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Meanwhile, just after Yuichi had made it home, but before he set out to the station...
The evil presence that Furu had spoken of was sitting across from Hiromichi Rokuhara, elegantly sipping a cup of coffee.
They were in a cafe near the station area, sitting by the window. The cafe had a modern atmosphere and must have been quite popular, because nearly all the seats had been filled, despite the early hour.
“Now, shall I attempt to explain the situation?” the evil presence asked.
“I was starting to think you weren’t ever gonna,” Hiromichi responded, though his tone wasn’t critical. This young man had taught Hiromichi how to use his power, and Hiromichi had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth.
The man had appeared abruptly in front of him recently, and then, without any proper explanation, had taken him around the city and gotten him involved in various fights.
“I thought that showing you how things worked might be more efficient,” said the man. “If I’d launched into the explanation first thing, you wouldn’t have believed me, now would you?”
Hiromichi could see auras, and he knew that superhuman creatures existed, but it was true that that didn’t necessarily mean he’d believe every single thing he was told. There were still lots of things out there he had to see to believe.
“So, let’s start with the broad strokes.” The young man launched into an explanation about Evil Gods and Divine Vessels, but none of it really registered with Hiromichi.
“What does that have to do with me?” he asked finally.
“A great deal. You already have a Divine Vessel, the Evil God’s heart. That means you’re already involved in the war over the Divine Vessels.”
“The heart... is that where my power comes from?” Hiromichi asked.
“That’s right.”
Hiromichi’s power had awakened in him over spring vacation. He’d abruptly begun to see auras around people. He had been convinced that this signified the presence of evil beings, but apparently, it actually signified the effective range of Skill Eater. If he touched someone’s aura, he could steal their ability.
“Why do I have the heart?” Hiromichi asked. The man’s explanation suggested it had merged with his own heart, but he had no memory of acquiring the creepy thing.
“I don’t know, either,” the man said. “The Divine Vessel chooses its own host, though it appears some have ended up trying to twist that. Regardless, you acquired the heart and awakened its power.”
“Just who are you?” Hiromichi asked. “You seem to know a lot about all this.”
“Put simply, I am the Evil God in question.”
“I thought you couldn’t revive unless the Divine Vessels were collected.”
“That only refers to my main body. I myself am, you might say, a dependent. An optional part.”
A tremble went through Hiromichi. The man’s power was overwhelming. If this was only a sub-body, how much power must the “main” one have?
But another question rose up in his mind. “If you’re so strong, why don’t you collect the Divine Vessels yourself?”
“Good question. It would be simple enough just to collect them. I know where they all are, and I’m likely stronger than any of their hosts. but collecting them isn’t enough. The Evil God’s revival requires karma.”
Hiromichi stared at him. “What?”
“Put simply, it’s energy. Put a little less simply, it’s the power to sway destiny. Think of it as something that builds up in response to dramatic developments. The war between the Divine Vessels creates drama, which builds up more of the energy I need. In other words, boringly one-sided battles won’t do.”
“So at the park yesterday, you were testing that guy to see if he could provide interesting enough battles?”
“You’re a sharp one. That’s correct. If he’d turned out to be boring, I’d have had to arrange to find someone else.”
“In that’s the criteria, I must be the worst person out there,” Hiromichi said. “Why did you bother taking me around?”
He didn’t know what sort of fights the man was after, but Hiromichi had a feeling he’d be unacceptable no matter what. He was fully convinced he was a boring person.
“Don’t worry,” the man said. “I don’t need you to be able to have an interesting battle.”
“What do you mean by that?” Hiromichi wasn’t sure how to react to the declaration, which seemed to overturn everything else he’d been saying.
“Congratulations. You win.”
“Huh?”
“The person who holds the heart wins the game. That’s been decided from the very start. After all, the Evil God’s soul is in the heart. In the end, all the Divine Vessels will find their way to you.”
“But that means it’s all just a farce...” Hiromichi said slowly. The man had said all that about the Evil God and the Divine Vessel War, when in fact, the winner was already set in stone. Hiromichi was completely dumbstruck by the news.
“Indeed, it’s a farce. A fixed race. A put-up job. All of that.”
“Does that mean I get a wish granted?” Hiromichi asked.
This was all very unexpected. He wasn’t sure how much he could trust it, but whether he did or not wouldn’t change things much. At the end of the day, he had no choice but to do what this man said.
“Yes,” said the man. “But remember, you only get one, so you should start thinking it over now. That’s about all I had to say. I think you should spend the rest of the day going around on your own.”
“Huh? Wait a minute! I can’t handle this by myself!”
“You’ll be fine. As you said before, your power is like a cheat code. You can nullify the abilities of others, and steal them, too. How could you possibly lose?”
“But...”
“You can also just sit tight until I come back, if you want,” said the man. “But remember, you have a very special power. You’d do well to strengthen it as much as possible while you can.” The man’s demeanor was utterly laid-back, yet it left no room for argument. They would be parting ways here, and that was that.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Hiromichi said. “But what are you going to do?”
“Remember two days ago, when we went to see the girl with the right arm? Do you remember the girl who was with her? The one who ran away?”
“Did that happen?” He couldn’t remember. He was pretty sure that girl had been alone from the start... if there had been someone with her, it had only been for a moment.
“She’s my servant,” the man said. “I’ve been worried, since I haven’t been able to get in touch with her lately. Then sadly, she ran away, so I sent some of my other servants to search for her.”
This must have meant that one of the other servants had found her... not that Hiromichi cared about any of that.
“Well, whatever. By the way, what should I call you?” He wasn’t sure how much they’d be seeing of each other, but it was inconvenient not to have a name to call the man by.
The man thought for a moment, then responded. “Good question... I’ve been called many names in the past, but for now, how about Nergal?”