The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 473

When Azadin threatened the elves, they immediately tried to inform the Northern Aragasa and have them deal with him.

Azadin, on the contrary, welcomed the elves’ actions.

“I want to persuade the Northern Aragasa as well, so I welcome making arrangements with them.”

“Persuade, you say?”

The elves scoffed at Azadin’s attitude and informed the Northern Aragasa of Azadin’s arrival.

The Northern Aragasa’s agents were naturally delighted.

“King Azadin is here?”

“Ha, seriously? Is he out of his mind? Has he lost his mind from his recent winning streak? For a monarch to march right into the heart of enemy territory himself. Did he come to scout out his grave?”

“He said he would persuade us? Actually, I’m here now with King Azadin’s permission.”

The Northern Aragasa’s expressions soured at the elves’ words.

‘These elves look impressive, but they’re really just a bunch of pushovers?’

‘They’re only focused on magic research, so it can’t be helped. When you actually fight them, they’re quite big, but they’re just paper tigers.’

‘Well, in front of us, almost everyone is a paper tiger.’

The Northern Aragasa inwardly sneered at the elves who had easily succumbed to Azadin’s words.

Just like their fellow messenger clan, their pride was exceptional, so they looked down on even the elves, who were the elite of Asander and notorious slave traders across the continent.

Azadin’s threats or persuasion (?) were not taken seriously by anyone.

“Either way, it’s good. Defeating him will be a great achievement.”

However, there was a cautious person among them who raised a warning.

“How about informing His Majesty and mobilizing troops? If King Azadin has any sense, he wouldn’t come to enemy territory without something up his sleeve, he must have some hidden talent?”

“Are you crazy? You want to share the opportunity to achieve such a great feat?”

“But we don’t know what kind of hidden card the enemy has….”

“What kind of trick could he have? Unless it’s the absurd rumor that the dragon Asahdin transformed into a human and became King Azadin, it’s impossible for him to survive here with only a small number of people. Or is there another way?”

“But even so, shouldn’t we report to His Majesty?”

“Oh, don’t talk nonsense. His Majesty would be disappointed. He wants us to be capable assassins and spies. He wants us to handle things independently and finish them quickly, not just report everything.”

“Right, right. He’s going to rule the entire continent, so he must have a lot of work. We need to take care of things ourselves.”

The Northern Aragasa, who had begun to covet the achievement, had no intention of letting go of Azadin, who was like a piece of cake in their mouths.

So, they gathered their forces and summoned Azadin to Inali Fortress, south of Asander, which Cohen had granted them as a fief [a piece of land held under the feudal system].

*********

Azadin’s group was quickly passing through the interior of the Kingdom of Asander using the fast ship prepared by the elves.

King Cohen of Asander’s powerful forces were guarding the gates and monitoring those who passed, but the elves easily passed through those gates.

The fierce northern wind propelled the ship, and it sped along the river.

If the sailors made even a small mistake, the ship would crash into the riverbank and be destroyed, but the sailors hired by the elves were all highly skilled, skillfully adjusting the rudder even in this narrow river width and increasing their speed.

Azadin stood on the deck, watching the passing scenery of Asander.

“Your Majesty, this is a bit….”

Niselda had been utterly loyal to Azadin, to the point that she would die a hundred times for him without regret, ever since he had saved her father and killed her mother, who was her enemy.

But at this moment, she couldn’t trust Azadin.

For a monarch to walk into the heart of enemy territory. Is he out of his mind?

“What is it?”

“That’s….”

Then, Zibeck asked instead of Niselda.

“Your Majesty. If something happens, my colleagues and I will risk our lives to protect you, but I must say one thing. Are you crazy?”

“Why? It went as expected. The elves and the Northern Aragasa are essentially spies. Before informing the Northern Emperor, they all made their own judgments and are not only hiding us but are also transporting us with all their might. If we had tried to move on our own, how much trouble would we have had? You can see it from the path we’re taking now.”

“So, how are you going to persuade them? Persuade them? Do you think the elves have been persuaded? Their eyes are not normal.”

“Maybe they still have cannibalistic customs. Desire is hard to control.”

“Would that be fortunate? No, that’s not fortunate either, but anyway, the elves are doing this because they know that killing Your Majesty directly would cause a lot of bloodshed, and they have other plans besides the reward from the Northern Emperor. On the other hand, the Northern Aragasa is an organization that enjoys receiving from the Northern Emperor, so they will definitely attack Your Majesty.”

“Oh, Sir Zibeck. That’s a good insight.”

Azadin praised Zibeck. Zibeck had seen through the reason why the elves were not competing for the achievement and were passing it on to the Northern Aragasa, and why the Northern Aragasa would never pass it on and would try to handle it themselves.

Is it because he was trained as an Inquisitor, even though he’s rotten?

Sion Etar’s new wife, Damil Etar, also nodded.

“Your Majesty. I told you in advance. This matter will have more harm than good. But Your Majesty said you were confident in persuading them, and I thought that Your Majesty, the Overlord of the South, who has achieved great feats, had some divine plan that a commoner like me could not even imagine, so I guided you here, but….”

This is more dangerous. That’s what she was saying.

Her marriage to Sion Etar was a political one, almost a forced marriage, but she was even more loyal to her marital duties than to her own tribe.

Even to her, Azadin looked like a summer moth jumping into a fire.

“More importantly, are you okay? I think you’ve been coughing up blood lately.”

Sion Etar was worried about Azadin’s health.

Azadin’s condition is definitely not normal. He is slowly dying.

Just marching in this weather with such a body is suicidal, but he is crawling into the heart of enemy territory, so she is very worried.

Maybe Azadin is desperate about his condition and is trying to commit a fiery suicide?

Has he lost his mind due to his illness? She was worried about that.

Then, they were able to arrive in the land of the Northern Aragasa.

“We’ve arrived.”

“That was fast. Impressive.”

“We had the slaves take turns rowing the boat.”

The elves continued to force the exhausted sailors to work, replacing them constantly.

The sailors were constantly changing and rowing the boat, going against the current. They were faster than horses even when going against the current.

This was also thanks to the strong northern wind.

The Inali Fortress was waiting for Azadin’s group in the middle of the howling wind.

*********

The Northern Aragasa welcomed Azadin.

Although Azadin was the biggest headache for their lord, the Northern Emperor, from the Northern Aragasa’s point of view, Azadin was a good monarch who had treated Prince Kalintz, whom their young people liked, well, and he was also their relative and compatriot.

Whenever Azadin gained fame in the South, people criticized the recklessness of the messenger clan, but they were also impressed by their abilities, endless martial arts, and ingenious strategies.

That was the pride of the Aragasa.

In this situation, even though he was an enemy, they liked Azadin.

“You’ve worked hard to come a long way. First, we’ve prepared food, a bath, and a place to sleep. How about resting well first and then talking?”

The Northern Aragasa were prepared to welcome Azadin.

Although he was their target for achievement, they would treat Azadin, who had raised their pride as a compatriot, as a hero and a king. That was the meaning behind their actions, but Azadin refused their kindness.

“No, it’s not a long story, so let’s do it right away.”

“Yes? But….”

“I want to talk to your leaders, no, everyone. It won’t take long anyway. Cough….”

Azadin said that and coughed. The impact of the cough caused his nose to bleed.

The Northern Aragasa’s attendant who saw that felt sympathy for Azadin.

‘At first, they said he was trying to persuade us by showing a coercive attitude to the elves.’

‘But the rumors are true. King Azadin’s health is not normal.’

‘He coughed up blood in front of the elves, so maybe he knows he doesn’t have much time left and is trying to entrust his body to our clan?’

‘He built a great kingdom in the South, but in the end, King Azadin is a foreigner to them, so he can only trust his own people.’

The Northern Aragasa were saying that Azadin felt something was wrong with his body and was coming to entrust his body to them.

So, now the Northern Aragasa were divided into older people who wanted to offer Azadin to the Northern Emperor to gain merit, and enthusiastic young people who wanted to thoroughly accept Azadin into their tribe and at least protect his honor, and they were having a heated debate.

No one thought that Azadin had really come to persuade them.

*********

The three leaders of the Northern Aragasa were Harlan, a short middle-aged man, Kista, a half-elf woman with half elf and half Northern Aragasa blood, and Aliya, a tall, handsome man. These were the best fighters of the Northern Aragasa and had taken the positions of tribal elders.

When Azadin first said he was coming to them, they were burning with competitive spirit, but after hearing from the elves that Azadin’s health was not normal, they were rather feeling sorry for Azadin.

“I didn’t expect things to turn out like this. What should we do when we meet him?”

Harlan looked at his other colleagues and asked.

Kista clicked her tongue.

“A sick person wouldn’t ask us to fight. Maybe he’s pushing himself like this to ask us to mediate for his subordinates?”

“If he really wanted to have negotiating power, it would be more beneficial to maintain his power and negotiate directly with the Northern Emperor, so why?”

The other elders were curious.

If Azadin wanted to be competitive, shouldn’t he continue to lead his forces and fight against the Northern Emperor so that he could demand things at the negotiating table?

Why did he give up that competition and enter the heart of enemy territory?

“Because the people would die. King Azadin is said to be working hard to make even useless refugees useful.”

Aliya, the leader of the three, the best fighter of the Northern Aragasa, and the one who was virtually appointed as the next tribal chief, said with moist eyes.

“If he had been healthy, he could have taken the world. Even though he’s being eaten away by illness, he’s giving up everything to save his people and his subordinates. He’s truly a great man. I’m impressed.”

“He’s certainly a virtuous man. But you can’t win in this chaotic world with virtue alone.”

“Still, I want to leave his descendants somehow.”

While the Northern Aragasa were arbitrarily predicting Azadin’s intentions, the door burst open.