The Pact Is Sealed

Above the field outside Lynn's house, inexplicable smoke began to gather and swirl, looking like a tornado forming over burning wet grass.

Clearly, this was not some normal weather phenomenon.

A demon had arrived.

It had cloven goat hooves covered in withered red-black fur, an exaggerated height that still stood two heads taller than Lynn even while hunched over, and wildly disproportionate features: short legs, but an enormous arm span.

And four arms.

"Wow..."

Lynn muttered in an uncultured whisper, "Ugly as hell..."

Then he shouted, "Hey! Big dummy, over here, over here!"

An Iron Pineapple landed at the thing's feet. Amid the thunderous blast, the cracks across the demon's body seemed to flash for a moment. Then it waved one huge hand and scattered the smoke.

Lynn's Iron Pineapple had only blown off half of one of its horns.

"Ah, ha... Human... Hahahahaha!"

Lynn reacted quickly. By the time the demon started speaking, he had already covered his ears.

Apparently, the memory of being tricked last time had left a deep scar on him.

In Lynn's original estimation, anything that could be killed by bullets should have been dead for sure after taking an Iron Pineapple at close range.

But he had clearly forgotten one thing: the demon summoned by Schrodinger's cat seemed to be random.

"Then that means I might've gone a little too far today."

Well, there was nothing else to do. He had to grit his teeth and go for it.

Batman went looking for Lynn just after night fell.

Batman rarely went out on field assignments at this hour. Even if he appeared in public, it was usually as Bruce Wayne.

That showed just how urgently he wanted to see Lynn. There had to be something important.

But when he rode his motorcycle over to Lynn's place, the sight before him left Batman dazed, almost making him think he had gone to the wrong place.

When he saw wisps of black smoke rising in the distance, Batman had merely made the "normal" and "reliable" assumption that Lynn might be cooking again. After all, that was just how Lynn was. No matter how ordinary the matter, it became unbelievably ridiculous in his hands.

But after passing through the woods around Lynn's house, he no longer thought so.

Most of the trees in the innermost ring had been knocked down. The old bat could tell that they had been smashed apart by some kind of overwhelming force.

Many trees bore scorch marks, and the black smoke he had seen was rising from them.

The field that had once been half snow and half dead grass no longer resembled its original state. The snow had completely melted, and the grass had been burned away. The ground was also covered with craters of all sizes, each containing a blackened stone.

Most importantly, there was Lynn's house.

"How... how is only half of it left?!"

Had it been attacked by aliens?

Startled and confused, Batman hurried toward what remained of Lynn's house. Just as he was about to reach the entryway, he ran into Lynn coming out with a washbasin in his arms.

"Lynn, were you attacked? A meteor shower? Or... Why is your head like that?"

"Ah, it's nothing, nothing!"

Lynn casually poured the water from the basin into a crater. It hissed as white steam rose.

Touching the bandages wrapped around his face, leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed, Lynn said without a care, "I'm cosplaying that Black Silhouette from Conan. You know, the Bandage Monster?

Come on, let's talk inside. Get in here. It won't collapse..."

The moment he finished speaking, the lintel above the entryway fell down.

"See? Whatever was going to fall has already fallen. It definitely won't fall again now. Come on, let's talk inside. It's cold out here.

Come on, follow me inside."

Batman looked up at the house's battered walls and broken roof tiles scattered across the ground. He opened his mouth but said nothing, silently following Lynn inside.

"Batman, save me!!"

The moment he entered, Batman heard a cry for help. Though he trusted Lynn, he still instinctively placed a hand on his Utility Belt.

Turning his head slightly, he saw that the one crying for help was the black cat.

It had been wrapped in a blanket by Lynn and tied up with rope.

"Ignore that cat burrito. Let's talk business. Want some tea?"

"Huh? Ah, no. I'll just have plain water."

"Fine, then. There's no tea anyway. Even if you wanted it, I don't have any."

Then Batman watched Lynn carry over his pot, scoop up a potful of snow from the back door, bring it inside, and set it over a fire to boil water.

"I'm telling you, your habits are unhealthy. Water—you need to drink hot water, understand?

Wait a bit. It'll be hot soon."

Batman quickly grabbed Lynn before he could bend down and blow into the fire beneath the pot. He decided it would be better to finish what he had come to say before Lynn managed to boil the water.

"Lynn, I think you know who I am, right?"

"Mm... I wasn't the one insulting you online. Someone hacked my account."

"Lynn!"

Batman raised his voice slightly.

Then he pulled off his cowl with both hands.

Pop!

"Wow, that sound effect was really... Ahem! Oh my! You're... you're that millionaire~!"

"Lynn. Don't do that."

After taking off his cowl and becoming Bruce Wayne, he seemed much friendlier. Smiling, he said, "I'm a billionaire."

Lynn: ...

This round was a draw.

"Lynn, I believe your knowledge of me isn't just because you're clever, but...

Put down that piece of wood. Be serious.

Lynn, you seem to know a lot of things, don't you?"

Lynn lowered the piece of wood he had raised overhead and stuffed it beneath the pot.

"Yes."

"Then I have a question. I hope you'll answer honestly."

"Ask."

"You're an immortal, aren't you?"

"I... Hm? An immortal?"

Lynn had not expected Batman to go in that direction. He had considered simply nodding and following Batman's lead to muddle through the question, but perhaps because he lacked confidence in hiding it from this exceptionally paranoid guy forever—and because he did not want to get "silenced" by him once he could no longer keep his story straight—Lynn thought it over and shook his head.

"No. I'm only twenty. Immortals do exist, but I'm not one."

"Then are you a time traveler?"

"Good lord, you've read too many comics. People like that exist too, but I'm not one either."

"Then..."

"Enough. Stop asking. I'll tell you directly."

Lynn sat upright, his eyelids twitching slightly. "I'm a mage. A great prophet."

"A prophet?"

"That's right."

Batman seemed not to have expected that answer. His brows drew together. "Can you prove it?"

Prove it? How was he supposed to prove that?

Ah! Got it!

"Hehehe... Bruce, your Wayne Family line hasn't died out~"

"What?!"

Lynn and Bruce spoke for a long time. Since meeting, this was their longest conversation, and also their deepest and most heartfelt.

Batman was clearly worried about the future, but his mental fortitude was terrifyingly strong. He actually managed to resist asking Lynn about what would happen later, and he did not even ask another question about the Wayne bloodline Lynn had used to change the subject.

It left Lynn's thoughts a little tangled, almost unable to speak.

"...So you're saying our problem isn't here?"

"Of course."

Lynn dug a roasted sweet potato out from beneath the pot, poured some boiled water into Batman's cup, and continued, "Our enemies are in the past, in the future, in humanity, and in divinity; in kindness and in evil; beneath descending light and within sacrificed shadows; across from us, and among us...

Anyway, brother, as long as life goes on, the fight never ends!"

"Will there ever be a day when you betray me? Lynn, I need a direct answer."

"Of course."

Lynn said carelessly, "If one day you can be killed, should be killed, and deserve to be killed, I will do it."

"Excellent."

Batman, who had already put his cowl back on, said, "So will I."

"Pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is mine."

Batman solemnly extended his hand and looked at Lynn.

With a grin, Lynn pressed the sweet potato peel in his hand onto Batman's palm, and he and the old bat completed their handshake.

"Want more water? I can pour you some more..."

"No, I have things to do at home."

"Have some water before you go."

"Alfred will be getting out of school soon. I need to pick him up. See you!"

"Hey! Don't leave! Hey—!"

Lynn set down the pot and shook his head. "So that counts as officially signing an offensive and defensive alliance treaty..."

Splash!

Lynn poured the water from the pot outside the door, then turned and went back inside.

The request for votes had failed. But he would still post three chapters tomorrow.