The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 484

Selim, the commander of the heavy infantry of the Azadin army, had now risen to the rank of a ten-thousand commander.

In reality, there weren’t ten thousand heavy infantry. In the Azadin army, which had no choice but to greatly expand its military to feed the refugees, it was impossible to create many expensive troop types like heavy infantry.

Selim’s ten-thousand unit consisted of a thousand heavy infantry, support units to assist them, archer units, and supply units.

Even so, it was a legendary success story.

A minotaur who was once a slave of the Telbarin Guild had entered the Rescue Knights and now became a great general. It was no exaggeration to call it an incredible rise in status.

Moreover, Azadin, who had led him to success, had become the Holy Emperor, proving his legitimacy.

He had grabbed the right rope. There was no denying that.

However, Selim was now engulfed in pain.

“I’m telling you, Great General, you can’t do that.”

Selim’s subordinate, a dwarven scribe, constantly contradicted him.

This man was a former drug dealer who had been in charge of accounting at Dwarven Arrow.

When Azadin conquered the Chadra Plateau, he sought a way to survive and volunteered to join the Azadin army.

Later, he showed outstanding skills as a scribe in the military, so Azadin planted him as Selim’s adjutant and gave him an iron seal so that Selim could not arbitrarily dismiss him.

The adjutant, who received an iron seal meaning that even if he was a direct superior, he had to consult with Azadin when punishing this man, could have acted recklessly with that much authority, but with surprising loyalty and meticulous housekeeping skills, he had taken charge of Selim’s unit’s finances.

Recently, however, he had been rebelling against Selim more often.

This was because Selim had rescued their kin from the Telbarin Guild.

*********

To be precise, the elves of the Telbarin Guild came first.

They claimed that they had captured Selim’s kin—his mother, sisters, and brothers—and presented their fur and horns as proof to Selim.

Selim, after smelling them and asking a blood mage to confirm the blood relationship, realized that the elves’ words were true.

The Telbarin elves threatened Selim, saying that they could not guarantee the safety of his family unless he betrayed Azadin and released the Nether poison on the soldiers.

However, Selim instead selected the nimble and talented among his troops and chased after the elves, successfully rescuing Selim’s family, who they had taken hostage.

Selim succeeded in rescuing his family and relatives who had been enslaved by the elves.

Up to this point, it was a very good story.

However, the attitude of Selim’s kin afterward was the problem.

Minotaurs maintained close family ties, and in particular, the head of the clan was the highest-ranking matriarch.

Selim’s mother was the matriarch of the clan, and his eldest sister was designated as the next matriarch. When they learned that Selim had become a great general in the Azadin army, they refused to evacuate and asked him to help their clan join the military.

For the Azadin army, there was no reason to refuse the minotaurs, who were skilled in combat, from joining the army.

However, Selim’s mother asked Selim to give her clan positions that were excessive compared to their merits.

“Those minotaurs cannot be trusted. How can you suddenly entrust them with a thousand-man unit?”

“Well, that’s… Mom says that we need at least that kind of position to settle down here. We need to earn merits quickly, right?”

“No, if you take away the positions of others who have earned merits and give them to them, will merits be earned?”

“Anyway, they are actually skilled in martial arts, right? I saw that they all fight well. Their skills are amazing. Honestly, there are some who seem like they could fight better than me?”

“No, just because they fight well doesn’t mean they can be commanders.”

“It’s okay. The hippogriffs all like them. There are no bad people among those whom the hippogriffs like.”

“If you stand there with mare’s urine on you, the hippogriffs will like anyone. Seriously. General, I understand you care about your family, but if you don’t properly distinguish between public and private matters, it will be a big problem. Above all, it could be a ploy by the Telbarin elves.”

The adjutant, feeling like he was going crazy, beat his chest like a gorilla and expressed his resentment.

“What? Are you saying my mother and sister are spies for the elves? Adjutant! Are you even saying that!?!”

“It is not possible to rule out that possibility. That’s what I’m saying.”

“Don’t talk like that! They are relatives who were abused by the elves!”

Since his childhood as a slave of the elves, after being separated from the group and led to the Chadra Plateau by the Rescue Knights, Selim had lived with humans, not his own kind.

After spending his adolescence blushing at the sight of the cows in the pasture, he recently brought his rescued kin, other minotaurs, and lived with them, and recently even married a wife.

The joy of being with his own kind for the first time was so great that Selim was losing his self-control.

“Anyway, a thousand-man unit is absurd. From a thousand-man unit, they have to do individual maneuvers and independent operations. To do that, you have to deploy only those who can be truly trusted and whose origins are certain.”

“So, you’re saying that my kin’s origins cannot be trusted. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes! I think there is a high probability that they are spies for the Telbarin elves.”

“You bastard! Just because you have an iron seal, you’re getting too cocky!?!”

Selim was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

To punish this adjutant with an iron seal, the Emperor’s approval was needed, and the Emperor was now struggling to protect the world from his throne.

“What can we do? If the General is out of his mind, at least I have to say the right thing. These days, there are bad rumors among the subordinates because you are too protective of your kin.”

“Bring those who say such things! Let’s see if they say that in front of me!”

“Haa. No, it’s okay. Anyway, I’ll just record that I opposed it. After all, the personnel appointments within this ten-thousand unit are up to the General, right? It’s just that if it’s a hundred-man unit, it will end with the sacrifice of about a hundred people at most, but if it’s a thousand-man unit, I’m worried that the sacrifice will increase tenfold or more.”

“That means you’ve really concluded that my kin are spies! You bastard!”

Selim was furious and picked up his axe, but the adjutant didn’t even blink an eye.

Selim threw the axe, and it hit the tent pole right next to the adjutant’s head.

Even though the tail of the axe was trembling, this bold adjutant didn’t even blink an eye and stroked his beard.

To assist the dim-witted Selim, Azadin had taken the drastic measure of giving this dwarf an iron seal as his adjutant, and it had clashed in the worst possible way.

However, as the organization continued to grow exponentially, there were many areas that Azadin had not been able to take care of, which was an unavoidable reality.

“Then I’ll step down. Since the Empress is coming to Changgok Pass, I need to make the necessary preparations.”

“You bastard! You were a drug dealer who volunteered for the army! What makes you so great!”

“Oh, never mind. I really…”

Selim and the adjutant ended their meeting, which was not a meeting, with such emotional fighting.

*********

Sedrin, Selim, the commander of the heavy infantry, and Legion, the commander of the ordnance corps, accompanied the Empress to Changgok Pass.

They were there to conscript those among the refugees who were suitable for combat.

If all the refugees were evacuated, even if Asander had stored seven years’ worth of grain, it would be depleted in an instant.

Also, the Azadin army needed a lot of troops at this very moment.

The battles with the merfolk of the South Sea and the Naga Empire were still ongoing.

However, the people of the North were refusing conscription and hiding.

Originally, the Azadin army was paying the refugees to voluntarily join the army.

For the sake of their families’ livelihoods, people had no choice but to volunteer for the army, and in doing so, they were able to secure troops and control supply demands.

However, as the situation changed rapidly and all the refugees were accommodated, there were no more people volunteering for the army.

Since the Northern Emperor Cohen was feeding and housing them for free, there was no reason to join the army.

“Ah, seriously. There’s nothing I like about this Northern Emperor.”

Legion was furious about what the Northern Emperor and Asander’s gang had done.

“These guys are trying to figure out how to evacuate with their families when the world is about to end. Wasn’t the Northern Emperor supposed to be smart? But why is he handling things like this?”

“I heard that these guys are even dressing up as women to avoid military service.”

There were also those who were hiding among the people dressed as women to avoid conscription.

Even if the world was to end, people wanted to die with their families in one place.

It was a desire that had reached the stage of resignation, a hope that had been stripped of any expectations for the future.

Even such weak and sick minds had desires that could not be easily taken away from people.

If they were forcibly conscripted, there would be a riot.

“How hard did His Majesty work to build this force? The Northern Emperor is ruining things even though he’s on our side.”

“I know.”

Selim snorted and replied. But Selim’s gaze was elsewhere.

“Selim? What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just that my adjutant keeps coming at me, trusting in that iron seal, and I can’t punish him.”

“Is your adjutant Sedram? That dwarven drug dealer friend?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he do?”

“He keeps ignoring me. He says I’m an idiot.”

Selim said awkwardly.

He also knew in his heart that taking care of his kin was something that others would not sympathize with.

“Well, since His Majesty is absent right now, it’s practically impossible to punish those who have an iron seal. But if they don’t come at you too hard, just leave them alone. His Majesty gave the iron seal to those who deserved it.”

Legion soothed Selim’s feelings and shared a rough plan for conscription and movement.

Since there were so few people volunteering for the army, Legion, the commander of the ordnance corps, forcibly conscripted anyone who showed potential, regardless of gender. He was called a human butcher among the people.

“But everyone should be careful. I heard that the Telbarin elves are sending assassins because the Empress is coming to Changgok Pass. Moreover, the Shade Hags are supporting them.”

Sedrin gave that warning.

“Hmm, can they assassinate her when the Messenger Clan and the Northern Aragasa [elite royal guards] are on our side?”

Legion was skeptical. It was considered impossible for even a skilled person to assassinate the Empress, who was accompanied by the Aragasa escort.

Besides, wasn’t the Empress herself from the Messenger Clan?

However, no sooner had Legion finished speaking than the sound of drums suddenly echoed from the west gate of Changgok Pass.

“It’s a disaster! The Empress has been attacked by assassins!”

“…Huh?”

Legion closed his mouth tightly, wondering if this had happened because of his words.