But You Said Something Different? (1)
Ah, now that he thought about it, someone had once said it. That man is a social animal.
"Hey! That's not what we agreed on!!"
"You can't just change the mission on a whim without even consulting us!"
Isaac let out a low sigh at the protests from his Blue team members. Right. THIS is what humans are. Wretched beasts who demand a consensus over absolutely nothing... Oops. I'm one of them now, aren't I.
Fine. Then I suppose I'd better get used to this consensus business.
Isaac raised his rattle.
"We're going to reach an agreement right now. Anyone here who doesn't want to catch demons?"
"......"
At the sight of the golden rattle gleaming more viciously than usual, the Blue team's pupils trembled in unison. Something told them that if they said no, that rattle would come flying to rearrange their faces.
"Good. Humans are creatures of consensus, after all. Here's the plan: we strike down the demons from fourteen years ago, reclaim the holy knights, resolve the Gold Pentagon more flawlessly than anyone in history, and take the King. Any spirited dissenter who'd like to raise an objection right here and now?"
You absolute bastard! That is NOT what consensus means!
Normally the Blue team would have backed down right about here, but this was a matter of principle. Vassal families that followed Blue? Bowing to the commands of the head family? Yeah, only up to a certain damn point!
This time, they refused to yield an inch.
"The demon subjugation is one thing, but honestly, those guys are the real problem!"
"Blood is thicker than water — they're going to betray us, just watch!"
The couriers had every right to bristle at that.
"Heh. I keep cutting you slack because you're supposedly Isaac's vassals, and you keep running your mouths like shit."
"Isaac. Do you even know why those guys only ever get assigned courier duty? It's because they're... AAGH!!"
The Blue team shrieked as the couriers seized them by the collars. Thick veins bulged along the forearms that gripped them, and even the fingernails had sharpened into claws.
And that wasn't all. Their eyes split open into slitted demon pupils, and their teeth were growing razor-sharp — growing?!
Holy crap! These ARE demons!
The Blue team, faces drained snow-white, invoked holy law at once.
"I knew this would happen!"
There was a reason the priests treated the half-bloods like beasts. When they lost their temper, demon blood surged in response, and demonization set in. And the base nature of a demon? Hunger.
"GRAAAH, CHOMP!"
"AAAH! Don't eat me! Spare me!"
As the couriers lunged, Isaac stepped in.
"You mutts. Are you going to snap out of it or not?!"
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Isaac's rattle hammered mercilessly into the couriers' skulls. The blows landed, and they quickly reverted to their original forms. Isaac clicked his tongue as if to say, stay in line.
"This is exactly why those idiots don't trust you people."
"W-we're sorry. It's not normally this fast — the transformation doesn't usually come on this quickly."
Yeah, I bet not. I'm the one who stirred you up.
"But why do we keep losing our temper like...?"
Why? Because I plan to work you like slaves, puhuh.
"Something felt like it was pressing down on my head, and then my eyes just rolled over."
Right. When Whisper — my mana — touches you, your blood comes to a boil. That's just how you're built.
The leader of the couriers wore a grave expression.
"Perhaps drawing near to the Magic Empire's territory is causing mana to rub against our souls?"
Can't exactly tell them it was LICKING them, though.
"But still, Master Isaac is remarkable...! Normally it takes an age to come back from that!"
"It's true! One strike and we snapped right back to normal!"
Puhuh!
Well, obviously!
Your blood boils in response to my mana — which means if I ever want to kill you, all it takes is one good scare!
"Truly... to wield power like this, there's no doubt at all that you are the Saint, Master Isaac!"
No. It's the power of a Demon King, not a Saint.
Well, whatever. That's not the point.
"See, guys? Your big brothers have got it handled. Nothing to be scared of, right?"
But the Blue team was still glaring, eyes bulging.
"Absolutely not! Let's leave this mission to the other holy knights — you just go retrieve the relic!"
Irritation was beginning to creep up on Isaac.
These little brats.
I tried to reason with them nicely, like we're a team, and they can't even follow the conversation?
Isaac's eyes turned dangerous.
"I'm telling you I'll protect you. What's the problem?"
But the Blue team clearly saw many problems, and they seized hold of him.
"...What kind of older brothers would just stand there and watch their little brother die!"
...Huh?
What are they even talking about—
The Blue team members bit their lips hard and sighed. All of them seemed to carry both gratitude and guilt toward Isaac.
"You risked your life coming all the way out here to protect Blue and us. We know."
No I didn't. I came to eat a Magic Core.
"We understand, truly. Someone like Molech can just transfer to another team, but those of us who've served Blue faithfully all these years have nowhere else to go. And when Blue's honor falls, the families that follow Blue fall with it."
"We know full well that as Blue's guardian, you were trying to shield Blue — and all of us attached to it."
Uh... sorry? I didn't even know you people existed.
"If you had asked to change the mission, our honor would have been dragged down with it."
...Couldn't care less about your honor.
But Nathan, the eldest of the Blue team, smiled and said:
"The mere fact that you accepted this mission is enough for us to be grateful."
"More than that — word of you spread all the way to the Red Pentagon. That's entirely your doing."
"But between the Red Pentagon and the Gold... yes, by custom the guardian family is supposed to raise up its vassal families. Even so, you're still so young, and you keep shouldering far too much alone."
Uh, I'm pretty sure they've got some massive misunderstanding going on, but... is it really worth correcting?
"So we all talked it over. We're your older brothers — the least we can do is lighten your load."
"This time, it's our turn to protect you."
"Shuri agreed on that point too. He asked us to help."
Shuri gave a cough — kheum — and averted his gaze.
Ah. Don't tell me... is that why these idiots came along after all, writing their wills and complaining the whole way? Because they were worried?
So THAT'S why. In a group where some, like Molech, had already turned traitor and run off, these fifteen alone had chased him all the way out here. Honestly, even for vassal families, there was no obligation to follow him like this.
'Well, for a pack of filthy priests, not bad at all.'
Truthfully, they were nothing like demons. Demons never move a muscle unless their own lives or profits are on the line. No wonder he couldn't quite understand these people.
'...No. Wait. That's not quite it either.'
Right now, Isaac was human.
The way of thinking from his Skeleton King days still clung to him, and Blue's way of thinking didn't compute — and yet, once in a while, following someone for no reward at all was exactly what being human meant.
A place where you didn't have to survive alone. A place where, sometimes, people helped you for no reason at all.
Yes. The thing he had longed for across hundreds of years...
"Ahem. You're a foul little brat, but you're the one fated to become the Saint. So we'll have to help you and look after you to the very end."
"Right. And speaking of which — that candy and liquor those guys bought for you? We threw it all out in advance. Asceticism is a priest's virtue, you know."
...Yeah. You really are dogshit priests. Every last one of you is marked for purge.
Just then, a team member in charge of sorting the luggage came sprinting over, something clutched in his hands.
"Emergency! There's a cursed object in Isaac's bag!"
Isaac and the entire team alike froze at the sight of it.
"A bird?"
"It looks covered in blood — is it dead?"
But the moment Isaac laid eyes on that bird, something changed in them.
'You little bastard.'
Shuri, meanwhile, held the others back as if to warn them away.
"Someone might have slipped a dead bird in there to curse you. We need to investigate thoroughly first—"
"That's enough. Hand it over. You lot — Clingy Shuri included — just stand there and look pretty. Or go buy something."
"What? Just a moment—!"
Isaac shooed the brothers out bodily. Then he hoisted the sparrow up with a menacing grip.
"Wake up. Before I crack your skull open and roast you."
The sparrow, which everyone had assumed was dead, jolted upright in terror. Right. I figured it was just dozing off with a full belly.
"And what business, exactly, does a low-grade demon mutt have inside MY bag? So shameless."
As Isaac brought the rattle down toward the sparrow, it shrieked and wailed:
At the unexpected name, Isaac's eyes went round.
Blood Spider...
"Don't tell me — you're one of the Fourteen Six Demons' people?"
The Blood Spider was a name Isaac could not possibly fail to know.
Why? Why do you think? He's locked up in the Papal Court's prison right now — and he's the very prisoner I'm planning to break out!
And the bird had brought news of its own.
Apparently, the imprisoned subordinate had heard news of his lord's fate and scraped together some means of making contact. This trembling low-grade demon was someone Isaac had never seen before — so presumably, it was one of his subordinate's connections.
And, just to be safe, it seemed the bird had kept hidden the fact that Isaac was the Skeleton King.
"So. What information did you bring?"
Isaac squeezed its throat, and the sparrow sobbed its answer through the tears.
"Couldn't care less about any of that."
They're all under the Demon King's banner anyway.
"The mastermind, you say — the one who sent that fake Skeleton King?"
A hollow laugh escaped Isaac.
Ah-ha.
So it was her, huh?
The one who paraded that knockoff Skeleton King out at the Ordination Ceremony and let the demons inside?
And the reason Grandpa nearly murdered me on the spot, out of nowhere?
The sparrow had even more intriguing news.
"Hoo. Ate the Skeleton King's power, did she? I suppose that Skeleton King handed it over himself?"
At that, the sparrow's eyes bulged.
"Oh? And why's that?"
"Oh?"
Not conjecture. Certainty.
The real one is right here.
Hm. Understood.
So there might still be remnants of my own power floating around the demon camp. The residue of what I blew up in the God Realm.
Whether that's all of it or not, who knows.
"Right. Got it."
Isaac stuffed the sparrow into his pocket and smiled.
So the subordinate sent this thing out of worry for him.
Well, the man was nothing if not loyal — understandable. And judging by the rumors, he was the sort of lunatic who'd toyed with the entire Holy Empire fourteen years ago.
But still.
'Did they really think I'd lose to some high-rank demon?'
Not even 150 years, and they've already forgotten their master's strength? At that point, laughing was the only option.
And just then—
"Isaac! We bought the stuff!"
The Blue team came puffing back with the herbs Isaac had ordered.
"Here's the herbs you wanted, and... huh? What's that? The bird? Where'd it go?"
"Ah. Plucked it and put it in the refrigerator."
"WHAT?!!"
"Anyway, we leave tomorrow morning, so eat up. I already ordered."
The Blue team grumbled something about dog-training school and took their seats.
Just then, drinks and dishes began arriving. One glance told everyone the spread was extravagant, and the Blue team's eyes spun in their sockets.
"Isaac, you...! You ordered all this... for us?!"
No. I literally couldn't afford to order for you lot.
Isaac frowned and looked up at the waitress who had brought the food.
"I didn't order anything like this."
The waitress beamed at him, radiant and charming.
"Oh, I could tell you were priest-apprentices of Blue on pilgrimage. It's on the house — our treat for the clergy."
"Whoa, Isaac, I'm so jealous. A gorgeous older sister like her...!"
Everyone gave a guilty kheum, kheum — a cough — and turned to look at the waitress. Only Isaac tilted his head.
He had no choice.
What IS this thing? Every angle I look at it, it's a demon.
And going by both the sparrow's intelligence and the Western demon stench rolling off her in waves — this was almost certainly the very creature the bird had described.
Which meant Isaac had no alternative but to wear a smile of pure disgust.
'What the hell. "Lying low and waiting for me," was it?'
That's not what you said, is it?