Episode 25. Something's Weird (Part 2)
Shuri was mortified.
For no other reason.
Chomp chomp chomp chomp!
"......"
Slurp slurp slurp slurp!
"......"
Gulp! Gulp gulp! Guuulp!
Damn brat! Will you stop shoving food in your face?!
You're not some starving ghost-puppy with unfinished business!
With every amplified chewing noise, Shuri's facial twitches intensified.
To make matters worse, he'd just overheard sneers of "What? Even Eshua's male trash is participating? The Saintess's treasury must be worthless then! We're taking all the treasures!" The humiliation alone was killing him - and now this brat too.
As fellow Eshua members, they should be dying of shame together. Though to be fair, watching a duke's heir eat like a rootless beggar was embarrassing enough. But the real shame came from elsewhere.
"Is... is he alright?"
"Did someone drug that?"
Exactly!
You little shit! That's drugged! Stop eating it!!
Shuri groaned while watching the possessed toddler. Before entering the treasury, Uncle Rillai had made him promise:
Shuri, watch over your cousin.
Of course he'd never planned to. Why help a competitor? He'd observe, but not protect. The stone-picking ritual was meant to test individual merit anyway.
But the moment he thought 'I'll just keep an eye out', the brat started chugging suspicious substances!
'A Saint candidate should at least recognize drugged drinks!'
Were they treating Eshua as weak as water? These Saint candidates were blatantly poisoning their offerings!
Though unwilling to help, he couldn't let an Eshua child fall to these fools. 'Not lethal poison. Digestive disruptors, most likely.'
The mediating adults had left to open the treasury doors. Finally fed up, Shuri tried snatching the bottle-
THWACK!!
Only to get beaten by Isaac instead! The little demon even infused the bottle with sacred energy before throwing it.
'What does this brat think of his elders?!'
If you're going to eat poison, at least act hurt!
Instead of collapsing, Isaac tried trampling over him. Shuri surrendered his own bottle:
Take mine if you're thirsty! Just stop!
Isaac's eyes sparkled as he gulped Shuri's water... until-
-Ttaya? (What's this?)
He glared murderously.
Shuri didn't understand why, but that accusatory stare clearly asked 'Why isn't yours spiked?!' When Shuri defensively claimed it was clean water, he got punched again.
-Ttayayaya!! (Why aren't YOU drugged?!)
F*ck! Why's this crazy brat throwing tantrums over normal water?!
Thus began Isaac's cockroach-like pursuit of other kids' spiked bottles. By now, the would-be poisoners were terrified - Isaac had already drained six containers.
"Why... why's he fine?! That was laxative!"
"Yours was just water, right?"
"Impossible! Mine had divine poison..."
"What? You idiot! That's lethal!"
More confusingly, Isaac grew more ecstatic with each gulp. When he menacingly reached for more, kids hid their bottles.
"N-no more! You'll really die...!"
They trembled in fear.
Isaac's face twisted satanically despite their concern.
"Tyuta! (You priestly chick-bastards!)"
"Twaya! (If you're gonna poison someone, commit properly! Make me puke my guts out! Why cower?!)"
His disgusted expression contradicted his toddler frame. Other candidates stared at Shuri like he was responsible.
"Why's he obsessed with laxatives...?"
"Are Eshua kids always like this...?"
Just this bastard!
Shuri couldn't lift his head under their stares. Even non-culprits had caught on, but he refused to be grouped with this laxative-crazed freak!
'What kind of freak did Eshua recruit?!'
Whatever he ingested, it wasn't nutritional supplements. At minimum, actual poison!
Yet after six doses, the brat looked transcendent. 'Is he a pervert?'
One thing was clear - he wasn't sane. Best keep away.
But other candidates saw things differently:
"Amazing poison resistance!"
"So that's why he's fine!"
"I've heard... Sacred energy training leads to natural detoxification!"
"Right! High priests drink deadly poisons like water!"
"Wait... Has he reached that level?!"
They gazed admiringly while Isaac made gagging noises. Resistance? Nonsense!
'I just absorbed the magic energy!'
Apparently, the Holy Empire mixed magic into all poisons. Understandable - magic counters sacred energy, hence the clergy-mage feud.
With training, sacred energy enables self-healing and detoxification. Saintesses and 9th-rank priests could regenerate from sword wounds instantly - faster than being cut.
Thus, magic-laced poisons were necessary to suppress sacred energy's purifying nature. Hence even Isaac's laxative contained trace magic.
Not that it mattered. Isaac's body constantly converted magic to sacred energy. To this magic-starved soul, it was elixir, not poison!
'The Holy Empire's poisons all contain magic? What marvelous... delicacies!'
The only downside? The detox process caused pleasant numbness, slurred speech, and... mild intoxication. After centuries, this tipsy feeling!
'Give me more, bastards!'
When Isaac lunged at innocent kids' bottles, Shuri grabbed him.
"Enough! Are you possessed?!"
Other candidates gasped:
"Does yours have poison too? Maybe someone tampered during inspection?"
"Can he detect toxins?"
"He's been drinking others'...!"
"Is he investigating to protect us? Neutralizing poisons through consumption?!"
They stared in awe:
"Truly Eshua!"
"A Saint!"
"To think so strategically at his age...!"
No!!
Absolutely not!!
As Shuri struggled with the air-swimming Isaac, someone arrived.
"Indeed? That child performed such self-sacrifice?"
Five children entered the treasury entrance. The most striking was a four-year-old with snow-white hair and golden eyes. The atmosphere shifted palpably - even Shuri paled.
Isaac tilted his head at the sudden silence.
"Ttaya?" (What's this?)
But others recognized despair:
"It's Kina Berit!"
"Why's the papal family here?!"
Of course - the child practically canonized as a living Saint. His pale coloring symbolized nobility in the Holy Empire, where higher clergy wore more white. Even here, such pure whiteness was rare - natural saints supposedly bore such traits.
Frankly, in centuries of dealing with the Empire, Isaac had only seen the Saintess with similar coloring. 'Strange. Berit blood shouldn't produce this naturally.'
Shuri ground his teeth.
"...Bastard. His sacred energy's grown."
How ambitious - rivaling the Pope's grandson!
"With Kina Berit here, this stone-picking's meaningless."
"He'll obviously claim the best treasure."
"Why's the papal family at the Saintess's treasury?"
Kina Berit smiled triumphantly.
"Though called the Saintess's treasury now, this place originally belonged to the Holy Empire's papal family. We merely entrusted its guardianship to Saintesses. I'm here to reclaim my property."
Shuri gnashed his teeth. Isaac sighed - this celebrity child, though youngest here, possessed the strongest sacred energy. All present were geniuses, seventh-rank priests despite being under seven. Some emanated energy equivalent to fifteen-year-olds.
But this boy? In a league of his own. 'Probably surpasses bishops already.'
Kina Berit contemptuously eyed the poisoners.
"Disgracing the hosts with cheap tricks. Are you truly Saint candidates?"
The culprits hid their bottles. Kina approached Isaac.
"Pathetic. What do you gain bullying a toddler?"
They bit their lips, humiliated. Their attempt to impress the papal heir had backfired spectacularly.
Kina examined Isaac pityingly.
"An infant can't possibly handle toxin resistance. This must be the Saintess's protective magic."
Others concurred:
"Right! No toddler wields sacred energy like masters!"
"Detoxification? Ridiculous!"
"Typical Eshua males."
Kina reached to pat Isaac's head.
"Poor thing. Let me detoxify you."
Powerful sacred energy erupted from his hand, shocking everyone.
"He can use detoxification spells already?!"
"Look at that output! Fifth-rank?!"
Then-
SMACK!!
Kina's cheek jerked violently from Isaac's slap. More shocking than the violence was the dissipating sacred energy.
"G-gone! His energy...!"
Only equals or superiors could cancel sacred energy. Kina stared at his hand in disbelief.
"You dare strike your benefactor, Eshua brat?!" his entourage shouted.
Isaac raised an eyebrow. 'You can't even control your power properly, yet wave it around carelessly? You'd have hurt him with that crude energy!'
But his real anger stemmed elsewhere:
"Ttayayaya!!" (You're ruining my buzz!)
"Ttaya!" (This is my first intoxication in centuries! Who said you could sober me up?!)
He threw his bottle at the lackeys.
"AAAAH! Stop!"
Kina glared coldly. Unbelievable - this brat canceled his energy?
When Kina reached out again, Isaac tsked. Babies never listen.
"Ttaya."
Isaac clenched his fist.
