I Saw It All Too Well (3)

The incident at the Ordination Ceremony sent shockwaves through the Empire.

It had been nothing more than a phantom projection, yes — but the Skeleton King's mana had manifested at the very ordination of the Empire's priests. That was not a thing to be brushed aside.

"Thanks to the Cardinals' efforts it passed without incident, but how could the Skeleton King have entered Hella in the first place?"

It was a topic the imperial court had no choice but to treat as a matter of state. The five Great Dukes, seated at the very top of the protocol order, were joined by a crowd of central nobles, and the chamber boiled over with debate.

"It appears there was a problem with the Holy Water Basin."

"The vessel used to test compatibility with the gods?"

At the Emperor's question, Ilay, Head of House Eshua, gave a slow nod. "Yes. A phantom-summoning array had been engraved inside it. We are investigating the merchant who supplied the basin, but with so many foreigners streaming in for the Founding Festival, it most likely slipped in among them."

"That may be so, but I suspect the Empire's barrier itself deserves scrutiny as well."

"!"

At Cardinal Verith's words, the assembled nobles stirred. The barrier was a matter the Holy Empire could never afford to ignore.

And sure enough, Verith's golden eyes flashed like a bird of prey sighting its quarry. "Under normal circumstances, the barrier of the Holy Empire alone should have blocked all entry by demonkin. However—"

"I am aware. The Empire's barrier has been waning in strength for a hundred and fifty years. It has become an environment in which demons may enter with ease."

The barrier of the Holy Empire of Hella was the responsibility of the Divine Dragon — and the Divine Dragon was the responsibility of the imperial throne. The problem was that the Divine Dragon had grown negligent in maintaining it. The nobles understood exactly what intent lay behind the papal faction's remark, and clicked their tongues inwardly.

'So he means to insist the fault doesn't lie with the Holy See.'

'Honestly, the nerve of him. As if any human alive could rein in the Divine Dragon at this point.'

'Well, that suits me fine.'

The Divine Dragon's power was precisely what granted the imperial family its overwhelming authority. The Holy See, for all its influence, had never been able to move carelessly against the throne because of it. And so now, under the pretext of the barrier, the papal faction intended to deliberately seize the Empire's weakness.

But the Head of House Eshua cut in. "If the barrier had truly failed, the Skeleton King would not have sent a mere phantom. The fact that only phantom mana barely managed to leak through means the barrier is holding firm."

Cardinal Verith shot the Blue Patriarch a look of open displeasure. Pampered by the throne, the man pretends neutrality and now colludes with the crown in broad daylight. To the papal faction — the noble faction — it was a bitterly unwelcome sight.

"In any case, this incident demands heightened vigilance. We must hasten the raising of the Saint. And fear not — the imperial family shall soon pay a visit to the Divine Dragon's residence."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

When the council concluded, the nobles and priests lingered, trading talk in clusters — and against all expectations for a council born of crisis, their faces were blooming with something like excitement.

"So Eshua actually pulled it off this time, hm?"

Ordinarily, an affair involving the five Great Families would be gossiped about for a solid month even if a family dog died.

"Blue still hasn't died, I hear! The Blue brat drove out the monsters with the holy art of Purification. Apparently purification is his specialty?"

"Pfft — isn't that the very holy art the papal house has been drooling over? Well, well. Blue, of all people."

"They say he overcame the Skeleton King's curse and even grew stronger doing it!"

"Ha! I'd pay good money to see the Pope's family's faces. They're his sworn enemies, no?"

"What impresses me more is that the Ordination wasn't even halted. They saw the whole thing through to the end."

The site where the Skeleton King had appeared at the Ordination was, after all, the scene of a demonkin assault. Residual demonic mana lingered in the air, and few believed the ceremony could reasonably continue — and yet the Pope had resolved it cleanly. With one light gesture the shattered banquet hall had been restored to its former splendor, and the taint of demonic mana utterly dispersed. He had hardly earned the title of supreme head of the holy faction for nothing.

Watching all of it, Isaac's expression had naturally curdled — and the crowd had erupted in cheers.

"As expected of His Holiness the Pope!"

"The Eshua brat is impressive, I'll grant you, but he can't hold a candle to His Holiness!"

Everyone sang the Pope's praises in exactly that vein — all but one.

'Can't hold a candle?'

That one was Kina Berith.

He had bristled at the stories the returning priests brought back to the Holy See. Not that he had any right to feel slighted as a grandson while they extolled his grandfather, of course.

'Are they joking right now?'

Those people had no idea what Isaac had actually done.

'That was, without question, Grandfather's own technique.'

Not a single casualty, purely by His Holiness's grace? He almost wanted to laugh.

There had been no victims at the Ordination because Isaac had driven off the near-high-ranking demon that lurked there! And thanks to that, the papal side could now spin the Skeleton King's incursion into propaganda for themselves.

'He drove out a demon with nothing but the look in his eyes.'

A sovereign's art that only the Pope could perform. Kina might manage everything else, but that one technique lay forever beyond his reach — no matter how desperately he had flailed toward that realm of mastery since childhood.

And then, immediately afterward, Kina had listened very, very carefully to what his grandfather and father were saying.

"Watch that child closely."

His grandfather had said precisely that, had he not? There was something there, without a doubt.

It was at that very moment that an elder of the Gold Faith approached Kina. "There you are, Kina. A commission has arrived — from the Marquis's house, you see, and… where are you going? Kina! Kina!!?"

"Whoa, my dear nephew. Truly, congratulations. Congratulations on receiving your holy orders. Truly. Whoa, whoa."

"……."

Wow. That is genuinely the most half-assed congratulation I have ever heard. Isaac offered a hollow smile at Goel's utterly soulless well-wishing. For reasons unknown, one thing was abundantly clear: this man did not want to put a single speck of soul into common courtesy, even as a formality.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

And as for Rillai over there — yeah, I already know there's no saving him either.

"Our Isaac, speaking so fluently now of all things…! Why, with this, I can finally have him read the Skeleton King's curse letters aloud…!"

After the Ordination Ceremony, they had arrived at the Holy See, which stood facing the Imperial Palace — for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the newly ordained priests were to be enrolled under the Holy See's authority.

Not immediately, of course.

"You have received holy orders, but as of now you are merely fresh graduates — apprentices."

I mean, does earning a physician's license make you a practicing doctor on the spot? In a word, they were interns. They would have to pass through a period of training as apprentice priests first.

"Think of it as a final test. It will be brief, but during your apprenticeship you will work at the sides of senior priests. There you will learn your own aptitude, and the true work of a priest — the things the academy never taught you. Your placement and your treatment will both depend on your evaluations, so see it done properly."

Somehow I feel like a freshly hired corporate intern.

And so the apprentice priests belonged to none of the Five Faiths — unaffiliated. This was precisely the period in which they would come to learn about each faith.

Rillai, who had accompanied them, smiled as if recalling old times. "It's nothing, really. The live-in format can be grueling, but give it time and it becomes a fond memory."

If it's such a fond memory, why don't you enroll in my place, you bastard?

"When your apprenticeship ends, you will contract with a god."

Ah. So that's finally when I get to meet those wretched gods, is it?

Well, he was curious, in his way. Whether those bastards would recognize him — or fail to.

And so Isaac asked. "Uncles."

At the form of address, Rillai pressed a hand between his brows as though holding back tears, while Goel arched a single eyebrow: what now?

"When that time comes, must one contract with the god chosen for them at the Ordination Ceremony?"

At that question, for some reason, both Goel and Rillai flinched violently. Goel's flustered look made even Shuri regard him strangely — but the two uncles did nothing but sweat, thick and fast.

They had little choice.

Right after the Ordination Ceremony, the Head of House Eshua — who had been examining the Holy Water Basin as part of the investigation — had summoned Goel and Rillai with a grave face.

He had a point. This was, after all, the child who — the mere sight of a priest, the mere mention of those so-called great gods — would hurl his rattle across the room and tear scripture to shreds. That child, choosing the Gold Faith, the most conservative and exclusionary of all the gods' factions?

Unimaginable.

Much more plausible that a dark god had answered.

— And so it falls to you, Goel. Make contact with the papal house and investigate discreetly. Find out exactly what appeared.

— What? But why must it be me—

— A fine batch of holy relics has just come in. Succeed, and I'll see Shuri gets a good one.

Goel — half papal blood himself, and close to the papal house — agreed. But setting that aside, one thing truly worried him.

— When the apprenticeship ends, every priest must choose his own path.

— He'll be fine. Unless he's some exceptional piece of trash, there shouldn't be any great problem… wait. No. There would be a problem.

Damn it all. He had already taken a sucker punch to the back of the head once for assuming normal standards on a test. And if the results of that faith test held true—

'A dark priest.'

'A dark priest.'

'A dark priest.'

Small wonder all three Eshuas wore sour expressions. Above all, the Saintess's family could convulse harder than anyone at the word dark priest — or rather, at the word corruption.

And that was hardly the end of it.

'Father did mention it, after all.'

Following the Ordination, the other Cardinals had apparently begun coveting Isaac, angling to take him for themselves. Well, sure. He had every intention of snarling how dare you covet him at the lot of them — but frankly, he wasn't even surprised anymore. One glance at the swarm that had mobbed them at the post-Ordination party said it all. These were, after all, Eshua men who had never once in their lives been the object of anyone's attention—

"You must be the ones who will destroy the Skeleton King! Please! Grant us a single meeting with your child!"

"We'll pay any sum you name — please, take our child as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his pupil!!!"

Yes, yes, wonderful! Engagement, tutoring, take it all! And yet the actual contents of the boy—

The two uncles could not look at Isaac without grim expressions.

"Uncles? What's the matter?"

"N-nothing at all."

Nothing at all, my ass — a dark priest, goddammit…!

Goel had no particular affection for Isaac, but the dark priest problem was genuinely serious. In the Holy Empire, a dark priest was all but a traitor — hunted down and executed, while the family that produced one was dragged into ruin under collective punishment.

In a single word—

'The family's total annihilation!!'

Naturally, Rillai's worry ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was that his beloved nephew might fall to corruption — but what on earth had Shuri done to deserve this?!

"Putting that aside, Uncles — something's been nagging at me."

Shuri couldn't hold back and cut in. "You grew, didn't you? So why is your tongue still short?"

Ah. The uncles too gave Isaac puzzled looks, but he answered without a care in the world. "I expect it's a side effect of growing this fast."

"…You were perfectly fine at the Ordination."

"It happens now and then when I'm not concentrating. Especially with things I can't be bothered to care about. Meh, don't fret over it."

Ah, so I'm not even worth caring about, is that it. Shuri's eyebrows twitched as he stared the boy down in sheer exasperation — but Isaac didn't spare him a flicker of attention. What mattered to him began now. Truthfully, the whole reason he'd accepted his holy orders was probably this.

"When can I take part in the Sagcificial Offeding Fescival?"

At that question, Rillai's face went slack with astonishment. "Don't tell me you're interested in the Sacrificial Offering Festival?!"

"Yes. I'm especially interested in the execution of the Skeleton King's subordinates."

That's it! THAT'S IT!

So the faith he never had has finally sprouted!

Rillai clapped a delighted hand over his mouth — while Isaac, for his part, chuckled away, cool as frost.

'Hmm? So the gods' retinues will be attending this Offering Festival?'

The retinues of the gods. In other words, beings like lower gods or angels. They were, formally, the connective tissue between gods and humanity — but such was their towering pride that they almost never deigned to appear in the mortal realm.

And they would show up for the execution of a single demon?

'Those insolent bastards. Daring to show their faces to execute MY subordinate?? You're all very excited, aren't you? Hm??'

Isaac's eyes glittered with menace.

'Well, fine. All the better. I can strengthen my power and properly test just how far it's grown — all at once.'

But Rillai, knowing none of this, spoke carefully. "I know you have your heart set on executing the Skeleton King's subordinates, but that duty goes to the top-scoring team among all the apprentice priests."

"Team?"

"Yes. You'll learn soon enough — apprentice priests move and are evaluated as teams."

Ah. I can't say I know the details, but that means the single most godawful institution of human gatherings — the group project — is about to begin, doesn't it?

"And it's not that I underestimate your ability, but to earn top marks your teammates will need to be capable as well. Above all — the Fourteen Six Demons are far too early for you."

Rillai smiled bitterly as he said it.

'Truth be told, a request did come in to place the execution of the Fourteen Six Demons in Isaac's hands — but no. Far too soon.'

Isaac, of course, perked up his ears. So in short, I need outstanding marks?

Ah, but alone would be one thing — a team battle is going to be a headache.

Isaac heaved a sigh of long-suffering resignation. "Well, if that's how it is, I suppose there's nothing for it."

Nothing for it but to slaughter the other teams and go save him.