45
“Eddie!”
I heard Father’s shout amid the commotion.
I tried to say that I was fine with dignity. But that thing that had been stuck in the wall crack and emitting light gradually changed its form to become longer, then wrapped around my wrist like a snake, so I couldn’t.
“Aah! What, what is this! This thing!”
I was terrified and tried to shake my hand to get it off, but it was no use.
Eventually, it became a bracelet of the right size for my wrist, and the light bursting from the bracelet created the form of a man.
While I was looking with fearful eyes, not understanding what was happening, people arrived. Unlike me, who was dumbfounded, only the deputy leader seemed to have noticed something and muttered.
“Th-that’s…”
Soon the face of the man made of light moved to create a sly smile, then disappeared along with the fading of the light.
The wind that had been swirling like a storm also subsided.
As the space that had been as bright as if the sun was shining inside the temple was once again engulfed in darkness, an icy silence arrived.
It was Lionel who broke that silence. He was so surprised that he even stammered while pointing toward my wrist area.
“…No doubt about it. Young Master! That’s a divine artifact!”
“Huh?”
“That thing on your wrist, it’s definitely Prometil’s divine artifact!”
“Hm?”
“You’ve been chosen, Young Master!”
“…Huh?”
It was truly bewildering news.
* * *
After calming my surprised heart.
I heard many stories from Lionel.
The story that eyewitness accounts from people who saw the moment when the ‘will of the divine artifact’ dwelling in divine artifacts chooses a target were exactly the same as what just happened.
The story that Prometil is a god who governs wisdom, so if you make a wish related to that, he’ll grant one.
Additionally, the story that it’s extremely rare for a god’s will to actively appear first and choose someone as an avatar when they didn’t even want it…
Lionel chattered excitedly like that.
The other members were the same.
They showed positive reactions about my future that would change, saying that being chosen by a divine artifact was an amazing thing.
And I… still couldn’t feel it was real.
I couldn’t understand it either.
‘Why on earth did it choose me?’
Among all these many people, why was it me of all people? I was very curious about Prometil’s intention, but that voice that had been calling me fervently was no longer being heard.
“……”
Those chosen by divine artifacts called avatars. Who could have imagined that I would become one of them? I was deep in thought when Lionel suddenly raised his voice.
“Oh my! Aren’t you happy, Count?”
It was directed at Father, who had been silent with a dark face since earlier. Father, who glared at Lionel, let out a sigh that he had clearly been holding back.
“Don’t they say all avatars meet bad ends?”
He seemed unhappy because he was worried about me. Lionel and the members made light of it.
“Come on, it’s all just coincidence! To begin with, aren’t there too few cases to think of it as definitive? How many people have become avatars chosen by divine artifacts so far?”
“That’s right, Count.”
“There are people who weren’t recorded too.”
Cases where temples exist both in records and reality, and there are also records that the divine artifacts of those temples were used by choosing someone as an avatar, but all the avatar’s personal information is erased or their whereabouts after that became mysterious.
Such cases are said to exist.
“We call them the ‘vanished ones.'”
It was quite an interesting story.
Things that had always been outside my interest felt different now that they had become ‘my business.’ The world was this vast. Learning about parts of the world I didn’t know was more enjoyable than I thought.
“Is there really nothing left related to those vanished ones?”
“No. We don’t know if they were women or men, and we don’t know their ages either. Only records of the temples and gods that the vanished ones discovered remain. Since almost no related information remains, we also had difficulty obtaining information even with the Count backing us.”
“Hmm, I see. Then which gods’ avatars were those vanished ones?”
“There are several places, but among them, the most recent one we found was a god called ‘Chronos.'”
…Huh?
I didn’t expect that name to come up here.
I was flustered because a name I already knew came up. Without knowing I was like that, Lionel and the members continued chattering busily.
“Chronos is a god deeply connected with time.”
“So divine artifact scholars speculate that the vanished one used Chronos’s power to go to a different time period.”
I hesitated before opening my mouth.
“Different time period… like another world?”
At that, the members laughed heartily.
“We don’t know that much either. Whether they moved to a completely different world or dimension, or moved to a place in the same world as us but just a different time period.”
“Maybe they’re near us right now?”
One member said eerily, lowering his voice. Then it led to them joking around, telling each other to reveal their identities.
Lionel was joining in from the side when he suddenly called only Father aside.
I was curious about what the two of them were going to talk about and was staring intently when Lionel, about to move somewhere with Father, stopped and showed a sly smile.
“Young Master, please rest here.”
In other words, don’t follow us.
‘Is it a story I shouldn’t hear?’
In the end, I stayed with the members and talked a bit more before I also moved to a separate spot. It was to examine Prometil’s divine artifact once.
‘…From the outside, it looks like an ordinary jade bracelet.’
It’s an extremely ordinary bracelet that doesn’t look special, nor does it look particularly strange.
After examining it this way and that, I looked around for no reason, then awkwardly spoke to the bracelet.
“Um…”
Would an answer really come back if I called? I was hesitating in an uncertain situation when I was about to try speaking again.
[Did you call me, honey?]
“Hup.”
I barely held back from screaming in surprise.
A man’s voice was clearly audible.
I wondered if others could hear it too and looked back at the members who were a bit far away, when the man continued speaking.
[Don’t worry. My voice is only heard by you.]
Ah. So that’s how it is.
“…Then should I talk like I’m talking to myself?”
I asked quietly while being mindful of my surroundings.
It would be strange for others to hear two voices when I’m alone, but it would also be odd to be talking alone.
[You can speak in your mind too. I can read it.]
‘Really? Can you understand what I’m saying right now?’
[Yes. Very clearly.]
When I was amazed, I heard laughter.
It seemed he could read my emotions to some extent too.
[So, what do you want to ask?]
‘Ah.’
[You called me because you’re curious about something, right?]
‘…I’m curious why you chose me.’
[That’s simple. Because I want to know about you.]
‘About me?’
[The divine word cast on you is familiar to me. I became curious since he happened to enter a deep sleep period.]
Divine word? He?
I can’t understand any of what he’s saying.
[A divine word is a god’s authority… simply put, it’s a kind of power similar to what you call magic.]
‘You’re saying something like that is cast on me?’
My bewilderment was brief.
I recalled how the Spirit King had been intrigued before, saying that magic too powerful for him to interpret or interfere with was cast on me.
[It seems you’ve met the Spirit King.]
‘Ah, yes.’
[Since I am at the origin of spirits, they are fundamentally highly intellectually curious and intelligent. But even the most learned Spirit King cannot interpret a god’s divine word. That’s why he said it was magic he couldn’t interpret.]
‘That’s right. He did.’
Then it comes back to the fundamental question.
‘Exactly what god cast such a thing on me?’
Before coming here, I had never even come into contact with divine artifacts, let alone had any interest in that area. I can’t think of any proper connection or memory.
Exactly when, how, and which god?
And… why?
Why did they cast something called a divine word on me? Was there a reason they had to do so? I’m also curious about what kind of divine word was cast.
When such questions filled my mind.
[The name of the god who cast the divine word on you is…]
Prometil continued slowly.
[Chronos.]
“……”
[He’s also called the god of time.]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
