He's Fallen (2)
Rillai came to visit. And then, without a word of preamble, he seized Isaac by the shoulders, white as a sheet, and shouted:
"Isaac! You're far too young for a girlfriend!"
…For fuck's sake. What is this guy on about now?
But Rillai shook his nephew's shoulders back and forth with grave, doleful concern.
"And a slave, of all things! You haven't even entered that kind of relationship yet, so how could you possib—"
"Lord Rillai! How can you say such things to the young master when he isn't even of age!"
With Nanny Asili now joining the fray, Isaac simply stared at the drifting clouds, laughing hollowly. Ha. Fuck. That bastard Shuri. How the hell did he relay the story?
By the time Isaac arrived at the Duke Eshua's residence in the capital, he was seething with barely contained fury. The truth was, he had asked Shuri to report Shabnak to the family on his behalf.
'If I want to enter the Imperial Palace, I need my status sorted out first.'
Anyone entering the Imperial Palace was subjected to rigorous screening. And if he intended to stay in the Empire from now on, he'd need an appropriate identity forged for him.
And when it came to falsified status? Nothing beat being a personal attendant or escort knight directly attached to the Eshua main line.
'Well, this is exactly the kind of situation villain privileges are for, isn't it? When else would I use them?'
So he'd delegated the identity forgery to Shuri, and this was the result.
"Too young for a girlfriend! And you'd bring someone into the family whose identity we don't even know! I oppose this marriage!"
……These fuckers???
It seemed the Eshua family had been thrown into an uproar over Shuri's report — just not in the way Isaac had intended. In fact, when word spread that Isaac was off hunting the Skeleton Demon King's spy, Rillai — who had been busy crafting protective charms of every description — had practically sprinted out the door barefoot to intercept him.
"Even your grandfather is appalled! What on earth did they teach you at the Holy See?!"
……
Isaac shot a glance at Shuri, who was standing beside Rillai with a face of studied innocence. Note to self: destroy Shuri first, later.
But for now, clearing up the misunderstanding took priority.
"It's not what you think, Gwandpa."
"What?"
"My apprenticeship is over now, and once the graduation ceremony is done, I'll be traveling outside on business. There will be missions and training that take me beyond the Empire's borders, won't there?"
"!"
"During the Gold Pentagon I did briefly leave the Empire, but that was near the border, hardly a dangerous region — little more than an outing. The world out there is far wider and far more dangerous. And this person possesses skill worthy of such a world. That is why I wished to take him as my escort."
Isaac gestured toward Shabnak, who was unloading luggage from the carriage.
At the sight of Shabnak, Rillai and Asili exchanged a flustered look.
"I am called Shabnak."
Hair tied down neatly in a single braid. Mysterious golden eyes like those of a bird of prey. Pale skin and a frost-cold face devoid of any trace of a smile.
Rillai and Asili glared at Shabnak as if sizing up a rival in a duel.
This person is Isaac's—
Young Master Isaac's—
'Girlfriend!'
"Do not worry. From my master's body down to his very soul, I shall tend to everything with utmost devotion. Not a single thing will be neglected."
Well — none of that was technically a lie. The 'soul' Shabnak spoke of referred to the Skeleton Demon King. And it was a pledge to guard the Eshua bloodline's cursed flesh and soul alike, and to serve his lord with single-minded devotion.
…Th-the body?
…Th-the soul?
To priests who had no idea what he actually meant, there was no choice but to have their pupils quake in their sockets.
"I may not look it, but in the art of service, I have full confidence. For my master's soul, I intend to serve him day and night."
Service for the soul… service?!
Rillai and Asili grew even more appalled — but Shabnak's eyes gleamed with resolve.
-Understood? Especially with these Eshua people, our identity must never be discovered.
Yes. His master was the Skeleton Demon King, hunted by the entire Holy Empire. His master had accepted a lowly wretch like him, putting even his own life at risk to do it.
Being surrounded by priests displeased him, but a debt of this magnitude could not go unpaid.
"Until my master is satisfied, I shall serve him devotedly — using arts the priests know nothing of."
"?!"
"!!!"
Arts the priests know nothing of…?!
As his family members' faces flushed crimson, Isaac pressed a hand to his brow.
No, you idiot. You've made the misunderstanding worse.
Yet Shabnak's expressionless face carried an unmistakable glimmer of pride, as if to say, 'Surely that much will suffice.'
Isaac heaved a sigh at last. 'Fine. I'll handle this myself.'
Then he cried out with earnest, shining eyes:
"Gwandpa! Isaac is still wittle! Isaac is too innocent to know anything at all! I have no impuwe intentions whatsoever, none!"
"……?!"
…That makes you MORE suspicious!!
The looks on Rillai's and Asili's faces were a sight to behold. Wasn't it always the person who claims to have no interest in money who turns out to be the greediest of all? This was precisely the look of a lecherous grown man protesting, 'I'm pure and innocent, I don't know anything.'
Granted, Isaac was about to turn twelve — but that wasn't the point.
'How does that brain belong to an eleven-year-old?'
The academy professors who had reviewed the apprentices' thesis assignments had trembled in their hands with astonishment. Even the Black Cardinal — who treated everyone but himself as garbage — had stared at Isaac's paper in silence for a full ten minutes. Enough said.
In any case, the point was that he was no ordinary eleven-year-old.
But did that mean they could trust him on matters of, well, romance?
'Contracting the Supreme God alone is already a miracle — and yet…!'
Hadn't the head of the Blue Faith said that the truly critical part was only beginning? That having gained the Supreme God, Isaac had acquired power, but would become all the more dangerous for it?
-He'll struggle to control the Supreme God's power for a while yet. One misstep and he could spiral out of control down the path of heresy. To teach him to wield that power, he must be instructed thoroughly and strictly.
The Supreme God's power was the mightiest force of all — one that could raise House Eshua to glory, or drag it to ruin! They had to stop him before he fell down some wicked path!
Isaac, however, looked upon this display the way one looks at a cockroach.
'It's not just the Blue Faith, damn it. Now they're losing their minds over romance too.'
Well — moderation was how the Blue Faith proved its devotion, so he could understand, he supposed.
'Rillai's the same. Don't tell me with that face he's still a vir— no, no. Entirely possible. The Blue Faith is MORE than capable of it!'
Isaac's eyes grew pitying.
"In any case, I won't allow him as your personal attendant! We cannot take in someone whose identity we don't know!"
But just then—
"What does it matter? If the boy who trampled the Red Faith's heir is bringing him along as an escort, then clearly he must be skilled."
"!"
A face none of them had seen before emerged from the residence. Blue hair, spectacles, and a sharp, exceedingly clever countenance — less a priest than a scholar or a strategist.
"So you're Isaac? You're not quite as rotten-looking as I'd heard."
Isaac's eyebrow twitched.
'What's with this insufferable greaseball? The second I lay eyes on him—'
As the man reached into his pocket for something, Shuri panicked.
'Not the rattle!'
It was then that the bespectacled young man spoke.
"I've heard a great deal about you from Rillai. I am Benjamin, your second uncle."
Isaac's hand, reaching for the rattle, froze mid-air.
…Benjamin?
The second son?
'Eshua's money manager?!'
Isaac's eyes flew wide open. Then, as if he'd never dreamed of pulling out a rattle at all, he folded his hands together with impeccable courtesy.
"A pwivilege to meet you, second Gwandpa. Isaac is sowwy he's so lacking — he hasn't even paid his wespects pwoperly, and there's so, so much to apologize for."
At the sight of the most angelic child-face ever witnessed in his life, Shuri recoiled so violently he nearly collapsed on the spot.
What's wrong with him? Has he lost his mind?!
But Rillai, seeing that very display, barely strangled a laugh behind his hand.
"You see, Elder Brother? Just as I said — a good child, through and through."
Hah. A 'good child,' he says.
"…Right. The child who burned through expensive courier pigeons — mid-Imperial council, no less — to brag that 'Isaac pooped golden poop for the seventh day straight' and 'Isaac called me uncle for the very first time.' That's the one you insisted was the finest child alive."
And while that was technically the heir position their father had been quietly watching…
"You're the one who manages all of Eshua's finances, wight, second Gwandpa? Hehehehehehehehe."
…Can we really leave the family headship to this kid?
Benjamin regarded his nephew with visible suspicion, but Isaac's grin only stretched wider, his嘴角 — the corners of his mouth — threatening to split past his ears.
'Money man! You're going to be pampered by me from now on.'
He'd make the man his absolute slave and have him siphon off the family fortune piece by piece.
Before long, Benjamin — looking distinctly uncomfortable as he studied his nephew — held the door open.
"In any case, you brought him as an escort, so we simply need to verify his skill. Inside. The family head is calling for you."
…Grandfather is?
"I'm disappointed in you."
The Sephert estate. Naiser clenched his jaw at his father's icy words.
His father, who smiled like a fox at all times, not smiling meant one thing: the situation was dire beyond measure.
"It seems you've already forgotten what kind of being the God of Penal Law is."
"That's not it—!"
"If it isn't, then explain how Isaac came to contract the very god you summoned?"
"That's—!"
"Unless you resolve to give him up, the contract grants priority to whoever summoned the deity first."
Are you kidding me?! That's precisely the part I find most unjust of all!
"It truly isn't that! Why on earth would I give up a god of the First Rank?"
Every family kept a ranked registry of its patron gods. And these were deities sitting at the very apex of that list. Why would anyone surrender them?
"They vanished among themselves without warning, and then the gods contracted with that boy. As though they had no choice but to contract with him!"
The Cardinal of Red narrowed his eyes with sudden interest.
Had no choice but to contract, you say?
"Is that so?"
What did it mean?
For something of that magnitude, it would surely have to do with the 'soul'. Was this boy's soul truly that special?
'And he's really the Saint?'
If so, then perhaps the Red Faith ought to consider forging an alliance with House Eshua rather than antagonizing it.
Isaac Eshua was becoming an increasingly troubling presence to ignore. He would need to investigate the boy more deeply.
But that wasn't the pressing matter now.
"Without the God of Penal Law, your plan cannot proceed. Your treasure cannot be retrieved."
"!"
The Red Faith had been searching for something for hundreds of years. And it was an object that could only be extracted with the God of Penal Law at hand.
"We cannot let the Eshua rabble snatch away what even the Pope is hunting for with his eyes burning out of his skull."
Naiser decided this was his chance.
"I will go to that boy myself and retrieve the god."
"No — there's no need. My eldest son returns soon."
At the words eldest son, the blood drained from Naiser's face all at once.
The once-in-a-generation genius who bears the 'God of Punishment' is returning to the family?!
He would stake his life on it: Isaac, and he himself both, would die at that man's hands. His own hands were trembling.
The Cardinal spoke, as though the whole affair gave him a headache.
"The God of Punishment cherishes his elder brother, the God of Penal Law, dearly. He will not forgive us for losing him."
"!"
"Which is precisely why he must be found. So instead, you will grow close to Isaac and extract information about the God of Penal Law from him."
"Y-you want me to… get close to him?"
"Become his servant."
…Son of a bitch.