We Must Harmonize, Right? (2)

"The White Faith is a faith that walks alongside divine beasts. And by its very nature, all of our holy arts work in synergy with companions. So what, then, would you say is the virtue of White?"

"Harmony."

The priests of White beamed with satisfaction at the apprentice priests' answer. It meant they had all been taught well at the Academy.

During their brief stay at the Holy See, the apprentices were receiving practical training. Even as mere apprentices, they would be deployed into real work, so no one dared to slack off — and this year, the talent pool was exceptional, raising expectations sky-high.

The Saint, especially.

This cohort might just be capable of dealing with the Skeleton Demon King.

The Bishop of White smiled warmly.

"Exactly. White accomplishes everything through its divine beasts. The priest himself is a master who empowers the beast through the holy art of 'Command.' Given that affinity and unity are the core virtues of White, what role do divine beasts play in that bond?"

At that question, the apprentices answered with the confidence of people reciting something they'd memorized by heart.

"Friends who stand with us......"

"Beef ribs we roast and eat together."

"……?!"

Every single priest present froze mid-breath, mouths hanging wide open. Wh-wh-what did he just say?

Ribs?

The apprentices and priests whipped their horrified stares ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠toward the source of the answer. There sat Isaac, wearing an expression of pure boredom unto death, a stammering Shuri failing to form a single word, and the rest of the Blue team members.

The Bishop of White, ever composed, smiled and asked again.

"...Young Lord Eshua. What was it you just said?"

"Ah, my apologies. I misspoke."

"Oh no, that's quite all right. Then, as I was saying—"

"Not beef ribs. It's more like premium marbled sirloin."

YOU ABSOLUTE LUNATIC!!

Shuri and the Blue team members screamed internally.

This insane bastard! Not just anywhere, but in front of the priests of White — he spouts THAT kind of lunacy?!

White. The faith that performs miracles through the voice. Because they summon divine beasts and channel divine authority through their voices, the people of White lived their entire lives alongside the beasts.

And what did that mean? In a word: they were, every last one of them, hopeless animal lovers. Whenever anything concerning divine beasts arose, they were always the first to come running.

And in front of those animal lovers......

'B-beef ribs...? Sirloin?'

They were dead. Granted, since divine beasts generally favored those with beautiful hearts, the priests of White were fundamentally kind souls. So surely they would just let Isaac's thoughtless remark slide — except the senior priests of White looked about ready to collapse right then and there??

But the Bishop of White smiled with gentle benevolence.

"Well, one could look at it that way. After all, many divine beasts do resemble livestock."

"……!!"

Good heavens — he just let that slide?! That's the White Faith for you!

They pursue goodness alongside Blue, yes, but unlike Blue's austerity, discipline, and asceticism, these people are impossibly gentle!

That's it! Right! If it ends here, we won't get marked down! We can still recover!

And sure enough, the Bishop turned to Isaac with a smile.

"Then what of the phantom species and chimera beasts — the ones that resemble no livestock at all? What would those be to you?"

"Rare leather carpets."

"HEY!!!!!"

This time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every single member of the Blue team shouted at once. And the Bishop, having absorbed that answer with a smile still resting on his lips, simply collapsed where he stood.

THUD!

"Bishop!"

"S-someone wake him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up!"

The alarmed senior priests rushed over and hoisted the Bishop upright. He'd held out through the beef ribs, apparently, but the carpets were a bridge too far.

Thanks to that, the priests of White had no choice but to suffer a collective mental breakdown.

'What kind of child even IS that?'

They had held considerable hopes when they heard Isaac Eshua would be completing his apprenticeship at the Holy See. Normally, novices were split between the Holy See and the Imperial household for their training.

'For priests, the Holy See is the better posting, but with word that the Emperor himself had taken an interest, we assumed he'd go to the palace.'

Granted, the head of House Eshua had discreetly slipped his name tag into the Holy See's pile hoping he'd wash out entirely — but they had no way of knowing that.

Anyway. There had been personal hopes as well, but above all, the head of the White Faith herself was watching!

'Didn't the Cardinal of White tell us to keep an eye on him?'

There'd been rumors of a Saint — perhaps they were true after all.

But instead, here he was, looking utterly bored out of his skull during vocational training, after beef ribs AND carpets!

'...That kind of child came out of BLUE?'

And small wonder they were baffled. Do they even know what Blue is?

The faith that adheres most rigorously to the Temple's strict moral doctrine and is the most uncompromising about character cultivation! To keep its people from being swallowed by corruption, Blue drove them as mercilessly as a winter sea, whipping them into shape. Its members were, in theory, unmoved by any temptation whatsoever.

...Any temptation whatsoever.

"Isaac, want some chocolate?"

"Gimme."

...ANY temptation whatsoever!

"Isaac, when we get back to the dorms, should I introduce you to a pretty older sister? She works at the butcher shop — she's gorgeous."

"Yes. Gimme (the meat)."

...ANY TEMPTATION WHATSOEVER!!!

"Isaac, card game back at the dorm?"

"Sure. Let's bet money this time."

Good heavens. What... WHAT kind of heretic is this......!!

'I say — this stopped being Blue's problem a long time ago, hasn't it?!'

'Indeed! Greed, lust, gluttony — he's about to violate the three great taboos of priesthood all in one sitting!'

By that point, the priests of White could only shake their heads in despair.

'That boy won't make it through the Pentagons.'

'Well, House Eshua did ask us to judge him strictly and make sure he fails......'

The sighing priests had wondered why the Eshua ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people would make such a request. Then one of them raised a hand.

"Then we shall begin the Pentagon of Harmony."

"!"

The eyes of the assembled apprentice priests sharpened. Above all, Niger Sephet and the Red priests under him transformed completely.

'So Blue's team fails here, then.'

Fail even one virtue of the Pentagon, and your evaluation was failure. You'd be sent back to the Academy for re-education and a retest.

Which meant they would never get to preside over the execution of the Skeleton Demon King's underling.

And what the priests of White brought out was, of all things, a ballot box.

"The White Faith works miracles through the voice and builds upon records. This is the Oral Temple. White wields the power of song and language, so as long as our traditions are passed down unbroken, we are all but invincible — but flip that around, and if the tradition is ever severed, everything ends."

"The demonkin and rival nations knew this well. They murdered our oral keepers and planted spies among us, yet our predecessors protected the faith through trust and cooperation between companions."

"And so, what White emphasizes is harmony and trust!"

They held up the voting slips. A sheet of paper with two boxes drawn on it.

"Here in White, we evaluate harmony through a vote."

"!"

"If the vote comes back unanimous for 'Stay with the team (O),' the virtue of Harmony is passed. But if even a single vote for 'Leave the team (X)' is cast, the Harmony virtue fails. You will have one hour to deliberate."

The apprentices buzzed loudly.

"That's all we have to do?"

"That's ridiculously easy, isn't it?"

At the same time, Shuri let out a long sigh.

Right — no wonder Grandfather said we could pass this by having snacks with the team and falling asleep together.

'It's not like a prior agreement is forbidden.'

This little vote? Falling asleep and waking up done. Or so it should have been — except this exam had a fatal flaw hiding in it.

'The better your Pentagon grades, the better your placement.'

The grading tiers were as follows.

Land even a single Skeleton — the lowest possible score — and you were sent straight back to the Academy.

Of course, this first trial, Harmony, wasn't a graded evaluation at all but a simple pass/fail. So even if everyone received a King for passing, what about everything after?

'The other faiths won't be nearly so lenient.'

Word was that even Uncle Rillai, a certified genius, had finished with only four Kings. Snagging even one Queen was considered impressive; most people finished around Pawn, the average line.

That was exactly why everyone scrambled to secure the best teammates they could and inflate their scores.

And this year, of all years, the honor of executing the Skeleton Demon King's underling — plus treasure — was on the line. It would be stranger if eyes didn't turn greedy over the grades.

But above all, the single greatest flaw of this Harmony exam was this:

'The rules themselves are designed to invite betrayal.'

Understandably so — if even one vote of 'Leave the team (X)' came out, it was instant failure, and the entire team went back to the Academy. With rules like that, anyone short of insane would obviously choose unanimity, but...

'The problem is that the ones who cast 'Leave the team (X)' are allowed to return, in fact.'

Even better, they were treated as 'voluntary conscientious reporters,' and the Holy See granted them compensation — genuinely valuable items — by way of apology.

In other words: betray, and you got free items, a fresh team, and zero penalties whatsoever.

So wasn't it easy to picture?

Yes. A scene of exactly such shady dealings flying back and forth behind closed doors.

Yet the White Faith and the Holy See tacitly permitted this absurd bargaining. No — they actively encouraged it.

Why?

Because the true purpose of this virtue of Harmony was to flush out traitors!

It was no accident that this exam was pass/fail.

'Resist the temptation of better terms, and keep your team together.'

That was the real test.

'It means you have to offer genuine leadership and trust — trust strong enough to make betrayal pointless.'

Yes. In principle, that was the orthodox path. And above all, Shuri had no intention of failing this Harmony exam.

'The direct line of House Eshua, sent back to the Academy in the very first trial? Then I'd lose my eligibility to become head of the family, wouldn't I.'

He couldn't afford to lose to the other cousins gunning for the same seat. And besides, even Isaac was glaring daggers, desperate to take part in the Skeleton Demon King's underling's execution — so this worked out perfectly.

'The best grades possible! The top graduate of this Pentagon becomes the Saint!'

But Niger Sephet, watching him burn with determination, merely sneered.

'Leadership and trust — from House Eshua?'

Honestly, this exam was already over. Blue simply had the most pathetic composition of any team present.

Not that the members themselves were worthless — rather, their individual interests were so hopelessly misaligned that there was no chance in hell they'd ever unite.

'Above all, Eshua has nothing to offer.'

No overwhelming wealth or power like the other ducal houses. Follow them, and all you'd get was the same treatment as a Saintess who couldn't even catch the Skeleton Demon King. And come the Faith Selection after the Pentagons, Blue would probably finish dead last again this year, too.

'Well, Shuri Eshua understands exactly where he stands. That's why he's spent all this time buttering up his peers.'

But friendship? Goodwill?

Don't make him laugh. When the moment truly mattered, what people sought was overwhelming power and influence.

Granted, it seemed Isaac Eshua had managed to block the usual intelligence-leeching by tearfully appealing to sympathy at the tea party. But so what?

'Because our household's future vassals are sitting in their team.'

Exactly three of them. Men handpicked to cast their votes for 'Leave the team (X).' And useful subordinates who would collect the Holy See's rewards and return to House Sephet in the process.

In truth, Niger had gone to his father, a Cardinal, and leveraged every connection he had to rig the team assignments and plant these loyalists in advance — all for this very moment.

'Did you really think our vassals would stay loyal to Eshua?'

Niger snickered.

"Shuri Eshua. That idiot must be getting all worked up, thinking that if he just wins over those talented ones, they might make it to the execution ceremony. What's he going to do about it?"

"Blue doesn't stand a chance."

"They made such a spectacle at the Ordination Ceremony, too. Getting eliminated in the Pentagon and shipped back to the Academy — that'll be a nasty little fall for them. Pfft."

That's right. Blue fails here.

Niger curled his lip in disgust.

'Eshua, of all houses, has the gall to reach for the Saint title? Time to send them back to the Academy.'

He watched the Bishop of White step out with the results in hand. And now — now the Bishop would open the voting results, and...

"Team Blue — unanimous for 'Stay with the team (O)'!"

YES! Look at that! Unanimous — stay with the—

"……."

...What?

Unanimous to stay with the team?!