She looked Fran up and down, a flicker of surprise appearing in her eyes, and the well-rehearsed business inquiry she usually gave was swallowed back down her throat.
"...Oh, are you a 'Mirror-Wiper'?"
"As you can see."
Fran raised her hand and bowed, performing a rather ancient Lamp Cult gesture, acknowledging this identity.
A long time ago, she had deeply detested all so-called prophets and sages who spoke in riddles. But after playing the role herself, she learned that seeing others rack their brains over withheld information could be so amusing...
"Um, please wait a moment. I'll inform the officiant. Please have a seat on the sofa over here. We only have white tea from Gormouth here, the kind without sugar cubes... I hope you don't mind..."
The young woman kept her head slightly lowered, occasionally glancing at Fran from the corner of her eye, seeming somewhat flustered.
Clearly, her duties only covered ordinary customers. When facing a fellow believer who held a clerical office, it was better to pass them on to her superior.
"Go ahead. It's fine."
Fran's voice carried a certain calming quality. The young woman nodded, served the tea and snacks, and then disappeared behind a curtain on one side of the club's main hall.
After her figure had completely vanished, Fran pinched her chin, her amber eyes narrowing slightly.
She leaned back comfortably on the sofa in the main hall, picked up the red-and-white patterned teacup, and gave it a light sniff.
"New tea from Gormouth has a hint of astringency from the sea breeze. Some find it hard to accept, but paired with Keyleaf Flower, it actually adds more layers to the flavor. Hmm... I don't dislike this taste."
Just as she was commenting on the tea served to guests here, a fortune-teller with lamp-and-flame embroidery on her dress came before her.
"Heh, that's outdated, classical taste. Guests nowadays just ask, 'Why is your tea salty?'"
"Mirror-Wiper from a foreign land, how should I address you?"
The fortune-teller pulled back the hood of her lamp-patterned robe, revealing a young, familiar face... it was Dorothy.
Fran raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly.
Certain rituals under the "Moth" system could indeed slow aging. Her surviving for fifty or sixty more years wasn't really surprising.
"Fran Herschel."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Fran. I am the person in charge of this club. You may call me Dorothy."
Dorothy examined Fran, calmness tinged with a hint of wariness. Although both were Mirror-Wipers, the moth-fur-like patterns on the other's robe already proclaimed her identity.
A follower of the Moth. No, the moth patterns also incorporate lamp motifs... is she from the unification faction that supports merging the two cults? Compared to the near-heterodox radicals among the Moth followers, the unification faction believers are much more moderate...
But regardless, Norlington is a city under the protection of the Secrets-Hunters. Most disputes can be resolved by calling the authorities...
Dorothy then took a seat on the sofa opposite Fran.
"I am also only a Mirror-Wiper. I might not be able to offer much help in fortune-telling. But if you have such needs... I can certainly try."
"Or perhaps... Are you looking for ritual materials? Although we don't offer sales as a rule, some academic exchange of materials between fellow believers is quite normal."
Fran wagged her index finger slightly, then explained her intention.
"I'd like to join the club. Hmm... what's the annual membership fee here?"
This was an unexpected answer. With a touch of puzzlement, Dorothy glanced sideways.
Lamp and Moth prophets and sages generally lived in secluded secret realm towers, kept to themselves, and their attitudes towards each other tended towards mutual isolation.
Perhaps Miss Fran was from Attilan?
It was said that secret cult competition in the Sand-Flow Nation was extremely fierce. Apart from the Sun-Forgers and the Red Cup, the living space for other cults had been squeezed to the limit.
She pondered for a moment and finally decided to accept this foreign Mirror-Wiper.
"Initial membership is 25 Norlington silver coins. Thereafter, 5 per year."
"That's an acceptable price."
Fran took out a blank bank draft, wrote "30" in the silver coin field, and handed it to Dorothy.
Since the Secrets-Hunter Cult paid their fees very punctually after each collaboration, her financial situation was currently unprecedentedly comfortable...
"Alright, welcome to the Mirror of Enlightenment Club. This is your membership credential."
As she spoke, Dorothy handed Fran a pale brooch. It was carved with a night moth entwined around a lamp, the design ancient and somewhat indistinct, hard to make out clearly.
"Miss Fran, I must remind you in advance... most of the fortune-tellers in the club are just occult enthusiasts. Even those who have joined a cult are mostly general believers. If you plan to offer fortune-telling, please try not to be too conspicuous."
A Mirror-Wiper had undoubtedly touched the threshold of glimpsing fate. Sometimes, fortune-telling that is too accurate can also bring trouble...
Maybe the calamity of blaspheming fate, maybe the backlash of peeking into taboos, maybe a knock on the door from an Outrider Hunter inquiring about water meter readings.
Although the Secrets-Hunters' attitude towards the Lamp and Moth was decent, dealing with hunters who carried an aura of blood and gunpowder always made one inexplicably uneasy.
"You can rest assured about that. I learned disguise and lying low long ago in Attilan."
Fran fabricated her background as if it were nothing, then took out from her pocket an identification card bearing the diagonal diamond-shaped holy emblem of the Secrets-Hunters.
"Besides, I'm not unemployed in Norlington. I do have a verifiable identity..."
Seeing the brass-etched diagonal diamond holy emblem made Dorothy's eyelid twitch. It took her a moment to steady herself before she began examining its contents.
"Specially Appointed Physician of the Secrets-Hunter Cult, concurrently serving as Coroner... Miss Fran, you are also a doctor?"
Fran smiled modestly, blew away the steam from the teacup, and took a light sip. She then opened her mottled gray robe, revealing the white doctor's coat underneath.
"Apart from fortune-telling, I also know a thing or two about medicine."
She held her thumb and forefinger close together, making a "tiny bit" gesture.
"I understand." Dorothy nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
In a city like Norlington with few taboos, admitting to being a follower of the "Lamp" wasn't really a safety concern.
But if one did this in Attilan's capital, Ahanta... perhaps a Red Cup scion would come knocking that very night.
For secret cultists living in traditional nations, a skill sufficient to make a living and a respectable-enough identity were both indispensable necessities.
She rubbed her own neck, then called for the female attendant who had been on reception duty earlier.
"Dawn, take Miss Fran to the inner hall. She is now a member. For the fortune-telling room... let's use 'Calcite'."
Dawn, who had been waiting behind the gray curtain, quickly arrived.
"Yes. Um... Miss Fran, please follow me."
Compared to her earlier somewhat timid demeanor, she now appeared practiced and eager.
"Mhm."
Fran obediently followed her through the curtained corridor of the main hall, heading towards the fortune-telling room.
As she left, she glanced back at Dorothy with a faint, ambiguous smile, her amber gaze deep and inscrutable.
"Did she notice something? But..."
Dorothy's fine brows knitted slightly. She tried to analyze something from that parting glance but came up empty-handed.
She took an exquisite hourglass from her robe's sleeve, opened the top, and pinched a few grains of fine sand, letting them trickle down slowly.
"West for upright, East for reversed." This was the third-category secret art [Show Tendency] under the Lamp system.
Using a medium rich in spiritual essence, one could to some extent predict the future concerning a person or thing. Of course, its effect was unstable, and the scope it provided was rather vague.
According to the conditions Dorothy had stated, if the fine sand drifted east, it indicated the event of Fran's arrival leaned towards being positive. Drifting west indicated the opposite.
She slowly opened her tightly held hand, letting the fine sand slip from between her fingers.
But this sand, which should have obediently followed gravity, now behaved with abnormal lightness. It turned to powder in the air and then soundlessly spread out in a circular shape, raising a haze of gray-yellow dust.
"It shows no directional tendency, meaning the impact of the event can't be determined as positive or negative. But this shape... fog?"
Looking at this anomalous divination result, Dorothy fell into deep thought.
---
Fran followed the receptionist Dawn in an orderly manner.
"Miss Dorothy shows symptoms of strain in her spine and lower back. Although not severe, the possibility of pathological change can't be ruled out."
Fran had noticed this from the start and had been somewhat concerned.
She had been on the verge of asking several times if the other needed to try some free physical therapy, but each time she managed to restrain herself.
After all, now that she was wearing these Lamp and Moth robes, she had to properly enjoy the identity of a fortune-teller. Couldn't be constantly bogged down by a doctor's occupational habits...
Dawn overheard Fran's muttering and chimed in. "Ah, you know about the officiant's ailment too? She often complains about discomfort in her lower back."
Fran offered some comfort, indicating she needn't worry too much.
"It's probably a suboptimal health state caused by irregular sleep and lack of exercise. Nothing to be overly concerned about."
"Mhm. I often try to persuade the officiant to go for walks with me, but she always finds excuses..."
The two chatted casually as they walked and soon arrived in front of Fran's fortune-telling room.
"The fortune-telling room's designation is 'Calcite'. Come to think of it, this was the officiant's room before."
Dawn bowed to Fran, then briefed her on the membership rules of the Mirror of Enlightenment Club.
"Until your membership expires, the Calcite room will be reserved for you. Though it's usually empty anyway... ahem. There are other members in the inner hall for socializing, though most aren't deeply involved in the occult."
"As for guests seeking fortune-telling, we will arrange them according to your requirements. There is a note inside the room. Please write down the specific details on it."
"Thank you for your trouble."
Fran then stepped into the fortune-telling room. The door and the gray curtains closed gently behind her.
...
The not-too-spacious fortune-telling room was filled with pale, translucent crystal ornaments, mostly calcite in the form of prismatic, rock-like flowers.
Their shapes were each magnificent and strange, carefully preserved in display cases.
"Hmm, one can tell Miss Dorothy really likes calcite. This type of mineral is indeed more conducive to revealing optical-level mystical connections."
It was quiet here, and the air carried a faint scent of Keyleaf Flower and jasmine.
Fran went to the inquiry desk, picked up a quill, and wrote down her specific requirements for fortune-telling services on the note.
"Priority given to clients related to the Four Major Orthodox Cults. Fee: half a Norlington standard silver coin per session. Accept all types of fortune-telling queries."
A moment after she finished writing, the characters on the note began to disappear one by one, until it became a slightly yellowed blank sheet of paper again.
Fran let out a soft sigh and then sat down comfortably in the square chair.
"The environment here isn't bad. Seems a waste not to read something."
She then took out the Originium-State Biological Spectrum from under her robe, put on a pair of silver-rimmed round glasses, and began to study it carefully.
"Although living metal has biological affinity similar to titanium, implantation can still cause foreign body reactions. This could potentially be addressed by trying a Wraithbone coating. While its essence is Immaterium crystal, it is fortunately very stable."
"Actually, the rejection issue could also be solved through gene editing, but that's too crude and lacks aesthetic appeal. Oh, speaking of which, I'm starting to miss the Crucible's Many Aspects again, which had no concept of rejection at all..."
"With the currently mastered technologies, constructing an 'embedded prosthesis' with independent life using these several materials is indeed somewhat challenging. I still need to align research progress with Sigrid..."
"Ding—"
A clear, crisp wind chime sound pulled Fran out of her immersed thoughts.
"Seems a guest has arrived."
She closed the thick technical manual and turned her gaze towards the opening door.
"Is that Dr. Fran? I never expected to see you here! When I saw your name outside, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."
The visitor was a tall, handsome young man.
He carried a cloth-wrapped cello case on his back. Beneath his white shirt, one could see the outline of firm, well-formed muscles.
"Mr. Child?" Fran propped her cheek on one hand, her moist lips curving into a slight smile.
She truly hadn't expected to encounter someone she knew here. Oh, that cello case of Mr. Child's... he was probably carrying that sniper rifle with him. Such a simple, honest disguise.
"Mmm~ A White Cup 'Error-Purger' in a place like this? Are you also interested in your own future?"
For this question, Child scratched his head, thinking for a bit.
"It's my hobby. I like stars, dreams, the supernatural, fate... these kinds of things that are hard to describe and grasp. And the fascinated look on people's faces when they talk about them."
"Experiencing these things makes me feel very calm. The cold agitation in my head also subsides."
Dear Mr. Child, you are a relic golem. You probably don't have a 'brain' in the first place...
Fran slightly contained her smile, placed her hands together, and began her professional engagement as a fortune-teller.
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL