Chapter 227 227: Cards of fate

“Wahhhh, it had been such a long time since I saw children be so carefree in such a big festival area. Seeing all this makes me want to destroy it so that I no longer have to keep looking at all these happy faces.”

Asami walked through the various stalls of the festival, her eyes picking up on the different events taking place.

She was currently in the post-battle festival area of the inter-academy matches. The area was easy to access for those who held a proper invite.

And luckily for Asami, she knew Clove who had an invite. That was how her entry had been permitted.

“Now let’s see. The children I am supposed to pick up have peculiar star-shaped pupils. I wonder if I will be able to find them in this crown. What should I do now?”

Asami had a task to do. She had to ensure that they had backup against Seraphina when she attacked. But the only possible option left for that was her children.

Initially, Zoe had been the one chosen to come in here and take the children away but that had changed for obvious reasons.

“As expected, I am the better choice when it comes to festivals. And I also have a great idea of how to go about attracting attention. Now, let’s see where the sign-up booth is and how’s in charge of it.”

Asami could have simply attacked and taken the children by force but that would be a dead giveaway of her intentions. It could also cause them a lot of trouble in the future.

Plus, the longer their side could keep their silence from the tower, the better it would be for them.

The event sign-up booth was located on the right side of the fair. It was rather spacious and have a tired-looking face stationed as the over-looker.

“Hello, I would like to submit a form to-“

“Set up a tent here. Sure, go ahead and fill up the form. You will get your permission by the end of the day at the earliest. Hope you have a good day ahead.”

The man didn’t even look toward Asami as he pointed toward the mountain of paperwork he had at his side.

This was rather careless of the Rocx academy to permit but Asami counted it as a lucky strike in her favor. She didn’t even have to charm the man to get her work done.

“Should I just leave it here?”

“Sure, leave it right there and I will get to it.”

Asami folded the paper and inserted it into a small yellow folder. She also sneaked her magic card into the folder along with the paper for extra security measures.

If nothing else worked, then a little illusion magic would be perfect to get around any restrictions and limitations Asami would be facing.

“What are you staring at me for? Don’t you have work to do right now?”

The man did not look up once again but Asami let out a fond chuckle. This was so much like the days she hated to remember. The atmosphere of this festival took her back to her childhood days.

She quickly gave a small bow to the person who was processing all that paperwork before she joined the ordinary masses in the street.

“Now then, what should I do for the rest of the day? Should I start looking around? Maybe I should take a child’s form as well. I don’t want to be recognized easily.”

Asami did not show her face often in public. But she was still a goddess and it was easy to recognize her once you saw her.

As such, Asami did not want to take the risk of being spotted and then end up in an awkward position.

She denied herself appearing nearly fifteen years old. This was an age no one had seen her being except the other goddesses. The chances of her being recognized were close to zero right now.

Asami had not taken ten steps after that when her gaze fell on the old stone stall in the corner. There was only one other person in the stall who was playing that game.

But it was not a game that was played solo. Nor did people of this time remember such a game.

The person who had set up the stall must be ancient to remember this game. And Asami found her feet unconsciously moving in that direction.

“Hi, are you here to try out my gaming stall? It’s a pity that I am not very popular today.”

The female who was sitting behind the counter had a sharp gaze and her eyes gave Asami an uncomfortable feeling.

Still, Asami did not shy away from the stall she had found herself in front of. Her hand hovered over the stones and she picked up a small but smooth one.

“That will be 10 points per game. You need to pay up now since you already touched the stone.”

Asami could have been the person who complained about ‘just touching’ and the shopkeeper being unreasonable, but she did not.

Or rather, she *could* not do that. The warning bells in her mind were going off right then and Asami just paid the points that had been required of her.

‘Thank god I converted some money into points beforehand. I would have looked like a fool otherwise.’

The shopkeeper shuffled the stones and Asami played the game as intended. The more she played, the more her memory about it came back.

But despite all that, Asami did lose in the end. It was not until she started the game did she realize that there was now a way the shopkeeper could lose in this game.

“You played a good game. Would you like me to read a fortune for you in return for you trying my game out?”

Asami was initially going to deny that but then she paused and nodded. What was the harm in following along with this small prank anyway?

Asami could read a little into the future as well but she could not read her future. However, letting other people try to read it for her was fun as well.

She expected the shopkeeper to take out her card deck and begin shuffling but that did not happen.

Instead, the shopkeeper just smiled at her before pointing toward Asami’s side pocket.

“I’m sorry to ask this of you but can I borrow your deck instead? I don’t have my deck with me and I am too tired to go back for it.”

Asami held her hand on top of her deck, her eyes narrowing in warning as soon as she heard what the other said.

“How did you know I carried around a deck of reading cards with me? Don’t tell me that I have a stalker! Oh my! How will I ever deal with it.”

Asami was looking forward to the response. This would decide how she would deal with this situation.

Did she need to shut this person’s mouth right now? Or could she let her go?

But despite everything Asami thought, she never thought that she would hear the stall owner laugh out loud at Asami’s words before leveling her with an amused stare.

“It’s nothing like that. You just emit unusual energy that I thought looked familiar. You don’t have to be so defensive with me here. We are in the same boat.”

Despite hearing this, Asami did not relax. But she did take out her deck of cards and held it out to the shopowner.

She kept an eye on that shopowner that whole time to ensure that nothing out of the ordinary happened. And nothing did happen.

The shopkeeper took the cards that were offered to her and shuffled them. Then she picked out two cards and held them out to Asami.

“Here, I did a reading. You can read them and interpret them yourself since I need to get going. Hope everything goes well for you during this festival.”

The shopkeeper stood up but she did turn toward Asami to level her with one last look.

“Oh, and remember. The east exit is always empty around midnight time. It might make things easier for you in the long run.”

Asami froze, her hands stopping their reach toward the cards that had been kept face down on the table.

“Hey, wait-“

But the lady with silver hair and slit pupils was gone. All that was left behind were two cards on the table.

Asami debated whether to pick them up or not. She was curious but it was not enough to make her forget to be careful.

‘Well, fuck it. I guess I would check it out at least.’

Asami turned the card upside down.

Despair and forgiveness, huh? Quite a combo it makes.

“Now then, I shoukd probably forget this ever happened. Not that I would see the lady again so I don’t have anything to fear.”

Asami needed to focus on her target, not on the meaningless struggles of others.