The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 31

Everyone stared at Azadin, who suddenly let out a groan.

“Ugh… Waaah. This is lamentable.”

“……”

“What? Is he drunk?”

“Everyone! It means people have become corrupted!”

The merchants and adventurers all looked at each other.

‘This guy’s drunk.’

‘Who told him to drink?’

They all looked around, trying to find someone to blame. Meanwhile, Azadin was ranting.

“The Archangel of the Trinity swore to give the power of white magic to those who uphold the three virtues and sealed himself in the Inner Sea Peninsula! But as people turn away from virtue, the Relief Knights are losing their power! And when the Age of Jupiter approaches, the forces of darkness will regain their strength. How can there be so many people chasing pleasure and so few seeking virtue in this world?!”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“Man! I just said I wanted to make some money and get a slave…”

“That’s exactly it! A slave! Isn’t slavery illegal in the Relief Knights and the King’s Church?! How can you say such corrupt things?! Don’t you know that your corruption is bringing the Age of Jupiter one step closer?”

“Ah, um, well.”

The other merchants were bewildered by Azadin, who was shouting about the faith of the Relief Knights.

The Age of Jupiter was a doomsday story passed down in the Relief Knights… a story that beggars, vagrants, the mentally ill, and alcoholics in the market liked to talk about.

Of course, the fanatics of the Relief Knights also liked the story, and Azadin was talking about it while drunk.

“The Age of Jupiter is coming! Embrace the three virtues! Stay away from pleasure, corruption, and prostitution!”

“But aren’t you drinking too?”

“W-we were the ones who made him drink, though.”

“It’s okay! There’s no abstinence among the three virtues!”

As Azadin tried to drink more, the merchants stopped him.

“Whoa!”

“How can he be so strong?”

“H-he’s tall! And his frame is big too!”

The merchants barely managed to stop Azadin.

“Okay, okay, we have a long way to go tomorrow, so you should go get some rest!”

“Y-yeah, you’re right.”

“Ah, I understand! I can walk on my own!”

Azadin pushed away the merchants who were trying to support him and went up to his room. Back in his room, he put his hands together and adjusted his breathing.

“Hoo.”

His flushed face returned to normal, and his expression and eyes were back to normal. He had deliberately used a body control technique to regulate his heart rate and make the capillaries in his face flush red, pretending to be drunk.

“I knew it, everyone hates fanatics.”

“Isn’t it because you were acting up while drunk, not because you were a fanatic?”

Midiam, who was lying on the bed, peeked out and asked.

“Were you watching? Instead of sleeping?”

“Of course, the inn was about to fall apart.”

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to act as a messenger with such a noticeable feature on your face?”

Ismail, who also couldn’t sleep, said to Azadin.

“I don’t know if what they’re saying is true about the Messenger Clan or if they’re just capturing helpless civilians and falsely accusing them to make them slaves, but it’s truly disgusting. I want to kill them all.”

Midiam, who had heard that they were enslaving the Messenger Clan, smiled coldly and tossed and turned in bed.

“We need to verify the truth.”

Azadin was also furious about what the merchants and the lumber mill people had done. That’s why he deliberately acted like a fanatic to ruin the mood, but that wasn’t enough to relieve his anger.

“Then, if you confirm it, will you kill them?”

“Depending on the situation.”

Azadin said that.

“Because it is the mission of the Messenger to uphold the Emperor’s law. Shall we sleep now? For tomorrow?”

Azadin lightly brushed his teeth with tea dregs and salt and lay down on the bed.

‘Who is this daughter of the Messenger Clan they’re talking about? Is she a former messenger? I didn’t receive any handover, so I don’t know if such a thing exists. I’ll have to go and check it out myself.’

Azadin closed his eyes, trying to calm his troubled mind.

*********

The next morning, the merchants and adventurers, suffering from hangovers, packed their bags and prepared for their journey. They all seemed used to being hungover, as if they drank a lot on a regular basis.

Seeing them pack their luggage without breaking any goods despite their hangovers, it was clear that they were almost always drunk.

“Then, let’s go!”

They set off on the road with practiced ease. The group left the Imperial Highway and walked along a forest path. The forest path was also quite well-trodden, showing that many people had passed through it. There was even a tea merchant nearby selling tea and snacks.

Azadin asked the tea merchant.

“Is business good?”

“It’s so-so. If I do business on the main road, other guilds will try to take over.”

“Are there any beasts or bandits?”

“Hahaha. There are, but I’m quick.”

The tea merchant said that and brewed tea for the merchants. Azadin walked quietly with them and instructed Midiam and Ismail.

“Don’t use your bows while those merchants are watching. Got it?”

When they fought the Holy Knights, Midiam and Ismail were exposed as members of the Messenger Clan just by shooting their bows. Thirteen-year-old boys and girls from places other than Aragasaga couldn’t even draw such strong bows.

They couldn’t reveal their identities this time either, so Azadin warned them in advance and quietly followed behind them, pretending to be a humble pilgrim.

Kaka and Chico, the siblings, skillfully surveyed the road, checking for traps or signs of wild animal territories. They joked with the other Cell Sword members and chatted with Tarki about various rumors, walking cheerfully.

Judging by their attitude, they didn’t seem to think they were of noble blood at all. Above all, they had stepped back when the story of the woman who had become a slave because she was of the Messenger Clan blood was mentioned.

‘It might be a coincidence, but they get points for that. At least they’re more likable than Tarki. They didn’t participate in the exploitation of slaves, so I should make sure they don’t die, right?’

Azadin thought that and silently followed the merchant caravan.

The inside of the forest was getting deeper and darker. The trees were parched and grotesquely twisted.

“……”

Azadin clicked his tongue at what he could see with his eyesight.

Black corruption was intertwined.

It was a trace of black magic.

“There’s a lumber mill inside, and they’ll tell you about the wyverns there. We’ll also sell some of our goods there to reduce our load…”

The merchants asked the Cell Sword adventurers who were escorting them for their opinion.

Was it okay to go?

To Azadin, it looked dangerous and dark with black magic swirling around, but to the merchants and others, it probably looked like an ordinary forest.

“Something smells bad.”

Midiam, who had a talent for magic, covered her nose and looked puzzled.

“Really? I don’t smell anything?”

Tarki looked calm, so it seemed that this was something that ordinary people couldn’t feel. Azadin sent a hand signal to Midiam and Ismail.

“Stay close to the Kerim mountain goat.”

With that, Azadin prepared his weapons. He took out the two swords he had taken from Kozel’s soldiers, sheathed one at his waist and carried the other on his back. He also picked up about four hunting arrows and hid them inside his pants and under his cloak.

While he was doing that, the merchants shouted.

“Ah, we’ve arrived at the lumber mill!”

“Hey! Karim! Did you bring the alco…”

However, the person at the entrance of the lumber mill let out a growling roar instead of human words.

“Krrrr!”

“Grrrr!”

Hunting dogs with large claw marks on their backs and their entrails removed rushed out from inside the village. The hunting dogs, already dead, barked and ran out like crazy.

“Run away!”

“Oh my god!”

“Undead!”

The Cell Sword adventurers immediately formed a battle formation. They had all come to hunt and were armed with spears, so they formed a strong defensive wall.

However, the charging hunting dogs did not crash into the formation. Despite being undead, they retained the cunning and skill they had when they were alive, circling around the Cell Sword formation.

“Eek!”

“B-be careful! If you show a weakness, it’s over!”

Then, a hunting dog jumped through a gap in the formation. It was an attack on a vulnerable point in the rear of the formation, where there was no way to defend now.

“Hup!”

Surprisingly, it was Tarki who blocked it. He swung his longsword and blocked the hunting dog’s attack. The hunting dog retreated, avoiding Tarki’s longsword, and realizing that this was not a weak point in the formation, it circled around again.

“Damn it! It’s a sly one!”

Tarki stood at the rear diagonal of the formation, which was a weak point, and swung his longsword in the air, blocking the hunting dogs from approaching.

“Not bad.”

Azadin praised Tarki and surveyed the situation. The undead hunting dogs were circling around the group of adventurers and merchants, keeping them on guard. Meanwhile, humanoid undead, zombies, were walking out of the village.

These were probably the residents of the lumber mill village, and they were coming out armed with axes, kitchen knives, clubs, spears, saws, and chisels.

“T-there are too many of them!”

The undead hunting dogs were circling around the formation, so the spear-wielding adventurers and merchants couldn’t move carelessly. Meanwhile, the enemies were rushing in, so everyone was bewildered.

It wasn’t easy to move while in formation. But if they stayed still, they would eventually be surrounded by the enemies.

“Let’s shoot, let’s shoot arrows!”

Those in the back of the formation took out their hunting bows and started shooting arrows, but…

Azadin was going crazy watching them. The arrows weren’t hitting properly. Since those who hadn’t trained in archery were shooting, they were just wasting precious arrows.

If their archery skills were poor, they should aim at the slow-moving zombies, but in their haste, they kept wasting arrows trying to shoot the hunting dogs that were threatening the formation. Unable to watch any longer, Azadin picked up a stone from the ground.

“Move aside for a moment!”

Azadin said that and threw the stone.

-Thwack!

The stone that Azadin threw hit the hunting dog’s head.

“Ke-gyeng!”

The undead hunting dog thrashed and tumbled. Azadin’s throw was so powerful that its head was shattered.

“Huh?”

“Wow?!”

-Swish!

Another stone was thrown. This time, the stone accurately hit the hunting dog.

“Leave the hunting dogs to me, and you guys stop the human zombies.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Eeyah!”

The others were not capable of hitting the actively moving hunting dogs. So, as Azadin advised, they aimed at the slower human zombies and hit them properly. However, the power was weak, and they couldn’t stop the zombies.

The zombies kept walking with arrows in their bodies. Unless they had a strong bow that could destroy bones and muscles, it was difficult to affect the zombies at close range.