The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 230

A prisoner transport wagon was stopped in the middle of a three-way intersection.

The horses were gone, likely taken by bandits, and the wagon’s harness was cut. The corpses of farmers and prisoners were scattered around.

“This is…”

“The place where we were attacked,” said the female bandit, Camilla, frowning.

They had walked quite a long way, and now they had only just arrived at the place where they were first attacked. It seemed the problem was that only the knights were riding horses, while everyone else was walking.

“Hee-ing.”

The horses were also suffering.

“We need to give them water.”

Izmilla dismounted and looked around.

There was a place where the road had sunk, forming a puddle of muddy water. Mosquitoes were flying nearby, and the water was teeming with mosquito larvae. It didn’t look like good water to give to the horses.

“Lady Izmilla, you mustn’t give this to the horses. They’ll get sick. It might quench their thirst for now, but they’ll get stomach problems soon and surely die,” MacDougall warned, but Izmilla cast a spell.

-Purification of the Holy Spirit!

A blue spear of light struck the water’s surface, causing the mosquito larvae and mosquitoes to burst apart. The muddy water instantly sank to the bottom, separating the clean water from the dirty.

‘She’s using holy magic to give water to the horses?’

Azadin was dumbfounded at the sight.

They were being chased by enemies and were low on energy, yet she was using magic so easily. What if she wasted her strength here and then encountered enemies?

However, Izmilla was calm. It seemed that using this level of magic didn’t drain her much.

‘She has considerable ability. She’s not at the level of a mere trainee knight?’

Azadin sensed that Izmilla was likely of very noble blood.

“If the horses die, then it’s irreversible. I can’t let the horses die to save magic. MacDougall, you should give your horse water too.”

“Y-yes, I will.”

“Then, let’s rest here for a bit and have a meal.”

Azadin knew that the female bandit, the blood mage, and the half-orc needed rest. They had all exhausted themselves fleeing through the fog all night.

It wasn’t just the events of last night. The pilgrimage group had been constantly chased by unseen enemies, and their nerves were on edge. Their fatigue had been accumulating for days.

As soon as Azadin declared a rest, the half-orc and the blood mage practically collapsed on the spot.

Only the female bandit seemed to have energy left, as she circled the area, searching the corpses and cargo for food and useful items.

But then…

“Hmm.”

Azadin felt Ara’el’s voice sensing enemies approaching.

‘It’s taking over the role of the Emperor’s voice.’

After the Emperor’s voice entrusted everything to Azadin and disappeared, Ara’el’s voice took over the role that the Emperor’s voice had played in the past.

It announced the contract of gold and scouted the surroundings to inform him of the presence of enemies.

And that ghost ram, it was also summoned by Ara’el’s voice.

Whether it was originally created for that purpose or whether Ara’el was using the artificial spirit she created to serve Azadin, he didn’t know.

‘Ara’el is quite talented. To create something like this. I wish I had talked to her more.’

But Ara’el was gone now. Azadin focused his mind and examined the enemies.

Northern Aragasas armed with crescent bows, single-horned bows, and swords were approaching.

Since there were no other monsters around, were they here to test their skills as Aragasas? Or were they here to talk?

It was likely the latter.

Indeed…

The one who seemed to be the commander of the Northern Aragasas prepared a single-horned bow.

It was a siege bow used by two people. One person would lie down and support the large bow with their legs, while the other would pull the bowstring and load a javelin on it before firing. It was the identity of the javelins that had been tormenting the pilgrimage group in the fog.

-Whoosh!

They fired a javelin. The javelin flew an unimaginable distance and fell toward Azadin.

‘They’re watching me too.’

Just as Azadin was seeing them through Ara’el’s voice, they must also be watching Azadin’s group through some kind of observation method.

Even though it was a distance that couldn’t be seen in a straight line, the javelin flew accurately, aiming for Azadin.

Azadin stood with his back to the prisoner transport wagon and deflected the incoming javelin.

-Boom!

The javelin, which had flown with the force to pierce Azadin, was deflected to the side and struck the prisoner transport wagon, causing a loud noise.

“Hee-ik?!”

“A-an attack?”

The half-orc and the blood mage, who had been fast asleep until just now, jumped up.

“Calm down. It’s just a letter.”

Azadin pointed to the letter tied to the javelin.

“No, what kind of crazy person sends a letter like that?” the female bandit exclaimed.

It was an arrow that had flown directly toward Azadin. If Azadin hadn’t deflected it, he would have been skewered by that javelin.

Yet, Azadin, who was the one attacked, didn’t seem to care. It was as if this was a normal greeting among the Aragasas.

“W-what’s going on?”

“I don’t know until I see it.”

Azadin untied the letter and read it.

‘To the brethren of the Hatir faction, we, the Ahaji faction, value our brethren even though we serve different masters. However, those you protect are arrogant fanatics of a false teaching, lives not worth protecting. It is well known that you are bound by the Emperor’s contract, but you must have already done the work for the gold you received. As former brethren, wouldn’t it be possible to find a mutual agreement? If not, we would like to talk to you. Would it be alright if we approached?’

It felt shameless that they would say such things after attacking with a javelin. If a member of the same messenger clan had launched such an arrow-letter attack, Azadin would have crushed them without a second thought, making them pay the price for their brazen preemptive strike.

However, since the opponent was an Aragasas from a different faction, a strange sense of competition arose.

If they were to make a fuss about the preemptive attack, and the other side were to act nonchalant, saying, ‘Is that what you call an attack? It’s just a greeting to us,’ it would be like admitting that the Emperor’s messengers were inferior to the Northern Aragasas.

‘I can’t let that happen to my pride. I’ll have to return the arrow.’

A strange battle of pride began, even though no one had said a word.

Azadin immediately wrote a letter, tied it to his arrow, and took out his bow.

Azadin’s bow was an ordinary crescent bow. It didn’t reach the range of the single-horned bow used by two people.

However, Azadin decided to increase the range by applying the Aragasas ancient archery technique.

The usual ancient archery technique involved winding the bowstring to increase the speed of the arrow. It was a method of gaining a little more speed at the expense of some accuracy, also known as ‘winding shot’.

But that alone wouldn’t achieve the same range as a single-horned bow. So, Azadin added running and a full-fledged javelin throw to it.

He would run to accelerate, swing his body, and unleash the bow like throwing a spear, firing a winding shot at the most accelerated moment. It was a reckless act that greatly sacrificed accuracy, but Azadin was confident that with his skill, he could still shoot accurately enough to hit the enemy, even with this much reduced accuracy.

The accelerated arrow flew into the sky.

*********

“Huh? Is he crazy?”

The Aragasas squad leader was already watching Azadin’s group through the magic of clairvoyance [a magical ability to see distant places].

He had been secretly sneering as he watched the messenger clan member deflect the single-horned bow he had sent and then read the letter tied to it. It was impossible for him to send an arrow this far with the crescent bow he had, no matter how hard he tried.

But then, the messenger clan member suddenly started running and using the Aragasas ancient archery technique, doing almost everything possible to increase the range, and then shooting back?

Would that even reach his vicinity? Even if it did, it would probably fly off in the wrong direction.

But then.

-Whoosh!

The arrow was flying directly toward the Aragasas squad leader’s head?

“This guy is really crazy!”

The squad leader was horrified as he caught the incoming arrow with his hand.

The arrow had lost most of its power after flying such a great distance, but… even so, there was still an undeniable force left in it.

“T-that’s amazing!”

He was honestly impressed. To shoot an arrow back with such an absurd technique. And with such accuracy, how great of a marksman could he be?

He could be called a unique marksman even among the many skilled archers of the Aragasas.

“Huh?”

“He shot back?”

“He’s amazing. That guy!”

“What rank of messenger is he?”

“Quiet.”

The squad leader said that and unfolded the letter.

‘Azadin, the 108th messenger of the Emperor, speaks. I do not know the reason, but the sight of you killing innocent farmers and unarmed people and joining hands with the Mezeri’s apostles is too shameful to consider you brethren. However, it is natural for an uneducated child to make mistakes. If you consider me an adult and seek my guidance, I will gladly consider you brethren and lead you on the right path.’

The squad leader chuckled after reading the letter.

“Not bad.”

“Chief, what did it say?”

“Can I read it too?”

“Ah, his handwriting is terrible.”

They also chuckled after reading the letter.

“But if he’s the 108th messenger, isn’t he the lowest-ranking messenger?”

“He shot an arrow back, though. Not bad.”

“Isn’t it just flowery words? They say that those guys are cursed with service but receive magic books from the Emperor through bloodline inheritance.”

“Well, if he used magic, then this range makes sense.”

“If it’s magic, then it’s nothing special, right?”

They all said that, but the squad leader, who had seen Azadin’s return shot through the magic of clairvoyance, kept his mouth shut. He knew that Azadin hadn’t used magic on the arrow but had shot it back purely using archery skills.

However, there was no need to ruin the mood by saying that in front of his subordinates.

“Everyone, quiet.”

The squad leader silenced his subordinates.

“Let’s meet him for now.”

*********

Azadin sat cross-legged in the middle of the three-way intersection and closed his eyes.

Even with his eyes closed, he could see the things around him. Soon, the Northern Aragasas approaching him came into view.

Even if he didn’t want to see, Ara’el’s voice would naturally inform him if there was anything worth noting as it guarded the surroundings.

“Not bad, Emperor’s messenger. Shall we talk for a moment?”

The voice of the Aragasas squad leader echoed. Although he was still a hundred paces away, his voice sounded as if he were whispering right in their ears.

“Ah!”

The members of the Rescue Knights pilgrimage group were horrified by the voice echoing in their ears. It was the same sense of distance as the voice that had been deceiving and mocking them.

“So, this was the technique. It’s clearly visible now that there’s no fog.”

“But, sis, there are a lot of them.”

“……”

As Kuntachi pointed out, ten Aragasas were approaching.

Except for the man at the front, they were all boys and girls in their mid-teens, but that made them even more frightening.

Were these not the ones who had attacked and violated the Rescue Knights pilgrimage group?

To have such devilish skills even though they were so young.