Are You Out of Your Mind? (2)
Isaac Eshua.
Yes, he'd thought the boy was strange. Sure, he'd thought that. He had thought it, and yet……
"Isaac's team picked the Relays?"
He'd simply never imagined the kid had a hobby of committing suicide.
Cardinal Verith let out a bitter laugh at the unexpected news.
It was Cardinal Verith himself who had assigned the mission destinations this time. And if he handed Isaac an assignment that was absolutely impossible to solve? Then either Isaac died or Blue died — either way, it was a win.
Of course, there had been variables.
The paladin contract.
And the possibility that Isaac would pick Group 1, the Imperial Knights.
That sly little Crown Prince.
The moment the Gold Pentagon began, the Crown Prince had quietly slipped the Imperial Knights into the paladin pool.
Like his father — no, worse than his father.
He'd clearly tucked them in either to keep watch, or with orders to keep an eye on Isaac and help him along.
And Group 1 belonged to the Imperial Knights. There was a reason they were the Imperial Knights. Even in the Pentagon, they'd have at least some chance of survival.
In other words, Isaac was no fool either — the assumption had been that he'd pick the Imperial Knights.
And yet…
He actually picked those unbroken colts.
The Relays. Famous names, every one of them. Purely on ability, they outstripped the Imperial Knights — but every last one of them was a heretic who despised priests.
That was why they'd never managed to settle anywhere in the entire Holy Empire. Used only as courier knights, mocked and scorned by all.
The Gold priests who heard the news snorted as well.
"That land is crawling with entrenched mages as it is. Escort is the single most important thing, and of all people, he picks men with no divine protection whatsoever……"
"Well, the Blue Faith folk aren't idiots. Do you think he simply chose them at random?"
"Could it be that Isaac Eshua took them intending to tame the Relays?"
"Honestly, it's no accident His Holiness the Pope cast them aside in the first place. The Pope himself once tried to break them and failed. On ability alone, they're the finest…"
At those words, several of the priests furrowed their brows.
"And if that boy really does tame them?"
They swallowed hard. If it truly came to that, Isaac would gain a weapon of terrifying power.
But Cardinal Verith cut the chatter short as he sipped his tea.
"Whatever else they are, the children of the Saintess line are fledglings."
"!"
"Besides, those men can never love priests. If he actually tamed them, why, he'd be a true Saint indeed."
"……!"
Could mere apprentices really take in what even the Pope himself could not?
Cardinal Verith recalled the Pope's message.
"Watch him closely."
The subject was none other than Isaac.
And the meaning of those words was wariness.
Granted, he couldn't tell whether that wariness concerned House Verith alone, or the Holy Empire entire.
In any case, whatever the Pope sensed in that boy, for him to speak so at all was rare.
He must be dealt with.
Well, the ideal outcome would be for Isaac to come to House Verith and summon the Supreme God for them — but if he wouldn't become theirs, then it was far better that he never appear in the world at all.
From the very beginning, the very existence of the Saintess's line had been an annoyance. A being close to God, an absolute existence — there could only be one, and it had to belong to the Papal house.
"Those brats couldn't catch the Relays, let alone the demon of fourteen years ago."
Not that it mattered. The only real problem was that Kina kept sniffing around Blue, the very faction he was trying to erase……
"So where is Kina? I made it plain that if she did not return home by today, she would be punished."
It wasn't as though Kina clinging to Blue would accomplish anything. But the chamberlain only rolled his eyes.
"That is… she said she would rather accept her punishment, and told us not to come looking for her……"
Crack.
The sound of Cardinal Verith's teacup splitting rang through the room.
…That damned brat. Seriously?
Blue, meanwhile, was in just as much of a meltdown.
"ISAAC!"
Of all the choices in the world, he had to pick the Relays!
When the news came from the banquet hall, Rillai pounded his head against the wall. He hadn't been able to interfere — choosing one's paladins was part of the trial — but he'd dropped hints with everything he had!
Carrying two cups with him everywhere. Handing out two snacks at a time. He'd hinted and hinted until he was blue in the face!
And this was what he got……!
The Relays……!!
Rillai was a paladin himself, and he knew his fellows better than anyone.
The Relays? They didn't merely dislike priests. They genuinely, deeply hated them.
Why?
Why do you think!
Because they're demon half-bloods!!
Well, only a handful even within the Holy See know that truth, but…….
The only reason they hadn't been exiled outright was that their Gift was outstanding. Casting them out of Hella would only mean handing an asset to some other nation.
In any case, he'd once tried to get close to them himself, only to be brushed off for being from a priestly house!
There's no way they'd warm to a pureblood like Isaac……!
No — if it ended at mere dislike, that would be a blessing!
Those men are hunting a demon.
And Isaac was walking straight into a mission that involved chasing demons of its own accord?
Damn it! As long as they don't use the children as bait and offerings to track the demon, we'll be lucky……!
Perhaps everyone shared the thought, because the paladins were stirring even more gravely than before.
Is Blue honestly a pervert who savors death? Is Rillai the sort who finds a hobby in throwing his nephew into hell? That was the look in every eye turned toward him.
A mission chasing the demon of fourteen years ago — that alone is a death sentence.
They're children. They're going to die. They're going to die.
Right on cue, a familiar face appeared in the banquet hall.
"Ah!"
"It's the Cardinal of Blue!"
Eli, head of House Eshua, materialized directly in front of Isaac.
"G-Grandpa?"
Shuri swallowed at the furious expression on the Blue lord's face. Apparently this whole affair was not something that could simply slide.
"Isaac. With me."
"!"
The Blue team threw both hands up in a silent plea for mercy—
"Aaah! It's light… light itself!! The Lord of Blue has come……!"
"Please, save us……!"
"Ugh, Grandpa, let go. Let go of me and then talk."
Grumbling, Isaac was dragged off by the Lord of Blue.
Once he'd shut Isaac inside a room, the Blue lord got straight to the point.
"What are you playing at?"
"!"
His voice was absolutely livid. The ferocity of his holy power made Isaac's skin prickle.
"You know as well as I do that this mission is no joke."
Yeah, you bastard. It's no joke for me either.
"Or are you simply too young to grasp what it means?"
Look who's talking, you brat younger than me, glaring like that — he couldn't exactly say that, so he put on his prettiest voice instead.
"No, I understand it perfectly. Gold handed us this mission intending to erase us, didn't they?"
The lord's eyes grew darker still.
"Then why? Were you riding so high off your triumphs against the faiths at war with us that you got drunk on it? Or is this all just another way to drum up attention in your hunger to become the Saint?"
Ooh, Grandpa is mad. He never got this angry even when I smashed the manor to pieces and raised hell.
But then, fair enough. More than twenty noble children were being marched toward death on his word alone. And since he seemed to have accepted it without thinking it through, it made sense for the head of Blue to be furious.
Anyway, being in the lord's bad books was intolerable — time to open with something pretty.
"Grandfather. If I'd asked to change the mission, Blue's honor would have suffered. I couldn't bear that."
There. How's that? Pretty, right? Devastatingly pretty, isn't it?
But far from being moved, the lord looked if anything exasperated beyond words.
"…You. Of all people, you dare speak to me of Blue's honor?"
The sheer absurdity of it — the man looked ready to snap both of Isaac's legs — left Isaac genuinely flustered.
What! I gave you the pretty words! I've been mocked my whole life for failing to catch the Skeleton Demon King — was I supposed to just let our honor rot down to dog dirt?!
[No…. It's just that the one lecturing us about honor happens to be you, my lord……]
Back off!!
But the Lord of Blue only looked at Isaac with something like disappointment.
"Are the lives of your retainers worth so little to you? So cheap that you'd spend them at will for the sake of mere pride?"
"!"
At the growing chill in the lord's gaze, Isaac narrowed his eyes, reading the room.
Hm. This is bad.
No joke — one wrong step and the lordship sails away without me.
So Isaac drew in a deep breath and spoke.
"Grandfather. It is not mere pride."
"!"
"You know it as well as anyone. If I had abandoned this mission, I might have saved my life — but Blue would die. You know better than anyone that they mean to erase the Blue Faith. Blue is the faith that shields the weak. I believe our honor, sinking as it is, belongs among those we are sworn to shield."
How's that, my lord?
Correct answer, right, you bastard?
Even by his own assessment it was a rather satisfying answer — but for some reason, the lord only snorted.
"What's your game."
What's my game, old man?
"What scheme lies behind it, that a wielder of demonic mana preaches to me of Blue's honor while lying to my face?"
"!"
"Why that face? Did you truly believe I wouldn't notice that you use demonic mana — that you crave it?"
[M-My lord!]
Isaac was inwardly rattled.
Hm. So that's the head of the priesthood for you.
He might not know about the magic core, but had he actually registered the Skeleton Demon King's mana being used directly?
"The only reason I watched you in silence is that you were my sorest wound. Because I felt my own share of responsibility for what was done to your parents. But I find I can no longer place my trust in a boy all glittering words and nothing beneath them."
Damn it, so it's that stubborn— obstinate old Saintess line. Sweet-talking alone only earns me more hostility.
Fine, then. Nothing for it but to charge straight up the middle.
[Charge straight— my lord, surely you don't intend to reveal your identity…!]
"Grandfather. I've kept this secret until now, but the truth is, from the day I was born to this very moment, I have hated the Skeleton Demon King enough to want him dead!"
[……Do lies like that not invite divine punishment?! The Blue Faith expressly forbids lying!]
Shut up! The Blue Faith, my ass! I can't even sense it anyway!
Whisper's pupils were spinning in their sockets, but Isaac gazed at the lord with utter, unwavering sincerity.
"Because of that damned Skeleton Demon King, I lost my parents. I bear a curse. Because that wretch slipped through our fingers, Blue is mocked and scorned — the shame of it keeps me from sleeping at night!"
[……You could have just let him win, once or twice, back in the day.]
"And the reason I sought to wield the Skeleton Demon King's power is so that I could study him. To destroy him."
[……You could end that by cracking your own skull open.]
But the lord's expression had turned remarkably strange.
His eyes say it's no lie.
The boy truly loathed the Skeleton Demon King with every fiber of his being — as if he were looking upon the murderer of his own blood.
"Grandfather. Blue taught us to know the enemy first, however great the danger."
"Hence your interest in demonic mana?"
"Yes. And I understand your devotion to doctrine, but if Eshua falls, our people die — and the Skeleton Demon King goes unslain. The Gold Faith or some other creed would snatch up the official subjugation mission. The seat of the Saint is no different. That is all the more reason I will not surrender it. The one to kill the Skeleton Demon King must be me."
"And so Eshua must be protected?"
Yes! What lunatic hands their own dinner to someone else?!
That counterfeit bastard!
"Give up our honor, and I may live — but your fingers die, Grandfather. Please do not neglect your family. The fingers of your hand are also among the weak you must embrace."
"Ha."
Under the lord's astonished gaze, Isaac pressed on.
"Naturally, I'm not marching to my death without a chance. That's why I chose the Relays."
At that, the lord was inwardly startled.
This boy — did he notice? Their true nature?
After a long moment of thought, the Lord of Blue let out a sigh that was half lament.
"And here I came to tell you that for the sake of Blue's honor, there is no need for you to throw your life away."
Isaac's eyes went round.
Uh… what is this old man. Don't tell me he was angry because I said I'd go die?
…No, surely not.
But the lord was gazing at Isaac with something strangely tender in his eyes.
"So in the end, you truly are Blue's own."
What on earth is that supposed to mean?
The lord gave up on words and simply looked at him. Well — he hadn't expected success from a mission to deal with the demon of fourteen years ago anyway.
"Fail the mission for all I care. Only come back alive, you and your teammates alike. And if you do return alive from the Gold Pentagon……"
Isaac's eyes gleamed.
…If I return?
"I will recognize you as my official heir. Your succession lessons begin then."
As Isaac bowed his head, the corners of his mouth slid slowly upward.
Yes! That's it! That's exactly it!
Puhet!
Isaac packed his things at once and made his way out of the capital.
Not that his teammates weren't already clutching their wills and weeping.
"We're meeting up with the knights at the village ahead."
"Damn it, at this point I'm surviving out of sheer spite!"
"Wooo!"
His teammates hurried ahead, and just as Isaac moved to follow, Whisper spoke up.
[Do you truly intend to carry out the mission?]
Yep. That's the only way I save my underlings AND the Eshua fortune becomes mine!
[Incidentally, as you instructed, I did some investigating into that demon of fourteen years ago.]
Yeah? What kind of demon?
[Savage, my lord. It devoured young priests. Particularly fond of eating their brains, gleefully and at length.]
Isaac's eyebrows twitched.
The consumption of humans was the one absolute taboo the Skeleton Demon King had decreed above all others — a prohibition still in force to this very day.
And I asked WHO, exactly.
[Ah… well, you see……]
What, if it's a demon born after the Skeleton King vanished, it might be someone I don't know?
[No, my lord. It may well be a demon you do know. It reportedly belongs to the Western Legion Corps. Not one of the Fourteen Six Demons, but……]
Isaac let out a hollow laugh.
Ah. So it's not some nameless chick, is what you're telling me?
And these bastards dared to break the one rule I laid down?
I'll deal with them.
And then—
There was a woman watching Isaac as he made his way toward the village. The very demon of fourteen years ago.
"Found you. The Eshua brat who ate the flesh of the great Skeleton Demon King — and those tasty little morsels with him."
As if she'd been waiting all along, Ash fell into pursuit behind Isaac.