Of course I have to, right?
"Take care of the Skull King."
That was Eshua's sole mission, the very reason for its existence.
At least, ever since the Skull King appeared, that had been true.
But now? Eshua was the clan branded as having failed to capture the Skull King due to a lack of faith.
Cursed by the Skull King himself, they said.
Rumor had it the clan was in decline, forsaken even by the gods.
And yet, in the midst of that despair—a ray of hope appeared!
"The Skull King's corpse!"
The moment it was discovered, every nation went mad, scrambling to claim it.
And not just humans.
Beasts, monsters, even dragons.
Literally everything in the world was after it. The Skull King's body was worth that much.
The Magic Empire even made an absurd offer—saying they'd hand over several entire countries in exchange for just a tiny shard of that bone.
In the end, it landed in the hands of the Saintess—the only one who wouldn't try to profit from it.
Ironically, as the Skull King's mortal enemy, Eshua had to admit: that corpse was the most valuable asset they owned.
Of course, no one expected a spell capable of tracking demonic souls to be developed—nor that it would be stashed away in a treasure vault only children could enter.
And yet Isaac had strutted out with it, bold as you please.
How adorable must that kid look now?
Though… no one really knew how Isaac had gotten his hands on it. Whether the Saintess's powers had taken down some demons, or what on earth had happened in that vault.
There was a lot to figure out, but right now the most urgent thing was to get the Skull King's corpse back to Madam—
"Aaagh! Isaac!"
Or… not.
"Isaac! Ptoo! Ptoo!!"
Eshua's people frantically pounded on Isaac's back.
They pried open the kid's tiny mouth, desperately trying to get him to spit out whatever he'd just swallowed.
"Is it still in his throat?"
"N-No! I can't see it!"
"How the hell did something that big even go down?!"
"Isaac? Be good, okay? Spit it out! Ptoo!"
The adults tried everything—turning Isaac upside down, pressing on his chest—but all he did was burp again.
"Hiccup (Tasty.)"
"Oh my god, what do we do?!"
"..."
Amid the chaos, Shuri just stared at him like, Did you seriously eat it?
That must've been why Isaac looked so weird coming out of the treasure vault.
I knew it the moment he shoved it in his mouth.
All the other kids had gasped in horror when Isaac started licking that bone like crazy.
Sure, they'd tried to snatch it away too—but after catching a few punches—no, actually, getting beat to a pulp—they'd given up.
Shuri, who looked like she'd taken dozens of hits, now just had the look of someone resigned to his fate.
But the adults? They were horrified for a whole different reason.
"Oh my god! Do you even know what that thing is?!"
It wasn't just about value.
It was the body of the Demon King!
Basically, the most dangerous nuke in existence.
It had been bad enough that Isaac was holding it—but eating it was a whole different level.
"A human body can't withstand that! Even with divine protection, his body's going to explode!"
That thing had once turned an entire great forest into a wasteland with just a single shard.
Even a regular magic core was risky for a toddler. But this? The Demon King's magic?
It was practically a ticking time bomb for any human!
"Isaac? Be good, okay? Spit it out! Ptoo! Come on!"
"Dyaaahhh! (Not a chance, bastards!)"
It was over.
Straight down to his stomach.
Isaac calmly wiped his mouth with his hand.
"You bastards scared the hell out of me."
No lie—he really had been surprised.
Soul-tracking, seriously?
These psychos had been trying to stalk him!
Well, whatever. They said this was the only one of its kind in the world, so it should be fine now.
No more tracking nonsense.
[There's actually a chance that spell wouldn't have worked anyway, Master.]
Shut up!
I'm eliminating every last risk!
Plus, now that it's inside me, I don't have to mess around licking it—it's way more convenient!
And besides, the Survival blessing seemed to work better when things were swallowed.
Doesn't it feel like I'm about to level up already?
[That may be true, but you'll need a lot more strength, Master. This is a Demon King-level intrusion. Who knows how the Saint's body will react to that…]
No! That's exactly why I'm excited! This body might evolve or something! I can feel new powers coming!
Not that he had any idea why the corpse had ended up there in the first place.
What mattered was that the holy faction had been using his body.
Isaac thought of the servant who'd slapped him and then vanished.
He'd pooled all the holy power from his ring, gathering as much light as possible in his hand.
It was to hide the fact that he was using magic.
And then, with just the tiniest bit of magic, he'd slapped the servant across the face—but even that tiny bit must've been enough. The servant had recognized him.
The servant's trembling hands had reached out for Isaac, disbelieving, and waves of thought had flooded into Isaac's mind.
—I knew you'd come back, my lord.
Well, not really "come back." He wasn't alive anymore. But he had returned, now as a human.
—I wish I could stay by your side immediately. But right now, I…
And with that, the servant had disappeared.
Well, at least it had cleared the way for Isaac to pull out the Skull King's thumb without raising any suspicion—but seriously, man.
"You should've explained yourself properly."
What the hell had happened to him while Isaac was gone? Why was he acting like a stammering idiot now?
There were a million things Isaac wanted to ask!
And the bastard still deserved another slap!
Isaac still wasn't satisfied.
Why the hell was the Demon King's finger getting bossed around by the holy faction anyway?
And who the hell told them to make a doll that turns into a damn divine spawn and trigger my trauma, huh? Shit!
Ah, not just one hit—two. Damn it.
Anyway, after my subordinate disappeared, Kina Berit definitely muttered something like this:
—That's a demon the Papal House has locked up. How did someone like Eshua…?!
Remembering those words again, Isaac looked up at the sky.
"Hah. Haha."
Hahahaha!
"Dyaahaha! Dyaaahak!"
It's so ridiculous, I can't even laugh properly.
What?
The Papal House?
Those bastards were holding my subordinate captive?
And they dared to use my own body to make my subordinate into their lapdog?
I don't know exactly what went down, but it's not hard to piece together.
The Fourteen Bone Fiends were the Skull King's closest, most powerful subordinates.
There's no way they'd ever submit to the Holy Faction. Especially not the Papal House, those damn stooges of the gods.
"He'd rather die than submit."
And yet, the wreck of a man I saw—split personality, clearly not in his right mind.
He was a loyal one. There's no way he could've just walked past his master's body.
To keep it from falling into the hands of other scum, or maybe to return it to me if I ever came back to life, he probably offered himself up as their dog.
Of course, the Papal House wouldn't accept a demon's offer just like that. It must've been them who made the move…
Isaac clicked his tongue.
Idiot.
What the hell was so important about your master's body that you'd go this far?
Still, he was loyal. I'll find him, set him free—and ask about that damn Skull King impostor, too.
Oh, but first, I'll kill him like ten times over.
You dare take on a god's face? Damn it.
Trial or not, the more I think about it, the scummier it gets.
Anyway, if the Pope's grandson hadn't asked me to lift the third seal, I wouldn't have even run into him.
And if I hadn't met him, I would've missed some seriously critical intel.
Not that I needed a reason to crush those bastards, but now? Oh, I'm making it official.
Well, looks like I need to deal with these guys first, though.
Isaac glanced at his current life's "family," frantically rummaging around the room.
"No laxatives?! Come on, we've got to get it out of him somehow!"
"Diarrhea potion!"
"No, an emetic!"
"..."
Shit. What the hell are these people trying to force-feed a kid?
But hey, not a bad thing.
Didn't those potions they mixed into the water have magic in them?
Maybe the stronger stuff here uses mana cores?
If so, that's a win for me.
And honestly, Isaac was aiming for more power than ever now.
Because he'd realized something after what happened with his subordinate.
There's no way the Papal House could've easily captured my subordinate, no matter how much they hate demons.
So where did the strength to overpower one of the Skull King's best come from?
The gods' help.
No doubt about it.
And after kidnapping my subordinate, do they really think some petty revenge is enough to settle the score?
To rip them apart properly, the 10th Rank alone isn't going to cut it.
As a skeleton, with all its limitations, he'd never fully surpassed that barrier—but above the 10th Rank was the Transcendent Rank!
A realm even the gods can't easily reach—I'll be the one to step into it first.
Isaac's eyes gleamed coldly.
To do that, he'd need to overhaul his entire training method.
I don't know why I reincarnated into a Saint's family, or why this bastard ended up with the name Isaac—but still…
It worked out perfectly.
A Saint's family, hated by the gods? The perfect excuse to beat the crap out of them.
And to do that…
"Lilai! It's an emergency, so bring the strong stuff! The good stuff!"
Yeah! Might as well make it expensive, too!
"We have to use it before Lady Gamo gets here!"
Yep, before Melissa shows up, I'm outta here with the wallet!
Meanwhile, Eshua's guests were sweating for entirely different reasons.
And for good reason, given the scene before them.
It was already insane that Eshua's baby had overpowered a likely Saint, and even swallowed the Skull King's body and survived—but now, what?
"So, everyone's gathered now, it seems."
The Emperor personally summoned Cardinal Berit on Eshua's behalf? And even brought in the parents of the kids from the Third Seal?
The nobles were protesting right outside Isaac's room.
"Are you telling us your son asked to release the demon in the Third Seal?"
"If what you say is true, how do you plan to take responsibility for this!"
"Neither the Duke's house of Red, who sent a child here, nor the families that put forward candidates for Saint will stay silent once they hear of this!"
"How can you call someone a Saint when they're putting others in danger like this!"
"What would have happened if not for Eshua's nursling!"
"I've even heard that the bishop who tried to assassinate Eshua's nursling was from Berit too, wasn't he?"
Cardinal Berit raised his eyebrows.
Who would have thought that Eshua's nursling—a mere boy—would gain such popularity.
No, actually, most had been distrustful of Eshua from the start.
But that damned emperor had smoothly orchestrated this entire gathering. And now, with feigned innocence, he said:
"It seemed there was much to discuss, so I arranged this meeting especially. Eshua appears to have had a small mishap, so I took over for now. But I must apologize for detaining a cardinal who must be in quite a rush, even before the festival has ended."
Cardinal Berit's eyebrow twitched.
That bastard, playing Eshua's puppet so openly.
But soon, Cardinal Berit forced a polite smile.
"Not at all, Your Majesty. You've graciously prepared a meeting I should have arranged myself. I can only feel grateful."
What a bald-faced lie.
A meeting?
Normally, these little nobodies wouldn't even dare to raise their heads in front of the Papal House. Why waste time on them?
He hadn't expected Eshua's nursling to devour the Skeleton King's flesh—but in a way, this was a golden opportunity.
A saintly body, even if corrupted, won't die so easily.
The original plan was to extract the Skeleton King's flesh from Isaac's body and forge a new pact with Eshua.
They couldn't have the saint's family gaining too much momentum from this lucky incident.
But now…
"A mere nursling has not only defeated a demon but also gifted treasures to the other candidates. If that's not Eshua's doing, what is?" the emperor said, and murmurs spread through the crowd.
The gazes toward the Berit faction were telling; it was easy to guess what they were thinking.
Sure enough—
"They say Eshua's boy was cursed, but unlike the rumors, the saint's family seems to be thriving. That must ease the Papal House's worries, doesn't it?"
Where had those rumors started, anyway?
The emperor's sharp gaze seemed to ask just that, but the cardinal merely curled his lips into a polite smile.
"Yes, indeed. Though they were all summoned to compete equally, with Your Majesty putting it that way, my own son will be too embarrassed to show his face for a while."
His tone implied: We'll lie low for now, so let's end this.
But the emperor smiled.
"A child can hide, but shouldn't the parents take responsibility?"
"!"
That bastard?
"Indeed! The child nearly died—how can the parents just stand by!"
"They say if it hadn't been for Eshua, the child really would have died!"
Cardinal Berit glanced at the parents who were raising their voices now.
Petty provincial nobles, the lot of them.
It was clear these families whose children were in the third circle now wanted to cozy up to Eshua. But how useful could they really be?
Of course, there were one or two families here…
It would be a real shame to lose them, but there would be other chances.
"Very well. To apologize and console the children and parents who have suffered because of Kina, we'll send appropriate compensation to each family."
"Ohh!"
"Well then, if we're done discussing this matter, I shall—"
"It's not over yet."
…What?
The cardinal turned to the emperor, who smiled as if now the real discussion was beginning.
"You nearly caused harm to the event's host, did you not?"
The host?
"If anything had happened to those children, Eshua would have been forced to bear a responsibility that wasn't theirs to begin with. So, to Eshua—and—"
"!"
"—most of all, to Eshua's 'nursling,' who cleaned up your son's mess—you owe a proper reward."
"…!"
Crack.
It was almost as if you could hear a vein pop on Cardinal Berit's forehead.
What? To whom?
He had been planning to shove all responsibility onto Eshua and walk away scot-free.
He could see that the emperor had taken a liking to Isaac Eshua and wanted to toss the kid a little bonus.
"Why? Do you object?"
"…No, Your Majesty."
Cardinal Berit frowned slightly, hearing distant cheers.
A reward, huh.
"There you go, Isaac! Push! Push!"
"Yes! That's it, that's it! You're doing great! It's coming out!"
"Lilay, check the diapers—did it come out? Did it?"
…To that kid, who's busy pooping?
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]