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“Hey, Dandelion... Can I ask you a question?” Having returned to my bedroom, I sat on my bed and cradled Dandelion in my hands.
“Chirp?” Dandelion tilted his head at me curiously. I decided to make my question brief.
“You helped me this morning, right? With finding the cat.”
“Chirp.”
“But we ended up helping that man instead. Were you...” I trailed off, trying to think of the right words. “Were you trying to get me to help him from the start?”
“Chirp... Ch-Chirp.” He bobbed his head a little, sounding hesitant. So he had led me to the man. I knew it.
“I see. I’m not mad or anything. Don’t worry. I’m actually glad you did, since we saved someone’s life. Thank you, Dandelion.” Then, I gently stroked his head. Judging by the way he crooned, it must’ve felt good.
“Chirrrp!”
“Still, I’m amazed you knew that man was there. It feels a little like the time we saved Cosmos.”
Back then, a monster had been attacking Cosmos. There hadn’t been anything dramatic going on this time, but Dandelion, sensing an emergency, pushed me in the right direction anyway. As a result, I’d ended up finding the man before the situation had gotten any worse. Had he been left alone, the curse might’ve continued spreading without anyone being the wiser.
“Chirp, chirp, chirrup...” Dandelion shook his head. Seems like I’d been off the mark somewhere.
“Huh? You mean you weren’t using your powers of detection?” I was a little shocked by this. “I honestly thought you’d been using a detection power like Fouré’s this whole time.”
Then how had Dandelion been able to locate Cosmos and that man? Maybe instead of finding them, he’d just known they were there already? Dandelion’s ability was incredibly exact—he was always able to locate a target without making even the slightest mistake. And in the case of Cosmos, he’d even managed to track her down in the middle of a forest, where visibility was minimal.
If his ability wasn’t detection, then he must have just known they were there ahead of time. That was the only explanation I could think of.
“Then... Do you have the power of premonition?”
Fouré must’ve arrived at the same conclusion—though I hadn’t noticed that she’d seated herself beside me until I heard her whisper into my ear. “His behavior up till now would make sense if he could see possible futures.”
Fouré raised her hand, then whipped out her fingers as she spoke—her pointer finger, then her middle finger, then finally, her ring finger.
“First, the time he found your sister. He must’ve seen a future where the monster killed her. Second, when he guided you through the dungeon. Having seen what would’ve happened if you chose the wrong path, he knew which paths were safest. And lastly, that man. Maybe he saw a disastrous future, or maybe he saw a vision of you saving the man’s life while out searching for the cat. If he saw a future like that, he’d want to help it come to pass, I’m guessing.”
“You’re amazing, Dandelion! I’m so jealous that you can see the future.” And it wasn’t that he saw a future that couldn’t be changed—his ability allowed him to see possible futures. Since his visions weren’t set in stone, the future could be affected by our actions. It was a power with limitless potential.
“Even I can’t see the future!” Fouré said proudly, puffing out her chest for some reason. Dandelion followed her lead, puffing up as well.
“You’re such a good boy, Dandelion.”
On the surface, he didn’t look like anything more than a slightly chubby little chick. But he’d been hiding an incredible power, made possible because the Light Goddess had personally created him. He was truly the perfect companion.
“If you see any more trouble on the horizon in the future, be sure to let me know, okay?”
“Chirp!” Understood! he seemed to say as he raised his right wing.
I’d had a sudden realization with this new revelation, though. “Oh, but if that’s how your power works, I guess I’ll have to really put in the work to find that cat, huh?”
I’d been planning on using Dandelion to track down the missing pet. But since his power wasn’t detection, but premonition, that changed everything. I couldn’t just tell him to see a future where I found the cat, after all—that might be difficult for him.
I’d have to search the streets on my own in the end, I supposed...
Flopping down on my bed, I closed my eyes. It would all work out anyway, I was sure. Sleep came to me immediately, exhausted as I was by all the godcraft energy I’d expended earlier in the day.
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In the small hours of the morning, before the sun had risen, a group of people wearing dark cloaks assembled in an unassuming location in the eastern quarter. All eyes were fixed on an unconscious man lying on the ground in the center of their circle.
“So this is the sacrifice for our glorious Erebos?”
“That’s right. He’s been living in the streets for a while and he doesn’t have any friends or family. No one’s gonna miss him,” whispered one of the men.
One of the other robed men replied. “Good. Then let’s implant the artifact into his body now. It’ll trigger a powerful curse, so ensure you all stay away from him once we’re done here.”
With that, the man pulled a square box from within his robe. Veins pulsed on its black surface as if the artifact itself was alive.
“Understood. But,” another hesitantly began, “isn’t this much earlier than planned? We were supposed to use that artifact a lot later.”
“The lord of these lands is far more astute than we anticipated, and is now quite wary of us. Besides, your men have told you about that boy with the godcraft, haven’t they? Before long, he’ll cause all the fear and panic over this curse to die down, and we cannot allow that. We have no choice but to use the artifact—we must spread the word of Erebos further, and this will allow us to sow the seeds of our faith in the people.”
The robed man took a step forward from the ring of acolytes, towering over the unconscious man. Fixing his gaze on the sacrifice, the acolyte knelt low to press the box against the man’s chest. As soon as the object touched him, it began to warp, becoming soft and malleable before it attached itself to the prone body. Slowly, it sank into the man’s flesh until it finally disappeared.
Confused, one member spoke. “Nothing’s happening.”
“It will take time for the artifact to fully fuse with him,” came the reply. “I believe it will take some hours for him to awaken—but when he does, he will be nothing but a mindless beast, controlled by the curse.” A deep chuckle rumbled in the man’s throat.
“And how do we stop his rampage, then?”
“We kill him. The curse will make him far stronger than the average person, but with our powers combined, we will see him dead within moments. He will be little more than a marionette, after all, and unable to resist the curse’s impulses. After he spreads the contagion all throughout this sorry town, we will swoop in and end him. The people will sing our praises.”
With that, the man turned on his heels and strode away, his retreating back clearly indicating to the others that he no longer had any business with their victim. The rest quickly followed suit, leaving the scene of the crime one after another.
“Still... How appalling that a mere boy has come out of nowhere to disrupt our plans so badly. Who is that child?”
“According to a recent report, he appears to be staying at the marquis’s residence.”
“Marquis Lycoris has no legitimate sons, and I’ve never heard of any bastard children either. I suppose the boy must simply be a guest, then... But the fact that his lineage is unknown poses a problem.”
“Indeed. However, the boy does have quite a rare hair color, so I’m certain it will not be difficult to find out where he came from. At least we know there are no nobles in the royal capital with such an appearance.”
“Rare or not, there must be someone with green hair.”
“Even if there were, we can’t investigate much further. His parents are not residents of the capital, whether noble or commoner.”
“Hmm. Get your lackeys to look into it for us, then. Or perhaps we should simply see him killed during the chaos.” The man’s lips curled into a cruel, knowing smile.
The other man stopped him, voicing his objection. “No. I think we ought to take advantage of the boy’s skill and bring him into the fold.”
“Turn him into one of us, eh? But he seems to be an ardent follower of the Trinity.”
“We need only brainwash him. That’s our specialty, yes?”
“You’re entirely correct. That’s how we’ve bolstered our numbers so far.” The man nodded in agreement, the smile never leaving his face. “We’ll make him one of us, then. The boy will know of Erebos’s splendor before long.”