Jackpot (1)
Eshua, those rotten bastards.
He said it with scorn, but even so—noble blood is noble blood.
The Skeleton King—or rather, now a saint aiming to devour the Holy Empire—Isaac Eshua, stood gazing up at a mansion.
His expression, unbefitting a mere infant, was twisted in disgust.
It was like someone had placed a village right on top of a lake.
The deep blue roof soared high, its hues deeper than the sky itself. Canals ran through the grounds, so extensive and vast that one could hardly tell if this was a village or a lake.
The carvings on the white marble, the glasswork—all of it exuded such elegance that it made you stop and think: Damn, how much did all this cost? No, even just the grandeur of the building alone radiated a sacredness that screamed, Damn, is this what they call modest faith? You could feel the weight of thousands of years of history just from looking at the structure…
Goddamn it. In other words, it was disgustingly impressive.
"Damn Holy Empire!"
So this is where all the spoils from crushing the demonkind went—real estate investments?
The former—and current—Demon King trembled as he stared at the mansion.
Of course, he knew the Holy Empire was wealthy. All the empires and kingdoms were, but the Holy Empire in particular had an overwhelming presence across the continent.
And it was all because of the demonkind.
Just think of how much effort—no, how much lobbying—had been poured into the Holy Empire by the human factions to drive out the demons!
In comparison, the demon side was dirt poor!
Sure, there were times when they had prospered, but not when the Skeleton King arrived.
When he first came here, the demonkind was on the verge of extinction. They were so starved that even a boneless skeleton was chased down by wild beasts.
They didn't put up trade restrictions and push for self-sufficiency for no reason.
If they had let the humans come in, they would've been annihilated for sure.
So all the money and resources they scraped together went straight into building up demon infrastructure.
Which meant he had to live in a crumbling castle, dressed in rags with not even a single glass window. Still, he didn't regret a single bit…
[My lord! Compared to this place, our shabby castle isn't even in the same dimension!]
…No regrets…
[Look at that, my lord! See the sacred stone embedded in that outer wall? I'm the only one who knows this, but even selling just one of those would be enough to buy a mansion! Maybe even the land it sits on!]
…Shit. Maybe I should sell the mansion and flee overseas?
Isaac gave the blue-roofed mansion a side-eye.
Well, sure—it might seem extravagant to someone from a poor background, but maybe this is their version of modesty.
After all, the faith of the Blue God is known as the most austere among the five noble houses.
Even the imperial temples he visited before meeting the bishop were far more flashy than this.
He couldn't even begin to imagine how much gold plating the Pope's palace had.
Still, it wasn't a bad place to live in.
Actually, this might even be on the nicer end of things.
Except for one tiny detail.
"Look, Isaac! One day, you'll grow up and be just like those kids over there."
Isaac's uncle smiled warmly as he looked toward the training ground.
On the field, young cadets—still pre-coming-of-age—were practicing swordsmanship.
"Die, Skeleton King! Die!"
"Not enough to just cut him up—tear the bastard limb from limb! Our grudge against him will never fade, not by sunrise nor sunset! Kill the Skeleton King!"
"Skeleton King, worse than crap, just DIE!"
What the hell are they teaching these kids?
Isaac was genuinely terrified by the way the children were wailing on a scarecrow made to look like the Skeleton King—stabbing it in the eyes, between the legs. Brutal.
"It warms my heart to see how the young cadets are improving in swordsmanship each day."
That's not swordsmanship!
That's just dirty witchcraft!
"Haha, Isaac will be like them one day too."
No, that's just gangster cultist thuggery! What the hell are they teaching these so-called holy knights?
Isaac glared at the training ground with eyes full of rage.
To be fair, they were still just kids. Their attention spans weren't that long, so you had to engage them somehow.
In a way, it was a smart choice…
"Wow, bullseye! I win!"
Isaac trembled as he watched a group of boys in the corner playing pee tag on the Skeleton King doll.
"Let's ask the commander to bring us a new hay dummy!"
"Next, let's play soccer with the Skeleton King's head!"
These little shits. I'm suing them for human rights violations.
Isaac's face twitched.
But… he kind of understood.
These cute little chicks were the cadets of the Eshua household—the ones with a direct grudge against the Skeleton King.
There must be some backstory he didn't know about.
Maybe something like… they lost their parents in a tragic accident caused by him…
"Mom and Dad will be back soon!"
"Then let's clean up before break ends! You carry the filthy Skeleton King!"
"No way! That thing's gross!"
"Wouldn't it be better to just let them build resentment now?"
Isaac's eyes blazed.
"Well, I can kind of guess why Eshua's teachings are like this."
Soldiers sent into war couldn't survive with ordinary minds or beliefs.
In such cases, one of the best ways to boost morale was to inject hatred.
And if that hatred training had been instilled from a young age, they'd be perfect as soldiers.
In fact, how many paladins had charged forward with that zombie-like conviction—or rather, fanatical obsession—to destroy the Skull King?
"Come to think of it, all those lunatics might have been followers of Cheong."
Isaac grimaced in disgust, but at this point, he figured it didn't really matter.
As long as someone was born into the Eshua family, they were on his side—not the enemy.
Depending on how he used them, even those who shuddered with hatred at the thought of the Pope's forces and the Skull King would be useful.
So even though it annoyed him, if he thought of them all as his subordinates, there was no reason to hate them.
After all, his plan was simple: retrieve the Skull King's body, absorb it into the spiritual realm, become a saint, and take the Pope's seat for himself.
A culture that disrespected the Skull King?
Worms who peed on Skull King dolls?
Who cares?
All he had to do was become the Pope, manipulate the Emperor, and turn the Holy Empire into the Isaac Empire.
Isaac giggled.
"Oh! That's right, Isaac. Looks like you've taken a liking to the training ground over there."
Yep. Later on, I'll replace all those Skull King dolls with the gods' brats instead.
"Sir Yard. Give Isaac one of those Skull King curse dolls in the training field. He needs to learn how to curse it properly."
One of them might as well have Uncle's face, right?
Of course, the priority for now was to grow up well.
After all, the people behind the assassins who tried to kill Isaac Eshua had yet to be caught.
The ones who planted a fake nanny and tried to kill him.
"I'm not at a stage where I can relax yet."
Isaac believed, with high certainty, that the culprit wasn't an outsider, but someone within the family.
Even if they weren't the mastermind, they had to at least be an accomplice.
There's no way switching out a nanny would've been easy without internal help.
That meant another assassination attempt could come, so he had to stay cautious.
With that in mind, Isaac intended to quickly build his power. And the essential element for that—magical power—was…
"Good. I can feel the energy of the mana cores."
As expected of a prestigious exorcist family.
There had to be a warehouse on this vast estate filled with mana cores. And given the Holy Empire's millennia-long history, it wouldn't be just a handful.
At least hundreds, maybe thousands.
"With this, I can unlock not only basic magic but advanced magic too."
It was worth choosing this place over the imperial palace.
In fact, it was even better that the mana cores were right where he'd be staying.
"Well, before that, I need a good nanny…"
Assassination was poison to a child. He needed someone who'd let him focus without worrying about being killed…
That's when it happened.
"Young Master Rilai!"
"!"
A beautiful woman came rushing in from inside the mansion. She looked to be in her late teens, and her uniform marked her as part of the Eshua knighthood.
"I'm so relieved you've returned safely. But who is that child…?"
"He is Isaac, the son of my sister-in-law—the Saint."
At that, the knight turned to Isaac in disbelief, her eyes wide.
"My goodness, this is the Saint's son…!"
Her expression was one of admiration for the Saint and genuine relief that Isaac was alive.
Rilai spoke to the knight, who had grown up with him and was the daughter of his own nanny.
"This is sudden, but Ashili… I'd like you to care for this child. You're the only one I can truly trust right now."
Understanding the weight of his words, the knight's gaze turned resolute. She untied her training-bound hair and bowed deeply.
"I will dedicate my life to serving and protecting young master Isaac."
The Skull King was satisfied.
So basically, this woman's going to be my nanny.
And judging by her aura, she was clearly from the Saint's family—definitely not a low-ranking knight.
If an assassin came again, she'd likely take them out instead.
This was perfect. Now he could focus on growing and training.
At that moment, a crowd of people from the Eshua household rushed in after hearing the news.
"I heard! They say demons targeted Young Master Isaac?"
"But then, he defeated all of them…!"
"You sure got the news fast."
"If demons went out of their way to target him, he must be no ordinary person."
"He's going to become the sword of Eshua!"
As everyone welcomed him, Lylai walked forward with a smile.
"I can see you're all excited, but let's give the boy a moment to catch his breath first."
"Where should we escort Young Master Isaac?"
"Well, since we brought him here in a hurry, let's find an empty room for now…"
"It's already prepared."
"!"
The voice came from behind.
A butler and several male and female attendants bowed their heads to Lylai.
"In truth, upon hearing that Young Master Isaac would be arriving, the elder brother instructed us to prepare the annex in advance."
Hmm… the annex?
The Skeleton King furrowed his brow, looking slightly uneasy.
Despite sounding like a nice word, it gave off an ominous feeling.
Proving that instinct right, his uncle scowled.
"My brother truly did something unnecessary. We'll go to the main house. Follow me."
Oof, the tension.
It was definitely tense.
Isaac's eyebrows rose higher and higher.
And that tension solidified into certainty.
"The main house…! Don't tell me you're taking Young Master Isaac where the direct family members reside?"
Just as he thought.
As Isaac had sensed, the attendants shut their eyes tightly, and the butler glanced at Lylai with a troubled look.
"Milord… in truth… the lady instructed that Young Master Isaac was only to be served in the annex."
"You must be out of your mind. You'd leave the child in a place where people died, curses linger, and no one lives—a haunted house?"
The uncle's scowl deepened.
"This child is a direct descendant of Eshua—no less than the firstborn son of the eldest. It's absurd to house him in an annex used for exile. Prepare the room our eldest brother used. I'll speak to the head of the family myself."
"Yes, sir!"
The maids quickly disappeared. But noticing the butler's oddly worried expression, Isaac's eyebrow twitched.
Wait, what?
I haven't even done anything yet, so why was I being sent to the annex?
Don't tell me this is one of those classic noble family feuds?
Is this… about turf?
But usually this stuff happens to illegitimate kids, right?
Wasn't I a direct descendant?
Not even illegitimate?
And now I find out I'm the firstborn son of the eldest?
Then wouldn't I have the most legit claim?
But honestly, it didn't really matter.
[Master! The annex has way more mana cores! It's a goldmine!]
At that moment, Whisper's detection finished, and Isaac smiled.
In fact, Isaac had felt something similar too.
So yes, please, send me to the annex!
"I'll take Isaac to my room for now. I can't leave my nephew in a place like that alone."
No, uncle.
Not there. It's fine, just send me to the annex!
"All right, all right, I'll read him the scriptures where the past saintesses fought the Skeleton King as a lullaby."
No need!!
That's literally an exorcism book for me!
I'll actually ascend if I hear that!
"If we finish the whole book, you'll even learn the exorcism spell made specifically for the Skeleton King."
My uncle's trying to kill me!!
Damn it, should I wait until he falls asleep? Or just knock him out here and now?
Ugh, what do I do?
Just as the uncle began to move with Isaac in tow, a chilling voice rang in Isaac's ears as he struggled.
"I clearly said to send that child to the annex."
At the sound of salvation, Isaac's eyes widened.
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