The Skeleton King's Follower (6)

Kals, the man entrusted with this Skeleton King summoning, remembered it all too clearly.

—I shall lend you this summoning circle. If fortune favors you, you may summon the Skeleton King himself; at the very least, a high-grade skeleton will appear. With that, you could turn the Hella imperial family into a field of ashes.

Yes, that was exactly what he'd been told. Unless one was a mage capable of facing a Cardinal, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was said, the circle could never be broken.

But there was no such mage in the Holy Empire.

Yet the Giant Skeleton he'd summoned refused to obey him, and worse still, the protective magic a high-ranking mage had woven for him had been torn away like tissue paper.

And that was with a mere rattle—hardly even a weapon—plus, of all things, fire blazing out of nowhere!

"Aaargh!"

None of this made sense to Kals.

Why is there fire coming from an empty hall?!'

But what sent a colder chill down his spine than the flames was how calm this brat remained while watching a man burn.

Any child that age would have been beside himself at the sight of a burning man. It made Kals wonder just what this thing was—except the boy gave him no time to think.

"As a follower of the Skeleton King, I'll grant you a special three seconds."

"……!"

The sight of him casually holding up his fingers was absurd—but it wasn't childish arrogance. It was the way a superior extends magnanimity to an inferior, reminding him of what he ought to be doing right now.

Ordinary children, no matter how hard they tried to act grown-up, always had that telltale thinness and naivety in their voices.

There wasn't a flicker of it.

And in that unwavering voice, Kals heard it plainly: if he didn't open his mouth, he would be dealt with—mercilessly.

Sensing a strange terror and pressure emanating from the boy, the man clenched his teeth.

"I don't know who's behind it! Aargh!"

At that, Isaac waggled a finger. Simultaneously, a truth-compulsion spell crashed down into the man's skull.

"Hk—! W-we were trying to frame the Crown Prince for treason! Aargh!"

Isaac stomped on Kals's shin.

Well, I didn't need a spell to figure that much out, you little shit. That's why you summoned him at the Crown Prince's Palace, of all places, with someone else's precious skeleton.

"And what was that about sending House Eshua down to ruin, hm?"

"Th-that was because Isaac Eshua swept the entire Pentagon, so Eshua's standing has changed…! They said Isaac Eshua must not become the Saint. But if the Emperor died to a skeleton, the blame would fall on House Eshua for failing to handle the Skeleton King… That's what that bastard 'Ranche' said!"

'Ranche?'

Isaac smiled with evident interest at the name.

"Ranche? Don't tell me you mean a demon. And that is what commandeered someone else's precious skeleton? Hm?"

Screw you—what do you even mean, 'someone else's precious skeleton'!

The man shook his head.

"I don't know the details! He was someone hanging around the Black Angel. Anyway, he lent me a magic tool to control the skeleton with!"

[A True Demon, my lord.]

Ha. These sons of bitches.

"So this Ranche was the one who ordered all this?"

"No! The Black Angel gave the orders… Ranche is his subordinate!"

At those words, Isaac's eyes narrowed.

Well, I get the general picture. So one of the True Demons is at the Black Angel's side.

And that Black Angel fellow appeared to have joined hands with someone in the imperial family—in order to kill the Emperor, no less.

High probability it's the Empress, but whatever.

…Wait, why does the name "Black Angel" sound so familiar?

Where had he heard it?

Becoming human must have scrambled my memory. What a pain.

[No, my lord, your memory was already rot— urk!]

Well, if I can't remember it, it can't have been that important.

"Roughly, yeah, got it."

At Isaac's words, the man's face lit up.

"Yes! Then hurry and get this thing off me…! It hurts, I'm dying here!"

But Isaac gave an amused snort, as if the man had just said something ridiculous.

"I told you, didn't I? I'm a bandit."

"What?"

"I'll be taking your life with me, thank you very much."

Wh-what did he just—

"Who told you to go abducting other people's skeletons?"

At the gleaming rattle, the man scoffed.

"Do you have any idea what happens when a priest of the Holy See kills a man?! I'll leave a record! The moment it spreads, you'll be instantly excommunica—"

But contrary to his expectations, Isaac just snorted back at him.

"Yeah, doesn't matter. I'm not the one killing you."

What? What's that supposed to…

[My lord, NO—]

CRUNCH.

The last thing the man saw, head raised, was a massive, blindingly white skeleton.

And that was his final memory.

Trampled flat without mercy by the giant bone, the man lost consciousness. At the same moment, Isaac looked up at the Giant Skeleton that had come thundering toward him.

[My lord! So this is where you were!]

"I told you to stay with the princes' side. Why'd you come all the way here?"

[I… I was worried you'd be hurt, my lord!]

The Giant Skeleton prostrated itself before the boy that Isaac had become, wailing like a man in mourning.

[How can this be…! My heaven-sent master, reduced to such a downy little hatchling…! Wait but a moment, my lord! I shall flay this skin off you at once!]

Maybe I really should just send this bastard off with a Turn Undead.

Well—I'd been about to deal with the follower myself when I spotted this guy, so I stopped my hand. And when I ordered him to get over here, he did handle things on his own, so it worked out.

"He's nearby! We sensed mana over here!"

"!"

Hearing the priests closing in, Isaac winced. In the same breath, he channeled holy power into his right hand—the one contracted to the God of Penal Law—and pressed it against the Giant Skeleton.

Then something astonishing happened.

FLASH.

The Giant Skeleton's massive frame began to change. It wasn't becoming human, the way Shabnak had—but its enormous size shrank, and shrank, and shrank…

[It has become a Thumb Doll, my lord.]

Isaac had transmuted its properties using the God of Penal Law's power. Sure, it was nothing but a stone figurine that couldn't move a muscle—but for now, that would do nicely.

[Ah, you've made it wonderfully easy to conceal! I suppose that's wise—being a high-tier demon, it would be difficult to send him back through the Shadow Lich anyway…]

Just as expected, Isaac hurriedly scooped the thing up and—rather than pocketing it—hurled it into the deep pond with all the ceremony of a boy skipping stones.

SPLASH.

With that ruthlessly efficient flick of the wrist, the stone figurine plunged into the pond in an instant—

[My lord! To think we finally reunited, only to part so soo—…]

The Giant Skeleton's heartbroken voice faded away ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the depths of the dark pond.

Whisper watched in silence.

[You weren't planning to keep it?]

If I'm caught carrying something that size, I'm done for. It'd be a disaster.

…So dumping a subordinate into the holy pond is fine, then?

I transmuted its properties. It's fine.

[…That's the imperial family's pond, my lord. When exactly do you intend to come retrieve it?]

You come get it.

[…….]

Is this lunatic of a master serious?

At nearly the same moment, the other priests came flooding in.

"Isaac! Are you all right?!"

The senior priests appeared, along with Shuri and the Crown Prince. Seeing the fallen agent of the Skeleton King sprawled on the ground, the priests broke into smiles.

"Ohhh! Well done! You captured the infiltrator yourself!"

"A great deed!"

"The other two had already been handled and were being dragged back by your knight, Isaac. As expected of House Eshua!"

Apparently, Shabnak had snatched up the other two infiltrators in the blink of an eye.

"Summoning a high-grade skeleton means he's no ordinary mage. However did you subdue him?"

"Indeed, how could a mere apprentice possibly…"

At that, Isaac raised his blood-spattered rattle, as if the answer were self-evident.

"The proper technique against a mage is cracking his skull, so naturally, I used thi—"

"AAAGH!!"

The instant that sinister rattle poked its head out, Shuri screamed and hauled Isaac away. Then, in a tone begging him to please, please think of House Eshua's dignity, he said:

"You—! If word gets out that an apprentice cracked skulls with that thing, you'll be excommunicated before you even graduate!"

Had he forgotten how close Isaac had already come to disaster at the enemy's Pentagon?

But Isaac blinked with perfect calm.

"So I can use it once I graduate, then?"

This lunatic, for real!

"Why are you so obsessed with that rattle?!"

Why? Because it was a tool the Skeleton King himself had spent ten long years steadily infusing with mana. Did that sound like an ordinary trinket?

With it, he could cast spells without any mana at all—and ever since it had drunk its fill of holy priests' blood, the protective power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the gods watching over them had soaked into it, hardening it besides.

But he couldn't exactly say any of that out loud, so…

"It feels great to hit people with."

"……."

Shuri stared at Isaac with an expression of deepening despair.

…Is this kid actually okay in the head?!

Not that there was any point, at this late stage, in still calling him a priest or a Saint.

But still.

This little bastard… can we really bring him to the New Year gathering where the direct line of Eshua assembles? Isn't somebody going to end up buried alive?

Just then, Isaac spoke up.

"They say the culprit is the Black Angel. Does anyone here know him?"

At those words, the priests examining the unconscious follower recoiled in shock.

"The Black Angel? Isn't he that notorious criminal!"

"So he's finally set his sights on the Holy Empire…?"

"He's dangerous?"

Shuri looked at Isaac as if he'd lost his mind.

"You don't know? The Black Angel is the Skeleton King's contractor! The Demon King's contractor!"

The look of pure disgust that spread across Isaac's face at those words was truly a sight to behold.

…What the hell is that. Never heard of it.

I never signed any contract with that bastard.

Isaac's face was souring by the second, but the priests spoke with the gravest of expressions.

"Ten years ago, he was said to have entered the Holy Empire hunting for the prophesied Saint."

"That's right—word was that you were one of his targets too, Isaac."

Isaac froze inwardly.

…Ah. So that's who that was.

Right… the poor bastard who'd taken the fall for my Mana Absorption.

I heard the Holy Empire put a bounty on him because of me.

[Then he might come after you as well, my lord?]

Pfft, no way. He can't be that petty.

That was when it happened.

The priests going over the follower Isaac had captured frowned in puzzlement.

"We'll have to examine him thoroughly, but oddly enough, there are no wounds? We distinctly heard screaming when we approached."

Isaac gave a dry little laugh.

The truth was, he had driven the magic tool berserk and raised the flames—but what had actually engulfed the man's body was an illusion spell, layered with a pain spell on top. Nothing more.

"The magic tool went berserk, and then he just collapsed all on his own. After that, he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept muttering strange things. He seemed… unwell. Mentally, I mean."

"Ah… well, if he's a follower of the Skeleton King, that tracks."

At that reaction, Isaac—who had counted on exactly this—gleefully stoked the priests' morale.

This way, no suspicion would land on him, and it would help him rack up merit besides.

"That's right. The people who worship the Skeleton King are all lunatics with something wrong in their heads, addled by hallucinations and phantom voices like a bunch of addicts. Their bodies are ruined too—most of them can't even have descendants."

At that, the Crown Prince beside him turned to look at Isaac with an expression of profound, wounded offense.

"I'm not crazy."

…Not you, you idiot.

"In any case, Skeleton King cultists are like drug users—madmen pickled in hallucinations and phantom voices. Bodies rotted through, unable to even leave heirs behind."

The Crown Prince shot him an even more wounded look.

"…My limbs are perfectly intact, though."

Not you, I said.

"…Is that what the Skeleton King thinks of us?"

…Don't even get me started, dammit.