[He folds his hands over his lap, eye drifting to the side. How to best discuss this with an outsider....]
Many generations ago, one of my ancestors- the head of the Matoba clan at the time- had made a promise with an ayakashi. Shiki contracts, you see, benefit both the contract holder and the ayakashi who has made the contract. Both increase greatly in power, the ayakashi may get some reward upon the death of the master, and the human receives a loyal servant. But sometimes ayakashi can also be enlisted for one job, casually, for some promised reward....
He promised his right eye. But in the end, for whatever reasons, he did not keep his promise. [There is a long and thoughtful pause.]
Ayakashi take promises and contracts very seriously, Kim-san. [He meets the man's eyes again, with a smile that doesn't reach his own.] That is why I am willing to go along easily enough with our employer's requests. Not that we have much say in the matter, hm?
[His head tilts upwards towards the strange sky of hell- as if seeking something.] Well. Ever since then, that ayakashi has been hunting for the thing it was promised, not caring that the individual who broke their promise is long, long dead. And over the many years, its hatred towards us has grown to a rather significant degree.
--Contracts are not the only way to forge connections with them, by the by. [Matoba smiles to himself, his eye still on the sky overhead.] Malicious hatred, focused and honed over a particular individual over many decades, over centuries... That, too, can forge particularly powerful bonds.
no subject
[He folds his hands over his lap, eye drifting to the side. How to best discuss this with an outsider....]
Many generations ago, one of my ancestors- the head of the Matoba clan at the time- had made a promise with an ayakashi. Shiki contracts, you see, benefit both the contract holder and the ayakashi who has made the contract. Both increase greatly in power, the ayakashi may get some reward upon the death of the master, and the human receives a loyal servant. But sometimes ayakashi can also be enlisted for one job, casually, for some promised reward....
He promised his right eye. But in the end, for whatever reasons, he did not keep his promise. [There is a long and thoughtful pause.]
Ayakashi take promises and contracts very seriously, Kim-san. [He meets the man's eyes again, with a smile that doesn't reach his own.] That is why I am willing to go along easily enough with our employer's requests. Not that we have much say in the matter, hm?
[His head tilts upwards towards the strange sky of hell- as if seeking something.] Well. Ever since then, that ayakashi has been hunting for the thing it was promised, not caring that the individual who broke their promise is long, long dead. And over the many years, its hatred towards us has grown to a rather significant degree.
--Contracts are not the only way to forge connections with them, by the by. [Matoba smiles to himself, his eye still on the sky overhead.] Malicious hatred, focused and honed over a particular individual over many decades, over centuries... That, too, can forge particularly powerful bonds.