Urgent (3)
"What? You still haven't found Young Master Isaac?"
The entire Eshua estate was in an uproar.
All because of a single letter.
— You bastards, don't look for me.
= Do not attempt to find me.
Was it written with colorful crayons?
The writing looked clumsy and childlike, but the strokes and spelling were strangely precise.
And yet, it had the feel of… no, like a stubborn old man had pressed each letter down hard.
In the end, word of Isaac's disappearance reached the head of the household. Scowling at the letter, the head narrowed his eyes.
"You're telling me Isaac left just this behind and disappeared?"
And that unedited message—it's seriously bothering him.
Everyone summoned before the lord swallowed nervously. Ashily nodded.
"Yes. When we went to wake him this morning, he was gone, and this was all that was left on his bed."
"Only Isaac?"
He meant—was it possibly a kidnapping?
Rilai quickly cut in.
"I placed an anti-abduction spell on Isaac. It's tied to that golden rattle he always carries. If he'd been kidnapped, it would've triggered instantly, and I'd know. Plus, only his usual travel bag is missing."
The lord looked so dumbfounded now that he couldn't even speak.
"So you're telling me he actually just… walked out? On his own?"
To get ordained? Seriously?
The elders and advisors gathered there seemed to go into immediate meltdown.
"See! I told you to get rid of that bag ages ago! It's the one he was always scamming treats out of you elders with!"
"And that's your big concern right now?! How did none of you notice anything? And you dare call yourselves the teachers of Eshua's children?!"
"Come on, Masters! Don't pin this on us! You were the ones always spoiling Isaac, handing over candy and cakes! Rilai, can't you track him?"
"Well, no… I didn't place a tracking spell. Normally, we could just follow the Skull King's aura, but…"
"Agh!"
Who would've thought Isaac learning to control the Skull King's magic would backfire like this!
But no, that wasn't the biggest problem.
"You idiots! Do you think platinum-blond kids are common?! What if slavers or criminals get their hands on him…!"
"Is that really the issue right now?! Isaac also took Eshua's land deed with him!"
"!"
No one knew how he'd managed to swipe it from the Saintess's chamber, but it was definitely Isaac's doing. The evidence? Baby handprints and tiny footprints all over it.
"If that land deed ends up in the hands of another house or some rogue mercenaries—!"
"You crazy bastards! You're clergy! Are you seriously saying money's more important than his life?!"
The head of the house closed his eyes, groaning.
No. Right now, the land deed and the slavers weren't even the real issue! Honestly, he could deal with those if he had to.
The problem was that Isaac had run away to get ordained!
'That kid must never leave Eshua.'
If anyone caught wind of his true personality and faith, it would be over.
They'd drag him straight to the Inquisitors.
'Those bastards can assess your faith just by looking at you.'
They should've never let him near outsiders. No matter what, he had to stay within Eshua's borders.
Just then, Rilai's eyes sparkled desperately, as if to reassure everyone.
"Elders! Don't worry too much about possible dangers! I've cast plenty of protection spells on Isaac! , , ,
"And you cast all of that but not a tracking spell?! Why?!"
"Why? Because he has rights, you know!"
Now even Rilai had joined the shouting match. The head of the house rubbed the back of his neck quietly. It throbbed—it felt like he wasn't going to live much longer at this rate.
"Father!"
"Lord!"
"Lord of the House!"
"All of you, shut up."
With a glare sharp enough to kill, the lord barked at the knights waiting on standby.
"Mobilize every knight and holy spirit in Eshua."
"!"
"No one's reported seeing the boy at any of the checkpoints yet. And he has to have Eshua's official seal to cross the duchy's Blue Line. He can't have left the territory—he's still here somewhere. Find him and drag him to me. Immediately."
"Yes, my lord!"
"And."
"Yes!"
"…The Saintess's stolen property. Don't forget to bring that back too—along with the brat."
"…Yes, sir!"
The head of the house groaned deeper than ever.
***
Isaac Eshua.
At the academy, Isaac's name was already well-known. Naturally so—he was from Eshua.
—Wait, Shuri, are you telling me you enrolled at the academy just to get away from your little brother?
—And this "little brother" is a baby? Pffft! The great Shuri Eshua, brought low!
—The head student of the 7th years, utterly defeated. Five years younger than you? Oh wow, scary stuff!
Whenever the other seniors in the priesthood program burst out laughing like that, Shuri felt wronged.
But his classmates, fearless as ever, would say things like:
"We want to meet your little brother. You've gotta show him to us at least once."
"No, wait. If Eshua's a guy, he'll become a priest too, right? He'll end up as our junior."
"Oh, in that case, we'll take care of his training. He needs to learn to respect his seniors."
"Exactly. In this line of work, manners are everything. A good beating straightens anyone out."
…You guys are the ones who'll get straightened out.
'Well, I get where they're coming from.'
Until they met him in person, they had no idea what their future held.
And, well, I guess I didn't know either.
"AAAGH!!"
Shuri screamed.
It was so loud, it echoed through the entire dormitory. Startled students in the hallway rushed to open his door.
"Shuri! What's going on?"
"Did one of those heretic bastards slip you a cursed letter again?!"
But before the door could swing open, Shuri slammed it shut—and locked it.
Chaos erupted outside as they banged on the door.
BANG BANG!
THUMP!
"Hey! What's wrong? What happened?!"
"Dude, if you lock this door, we can't get into the dorm! Hey! Shuri Eshua! Aren't you coming out?!"
The noise continued, but Shuri ignored them completely. No, those guys were not the issue right now!
Sitting on the floor, eyes wide and shaking, Shuri stared at his bag.
He stared.
And stared again.
Crawling out of the bag… was a baby.
"Oh my god, hey! Didn't you bring any milk?!"
Sh*t…
Even after another look—it was still a baby.
Shuri buried his face in his hands.
'Why the hell is that here?!'
Finally snapping out of it, Shuri scrambled to find some stationery. Why the thing was here didn't matter right now.
"Damn it, I need to send it back right aw—gah!"
Isaac, the baby, chucked a rattle at Shuri's face, raising an eyebrow.
"You gonna ship me back like a parcel?!"
That's your issue right now?!
Shuri yanked Isaac out of the bag, ignoring the pounding students outside.
"Do you even know where you are?!"
"A monastery, right?"
"Yeah, you little—wait, huh?"
"Isn't it?"
"…Well, yeah, it is."
"Then I'm in the right place."
Isaac's answer left Shuri completely speechless.
So this brat… had hidden in the bag on purpose from the start?
"No—wait! When did you even sneak in?!"
"When you were getting on the carriage."
"…And all the luggage inside?"
"Obviously, that went outside the carriage."
"…Outside, meaning?"
"Are you dumb? Tossed it in the bushes somewhere."
Oh, Lord.
Please grant me permission to throw this devil-child, Satan incarnate, straight out the window.
Shuri gripped his head in despair.
Isaac, of course, was shameless.
"You need an Eshua seal to get out of the duchy, right? You've got a pass, and no one's gonna check your stuff. This was the best plan."
Shuri groaned and pressed his forehead, realizing his mistake.
'Damn it, I should've noticed.'
He remembered the startled reaction from the servants who carried his bag.
"Whoa, heavier than it looks!"
"You can't even carry that properly?"
"S-sorry, sir!"
"If you need extra pay, just say so."
"N-no, it's not that—huff—thank you, young master!"
Damn it. Of course it was heavy—there was a kid inside!
"So why are you even here?!"
"What do you mean? Didn't I tell you? I came to get ordained."
Shuri clutched the back of his neck.
Was this little troublemaker seriously here to get ordained?
'As if Eshua doesn't already get mocked enough!'
Grinding his teeth, Shuri recalled what Niger Sephet and Kina Berit had said. He couldn't even imagine how much worse the ridicule would get once they saw Isaac now.
Well, to be fair, that was actually the lesser problem.
The moment they saw what Isaac could do, they'd all shut their mouths. All that talk about buying priesthood honors or pity ordinations? Not a chance they'd dare say it.
Not to mention, only Eshua and the bishop knew Isaac had a royal-class anti-magic spirit. If that got out, it'd be chaos.
So in that sense, it might actually be a good thing—but still, the idea of what this brat might pull here was terrifying.
There was a reason Grandpa wanted to keep this kid locked up in the duchy until adulthood!
'The ordination ceremony is tomorrow.'
And, above all, the Pope himself would be there.
If Isaac's true power got exposed at that ceremony…!
"And just in case," Isaac added.
"In case what?"
"In case my name didn't make it onto the ordination list, I figured I should do a proper rescue mission."
"A… re—what?"
"I heard there's a princess at the school. And if we gather enough people like this, won't we finally get recognized? We'll just… blow up the school a bit…"
You lunatic!
That's not a rescue mission—that's straight-up terrorism!
"Lilai keeps saying I have to be an adult to become a priest, so I was wondering if there's a problem with the ordination records. I was gonna settle it once and for all. Maybe it's because I brought a spirit instead of a person that they're saying I'm unqualified…"
No! You're not unqualified!
There's actually no problem at all!
'I just lied, that's all!'
Damn it, Uncle! This is why you shouldn't tell half-baked lies!
Wait, is he seriously planning to show up at the ordination ceremony looking like a toddler…?! They're already itching for a reason to pounce.
The vivid image of her family being ridiculed made Shuri turn pale as she shook her head.
"Anyway, just quietly head back! I'll assign you an attendant!"
"Why should I?"
"If you don't go, I'm reporting you—urk!"
"Snitch to Eshua and you're dead."
"!"
Isaac, swinging his little rattle, smacked Shuri across the face, eyes flashing.
"And even if you don't tell, you're still dead."
"…Wh-what? Why?!"
"Why? Did you seriously just ask why?"
Isaac's eyes gleamed menacingly as he gripped his rattle.
That red gleam—closer to a wild beast, no, a demon king—made Shuri almost hiccup in fear.
"Uh, hey?"
Isaac cracked his neck with an ominous crunch.
"You're my dumbass flunky, and all you ever do is get your ass kicked. Wanna die?"
"What? I haven't been—urk!"
"Getting dunked on by a bunch of snot-nosed brats! Even getting wrecked verbally counts, dumbass! How do you even act that people are talking about assigning you an attendant, huh? You little shit! And you let the Papal family get mocked?! Ugh, just die already!"
"Gah!"
Shuri finally collapsed after taking another volley of hits from the golden rattle.
She really couldn't figure out why this brat spat every time the Papal family came up.
But Isaac, panting and fuming, was dead serious. The truth was, while he was stuck in his bag, he'd secretly placed a shadow lich on Shuri.
And over ten years of nurturing his magic, that shadow lich had grown powerful enough to eavesdrop—yes, actual surveillance.
So naturally, he'd overheard everything: the crap people were saying to Shuri and even how Eshua was being treated.
Originally, he had planned to stay in his room and quietly build up his strength.
"Those bastards. How dare they mess with Eshua?"
At those words, Shuri looked at Isaac with surprise.
Wait… is this kid finally maturing? He used to go ballistic whenever they studied Eshua's history, screaming for its destruction.
—Tyaaaarrrgh!!! (These assholes are making me out to be the worst scumbag thief in history! For the record, I didn't steal 1,082 wallets—it was 1,081! Damn it!)
"Wow. I don't know what's gotten into you, but feeling loyal to Eshua now? If Uncle heard that, he'd be overjoyed…"
"I'm the only one allowed to badmouth Eshua, and if it gets destroyed, I'm the one who'll do it! Who the hell do they think they are, acting like they can wipe it out? I'll burn Eshua down myself!"
…Oh, Lord.
Yeah, this kid is absolutely beyond saving.
"Anyway, let's go."
Shuri scowled fiercely.
"Go where."
"To smash the punks who messed with you."
Isaac stomped gravely toward the door, his little legs moving with purpose.
Shuri clutched her head.
I'm seriously losing my mind here!
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]