The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 269

-Crack! With a sickening sound, Selim’s horn snapped, and blood sprayed. Azadin quickly cauterized the wound, searing the broken surface of the horn with the burning blade of Aurelia Dawn. “Gaaah! I… I lost my horn!” The smell of cooked meat filled the air again, savory and intense. The griffins, seemingly driven by hunger, drooled and edged closer. “Ugh…” “Selim, it seems you’ve trained the griffins since they were young not to attack cows or you. But what if they smell something this delicious? They seem unable to resist their instincts, don’t they?” Azadin pressed an Azure Steel dagger against Selim’s neck while continuing to cauterize the wound with Aurelia Dawn. Selim, his head forced into the ground by the burning sword, couldn’t even think of getting up. It was only because it was a horn that he could withstand the flames of Aurelia Dawn; if the blade touched his skin directly, he would suffer severe burns. The instinct to avoid the fire forced Selim to stay pinned to the ground. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, confusing the griffins. They were torn between the delicious smell and the crisis of their caretaker, unsure of what to do. “A, I understand. I lost! I surrender!” “Then call off the griffins.” Selim whistled. “K, kids. Go hunt outside. Daddy’s okay.” At Selim’s words, the griffins hesitated, circling around him, looking at Azadin and Selim with suspicion. When Azadin slightly raised and swung the burning Aurelia Dawn, the griffins took another step back. However, they didn’t run away further, continuing to watch Azadin. It seemed they wouldn’t retreat until Selim was completely safe. “Get up.” At Azadin’s command, Selim rose to his feet. “Ugh, I’m sorry, Bishop. I was too weak to be defeated by such a…” Selim still seemed to trust Bishop Sehnath. Azadin tied Selim with rope, completely subduing him. “Huh… Sir Selim has been subdued?” As Azadin subdued Selim, Selim’s subordinates and the village soldiers rushed over. “Everyone, calm down! This guy is dangerous! He’s not ordinary, so there’s no need to try to save me…” Selim was worried that his subordinates might attack Azadin to save him, so he tried to stop them. But… “We’re finally safe!” “Hooray!” “Sir Azadin! Thank you!” The soldiers cheered, celebrating Azadin’s victory. “Now we’re free from those awful griffins!” “Hey, you! You cow-head! Serves you right!” “…Huh?” Selim didn’t seem to realize that he was hated by his subordinates and the villagers. “How could you all…” “How could we what!” “To you, griffins might just be cute animals, but to us, they’re terrifying monsters!” “You hang out with monsters! Do you know that my child’s arm was broken when he was crushed by a horse carcass your griffins threw away? His arm is twisted and deformed, and you just laughed! I’ve wanted to roast you over charcoal for what you did to my son, but I was too scared to do anything!” “The griffin poop has turned the roof white, and it stinks! How can we even go up there to clean it when we’re so scared!” People were shouting, venting their pent-up frustrations. If Azadin hadn’t been there, they would have skewered Selim with spears and roasted him. “So, are you going to kill him? Should we prepare a gallows?” “Since he’s a minotaur, the gallows will have to be huge. He’s quite heavy.” The soldiers were excited, preparing to hang Selim. However, Azadin stopped them. “Wait a minute. Who said anything about killing him?” “Huh?” “W, well, we just assumed you’d execute him…” “Y, you must kill him. You know what we’ve suffered.” They were afraid that if Selim wasn’t killed, it would only reveal their resentment. Their safety was only guaranteed if Selim died here. “If you don’t execute him now, we’ll die.” “If we execute him? Can you handle the griffins? The griffins hatched from eggs will think of this guy as their parent, right? In the first place, they attack horses but not cows because Selim is a minotaur, so they don’t attack those with cow heads, right?” “……” Azadin’s question left everyone speechless. The griffins that Selim hatched from eggs considered him their parent, which is why they were controlled. If Selim died, the griffins would become uncontrollable monsters and continue to spread. The thought of the griffins multiplying by eating the wild animals of the Chadra Dragon Spring made their heads spin. “Now then, Selim.” “Ugh… Ugh. Waaah.” Surprisingly, Selim was crying, tears and snot streaming down his face. “Everyone hated me! Ugh… Waaah. I wanted to become a Holy Knight!” “……” Everyone was at a loss, seeing a grown man, no, a minotaur, sobbing so loudly. “Why didn’t you just say you hated me!” “W, well, I did say I was scared because of the griffins?” When the soldiers said that, Selim sobbed even harder. “I said I was scared because I’m a minotaur too! I thought you’d be okay with it once you got used to it.” “Okay, okay. Calm down.” Azadin calmed Selim down and reached out to Camilla. Camilla handed Azadin the documents she had taken from Selim’s office. “It’s an order from the Bishop. Azadin, your wanted poster? There’s even a portrait.” “Let’s see…” Azadin unfolded the documents. Indeed, there were portraits of those managing the fortresses and villages in the Chadra Highlands, and Azadin was among them. “There’s no specific order to kill me. Is that to be expected?” Bishop Sehnath wasn’t stupid enough to leave evidence of a kill order. He probably gave the order verbally. “T, the Bishop told me that the people here were spies that the cultists had infiltrated into the Order. He said it was necessary to protect the Order from the cultists.” “Can you testify to that?” “T, testify? I can. But the contact will deny it, and I’m a minotaur, so the Order won’t believe me, right? The Bishop is my patron, so that’s how I got a position in the Order…” Selim sniffled, wiping away his tears and snot. He had been certain of his patron, the Bishop, who had placed him in the Order of Knights. But now that he knew that his subordinates, whom he believed were loyal, and the villagers, whom he believed were friendly, actually hated him enough to kill him, all his faith was shaken. “Even if they are really spies, it’s absurd to eliminate them without a proper trial. If they are truly cultists, wouldn’t it be more important to extract information from the cult organization that infiltrated them? Didn’t you think of that?” “I didn’t. The Bishop is the one who led me to join the Relief Knights, so I never even thought of doubting him.” “That’s a truly foolish thing to do. A Hospitaller [a member of a religious order that provides care for the sick and poor] should only let virtue be the lamp that lights their way. Loyalty to any individual is just a blind devotion that makes one blind to virtue. Tell me, Selim, why did you want to become a knight?” Azadin suddenly asked Selim that question. Then, Selim rummaged through his belongings and pulled something out. It was a piece of pottery with a picture of a knight flying on a hippogriff [a mythical creature with the front of an eagle and the back of a horse]. He had placed the pottery piece in a brass locket to keep it from breaking. “I found this by chance when I was young. I kept it because it was pretty, and I kept looking at it whenever I thought of it…” “Huh? Just for that reason?” The other soldiers scoffed at such a trivial reason. However, Azadin could tell that Selim was sincere. “No, he’s sincere. I know you all suffered from Selim’s tyranny, but I don’t think it’s right to insult him for this.” “Ah. Yes…” “I’m sorry, Sir Azadin.” The soldiers apologized to Azadin in unison. “It’s not something you need to apologize to me for. But I understand.” People probably didn’t want to apologize to Selim. The damage caused by Selim hatching the griffins was so severe that their resentment was too great. Selim, who had just realized that what he believed in might have been wrong, knelt on the ground and buried his head in the dirt. “Sniff. I’m an idiot. I don’t know anything. I guess someone like me doesn’t deserve to be a knight.” The soldiers were at a loss, seeing Selim sobbing so loudly. ‘He seems to be genuinely regretting it.’ ‘But what if Sir Azadin is swayed by such words and releases Sir Selim?’ ‘I even suggested hanging him. This is a big problem.’ While everyone was worried about their own safety, Azadin spoke to the people. “Now, I know you’re all afraid of being retaliated against for expressing your dissatisfaction with Sir Selim. But I will manage him. He won’t retaliate against you.” “R, really?” “If that’s the case.” “Actually, Sir Selim is just stupid, not a bad guy.” People were relieved when Azadin said he would take care of Selim, as they didn’t have any ill feelings towards him. Azadin reached out his hand to Selim. “Now then, get up, Sir Selim. I need you.” “B, but. What about you? How are you different from Bishop Sehnath? You must have some ambition, since you defeated Chashan and everyone else, and you’re plotting something, right? I can’t trust anyone anymore, not even myself.” “Indeed, having been deceived once, it would be foolish to be deceived again. But Sir Selim, I do not demand blind faith.” “Huh?” “You don’t need to be blindly loyal like you were to Bishop Sehnath. Just let virtue be your lamp and move forward, and if I am an obstacle in your path, cut me down too.” “…But I don’t know what’s right.” “At least you’ve come to realize that you don’t know, haven’t you? You paid a high tuition fee, but that’s what lessons are like. You can know the knowledge written in books in your head, but you have to pay a great price to know it in your heart.” Azadin said that and smiled wryly. “I paid quite a lot to learn that too.” He suddenly missed Midiam. Would he be okay? “A, I understand. No, I understand.” Selim took Azadin’s hand and stood up. “I was ignorant and served evil with foolish sins, so Sir Azadin, I will follow your teachings. However… if I think you’re not on the path of virtue as you say, then…” “Do as you please.” “Then…” Selim knelt before Azadin and turned his axe over, handing it to Azadin. “I offer you my axe. Please lead me, Sir Azadin.” The oath of loyalty was completed when Azadin received the axe and then returned it. One of the Chadra Overlords, Sir Selim the Minotaur, pledged his loyalty to Azadin.