A Prayer for a Hopeless Apprentice
It was still early in the morning, but the Academy's main gate stood wide open, no doubt to accommodate the worshippers who would be coming and going from the temple over the weekend. Carriages were forbidden inside the Academy grounds, so the trip from the gate to the temple had to be made on foot.
"Wow! So this is the Academy! It's amazing, young master!"
"You think so?"
"I do! I bet anyone who studies here is bound to succeed at everything! If only we had a little more time, I'd love to look around—what a shame."
When Rita let out a genuinely disappointed sigh, Bayul found himself making an offer before he could stop to think.
"Then how about coming back for the autumn festival?"
"A festival?"
At the word festival, Rita's eyes widened behind her glasses, brimming with anticipation.
"Yeah. The Academy holds one every autumn. Anyone can attend as long as they receive an invitation."
"I want to go! I have to go!"
"All right. You're precious to me, Rita, so I'll send you a special invitation. Sir Ian, you'll be coming as well, I take it?"
"It seems I must, if only to keep Miss Rita safe."
"Then I shall prepare two invitations."
He hadn't even decided what would happen at the festival yet, and already he'd invited two guests.
The midterms came right on the heels of the semester's opening, with the festival following soon after. Since it fell almost immediately after exams ended, preparing for tests and festival alike at the same time was a rite of passage no Carrington Academy student could escape.
"Yay! I bet it'll be even more fun than a night market!"
Rita's excited voice grew louder and louder. For someone of her station, simply getting to see the Academy Bayul attended—let alone being invited as a guest of honor at its festival—was a luxury she could never have dreamed of.
"You really are the best young master in the whole world!"
Bayul gently patted the head of Rita, who was beaming as if she owned the world. To him, she was irreplaceable. If he could give her anything, he wanted to give her everything.
"Well, if it isn't Bayul himself?"
"Oh—Priest Wagner! It's been a while. How have you been?"
As luck would have it, they ran into Priest Wagner the moment they stepped through the temple doors.
"I was already planning to pay you a visit once the semester started. It seems I've been spared the wait."
"Indeed, it's good to see you again. But what brings you here?"
"Ah, well—there's something I wanted to pray about."
"You?"
"No, her."
When Bayul gestured toward Rita, she gave a small bow.
"Good morning, Father. My name is Rita."
"She's been helping me since our days in Hamilton."
"Oh ho, is that so? I can tell at a glance. A knight of the Full Moon Order, I see."
Ian inclined his head slightly in greeting.
"The honor is mine, Father."
"No, the honor is mine. The young master has told me about you."
"Haha, has he now?"
Priest Wagner was the one who monitored Bayul's health, so of course Ian knew him well. He even knew that the priest reported directly to Duke Randert.
"Shall I show you to the prayer hall, then?"
"Weren't you on your way somewhere, Father?"
"I was, but it's nothing urgent. The temple is quite large, and you might lose your way—I'll show you there myself. Follow me."
Rita bowed deeply at the priest's kindness and gratefully trailed after him. Bayul and Ian had nothing in particular to pray for, but neither did they have anything else pressing to do, so they followed along, figuring they might at least have a look at the prayer hall.
The hall was larger than expected. Its domed ceiling and walls were covered in countless paintings and carvings whose meanings were impossible to guess. At the center of the far end stood a platform like a stage, and at its highest point rested the statue of the God of Despair.
He looks nothing like Des.
That was Bayul's first thought upon seeing the statue. Even at this early hour, worshippers had already filled the hall, heads bowed in prayer.
Rita quickly found an empty spot, sat down, clasped her hands together, and prayed.
O God of Despair, hear my prayer. To be honest, this is my first time visiting you. Where I come from, in Hamilton, we worship the God of War. But something about you feels similar, somehow, so that's why I came. So please, please grant my wish.
Rita was nothing short of desperate.
There is only one thing I ask for. I have an apprentice named Bar, and no matter how I teach him, his cooking never gets any better. What am I supposed to do about this? I've nagged him, I've even said some truly awful things, and none of it worked. So now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.
A deep crease formed between Rita's brows as she prayed. The sheer gravity of her prayer carried all the way to Bayul, standing at a distance.
Could this be punishment for how mean I was to him? To be honest, I confess—I hated him at first. I picked on him a little because of it... Is that what I'm being punished for? And if so, how long do I have to keep paying for it?
"Hm?"
Priest Wagner, who had been surveying the worshippers since arriving at the hall, sensed something strange and turned around. An overwhelming affinity with the God of Despair had suddenly washed over him.
Where is that coming from?
The first person he checked was Bayul. But it wasn't him. No matter how high Bayul's affinity was, the energy couldn't be felt at this distance. He would have needed to lay hands on the boy directly.
I take back all the terrible things I said to Bar. No—I'm sorry for everything nasty I've said to Mr. Des and Amon too. So please, help my apprentice's cooking improve. I beg you, and I beg you again.
Rita prayed with all her heart and soul, devoting every ounce of her concentration to stripping away the negative energy(?) that had taken hold of Bar.
Only then did Priest Wagner realize the source of it was Rita.
But this was beyond anything that could merely be called affinity. It was enough to make one believe the God of Despair had descended into the mortal world.
How can such power be pouring out of that young girl...!
Priest Wagner was struck by shock yet again. Frankly, he was already stretched to his limits just managing Bayul, whose affinity with the God of Despair only grew higher by the day. What connection could possibly bind those two to the God of Despair, that such blessings had been bestowed upon them?
He no longer felt any sense of loss at the thought of losing one of them. Bayul might have slipped his notice, but Rita—Rita he wanted to secure at any cost. A girl with power like hers would be an immeasurable asset to the temple.
Lord God of Despair, did you hear my prayer? I truly hope my sincerity reached you. I'm sorry to ask something so big of you the first time we meet. But if you help me, I promise I'll come back often. I'll even make offerings.
She felt a little guilty toward the god of her homeland, but Rita was in a hurry.
Well then, I'll be going now. I have so much work piled up. The young master's friends all came to visit at once, so I'm swamped. But seeing how happy he is, I don't feel tired at all. He's such a wonderful person, too—walking me all the way to the temple with me this morning.
At the thought of Bayul, a smile spread across Rita's face all on its own.
Come to think of it, may I ask just one more thing? Please help our young master stay healthy and never fall ill again, so he can do well at the Academy. You're close by, so that much is within your power, isn't it? If you do that for me, I'll double my offerings. I really will!
It was no idle promise. Rita meant every word. Watching Bayul graduate from the Academy safely and return home to Hamilton was her greatest wish in all the world.
All right, now I'm really going. Goodbye.
To the very end, Rita offered her farewell to the God of Despair with utmost courtesy.
"Miss Rita, might I have a word with you?"
The moment she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with Priest Wagner, who had guided them to the prayer hall. He was addressing her with extraordinary deference.
He had always been a kind man, but never to this degree, and Rita was utterly baffled.
Why is Father acting like this all of a sudden?
Bayul, who had been watching the exchange, stepped closer. Ian had stepped away to look around the vicinity.
"Priest Wagner, is something the matter?"
"Ah, well... it's rather difficult to discuss here... But there's no need for worry. There's just something I'd like to ask."
"You mean—about Rita?"
The same reason as with me?
Bayul pondered for a moment before something finally clicked.
"Could this be about the affinity?"
"There are too many ears here. We should move somewhere else."
"Yes... Father."
It was an unexpected situation. But if he thought about it rationally for even a moment, there was nothing strange about it at all.
Priest Wagner had sensed in Rita the same affinity for the God of Despair that he'd found in Bayul. Judging by his expression, its level was bound to be staggering.
Why wouldn't it be?
This was Des, after all—the same Des who had taken a job as a houseboy just for the chance to eat Rita's cooking. His faith in her was nothing short of blind. The effect that would have on her affinity was obvious without even looking.
I should have anticipated this long ago...
Bayul worried inwardly whether he had dragged Rita into something she wanted no part of.
Huh?
Unable to refuse the priest's request, they had stepped out into the corridor and were making their way elsewhere when it happened. A very tall man was walking toward them from the opposite direction. Bayul's gaze drifted over naturally—and somehow, before he knew it, his eyes met the man's dead on.
Who is that?
The man had long black hair, skin so pale it was nearly translucent, and remarkably red lips. Most striking of all were his eyes. Perhaps because of the sunlight streaming through the windows, the color of the man's irises shifted through several different hues in mere seconds.
A confident stride, a self-assured expression.
Bayul had no idea who he was, but wondered privately if he might be some famous knight whose name everyone would recognize.
—My King, be careful.
Spinel?
Spinel abruptly stepped in front of Bayul. He stumbled to a halt, and the approaching man tilted his head in puzzlement—only natural, since Spinel was invisible to his eyes.
—I sense the aura of a powerful demon.
A demon's aura? Don't tell me that man is a demon too?
—No, my King. That man is human. A human who has made a contract with a demon.
Ah, so he contracted with Des, then?
Since this was the Temple of Despair, it was a perfectly reasonable guess for Bayul to make.
—That much I cannot say. But be careful, regardless.
He hesitated for a moment, but mindful of Priest Wagner and Rita, Bayul matched their pace and kept walking smoothly. Spinel stuck close at his side, though all her attention was fixed on the approaching man.
The man, still frowning at the oddity, soon brushed past their group as if he couldn't care less. Nothing happened—nothing at all worth Spinel's alarm.
Spinel, I've been meaning to ask—why are you so wary of demons?
It was this same behavior of hers that had revealed Des's true identity not long ago.
—I don't rightly know myself.
You don't?
—No. It feels as though my very instincts are warning me.
Warning you?
—It's as if something keeps insisting that demons are dangerous beings. I think I'll need to recover more fragments of my memory before I can know the exact reason.
I see.
Bayul, too, had been so shocked when he first learned Des was a demon that he'd nearly fired him on the spot. Nothing but good had come of living alongside them since—but the sheer dread carried by the word demon alone had convinced him he couldn't stay with them.
But lately, that conviction kept changing. Des, and Bar and Amon alike, were far—far too distant—from the demons Bayul had always believed them to be.
Come to think of it, Des was a demon god who had worshippers and a temple all his own. Just as there were good people and bad people here in the human world, there must be good demons and bad ones in the Demon Realm as well.
And Des and his two brothers, without a doubt, belonged among the good.
They had to.