The Truth Revealed (1)
“I'm sorry—did you say Leah has become a Saintess?”
“And the Rank 0 awakened to 6th Tier??”
“So even the defectives can awaken now?”
“That's right, they say House Eshua can do it!”
“Hold on—at this point, isn't the Blue the family chosen by God, not the Gold?”
“So Isaac is the next Pope, then?”
The clergy was in an uproar. Amid all the commotion, Isaac received a summons from the head of House Blue.
“You called for me, Head of House.”
The moment Isaac stepped into the matriarch's chamber, he braced himself inwardly. Not that he was newly afraid of the Blue family head at this point—it was something else entirely that had him on edge.
[That damned bastard. Why in the world did he summon only our Master at a time like this? Isn't he swamped right now?]
Exactly. By now, the one who'd raided House Berith and the one responsible for the Saintess's awakening should be getting dragged from pillar to post for interviews. So why summon him?
Is something wrong?
No, that couldn't be it.
Quite the opposite—Benjamin and Joseph, former Rank 0 defectives both, had become high-ranking priests, and the whole of House Eshua was reeling in disbelief, along with everyone else.
“Take me into the Blue faith, please!”
“I hear young Master Isaac discovered a special method of awakening?”
“Then couldn't our Isaac earn cardinal eligibility right away, just like Kina Berith?”
The old fogies—no, apologies—the 1st-Grade Priests were convened, and all eyes turned to Isaac. His knights welcomed the new recruits with both arms raised in salute.
As for the raid on the Papal household, Eli had answered as if he'd been waiting for the question all along.
“Why did we storm Berith? Because we caught evidence that House Gold worships a demon. That's all we went in to retrieve.”
The Gold priests looked ready to burst a blood vessel at such shamelessness, but what could anyone do?
The fact remained that their god had been struck down by the Demon-Subjugating Sacred Art.
And that wasn't all.
“We've discovered that the current Pope wears a Stigma that isn't his own—one inherited from his ancestors. That is unmistakable proof he is a false Pope.”
“…What did you say?!”
“We should gather the Saint candidates at once and begin selecting a new representative of God—in other words, a new Pope.”
“……!!”
The 1st-Grade Priests were thunderstruck. Something was brewing that could turn the entire continent upside down.
So if sparks fell on House Gold over that affair, so be it—it was no concern of House Eshua's. If anything, House Eshua was in full festival mode over Leah's line.
Public opinion had swung completely, and House Gold now faced the very real prospect of losing the Papacy for the first time. The impregnable seat everyone had assumed would pass automatically to Gold was crumbling beneath them.
Everything was unfolding, step by step, exactly according to Isaac's plan to become Pope.
Yes—so with all that going on, why was this man summoning him with such a grim face?
“Isaac.”
“Yes, Head of House.”
“…….”
For some reason, Eli looked deeply displeased at Isaac's answer, leaving the boy no choice but to tread carefully.
“Um… you said you had something to discuss with me, Head of House…?”
But Eli's expression remained stubbornly dissatisfied. Finally, sensing what he wanted, Isaac tried:
“…Head of House—no, Grandfather.”
“There we go. This old man called you here because he has words for you.”
This little bastard. Seriously.
Is he that attached to the grandpa thing, huh?
“So, what is it you wanted to say?”
“What do you make of the God of Awakening dying to the Demon-Subjugating Sacred Art?”
Isaac flinched.
So it's finally come.
So that was why he'd been summoned.
The Cardinal is no fool.
Leaving aside the distant Gold Cardinal, Eli had personally struck down the God of Awakening. He'd covered his tracks thoroughly, but Eli alone had glimpsed the truth in the process:
That someone had turned a god into an undead.
But even if he knew, so what?
Even if he tries to strip my inheritance, he has no actual proof, does he?
Worst case, he'd pin it on the True Demons or dragon mischief or something.
So Isaac smiled with confidence.
“You ask what I think, but there's no way House Gold deliberately fell into corruption and served a fallen god. More likely, the god they happened to worship was the one that fell.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“I do. To begin with, any god who demands a blood relative as a living sacrifice for a Saintess's awakening isn't a proper god at all. On that front, House Gold is cut from the same cloth.”
The reason the living sacrifice had been demanded for a Saintess's awakening was probably twofold: to fatten the Gold god's belly, and to make the Pope's job of gaslighting the Saintesses that much easier.
Above all, for House Gold, it had been the perfect method—killing Eshua's direct bloodline without getting a single drop of blood on their own hands.
If that was the product of scheming, it was damned fine scheming.
Isaac shot Eli a slightly frosty look—the grandfather who might have called him here out of suspicion.
Well, if the old man truly meant to cast him out over it, there was nothing to be done. He'd simply have to be exploited as a pawn to the very end.
And so he spoke, coolly—not to his grandfather, but to the Head of House Blue.
“What matters right now isn't why the god fell to the Sacred Art, is it? What matters is the damage we have suffered.”
“True. You're right.”
Then, as if struck by some thought, Eli stared long and hard at Isaac, who was visibly guarding himself.
“Isaac.”
“Yes, Head of House.”
“Whatever power you wield, I and the Blue faith will protect and cherish you to the very end.”
“!”
Isaac looked up at Eli in surprise. It was the last thing he'd expected to hear.
“The other members of Blue are the same. They don't show it, but every one of them cares for you sincerely.”
Isaac found himself at a loss for words. Unsure of what to say, he heard himself ask before he could stop:
“…Does that include Noel and Goel?”
Eli pressed a hand to his forehead.
“…Those two are excluded, obviously.”
Figures.
“So I'll ask you one thing.”
“Yes.”
Eli looked at Isaac with utter gravity.
“Do you intend to destroy House Eshua?”
“…….”
Isaac rolled his eyes sideways.
No—honestly, the Saintess's family had never been on his list of revenge targets to begin with. The ones who truly deserved his vengeance were the Gold gods who'd shoved that ridiculous contract in his face, and the other gods like them.
Isaac let out a sigh that said cut the crap.
“Grandfather, my dream is to become the richest layabout on the continent. Destroying House Eshua? Please. If anything, it'd still not be enough even if I built this family up until every priest on the continent was working as Blue's slave.”
“…….”
Eli's jaw dropped at the sheer scale of the ambition.
“So you're done hiding your true colors, I see…”
“Is that a problem?”
Eli let out a low groan. He felt like a fool for having agonized so seriously over it.
“No. That's more than enough.”
“!”
“Isaac.”
“Yep.”
“Whatever kind of creature you turn out to be, remember that this old man is on your side until the end.”
“!”
“You are already my own little finger.”
Isaac was silent for a moment, then smiled.
“Yes.”
“And one more thing.”
“Yep.”
“Never stomp on this old man's head again.”
…This little bastard is still holding that grudge?
“Yes.”
I won't stomp on your head.
“And finally, just one more thing.”
“Yep.”
“The Divine Dragon says it's coming to pay its respects to this old man. What in the world is that about…?”
Damn it…
“So—whose money are you trying to take, exactly?”
Noel glared at Benjamin through gritted teeth.
Benjamin adjusted his glasses with an air of what nonsense is this now.
“Noel what's-your-name. Weren't you already stripped of the Eshua name? What money could you possibly be talking about?”
Stung by his half-brother's contempt, Noel snarled.
“Don't be mistaken. I have not yet been thrown out of the estate. My share of the inheritance is still perfectly valid—”
CRACK—BOOM!!!
Lightning came down from a clear sky, and Noel nearly screamed out loud.
“Honestly, there's shameless and then there's this. You goddamn parasite.”
Benjamin had always been a strict steward of the family finances, the type to quibble over every last coin—but ever since he'd gained the ability to wield sacred arts, the quibbling had been replaced by a simple threat of divine lightning.
For the Papal faction, it was maddening.
Of course. Who else but a Saintess's bloodline would throw fists before words…!
Noel sneered.
“Brother. You'll regret treating me this way. How long do you think Isaac can hold the position of young family head? If you keep placing all your faith in that boy, you will truly be hurt, Brother.”
“What did you say?”
“You may have stripped my name and bound my hands and feet completely, but you couldn't stop me from breathing, could you! You know perfectly well how much power the parent of a Saintess commands within House Eshua!”
“Is that all you have to say?”
“No. I'm telling you, in no uncertain terms: so long as I am the Saintess's father, House Eshua cannot cast me out.”
“Right. Clearly I can't chase you out with words.”
“Then you'll obediently hand over the money—”
“So I'll chase you out with force instead.”
What—?
“Let's see you block this, then!”
The next instant, a bolt of devastating lightning crashed down onto Noel's head.
CRACK!
“GYAAH!”
Noel scrambled backward as if fleeing for his life, but the divine punishment kept coming, strike after relentless strike, and all he could do was grind his teeth.
What is this?! The brother who used to be so meek—what is this?! Why the hell do his eyes look exactly like Isaac's?!
Benjamin, armed now with both vast wealth and holy power, flashed a dangerous glint.
“I'm going to grill you and sell your kidneys to the highest bidder!”
This absolute lunatic! He's turned into a complete Isaac!
In the end, Benjamin succeeded in driving his half-brother out, then sighed. Was there truly no way to banish that insufferable leech for good?
It was around that time.
“Your Highness? Are you still fighting with Sapien?”
“…Huh?”
The Crown Prince stared at Isaac as if the wind had been knocked out of him.
They were in the Imperial Library. If Benjamin's true target had been the archives, then Isaac reasoned the Papacy's weaknesses had to be hidden somewhere in here.
But what? Who?
At the Crown Prince's expression, Isaac clung to him desperately.
“You know, fighting while grabbing each other by the collar and then suddenly finding each other attractive, or falling in love through combat until you're dying to date—surely you two don't do any of that!”
“…….”
The Crown Prince's face twisted with genuine disgust—the look of a sibling who'd just been asked if he was dating his own sister.
That face sent Isaac into despair.
Damn it, so there's no hope, huh!
They're both rabid Skeleton Demon King fans, fanboy and fangirl, so why can't they get along?!! For crying out loud!
“Well. Charlotte does miss the young lord terribly, come to think of it.”
“The Princess does? Why?”
“Hard to say. She asks what he likes, and whenever she sees me, all she wants to talk about is him.”
“????”
Isaac tilted his head in confusion, but just then the Crown Prince, flipping through a volume in the library, spoke up.
“The more I think about it, the stranger it seems.”
“What does, Your Highness? Do you mean why the dragon loves the Skeleton Demon King…?”
“That a blood relative should be required for a Saintess's awakening.”
“!”
Having heard Isaac's explanation of the Saintess awakening, the Crown Prince clearly couldn't wrap his mind around it no matter how he turned it over.
“Granted, Priest Benjamin could serve as the sacrifice for Lady Leah. But Priest Noel doesn't strike me as the type to offer himself up as a sacrifice to awaken his own daughter.”
At that moment Leah—who had been lugging over an armload of books to help with the research—chimed in.
“Honestly, that's always puzzled me too. Uncle Noel is terribly greedy for the family headship, after all. But when you think about it—maybe what he intended to sacrifice wasn't himself, but his own son.”
“…Son?”
“Ah, yes. Samael Eshua. He must have served temporarily with the Imperial Guard once or twice—why, the reddish-brown-haired one who was captain of the Second Knight Order…”
The Crown Prince seemed to place him instantly.
“Ah, that one.”
But then, oddly, the Crown Prince tilted his head.
“Strange. I don't recall any Eshua blood flowing in that one's veins.”
“…Excuse me?!”
This time it wasn't just Leah—Isaac too turned to stare at him as if he'd lost his mind.
“I can identify members of the Five Great Families with a single glance.”
Well, sure. The Crown Prince's eyes are special, after all.
“Every last one of the Eshua bloodline carries that distinctive aura about them. But that man carries only Gold blood. I couldn't have imagined he was a direct descendant even in my wildest guesses.”
…What? No Eshua blood in Noel's son?
Isaac's breath caught.
Wait—then the son couldn't have been offered as a living sacrifice at all.
He didn't meet the conditions.
So then… Kaya's only remaining blood relative—himself—tried to become the sacrifice in her place?
Him? Of all people, that selfish bastard tried to sacrifice himself, like Benjamin did??
But just then—
Leah, disturbed by the strangeness of the Crown Prince's claim, began digging through the Eshua family genealogy on the Eshua side.
And whatever it was she found, she called Isaac over.
“Isaac! Look at this!”
“?”
Isaac hurried over and looked at the page Leah held out—and at the passage written there, his eyes went wide.
<Noel Eshua>
Diagnosed with congenital infertility.
Assessed as a manifestation of the unique Eshua curse.
“……??”
Isaac rubbed his own eyes as though he'd seen something he shouldn't have.
Damn it—what?
Say that again?
Infertile?
Don't tell me—like Rillai, he can't have ch… I mean, he's incapable of having children??
At the same time, Isaac's eyes went round and wide, as if he had just stumbled upon a fact of tremendous importance.
…Damn it.
Then what about the other Saintess—Kaya Eshua?
Whose child is she, exactly???