The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 281

#282. Internal Control 3

“What are you talking about? Of course, we need to check if your daughter is alive or not.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not seriously saying you weren’t interested in your daughter’s well-being, are you?”

“Well, I’m not sure. I don’t even know if I was sincere myself.”

“Of course, there are many family members in this world who are worse than enemies. But Giacomo,”

“Yes.”

“If you deny your familial affection because you’re confused, you’ll regret it. Affection isn’t always like a blazing volcano. Sometimes it’s so faint that you often forget it exists… but once it’s lost, it can’t be recovered. It’s not just losing your daughter. You lose a part of your humanity, a part of your soul forever.”

Azadin’s words were filled with deep regret.

‘What kind of life has he lived to be so… even though he’s still a young man?’

Kalan realized that Azadin’s words were not just empty words but wisdom born from his own experience, and he shuddered.

Before being exiled here, Kalan had committed many crimes.

Each of those crimes, committed without overcoming momentary impulses, had caused Kalan to lose his humanity, his soul, and become a thug here. Of course, Kalan still prided himself on having kept some boundaries, but if he had crossed even those lines, he would have lost even more of his soul.

“………”

Everyone became solemn, as if Kalan wasn’t the only one who felt it.

“Giacomo. We will find your daughter. Honestly, I can’t be sure if she’s alive or dead, but if she is, I will make sure you know her fate. So, what you need to do is improve the medicine. Fortunately, a patient with Elemental Wailing [a magical disease] has recently appeared nearby, so we can test it.”

“But, but that medicine contains angel’s blood.”

Giacomo was flustered.

When he made the medicine, he was in such a desperate situation that he just acted out of a need to do something.

Now that he thought about it, he was not a genius like Bernard, but a mediocre person who made the medicine.

It might be a foolish medicine that wasted precious angel’s blood.

“If we use it, we can’t make more.”

“If we have angel’s blood, can’t we make more?”

“That’s true, but… where are we going to get angel’s blood?”

“Isn’t there an expert in angel’s blood?”

“Who?”

“Sir Soke.”

Then Legion objected.

“Captain! Are you out of your mind? Are you going to go against Sir Soke again because of this guy? That would disrupt the hierarchy…”

“Disrupt the hierarchy?”

Azadin smiled bitterly.

Was this organization old and grand enough to discuss hierarchy?

However, he couldn’t ignore the positions of Legion and Kalan, who had to manage the thugs.

“Don’t worry. I’m not being unreasonable. This will benefit us, and I have the power.”

Azadin bluffed that this was not a difficult task for his abilities.

“…Well, since it’s the Captain who subdued Chadra O’Gher in an instant.”

Legion accepted Azadin’s bluff.

But then, suddenly, the door to the conference room burst open.

“Captain! It’s a big problem.”

Selim, the minotaur, called out to Azadin.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sir Azadin, your subordinate has betrayed you!”

“Subordinate?”

“Kormek!”

Kalan and Legion immediately knew who had betrayed them upon hearing Selim’s words.

*********

As soon as Chashan’s gang was released by Sir Zekt, they sought out the funds and drugs they had hidden and tried to hire sellswords [mercenaries] with them.

However, the sellswords’ reactions were lukewarm.

“Fight against Sir Azadin? The man who faced the Pimbul Horde leader and came back alive?”

“Hey, Chashan, I’ll tell you since we’re both dwarves, but honestly, aren’t you messing with someone you shouldn’t?”

“Sounds like suicide.”

Azadin’s reputation, having taken down Chadra O’Gher in an instant, was sky-high.

Even the sellswords shook their heads at the idea of being hired to fight Azadin.

“Damn it. Then let’s choose the junkies. Those junkies would stab their own parents for drugs.”

“…But.”

Chashan’s brothers, the dwarven sorcerers, were also hesitant.

Drug addicts might jump into hell for drugs, but that didn’t mean they were useful.

The abilities of drug addicts were not to be trusted.

“We don’t need to fight formally, there are assassinations, poisonings, and various other methods, why are you all so scared? What’s so great about the Pimbul Horde?”

“The half-vampire Nicelda, the minotaur Selim, and the cannibalistic druid Sedrin have all sworn allegiance to him. And if you say you’re going to kill the Messenger Clan, all the assassins shake their heads.”

There was no way that ordinary assassins could deal with the Messenger Clan, who were already famous as assassins.

“Ugh… these guys are just eating our money.”

Just meeting with sellswords and assassins cost money.

Even as they did this, Chashan’s gang was losing their funds and resources, weakening them.

But then, someone approached Chashan first.

It was Kormek, one of the squad leaders of the Vermillion Fortress, and his subordinates.

“Azadin? That soulless heretic is making a fuss about what he’s going to do, but he has an absolute weakness.”

Kormek came to Chashan with his subordinates and boasted.

“He’s using undead in the Cinnabar Mine. If we inform the Inquisitors of the King’s Church about this, we can destroy him, can’t we?”

“…Using undead in the Cinnabar Mine?”

But Chashan and his brothers’ expressions darkened upon hearing that.

‘We can make undead too, but we can’t do more than make them attack people nearby.’

‘To be able to make them work in the mine means he’s an incredible mage, right?’

‘That kind of refined necromancy is something only orcs can use, right?’

After hearing Kormek’s accusation, they realized that Azadin was a much more skilled mage than they had expected and that he was a man who would use any means necessary.

“What’s the proof?”

“If you go to the mine right now, it will be enough. But while we’re going to check, he’ll find out.”

“So, if we don’t report it to the Inquisitors right now, we won’t be able to get the evidence?”

“Yes!”

“Then you report it to the Inquisitors. Of course, the reward will be paid now. First, 50 gold coins as a down payment. If you report it and he really is using undead to operate the mine, another 50 coins, and if Azadin is completely expelled because of this, another 50 coins.”

“It’s not just about the money, you have to protect us after we report him. It would be good if you could provide us with a refuge.”

“We welcome that.”

If Kormek was just playing tricks and disappeared, Chashan’s gang, who were already in a precarious situation, would completely lose face.

But the fact that the opponent was willingly coming into their grasp.

‘He must be that afraid of Azadin.’

‘Is this okay? I wonder if we’re pulling the sleeping lion’s whiskers.’

Chashan’s brothers felt uneasy seeing how afraid Kormek was.

But it was already too late. Having lost their drug farm, they had no choice but to settle things with Azadin somehow if they wanted to survive.

*********

Azadin was using undead to mine cinnabar in the Vermillion Fortress.

Kormek reported Azadin to Sir Zekt with that exact content.

Using black magic, especially necromancy, was strictly forbidden by the King’s Church and the Rescue Knights, as it was the worst kind of magic that made people worse than dead.

If it was true that he was using necromancy privately, Azadin’s punishment would be at least exile, usually death.

“If this is true, it’s a good opportunity to recover the Divine King’s Scripture. We’ll defeat Azadin and recover the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture he has. Also, we need to recover all the magic books he has.”

Sir Zekt, along with his subordinates and Kormek, headed to the Vermillion Fortress.

They prepared three fast horses per person and galloped like messengers, arriving at the Vermillion Fortress, where they met Azadin, who had already returned to the fortress.

“Sir Zekt. What brings you here?”

“Sir Azadin. There has been an accusation that you are a user of black magic.”

“Hmm?”

Azadin looked at Kormek, who was hiding behind Zekt.

Kormek felt Azadin’s gaze on him and trembled with anxiety.

‘It’ll, it’ll be okay, right? Once Sir Zekt finds out he’s using undead, he’ll execute him right away. A dead man can’t harm me.’

Kormek felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest with anxiety.

Then Azadin smiled.

“Was there perhaps an accusation that I am a member of the Messenger Clan?”

“…Pfft.”

The soldiers who were listening burst out laughing.

“I heard you’re using undead in the mine?”

“That’s a very desirable thing. Isn’t it better for undead to work than for people to die from cinnabar poisoning in the cinnabar mine?”

“If you dabbled in necromancy with that thought, I’ll be disappointed. Sir Azadin. Actually, I respect you quite a bit as an enemy.”

That was Sir Zekt’s honest feeling.

While pursuing Azadin’s actions, Zekt knew better than anyone how many powerful enemies Azadin had faced and how many great achievements he had accomplished.

“If you respect me that much, shouldn’t you stop bothering me?”

“That’s ridiculous, I’m just fulfilling my mission. Lead the way to the mine.”

“It’s over there.”

Azadin pointed to a tunnel next to the village.

What Sir Zekt saw were diligent mine workers.

There were no undead anywhere.

“………”

When they sent soldiers and paladins inside, they came out shaking their heads after a while.

“There are none!”

“Damn it!”

They glared at Kormek, who was hiding behind Zekt.

“I’m sorry to have given you such an unsatisfactory result after coming all this way…”

“W-wait a minute! Hippogriffs! Hippogriffs!”

Kormek, whose life was on the line, shouted.

Even Sir Zekt had to ride a horse when traveling from Fireglyph to the Vermillion Fortress.

However, Azadin’s group had a means of transportation much faster than horses, hippogriffs [a mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a horse].

Kormek had reported to Sir Zekt, and by the time Zekt had formed an investigation team and arrived, Azadin’s group had already arrived at the mine and destroyed the evidence.

Kormek shouted that, but the paladins inside shook their heads.

“…There’s no way he used undead.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Root vine spirits were digging the ground and breaking rocks to mine cinnabar.”

“In short, it’s my work.”

A figure walked out from among the workers of the Vermillion Fortress.

It was the wild druid Sedrin. The elf had come out.

“Root vine spirits are good at digging the ground and breaking thick bedrock. They are the perfect beings for mining. There’s no need to use undead, right?”

“……..”

“Ha, it’s a trap!”

Kormek yelled.

Zekt also realized that Kormek was telling the truth, but it was no use.

“Tch. A wasted trip.”

“Why don’t you rest a bit instead of just leaving?”

Azadin made such a suggestion, but Sir Zekt smiled bitterly and retreated.

Only Kormek was left behind, as his subordinates left him, and he didn’t know what to do.

“Well then, Kormek, shall we have a little chat?”