warden exuded a strange aura. He seemed mature yet, at the same time, rich in wisdom.

“If you’re facing a tough time, it’s best to work together with someone else.”

“But what if everyone else is struggling too?”

“People can do very little on their own. After all, we only have two arms, right?”

“It’s something that needs to be done with the eyes.”

“Usually, older folks have better eye for things.”

“But they’re busy with other matters.”

“…”

Perhaps Warden was displeased with Luna’s quick retorts.

He turned to look at her, a clear sense of dissatisfaction coming from him.

But what Luna wanted wasn’t a proper answer. She simply needed someone to listen to her troubles.

“I’m sorry for backtalking. I’m just really struggling right now…”

“…Alright. Apology accepted. If you hadn’t apologized, I was thinking of giving you a smack.”

Surprisingly enough, Luna seemed to realize her unusual way of speaking. It indicated just how much she was struggling.

Warden didn’t say anything further and let it slide. In life, such occasions weren’t unheard of.

“If it’s quiet on the way, could you lend me your hand?”

“Why’s that?”

“I like to read palms. It’s a skill I learned from the Eastern Empire.”

Just like with Sivar and Eli, Warden wanted to read Luna’s palm.

In response, Luna blinked and blurted out her inner thoughts.

“What can you see in a palm reading?”

“Roughly, you can see one’s fate.”

“Hmm…”

Luna stared blankly at her palm upon hearing that.

Perhaps due to all her hardships, calluses were scattered all over her palm.

Yet even while staring, nothing unusual appeared. Even with her special eyes.

“…I don’t see anything.”

“Ugh…”

Warden let out an exasperated sigh. He was slowly losing patience with Luna’s catastrophic speech mannerisms.

Of course, for Luna, she had checked through her special eyes. Still, seeing nothing, her words were merely that.

However, Warden’s patience had its limits. He licked his lips and quietly spoke up.

“That fate is invisible to even your eyes. So stop babbling and just lend it to me.”

“Here you go.”

It was quite suspicious, but she decided to reluctantly extend her hand. Since it was a technique from the Eastern Empire, she figured she’d trust it.

Then Warden carefully examined the palm of her hand.

“Hmm… This is quite intriguing.”

“What is it?”

“At first glance, it seems utterly ordinary, but the fluctuations are vast. It’s practically meaningless to watch.”

“Fluctuations are vast?”

The fluctuations were vast. Luna tilted her head, not comprehending his words.

Warden released her hand and began explaining one by one.

“Depending on your choices, your fate can change drastically. Wealth, family, knowledge, even life itself. It could be seen as both a blessing and a curse.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“It might be better for you to remain ignorant. After all, your fate is heading down a perilous path. What on earth have you been going through?”

“…”

Luna clamped her mouth shut. Warden’s last question was extremely piercing.

She was indeed walking down a challenging fate. It was a spot-on comment.

The pressing situation right before her was no small hurdle in her life, after all.

“However, your lifeline is quite prominent, so you don’t need to worry. It may be a dangerous path, but you can make it to the end.”

“…Can’t I give up partway?”

“Are you going to give up?”

“…No.”

“Then you must accept it without complain.”

Those were brutal words. Could someone say such things about another’s plight?

While Luna internally grumbled as she withdrew her hand, a thought suddenly struck her.

“Oh. Then, Grandfather.”

“What is it?”

“Can you see your own fate as well?”

If one could read others’ fate through palmistry, then they should, in theory, be able to read their own.

It was a perfectly reasonable question. Yet Warden’s reaction was somewhat peculiar.

“Hmm. Hmm. That’s a bit difficult.”

“Why? What do you mean difficult?”

“Since ancient times, astrologers and seers have been unable to read their fates. It’s a constraint imposed by the gods.”

On the surface, it sounded plausible. But it didn’t make sense to Luna.

“Then isn’t that just a scam?”

“What?”

“How does that make sense? How can you predict someone else’s fate without knowing your own?”

Surprisingly, Luna was making a valid point. The issue was that her words felt almost painfully sharp.

Thanks to the wide-brimmed hat, Luna couldn’t see Warden’s expression, but it was evident he was bewildered.

“Ugh… Yes. You make a fair point. But whether you believe it or not is up to you. I’m simply here to offer advice.”

“Hmm… Grandfather.”

“What is it?”

“This might sound awkward, but… you seem suspicious in various ways.”

Hearing this, Luna felt it was a bit odd. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Warden.

Was it because of the unexpected response? Warden seemed slightly flustered.

“What… what seems odd?”

“Reading palms for predictions is one thing, but coming here alone, claiming you came to find your friend’s child, and all that…”

“…”

“Grandfather, could it be…?”

Gulp—

Warden swallowed hard. It was evident he was nervous.

In the heavy atmosphere, Luna, who had been glaring at Warden, finally spoke.

“Have you perhaps lost your mind… or something?”

“…What?”

“There was someone in the village who had lost their mind. So… I’m just a bit worried.”

As a result.

“Did you just call me a crazy old man?! Is that how you speak to an elder?!”

“Aah! Why, why are you hitting me? I was just… worried…!”

“There’s a time to speak and a time to be silent! Your disrespectful words just flew out of your mouth!”

Luna got smacked by Warden’s cane.

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