Desire.
A primal instinct of all creatures, often the most suppressed by rational beings
In so ways, it was considered the most disruptive to life.
-Ding-a-ling!
But the jester denied such assertions.
Desire created goals, and the liberation of it imparted value to efforts.
What value was there in a life that only suppressed such desires?
Co to think of it, you still havent paid back the money you took from last ti.
And you, you made a ss of the girl I had my eye on right in front of !
Aaaargh! Damn it all! Why do I have to end up like this?! Its all your fault!
Thats my line! Why do I have to rot in this hellhole with you bums?!
Even if problems followed, at that mont, none of that needed to be considered.
As their accumulated desires seethed in the filthy alley, the jester fueled the fervor with her performance and erased their rationality.
Abandoning worries, concerns, and conscience.
Arrgh! Die! You bastards!
Even the sound of flesh being torn and the lant of losing humanity were all obliterated by a performance that was so intense and addictive.
Ahaha~!
As desire sprouted in place of the consud rationality, a red flower blood fully on the stage.
A once-hidden joyful smile began to erge more prominently on the face of the jester, who was moving as if she were dancing.
The humble jester sings~
She said with a brighter smile than ever before.
She illuminated this frenzy, drawing joy that held a light more vivid than moonlight.
Singing the song of ones life
Through this heightened spirit, reminiscing about her own mories, she plucked the strings.
A beggar born from chaos, grasping at the salvation offered. A street thug, drunk on victory, becos a hero, then a king, whose journey Ive witnessed and rembered
A reflection on a long life, a series of fleeting images, a fairytale written about a hero, a biography of a hero from anothers perspective
It didnt matter what it was called.
Naming it was a luxury in a song ant to heighten the rrint of the feast.
Yet, changing it to a rry song for fear of being swept away by ti, it lingers in this world longer than mories, passed from mouth to mouth~
Even those unaware of the song felt the excitent, sharing its resonance with each other
Even without awareness, hoping to leave its mark in this world.
Oh King, I am your jester~ As I sing this song, I also reminisce about the glorious days we spent together
-Ding-a-ling, Ding-a-ling
So even at this mont, I hope that the emptiness you feel, built by those accumulated mories, will be filled, and a smile will once again grace your lips.
As the lyrics ended, the hands plucking the strings also lost their strength.
The silence that followed contrasted starkly with the previous commotion, which was utterly quiet.
Just one person.
Amid the flesh still oozing fresh blood, only one man regained his senses, looking terrified.
Ah, aah.
Was that fear directed at himself?
Or was it for what he had done in this scene?
Youre trembling.
Either way, it was unnecessary.
Thinking so, the jester placed her slender fingers on the strings of the lute she held.
In a place where you should be enjoying yourself, what are you worrying about?
No, dont
Let it free.
-Ding-a-ling~
Please, I beg you
Release it.
Ring-ring~
Ah, aah!!!
If it cant be undone, and you lack the courage to confront it, then fleeing can also be the right answer
Sweet whispers intertwined with the music.
Feeling his mind being engulfed, the man was left with only one thought.
Eh! Hahaha!
Yes, this must be a dream.
If not, burying it would suffice.
Doing so would solve everything.
Wow!
The weapon in his hand eventually pierced his own throat, severing the last thread of life.
As the convulsions of the fallen body subsided, the woman, bathed in blood, began to smile more broadly.
Hehe.
As if to replace the applause that should have followed the performance.
How mundane.
Despite the ecstasy of pleasure, her heart hopelessly plumted into a deep abyss.
Like the heat of a body that flares up at the climax, only to cool down in an instant.
For, as always, what followed liberation was an empty heart.
-Ding.
Yes, a desire that ended instantly was trivial.
No matter how passionate a once-in-a-lifeti indulgence might be.
If it left nothing behind, what aning did that act hold?
-Ding-a-ling~
So, she embarked on her journey.
Seeking new audiences at every mont
Hoping that the intense pleasure that only awakened at lifes final curtain would endlessly continue in her travels.
-Ding, crackle!
Even if that also beca a futile mory, at least weaving such tales together like a patchwork
Hoping soday it would beco a tale that pleased the Lord she served.
-Crackle, crack!
Over and over again.
Endlessly echoing that monotonous span of ti.
-Bang!!
The lutes strings violently snapped under her hand from being overused.
She then tossed it aside and slowly raised her gaze to the sky.
Her eyes sharpened in the moonlight that bathed the crimson flowerbeds lining the streets.
Why is that?
Her radiant amber eyes, bathed in the light, began to glow even more intensely.
For the first ti in her endless journey of void, she found sothing that seed worth her attention.
Just a fleeting encounter, yet since the mont I caught sight of you, I cant shake you from my mory.
For the first ti in a journey filled with epheral ties and fading encounters
She found the image of soone whom she thought she should forget remained strikingly clear in her mind.
Hyo-sung, can you teach how to fill this endless void within ?
Indeed, if imrsion was defined by its boundlessness, then perhaps this man was the one she had been seeking.
In a life devoted to desire, an endless pursuit offered no satisfaction, only an insatiable longing.
I wish it were so. Im weary of this thoughtless laughter.
She yearned for a well in this world that could perpetually satiate her thirst.
Her whisper was laden with such earnestness.
And then, in a tent on the outskirts of the city
-Crackle.
Airi, divining her fate before the days end, furrowed her brow at the vision in her crystal ball.
What is this?
The future she had foreseen was changing abruptly
It wasnt the first occurrence.
Due to a dragons caprices within the city, a future where the empire lay in ruins had been revealed.
But the vision now was too chaotic to be rely a shift in the future.
-Crackle, screech.
The crystal ball showed a muddled scene, accompanied by nothing but harsh static.
It was a phenonon she had never witnessed while divining.
Indeed, it was so unusual that she was certain even other fortune-tellers had not encountered it.
Could it be that our ancestor is unable to foresee the future ahead?
Yes, although her ability was certainly omniscient, even that wasnt reflected imdiately.
Sudden whims of a transcendent being or other variables might arise, necessitating adjustnts to the observed future.
The fact that such disruptions in the future lasted this long suggested that sothing more significant than the whims of a single transcendent being was happening.
The imdiate and most likely possibility was not just one but two, or perhaps even more
The whims of multiple transcendent beings have collided.
Just as this extre thought took her breath away, the crystal ball cleared again.
The crackling noise faded, and she saw that the scene she had observed before had been restored.
Ah, its back.
Yes, it was the future she had seen before.
The mysterious lighting and the bed with lace.
And herself, gasping as she embraced a man in her underwear
Ahh
But why?
Why, even after seeing her safe future restored, did she feel so conflicted?
Uh, ugh. Why wont this change?!
Even after checking several tis since their first eting, the future with him remained unchanged.
And in a way that she, who had always lived frugally and practiced reading the future, could never have imagined
Of course, if she kept this future in mind and remained wary of him, she could easily avoid such a debased future.
If necessary, she could even seek advice directly from the Goddess of Destruction to find a way to change the future.
Changing the future as she desired would require a great deal of power, but it would be necessary for her purpose.
But the reason its not easy to hastily change it is likely because my future self hasnt forgotten the goal.
If she hadnt forgotten her mission, it ant she was essentially destined to be a hero who would save this world.
However, scrutinizing that process was not easy for her at the mont.
The future shown in the crystal ball was sothing that would happen in the distant future, not imdiately, and it was harder to understand the more it was disconnected from the present.
Yes, ti will reveal why I would beco entangled with him
If the issue was forgetting her mission, she just needed to regain her senses and stay as far away from him as possible.
But if he, currently unremarkable, was destined to save the world in the future, she had to prepare herself even for such a debased future as she had foreseen.
I will be tied to that person
Woo Hyo-Sung.
A person who had co to mind several tis since their first eting, and whom she had cared about.
And the person who had not denied her words as a fortune-teller had taken them at face value, and had even expressed his gratitude.
I dont dislike it, but we still dont know each other well enough
Was it because she had seen herself entwined with him several tis?
While thinking of his face, Airi felt her face inexplicably grow hot.
But still, doing it like I saw in the future is a bit If were going to have a relationship, it should be more simple and gentle
Having focused only on practice and her mission, things that were once of little interest now increasingly occupied her mind as the ti grew nearer.
And with that, her curiosity also grew.
What could possibly happen in the future that would make her court a man she had never t before so ardently?
-Heeuu, heeuu~
In a voice that trembled with sexual excitent, she now began to take on an exaggerated coquettishness
Wait, this isnt my voice?
It was certainly the sa future as before, but why was she hearing an unfamiliar voice?
Feeling doubtful, her gaze gradually moved forward.
In the crystal ball, she still saw herself, panting heavily, engrossed in activities with him.
A white-haired woman was also there, exuding flirtatiousness.
Hyo-sung, I cant hold back anymore~ Please do it with too
Eh?
What in the world?
The unidentified white-haired woman crawled on all fours beneath him, panting with her tongue out
Why is there one more person?
And why?
If she did nothing, the man destined to be hers
Why is Hyo-sung with another woman instead of ?
Why did she feel angry seeing Hyo-sung in the future with another woman?
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