Episode 22. This Should Be Easy (Part 2)
Shuri couldn't comprehend this situation at all.
"Taya! Tayaya! (Not that way!)"
"Taya? (Why aren't you going straight?)"
"Tayaya! (Do you want to die?!)"
No matter how he thought about it, walking while getting beaten by his baby cousin meant something had gone terribly wrong. And it wasn't just walking either.
"Taya! (This way, I said!)"
"Tayaya! (Can't you understand words, you moron?!)"
...Was he imagining things, or had he been getting cursed at this whole time?
Shuri wandered through the ducal mansion while carrying Isaac. He'd originally planned to ditch the baby and return to his room, but the damn brat absolutely refused to let him go. What kind of infant had this much strength? The kid clung to his back, then his neck. If Shuri didn't hold him properly, the brat would start hitting him while complaining about an "uncomfortable ride."
When Shuri paused thinking Isaac wanted to play, the baby would point somewhere as if demanding "What are you just standing around for?" Then when Shuri moved that way, Isaac would kick his butt for not going the desired direction.
'Damn it, I wouldn't treat a horse this badly!'
The young duke found himself on the verge of tears, having suddenly become a pack animal rather than a noble. Of course, Isaac was still just a nursing baby. If Shuri really wanted to, he could have dumped him in a pond.
[Why aren't you moving your king?!]
"Aaaah!"
Every time Shuri had such thoughts, the Shadow Lich would appear.
'Shit, so it wasn't a dream after all!'
He'd tried denying reality, but clearly this monster obeyed Isaac. He didn't know why. But one thing was certain - the moment he harmed this brat, the Shadow Lich would kill him. Shuri felt wronged to his core.
'Just what did Uncle bring home?'
Had he gone to capture the Skeleton King and ended up with some shapeshifted demon? But even more shocking was where Isaac had dragged him.
'Why here of all places?'
Shuri trembled before the towering Second Annex.
'This is the Ghost Mansion!'
The place even family members avoided. No one lived there now - even Shuri had been strictly forbidden from approaching by his parents.
'I heard multiple family members died here...'
The so-called cursed grounds. Shuri tried subtly veering toward what looked like a garden nearby - maybe that was their destination?
"Tayayaya! (Want to die?! Go straight!)!!!"
The baby on his back immediately punched him.
From Shuri's perspective, none of this made sense.
'Dammit! Why are we going somewhere even the family head banned?!'
If adults caught them here, a simple scolding wouldn't suffice!
Meanwhile, Isaac smirked at the mansion. The desolate atmosphere alone revealed how long it had been abandoned. Now that they'd arrived, he felt certain.
'As expected - magic cores are piled here.'
Far more than he'd initially sensed - enough magical power that would normally require decades of training. This meant hundreds or thousands of demon corpses (though technically magic cores weren't exact corpses).
This actually surprised him - no ordinary exorcist family could amass this through normal means.
War? No - at this scale, demons must have flocked like moths to flame. But it made no sense for the Saintess Family to use summoning magic only to abandon the place as haunted.
'A demon-slaying site should've been sanctified long ago.'
Priests built shrines at the slightest pretext to torment demons. Yet they left this historically significant place cursed?
Many mysteries, but none mattered now. The important thing was these magic cores - absorbing them meant gaining decades of magic power instantly!
Isaac yanked Shuri's hair. Though Shuri screamed protests about forbidden entry and consequences, one glare from the Shadow Lich silenced him.
The annex interior felt even more desolate than outside. Something like...
[It reminds me of Master's filthy poverty-stricken days.]
Shut up.
[Troublesome. The magic cores are inside, but the Saintess Family sealed everything. All doors are locked. We can't enter.]
Why not?
If locked, break through.
Isaac looked at Shuri, who trembled worse than before.
"Hey, we've come far enough. Let's go back... It's all locked anyway."
"Taya!"
"Argh, what now?!"
Isaac's gaze stopped at portraits hanging high on the lobby wall leading to second-floor stairs. Likely past family heads.
Seeing them, Shuri puffed up proudly.
"Brat coveting even the family head position? Bowing to glorious ancestors? Useless! When there's only women, we take in sons-in-law, but this generation has plenty of males! The next head will be me-"
"Taya."
Isaac snapped his fingers. Portraits went flying.
"Ah! Ancestors!"
Crash! Bang!
Smash!
As respected ancestors' portraits fell, Shuri screamed.
"Ancestors! Wait, what was that power?!"
Nevermind that.
"Are you insane?! Defiling our great ancestors! You really want expulsion?!"
Isaac scoffed while magically sweeping away portraits. Family heads? He'd replace them with his own portrait anyway.
His real interest lay in the magic formulas behind the portraits.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Ah! What now?!"
The mansion shook as if earthquaking when portraits fell. Not quakes - just the sealing magic breaking.
Krrrrumble!
'They used sacred dragon magic to keep family out.'
Whether dragon or demon magic, all fell under the Skeleton King's expertise. Disabling it was child's play. Removing specific portrait spells automatically unlocked doors like puzzle pieces.
Not that he needed to destroy all portraits - just felt like it.
Shuri screamed about ghosts while Isaac dragged him by hair to a nearby room.
"Taya, taya! (Open it, brat!)"
"Hey! The door's locked... Huh?!"
Shuri gaped when the supposedly locked door opened. Isaac immediately crawled down and scuttled inside like a roach.
"Hey! Don't enter!"
Isaac's eyes sparkled like diamonds inside. One, two, three... roughly 500 cores! High quality too! With these, reclaiming his body from the treasury would be easy. And this was just one room!
Unlike Isaac, Shuri panicked.
"Get out now! We're in deep trouble! And don't touch the cores! Just look!"
"Taya!"
Isaac pointed past him. Shuri instinctively looked.
[KHAAHAHA! FEAST TIME!]
Whispers from Isaac's body instantly devoured the cores, slime-like tendrils swallowing everything. When Shuri turned back:
"Where... AH!! All cores are gone!"
Isaac pointed fearfully behind Shuri, making him turn again.
[KHAAHAHA! SWEET NECTAR!]
Whispers gulped down remaining cores. Shuri whirled back.
"Nothing here either! Why... AH! THESE ONES TOO?!"
When all cores vanished, Shuri looked ready to faint. But he wasn't stupid.
"YOU! You took them!"
He grabbed Isaac's collar. The Shadow Lich's interference had distracted him, but thinking back, this suspicious brat...
"You're reporting to adults?! They'll exile you for controlling demons!"
"Shuri!"
Familiar voices echoed outside. Adults' footsteps thundered.
"Shuri!"
Relai, servants, and elders arrived. Having sensed magical disturbances?
They buzzed in shock at the devastated lobby - shattered portraits, broken seals, missing cores.
Shuri smiled triumphally. The elders were his allies. This would eliminate the "Saint Candidate" thorn.
"Uncle! Listen! He did all-"
"SHURI! How could you?!"
Shuri blinked, slapped by reality. Elders glared accusingly.
Servants must have seen him carrying Isaac here. Specifically, his disappearance with the totem made Relai investigate.
"We heard everything. You brought Isaac here?"
"N-no..."
"Deny it? Servants saw you carrying him!"
Well... technically true.
"Attack spells in the hallway!"
"How could you strike a child?! Disgrace to our noble house!"
HE was the victim!
"Even stole the totem to torment him!"
"Disaster! The room's magic cores!"
"Right! The brat did it! Where... Huh?!"
Pounding came from another room.
"Taya! Tayaya!"
Servants rushed to find Isaac "trapped." Relai scooped up the "victim."
"SHURI! Crossing lines! Confining and tormenting a child?!"
"Confine?! When?!"
Isaac burped contentedly from another room's core absorption. Realizing the setup, Shuri raged.
"NOT ME! He wanted to come! He broke portraits and spells!"
"Who taught you priests can lie?!"
"Not lying!"
"Isaac can't even use holy magic!"
"He controls demons! Exile him!"
"SHURI! Framing your cousin now?!"
Finally snapping, Shuri grabbed Isaac.
"Stop lying! Show them the Shadow Lich!"
"Taya...?"
Isaac teared up innocently. Relai's eyes narrowed.
"SHURI!"
Ultimately, Shuri burst into tears. Isaac secretly smirked from Relai's arms.
'Don't be so upset. Obey me and I'll throw you scraps.'
He'd worried about facing the treasury guardians - eighth-circle demons and dragons. But with these cores, his plan would work.
The coming-of-age ceremony approached.
