The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 146

“That stonemason… I was the one who gave him the work order.”

“You took a bribe, didn’t you?”

“Ah, yes. But, everyone takes them.”

The head stonemason, sensing the blame shifting to him, turned pale and trembled.

“If Kahsan managed to get inside the castle, he must have been preparing for quite some time.”

“Pardon?”

“That fellow had a run-in with me last month. Considering the distance from where he appeared then to here, a considerable number of people must have put in a lot of effort to prepare this.”

Azadin clicked his tongue.

Considering the distance from where Kahsan appeared to the Coral Sahar Royal Castle, it would be impossible for Kahsan to infiltrate alone.

It’s likely that the Corasar Merchant Guild had already set things up within the palace, ensuring he could infiltrate at any time.

However, the king would also be closely watching Azadin’s actions right now.

If he mentions the Corasar Merchant Guild here or contacts them, it would be the same as revealing that the Corasar Merchant Guild is the Messenger Clan [a clandestine organization].

‘I need to achieve some results while hiding Aragas’s information. This is tricky.’

He needs to conceal what must be concealed, reveal what needs to be revealed, and only harm the Arael faction. Doing this on the fly is giving Azadin a headache.

At that moment, a soldier approached.

“Excuse me, Lord Azadin?”

“Yes?”

“His Majesty the King has summoned you. The scribe has contacted you.”

“Understood. Where is it?”

*********

The place where King Ansetus IV of Corasar wanted to meet was the entrance to the inner palace.

However, the one waiting for Azadin there was Sir Aldoph, a paladin and the king’s nephew.

“Ha. I never thought something like this would happen.”

Azadin realized the situation when he saw the soldier who had called him here pretending not to know anything.

“You, soulless blasphemer! How dare you wander around and poke your nose into the royal palace? I will not forgive you.”

“Calm down. Are you out of your mind? Forging a royal order.”

Azadin argued, but Sir Aldoph scoffed.

“If you die, no one will ever know.”

“Oh, you idiot. Seriously.”

Azadin looked around.

This paladin is Ansetus IV’s nephew, so he holds a very high position in the King’s Church. [The King’s Church is likely the state religion].

He doesn’t know why he’s targeting Azadin here, but… Azadin saw through that someone had instigated him to do this.

‘If I ignore him here because I don’t want to fight, then the one who instigated him will kill him next, right? And then, since I’m the last person he met before he died….’

Azadin and this paladin are both caught in a trap.

But Sir Aldoph himself doesn’t know that, and he’s drawing his sword?

“As a descendant of the righteous Yaegas gods, I cannot tolerate you! You soulless, vile thing! If you’re a man, draw your sword!”

“Why would I? I have no intention of fighting you. If you’re a paladin, you wouldn’t attack someone unarmed….”

The moment Azadin said that, the paladin thrust his sword at Azadin’s heart. A paladin stabbing an unarmed opponent with a sword.

However, Azadin grabbed his sword with both hands, twisted it, and easily disarmed him.

“Huh?!”

Sir Aldoph let out a foolish scream.

‘Just because they’re royalty doesn’t mean they’re all strong. Compared to Zekt, he’s nothing… No, he’s the weakest paladin I’ve ever seen?’

Azadin examined the sword and gave a wry smile. The entire blade was made of azure steel, blue steel.

“To make an entire sword out of blue steel, which is usually used sparingly when making blue steel armor, because it’s too expensive. How much is this worth?”

“You impudent fool! Give it, give it back! That sword….”

“Ah, well. Okay, I’ll give it back.”

Azadin drooled over the azure steel sword but returned it to the paladin.

He was tempted to take it, but even for a paladin from a royal family, such a treasured sword would be a precious item.

“Eek!”

Despite asking for it back, Sir Aldoph trembled with shame when he actually got the sword back.

He doesn’t seem young, and seeing this, it’s clear how much he’s been coddled by those around him because he’s royalty.

“Still a kid at that age, huh.”

“What?! Are you trying to insult me?”

“Yes. I’m insulting you. Did you think I was complimenting you? Anyway, you’re no match for me, so just stay still. If you attack me again, I’ll rip your genitals off while you’re still alive.”

“What? You, you bastard!”

Sir Aldoph was horrified by the insult, which was a first for him as royalty, but the thought that this guy might actually rip his genitals off while he was still alive made his legs tremble.

Even royalty can’t avoid getting hit in the groin during sword training or other activities. Just a slight bump can cause dizzying pain, so the thought of having it ripped off while alive was terrifying.

While Sir Aldoph was imagining the pain and becoming quiet, Azadin looked towards the bushes in the inner palace.

“Stop it and come out. Don’t set up useless traps.”

Then, a young man walked out from the inner palace. It was Sion Etar.

“Hmm, impressive as expected. Worthy of being called Lord Arael’s brother. Or should I say, Master Kazas’s disciple?”

Sion Etar walked out from the pouring rain and stood in front of Azadin.

“So, you instigated this idiot?”

“If you say that while the person is listening, what will his position be? Anyway, it wasn’t me.”

“Anyway, it wasn’t you? So, it seems like someone from your side instigated it? More importantly, Sion, are you feeling any better?”

“Ah.”

Sion was taken aback by Azadin’s question. He felt bewildered by Azadin’s sudden concern for his condition.

In any case, he had betrayed Azadin as a member of the same Aragas. Although he was never on Azadin’s side from the beginning, it was clear that he had done something shameful as a proud member of the Etar bloodline.

“My condition is a bit….”

“Then, are my companions safe?”

“They’re all safe. They’re so full of energy that it’s a problem. But first, let me express my gratitude, Azadin. For saving Elder Sebali.”

“……”

“Since you have treated Elder Sebali with respect, we will not harm your companions no matter what. I, Sion Etar, promise this on my honor.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“So, I’m asking, do you really have no intention of changing your mind? Besides being Lord Arael’s brother, it’s known that you defeated Elder Sebali. You will be respected among the Aragas.”

“No matter what you say, I cannot allow the summoning of the Nether.”

“I see.”

It was when Sion made a bitter expression.

-Swoosh!

The heavy rain and wind intensified.

At that moment, Azadin noticed arrows flying through the rain. Surprisingly, these arrows were made of black steel.

“Damn it!”

Azadin hastily drew his curved sword and swung it, but the moment it collided with the black steel arrow, the curved sword shattered like a cookie.

The black steel arrow broke through the curved sword and flew straight at Azadin, but Azadin blocked it with another weapon, the Wendigo’s dagger.

Fortunately, the Wendigo’s dagger did not break and deflected the black steel arrow, but….

The impact was transmitted directly to Azadin’s arm. The hand holding the Wendigo’s dagger was torn, and blood flowed.

“What, what is it?”

“Get down!”

Azadin pushed down the foolish paladin Sir Aldoph to get him out of the way.

The black steel arrow, once deflected by Azadin, curved in the air like a living snake and flew back again.

The Messenger Clan’s magic, the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon, the Yellow Crane and White Crane, have terrifying power even when used normally, but when applied to arrows, they unleash tremendous penetrating power. When applied to black steel, they would cut through rocks like butter.

Once again, the black steel arrow flew in, but Azadin pulled out another weapon along with the Wendigo’s dagger. It was the head of the guard captain’s halberd.

He couldn’t withstand the force with just the dagger, so he was holding the halberd head like a tonfa to support the Wendigo’s dagger and add strength.

-Clang!

Sparks flew as the black steel arrow was deflected. Azadin’s body was pushed back several steps, and blood splattered.

The guard captain’s halberd head was also broken in the end.

“Tch! I was using it well!”

But the black steel arrow also lost its power and fell to the ground.

“Not only did he deflect the black steel arrow… but he also protected the paladin. Impressive. To go through all that trouble to save such an idiot.”

Nephthys and Kahsan appeared in the pouring rain, holding bows.

They were stringing another black steel arrow on their bowstrings.

“Hmm… Isn’t it a bit much to shower a dropout like me with such precious black steel arrows?”

Nephthys and Kahsan, armed with black steel arrows, and Sion Etar, who wasn’t using his hands, were also incredibly skilled.

Still, Azadin was confident that he could escape from them without dying.

The problem was that if he escaped, the paladin here would die, and then they would frame Azadin for the paladin’s murder, destroying the alliance between them and Azadin.

“We can’t kill you, Lord Arael’s brother. We originally shot to kill that foolish paladin, but you blocked it, right?”

“Ugh… Litherua! How could you….”

Sir Aldoph was horrified to learn that Nephthys was trying to kill him.

And he called her Litherua. So, it was Nephthys who had infiltrated the palace disguised as the maid Litherua.

“No, this can’t be. Litherua! I loved you. We even slept together!”

“Ahem.”

Kahsan cleared his throat.

“You two slept together? You, the Emperor’s messenger, used a honey trap?”

When Azadin asked, Nephthys waved her hand.

“There’s no way. I’m sorry, but it was Kahsan here who slept with you.”

“What?!”

“The illusion worked well.”

“No, what is that.”

Sir Aldoph looked at Kahsan in confusion. The muscular giant grinned at Sir Aldoph.

“……”

The color drained from Sir Aldoph’s face.

“Don’t give up. If you die, I’ll be framed for your murder!”

“I, I don’t want to live anymore.”

“You idiot! The Messenger Clan are soulless blasphemers, right? That woman is also an Aragas. She’s the soulless blasphemer you hate so much!”

“But I truly loved her.”

“You hate men, but you don’t care if a woman has a soul or not? No, Nephthys, what on earth did you do?”

“I’ll say it in case you misunderstand, I didn’t try to seduce him that hard. He’s the one who got excited.”

Nephthys said, disgusted that it might seem like she had done something strange to Aldoph.

“I just had a little fun.”

Kahsan reported to Nephthys.

“Ah.”

Sion Etar, who was listening, also seemed taken aback by Kahsan’s words.

“Hey, Aldoph. Run away in this gap. Quickly!”

“Ah, ah….”

“Run away quickly. If you just get past here and run to where people are, you can live.”

“But as a knight, I can’t run away….”

“You attacked me with a surprise attack when I was unarmed a moment ago. Why are you acting like this now?”

“Th, that’s….”

Sir Aldoph was in a state of confusion.