Let's Assess the Situation (5)
Ah, he'd had dreams. Dreams of his own.
With that cursed apprenticeship under Isaac finally behind him, he'd imagined himself striding out into the world and rising ever higher. Earning good marks at the Pentagon, racking up merits mission by mission until his name echoed through the ranks. Passing the senior priest examination to stand at the very center of the nation. One day becoming the Blue Flame, leading House Eshua's famed Killer Whales into battle…
And in the end — bishop, cardinal, Pope, who knew — he'd dreamed the ironclad, golden-brick road to leading the Holy Empire itself…
Crack!
"Puheh. Don't know who you are, but you've got the face of an ostrich. Anyway, thanks for the stepping stone!"
Damn it… I'm finished. It's all over!
That little monster has wrecked my smooth climb to the top!
Amid the stunned silence of everyone present, the Chief General Leader — his face now a stamped ruin — toppled backward.
Thud!
"Senior!"
The 2nd-class priests scrambled over to the fallen man in horror, while the apprentices stood frozen, mouths hanging open, staring at Isaac.
Normally, this was where a person was supposed to bow their head and stammer out apologies — I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry — and try to smooth things over…
Crunch!
"Kghk!"
"Oh, stepped on him again. Sorry. Whose fault is it for lying somewhere like that?"
"……?!"
The bastard deliberately stepped on him one more time and simply walked on.
No wonder the color drained from the 2nd-class priests' faces. Though in fairness, that pallor didn't come from fear — it was the face of a man whose blood pressure had boiled over entirely.
But still — they were seasoned seniors, men of the world. Surely the tantrum of some bratty apprentice could be laughed off as childish mischief…
"What the hell is wrong with that kid?!"
"He just used someone's face as a doormat — no, he ground someone's face into the dirt and walked away?"
…There's no laughing this off, is there? Right?
Just as Shuri's eyes began glazing over, the 2nd-class priests shattered like ice cracking apart, their fury erupting all at once.
"Has that brat lost his mind?!"
"What was THAT?!"
Shuri's team clutched the backs of their necks like they were about to die. Shuri, being blood kin, couldn't even lift his head.
ISAAAAC!
Fine, I knew he'd cause an incident — but how does he cause one the very first time he meets his seniors?! Huh?!
No — wait. No, actually.
It's not even the official meet-and-greet yet, so technically he caused an incident before the introductions even started. Right. That's it.
I'm just grateful he works fast. Damn it.
These were people they would be facing every single day from now on. The other apprentices were, at worst, like classmates — you could get away with feral behavior among them. But these were seniors, the very people one needed for a functional career in society…!
"Good heavens! How can anyone do such a thing and just walk off?!"
"I'd heard tales of the 'young colt,' but this defies imagination…"
"He earned a few merits, everyone started parading him around as the Saint candidate, and the boy lost all sense of decency!"
No… he didn't lose his decency. He never had any to begin with.
As Shuri's team began sweating rivers, someone stepped in to calm the storm.
"Now, now. Don't be too hard on him."
"Senior!"
It was the very Chief General Leader whose face Isaac had flattened. He was picking himself up, running his fingers gingerly over the fresh boot print on his cheek.
"He's a ten-year-old child, no? At that age, a lack of sense is only natural."
…No, Senior. I'm fairly certain that thing will be exactly the same at any age.
Shuri's eyes glazed over further, while the 2nd-class priests fussed protectively around the Chief General Leader.
"Shall we report this to the Bishops?"
"Yes! To think such a creature would be allowed out into the world! He'll drag the name of the Empire and the Holy See through the mud!"
"Enough. No need to trouble their graces with filth like this. We'll simply educate and manage him thoroughly ourselves."
At those words, Shuri and his team squeezed their eyes shut.
'Damn it. We're screwed.'
Every priest trained juniors, of course, but the Chief General Leader in particular — as the representative senior priest — wielded real influence over the personnel evaluations of the 3rd-class priests.
And Isaac was this? There was no way the watchful eye of scrutiny wouldn't fall on them too.
And sure enough, the Chief General Leader's eyes glittered as he swept his gaze over the apprentices.
"This graduating class has unusually good evaluations."
"……!"
"Not only do we have a Saint candidate among us, but this is the very year the Skeleton Demon King's return was prophesied. The children born in the year the prophecy descended are said to be special…"
"!"
"One glance tells you the rest, as they say. If even the youngest child is this bold a troublemaker, I shudder to think what the others are like."
"Well, children do grow by watching those around them."
"They take after their surroundings quickly enough."
No! Unfair! Unjust!
Forget soaking in the water around him — that brat is the type to splash the whole world's sewage backwards!
'He was never a candidate for moral education in the first place!'
But Cheong's team simply beamed, radiant and cooperative.
"W-we're so sorry! We were entrusted with his education, but we've fallen short in so many ways and failed to guide him down the proper path!"
"We will work harder and teach him better!"
"So please, bestow upon us your wisdom and guidance!"
The 2nd-class priests sighed in admiration at the flattery.
"It seems the only problem child is that one, in any case."
Damn it!
I hate you people too — but I hate the idea of being worked to the bone the moment we graduate even MORE!
The Chief General Leader clicked his tongue at Cheong's team, in a tone that was half scolding, half condescension.
"This class seems awfully faint of heart. Merits or no, Eshua blood or no — to stand there with both hands folded and simply watch as all that unfolds?"
No, sir! There's been a misunderstanding! It's not a matter of heart — we simply submitted before the rattle!
At that moment, the apprentices of the other faiths stepped forward as if on cue. It would have been idiocy not to exploit this golden opportunity to drag Isaac's name through the dirt.
"Seniors like you could surely whip that brat into shape!"
They intended to borrow the seniors' hands to pull Isaac down a peg.
"Allow us to tell you just what a piece of trash Isaac Eshua really i— kghk!"
The apprentices mid-rant suddenly clutched the backs of their heads and collapsed.
BOOM!
"What— what's happening?"
"I don't know! Something exploded at the back of my neck!"
"An explosion? There's nothing there?"
"No, seriously, something DID just go off—!"
The Chief General Leader narrowed his eyes in irritation, as if to say quit fooling around.
"In any case, you lot will be sent to the Imperial court for the remainder of your training. And there, you will receive a commission from the Empress herself."
"From the Empress, sir?"
"Yes. A commission related to the Skeleton Demon King — and your final graduation scores will be tallied together with it. And…"
BOOM!!
An explosion suddenly detonated not far away.
The apprentices jumped out of their skins.
"What the—!"
"An accident?"
But voices of priests drifted over from the site of the blast.
"The Gold-faith priests are down!"
"What, a terrorist attack?"
"No — it looks like the potions in the storage vault misfired…!"
Amid the rising commotion, the Chief General Leader spoke as though swatting the noise away.
"Regardless — Isaac Eshua. That boy stirring up muddy waters needs to be disciplined, doesn't he."
"Disciplined, you say—?"
"The Imperial commission is two per team. But do not, under any circumstances, put that boy on a team."
"Pardon? But you just said two per—"
"That boy has been spoiled rotten — pampered by people who treat him as special, with never a taste of failure in his life. Only when he scrapes the bottom score with no one to help him will that thick skull of his right itself."
"……!"
"So no one helps him. From now on, don't relay any instructions to that boy either. And whoever dares assist him will be punished just the same."
Shuri flinched.
What is this. Are they seriously ordering us to organize his social ostracism?
Can clergy even DO that?
"It's fine. Harsh medicine is always the most effective education. We'll fix that ill-mannered brat properly before graduation, so rest assured—"
BOOM!!!
"Chief General Leader!"
"Senior!"
A massive explosion went off directly in the face of the very man who'd vowed to educate Isaac.
The exact same blast that had struck the apprentices badmouthing Isaac — and the Gold-faith priests who'd been hunting him.
By that point, the crowd couldn't help but be in an uproar.
"What is this?! Whose doing is this?!"
"Terrorism!"
"Someone is targeting the Holy See's elite priests!"
The Holy See was thrown into chaos by the string of sudden attacks. Every priest in the compound was running this way and that, vowing to catch the culprit.
And amid all of it, exactly one person was calmly picking his ear.
"Hey. That was your handiwork, wasn't it?"
Right on cue, a familiar silhouette emerged from the shadows of the courtyard behind the Holy See. It was Shabnakh — one of the Fourteen Six Demons, the very one Isaac had rescued from the Execution Grounds.
Isaac smirked.
"You're the one behind the attacks, aren't you? You disguised them as accidental holy-arts misfires, but I can tell at a glance."
Shabnakh bowed his head in apology, his whole body trembling.
[Forgive me. Those damned priests dared to slander you, my lord, and moved to attack you. I could not restrain myself.]
"Well. I figured as much."
Even Isaac had to admit Shabnakh's loyalty was the real deal.
[I thought I would scout your new companions in secret, to see if they were of any use to you — but how is it that every last one of them…]
Creak.
As Shabnakh began to tremble with dissatisfaction, apparently gearing up for yet another attack, Isaac broke out in a cold sweat.
"Stop it. You're going to get yourself caught for real."
[That is of no concern. This was to be the last one anyway.]
"What?"
Instead of answering, Shabnakh pulled back his own clothing and bared his body.
Isaac flinched at the sight. And no wonder — half of Shabnakh's body had simply vaporized.
It seemed he'd been struck by holy power. His form was melting away, unable to hold its shape.
Isaac's eyes went cold.
"The cardinals got you."
He could see it at a glance. Shabnakh was still standing upright, but that wound was a mortal one. Ninety-nine percent fatal.
Maybe facing two cardinals really was too dangerous after all.
Cardinal or demon, they stood at the same 9th tier — perfectly matched, neither lacking nor exceeding the other. In a one-on-one clash, one of the two was guaranteed to die; only by facing multiple opponents at once could either side secure a certain victory.
And Shabnakh had been locked in a cell for a hundred and fifty years. He hadn't fully recovered his strength, so facing two cardinals at once must have been doubly punishing.
That wasn't all, either.
'It's the same for every demon, but for undead especially, the Holy Empire's power is the absolute worst matchup.'
Holy power — the undead's fatal bane — and wounds dealt by a cardinal's strike, no less.
Forget the attempted terrorism against the people who'd insulted him. Just standing there, upright, in this state was already a feat in itself.
[I apologize for showing you such a diminished form. That is why I begged this final audience — to deliver this to you.]
Shabnakh drew a green gemstone from within his garments. Isaac recognized it instantly.
'A Memory Stone.'
[It contains the secrets of the Empire I gathered over the decades I spent as a slave of the Holy Empire. It will surely be of use to you, my lord, as you make your home here.]
Shabnakh began to retreat, as though his body were becoming too heavy to sustain. He did not wish his master to see him in such a wretched state — the very picture of a soul preparing for his final hour.
Isaac understood, all too well, what Shabnakh intended.
[I wish to recover, but healing within the Holy Empire is impossible — and a barrier seals the Empire's borders, so I cannot leave. Rather than burden you with these wounds, my lord, I will die here.]
A demon like Shabnakh could receive no treatment here. And the hunt for him would only continue.
He'd handed over the Memory Stone, and now — he would summon the priests to himself. It was suicide, dressed up as devotion.
[This worthless life was a gift from my gracious lord. That you sustained it to this very end is a debt I shall never forget. I ask only… that my worthless death pave the road before you, my lord.]
Shabnakh was already preparing to cast his spell.
[Summon the priests here, and their deaths shall be counted at once as your merit, my lord. So please—]
"Hmm. Hold on. Wait."
[Yes?]
"I get the situation. The moment you try to leave the Empire, the Divine Dragon's barrier flags you instantly. But there might be a way for you to stay in the Empire."
[My lord, so long as I remain a demon, I will be discovered eventually. And a cardinal would find me out in moments—]
"No."
Isaac pressed his palm against the back of his right hand and poured holy power into it.
He was summoning the God of Penal Law, his contracted deity.
"Penal Law. Get your ass out here."
Of course, no deity came running just because he was called.
The crest on Isaac's hand didn't react at all—
"The sealing failure was YOUR fault, you rotten bastard, so crawl out here before I start screaming about it?!"
The instant he said it, the crest blazed to life. An irritated voice soon rang in Isaac's ear.
— What now.
"Try converting his attribute. You can do that, can't you?"
— …What?
The God of Penal Law was flabbergasted, but didn't seem particularly bothered. Whatever Isaac was plotting, the target was, in the end, undead. And undead were hideously vulnerable to holy power.
Worst case, he could simply destroy the thing. That was that.
Yes — that was the plan…
"I'm ordering you to turn that undead into a human."
…What did you say, you little—?