The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 147

When Aldoph launched his surprise attack on Azadin, he was confident in his skills and certain of victory. But now, he was afraid. Fear made him shrink back, and he sought any excuse to avoid moving. Even though staying still would lead him directly to death, his fear pushed him towards it. It was an irrational action, but it was instinct. Sir Aldoph, using his knightly code as an excuse, was huddled in despair.

“Ah, how annoying.”

Azadin vaguely understood Sir Aldoph’s state and casually picked up the azure steel greatsword from his hand.

“What should we do? Nephthys?”

“Kill him.”

“Hmm. It’s a shame to kill him, considering our past, but it can’t be helped.”

Kahsan said regretfully, drawing his bow. But then it happened.

“What are you doing?!”

“Oh, no….”

The knights and soldiers, approaching from the inner ward, discovered the situation.

“Damn it!”

There were too many of them. If there were fewer, they could have been killed, and they could have continued, but the opposition was about a squad strong, including knights, making it impossible to kill them all at once. More than anything, to easily subdue Azadin, they needed to use the black steel arrows, but with so many soldiers, it would be difficult to focus the black steel arrows on Azadin.

“Retreat!”

Sion gave up on eliminating Azadin and retreated.

“You, you guys!”

“Hey! Stop!”

“Drop your weapons!”

They rushed at Nephthys, Sion, and Kahsan, but arrows flew towards them.

“Tch!”

Azadin jumped in and deflected the arrows, but he couldn’t protect everyone. As some soldiers fell to the arrows, the others hesitated to pursue, and in that gap, Sion’s group quickly escaped.

“Ugh.”

“Hey! Messenger Clan scum!”

Even though Azadin had deflected the arrows and saved the soldiers, the knights confronted him. At that moment, Sir Aldoph stood up.

“Stop! Don’t you see he was trying to save you?!”

“Sir Aldoph, but….”

“Stop it! He’s not the enemy!”

Aldoph defended Azadin and extended his hand.

“Okay, a handshake.”

When Azadin took his hand, Sir Aldoph shook his head.

“Ah, right. The Azure Steel Sword.”

Azadin returned the azure steel greatsword to Sir Aldoph.

“Messenger Clan, what’s your name?”

“The Emperor’s Messenger, 108th Order, Azadin.”

“I won’t forget that you helped me today. But I’d also like you to keep what you learned today a secret.”

“What? Nephthys? Or Kahsan?”

“…….”

“Is it both in this case? Don’t worry. I’m good at keeping secrets.”

“P, please, keep it a secret….”

Aldoph trembled, thinking of Kahsan.

*********

“I don’t know what trick you used, but Aldoph has quieted down.”

Ansetus IV was impressed with Azadin.

“And you also dealt with the issue of poison in the food, I hear?”

“I didn’t deal with it.”

“No, you did more than I expected without me even asking. I heard you even fought with the Messenger Clan? Is that true?”

“It wasn’t exactly a fight….”

Azadin took out the black steel arrows and smiled wryly.

“Black steel arrows, I see.”

“Do you know about black steel arrows?”

“Aren’t they arrows made of black steel that can store powerful magic? They’re sharp and heavy on their own, but they also contain immense curse and magical power. I’ve heard stories, but this is the first time I’ve seen them in person. They look more like iron bars than arrows.”

“Yes. The enemy was shooting them without holding back. I was injured because of it. If I don’t treat the wound, I might die next time we meet.”

As Azadin subtly revealed his sacrifice and dedication, Ansetus IV smiled.

“Interesting. So, the Messenger Clan isn’t a monolith either.”

“Yes. Isn’t it like that everywhere?”

“If they’re exchanging black steel arrows, it seems they’re really trying to kill each other, not just putting on a show. Or is it that your reputation is so high that they think they can’t kill you with just black steel arrows?”

There was an edge to Ansetus IV’s words. He was still asking if they were colluding and pretending to be in conflict to get close.

“I’m the 108th Order. The lowest rank.”

Azadin replied, feigning ignorance. It was usually impossible for a messenger of the 108th Order to survive against higher-ranking messengers, especially when they were using black steel arrows. So, they weren’t colluding. That was what Azadin was saying.

Ansetus IV laughed off Azadin’s audacity and put on a serious expression.

“There’s an underground passage that leads to the throne of Coral Sahar.”

“An underground passage?”

“It’s a secret passage of the castle and a way to access the foundation where the throne is rooted in the earth. But it’s flooded now because of the heavy rain.”

“Ah.”

“They might have done something there before this rain. But honestly, I didn’t think about it before. The light of the kingship was already weakening. I just thought it was because I wasn’t fit to be king.”

“…….”

“The throne of Yaegas is truly a curse. The light of the kingship only protects the world when a rightful king sits on it. If the light of the kingship weakens, it’s like saying you’re not qualified. It’s so frightening and pathetic that I hate myself.”

“Even so, you must protect it. The divine king of Yaegas is not allowed to falter.”

“Hahaha. Not allowed to falter, you say. That’s right. I never thought I’d hear those words from a Messenger Clan member.”

Ansetus IV took off one of his necklaces and handed it to Azadin.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a necklace for underwater breathing. It’s a magical artifact that accumulates magic power from the wearer’s life force. It will be useful for you, a Messenger Clan member.”

“It allows me to breathe underwater? What’s the duration?”

“In my case, if I wear it for about a day, I can use it for about a minute the next day.”

“Only one minute?”

“I’ve been wearing it for a year, so it should last at least 200 minutes.”

“I see. Why 200 minutes?”

“I took it off when I was doing my night work.”

“Ah, I see.”

Azadin took the necklace and put it around his neck.

“Take it, it’s a gift. It will be useful for a Messenger Clan member.”

Ansetus IV repeated himself. The Messenger Clan’s grimoire, the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon, doesn’t have underwater breathing magic. He was emphasizing that he knew that fact.

“Thank you.”

Azadin bowed to Ansetus IV and left.

*********

“Captain!”

As he was leaving the inner castle, an unexpected person called out to Azadin. The orc Scott McGreene and the naga Sharti were waiting for Azadin.

“Where’s Sir Jibek?”

“Sir Jibek is over there.”

Sir Jibek was sitting blankly, but he stood up when he saw Azadin.

“Good. I’m glad. But how did you find me?”

“Finding the captain was easy. There’s been a lot of talk about a bold Messenger Clan member in this castle. It was too easy to find you.”

“How did you come back alive? Did Sion Etar let you go?”

Azadin said, extending his arm, which had been injured while deflecting the Messenger Clan’s black steel arrows, to Sharti.

“Oh, you’re really shameless.”

“Please.”

“Ugh.”

Sharti grumbled but began to treat Azadin’s wound. In the meantime, Scott began to tell him what had happened.

“That Messenger Clan guy who was throwing up on the ship came with his subordinates and ambushed us. I was the first to get knocked out….”

“Then it was me. That little brat Ismail hit me so hard he almost broke my neck.”

Listening to Sharti, it seemed that Midiam and Ismail couldn’t resist Sion, the elder of the Etar clan.

“What about Sir Jibek?”

“That’s… I’m ashamed to say I surrendered. They took hostages, so I couldn’t fight.”

“No, you did well. There’s no need to fight and shed blood unnecessarily. So, where were you imprisoned?”

“In the castle prison here.”

“Here, in Coral Sahar Castle?”

“Yes. It seems a lot of Messenger Clan members have infiltrated. They were very organized.”

Well… The headquarters of the Corasar Merchant Guild was right in the capital, Coral Sahar. There were many Messenger Clan members coming and going from this place from the beginning.

“How did you escape?”

“Midiam released us.”

“Ah, so you didn’t escape on your own?”

“That’s how it happened.”

Jibek was still ashamed.

“There’s no need to be ashamed. Being captured or killed in battle is commonplace.”

Azadin stopped the ashamed Jibek and turned to Scott. It seemed he could only rely on Scott to get the full story.

“He said he couldn’t betray the Etar clan’s will, but he told us to help the captain.”

“Hmph. Traitor!”

Sharti devalued Midiam’s choice.

‘No, you shouldn’t be saying that.’ It was absurd to see Sharti, who had become a traitor to the naga clan, denying Midiam or Ismail as traitors. Since when was she part of Azadin’s group to be talking about betrayal?

“Well, we would have died if we had been captured. It’s a blessing that he released us.”

Scott was surprisingly forgiving.

‘It’s not surprising, this guy is strangely forgiving.’ Azadin was impressed by Scott’s straightforward words without any resentment.

“I’m glad you came back alive.”

Midiam had said it easily, but Azadin could guess the anguish Midiam must have felt. Now that the Etar clan had turned to the Arae branch, Midiam, as a member of the Etar clan, could not reject or betray them. Nevertheless, she had released Azadin’s companions, thinking of them.

“Azadin. Won’t your subordinate Midiam be in danger? She released us, so she’ll be found out soon.”

Jibek was anxious because he had burdened a girl like Midiam.

It was understandable that a proper holy knight would be shaken by the fact that he had survived thanks to the sacrifice of Midiam, whom he had always opposed.

“Well, she’s the heiress of the Etar clan, so the Etar clan won’t harm her for releasing you. But I need to do something quickly. I need to shake things up so they don’t start fighting among themselves over something like that.”

“Understood. I will actively cooperate.”

“Good. Then I’ll tell you what’s been happening.”

First, Azadin shared the facts he had learned since he had been separated from them. The Messenger Clan, the Arae branch, was weakening the light of the kingship by some means and was allied with the naga to take the throne of Coral Sahar. Once the naga completely occupied Coral Sahar, the Messenger Clan would appear, take the throne of Coral Sahar, and use its power to repel the naga. After that, they would use the divine king’s scripture of the throne to break the curse of service placed on the Messenger Clan.

Jibek, who had been listening to the plan, clicked his tongue.

“That’s an incredible story. As a holy knight of the King’s Church, it’s something I can’t even imagine.”

“The problem is that quite a few people believe it’s possible and have jumped into this gamble. Maybe Arae showed them something.”

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I’m just feeling miserable now that I know how much of a frog in a well I was.”

Jibek was angry at himself. Because of the rules of the holy knights, he had reluctantly tolerated the misdeeds of Count Salasma’s son, Prince Kozel. But now, the world was changing so rapidly that he could no longer be bound by the rules of the King’s Church. Even in this situation, the rules of the holy knight, which had been engraved deep in his soul since childhood, were still binding Jibek.