The Long Journey into the Night (21)

I was left wondering whether having your flesh torn off could really count as a normal fortune, but I didn't want to read too much into it.

Out of nowhere, Trisha jumped in to dispute the fortune.

“Damian isn't that popular. This part about his friends is completely wrong!”

Trisha had been so devoted to the fortune-telling, yet now she suddenly changed her tune. The priestess and I both turned to look at her.

“That's right. It's not always spot-on, so don't put too much stock in it.”

A few people came to mind as I considered who might fit the connections shown on the cards. But a fortune was something the person receiving it completed with their own imagination, so there was nothing all that surprising about it.

“I'm familiar with divination by water, but where does it come from?”

“Legend has it that a ferryman once helped a starving traveler cross the river and gave him some fish. In return, the traveler taught him this fortune-telling.”

Trisha tugged at my clothes beneath the desk. Now that I looked, she seemed rather dejected, too.

“What's wrong?”...