The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 237

As they returned to Coxhall, Azadin’s fever continued to rise, and he eventually lost consciousness.

Fortunately, there were no further attacks.

Near Coxhall, the Margrave of Coxhall, worried about the Bishop and the pilgrims, came out with his private soldiers to greet them. Thanks to this, the pilgrims and Bishop Akenar were able to safely return to the Coxhall Relief Knights headquarters.

The Relief Knights headquarters in Coxhall was a large manor consisting of the bishopric building, a church, and the knights’ building.

Upon arriving at the manor, Akenar assigned a servant to Azadin and provided him with the best room in the lodgings.

“Take care of him. And call a doctor.”

“Yes, Bishop. This person is a Messenger Clan member. But…”

“No. He is now a brother of our order. I have knighted him, so he is under my protection. Do you understand what that means? To doubt him is to bring dishonor upon me. I will not tolerate such remarks in the future.”

“But…”

There was no longer any doubt that Azadin was a member of the Relief Knights.

Bishop Akenar had acknowledged his knighthood, and officially, she was the one who had performed the knighting ceremony for Azadin.

Even considering that, Azadin’s status was that of a Hospitaller-Errant, a mere trainee knight [a knight in training, often tasked with caring for the sick and wounded].

For a bishop to personally assign her servants to a trainee knight and order his care was excessive favoritism.

“I will not tolerate any further arguments from now on. Follow my orders.”

Akenar said this and hurried to the bishop’s office of the Relief Knights. There, an ancient artifact, a quartz mirror, was kept. Pairs of these mirrors were magically connected, allowing for communication.

With this, the Relief Knights could maintain close organization even with bishoprics in various parts of the world. It was a mysterious treasure that even the royal church coveted.

“I will inform the other bishops that those who attacked the pilgrims were agents of the Northern Empire. It may be a long meeting, so let the pilgrims and other knights rest. The pilgrims should not leave this bishopric. There may still be attackers and assassins lurking outside.”

Akenar left those words and headed to the bishop’s office.

“Hmm.”

Camilla shrugged, watching her leave.

“The Bishop is very kind. But I don’t think the Knights will believe that the Northern Empire attacked. It’s like the Messenger Clan is accusing the Northern Empire, isn’t it? Who would dare doubt the Yaegas God-King [the ruler of the Northern Empire, considered a divine figure] based on the testimony of a mere Messenger Clan member?”

“Y-yes, I suppose so.”

Izmilla said, glancing at Azadin. Servants were carrying Azadin on a stretcher to his bedroom.

“Ah. Now that I think about it, I should take this opportunity to see this guy’s face. I’ve been curious. This guy. What does he look like that he always wears a mask? Hehehe.”

Camilla excitedly followed Azadin. Then, her younger brother, Kuntach, stopped her.

“Hey, sis. I’m hungry.”

“Ask those clerics for food. I need to see that guy’s face.”

“Wait a minute.”

Izmilla stopped Camilla.

“Do you really need to bother a sick person?”

“If you’re going to take care of the sick person, you’ll have to take off his mask anyway.”

“That’s true… but you’re not the one who’s going to take care of him, are you?”

Izmilla blushed.

“You want to see it too, don’t you? Right?”

“W-well, I saw him briefly in the dark.”

“You saw him? What was he like?”

“W-well, I don’t know. It was dark, and I only saw him briefly. But, um.”

“Was he ugly? Or did he have scars?”

“I couldn’t see well because it was dark. But I think he was handsome. But, um, no way. I must have seen wrong.”

“What do you mean, no way?”

“It’s just that he seemed unbelievably handsome.”

Izmilla said, twisting her body.

“What? That handsome? How much? No, is your taste weird? Do you like my brother or something?”

“No, I don’t!”

“Anyway, because you’re like that, I can’t help but see him even more. Well, I’ll know when I see him now.”

“Don’t do that. What are you doing to a sick person…”

“But you want to check again too, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Then let’s go see. Come on. Let’s see together.”

Camilla ignored Izmilla’s reaction and followed the servants up the stairs.

The servants placed Azadin on a high priest’s bed on the second floor of the bishop’s hall, removed his clothes, and finally took off his mask.

“Oh…”

Camilla was startled by Azadin’s face, which was finally revealed.

“……”

Izmilla, who had also seen Azadin’s face again, was equally surprised.

“He’s handsome. How boring… I was going to tease him if he was ugly.”

“Hmm. Hmm.”

Both Izmilla and Camilla cleared their throats and brought a lamp to place next to the table. The light increased, allowing them to see Azadin’s face in more detail.

Then, Azadin opened his eyes. He frowned at the brightness, but was surprised that he could feel the glare.

“What? My eyes hurt… Why are you all here?”

“Wow, his eyes are purple.”

“Huh?”

Azadin touched his face and smiled wryly.

His mask was off.

And purple eyes. Were they not Harkonian eyes? The eyes of the first leader, Ara’el, which the Messenger Clan revered, had manifested in Azadin as well.

It was natural since he had inherited them from her.

“Hey. You’re handsome. Hehe. Why were you hiding this good-looking face with a mask? You should show it to the world more. Ah, is it because you’re afraid of getting hurt? If that’s the case, I understand.”

“……”

Azadin had never heard good things about his appearance before. Of course, many people wanted to see his grotesque face without eyes. During the Messenger selection training, his peers and seniors would deliberately come to see Azadin’s face as a spectacle.

Being treated like a spectacle by his seniors was one thing, but being humiliated by even his juniors, who were lower in rank than him, was still a great wound for Azadin, to the point that he would have nightmares about it. Seeing these two looking at Azadin reminded him of that pain.

But unlike then, their eyes were filled with goodwill.

“Ah. Are you talking about my face now?”

“Yeah. Hey. The Bishop is terribly fond of you. Have you shown your face to the Bishop too?”

“I have. She is my patron as a knight, and it would be rude not to show my face.”

“Ahaha. Then the Bishop is in love with you, isn’t she?”

Izmilla, who was listening, was startled and smacked Camilla on the back.

“Be careful what you say. How can you be so rude!”

“No. I’m not saying anything that’s not true. And I’m just saying to be careful. Be careful. In the first place, the mask that the Bishop wears, isn’t it a mask that female clerics wear to prevent men from having other thoughts? Why would such a mask be made? It’s because there were some incidents between clerics and outsiders in the past.”

“That’s why saying such things is blasphemous. If anyone hears you, they’ll be cursed, so please refrain from saying such things.”

“That’s all good and well.”

Azadin took out a wet towel that the servants had prepared to lower his fever and covered his eyes.

“I want to rest, so can you go out?”

“Sure. But why are you covering your eyes?”

“I don’t like this face.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it makes me realize that I’m alive by taking my sister’s life. And I especially hate it when someone looks at my face like it’s a spectacle. Okay? Now, please leave.”

Azadin sent the two out and lay down on the bed. The fever engulfed him, and he felt like he was falling into an endless abyss, and soon he fell asleep.

“I’m not going out.”

Camilla said that, but Izmilla grabbed her clothes and dragged her out.

*********

The bishop’s council continued for three days.

During that time, Izmilla, along with the prisoners, Camilla and her half-orc brother Kuntach, and the blood mage Bernard, had to endure tedious interrogations.

It was so boring that they felt like their minds were burning, and just when they were about to go crazy, the bishop’s council finally ended.

“You’ve waited a long time. How are you feeling?”

Bishop Akenar greeted Azadin, who had recovered from his fever.

“It was just a cold. I’m fully recovered.”

Azadin smiled wryly.

Originally, he did not suffer from colds or minor illnesses. All the members of the Messenger Clan were like that, as the Grimoire of the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon did not allow minor illnesses to invade.

However, Azadin’s current body was in the state of a patient on the verge of death. Due to the grimoires and magical adaptability he received from Ara’el, his power had become stronger, but that strong power coexisted with a fragility that could break at any moment.

It was like putting a burning poison in a thin glass, a precarious situation where the glass itself could break at any moment due to the heat.

Moreover.

‘My magic is getting stronger.’

It was ridiculous, but Azadin felt the magic of the God-King’s Scripture reappearing within him.

The God-King’s Scripture and the Grimoire of the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon, these two grimoires were growing rapidly within his body like water plants in summer, becoming stronger and stronger.

But what if he were to wield that power?

His body, which had already crossed the threshold of death and returned, would not be able to withstand it. That was why blood was flowing from his nose and eyes, and he was getting a fever.

‘I should have died anyway, but I’m alive thanks to Ara’el. I should be grateful for that.’

Azadin did not take such wounds and pain seriously and expressed his gratitude to Bishop Akenar.

“Thanks to you, Bishop, I was able to rest safely.”

Originally, the Relief Knights were going to throw Azadin into the interrogation room and the underground prison.

However, Bishop Akenar had Azadin stay in the best bedroom of the bishopric and had her servants take care of him.

She had become a shield, protecting Azadin from violence.

“Originally, you deserve a reward. Not only did you help the Knights in the pilgrim’s crisis, but you also saved the attacked village and brought Sir Planck of Wisdom to rest. The Margrave of Coxhall had promised a reward to anyone who brought Sir Planck to rest. But the other bishops are suspicious of you. Especially…”

Akenar sighed.

“Cohen Lionheart of the Northern Empire has a strong influence on all the Relief Knights. As you know, he is a king who came from the Relief Knights. It’s fair to say that the Knights produced a king. So many people within the Knights support him…”

“Then the other bishops would want to eliminate me regardless of the truth. A Messenger Clan member who slanders the Northern Empire.”

“Yes, Azadin. The Knights do not welcome you.”