Ah, It's the Best! (4)
The Summoning Ceremony.
A ritual to summon a god was always a hot topic.
It was only natural, given that it was where new clergy were born. The deity you contracted with determined your standing from that day forward.
It was, quite literally, the grand finale worthy of capping off the Sacrificial Offering Festival — the greatest celebration of the year.
But this year?
This year, it was the ones destined to become Pope — the Saint candidates — who would be summoning gods. There was no way this could be dismissed as some mere autumn festival.
It was understandable that the senior priests filing into the summoning hall were murmuring with excitement.
"How many years has it been since we last saw an Upper God summoned?"
"The last one was four years ago, wasn't it? The Red faction's second son, I think?"
"Shh. We don't talk about that one."
Usually, apprentices contracted with Lower Gods. In other words, the ceremony churned out dependable 3rd- and 4th-tier clergy.
Well, there had been exceptions over the years…
"The historically memorable ones were the current Cardinals, of course. An entire class of them pulled Upper Gods all at once, and they were in the same cohort too."
"The Upper God Sir Rillai summoned was impressive as well."
"Impressive my ass. He turned it down flat because he wanted to be a paladin instead. Eccentrics and lunatics, the lot of them."
"Well… compared to Isaac Eshua, that's practically sane."
"…"
The priests fell solemn all at once.
The sight of that unhinged freak rampaging through the Red Pentagon was still seared into their memories.
"A-anyway, the point is we can expect another cardinal-worthy class this year too!"
"No, this year is going to be even bigger than that."
"They're saying a Supreme God might actually come down!"
"Right! Isaac Eshua summoning a Supreme—"
"…"
"…"
And once again, the priests who had gone quiet found their faces stiffening.
For an entirely different reason this time.
'Damn it all, is that lunatic seriously allowed to summon a Supreme God?!'
'Is this really okay? Huh?!'
Frankly, the shock the priests felt at the mention of a Supreme God wasn't about the deity's existence at all. It was the gnawing doubt of whether a bastard like that had any business summoning one.
He'd been an utter disgrace even at the Red Pentagon, where no gods were present. If a bastard like that summoned a Supreme God…
It wouldn't be the Red apprentices getting beaten to a pulp and rolling on the floor. It would be the seniors — themselves.
"Oh, come on. There's no way he'd actually pull it off, right? Summoning an Upper God is hard enough as it is."
"Exactly. And even if he does summon one, that's only half the battle. The contract is no walk in the park either."
"He'll die before any of that matters anyway. Red is champing at the bit for him."
"Oh."
"They're planning to make the summoning order his execution platform. I hear they pulled strings to change the sequence."
The priests went pale.
"Good grief… and of all people, it had to be Red."
"An honest faction like Blue won't even be able to mount a proper response."
"Well, they're a stubborn bunch, at least."
Everyone pitied Blue.
'A shame about Isaac Eshua, but at this point it can't be helped.'
Yes — unlike Red, Blue would never stoop to anything underhanded…
"Money. Change the order."
…Never stoop, my ass!
'Blue!! You're literally bribing people out in the open!!'
The ceremonial priests broke out in cold sweat, half in shock. These were the ones who'd been flitting around the Black Cardinal's side, preparing for the Summoning Ceremony.
It was one thing for the Blue family to come barging into the Offering Festival headquarters where the Black Cardinal resided—
'A bribe?!'
But the treasure chest was stuffed with gold ingots as far as the eye could see! Sure, it was disguised as a crate of fruit, but there was money blanketing the bottom of it no matter where you looked!
Yet while everyone around them was losing their minds, the head of House Blue himself looked utterly indifferent.
"Make my kid go first. You're not telling me a Cardinal has a problem with that, are you?"
He was even being brazen about it. No wonder the ceremonial priests' hands were shaking.
'The head of House Blue… how could he…'
They had no idea where to even begin cataloguing the offenses — but the Black Cardinal himself simply took a slow sip of tea and spoke.
"Well. That's a rather substantial bribe. I suppose this much would do."
…Cardinals, are you all actually okay?
"A bribe of this caliber is sufficient. I'll consider it."
But that was when—
BANG!
"No. It is not sufficient at all!"
"Isaac!"
A furious Isaac came storming into the headquarters.
Goel, who'd been inside, wore the expression of a man wondering what on earth that thing was doing here — but with Shuri clutching Isaac from behind, it seemed the two had been eavesdropping and had sneaked in.
"Grandpa, Blue can't do that!"
At those words, the ceremonial priests' faces lit up with emotion. Yes, exactly…! No matter what, holy clergy shouldn't behave like this.
'Ah, truly the Saint candidate. A future Pope, so virtuous and wise—'
"If you've got money to waste on bribes, hand it over to meee!!"
…Ah. This country is beyond saving.
As the ceremonial priests clutched their foreheads, a group of Red priests came barging into the headquarters — Red's bishops, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
"Is this behavior befitting of Blue?"
"We never expected this from Blue, of all factions."
At the sight of Red's bishops, Rillai and Goel went on guard, and Eli's eyebrow arched upward.
His face said it plainly: what is this circus?
But Red's bishops didn't back down either. That was how much this matter mattered to them.
"How can the head of House Blue justify trampling Blue's own doctrine?"
"We haven't trampled anything."
"…Pardon?"
"Blue is the faith of protecting the small and the weak. This is an act of protecting the smallest, weakest member of our own house. What exactly is the problem here?"
…Wow. That's the interpretation you're going with?
Red's bishops swallowed their curses, struck speechless by the sheer audacity.
'Blue…! Since when did they get this shameless?'
'They were never like this…!'
Then the Black Cardinal laced his fingers together and spoke. With his deep violet hair and a mask covering half his face — only his eyes visible — the figure was striking.
"I don't mind seeing this side of Blue, but… well. I've already accepted something from Red, you see."
Eli's brow lifted.
"You little bastard. Do you have any idea what happens if Red's whelp summons a god while Isaac's soul is laid bare? Are you planning to erase a child?"
"Who can say. I, too, consider Isaac Eshua a heretic."
"!"
It was the same when he'd tried to present Isaac to the Crown Prince. Wasn't he simply trying to grant his lord's wish — before Red could dispose of Isaac on their own terms?
And at that display, Red's priests smiled.
'The fact that Blue is fighting this hard makes it obvious.'
'Isaac Eshua's faith must be an utterly untenable number.'
Their reason for going this far was, in truth, simple.
'Niger summoning an Upper God alone won't make much of a splash.'
Why?
The eldest and second sons of Red had both already summoned and contracted with Upper Gods.
But what if the god Niger summoned could also drag Isaac down with it?
The target was, after all, one of Blue's own. They could display Red's heretic-hunting might for all to see, and claim a monumental achievement in a single stroke.
'An achievement like that would put him within reach of Saint in one leap.'
Every piece had been calculated.
'To crush Kina, there really is no other way.'
Wasn't it perfect? The platinum-blond boy was, in reality, a heretic. And they would be the ones to unmask the true demon threatening the Empire from within.
It would amount to nothing less than saving the Empire itself — a colossal feather in their caps.
And so, Red's bishops smiled at Eli as if to say give it up.
"It seems Blue believes all you need to do is change the summoning order."
"The god Niger Sephet has been chosen to summon is a pillar of Red's power — the God of the Penal Code."
At those words, the Blue contingent's faces betrayed their shock. Rillai and Goel most of all.
'The God of the Penal Code?'
'Oh no. Damn it. That's a far bigger fish than we expected!'
Even Eli's eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly.
He knew all too well the weight that name carried.
'The God of the Penal Code is one of the most influential Upper Gods in existence.'
Goel bit his lip at the unexpected revelation.
'Damn it. At this rate, nothing short of a Supreme God will do. Can Isaac really pull one?'
He had placed his bet on Isaac — but honestly, even he couldn't guarantee it.
Yet Eli merely rested his chin on his hand and sneered.
"My kid can, which is why you're changing the order."
Red gave a hollow laugh.
"What's decided is decided. It can't be changed…"
"Correct. What's decided cannot be changed."
At the Black Cardinal's words, Red turned to Blue wearing the grin of a victor. There, see that? Can't be changed—
"So summon at the same time."
"?!"
At the entirely unexpected answer, Red's bishops stared at the Black Cardinal.
"What?!"
Their faces demanded to know what kind of Cardinal took a bribe and then pulled this — but the Black Cardinal's eyes flashed coldly.
"What, can't manage it? All you have to do is summon first. Or are you trash so incompetent even that's beyond you?"
"Ghk…!"
"Fine. Blue and Black will both live to regret this."
Red's bishops strode out, promising to watch how it all unfolded. Once everyone else had gone, Isaac looked at the head of House Blue with a dreamy expression.
"Grandpaaaa…"
Judging by how the old man chose to interpret that call, the head of House Blue replied:
"Don't worry. You don't have to summon anything."
"!"
Shuri stared at the family head in shock.
Rillai nodded too.
"That's right. Whatever god they summon, we're prepared to smash that god into pieces if we have to."
"No, that's not it."
"…No?"
Isaac pointed at the box sitting at the Blue family head's feet.
"You brought a spare bribe box, didn't you? Give that one to me."
"…"
Shuri squeezed his eyes shut.
This absolute lunatic!
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"
The robed apprentices made their way toward the summoning hall. Shuri whispered to Isaac.
"The God of the Penal Code… things are in far worse shape than we thought."
But Isaac, hugging the treasure chest to his chest, just laughed it off.
"Nah, this actually worked out great."
"What?"
Isaac had never planned on changing the summoning order in the first place.
Why?
Because he hadn't intended to participate in the Summoning Ceremony at all.
"My original plan was to cut a deal with Gold and skip the ceremony entirely."
"WHAT?!"
Shuri shot him a look that screamed what are you even saying, but Isaac just snickered — kuk kuk — as he showed off the items that symbolized the Supreme God.
"Besides, the Gold priests seem to have laid some kind of spell on these things. I was going to use that — kick back and do nothing while pinning the whole crime on Gold."
Shuri broke out in a cold sweat as he stared at the items Isaac held out.
'I can't sense a single thing.'
This bastard could actually detect spells that were hidden even from him?
'Just what is this guy…'
Still, the revelation that Isaac had meant to sit out the ceremony entirely was a bit of a shock.
"Why?"
Why? The reason was obvious.
'No matter what, summoning a god?'
Those mutts would recognize his soul the moment he did. Lower and Middle Gods might be fooled — but with an Upper God, it was practically one hundred percent certain.
'One look and it's over, most likely.'
And while he might manage something with ordinary apprentices, put Niger or Kina on that stage? An Upper God was all but guaranteed to come down. Was he really supposed to just stand there and watch?
'Well, gods only manifest during the contract itself. So as long as I dodge that moment, it doesn't actually matter.'
Which was why he'd planned to feign illness and instead summon his own god separately at the Supplementary Summoning Ceremony — the one where apprentices who failed at the main event got a second chance.
'I mean, there's also the option of just steamrolling everything with a Supreme God, but…'
He had no guarantee a contract with a Supreme God would actually go through, and no idea what that thing's agenda was. Isaac belonged firmly to the school of never building a plan on an uncertain card.
So his intent had been to contract with a modest Middle God at the Supplementary Summoning Ceremony. An Upper God was unquestionably better, but the risk made it a non-starter.
'But the God of the Penal Code, you say?'
Isaac's grin stretched all the way to his ears. If it was that guy, the whole story changed! Pu-heh!
'I might actually get my hands on the Upper God I'd written off.'
Forget sitting out — now he had to participate.
'If I don't tear this out by the roots now, Red will just keep hounding me forever.'
Once Niger contracted with an Upper God, they'd drag him into a Heresy Inquest more relentlessly than ever. And frankly, that scenario was even worse.
Not to mention their endless squeezing of Blue — surely that didn't sit well with anyone either.
'This worked out well. It was something I'd have to deal with sooner or later anyway.'
'Do you have any idea who that guy is?'
Well, it made sense that Whisper wouldn't know. He'd kept the familiar almost entirely asleep back in the God Realm.
'That guy? He's fine.'
And so, when the robed priests had all gathered in one place — Kina looked at Isaac as if she'd been waiting for this moment, while Niger's brow furrowed in a scowl.
'The moment he summons his god, that bastard is finished.'
And among all of them, he would summon first.
In that very instant, Niger became the first to call down a god.
FLASH!
A powerful crimson light swept over the summoning hall, and the crowd gasped at the spectacle.
"Ooooh, a Chief God!"
"It's the God of the Penal Code!"
Niger's lips curled upward.
"There it is. Success—"
But that was the exact moment it happened. As if to swallow that crimson light whole, a light beyond all comparison came crashing down.
BOOM!
The light was pouring out of Isaac's body.
The summoning hall erupted into chaos at the sheer intensity of it — because no one had ever seen a light like that before.
Niger stared at Isaac, flustered.
'Did he actually… summon a Supreme God?'
But he quickly pulled himself together.
'No. Summoning alone doesn't end anything.'
The contract had to come first.
That was a god of staggering magnitude. Simply completing the summoning would take considerable time. Which meant — before Isaac finished summoning, his side would contract first!
And so Niger offered a prayer toward the wavering crimson light.
'O God. Look upon that child's soul, and execute him. He is a being who defies the law.'
At the same moment, a single voice rang out.
At the approaching voice, Whisper jolted awake in terror.
But Isaac simply smirked.
'Relax. That guy's my buddy.'
That's right. He was about to get thoroughly screwed over. Pu-heh!