The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 100

When the seemingly young boy openly criticized them, the soldiers were enraged.

“Why, you little…!”

They couldn’t attack because Paladin Zibeck was there, but these were men who had already been looting civilians. Their eyes, having tasted blood, were bloodshot and gleaming. If Zibeck hadn’t been there, they would have pounced on Ismail.

Ismail scoffed at their attitude and swung the sword at his waist. It was so swift that the soldiers, while still angry at Ismail, could only stare blankly as he slashed their lower bellies with his sword.

Instead of blood and intestines, necklaces, rings, and silverware tumbled out from the soldiers’ lower bellies.

“……”

“You’re carrying a lot of baggage while running for your lives.”

Zibeck also sneered.

“Ah, that’s….”

“If we just leave them, they’ll turn to stone. Precious treasures buried in ruins are like stones, so I just wanted to use them properly….”

These uneducated fools become strangely eloquent when defending themselves. Zibeck chuckled.

“Let’s go back to our camp and discuss this. And take the fish too.”

*********

“The garrison was also attacked by the undead?”

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s because the King’s Authority is weakening.”

Brand boasted that his words were correct after hearing the story.

“No, there’s probably a specific sorcerer involved.”

Zibeck countered Brand’s opinion.

“Unless a black magician is intentionally creating and attacking with the undead, they couldn’t be moving this organized.”

“But that’s giving too much credit to black magic. Usually, necromancers can only control a handful of undead at best. But to create so many undead and defeat an army? That was impossible when the King’s Authority was intact.”

“…Alright. Let’s assume the King’s Authority is weakening.”

When Zibeck conceded to Brand’s stubbornness, the soldiers listening were startled. Hadn’t the paladin just admitted that the King’s Authority was weakening?

“By the way, what should we do with these soldiers? They’re disgusting looters.”

Ismail asked Azadin, who was tearing into a fish. Azadin looked at Ismail while crunching the fish bones.

“Do you want them dead?”

“What?!”

“You bastards! What do you think we are!”

The enraged knight tried to draw his sword, but Midiam acted first. She kicked the knight in the stomach with her foreleg as he tried to draw his sword. At the same time, she snatched the knight’s sword and pointed the tip at his neck.

Before the other soldiers could move, Ismail’s curved sword and arrows were already aimed at their necks. The arrowheads pierced their skin, and blood beaded around the wounds.

“Stop. Don’t kill them.”

“……”

Shati, who was watching the scene, clicked her tongue.

‘Good heavens. As expected of the Heraldic Clan, living up to their reputation. Even their kids are this fierce, it’s impossible to escape. I can’t even dream of snatching the Divine King’s Scripture that brat has.’

“You guys, you killed the residents of Salasman and looted their possessions, right?”

“No, we didn’t kill and steal it, but….”

“We just took what others killed and stole.”

“How much effort did the miners and artisans put into making this gold and silver? We couldn’t bear to see their efforts go to waste….”

“Just as each grain of rice contains the farmer’s dedication, wouldn’t each piece of gold and silver contain the dedication of the miners and smelters?”

‘If they couldn’t talk, I wouldn’t hate them so much. I don’t know why these illiterate fools become so eloquent when they’re making excuses.’

Azadin sighed and delivered his verdict.

“You will guide us to the bridgehead garrison.”

“What? No, we refuse!”

“That’s like going to our deaths!”

Azadin snorted at their words.

“Either way, the undead are swarming behind you. You’ll die even if you go back.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Last night, Count Rantark’s army was attacked and defeated by the undead. We escaped from there.”

“……?!”

Zibeck clicked his tongue as he watched Azadin tell another lie as easily as breathing. The problem was that it wasn’t entirely false. He mixed lies and truths appropriately to break the soldiers’ will to resist.

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, your army has already devastated the area around Salasman, right? There are no intact villages nearby. And if there are intact villages? The soldiers of the Count of Salasman will be there, and they won’t let you live. So, do as I say.”

“Ah, alright. We’ll guide you to the bridgehead.”

“Good.”

“But who are you, if I may ask?”

“Donair, you know?”

“If it’s Donair….”

“Are you talking about the former captain of Rantark’s guard?”

“I heard he’s been doing some shady things lately.”

It seemed they knew who Donair was, and that he was a spy who did various dirty deeds for the Count.

“Yes. You can say I’m higher than that Donair.”

“……”

Zibeck couldn’t help but be amazed. In a situation where a fight could break out at any moment, he was improvising and lying without batting an eye.

Of course, he could be so confident because he had completely overwhelmed them with force, but seeing him deceive the soldiers, he was just good at lying.

‘His mind works exceptionally well when it comes to lying. How can someone like that be so sincere about saving people?’

Zibeck was once again impressed by Azadin.

“Ah, alright.”

“We’ll guide you. But we’re too exhausted, so we need to rest a bit.”

“Alright.”

Azadin allowed the soldiers to rest and spoke to Brand.

“Then we’ll cancel the crossing. The undead will be swarming in the water, so we can’t cross with a raft made of planks.”

Originally, Azadin’s group planned to rest for a while, gather planks nearby to make a small raft, and attach horses and goats to cross the river. The Cora River was originally a large and wide river, but due to the recent drought in Salasman, the water level had decreased significantly, so they thought they could cross with a simple raft.

However, if a corpse thrown into the water becomes undead, it will walk on the riverbed and drag anyone crossing the water to their death, so they couldn’t recklessly cross with a raft.

“There should be proper boats at the bridgehead garrison, right? Let’s secure them and cross the river. Or we might have to defeat the one controlling the undead.”

*********

It was night when the soldiers had recovered their strength.

“A-Are you saying we’re going to fight the undead at night? That’s reckless.”

The soldiers protested, but Azadin frowned as he looked behind them.

“There’s no time. The undead are coming from behind, closing the encirclement.”

“What?”

“It’s better this way. The enemy isn’t just undead. It’s a force of living sorcerers and undead combined. So, taking advantage of the night will help confuse the enemy.”

Azadin, seeing the undead moving strategically, believed that these undead were not naturally occurring but were being intentionally controlled by some sorcerer.

At night, the undead become stronger, but the sorcerer’s vision and perception weaken, so he thought it was more advantageous to move at night. But that idea was wrong from the start.

“Azadin.”

Midiam sent out a scout bird and clicked her tongue.

“There’s a scouting magic similar to a scout bird deployed.”

“Really?”

“Yes. A dead bird is flying around.”

A dead crow was flying in the sky, scouting the area. If they approached carelessly, they would be immediately discovered.

“Impressive. A powerful necromancer? Probably an orc.”

When Azadin mentioned orcs, people trembled with fear.

“Are you talking about those intelligent monsters?”

“……”

“Wait. We can’t just let that slide.”

Naga Shati puffed out her chest and shrugged.

“We’re smarter.”

She claimed that they, the Naga race, were smarter than orcs. Of course, she didn’t reveal herself as a Naga in front of the soldiers who didn’t know her identity.

“Ah, yes. You probably are.”

Azadin ignored Shati’s remark and nocked an arrow on his bow.

“Are you going to shoot an arrow? Wait. Are you going to hit a bird flying so far away?”

The soldiers guiding them were horrified. Although the moon was bright, it made judging distances difficult. They couldn’t even hit a target on the ground, let alone a one-foot crow flying in three dimensions.

However, when Azadin shot an arrow, the crow flying in the sky was hit and fell.

“……?”

“W-What?”

The soldiers were shocked by his skill in shooting down such a small crow. Azadin didn’t stop there and shot arrows in succession, shooting down all the birds flying in the sky.

“Unbelievable.”

“Isn’t that kind of archery only possible for the Heraldic Clan?”

“……”

Zibeck smiled wryly.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Azadin raised his hand and pointed the way.

“Midiam, Ismail. Head north to the right and wait in that forest. If the black magician comes this way to observe with his own eyes, you’ll see him there.”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Ismail and Midiam moved to the ambush point Azadin had set.

“Then what do we do?”

“You’ll be the bait, of course.”

“What?!”

“Let’s shake off some undead.”

As Azadin said that, the undead indeed emerged from the garrison.

The corpses of Count Rantark’s soldiers, who had been garrison soldiers just a while ago, along with their families, and the corpses of residents in even worse condition, were staggering forward.

The number of corpses was considerable.

“It’s like an army from hell!”

Brand said, holding his spear and standing beside the soldiers.

“Are you alright, old man?”

“Don’t worry. I have to do something.”

Brand said that and faced the undead army.