A Windfall While Lying Down (4)
“I've been defiiiiled……”
Isaac lay face-down on the bed, sunk in gloom. No—gloom didn't even begin to cover it. He looked like a man witnessing the end of the world.
Ever since he had wiped out the skeletons with Turn Undead, he'd been like this.
'Look, I always knew I'd end up using holy arts on the skeletons eventually.'
But seriously?! Of all things?! I never dreamed I'd be casting Turn Undead!
I swore I'd use any holy art out there—except that teeth-grindingly loathsome Anti-Undead spell!
And yet heeeere we are!!!
“Sniff… I've been defiiiled……”
As Isaac heaved with wracking sobs into the mattress, his Blue teammates furrowed their brows.
Seriously? He got that much praise in the Blue Pentagon—why is he moping like this?
The news that Isaac had cast Turn Undead, a grand-scale holy art, had thrown everyone into an uproar. The priests of Blue who heard the story were beside themselves with pride, calling it a miraculous achievement—while the other faiths watched from the shadows, quietly wary.
— “Magnificent, Young Lord! To think you were hiding power like this all along!”
— “Even the Pope's own grandson couldn't wield it this well!”
— “Bweeeegh, you sons of—aaaangh! (Get lost! You're all meat shields, every last one of you, damn it!!)”
— “You'll grow into one truly worthy of the Blue Sword crest of Eschua!”
— “Bwuuuueeegh!! (Shut up! Eschua is a fallen house!)”
Needless to say, the man himself was not enjoying this one bit.
'Big deal. So I cast one lousy Turn Undead.'
Shut it. What good is power he'd never have a reason to use?
Should he erase this one first? Stinking demon?
The demon Whisper had a point, infuriatingly enough.
In fact, Shuri was watching Isaac with a distinctly uncomfortable frown.
'When choosing a Saint or a Pope, exorcism ability is weighed above all else.'
Why, you ask?
Why did every nation on the continent watch the Holy Empire's every move? The answer was obvious—the establishment trembles at the thought of losing what's theirs. Ahem—rather, they pray for the peace and security of their nations.
And the Holy Empire alone possessed the power to purge the demonic mana that invaded the human realm. Which meant that, among all its many abilities, exorcism ranked near the very top in importance.
And of all the faiths, Blue and Gold excelled at it the most. Gold didn't covet Blue for nothing.
Those Gold bastards, who should be too busy kissing up to each other! They already want to monopolize everything so badly they could die, and now more and more people keep turning toward Blue— it must gall them so much they wanted to tear the whole thing to shreds!
Anyway, that backdrop was exactly why the people of Blue were cheering. And Shuri, a rival Saint candidate, could only grind his teeth.
'Erasing that many in a single cast… I can't afford to lose either.'
Granted, 99% of it was a scam—but the fact remained that Isaac had distinguished himself in the single most important category: exorcism.
“Thanks to your exploits, the whole team was spurred on and every one of us took King. Which means we'll all be participating in the execution ceremony, so……”
“Sniff… I've been defiiiled. It's all over now. My life is over……”
“You got a perfect score, so why the hell are you carrying on like that?!”
Finally losing his patience, Shuri snatched up an object and hurled it at Isaac.
THWACK!
That was enough to make Isaac spring up, scowling. “Shit-Shuri, this thing won't—what the hell are you throw—huh?”
At that moment, a mountain of boxes came stacking up before his eyes.
Thock, thock, thock!
Startled, Isaac blinked. “These are the Blue Pentagon rewards! We were debating who should get them, but we figured it was best if you took all of them!”
Oh.
The very reward Isaac had wanted most. Each member of the Blue team had received one box apiece—but it seemed the whole team wanted to repay Isaac. They rubbed their noses sheepishly.
“We're supposed to be your older brothers, and you pulled us through the earlier Pentagons, but we never got a chance to pay you back.”
“Honestly, we didn't do anything…. So, take them.”
“That's right. The hyungs really didn't do a thing.”
“What the hell, you punks?!!”
But Isaac just snorted. “Well, this doesn't come close to repaying my boundless grace, but I suppose I'll accept it out of the goodness of my heart.”
“……”
Damn it. Their only mistake was ever hoping for a thank-you from this bastard.
“Well, I do feel a little bad leaving you hyungs sucking your thumbs. So here—take this instead.”
For all their grumbling, they had helped him more than he'd expected, after all. Isaac rummaged through his bag and tossed something over. They wondered what piece of trash this bastard wanted them to throw away for him this time—then they saw what it was, and their eyes went round as saucers.
“Th-these are Gold Pills?! You're—you're giving these away?”
“What?! Those?! Of all things?!”
An elixir that money could not buy. The legendary Gold Pill, reserved for the direct bloodline of Gold itself!
At the same time, the Blue team froze with a terrible thought.
“D-don't tell me these are those poisoned 'New Gold Pills' Molech and his crew swallowed—hurk!”
The one who'd said it took a pillow square to the face.
“These are the real Gold Pills, dumbass.”
At those words, the Blue team gazed at Isaac with faces full of emotion.
This kid—saving his retainers wasn't enough, and now he's handing out treasures like this for free!
“Be grateful you're getting them at all. It's because you're my hyungs, you know.”
They hastily popped the Gold Pills into their mouths.
“Thank you, Isaac!”
“Really! I never knew you thought of us like this—”
“Well, they were leftovers from my own dose, so I kept them in my diaper.”
Stop.
Every one of them mid-swallow went rigid.
…W-wait. In where?
“What? My diaper's breathable, so it's actually a great storage spot.”
They tried to spit the pills back out.
“Uuurghp!! (Hey!!)”
“Uuuuughp!! (That diaper! Oh, come ooon!)”
“Relax. I licked them clean. For now.”
“Aaah-daamn-iiiit!! (Used is used either way, you jerk!)”
And what did he mean, “for now”?! What happens after?!
“What do you mean? I don't exactly do my laundry that well.”
Choking down their curses, the Blue team bolted for the bathroom.
Isaac, meanwhile, just chuckled as he opened the Blue Pentagon rewards.
'Gold Pills, huh. They stopped working on me a while ago anyway.'
For Isaac to feel any effect, he'd need far higher-grade elixirs. Might as well spend these raising the small fry.
And higher-grade elixirs?
The reward of the Gold Pentagon was exactly that.
Granted, the Holy See seemed to be clawing tooth and nail to keep from paying out right now—but what were they going to do about it?
'Good. With this, everything's perfect.'
Isaac smiled and headed for the prison.
“What? Isaac said what?”
The Head of House Eshua and Rillai were taken aback by the unexpected report. The Blue knight recounted every detail of the Pentagon without leaving a single thing out, and Rillai, hands pressed over his mouth, was deeply moved.
It was quite surprising that Isaac feared skeletons, admittedly—but to think he had regarded those skeletons as fellow human beings.
“My thinking was far too shallow. What a deeply compassionate child…! I'm sorry for wounding his heart instead.”
The Head of House's expression, however, was nothing of the sort.
…There is no way in hell that brat is that pure of heart.
The head of the house, wearing the expression of a man who'd just chewed on shit, tilted his head.
But regardless, Rillai was overjoyed. His father had scolded him for gutting the Blue Pentagon's difficulty, yet his uncharacteristic silence now had to be a positive sign, didn't it?
“Father, with this, Isaac surely qualifies as heir—”
“No. He does not.”
“Wh-what?!”
“Even if we let the Blue Pentagon pass, he will not be the successor. Tell him to pack his things and come home.”
“Father!”
Why is he being so stubborn again?!
But the Head of House looked unusually grave.
To be sure, Isaac overflowed with more talent than any descendant they currently had. But one look at the Fourth was proof enough that character mattered. And beyond that, the question of his faith loomed far larger.
Especially for the child who had devoured the remains of the Skeleton Demon King.
— “We can only pray no fallen one emerges from Blue, as happened in 'the past.' That one's name was surely erased without a trace, was it not?”
The Cardinal of Red had smiled as he hurled that provocation.
The man was sharpening his knives with every intention of taking Isaac for himself.
'And at the Sacrificial Offering Festival, he's certain to summon an evil god.'
They were already convinced of it over there. And they would use it as their pretext—execute Isaac, erase his name, and use the opportunity to break Blue's power along with everything else.
For all he knew, they were already giddily preparing the Heresy Inquest, giggling all the while.
'I don't even expect a Chief God. If a mere Middle God would just answer, I'd ask for nothing more…'
Though with that personality of his, not even a Lower God would latch on….
Come to think of it, Goel, whom he'd set to investigate, had muttered something ominous too.
— “When you hear which god has chosen Isaac, it will not end with you simply fainting.”
— “…You're telling me it's beyond evil-god level??”
— “Not even remotely comparable.”
— “…Good grief.”
If it doesn't even compare to an evil god, how rotten is the thing that's going to crawl out??
A great calamity? The Skeleton King's daddy? The Skeleton King's great-great-granddaddy??
Was that what it would be???
In any case, hauling Isaac off to be reformed had been the top priority… or so he had thought.
“Young Lord Isaac is, at present, headed for the Holy See's prison.”
At those words, the Head of House's brow darkened with rare menace.
“Why there? That's Red's territory. He shouldn't even be able to set foot inside.”
“That is, ah—it seems he has a badge that grants him special entry.”
“A badge? Did Isaac receive something?”
“Yes. Whatever deal he struck, it appears the Cardinal of Red handed over a cardinal's insignia. It seems there is a demon who wishes to see him……”
“That absolute piece of—”
The curse slipped out of the Head of House in a low growl.
“…That narrow-eyed bastard is scattering cheap-ass candy to lure my child away?”
“Father?”
“Did he think he's the only one who knows how to throw candy around?!”
“Father?!”
The Head of House shoved back from his seat and stormed out. Rillai had no time to even ask what was wrong before he was chasing after his father, Eli.
Near the Holy See's prison.
“Goooood. With this, there'll be no problems.”
Isaac, who had come to meet his subordinate, chuckled as he went through the Blue rewards.
The Blue reward was, well…
'Right. An item that strips away demonic mana. Top-grade stuff.'
The craftsmanship was excellent, but that wasn't why Isaac had wanted it.
Originally, it was a precious charm meant to free someone from demonic mana addiction—but used a different way?
'It becomes a camouflage trinket that conceals magical power.'
It would prove invaluable at the execution ceremony, and for rescuing his subordinate.
He'd had to stoop to those filthy priests' arts, granted… but it had been worth enduring the Blue Pentagon after all.
Yes.
He'd done well indeed—except there was still one more problem to solve.
Isaac snapped his fingers. At once, shadows surged up from the ground and skeletons came bounding out.
The skeletons, utterly motionless until that very second, changed their entire demeanor the moment they laid eye sockets on Isaac.
“Clack-clatter-clack! (Yaaay! It's Master, it's Master!)”
“Clack-clack! (Master! So happy, so happy!)”
“Clatter-clack-clack! (We thought we'd lost you again! Thought we'd never see you again!)”
“Oof—hrrk…!”
Isaac found himself buried under another avalanche of squealing skeletons.
Sigh… Right. Deal with this first.
He turned to the Shadow Lich. “You take these guys home, then come back.”
The Shadow Lich bowed its head—but the skeletons, apparently unwilling to go, clung to Isaac. Instinctively, they had sensed a parting was coming.
“Clack-clack! (Master, did we do something wrong? Did we?)”
“Clack-clack-clack! (Can't we stay by your side?)”
“Clack-clatter-clack! (We'll do whatever you order even better than before. Don't go.)”
The skeletons wailed and hung off Isaac's legs.
Their hollow eye sockets melted his cold, black heart with a hnngh—but there was nothing to be done.
“If you stay here, you'll get exorcised, you idiots!”
Having crammed every last skeleton into the Shadow Lich's shadow, Isaac finally wiped his brow with a whew.
“There, the Shadow Lich is off too, so now we're all fi… ah.”
Isaac spotted a lone skeleton clinging to a tree and nearly screamed.
You see… it was a tiny, tiny baby skeleton, no bigger than a forearm.
“How long have you been hiding there?!”
It was so weak he hadn't sensed a flicker of its aura.
Startled by Isaac's shout, the little skeleton clamped onto the tree like a koala.
“Clack-clack-clack! (If I let go this time, I'll never see Master again. Never, ever.)”
Isaac grabbed the back of his neck, as if a headache were coming on.
He'd already sent off the Shadow Lich, so the little one would have to wait for the next turn.
He pulled out one of the Blue Pentagon rewards. “Well, perfect timing, actually. Let me just test this thing's effects on y—oof!”
“Lord Isaac Eschua! Visiting hours are over!”
Damn it, why do these bastards come to haul him away so fast!
Approaching from a distance were the priests of Red!
Isaac screamed inwardly.
'If they catch me, I'm OBLITERATED!!!'
Damn it! These are skeletons I saved! Did these bastards think I'd just let them die?!
Isaac hastily stuffed the baby skeleton inside his cloak. Then he unwrapped one of the Blue rewards and wound it snugly around the little skeleton's neck.
“Lord Eschua?”
Isaac pressed the skeleton flat against the small of his back.
'Hold onto my body as tight as you can. Don't come out.'
The baby skeleton bobbed its head in frantic little nods.
And then, as Isaac followed the priests toward the prison, he felt it—unmistakably.
'This mana…?'
Just then, one of the priests of Red spoke.
“That one is one of the Fourteen Six Demons—known as a subordinate of the Skeleton Demon King.”