NOVEL NEXT Chapter 91.1
The Papacy.
There was someone there who was awaiting news of Isaac.
“So? The Blue team entered Krasandia?”
It was Cardinal Berit.
Upon hearing his master’s expectant words, the attendant bowed his head and spoke:
“We couldn’t go all the way in to fully investigate due to interference from the magicians, but they definitely entered the mission area.”
Cardinal Berit had been awaiting news as eagerly as the head of the Blue House and the Crown Prince. He gave a mocking laugh.
“I thought they wouldn’t even be able to go that far because of the demons, but how did they manage to go in?”
Ordinarily, they would have been completely torn apart by the demons… or rather, it was the reverse knights that could have torn them apart, but in any case, the Blue team shouldn’t have been able to reach their destination.
Yet somehow they made it through without a scratch?
“Even a baby of the Blue can manage that much, it seems.”
It seemed they won’t be returning crying and stripped like the other priests.
“But there is something strange.”
“Something strange?”
“It seems Isaac Eshua entered the mission area alone.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Cardinal Berit burst into laughter.
“In the end, even the Blue’s baby couldn’t tame the reverse knights.”
His escort knights didn’t even protect him!
But who could have imagined they’d send a mere 10-year-old child off alone? Had he drawn that much hatred?
“Well, we too gave up on taming them long ago.”
It’s possible the Blue team got caught up in some incident that forced Isaac to move alone… but who knows.
No matter how skilled they were as Papacy’s knights, there’s no way the entire team could have been incapacitated, so it seems they simply abandoned Isaac.
“There was no chance of succeeding the mission anyway, so he’ll be lucky if he returns at all.”
“Yes. We made sure to block his path back to Hella from the start.”
Just as Isaac had guessed, they had set traps along his return route.
“Our Gold Faith is ‘to protect through rejection.'”
To reject demons, false doctrines, and impurities, and protect our people through purity – that was their faith.
Coexist with demons?
Did they really think they’d allow those filthy Blue into the Pope’s country? He should obediently come as an adopted child.
Well, they hadn’t expected Isaac to propose it first. But it worked out well.
-Hirei, my cute nephews may come to your mission. Want to play with them?
Eshua’s fourth son.
Currently the most likely heir to the Blue, with the eldest having disappeared. His skills were perfect, and he had no flaws like illness, limited lifespan, or infertility. Yet his father refused to pass the succession to him, leaving him quite disgruntled.
Meanwhile, rumors were circulating in high society that he would be skipped over for his own nephews to inherit instead. Just imagining how furious he must be.
And above all, he had ties to the magicians.
“Using the magicians to eliminate them means the Gold won’t even need to get our hands dirty. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”
“But what if the imperial family tries to help? They’re already showing a great interest in Isaac Eshua…”
Cardinal Berit scoffed at those words.
What? Help?
“The imperial family can’t afford to right now. They’ve got a troublesome problem on their hands.”
Krasandia.
Why else would they have ordered Isaac to go to that area? It was recently a disputed region between the Holy Empire and the Magic Empire.
‘The imperial family has quite the trouble.’
In simple terms, it was a petty land-grabbing issue between the whales.
Krasandia was a region recently annexed by the Magic Empire, and it had been an important trade route for the Holy Empire’s imports and exports.
The problem was that these Magic Empire bastards were acting like shameless thieves.
After annexing the area, they were brazenly demanding outrageous transit fees.
It was a predicament – too precious to give up, but fighting over it would be asking for trouble.
And to send imperial troops there?
“It would be war. Not that they couldn’t win, but there are smaller kingdoms around that area complicating things.”
No, if some issue arose that allowed the Magic Empire to seize control, it would only cause trouble for the imperial family, distancing them from the Blue.
Knowing all this, the Cardinal had deliberately sent the Blue team to that land.
“Their mission will fail, they won’t be able to return home, and the Blue will be utterly humiliated.”
There was no way the Magic Empire would favor Isaac’s side.
* * *
“What?!”
“The prince of the Magic Empire?!”
The Blue team seemed dazed, staring blankly.
Thanks to Isaac, they were cured… no, whether they were cured or had their powers drained, they didn’t know, but in any case, they were grateful to Isaac and were about to tackle him with hugs and kisses.
They had even decided to never doubt Isaac’s words again… Damn it… why does this guy cause trouble wherever he goes?
‘A prince? Him?’
‘There’s no way this brat would stay quiet after seeing such a premium target!’
In other words, he was one step away from causing an incident.
“Ahaha, this is why I hid my identity. I didn’t mean to startle the priests, my apologies!”
…It wasn’t his identity that startled them.
At least to the Blue team, that wasn’t important. What was more important than that was…
‘Dammit, not only is he a prince, but the item he’s wearing is a treasure?!’
Seeing the golden necklace the young prince wore, they looked at Isaac nervously.
As expected, Isaac’s eyes were slyly following the movements of the necklace. He even shifted his backpack while snickering, which felt rather ominous.
‘That brat, he’s scheming something!’
‘He’s already finished calculating!’
After living together for nearly half a year, they couldn’t help but notice. They knew just how obsessed with money this bastard was.
Who knows what kind of greedy old woman he was reincarnated from, but he was clearly money-crazed.
‘…Didn’t this brat go especially nuts over gold?’
‘Is he planning to poison and rob him?’
‘Hey, no way. Not if he has any sense.’
‘Did this guy ever have any sense?’
‘…’
…Shit.
They didn’t know why priests like themselves had to worry about potential robbery, but Isaac grinned mischievously.
“Anyway, this means we’ve beaten the Papacy. We’ve accomplished more than just bringing paladins.”
“Ac-complishment?”
“Yeah! How much do you think we could get for kidnapping the prince of the Magic Empire?”
…They were going to go broke dealing with this guy before even making a contract with a god.