The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 470

As Azadin and his group emerged from the underground passage into the surface of Ousander, they were met by elves and Northern Aragasa soldiers waiting for them at the exit.

“Oh, no, Your Majesty. This is…”

Damil, flustered, looked back and forth between Zion and Azadin as she spoke.

She was afraid that they might think she had somehow informed them of Azadin’s arrival.

More than anything, she seemed afraid of being disliked by her husband, Zion Etar.

“It’s alright, Mrs. Etar. There’s no way you could have secretly contacted them, and we had quite the battle in the underground passage. If you were in charge of counterintelligence, you would have naturally stationed agents in the underground passage.”

Azadin guessed that they would have naturally discovered their intrusion even if Damil hadn’t informed them, and he looked at the elves.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty Azadin. Welcome to Ousander.”

“Thank you for the welcome. And you are?”

“I am Nemo, son of Agillia.”

“Is that so?”

“May I ask what brings the Overlord himself to visit us?”

“To persuade you.”

“…Pardon?”

“We are merely conscientious merchants.”

“Conscientious merchants wouldn’t be here to greet me. I came to persuade you, but I have no intention of wasting time with pointless talk. You elves may have to answer for burning ten thousand *seok* [a unit of dry volume, roughly equivalent to a bushel] of grain, so don’t speak nonsense.”

“What? Ten thousand *seok*?”

The elves were taken aback by Azadin’s words.

Azadin mentioning ten thousand *seok* of grain meant that he knew they were the ones who had raided the granary.

However, if they understood Azadin’s words too well at this stage, it would be tantamount to admitting they were the culprits.

But what if they pretended not to know?

He seemed so certain, and if they tried to play dumb for the sake of realism, he might actually hold them accountable.

Azadin glared at the elves, his eyes glowing with an eerie purple light, emanating an unusual murderous aura.

“From now on, watch your mouths, elves.”

“What?!”

Even Azadin’s subordinates were surprised by his words.

‘Didn’t he say he came to persuade them?’

‘Why is he so angry?’

The reason soon became clear.

“You not only burned the grain but also made the people of Chitai’s capital, Junggyeong, sacrifices to the Nether. You have essentially massacred over ten thousand households, so if I were to hold you accountable, I would have to take the same number of lives. However, since Sebalhan was the one who directly sacrificed them, and this plot was orchestrated by a few ringleaders, I will show restraint for those who were not involved and are unaware. Do not test my patience any further.”

“……”

Azadin was convinced that the elves were not only behind the attack on the granary but also the corruption of Sebalhan.

The elves were utterly perplexed.

‘Why is he so certain?’

‘Isn’t he just guessing? If he had evidence…’

‘We didn’t leave any evidence. We’re not amateurs.’

So, Nemo spoke on behalf of everyone.

“What grounds do you have for saying that? This is quite perplexing, Your Majesty Azadin. If you came as a guest, we would treat you as such, but if not…”

“You elves are arrogant. You look down on humans and think you can control the entire continent. You believe you are the only ones who can rule this world with cold reason.”

“What…”

“Don’t deny it. I was a disciple of Kazas. I’m not completely ignorant about elves.”

“……”

“So, I’m saying, since you pride yourselves on your coldness, it seems like it would be okay to kill the first envoys. If you are certain that even if I kill all of you here, the next envoys will find it more beneficial to negotiate with me, you would gladly let your deaths flow down the river and consider it nothing.”

“Are you saying you’ll…”

“Kill us?”

Jibek asked Azadin for his intentions.

“If they can’t understand even after I say this, then I’ll have to kill them.”

For the elves, this was maddening.

Azadin had suddenly started berating them, then gradually increased his murderous intent, and now he was threatening to kill them.

‘And this guy only brought a handful of guards!’

‘Is he crazy?! What does he want from us?!’

‘…No, I know what he wants.’

The elves weren’t naive, and from Azadin’s actions so far, they could tell what he wanted.

Azadin had come to negotiate and persuade the elves seriously.

However, the elves were not admitting that they were the ones who had corrupted Sebalhan and burned Azadin’s granary across the continent.

Azadin had no concrete evidence, but he was convinced that the elves were responsible, and he believed that if they didn’t confess, negotiations with the elves couldn’t even begin.

‘So, you want us to confess without any evidence?’

‘But he really looks like he’s going to kill us?!’

‘Should we fight? Wouldn’t it be more useful to capture him and turn him into a drug-addled slave? This seems like the perfect opportunity, with only a few subordinates.’

A hair-trigger tension crackled sharply between Azadin and the elves.

As Azadin glared at the elves with murderous intent, Damil Etar also stood by Zion Etar’s side, ready to help Azadin fight the elves.

She was showing her willingness to follow her husband….

But then, it happened.

“Stop!”

Another voice came from behind the elves.

Surprisingly, Agillia, the master of the Telbarin Guild, was walking down the stairs with her guards.

“Your Majesty Azadin, please calm your anger. Our ambiguous words are merely to maintain our official position, not to deceive you. We cannot provide legal evidence for your suspicions, but we can say that your suspicions are reasonable.”

Agillia admitted that Azadin’s suspicions were true, but she was saying that they would not allow their testimony to be used as evidence.

The elves were shocked by Agillia’s reaction.

It was a wordplay, but Agillia had admitted to their past machinations.

‘Mother…’

‘Does she think we’re all going to die?’

The young elves were greatly shocked to see their mother, Agillia, yield to Azadin’s unreasonable threats.

“Hmm. Is that the best you can do?”

Azadin withdrew his murderous intent. From the elves’ perspective, Agillia had made a huge concession, but from Azadin’s perspective, these were the people who had brought disaster to his kingdom and caused at least ten thousand *seok* of damage, not to mention the loss of life, and they were still being arrogant.

“Show me the way.”

“Yes, then we will guide you to the surface.”

“No, not that. Guide me to your underground headquarters.”

“Pardon?”

“I heard this was the old kingdom of the elves. The elves, who revere their ancestors’ old kingdom, would have naturally secured the palace of that old kingdom. You would use it as your headquarters and plot schemes against the entire Hybris continent.”

“……”

The elves felt repulsed by Azadin, who spoke so confidently about their actions as if he had been watching them from the sidelines.

And yet….

‘It’s true, though.’

What Azadin was saying was true. There was no way Azadin had any evidence or proof. He was just guessing, but everything he said was spot on.

That made the elves furious.

“Guide me there.”

Azadin entrusted the elves with guiding him.

*********

After that, Azadin entered the old elven city, guided by the elves. He also confirmed the spore sacs connected to the mushroom clusters scattered throughout the area.

It looked as if a general had come to inspect a field unit.

Azadin was the Overlord, so he was a high-ranking figure, but the elves here were just merchants in name. Those who held official positions were also vassals of the Northern Empire.

However, Azadin acted as if he had a lot to collect from the elves, such as the price of the people’s blood and grain, which irritated the elves.

The elves provided the Azadin group with food and supplies that were not poisoned, as well as accommodations, and they also facilitated contact with the Northern Aragasa. Then, they all rushed to Agillia and bombarded her with questions.

“I don’t understand, Mother.”

“What is it?”

“That arrogant man is making unreasonable demands, and you, Mother, are yielding to those demands and admitting our operations.”

For the elves, schemes and deceptions were a matter of the deceived being foolish and the victim being at fault.

Their schemes to deceive Azadin and harm his kingdom were not a matter of guilt for harming innocent people, but rather a successful operation that effectively attacked the enemy at a very low cost.

According to the elves’ sensibilities and methods, the situation should have unfolded with Azadin finding evidence or retaliating with another scheme. Instead, he had barged in and, without any evidence, had simply accused them, saying, ‘It was you, wasn’t it?’ based on suspicion alone.

In other words, he had turned the tables on the spies, and they couldn’t understand why Agillia was so flustered by this barbaric man.

“What do you think of the three from the Northern Aragasa? The ones who use *Hwajopungwol* [a powerful and deadly grimoire]?”

Agillia asked the elves.

“…They are barbaric.”

“*Hwajopungwol* is terrifying. A grimoire specialized in killing.”

“Perhaps because it was reconstructed in the Kazas style, the Northern Aragasa, who are half-heralds, were much more proficient.”

*Hwajopungwol* Kazas was passed down to the elves through Kazas.

The elves passed it on to the Northern Aragasa, but the Northern Aragasa who received the transmission were much more skilled than the elves who had passed it on.

However, most of the elves in this city had a grasp of what kind of grimoire *Hwajopungwol* was through Kazas’s research… and they knew its terror well.

“If you were to meet those three in this narrow, dark underground passage, could you defeat them?”

“I wouldn’t say we would lose.”

“But we would suffer heavy losses.”

“That’s right. King Azadin is at least as strong as those three. Especially in a narrow, dark place like this, where you can reach out and stab your opponent’s neck, he is practically invincible. So, let’s try to appease King Azadin and avoid a conflict for now. What does it matter if our shallow pride is damaged? As long as we elves are the last ones standing. You are losing your reason, caught up in King Azadin’s provocation. Think calmly.”

“……”

“Even if it’s not us, the Northern Aragasa will clash with King Azadin anyway. Let’s endure until then.”

Mother Agillia convinced the young elves by mentioning the three from the Northern Aragasa.