The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 161

Indim took Azadin’s warning about the Blue Banner Gang as a personal challenge.

“Hmph. Those ragtag fools.”

“Not afraid? Weren’t you just as careless when the Council took you down?”

“……”

Indim was speechless, like a mute who had swallowed honey.

When the Araiel faction was at its peak, they must have looked down on the Council and Aldis, but at the most crucial moment, they lost the most important throne to them, leaving the Araiel faction adrift. Having lost most of their foundation due to carelessness, Azadin’s words were a sharp jab at their weak spot.

“What are you? Weren’t you on the Council’s side?”

Aleph of the Wind, after bidding farewell with a smile to the annoying customers, rushed to Azadin and asked. Unlike Indim, who had his face covered with a mask, Aleph, with his face exposed, was a handsome man with a refreshing, masculine face and a stylishly grown beard. Moreover, his eyes were heterochromatic, with a green right eye and a black left eye. Perhaps because he was a handsome man exuding a mysterious charm, he was attracting the attention of women even in this harsh environment.

“I only act according to my beliefs.”

“Then, hand over the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture you took from Dimia. Prove that you’re not on the Council’s side with that.”

“You seem to misunderstand what I said. My beliefs don’t align with you either.”

“Listen, Azadin. I’m not asking you a favor right now. It’s an order. Just because you’re Lord Araiel’s brother…”

“I’m not whining to my superiors either, Aleph. I am currently the Second Envoy.”

“Ha. Azadin of Muan. You’re the Second Envoy? The Council is being very generous.”

“I need to be at least the Second Envoy to save Dimia’s face.”

Azadin reminded him of the fact that Dimia of the Flower had lost to him. Aleph became enraged.

“You bastard. Dimia was in a state where the harmony of the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon was broken due to the ritual at that time. It wasn’t her real strength. You’re not looking down on us, the four of the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon, because of that, are you?”

“Ah, this isn’t the time for a pride fight. My bad. Let me meet Araiel if she’s here.”

“Lord Araiel will contact you. Step back for now. The Blue Banner Gang is watching.”

The Blue Banner Gang had asked Azadin’s group to investigate the Araiel faction, and if the two of them acted like they knew each other, they would become suspicious.

‘It seems like it’s already too late. That is.’

Azadin thought so, but he stepped back for now.

*********

That night, it started to rain in Adirof, perhaps due to the rain clouds that had come from Coral Sahar. The tents in the campsite were shaking. The refugees hadn’t brought proper tents, so the rainwater was soaking them. Adirof was a warm region all year round, so even if they got wet from the rain, it wouldn’t be cold, but it was a fatal threat to patients suffering from fever.

“This is a big problem.”

Azadin was under a roof made of waterproof cloth. Neither Azadin nor Zibeck had packed tents in their travel luggage. They only had a small waterproof sheet each that could be used for multiple purposes. They had managed to make a roof using that waterproof sheet, but it was flimsy. There was nothing they could do about it. One waterproof sheet would have been enough for Azadin alone, but Shatina Scott didn’t even have a waterproof sheet, so the makeshift roof they made wasn’t very helpful.

“Captain. I can gather the muscles of various creatures and use necromancy to support the roof. Then, we can cover a wide area like a board with just one cloth.”

“Don’t. People are watching.”

Azadin stopped Scott, who was trying to use necromancy for such trivial matters. At that moment, a woman’s voice was heard through the rain.

“Azadin. We were supposed to meet in Butuma, but we’re meeting here.”

“Araiel…”

Azadin knew the owner of that voice. Araiel had come to find Azadin.

“You were moving by land, but you stopped here.”

“This is where Count Garnaher obtained the key to the Emperor’s treasury, the Barony of Adirof. I was planning to investigate it while fleeing to Butuma.”

Surprisingly, Araiel was explaining their actions. Then, her confidant, Indim’s, flustered voice was heard.

“Lord Araiel. That guy might be a Council stooge. Is it okay to give him information about the Emperor’s treasury?”

“No. Azadin is not a Council stooge. Right?”

Araiel stated firmly.

“Well? Lord Aldis gave me the position of Second Envoy. If she, my patron, becomes the most powerful person in Aragas, I will naturally enter the core of Aragas’s power. Why do you think I’m not on the Council’s side?”

“You have a paladin in your group. And an orc and a naga. Quite diverse.”

“……”

Even though Scott and Shatty were using transformation magic to change their appearances into humans, Araiel easily saw through their true nature. Araiel appeared in Azadin’s rain shelter. She still looked beautiful and powerful, but somehow her eyes looked tired.

“I’m glad you seem safe, Azadin.”

“Since when have you been so worried about me? So, what happened? After Lord Aldis took the throne of Corasar? Did all those who were loyal to you turn their backs on you?”

“Yes. Because my vision was taken away completely. It’s a natural result.”

“Serves you right. What are you going to do now? Lord Aldis said that if she persuades you to come back, she won’t kill you and will let bygones be bygones. Are you thinking of changing your mind now?”

When Azadin asked, Araiel scoffed.

“My will is not broken yet. I appreciate Aldis’s kindness, but I can’t just trust that and go under her command now. And Azadin, you actually suspect Aldis too, don’t you?”

“Me? Suspect Lord Aldis?”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t be meeting me like this. Haven’t you become suspicious while watching the Council’s actions, where I do the dirty work at the right time, and they take the credit?”

“……”

Araiel’s words hit Azadin’s sore spot. But Azadin tried hard to deny it. If he doubted Aldis’s favor, it would be like denying everything that made up Azadin.

“The Council might be like that, but Aldis won’t be.”

“I think so too. Because Aldis is a being made purely.”

“What do you mean?”

“Azadin. It might sound like an excuse if I say it now, but the disgrace in Coral Sahar was a calculated move.”

Araiel’s claim was so absurd that it took a while to understand what she meant. Azadin was so dumbfounded that he laughed.

*********

“So, you’re saying that having everything you built taken by Aldis was planned from the beginning? Even gathering most of our clan members under the Araiel faction and then losing them all at once?”

“Yes.”

“That’s amazing. Do you have a steel plate on your face? How can you say such a thing? Araiel. Are you claiming that you deliberately lost your vision, policies, foundation, everything? I’m asking you seriously, did you go crazy from researching Nether magic too much?”

When Azadin asked that, Indim became furious.

“Shut up, you Council dog! The Council of Aragas is more evil than you think. We must never let them take over this world! Lord Araiel is the only hope, and you dare to insult her!”

“She’s the hope? Is that something someone who almost destroyed the Corasar Kingdom by summoning a Nether emissary should say?”

Zibeck, who couldn’t stand it any longer, spoke up. Then, Indim glared at Zibeck.

“Shut up, paladin. I’m holding back from killing you right now. If you insult Lord Araiel…”

“Hey, Araiel. Make Indim shut up.”

When Azadin asked Araiel, she silently looked at Indim.

“I’m sorry.”

Indim apologized, looking at Araiel while avoiding Azadin as much as possible.

“I won’t deny that what I did caused harm to the people of Hybris. But a little staging is necessary to avoid greater harm.”

“It’s disgusting how you weigh people’s lives like that. Well, it’s not like I’ve only felt disgusted by you today, so let’s leave that aside. So, what’s your excuse for saying it was all planned?”

“It was to bring down Aldis. It was successful.”

“No, how is the result a success for you? You lost all the foundation you had gathered. And your actions to gain the throne were genuine, weren’t they?”

“To be honest, I thought it would be good if I could gain the throne and take that power. But if Aldis appeared and took the throne, I thought it would be even better.”

“So, losing the throne was actually better for you? Are you kidding me?”

“It’s hard to understand, Azadin. But there’s one more person I need to bring down from there.”

“Besides Aldis? Who is it?”

“Chieftain Hatir.”

“Chieftain Hatir?”

“Yes. He is the son of the Emperor and Harkonia. He is Aldis’s father. He suddenly disappeared five years ago.”

“……”

If that was true, he was much more legitimate than Aldis.

“So. Now that you’ve lost the throne, what are you going to do?”

“I can’t tell you everything, Azadin. But it would be unreasonable to ask you to join our side without saying anything, right?”

“Are you trying to win me over?”

“Yes. In that sense, listen carefully, Azadin. We are currently trying to find the Emperor’s treasury. But those guys called the Blue Banner Gang have taken control of the entrance to the Emperor’s treasury.”

“So?”

Araiel took out a small ceramic vial and showed it.

“Put this in the Blue Banner Gang’s food. If you put the Nether’s servants to sleep, they won’t be able to interfere when we approach the treasury.”

“Such an easy task? Why don’t you do it yourselves?”

Putting medicine in food would be too easy for Araiel, who was a top-tier envoy, or the four of the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon. So why would they ask Azadin to do it?

“We can’t. That Taoist guy is very sharp.”

At that moment, Zibeck said,

“Their bodies already have a strong flow of Nether magic. That Taoist is probably a Nether servant too, so he will have an excellent ability to sense servants of other factions.”