The Skeleton King's Followers (3)
Isaac Eschua.
Crown Prince Shablis had first laid eyes on Isaac when he was six years old, back when the Emperor had taken a great interest in the 'Saint'.
-Is that so? A boy was born into House Eschua?
-Yes, it seems the child was born in secret, hidden even from the family itself. But given the birth date, and the fact that the parents secretly had him tested for sainthood at a rural monastery… he's almost certainly a Saint candidate. If the other houses find out, they may well try to eliminate him.
-No, if it were those bastards, they'd have already made their move.
At the time, the Emperor had been intensely focused on the Saint upon whom the prophecy had descended—the one foretold to become the next Pope.
And so he hung on the every movement of the prophecy priests who verified candidates for sainthood. No—in truth, every noble house in the Empire had its eyes gleaming on those priests' footsteps.
Not merely that; each and every action of the prophecy priests sparked shadow wars and schemes among the great houses. One could hardly call the entire Empire anything short of insane.
But the Crown Prince hadn't cared in the slightest.
Why, you ask?
A Saint? He'll just end up a puppet of the clergy anyway. Who cares.
He knew exactly what kind of people the clergy were. The sort who stole his mother away, blasphemed the imperial family, and sowed seeds of discord from behind the scenes.
-His Highness the Crown Prince is already six years old, yet he remains so small in both stature and frame.
-As expected, he must bear a curse, just like the late imperial consort.
-Is he truly of imperial blood at all? Could it be that he's a bastard's child, and that's what turned his hair black?
-Shh!
The clergy. A revolting breed who cloaked their every deed in the name of God to justify themselves.
Well, the priests did say that to earn God's forgiveness, one had to live virtuously……
God? What of it? Was unjustly killing His own servants what gods did?
And yet even harboring such blasphemous thoughts might have been proof that he himself was cursed.
Yes—like this black hair of his.
That was what he had believed, anyway.
-Who're you calling great gods?! Those bastards would lose any power struggle, which is why they're all hiding in their barriers!
The baby blessed most deeply by the gods had said something very strange.
No—if he had only said strange things, it would have been a mercy. But no, the child beat the servants of God mercilessly with his rattle… no, outright wailed on them, all the while shouting:
-You son of a bitch, trying to swipe my money fountain? You wanna die?! No, actually—just die!
-DIE! If your bastards drag me off as a demon, I can't get chummy with the Emperor! And then I can't raid the imperial treasury, you little shit!
-That Emperor is going to become my lackey whether he likes it or not!
-You think I don't know you're trying to assassinate people while pretending to cast holy arts?! You're five hundred years too early for this, punk!
-You really think YOU can get your hands on evidence?
…Is that baby possessed by a demon?
Or simply insane?
It was true that adults could generally decipher baby babble, but this was a first. And judging from the child's conversation and conduct with the bishop, there was no question—the baby was wielding mana.
He had even resorted to trickery, pinning the entire crime on the bishop.
By all rights, the proper thing to do would have been to report it immediately, claiming the child was demon-possessed……
But does God truly not know?
A demon could not possibly inhabit a vessel blessed by the gods. And even if it somehow had—then the fault would be God's.
Thinking it through that way, Shablis found his heart strangely eased. Above all, platinum blonde was the color of the one called God's Proxy. And that proxy had stood against the Papal Court.
Hearing it from that child felt as though God Himself had spoken on his behalf—you have done nothing wrong; the ones in the wrong are them.
And so he had been glad.
Well, if there was one point of concern, it was the Skeleton King business. Yes—no matter how you sliced it, being that fond of the Skeleton King crossed a line.
Handled poorly, even his position as Crown Prince could be at risk.
Explaining exactly why he took such an interest would take a very long time… and yet the boy was an existence of tremendous importance to him. An existence he absolutely needed.
Which was precisely why he could not help but grow all the more relentless.
"…You're really not the Skeleton King?"
At those words, Isaac couldn't stop his eyebrow from twitching.
Ah, this bastard just doesn't quit.
"Are you saying you wish I were the Skeleton King, Your Highness?"
"Are you the Skeleton King?!"
"…No, I am not."
The moment the words left his mouth, the Crown Prince's glittering eyes wilted with disappointment. He even shot Isaac a faintly resentful look, as if to ask why he had to toy with him.
But Isaac found it detestable.
Well, I get that this guy has a deep and abiding interest in the Skeleton King.
But there was nothing to gain from telling him. For one, he couldn't fully trust this man, and who knew how the story might leak out?
Do you have any idea how many years I've survived in this business? Whatever terms you offer, I'm not biting.
"A shame, then, because I——"
"If you were the Skeleton King, I could gift you a nation."
"…I might be the Skeleton King. Yes. Might as well be."
"You just said you were the Skeleton King."
"……"
"You are the Skeleton King, aren't you?"
…This son of a—
Of course the imperial family would be swimming in money. What a filthy, underhanded play for greed!
"It was a joke! I simply couldn't help wondering—just how much do you love the Skeleton King, that you'd hand over a country for it?"
"Indeed. So the Skeleton King's objective was this nation all along."
This bastard doesn't listen to a word anyone says?!
He's a lunatic in a completely different way from House Eschua, isn't he?
Isaac was dumbfounded—but at the same time, his curiosity was piqued.
"Why on earth would the Crown Prince of the Holy Empire be interested in the Skeleton King?"
"Tell me, and I'll admit I'm the Skeleton King."
Ah, this conversation is never going to end. Isaac glanced sideways at the Crown Prince's expectant eyes.
From the way he's been acting, I doubt I'm in any danger of losing my head, at least.
After all, the Crown Prince had always been favorably inclined toward Blue.
"I heard nothing today. My family would find it suspicious, so I'll take my leave now."
"Tonight is a moonless night. A fine night for a summoning—so you'd best be careful."
"Agh, I keep telling you, I'm not the Skeleton King!"
"If others summon you, their purpose will surely not be a kindly one."
"Ah, then I suppose I'd better watch out."
"…You didn't even deny it. As expected of the Skeleton King."
…Just shut your mouth, for the love of— damn it.
* * *
The moment Isaac stepped out of the Crown Prince's Palace, Whisper gave him an earful. And at that, Isaac couldn't help bursting out laughing.
'How could I be in a bad mood? I never dreamed the Crown Prince would turn out to be a follower of the Skeleton King. Well, I understand it. The Skeleton King is pretty cool, isn't he? Worthy of respect, no?'
'Either way, if I just get the Crown Prince onto the throne, everything becomes so much easier.'
He'd have to dig out the reasons later, but a Crown Prince who hated the Papal Court and revered the Skeleton King!
What a prize specimen for devouring a country!
'I can't reveal my identity, but couldn't I use it—speak as the Skeleton King and milk it for all it's worth?'
In any case, it was a good turn of events. For now, it looked like the first order of business would be dealing with House Berith's attempt to steal the God of Wealth from him.
But Shabnak wore the expression of a man who found the whole affair rather dangerous.
"It could have been quite dangerous, my lord—being summoned like that."
"No, honestly, it worked out in my favor."
"Pardon?"
The truth was, this incident had confirmed that the Saint's body and Isaac's soul were bound together perfectly tight—which pleased Isaac even more.
Why, you ask?
'Because it means soul-severing holy arts won't work well on me either.'
Soul-separation was about the nastiest trick those priests had in their repertoire, but the Saint's body simply adored this soul far, far too much. Nothing to be done about it.
This body grew more stable and more powerful the better the balance between mana and holy power held.
And with his contract with an Upper God secured, the supply of holy power would only increase—which meant he could finally resume the magic training he had deliberately put on hold recently.
Well, fair point.
He didn't know the reason, but the Supreme God had been favorably disposed toward him.
'But being summoned at the drop of a hat is a problem, so I should reinforce the Demon King summoning ritual on my own——'
And that was the exact moment it happened.
FLASH!
A summoning circle lit up beneath Isaac's feet.
It was mana, visible to his eyes alone—but it was unmistakably a Demon King summoning spell!
'These bastards……?'
Isaac immediately snuffed out the summoning circle.
'No.'
Apparently there really were others lurking in the Imperial Palace. People with the sheer gall to try summoning the Skeleton King.
'Well, now happens to be the single best time for summoning a Demon King, so I suppose I can't blame them.'
The Crown Prince seemed to be the Skeleton King's follower—but were there others trying to summon him besides?
If so, catching those bastards would earn him a fine score on the imperial mission.
Just as Isaac moved to cast a counter-detection spell—
"Where have you been?!"
"!"
Isaac whipped around, startled out of his skin, to find Shuri and Kina standing there.
"You scared me half to death! I thought you'd been dragged off by a Skeleton King follower!"
…Well. To be fair, he had been dragged off. Via summoning circle.
Isaac looked at Kina standing beside Shuri.
"And why exactly are you hanging around the Pope's grandson?"
"Why do you think?! Because you vanished and I asked him to help find you!"
Isaac gave an awkward laugh.
"You mustered the Pope's own bloodline just because little old me went missing?"
At that, Shuri exploded in fury like a madman.
"Just because? Justt because? Hey! You ate the Skeleton King's flesh—you're a top-grade catalyst for a Skeleton King summoning! If you get kidnapped, even once—!"
…Can't exactly tell him there's no catalyst needed, since the Demon King is standing right here.
"Anyway, one thing's certain—the Skeleton King summoning going around right now is dangerous."
"What? Why?"
At that, Shuri thrust out the back of his hand with a flourish.
There, faintly glowing on his skin, was the sigil of the God of Light that Shuri had recently contracted with.
"The God of Blue I just contracted with told me! He said this place is dangerous!"
…Dangerous?
"He said he's been imprisoned because of the Skeleton King! I don't know what that means, but we have to capture the Skeleton King's followers and be of service to the God of Light!"
…Imprisoned?
What was that supposed to mean?
But right at that moment—
KUGUGUNG!
An earthquake shook the ground, and all of them flinched.
"This power is……!"
"A demon summoning?"
And then, from a place not far off, a colossal skeleton rose into view.
"Wait, did they actually summon the Skeleton King?"
…Nope. Not even close!