Chapter 63
"Open your eyes."
It was Baron Samedi’s voice. His voice was not ringing from inside my head. Baron Samedi was not residing inside my body at the moment.
He was not in the form of a spirit but was in front of me as a distinct living creature with a physical body.
“Can I really open my eyes?”
“Open them. No need to worry about pointless things like courtesy between us.”
“I’ll seriously open them?”
“I told you to open them already.”
I opened my eyes.
The room had already been filled with purple fog. I looked at Baron Samedi’s form through the faint candlelight.
He had a neat tuxedo and a silk hat. Through the darkness, red light that was as eerie as it was distinct was shining out of his eyes. He was very tall and thin.
That was the physical manifestation of Baron Samedi. It’s been a long time since I last saw his physical form. I think the last time I saw it was around seven years ago.
Flicker.
In that instant, the candle went out. The light that was driving out the darkness disappeared completely, and the room was filled with dense darkness.
Baron Samedi's red eyes could still be clearly seen.
"What are you staring at? It’s embarrassing. There shouldn’t be any problems conversing in this form, right?”
"Yes, there are no problems. It'll be over soon anyway."
Baron Samedi nodded.
"Yes, so something that you want to request from me. What did you call me here to request? I’m very busy, you see. I was doing something very important just now as well."
"Really? I thought you would be seducing a girl."
"Hmph. Refrain from insulting me with such vulgar expressions."
"So you were seducing a woman. Well, anyway, there are three things I want to request."
Baron Samedi was capable of taking the physical form of animals, humans, fog, and practically anything.
Obviously, it was possible for him to change his face as well. As his main profession, he would go around seducing girls with his flashy looks.
It was a horrible hobby, but it didn’t look like he felt guilty about doing it at all.
That said, I didn’t have any intention of stopping him. In the first place, he wasn’t the type of person to stop just because I told him to do so. I went straight to the point.
"My first request is for you to visit at regular intervals. It can be once every three days or once every four days. Something like that.”
I was going to decipher Baron Samedi’s prophecies. And by doing so, I would be able to glimpse into the future and prepare for impending crises in advance.
So far, I have been busy trying to resolve incidents only after they broke out. But from now on, it was going to be different.
Instead of getting wrapped up in incidents and dealing with them too late, I was going to preemptively deal with and control the incidents.
Thus, my first request was to lay the groundwork for this. Through a regular meeting with Baron Samedi, I could increase the number of ‘prophecies’ I would be exposed to.
“Don’t want to. I’ll be leaving now.”
“If you leave now, you’ll regret it.”
Baron Samedi coldly refused my request and tried to leave. However, before he could do so, I provoked Baron Samedi with a rather insolent tone.
Baron Samedi sharply glared at me as if he was trying to penetrate my face.
"Regret? Did you say regret? I'm sorry, but I'm not human. Regret is something that only foolish humans do. Realize your situation. You are in a position to serve me, not the other way around."
"If you don't do this much, then I have no reason to serve you, either."
"Really? Then don't serve me. Who do you think you have to thank for still being alive today?”
Unlike usual, Baron Samedi's way of speaking was serious. He looked very angry. His red eyes glowed threateningly as if trying to pierce through my heart.
“If I just twitch my finger, you will disappear without a trace and die. Even your soul will lose its way and wander around the world before you eventually become a ghost. Is that what you wish?”
“If you want.”
“...Seriously?”
"Yes."
I confidently nodded my head. Baron Samedi's glowing eyes shook a little. It was very slight, but he seemed a bit surprised.
I distinctly stared into Baron Samedi’s eyes. I wasn’t scared at all.
I couldn't be scared. It was because, at this moment, I was in a similar position to that of Baron Samedi.
"Are you serious?"
"I’m serious."
"There is no man who is not afraid of death. Of the countless souls I have acquired, I could not find one that was not afraid of death."
"Of course, I don't want to die either."
Baron Samedi smirked.
"Well then, does that mean that what you said just now was a mere bluff?”
"I said it because I knew you wouldn't be able to kill me."
“...”
Baron Samedi shut his mouth for a moment. He seemed to have forgotten what to say.
Inside my room, darkness and silence intertwined, much like the afterlife, as I continued to speak.
“Just like I need you, you also need me. Isn’t that right?”
There was no response. His red eyes were simply gazing blankly at me.
I could borrow the power of the Loa. Through Bossou’s power, I could borrow immense strength, through Granbwa’s power, I could control plants, and through Sobo’s power, I could control lightning. The power of the Loa was incomparable to anything else.
But why did the Loa lend me their power?
The answer is rather simple. It was because I was born with the power of a Prophet and because I inherited the blood of the previous Cult Leader.
More than anyone else, I have the most optimal body to accept the Loa.
If the Loa did not reside inside me, they would not be able to exert most of their power, and they would not feel satisfied.
In other words, it was not a ‘parasitic’ relationship where I just leeched off the Loa. The Loa would lend me their power, and I would lend my body to the Loa.
It was more appropriate to describe it as a ‘symbiotic’ or ‘contractual’ relationship where we would mutually exchange benefits.
“Hahaha, haha! Ha, ha, ha!”
At that moment, Baron Samedi suddenly started laughing like crazy. It felt as if the darkness that filled the room was laughing out loud.
I suddenly felt a sense of alienation and creepiness. The red eyes continued to gaze down at me.
“Indeed, we do need a body, in other words, a ‘container’ to reside in. However, this ‘container’ doesn’t necessarily have to be you.”
"Aha. Really?"
"We simply need a container. Whether it's a container made of stone or gold, that's none of our business."
"If you're going to reside in a container, wouldn't it be better if it’s made out of gold?"
Baron Samedi pondered for a moment.
"I wonder. Rather than a picky golden container, I’d prefer an obedient stone container.”
"Then go with the obedient stone container and hurry up and break the picky gold container," I said.
"There is no need to go so far as to say that," Samedi said.
"It will be difficult for you to seduce women if you reside within someone else.”
Baron Samedi could shift into various forms. These forms included fog, animals, and people.
However, if Baron Samedi resided in someone other than me, it may be possible to shift into fog or animals, but it would certainly be difficult for him to shift into a human form. The difference in containers was just that significant.
Baron Samedi shut his mouth and contemplated for a long time. I knelt before him and stared at his glowing red eyes.
"...Five days."
"What?"
"Once every three or four days is too difficult. Let's say I come once every five days."
I pretended to think for a moment. Once every five days. This was a moderate cycle, it was not too frequent and not too rare.
Moreover, I still had two things left to request from Baron Samedi. Right now, it was better to accept Baron Samedi’s offer rather than to continue haggling.
It was right to respect Dee's opinion.
"Once every five days. Sounds good to me. Alright, then the next request–"
"Wait, wait. Wait a second."
Baron Samedi cut me off in a hurry.
"Is this really a request? Rather than a request, it feels more like a negotiation or a threat."
"It doesn’t sound right to call it a threat, so let’s call it a negotiation.”
"You rotten bastard... Yeah, so what are you going to negotiate next? Ah, seriously, I can’t believe that the day I negotiate with a human being has arrived. If you live long enough, you really do see it all.”
Baron Samedi whined. He sounded frustrated, but I didn’t pay much attention to his words.
Right now, I had to take a tough stance so that Baron Samedi would comply, no, would have no choice but to comply with my requests.
“This is my second request. Tell me the method of returning In-Ah's sister, Yoon-Ah, back to a person, and tell me about the Satanist who is hiding in the Florence Academy."
“I will answer the first part of the question first. A method for returning Yoon-Ah to a person ‘exists.’ And you will be able to find out that method in the ‘near future.’ However, I can not tell you any more than that.”
"Can't you just tell me?"
"No. If I tell you any more than that, there will be a big problem with causation."
"Ah, yes."
I reluctantly nodded.
For now, I discovered that there was a method to turn Yoon-Ah back into a person, and I found out that I would figure out that method in the near future. That alone was already hopeful enough.
I would have no idea whether this was real hope or hope torture until I reached that point later.
"Then can you answer the second part of the question too?”
"The second question is too vague. If you tell me exactly what you're curious about, I'll give you an answer on only that exact part."
"Do you have any intention of answering the question?"
"Do I look like such a petty Loa? If it’s this sort of question, I can answer as many as you want.”
Honestly, I thought he was a little petty, but I did not need to say that out loud. I continued to speak, "Then specifically, what is the name of the Satanist that is hidden in Florence Academy?”
"I can not mention their name."
"Why?"
Earlier, he told me to be more specific, but when I specifically asked him what I wanted to know, he refused to answer the question. I was dumbfounded.
While quietly observing me, Baron Samedi opened his mouth, "If I tell you, then your death will be near. One is bound to mess things up whenever one rushes into anything."
It was a vague remark. In any case, he didn’t seem to have any intention of mentioning the Satanist’s name.
However, Baron Samedi said that he could not mention their name. It sounded like he was saying he was willing to give me other clues other than the name.
"Then, can you give me some other clue other than their name?"
Baron Samedi smiled quietly at my words as if he had been waiting for me to say that.
"A clue. A clue is dangerous, but... If I were to give you a clue, then I would say to be wary of the people around you. Be especially wary of people who are similar to you."
"Someone who is similar to me? There’s no one like that.”
Was there someone who was similar to me? If I had to pick someone, I would say that I looked the most similar to my uncle, with whom I was most closely related by blood. But there was no way that uncle was a Satanist.
“Not similar in appearance, but similar in habit,' continued Baron Samedi.
"Like the Satanist, you are also in a position of hiding. Since you are both in the same position, you will inevitably have some things in common in your manner of speech and habits."
"Similar in habits... Similar in habits, you say.”
Considering that it was from Baron Samedi, this was a considerably kind explanation, but I still had no idea. There was no one similar to me in their manner of speech and habits.
Not In-Ah, not Jun-Hyuk, not Jin-Seo, no one was similar.
No conclusion was reached even after thinking things through once again, so I just stared blankly into Baron Samedi's eyes. He sighed in frustration and opened his mouth.
"I'll tell you one more thing. Do you know the characteristics of an arrogant person?"
"How the heck would I know that?"
“Bastard, speak with some more respect. Well, in any case, if you don’t know, I’ll tell you.”
Baron Samedi cleared his throat and continued, "The arrogant are usually envious of someone. They wear a mask of arrogance in order to hide their envy.”
"...What has that got to do with the Satanist?"
“Some day, you’ll slap your knee and say, ‘Ah! So that’s what the great Baron Samedi meant!’ There will come a day when you say that~ Mark my words.”
Before I knew it, my face had twisted into a frown.
"There's no way I'd say that."
"I’m saying there will come a moment when you have no choice but to say that. My prophecies have never been wrong."
Baron Samedi laughed while bragging. While staring into the deep darkness, I mused over Baron Samedi's words.
Be wary of people that are similar to you. The Satanists are also in a similar position as you as they are hiding, so they will inevitably have some things in common in your manner of speech and habits. They wear a mask of arrogance in order to hide their envy...
No matter how much I pondered and agonized over it, I couldn’t figure out who the Satanist was. My head began to throb viciously. It was because I thought about it too much.
"...Can I ask you one more question?”
"I’ll listen to the question and come to a decision."
"There was a box or something buried in Eiden Hill. Was that the objective the Satanists aimed for by any chance?"
I was referring to the box that I saw the other day using Granbwa's power. The box had been buried deep within Eiden Hill and was covered with glowing oil on the surface.
I wanted to know for sure whether the box was related to the Satanist's objective.
Baron Samedi looked at me with bleary eyes as if pondering an answer for a moment.
"You, do you know about the elders?"
"I’ve only heard of the name."
Elder.
Along with the chairman, they were the ones that held authority at Florence Academy. I don’t know why they had authority and had no idea what they did. I just vaguely understood that there were people called elders within Florence Academy.
"That box is the objective of the Satanists and also the objective of the Elders. I can't explain anymore."
"...I understand for now."
Since he had clearly stated that he couldn’t explain any more than that, that meant that he was absolutely not going to open his mouth to explain. It was difficult to expect to get any more answers by asking more questions.
"Well, then, I will make my final request."
I immediately moved on to my next request. The previous two requests were actually just side dishes.
It was safe to say that this request was the real purpose of calling out Baron Samedi.
I calmed my trembling heart and collected my breath. And then I just barely managed to open my mouth, "Please be my insurance."
"Insurance? I don't know what you're talking about."
Baron Samedi played dumb and replied. He was obviously pretending not to know.
I bit my lips and steadied my heart. In order to win an unwinnable battle, I had to be prepared to make sacrifices.
"We will form the 'Contract of the Dead.'"
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