It's Urgent (3)
"What? You still haven't found Young Master Isaac?"
The Eshua castle was thrown into chaos.
And it was all because of a single letter.
Don't look for me, you sons of bitches.
= Your humble self requests that you do not look for him.
The handwriting wobbled and slanted like a child's scrawl, done in rainbow-colored crayon no less — and yet every stroke and every spelling was, bizarrely, immaculately precise. And on top of that, the whole thing was pressed down hard onto the page, like the handwriting of a stubborn, crotchety old man.
And so the news of Isaac's runaway reached the Head of House himself. As he read the letter, the Family Head furrowed his brow.
"You're telling me Isaac disappeared and left nothing behind but this?"
Though, to be fair, the unedited message above it was nagging at him rather badly.
At the Family Head's question, everyone who had been summoned gulped, and Asili gave a small nod.
"Yes, my lord. I came to wake him this morning, and all that was left on his bed was this."
"Only Isaac?"
The implication being: could this not be an abduction?
At that, Rilai stepped in.
"I placed an anti-abduction holy law on Isaac — the Golden Rattle he always carries. If anyone tried to take him, it would have reacted instantly and I would have known. The only thing missing is the bag he always uses."
The Family Head looked so dumbfounded that he couldn't even summon the words.
"So you're saying he walked out. On his own. To collect his ordination gift? Really?"
The elders and senior councilors gathered in the room seemed to short-circuit all at once.
"Honestly, we told you ages ago to get rid of that bag! The one he's been shaking down the senior councilors with every single day!"
"Is that seriously what matters right now?! You lot are the ones who couldn't notice a child vanishing under your noses — and you're the ones teaching the Blue trainees?"
"What did we do, Masters?! You're the ones who melt every time Isaac flashes those eyes at you and hand over your allowances! Rilai — can you not track him?"
"That's the thing, I didn't place a tracking holy law on him. Normally I could just follow the Skeleton King's aura and find him right away, but..."
"Ha!"
Who knew that Isaac gaining control over the Skeleton King's demonic power would turn out to be a liability at a time like this!
No — that wasn't the point.
"You idiots! You think a platinum-blonde child grows on trees?! If he falls into the hands of slavers or violent criminals—"
"Is that seriously what matters right now?! Among the things Isaac took are the land deeds of House Eshua!"
"!"
Heaven only knew how the brat had managed to sneak something out of the Saintess's chamber, but there was no doubt it was Isaac's doing. Not that he'd made any effort to hide it — the handprint and footprint of a nursing infant were stamped all over the evidence.
"If those land deeds end up in the hands of another house or a band of thugs—"
"Are you insane, you bastards?! You're priests and you're saying money matters more than a child's life?!"
The Family Head closed his eyes.
No! What matters right now isn't the land deeds, or the slavers! Those would actually be easy to deal with!
What matters is that he ran away from home to collect his ordination gift!
'That boy must never, ever leave House Eshua.'
Just look at that personality. That faith. Or lack thereof.
They'd drag him straight to the inquisitors.
'Men who can judge the depth of a person's faith with a single look.'
He should never have been allowed to meet them in the first place. He should have been kept from setting foot outside Eshua land by any means necessary.
At that, Rilai's eyes sparkled desperately, as if to say, please don't worry.
"Elders! Please, don't concern yourselves with any potential dangers! I placed a whole host of holy laws on Isaac! ⟨Deep Sleep⟩, ⟨Eating Well⟩, ⟨Singing⟩, ⟨Never Wounded by Blades⟩, ⟨Never Getting Lost⟩, ⟨Never Drinking Poison⟩, ⟨Pooping Well⟩, ⟨Running Away Skillfully⟩, ⟨Never Following Strangers⟩..."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You stacked all THAT on the boy, and you couldn't manage a single ⟨Tracking⟩ law?! WHY!"
"Why? Because a child's human rights must be respected, that's why!"
By the time even Rilai had joined the squabbling, the Family Head quietly grabbed the back of his neck. The ache there was getting worse. He wasn't going to live long at this rate.
"Father!"
"My lord!"
"Family Head!"
"All three of you, shut it."
The Family Head turned to the knights standing by, his eyes like thunder.
"Release every knight in House Eshua and every Holy Spirit we hold."
"!"
"There's been no report of a child passing any checkpoint. And besides, to cross the Blue Line of the Eshua Duchy, one absolutely requires the Eshua seal. He cannot leave our lands — which means he is wandering somewhere inside them. Find him and drag him before my eyes immediately. This is urgent."
"Sir!"
"And one more thing."
"Yes, my lord!"
"...The Saintess's belongings were rifled through as well. Don't forget to bring the little brat back along with them."
"...Y-yes, my lord!"
The Family Head's groan only deepened.
Isaac Eshua.
Isaac's name was fairly well known at the Academy. Well, naturally — he was an Eshua.
"What? Shuri, you're telling me the reason you enrolled at the Academy was to run away from your little brother?"
"And this 'little brother' of yours is still in diapers? Pfffthaha! Even the great Shuri Eshua is done for!"
"The name of the top-ranked senior representing the entire seventh year, dying of fear. Of a brother five years younger? Oh dear, how terrifying!"
Every time his fellow ordination-class graduates doubled over laughing like that, Shuri felt deeply wronged.
But his classmates, fearless as they were, would say things like this:
"I want to see this brother of yours. Show him to us sometime."
"Well, he's an Eshua man, so he'll become a priest anyway, won't he? Guess he'll be joining us as a junior."
"Oh, then we'll train him ourselves. He needs to learn to fear his superiors."
"Exactly. Do they not realize how important etiquette is in this line of work? A good beating sets everyone straight."
...You'd be the ones getting set straight.
'Well, I suppose I understand. Until you face him, you can't know your own future.'
And apparently, neither could I. Even now.
"AAAAGH!!"
Shuri screamed.
And the scream was so loud it echoed through the entire dormitory. Students in the corridor jolted in alarm and flung open their doors.
"Shuri! What's wrong?!"
"Did those Red Faith bastards stuff another curse letter under your door?!"
But before the door could even open fully, Shuri slammed it shut again.
And locked it.
Outside, the pounding on the door was pure pandemonium.
BANG! BANG!
BAM!
"Hey! What's going on?! What happened?!"
"Seriously, hey! If you lock that, we can't get into our own rooms! Hey! Shuri Eshua! You coming out or what?!"
The racket went on and on, but Shuri didn't so much as pretend to hear it. No — those bastards were not the important thing right now!
Collapsed on the floor, Shuri stared at the bag, his pupils trembling like the ground in an earthquake.
He looked.
And even looking again.
What came wriggling out of the bag was, unmistakably, a nursing infant...
"Agh — hey! You didn't bring anything to eat?!"
Son of a b—
Still an infant. Even on the second look.
Shuri buried his face in his hands.
'WHY IS THAT THING HERE?!'
Finally coming to his senses, Shuri went looking for the letter. Why that thing was here was no longer the important question.
"Fine, let's just get this sent back quickly, and— GHK!"
A rattle smacked straight into Shuri's face, and Isaac arched an eyebrow.
"You were going to mail your baby brother like a package?!"
THAT'S what you're upset about?!
Ignoring the students still hammering on the door behind him, Shuri hauled Isaac out of the bag.
"Do you have any idea where you are?!"
"The capital, innit?"
"That's right, brat! This is the capital... huh?"
"No?"
"...N-no, it is. You're right."
"Knew it."
At Isaac's answer, Shuri stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.
Wait. So this little brat had been hiding in the bag on purpose from the very start?
"Hold on — first things first! When exactly were you hiding in there?!"
"When you got in the carriage."
"...Then what about the luggage that was inside?"
"Dumped it outside the carriage, obviously."
"...And by 'outside the carriage' you mean?"
"You an idiot? Somewhere in the bushes, duh."
Oh, Lord above.
Dearest God, I beg you. Please, just this once, grant me permission to hurl this devil-faced little satan out the window.
Shuri clutched his face.
But Isaac was utterly shameless about it.
"You need the Eshua seal to leave the Eshua Duchy, right? And you've got a travel pass, and nobody's going to search your luggage. So this method is the best one."
At those words, Shuri pressed a hand to his forehead, as if acknowledging his own blunder.
'Damn it. I should have suspected.'
That moment when the servant carrying the students' belongings had flinched while lifting his bag.
"Urk... it's, heh, heavier than it looks, my lord."
"Can you not even carry one bag properly?"
"I-I'm sorry, sir!"
"If the tip's too small, just say so."
"N-no, that's not it... hff... thank you, my lord!"
Damn it. Of course it was heavy — there was a whole child inside it!
"So WHY did you come here?!"
"What, you already forgot? Told you I came to get my ordination gift."
Shuri grabbed the back of his neck.
Was this walking disaster seriously here to collect his ordination gift?
'They're already laughing at House Eshua as it is!'
Remembering the words of Niger Sephet and Kina Berith, Shuri gritted his teeth. Looking at Isaac now, he couldn't even begin to imagine how much harder they'd mock him.
No — honestly speaking, that was the lesser problem.
If anything, seeing this brat's abilities would probably shut everyone's mouths. Not a soul would dare breathe a word about the Eshua buying their Saint's ordination, or taking pity on him, or whatever else.
Besides, the fact that Isaac possessed a royal-grade anti-magic Holy Spirit was known only to House Eshua and the Chancellor. If that ever came to light, all hell would break loose.
So in that respect, this was actually a good thing — but what terrified him was what kind of chaos this brat would stir up while he was here!
It wasn't for nothing that Grandfather wanted to keep this creature locked in the territory until he came of age!
'The ordination gift ceremony is tomorrow.'
And above all — the Pope himself would be attending tomorrow's Ordination Ceremony.
If Isaac's lack of faith got exposed there...!
"And just in case."
"In case of what?"
"In case my name doesn't make it onto the ordination gift list. So I figured I'd secure my rescue plan for certain."
"R-r-rescue... what?"
"I heard there's an Imperial Princess at the school. And if I gather a force this size, they're bound to acknowledge me for sure, right? So I was just going to sort of... explode the school a little—"
YOU LUNATIC!
THAT'S NOT A RESCUE, THAT'S TERRORISM!
"Rilai keeps saying I can only become a priest once I'm grown, so I thought something must've gone wrong with my application paperwork. Figured I'd double-check for certain. Although... maybe it's a qualifications issue because I'm summoning Holy Spirits instead of people...?"
No! It's not! There is no problem whatsoever!
'He just lied to you! That's all it was!'
Damn it, Uncle! This is what happens when you tell a half-baked lie!
Wait — hold on. He's planning to appear at the Ordination Ceremony... in his diaper-wearing infant form?! They were already sharpening their knives as it was!
The image of House Eshua being ridiculed in that exact form flashed before Shuri's eyes so vividly that he went white as a sheet and shook his head.
"In any case, go home quietly! I'll assign you an attendant!"
"Why should I?"
"If you don't, I'll report— GHK!"
"You blab to House Eshua, and you die."
"!"
Isaac, who had just smacked Shuri across the face with the rattle, went suddenly wide-eyed.
"And you die even if you don't blab."
"...Wh-what? Why!"
"Why? WHY??? Did you just say 'why' to me?"
The rattle in Isaac's hand glinted, and those eyes flickered with something deeply unsettling.
That red glare was close to a wild beast — no, a Demon King — and for a moment Shuri nearly hiccupped in terror.
"U-um, about that?"
Isaac cracked his neck, bone by bone.
"Your precious me has been getting smacked around nonstop, and you're asking why I'd kill you?"
"What?! Smacked around? By whom?! GHK!"
"Pushed around by a pack of snotty little brats! Verbally abused — that counts as abuse too! What the hell kind of behavior do you get up to on a daily basis that 'attendant abuse' is the rumor going around, huh?! And of all people, the ones mocking me were from the Papal family?! Ugh, just die already!"
"GHAK!"
Finally, pummeled by a relentless barrage of Golden Rattle strikes, Shuri went down.
He would never understand why this little brat spat toward the Papal Court every single time the Pope's family came up in conversation.
But Isaac, puffing himself up fiercely, was dead serious. The truth was, while he'd been riding in the bag, he had attached the Shadow Lich to Shuri.
And having spent ten years nurturing the Shadow Lich's mana, he'd grown it to the point where its abilities now allowed for something remarkable: silent eavesdropping. In other words, outright wiretapping.
Which meant that everything — from the gossip of those who picked fights with Shuri, right down to the general treatment House Eshua received — had naturally been pouring into his ears all along.
Originally, of course, he'd planned to stay quietly holed up in his room, ordering room service and growing his body in peace.
"You absolute bastards. How dare you toy with House Eshua?"
At that, Shuri looked up at Isaac, inwardly stunned.
Wait — had this brat actually matured a little? Whenever he studied the history of House Eshua, he'd flail around like he wanted the whole family dead—
THWAAAACK!!! (These bastards are making me out to be the galaxy's biggest dog-arse trash thief! I stole 1,082 wallets, not 1,081, damn it! You hear me?!)"
"Well, well. I don't know what wind blew your way, but to think you'd feel such loyalty toward House Eshua. If my uncle heard of this, he'd be overjoyed—"
"House Eshua is mine to curse and mine to burn! If it's going to be destroyed, I'll be the one to destroy it! Who the hell are you lot to say whether it lives or dies?! I'm going to incinerate House Eshua myself!"
...Oh, Lord above.
So this brat truly is beyond redemption, isn't he.
"Anyway. Let's go."
Shuri scowled, eyes narrowing into slits.
"Go where?"
"To wreck the bastards who messed with you."
Isaac toddled solemnly toward the door, one wobbly step at a time.
Shuri clutched his head.
I'm going to lose my mind. Genuinely.