Scorched Rice Without Steam Burns Hotter (4)

"Oh, that hair color! Young Lord Isaac truly is one blessed by the gods, isn't he?"

Priest Elden beamed.

Rilai smiled just as brightly.

"Yes indeed—and all of it thanks to His Holiness the Pope, who toils for the sake of the Five Faiths and the people of the Empire."

"Hahaha, how humble of you, Sir Rilai. Is it not thanks to House Eshua of the Blue Faith, ever slaughtering demons on the front lines, that the Empire enjoys such peace? We are grateful, always."

Grateful? To the bastards who use us as meat shields at every turn?

Rilai was smiling pleasantly on the outside, but inside, his blood was boiling. The moment word reached him that Isaac had gone to meet the delegation, he had sprinted to the East Castle in a panic—and who could blame him?

This was no mere scholar official but a Scholar Inspector, a senior post, and one belonging to the Pope's own house. What else could such a man possibly come all this way for?

How dare he—planning to whisk Isaac off to the Papal family and mock him?

Was he going to take a child who couldn't even grow properly and make him a laughingstock?

Elden, for his part, was simmering in his own way.

I need to steal the Holy Spirit, so why is this eyesore ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clinging to me like a leech? Leech, I say.

He had deliberately summoned only Shuri, intending to meet with the children alone—and now this brat kept staring at him as if he suspected something. And then there was Rilai Eshua. When the genius 8th-tier Holy Knight known as the Empire's Silver Killer Whale stared at you that insistently, of course it was unnerving.

Still, surely even he couldn't know about the plan. Time to drive him off, then.

"Why, ever since you chose the path of Holy Knight over priesthood—despite being the top-ranked seminarian—so many of the priests still lament it, Sir Rilai. They keep begging us to let them have your nephew!"

"Haha, have him? That sounds rather like treating my nephew as an object. I'd appreciate it if you apologized to Isaac."

Zing.

Elden bristled—this man had seized the tail end of his words and twisted it. The pushback was heavier than he'd expected. This was becoming a nuisance.

Could he have caught wind of something?

"Ah—my apologies if that displeased you. The rumors about Young Lord Isaac got me so worked up that my language grew rather rude."

"That's right. Our boy is rather exceptional. He's memorized all thousand volumes of the Skeleton Demon King's knowledge at his age. Astonishingly clever."

...Wait. Is this guy just a shameless bootlicker?

Whatever the case, the child had been frail and powerless no matter how much they cherished him.

Come now, Skeleton Demon King's mana! The scent of the Holy Spirits you despise so much!

Rampage! That's the only way I can spirit the Holy Spirit away!

"I know you worry the Demon King's mana might bar him from priesthood, but have no fear. If he's the Saintess's child, how remarkable must his gifts be? So many of our priests are eager to raise him at the Holy See themselves."

Rilai smiled sweetly.

This bastard is acting far too persistent. The more I look, the shadier he gets!

Ordinarily, of course, he would have trusted in human goodwill! But even a glance at the gifts the Pope's faction had been sending Isaac lately was enough to set his teeth on edge. And yet he couldn't very well throw out envoys from the Holy See without pretext. Which was why he had glued himself to Isaac's side.

Why, you ask?

Because the Skeleton Demon King's mana hated clergy with a passion—anyone who wasn't Eshua blood got their scalp flayed off and sent packing. And these were clergymen from the Holy See, the very headquarters of the priesthood?

That damned Skeleton Demon King's mana was going to react beautifully.

Granted, if these men had any pride at all, they wouldn't be able to say a word even if the mana peeled their heads bare.

Now! Come on, Isaac! Throw your tantrum and chase out that insolent wretch!

Elden's eyes were sparkling just as hard.

Yes, rampage! Only then can I take the Holy Spirit!

The eyes of the two adults fixed on Isaac sparkled at the exact same moment.

Now, come on!

Any moment now, the rampage—

I'll wring this brat's—

—and the Holy Spirit—

But ten seconds passed. Twenty. Then sixty.

No reaction.

"......"

"......"

They tilted their heads in confusion.

Did the herb go wrong somehow?

Is he nervous around strangers?

Then, at that very moment, Isaac reached out a hand. The faces of both adults finally lit up.

Yes! Here comes the tantrum!

Finally, the rampage—

...

"Du-ya-ya-ya."

...Oh, for—why isn't it happening?

The two men stared at Isaac, bewildered, but the child simply smiled serenely.

"Da-ya (I don't know anything)?"

He was even playing innocent. Faced with an angelic countenance utterly foreign to Isaac, his uncle could only stand there flustered.

"Isaac?"

"Da-ya (what's up, punk)."

"N-no need to be nervous. Just be your usual self."

"Du-ya (what the hell is 'my usual self', you bastard)?"

Isaac's eyes flashed back to their normal state for an instant—then, as if nothing had happened, he smiled like an angel once more.

"Da-ya-ya (me likey Priest Elden)!"

He even flung his arms around Elden in a hug. At the sight, Rilai and the attendants who had followed him in paled visibly.

What is this!

Why isn't he leveling the castle?!

Skeleton Demon King's mana! What is going on?!

That's the very clergyman you hate most in the world! Do something! Throw your fit!

The Holy Spirit inside Isaac, unable to bear the betrayal any longer, finally burst out.

Isaac gave the spirit a look of deep displeasure. This spirit sometimes forgot, it seemed, that it belonged to the divine camp. And somehow, it kept equating the Skeleton Demon King's mana with Isaac himself.

Well, I am its master, so fair enough, technically.

Isaac shot the thing a sidelong glare, but the spirit was in full meltdown.

Yes. He does need to be exorcised.

Not by me, though. By you.

At that moment, Isaac smirked. Then he peeled himself away from Elden and toddled right out the door.

"Huh? Isaac! Where are you going!"

Rilai scrambled after him. Elden, watching the direction the child had taken, flashed a bright smile.

"Da-ya!"

"Oh? Young Master Isaac?"

Isaac had bolted straight to Asili, his nanny.

But it wasn't the nanny herself that made Elden smile—it was the thing she was holding.

A handkerchief.

That was the cloth he had soaked full of the spirit-paralyzing herb and left at the entrance of the East Castle. And he already knew that the only servant coming and going from this residence was the nanny. Any servant worth the name would naturally pick up something like that if they found it lying at their master's door.

Whether she threw it away or went searching for its owner made no difference to Elden whatsoever.

"Oh my, what is this lying here? Could it belong to our guest, perhaps?"

The important thing was that this servant had picked it up—

"Da-ya!!"

"Goodness, why are you so fussy today, young master? Shall I pick you up?"

—and that with those very hands, she was about to touch the child directly. Which meant it would affect the Holy Spirit directly linked to Isaac Eshua.

And sure enough, the instant Isaac nestled into Asili's arms—

ZAP!

The pursuing Holy Spirit suddenly crumpled to the floor, as though it had fainted dead away.

"Lord Frog!"

Both Asili and Rilai cried out in alarm. And Isaac, sensing the spirit's power weakening, let the Skeleton Demon King's mana erupt.

WHUMP!

"Isaac!"

The black mana pouring from Isaac's body swallowed the entire room. It was so viciously potent it was a miracle no one had passed out yet. It even blanketed their vision—no one could see a hand's breadth in front of their face.

Whisper wailed as if moved to tears.

Not killing him. I'm going to do something better.

Besides, this place was going to become his home eventually, so he'd only let out a tiny sliver—couldn't have the whole estate demolished.

No? I was glaring because of the smell that bastard is giving off.

That bastard is carrying Dead Man's Grass.

It is. I specially bred it myself, back when I was a skeleton.

He'd made it in his skeleton days, so this was his first time smelling it—but every object carried a ripple of power. Humans needed years of training just to glimpse such things, but Isaac was a Demon King. He could read the pulsing waves of power as effortlessly as breathing. It had even served in place of the five senses he'd lacked as a skeleton, letting him take the measure of anything he wished.

This punk's every single remark is too long.

Fine, it had been made to trap Holy Spirits back in the day—but it was still an experimental-stage specimen, a secret cultivar that no one but Isaac could possibly identify. And a priest had shown up carrying it? By coincidence?

Like hell he did.

The gear this bastard has on him.

Having deliberately ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gotten himself held, Isaac had confirmed it by touch. The necklace, the bracelets—at every glance, wasn't it all fire-blocking protective equipment? And now Dead Man's Grass, the spirit-neutralizer, plus anti-flame gear?

Wasn't this a little too transparent, even for a scheme this obvious?!

This bastard came here to abduct my Holy Spirit, didn't he?

That was why Isaac was even angrier. He was curious where the man had obtained a grass that should have been impossible to acquire—but that could wait.

Just whose Holy Spirit do you think you're eyeing?

He'd wrung that one out of the gods through sheer desperate struggle to reach the Transcendental Tier! And originally, Isaac's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠plan had been to demolish the mansion flat, pound everyone into rice cakes, and claim victim status afterward. But this route was much cleaner for cleanup.

And sure enough, the Holy Spirit, as though unconscious, began to rampage.

KRAKOOM!

Will-less, the mighty flames spread in every direction.

Elden's eyes gleamed—he'd been waiting for exactly this.

The Holy Spirit's power has gone berserk!

An unconscious spirit was easy to seize. And the interferers? No problem at all. Everyone had come prepared, knowing that the spirit that had appeared in Eshua was being held down by the Skeleton Demon King's mana.

And if the spirit's power went wild, that meant the Demon King's mana restraining it would spill out as well!

WHUMP!

The surging black mana stole the very breath from everyone present. As if the power it had vented over the past ten years had all been a game, the force now erupting coiled around the entire castle without mercy. Rilai's brow furrowed under its weight.

"Ugh...!"

He had spent ten years at Isaac's side longer than anyone. He had lived watching the Skeleton Demon King's aura day after day, and he'd believed that, having grown as strong as he had, he could subdue the real thing to a reasonable degree.

Was that hopelessly naive of me?

But the bigger problem lay elsewhere.

KRAKOOM!

"Lord Shalach!"

It was the spirit—unconscious and rampaging—that was the true crisis. Normally, with its wits intact, it could rein in its own immense power. But the instant it lost consciousness, that king-grade might, no longer leashed, came bursting outward.

The spirit's unmoored eyes blazed, and its body—which had once resembled a tiny human—had transformed entirely into living flame.

RUMBLE.

It looked like nothing so much as a demon god.

Rilai hurriedly invoked a sealing holy art.

If this keeps up, it won't end with just the ducal castle being blown off the map!

Of all things, the demon-slaying flames—natural nemesis—clashing with the Skeleton Demon King's mana was like throwing oil on the fire. Absolute chaos.

Just then, as if sensing the titanic energies, the doors of the East Castle flew open.

"Rilai! What in the world is happening here!"

"Elden, my lord!"

"Why is the Skeleton Demon King's mana—gack! What now, on top of everything!"

"The Holy Spirit—!"

The elders and scholar officials who came rushing in recoiled in horror at the sight of the rampaging spirit. Never mind the searing heat that felt ready to flay the flesh from their bones.

"Damn it all, why on earth would the spirit—!"

"First we must restore the Holy Spirit to itself! Only then can we put the Skeleton Demon King's mana back to sleep!"

Only the Holy Spirit could suppress the Demon King's mana, which now raged in answer to the demon-slaying flames. So they had to subdue the spirit first—

KRAKOOM!

"Gahk!"

"Elder!"

Even the elders and Rilai together struggled to contain a berserk king-grade spirit. It was already tremendously powerful, and now it had grown even stronger by mingling with the Demon King's force. The elders, coughing up blood, shouted urgently:

"Bring the Family Head! Every second counts!"

"Priests, forgive us—please stay where you are!"

As the Eshua household's confusion spiraled, Elden smiled.

Good. Now.

Elden began chanting the holy art designed to neutralize the spirit, certain that this was the moment. The Blue Faith, with its singular potency against demonic slaughter, might have managed something—but Elden did not follow the Blue Faith.

Sensory Severance.

CRACK!

A fierce crimson holy art lanced into the spirit. And in that gap, he would spin the counter-summoning incantation to slip the spirit away—

"Gahk!"

The spirit's flames, having shrugged off the pain-holy art, crashed down over Elden instead.

"KYAAAH!"

"Is that scream... Priest Elden?"

"Damn it, I told you to stay put! Do you people never listen?!"

Don't tell me he got caught in the Skeleton Demon King's mana or the spirit's power!

"Is the Family Head still not here?!"

"Da-ya."

"Only the Family Head or the spirit can hold down that Demon King's mana, so—huh?"

The expressions of the elders and scholar officials watching the mana turned strange.

It was shrinking. Bit by bit, the black mass was growing smaller. Being sucked back into Isaac's body.

What? Is that an illusion?

Shloop.

No, wait. That's no illusion.

Shloop-shloop.

It's genuinely flowing back into Isaac's body?!

"Isn't that a sealing holy art?!"

"Don't tell me Isaac is controlling the Skeleton Demon King's mana with holy power?!"

But that wasn't all.

"Okay, you. Stop breaking things now."

Isaac clenched his tiny fist. And then, something astonishing happened.

The spirit that had lost consciousness and smashed everything in reach came back to itself. Isaac had breathed a powerful surge of holy power into the spirit linked to him—and it had jolted awake.

The scholar officials and the elders could do nothing but hang their jaws open. Good heavens—suppressing the Skeleton Demon King's mana with holy power, and restoring the spirit's mind in the same breath!

"Don't tell me Isaac just—!"

"Rilai!"

"Yes! Sir!"

"Did you see it! Isaac—!"

"Isaac spoke!"

...Huh?

The elder's eyes went round as saucers.

But Rilai was gazing at Isaac as if on the verge of a sob.

"Our boy finally! Finally said his first words! Ten years—all he could do for ten years was babble!"

No, hold on, you idiot.

That is NOT the important thing right now?

A ten-year-old just sealed the Skeleton Demon King's mana on his own AND brought a king-grade spirit under control?

That is NOT an ordinary feat, I'm telling you?!

"Rilai, so as I was saying—"

"Ah, right. Forgive me, Elder. I misspoke."

"That's more like it. What matters isn't first words, but—"

"Isaac! Our boy is walking right now! He's WALKING!"

"......?"

"???"

What, man, WHAT?!

The elders stared at him in disbelief, but Rilai, watching Isaac stride along on two legs instead of four, clapped a hand over his mouth. He looked ready to drop to his knees and weep on the spot.

"Isaac, at last! Finally, after ten years, on two legs! Elders, I'm so stunned my heart feels like it's about to stop."

The elders' faces streamed with sweat.

You lunatic—

Your heart should be stopping over THAT, not that?!

"Ah. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Scholar Inspector, sir! In any case, Isaac just saved a person—no, a Holy Spirit. So, could our nephew receive a letter of recommendation for the priesthood?"

Dammit! Is the recommendation letter really what matters right now?!

This could change not just the succession the Family Head gave up on, but the entire future of the Empire—