The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 264

“Lord Pavel, if you give in to their demands, it will become your sole responsibility later. The higher-ups would naturally prefer to maintain the status quo and just replace the Chapter Master, not have prisoners suddenly form a committee, govern themselves, and come out into the open, would they?”

“Ah….”

Only then did Lord Pavel realize that clashing with them was the way to fulfill his responsibility and the least troublesome course of action.

“I will repel them, so please don’t worry too much, Lord Pavel. You can continue to serve as the acting Chapter Master at this Fireglyph.”

Azadin reassured Pavel and left the office.

Izmilla followed him out and asked,

“A-are you sure, Sir Azadin? I don’t think they’ll just stand by and do nothing?”

“Well, those who come to negotiate are usually the easier ones to deal with. Isn’t Sir Sork, the necromancer knight, and Nicelda, the half-vampire, more dangerous?”

“Then… isn’t that a bigger problem?”

Izmilla asked, flustered.

He had to temporarily govern Fireglyph, but he was making all the lower-ranking officers turn against him.

It was like a grand duke making all the lesser lords under him revolt. No matter how powerful the grand duke was, he wouldn’t survive such a thing… What on earth was Azadin thinking?

*********

The one who was most dissatisfied when negotiations with Azadin broke down was the smuggling king, Chashan.

Even if Azadin refused to negotiate, the other two, the hippogriff rider Sir Selim and the wild druid Sedrin, could maintain the status quo.

However, for Chashan, the current situation was not the status quo.

In fact, Chashan and his organization had a certain contract with Lord Hexenmeier.

Outwardly, Chashan claimed to be developing mountain trails to transport drugs, but that would never allow him to achieve the current volume of trade.

It was because he was transporting goods through Fireglyph with Lord Hexenmeier’s tacit approval that he was able to move such large quantities and gain such wealth and influence.

But now that Lord Hexenmeier had been ousted and Azadin, who had taken his place, was blocking the smuggling routes, Azadin had become an obstacle that Chashan had to deal with at all costs.

*********

In a dingy tavern in the back alleys of Fireglyph, Chashan was meeting with his subordinates.

His smuggling organization was already established in Fireglyph, so he was able to meet them immediately after the meeting with Azadin.

“Ugh. By the names of our ancestors! Even if this is a tavern we’ve made into our hideout, this beer is terrible. It tastes like horse piss mixed with donkey piss! Can’t you make it properly?”

Chashan grumbled, wiping the beer foam from his mouth.

“What should we do about that Azadin guy? I don’t think we can bribe him like Lord Hexenmeier.”

A man, who was both the tavern owner and a member of the organization, said while wiping the table.

“Hmm? Why do you think so?”

“Well… I saw him catching doppelgangers [shapeshifters] with an angel. How should I put it? This might sound strange, but he looked beautiful and full of dignity, like an angel himself.”

The organization member, who had directly experienced Azadin’s exploits and his captivating grace, had been agonizing over how to convey the shock of that day to Chashan.

Azadin, who seemed like an incarnation of an angel and a champion of justice, was the most terrifying being to criminals.

“The guy you saw seems different from the one I saw.”

Chashan scoffed and brought the beer he had disparaged as horse piss to his lips.

The Azadin he saw was an ambitious man. Such a man would not dislike the overwhelming wealth that drugs brought. Even if he hated drugs themselves, he would likely condone them under the pretext of his ambition.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of trying to win him over. He can’t become the Chapter Master anyway. There’s no need to try to recruit a guy who’s just temporarily filling the position until the Chapter Master is appointed. So, we’ll eliminate him.”

“Should we hire an assassin? But most assassins won’t be able to handle him. He’s a member of the Herald Clan, a soulless blasphemer.”

“You fool, just killing him isn’t the only way. If we release griffins to attack the messengers, who will he blame?”

“That hippogriff-loving blockhead, I guess.”

“Right? If we release the undead to attack the merchants? If we make the other Chadra Overlords fight each other, can that guy who’s just acting as Chapter Master properly run Fireglyph? He’ll eventually agree to form a committee. Even if he gets angry and bares his teeth, won’t the blame fall on someone other than me?”

“Ah, I see.”

“There’s no need to assassinate him directly. He’s just temporarily filling the position during the Chapter Master’s absence. We just need to show him that he can’t maintain that position, and he’ll submit on his own….”

But it was at that moment that Chashan said that.

“So, this is the Fireglyph branch of the smuggling organization.”

A clear voice struck Chashan’s eardrums.

Startled, Chashan looked up and saw Azadin, a tall half-elf, and a huge half-orc entering the entrance of their hideout.

It was a tavern in name only, but they had guards at the entrance, and they could see them being pushed aside without any resistance.

“No way… There was no sign of being followed, how?”

“Because I got my hands on Lord Hexenmeier’s journal.”

Azadin said, and sat down at the table.

“That damn bastard. Not you, Hexenmeier. A guy who takes bribes shouldn’t write things down in his journal.”

“He seemed to believe that his position as Chapter Master would last forever until he gave it up himself.”

Azadin replied nonchalantly.

In fact, Lord Hexenmeier, as expected, did not write down anything about bribes or backroom deals in his official journal.

He kept a secret ledger and recorded them separately, but Azadin was able to find Chashan simply because he had been following him with Ara’el’s voice. [Ara’el is likely a character or entity with a unique ability to track or sense others.]

However, there was no reason to tell Chashan what Azadin could or could not do. It was better to let him misunderstand.

Chashan gulped down the beer, threw the empty mug at the bartender, and turned to Azadin.

“You actually came to find me. What’s your scheme?”

The tattoos on Chashan’s body began to glow, and red glints of light rose from his eyes like sulfurous fumes.

Chashan, a powerful sorcerer, was ready to burn Azadin with magical fire at any moment. But Azadin, unfazed by Chashan’s blatant threat, asked,

“Instead of smuggling, have you ever thought about creating a formal trading company and running it?”

At that moment, Chashan’s subordinate, Lord Braham, was startled.

Azadin’s proposal was beyond common sense.

To propose the establishment of a legitimate trading company to smugglers? But wasn’t this against the Knights’ policy?

‘I thought he was just a crazy guy who got lucky and took down Lord Hexenmeier… but it seems that’s not the case. He’s planning something bigger.’

Unlike Lord Braham, who was surprised, Chashan didn’t seem to think deeply about Azadin’s proposal.

“Oh? Are you out of your mind? We’re criminals. The Rescue Knights don’t want us to leave the highlands and exert our power. It would be against the Knights’ policy.”

“I know that. But we can’t face the coming destruction like this.”

“Haha. Are you also a market madman who prophesies the Jupiter Era?”

“If necessary, I’ll have to endure being treated like a madman.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

Chashan scoffed.

“What else can we do besides drugs? Nothing is more profitable than drugs. Transportation is difficult, and the profits are low. Sugar is the only thing that’s as profitable as drugs, but it grows well in hot and rainy climates, and even if the Chadra Highlands are fertile, we can’t produce sugar.”

“Food and weapons, wool, fur, cloth, healing ointments.”

Braham clicked his tongue at the products Azadin was listing.

They were not attractive products for smugglers, as they were heavier and cheaper than drugs, with most of the cost going to transportation.

However, if a war broke out, if the Jupiter Era came, they would be invaluable resources.

‘Does he really believe that the Jupiter Era is coming?’

A sudden eerie feeling came over him.

If that was true, the guy in front of him was a fanatic.

Someone who couldn’t be reasoned with, someone who couldn’t be threatened or blackmailed. It meant that the violence, threats, intimidation, and bribery that Chashan had wielded so far would not work on him.

‘Does he really believe in the Jupiter Era? If so….’

Lord Braham suddenly felt his heart pounding.

It was a heart that had grown old and corrupt and no longer beat. Of course, as a member of Chashan’s violent and barbaric organization, heart-stopping moments were commonplace, but it had been a long time since he had experienced a truly heart-pounding moment.

Unlike Lord Braham, who was moved by Azadin’s words and the vision he was painting, Chashan underestimated Azadin.

“You’re crazy. There’s nothing more to say. How can we get back the Dwarven Arrow [a valuable artifact or item] by selling that stuff? This drug isn’t just a simple recreational item like tobacco. It’s a power that controls and governs people. Even if the Jupiter Era is real and we need to produce food and weapons, it’s the same. No, it’s better that way. All the guys who stuck me in this backwater will be destroyed.”

“What I’m worried about, Chashan.”

Azadin glared at Chashan with a cold gaze.

“Is whether it’s more beneficial to keep you alive or to kill you.”

“What?!”

“Are you serious right now? Or are you afraid that if you don’t prove your courage with your recklessness, someone will look down on you?”

“You’ve crossed the line! You bastard!”

At that moment, the tattoos on Chashan’s body blazed. Chashan’s glare was not just a threat.

-Burning Gaze!

Pure red magic was released from Chashan’s eyes and engulfed Azadin. It was the magic of Chashan, who had killed countless opponents.

Chashan’s subordinate, Lord Braham, recalled how Chashan had attacked a senior knight with that burning gaze.

After seeing a noble knight in plate armor cut in half, leaving only his lower body after being hit by a beam of fire, Braham had to become Chashan’s confidant.

But Azadin was different.

-Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon Series!

Numerous magic bullets poured out in front of Azadin, colliding with the burning gaze. As the gaze and magic bullets exploded, Azadin simultaneously moved to a chair next to him.

It looked like he was leaning back on a rocking chair, but at the same time, a kick struck Chashan’s jaw.

It looked more like he was sitting on a chair in a haughty and flamboyant manner, but Chashan was sent flying backward.

“Gah!”

Chashan’s jaw was shattered, and blood flowed.

Chashan, the founder of the Dwarven Arrow and a frenzied dwarven sorcerer, had been battered by a single kick from that young man.