The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 15

Even in his exhausted and tired state, Azadin continued his march. Midiam and Ismael, catching up, asked Azadin,

“By the way, the appearance of the ogre and the minion of the King of Fangs might mean that monster armies are continuously pouring in from the central inland area, right?”

“That’s a possibility.”

“Then….”

“From what I saw, there were magic-using goblins with the ogre, and a hobgoblin as a squad leader, so it felt like a regular army.”

Azadin said, recalling that they were after the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture.

Scouts of monsters sent to find the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture. It was reasonable to see it that way.

‘Does that mean I have a lot of wands today?’

Curious, Azadin took out the wands.

“So, Midiam, can you tell what these are?”

“Hmm, are they magic wands?”

Midiam received the bone wands Azadin had taken out.

“I think I need to focus properly. I’m tired right now too. Ah, but if you’re asking me this, does that mean you acknowledge me as a follower?”

“It’s not that, we’re just fellow clansmen meeting in a faraway land, right? Can’t I ask you for a favor?”

“Hmm. You’re still like that. Then, can I ask you for a favor too?”

“What is it?”

“Um… well? Now that I think about it, there’s nothing I want to ask for other than being accepted as a follower?”

“Right?”

“Then I’ll ask you when I think of something.”

“That’s a bit…”

“Anyway, I think I need to concentrate to examine these wands. Can we do it after we wake up?”

“Well, I’m tired too after that battle. And we’ve been walking continuously.”

“Then shall we rest here?”

“No, let’s hurry. The feed for the goats costs quite a bit, so let’s not delay too much.”

Pretending to be a blind pilgrim, when they arrived at the gate, they fed the goats gruel at an inn outside the gate and bought food for themselves. Traveling was, after all, a continuous cycle of expenses.

“Follow me. Ah, before that, I need to change my disguise again.”

Azadin began to change back into the blind pilgrim’s attire. He turned his clothes inside out and hunched over, making him look a foot shorter, and his arm and leg lengths also appeared shorter.

His body was so flexible that just by changing his posture, his impression looked completely different.

Having returned to his blind pilgrim appearance, Azadin immediately followed the people who were fleeing. They were numerous and it was night, so they were easy to find.

“Ah, you’re safe.”

“That’s a relief.”

They were glad that Azadin’s group was safe.

“Yes. I have good hearing, so I heard the cheers of victory from the village.”

“Huh?”

“I think you can go back to the village. Can you contact them with a signal light or something?”

“That’s….”

“If there’s a place where you can see the village, you can check, I think.”

“…….”

The fleeing people were doubtful of Azadin’s words, but when they saw the lights lit in the gate village on the upper side of the mountain, they knew the village was safe.

“I think it would be okay to send a few people to the village to check first and then move.”

When Azadin suggested this, the people thought it made sense. It was important to flee from the monsters, but it was also a great hardship for the elderly, women, and children to leave the village and descend the rough mountain path.

Since Count Kazel of the Salasma March was not a merciful person to his people, he would not generously accept the refugees who had abandoned their village and fled.

So, everyone agreed that if it was safe, they wanted to return to the village as soon as possible.

“Y-yes, let’s do that.”

The people stopped fleeing and chose a fast runner to return to the village and check. Soon, they met the people sent from the village in the middle of the way.

The village had also sent a messenger to inform the fleeing villagers after the ogre group’s invasion was resolved.

“The Messenger Clan appeared and defeated the ogres?”

“Yes. The ogres weren’t the problem. Honey! A huge monster appeared, what should I call it? Anyway, someone in the village must have called the Messenger Clan. So, we need to keep the outsiders quiet….”

“Outsiders, you mean the merchants? Or that pilgrim?”

“Yes. Where did those pilgrims go?”

“Huh? Ah? Oh?”

“Now that I think about it?”

The people were bewildered by the pilgrim group that had disappeared.

*********

It wasn’t difficult to slip away under the cover of night. Azadin changed his clothes again and grumbled.

“Even though I’m the one doing it, it’s really annoying.”

“Still, it’s amazing. Your impression changes so much just by disguising yourself?”

“Well, there’s a lot of room to hide since the clothes are still big. I can’t do this in hot regions. You have to be careful.”

Azadin said that and went down the mountain path.

“The ogres might attack again, should we have sent the people to that village? It seems dangerous?”

“No, we had to send them. They’re family. If they’re going to abandon the village, it’s better for families to flee together. If they scatter and flee, when and where will they meet again?”

“Still, if they stay in the village and get into trouble….”

“The leader of the vigilante group is an experienced hunter, he’ll understand the situation well enough.”

“If that’s the case, that’s a relief. But you fought, didn’t you? Aren’t you tired?”

“I am tired, but I need to earn travel expenses.”

“Earn travel expenses?”

“That.”

Azadin pointed his finger down the mountain. The camp where the bastard of the March [a noble’s territory] and his mercenaries, who had looted the village, were camping came into view.

“As an envoy of the Emperor, I shouldn’t be robbing, but it’s okay to get some travel money from the guys who looted the villagers.”

“‘Some’ money, you say.”

Ismael clicked his tongue.

The March’s bastard and his troops were about 20 strong. They were all formidable mercenaries, so they could be a more difficult opponent for the Messenger Clan than the ogres. Moreover, Azadin was exhausted.

‘Just because I can win against an opponent in perfect condition doesn’t mean I can always win.’

It’s always dangerous to face a large number of people alone. Especially when you’re tired and your concentration is low. In fact, most of the deaths of many messengers are not from fights with strong or difficult opponents, but from more trivial things.

“Aren’t you going to get into big trouble by being careless?”

“It’s okay. Watch carefully. Ah.”

Azadin clicked his tongue. He almost said he would show these kids an example without thinking. They weren’t even his followers.

*********

Tarki and his mercenaries were camping, exhausted.

They were tired from carrying the loot from the village down the mountain path. Still, the mercenaries knew the dangers of the mountain path well, so they had set up guards and were resting in an orderly manner.

The guards were chatting while keeping watch.

“Not only is there a drought, but ogres are also moving south. But the March [a noble’s territory] is neglecting his duty to protect the border and is trying to find the Divine King’s Scripture, so it seems like this place is doomed?”

“We just need to make a killing and get out of here.”

“But can we get out? There’s not much that’s worth money, is there? And the employer hasn’t found the Divine King’s Scripture yet, so I don’t think he’ll stop here.”

“It’s good if we’re hired for a long time, the pay will be higher.”

“It feels like the danger is getting closer, though?”

They said that, but they stood guard with a firm posture.

There was someone watching them from the darkness.

‘They’re quite skilled mercenaries. Their equipment isn’t as good as the ones Kozel brought, but they’re still not easy to deal with? And I’m tired too.’

It was Azadin, who had secretly infiltrated their camp. He counted the number of opponents and looked for an infiltration route.

‘Let’s not overdo it and just knock out a few?’

He hung a string on a tree branch and pulled it slightly.

-Rustle.

The trees rubbed against each other, making a sound.

“Huh?”

“What was that?”

Two guards approached this way. Azadin hid himself in the bushes, and when the guards approached, he simply grabbed the vital points behind their necks.

“Gack?!”

“Ugh?!”

The two strong men fell powerlessly. It was good that they weren’t wearing plate armor on their necks, so he could grab their vital points at once.

‘Okay. Then, shall I quickly steal the valuables?’

He approached the mercenaries’ carts and searched the boxes. The boxes were locked, but he could easily pick the locks.

Inside were treasures looted from the villagers, such as bulky silver candlesticks and plates. These were worth money, but they were bulky compared to gold items.

‘Did Kozel loot the gold items first? Hmm, Kozel’s group didn’t seem that rich. Ah, they must have sold them to the merchants going through the gate and sent some to their homes.’

Azadin took the silver candlesticks and plates and looked at the other items.

There were also items like carpets and tapestries. There were also boxes and dressing tables made of luxurious fragrant wood, and small bookcases covered in silver foil.

These were also valuable, but they were too big and heavy. Besides, their shapes were obvious, so if he tried to dispose of them, it would be obvious where they were stolen from. You would know if it was your own bookshelf or dressing table, wouldn’t you?

‘The silver candlesticks are the best items in terms of price per weight. Well, forget the loot, shall I look through the mercenaries’ supplies?’

Azadin approached the mercenaries’ cargo and began to search. There were beans and oats for the horses’ feed, and arrowheads.

‘Oh, good. They had arrowheads. That’s good. They’re not cheap willow leaf arrows, but real steel arrowheads?’

Azadin was excited and took those items as well.

Now his body was heavy. Azadin had superhuman strength compared to ordinary humans, but even he had limits to the items he could carry.

To leave without a trace and without being caught, he had to give up his greed and take only what was appropriate. But as Azadin was rummaging through the mercenaries’ cargo, he found something strange.

‘Huh? Why is this here?’

It was a wand made of bone.

The same wand he had obtained from the goblin shaman was in the mercenaries’ cargo.

‘If it’s here, it means this isn’t loot, but something these guys brought with them from the start….’

It was then that Azadin was bewildered.

“Hey! You guys!”

Suddenly, someone’s voice was heard from behind.

*********

Tarki woke up and went out of his sleeping bag to urinate in the bushes.

“Ah, damn it. Did I drink something wrong before going to bed? I feel cold after waking up. It’s a high altitude….”

He grumbled, finished his business, and turned back towards the camp, only to find that the guards had disappeared. He had set up a two-person watch, but they were nowhere to be seen.