What Did You Just Say? (4)
The Papal Court.
There was someone there who had been waiting for news of Isaac.
"Is that so? The Blue Faith's team has entered Crashandia?"
None other than Cardinal Verith.
At his master's words, spoken as if he had been expecting this all along, the attendant bowed his head and reported.
"The mages' interference prevented us from following them further, so we couldn't observe to the very end, but they definitely entered the mission site."
Cardinal Verith had been waiting for this news as anxiously as he had for word of the Crown Prince and the head of the Blue Faith. A contemptuous snort escaped him.
"I expected those demons to strip them bare before they even got halfway there, yet somehow they actually made it?"
By all rights, the Blue team should have been thoroughly fleeced by the demons and never reached their destination. If anything, the ones getting fleeced had been the demons, but that was beside the point.
And yet the boy had dragged them all the way there without falling into a single trap.
"So that's what the Blue Faith's cub is made of, young as he is."
It seemed the boy would not, like the other priests, get shaken down for every coin and come home sobbing.
"But there is something strange, Your Eminence."
"Strange?"
"It appears Isaac Eshua entered the mission site alone."
"Alone?"
"Yes."
The instant the words left the attendant's mouth, Cardinal Verith burst out laughing.
"It seems the Blue Faith's cub couldn't tame the demons after all."
His bodyguard knights couldn't even stay at their master's side!
Still, who would have thought they'd send a ten-year-old child off by himself? Had the boy earned their hatred that badly?
"Well, ours are the sort we gave up on taming long ago."
It was possible that some incident had befallen the Blue team, forcing Isaac to move alone. But really. However ferocious the demons were, they were still capable holy knights under the Papacy's banner. There was no way that entire company had been caught up in some disaster — the only conclusion was that they had abandoned Isaac.
"He had no chance of completing the mission anyway, but he certainly won't be coming back in one piece."
"Indeed. We made sure from the start that he could never return to Hella."
They had laid traps along the road home — quite unlike what Isaac imagined.
"Our Gold Faith is the faith that protects its people by means of Exclusion."
A faith that repelled demons, false doctrine, and all things unclean — that shielded its allies with purity.
Coexistence with demons?
Just what were they thinking, letting filthy vermin like the Blue Faith loose in the Pope's country? They should have meekly come in as an adopted branch instead.
Not that he'd expected the Eshua family to make the first offer. A fine turn of events, all the same.
-Hirei, my dear nephews seem likely to visit your mission territory. Shall we have them play together?
The fourth son of House Eshua.
With the eldest gone, he was now the most likely heir of the Blue Faith. His ability was flawless, and he bore no defects — no illness, no death sentence, no infertility. And yet his father refused to hand over his seat, which left him seething with resentment.
Worse still, the gossip at high society balls was that the succession would skip him entirely and pass to the children — to the nephews. How furious that must make him.
And above all, he had ties to the mages.
"If we use the mages to eliminate them, the Gold Faith's hands stay clean as well. Two birds with one stone."
"But might the Imperial family send aid? They've already shown considerable interest in Isaac Eshua, after all..."
At that, Cardinal Verith let out a derisive snort.
What? Aid?
"The Imperial family is in no position to spare anyone right now. They're saddled with a very nasty problem."
Crashandia.
Why else would he have specifically ordered Isaac to that region? Lately, it had become a flashpoint of dispute between the Holy Empire and the Magic Empire.
The Imperial court has quite the headache on its hands.
Put simply, it was a squalid little squabble between whales over territory.
Crashandia had recently been swallowed by the Magic Empire — yet for the Holy Empire, it had been the shortest route for a rather lucrative import-export trade.
The problem was that those Magic Empire thieves had let their bandit instincts take over.
Having gobbled up the region, they were now openly demanding an absurd toll for passage.
Give it up, and it was a painful loss; fight for it, and it was practically an invitation to war. Neither option was palatable.
And now they wanted to send Imperial troops there?
"That's war. Not that I'd mind a clash in itself, but there are kingdoms bordering the area, and that makes it a headache."
In fact, if the Magic Empire could pin some transgression on the Holy Empire, the Imperial family would find itself in dire straits — and the Blue Faith and the throne would drift apart, no?
Understanding every piece of that board, the cardinal had deliberately sent the Blue team to that land.
"Fail the mission, never return home, and House Blue becomes a laughingstock. I can see it all unfolding before my eyes."
After all, there was not a soul in the Magic Empire who would take Isaac's side.
"WHAT?!"
"He's the prince of the Magic Empire?!"
The Blue team stood frozen, their souls drained clean out of them.
Thanks to Isaac, they'd been cured — well, cured, or maybe just drained of all their strength by the little leech, they weren't sure — but either way, they'd been so grateful they'd nearly scooped him up and kissed him.
They'd even resolved never to second-guess another word out of Isaac's mouth... and then this. Seriously. Why did this brat cause a catastrophe everywhere he set foot?
What? A prince?
There's no way that kid would stay quiet after spotting a jackpot of that caliber!!
In one word: a disaster was seconds away from happening.
"Ahaha, this is exactly why one hides one's identity. My apologies for startling you priests!"
...Startled by his identity, my ass.
To the Blue team, that was the least of their concerns. What mattered was something else entirely.
Damn it, not only is he a prince, but the thing he's carrying is a national treasure of the Empire?!
They stared anxiously at Isaac, their eyes flicking to the golden necklace the little prince wore.
Sure enough, Isaac's gaze kept drifting slyly back to the necklace, over and over. Worse, he was circling casually with his hands clasped behind his back, chuckling under his breath — and that was deeply alarming.
He's appraising it!
Worse — he's already finished the calculation!!
Nearly half a year under one roof, and you learned these things whether you wanted to or not. You learned just how money-mad that creature was.
Who knew how he'd died in his past life — probably bursting at the seams with cash — but the fact remained: the boy was insane about money.
...That brat. Isn't he especially unhinged about gold?
Is he going to poison us and steal it?
Oh, come on. He'd have to have a plan to do that.
Has that kid ever once had a plan?
......
...God damn it.
No idea why they, of all people — actual priests — had to worry about being robbed, but Isaac flashed a sly grin.
"Anyway, with this the Papal Court is screwed. We've earned merit beyond just that holy knight business."
"M-merit?"
"That's right! Do you have any idea how much a prince of the Magic Empire would fetch in ransom?"
...I'm going to burst a blood vessel and die from this kid before I even get to contract with a god.
"Isaaac..."
At Shuri's murderous glare, Isaac, who had been whispering to the Blue team, clicked his tongue. Tch.
Apparently he wasn't eager to get his candy privileges revoked again.
"Well, setting that aside, it IS merit. You know what they say — the foundation of politics is clearing your debts! By saving the prince, we've already repaid our debt to the Magic Empire!"
"!!"
Where on earth he'd learned this delinquent's theory of rulership, nobody knew, but the Blue team finally seemed to grasp Isaac's meaning.
Yes! Completing the mission alone would have stunned them, but this was a feat of state! With this, they could go home and grind the Papal Court's nose completely into the dirt!
"Then we must announce at once that we've rescued the prince of the Magic Empire—"
"Shh."
Isaac raised a finger to his lips and smiled brightly.
The moment he silenced them, the Blue team exchanged baffled looks.
Shh??
"You're telling us not to tell?"
"Yep."
"...???"
They stared at Isaac as though he'd gone completely mad.
Hold on — a minute ago he was preaching about exploiting their glorious achievements, and now he wanted silence?
But Isaac's eyes gleamed with unholy delight.
"Remember how I said the Gold Faith would have dug a trap to sabotage our mission?"
"Uh... yeah."
"So what happens if we walk straight into that trap of our own accord — while carrying the prince of the Magic Empire?"
You... devious little monster.
The Blue team grasped his entire scheme in an instant.
He's going to make the Papal Court drink poison!
If it were only themselves caught in the trap, fine — but the prince of the Magic Empire himself tangled in it? A full-scale investigation into the mastermind would be inevitable.
How mortifying would that be for the Gold Faith — the very architect of the trap?
Still, they were priests, at the end of the day.
"A trap, though — are you sure it actually exists? Even for them, I can't imagine they'd actually try to kill us."
Having been saved by Isaac's poison diagnosis once, they trusted him now — but there were limits to reason.
"I'll take your word for it, but even so, no priest would turn on his own allies..."
"That's assuming those bastards consider US allies."
"!"
The Papal lineage was the most exclusionary, aristocratic clique among the Five Faiths. To them, no one outside the Gold Faith counted as one of their own.
By that point, Shuri could only stare at Isaac with a hollow, disbelieving laugh.
"But that great-uncle of yours wouldn't make a move while it's so certain he's the culprit."
"If he has an accomplice, it's entirely possible."
"What? An accomplice?"
At the same moment, Shuri's sharp eyes went wide.
"Don't tell me — the mages...!"
They meant to dispose of the team by borrowing the mages' hands!
Isaac smiled as if he'd just heard the correct answer.
"Exactly. And frankly, it's insulting — so let's smash his little scheme. But this could escalate into a diplomatic incident, so no fighting them directly."
"...Then what do we do?"
At that, Isaac threw both hands up in the air.
"FIREWORKS!!!!"
...Fireworks?
"What the hell does that—"
BOOM!!!
"?!"
Before Isaac had even finished speaking, an explosion detonated somewhere close by.
The ground shuddered, and the frozen Blue team wore question marks all over their faces.
What in the—
The moment the stunned team checked out the window, understanding crashed over them.
Unless they were complete idiots, there was no mistaking it.
Smoke was rising in a plume from the mages' encampment. What—
"An explosion?! There was an explosion at the mages' camp?!"
Creak. Every head turned slowly — toward Isaac, who was covering the Magic Empire prince's ears.
Isaac was smiling, his eyes curved into crescents.
"MWAHAHAHA, the early bird catches the worm! Damn you mages! How DARE you lay your filthy hands on my magic core?? Drop dead!"
"?!"
God damn it, this lunatic!!
Around that time, the besieged mages' camp was grinding its teeth in fury.
"We're under attack!"
"Our stockpiled magic cores have been destroyed!"
"The tools for our magic circle are wrecked!"
No one could easily bring themselves to name the attacker. After all, they themselves had been planning to raid Isaac's group at any moment.
Which left only one conclusion.
...Could it be the Blue Faith's apprentices?!
They caught wind of our raid and struck first?
They scrambled into motion. If their scheme had already been exposed, speed was their only answer.
Shadow Erasure!
Had the enemy been regular soldiers, they might have aborted the operation upon being detected — but the opposition was nothing more than apprentice priests!
Better to strike first and annihilate them all!
The male mage who had finally encountered Isaac bellowed.
"Attack!"
The mages scrambled. And the instant they spotted the Blue apprentices, they moved to unleash offensive magic.
But at that very moment—
"You bastards! How DARE you lay siege to this person!"
"...?!"
The mages flinched.
A child's voice?
They ignored it and pressed their attack, but the man who appeared to be their leader hurriedly stopped them.
"Halt!"
"!"
They stared in shock at the small child standing among Isaac's group.
They'd hoped their ears were mistaken when they heard the voice, but if their eyes were right—
"Th-the youngest prince?!"
"The prince? What is someone of his standing doing here—!"
"Why is he with the priests?!"
But... something about the scene was off.
No — it was seriously, massively off.
"If you value this brat's life, you will stand down where you are!"
Isaac was holding a blade to the prince's throat, grinning... WHAT?!
"Did my words not reach you?! If you want this brat alive, hand over everything you've got!! You gutter rats!!"
Shuri bit his lip hard and looked to the heavens.
Lord, I beg of you — please take THAT one first.