The People of Blue (4)
“AAAAGH!”
Isaac screamed at the holy sword plunging toward his face.
It was not a scream of fear.
This was something carved into his body—no, his soul—no, whatever, into his very being. A reflexive instinct, nothing more.
A scream of the soul, born in the days of the Skeleton Demon King, when Saints swung holy swords bigger than his own frame.
The moment Isaac frantically threw himself aside, a blue blade-light grazed right past him—
Snip!
—and a few strands of his platinum hair drifted away.
Isaac's red eyes wavered—rarely, for them.
I'm alive, you—dammit!
Isaac turned his head slightly. There stood a man—bear? tiger?—with eyes gleaming wildly.
“You dodged that. As expected of the Skeleton King……!”
Ugh, that's a compliment that doesn't feel like one.
Set aside the fact that, being Saintess blood, the guy looks twenty-something despite being well into his thirties… dammit! His eyes have completely rolled back!
Why is it that not one of these Eshua bastards is remotely normal?
Shut it!
At that moment, Rillai was clinging for dear life to his elder brother's arm.
“Kaliya, brother! It's Isaac! Eldest brother's son! The very child you've been waiting for with such hope!”
At those words, the cold-blooded third son flinched.
“…This one? Isaac, you say?”
Yes! That's it!
Beautiful Rillai! Well done!
Truly my dear godfather! I shall cherish and adore you—
“Yes! The very child who will grind the filthy, despicable Skeleton King's head to dust!”
His head?!
I'll grind YOUR head to dust first!
But the third son, Kaliya Eshua, merely tilted his head, studying Isaac.
“Strange… He's the Skeleton King. I can smell it.”
Haha. Well, I can't exactly say no to that.
“We already told you, brother—Isaac devoured the Skeleton King's remains!”
“Ah…….”
“You remember, don't you? He is NOT the Skeleton King!”
Kaliya nodded as though satisfied and looked at Isaac again. Isaac quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Phew. Thank goodness he's someone you can actually talk to……
“Skeleton King or not—let's cut open his belly and check.”
DAMMIT!
Talk to him my ass!
When Kaliya raised his sword again, even Rillai—for once—snapped in anger.
“Brother! Pull yourself together! That's your nephew! No matter how much you hate the Skeleton King, this is going too far!”
“Ah…….”
Kaliya seemed to finally come to his senses and hastily apologized to Isaac.
“Sorry. I forgot you were my beloved nephew.”
Yes! You're sorry, aren't you? You should be!
“I'll slice open that belly and pull out the evil Skeleton King's bones for you.”
What is WRONG with him?!
“Brother! If you cut open his belly, he'll die! He will literally DIE!”
“It's fine. A stomach is nothing—just sew it back— urrghhEECK.”
Kaliya, mid-way to raising his sword, suddenly vomited blood. Alarmed, Rillai caught him.
“Brother!”
And at the sight of Kaliya suddenly coughing up blood and dying, Isaac couldn't help the question marks floating across his face.
What? What is this?
Why has the swordsaint who was flaunting his power just now suddenly turned into a sickly invalid, groaning and wheezing?
The second son, Benyamin, was calling for a handmaiden while glaring daggers at Noel.
“Noel, that bastard, pulling this stunt on Isaac of all people! Kaliya, hurry and go to your room and rest. This is what happens when you burn through holy power.”
At those words, it clicked for Isaac.
Now that I think about it, that does sound familiar.
The third son was a genius without peer, but he rarely showed himself at official functions.
They said he was on borrowed time, didn't they?
Among those afflicted by the fake Skeleton King's curse, the ones whose curse was tied directly to their lifespan rarely lived past thirty-five.
By then, Isaac had grasped the full picture of House Eshua's situation.
No wonder Noel feels free to run his mouth. He's the only one of them in perfect health.
Whisper snickered.
His face? That'd be nothing.
The entire family—and every noble in the empire—would have a collective meltdown.
Oh, wait. If I lift the curse, the Papal seat gets even easier to snatch, doesn't it.
Even cursed and dying as they were, House Eshua could match the Papal family. If the curse were gone, what a force they would become. On top of that, he could win over every last Eshua as his personal— er, as additional allies.
Meanwhile, the second son Benyamin gave Isaac a comforting pat.
“You were probably nervous enough, meeting your uncles for the first time, and then we went and frightened you. I'm sorry. I'll apologize on my brothers' behalf.”
Oh, you, my dear second son, needn't apologize. Just make sure the compensation money is nice and fat, that's all I ask.
But Benyamin was clearly inwardly stunned.
“Still—driving Noel off like that. Remarkable. I knew you were gifted, but I hadn't dreamed you could already wield the gods' power to that degree.”
And no wonder. Even if ordinary 3rd-Class Priests manage to contract a god, they can only learn divine arts associated with that god. Directly channeling a god's power itself is beyond them.
Which meant Isaac's talent was anything but ordinary.
“Truly worthy of our father's recognition. He could lead House Eshua.”
At that, Isaac nodded inwardly, going aah, finally, like a man who'd waited his whole life for this.
Yes! THAT'S it! Well said! Hurry, tell Grandfather this news!
And hand the entire inheritance over to me, second son!
But Noel, for his part, looked visibly shaken.
“You believe that child has what it takes to lead Eshua? Do you truly mean that?”
The moment Noel opened his mouth to tear Isaac down, Benyamin's eyes flared in warning to shut it.
“Keep your mouth shut. You lost to a child, and now you're running that tongue again? Have you no shame?”
“Kgh……!”
Bravo, second son. You look like some stiff old pedant, but you've got Grandfather's exact temper, don't you?
In the end, Noel, after glaring at Isaac, abruptly smiled for reasons of his own.
“Come to think of it, Isaac. You've eaten the Skeleton King's remains, and it seems you've picked up some rather strange sorcery because of it.”
“Strange sorcery?”
Under everyone's attention, Noel gave a crafty laugh—as though he'd made up his mind to drive Isaac from the succession for good.
“Would I have bled for nothing? You had such an unsavory reputation already, Isaac—don't tell me you tried to kill your own uncle? A priest, launching a cursed attack, of all things…….”
At Noel's words, Isaac scoffed and struck first.
“Oh, right—now that you mention it, I did cast something.”
“……!”
At Isaac's answer, Noel jumped in, practically crying see, the child admits it.
“You see? Isaac used some strange sorcery—”
“House Eshua is being hunted by the Skeleton King, after all. So I always walk around with the Reflect divine art pre-cast. Turns out it just went off, that's all?”
“What……?”
Noel's face froze, and every Eshua eye swung toward him. That particular look on their faces could not have been pleasant for him.
And sure enough, Isaac let out a mean little chuckle.
“Reflect is a divine art that does one thing: send an attack right back at its sender. What a coincidence, Uncle, that you of all people would start bleeding.”
“……!”
“Uncle—surely you didn't try anything on me, did you?”
“……!”
The room stirred.
“Don't tell me you cast a curse on the boy?”
“What did you say?”
Thrown by the reaction around him, Noel faltered.
But the red eyes watching him were wicked through and through.
He clearly had no intention of stopping here.
“Judging by the blood, you must have used something quite nasty. Surely you didn't go so far as to dabble in demonic magic, Uncle?”
…Why, you little wretch??
At the look in Noel's eyes, Isaac's grin stretched from ear to ear.
So you want to shove me out of the succession, hm? You're a few centuries too early for that, dear.
This side of things isn't some fresh-faced bone-ling with a year or two under his belt.
More than that, Isaac was deliberately provoking Noel.
If that bastard tries to attack me, then I'll have all the justification I need to dispose of him, won't I.
Come on, then. Step right into the trap I've laid.
That was how One Who Obstructs Survival was dealt with.
Let me show you what happens when you lay hands on what's mine.
But Noel, flinching under Isaac's gaze, merely scoffed. And then, declaring the boy beneath his notice, he turned away.
“No matter how much you all gnash your teeth, the next head of the family is me. Well, if you'd been born ten years earlier, Isaac, this might have been a different conversation.”
“Noel!”
“And when I become head, every last one of you is exiled!”
At that display, Benyamin clicked his tongue.
“If Eldest Brother were still here, that bastard wouldn't dare carry on like this.”
The eldest would have noticed Isaac's talent, claimed the headship, and passed it down to Isaac himself.
“Still, I worry. The fact remains that Noel stands closest to the headship.”
“Oh, come now. For all we know, the disappearance of Eldest Brother's family was Noel's doing too.”
At Rillai's words, Isaac's eyes went round.
That bastard is connected to my parents' disappearance?
But the surprises weren't over.
“Well, there's also the matter of Eldest Brother's first child dying. The Papal family's side has always reeked of something foul there.”
First child?
Isaac watched with sudden, sharp interest.
Don't tell me this body had an older brother or sister?
Soon Benyamin spoke to Isaac.
“In any case—Goel aside, be careful around Noel. The elders have started to look at you favorably, but many of them are still his. And no matter how talented you are, you're still young, so…….”
“All of this would be solved if Isaac would just catch the Skeleton King!”
Benyamin rounded on Rillai in horror.
“Rillai. How long are you going to spout that nonsense?”
At that, Isaac gazed upon the second son as if deeply, deeply moved.
Isaac liked the second son a great deal.
Part of it was because he managed House Eshua's finances, but honestly, this man seemed to be the smartest—and the most sane—of the entire family.
And so Isaac played friendly with Benyamin.
“Right? Hunting the Skeleton King is just hopelessly outdated thinking, isn't it? I completely agree. So let's all give up this pointless Skeleton King hunt and do something constructive together, like——”
At which Benyamin's eyes flashed as he rounded on Rillai.
“The Skeleton King isn't to be captured alive, he's to be beaten to death! For Isaac's sake if nothing else, the Skeleton King must be maimed, crushed, and destroyed!”
…Dammit. Somebody please kick me out of this family.
“What in the world is wrong with you lot?”
The head of House Eshua frowned as he looked over the family members assembled before him.
The direct bloodline had all gathered at the patriarch's summons with solemn faces, but the atmosphere was subtly off from usual.
Their expressions were those of people afraid of something.
“And why does the fourth have a broken arm?”
At that question, the other direct descendants fell silent and looked only at Isaac.
He sent that uncle flying like a paper doll……
He b-broke an uncle's arm……
The cousin brothers, who hadn't heard the full story about Isaac, felt their heads spinning.
He's even crazier than the rumors suggested, isn't he?!
And so, honestly, he's terrifying.
A lunatic has entered House Eshua. Best strategy: avoid entanglement at all costs.
And this whole affair should stay secret from the patriarch.
If he finds out, he'll go berserk……
But the patriarch's head turned toward Isaac like a magnet.
“Isaac. Caused trouble again, did you?”
…Again?
Again???
Did Grandfather just say 'again'?
And before that—why does he look SO used to this?!
Just what has that man been doing all his life?
The cousins had each been occupying their own posts, racking up achievements for the family. The news that Isaac had contracted not one but two Upper Gods had nagged at them, but he was still young, so they hadn't paid it much mind.
“Isaac broke Noel's arm.”
At the report from one of Noel's elders, the Eshua family members clicked their tongues.
Tattling again. How petty can you get.
Not that the patriarch would ever let that slide……
“An arm, you say? Then it's fine.”
…It's FINE?!
You're saying a broken arm is FINE?!
The pupils of the direct descendants—and of the elders who had quietly hoped someone would side with Noel—trembled.
But the patriarch simply sighed.
“In any case, the reason I summoned you all is none of that.”
He's just letting it go?!
What is it, then? What could make an arm-breaking incident look like the merciful outcome?!
Every face screamed the same question—just what on earth happened in the capital?—but the head of House Eshua said it as though it were nothing at all.
“I have decided to name my successor.”
“……!”
The air changed in an instant.