The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 159

The soldier, now disarmed, was startled by the sight of more people entering the village and shouted in alarm.

“Clerk! Look, a Holy Knight!”

A knight in full plate armor, bearing the insignia of the King’s Church, rode into the village.

“Damn it. What’s going on?”

“Retreat!”

The Blue Banner Gang soldiers, realizing they were outmatched, dropped their loot, gathered their wounded, and began to flee.

*********

After climbing the cliff, Azadin wandered around for a while.

“The Aragas map doesn’t show this area very well.”

When Azadin was appointed as a messenger to Corasar, he received a map of his assigned territory from the Aragas Council of Elders. This Adiroph region was not on that map, so Azadin was unfamiliar with the local geography.

“Adiroph… isn’t that one of Count Lantaric’s territories?”

“Yes. It was said that the secret to the Emperor’s treasury was here.”

According to Brand, the former clerk of Count Lantaric, Garnahear, had been conducting research on the Emperor’s treasury in Adiroph.

So, he had planned to visit a nearby village to gather some information, but…

“It seems there are armed forces in the village?”

“Huh?”

“Well, Sir Zibeck is too conspicuous, so I’ll go ahead and check the situation first.”

Azadin said that and infiltrated the village, only to encounter the Blue Banner Gang.

“How can you say you’re just checking the situation when you end up fighting?”

Zibeck chided him.

“I didn’t know how bad they were. They were looting, but they were issuing requisition slips and not killing or assaulting people.”

Azadin had a firm principle. If they were just thieves stealing things, he wouldn’t inflict permanent damage.

According to Azadin’s principles, the Blue Banner Gang was not yet a target to be killed or permanently harmed.

“We’ll find out if we ask the villagers.”

Azadin returned the cart to the people.

“Th, thank you. Are you… are you with the Holy Knight?”

“You could say that. Oh, by the way, I’d like to buy some beans and barley.”

Azadin took out a silver coin, placed it in the merchant’s hand, and handed him a sack from his saddle. It was enough money to fill the sack with beans and barley.

‘Helping people and paying a fair price. Ha. Such dignified behavior befitting an Imperial messenger. But what if this merchant refuses to take the money, saying he wants to repay my kindness?’

Azadin was worrying about that when the merchant, having received the empty sack, happily began scooping several measures of grain from the pile that the Blue Banner Gang had almost requisitioned, filling Azadin’s sack.

But then….

“Huh? Is that it? I gave you a silver coin.”

“Ahem. These days, food and grains are expensive. Recently, many refugees have poured in from Coral Sahar, causing food prices to skyrocket. If you want me to fill the sack more, you’ll have to pay more.”

The merchant said, holding out his hand to Azadin.

“……”

He had just saved him from being robbed by the Blue Banner Gang, and now he was demanding full price?

‘I wasn’t expecting any favors, but this guy is really annoying.’

Azadin sighed and took out more money, handing it to the merchant.

“Fine. With this, I suppose I’ll give you an extra measure of barley.”

“Ah. Okay.”

Azadin inwardly clicked his tongue as he watched the merchant act like he was doing him a favor by giving him just one extra measure of barley.

He had paid enough money to buy a cart full of grain in a normal year, but he was only getting two sacks filled and acting like he was doing him a favor with one extra measure.

“I understand that refugees have come from Coral Sahar, but who are those guys wearing blue headbands?”

“Ah, you mean those guys wearing towels dyed with blue tree fruit? They call themselves the Blue Banner Gang and are causing trouble. It’s a pseudo-religion.”

“A pseudo-religion?”

“Yes. It’s a religion that recently came in by land through Butuma. I don’t know what the King’s Church is doing. Well, that’s why Coral Sahar… Oops. Look at me.”

It was quite bold to badmouth the King’s Church in front of a Holy Knight of the King’s Church.

However, recently, as Coral Sahar was swept by storms and produced refugees, respect for the King’s Church was noticeably weakening.

‘Poor Ansetus IV.’

Even though the weakening of the light of the King was not his fault, he would go down in history as a tyrant.

“What do those pseudo-religious people do?”

“What else? They’re stirring up trouble, drawing in refugees and reckless young people, saying they’ll create a new world. They’re capturing influential people, coaxing them into giving them money, and training an army. The problem is that the dwarves have joined them.”

“Dwarves, as in, the dwarves?”

“Yes. With the dwarves supporting the Blue Banner Gang, their momentum has really picked up. Be careful.”

“I understand. Which way is the Adiroph Baron’s castle? And can I buy a map of this area?”

“Ah, a map, you say?”

The merchant held out his hand again.

“Since you’re my benefactor, I’ll give you a discount.”

“……”

It was a moment when the help of the Corasar Merchant Guild was desperately needed.

*********

“Damn it. He really ripped me off. I should have bought the grain later.”

Azadin unfolded the map he had bought at an exorbitant price.

Looking at the map of the Adiroph region, it was surprisingly located on the border between the Kingdom of Corasar and the Kingdom of Butuma.

Usually, such border areas are bustling with trade or have military garrisons, making them economic hubs, but he had never heard of Adiroph.

“Why didn’t I know about this border area?”

“That’s because of the endemic diseases.”

Zibeck explained from beside Azadin.

“Endemic diseases?”

“Malaria, dysentery, fever, and various other Butuman endemic diseases are present in the Adiroph region. It’s a well-known fact that the Adiroph Baron family was wiped out by malaria, and since there were no heirs, it was inherited by the maternal Count Lantaric.”

“Ah, so that’s why Count Lantaric mentioned something about being the guardian of Adiroph.”

Azadin nodded.

“Anyway, according to the map, the only land route to Butuma is through Adiph, the capital of the Adiroph region. Let’s go to Adiph.”

Azadin carefully folded the map so he could easily take it out and put it in his belt pouch before setting off.

They had not gone far from the village when…

“You guys!”

“You dared to interfere with the Blue Banner Gang’s activities!”

A group of people wearing blue headbands came rushing towards them. It was a group of at least 20 people, armed with spears, bardiches [a type of poleaxe], and bows.

“Oh my. They’re really asking for it.”

Scott clicked his tongue at the sight.

Knowing Azadin’s abilities, he was not surprised or afraid of this number of people. He was just worried about the future of these self-proclaimed Blue Banner Gang members.

On the other hand, Shati was displeased.

“Seriously, if I get hit by a stray arrow…”

She didn’t even imagine that Azadin would lose.

Azadin had already defeated the strong members of the Messenger Clan in front of her and even stopped the descent of an ancient god. He was not someone who would be intimidated by such a ragtag group.

But then…

“Wait a minute, everyone, calm down.”

Azadin raised both hands and knelt in front of them.

“What? This guy. You are…”

“Ah, this one is a Holy Knight, so leave him alone. It’ll be troublesome.”

Azadin drew a clear line to those who were threatening Zibeck as well.

“……”

The Blue Banner Gang members looked at their commander, the clerk.

It was certainly a burden for them to fight a fully armed Holy Knight, but they had come to punish their opponent, and they wondered if they should just let him go because he had knelt down.

‘We came to beat him up because our comrade was hurt, but should we just accept this?’

‘It seems like the clerk is a bit intimidated by this guy?’

As they were all looking at each other, the clerk cleared his throat.

“Ahem, you. Do you now understand what it means to interfere with the Blue Banner Gang’s activities?”

“Yes, I do.”

Azadin agreed and asked.

“I heard that the Blue Banner Gang is a religious group. I’ve been feeling troubled lately and questioning whether my existing faith is correct. If there is a new teaching, I’m willing to dedicate myself to it. Could you perhaps give me some guidance?”

“What?”

“First, I’m curious about your doctrine.”

“Doctrine… doctrine?”

The Blue Banner Gang members were flustered. In fact, they didn’t know much about their own doctrine, even though they called themselves a new religion.

Before that, the King’s Church had only forced them to submit to the kings and nobles, who were descendants of the Yaehgas gods, and even the Knights of Salvation had only preached to the common people that if they kept their virtues, they would be blessed. It was a very simple and primitive doctrine.

“Um, wear the blue headband and follow our leader’s will. The era of the Yaehgas gods is over!”

“Can we join too?”

“That’s… um. Are you hoping to join?”

As the clerk said that, the Blue Banner Gang soldiers around him became dissatisfied. They had come to avenge their comrade who had been hurt. But now, they were going to let the guy who had beaten them up join without any punishment?

The atmosphere among the Blue Banner Gang soldiers became gloomy, and the clerk felt uneasy.

At that moment.

“Um, it’s not much, but…”

Azadin handed some money to the clerk.

“Wh, what is this?”

“Like a thirsty deer seeks water, I’ve been seeking the right teachings, and I feel a desire to give. Please use this to take care of the people I hurt.”

“……”

The clerk cleared his throat, accepted the money Azadin offered, and subtly showed it to the soldiers next to him. The soldiers’ expressions all softened.

“But will the Holy Knight next to you also convert to our teachings?”

“……”

Zibeck was flustered, but he looked at Azadin and sighed, saying,

“I’ll listen to your story.”

“…Okay. Then follow me.”

The clerk distributed the money he had received from Azadin to his subordinates and began to lead the way.

*********

Following the Blue Banner Gang members, they crossed a hill and saw an enormous number of refugee camps.

Carriages were spread out across the plains, and tents were pitched everywhere.

Generally, land with good drainage was occupied by fields or existing villages, so the refugees who had fled from Coral Sahar were camping in barren areas near wetlands and water.

-Weeeng.

To exaggerate a bit, mosquitoes the size of a person’s palm, or objectively, the size of a baby finger’s fingernail, were flying everywhere.

Azadin swatted his hands, killing every mosquito he saw.

But every time he killed these mosquitoes, Azadin’s palm was stained with blood. The mosquitoes had already sucked their fill of people’s blood and were wandering around.

Moreover, it wasn’t just mosquitoes here. Leeches were attached to the bodies of the refugees who were catching catfish in the mud.

Even with so many poisonous insects, the refugees who had been driven out of Coral Sahar had to somehow survive here day by day.

A man in fine clothes, who didn’t seem to have anything to do with manual labor, was catching catfish in the mud, looking miserable, and the Blue Banner Gang members swaggered up to them, taking half of the fish from the basket they had caught.

A strange light flickered inside Azadin’s helmet as he watched this scene.