The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 122

Azadin and his group began administrative work with Guillaume Balte at the Saenopi Fortress.

There was a young child between Sir Brock and Mrs. Lees, but when Sir Brock returned his fief and became a clergyman, the status of his son became ambiguous.

Therefore, Guillaume Balte decided to become the guardian of Sir Brock’s son and to govern the Saenopi Fortress and its surrounding estates in the meantime.

And the work of taking over the property and internal affairs from the steward and clerks began. Fortunately, Guillaume Balte was talented in accounting, so the work itself was quickly finished.

While Guillaume Balte was handling the estate-related work, Azadin searched the hideout of the Kurt Pantheon Union, a coalition of Kurt god followers.

“It’s the Naga Empire.”

Shati claimed that the owner of this secret base was the Naga Empire.

“Hmm, I suppose so.”

Azadin looked through documents and letters, but he couldn’t read anything written in the Naga language and with tooth-wedge characters.

“Shati. Can you read this?”

“Do you think I’d translate that for you?! Even though I’m your prisoner, my heart is still devoted to the Naga Empire!”

“Huh? What did you say? Say it again.”

When Midiam nocked an arrow on his bow, Shati flinched.

“Just once!”

“You listen well.”

“No, but believe it or not, most of it is useless junk. It seems like the higher-ups have already abandoned this place and left.”

Shati said, reading the documents, most of which were ledgers recording payments and amounts. Even those who didn’t know the Naga language could tell that there were many numbers written.

“We got four copies of the Divine King’s Scripture here, but you’re saying the higher-ups didn’t stay? If they left the Divine King’s Scripture behind, there would have been higher-ups to manage it, right?”

“Do you know how scary the Wendigo is? There’s no reason to leave valuable things behind when they’re summoning a Nether’s envoy. On the other hand, its power is certain, so they probably thought it was worth investing four copies of the Divine King’s Scripture.”

In other words, they thought it was more beneficial to summon the Wendigo and destroy the human world, even if it meant losing four copies of the Divine King’s Scripture.

“How about Scott? Did he find anything useful?”

“There’s no particularly good information. The commanders have already escaped. They were going to abandon this base when Salasama’s operation failed, but the hardliners stayed and released the Wendigo because of that woman, Mrs. Lees, or whatever her name is, who said they could use the Wendigo’s altar.”

“The high-ranking officials destroyed all the information when they left?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Is it that easy to destroy documents? There should be something left if you look for it. Shati and Scott, you guys were originally on this side, right? Do you know anything?”

“Orcs are usually contract mercenaries.”

“I wasn’t that high in the Naga ranks. I don’t know anything. I’m so happy I don’t know anything, so I can’t teach you anything!”

Shati said, rejoicing. But then, Ismail found a book covered in black scales among the corpses of the Kurt Pantheon followers.

“Azadin. This….”

“Hmm. This looks promising.”

“It could be a grimoire [a book of magic spells and incantations]. Be careful.”

“Yeah. It looks like a grimoire at first glance.”

Azadin prepared his obsidian razor and opened the book.

“It’s a Nether language translation guide. Hmm. But….”

Azadin frowned as he looked at it.

“A Nether language translation guide? Then….”

“You absolutely shouldn’t look at too much at once. Your mind will be corrupted. Well, I’ve read a lot, so I’m fine. …But this is a bit strange?”

Azadin felt puzzled as he looked at the book. He flipped through the pages several times, engrossed in reading as if he were being sucked into the book. It was as if he was looking to confirm something he already knew, bit by bit.

At first, the group just watched, but they began to panic as Azadin’s behavior became increasingly strange.

“Wait a minute! You shouldn’t look at it for too long!”

Midiam tried to stop him, but Azadin, as if possessed, opened the book and looked inside.

“Didn’t you say you shouldn’t look at too much at once?”

“I have strong resistance to corruption, so I’m fine. More than that, this is….”

“Hey! Stop him!”

Scott, in his wheelchair, gestured to Ismail to do something about Azadin. But Ismail decided to watch what was happening.

After looking at the Nether language book for a while, blood began to flow from the gaps in Azadin’s mask.

“Azadin!”

“Damn, I looked at it for too long.”

Azadin quickly took off his mask and cut the wound left by Ara’el with his obsidian razor. The skin that Azadin cut off wriggled and turned into a dark red worm, starting to move.

“Ew. What is that?!”

Shati was horrified.

“Tch!”

Azadin stomped on the worm.

“…If a being of this world tries to understand the Nether language, they become corrupted. It’s best to scrape off the skin or surface to remove it from the body.”

Scott said, swallowing hard.

“But the Captain’s body is not at all capable of using magic, so how is he so familiar with handling the Nether language? And why did he look at it so intently?”

“…….”

Azadin wiped the obsidian razor on his leather belt and closed the book, keeping his mouth shut.

“What’s wrong?”

“No. Ismail brought this, right? Where did you get it?”

“Over there….”

Ismail pointed to a Naga corpse. Just by looking at it, it was clear that it was a Naga of high status, much larger than the other Nagas and wearing ornaments and a large curved sword.

“Was there something strange?”

“Yes. This book contains sentences researched by Kazas.”

“What?”

“Why does a Naga have the same results as what our Aragas elders researched?”

“Well, isn’t it because those who claim to do magic research the Nether language? There’s no reason why our Nagas can’t figure out what your Herald Clan researched, right? Maybe our research results are even more advanced?”

“If that’s the case, then it’s a relief.”

Azadin picked up the Nether language book that the Nagas were researching.

“Do you think there’s someone in Aragas who’s in league with the Kurt Pantheon?”

Ismail asked.

“The possibility… no. No.”

Azadin shook his head.

The researcher who was studying the Nether language was Elder Kazas. If this was leaked, the cause of the leak could only be Kazas.

Moreover, Kazas was not originally from Aragas. He was an elf who challenged the Aragas, was captured, and provided knowledge as a form of atonement. He was a prisoner elder.

In other words, he was an enemy of Aragas in the past, and… the elves were originally vassals of the Naga Empire.

‘But if that’s the case….’

It would mean that Azadin’s teacher, Kazas, is a traitor to Aragas.

‘No, the evidence is still insufficient. It’s impossible with just this.’

Azadin thought, taking the Nether language book.

*********

The Count of Rantaric’s castle was already completely occupied by Duke Adler and his loyal vassals. If Count Rantaric, Garnahaer, were to disappear, Adler planned to either assassinate the eldest son, Guillaume Balte, using his vassals, or urge Guillaume Balte to leave the family so that Adler could inherit the title of Count of Rantaric.

But strange rumors began to circulate. It was said that Guillaume Balte was refusing to join the King’s Church and was coming here to become the Count of Rantaric.

At first, everyone thought Guillaume Balte was crazy.

Adler and Guillaume Balte were 10 years apart in age. But when Adler was 10 years old, Guillaume Balte was already inferior to Adler in swordsmanship, magic, and everything else. A grown knight of 20 years old was defeated in a duel with a 10-year-old boy. Guillaume Balte was an incomprehensible fool.

But now, that Guillaume Balte was challenging to become the Count of Rantaric without any supporting vassals?

“What happened? What about the Sell Sword Guild guys? Isn’t their job to follow Guillaume Balte, coax him, and keep an eye on him?”

Duke Adler was a beautiful young man with some silver hair at the front, with a delicate and graceful appearance that was indistinguishable from a woman.

For those who liked the bloodline of the Yaeagas gods, his appearance alone was enough to make them swoon. It was possible because he was a masterpiece born from Count Rantaric Garnahaer’s long history of bloodline management.

Because of that, he received Garnahaer’s excessive affection, but Adler was proud of it. He had been assured that the Rantaric territory would be his.

But now, Guillaume Balte was challenging him?

“That’s….”

“The Sell Sword Guild members are said to be dead.”

The vassals spoke hesitantly, as if they themselves thought it was absurd.

“What? Those guys? Why? Did they all get food poisoning or something?”

“They say they were killed in a counterattack while trying to assassinate Sir Guillaume Balte.”

“Is that… some kind of joke?”

Adler’s eyes widened.

“That is… Sir Guillaume Balte is said to have been hiding his claws all this time.”

“No, what claws does that fool have… you have to say something that makes sense.”

“But it seems to be true.”

“Recently, strange rumors have been circulating. Sir Guillaume Balte is said to be a hero of the Saenopi Fortress.”

“There’s nothing less fitting for that fool than the word ‘hero,’ what are you talking about?”

“A monster appeared at the Saenopi Fortress, and everyone fled, but Sir Guillaume Balte and his companions solved it.”

“No, I knew the commoners were stupid, but do they believe such nonsense? I could beat Guillaume Balte with one hand.”

The vassals were flustered by Adler’s irritation. Originally, Adler was a humble and calm youngest son who was loved by the Count.

But as soon as the Count disappeared, he began to easily get irritated with his vassals. Perhaps the image he had shown so far was a facade to please his father and vassals.

Well, even if it was a facade, it was good. It was something for a future ruler to be mindful of his vassals. But now that a strong competitor had appeared, getting irritated like this was not a good sign.

“Sir Guillaume Balte actually took control of the Saenopi Fortress, forced Sir Brock, who summoned the monster, to become a clergyman, and became the guardian of Sir Brock’s son, Cedric.”

“What? He took away the fief that was given to his vassal?”

“Yes. But Sir Brock is said to have accepted it.”

“That’s strange. How did this happen?”

Adler couldn’t help but ask the person next to him. Then the person next to him clicked his tongue.

“It seems likely… it’s our colleague.”

“Your colleague, you mean….”

Adler frowned.

“The Herald Clan?”

“Yes.”

The young Herald Clan member standing next to Adler smiled and nodded.

“I really don’t like you guys. It’s the same with my father’s disappearance. Even though there were guys among you who were confident in their abilities, such an unfortunate event happened, didn’t it? And now what? You guys are with Guillaume Balte? Are you guys plotting something in our Rantaric territory?”

“No, as you know, our Ara’el branch is only a part of the Herald Clan. There are still foolish old colleagues who have not accepted the gospel scattered here and there. We will try to persuade him.”

“Good. It would be good to persuade him. If you want to find the Emperor’s treasure vault, that is.”

Adler chuckled, twirling a gold-decorated key on his finger.