The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 223

“You’re a peculiar ghost.”

“So, you’re alive. You’re a member of the Messenger Clan, aren’t you? There were Messenger Clan members among those who killed me. If I were an ordinary ghost, you wouldn’t have survived.”

“……”

“So, are you going to tell me your story or not?”

“Of course, I should. But before that… I need to eat something.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that.”

Plank approached the water’s edge. As he, shrouded in the cold of death, swung his sword, the fish were shocked by the cold and floated to the surface.

“You can cook it yourself.”

“Ah, I understand. Then.”

The young man gutted the fish Plank had caught and began to tell his story while grilling it over the fire.

*********

When Azadin awoke, he was in the middle of the vast ocean.

The small lifeboat he was on was drifting with the current, and a faint mist, imbued with magical power, enveloped the boat, protecting it from the surroundings.

Azadin ate the biscuits left in the boat’s hold and drank rainwater, waiting for the boat to reach land.

Being isolated at sea inevitably led to a lot of time for thought, and with thought came regret.

He remembered Araelle from his childhood.

Arrogant, cruel, yet beautiful Araelle.

Even if it was a facade to protect herself from the surrounding threats, there was no reason for Azadin to understand it. He was the victim, and Araelle was the perpetrator.

However…

Looking back, Araelle was still a child, not even ten years old.

Now, thinking about it, Azadin had also misunderstood Araelle. He had assumed she was a perfect genius from the start and believed her heart was as cold and unfeeling as stone.

“Ugh!”

When his thoughts cornered him and anger boiled over, Azadin would shout at the sea for no reason.

He hated Aragas, who had driven Araelle and Azadin to kill each other, the arrogant Hatir, and Araelle, who had handled everything alone in her self-righteous way.

But most of all, he was disgusted with his own powerlessness.

When people feel the seven emotions, they naturally want their dignity to be respected, but this world tramples on the dignity of the powerless.

The problem was Azadin’s current state.

Thanks to Araelle’s sacrifice, his permanent injuries had healed, and he could move again, but the magic within his body was in a chaotic mess.

From the start, the Kazas Method was a double-edged sword, the method of Kazas, who was called the Demon King who devoured magic books. [Kazas Method: A brutal technique to extract and use magic from others.]

Originally, Azadin had used the incomplete Hwajopungwol magic book [Hwajopungwol: A type of magic focused on wind and fire] he was born with, combined with the colorless magic book he had learned from Kazas, to convert the generated magic into physical strength.

Later, after obtaining a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, he made it even more complex by adding that in as well, but the magic Araelle had mastered was far beyond that.

There were powerful Hwajopungwol spells, complex colorless magic books, and other multi-colored magic books that were said to be difficult for humans to handle, all far more powerful than Azadin’s.

As all of this flowed into Azadin, he became unable to control his magic.

The bowstring, which he used to consider as light as a feather, now felt so heavy that he broke out in a cold sweat just trying to draw it.

“Hmm.”

He had avoided becoming a cripple, but at least until he could organize the magic books within his body, he could not call himself a member of the Messenger Clan.

Azadin immediately tried to delve into himself and organize the magic books, but it was by no means easy to control the magic books that were simply stored in his body without learning the principles behind them.

He understood why Kazas, who killed and devoured others to steal their magic books, had forcibly extracted magic from the books using the brutal Kazas Method.

But should he clash the magic books originating from Araelle with the Kazas Method?

He couldn’t do that.

If he did, the magic power of the magic books, which were already heavily charged within his body, would shatter Azadin’s body. He couldn’t create an uncontrollable storm.

“Good heavens. I need a teacher. This… is something I can’t handle alone.”

Azadin felt bewildered. Now that the Aragas Council had fallen and Azadin had become their traitor, who would teach Azadin magic?

The lifeboat reached a fishing village in the Arangi Kingdom.

Azadin, who had survived on fish and rainwater, was able to get food by asking the villagers.

But the people were strangely too kind. Most of them didn’t even try to take money from Azadin.

At first, he didn’t understand why, but he soon found out.

It was because Araelle’s eyes had appeared on his body, and the scars on his face had disappeared.

Many people saw Azadin, who had the intense purple eyes of Araelle, a peerless beauty, and the eyes of Harkonia, the first leader of the Messenger Clan, as a noble of royal blood, and they were both fearful and captivated.

His appearance was beautiful, his demeanor was elegant, and he was seen as someone who could not be treated lightly, which made him frightening.

It was a truly unfamiliar assessment for Azadin, who had been shunned as a grotesque being without eyes.

But Azadin was ashamed of those eyes. His sister had said she would return what Azadin had taken, but to Azadin, they were clearly Araelle’s.

It was proof that he had taken not only Araelle’s life but also her body, so he firmly put on his mask again.

And he vowed to repay the people for everything he had eaten and received.

But then, it was said that monsters were appearing nearby and harming people.

*********

“But unexpectedly, my power was too weak, so I couldn’t handle those monsters and ended up running away, collapsing from exhaustion.”

“Hahaha. A traitor who destroyed the Messenger Clan couldn’t handle such insignificant monsters? You must have weakened a lot.”

Plank burst into hearty laughter.

Indeed, from the first time he saw him, Plank thought that Azadin wouldn’t last long.

Although he had survived by merging with Araelle, it seemed clear that both Azadin and Araelle were near the end of their lives, and they had merged in a dying state.

But… he was a young man of strange fate.

Born from a curse, given the name of Twin Killing, and escaping his destined death by receiving his sister’s blood.

Above all, the fact that he was a believer of the true Rescue Knights and had received a miracle bothered him.

‘And he’s yearning for a magic teacher. Hmm. Should I teach him? But that is…’

Plank suddenly recalled the prophecy given to him. The last person Plank appoints will become the flower of knighthood.

‘For him, a member of the soulless, unholy clan, to become the flower of knighthood… that’s an absurd prophecy. This fellow has exhausted too much energy. Even if I teach him now, it’s doubtful how much longer he has to live.’

Plank was of royal descent. He didn’t have good feelings about the Messenger Clan, and even now, as a death knight betrayed by his disciple, he still had conservative tendencies.

However, Plank was being tortured by boredom.

“You there.”

In the end, Plank spoke first.

“You said you needed a teacher, right?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, sir.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll teach you. I’ll help you organize the magic books within you and regain your strength. As a Knight of Wisdom, I don’t think it’s something I can’t do.”

“Yes? Are you serious?”

“Of course, I won’t do it for free. You’ll have to grant me a wish.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

“Hehe. You’re in a hurry, young man. I haven’t even told you what I want yet. What if I ask for something unreasonable?”

“Usually, people don’t say what they want and try to get a confirmation first.”

“Call me Plank, sir. And I’ll call you Azadin.”

“Yes, Plank, sir.”

“Alright then, Azadin. First, go get a proper tent. The tent… well, the monsters won’t come out once the sun rises, so if you search the bushes over there, you might find a discarded one.”

Plank pointed to the place where he had been killed by Cohen Lionheart.

“Yes.”

“And since it will take some time, get the things you need for a long stay, besides the tent.”

“Understood.”

Azadin listened to Plank’s words and got up as if to prepare his things right away, but then stopped.

“Ah, but, Plank, sir.”

“What is it?”

“Is Araelle’s ghost still around?”

“No. She’s gone.”

“……”

“Do you want to meet a ghost?”

“I’m not sure. I hope my sister has found peace, but I also want to see her again. We’re family, but we didn’t talk much. We didn’t… talk enough.”

While Azadin was returning to the village, Plank was left alone in the wilderness again.

When he first saw Azadin, he had been wary of him, thinking he was a member of the Messenger Clan who had ambushed him, but when he disappeared, he realized how long he had lived in solitude and boredom.

Azadin’s life story was by no means short.

It was a story that took enough time to pierce through the long night and turn mountains of firewood into ashes, yet Plank could vividly remember it all as if it were his own story.

While savoring the story and relieving his boredom, Azadin returned.

“Sir.”

“Plank, sir!”

Plank reacted irritably. Azadin, flustered, said,

“Yes, Plank, sir. You become transparent during the day. Your form starts to appear as the sun sets.”

“Amazing. Instead of saying I’m gone during the day, you say I become transparent.”

“Ah, yes. My eyesight is a bit special.”

“You said you could see things even without eyes, right? Then, what happens if you close your eyes now?”

“I can see.”

“So, that special vision is still there. Good. You won’t be affected by blinding magic.”

Plank, impressed, turned to the side and was startled.

“……”

A tent had already been set up. It was old and worn, but it was definitely the tent Plank had when he was killed. But when?

He suddenly felt Azadin looking at him with a worried expression.

‘That’s right. My mind is going back and forth. I think I’m fine, but in reality, a lot of time has passed. Come to think of it, it’s natural since I’ve become a death knight. I shouldn’t believe that my mind and existence are entirely my own. But if that’s the case…’

The reason Azadin called him ‘sir’ was not because he had forgotten his request, but because he had been trying out various titles while he was losing consciousness and wandering around.

Even in such a situation, Azadin maintained a humble attitude without making any excuses. Was it because he was from the Messenger Clan, which had a strong sense of hierarchy?

‘…He seems like a worthy disciple. Too bad. Neither the teacher nor the disciple is in good shape.’

The bizarre master-disciple relationship between a death knight and a dying young man of the Messenger Clan had begun.