The People of Blue (1)

"What? They couldn't retrieve the Guardian Deity?"

"Yes, my lord. The Crown Prince interfered with—"

At those words, Kina's face, sitting beside his father, became quite a sight to behold.

"Why would the Crown Prince even show up there?"

"Young Lord Kina, you're spilling it, you're spilling your tea!"

Kina's eyes bulged wide, oblivious to the tea overflowing in his hand. He had been preparing for the New Year at the Papal Court, and now his face flushed crimson.

And no wonder. The Papal House and the Imperial Family were on terrible terms. As the de facto heads of the Noble Faction, it went without saying that they got along with the Emperor poorly—but the death of the late Imperial Consort had taken them across a river there was no crossing back.

The Noble Faction, for its part, resented anyone under the Emperor's influence, and loathed any situation that swelled the Emperor's military might.

Put simply, the unwritten rule was that neither side touched the other's domain.

And now—what was this?

The Imperial Family butting into the clergy's affair of reclaiming their Guardian Deity? Worse, pressing down on the Gold priests to keep them from even approaching Isaac?

Just as expected, Kina—the future head of the Noble Faction—was trembling with rage.

"That Crown Prince... give him an inch and he'll take the whole garden."

At his words, the Gold priests were moved, as if their young lord truly understood them.

"Exactly! We knew he despised Gold, but isn't this just cowardly?"

"As expected of the young lord! We knew you'd be angry on our beh—"

"The Crown Prince is sucking up to Eshua with a garden?"

...I beg your pardon?

"Does someone here think we don't have gardens of our own?!"

...Young lord?

"Isaac Eshua would cling to the Crown Prince over some paltry garden, instead of me, the next head of the clergy??"

The Gold priests felt faint, as if they couldn't comprehend what they were hearing. Young lord? I don't think that's the point here...

At the young Gold duke's reaction, the priests shot pleading glances at the Gold Cardinal, begging for help.

The Gold Cardinal sighed.

Well, there were some issues with Kina's logic, but it was better for him to hate Isaac anyway.

For his own part, he was deeply displeased by the talk of Isaac and the Crown Prince.

"How unexpected. I thought the Imperial Family had already changed course."

The priests relaxed at the Cardinal's words, their eyes gleaming.

"Could it be... they intend to push Isaac Eshua forward as the Saint—or even as the next Pope?"

"Impossible."

"!"

The Gold Cardinal knew the Crown Prince well.

"The Crown Prince despises the clergy."

No—despise wasn't a strong enough word.

He was a boy who wanted the Papacy itself wiped out of existence. That venomous look in his eyes at the time of his mother's death, the hatred he bore toward the clergy—none of them had forgotten it.

Where exactly did one have to look at that thing to call it human? It was a beast.

"He's clever, that one. He'll have some scheme cooked up."

The youngest Sword Master ever, the one with the purest dragon blood in the Imperial line. Apparently, just recently, he'd even gone diving into a filthy pond.

'There's no way he'd suddenly pull such a stunt out of nowhere, and with this garden business...'

What was this?

What was he plotting?

(In reality, of course, a follower of the Skeleton Demon King had simply lent the garden to the Skeleton Demon King, and the Skeleton Demon King had gone off to pick up the skeleton he'd tossed out. But no one knew that.)

Before long, the Gold Cardinal reassured the priests, who were fretting over the Pentagons and the Supreme God affair.

"Whatever happens, His Holiness will step in himself. He intends to retrieve a portion of the Supreme God's power at the apprentices' graduation ceremony."

"Is that even possible? Would they just hand that over?"

"Blue has no divine blessing."

"!"

"Their blessing vanished, so they can't even use their secret arts properly. And the faithful of the Blue Faith keep dwindling by the day."

From the Gold Cardinal's standpoint, this meant they fell far short of the standard—but the priests, oddly enough, looked astonished instead.

'...And they're still that formidable, even without their secret arts?'

'Those lunatics.'

"In any case, His Holiness holds the power of Blue's patron deity. If the one who will become head of House Eshua offers to trade for it, he'll trade."

"Would those men—whose pride is their entire body—really bow down?"

"The return of the Skeleton Demon King was prophesied, and no one wants him dead more than they do."

"Because of their sacred duty?"

At that, the Gold Cardinal let out a dry laugh.

"It's their lives on the line."

'Their lives...?'

"If Blue reclaims their god's power, well, they'll be stronger than ever. But they can't reclaim it without killing the Skeleton Demon King. So they'll accept the offer."

With that, the Cardinal turned to look at Kina.

"So, Kina, don't go playing with your enemies—use this opportunity instead to refine the power of the god you've contract... Kina?"

Kina had vanished at some point.

As the Cardinal glared at the maid, as if demanding where the brat had run off to, the maid broke out in a cold sweat.

"...Well, you see, the young lord said he was going to pay New Year's respects to House Eshua."

The Gold Cardinal groaned.

Melissa. What kind of creature was that woman?

Back when Isaac had been the Skeleton Demon King, the two of them had been arch-enemies in the truest sense—she'd stolen his wallet, torn off his leg, the whole catalog of grudges.

Yes, he couldn't forget it. How could he forget the sturdiest Saintess in history, the one who'd chased him down with obsessive persistence no matter what he did to her?

And even after becoming her descendant, he'd barely spent ten years dodging her...

At Melissa's letter, Shabnak's expression twisted in a peculiar way.

"Has the day finally come when you intend to kill my master...?"

Shabnak, the most loyal of the Skeleton Demon King's servants, knew Melissa better than anyone.

"To think she would send my master a challenge in writing... and one so long at that..."

Demonic miasma seemed on the verge of leaking from Shabnak's body as he clutched the letter.

Isaac broke out in a nervous sweat.

"No. It's probably not a challenge..."

Less a declaration of war than, well, a grandmother's loving letter. According to Rilai, when Isaac kept avoiding Melissa, she'd grown sulky and dejected.

'Why do you think? Because I'm the Skeleton Demon King, that's why.'

Whisper giggled.

[Come to think of it, there was a point when you stopped meeting the Saintesses altogether, Master. You'd trap them in labyrinths or just abandon them somewhere. Why was that? You at least used to grant them a duel. When was it again...]

For some reason, Isaac didn't answer.

'Well, back in the old days they were a nuisance, but now I've even made a contract with a god.'

Meeting the Saintesses would actually work in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his favor.

'I'll gain power, and there's something I've been meaning to look into about the God of Blue anyway.'

Yes, it was a good thing.

Except—

"...What in the world is all this."

Something was off about the Eshua main estate. And understandably so—the number of carriages crowding the front of the manor was anything but normal.

In fact, Rilai, Goel, and Shuri, who had come with Isaac, all looked utterly bewildered.

"What's going on? Why are there so many guests?"

"From what I've gathered, they're nobles who've come to pay New Year's respects to House Eshua."

At Asili's words, Goel and Rilai looked even more incredulous.

"What? Impossible. It's far too early for that."

Moreover, the crests on the carriages were anything but ordinary. Some of the arrivals were so illustrious it made one wonder what such people were doing here.

"And there are, curiously... a lot of noble ladies and young heiresses in the crowd... it's starting to look suspiciously like a marriage market out there."

At Isaac's remark, Shuri—to everyone's surprise—froze solid.

"A—a marriage meeting?!"

At the same moment, Shuri collapsed to the ground.

And then he began beating the earth in sheer despair.

"I tried... I tried so hard to avoid this... and it's come to this!"

Wondering what on earth he was talking about, Isaac picked up the letter that had tumbled from Shuri's arms. Examining the already-opened envelope, something seemed to click, and he broke into a wide grin.

"What's this, Shuri-boy? You're getting married? Isn't this a list of marriage candidates?"

Isaac snickered as he flipped through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the list.

"Well, our Shuri-boy is certainly of that age now. Sixteen, was it?"

Which made him roughly a high schooler back in Isaac's old world—no surprise that talk of engagement would come up.

"Ahahaha, Shuri-boy! You're gonna be grinning ear to ear. Bride in hand, smile split right to the ears!"

At that, Shuri started pounding the ground as if to weep.

"You idiot! For an Eshua man, marriage means being sold off!"

...Say what, punk?

Shuri pounded the ground again, as if he too was about to be swept up in this and couldn't escape it.

"You know how precious the daughters of Eshua are!"

Well, fair enough. They were the family that produced the Saintess, after all.

But that didn't mean the sons were useless. The sons simply couldn't wield the power themselves—yet the Saintess's strength still flowed in their blood.

In other words, even a son, once he had children, could father a Saintess. And those children's physical capabilities were extraordinary from birth, utterly unlike ordinary people's.

[Well, House Eshua has always produced remarkably fine specimens thanks to the Saintess bloodline, you see. Their descendants are said to reap the benefits.]

Put simply, being superior in both ability and appearance, the family had struck bargains with houses that needed heirs—on the condition that any daughter born would be given to Eshua.

That was the fate of Eshua's sons.

"Well, sure. It's not a bad deal. It's good, even... but I still hate it!"

"Why? You'll have yourself a little bunny of your own. You'll live all sweet and cozy like your parents... wait, hold on. I've never actually seen your mother, have I. What about your aunt? Feels like all I've seen these ten years is Goel."

"...She ran away."

"Ah... My bad."

Seems like there's an abyss lurking here too.

Anyway, Eshua's sons received their list of marriage candidates at sixteen, and if they failed to distinguish themselves after that, they were married off the instant they came of age at eighteen.

It depended on the family they married into, but usually they had to leave the house entirely.

Before long, Rilai patted the despairing Shuri on the shoulder.

"It's all right, Shuri. This is just a formality. I refused mine, after all."

At those words, Isaac blinked.

"Come to think of it, Uncle Rilai, why aren't you married?"

"I—I have to catch the Skeleton Demon King, so..."

At that, Goel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let out an awkward laugh.

"Skeleton Demon King, my foot. He can't carry on the line, so there's no need."

"Pfff—!! Big brother!!"

"What? Isaac ought to know too. Your uncle took a defect from the Skeleton Demon King's curse that leaves him unfit for marriage."

Learning his uncle's secret for the very first time, Isaac's expression became quite a sight.

Son of a—what did he just say?

Our kid was a eunuch?

His expression was so grave that Rilai broke into a cold sweat.

"No—Isaac? I think you're misunderstanding something, so please don't. This uncle of yours has... no problems whatsoever in that department. It's merely that the Skeleton Demon King's curse kills life itself, so..."

Ah, poor Rilai. To think you couldn't even rise to the occasion.

"...Um, Isaac. Are you listening? I'm telling you it's not like that."

"Damn it all, that Skeleton Demon King bastard! I will have my revenge!"

"I'm telling you, it's not true!"

"I will kill him!"

"Isaac!"

Rilai sighed in anguish and headed toward the house, then tilted his head as he counted the guests.

"Still, this really does seem like far too many."

"Right? If any of these were Shuri's marriage candidates, there's no way I wouldn't have heard about it."

Isaac patted the back of the despairing Shuri.

"Ahaha, all these heiresses came to see you, Shuri-boy!"

"Ugh, you're only saying this because it's my engagement, aren't you!"

And then—

"You traitor!"

A familiar voice rang out from somewhere.

And as the white-haired boy came closer and closer, the eyes of everyone from House Eshua lit up with interest.

"What's Kina doing here?"

But Kina, as if no one else even existed, marched straight toward Isaac.

"The one who promised to train me—running off to get married??"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Those are Shuri's marriage candidates."

"No, you're the one who's got it wrong! I checked everything! They all came claiming to be your fiancées! Insisting they must have the youngest of Eshua, the one contracted with the Supreme God!"

What did he just say?!

Isaac broke out in a cold sweat.

No, this wasn't part of my calculations at all.

Meanwhile, Shuri lit up and burst out laughing.

"So it wasn't my marriage meeting—it was yours! Excellent! I'll be the one choosing your bride!"

This lunatic wants to die.

Isaac slowly raised his rattle.