The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 121

“The Wendigo is gone.”

Guillaume Balte, who had been making a fire and waiting above, was pleased to see Azadin and his group emerge. Brand shouted excitedly to Guillaume Balte.

“A miracle! A miracle has happened!”

“Ah, yes. The Wendigo is gone.”

“No, it’s not that! A real miracle happened! The angels answered the call and saved the soul of the one sacrificed to the Nether’s envoy!”

“Huh?”

“What are you talking about?”

Midiam asked Ismail.

“Well, it’s hard to believe, but that madman is telling the truth. Azadin… tried to purify the corpse with the Rescue Knights’ funeral rites, but the corpse, already claimed by the Nether’s envoy, became a Wendigo and was resisting. Even after throwing all the copies of the Divine King’s Scripture we had, it couldn’t be purified. But when Azadin made a vow to the angels, it was suddenly purified.”

“……”

Everyone who heard that clicked their tongues in disbelief.

“A miracle? The angels are all dead.”

Shati grumbled. She was a prisoner, but she stood on the corpses of the Wendigos, having fought them with a sword and axe in her hands.

“Midiam. Have you been getting along with Shati?”

“Yes. The Wendigos got a little close, but Shati and I managed to hold them off. But… is it true that a miracle happened?”

“What do you think?”

“Well, if it’s true, shouldn’t we receive the sacrament from the Rescue Knights?”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“I guess they’d rather die than accept us Aragasa [a clan known for their unique spiritual practices] as saints. And you’re the Emperor’s messenger. You’re not going to become a Hospitaller [a member of the Rescue Knights] now. Besides, you, who were happy with the Rescue Knights’ junk, don’t look very happy.”

“Yeah.”

Azadin gave a bitter smile and gestured. Midiam saw Azadin sending a signal and slipped back a little.

“So, Mrs. Lees. Do you recognize this person?”

Azadin put down the sacrifice and removed the cloak that covered him, revealing his face.

“I know, so stop playing games. I expected something like this when the Wendigo fell asleep.”

Mrs. Lees said, grabbing her staff. At the same time, Midiam prepared her bow.

“…Haa.”

Mrs. Lees sighed.

“I’m not that stupid either. A miracle is nonsense, but you purified that sacrifice, whatever you did. Very impressive. Really impressive. I’d die if I resisted you here.”

“L, Lees!”

Sir Brock stepped forward in a panic.

“Wait a minute. What did my wife do?”

“Sir Brock. Is this man…?”

“He’s my brother!”

“……”

Azadin looked at Mrs. Lees, and Mrs. Lees clicked her tongue.

“That guy approached me knowing that my husband and I weren’t on good terms! He kept hitting on me, saying he’d fulfill my carnal desires, asking if the Btumain [a group known for their supposed lechery] were really that lecherous!”

“So you killed and ate him? Then were the were-rats of Naga and Mezeri just friends passing by? Don’t treat us like fools.”

Azadin’s voice was tinged with subtle anger, and Sir Brock, flustered, stepped in to defend her.

“It’s my fault. I was having an affair…”

“No, wait.”

“But can’t you save Lees somehow? W, well, what if I give you money?”

“Enough already, you idiot.”

Azadin, unable to bear it any longer, became furious.

“What are you trying to do? You idiot. You seduced Fran with sweet talk, even badmouthing your wife, and now you’re going to protect your wife even though she killed your brother and released an envoy?”

“I’m just being sincere! I sincerely loved Fran, and I sincerely love my wife!”

“Then your sincerity is worth less than a penny! The gravity of marriage, the injustice of kinship, the tenderness of love! What do I care about your truth that doesn’t repay any of it?! You want to do whatever you want without sacrificing anything? Fran and your brother were actually sacrificed, and I can’t tolerate you making such unreasonable demands!”

Azadin placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. Then, Guillaume Balte stood between Azadin and Sir Brock.

“As the acting Count of Rantaric, leave this matter to me. Azadin, the Emperor’s messenger.”

“…Understood.”

Azadin bowed to Guillaume Balte.

“Sir Guillaume Balte.”

“Sir Brock. You will return the fiefdom of Saenop Fortress and its subordinate manors to me and go to the King’s Church. And Mrs. Lees will have her magical abilities sealed and be confined to a monastery of the King’s Church.”

“You want me to live as a sinner in a monastery for the rest of my life?”

Mrs. Lees harbored hostility, but…

-Thwack!

At that moment, an arrow pierced Mrs. Lees’ face, gouging out her eyeball. Midiam had fired the arrow.

“Kyaaaaak!”

“You’re in front of the Emperor’s messenger! Sinner! Can’t you keep your eyes open?!”

“Ugh! You little brat!”

“Why? Do you want to test the messenger? Go ahead and try with your petty black magic!”

“You…!”

Mrs. Lees grabbed her staff and glared at Midiam, but… she soon let go of the staff. She had discovered a cold rationality in Midiam’s eyes.

She realized that the girl had provoked her not out of a momentary emotional outburst, but had coldly provoked her with the intention of killing her.

“Damn it! Fine! I’ve killed a lot of people, so one eyeball is cheap!”

Mrs. Lees decided that it was better to stay alive, even if it meant being confined to a monastery, than to risk her life in a hopeless fight.

“As expected of a mage, you’re not completely stupid.”

Midiam let go, as Mrs. Lees no longer showed any intention of resisting. She had hoped Mrs. Lees would attack, but she seemed disappointed that she didn’t.

“Then, Sir Brock. Do you accept?”

Guillaume Balte checked Sir Brock’s will.

“Yes. I have no objections. Acting Count of Rantaric, Sir Guillaume Balte. Thank you for your mercy.”

Sir Brock agreed to terminate the vassalage contract and return the fiefdom to its original owner, the Count of Rantaric.

*********

The fog cleared, and Saenop Fortress reappeared.

Even before anyone said anything, as soon as the fog cleared, people returned to the village to clean the streets and put the supplies they had not been able to take back into the warehouse and lock them up.

They must have been anxiously waiting outside the fog, afraid of losing their property while fleeing in a hurry, and rushed in as soon as the fog weakened.

They all chanted Guillaume Balte’s name.

“The new Count of Rantaric, Sir Guillaume Balte, has defeated the monster of the fog!”

“A great achievement! Let’s commemorate it in song for generations!”

Guillaume Balte’s reputation for defeating the fog monster, the winter cold, and the Wendigo was already spreading among the people.

“In the end, you did Sir Guillaume Balte a favor.”

Midiam said, feeding and watering the goats and horses that had fled from the Wendigos. Azadin had punished Midiam for suddenly attacking Mrs. Lees without his permission by making her find and care for the goats and horses, but…

As soon as they came out of the underground passage, they found the goats and horses, so it wasn’t much of a punishment. It was too light a punishment for gouging out a noblewoman’s eyeball, but Midiam was still grumbling.

“Isn’t that the fame you should have, Azadin?”

“Is it even possible for us to have fame?”

“But you performed a miracle… and aren’t you giving too much to Sir Guillaume Balte? You didn’t even receive a single coin, let alone the Emperor’s gold.”

“That man is not so shameless. It will be helpful to us if he becomes the Count of Rantaric.”

“That’s true now, but who knows what will happen later? Well, it’ll be easier to assassinate him then.”

Midiam chuckled, remembering that Guillaume Balte was a terrible fighter.

“I told you to reflect on gouging out Mrs. Lees’ eyeball, but it doesn’t seem like much of a punishment.”

“But if I hadn’t attacked then, wouldn’t that woman have gotten off too lightly? Azadin knows that, so he gave me this punishment that’s not even a punishment, right?”

“You tried to provoke her to kill her, didn’t you?”

“If she was provoked. But that woman noticed. She realized that I was deliberately provoking her to kill her, and even though she was furious, she suddenly came to her senses.”

“You were reckless, Midiam. That woman was a dangerous mage, and her husband, while not a big threat, would cause political problems if we killed him ourselves.”

If Sir Brock voluntarily leaves, people will believe his sincerity, but if Azadin’s group kills Sir Brock, the truth of both the Wendigo incident and the murder of Sir Brock’s brother as a sacrifice will be questioned. It would raise suspicions that Guillaume Balte killed his vassal to take over this fiefdom.

“I know you were angry, but Midiam, you are a member of the Etar clan [a clan known for their strategic thinking], so it’s better not to put your personal feelings first. It’s fortunate that Mrs. Lees was a reasonable person and gave up resisting.”

“Yes. Well, the political problem has been resolved. But that ugly young master has some political skills?”

“Hey, the person is listening.”

Guillaume Balte, who had arrived here unnoticed, was flustered by Midiam, who was openly evaluating him while standing next to him.

This impudent girl gouged out a noblewoman’s eyeball and openly evaluated Guillaume Balte, the son of a count… From what he could see, she seemed to be of very high status among the messenger clan.

“Well, we didn’t exactly receive the Emperor’s gold from you, so we don’t have any reason to cater to your whims, do we?”

Midiam was brazen even though she had been caught badmouthing him.

‘No, should I say she’s shameless?’

From what Guillaume Balte could see, even if they had a contract with the Emperor’s gold, they wouldn’t cater to his whims.

“You guys still took all the copies of the Divine King’s Scripture, right? You can’t say you didn’t gain anything.”

“Tsk.”

Azadin clicked his tongue at Guillaume Balte.

“Birds hear daytime words, and mice hear nighttime words, so don’t carelessly say where it is. I’m not joking.”

“…Yes.”

Guillaume Balte, who had displayed surprising political skills, decided the course of action for Sir Brock and Mrs. Lees, and monopolized the credit for resolving the Wendigo incident, had no choice but to be quiet in front of Azadin.

“I’ll give you all the fame for defeating the Wendigo. Use it to build your political foundation. Then even Young Master Adler won’t be able to act recklessly. Let the rumors reach Rantaric first, and then let’s enter with dignity.”

Azadin suggested.

The fact that Guillaume Balte had achieved the feat of defeating the fog and frost monster, the Wendigo, would soon be known to the world, and with that merit, the Rantaric vassals would look at Guillaume Balte again.