The Gift (1)
What the hell. Is this thing actually cursed?
Isaac's eyebrows knotted into a figure-eight as he ate. Spread out before him sat the lunch box he'd picked up from the Papal Court cafeteria.
Which was to say, a lunch box garnished with blue flowers and meat.
"You are a child of our House."
No, apprentice priests were supposed to get basic vegetarian rations.
Granted, having his dreaded bean rice swapped out for meat side dishes was a nice change of pace, but every last corner of that lunch box bore the unmistakable marks of tampering...
Heads cocked in confusion, Isaac finally took a swig of the drink that had come with it. Not that "beverage" for apprentices ever meant anything better than that damned bean water, so he'd resolved to choke it down.
One sip, however, and he nearly choked for real.
Bean water?! This is a chocolate drink?!
Startled, he snatched up the bottle and squinted at it.
"You are a child of our House."
...These bastards really are cursing me, aren't they?!
The premium jerky he'd been hiding away had somehow transformed into top-shelf extra-large jerky! Jeweled trinkets lay stashed in every corner of Isaac's daily orbit!
Thanks to which, the apprentices could only gaze at him with newfound reverence.
[Truly remarkable. So House Eshua trains its greed even in everyday life...]
Damn it all! Our family head has simply lost his mind and is bombing me with presents, that's all it is!
But watching Shuri's reaction, Isaac could roughly piece together what must be happening back home.
Come to think of it, that idiot Shuri bolted halfway through—he has no idea I turned down the adoption offer.
In which case, they might genuinely be misunderstanding.
Believing that Isaac was headed for the Papal House.
Which was precisely why the laughter kept leaking out of him despite himself.
Who could have guessed House Eshua would go this far? Honestly, if it were the Blue Family head in question, Isaac had fully expected him to throw both hands up in celebration at the news of a Papal adoption and shove him out the door.
Good. Very good, you blockheaded holy men!
If a Great House goes to war, even this empire is going to wobble on its feet! Well. Rescuing my subordinates does come first.
He hadn't predicted the Blue Family's money, true—but the reason he'd squeezed the Gold Faith dry in the first place went deeper than that.
I need to buy a weapon that can break my subordinate's restraints.
If he wanted his subordinate back, the obstacle he absolutely had to solve was the Restraints.
An artifact capable of subjugating a demon of the 9th Tier. Did anyone think that thing was an ordinary pair of cuffs?
The Demon-Sealing Stone.
The ultimate weakness of demonkind—a mineral that crushed mana to zero in an instant.
Magic was utterly useless against it. Neither aura, nor holy power, nor even overwhelming physical force could shatter it. There existed exactly one weapon in the world capable of destroying that stone, and of course it had to be obscenely expensive.
At any rate, he'd now accumulated enough funds to purchase one, which was all well and good...
The problem is the remaining exams.
That bastard Berith. First he'd declared the Gold Pentagon all but unpassable without an adoption.
Then the wretch had gone and added a dueling category—one deliberately tailored to screw over someone whose specialty was the holy art of Purification.
Purification doesn't work on humans, you see.
And in head-to-head combat, the only ones with the edge were the Red Faction priests and their holy knights.
Of course, even those brutes were crushed flat by the supreme avatars of battle—the Saintesses.
They're the pinnacle of offensive holy arts, after all.
If even one Saintess had been present, he could have wrung out something capable of slaughtering those damned priests—but he'd heard they were all deployed beyond the empire's borders.
As if any of them would be lounging around a place like—
And that was when it happened.
"...Gah! Why is—why is she here?!"
The entrance to the dormitory erupted into chaos. Because a most precious guest had come calling on Isaac.
Shuri startled too.
"Lady Leah?"
At that name, Whisper shrieked as if in convulsions.
But Isaac only snorted. Puhet. The sucker came crawling back, huh.
A Saintess? This little Saintess?
A so-called Saintess is nothing but a brat! Which means plenty of useful things to pocket—and I could play her for a fool and strip her of every last—
"She brought the Matriarch with her!"
...I'm sorry, what?!
The Saintess.
The treasure of the Holy Empire—an invincible, flawless superhuman.
Yet behind that image lurked a far grimmer truth: a being revered as the Holy Empire's sacred weapon.
Other nations could never lightly presume upon the Holy Empire, and while the Pope and the Emperor were reason enough, the very existence of the Saintesses weighed just as heavily.
Where the Pope and Emperor reigned by borrowing the power of gods and the Divine Dragons, a Saintess was a completed, iron-blooded instrument of war who needed no one at all.
No god, no priests, no retinue of Divine Dragons required.
Unlike those hulking, conspicuous beasts, a Saintess simply walked alone into enemy lines and reduced everything to nothing.
Priests unleashed overwhelming force when mobilized for war, but next to a Saintess they were not even a rounding error.
No wonder they're called one of the Four Great Weapons of the continent.
A house that produced such beings—House Eshua—could hardly be treated as anything but pivotal in the empire's history.
But what stunned the eye was not merely their strength.
"Heh heh..."
A heavenly face that, once seen, scrambled a person's sanity beyond all repair. And holy men were supposedly the ones most resistant to temptation, weren't they? "Th-those eyes..."
"I'd gladly die pierced by that gaze..."
"Yes. I should offer up a rib at minimum..."
"Hey—hey! Snap out of it! HEY!!!"
Every priest present—young and old, man and woman—had their eyes dragged over in a single instant.
The apprentices' souls had already left their bodies, and even the veteran bishops, men who should have long since built up their resistance, flinched visibly.
"Unchanged as ever... that woman."
"...At that point, wouldn't simply wearing a mask in public be the path of peace?"
No one had ever maintained their reason upon first beholding a Saintess—aside, perhaps, from fellow members of House Eshua.
Degrees varied, granted, but legend held that even a foreign Sword Saint's brain briefly flatlined for a solid three seconds.
"Well, the God of Beauty's power is woven into her. Honestly, at that level, did even the Skeleton King fall for her?"
Fall for her, my ass.
DAAAAAMN IT, MELISSA!!Why are YOU here of all places?!Damn it—do you have any idea how hard I've worked to avoid that woman?!'
The Saintess!
His final adversary from his days as the Skeleton King!
The only human alive who had crossed blades with the Skeleton King in person!
Even Whisper, who knew Melissa better than anyone, shrieked in horror.
Damn it, you're the one with the liver!
I was the one who nearly got sent to the afterlife!
It was true. Ten years ago, back when he was a swaddled infant, Isaac had in fact already crossed paths with Melissa once before.
At the time, Melissa had been chasing the Skeleton King beyond the empire's borders, so their encounter had taken place not in the flesh, but through a communication orb.
And a communication orb?
Puhet! As if meeting someone through a glorified magic mirror was supposed to be scary?
So there he'd been, smirking at the orb—This idiot won't recognize me, right? Moron. Peekaboo.—when Melissa had said what, exactly?
"...Isaac?"
"Yes?"
"Strange. That child... smells like Isaac."
"I'm sorry—the Skeleton King?!"
DAMN IT!!
If a hundred and fifty years have passed, forget the smell already!
Is she a freak?! A bear stalking its prey?!
And more to the point—how do you even smell anything through a communication orb?!
"Strange. Why can I feel Isaac's power?"
"Ah—Mother, have you forgotten? Isaac ate the Skeleton King's bones that he carried out of the treasury..."
"Ah. Right, that did happen. Well, there's no way Isaac is actually here. If he were, I'd have flayed his hide and hung it up by now."
Thank GOD he'd eaten those bones!
Even now, recalling what happened back when he was a suckling babe ten years ago made a chill run down Isaac's spine.
Granted, Melissa's case might have been sheer déjà vu—no one had grappled with the Skeleton King longer than she had—but it was dangerous all the same.
I must avoid meeting her at all costs!
And in the years since, Melissa had worried after Isaac desperately, aching to see him...
"Matriarch! You mean to go see Isaac? Absolutely not! The Skeleton King's mana is convulsing at the very sound of your name right now!"
The one convulsing was Isaac, not the mana, but regardless—Goel had thrown his entire being into blocking the Matriarch's path.
"You are the only person alive who ever fought the Skeleton King! You were sworn enemies—his mana could well run wild in your presence! Please, I beg you, do not go anywhere near him!"
And it hadn't stopped there.
When Rillai and the elders brought out the Holy Bible, proposing to purge the Skeleton King's power—
"Are you insane?! The Skeleton King HATES that thing! Put the Holy Bible away! Burn every last copy!"
Truthfully, Isaac still half-suspected the man was a spy—but to this day, he remained grateful to Goel.
Anyway: the most sane and comely member(?) of those lunatic Eshuas.
He had dodged the woman for ten whole years! And now the exalted jewel of the Holy Empire was descending in person... to look at a pack of snotty-nosed apprentices?!
Damn it all. Holy men may be idiots, but if it's Melissa, there's a real risk of being found out...!
Well. Nothing for it now, was there?
Revenge plan: doomed?
Slap her across the face with the rattle and bolt at full sprint?!
"Whoa—Lady Melissa's face just popped out of that mirror!"
"It looks so real!"
"Isn't that thing a holy relic?"
Faced with Melissa's image gliding above the surface like a hologram, Isaac kicked Shuri square in the shin.
"DAMN it, you scared me half to death!"
Shuri went slack-jawed.
"What! What did I do!"
"You little—weasel—I thought the Matriarch had actually ARRIVED, you nearly scrambled my brains!!"
That lunatic nearly rattled my skull loose!
Isaac turned his gaze to the hand mirror the peerless beauty held aloft. Rising from its surface was a figure of light, watching Isaac with steady, observing eyes.
It resembled a communication orb—except for one difference. Where an orb showed a blurry smear, this face was rendered as crisp as the real thing... no, hold on. WHY does her face look exactly as it did a hundred and fifty years ago, DAMN IT?!
I'M the one who's shocked, thanks to YOU, you witch!
And while we're at it—have some shame and AGE a little!!
The apprentices, meanwhile, were in an uproar of disbelief.
"She came all this way... for mere apprentices?"
Neither Melissa nor Leah were ever free of their duties.
"Maybe she just came to see one of her own...?"
"As if. The rule is that Saintesses keep their hands off worldly affairs—family matters included."
Let alone coming to see Eshua men, ninety-nine percent of whom were officially graded as defective merchandise.
Then Leah turned a smile upon Niger.
"The truth is, I came because I've taken quite an interest in the Red House's third son—Niger Sephet."
"Wh-what?! Really?!"
"WHAT?!"
The Red Team clapped their hands over their mouths and erupted in cheers, and Niger Sephet flushed red as if he could hardly believe it.
See! No one just dies for no reason—fortune smiles on the desperate!
He'd been humiliated time and again, so surely the heavens owed him one lucky break!
His shoulders climbed toward his ears.
After all, what man alive could possibly hate the attention of a Saintess...
"Because I simply had to see, with my own eyes, what manner of imbecile manages to lose his own subordinates in a trial of Harmony—the heir to the Red House, no less—and then fumbles about so hopelessly that he starts slapping penalties on what's left of them."
"...KHRGH!"
Leah beamed sweetly.
Yes, in truth she had come because of Grandfather Eli. The moment word of the adoption reached him, the man had looked ready to storm the Papal House on the spot.
But she was personally curious as well. About the one who had overcome the Skeleton King's curse.
"The Matriarch came bearing a gift as well."
Isaac's interest sharpened.
A gift.
Don't tell me it's money. Is it money?!
No—judging by her wording, an object. Which meant, without question, a holy relic! And relics belonging to a Saintess fetched fortunes at auction!
Excellent!
This kind, virtuous...
GO HOOOOOME!!!!
At those words, every priest in the room reacted instead with violent upheaval.
"A Saintess's secret art—that's Divine Miracle! Something money can't buy—!"
This time even Shuri was stunned.
Divine Miracle was a power set apart from ordinary divine might. One could call it a superior evolution of holy power altogether.
The supreme force in personal combat!
Naturally, the other teams were on the verge of rioting.
"Lord Niger! If this goes on, the Blue Team will gain the advantage...!"
And the ones troubled by the news were not merely the rival teams. There was trouble brewing on the home side as well.
Damn it... at this rate, that brat's ego is just going to balloon even higher!
That would be Molech.
He was the original architect of the plot to betray Shuri during Harmony. And Molech was currently under Isaac's intensive management.
"Hey. I don't care about the others, but you—the one who made our Boong-Boongie cry—you're a different story. You're on special surveillance."
"What?!"
"I've watched you sniffing around the Red dormitory. Your tiny little head is scheming to go crawling back to the Red again, isn't it? Big brother, do it one more time, and poisoning you will be the least of what happens."
...He was being blackmailed!
At this rate, I'll end up that brat's slave.
And against that backdrop, the Saintesses arriving was a heaven-sent opportunity!
A Saintess's endorsement carries enormous weight in choosing the head of the Blue Faith.
Naturally so—Saintesses were the final form of "perfected morality." Paragons of goodness and justice, fairness and virtue. When it came to selecting the leader of the Blue Faith, which pursued righteousness above all, their voice mattered supremely.
And if word got out that he'd threatened people with poison, did anyone think the Saintesses would simply look the other way?
According to Shuri, Isaac was the head candidate—but heads rolled, didn't they?
I'll expose every last crime and strip his qualification for good.
That was Molech's revenge.
Eyes rolling with madness, Molech threw himself prostrate.
"Lady Saintess! It is well and good to praise Isaac's deeds, but if his character cannot be corrected, his virtue will prove poison to us all!"
Molech burst into tears as if delivering a confession.
"That boy fed us poison! Just so he could pass Harmony!"
Melissa seemed genuinely taken aback.
Yes! That's it! Just as expected of a Saintess!I knew she'd be shocked!That's right, you brat. Serves your rotten face right...
...I'm sorry, what?
Wh-what on earth is she saying?!
Flustered, Molech scrambled to change his choice of words, as if to say that wasn't the point.
"Isaac beat us! Look, I'm injured too—he did this!"
He thrust out an arm he had deliberately wounded.
At the sight of that arm, mottled with deep bruises, the Matriarch's expression froze in rare, genuine gravity. It seemed Eli's worry over Isaac's character had not been unfounded after all.
Yes! That's the spirit!Now strip his qualification already—
WHAT?!
At that, Leah stepped in with a word of protest.
"Matriarch. If you lay hands on a human, they won't break—they'll turn into a slime. And too much pain in training only breeds illness."
Ah...! Of course. Lady Leah.
The Saintess famous for her gentleness!
Leah curved her lips into a smile and extended a hand.
"Shall I help instead? I can carve that arm off nice and clean for you."
"...?!"
Molech's terrified pupils dilated into pinpoints.
Damn it all...It's not just that brat who's wrong in the head.The pureblooded Eshuas are ALL insane!
Molech crawled on his belly, inch by agonizing inch, to hide behind Isaac. Watching him, Isaac clicked his tongue with an air of told you so.
"See, bro? I'm the nicer option—threats and all."
"...#$*$#&!"
"Good. Then from now on, you're my tea-servant for the Gold trials. That's meat-shield and errand boy to you."
Molech bobbed his head in meek surrender.
Isaac let out a long sigh.
Aigoo. Truly, the kindest soul in this entire country was him.