Well, This Is a Surprise (1)
At the main estate of House Eshua, the headquarters of the Blue Faith was, for once, absolutely packed with people.
"He's really here?"
"Wow, this is my first time seeing him in person."
"They're actually giving the Holy Spirit to young Lord Isaac?"
"They are! The whole place is in an uproar right now!"
They were Eshua's disciples, drawn in by the news of the family head's return. Simply put, they were the elites who had survived grueling trials to become direct members of House Eshua—from the 3rd-Grade cadets known as Cheer all the way up to the 1st-Grade core knights known as the Killer Whales.
They would one day become the swords of House Eshua, carrying out missions in Blue territory, or be dispatched to other nations and regions as bishops to nurture the Blue Faith. And above all, they were people who worshipped the Eshua they served as idols.
And now the family head had returned? A succession battle? Against an infant the family hadn't even bothered to glance at, no less? In a single phrase: a matter of earth-shattering importance that could change who their leader was. No—how could anyone possibly care about training when something this deliciously entertaining was unfolding?
The cadets, naturally, and even the 1st-Grade knights, all clustered together while pretending not to notice one another.
"I heard Lord Goel got utterly destroyed? His insides must be eating him alive."
Apparently the events inside the residence had already spread like wildfire. The knights snickered.
"Honestly, Lord Goel had it coming. Still, to think he'd plan to drive out a pureblooded son of House Eshua."
"And what about the annex? He was going to send the baby to the very place where the Skeleton Demon King appeared, of all places?"
"The second madam's children are vicious too. They're still his nephews, even if half-siblings—and the Doljabi was actually their idea, proposed just to kill Lord Isaac in the first place!"
As the 2nd-Grade knights got carried away and raised their voices, the 1st-Grade knights shot them warning looks.
"That's enough. Half of Lord Goel's blood is from that precious Papal line—imagine how bitter he must feel. If only he hadn't been born into House Eshua, he'd have secured a high seat in the Papal family."
"Oh, come on. House Eshua is ten million times better than the Papal family anyway!"
"Is it? By rank, he's pushed down below the eldest and his seniors. By skill, he's overshadowed by the genius youngest, Lord Rillai. The only reason he's tolerated at all is that he manages the family's affairs decently."
"Exactly. That's why he's trying to make young Lord Shuri the family head and rule as regent himself. Look, I get it. When you're drawing up that kind of blueprint, and then a young lord with both bloodline and talent shows up out of nowhere, of course your pants would catch fir— WHUMP."
The faces of the gossiping knights drained stark white. Goel was glaring at them through a door connected to the wall.
"I wasn't aware the proud knights of Eshua had a habit of savoring the back of people's heads."
"Th-that's, um, that's... Brothers! A-Ah, he's getting away!"
The 1st-Grade knights had vanished in a whoosh, as if they'd never been there at all. Not for nothing were they high-grade knights—not so much as a trace of them remained.
The 2nd-Grade knights who ended up kicked aside by Goel bowed their heads to the ground, and Goel turned away, gritting his teeth.
'That damned eldest son's son...!!'
Really, now—hadn't he endured quite enough? And now he had to become gossip fodder for peasants and their ilk, all because of Isaac?
But it was fine. Goel's savage eyes, so like the Pope's, narrowed as he recalled what had happened inside the residence.
Thoroughly crushed by the family head, Goel had been forced to swallow his silence like a mute who'd eaten honey, while the elders had stared at the family head in open disbelief. Unlike most of the senior council, the majority of the elders supported the bloodline of the stepmother's side—the Papal line.
And the family head had said to them, just one thing:
—You seem to be misunderstanding something. I said I would give him the Holy Spirit. I never said I would simply hand it over.
—Pardon?
—There's another reason I offered the Holy Spirit in the first place.
There was a reason? Not just because the boy was the eldest son's child and precious to him?
—If we extract the Skeleton Demon King's remains by putting him into the fire or the water, the boy will suffer a flaw.
—A-A flaw?
—The fire and water of the Blue Temple are far too powerful; they repel every trace of approaching demon essence. Any high-ranking cleric who must wield Exorcism holy arts would develop that flaw. Rillai, you understand better than anyone, don't you?
—Then mastering the Ninefold Exorcism—the essential requirement of a high-ranking cleric—would be beyond him.
—Precisely. It should be done after he has mastered the Exorcism rites. I proposed this in the first place because the boy seemed unlikely to ever reach the 5th Tier anyway.
—Th-then... even with his talent, Isaac would have to settle at the 4th Tier for the rest of his life.
—Which is why he'll choose one of the three: fire, water, or the Holy Spirit. If he chooses the Holy Spirit, it will purify the demon energy of the Skeleton Demon King. If he chooses fire or water—well, that's simply his lot in life.
There it is! As expected of Father! Goel had nearly wept with joy. However lacking in affection he might be toward his own children, as family head the man never once disappointed!
Granted, the 4th Tier wasn't bad in itself—but for a member of one of the Five Great Families, it meant he wouldn't even be treated as a person!
Recalling the events in the residence, Goel chuckled low in his throat. 'You think a snot-nosed brat could choose the Holy Spirit?'
The aura of a Holy Spirit was vanishingly faint to a child's senses. Simply detecting it required years of rigorous training.
And now, everyone had gathered at the Blue Temple.
"Choose."
The family head set three orbs down before Isaac.
Isaac glanced over at the two men raising a ruckus a short distance away.
"Isaac! You understand your uncle, right? The white one! Pick that and Uncle will buy you a Skeleton Demon King stress ball!"
"Isaac, ignore that bastard. If you're a child of the Blue Faith, you're obligated to choose blue. Pick that one and I'll buy you a doll of the great Chief God."
You absolute bastards. Should I just kill you both?
Looking upon his hopeless uncles with contempt, Isaac turned his gaze to the orbs the family head had laid on the ground.
A red orb steeped in the essence of Fire. A blue orb steeped in the essence of Water. A white orb steeped in the aura of the Holy Spirit.
"Take your pick."
Apparently he was meant to choose among them.
Isaac studied the family head in silence.
Perhaps around forty. Silver hair that symbolized House Eshua, and cold blue eyes that looked utterly allergic to jokes. A man like a lone, aloof wolf.
And no one could deny the Eshua bloodline ran in him—if Melissa had been a peerless beauty, this man had the kind of face that must have broken hearts by the dozen in his youth.
Right, hand him a brewery and he'd be perfect.
At a glance he seemed a gentlemanly priest in crisp black clerical robes, but Isaac could see it plainly. He looked like a priest who wielded only holy arts—yet beneath that uniform lay a body of muscle honed to a razor's edge.
'If I fought him head-on, I'd get my bones rattled... no, I'd straight-up die right now.'
Not for nothing had this man been a Cardinal who marched out to subjugate demon kings one after another. He was suppressing his power, but standing before him felt like being flung, bare-bodied, into the face of a colossal wave. Without question, he was the strongest cleric Isaac had seen since becoming an infant—strong enough to rank among the very best even counting his days as the Skeleton Demon King. Compared to him, Rillai looked like a toddler clutching a rattle.
Well, this magnificent body was still stronger, of course.
At any rate, the man's pointed talk of a 'flaw' made it clear: he wanted to test whether Isaac could truly see what was in front of him.
'The little brat thinks he can slight a demon king, does he?'
Isaac sighed and reached out his hand. Tension flashed across both uncles' faces.
Tap!
The moment Isaac made his choice, the family head's face twisted.
"Pick one."
"………"
Cheap. The brat move doesn't work on you, huh.
Grandson... well, more like nemesis, but grandfather nonetheless—obeying the old man's word, Isaac released the three orbs he'd been hugging to his chest. Then he reached out again.
At last, the moment Isaac plucked up a single orb and held it out, joy and despair split the crowd.
"Ah...!"
"Ah!"
The orb Isaac had chosen was none other than the red orb of fire.
Rillai froze solid in despair. "A child that gifted... doomed to settle at the 4th Tier..."
But an elder of Goel's faction found Rillai's reaction deeply distasteful and scolded him loudly. "Oh please. Is this really cause for despair? Any son of House Eshua brings honor to the family at the 4th Tier alone! How greedy can you be, weighing your nephew's life on a scale?"
Yeah, keep watching, everyone—the sight of you pretending to care about a baby's life while scheming every way you can to keep him from becoming the Saint.
And Goel—your lips are twitching at the corners. Visible from here. Might want to work on your poker face.
The family head sighed, as if it couldn't be helped. "Very well. I suppose that is your fate."
With those words, the red orb Isaac had chosen split open with a long crack, and flames surged upward.
And the instant that demon-repelling fire blazed aloft, Goel's smile—
"Huh?"
Huh?!
They all doubted their own eyes at the figure rising from the flames.
"The Holy Spirit?!"
"What—why is there a Holy Spirit?!"
A tiny fairy radiating a blaze of powerful holy fire—everyone was aghast. They rubbed their eyes and looked again, but that was unmistakably a Holy Spirit.
Goel turned to the family head, demanding to know what was going on. "Father! What is the meaning of this! Why is there a Holy Spirit in that orb!"
But the family head, arms crossed, merely tilted his head.
"I never said each orb contained only one."
What kind of—WHAT?!
At the family head's shameless stunt, Rillai and Goel found it impossible to believe—for very different reasons. This man, the absolute stickler for principle, would stoop to something this ridiculous...!
But the family head was entirely serious.
Ordinarily, of course, he would never have dreamed of placing a Holy Spirit inside every orb. Did the family have any need for a boy who would make its Matriarch feel guilt?
But a child who wielded holy fire by his own nature? In House Eshua, founded upon 'water'?
The reason the family head had taken an interest was none other than this. House Eshua was, by heritage, a faith of water. Yet even within it, fire of the very highest order was something special.
'Fire is a crucial hidden art that has already been lost to House Eshua.'
It had been the lamp that once lit Eshua's way. And so the family head had wanted to test it.
Just how far did this infant go? Was the retrieval of the Skeleton Demon King's remains truly the work of someone else's aid? Was the melting of the Papal family's gold a coincidence—or fate?
And so he had deliberately loosened a portion of the seal on the white orb alone. It was a trap. Drawn by that power, an ordinary child would reach for it—but the truly best choice was fire. The white orb was a dud. Had the boy chosen it, he would have lost all further value worth watching.
And the child had, as if to mock that very line of thinking, chosen fire.
'But this is a surprise in its own right.'
Summoning a fire spirit was impressive enough—but of all spirits he could have called, he had to summon this one.
Of all spirits, he had to call the king-rank one that even the Pope found troublesome to deal with. Had there ever been a human who actually contracted with this thing?
As proof, the spirit was making no move toward any contract whatsoever—it looked ready to obliterate the entire Eshua estate instead.
And yet the family head looked thoroughly pleased, a faint smile crossing his face for the first time.
'This might actually kill me.'
And he meant the infant.