Only God
Chapter 568 - 486: The Born Fierce Star

Chapter 568: Chapter 486: The Born Fierce Star

Belvan hastily arranged a wedding, which was, in fact, quite lackluster throughout the proceedings due to his lack of enthusiasm. Unlike other guests who exerted great effort to endure, he quickly allowed the prostitute to complete her work.

Belvan then urged her,

"Hurry, take me to see the godmother."

Having just received a silver coin, worth her usual nightly income, and considering that Belvan’s business was done so quickly, she was the perfect customer. She didn’t delay but gratefully thanked the Craftsman God Hiris while diligently leading Belvan to a small alley beside the temple.

The alley was dark, filled with a complex stench of decay. Lying on either side were men and women, along with unidentifiable secretions and vomit. Belvan frowned and suppressed the urge to retch.

The prostitute navigated the twists and turns of the alley with ease, causing Belvan to nearly lose track of her several times. As they ventured deeper, Belvan felt a pang of panic, worrying if the prostitute intended to lure him into danger. Perhaps suddenly five or six rogue wanderers would jump out, strip him of his belongings, and only stop when they had taken everything.

Fortunately, as the prostitute’s pace slowed, they arrived in front of a narrow doorway. After the prostitute knocked on the door rhythmically, an ordinary-looking Dwarf woman with a beard came out and scrutinized Belvan.

"Why have you brought this guest here? I don’t entertain clients."

The Dwarf woman spoke somewhat gruffly, her voice high-pitched and bat-like.

"Hey, Saren, this guest isn’t here for that, he’s here for fortune-telling," said the prostitute cautiously, nudging Belvan beside her.

The Dwarf woman named Saren curiously appraised Belvan once more, murmuring to herself:

"Fortune-telling? That’s unusual. Look at his clothes; they are clearly made by humans. What’s someone important like him doing coming to me for fortune-telling? He probably thinks I’m a savage!"

Belvan was somewhat surprised by her insight since, as a scholar serving the Royal Family, many of his clothes were indeed made by humans, yet Saren had seen through this fact with a glance.

Pointing at Belvan, Saren raised her eyebrows and continued,

"Tell me, what do you want me to predict? As you can see, I have a beard, so I’m not about weddings like her. Here, I make my living selling herbs and fortune-telling."

Belvan, of course, had noticed Saren’s beard.

One way Dwarves differ from races such as humans, Three-eyed Ape People, and Elves is that both men and women grow beards.

This was reflected in Dwarven mythology; it was said that when Hiris, the Mountain and Craftsman God, created Dwarves, he crafted two men. Since they were both male, they detested each other and harbored grudges, even plotting in secret to harm one another.

When the Giants, who served the Dwarves, learned of this, they reported it to Hiris. The great Hiris then made each man forge a weapon, one a spear and the other a shield. If the man with the spear could pierce the shield, the shield bearer would become a woman, and vice versa. If the man with the shield could break the spear, the spear holder would become a woman.

In the end, the man forging the spear was too lazy and rested on the final day of forging, resulting in the spear being broken by the shield. The man with the spear was turned into a woman and, since she was originally a man, retained a beard. Henceforth, all Dwarf women grew beards.

Dwarven mythology, crass and untamed in spirit yet dramatically rich, widely circulated in the Dwarven realm, deeply uniting this forge-loving race.

Due to the constant trade between humans and the Three-eyed Ape People and the Dwarves, their culture had impacted this race in all aspects, particularly the upper-class Clans. Those noble Dwarf women who originally sported beards began to shave them off, and prostitutes did the same, aiming to attract more clients.

Saren led Belvan into her house and pulled out a chair for Belvan to sit on. The creaking sound made Belvan worry that the chair would collapse at any moment. The room was exceedingly cramped, and in the dim light, one could see the flaking plaster and thick cobwebs. Belvan placed his hand on the table in front of him and immediately felt something strange on the back of his hand. Looking down, he saw a jumping spider had crawled onto him, lifting its big-eyed head and curiously eyeing this unexpected visitor.

"Tell me, what do you want to divine?"

Saren yawned as she asked.

"To be precise, I want to interpret a dream,"

Belvan replied, flicking the spider off his hand.

"Oh, then what dream did you have? Describe it for me,"

Saren asked.

Belvan took a deep breath and quickly retold the nightmare he had the night before. At first, the witch didn’t seem to care much, but as Belvan went on and emphasized that he had been having nightmares these past few days, Saren’s expression began to grow tense. She alternated between staring intently at Belvan and shifting her gaze to another spot on the table. Once Belvan finished, the witch surprisingly asked him to repeat everything again.

So, Belvan reiterated what he had just said.

"You...what do you think?"

Belvan asked, feeling somewhat uneasy by the witch’s reaction.

Could it be that he really...

Saren’s brow was furrowed as if she had never encountered such a tricky situation before.

"I think this seems like a divine curse; you seem to have offended some deity without knowing it,"

Belvan was startled, as this was very similar to what Mura had said, but he quickly regained his composure and stared at Saren with a hint of anger.

"What divine curse, offending some deity? This is how you witches operate, always exaggerating dangers to coerce people into paying you,"

Surprisingly, Saren was not the least bit upset by the scolding, but instead proactively said:

"Your case is truly special, very special indeed. I rarely encounter such individuals. Let me divine for you,"

Upon hearing this, Belvan reined in his anger and nodded.

Saren then slowly rose to her feet, placed her hand on the table, and Belvan noticed the jumping spider had crawled onto her arm.

Next, Saren stared straight at Belvan for nearly a quarter of an hour before slowly enunciating:

"You were born under an ominous star."