What Did I Just Hear? (2)
Wow, seriously, I can't help but respect him. He's insanely admirable.
'Even if I tried, I couldn't make that expression on purpose.'
Shuri looked at Isaac, whose face was practically glowing with enlightenment.
So basically…
Holy sh*t, fk yes, serves him right.**
…is exactly the expression he had.
'So that bastard asked me about Nigel Sepete's personality for this?'
Was it all just to get a read on his behavior and screw him over?
'He even managed to drag Cardinal Berit into this personally…'
Maybe he even intentionally provoked him just enough to make him show up himself.
No—scratch that. It's not a maybe. It's a hundred percent certain. A "private summon" means there's something on the line for the person being summoned. He must've really wanted to put the Gold Cardinal in a tough spot.
Shuri looked up at the sky, watching Isaac, who wasn't even trying to hide his expression.
'…I better not report this to the family.'
No joke, they'd all pass out.
Actually, I might pass out.
Grandfather… I really think we should just excommunicate that bastard right now.
'Well, after pulling something this extreme, Isaac will probably lay low for a while. That means he'll be easier to keep an eye on…'
"Then come with me to my room," said Cardinal Berit.
Isaac gave him a bright smile.
"Oh, sorry. The enemy Cardinal just summoned me, so I should probably go over there now. If you want to recruit me, you'll need to offer better terms."
The look on the Gold Cardinal's face was something else.
Shuri bit her lip hard.
"Did you just say… 'terms'?"
Cardinal Berit's voice now felt less like cold air and more like magma.
"Well, what can I say? I just got a new appointment. I'd only meet Your Eminence if the terms were at least decent."
Apparently, that new appointment happened just now.
Unbelievable.
'Did that little trainee just pick a fight with a Cardinal?!'
Grandpa, please, I'm begging you—save us all!
Shuri rubbed her forehead and glanced over at Cardinal Berit.
As expected, Cardinal Berit, who had been stood up by Isaac for seven straight days and even gave him medicine, looked dumbfounded.
"The enemy Cardinal summoned you? Just now?"
"Yes!"
Isaac's cheerful response made Nigel Sepete visibly flustered.
'Wait, Father did say to invite him, but…'
He practically begged me to find a way to get Isaac to meet him.
But still…
'How the hell did he know that?'
I haven't even sent the invitation yet.
'There's no way Father invited him personally, right?'
After all, just like he criticized the Gold Cardinal for doing, Cardinals are not supposed to directly interfere with trainees.
Though Nigel could technically invite Isaac under the guise of "a friend," since they're fellow apprentices, and meet with his "father," not the Cardinal.
So maybe he heard about the invitation from someone… not that it matters.
'At this rate, Cardinal Berit's gonna tank my evaluation score.'
Apprentice evaluations were team-based. If Cardinal Berit dumped extra work on them, it'd affect everyone on the team.
'Isaac's already in the spotlight because of the Skull King. You think I'm just gonna get pushed aside?'
Chilled by the thought, Nigel Sepete quickly acted chummy.
"Y-Yeah! I was planning to invite Isaac!"
If I bring Isaac to Father, maybe he'll smooth things over about the Gold Cardinal's subordinate getting beaten!
"So I'll be the one taking this little… I mean, Isaac."
"Hmph."
But at the Cardinal's hostile glare, Nigel started sweating bullets.
'…Was that pushing it too far?'
No wonder Berit is the Cardinal most people never want to face.
Shuri already knew what her uncle was like: vengeful as hell, closed-minded, a ruthless perfectionist, arrogant, and if you hit him with a 1, he'd retaliate with a 100…
Wait a second. That's exactly like Isaac. What the hell?!
Anyway, this clearly wasn't going to end on a positive note—
"Very well. I suppose I have no choice. Go ahead."
…Wait, what? He let him go nicely?
"There was a prior appointment. I suppose it can't be helped."
"???"
He's even acknowledging that as a legitimate appointment?!
Shuri was stunned.
'That's not like Uncle at all…'
It couldn't be that he didn't want to make an enemy of Isaac—he's probably the person who hates him the most.
'Is he aiming for something else?'
Or maybe he's just super political and didn't want to start drama with the Red family?
Ugh, what the hell? I seriously don't get it!
He's being nice to Isaac—this feels ominous!
"But I can't overlook the loss the Red family caused to Gold. Starting tomorrow, I'll increase your workload."
"!!"
With that, Cardinal Berit disappeared. Nigel was startled but soon looked at Isaac in joy.
"Hey, that went better than expected! Alright, kid. I'll let it slide that you took my subordinate, so let's head to Father. As long as I bring you, I won't get stuck with Gold's wrath tomorrow—"
But then Nigel froze.
The tiny Isaac who should've been beside him… was gone.
Nigel's eyes practically spun in panic.
"Where the hell did that little bastard go?!"
Nearby apprentice priests broke into cold sweat.
"Uh… Isaac said he was bored and went to bed."
"He said kids need sleep to grow tall…"
"What?! It's only 8 PM?!"
No way!
Nigel bolted inside the dormitory in a panic. In the spacious room, the tiny kid was snoring away alone in the seat of honor.
Nigel rushed over and shook him.
"Hey! Wake up! No—please, wake up! If you don't come, I won't get Father's help! I'm begging you!"
But Isaac didn't even twitch.
***
"God, what is this crap."
"This is such a sh*tshow…"
"Quit whining and get to work—we can't start field practice till we finish this."
"Damn it, this is all Nigel's fault."
"Shut up already."
The Vatican's liturgy chamber.
Red apprentices were scrubbing the temple with sour expressions.
And all their glares were directed at a certain red-haired boy.
"Why are we suddenly cleaning?"
"No idea. I heard Nigel got humiliated by Isaac Eshua and brought this crap on us."
"What the hell. This doesn't even count toward our evaluation."
"Seriously, why'd he have to mess with Isaac Eshua in the first place? Thanks to Nigel, we all got slapped with a penalty!"
"Did you hear? The Blue team already got an extermination mission because Isaac Eshua submitted such an impressive assignment."
"Should we… switch factions?"
"Ah. Considering what happens at the ordination ceremony, maybe Blue is the better bet."
"..."
YOU SON OF A BITCH!!
Snap!
Nigel Sepete's quill broke clean in two. Seated at the table in the liturgy chamber, he ground his teeth furiously, thinking of Isaac.
After that, Isaac never woke up. And of course, Nigel never got help from his father.
— You couldn't even bring Isaac Eshua with you. And now you come to me for help, with that level of incompetence?
The very next morning, Nigel was slammed with three days' worth of chores from the Gold Cardinal: cleaning the temple, the toilets, the offices, preparing breakfast for the priests—every odd job imaginable.
"Is he insane?! The Gold Cardinal?!"
"Damn those petty Gold bastards!"
"Hey! You couldn't even get the assignment right, and now you're complaining? Want another penalty?!"
Damn it!!
At the Gold priest's shouting, Nigel's face twisted.
Thanks to the mountain of work from Gold, he couldn't even finish his assigned group task. Naturally, his team was now furious with him.
'If I don't get first place here, I won't be able to compete with White and Black.'
The other saint candidates were training in other regions—especially the geniuses from the West and North, who hadn't even shown up for the ordination.
Not that he had to look that far—just Kina Berit alone was already a massive threat. A literal one-man army, devouring every score like a prince.
'It's bad enough dealing with Kina Berit, and now Blue too?'
At this rate, he'd be dead last in the Pentagon evaluation. The only one who could fix this was his father—the Cardinal.
'But to get my father's help, I need to bring that damn brat to him.'
That's why Nigel Sepete had been waiting for Isaac.
Every apprentice had to pray to the gods before starting their daily duties. If he waited at the liturgy chamber, he'd inevitably cross paths with him.
But Isaac only showed up six hours later.
"What's with that punk's stare?"
"…Don't even try to think it's your fault."
When Isaac and Shuri arrived, Nigel's veins popped.
That little bastard!
If you're a priest, hell, if you're from one of the Five Great Faith Houses, shouldn't you be here at dawn to greet the gods?!
He'd waited from sunrise expecting that, and yet this little punk had the gall to not show up until noon?!
"Nigel! What are you doing?! We have a mission! You gonna be late after stealing all our work?!"
And of course, he showed up right when the Red team had to leave for a mission!
"Aaargh!"
As Nigel turned around in frustration, Isaac smirked. Shuri sighed.
'He timed it. He checked the Red's schedule just to screw them.'
He's relentless. And the fact that he never prays to the gods… he's terrifying.
'How the hell is he even generating holy power like this?'
You can't use divine arts without holy power. And you're supposed to replenish holy power through faith and devotion.
'Could he be secretly doing faith activities…?'
"Kim Shuri. That guy Molek still seems to need more training. Give him another dose of the New Gold Pill."
…Or maybe he's chosen by a Dark God, and the more evil he does, the more power he gains.
Meanwhile, Isaac was focused on something else: one of Nigel Sepete's spies. She was now bowing her head in shame.
"Young Lord Isaac. I will devote myself to your every word—please, just do me one favor!"
Bena.
Nigel's attendant—or maid, rather.
Among noble families of the Five Grand Dukes, it wasn't uncommon to send elite attendants without formal ordination, who would later take vows alongside their lords for protection.
'If she's a bodyguard, she's at least Tier 5.'
In other words, quite a useful asset for Isaac.
Well, she had been caught hiding medicine to sneak the Gold Pill to Nigel, and ended up being forced to chew it down herself…
"And that favor… you want me to meet with the Red Cardinal?"
"Yes…! Please, I beg you!"
"Why? I'm trying to reduce the number of rivals here, not help them."
"Please! Meeting the Red Cardinal might actually benefit you, Young Lord. Gold is incredibly biased against Blue. They'll never give you a King score in the Pentagon."
"What?"
"No Eshua candidate has ever received a King from Gold's Pentagon. Ever."
Isaac turned to Shuri in disbelief.
Shuri sighed.
"It's true. Fourteen years ago, my uncle Rilai got four Kings in his apprentice evaluation… but the only score that wasn't a King was from Gold's Pentagon—they gave him Citizen. People were outraged, thought we were finally getting a Five-Star."
Citizen rank is basically one tier above Skeleton—practically the bottom.
'No matter how bad things are between Gold and Blue, isn't that way too blatant?'
But Bena said even that wasn't the worst of it.
"…Citizen is decent, honestly. Young Lord Isaac might not even pass at all—he could be sent straight to the academy."
"Why? Did too many priests die during Red and Gold evaluations or something? That's nothing to me."
"…But this time, the one in charge of Gold's Pentagon is Cardinal Berit."
"So?"
"Uh? Huh? I, um…"
As Bena faltered and looked to Shuri for help, Shuri sighed deeply.
Come to think of it… he's the only one who doesn't know this scandal.
Eventually, Shuri whispered to Isaac:
"Cardinal Berit… probably wants to kill you out of personal spite."
"…He's the one who gave me that Gold Pill, right?"
"He might've handed it to you as part of a 'death price.' The Papal family values appearances, after all."
Isaac let out a dry laugh.
Hah. Seriously, how deep could a grudge go? What kind of grown man wants to murder a ten-year-old—
"Your mother was originally engaged to Cardinal Berit. Then your father stole her from him."
…Oh, f**k. Yeah, he'd wanna kill me.
Tear me to shreds.
Isaac pinched his brow.
"Well, it was just a political engagement between families. But ever since then, the Papal family has openly cut off support to Blue."
[Kyaaah! A love triangle scandal?!]
So that's why he always hated me since I was a kid?!
"There wasn't any major scandal at the time, but… Berit, who genuinely loved your mother, never even got to hold her hand before she was taken away."
Sorry, buddy!
You're on your own! Escape while you still can!
At Isaac's expression, Bena's face lit up with hope.
"If you could just meet with the Red Cardinal once, Gold's Pentagon shouldn't be so difficult anymore. So please…"
Isaac's eyes flashed.
"You're right. Not a bad idea."
Now that he thought about it—the Red family was in charge of the prison currently holding his subordinate.
If he played it right, he might get intel on their condition or even a chance to extract them before the Pentagon.
Of course, the Red Cardinal looked like a damn snake, and Isaac had no desire to meet him if he could avoid it…
"Maybe I'll just meet him for a bit—huh?!"
Just then, a black hand suddenly emerged out of nowhere and yoinked Isaac into the air.
***
The Vatican, Gold Cardinal's Room
Atop the luxurious desk of the Gold Cardinal lay an open, thick tome, adorned with the symbols of the gods.
The page it was turned to: the one describing the Supreme God. Engraved there was the very same divine sigil Isaac had drawn during the ordination.
None of the Gold's followers had ever drawn that symbol before—no one had even dreamed it was possible.
The Gold Cardinal's golden eyes twisted in displeasure as he stared at it.
Then—knock knock.
As someone knocked at the door, the Cardinal hurriedly slammed the book shut.
"Enter."
With that, the door…
SLAM!!
No, it shattered.
Isaac stormed in with blazing eyes.
"Wow, Your Eminence. You act all refined, but you're not even close. What are you telling your servants to do? Kidnapping people mid-conversation? That's barbaric."
Cardinal Berit stared at the wrecked door in disbelief, his expression saying And you're calling me barbaric?
"You wild dog. A disgrace to the Eshua name."
Isaac raised an eyebrow.
Did this bastard just throw a punch with his words the moment we made eye contact?
He's asking for a real one.
But even his gestures held a freezing, imperious dignity. As if he didn't want to waste even a second more than necessary, he clicked his tongue.
"I don't care for pleasantries with you. I'll be blunt."
Isaac scoffed.
Fine. You've clearly got a personal vendetta, so let's just get this over with.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're gonna start ranting about how I've been acting like a little—"
"Become the Gold faction's adopted son."
"Yeah, I figured you'd say some cra—"
...…
....
…WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "shinchan1920" : https://ko-fi.com/shinchan1920 ]