The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 240

A typical reservoir would be teeming with bugs and mud, but a reservoir made by filling a pit with sand and gravel could store a significant amount of rainwater without the worry of the water becoming contaminated.

Of course, it cost much more to build than a regular reservoir, but in a place like a cinnabar mine, it was a worthwhile investment to secure a clean water source.

‘Amazing. This guy is on a different level than the previous squad leaders. Is this what an envoy of the Emperor is like?’

The soldiers who came to find fault with him were amazed by Azadin’s work efficiency. But then, an unexpected problem arose.

“That woman is a soldier? Ha! You’ve got to be kidding me?!”

The soldiers had discovered Camilla.

Even in the big cities, it wasn’t uncommon to see women among the Cell Swords [a type of mercenary or soldier]. There were quite a few female assassins, female warriors, and sorceresses, so everyone was used to female combatants.

However, it was a different story in a rural place like this.

“Wow. She’s pretty, isn’t she, missy? What’s that sword on your hip? It’s too big to be a fruit knife, isn’t it?”

“Hey. How much for a long night?”

The soldiers immediately started to harass Camilla. Camilla clicked her tongue.

“Hey, you guys. Are you playing with your teeth without thinking about what’s going to happen later?”

“Oh? Even when she’s angry, she’s cute?”

Azadin glanced at the squad leaders when he saw that. The squad leaders were curious about how Azadin would react, so they just let the situation play out.

‘This is really unavoidable.’

If Azadin, the squad leader, intervened directly in such matters, he would gradually lose his command. If he interfered in every minor dispute between soldiers, the soldiers would dislike Azadin even more.

In this case, a well-behaved middle manager should mediate, but the problem was that Azadin’s adjutant, McDougall, didn’t like Azadin very much either.

“Enough. She is an excellent scout. I won’t tolerate anyone who needlessly insults her.”

When Azadin said that, the soldiers chuckled.

“Yes, yes. We understand. We’ll take it as the squad leader’s… this.”

The soldiers giggled, holding up their pinky fingers. Then, Kuntachi strode forward. Kuntachi scratched his head and asked his sister.

“Sis. What are they saying? Are they making fun of you?”

“Don’t kill them.”

“So they were making fun of you?! You bastards!”

At that moment, Kuntachi rushed forward and punched the soldier who had just been laughing. The surprised soldier raised his arm to defend, but Kuntachi’s fist went through his arm and into his face.

“Gweck!”

The soldier flew into the air and then tumbled to the ground.

“Y-you bastard!”

The other soldiers tried to draw their weapons, but at that moment, a stone hit their sword hilts with a clang. Azadin had thrown stones and struck their weapons.

The powerful impact, which made their entire pelvis vibrate and their lower abdomen ache, startled everyone.

“Everyone, stop. If you draw your blades in a fight amongst yourselves, you will be executed on the spot. Kuntachi, you calm down too.”

“Ughhh. Azadin. I’m calm. Calm. Don’t hit me.”

Kuntachi raised his hands, covered his face, and acted scared.

‘If others see this, they’ll think I hit you all the time.’

Azadin was taken aback by Kuntachi’s overly fearful attitude, but it was a very effective threat to those around him.

The fact that this huge, fearsome giant was afraid of Azadin proved that Azadin was not an easy opponent.

“Camilla. You shouldn’t encourage your brother, even if you can’t stop him.”

“I did stop him. I told him not to kill them. That’s enough, isn’t it?”

“You should have defended them by saying they weren’t making fun of you.”

“You can’t lie to Kuntachi like that. He’s not very bright, and if you lie to him in that kind of situation, he’ll gradually lose trust in his own instincts. Our mother used to lie to us and deny our instincts, and it ruined him. Are you telling me to do that?”

“That’s definitely a problem. I understand.”

Azadin nodded, realizing that Camilla’s excuse was reasonable.

“Then, the rest of the soldiers…”

“Ptooey!”

The soldier who had been punched by Kuntachi spat. Blood and teeth spilled onto the floor. Three teeth were broken.

“What are you doing, squad leader! That guy hit me! And yet you’re taking his side?”

“Kuntachi has always had a bit of a problem. That’s why I warned you. You brought it on yourself, soldier.”

“Ugh. You soulless blasphemer!”

The soldier, whose teeth had been knocked out by Kuntachi, became enraged, drew a dagger, and charged at Azadin. But at that moment, Bernard chanted a spell.

“Ugh!”

The charging soldier covered his mouth with his hand.

The blood flowing from the wound in his mouth turned into a spider shape, and its legs tore through his cheek and popped out.

It was clearly blood, but it tore through his mouth as if it were a steel skewer.

“Kkyaaaak!”

“Heeik!?”

The soldiers were horrified by the gruesome sight.

Then, a meteor of golden flames cut through the soldier’s mouth. Azadin had swung Aurelia’s Dawn [likely a magical sword] and perfectly sliced away only the blood spider.

“Bernard. What are you doing?”

“Heh heh. It seems that Squad Leader Azadin is too kind, so I took the liberty of interfering. Cough cough. Punish me. I will gladly accept it.”

“Hmm. Are you okay?”

Azadin examined the soldier who had been punched by Kuntachi and had his cheek completely torn by Bernard.

It was a gruesome sight with his cheek completely torn off, but Azadin unwrapped a bandage and wrapped it around his face.

“It’s a minor injury.”

“?!”

“What?!”

The other soldiers were horrified by Azadin’s nonchalant attitude.

“Bernard. For interfering, you are confined for a week. During that time, treat this guy.”

“Understood. Heh heh. Commander Azadin is generous. He even tells me to treat this kind of guy.”

“I’m just naturally generous.”

“……”

The soldiers who were watching now realized that Azadin, Camilla, and Bernard were not easy opponents.

Perhaps Bernard had deliberately intervened because he had been waiting for an opportunity to establish dominance so that he wouldn’t be looked down upon here.

As a physically weak person, Bernard needed to overemphasize his abilities to gain the respect of the soldiers.

‘Seriously. All my subordinates are troublemakers.’

Azadin clicked his tongue, feeling that his future was not going to be smooth.

“Shall we end the welcoming ceremony here? Is there anything else prepared? If there is, bring it out now.”

Azadin looked at the soldiers.

Originally, the soldiers of Vermilion Fortress had tried to trick and subdue the new squad leader, Azadin, but the outrageous actions of Azadin’s group had easily exceeded their expectations.

They were all speechless and only watched the reactions of Legion and Kalan, their de facto leaders.

“It seems there’s nothing. Then, rest for today. Dismissed.”

Azadin dismissed the soldiers.

From the moment they heard that the previous squad leaders had been murdered one after another, the Knights had essentially placed the fortress’s soldiers under suspicion.

It was not uncommon for officers to be murdered by their subordinates in such remote fortresses.

That’s why the Knights sent Azadin, a disposable human resource, to Vermilion Fortress.

However, seeing the soldiers trying to subdue Azadin by picking a fight with him, it was unlikely that all the soldiers had been of one mind in murdering the squad leaders.

‘If they had decided to kill me from the start, there would be no need to pick a fight and cause a commotion. It would be faster to kill me in my sleep or poison me.’

There must be a reason why the soldiers picked a fight.

‘Perhaps they were trying to see if I was someone they could talk to, or if I was weak enough to be manipulated. Or maybe it’s just their nature to pick fights without thinking.’

The two squad leaders, Legion and Kalan, didn’t seem like thoughtless people. Komek seemed a bit short-sighted, but the real leaders of the soldiers would be Legion and Kalan.

‘First, I need to check the inventory.’

Azadin called for McDougall.

“I need to check the fortress’s inventory, so bring me the ledger.”

“The ledger is missing for half a year?”

“It doesn’t matter. I want to look at the material input and output when this fortress was operating properly. I need to know how much material came in and how much went out each month to roughly understand the gap over the past six months, don’t you think?”

“Well… um. That’s amazing.”

McDougall was honestly impressed by Azadin.

“What is?”

“No, isn’t it obvious that those guys are trying to screw over the commander right now? This place is practically a tiger’s den. They could poison your food, or attack you in your sleep. But now you’re saying you want to check the inventory, which is basically saying you suspect them, isn’t it?”

“Are you saying we should cover up the case because it’s scary?”

“That’s what most people would do.”

“And I’m not most people.”

“But I am. I don’t want to be disliked by those soldiers. Besides, this place is practically a prison. No, in some ways, it’s worse than a prison. At least in prison, there’s a set sentence, but there’s no such thing here. Sniff. Thinking about it makes me cry again. I miss Lord Izmilla. Oh, my fate. I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life…”

Azadin was annoyed by McDougall’s whining.

“I’ll make sure you don’t stay here for the rest of your life, so get to work.”

“Really? Is that possible? Can I see Lord Izmilla again? Can she and I live happily ever after?”

“I doubt the latter is possible?”

Azadin was exhausted looking at the delusional McDougall.

*********

Azadin and McDougall conducted an inventory check.

The weapons that should have been in the fortress’s armory were completely empty, and the output of the cinnabar mine had also decreased significantly.

It was obvious to anyone that embezzlement was taking place.

Moreover, this embezzlement was not just the work of the soldiers, but also involved the mine workers and villagers.

Perhaps that was why everyone showed extreme resistance when Azadin and McDougall began their investigation.

“It’s because the work was paralyzed because there was no squad leader. Why is that our fault?”

“Oh, really. We don’t use this warehouse anymore. What? Where’s the other warehouse? Oh, the previous squad leader secretly moved it and then died, didn’t he?”

They obstructed the investigation by making ridiculous excuses and playing dumb.

As a result, while the circumstances of the embezzlement were clear, it became difficult to obtain concrete evidence.

Of course, they could be sentenced to death for embezzlement based on circumstantial evidence alone, but if they abused the death penalty at this time when their support base was uncertain and even the villagers and workers were openly hostile, it was obvious that public sentiment would be ruined.

And Azadin didn’t really want to kill them.

In the end, he had to get his hands on the real leaders of the soldiers here, the squad leaders.