The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 239

The Chadra Plateau’s Vermilion Fortress, true to its name, housed a mine that extracted cinnabar [mercuric sulfide, also known as vermilion].

However, over the past six months, the squad leaders assigned to this fortress had been dying one after another. Five knights had already perished, some lasting no more than three weeks, and others as little as three days.

For half a year, the fortress had been operating without a single Holy Knight.

The soldiers of Vermilion Fortress were a rough and rugged bunch, gathered from prisoners all over the world.

The leaders of these soldiers were called squad leaders, and the most senior of the Vermilion Fortress squad leaders was a half-elf named Legion.

This half-elf, with a teardrop tattoo under his eye, had been given a staggering 500-year prison sentence for cannibalism after engaging in sexual relations with both men and women and then devouring them. His crimes were so enormous and flamboyant that from the moment he arrived, he became the de facto leader of Vermilion Fortress.

“Hmm.”

And now, squad leader Legion was sitting at the desk in the fortress’s top-floor office, which originally belonged to the squad leader, chewing on jerky and examining a letter.

“It seems Fireglyph has contacted us again, saying they’re sending another new squad leader.”

“What? Those guys are a joke. Five greenhorn knights have already died, and they haven’t even sent an investigation team?”

Legion’s comrade, another squad leader named Kalan, grumbled.

Kalan was from the Cotton Dwarf Mercenary Corps and suffered from berserker syndrome, having slaughtered countless people. In terms of combat ability and ferocity, he was superior to Legion, but he was vulnerable to illusion magic in his berserker state, so he knew he was at a disadvantage against Legion, who used illusion magic, and conceded the leadership position.

“Are the knights even scared to come here? And yet, they need cinnabar, so they keep sending idiots like us.”

“It’s just going to be another corpse when a new guy comes. This fortress is cursed. I don’t think those dumb Holy Knights can do anything about this curse.”

“But hmm. This squad leader seems like he might be interesting?”

“Why? Is it a female knight? Hehe. Then we might need to keep her alive for a while?”

“No, it’s said to be from the Herald Clan?”

“What?”

Kalan doubted his ears.

“A Herald Clan member became a Holy Knight? Is that even possible? They’re soulless blasphemers, aren’t they?”

“Hmm. Indeed, I don’t know if it’s possible. There’s no way those narrow-minded knights would have recognized a Herald Clan member as a Holy Knight. But one thing is certain.”

Legion’s lips curled into a grin, revealing sharp fangs.

“I’m intrigued. Just the fact that he’s a Holy Knight from the Herald Clan is exciting.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t eat him. He’s going to die in less than a week anyway, but it’ll be a problem if you finish him off. Please try to control your bad habits.”

Kalan snorted and took out a pipe, putting it in his mouth.

*********

“Ugh, Izmilla! Why…”

MacDougall was sobbing as he led his horse up the mountain path.

In front of him, Azadin was swinging his ceramite longsword, Aurelia Dawn, cutting down weeds to clear the path.

“Stop whining, MacDougall.”

“What do you know? I was in love with Izmilla! In my heart, I was already married to her and had a happy family. But why…”

“Hey, stop with the delusions. She’s the only one who was left out when the entire pilgrimage was sent to the Chadra Plateau. How important is her status? Do you think someone like that would be with you, a knight or a noble? Besides, she didn’t seem to have any interest in you anyway.”

“That’s why I could have had a true love that transcended the barriers of status.”

“That’s if the other person agrees, right? Stop whining and take care of your horse. The path is rough.”

Azadin cut down the weeds, extinguished the fire on his ceramite longsword, and put it back in its scabbard.

“How’s the rear?”

Behind Azadin were the scribe MacDougall and the farmers armed with clubs. At their rear, Camilla and her younger brother, Kuntachi, were in charge of making sure the farmers didn’t run away.

“No problems so far!”

Camilla’s cheerful voice rang out.

“Good. We’re almost there, so let’s all take a 10-minute break here.”

Azadin ordered a rest.

“You’ve been saying we’re almost there for a while now…”

“This is already the third break.”

People grumbled, but they all sat down on the side of the road to rest.

Azadin smiled as he listened to their complaints and focused his mind.

Arael’s voice materialized above his head, looking around. From a bird’s-eye view, the terrain was clearly visible.

“Hmm. Is that Vermilion Fortress?”

Arael’s voice made it sound close enough to touch. However, the mountain path was rough, so it took a long time to get there. If Azadin were alone, he would have already arrived, but it took a lot of time to move with ordinary farmers.

“Hmm?”

But Azadin, through Arael’s voice, discovered a group approaching him. Armed with crossbows and spears, a force was descending from Vermilion Fortress.

There were about ten people. It wasn’t a threatening number, but the terrain was so rough that the attackers had an absolute advantage.

‘It’s unlikely, but I should get out of the vulnerable area, right?’

Currently, there was a strong suspicion of insubordination at Vermilion Fortress. It was natural, since every squad leader assigned there had died young, and no one had been able to exercise command for half a year.

Azadin looked at the terrain and decided to move to a safer flat area.

Shortly after, an armed force arrived in front of Azadin’s group.

“We are soldiers of Vermilion Fortress. Are you the new squad leader?!”

“Yes. I am the new squad leader, Azadin. It’s nice to meet you. But who are you?”

“We are soldiers of Vermilion Fortress. Hehe.”

The soldier who said that was chewing on something and spat it out.

It was chewing tobacco. It was a rather expensive luxury item, and spitting it out in front of a superior was considered rude even by the etiquette of the time.

“But is it true that you’re a soulless blasphemer?”

“Hmm?”

Azadin realized that these soldiers were deliberately being rude to try to get the upper hand, and he chuckled.

‘Judging by their actions, these guys aren’t the ones who killed the squad leaders.’

If they were the real killers, they wouldn’t have any reason to engage in a power struggle with Azadin. It would be more advantageous to kill him or subtly persuade him later. Starting a power struggle from the beginning just meant that these guys were simple-minded fools.

“Thank you for coming to meet me. You seem full of energy, so would you mind taking our luggage? Come on, everyone, let’s give our packs to them!”

“Huh?”

“They’ll carry our luggage. Let’s go comfortably.”

As Azadin said that, the soldiers who had come down from Vermilion Fortress snorted.

They took out new chewing tobacco in front of Azadin, put it in their mouths, chewed it, and laughed.

“Squad leader. We came all the way to meet you, but are you really going to use us as porters?”

“First, we should introduce ourselves, greet each other, and then, as the new squad leader, you should show us your talent by singing a song.”

“A talent show, you say?”

At that moment, a whooshing sound was heard, and something passed between the legs of the soldier who had just spoken.

Azadin had lightly thrown a stone, and it had cut through his pants.

-Thud!

The pants were cut, and even his underwear was torn, revealing his crotch.

“……”

The soldier, whose important area was suddenly exposed to the outside air, was flustered.

“My talent is a quick castration procedure. Do you want to see it?”

“Uh, hey, brother? What should we do?”

The soldier looked back in confusion.

It seemed that the real boss was hiding among the ordinary soldiers, watching instead of causing trouble.

A giant, a head taller than the others, suddenly appeared from among the soldiers.

“You rude fellows. I’m sorry, squad leader. The kids were just being playful. They’re all full of energy.”

“There’s nothing better than castration to control energy. If you get rid of it, everyone will be quiet later.”

“Hahaha. That’s a funny joke.”

“So, squad leader. What’s your name?”

“I’m Comec. Squad leader. Welcome to your post.”

“Then will you carry the luggage? The people are tired.”

“Yes. Of course.”

The squad leader named Comec said that and gestured to the soldiers. Then, the soldiers started moving the luggage in confusion.

*********

“That new squad leader is definitely talented?”

“He’s from the Herald Clan, after all.”

“Did they send someone like that because they suspect us?”

“Damn it. Just send us supplies and women. Why send a soulless blasphemer as a squad leader when they ignore all our requests?”

The soldiers grumbled inwardly but silently carried the luggage.

Thanks to them, Azadin’s group was able to arrive at Vermilion Fortress a little faster than expected.

“Hmm.”

Azadin looked at the fortress and saw a small watchtower fortress made of bricks, though he didn’t know where they had gotten them. Around the watchtower fortress were the soldiers’ barracks and buildings, and a small village with about 10 farmhouses and another 10 or so accommodations near the mine.

When Azadin arrived at the fortress’s front yard, a half-elf with a teardrop tattoo on his face and a dwarf with his hair standing straight up walked out of the fortress building.

“Welcome, new squad leader. I am the 1st squad leader, Sergeant Legion.”

“I’m the 2nd squad leader, Kalan.”

“I’m the 3rd squad leader, Comec.”

“I’m Azadin, the trainee knight who has been assigned here as squad leader. I look forward to working with you.”

“Trainee knight… you say.”

Legion grinned. A Herald Clan member as a trainee knight of the Nine Knights Order. It was hard to hold back his laughter at this situation.

“Then, let’s first assign the farmers and workers we brought to their accommodations and deploy the main force as well.”

Azadin immediately started his work. His instructions were quick and accurate, and most of the work was finished in an instant.

The soldiers of Vermilion Fortress, who were ready to find fault with every single one of Azadin’s actions, found that the work was over in the blink of an eye.

“I saw some abandoned houses on the way up. If there aren’t enough houses, let’s repair them and use them. Until then, please bear with the cramped conditions. Is the water supply sufficient? The water from the cinnabar mine is often toxic, so there should be a separate source of clean water.”

“Ah. There is a sand reservoir that collects rainwater.”

“A sand reservoir? Is that the wisdom of the angels? Excellent.”