The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 234

From the east side of the village, along the road to Coxhall, a horn suddenly blared.

Behind the standard bearer, who was blowing the horn while holding the banner of the Relief Knights, armed Relief Knights appeared.

“Tch.”

Azadin clicked his tongue as he watched them appear.

In fact, the scene that had puzzled the villagers occurred because Azadin had confirmed their approach with the ‘Voice of Ara’el’ [a form of heightened sensory perception].

Seeing the Relief Knights appearing from an unexpected direction, Azadin hesitated about what to do.

“This has become troublesome.”

When the Relief Knights appeared, the lizardmen also ground their teeth in disappointment and began to retreat slowly.

Some couldn’t let go of their lingering feelings and snarled at Azadin, baring their teeth, but they eventually gave up and fled.

Azadin had been active, cutting down the lizardmen and smashing their heads, but the lizardmen’s vitality was also amazing, so there weren’t many dead bodies. Even with their brains leaking out from their smashed heads, the lizardmen did not die and retreated.

Instead, the Relief Knights rushed in on horseback and swarmed into the village. They surrounded Azadin all at once.

“Drop your weapons and kneel on the ground! This is the procession of Bishop Akenar of Coxhall of the Relief Knights!”

“…Bishop?”

Azadin threw the lizardman’s khopesh [a curved Egyptian sword] on the ground, sheathed his ceramite longsword, and sat down on the ground.

It seemed that the bishop had come in person after learning that the pilgrimage had been attacked.

“Bow your head!”

The knight on horseback gave a stern warning, but Azadin refused their order.

“Didn’t you see me fighting the lizardmen? I really don’t usually disparage the blind, but you guys are really blind with your eyes open, aren’t you? Why don’t you chase after the lizardmen and catch them instead of bothering me? If you let them live, they might harm people again somewhere.”

Azadin, who was born without eyes and lived as Azadin of Muan, usually doesn’t mention the blind or anything like that when disparaging others.

However, he was so angry now that he ignored even that principle. Instead of chasing after the fleeing lizardmen, they were focused on suppressing Azadin, who had been fighting them.

To them, protecting the bishop was more important than saving the villagers and eradicating the lizardmen.

The reason they were making Azadin bow his head was to be wary of him possibly drawing his weapon and swinging it around. In other words, it was just to make their own security duties easier.

“Our mission is to protect the bishop. What guarantee do we have that you are not in league with those lizardmen?”

“That’s why I put down my sword. This is all for your consideration.”

“What about that sword on your back?”

“This is such an important treasure that it shouldn’t be damaged even a little bit.”

“Hmm?”

At that moment, the Relief Knights were startled as they looked at the sword on Azadin’s back.

“Th-that’s a ceramite longsword!”

“What?!”

The knights were shocked to recognize that what Azadin had was a ceramite longsword [a sword made of a very strong, advanced material].

“You bastard! Where did you get that?”

“Could it be from Sir Izmilla?!”

It seemed they thought Azadin had taken Izmilla’s ceramite longsword.

“Ah… seriously.”

Azadin clicked his tongue at the pathetic appearance of the Relief Knights.

Since childhood, Azadin had loved the stories of the three archangels.

The three archangels of virtue who descended from heaven to be a source of strength for humanity, and the holy knights who, by practicing virtue according to their teachings, protected humanity with the power of white magic.

For Azadin, who was born without eyes and with an incomplete grimoire [a book of magic] and was treated poorly by his own kind, the stories of the holy knights fighting alongside the three archangels were a dream and a hope.

However, what remained here now were only swindlers who were embarrassing to call knights.

Of course, Azadin was also a realist, so he knew that humans could not be perfect. Even if an organization was created for a righteous ideal, it was natural for an organization created by humans to become corrupt, degenerate, and twisted.

But even considering that, weren’t the guys here now severely lacking in quality?

‘Honestly, they were so weak that an entire pilgrimage was wiped out, but with that kind of ability, these guys are doing a great job of oppressing me? Can you even handle me with your skills? It’s only because of the favor I received from Sir Planck and because I’m a Hospitaller [a member of a religious order that provides care] that I’m holding back.’

Azadin himself considered himself the Emperor’s envoy and a Relief Knight of the Relief Knights.

The fact that Sir Planck knighted him could never be a meaningless act. Denying that was something Azadin could not imagine.

‘I’ll endure it because I’m a Relief Knight.’

At that moment, the villagers stepped forward.

“Hey, if it weren’t for him, we would all be dead.”

“Yes. He defeated the lizardmen and saved us.”

The villagers bravely defended Azadin in front of the knights armed with spears and swords.

“It was amazing! He went swish, swish, like this with all those lizardmen!”

A young child imitated Azadin, pretending to fight with a sword. Although the child’s actions were comical, they conveyed the essence well.

That Azadin had easily dealt with a large number of lizardmen while retreating.

“Hmm.”

The holy knights, as if they weren’t blind, paused after hearing the villagers’ appeals.

“Did you hear that? Why don’t you catch the lizardmen instead of bothering me? If it’s too hard for you to handle, should I go catch them?”

Azadin said that and took a step. However, spears and swords blocked his path.

“Wait!”

“Our regular pilgrimage was attacked in this area.”

“We are investigating, so please cooperate with the investigation.”

“You probably meant to say ‘please cooperate,’ right?”

At that moment, Izmilla and her group belatedly arrived at the village.

“Huh?”

“The Relief Knights?!”

Izmilla immediately held up her holy symbol.

“I am Izmilla, a Hospitaller-Errant of the pilgrimage! What’s going on?”

“Ah, Sir Izmilla.”

“You’re safe.”

The knights gathered around Izmilla, confirming that she was safe.

“Sir Bellinz, Sir Sheffield? You’re alive.”

“Thanks to the grace of the three archangels.”

“The grace of the archangels, my foot. You mean you ran for your lives.”

Camilla scoffed as she listened to the story. She spoke quietly, just loud enough for the knights to hear.

If the knights questioned her, she would play dumb, and if they happened to hear her correctly and repeat what Camilla had said… they would have to proclaim their own shame, which would be a sight to see, she thought.

It was still vivid in her mind how the knights of the pilgrimage had thrown the serfs and prisoners they had brought as arrow fodder and ran away.

But now, they were talking about the grace of the angels, which felt ridiculous.

The knights glared at Camilla, but when they saw the huge half-orc scratching his chin beside her, they turned their heads and pretended not to hear.

At that moment, Izmilla asked them a question.

“Is it true that the bishop has arrived?”

“Yes. The bishop is coming in a carriage, so it will be a bit late…”

It seemed that these were scouts, a kind of vanguard of the bishop’s escort.

“Then you really ran all the way to Coxhall.”

There was a barb in Izmilla’s question.

It was nice to say that they had gone to call for the bishop’s reinforcements, but in the end, these knights had quickly fled to Coxhall as soon as the pilgrimage was attacked.

Otherwise, there was no way the bishop would have arrived so quickly.

“Ahem. Knowing the danger of our companions, we had no choice. And we didn’t run all the way to Coxhall. The bishop knew about the attack and had already sent troops to patrol the area. It’s not like we ran away so desperately.”

The holy knight was embarrassed and made excuses when Izmilla subtly criticized them. On the other hand, another one still didn’t know how to read the room.

“Haha. I used an invigorating spell on the horse. Thanks to that, we were able to escape really quickly.”

“But why is this person like this?”

Izmilla was puzzled as she saw the knights being wary of Azadin.

“Ah, Sir Izmilla. Do you know this person?”

“He had a ceramite longsword…”

They glanced behind Izmilla. A ceramite longsword was also hanging on her back.

Compared to Azadin’s, the leather on the handle was clearer, and the three-winged wheel emblem engraved on the pommel was also cleaner. It was clear that Azadin’s ceramite longsword was older and had been used more.

‘Huh?’

‘It’s different?’

When Azadin had the ceramite longsword, everyone thought it was Izmilla’s. But now that they looked, the two longswords were clearly different.

“This person is, well, the Emperor’s envoy. The pilgrimage was in danger of being annihilated, so I shamelessly called him with the Emperor’s gold.”

“?!”

“What?!”

The knights immediately turned their spears and swords towards Azadin again.

“Dr-drop your weapons!”

“Drop them now!”

“I don’t want to?”

Azadin scoffed.

“Look. I came because you called me. I came to help the survivors when the Relief Knights were in danger, and as you can see, I have provided enough help. So what crime are you trying to arrest me for?”

“Th-that’s…”

“As he said, I called him. According to the contract, he has faithfully fulfilled his duty, so arresting him is a betrayal. Above all, unlike the King’s Church, we do not oppose the Emperor, so what justification do you have for arresting him?”

Izmilla also defended Azadin.

“But…”

But then, a quiet but powerful female voice was heard.

“Because the Emperor’s followers destroyed the kingdoms of Butuma and Korasar.”

“Huh?”

The door of the carriage that had arrived at the entrance of the village opened, and a woman wearing a silver noblewoman’s mask stepped down. It was Akenar, the Bishop of Coxhall of the Relief Knights, who had arrived.

“W-we greet the Bishop.”

Izmilla got off her horse and knelt on the ground.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Sir Izmilla.”

“Y-your words are too kind.”

“Then, the Emperor’s envoy…”

The bishop turned to look at Azadin.

“I appreciate you saving Sir Izmilla. But I heard that the Emperor’s followers destroyed Korasar and Butuma and massacred countless people. If that’s true, I’m sorry, but we will have to detain you.”

“What if I refuse?”

“Then we will have no choice but to use force. Of course, it may be beyond our power to capture a trained Emperor’s envoy, but in the pursuit of justice, should we ignore evil just because we lack strength?”

Bishop Akenar spoke in a calm voice.