The Gift (2)
The visiting room of the Holy See was quiet save for one source of misery. Shuri let out a long sigh as he followed Isaac inside — and the cause was unmistakably Molech, who was slinking about with a tea tray, whimpering under his breath.
"Damn it all… why is my body doing a maid's work."
For the heir of a distinguished county, serving tea was evidently a deep humiliation, and the face he made — one twitch away from open sobbing — was truly a sight to behold.
That's what you get for picking the wrong person to try your tricks on.
Of all people to scheme against, he had to pick Isaac. Shuri himself hadn't lasted ten years in that household before fleeing to the academy.
Well, at least Isaac's not rotten to the core. He'll make him cry a bit and call it even, probably—
"Hey. You're the eldest son of a noble house and you can't even brew a proper cup of tea? It's too cold! Go make it again!"
"What? This is already the fifth time!"
"That's right! Five! You've carried it over five times and you still can't make one pot of tea — what are you, an idiot?"
"Why, you—!"
…Well, it seemed that one had well and truly been broken in. As bad as his family was, even he had never been treated like that.
Molech shot Leah a desperate, pleading look, silently begging her to say something to Isaac, but she didn't so much as pretend to notice. As a priest, this was precisely the moment she ought to have told him to stop tormenting his fellow man — instead, she simply gazed at Isaac.
And no wonder. The truth was, Leah already knew everything. She knew full well that Molech had been the one who tried to stab Shuri in the back during Harmony.
And that this youngest one threatened his own teammates with poison.
Not that it mattered — the whole reason her father Benjamin had sent her here in the first place.
"The outcome was good, so I'm glad — but seeing your behavior, and Rillai's… I'm a little worried about the state of the Blue faction."
…He had a point. A grandfather who handed out fraudulent curses, and an uncle who considered "a bit of violence" practically affection — neither of them was operating with a fully sane mind.
Especially Rillai, who was meant to be the very example for the Blue faction, and the head of House Eshua herself. As a member of Blue, such a match — no, such a scenario — was simply unimaginable. Nothing like it had ever happened, not once in all history!
And the one driving them all to it was a baby-faced youngest barely out of swaddling clothes?
"A child like that speaking of succeeding the headship? Absurd. He's still young, so you go and give him a firm education."
An education, he says.
Leah fixed Isaac with a gaze that was gentle and cold all at once.
Not that she didn't understand.
House Eshua really is cursed.
The sons born into Eshua, in particular, came in one of two flavors: utterly talentless, or born a genius. And every genius without exception came with a defect — a shortened lifespan, or a personality with a hole blown through it.
Especially the personality.
The fourth uncle needed no mention, and hadn't the rest of his brothers had their own issues?
"Should the family business trouble you so, Elder Sister?"
"Trouble me? You call this 'not troubling me' — abducting every girl you can get your hands on to manufacture Saintesses?"
"And why not? It's the duty of Eshua."
And then there was Isaac. Going by the rumors alone, this child was firmly in the "talented but morally bankrupt" category.
Still, he's young yet. Grandfather's attempting some character education, apparently.
In truth, Isaac's faith — or lack thereof — was a far graver problem than his personality. If the heresy inquisitors ever got wind of it, he'd be dragged off on the spot. But nobody here could possibly know that.
Leah smiled softly at Isaac.
"Isaac, do you want to become the head of House Eshua?"
"Yep. I do."
"And what would you do as head?"
At the question, Isaac — who had been wearing a sour expression this whole time — arched a single eyebrow.
Seriously? I'd been on my best behavior because you're some cousin I've never met and a Saintess candidate, and you open with an ideology screening?
Arms crossed, Isaac answered without a shred of concern.
"What else? First thing, I'd get rid of all the Saintesses."
"HEY!!!"
Shuri whipped around in horror.
The Pope's neck wasn't enough for him, now it's the SAINTESSES?!
No — fine, the brat was raised wrong, but saying this in front of a Saintess? The Saintess was the very symbol of House Eshua, pillars even the Eshua themselves could do nothing about. And Leah, though she looked like nothing more than a beautiful woman, was on the inside an 8th-Tier holy knight! How many generals had that hand of hers carved up?!
Shuri shot a nervous glance at Leah — but far from angry, she had merely gone wide-eyed. If anything, she looked utterly taken aback.
"Why?"
"Why?! Because Saintesses serve no purpose, obviously!"
Isaaac! Please, I'm begging you!
Shuri grabbed at him as if pleading for his life, but Isaac's eyes were dead serious.
Son of a— if you people exist, I'm the one who dies!
Shuri finally bowed his head in apology.
"Elder Sister. He's a child. A young one, still lacking in learning — so if you could only find it in your heart to…"
But Leah was smiling.
"And once the Saintesses are gone? What then?"
"A rich bum."
Shuri clutched his face like he wanted to die.
Is this REALLY something a member of Blue should be saying?!
No, more than that — a Saintess's word carried enormous weight in the selection of a successor. On Leah's testimony alone, the Council of Elders could strike Isaac from the candidacy.
Shuri didn't particularly like Isaac. But neither did he want someone that capable falling out of the running for headship.
"Elder Sister… this one's eaten the Skeleton Demon King's magic and his mind's gone rather strange. Just ignore him."
But Leah burst out laughing.
"True. He's certainly not sane."
At that clear, ringing laughter, Shuri stared in shock — he had never once heard Leah laugh out loud before.
Isaac, meanwhile, looked at the hologram of Melissa.
"Speaking of which, Grandma — why not retire from Saintess duty too? You're not the least bit useful."
"ISAAAC!!!"
Isaac glared back with knife-slitted eyes.
The moment YOU retire, I can swallow Eshua whole and erase this country off the map. Just so we're clear.
"Quit hunting the Skeleton Demon King and retire. I'll catch him for you."
Granted, "catching" him would mean catching a fake — but either way, Grandma's happy, grandson's happy. Win-win.
And once she retired, she could share out the holy relics. All of them, straight to auction.
Isaac's insides were pitch-black, outright rotting — yet unexpectedly, Shuri actually agreed.
"That's true. Everyone misses the Matriarch. Ten years without once coming home… it's more than time for her to return…"
But Melissa smiled, strangely bitter.
"You cannot come home."
Why not, you old hag? Fine, whatever — hurry up and hand over your heirlooms already!
"This grandmother committed a sin that must never be spoken of."
"…A sin that must never be spoken of?"
"The reason House Eshua is cursed is entirely my fault. To lift the curse, there is no choice but to slay the Skeleton Demon King."
Isaac went wide-eyed, and Shuri's face froze.
Melissa answered only with a smile in place of words — but in truth, Leah already knew the answer. Because Melissa had told her herself.
"Leah, the truth is, this grandmother had exactly one chance to kill the Skeleton Demon King. It was truly the perfect opportunity. I could have erased him from existence, utterly and for good. But I could not kill him."
"Why not?"
"…Who can say. But I suppose the gods would not forgive it."
The Matriarch had swallowed the details, but there had surely been a reason — a reason Melissa couldn't bring herself to kill the Skeleton Demon King.
Then, in answer, Melissa simply made a small gesture. At the motion, Leah produced a box.
"Well, the reason I asked to see Isaac today was, in fact, none other than this."
At the Matriarch's gift, Shuri's jaw dropped clean open.
"This is…!"
Even Isaac was genuinely stunned — and Whisper shrieked in alarm.
"Is that not the Saintess's Rosary!"
Yes — that was the emblematic relic of the Saintess mantle, a one-of-a-kind treasure beyond any price in the world.
What on earth is this old woman playing at…
But Melissa seemed deep in thought. And no wonder — during the Gold Pentagon, she had read the movements of a demon in the events.
It was that demon. I'm certain of it.
Fourteen years ago, back when Rillai was still an apprentice priest. A demon that had inflicted the worst slaughter in the history of the Gold Pentagon — and that creature was now headed for the apprentices' trial grounds.
The Priest Hunter, hunted across the length of the Holy Empire and never once caught. A depraved fiend that cornered nothing but freshly ordained young priests and devoured them. She had been moving to stem the damage herself, but her premonition was grim.
Something will happen this year. Without question.
And so — insurance.
"I hear Isaac is weak in offensive divine arts. I've poured my power into that relic, so you will be able to invoke a Miracle with it. If it comes to the worst, you may even summon me."
No thanks, YOU'RE not needed, go away and never come back.
"The remaining Pentagons cannot be survived on purification arts alone. Use it in place of offensive divine arts."
You little— Well. She did hand over the thing I need most, right when it matters most. I do have magic, but that's my trump card.
Anyway — retracted. The Saintesses' claims that she was useless… withdrawn.
"I will be traveling to Hella soon. When I do, I shall be giving you one-on-one exorcism training — for the Skeleton Demon King."
STILL NOT NEEDED!!! NEVER COME!!!
And with that, the hologram of Melissa vanished.
Shuri, who had apparently received a rather useful book of divine arts himself, rose to his feet in high spirits.
"Hey, visiting hours are up. Time for us to head back."
Just as Isaac moved to rise as well, Leah — unexpectedly — called him back.
"Isaac."
"Yes?"
Leah stared, unblinking, at Isaac's chest. At his heart.
That razor-sharp gaze was anything but ordinary, and Isaac flinched. And with good reason — Leah's eyes were the eyes of a Saintess.
The Saintess's eyes were, by their very nature, sacred sight that pierced straight through to the soul. And right now, they were fixed on nothing less than Isaac's heart.
And sure enough.
"You're carrying a magic core, aren't you?"
At those words, Isaac's face stiffened — a rare sight indeed.
Thud.
His heart lurched violently.
A magic core? Could she have found out I fabricated one?
Whisper, too, seemed rattled.
"D-don't tell me we've been discovered, Master? The magic?"
No one had caught on until now — but Saintesses were a different breed. The Saintess was a flawless weapon, engineered for one purpose alone: to kill the Skeleton Demon King. He had hidden himself perfectly, he'd believed — yet no one was quicker to the scent of the Demon King than they were.
Perhaps she had even identified his magic core. His soul was the same soul, after all — the unique signature of his mana wouldn't simply have changed.
And for a priest of the Holy Empire to build a magic core into their own body was an absolute taboo, punished by death. All of which meant that Isaac's gaze had turned quietly murderous. He couldn't predict how Leah would play it, and this was not a situation he welcomed.
If I don't deal with this one now—
"Why? Isn't that the magic core from the annex?"
Isaac's eyes went round.
…Th-the annex?
But Leah tilted her head and pointed at the pocket on his chest.
"You're carrying it in your pocket right this second. The magic core."
Isaac's hand drifted to his chest, entirely on its own.
Ah. Now that he thought of it — there was exactly one magic core he hadn't managed to eat yet.
What even is that core? Sealed up tight, I couldn't eat it either—
No, damn it! That scared me half to death!
It was a core he'd been lugging around precisely because it was too precious to waste — the strongest of all the cores in the annex. 9th Tier at the very least. He'd assumed that once he received ordination, he could break the seal with a release rite.
What IS this thing, that nothing I try cracks it open?
Even Whisper had failed to analyze the thing's true nature.
And yet, to his astonishment, Leah was looking at that magic core as though she understood it perfectly. She unclasped her own necklace and held it out.
"That seal — this should take care of it."
"?!"
Isaac stared at her like she'd lost her mind. Knowing about the thing at all was enough to induce a heart attack — and now what? She was offering to break the seal for him?
"I don't know whether you'll actually manage to wield it, but I do know you've been trying to revive the family's secret arts."
…Secret arts? The WHAT??
'Secret arts'? THIS thing?
But Leah had already risen from her seat.
"Come see me when your apprenticeship ends. I'll train you."
At that, Shuri gaped and came scrambling over, disbelief written all over him.
"You're — you're receiving direct training from Leah herself?! Dammit, I'm jealous!"
Meanwhile, as Leah stepped out of the Blue Living Quarters, the guard knight greeted her — then startled at the sight of the necklace missing from her throat.
"My lady, your heirloom — what have you done with it?"
"I left it with the youngest."
The knight's astonishment only deepened.
"Will you be alright? That relic is capable of uncovering the secret arts of House Eshua. Isn't that why the head passed it down to you and no one else?"
He could hardly fail to grasp the meaning the thing carried.
"The other direct heirs covet it desperately, my lady!"
"Then if it's stolen from him, that was his own measure of skill."
"If he succeeds, that child will become the next head!"
Leah gave a small laugh.
"I can hardly let him end up in the Papal household, can I?"
"My lady!"
She thought back on Isaac's words.
"First thing, I'd get rid of all the Saintesses."
She had found her little brother's answer profoundly pleasing — so pleasing, in fact, that she turned it over in her heart, and savored it, and savored it again.