Chapter 25: Chapter 25: What Do You Think?
The night quickly passed. The morning sun washed away the city’s evening glamour and indulgence, allowing Radiant City to once again pulse with vibrant life force.
No one knew how many people had tossed and turned all night, nor did anyone care about the few bloody conflicts that broke out in underground bars. As always, everyone held onto hope and welcomed a beautiful new day.
Lloyd was no different. After doing 50 push-ups with the little kitten, he headed out again to find a Spiritual Object for his Divination.
His sister had already accepted the Hammerhead Shark Puppet to serve as the [Medium]. She had even slept with it all night, so it was properly prepared. Now, he just needed to find a Spiritual Object to use [Medium Divination] and keep a constant eye on her safety.
This was the primary and most common function of [Medium Divination].
"Alright, I’m heading out. You need to learn how to be a mature little kitten, so let’s start with learning to guard the house."
Lloyd added this piece of advice for the little kitten before heading out.
But the little kitten refused to submit to a Destiny arranged by others. Meowing, it grabbed onto his pant leg and scrambled all the way up, finally wriggling into his uniform pocket.
Lloyd was about to pull it out, but on second thought... ’Maybe it’s fine to bring it along?’
’Who knows? If I get into trouble, maybe it can drag me home on a flatbed cart.’
And so, Lloyd went downstairs and resumed using yesterday’s Divination technique, playing with his matchsticks.
On the first Divination, the matchstick pointed to a nearby streetcar.
’Looks like it’ll be a bit of a long trip, huh?’
Immediately after, without the slightest bit of external force, the matchstick snapped in two...
"Hm? Is this some kind of Omen? What do you think?"
Lloyd said, scratching the little kitten’s pointy ears.
"MEOW! MEOW MEOW!!! MEOW!"
The little kitten offered its opinion, then shrank back into his pocket and began to tremble.
Lloyd shook his head and sighed softly.
"Sigh... It seems your interpretation of Omens is still very immature. The correct interpretation is this—
The matchstick breaking on its own means we’ll run into some trouble, but it won’t be anything major. Resolving it will be as simple as snapping a matchstick."
"Meow?"
"You’ll see in a bit. Study hard. If you want to become a mature little kitten, you must learn to interpret Divination."
With that, Lloyd hopped onto the streetcar and walked up to the conductor to buy a ticket.
The conductor saw his Holy Judgment Court uniform and quickly explained that he didn’t need a ticket. But Lloyd just shook his head and revealed the little kitten in his pocket.
According to the rules, pets did indeed require a ticket...
Therefore, as a model, civic-minded young man, Lloyd never dodged a fare.
After that, Lloyd used a matchstick every fifteen minutes to check the direction and distance. Since the matchstick always pointed in the direction the streetcar was traveling, he simply stayed put and even deftly snagged a seat.
The only strange thing was that the matchstick snapped on its own every time, breaking into more pieces with each attempt. It wasn’t until one snapped into six pieces that Lloyd finally got off the streetcar and looked around.
After riding for over an hour, he’d traveled from the South City District, his usual haunt, all the way to the west side of the city. He wasn’t very familiar with this area.
The streets, buildings, and public facilities here all looked much newer than those in the South City District. The pedestrians were more well-dressed and respectable, but also seemed more harried and busy.
’This is one of the newer districts, after all...’
As he spoke, Lloyd tossed the broken matchstick from his hand into a trash can and interpreted the Omen again.
’Hmmmm, judging by the situation, the Spiritual Object we’re looking for must be very small and made of multiple parts?’
The little kitten didn’t dare make a peep, still trembling in his pocket.
It looked as if it regretted following Lloyd out. If given another chance, it would probably have been happy to learn how to guard the house by itself, right?
Seeing this, Lloyd couldn’t help but retort:
"You’re hopeless. Haven’t I taught you this before? Interpretation is subjective and partial, so there’s no right or wrong. The only differences are in perspective, detail, and process. If everyone interpreted things as pessimistically as you, who would ever dare to use Divination?"
He spoke with such self-assured righteousness that the little kitten was left speechless.
Next, Lloyd performed three more Divinations, which led him to a rental storage facility. Taking advantage of his uniform again, he had the manager open the door to unit #07 under the pretext of a safety inspection.
The storage unit wasn’t large, only about the size of a washroom. Inside were a dozen or so boxes of various sizes, all nailed shut so tightly that their contents were invisible, like a pile of blind boxes.
Lloyd dismissed the manager and glanced down at the matchstick in his hand.
With nothing left to snap, the matchstick simply disintegrated into a pile of wood splinters as fine as strands of hair.
’Looks like my previous interpretation was spot-on. This means the thing I’m looking for is scattered into many pieces and related to wood. This pile of wooden blind boxes is the proof. I really do have a talent for Divination...’
Lloyd nodded in satisfaction. Then, following his previous method, he first activated his Spiritual Vision to inspect the boxes.
They weren’t empty, but they were filled with mundane household items like pots and pans, clothes, and shoes. It was impossible to discern anything unusual just by looking.
He had no choice but to put in the effort and begin checking them one by one, using his inspiration.
Fortunately, his luck was good. He found something in the third box he checked; his inspiration sent back a searing, painful sensation.
It was filled with a pile of children’s toys: a slingshot, wheeled shoes, plastic swords, and so on. The anomaly Lloyd detected was emanating from a single toy short sword.
But immediately after, he felt the surrounding light dim and the humidity rise. A faint scent of blood began to permeate the air, and even the box in his hands felt sticky.
Low, crazed whispers echoed in his ears, their rhythm quickening, their sounds growing clearer.
The ordinary household items in the box had imperceptibly grown rusty and bloodstained. The pots and pans now held various human organs, and there was even an eyeball, still slowly swiveling.
But thanks to yesterday’s experience, Lloyd wasn’t the least bit panicked. He snatched up the Short Sword, which was still flecked with bits of flesh, and struck a match.
With a sharp CRACKLE, vast, chaotic patterns surfaced on the Short Sword, covering the entire blade.
Lloyd followed the same procedure as before, reaching out to touch it directly. He allowed the patterns to come alive and burrow into his body.
Then, he mobilized his Spiritual Power and cleansed them in a single wave.
[Ding! Madness Value +500, Skill Fragment +1]
