Raga of the Dry Branch - Chapter 20

It all started with a bit of play.

Fay did this, and this came up?

Now, please explain it quickly. Heliciad had a curious face. Julius, who was being constantly bothered by it, said, “It isn’t a huge deal, but it is inconvenient to use because of the trivial things, and it might be contained for a while.”

“Ugn~ is that so, Fay?”

Shang-Lodihara, who was watching the scene, turned to Faysion. Faysion, who was making sure that the employees were doing their job, shrugged his shoulders as if he wasn’t interested in the others’ chatter.

And responded, “Fine, let’s see the fortune Al has!”

Heliciad exclaimed excitedly.

I was preparing to go to work in the white uniform dedicated for the 2nd Division, which I received yesterday.

Suddenly, I could feel a commotion outside. This voice was definitely…

After finishing the preparations and leaving the door, I found Juli and Heli fighting near the door.

As expected after

“What happened?”

I asked as I looked at them with a look that said, you two again?

Heli exclaimed as if it was unfair.

“Nothing, I was just following you out of concern!”

“Fatty.”

Juli spoke looking at Heli, as such a ruthless guy he is.

“Juli saw the fortune. I don’t know how good he is, but he seemed fine. And now that I experienced it a few times I understand it, and so!”

“Okay…”

“Al, can you not skip work for a while?”

“Righ… what?”

I unconsciously answered what Heli wanted before taking it back. And then asked, what did she just say?

“You can’t?”

She tilted her head at a weird angle with her chubby face and tried to make a fatal plea to me, but it has been a long time since I was exposed to her charm, so I am used to it.

“Work isn’t something you go because you want to and skip because you don’t want to. Besides, this is the second day today, right?”

Do you want to see me get fired?

“It doesn’t matter, throw the job away! I will feed you! Why are you being so stubborn! All I am saying is that it makes things a little easier!?”

Ignoring Heli, who kept jumping up and down, I went into my room to prepare and to check if I had everything with me or not. Heli, who was still trying to convince me, and Juli, standing in a crooked posture standing right in front of the stairs where I needed to head down.

“Move while I am being nice.”

He ignored my warning.

“Ugh!”

He didn’t even budge.

“Just say you are sick, I am sure they have people to do your work.”

“…”

I am the only one who handles the documents, and if I missed my second day, the ones in there would suffer twice more.

I glanced at my left wrist which had a thin, plain platinum circle with a colorful bracelet, which was gifted by Mahoren, with gems studded at regular intervals.

It was given to me as a protective charm, rather than a simple accessory as each gem in it had magic. It was a tool, a magic tool that could be used from each gem at once. The same magic could be used twice in the same day, and that alone is an amazing thing.

Ren had given to me saying that it would be very useful for me and was right. It did seem like something I could use in the future, like right now.

“Move…!!”

Tak!

Confirming that I managed to leave those two behind, I looked around and it was exactly where I hoped to be. I was next to the kitchen and Shang-di was still having her meal.

As I headed to the table, I was surrounded by fierce whining sounds of those coming down the stairs.

“Al~!!!! you can’t run away from me!!”

Warm croissant with smoked salmon, bacon and cheese, lettuce and tomato stuffed sandwiches, omelet, and cereals with various nuts and strawberries. Fresh cream cakes and more… The entire table was filled with fresh dishes.

I took what I wanted to eat and sat down quietly. As if waiting for me to arrive, Mahoren asked, “Do you know why they are being so hyper in the morning?”

“They don’t want me to go to work…”

“Now what new nonsense is that?”

Well, they heard the fortune telling from Juli and now Heli is running around the house telling me not to do it.

Shang-di asked me not to give attention to the two of them and started to eat her breakfast. And I decided to listen to her for once. I took the crab meat soup which I have been meaning to eat, despite being salty, the savoury taste spread in my mouth, and it was delicious.

“You bad people! We haven’t even come down yet, and you are already stuffing food down your throats!”

“The bread~ tastes so good!”

Teasing them Shang-di took a grilled shrimp and stuffed it into her mouth. Heli walked there with a battle smile and stared at us as she sat down.

And soon Juli followed and sat down, he stirred the soup and silently began to take a sip.

“For three days from today, you will have bad luck of a certain amount, so be careful of what you do and act. Please refrain from going out because there is a high risk of being harmed by othr’s actions.”

“Huh?”

“It is fortune telling. Ah, I just had to tell you this. It is annoying.”

“What? Can’t you just connect the dots and make it more sensible?” Mahoren asked, as I nailed my gaze into my crab soup. It was the same with Fay, Shang-di and Heli.

“Are you taking other people’s work? Don’t – don’t be a pushover either!”

“All it is, is a small amount of bad luck.”

Mahoren and Fay looked genuinely worried.

“Such things are half right and half wrong. But still, be careful from now on.”

Listening to the words of Juli, I felt nauseous but I couldn’t just skip work because of that reason. As I was contemplating, Fay, who seemed lost in thought, suddenly asked.

“This bad luck isn’t from today, it has to be from yesterday, right?”

“…”

“No, it is front today, why? Did something happen yesterday?”

Juli titled his head and asked as I went stiff with the fork in my mouth. Ugh, for some reason it felt like I was being pressured.

“… nothing.”

Fay turned away from me, and shook his head as he went back to eating again. But with all that happened the taste of the crab soup ran away from my mouth. It wasn’t because of the commotion done by Heli, but because of what Fay said – that guy’s voice calling me noona.

Going to work was such a tough task.

As soon as I reached, I went to my desk and sighed.

“Sigh!”

“Uhhhhhhak!”

However, as I managed to come over, the condition at my workplace didn’t seem that good.

The dark-haired beauty, Dame Ilina, looked around the terribly clean office with a happy face and weird laugh.

Next to her was Shuzlin with his huge body, wiping off a tear from his eyes while reading a romance novel that was definitely a tragedy at the glance of the title.

Seeing those two, made my head hurt a little.

“Good morning, Sir Alkeris~ you are early. Are the documents which I mentioned yesterday ready?”

Among the black uniforms which were combat duty officers, the captain who was in a white uniform like me approached me and asked. Of course, I was going to answer that I brought it, but suddenly a white envelope document which I left back at home on my desk flashed in my mind. I have been so restless since this morning.

“Sorry. I will bring it back soon.”

I can go home and grab the papers or ask Mahoren or Heli to bring it back with the help of the bracelet. Thinking so, I looked to my left hand and called for Mahoren.

“Mahoren, can you hear me?”