The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 229

“Ugh?!”

The force of the fist he was swinging changed direction towards the ground, causing the half-orc to lose his balance and tumble forward.

Azadin grabbed the half-orc by the scruff of his neck and the collar of his clothes, spinning the huge man around as if he were handling a kitten, and then set him back on his feet.

“Ugh, Sister. That guy used magic. Scary.”

“Ah, I get it, so be quiet. You’re making me embarrassed.”

Whatever the circumstances, everyone was shocked by Azadin’s skill in handling the huge half-orc like a kitten.

‘Indeed, the Emperor’s messenger. The name ‘Kingslayer’ is not an empty one.’

‘Scary. To handle Kuntachi, who no one can stop once he goes wild, like a child.’

Even the squire Izmilla felt uneasy about Azadin.

‘He’s intimidating, always wearing that mask. Is he really the Emperor’s messenger?’

At that moment, Azadin asked Izmilla a question.

“So, what about you, Knight Lady? Do you have any ideas?”

Azadin decided to interrogate the seemingly naive Izmilla instead of the prickly clerk.

“I am suspected of being the illegitimate child of Bishop Sehnat. Perhaps they are trying to use me to tarnish the high honor of the Knights Order…”

“Pfft.”

While Izmilla was speaking, the female bandit couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“How rude!”

The clerk, MacDougall, couldn’t stand it and glared at the female bandit, but not only the female bandit but even the blood mage couldn’t hide the laughter on their pale faces.

The part that made everyone laugh was the ‘high honor of the Knights Order’ part.

There wouldn’t be many within the Relief Knights Order who thought it was honorable. Nevertheless, it seemed that this squire lady, who didn’t know the ways of the world, thought that the rumors about her birth would tarnish the honor of the Relief Knights Order.

“No wonder her equipment is too good for a squire.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if she were the daughter of the Northern Emperor.”

“Northern Emperor? What’s the Northern Emperor?”

Azadin was surprised and asked at the blood mage Bernard’s mention of the Emperor.

“Ah, you don’t know about that? King Cohen Lionheart of Asander created the Northern Alliance and declared himself Emperor.”

“Cohen Lionheart.”

Azadin smiled bitterly at the name.

Cohen, the King of Asander, the disciple of Sir Planck who killed Sir Planck of Wisdom, had somehow become an Emperor.

‘That means quite a bit of time has passed since Sir Planck’s death. I need to add the passage of time to the story he told me. It seems Sir Planck lost his sense of time after becoming a Death Knight.’

The Aragasas appointed as the Emperor’s messengers were required to thoroughly research and study the area they were assigned to before starting their mission.

Therefore, they knew the geography and political situation of their assigned area quite well, but they naturally lacked knowledge about areas they were not responsible for.

In Azadin’s case, he was originally in charge of the Corasar region, so he lacked knowledge about the Arang and Asander regions.

“Where is the closest place we can get support?”

“The closest place would be the coastal city of Coxhall. It’s a bishopric city, so there will be heroes of the Knights Order gathered there like clouds. If we can just get there, no matter how strong the power of those evil guys is, they will retreat at once like darkness facing the sunrise!”

The Relief Knights Order was originally a group of knights, but as their power grew, they needed administrative and political power, which led to the creation of a clergy class.

A city with a bishopric would probably be a fairly large city, almost like a royal castle.

“Then let’s go that way. I don’t know this area well, so can I ask you to guide me?”

“Ah, I understand. But keep in mind, the pilgrimage was originally trying to evacuate to Coxhall. But the enemy’s attacks were fierce, and the eerie fog they used made us lose our way, driving us like rats in the darkness of the night.”

“The enemies also know that we will evacuate to Coxhall?”

“That’s right. The enemies expected us to head to Coxhall. Their evil attacks will surely continue. I am not afraid of harming this body, but I am afraid that the future of a promising holy knight like Izmilla will be cut short.”

“Hmm. But we can’t just move without any supplies. Let’s try to go towards Coxhall for now. I don’t know the way here, so I’ll ask you to guide me.”

Azadin entrusted the clerk with guiding the way.

Currently, only the clerk MacDougall, who was a squire, and the squire Izmilla had horses in the group.

In other words, the group had no choice but to move at a walking pace.

The ghost goat that Azadin rode was a being transformed from Araiel’s voice, and it seemed that it could not appear while the sun was up. So Azadin also walked with them.

“Hey, you.”

The female bandit approached Azadin.

“What is it?”

“You can fool the others, but you can’t fool me. You know the identity of the enemy, don’t you?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Azadin feigned ignorance, but Camilla was quite certain and was not fooled by his pretense.

“You appeared from behind the enemies who were surrounding us in the fog, so you must have seen the enemies directly. But even though you appeared killing the enemies, you didn’t search the corpses. It’s because you already know the identity of the enemies, isn’t it?”

“Hmm? I said they were were-rats earlier.”

“A simple cult group can’t attack the Relief Knights Order pilgrimage this effectively. If you really didn’t know the identity of the enemy, you would have investigated them thoroughly. But you didn’t.”

Camilla thought that Azadin knew the identity of the enemies but was hiding it.

“I don’t know about the enemies either. The enemies will attack again on the way to Coxhall, so we’ll find out then. However…”

“However, what?”

“There are Northern Aragasas among the enemies.”

“Northern Aragasas?”

“Yes. They are my distant relatives.”

Azadin said that and frowned.

*********

The messenger clan began when the five families of Aragasas, who arrived on this land on five ships, were taken in by Emperor Yaeslat, who valued their skills, and became the Emperor’s messengers.

However, even after the fall of the Emperor, there were those who came to the Hybris continent from the outside. These people drew a line between themselves and the existing Aragasas who were bound by the contract of service and lived separately, mainly appearing in the north, so they were called the Northern Aragasas.

The Northern Aragasas, who were not bound by the contract of service, did not have the magic grimoire, Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, bestowed by the Emperor, but they were still excellent archers and powerful assassins.

As Azadin expected, the ones who attacked the pilgrimage were the Northern Aragasas.

To be precise, it was a mixed force that included the trackers of the Northern Aragasas, the were-rats of Mezeri, and lizardmen and hobgoblins.

“You fools, I let you approach the target, but you retreated. What are you doing?”

A young Aragasas who was in charge of the trackers was annoyed. He was a young man in his early twenties with brown skin and thin, sharp, slit eyes.

“That’s… the opponent called the Emperor’s messenger.”

The Northern Aragasas trackers, who seemed to be only in their teens, flailed their arms and legs as they excitedly explained.

The Emperor’s messengers, their kin who were bound by the curse of service, were a subject of curiosity for them.

“The Emperor’s messenger?”

“Yes.”

“That’s strange. Is it something that comes so quickly when called?”

“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but he came very quickly.”

“Hmm. According to rumors, the Hatir faction was destroyed in Corasar and Butuma. Is it true that the Emperor’s messenger has appeared?”

It was not yet known among the general public, but rumors about their kin, the Emperor’s messengers, had already spread quickly among the Northern Aragasas.

They already knew that the Emperor’s messengers had been destroyed during Araiel’s rebellion, internal conflicts, and the Butuma invasion.

“That’s a strange thing. Is the curse of service that powerful? Even if their organization is on the verge of collapse due to their own infighting, they still have to carry out the mission given by the Emperor. They are pitiful.”

“Yes. So, I thought the leader would be interested.”

“Isn’t this a good opportunity to learn about the situation of the Hatir faction?”

“You fools. The mission comes first. Interest is for later. If you retreat here, the opponents are already arrogant, and they will become even more reckless, won’t they?”

The squad leader was annoyed and turned to the side, and the were-rat shaman and lizardmen were expressing their dissatisfaction.

“If your members hadn’t run away in the middle, we would have already completed the mission.”

“How are you going to compensate for this damage? ‘Messenger Clan’?”

The were-rat shaman and lizardmen were shining with sinister eyes.

They didn’t really have a complaint, but rather they were trying to find fault and take something. They were vile races that would rush in if they saw a weakness, so they were arrogant even with the slightest flaw.

‘This is why I didn’t like them.’

The squad leader sighed and moved his body. The squad leader’s finger stopped right in front of the were-rat shaman’s eyeball.

-Shhh!

The were-rat shaman’s whiskers were caught on the squad leader’s fingertip and cut off.

To cut off hair with bare hands… it would be difficult to cut it this cleanly even with a blade.

“Hick!?”

In a situation where he could have had his head cut open if he had come in just an inch more, the squad leader stopped his hand and said.

“Abandoning the mission in the middle was a decision made on the spot. And we value on-site decisions. The situation on the ground is always changing, so if we don’t respect that decision, a dead rule will harm the living members. Is that what you want?”

“Ah, no…”

“And don’t call us the Messenger Clan. I warned you.”

The squad leader glared at the were-rat shaman who was mocking them and threatened him, and the were-rat shaman immediately backed down.

“I, I didn’t mean to anger you, but I wanted to say that there are costs for staying here. My subordinates are starving.”

“There should be enough corpses to fill their bellies, right?”

“Their discipline will be disrupted while they are eating.”

“…I understand. I’ll divide the area. You can rest there, whether you loot or eat the corpses. We will take care of this Emperor’s messenger.”

The Aragasas squad leader divided the area and sent the Mezeri gang and lizardmen to the rear.

“Squad leader. Does this mean we have to face that Emperor’s messenger alone?”

“Rather than facing him, let’s talk to him first. Maybe he’s someone we can talk to.”

The Aragasas squad leader said that and shook his hand.

“Where shall we go meet the Emperor’s messenger? Let’s activate the clairvoyance magic.”