The Price of a Prophecy
It was around evening when Bayul returned to the castle with his friends. They had waited in calm, unbroken silence until Logan's tears finally stopped. Somewhere in the middle of it all, Tenkuna cautiously made its way from Aidan over to Eli — though fortunately, neither Bayul nor Logan noticed.
By the time they reached the castle, a sumptuous feast prepared by Auntie Hoshue was already laid out. The castle's household, knowing nothing of what had transpired, welcomed Logan like a son returning after a long absence. He had been visiting Hamilton regularly since he was a boy, so there was hardly a servant who didn't know his face.
That didn't mean the others were left out in the cold, either. Aside from Logan, this was the first time any of Bayul's friends had set foot in Hamilton Castle, and the extravagant treatment came pouring in, one round after another.
All of which left Death — and Death alone — grumbling nonstop, mouth running four spans wide. He never once let slip the chance to point out that the number of mouths to feed had grown by four, until the friends started trading uneasy glances. Apparently, having had to share Auntie Hoshue's special menu was a grievance all its own. At one point Eli lost his patience and blew up at him, and for a brief moment the air at the table turned downright murderous.
Bayul ordered a special dessert to soothe him. Stress born of food could only be cured with more food. And fortunately, the remedy went down a treat.
They all took the after-dinner dessert together in the room where his mother's portrait now hung — a special arrangement. To be able to look upon his mother somewhere that was no longer a hidden back room — for that, Bayul was grateful to his father, and happier than he had ever been.
"So this is your mother, huh? She's a stunning beauty! No wonder Duke Randert fell head over heels for her looks!"
"But how come you don't look a thing like her, Bayul?"
At Aidan's jab, Bayul burst out laughing.
"If anyone takes after her, it's Innocent — more than me, anyway."
"Oh! I've been dying to bring that up this whole time, but it felt like it'd be rude, so I kept my mouth shut. So it's not just me, right?"
"Then could your mother actually be Daphnegrande, the true Water Spirit King?"
"Death, you know anything about that?"
"Can't you see I'm eating my dessert? Don't make me talk."
By now, the temper that had flared up earlier was slowly cooling. Sensing it, Bayul shook his head at Eli — a silent warning not to poke at Death — but Eli, as if determined to be heard, announced loudly, "Ugh, so annoying!"
"The portrait even has her necklace and ring painted in."
"Mm-hm. They're both keepsakes of my mother's. Oh, and — I asked the Chairman, and it turns out this necklace is a Primordial Relic too."
"Whoa! That's a Primordial Relic?!"
Since when were Primordial Relics something you could stumble across this often? That was written all over their faces.
"Come on, let me get a better look! The necklace is a Primordial Relic too? That's incredible!"
"But each Primordial Relic hides its own unique power, right? The Eye of the Ocean brought Quinn back to life. What's this one supposed to do?"
"The Chairman didn't seem to know that either. Oh — come to think of it, he did say this pendant seems to have some kind of separate mechanism built into it."
"A mechanism?"
"Yeah. I don't know exactly what yet... but that secret is mine to uncover."
Bayul's hand tightened around the necklace.
The sweet, gentle voice Innocent had once heard. If he could discover what it was, he might gain a clue about his mother as well. Part of him couldn't wait for that day to come — and part of him was a little afraid of it.
"Say, um. Amon? Can I ask you just one thing?"
"Are you addressing me?"
Amon had been quietly eating his dessert beside Death. It was a courtesy granted by Rita, whose patience had turned remarkably generous since the skies over Hamilton had cleared. Bar, meanwhile, was off waging his own war in the kitchen and couldn't join them.
"How do you see the future, exactly?"
"…?"
"You said Death came here because he'd seen a future where Quinn would come back to life. We all heard it that day. That Amon's prophecies never fail."
The memory had been far too vivid for any of them to forget.
"It's been bugging me ever since. Would you read the future for us one more time, while we're at it?"
"…And which future is it you wish to know?"
Aidan slid a glance toward Bayul and said, "Duke Randert. You know he's left on campaign, of course."
"Of course I do."
"He'll obviously come home victorious — but can you really see all of it? When he'll return, how many soldiers our side will lose, and so on?"
"For Amon, that much is nothing. But then — what are you lot offering in return?"
He polished off a plate of dessert in short order. The crisp-baked apple pie was melting in his mouth more sweetly than it had all day. Death set his fork down with a loud clack.
"What, so we're supposed to pay money for it?"
The insolent drawl belonged to Eli — and at the sound of it, Death's jet-black eyes flashed crimson for an instant.
"For demons like us, there's something we like far better than money. And I don't imagine anyone here needs me to spell out what that is."
"You filthy demon bastards! You're telling us to sell our souls?!"
"The future is something Amon obtains by spending his own time. Every single prophecy he delivers shaves a year off that time. Is what you're asking worth a sacrifice like that?"
"…Time being spent… you mean his lifespan is shortened?"
"I'd assume so."
"Oh no! I never dreamed there was a condition like that. I just thought it was some simple ability — I guess it isn't. I'm sorry. Here I was, asking you flat out without knowing any of this…"
Bayul apologized on Aidan's behalf. At that, Eli snorted and cut in once more.
"What's one lousy year?! You people live for thousands of years — it's nothing to you, isn't it? Last time it was 'once you're born, you just live until you die.' Why are you suddenly acting like it's precious?"
"Eli, that's enough."
"When it comes down to it, Bayul houses you and feeds you for free — he does everything for you. And when it comes to food, you just keep shoveling it in? If you've received kindness, you ought to think about repaying it. Demons really are nothing but shameless bastards, every last one of them!"
"Eli, it isn't free. Everyone here pulls their own weight."
Bayul tried to stick up for them, but it was no use. Once Eli's mouth opened, the words came pouring out like water through a broken dam.
"What's so impressive about cleaning with magic? And even if you don't say a word, I can see right through you. You're burning up inside with worry over your father right now. Sure, Duke Randert may be the strongest knight on the continent, but he's still human. Nothing guarantees no accident will befall him. You want to ask so you can worry a little less about your father off at war — and this is what demons are. Hopeless. They're just using you for the food. Why not cut them loose once and for all while you're at it?"
That was the crux of it: to back the Death brothers into a corner by any means necessary and drive them from Bayul's side.
After spewing that much abuse, they were certain to lose their temper and lunge at him. The moment they did, he would engineer an incident big enough to send them straight back to the Demon Realm.
But that was nothing more than Eli's inflated daydream. Things have a way of never going according to expectation.
"Bayul, I didn't realize you worried about your father that much. You should have said something."
"It's all right, Death. It's true that I worry — but I'd be far too shameless to ask for it knowing a price like that."
In truth, until Aidan had brought it up, divining the future hadn't so much as crossed his mind. His father would, of course, come home safe. He simply had to. Trusting his father and waiting for him was the best Bayul could manage right now.
"That'll do for us."
"…I'm sorry?"
Death tipped his chin toward the table. When Bayul failed to grasp his meaning and cocked his head, he said it outright this time.
"That apple pie. That's all we want."
"…So if we give you this, you'll read the future for us?"
"Yeah, that was the plan from the start — but why does this bastard have to talk so much? Are all Hatchlings this loud by nature? So damn noisy."
"Wh-what did you just say?"
At Death's sneer, Eli's face crumpled in outrage. Aidan, seated beside him, hurriedly grabbed hold of him and talked him down. If the guy had a meltdown at this golden opportunity to have the future read, it would be a disaster.
"Here, have mine."
On behalf of the dumbstruck Bayul, Quinn cheerfully passed his own apple pie over to Death. Logan promptly slid his toward Amon as well. For some reason, neither of them had touched their desserts at all.
"Amon. Go ahead and start."
Death gazed down at the apple pie that had made its way to him as if it were something precious. Amon looked much the same. With a smile playing at his lips, as if the bargain satisfied him, he spoke.
"First, allow me to request that you not be alarmed."
"No matter what the result turns out to be?"
"No — at the sight of me. To human eyes, my form may come across as rather hideous."
"You mean your body changes shape?"
"You will understand when you see it."
Gulp.
The tension, it turned out, was justified. Somewhere along the way, they had all gotten used to forgetting that these three were demons. The figure they were about to face was, in all likelihood, Amon's true form.
"I will begin."
Fwoosh!
And in that instant, Amon began to change. His face crumpled, the area around his mouth jutting slowly forward into a sharp point. Before long, his long hair shifted into something like feathers — and in what felt like a heartbeat, he had taken on the shape of a bird.
"…A crow?"
His body was unchanged; only his face had become a crow's. Jet-black, every last inch of him. At Amon's shocking transformation, Bayul and everyone else sat gaping, unable to string a sentence together.
Then, out of nowhere, a book began drifting down from above. The thick tome was as pitch-black as Amon's feathers, and an unearthly light seeped out from between its covers.
"This is the Record of Time."
His face had become a crow's, but Amon's voice was the same. Spreading the book open, he explained, "A book in which the future is written. One that only I can read."
Amon's hand turned the pages at his leisure. Somewhere in there, his father's future was set down in ink. Only then did Bayul's attention swing from Amon's face back to the point of it all.
What would it say? Surely it would say that he would return in triumph? It had to.
Snap!
The moment Amon closed the book, the Record of Time dissolved like dust. His face, too, reverted in the blink of an eye. For someone who had just paid a year of his life, he looked remarkably fine — and Bayul was relieved to see it.
"Hmmm."
But what could be the matter? Amon couldn't easily bring himself to speak. Behind his glasses, those closed eyes seemed to be wrestling seriously with how to put it.
"What is it? Is something terrible going to happen to my father?"
Fear seized Bayul in an instant.
"Don't tell me he loses the war?"
That was a result truly beyond imagining. Fortunately, Amon shook his head.
"The war will be won. However, the casualties on our side will be heavy."
"I heard the Dwyer Empire has been making thorough preparations. They have their own people to protect — I imagine their resistance will be anything but easy."
Logan said it to comfort Bayul. But his guess was wrong.
"That is not the reason. Before the war even begins, a great earthquake will strike our forces. In the process of containing the damage, Duke Randert will be injured. The war, as a result, will be delayed."
"My father will be injured?"
A strangled voice escaped Bayul. The image of his father holding back a landslide flashed before his eyes. He had been fine then — so why would this time be any different?
To absorb massive losses to an earthquake before ever crossing blades with the enemy — that was something no one had seen coming.
Wait… an earthquake?
Bayul's mind lit up like a struck match.
The great earthquake! Yes — that was it. That was what he had to stop! Amon had merely seen the future, which meant the earthquake had yet to occur. Stop it, and neither his father nor their army would have to lose a thing.
"Amon — the place where the earthquake will strike. Where is it? And when does it happen?"
"Bayul, don't tell me you're thinking of going there."
"I have to go. I have to help my father. The spirits can take care of it!"
Bayul's mind was already made up. His father had told him, absolutely, not to come — but having learned the future, he could not simply stand by.
Even if it meant his identity as a Spirit User laid bare before the whole world, Bayul had to go.