The Rattle Would Be Better (2)
The head of the God of Blue.
In other words, the God of Light had been the Skeleton Demon King's best friend.
[He was really your best friend, Master?]
Yeah.
Isaac had known him since his skeleton days, and even after becoming the Demon King, they'd crossed paths fairly often.
"Skeleton Demon King! You set my garden on fire AGAIN! Today, I'll finally kill you for good!"
He was a softhearted one, quick to tears, too.
"The Skeleton Demon King borrowed money again and never paid it back..."
While all the other gods secretly feared the Skeleton Demon King and loathed him for it, the God of Light had pitied him.
"Oh, Skeleton... when on earth will you become a proper person?"
He was, in fact, the very god who had prayed for the Demon King's humanity.
[...Um, I'm pretty sure that means something completely different??]
Anyway, the two of them bickered plenty, but the God of Light had protected the Skeleton Demon King's life, and the Skeleton Demon King had repaid him in kind.
"God of Light, oh God of Light. I just saved your neck, so hand over half your assets."
"You want the liver out of a flea?! You bald lump of bone!"
"What? Hey, all of it. Hand it all over."
In any case—the Skeleton Demon King, the God of Penal Law, and the God of Light.
The three of them had been close.
Back in the God Realm, he'd more or less lived off the two of them.
Yeah... say, money. Or money...
[I'm asking if you two were FRIENDS?!]
Regardless, Isaac had considered the God of Light one of the more decent gods out there. Unlike those other greed-dripping bastards, he had a conscience, and he was easy to talk to.
Truth be told, that was part of why Isaac hadn't felt much aversion to House Eshua.
If this is the Blue faith with the God of Light at its head, I figured living as a priest family wouldn't be so bad.
[...You're the one who said, 'There's no divine energy here at all—what a jackpot.']
Hey, it's still a priest family, no matter how you slice it. You really think it'd be good if there were no god's blessing?
[You also said 'blessings, schmessings, what a deal'...]
In any case, it was true that, unlike the other families, the divine energy in House Eshua was hard to sense.
And that wasn't all.
The gods weren't fools—but even if they were fools, the Skeleton Demon King had been born into his own family. Did anyone really believe the God of Blue wouldn't notice that?
[Fair point.]
In other words, Isaac had caught on long ago that something must have gone wrong with the God of Blue. That was exactly why he'd planned to put down roots in Blue all the more boldly.
'I never imagined the god would be trapped inside a maggot, of all things, though.'
Had it not been for Shuri's words, he'd have just assumed some other accident had happened.
The gods' factional wars were that vicious.
[Then what about the contract with Shuri Eshua?]
'That was probably... the god only managed to scrape together enough power to hold a conversation after a hundred and fifty years or so.'
It might simply have been a matter of timing.
Every other Eshua of age would have already made their contracts, and the only one still without a god at the time would have been Shuri himself.
'Or maybe it was because my minion happened to be Shuri.'
[Gasp! Then could it be that he was sending a distress call to you, Master?]
Ohmygod.
'Think about it—the Skeleton Demon King was born into Eshua. Some guy who could destroy the entire family has plopped himself down in the seat of power. How panicked would you be?! The poor god must've been desperately signaling Shuri to stop the Skeleton Demon King somehow! Puhut!'
But alas! Fat chance!
'Eshua is MINE.'
'I'll devour House Eshua whole, rewrite its insufferable doctrine and family code, and run it into the ground with luxury!'
So the first order of business: meet the God of Blue and have him recognize me as head of the family!
Kyah! What a stellar deal is this! The great me would graciously take the position of family head and revive Eshua all on my own—who in their right mind would say no?
"So hurry up and summon the God of Blue already, Shuri-baby!"
"..."
"I'll be over here eating my meat, so get to praying!"
...Should I just kill this bastard?
Standing beneath the waterfall of the Blue Temple, steadying his mind, Shuri's face flushed red with blood.
Where Shuri was now was the Blue Training Chamber.
It was a kind of closed-door ascetic retreat—a row of cave-like solitary cells where priests underwent spiritual training.
Food was nearly forbidden; one ate only grain that was closer to animal feed, disciplining the heart and mind...
"Kyah, eating outdoors makes even this taste like honey."
...One was to reflect on reverence for the gods and train one's holy power...
"Aw, but I hate jerky, so you can have it, Shuri-baby."
...Train...
"Ooh, this cake is incredible too. Oh—Shuri-baby, you broke focus again. Keep that up and you'll never qualify for the High Priest exam."
...Tr—.
"Sigh, at this rate it'll take months just to summon the God of Blue."
"Are you FREAKING kidding me?! How is anyone supposed to concentrate with YOU around, you little—!"
Seething, Shuri kicked through the waterfall and stormed out.
Isaac was sitting in the very center of the training chamber, munching away at his snacks.
"Why aren't YOU training? What are you even doing here?!"
"Waiting for you to summon the God of Blue, obviously?"
"YOU could summon him!"
"Hmm, I don't think the gods of Blue would be very fond of me. I'm a bit... distant from Blue doctrine, you see."
"Oh, so you DO know!"
What magnificent self-awareness! I could cry!
Shuri clutched the back of his neck.
To be fair, Isaac's presence wasn't actually hindering him. He was infuriating, yes—but the little monster's eye for technique was outright demonic. Whenever Shuri practiced his holy arts, Isaac would pinpoint every single flaw with surgical precision.
'As much as I hate hearing it, I can feel my holy arts improving every time...'
At this rate, he'd even pass the High Priest exam—that essential gate on the road to becoming a Cardinal.
Normally, the Five Great Families prepared their members to become High Priests—or exorcist-priests in waiting—the moment they finished their apprenticeship.
In other words, they began preparing for the 6th Tier and beyond.
The exorcist-priest was called the flower of the clergy, and the title carried weight to match.
But still! Come on!
"If you want me to meet the God of Blue, then LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"Nope. But watching you, I'd say it'll take ten years, not one month..."
"AAARGH!"
Shuri lunged for Isaac's collar in a fit of rage.
But there was no malice in Isaac's words. And more than anything, Shuri knew it all too well himself.
Contracting with the God of Light was one thing; summoning him was another matter entirely—and still beyond Shuri's reach.
And yet he was training himself half to death for the sake of becoming head of the family!
"Don't worry, Shuri-baby! You've got talent! Do exactly as I say, and ten years will shrink down to fifteen days!"
"Start by getting that cake out of your MOUTH!"
But someone else took issue with that exchange.
"You're deliberately making yourself a source of distraction, and eating while you supervise his training, no less..."
It was Kina.
She stood, unexpectedly, at the entrance with her arms crossed. And with eyes full of open hostility, as if sizing up a rival, she looked at Shuri—
"I could summon the God of Gold when I was TEN! Instead of teaching him that garbage, you should be teaching ME, Eshua!"
Shuri wanted to bury his face in his hands.
Damn it, Isaac alone is bad enough—why does Kina have to join in?!
Standing at the entrance, she wore an expression that was part burning envy, part utter disapproval.
The look of someone saying: I'm clearly the superior one here, so why am I not the one teaching him?
"Why can he still not summon a god?"
"Nobody summons a god until bishop rank. That's how it's supposed to work."
"What? You've been teaching him and he's STILL not bishop rank?!"
"I know, right? That's exactly why I suffer. Such is life with family."
"So stop teaching that loser and teach me instead!"
These insufferable little—!!
"You made him eat forbidden foods on top of it—foods the clergy are barred from touching!"
Shuri was exasperated.
No. That bastard eats those things because he WANTS to eat them!
Worse still, for reasons Shuri couldn't begin to fathom, the little monster grew stronger every time he committed some taboo like that.
'He doesn't even pray, that little punk?!'
It was unfair. Dirty, rotten unfair! Of course, since Isaac did seem to diligently practice his holy arts on the side, neither Grandfather nor anyone else said a word about it.
But Kina, for her part, simply sighed.
"Well, no point in all this effort. The position of head of the Blue family is going to pass to Priest Noel anyway."
Isaac looked at Kina as if to say, now THIS is interesting.
"Is the Papacy picking a fight with me now?"
"No. I like you. You're the only one in this world who's my equal. But the position of Blue's family head is a separate matter."
"What are you talking about?"
"Why do you think I came to the main Eshua estate?"
"...You ran out of things to do?"
At Isaac's answer, Kina let out a long, put-upon sigh.
"I'm not supposed to say this, but since it's you, I'll tell you as a courtesy. It does concern you, after all. I did come to see you—but the real reason is Grandfather's orders. I'm here to assess the head of House Blue."
"What? The Pope sent YOU?"
Isaac's eyes changed.
"Yes. Consider me an envoy of Gold, so to speak."
"What did you and your grandfather talk about?"
"At the apprenticeship graduation. His Holiness declared he's going to take the Supreme God you're contracted with."
"WHAT?! By whose authority?! ...Gasp!"
Shuri started cursing, then panicked at himself.
And no wonder—secretly, Shuri had been bursting with pride that Isaac had contracted the Supreme God.
Take it? Take what?
'Could it be—with the Crown Prince stepping forward personally and the Duke Berith becoming untouchable, His Holiness the Pope has decided to move himself?'
Isaac grasped the situation at once and narrowed his eyes.
Well, the Supreme God had made the contract on his own whim, so it hardly mattered to Isaac—he had zero intention of handing him over anyway. But the fact that the other party was the Pope made his blood boil all the more.
"Sure, he's the most powerful man in the world—so what? Did he already stake a claim? If he wants one so bad, he should've pulled it out himself from the start. Why grab someone else's? He thinks if he just asks nicely, I'll go 'oh, of course, Your Holiness, right away'?"
ISAAC!
Please, for the love of everything, WATCH YOUR MOUTH!
Shuri shot a frantic glance at Kina—but—
"True enough. If Grandfather wanted it that badly, he should have pulled it himself. Just demanding it handed over does come off rather thuggish."
KINAAA! That's your GRANDFATHER you're talking about!
Shuri's eyeballs nearly rattled out of his skull, but Kina carried on without a care in the world.
"Naturally, Grandfather isn't simply demanding it. Blue can't use its 'Sacred Arts' right now, can it? His offer is this: he'll help Blue use them again—in exchange for the transfer of the Supreme God. A trade, he called it."
Ah. So that's how you want to play it?
"The Supreme God in the Pope's hands would benefit the Empire far more, and Blue regains its Sacred Arts—a win-win, he says."
No, it isn't.
The Pope isn't that kind of man.
Blood rose into Isaac's face.
If he truly cared about the Empire, he wouldn't have hoarded this and sprung it as a bargaining chip now—he would have helped Blue regain its Sacred Arts ages ago.
And at the mention of the Sacred Arts, even Shuri seemed struck speechless.
It was true—with the god's vein severed, Blue, alone among the Five Great Families, could no longer perform its Sacred Arts.
Rumors were already circulating that the family had grown weak because of it.
"And so Grandfather... consented?"
To the head of a family, the Sacred Arts were something like the house's most sacred, long-cherished wish.
Any patriarch would have agonized over it.
But—
"Grandfather refused. Without a moment's hesitation."
"...!"
"He said that no matter how much it might serve the family, he could not trade away his grandson's future."
Truly worthy of being head of House Blue.
Isaac felt a flicker of pride.
But the Pope knew the old man's character better than anyone. Of course he did.
And sure enough—
"Then His Holiness said: if you won't hand over the Supreme God, you may substitute a 'Reclamation of the Holy Land.' In return, he would return a portion of the Sacred Arts' power."
Reclamation of the Holy Land?
"The Empire's ancient holy ground, stolen by the demons. He said you need only bring back the holy relics kept there."
At those words, Shuri's face drained white.
"That's the True Demons' nest! The difficulty is far too high!"
Isaac laughed—a thin, contemptuous little laugh.
Ah. So that's the game?
'The Pope intends to kill the head of House Blue.'
It was so very like him.
The patriarch would never hand over the Supreme God for Isaac's sake—but the family's Sacred Arts mattered too. The Sacred Arts were their faith and the family's future alike.
Not something a head of house could ever give up.
Above all, if Blue could wield its Sacred Arts again, it would soar once more.
Knowing the old man's character, he would almost certainly choose the Holy Land reclamation in place of surrendering the Supreme God.
And the land of the True Demons?
'There's no way the young pups of Blue come back alive.'
However strong Blue might be, how could a family without its Sacred Arts stand against the True Demons?
'The patriarch knows that too.'
Which meant the odds were high that he would go alone—for Blue's sake.
He would never send the family's youths to their deaths.
[Ohh—so if the head of house dies now, the succession naturally passes to that Noel fellow, doesn't it?]
Exactly. The seat of House Blue would then fall into the Pope's camp—meaning that for His Holiness, the deal paid out whether it succeeded or failed.
Cruel, if cruelty were the word.
The Pope knew perfectly well that no one abandons their Sacred Arts—which was precisely why he was trying to puppet House Eshua with it.
But here's the thing?
That so-called Sacred Arts power? I could bring it back to life right now.