Chapter 58: Strange Match
It is a new thing that the king of the West Asian Kingdom personally sets the test questions and recruits famous fortune tellers!
Many people who claimed to be fortune tellers came from all over the country and even from abroad.
Some of them called themselves wizards, some called themselves prophets, some called themselves seers, and some called themselves astrologers. Some of them were commoners, and some were nobles or advisers to nobles.
No matter what they are called, they are good at fiddling with things like crystal balls, tarot cards, tea leaves, tortoise shells, etc., saying some weird words, claiming that they can see the future and past of others and talk to the dead.
Hundreds of people wearing cloaks, hoods, and mysterious clothes gathered in the capital. It was a strange sight! The person in charge of this examination was Prince Eric.
He took over this task from his father and was responsible for selecting the most accurate fortune teller among all the fortune tellers.
In fact, he really wanted to know the life experience of the "amnesiac girl" more than anyone else.
By the way, if there really is such a powerful fortune teller, the prince also wants to ask him or her: Who is the girl who saved him in the shipwreck and the lifesaver who looks like the "amnesiac girl"? He is looking forward to the answers to these two questions.
While the prince was extremely excited, Ariel in the palace was extremely scared.
She didn't know how many of the fortune tellers who came from all over were liars and how many had real talents and knowledge.
"If the prince knew that I was a mermaid from the sea, what would he do to me?"
"Will he still hold my hand and watch the sunset and sunrise like he used to?
"Will he see me as an inhuman monster? Because humans are so afraid of and dislike mermaids."
…
Today, Rhine also put on a light-colored robe and a wizard hat, and looked like a carefree wandering magician. He also mixed in with the large group of applicants.
Aurora followed the boy as the magician's bodyguard.
Such two cute and beautiful children undoubtedly attracted the attention of the adults around them.
"Two little friends, what are you doing here?" The guard in charge of registration asked the two children who were dressed strangely, "There is an important matter here today, you can't just come in casually!"
Rhine smiled without saying anything and handed over an envelope.
"Please take a look."
The guard didn't understand what was going on, but he opened the envelope anyway and carefully read the contents and the corresponding documents.
After a few seconds, the guard's expression suddenly changed.
He bowed respectfully to Rhine and Aurora, and made an inviting gesture to them in the surprised eyes of others.
"Please come, sage of the Kingdom of Rose." The guard said in surprise, "I have always heard of your legend and heard that you traveled on the continent. I didn't expect you to have traveled here!"
As the adults around them looked on in confusion and shock, the guards escorted Rhine and Aurora to the venue.
The prince stood in the square in front of the palace and began to preside over the assessment competition.
The first level is the easiest.
There are ten upside-down bowls in front of each fortune teller's table, and only one of them has a gold coin hidden on the top.
The contestants are required to be blindfolded and find the bowl with the gold coin upside down without touching the bowl.
It took Rhine only a second to find the upside-down bowl with the gold coins, as if he knew where the gold coins were from the beginning.
The other contestants were still thinking hard, mumbling strange words, and asking for help from different gods! Such a simple test question eliminated most of the weirdos, and only one in ten contestants could advance to the next level.
"It turns out that they were just guessing." Aurora sighed.
"From a statistical point of view, that's right," said Rhine, who had completed the task with ease.
As a magician, Rhine knew that even among real magicians, not every one of them knew how to tell fortunes and predict the future. Most of those who could participate in the competition were probably just people who were good at cheating.
Even if there are some contestants who are really talented, how can they compare with him who has mastered the power of prophecy for many years? The second question is much more difficult.
A court painter would stay in a closed little room and improvise, painting a picture alone.
And the fortune teller in the open space had to copy the painting out of thin air.
The prince went in and out of the small room, sometimes looking at the progress of the court painter's painting, and sometimes looking at the paintings of the contestants outside.
The court painter picked up his brush and soon drew a gorgeous rose in the middle of the paper.
The prince went out to see the contestants' drawings, which were very different from those of the court painters. Some drew mountains, some drew portraits, and some drew battle scenes.
At this time, the prince noticed that a table and chair were empty, and there was no one on the stool. No one knew where the contestants had gone.
"Where are the people here?" asked the prince.
"There turned out to be a silver-haired child sitting there. He said he was going to take a nap and didn't want to waste any more time here, so he left early, leaving only a painting here." The people around answered.
The prince looked carefully and saw that there was indeed a painting on the table.
The painting shows a man courting a woman, who is holding a bright rose in his hand, which occupies the core of the painting.
"Oh my God, this is so similar!" the prince exclaimed in his heart.
The flower in the painting is almost exactly the same as the one the court painter had done! "The only pity is that the other parts are wrong. The court painter only painted a flower instead of a courtship scene."
The prince couldn't help but feel sorry for the contestant. If he hadn't added unnecessary parts, he would have definitely advanced.
With this thought in mind, Prince Eric walked back to the small room where the court painter was.
The prince breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was still a delicate rose on the drawing paper.
"Are you finished?" asked the prince.
"No, not yet, my Lord. I think the picture is too empty now!" said the painter.
Over the next half hour, as His Royal Highness looked on in amazement, the court painter added more details to the sides of the painting.
Finally, the court painter completed the painting.
It was exactly the same one the prince had seen before.
"Have you told anyone what you are going to paint today?" the prince asked in disbelief.
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"Of course not, my highness. It was not until half an hour ago when you entered the room that I felt that the painting was too empty and wanted to add some details to it. And before a painting is officially completed, even I don't know what it will look like in the end," said the painter.
"Oh my God! The contestant - everyone said it was a child - saw the painting earlier than the painter himself, just as the readers know the subsequent development of the story earlier than the author." The prince was stunned.
This time, only two people made it through.
Rhine was of course one of them, and the only contestant who completed the painting earlier than the painter.
"Why did the copy you made appear earlier than the original?" the prince asked the child who had returned to his seat.
"If you don't know the outcome before it happens, how can it be considered a prophecy?" Rhine said.
"Can you see so clearly other things, such as paintings?" the prince asked excitedly.
Such a fortune teller must be able to see the life experience of the amnesiac girl and who was the benefactor who saved her, right?
"I can't guarantee it. The more important the fate, the more branches and possibilities it has, and all we can know are vague fragments." Rhine answered truthfully.
Rhine noticed that the other qualifier also seemed to be a magician.
He has an exaggerated eagle nose and shifty eyes. His facial features are different from those of the others, with a more distinct and exotic look, and his skin is dark brown.
"He seems to look different from the others." Rhine asked the guard beside him.
"Yes. His name seems to be Magredo. He claims to be a magician from a Middle Eastern country. He happened to travel here not long ago." said the guard.
"A Middle Eastern country?" Rhine was confused.
He and Aurora wondered if they would ever have the chance to travel there.
The third assessment is the most complicated.
The only two candidates who qualified had to go out to sea with a fishing boat and use their knowledge of prophecy to direct the fishermen to fish and tell them when and where to cast their nets.
The number of fish caught is the criterion for judging the final victory.
The Kingdom of West Asia was born on the sea, so fishing and navigation were very important. That’s why there was such a competition.
"My highness, I request that my ship go out to sea first to cast the nets." said the magician who called himself Magredo.
"No problem. It doesn't matter who comes first," said the prince.
Magredo then went out to sea with the fishing boat and pointed to a certain sea area.
After the fishermen spread the fishing nets, they caught many more fish than usual. Four or five fishermen used all their strength to pull these fish onto the boat. Seeing the fish jumping in the net, Maglido laughed and said to Rhine on the other boat: "Little friend, I definitely won this time!"
He knew that the direction he was pointing to was where the most fish could be caught in this sea area today.
As for the boy, no matter how accurate the prediction was, the net would be cast after him.
He can't possibly create more fish out of thin air!
Facing Magredo's wild laughter, Rhine just smiled and said nothing.
On another boat, Rhine pointed to an area of water and asked the fishermen to cast their nets.
While waiting for the net to be closed, the boy quietly took out the flute carved from shells and inlaid with pearls.
——This is a gift from the Sea King, as a testimony to the friends of the Sea Kingdom's court, representing that Rhine and Aurora will always be honored guests of the Sea Kingdom. As long as the flute is played, even the mermaids in the deep sea can hear it.
Rhine quietly blew the flute, but the melodious sound was drowned out by the strong wind on the sea, and no human noticed it.
But this strange melody spread into the sea.
(End of this chapter)