Should This Really Be Allowed? (2)
Standing right in front of him was none other than Goel.
And what else would you expect from the Pope's bloodline? Between his looks and his obsession with dignity and splendor, the man was visible from a hundred meters away.
Ah — of course, that same taste for ostentation made him stick out like a nouveau riche parvenu among the Blue Faith, where frugality was a virtue. But whatever. The point was, this man was Isaac's uncle.
The moment Isaac spotted him, his eyes curved into crescent moons.
After all, this was the scoundrel who, from the time Isaac was tiny, had pulled every dirty trick in the book to drive him out of the household out of sheer spite… well, "made a fuss," let's say.
But ever since Isaac's recent visit to the Berith estate, the man's attitude toward him had changed.
Why would a man who used to look at him like he wanted him dead suddenly turn tail? Hmm? Must be because he saw something at Berith, right? Right?
It was the kind of crescent-eyed smile that only appeared when Isaac was at his most delighted.
And true to form, Isaac came bounding toward his uncle like a hyena that had just spotted its next meal.
"Go-o-oel Unkie-dear!"
"?!"
When Isaac came sprinting toward him from a distance, Goel flinched as if he'd seen something he was never meant to see.
Son of a— what is that?!
Why is he like that?! Why is he running over grinning ear to ear like a lunatic with a flower stuck in his hair?!
He probably spilled everything, that damned Rillai — but with this little monster, I can't let my guard down for a second.
No, honestly, the fact that he's greeting me this warmly is terrifying in itself!
Goel, dead pale, made to flee with visible disgust—
"Unkie, where are you going?"
"……?!"
The escape route was blocked.
This little brat blew the door apart with a Holy Power Bullet!
And now he's standing in the wreckage, grinning like that, blocking the way with his body!
His eyes have completely gone! That curl at the corner of his mouth looks like it's about to tear his face open!
Feeling pure madness radiating from his nephew's eyes, Goel broke out in goosebumps. The pitifully demolished door of the Papal Court seemed to weep.
And honestly, that was what shocked him most.
What did he DO during the Pentagons?!
The power of that Holy Power Bullet was anything but ordinary.
No — the bullet wasn't the problem. This brat leaves home for a year and comes back with eyes like THAT?!
That was nothing like what Shuri had told him!
"Father, it seems Isaac has come to his senses. He's become someone worthy of carrying the Blue Faith's name!"
Come to his senses, my ass!
The kid's mind went even further off the rails!
Granted, Shuri had said that back when Isaac was putting on an act while hiding the skeletons.
Either way — Goel was incapable of liking Isaac. And there was no way this brat liked him enough to cling like this.
Choose your battles, Goel. Choose. Your. Battles….
The moment Goel turned to leave without a word of reply—
"?!"
"Unkie-dear. Your beloved nephew came all this way to greet you, and you would ignore me so?"
I don't love you at all!
And since when is THIS a greeting from a nephew? This is blackmail, isn't it?!
"Your Isaac is soooo sad, the tears are coming out."
Drop your mouth corners if you're going to say that! Does THAT look like a sad face to you?!
Goel pressed a hand against the wall, head pounding.
Frankly, he wanted to run. Nephew, schmephew — he wanted to blow the little monster off entirely. But judging from how this brat operated, he'd latch on with his teeth and never let go until he got what he wanted.
And more than anything, Goel had a reason he couldn't brush Isaac aside.
The Supreme God!
If this child had truly received the Supreme God's blessing, then everything changed.
The only existence capable of crushing the Papal line beneath its heel! Driven half-mad by that thought, Goel twitched his eyebrows and forced out a smile.
"Y-yes, of course. Isaac. It's been a while. I'm glad to see you seem to be doing well."
"Right? Ah-hee-hee, the moment your nephew shows up, you bolt like that — I nearly thought I'd done something wrong, you know?"
Lunatic. Is that face TRULY the face of the Saintess's son?
Anyone would think he was the Demon King's offspring.
No — even the Demon King has too much class! I'd sooner believe he's the heir of some backwater cult!
Curses boiled up in his throat, but Goel smiled anyway.
"H-how could that possibly be."
His face was on the verge of a full-blown spasm. Forcing a smile at someone you loathed made your whole face feel like it was going numb.
And Isaac, watching every twitch of that reaction, broke into a smile of pure certainty.
There it is. Something's up.
Goel's attitude had changed, unmistakably, after the Ordination Ceremony. And if he was House Eshua's man, then of course he'd have been sent to dig into what happened at Berith afterward.
That's it! This guy's holding the keys!
No calculating bastard like this would act this way over some nameless Lower God!
Drunk on that certainty, Isaac sidled closer.
"Unkie-dear. What kind of god do you think your Isaac will draw?"
"……?!"
At the same moment, Goel — catching on to Isaac's scheme — flinched and backed away.
Is this brat here to blackmail me?
Or is he trying to dig something out of me?
No — either way, I have to keep my mouth shut. Until the god is drawn, there's nothing to gain from the truth leaking out.
In the God Summoning, the god you're blessed by comes up almost a hundred percent of the time.
In other words, no matter what anyone did, Isaac drawing the Supreme God was a foregone conclusion.
But what if the news spread before the ceremony? The people gunning for Isaac, needless to say — even factions within the Blue Faith would react unpredictably.
No sense stirring up a hornet's nest. Keeping it secret, even from Isaac himself, was the best play.
"Hard to say. I wouldn't know. Someone like you, these days, would draw a respectable Middle God of the Blue Faith without any trou—"
Isaac's face drooped into a sulky pout.
"Actually, your Isaac thinks he might draw an evil god this time. I suppose I'll have to give up on the Summoning. That would be the proper thing to do, wouldn't it?"
Goel nearly had a seizure, bellowing in alarm.
"Are you OUT of your mind?! Why would you give up?! Evil god, my foot — the highest-ranking god there i— mmph!"
Goel clamped both hands over his own mouth.
At that reaction, the corners of Isaac's lips lifted.
Ah-ha.
Highest-ranking god? Is thaaat so?
Highest rank would make it… a Chief God-tier, yes?
Then, as if demanding he elaborate, Isaac seized Goel's arm in an iron grip.
"Unkie-dear. Your Isaac has bad ears, you see. I must have misheard. Highest-ranking, you said? That would be a Chief G—"
"AAAGH! I don't know anything! The Head of House summoned me, I have to hurry along— GYAAH!"
Isaac grabbed Goel's leg and toppled him to the floor.
"Unkie-dear. I love you sooo much, so tell me one more time. 'Kay? Which god is your Isaac going to draw, hmm? Not gonna tell me fast? You wanna get a whoopin'?"
Damnation!
Is THIS how you treat someone you love?!
And get rid of that damn bullet before you talk!
More than that — this kid's eyes are genuinely deranged!
The city district near the capital.
With the population cleared out by official order, the empty town was crawling with high-ranking clergy.
"The Fourteen Six Demons are hiding somewhere in this area! Stay sharp!"
"Sir!"
The Fourteen Six Demons who had fled the Execution Grounds had been discovered hiding in the city district.
Everyone had assumed demons would bolt for the borders of the Holy Empire — yet instead they'd burrowed into the heart of the city. The darkest place, it turned out, was directly beneath the lamppost.
The search teams that had been combing the borderlands were called back, and above all, the Blue Faith's own people had been committed to the hunt.
When it comes to flushing out demons, nobody does it better than the Blue Faith.
The Gold Faith was superior in exorcism, sure — but theirs was the art of Repelling, simply pushing demons away. The Blue Faith chased them to the very ends of Hell and rooted them out. Different beasts entirely.
And with a Cardinal of the Blue Faith now on the field, it was only a matter of time before the Fourteen Six Demons were caught…
"Oof, my back. Let's take a break, shall we?"
Only a matter of time…
"Isaac, you still haven't found the Fourteen Six Demons?"
Only a matter of time……
"Since Isaac hasn't found them yet, we should give him time. Say, four more days or so ought to do it."
…Do you people have ANY intention of working?! The Red Faith's priests glared at the Blue contingent like they wanted to strangle them where they stood.
It was good, fine, that the Cardinals of the White and Red Faiths had located the Fourteen Six Demons.
But what else would you expect from the Skeleton Demon King's subordinates?
In truth, the demons had vanished without leaving so much as a thread behind — finding them at all bordered on miraculous. If the Fourteen Six Demons hadn't happened to stumble into the barrier they'd installed on the town's fountain, the Cardinals might never have noticed them in their entire lives.
Though apparently, the demon had realized the barrier had caught him in a heartbeat and slipped straight into the city district.
Demons raised by the Skeleton King really are a different breed.
So it was fleeing toward the regions beyond the Empire's barriers.
If not for the barriers the Blue Faith had strung across the city back during the old Heresy Inquests, they truly might have lost it.
Anyway — from here on, it should have been the Blue Faith's game. All they had to do was step in and flush out the Fourteen Six Demons—
"Ahh, so it really is the spawn of that damnable Skeleton King. Genuinely hard to find, aren't they."
Isaac Eshua!
Why is THAT one out of the infirmary, hunting the Fourteen Six Demons of all things?!
And he's not even good at it!
He's been chasing dead ends for hours!
Isaac, as it happened, had shown up dangling off Goel like an ornament.
Apparently, the Head of the Blue Faith had summoned Goel to the scene ahead of everyone else, and—
"Hah…! *wheeze* Father. Reporting in. Here is the map of the local mana veins you asked for."
"…And why did you bring Isaac hanging off you?"
"That's— *wheeze* it's nothing, really…."
"Unkie-dear. Feeling ready to tell me yet?"
"Shit!"
Anyway, once word got out that the hunt for the Fourteen Six Demons was underway, Isaac had volunteered — aggressively — to do the finding himself.
They'd meant to tell him it was no place for a child, but to everyone's surprise, the Head of the Blue Faith had simply said:
"Very well. Let him."
And if you were going to stride out so confidently, you could at least DO the job!
"Hah…! Nothing there, sir! There were no Fourteen Six Demons at the location young Master Isaac specified!"
"Oh really? My my, the Fourteen Six Demons hide soooo well. Puh-hih."
That little—!
At this point, is he letting them go on PURPOSE?!
Swallowing their fury, the Red Faith's priests approached the Head of the Blue Faith.
"Your Eminence. We must say your grandson does not yet seem… qualified. Perhaps if you were to take charge directly—"
But the Head's eyes flashed.
"Are you saying my grandson is unqualified?"
"P-pardon?"
"So you're telling me a Cardinal's judgment was wrong?"
At the open displeasure in the Head's voice, the Red priests froze as if they'd just realized their tongues had betrayed them.
The men before them held power second only to the Pope himself. These were not men whose tempers one tested.
"N-no, that is not what we—"
"Then put him back to work."
You have GOT to be kidding!
The Red Faith's priests were going out of their minds.
The Head of the Blue Faith. What is he thinking?
First he crippled us with that strike, and now the Fourteen Six Demons too?
And perhaps sensing the venom in those stares, Goel asked, in a tone of mild concern:
"They're staring at Isaac like they want to kill him. Will that be all right? Those men really will drag the boy off, you know."
"If they think they can do it in front of me, let them try."
"Ordering a boycott is hardly befitting of you, sir."
After all, they'd already been swarming Goel from every corner begging, "Please, talk some sense into the Head of House!"
"Before this turns into a war between the faiths, you really ought to stop—"
"I wouldn't have to, if those bastards hadn't come out swinging with their reversed accusations first."
The gall of it — smashing a holy angel to pieces, then pinning the whole thing on Isaac and demanding an apology from him?
"I only meant — it seems unlike you, sir, because it concerns the Eshua child."
The Head of House went silent, watching Isaac. The man understood perfectly well what Goel meant.
The guardians of the faith are bound to protect the faith, and those who belong to it.
Family, however, is not on that list.
Family members are merely guardians in their own right, bound to uphold the faith in turn — no tenderness, no private sentiment may enter into it. The guardians of the faith exist to die for the gods, and the gods alone.
And yet the Head of House found himself remembering what Isaac had said to him, back during the Gold Pentagon.
"Please, never neglect your family. Even your grandfather's fingers are the weak ones you must hold close, all together."
The Head of House closed his eyes.
"I have decided to change my thinking somewhat."
"!"
"And the strike serves another purpose."
"To torment the Red Faith, you mean…?"
The Head of House shook his head.
"No."
"Then is it about the spy matter you mentioned before? If so—"
"No. That boy declared he'd catch the Skeleton King, so he's set out to find the King's subordinates as well. All this piety-building before the God Summoning — do you think I'd let some wretched evil god be the thing that answers?"
"……."
This absolute lunatic — it was that brat's FAITH we should have been worried about?!
Goel, who knew the truth, squeezed his eyes shut.