The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 171

I hadn’t realized it, because Azadin subdued him so easily, but did this man really kill this enormous number of ogres and goblins?

Looking at the gruesome corpses scattered everywhere, one couldn’t help but marvel at Doner’s ability to annihilate them.

And then, one would marvel again at Azadin, who subdued Doner so easily.

“Hmm… it’s not like the ogres have letters on them.”

Azadin shook his head as he rummaged through the corpses. He could see Scott was delighted by the corpses scattered everywhere.

“Captain, can I do something?”

“Don’t ask me, ask Jibek.”

“Jibek….”

“Ah, please don’t ask me. There’s no way I can say it’s okay even if my mouth is torn, right? Just do it. Why are you trying to get my permission?”

Jibek reacted irritably. But that was the best compromise Jibek could make.

The magic Scott was about to use was a wicked necromancy that interrogated the souls of the dead. It was better to play with corpses than that.

However, as a paladin, he couldn’t possibly allow necromancy even if his mouth was torn. Wouldn’t it be better not to ask for permission and secretly do it in a place where no one can see and get information?

‘Jibek has become much more flexible. If other paladins saw this, would they call it corruption? But there are many paladins who have dabbled in black magic, so what.’

Even Jibek’s master, the Inquisitor Zekt, dabbled in all sorts of black magic and Nether magic. Wasn’t it Zekt who turned Doner’s gang into monsters?

“Okay, I understand. Hmph, the dead themselves probably don’t feel much, but as a rationalist, I have to understand these people who are entangled in superstitions and bad habits because of their low intelligence.”

“……”

Whether Jibek glared at him or not, Scott chanted a spell and cast it on the corpse of the ogre who seemed to be the leader.

Blood spurted out from the corpse, drawing a large circle of blood, and a gloomy black shadow appeared within it.

[Ugh? Am I dead? I have to go to the King’s court.]

“Before that, shall we talk for a bit? Were you planning to invade Butuma?”

[Butuma. Human kingdom, lots of meat and food. Lots of shiny things too. They said we could take whatever we wanted.]

“Ogres, how far were you planning to go? Were you the vanguard? Or the scouts?”

[We got lost because we didn’t know the way. We grabbed humans on the road, stuck them on skewers, and made them guide us. But they died soon.]

It seemed that they had grabbed anyone they could find while coming down from the mountains, stuck them on skewers, and made them guide them.

Azadin shuddered at the ogres’ brutal way of handling things.

“These cruel bastards.”

“No….”

The mercenary bandits felt fear as they watched Azadin, who was angry at the ogres in this situation where they were summoning souls with wicked black magic and disturbing their rest.

They thought, ‘You’re not exactly doing anything good either…’ but they couldn’t dare say it out loud.

“Let’s ask about the size of the army. How many are you? Are there other forces?”

[Our ogres, the battalion commander, um, one, two, three… many. Many were dispatched.]

Ogres considered five or more to be a lot, so they couldn’t get a proper number, but the mention of the rank of battalion commander was a great help.

Strangely, ogres were very sensitive to rank, and they strictly adhered to the number of troops under each rank. They couldn’t count numbers greater than five, but they were very sensitive to power, so their ranks were very accurate.

“More than five battalion commander-level ogres?!”

“…Good heavens.”

The Cheonggeon Clan members and mercenary bandits who were listening were horrified.

At that moment, the Emperor’s voice spoke to Azadin.

[That’s right. An ogre army has suddenly appeared on the northern border of the Butuma Kingdom, and a war is about to break out. The Margrave of Hartam in northern Butuma invoked the Emperor’s gold coin and made a vow, but the Messenger Clan is currently ignoring the vow of the gold coin.]

“Ugh….”

Azadin felt ashamed at the Emperor’s words.

It was the Messenger’s mission to at least listen to the vow of the gold coin. But now, wasn’t the Messenger Clan the very cause of the war?

They had brought in the Nagas to attack the Butuma Kingdom for their own ambitions, and the Nagas had brought in the ogres. They had caused the disease, so there was no way they would provide the cure.

[The Margrave of Hartam requested reinforcements from the King of Butuma, and the King of Butuma has gathered as many of his troops as possible and sent them to support the Margrave of Hartam. Thanks to that, Butuma is now in a situation where it has very few troops to respond if it is directly attacked.]

“Hmm, Captain. What should we do?”

Currently, Azadin’s group had just entered the eastern border of the Butuma Kingdom.

They could go to the Margrave of Hartam, or they could head straight to the Butuma Royal Castle. Both are about the same distance.

“First of all, it’s certain that Doner has a detection spell on him. If we kill him, the caster will know immediately that he’s dead. It’s even a spell that can tell the location of his death, right?”

“Can’t we remove it?”

“If we remove it, they’ll know he’s dead, right? Rather than that, Captain, how about making him fight the ogres? He’s weak against the King’s Light [a type of holy magic], but he’ll be strong against ogres or goblins who are just strong.”

Scott proposed using Doner as a fighting force.

Azadin had no intention of letting a sadist like Doner, who enjoyed eating people and tormenting others, live. However, if he killed him, a signal would go to Zekt, and the situation was so urgent that he couldn’t help but think that he had to grab at any straw.

“I will control him.”

Jibek stepped forward.

“Then, hey mercenaries.”

“Yes.”

“From now on, you will follow Sir Jibek’s command. Doner.”

“Huh.”

“Tell us the location of the treasure you hid and go north to help the Margrave of Hartam under Jibek’s orders.”

“Are you going to spare me?”

Doner gave a wry smile.

To use him as a fighting force to save the Margrave of Hartam.

He didn’t know what this Messenger Clan was thinking. Could it be that they really valued their mission as the Emperor’s messengers? Even though the Emperor was dead?

“I value my mission as the Emperor’s messenger. You have committed a crime worthy of death, but if you are useful, good, I will put you in the hands of the ogres. If you fight well, you might have a chance to save your life.”

Azadin said that and gestured to Jibek.

“Yes.”

“Just in case.”

Azadin handed Jibek a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture [a holy text].

“This is….”

“Even if Doner gets stronger and attacks you, you can definitely control him if you have this. You saw me use it, right?”

“I understand. Thank you, Azadin. I will live up to your expectations.”

Jibek received money from Azadin to pay the mercenaries and supplies to go to Hartam.

“I will see you again in Butuma when the work is done!”

“Okay!”

Jibek immediately set off for Hartam, leading Doner and the mercenary bandits.

“Then we should hurry to Butuma.”

Azadin collected the gold coins and food that Doner had hidden in the farm where he had killed people.

“Wait a minute, Captain. Then now that Jibek is gone.”

Scott’s eyes lit up as he looked at the ogre and goblin corpses scattered on the ground and the large wagons on the farm.

“Can I use the corpses?!”

“Yeah. The reason I put Jibek in charge was partly for that. But don’t overdo it. If ogres or goblins come back as undead, people won’t stay still.”

“Tsk tsk. Captain. Do you think I would make such a basic mistake? I’m not a common necromancer that those low-intelligence people imagine. I’m a real necromancer with creativity, artistry, and a burning passion in my heart. You can’t call yourself a necromancer if you don’t have romance!”

“R-really? What kind of bizarre thing are you trying to do?”

Azadin watched what Scott was doing with anxiety.

*********

“Ahem.”

“Your intentions are truly great.”

Jiswa was impressed by Azadin’s actions.

Azadin had subdued Doner’s gang with terrifying skill and then split his forces to save a county.

It was just one paladin, Doner, and a small number of mercenaries, not even a squad, but considering the number of ogres and goblins that Doner’s gang had killed, it would definitely be a great help to the Margrave of Hartam.

Moreover, Azadin himself was going to save Butuma.

At first, Jiswa had doubted Azadin, but now he could clearly understand Azadin’s intentions.

This man is trying to save the country single-handedly.

Frankly, Jiswa couldn’t help but be impressed by that.

Like most pseudo-religions, the Cheonggeon Party also teaches its followers to love their neighbors, make their families harmonious, protect the elderly and respect women in their doctrines.

However, what the believers actually focus on are not such correct and reasonable teachings, but rather the detailed clauses, such as how to deal with a wife suspected of adultery and how to beat someone when collecting usury.

No one puts effort into the obvious and right things.

But this man has the power to take any money, power, and beautiful women he wants, yet he is moving to save the country.

That’s good, but….

“Gwoooaaah!”

An ogre head roared. And a wagon was being pulled.

“Hehehe.”

Scott McGreene was delighted as he looked at his masterpiece.

“It’s called the Ogre Muscle Wagon! What do you think?”

“It looks too grotesque? And why is it screaming?”

“That’s because it’s inhaling oxygen. If I just sew muscles together and make an undead without an oxygen-inhaling system, the corpse will rot and become unusable. Those low-level Naga necromancers preserve rotten corpses to make mummies, but I am challenging the creation of life like this.”

“……”

Azadin clicked his tongue at the result of the desecration of life.

Scott had used the flesh, blood, muscles, and bones of the dead ogres to create a huge quadrupedal monster. It was a new form of monster with blood and flesh flowing and capable of breathing.

“The corpse will decompose as soon as it dies….”

“But if you forcibly connect the blood and organs and circulate them, the rate of decay will decrease.”

“But if it has life force as you say, it will have to eat, right?”

“That’s why I brought food, didn’t I?”

Scott placed the goblin corpses that were left over from the parts on the wagon. Perhaps that was what he called ‘food’.

‘It’s a good thing Jibek didn’t see this.’

Azadin covered the face of the gruesome monster with a tarpaulin.

Moreover, this beast, which was made by sewing together ogre corpses into the shape of a horse, was quite fast, and Azadin’s mountain goat had to chase after it quickly at a brisk pace.

“Ah. I made it, but it’s really well made. It’s art, art. Should I call it a Corpse Abomination?”

Scott was absorbed in his masterpiece, not caring whether people hated it or not.