It's Urgent (1)
Wasn't this going a bit too far?
Shuri was at a complete loss for words as he stared down at Priest Elden, who couldn't so much as lift himself off the floor.
Shuri was, after all, an outstanding student—top of his entire class at the Academy. And even by his eyes, that was a minimum of twenty weeks of recovery.
Well, all right. With treatment from the Holy See, it would probably shrink down to five weeks or so… And honestly, given how badly things had spiraled, it was a miracle it had ended at just that much.
If Isaac hadn't held back the Holy Spirit's rampage, the damage would have been far worse.
'Professor Elden got exactly what he deserved, I suppose….'
It wasn't just speculation, either. Shuri had seen it with his own eyes. While everyone else had been scrambling to block the Demon King's mana, Elden had been the only one creeping toward the Holy Spirit.
Then he'd tried to cast a Pain divine art on it, gotten counterslammed instead, and ended up in that sorry state.
But here was the real problem—that counterattack hadn't been the Holy Spirit's doing at all!
As Shuri groaned inwardly, his gaze drifted toward Isaac.
'I knew it. That little demon used Reflect Divine Art!'
Yes! It might have looked like the Holy Spirit's handiwork, but there was no way Shuri could miss what Isaac had been up to!
Why?
Why? What kind of question was that! Isaac was the one who'd dragged everyone into this drawing room in the first place, planning to do some… life-saving. Dammit, something.
'…Wasn't the original plan to collapse the mansion and trap them all inside?'
He was going to "rescue" everyone by evacuating them safely, that was the idea.
But then Shuri had kept watching, and what did he see?
Attacking Professor Elden with Reflect Divine Art?
'I mean, sure. It was suspicious that he tried to cast a Pain art on the Holy Spirit.'
That professor was obsessed enough with Holy Spirits to actually teach them. The notion that he'd sit quietly with a King-rank Holy Spirit right in front of him was… honestly, hard to believe.
But by this point, only one conclusion remained.
'You little bastard—you said you'd get the approver out of the way, but you were planning to kill him, weren't you!'
The whole "evacuation" story was a lie from the very beginning, wasn't it?!
From Isaac's perspective, though, there had been no other choice.
'You dared to try stealing MY Holy Spirit?'
Did he have any idea how hard Isaac had worked to hold onto that thing for the past ten years?
In fact, the Holy Spirit had been one escape attempt away from bolting on the spot.
Ten years ago, when Rillai had been told there was no way to erase the Demon King's mana, he'd gone down on his dirtied knees and begged. The Holy Spirit had dismissed him with utter contempt.
"He's only a year old. Please—if only for a few years, let him live a little longer!"
"His ties to the Five Great Families were already severed. If I stay out of it, this milk-drinker dies on his own and I go free. Why would I bother?"
And how, you ask, did they manage to hold onto a being like that?
BOOM!
"My lord! The Holy Spirit's power blew the roofs clean off the East Castle and the temple!"
"Good. A very refreshing demolition."
"Wh— wait, what? Eli?"
"I'm filing a claim for damages."
"No, hold on! Hold on! It was this brat who blew it up! The Demon King's mana set off my power—!"
"Right. And here I was told you could be purified in four days. Now you're leveling other people's homes."
"N-no, that's—!"
"Oh well. A temple is the god's house, after all—I need only report the matter to the gods themselves. Daring to blow up a divine temple… how bold of you. Soon the Holy Realm will rain down its lightning of retribution, I expect."
"What?!"
"Ahh, the poor innocent Holy Spirits will be caught in it. My heart truly aches."
"Hey—!"
"Unless you'd rather I settle for purifying that grandson of mine instead."
"You damned leech!"
Frankly, Isaac had given a standing ovation to the Family Head's sheer audacity, apologizing with a face that wasn't sorry in the slightest.
Anyway, from then on, every time the Holy Spirit tried to run, they'd blown up some crucial Eshua facility—carrot and stick both!
They'd even made him work seventy-two hours straight without a wink of sleep!
After ten whole years of effort like that, the thing had the gall to try and waltz off with Isaac's purification vat for his Transcendental Tier?!
Isaac toddled over to the Holy Spirit.
It annoyed him that his stubby little legs ruined the dramatic entrance, but whatever. It didn't matter.
So long to that, too—come tomorrow, he'd grow this insufferable milk-drinker body to full size in one go. What did a wobble or two matter?
He looked up at the Holy Spirit.
"You wakey now?"
[…Why would I be…]
"A weird water-thingie twied to go into your body. I pusheded it out with holy power."
At that, the Holy Spirit grasped the entire situation in an instant. Its gleaming eyes had nowhere to turn but toward the certain someone trying to slip away.
[That damned Holy See priest!]
"Hurgh!"
The murderous Holy Spirit materialized directly in front of Elden, who was trying to flee.
[So it was you, you wretched worm, who pulled tricks on me.]
"I—I have no idea what you mean."
[Don't play coy. What are all those things you're carrying? Fire-starting supplies, aren't they? They reek of the Gold Faith. Whose orders are you acting on?]
"This is all a misunderstanding. I heard rumors of a savage fire spirit near the Eshua Duchy, so these are precautionary measures for the safety of our priests—"
The Holy Spirit's lip curled in undisguised contempt.
[Fine. Let's say that's the story, then.]
"Thank yo—"
[Then allow me to say my piece as well. I will command every fire spirit in existence to sever all ties with priests of the Papal line, effective immediately.]
I'm sorry—WHAT?!
Not just Elden—the elders gasped too.
No, that being was the King of Holy Spirits.
He certainly had the authority to command the spirits below him. But fire spirits were used by the clergy constantly!
The Gold Faith would probably erupt into riots.
Flustered, Elden burst into hollow laughter.
"Priests are beings bound by covenant with god! The Papal line above all! A Holy Spirit bound by divine treaty cannot break that discipline—!"
[Don't care? I cut ties with the gods ages ago. Your little disciplines hold no power over me.]
"……?!"
[Oh, don't misunderstand. This is merely a precaution for the safety of my own spirits. You travel armed to the teeth with fire-starting gear because you're so 'afraid of fire'? I can see exactly how much you trust us.]
Elden's face went white. He was beginning to realize how badly this was going.
The Holy Spirit looked pointedly at Elden's breast pocket and gave a strange smile. It had almost certainly sensed the aura of Dead Man's Grass.
[Well, if it truly was a misunderstanding, I could rescind the order. But I doubt it. Search him thoroughly. Find out exactly what he intended to do to me and to this milk-drinker here.]
Listening to all this, Isaac's lips curled up.
Yes. Good. Very good.
You're doing great—except what you should be doing right now isn't that. You're forgetting something, aren't you?
Soon enough, the Holy Spirit turned to look at Isaac.
[I never expected you to save me. Saving me with holy power, and even subduing the Demon King's mana… Under normal circumstances, our contract would have ended at that point. But since you saved me, I'll stay by your side for a while and repay the debt.]
At the Holy Spirit's words of gratitude, Isaac's smile stretched all the way to his ears.
Puhut!
Yes, YES! That's it! That's exactly it!
This is going according to plan!!
This is what those blockheads in the divine faction are good for!
'Holy beings literally cannot stand being in debt. Thick skulls, the lot of them!'
Isaac had been planning this from the very moment he sensed the Dead Man's Grass on Elden, straight through to this exact scene.
Get rid of the eyesore threatening to hold his recommendation letter in limbo, and put the Holy Spirit in his debt—two birds, one stone!
And if he pushed his luck just a little further…
Isaac cast a sly glance at the scholars. They were busy holding down the groaning Elden.
"I will personally attend to Priest Elden for now. You—go back to the Holy See."
"Yes. We must report this incident to the Holy See at once."
Isaac's lips jutted out in a pout.
Beating a man half to death was one thing, but withholding his recommendation letter too? Wasn't that just heartless?
Oh well. Nothing for it. His next rescue targets would just have to be these fellows…
"We will make sure Isaac's young lord receives his recommendation as well. A young lord with power like this must be granted the priest rank this very year and receive his title from His Holiness the Pope!"
"Quite right. I'll put in a word upstairs as well."
Isaac's eyes curved into crescent moons.
One week later.
"I'm sorry—so the priest rank has truly been granted to Isaac?"
"It has. Isaac will receive it this year. The Holy See's approval has come down."
Rillai beamed at the Family Head's words.
"Wasn't there supposed to be a written examination first? That's why I assumed it would happen next year at the earliest, even if it were possible."
Instead of answering, the Family Head showed him the letter from the capital.
"Ordinarily, a rescuer must be secured before a recommendation can even be written—and it seems he satisfied that condition. The rescued parties were…"
"The scholars and the Eshua staff?"
"No. The Holy Spirit."
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, a King-rank Holy Spirit is a treasure of which the nation has scarcely two. The scholars seem to have kept quiet about Isaac possessing one, though."
The Family Head folded the letter.
The scholars had caught on, too—the reason the Family Head had kept Isaac hidden away all this time.
Because he was embarrassed? Afraid the boy's behavior and appearance would make them a laughingstock?
No.
He'd endured centuries of mockery already. Something like that wasn't about to make his ears itch now.
The boy himself was irrelevant. It was, in fact, the opposite reason.
'Parade him around in that milk-drinker form, and he becomes a target.'
The Holy Spirit Isaac's grandson possessed was far too precious—no, obscenely precious—to send out into the open. Indeed, hadn't the Holy See's own letter said as much?
We humbly request that the young lord be permitted to display before all present that magnificent power which has come into his hands before it has fully matured.
— The Holy See
The sender read "the Holy See," but it was obviously the work of one cardinal or another.
The heads of the other Five Great Families would take a keen interest in such a thing. That was why, ten years ago, the Family Head had sworn every last member of House Eshua to silence.
That Isaac had summoned a King-rank demon-repelling Holy Spirit was to remain secret for the time being.
The elders had been flabbergasted, of course.
"Why on earth?! This is a monumental achievement! The mere fact of the summoning would elevate House Eshua's honor in a single stroke!"
"Honor such as that is not worth more than a child's life."
"!"
How easy would it be to snatch away, if all one faced was a baby?
But at that, Rillai had laughed away the concern, as if there were nothing to worry about.
"That was all back when Isaac couldn't protect his own body, wasn't it?"
"True. It is."
Which was exactly why the Family Head had put Isaac to the test.
"Receiving the priest rank means he counts as an Academy graduate. Naturally, he'd need learning and knowledge to match. If he didn't measure up, it would be postponed. So I had the scholars administer examinations."
"And the results—!"
The Family Head frowned, as if scolding him.
"What in the world have you been teaching that boy all this time?"
"Y-yes?"
Startled by the Family Head's expression, Rillai faltered—but then the Family Head sighed.
"A perfect score. Top of the candidates. His attitude leaves something to be desired, but still."
He said it gruffly, yet the Family Head looked thoroughly pleased with himself. He had glimpsed hope in Isaac.
A boy with talent like that, whose body was growing and who could wield holy power besides? It would be stranger not to have expectations.
"Oh? There's one more unopened result sheet here."
"That one is the character assessment. A basic test for would-be priests, essentially. Hardly worth looking at."
Rillai unfolded the sheet with evident good cheer.
"Ah, I remember this one! It's enchanted so that even if you lie, your true heart and faith are always revealed. I still remember how startled I was when my own inner thoughts got exposed."
"Hah. Whatever a schemer he may be, unless he's an outright criminal or worse, there's nothing to worry about. Should come out perfectly ordinary."
Rillai nodded along.
Well… there were one or two slightly worrying points, but…
"Oh, look at that confidence."
Q. What are your thoughts on the family that bore and raised you?
A. Conquest. It's mine.
The Family Head let out a hollow laugh as well.
Absurd—but a boy needed at least that much audacity before he could be handed the seat of heir.
"Keep reading."
Q. What will you do after becoming a priest?
A. Snap the gods' necks.
Q. As a priest of the Holy Empire of Hella, describe your resolve and aspirations for the nation.
A. I will destroy this country.
"…"
"…"
Rillai and the Family Head were both struck speechless.
To say it once more: this test sheet was absolutely incapable of recording a lie. Even if you lied, your true heart was what came out.
Which made it a basic assessment of faith, given before one became a priest… the kind of assessment that—dammit, WHAT?!
He'd be hauled before the Inquisition before he ever became a priest! No, scratch "would be"—this was an actual, guaranteed summons!
This wasn't a joke. His faith wasn't just zero, it was negative—drilled straight through the floor and still descending!
Even a mildly impure answer meant immediate suspension of one's priest qualification. And these were the answers?
Caught by an Inquisitor, it meant instant torture and execution!
"…F-Father. Who else has seen this result sheet?"
"As of now, only you and I. The two of us."
"…If he becomes a priest and sits another examination, more people will be reading it, won't they."
"…"
"…"
The two of them sank into a long, deep silence.
"Father…"
The Family Head, one hand clamped to the back of his neck, gave no answer.
The priest rank, already granted, could not be revoked.
"Rillai."
"Yes, Father."
"You will accept the priest rank in Isaac's stead this time. And inform them that Isaac cannot be sent out of the house for the foreseeable future. The reason being…"
The Family Head closed his eyes and pressed hard between his brows.
"…his home education."
The manners training was urgent.