Did You See It? Did You See It?! (2)
“!”
It happened in the blink of an eye.
The eyes of the statue, which had been serenely closed, snapped open in fury. As if it had ferreted out a demon in hiding — as if it were about to mete out punishment on some insolent heretic.
Isaac, who had been easing himself off the cutting board at just that moment, flinched — a rare occurrence indeed.
'Shit, no—!'
There was no getting out of this one. He was caught dead to rights.
If this went to an actual heresy trial, Saint or Pope or whatever else he claimed to be, he'd be executed on the spot!
Naiser's eyes went round as saucers at the sight.
That — that was proof of zero faith. Proof of heresy!
Before he knew it, Naiser was calling for his weapon. But the thought didn't last long.
'Huh?'
It had all been over in an instant, and the moment Isaac cleared the board, the statue's eyes closed again.
'……!'
The tears were gone, too. As if everything he'd just witnessed had been an illusion.
But Naiser gritted his teeth and shouted.
“Hey! You people! You just saw—”
He was about to say saw it, but everyone around him was too busy conferring over how to handle the situation.
“Hey! You people!”
“Young master? What's the matter?”
“You lot, you didn't just see that? That thing!”
“Oh, that? We saw it perfectly clearly, sir.”
“Right! So if you saw it, then right this inst—”
“The young master came in accused of heresy, and then the statue of Judgment itself shed a great big stream of holy tears of blood.”
“My, my. And just how do you propose we smooth this over?”
“…You've basically proven the Blue Faith's superiority for them. Hence — the meeting. Can you not see we're mid-conference?”
Damn it all! Am I really the only one who saw it?
'That timing, seriously—!'
Naiser cried out in frustration.
“No, not that! The statue just opened its eyes! Not the tears — the eyes!”
“Excuse me? Like some demon's gotten into the Red Faith? Why would the result change mid-test!”
“First he flatters the Blue Faith, and now he's smacking down the Red one…”
Ugh! These bastards won't believe a word!
Flushed with heat, Naiser glared savagely at Isaac. If he could just — just once — put him back up on the cutting board, the verdict would come out.
He had no choice but to be desperate.
“Hey! You brat! Test him one more time! I definitely saw it!”
At the look in Naiser's eyes, Isaac let out a pfft of a snicker, insufferably delighted.
“What, you planning to rig the results yourself, you sore loser?”
Honestly, Isaac had been braced to take his lumps too. It had all happened in a flash, but he'd seen the goddess statue open its eyes as well.
But apparently this idiot was the only witness besides himself.
Rather, this works in your favor.
True. Thanks to being shoved up on that judgment seat, Isaac could now carry himself with his chin held high in front of the Red Faith forever.
And the Red side could never have predicted a situation this bizarre in their wildest dreams.
How could they? Who would ever imagine that a skeleton would get dragged into prison, that said skeleton's faith would be measured at all — and that the result would change mid-test, on top of everything?
And Isaac was hardly the type to squander a stroke of luck that had landed in his lap.
“A retest? What retest? We already saw it! Saw it pouring out tears of blood! Whaaat? Are you jealous you can never reach that level yourself?”
“No — I clearly saw it!”
Naiser ground his teeth.
That guy was a heretic, no question. He'd drag him back by force if he had to and make him take the test again!
Naiser lunged to grab Isaac as he tried to slip away. His opponent was nothing but a toddler — and this was enemy territory.
What was a little shrimp like that going to do about it?
“Nobody let him leave!”
“Young master?”
The inquisitors tilted their heads at Naiser's feral snarl.
Eyes rolling madly, Naiser reached out to seize Isaac by the collar.
“You little brat, where do you think you're running—”
But at that very moment.
Chak!
“!”
Someone had clamped down on Naiser's arm with iron resolve.
Isaac — and everyone else present — nearly jumped out of their skin.
“Grandpa!”
The one gripping Naiser's arm was none other than Eli, head of House Blue. It seemed he simply couldn't stand by and watch his grandson come to harm.
The moment his arm was caught, Naiser froze solid in a way he never had before.
“I came because I figured something like this might happen. And sure enough.”
His voice was razor-edged with menace.
Yet Rillai, trailing behind him, merely heaved a deep sigh. You came because you 'figured'? You had no idea—
…No, wait. You didn't know, did you.
The Cardinal of Red had handed someone else's grandson a piece of candy, and you'd been so infuriated you'd gone out to buy a 'candy' of your own, hadn't you?
Rillai's eye fell on the doll dangling from the left hand Eli held behind his back. The 'Skeleton King Execution Edition — Diamond Version', the very one Isaac was bound to adore.
Anyway — he'd gone out to buy the doll, and the Blue knight Isaac had quietly assigned to shadow him had come rushing with urgent news.
“Head of House. It's an emergency! A group consisting of the Red Faith's third son and a full-fledged corps of inquisitors is heading for the prison where Young Master Isaac is being held.”
Full inquisitors—!
When they mobilized, it meant someone was about to get torn apart.
And the Red Faith's third son — a man who hadn't even inherited his family's mantle yet — was accompanying them? Then with high probability, the target was Isaac.
And sure enough, the prediction had been dead on.
As Eli tightened his grip on Naiser's arm, his brows twitched — a rare movement indeed.
“I'll be having a long, long talk with the Red Faith.”
He looked ready to snap the arm clean off and put his face through the wall right then and there, and Rillai hurriedly interposed himself.
“Father. If you maul an heir, this becomes an incident. Besides, it's hardly an elder's duty in the first place. Let's take Isaac home for now, and as adults, file a formal protest with the Red Faith—”
Then it happened.
Perhaps it was Rillai's words — Isaac, sidling up to him, gave the hem of his clothes a series of urgent tugs.
“Great-grandpa….”
“Hm? What is it, Isaac? Are you hurt somewhere?!”
Isaac pointed at Naiser, deliberately sniffling back fake sobs.
“He hi-hit Isaac. Sniff.”
Crack. Rillai's eyes rolled white, and he seized Naiser by the collar.
“Uncle, stop! Stop it!”
Shuri and the Red priests threw themselves onto Rillai's arms and legs to hold him back.
His eyes rolled white, Rillai had long since delivered dozens of flicks to Naiser's forehead.
It seemed like the conclusion of a man restraining himself with all his might because he dared not resort to actual violence — but would a forehead-flick from an 8th-tier holy knight really be so ordinary…?
As proof: Naiser was sprawled on the floor, clutching his forehead. That was without holy power behind it; had it been channeled, there would have been a genuine hole in his skull.
The inquisitors, for their part, piled on in turn, trying to drag Rillai off.
“Rillai! You think being an 8th-tier holy knight makes you the law?”
“One flick? You landed dozens on our next head's forehead!”
“Ha! Since when did you lot ever give a damn about an heir? Get lost! This is my nephew we're talking about!”
By that point, Shuri was clutching the back of his neck. The whole thing had exploded into this total disaster — and the very culprit who'd caused it was munching on candy, spectating with relish!
“Wow, this view is great.”
“Isaac! This is all your fault! Do something about Uncle!”
“Why should I?”
Why? Why, you ask??
Shuri's blood pressure spiked at Isaac's smirking, insufferable face.
'Ugh! Who knew he'd gone to see the Fourteen Six Demons of all things!'
As it happened, Shuri had been attending a lecture at the Holy See with the other apprentices. On nothing less than the execution of the Fourteen Six Demons.
They'd studied how the execution would proceed, and how dangerous the Fourteen Six Demons were. Not that the lecture amounted to anything more than one conclusion: face a Fourteen Six Demon alone and you die, no exceptions.
And then—
Apprentices and the senior priests giving the lecture — everyone was thrown into total chaos.
Terrified that Isaac might actually die, Shuri had sprinted all the way here.
And this was what he found.
“You absolute maniac! Why would you go see that! Are you out of your damn mind, you want to die?! And even if we attend the execution, all we're doing is watching! The actual beheading is handled by professional Black executioners! Do you have any idea how dangerous the Skeleton King's subordinates are—!”
But Isaac wasn't listening to a word.
'Execution, my ass. I'm the one breaking those Fourteen Six Demons out, you idiot.'
He'd passed along the tool for undoing the shackles, but that had only ever been step one of the job.
He'd simply front-loaded the most time-consuming part. The real lock was the 'Pope's collar' around their necks. Once that was released, the subordinates would already have their shackles off — escaping would be a breeze.
Which was exactly why he needed to stand as close to the execution platform as possible…
“More importantly — a heresy trial?! You're going to be executed now?!”
Why do you just assume I'm getting executed, you blockhead.
Shuri, fresh off a whack from the rattle, bristled.
“There's no way your faith reads as normal!”
At that, the prison-guard priest who'd grown friendly with Isaac gave a polite little cough.
“That's rather disrespectful, don't you think? The young lord passed with flying colors!”
“What?”
“Ooh, I've never seen tears like that before.”
At those words, Shuri — and Rillai, and Eli — all flinched at once.
…Tears?
“What on earth are you—”
Isaac instantly pointed at Naiser.
“He brought out a scary goddess statue.”
“Whaaaaat?!”
Rillai, catching on at once, seized Naiser by the collar a second time.
“This brat pulled out the Board of Fate's Judgment on Isaac out of nowhere?!”
“Scary red-tear color scared Isaac.”
“You little—! Isaac was the one frightened by the blood, you idiot!”
“Uncle! Uncle, stop!”
Shuri grabbed him and held him back, but that wasn't the important part.
'Tears?!'
Shuri knew that judgment board well. And tears of blood, on top of that…?
But then, at that moment—
“I came because I heard some people were causing a ruckus in the prison. And who might this be.”
“!!”
A tall red-haired man appeared in the prison lobby. It was Rion Sepet — head of House Sepet, Cardinal of Red, flanked by his subordinates.
The instant the Red head of house appeared, Eli's eyes blazed.
“You son of a bitch. Welcome — I've been waiting.”
Face to face with him as if he'd been anticipating exactly this, Eli bared his teeth like an alpha wolf gone feral.
Honestly, the only reason no one was getting grabbed by the collar was a matter of seconds.
“All you bastards had to do was show him the Fourteen Six Demons. But no — you had to run some petty little faith test, did you?”
Completely unshaken by that murderous aura, the Cardinal of Red smiled with practiced ease.
“Whatever do you mean? Meeting the Skeleton King's subordinates is suspicious enough in itself — and besides, it was the Blue Faith that requested the inspection. Strictness toward House Blue seems only fair, no? Faith tests are a necessity of—”
“You needed the Board of Fate's Judgment for that? Was this your roundabout way of declaring war?”
“Ah… you went so far as to bring out the statue.”
The Red head of house glanced sideways at Naiser, who was doing his best to avoid eye contact.
But it lasted only a moment before he let out a low chuckle.
“Well, my apologies for that. I'll be sure it doesn't happen agai—”
“Wiping your mouth with an apology?”
“Pardon?”
“The statue shed 'tears of blood.' You probed at the wrong person, and you think one lousy 'sorry' settles the account? I suppose that cursed neck of yours still feels firmly attached, does it?”
Truly, how lovely it would be if you employed some cardinal-grade eloquence.
Faced with a threat that screamed apologize and cough up adequate compensation no matter how you read it, the Cardinal of Red's brows twitched.
But well — arguing the point would only land the Red side in a worse position, and everyone knew it.
“Very well. House Blue will receive its due compensation.”
Infuriating. The Blue side had come out the winner yet again, so of course it stung. But what stung even more was the expression on the Blue head of house's face.
Eli looked, in truth, utterly delighted. He was too dignified to show it outright, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching. Left unattended, his shoulders looked ready to ascend to the heavens.
Well, could anyone blame him?
His grandson — barely ten years old — had elicited 'tears of blood'!
This was a record that would go down in history.
How could a grandson not be adorable?
All the more so when he'd been worrying about Isaac's faith readings only moments before.
'And here I'd been fretting his faith was at rock bottom.'
The look in Eli's eyes toward Isaac shifted, just a little. Not that bloodline had ever needed an excuse — family was adorable even when they did nothing cute at all.
Perhaps the sight of that preening swagger was simply too much to stomach, because the Cardinal of Red extended a hand.
“Now then, if we're finished — kindly return the token we lent you.”
As if he'd been planning exactly that even without being asked, Eli approached Isaac, who was busy with his candy.
Then he hoisted Isaac up like a cat by its scruff and, with practiced smoothness, plucked the token Isaac had been hiding deep inside his clothes — snatching it the way one would steal candy from a baby.
“Hah. Petty enough to hand a child a trinket like this.”
“A misunderstanding, I assure you. It doubled as a faith inspection. The boy does generate an unusual amount of noise, after all. Determining whether he has the qualifications of a Saint is a matter of importance.”
Eli understood the implication perfectly.
Once before, a worthless demon had masqueraded as a Saint and tried to kill the genuine one. Saint verification was exactly that crucial — exactly that delicate a matter.
But the statue had already poured out tears of blood, the very supreme symbol of faith.
“Check it all you want — it'll be nothing but beautiful, precious scarlet, you moron.”
And so, the instant Eli moved to hold out the token—
“…….”
…Hm. How to put this.
The rose on the token was… black… black???
As if to say what the hell is this, Eli's face stiffened in a way he couldn't quite hide. And once Eli showed no intention of handing the token over, the people around them began to tilt their heads.
“…Your Grace?”
Even the Cardinal of Red, impatient to receive what was his anyway, held out an irritated hand.
“Come now, we're all busy people. Hand it over alr—”
CRACK!!!
“……?!”
The Cardinal of Red's eyes went wide, as if doubting his own sight.
…Huh?
What just happened in front of his eyes?
But the Blue head of house — who had split the token cleanly in two at the speed of light — proceeded to pulverize it with his fists. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
No — smashing it wasn't enough. He slammed the wreckage against the floor and stomped it flat. If it looked strangely, suspiciously urgent — was that just his imagination?
Thud-thud-thud!
The rose, dyed jet black, was shattered so completely that every trace of color bled out of it.
As if the faith inspection had never, ever happened at all.
And the cardinal's precious token — one of a kind in all the world. In other words, the rare token bestowed by the Pope himself — was being pulverized… pulverized?!
“Your Grace?!”
The Blue head of house, evidence thoroughly destroyed at last, dusted off his hands, turned on his heel, and spat.
“You're getting nothing, you son of a bitch.”
…I'm sorry, WHAT?!