Chapter 32
***
Sakamoto Ryusuke knew Japan's bubble would burst soon, so instead of investing in stocks and real estate like everyone else, he chose to keep cash on hand and invest in U.S. stocks.
It was an era when selling all of Tokyo's land could buy all of America.
Everyone laughed at him for acting like a fool, but he didn't care.
And then the bubble burst.
The tycoons around him collapsed, and buildings were coming onto the market at bargain prices.
That wasn't all.
Land, too, and people, too.
Everything became cheap as the bubble burst.
He snapped them up quickly, and beyond the nouveau riche who sprang up like mushrooms during the bubble era, he became one of Japan's wealthiest men.
He loved his wife.
Unlike other rich men who were interested in hostesses and mistresses.
Even when they created illegitimate children and tore their families apart.
He loved only his wife and hoped to build a harmonious family.
But unfortunately, he wasn't very blessed in the child department.
His eldest son had a bad heart.
His second daughter was lost to a miscarriage.
At last.
His third son, whom he barely managed to have.
He was healthy, and even married a Korean daughter-in-law.
But they both died in a car accident.
No matter how much money he had, even he couldn't do anything about life and death.
He was sad.
But even so, he couldn't give up.
Because he had a grandson.
Because he had his own blood whom he loved and cherished.
That was why he wanted to give his grandson everything.
His education, his daily life.
Everything he wore and slept in was the best he could provide.
Fortunately, his grandson was healthy.
He was deeply grateful for that.
So he was relieved.
Until his grandson disappeared while on an overseas trip.
***
I led the bawling old man outside.
We couldn't talk about this here.
"Sob... I-I was actually going to ask about something else..."
"Yes, yes, I understand. Let's not do this here and go outside first."
I led him away to avoid people's stares.
The old man's crying drew everyone's attention.
"Let's go over there first."
I sat him down on a bench in front of a nearby convenience store.
"A call came in. Sob... I-it came. My grandson went missing..."
"I see. It's a little hard to talk about this right here, so let's have a drink or something."
I went inside and bought canned coffee.
I barely managed to calm the old man down, and once he finally settled, he continued his story.
His grandson had gone on an overseas trip.
Even with a bodyguard assigned, after he left the hotel saying he was just going out for a quick beer, he disappeared.
Even the trustworthy bodyguard he had hired since high school.
If only it had been a kidnapping, if it would at least have meant his grandson was safe, he could have paid any amount of money.
"But... there isn't even that...."
The old man's voice was drained of strength.
It seemed he had completely lost it over worrying about his grandson.
"I've heard about you, sir."
Kim Seokchun had found his long-lost sibling in an instant.
If he was that kind of fortune teller.
Maybe he could find his grandson too.
He said he had come here and waited because he thought so, struggling to get the words out.
We should probably worry about the old man's health before looking for the grandson.
"Wait a moment..."
I bought some Cheongsimhwan from a nearby pharmacy.
The old man, having received it, forced himself to swallow it and then looked at me pleadingly.
"Please... please find my grandson for me... please!!"
He was about to do dogeza again.
I barely stopped him.
I almost didn't even make it to this convenience store...
"First, flip this over."
I held out a card.
Old man Ryusuke carefully flipped the card over.
The card that came out was the Death card.
"Gasp...!!"
He didn't know much about tarot cards. But he had looked into his missing grandson, and if the Death card came out so blatantly, anyone would freak out.
But flipping the card was just a formality, so it didn't mean much.
"For now, your grandson is alive."
"R-Really?!"
"The last place your grandson was contacted from was... Eastern Europe, right?"
"Yes!! That's right!!"
"Your grandson is in Japan."
"...Huh?"
Old man Ryusuke seemed flustered.
But it was true.
"You know that escort, right?"
"Yes, yes."
"Your grandson and she are lovers."
"...I-Is that really true?"
Elopement for love.
Right.
Ryusuke's grandson tried to elope with one of the female bodyguards on the escort team.
But the problem was something else.
She was actually a member of a cult.
Her goal was to lead Ryusuke's grandson into that cult.
"Wh-What...!!"
"Check the departure and arrival records. The airline was ANA."
Maybe because he hadn't imagined that he'd come back to Japan, he looked quite flustered.
Then he picked up his phone and called someone.
I couldn't understand the Japanese, but from the tone, it seemed he was having someone investigate.
I sipped my canned coffee and waited for the call.
And how much time had passed?
Old man Ryusuke's phone rang.
He answered it like lightning and slowly hung up.
"It, it was true. He really... really had returned to Japan..."
"Fukuoka, right?"
"As expected, you knew!!"
The grandson seen in Ryusuke's future.
The grandson, completely brainwashed by the cult, was speaking confidently.
He was saying he had to live for the cult leader.
That all his wealth had to be offered to the cult leader if they wanted to go to heaven.
He was going on and on about how, since both his father and mother were in hell, all worldly possessions had to be offered up to reach heaven.
"If it were now, he wouldn't be fully brainwashed yet. Still, he'd probably been gaslit to some extent by that woman, so please take good care of him."
"...Ha. Hahaha..."
The old man, limp with exhaustion, stared blankly at me.
"Thank you... thank you so much..."
"No. I'm helping because you're a good person, Ryusuke."
After amassing a huge fortune, he chose to help people instead of trampling others just to pile up even more.
That was why I stepped in to help.
"Since you're here, taking care of your grandson first should be the priority."
"Yes. That's right."
I gave him the address where his grandson was staying.
At that moment, the future changed.
From a future where he couldn't withstand his cult-brainwashed grandson's threats and ended up supporting the cult financially.
To a future where he dies peacefully, mourned by his grandson, his grandson's wife, and his lovely great-grandchildren.
"That's about all I can do for you. The rest, you should be able to handle on your own, right?"
"...Thank you. Thank you so much, truly...!!"
Ah, geez.
I told you not to do dogeza.
.
.
.
After old man Ryusuke left, a somewhat leisurely time passed.
[AlphaD donated 100 gold!]
[Hyung!! I'm planning to confess this time, do you think it'll go well?!]
"If you confess, she'll cry. Don't do it."
-LOL
-Confess and put her in her place!
-Confessing itself is a crime...ㅠㅠ
[FiveSensor donated 100 gold!]
[Noah hyung! Do you happen to know where Woldoli is?]
"Woldoli?"
-A wolf escaped from the Incheon Zoo yesterday.
-Incheon's gotten scary lately.
-I hear there are a lot of cults there, too.
-Woldoli!! Bite all the cultists!!
I went on YouTube and checked the news, and there was a report that a wolf had dug its way out of a zoo in Incheon and escaped.
The search crews were interviewed, and that gave me a rough idea of where Woldoli was.
"He's probably around Pigoe Pass by Gyeyang Mountain right now? But I can't say that's for sure. I divined it by looking at one of the people in the news, so by now he may have moved somewhere else."
-Oh...!! Our hyung is one of the search personnel, so I'll talk to him!!
I hoped they'd catch him quickly.
Anyway, just like usual, I gave readings to ten people, chatted a bit, and was about to end the stream.
The phone rang.
It was an international call.
It's probably spam, so let's ignore it.
-Ring ring!!
Huh? It wasn't spam?
I answered the phone again.
-Hello, sir."
It was a voice I'd heard not long ago.
It was Oda Ryuuki.
"Ah. Yes. Hello."
-It was just as you said, sir.
"I see. I'm glad you found your grandson."
-However... there is a bit of a problem with the young master.
"What problem? He shouldn't be brainwashed yet..."
-That's true, but... the problem is that he's completely fallen for that cult bitch.
"Ah..."
Well, he's at that age.
It's only natural to be passionate about love.
Not to mention that they probably got physically involved, too...
As the saying goes, once the body gets involved, you can't just ignore it.
I heard that the escort had been with my grandson since he was in high school...
If they'd been together since then, it makes sense he'd have gotten deeply attached.
...But isn't that person older than me?
He was well educated, too.
And yet he fell for something like that.
This is why people who grow up sheltered... tsk, tsk.
"So what about it?"
-If possible, could you help us, sir?
"I'm a seer of the past and future, not a hypnotist."
-Is that so...
"If I had to say it, there is a way."
-Really?! What way...!?
"Wouldn't beating him to death work?"
-.....
Why.
Because it's the very effective method the orphanage director used to straighten out the troublemakers there by beating them mercilessly.
"This is all because he was raised too gently."
That grandson of his.
He really was raised too gently.
So if he gets properly taught a lesson once, maybe he'll think, Ah, so I really did live a happy life after all.
-Th-that's a bit difficult...
What a shame.
Then what other answer is there.
"Why not send him abroad to study? If he's in another country, couldn't that solve things somehow? Isn't it true that once people are far apart, their hearts naturally drift apart?"
-...Study abroad, huh. So that's really the only way?
"I don't know."
We'll see when the time comes.
I only saw that grandson's face in the old man's past and future, so I have nothing to say either.
-Understood. Thank you for your help.
The call ended.
Well, I guess I won't have anything to do with this side anymore now, right?
Just in case, I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
Tsk.
It was a vain hope.
I could see a future where old man Ryusuke came looking for me again.
At least he won't be doing dogeza this time, so that's a relief.