The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 24

Azadin, with that thought in mind, asked Ismail,

“Do we have the food we got from Derrick?”

“Ah, you mean that?”

Ismail took out the food he had packed from the dinner invitation with Derrick.

“Let’s eat this and then ask the farmers if we can rest there when they wake up.”

Azadin tore into the grilled fish, his gaze still fixed on the sky.

*********

After eating during sunrise, Azadin took out his helmet instead of the hawk mask.

“The King’s Church people might recognize this mask right away. This scar on my eye is the problem.”

Azadin covered his face with the helmet and headed towards the nearby farm with his group. As the dogs barked, the farmers who were starting their morning work looked at Azadin’s group and flinched.

The farmers froze in fear at the sight of Tarki, who was clearly a knight.

‘How scary must knights be to make them so terrified at first sight?’

“W-what brings you here?”

“We are traveling and would like to borrow your farm for a bit.”

When Tarki said that, the people didn’t understand his true intentions. They didn’t know if ‘borrowing the farm’ meant they would set up camp and plunder, or if they just wanted to sleep for a while.

“We need a place to rest,” Azadin explained Tarki’s words in an easier way.

“Ah, if that’s the case, you can use our hut. We have to work in the fields anyway.”

“It’s a humble couple’s bedroom, though…”

“Hmm. Indeed, a humble bedroom. Well, it’s a bit better than a pigsty…”

As Tarki said that, Azadin poked him in the side to shut him up.

“A barn or a shed will be enough.”

“Why are you doing this? Those farmers won’t be using their house anyway since they’ll be working in the fields. We can rest inside while they’re gone, right?”

“What if we rest for too long?”

“Then the farmers can go to the barn. They raise pigs there anyway. How can we rest in a place like that?”

Tarki, speaking as if it were obvious, didn’t seem to realize what the problem was.

“Fine. What can I do with you?”

Azadin gave up talking to Tarki and gave a silver coin to the farmer.

“W-what is this?”

“We’ll be imposing on you. Could you possibly prepare some food for us for dinner?”

“Ah, y-yes, of course.”

“Then.”

Azadin asked for the farmers’ understanding and headed to the barn.

The barn had pigs and livestock on the first floor, and a ladder leading to the second floor where hay was stored. Azadin went up to the second floor, spread out blankets next to the haystacks, and covered them with his cloak.

There were various bugs in the haystacks, so even with the thick layers, he could still feel something moving.

“Ah, what if we get infested with lice…”

“Well, most of them are grubs and stuff.”

Azadin lay down on the makeshift bed and fell asleep as if dead.

*********

The farms in this area were designated as the fief of Sir Jeran. He had the right to collect taxes from these farms twice a year, in spring and autumn, and he would also make people work if needed.

In return, Sir Jeran was responsible for the security of this area and was contracted to hunt monsters to protect the people.

But…

“Hmm, this is a big problem.”

The farmers frowned as they discovered that the outer fence of the farm was broken. The drought that started in the eastern inland region was spreading like a plague to this border area of Salasma.

There were already many refugees. And now, as the drought continued here, animals that didn’t usually come into human territory were invading the farms.

“Should we contact Sir Jeran?”

“Arthur, the knights don’t deal with monsters unless they can find them right away. They won’t do it if they can’t catch them in just one day. Do you think they like wandering around the mountains and fields looking for animals? If they stay in the village for too long, we’ll be the ones who suffer. You know that, right?”

The farmers feared the tyranny of knights and nobles. The laws of the Eight Kingdoms, the laws established by the Yaeghas gods [a pantheon of deities in this world], prohibited unfair exploitation, abuse, and rape of farmers, but that was only a safety net that applied in the cities.

In the suburbs, on the outskirts, and in the fiefs, farmers were no different from the private property of the nobles.

Sir Jeran was one of the better noble knights, but even so, the people of the fief preferred not to see him if possible.

“Still, if we’re not careful, people could die.”

The farmer’s son held up the fence. There were large claw marks on the fence, and considering the spacing, it was clear how big the monster was.

“Then, will you go and tell Sir Jeran? But you’ll have to be Sir Jeran’s guide.”

“…Let’s repair the fence.”

Rather than telling the knight about it, they would just repair the fence and hope that the beast would pass by safely.

It was when all the farmers were united in this thought.

“Hey!”

The man who had gone to the post town to sell vegetables in the morning returned.

“It’s a mess right now! Last night, monsters attacked the post town!”

“What? Monsters in the post town? Is that true?”

“Yes, it’s true! They say Sir Jeran was killed!”

“Huh?”

“Really?”

“Would I joke about something like this?”

“What happens if Sir Jeran dies?”

“No, more importantly, if monsters have destroyed the post town, shouldn’t we run away too?”

“Ah, about that, the Holy Knights came and defeated all the monsters.”

“That’s a relief… But are the Holy Knights coming this way?”

The Holy Knights were worse than other knights. Since they wandered around without a fief, they were more greedy and had a weaker sense of responsibility.

“No, they’re still over there, but I’m not sure. But…”

At that moment, the farmer’s eyes suddenly widened. An arrow had pierced his head.

“Huh?”

“Eek!”

“Aaaah!”

The farmers’ voices echoed from the forest.

*********

When noble children enter the King’s Church, they first become trainee knights. Even if they already had the title of trainee knight or knight, once they enter the King’s Church, they start as trainee knights of the Holy Knights Order.

At this time, they mainly wear chainmail without speaking, and they accompany bishops or priests, or follow other Holy Knights on missions.

Gazurek, a Holy Knight of the King’s Church, was a veteran knight who trained such trainee knights.

Originally, the Holy Knights of the King’s Church had a close and deep educational system where one veteran knight was assigned as a mentor to one trainee knight, teaching swordsmanship, magic, knowledge about monsters, and the mindset of a knight.

But now, they assign several trainee knights to one veteran knight, and they just try to achieve results and promote trainee knights to regular knights.

The King’s Church was always overflowing with new recruits because the nobles were making too many bastards.

Sir Gazurek’s current mission was to subjugate monsters with five trainee knights.

“Ugh, I really hate this. It’s annoying.”

Subjugating monsters was not really about fighting monsters. It was probably just hunting wolves or bears.

A noble who ran a sawmill in the forest had donated money to the King’s Church and asked them to catch the dangerous beasts that were appearing in the middle of his forest.

The problem wasn’t catching the beasts, but finding them. No matter how ferocious the beasts were, they would all hide when humans smelling of metal walked around.

It was an annoying task that required them to wander around the forest with spears and bows until the animals got tired and moved their habitats.

“Sir Gazurek, I was expecting something more from monster subjugation… How long do we have to wander around here?”

Tashig, a trainee knight, voiced his complaints on behalf of the group.

“Be quiet. The beasts will run away if they hear you.”

“But Sir Gazurek, our weapons and equipment are already making noise. The beasts already know we’re here. We haven’t even seen a rabbit, have we?”

“Ah, there.”

At that moment, another trainee knight shot an arrow. The arrow pierced the body of a rabbit that was passing through the bushes.

“…We haven’t seen a rabbit?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it. Hey, Ben. Nice shot?”

“I’ve been practicing.”

Ben, the trainee knight, approached, pulled the arrow from the rabbit, and proudly put the rabbit in his backpack.

“Let’s grill this later for a snack.”

“By the way, Sir Gazurek.”

“What?”

“Your daughter is very beautiful.”

“Mind your own business, you guys.”

“But isn’t she our superior? Is that even possible?”

Nobles who enter the King’s Church are assigned the position of Holy Knight if they don’t have children, and the position of priest if they have children or have been married before.

However, Sir Gazurek’s daughter was a Holy Knight like them, and she was even higher in rank than Sir Gazurek.

“Why do you think that is? It’s because she was born when I was a Holy Knight.”

“Kya, that’s amazing.”

“Come on. Are you guys going to set your sights on the chief officer of the bishopric? And in front of me, her father?”

“But maybe your daughter might like us.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Free love is inevitable.”

“Stop talking nonsense and train properly. Huh?”

Gazurek looked at the trainee knights as if they were pathetic.

Back in Gazurek’s time, the Holy Knights of the King’s Church studied swordsmanship, spearmanship, and the King’s Church scriptures again during their trainee knight period to learn powerful divine magic.

They only became knights after such training, but the policy changed recently when the Bishop of Salasma was replaced. They just accept as many trainee knights as possible and receive donations from their families.

Since training knights costs money, they make them go to the outskirts and collect money.

‘Find your own horse. Earn your own money.’ It was practically condoning looting.

‘Well, I’m not in a position to talk.’

Sir Gazurek was taking bribes from the trainee knights under him, giving them good evaluations, and manipulating their training missions as he pleased.

He was planning to just look around this time and write that he had defeated some monsters and be done with it.

But then, it happened.

-Woong?!

Suddenly, a silly sound began to be heard above their heads.

“Ah, damn it… shit!”

Sir Gazurek cursed when he heard the sound.

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

“Hey, be quiet. It’s a wyvern.”

“Huh?!”

“Hick!?”

The trainee knights all became quiet at once.

-Woong? Woong?!

The silly sound was getting closer, and it was definitely loud. Everyone tensed up and drew their weapons.

-Crack!

A branch broke, and a wyvern covered in black scales was seen running on the trees. It was a wyvern about the size of a calf, not very big.

But even a young wyvern had a poisonous stinger on its tail that caused pain as if being stung by thousands of wasps, and its teeth were as sharp as daggers.

It was common for people with excellent combat skills to die in agony after being hit by a wyvern’s poisonous stinger. It was a formidable enemy that could not be underestimated.

The problem was that if such young wyverns were wandering around, it meant that there were full-grown wyverns deep in the forest…

“Hey! Shoot!”

“Yes!”

The panicked trainee knights began to shoot arrows all at once.