Guided By Fate

When we returned to the fortress, I laid the unconscious Setia down on my bed.

Everyone was so afraid of the Wuran tribe that nobody was willing to lend us a room.

My bed was spacious, and it should have been reasonably comfortable.

“Do you think Setia will be all right?”

“Rather than fainting, it appears she simply fell asleep after reaching the limits of her exhaustion. She should be fine if we leave her to rest.”

Karan-san’s confident reassurance put my mind at ease.

“Now that I’m relieved, I suddenly need to use the toilet. Excuse me for a moment.”

I entered my private toilet and opened the door to the stall.

However, I encountered something completely unexpected inside.

“Huh…”

“Ah…”

Aine was sitting on the toilet seat.

Fortunately, her skirt concealed the important parts.

However, a pair of white cotton panties was caught between her legs…

“Waaah! I-I’m sorry!”

“Kyaaaaaah! F-Fortress Lord! You should have told me you were coming. If I’d known, I would have welcomed you in something a little more presentable!”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about!”

I averted my eyes and was about to close the door when Karan-san burst in, wielding a dagger.

“What happened!?”

Where on earth had she been hiding that knife?

I’d had no idea Karan-san even carried a weapon.

“It’s not what you think! There wasn’t an intruder or anything. I was just surprised to find Aine in here. She hadn’t locked the door, so I accidentally…”

Karan-san’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Surely you haven’t been using the Fortress Lord’s private toilet without permission?”

Faced with Karan-san’s quiet interrogation, Aine began stumbling over her words.

“W-Well, you see… At first, I was just cleaning it, but…”

“Ordinary soldiers and servants aren’t even permitted to use the toilets on the upper floors! And yet you dared to use this one! What on earth were you thinking!?”

“Come on, I don’t think using the toilet is such a big deal.”

“No. Unless she is punished, we will be setting a terrible example for everyone else.”

At this rate, Aine might end up facing some terrible punishment.

I had to do something.

“I asked Aine to do it! I wanted her to be a tester!”

“Is that true?”

I silently signaled to Aine to agree.

“Huh…? Y-Yes! Th-The Fortress Lord said it was all right…”

“I wanted to find out what could be improved. I’m planning to create more special rooms in the future, so whenever I finish one, I’ll have both you and Aine try it out and tell me what you think.”

“Me… as well?”

Karan-san blinked repeatedly, suddenly showing considerable interest.

It wasn’t quite enough to make her openly affectionate, but I found these subtle changes in her behavior irresistible.

“Of course! What I’m planning to build is still a secret, but you can look forward to it.”

“Understood. I shall leave everything in your hands, Fortress Lord.”

“So, with that settled, could you two please leave?”

“Pardon?”

“I really need to use the toilet now.”

“My apologies.”

As she left, Aine smiled sweetly and briefly rested her head against my shoulder.

That really wasn’t fair.

I was such a pushover that when she did something like that, I felt as though I could forgive her absolutely anything.

While I was washing my hands at the sink, Karan-san entered after a hesitant knock.

“What’s wrong?”

“The girl from earlier has awakened. How would you like to proceed?”

“Please have her wait on the sofa in my office. And ask Aine to prepare some tea and snacks.”

“Understood.”

Karan-san bowed and left.

Now then, let’s hear what Setia has to say.

When I entered the office, Setia was plastered against the window like a gecko, staring outside.

Her knees were knocking together.

Apparently, she was trembling.

“Setia?”

“F-F-Fortress Lord! W-What is this place? Th-There’s an invisible wall…”

“That’s called a glass window. It’s a wonderful view, isn’t it?”

“Ah, hahaha… As expected of the Fortress Lord’s office. It’s completely different from how ordinary people live. H-Hahaha… Wait, that’s not what I meant!”

As though something had suddenly clicked in her brain, Setia abruptly straightened up and bowed.

“Th-Thank you very much for saving me earlier!”

“Don’t worry about that anymore. Oh, it looks like Karan-san healed your injured hand.”

She must have used healing magic while I was in the toilet.

“Th-Thanks to her, it’s completely healed now, so I should probably be going…”

Setia glanced around nervously, like a cornered herbivore desperately searching for an escape route.

“Come on, there’s no need to rush. We’re having some tea prepared, so why don’t you relax for a while?”

With perfect timing, Aine arrived carrying tea and sandwiches.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly! Someone as insignificant as me having tea in the Fortress Lord’s office would be… GRRRRRRRRRGURRRRRR…”

Setia’s stomach let out an astonishingly loud growl, and she turned bright red before covering her face with her hands.

“I-I’m sorry. I haven’t had a proper meal in several days…”

“Then that’s all the more reason you should eat.”

I guided Setia to a seat and offered her some sandwiches.

“Th-Thank you for the food.”

After a brief hesitation, Setia began devouring the sandwiches with single-minded enthusiasm.

She must have been desperately hungry, because tears were gathering at the corners of her eyes.

“You can have my portion too, if you like.”

“U-Uuu… Th-Thank you… The last thing I ate was some fallen nuts and soup made from grass. It’s been so long since I’ve had anything this delicious…”

It was difficult to tell beneath her oversized robe, but Setia appeared to be extremely thin.

I really needed to make sure she ate properly.

Once Setia had finished the sandwiches and regained her composure, I decided to ask her a question.

“The Wuran tribe lives in the east, right? So why did you come all the way to Gaurea, out here on the western frontier?”

“That was… on the orders of the Great Elder. She told me that if I traveled west, a great destiny would unfold before me…”

“The Great Elder?”

“The Great Elder is the priestess of our Wuran tribe. She’s over two hundred years old, and it’s said there’s no future she cannot foresee.”

“Come to think of it, I heard the Wuran tribe has the ability to see the future. Does that mean you can see it too, Setia?”

I’d only asked out of curiosity, but Setia vehemently denied it with every fiber of her being.

“I-I-I-I’m still inexperienced! I can only see vague things, and even then, only hazy glimpses of events that concern me personally!”

“That’s still amazing!”

“N-No, not at all! The only reason I entered Gaurea was because I’d seen a future where I might be able to eat a delicious meal there. I never imagined I’d end up being treated to a meal by the Fortress Lord himself.”

Setia shyly wrapped both hands around her teacup and drank her tea as though trying to hide her face behind it.

“I see. Still, that’s a little disappointing. If you could see other people’s futures too, you could have predicted mine.”

“I-I’m terribly sorrrrry!”

“No, no, I’m not blaming you, so please stop trembling like a cornered slime. …Oh, I know! Setia, you can see the future as long as it involves you, right?”

“W-Well, to some extent…”

“Then why don’t you look into the future of our relationship?”

“Th-That would be…”

“If there’s a problem, I won’t force you.”

“N-No! If it’s for you, Fortress Lord, I’ll do it! Please let me!”

Setia asked me to prepare some paper and a pen.

“Even among members of the Wuran tribe, the methods of prophecy vary from person to person. Some can see the future clearly and remain conscious of what they’re seeing. Others become mediums and unconsciously express their visions through drawings. There are many different methods.”

“What about you, Setia?”

“I transcribe my visions into words while unconscious. While I’m using the technique, I have no awareness of what I’m writing.”

Apparently, she lost her sense of self while looking into the future.

“Well then, I’ll begin.”

Setia held the pen in her right hand, then raised the index and middle fingers of her left hand and pressed them against her forehead.

She must have activated her mana, because the point where her fingers touched her forehead began emitting a dazzling white glow.

Her previous timid demeanor vanished, and with her eyes relaxed into a serene, half-lidded gaze, Setia seemed like an entirely different person.

A mysterious charm began radiating from her, lending her an almost divine beauty.

Was this what people called a trance state?

After I watched for a while, Setia suddenly began moving her pen rapidly, writing something down in a series of bullet points.

It felt as though an enormous amount of time had passed, but in reality, the prophecy ended in less than a minute.

“Phew… Here are the results.”

Perhaps looking into the future consumed considerably more energy than I’d imagined.

Looking slightly haggard, Setia handed me the paper containing her predictions.

Let’s see…

“Setia and Takeru shall become companions who trust each other from the bottom of their hearts, huh? That’s wonderful! It looks like we’re going to become friends.”

“I-I’m hardly worthy…”

“Let’s see, what’s next? Setia shall create the medicine she has long aspired to make with Takeru’s assistance. Huh. What kind of medicine would that be?”

“I-I’m not entirely sure myself. My profession is that of an apothecary, so there are many medicines I’d like to create.”

Oh, so Setia made medicines for a living…

“And then… The two shall be highly compatible. Their physical compatibility shall be particularly exceptional, and once they share a bed, the pleasure they experience shall—”

Snatch!

Setia tore the paper from my hands with an expression resembling that of the Grim Reaper.

“Setia…?”

“I-I’m still inexperienced, so sometimes I foresee the most outrageous things… UWAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Calm down!”

As though she’d completely lost her mind, Setia stuffed the paper containing the prophecy into her mouth and began chewing it frantically.

“…………”

Then, right before the eyes of Karan-san, Aine, and me, she collapsed with a thud and fainted once again.