∗ ∗ ∗
“Hmm? I just felt something weird...” Forneus murmured. Apparently they hadn’t realized yet.
But everyone else around noticed the change.
“Meow?!”
“W-Woof! (Mi-Milord!) Woof woof?! (Who in the world is that?!)”
Cath and Mataza were startled, and so was Liber.
“Woof? (Is that a sheep beastman?)” she asked cautiously.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wait, can you see them?” I asked the trio. They each nodded. Somehow, the link formed between us made them visible to everyone else. Was this another effect of the <Holy King> skill?
“Huh? What’s going on here? Can you all see me too?” Forneus asked the others, waving a hand in front of all their faces. Upon seeing their eyes following the movement, they exclaimed, “Wow, you can see me! There have never been this many <Diviners> before!”
From Forneus’s perspective, they were <Diviners>, but I knew otherwise. The real reason why they can see Forneus now is probably...
When I checked my status card, the <Follower Contract> section listed:
✦ ✦ ✦
Follower Contract: Demon Cat (Juvenile), Hound Sprite x10, Hound Trooper x2, Normal Folk x1, Black Skeleton King, Artificial Spirit x1
“I thought as much...” I sighed, but it made complete sense. Just moments ago, Forneus had clearly stated a desire to form a contract and follow me. That had caused a Follower Contract to form between us.
Forneus had probably been half-joking and hadn’t meant it as a serious promise, but my skill had interpreted this caprice as consent. For my part, I’d been hoping to establish a working relationship with them, so in a way, we had an accord.
I really wanted to complain about how loose the rules were. Similar things had happened with Cath, the kobolds, and Aht. As for the black skeleton king, I’d basically swiped its contract from someone else. In this case, an intent had been clearly said out loud, so it was no wonder that had been taken as agreement to the contract.
As I was thinking this, Forneus asked me, “Huh? What’s up? Is there a problem?”
It seemed Forneus didn’t understand exactly what was going on here. I’d assumed that a being that had been worshipped as a god would be perfectly aware of their own status, but they seemed not to pay it any mind. So it was probably inevitable that they hadn’t noticed.
But now that we were bound together, there was nothing I could do about it. I still didn’t know anything about how to annul a contract. So for the time being, I explained it to Forneus.
“Yeah, there is a problem. You just formed a contract with me.”
“Hm? I did. We agreed that you’d build a town and I’d help.”
“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s a contract where you serve me, but not vice versa. I can monitor your powers and abilities...if I want. All of your basic personal info is exposed to me. I don’t think you can really disobey my commands either, right?”
That was the way my followers so far had acted. Cath sometimes seemed a little rebellious, and Aht was fully compliant but also strict. Despite this, they more or less did as I ordered. It was still a mystery whether their free will was being manipulated or if there was some other basis for this, but that was my general experience.
However, Forneus reacted with astonishment. “No, that can’t possibly be right. There’s no way I would form such an unfair contract with a person I only just met. Don’t you know you’re asking way too much? If that’s how you’re going to be, I must reconsider cooperating with—Hm? That’s strange. For some reason, I just can’t bring myself to refuse you.”
“Is that so? You haven’t completely lost your free will, have you? Or is it just because you’re an artificial spirit? I’ll need to experiment and find out, but not right now.”
Forneus’s species had been recorded as “Artificial Spirit.” I had expected they might be recorded as “Evil God” or “Demigod,” but this was probably the most appropriate designation. That said, spirits didn’t obey humans by nature, even if they were artificial. In my homeland, after they were generated, they would be forced into submission or treated as nothing more than an energy source. The spirits usually had no say in how they were used. Considering this, it was extraordinary that artificial spirits could be forced to comply, although it required the use of skills.
“Erm... What exactly does this mean?” By now, Forneus had finally realized that something was off.
I told it to them straight. “You’ve been turned into my loyal follower by the effects of my skill. I don’t know how to undo it, so you’re stuck following me indefinitely.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’ve been worshipped and adored here as an evil god for centuries! An insignificant little nothing like you couldn’t—” Forneus groaned, gripping their head. Forming the contract must have made it harder for them to lie. The language they used with me had turned rather harsh. Usually I’d have found this upsetting, but this time, I was intrigued because I could see the influence of <Follower Contract> at work. As I had thought, it didn’t completely take over followers’ minds. I decided to question Forneus as a way to further experiment.
“Oh? Is that your true nature? I guess the cat’s out of the bag now... Oh, sorry Cath. I wasn’t complaining about you.”
Cath had started clawing my shoulders in protest at my phrasing. She was a <Demon Cat> and therefore not exactly what the idiom was referring to. Still, the same terms were used for them, so she’d taken it as an insult and was now objecting. She must have understood my apology, since she immediately stopped.
That’s what’s so nice and adorable about my partner, I thought.
Meanwhile, Forneus glowered at me. “Now I understand. You didn’t trust me, so you set up a trap to bind me into a contract?”
“No, that’s not it. On the contrary, I was being mindful of it. This skill is hard to use. It can make contracts over the slightest things, so I try to avoid triggering it. But you were the one who suggested making a contract. You sure you didn’t adopt that trait from your believers who carried off the wrong idol?”
This evil god and its believers were a bit clumsy. Thinking of it like that almost made the Sect of Forneus seem cute—but they were still a villainous organization that was willing to commit terrorism in order to rapidly spread throughout Urizen. It was still unclear whether they were related to this Forneus, though.
Forneus sighed in response. “You’ve got me there... I messed up. And you said there’s no way to undo it?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I did test something out since I figured it’d be better to know in advance, but it didn’t end up working.”
I’d tried it with the kobolds. I’d overwhelmed them by force before, so I presumed that they wouldn’t suddenly turn on me if their contracts were annulled. In that sense, I figured Cath wouldn’t assault me either, but she was stronger than them. Just in case, I decided it would be best to experiment with the kobolds. But none of it had yielded any results, no matter who I tried it on.
Forneus sighed again. “What’s done is done. Do you intend to find a way to cancel it?”
“It’s not causing me any trouble right now, so I’m not about to go looking.”
“Well, I’d rather you do, please.”
Given that they were bound by <Follower Contract> and wanted to get out of it, I could assume their free will was still intact. I’d have to test it out on others to see if Forneus was just unique by virtue of being an artificial spirit, but it was good to have an example.
“You hate it that much? Well, I guess that makes sense. But you’re going to cooperate with me, right? Actually, please answer this honestly. That’s an order.” My experiments had found that followers were compelled to a degree when I told them that something was an order.
As a matter of fact, Forneus looked discontent as they answered. “I was going to cooperate. I was just planning to convert everyone once the town was built and grew big enough.”
“I see. That doesn’t sound all that crooked. I said at the very beginning that we could do that.”
“So you claimed, but politicians don’t like excessive evangelization, right? I thought you’d go back on your word sooner or later. But if I work alongside you for now and win your trust...”
They were more realistic than they let on. Maybe their ignorance of society was just an act. With that in mind, this Forneus really was...
“You’re pretty tenacious. Well, I can’t say I mind that. Not like I can judge.”
Forneus seemed mildly surprised by my reply. “I tried to trick you, but you’re forgiving me?”
“There isn’t really anything to forgive. There was never any trust between us in the first place, but it’s fine. Now that we have a contract, it’ll be tough for you to defy me anyway. Even more so if we build a rapport. I guess you’re not too happy about that, though.”
“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I said otherwise, but I think I’ll be in good hands if I follow you. But in exchange, I need you to proselytize for me. I can’t keep existing without energy from believers, after all.”
“Huh? I thought the mana stone inside the idol was keeping you tethered?”
“That’s true, but it won’t hold out forever. I think I only had around one or two years left when you all came around. Since I couldn’t miss that opportunity, I had to do something.”
“That explains it. All right, then. Now that that’s all sorted out, it’s good to have you with us.”
“Yes. I’m glad to be working with you, Noah. And this time, I mean it.”