Edge of Fate

"My friend invited me to a hidden cave to search for ancient relics. I want to know whether it's worth going," Gagnor said.

The gaunt diviner hesitated slightly. "Could you be more specific? The time, location, and your friend. That would make the divination... faster."

Gagnor said, "The invitation came yesterday. The departure time is uncertain, but it probably won't be long—maybe a few days. I'm not sure where the cave is, but it should be somewhere inside Presto Fortress. My friend who invited me deals in potions. That's all I can tell you."

"All right." The gaunt diviner nodded, then rubbed the silver coin between his hands.

A few seconds later, he tossed the coin into the air.

The silver coin landed on the ground, but instead of stopping quickly as it had before, it began spinning rapidly.

The two of them waited for the result.

At first, the diviner still wore a smile. But when the silver coin continued spinning for over ten seconds without any sign of stopping, his smile gradually faded.

Half a minute passed, and the silver coin continued spinning rapidly.

The diviner's expression turned grave.

A minute later, the silver coin was still spinning.

The diviner began to panic. He scratched his chin repeatedly, growing visibly more nervous.

Two minutes had passed, and the coin was still spinning.

"How could this happen? Why is there still no result..." The diviner's voice trembled.

The other diviners nearby turned to look. Some mocked him, some pitied him, and some merely shook their heads.

Five minutes passed. It was still spinning.

By now, not only was the gaunt diviner frantic, but the other diviners watching had also changed expressions. They gathered in groups of two or three and began whispering among themselves.

Then, no one knew who had started it, but the diviners all packed up their stalls and fled!

For a moment, only Gagnor and the gaunt diviner remained nearby.

"You're a third-rank, with only three Holy Names... right?" Despair seeped into the diviner's voice. His face was even paler than it had been five minutes ago.

"Third-rank. I swear." Gagnor had also realized that something seemed seriously wrong. "Why don't we stop the divination?"

The diviner shook his head with his eyes closed and sighed weakly. "It's useless. Even if we stop, the price paid won't be returned. This is all my own doing. I should have expected this day..."

Seeing that the silver coin was still spinning, he instead seemed to relax.

He picked up the satchel beside him and searched through it as he said, "An old diviner once told me that most people's destinies are straightforward. Even without using Blessing Abilities or magic, predicting them isn't difficult."

"But there are also a very small number of people known as the 'Edge of Fate.' Even the gods have trouble completely predicting their futures. When a diviner encounters someone like that, the best choice is to refuse them outright. Otherwise..."

He did not continue. Instead, he pulled a letter from the satchel.

Looking at the letter in his hand, the diviner sighed. "I want to ask you to deliver this letter to Hibel in Akes City. The detailed address is written on the envelope. In return, you'll receive everything I own, as well as the result of the divination."

Gagnor was somewhat shocked.

Was this... a last will and testament?

Wasn't this a little too extreme?

Anxiety appeared on the diviner's face. "Can you do it?"

Gagnor said, "I... all right. I agree. I'll go to Akes City at some point. Once I get there, I'll deliver the letter to Hibel according to the address."

"Thank you." The diviner breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he seemed to remember something and took a diary from his satchel. With some difficulty, he said, "I want you to help me burn this diary. Don't read it... or at least, don't let Hibel read it."

"All right."

At last, the silver coin showed signs of stopping. Its speed dropped sharply, and it gradually tipped over amid a series of tremors.

The diviner took a deep breath. "My name is Amairo Fortunac Sindore Lune Rosier. Please write 'Diviner of the Edge of Fate' on my epitaph."

The coin fell.

Heads.

Amairo fell at the same time.

Gagnor instinctively reached out to catch him. Then a string of information flashed before his eyes.

Status: Dead

He was really dead!

A divination had actually killed the diviner!

Gagnor felt an incredible headache coming on.

He hurriedly looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he immediately stored everything—including Amairo's corpse—inside his Storage Ring, then fled at top speed.

Although he did not think he bore any responsibility, he felt it would be difficult to explain.

Besides, according to Amairo, he was an extremely rare "Edge of Fate." If he explained that to the city guards, the news would inevitably become known to many people, and the consequences would be unpredictable.

With no one around and his true appearance still concealed, he could simply slip away with all the "evidence." Surely no one would notice.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Gagnor felt like a murderer. He could not help returning to the scene of the crime to observe it in secret and make sure everything was all right.

It was certain that the street diviners on Diviner's Street had realized Amairo was missing. But they clearly had no interest in investigating further. In fact, they even seemed vaguely happy—the fellow who had been competing with them at the cost of his own life had finally disappeared!

Even so, as the diviners' guesses and discussions gradually spread, Gagnor remained somewhat worried.

Fortunately, things soon took a turn.

—Earl Presto was dead.

Once the news spread, it completely drowned out all recent news from Presto Fortress in less than half a day.

No one cared anymore about the whereabouts of a street diviner.

Gagnor also turned his attention back to the war looming before him.

Of course, before the war arrived, the earl's funeral was also a major event.

Gagnor was not qualified to attend the funeral, but by watching from a distance, he still got to see many important figures.

And among those important figures, the most important was undoubtedly the current Pope of the Mosaism Church—Pope Funfro VII.

Within Mosaism, the garments of clergy were, from lowest to highest rank, white, yellow, purple, and red.

White was the color of ordinary priestly robes, while red was the color of a cardinal's robes. Cardinals were therefore also known as "red-robed cardinals."

Above the cardinals stood the most honored Mosaism pope on the entire continent. His clothing color returned to simplicity, becoming white once more, just like that of an ordinary priest.

Of course, although the color was the same, the pope's robes far surpassed ordinary priestly robes in style, material, and ornamentation. They looked solemn and holy, and were known as the "Holy Robe."

When Pope Funfro VII appeared at Earl Presto's funeral wearing his pristine Holy Robe, everyone—from nobles to commoners—knelt and paid their respects.

At the very least, they knelt on one knee. Those who were more devout knelt on both.

There was only one kind of person who did not need to kneel: those outside the pope's field of vision.

As for Gagnor, he was positioned roughly at the edge of the pope's field of vision. Some people stood there while others knelt, making the scene look uneven and full of uncertainty.