Don't Go (2)
Isaac scratched his cheek.
"Mm. Over there."
His gaze was fixed on the people in front of him.
"Mmm. Over theeere."
The space before Isaac was packed with people. People dressed in blue. And people dressed in red.
"Get the hell out! Why are you causing a scene in someone's sickroom?!"
"Ha! Someone's sickroom? You reserved the place? Since when did the Holy See's infirmary belong to you people?"
"Letting a demon into the sacred infirmary of the Holy See in the first place? The Blue Faith has well and truly rotted!"
Ah, so in other words, the Blue Faction and the Red Faction are currently at each other's throats.
"You. Say that again! What did you just call Isaac?!"
"What did I call him? I called him the demon spawn born of the Blue Faith. So what!"
"You insane bastard—!"
"Ack!"
CRASH!
Aaand there they go, grabbing collars and rolling around again. Rolling again.
Isaac let out a long sigh at the sight of grown men brawling. It had been exactly one day since he'd been moved to the infirmary. In that time, the execution had been suspended, and the hunt for the Fourteen Six Demons along with the investigation into the incident was now underway.
'Part two is supposed to proceed in two days, I believe.'
They couldn't very well call off the Offering Festival with all the distinguished guests already in attendance. If anything, the determination to pull it off even more spectacularly after such a fiasco had only grown stronger.
Well, the Pope had ordered the escaped Fourteen Six Demons recaptured before then, but would they really be caught that easily?
Granted, two Cardinals and nearly the entire roster of senior clergy had been mobilized. Slipping away wouldn't be simple—but then, if they couldn't evade even that much, they'd have no right to call themselves the Skeleton King's fingers.
Anyway, there was little to worry about on the subordinates front. The problem was that the Red priests had come storming in and had been carrying on like this for about an hour now.
"How dare you spew such filth about an injured child!"
"Injured? Injured, my ass! He's faking it! Those aren't wounds the Red Faith inflicted!"
"Ha! So you'd rather dodge responsibility by calling this sweet child a demon? A priest of all people, telling lies!"
"Heeey, over there."
When Isaac stretched out a hand, Asili, the nanny standing at his side, smiled warmly.
"Young Master, I know this must be trying for you, but you needn't worry in the slightest. The Red Faction has laid hands on one of the Blue. They will not let this pass quietly."
No. That's not it. I'm hungry.
But whether he understood or not, Shuri too pressed down on Isaac's shoulders.
"Right, you must be worried the Blue Faith will come to harm. They're the ones who struck first. Don't fret."
No, I don't give a damn what happens to the Blue Faith.
Can I eat first or not?
'My body's burning through energy recovering, and I'm starving.'
He was using Melissa's Rosario to speed up his recovery, but healing arts were no miracle cure-all.
[It draws on the patient's own stamina to amplify their recovery rate, doesn't it?]
Exactly.
Healing arts worked by radically accelerating the body's natural regeneration. Which meant they required the patient to have stamina to burn.
Put another way, a patient too weak to supply that energy simply could not be saved.
'Healing arts capable of pulling someone back from death's door are within the reach of only the White Cardinal or the Pope.'
Treatment bordering on miracle, requiring no stamina at all—only those two could manage it.
[Wouldn't a Saint be able to manage it too?]
Hard to say. I've never tried.
Anyway, with the White Cardinal off hunting the Fourteen Six Demons, and Isaac having received nothing but ordinary treatment, the result was a boy utterly exhausted and dying of hunger.
And that fool Shuri, just because he'd bled a little, had completely lost his mind. He wasn't just bandaged—he was wrapped up tight like a mummy.
'Him following me all the way to the bathroom is a bit much, no?'
If he bled twice more, the man would have a full-blown panic attack and lock him in his room for good.
"Asili, put the sword away too."
"My apologies, Young Master. But those wretches couldn't even tell where they were before spewing such filth at you—"
Asili, who had been drawing her blade with glacial eyes, flinched and hurriedly sheathed it.
In truth, the Blue Faction's fury wasn't limited to these two. Word that a direct descendant of the family had been attacked—in public, no less—had sent the entire Blue Faith into open revolt.
The entire nation had been thrown into upheaval. And consider, for a moment, what work the Blue Faith primarily handled.
Places that earned no money and were filthy, the sort of work nobody else wanted—yet places that absolutely required a working hand. They were the ones who had quietly shouldered the invisible corners of the Holy Empire.
From the lowliest chores to the most vital duties, the moment they all stopped at once, the empire ground to a halt. Even the imperial household's affairs, tied in by contract, came to a standstill—reportedly sending the imperial vassals scrambling out in sheer alarm.
"What in the world is the meaning of this?!"
It had never happened before. True to the Blue Faith's frugal, diligent reputation, their work had never once been suspended—not even a trivial appointment had they ever broken. And now these same people had stopped everything?
This was no ordinary matter. It meant the situation was truly grave.
Normally, an incident like this would have the head of the house stepping forward to resolve it, but—
"Continue."
The Blue Faith's head hadn't so much as blinked. No—if anything, this entire shutdown might have been ordered by the matriarch herself.
In the end, everything except matters of life and death had stopped.
"The smallest finger of our family has been harmed. There will be no retraction until a true apology is given."
So the nobility could only gape in horror. Had the head of the Blue Faith ever moved like this over a single child? And their stepping out like this meant, unmistakably, that a line had been crossed.
'Well, a direct descendant was attacked before the eyes of the entire nation, and the other faiths just stood there watching—'
The Blue Faith, which had always cleaned up after the other sects' messes, couldn't have felt anything but betrayed. And at this point, Isaac half hoped the empire's citizens would start venting their complaints—but well.
"Honestly, it's stranger that the Blue Faith never rested until now. Just bear with it a little."
"Think of it as them taking a vacation."
"Seriously, why would you beat a child bloody like that? Tsk tsk."
Unexpectedly, the sympathizers outnumbered the complainers—no doubt because so many owed the Blue Faith their lives and livelihoods.
And that was precisely why Isaac sensed trouble. Only because the Blue Faith had never once turned its heart toward malice. Their obsession and stubbornness were, frankly, terrifying.
These were people who did exactly what they said they would—people whom money could not move.
'One wrong step and this becomes a war of attrition.'
The empire will collapse!
'And the only being in existence who can rein in that Blue Faith... is Isaac!'
Every bit of this chaos had sprung from the Red Faction attacking Isaac Eshua and casting doubt on him. The panicked nobles had swarmed the Red Faction with protests—leave a living person alone!
'A living person, you say?'
Living person, my ass!
'There's no doubt about it—Isaac Eshua staged the whole thing!'
It was a maddening situation for the Red Faction too, but they showed no intention of simply letting it slide.
'Standing down when the culprit is this obvious? Are they insane?'
Besides, an angel of the Red Faction had fallen! If only to protect their image and defend the Red Faith's honor, they had to drag Isaac in. Guilty or not.
But with the Blue matriarch refusing to budge, they couldn't just haul the boy off by force.
'Then there's only one option—prove his guilt and take him legally!'
The Red priests tried to reason with Rilai.
"Rilai, get a hold of yourself! Are you acting on pure emotion right now?! At least call off this boycott!"
But Rilai simply sneered.
"You're the ones who need to get a hold of yourselves."
"What did you say?"
"The Fourteen Six Demons were released. Right before the execution, the Messenger of God declared they would add new restraints to the demons—was that all just for this?"
"What?"
"If you want someone to suspect, suspect that Messenger of God. The Blue Faith is merely holding the party under reasonable suspicion."
Lies!
Your eyes just rolled back because of your nephew! You're skewering them with a heart full of personal grudge, that's all!
But Rilai was shameless.
"Besides, did the Fourteen Six Demons not call that Messenger of God their kinsman!"
What lunatic actually believes a demon's word like that?!
"You don't think it was a lie from the Fourteen Six Demons?"
"A lie that unlocks restraints?"
"...That's—"
The Red priests, mouths snapped shut, clutched the backs of their necks.
Yes—it's all that damned restraint's fault!
'Who on earth unlocked it?'
Anyway, it would have been so convenient if the Blue Faith had just handed over their nephew—but Rilai was shameless to a truly heroic degree.
"To lose the Fourteen Six Demons the Blue Faith itself captured, in such a pathetic fashion! If anyone's astonished here, it's us!"
"......!"
Argh! I'm losing my mind!
But the Red priests held it in. They were already combing the Execution Grounds for whoever had unlocked the problematic restraint.
'They're investigating jointly with the Black executioner, so the results will come quickly.'
'And if they find even a trace of the culprit there—'
That was when it happened.
BANG!
Red priests came bursting into the infirmary of the Holy See. At the sight, the Red Faction members inside broke into smiles. The breathless sprint could only mean the results had come back in their favor.
"Well then, the results are—"
"Disaster! The remaining restraint—the evidence—has vanished!"
"Yes, yes, of course it did! The evidence had to disappear... what?"
What did you just say?
"How does the one and only piece of evidence just disappear!"
"Well, we retrieved the restraint for analysis, but... it suddenly exploded and, well, vanished—"
"WHAT?!"
Isaac, who had been eavesdropping on their exchange, snickered—phehet.
'Thorough as ever, my subordinates.'
Shabnak had almost certainly rigged the restraint with a time-delay explosion spell—so that even examining the evidence would yield nothing about the culprit.
But it seemed they'd learned something more than that.
"Actually, right before the detonation, the evidence..."
At the priest's whisper, the faces of the Red priests drained chalk-white.
"WHAT?! Why is That One's power emanating from there!"
Thrown into confusion, they darted their eyes between Isaac and the reporting priest, utterly lost. Isaac tilted his head at the spectacle.
'That One's power?'
The evidence was the restraint. Whose power had been found in it, that they were reacting like that?
Well. Not that it mattered.
With their pretext for dragging Isaac away gone, the Red priests ground their teeth. Rilai smiled.
"Your workload's only grown—must be exhausting. You're busy, I take it? Best hurry back out, no?"
At that, the Red priests clenched their jaws and glared at the people of the Blue Faith. It was a look none of them had ever seen before.
"...The Blue Faith. We truly touched the wrong house."
"You're repeating the past, you people."
"House Eshua has declared war upon the Red Faith. They've made an enemy of Sephet, utterly and completely."
The Red priests wheeled around and filed out in a furious mass. Isaac stared intently at Rilai as they went, and Rilai—whether he felt the gaze or not—grinned crookedly.
"Are you worrying about me? No need for that, lad."
No. That's not why I was staring.
I'm hungry, you bastard. When's food coming?
'I need to charge my power to full before the God Summoning, damn it.'
But Rilai only stroked Isaac's hair.
"No matter what anyone says, we are on your side."
"!"
"Even if you sold your soul to a demon. Even if the whole world condemned you. It would change nothing. This uncle will protect you with his very life."
Ah.
For an instant, someone else's face overlapped with Rilai's in Isaac's vision.
It was far too long ago now, faded beyond even memory—but of everything, this one line alone remained.
"You—I will protect you, even if it costs me my life."
And so a small sigh escaped Isaac. Who would have thought he'd hear those words from a priest of all people?
'Well, no need to weed out this lot, I suppose—'
"So you simply must go shatter the Skeleton King's head with this uncle!"
Yeah. You people are definitely a doomed house.
'Suspicious. Definitely suspicious.'
Nizer stalked through the Holy See, grumbling under his breath. The Fourteen Six Demons remained at large. By all accounts, the demon had hidden itself astonishingly well.
The Red Cardinal had sent an urgent request for support to the Blue Cardinal, the empire's premier demon-hunter, but the Blue matriarch was on strike and had turned a deaf ear.
And so Nizer was now making his way to Isaac in person.
'According to the report, the Fourteen Six Demons completely unlocked their restraints.'
But there was no way the demon had shed those shackles alone.
'There has to be an accomplice.'
And the only suspect who came to mind was Isaac—the last person to see the Fourteen Six Demons.
'Why would that brat insist on being shown the demons in the first place?'
Could it have been to undo those shackles?
But there was no proof. And with the Blue matriarch holding the line, only one path remained for taking Isaac in.
'I will report directly to the Red God.'
It would be best if the God verified Isaac personally while he was at it. And the venue—conveniently enough, the God Summoning grounds seemed just the place.
Besides, his father, already furious with the Blue matriarch, had given the order himself.
"They say Isaac is too injured to participate in the God Summoning. A month in bed, by their account—so nothing to be done, I suppose. It's a crying shame. Take a secret elixir of the Red Faith and heal him, no matter what."
"...Pardon? A Red secret elixir? For him? Isn't that far too lavish? He'd be up and about in a day, granted, but its blessing effects outweigh its healing ones. If that leads him to draw a fine god—"
"It doesn't matter. He won't draw a proper god anyway."
Recalling those words, Nizer beamed at Isaac.
"Ah, Isaac? H-how's the body holding up?"
The Offering Festival will be the signal flare of the Blue Faith's downfall.
"D-does it hurt a lot? I'm your s-servant, aren't I? I was worried, so I brought some good medicine."
Isaac looked at Nizer's awkward, fawning smile and twisted his face into a scowl.
What is it with this kid. This absolute leech.