Chapter 52: Change (7)

The Brand of Harvest.

This was the first time I had ever heard its name.

It was an entirely unexpected moment, yet surprisingly, I managed to keep my composure.

“Oh my.”

As if my reaction was unexpected, she blinked her eyes.

“Don’t tell me you already knew about it?”

“No, this is my first time hearing it.”

“Is that so? For someone who claims that, you look far too calm.”

I answered her steady gaze with a composed tone.

“I already knew it wasn’t some ordinary object. I only thought it natural that something like this would have a name.”

“Hmm… how boring.”

Perhaps she had wanted me to react with more shock or passion.

Grumbling in a sulky voice, she tapped the table with her fingers, tok tok.

“Very well then, do you already know something about it… or perhaps have some guesses?”

“Yes, I do have a few.”

I revealed to her everything I had heard from Cecilia.

Now was not the time to hide or try to test her.

“Hmmm.”

When I finished, she slowly nodded her head.

Her face was hidden behind the mask, but her eyes were not.

Golden eyes.

They curved slightly as they looked at me.

Her gaze was like that of a child who had just solved a riddle.

“Splendid.”

She whispered.

Her voice carried a suppressed excitement.

“I’m not saying this as flattery. It’s truly splendid. At this point, I thought you wouldn’t know a thing, but you shattered my expectations beautifully. As expected, you are…!”

Ahem.

As though she suddenly regained her senses, she straightened her posture with a deliberate cough.

“Forgive me, I got a little too excited.”

“It’s fine.”

I nodded, as though I understood.

Since childhood, I had often seen astrologers and the like display such unpredictable behavior.

“…Just now, with your choice, the path has been decided.”

In her hand, quietly whispering, was the single silver coin I had just given her.

“In truth, my reading had shown me two possible futures. That’s why I first chose the path that would have been the most harmonious for both of us… I had planned to gently send you back home. But after our recent conversation, I must admit my thoughts were narrow.”

She shrugged her shoulders, fiddling with the coin in her hand.

“So, with this single silver coin I just received, and with my thanks for reminding me of my own narrowness, I’ll answer two of your questions.”

I silently stared at her for a moment.

After gathering my thoughts, I loosened my collar slightly, exposing my collarbone.

“You did say it was the Brand of Harvest.”

Harvest.

The Brand of Harvest.

…Let me think simply.

If what she said was true, then as the name implied, this brand must possess the power to harvest something.

That would explain, at least in part, why I was able to use Rahma’s power for a brief moment.

For some reason, I must have literally harvested a portion of his power.

But there was still one thing that could not be explained.

‘Then how on earth….’

How had I returned to the past?

Defying even death itself?

“Am I right to think that the power it holds is literally to harvest something?”

Instead of answering, she slowly raised her hand so I could see clearly.

In her hand was still that same single silver coin.

“What could this silver coin be used for?”

“It could be spent as money.”

“And besides that?”

“It could be used as a material in a ritual. Silver coins carry both religious and magical significance. They could also be thrown like weapons.”

“And?”

“They could be melted down to make other objects. Their weight is fairly consistent, so they could serve as weights. They could even be used to test for poison, or placed in water to purify it….”

When she seemed satisfied, she nodded.

As I stopped speaking, she picked up where I left off.

“It’s a bit different in nature, but think of it along those lines. To answer your question, the reply is both ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ Yes, because it can be seen that way. But also no, because it depends on perspective.”

“So you mean it depends on how it’s used?”

“I mean you shouldn’t confine yourself to fixed notions. It’s less about flipping things upside down and more about learning to view them from the side.”

Certainly, Professor Windy May and Sister Roberta had said something similar.

It was obvious in a way, but because it wasn’t the answer I had been hoping for, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

“That’s hardly a satisfying answer.”

“Diviners’ words are always vague by nature. They’re not meant to be taken at face value.”

Suppressing a laugh, she let out a chuckle.

“Now then, what about the other question?”

My final question had been decided from the very start.

Taking a quiet breath, I looked straight at her.

“Is the brand engraved on me related to time?”

She didn’t answer.

Instead, her golden eyes stared at me as if to ask what I truly meant.

Meeting her gaze head-on, I asked again.

“Let me put it another way. Is there a brand that holds power over time… or at least something similar to it?”

“……”

Still, she remained silent.

I didn’t push. I simply waited.

“Well now….”

She muttered slyly.

Then, as though wondering if it was even necessary to tell me, she asked back:

“You already seem to know the answer. Do I really need to be the one to say it?”

Her gemstone-like eyes rolled slightly as she looked straight at me.

I didn’t look away.

“Are you sure you want to spend your one remaining chance on this?”

“I suppose it’s because I have an exhausting personality.”

Holding back the emotions threatening to rise, I spoke to her almost as if throwing the words at her.

“I’m the type who has to double and triple-check before I’m certain. For you it may seem like just a fleeting instant, but I’ve lived through so much that it’s simply habit.”

“A good habit indeed.”

She smiled faintly and tapped the table again, tok tok.

The scattered cards on the table began to gather, as if pulled by some invisible force, stacking neatly in the center.

“That is, after all, the true purpose of divination. To draw out the answers hidden in one’s heart, to give shape to certainty. To create the opportunity for conviction.”

She whispered.

“Then allow me to give you that opportunity. That’s why you came all this way, isn’t it?”

With those meaningful words, she placed her hand on the pile of cards.

A moment later, when she lifted her hand, a single book lay on the table instead.

“Here.”

She carefully pushed the book toward me.

It was an old tome, its cover frayed and patched with rough leather.

“Since you were dissatisfied with my earlier answer, I’ll give you this instead.”

I didn’t bother with pointless questions like asking what it was.

I picked up the book and carefully opened it, but soon frowned.

I couldn’t make sense of it at all.

“May I ask what language this is written in?”

“Hmmm, but I’ve already received full payment from you.”

She tilted her head playfully, smiling.

“But as I said earlier, you are the first guest I’ve had today. So if you pay just a little more, there’s nothing I can’t answer.”

“In that case….”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

She raised her hand to stop me as I was about to pull out more silver coins.

“Money is enough.”

I closed my mouth before asking what she wanted instead.

Because as if by a trick, a small pouch was suddenly in her hand, moving slowly in a large arc.

It was the pouch containing the snack I had half-eaten just moments ago.

“Mm, this will do nicely.”

She quickly tucked the pouch into her clothes.

Afraid I might refuse, she immediately spoke.

“That’s written in the script of Garusol.”

“You mean Garusol?”

I tilted my head and scanned the book once more.

It was slightly—no, entirely different from the Garusol script I knew.

“It’s an ancient language used only for their rituals and ceremonies. These days, almost no one among them can read it. Only someone of very high status, or perhaps a high-ranking official of their faith, would likely know it.”

At those words, one person immediately came to mind.

Yuran.

She was from Garusol, and I could confidently guess she fulfilled both conditions.

And since she owed me in several ways, if I asked her, it wouldn’t be hard to get help.

“Now then… just one last thing before we finish.”

She hummed cheerfully as she spoke, gazing at me intently.

For some reason, I suddenly felt seized by an inexplicable premonition.

“What is your goal?”

“……”

At her sudden question, I looked at her warily. Her eyes gleamed.

“There’s no need to be specific. Even something vague is fine. Your goal?”

“…To survive.”

I answered without realizing it, but she shook her head slightly.

“No, that’s not it.”

She said it with certainty.

“I know. Your goal is not merely… not simply to survive.”

“……”

“That is the reason you’ve come this far. You cannot know it yet, and I cannot tell you yet. But one day, you will remember, and you will understand.”

She stuck her tongue out slightly as she spoke.

The brand.

“I see a brand on you. Along the path you walk, others who bear brands will gather. And you will inevitably become entangled with them.”

“If what you say is true.”

I looked at her and asked.

“Then that means I’ll be involved with you as well in the future?”

“…Well now, who can say?”

After a brief pause, she gave a faint smile.

“That’s enough for now. I’ll enjoy the snack.”

A farewell.

Then, all of a sudden, she clapped her hands right before my eyes.

Clap.

Startled, I instinctively closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, she was gone.

“Huh…?”

The canopy overhead, the table with its spread cards, the chair—everything had vanished.

Only the worn book in my arms remained as proof that what had just happened was real.

“…As if I’d been possessed by a ghost.”

That was the first thing I muttered after standing blankly in the clearing alone for a while.

Even then, her words still echoed in my ears.

‘You will come to understand, eventually.’

“……”

There was no reason to stay any longer.

Without a word, I left.

“Even though it was such a sudden request, I am deeply grateful you accepted without hesitation.”

Yeriel Helmont finally spoke, almost in a whisper.

At his gratitude, Ras Sink Shagas nodded as though it was nothing.

“Think nothing of it, Headmaster. In truth, it was something I had hoped for myself.”

He added slyly,

“But it was quite sudden indeed.”

“As I said, I truly feel sorry for it.”

Yeriel gave a troubled cough.

“Ordinarily, I should have been accompanied by a colleague… but that person is so unpredictable that they suddenly disappeared, claiming urgent business.”

“If it was Lady Windy May, then she must have had good reason.”

Shagas truly did not mind.

If one of the Five Archmages had made that decision, there must have been weight behind it.

All he hoped was that nothing would go wrong because of him, and that this meeting would end smoothly.

“……”

“……”

The two walked silently down the corridor.

When they arrived at the plaza, three figures were already seated, waiting.

“Ah, you’ve come.”

The man seated on the right stood up.

He was strikingly handsome, as if he had only just passed into adulthood.

Shagas easily recognized the traces of a vampire in him.

‘At least a single-digit generation.’

Shagas thought calmly.

A powerhouse like that could have taken the lead in this meeting without issue.

‘And yet such a man is acting as an attendant.’

Setting aside his doubt for now, Shagas greeted them.

“You arrived early. I am Ras Sink Shagas. Beside me is, as you know, Yeriel Helmont, Headmaster of Arpentia Academy.”

“Oh.”

The massive man seated on the left brightened his eyes and grinned.

“The One-Legged Watcher! Word of your renown often reaches even our lands.”

Leaping to his feet, he extended his left hand.

Among the demons, offering the left hand for a handshake was an insult, but Shagas accepted without reaction.

For the man’s right arm was missing.

“I am Jode. Jode the Unyielding.”

Did it mean he could not be broken, or that he did not know joy?

As such idle thoughts passed his mind, the vampire gave a polite introduction.

“Call me Valdemar.”

With a sharp clap, Valdemar continued,

“Now that we’ve exchanged greetings, shall we get to the point?”

“Lord Valdemar. Before that, may I ask one thing?”

“Ah.”

When Yeriel turned his gaze, Valdemar nodded and pointed toward the one who had been silently seated all this time.

Then, with great caution, he spoke.

“This person… please consider her as someone sent to oversee us.”

As if to avoid misunderstanding, he quickly added,

“It’s merely a formality, nothing more. You need not concern yourselves. As agreed beforehand, detailed discussions will be with myself and Jode.”

“Hm….”

Both Yeriel and Shagas turned their eyes toward the overseer.

Though she was cloaked entirely in a dark gray robe, her form clearly revealed she was a woman.

‘…Never seen a monster like this before.’

Shagas could only reach that conclusion.

Regaining his composure, Yeriel nodded and slowly spoke.

“We too are curious why you requested this meeting before the conference. But let us all sit first, as you said.”

“Thank you for understanding. In that case….”

Valdemar gave a relieved smile.

Rustle!

A strange sound stirred.

It was the overseer.

“No…”

“Mm.”

The sudden movement startled Yeriel, Shagas, Valdemar, and even Jode.

But oblivious or indifferent, she simply pulled something from her robe.

‘A pouch?’

It was none other than a small pouch.

Soon, a sweet fragrance wafted out, and Yeriel instinctively thought of Windy May.

It was the scent of the honey pastries she loved.

“……”

Crunch.

Without a word, the overseer casually bit into a pastry from the pouch.

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