The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 16

“These bastards….”

Tarki glanced around, just in case. But there were no signs of an attack. He drew his sword and cautiously circled the mercenaries, who were still asleep in their blankets. Soon, he found the two guards slumped against a rock behind the campfire, fast asleep.

“Whew. That scared me.”

Tarki kicked the guards to wake them.

“Huh?!”

“You bastards, how can you be sleeping on watch?”

“Ah… L, Lord.”

“What ‘Lord’? Call me ‘Sir Knight’. I’m still a trainee knight. Hmm?”

Tarki realized something was off. The mercenaries weren’t just sleeping; they seemed to have been attacked and knocked out, their memories of the event hazy.

“Yes. Th, that’s….”

“We, we seem to have been attacked.”

“Really? Not just a dream?”

“No, it’s true.”

“Let’s see.”

Tarki, along with the guards, searched the area, but there were no other signs of anyone. Azadin had already taken what he needed and left their camp.

“Huh? What? The loot!”

Tarki was horrified to find their loot box open and empty.

*********

‘Judging by their reaction, it doesn’t seem to be theirs. Then is it with one of the mercenaries?’

Azadin observed the mercenaries’ camp from a distance.

‘No matter how I look at it, this wand… seems to be imbued with the power of the Kurtish gods.’

Although he couldn’t use magic himself, he had received education about it. The feeling and smell emanating from the magical artifact, and the subtle energy he could perceive, indicated that it was an item crafted with the magic of the Kurtish gods [a pantheon of deities in this world].

“The sudden appearance of the Divine King’s Scripture, and the Emperor’s voice, do you know anything?”

[No. Investigation is the human’s job. I was created as a spirit.]

“You’re completely useless.”

[Just being able to let you rest anywhere without worrying about night watch is incredibly useful, isn’t it? Besides, I tell you the exact time, don’t I? I’m quite useful!]

“That’s true, but….”

Azadin sighed. To ordinary people, the Emperor’s messenger might seem like a superhuman, but he was still human. He was tired.

“I guess I have no choice but to rest and ask those kids. I wish I could use magic. I said I didn’t need a follower, but now I have to rely on them.”

Azadin retreated, feeling regretful. He wanted to investigate the mercenaries further, but if someone among them was indeed using the magic of the Kurtish gods, they would be a formidable opponent.

‘There’s a chance I could be spotted at this distance. Hmm, this feels like things are getting complicated.’

*********

The next day, Azadin stirred as he threw off his blanket.

“Ahem. I’m still sleepy even after sleeping. My master always said that.”

He got up, folded his blanket, and looked around. Midiam and Ismail were still asleep.

“What time is it?”

[It’s 2:04 PM.]

The Emperor’s voice told him the time.

[Just being able to tell you the exact time at this level of civilization is proof of my immense usefulness. Always be grateful.]

“…Ah, yes. Yes. Is that so? Yes, yes.”

Azadin answered absentmindedly and lay back down.

“Looking at my condition, I’m still more tired… but I can’t fall asleep. I guess I have no choice.”

Azadin kicked Ismail and Midiam, who were still lying down.

“Wake up, kids.”

“Ugh!”

“Huh?”

The two young boys and girls got up groggily.

“We were going to appraise the bone wands, right?”

“Ah, yes. We were. Give them to me.”

“It might be cursed, so I’ll do it.”

Ismail took the bone wands from Midiam and began to infuse them with magic.

“What do you see?”

“I see green and black images.”

“Green and black magic? If it were the King of Teeth [a specific Kurtish god], there would be red magic mixed in. Is it from another Kurtish god?”

“Yes. The function is… it’s made to find something specific, to make you find something specific. The magic inside is limited, so it will break soon if you use it. It’s not a powerful item. It’s a mass-produced item, but… even so, the person who made this is incredibly skilled. They made it well without putting much effort into the cheap material.”

“Hmm.”

Azadin clicked his tongue after hearing that.

“Well, I knew it was from the Kurtish gods since it was made of bone and carried by a follower of the Kurtish gods, but this confirms it. This is….”

“Yes?”

“No. I’ll take care of it.”

Perhaps the ogre group that had this wand came to find the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture that Azadin possessed.

But if he told Midiam and Ismail about the wand’s function, they would want to use it, and then the wand would point to the closest copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, which was Azadin.

‘I don’t need to let these guys know that I have a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture. Wait. Then if I have a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, I’ll keep being targeted….’

He would keep getting pursuers. Then he had to hurry.

“We need to go to Salasma quickly.”

“Shall we leave now, then?”

“No. Let’s eat and finish preparing before we go.”

He was in a hurry, but he had already crushed one scout unit made up of ogres and goblins, and he had recovered the bone wands from the mercenaries. There was no reason to rush without eating.

Besides, if there was someone among the mercenaries who knew how to use this bone wand… they would definitely take some action because the wand was gone.

‘If I keep a reasonable distance and follow them, I might see something interesting.’

*********

“Are you kidding me, you bastards!”

Tarki was furious. The expensive silver candlesticks and silver plates were gone from the loot, but the mercenaries were feigning innocence, claiming they were wronged.

“You hid them somewhere to take them later! You bastards! How can you….”

“No, we didn’t!”

“We were really attacked. Look at this.”

The mercenaries who had been on guard last night protested their innocence and showed their necks. There were clear handprints on their necks. But Tarki ignored the handprints.

“You weren’t cut or anything, and you’re claiming there was a thief you didn’t even see with injuries that can be easily faked! If what you’re saying is true, then a thief came to steal from an armed mercenary group and knocked out the guards with his bare hands instead of stabbing them with a poisoned dagger?”

“No, that’s….”

“Y, yeah, I guess so.”

At that moment, the mercenary captain clicked his tongue.

“Besides, arrowheads and grains are also missing.”

“Grains?”

“Yes. Also… one of my items is missing, and no matter how I look at it, it’s not the work of a common thief.”

Tarki wasn’t stupid. Whether what the mercenary captain was saying was true or not didn’t matter.

The problem was the captain’s feelings. If this guy felt insulted, the mercenaries would immediately turn against Tarki.

‘I guess I have to stop here.’

He didn’t know who stole the loot, but if he pushed the mercenaries any further, a rebellion could break out.

“Tch, fine, I understand. Then let’s say you were attacked. As punishment, I’ll cut the pay of the guys who were on guard. Is that enough?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The mercenaries who were getting their pay cut looked dissatisfied, but their opponent was a bastard of a powerful noble, so there was no point in getting emotional.

“Hmm.”

But the mercenary captain, who wasn’t affected by the pay cut, was not happy.

“First of all, it’s good that you’re punishing my men for their failure to guard. The problem is the item I lost.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Hahaha. It’s something I can’t talk about.”

The mercenary captain burst into a hearty laugh.

“Really? It must not be a big deal.”

“That’s not true. Maybe… the guy who stole it will go to a nearby village… could you requisition that village under Tarki’s orders?”

“What? Wait a minute, the closest village is the post station village we saw on the way here, right? It’s difficult to attack a place with a post station.”

Farmlands or pioneer villages could be easily looted because they were easily erased from the map.

However, villages with border gates or post stations could not be easily looted. Such major strongholds were marked on the king’s map and were strictly managed by the lord.

The Eastern Gate village they had looted just the day before was called a Gate village and actually had a gate, but it was not marked on the king’s map.

It was a gate on the road leading to the wasteland, not a border gate, so it didn’t exist on the king’s map, and that’s why looting was free.

“It doesn’t matter. Even if Lord Tarki doesn’t agree, I’ll loot it under your orders.”

“Huh? What? What are you talking about?”

Tarki looked at the mercenary captain, who was saying strange things, with suspicion.

But then.

-Thwack!

The mercenary captain pulled out a dagger and stabbed Tarki in the lower abdomen.

“Cough?!”

“Huh? Captain!”

The mercenaries were also surprised by the sudden insubordination. Suddenly stabbing the employer in the stomach?

“W, what are you doing?”

“Don’t worry. This is… a dagger I received as a gift from a witch.”

“Huh.”

Tarki was surprised. He clearly felt a sharp sensation in his stomach, but no blood was flowing, and there was no wound.

No, the dagger that had been stabbed into his stomach had turned into a strange spider….

-Click, click!

It hurriedly crawled into his stomach.

“Eek?!”

“Did, did you see that?”

“A spider!”

“As you can see.”

The mercenary captain smiled and glared at Lord Tarki.

“It’s harmless for now. Isn’t that right?”

“Y, you bastard. What did you….”

Tarki was furious and drew his sword.

Even though he was a bastard, Tarki was an illegitimate child of a noble with enough wealth to hire a mercenary group of this size.

He had received thorough swordsmanship training since childhood, and his skills were not to be ignored by even veteran mercenaries. But the fight never even started.

“You’d better stay still.”

The mercenary captain whistled.

“Cough?!”

Suddenly, a tearing pain surged in his lower abdomen, and Tarki collapsed forward. The sword fell from his hand and rolled on the ground.

“Now, now, calm down.”

“Th, this is….”

Cold sweat was pouring down Tarki’s face. He was fine when he was stabbed with the dagger, but now he was in so much pain that he was sweating and his face had turned pale.

“The spider that went into your stomach just bit your flesh a little.”

“What?”

“If you don’t listen to me, the spider will lay eggs in your stomach. Ah, that’s… I saw the appearance of a guy who died from this before, and it was terrible. Even I had to drink heavily to forget it and be able to sleep.”

“What are you talking about when you stabbed me? No, before that, what is this? What kind of magic is this? If it’s magic related to spiders, is it the magic of the Kurtish gods?”

“I just got it from a witch I passed by, so I don’t know much about it.”

“Bull, bullshit!”

“Oh, watch your language.”

The mercenary captain whistled again.

“Aaaah!”

Tarki trembled and rolled on the ground.