The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 27

The night of the soulless heretic – Episode 28 (28/514)

#28. Massacre of the Holy Knights 5

How could they possibly justify killing civilians with stray arrows? From the King’s Church’s perspective, the farm folks with the Messenger Clan were no different from heretics. But facing the Messenger Clan directly felt like a death sentence.

And yet…

The Messenger wasn’t attacking; he was just staring at them.

“What’s this?”

“Looks like they came hunting. Holy Knights with spears and bows? And even if the trainee knights are like that, the formal knights are silent.”

“…So what about it?”

“Why did you suddenly kill the villagers after coming to hunt?”

“Because the villagers are heretics.”

“No, you didn’t even know I was a Messenger until you crossed swords with me. You only realized the Messenger Clan was here after our kids shot arrows. In other words…”

Azadin, realizing the situation, clicked his tongue.

“You killed people by mistake and tried to cover it up.”

“……”

“Looks like I’m right?”

Midiam, seeing the Holy Knights’ reaction, realized Azadin’s deduction was correct.

“They probably mistook people gathering herbs or mushrooms in the bushes for animals and shot them. Then, to cover it up, they chased them down and ended up massacring the entire farm.”

“Shut your mouth, you soulless heretic!”

Sir Gazrek, having been hit where it hurt, was furious.

To be precise, an arrow fired during the hunt had become a stray arrow, killing a farmer checking the fence, but he didn’t want to reveal such a disgraceful act to the Messenger Clan.

“It’ll be hard to kill me to shut my mouth, though?”

Azadin picked up a spear from the hand of the Holy Knight he had knocked out with his short sword. The hunting spear was aimed at Sir Gazrek.

“If you stop harming this village, pay compensation, and become penitent knights, I’ll end this without killing you. I haven’t killed anyone so far…”

Azadin swung the spear in the air and then aimed it at Sir Gazrek again.

“…But from now on, it won’t be easy not to kill you.”

Although he had neutralized two trainee knights, the enemies still outnumbered him. Azadin could no longer afford to fight with leniency.

‘Is he crazy? Saying it won’t be easy not to kill us from now on? Does that mean he’s been holding back until now?’

The Holy Knights of the King’s Church held an absolute advantage over ordinary knights in terms of skill. While the rural knights couldn’t improve their skills due to the lack of sparring partners, the Holy Knight Order, being composed entirely of knights, could quickly compare and improve each other’s skills.

Was he saying he had been holding back while fighting against such Holy Knights?

“That’s ridiculous. If we retreat because we’re afraid of a soulless heretic… we’ll be punished for that alone.”

“Are you going to keep committing crimes because you’re afraid of punishment?”

“If we capture you, everything will be resolved! Judging by your skills, you must be a high-ranking Messenger, right? Capturing you will solve everything! These villagers are followers of the Emperor, so they deserved to die anyway!”

Midiam and Ismail, who were listening, had to hold back their laughter at the absurdity.

Azadin was the 108th, the lowest among the Messengers, and someone avoided by the Messenger Clan. To rate Azadin’s skills so highly.

However, considering that the Holy Knights were not easy opponents, their assessment was correct. Both Midiam and Ismail agreed that Azadin’s skills were definitely not those of a low-ranking Messenger.

Then, Azadin threw the spear again.

“Hmph!”

Sir Gazrek easily deflected the flying hunting spear and cast a spell at Azadin. This time, a holy hammer of light fell from above Azadin’s head.

Azadin dodged it, but the light exploded, and the aftereffects swept over him. However, even amidst that, Azadin calmly unfastened the bow from his waist, strung it, and picked up the hunting arrows from the trainee knight who had fallen to the ground.

The trainee knights didn’t usually carry many arrows, so there were only about three.

“Do you think I’d get hit by something like that head-on!”

Sir Gazrek charged forward.

“Is that so?”

Azadin raised his bow to the sky and shot at a high angle.

Was that the preparation stance for the Yiseon Bow [a powerful bow technique]?

It was too unguarded to be that.

“It’s dangerous!”

Midiam shot an arrow at Sir Gazrek to support Azadin. However, as he had boasted, Sir Gazrek deflected the arrow flying at eye level with his sword and rushed in.

“Ah!”

It was when a flustered Midiam shot another arrow. This time, Azadin intervened between the arrow and Sir Gazrek.

“Huh?!”

Azadin grabbed the arrow flying in the air, spun around, and then inserted that arrow into his bow and fired it.

Sir Gazrek, who had raised his sword to deflect Midiam’s arrow, couldn’t withstand Azadin’s close-range shot that suddenly changed direction and came from the side. The arrow Azadin shot pierced his temple, and Sir Gazrek fell forward.

“Ugh…”

“No way!”

The remaining trainee knights were bewildered by Azadin’s almost magical feats. Sir Gazrek had shown outstanding skill, even deflecting arrows flying right at his face.

But he had been defeated by Azadin grabbing an arrow flying towards him and shooting it back? It was like the work of a demon, not a human.

“……”

“W-what was that?”

Even Midiam, who was from the Messenger Clan, asked out of curiosity.

“It’s a technique called arrow feedback.”

“Arrow feedback? Is that also from Kazas [a legendary archer]?”

“No, this is a technique I created. It’s not too difficult, so if you practice a bit, you guys can do it too.”

Azadin kindly explained to Midiam and then looked back at the knights.

“So, what are you going to do?”

When Azadin raised his hand to the sky, the arrow he had just shot into the sky flew into his hand as if drawn by a magnet. He had shot it into the sky earlier to use it like this.

A trap to subdue enemies who would carelessly attack, thinking Azadin’s bow was empty. But before he could even use that trap, he had grabbed Midiam’s arrow in mid-air and used it to instantly kill Sir Gazrek.

“Ah, well…”

“If you compensate the bereaved families for harming the farm people and become penitent knights, I won’t kill you.”

At Azadin’s words, the trainee knights looked at each other in confusion. If Sir Gazrek had been alive, they would have thought it was nonsense.

But seeing even Sir Gazrek killed by this Messenger, it was no joke. This guy would really kill them all.

‘But he says he’ll spare us if we become penitent knights? What if we escape and report to the higher-ups that the Emperor’s Messenger has appeared?’

‘Let’s just get out of this situation. Should we say we’ll become penitent knights?’

The trainee knights were conflicted by Azadin’s words. It was then.

“No!”

The farmer’s sons and daughters appeared from behind.

“Those guys killed our father!”

“They killed our mother and brother-in-law!”

“They killed us like livestock just to cover up their mistakes! We don’t need compensation!”

“We want blood, not gold!”

The farmers demanded that Azadin, the Messenger, execute the Holy Knights of the King’s Church.

“You lowly things!”

The Holy Knights flared up.

“Looks like there’s no room for negotiation.”

Azadin lamented that the situation was taking a turn for the worse.

‘These farmers, I know they’re burning with revenge, but if they kill the Holy Knights of the King’s Church, they’ll have to abandon their farm and become wanderers.’

Among the people of Hybris, young peasant boys often dreamed of becoming mercenaries or adventurers. Living as serfs who couldn’t leave their villages for their entire lives was a difficult life plan for boys at an age when they were full of imagination.

However, becoming a mercenary or adventurer was not that easy. Even if they were fallen warrior nobles, it was impossible for boys and girls from serf backgrounds with nothing to become mercenaries or adventurers.

They had no capital, no initial equipment, and no proper training to become mercenaries or adventurers, so they would be accepted nowhere proper, except maybe by a band of thieves.

‘The life of a wanderer is too harsh. Are they prepared for that and seeking revenge now?’

However, if the victims wanted revenge, Azadin couldn’t arbitrarily decide on forgiveness. The enraged farmer’s sons and family members struck the fallen knight with stones and axes, killing him.

“You ignorant fools! How dare you… to a Holy Knight! You will all be cursed!”

The knight, screaming, tried to kill the farmers, but Azadin’s arrow stopped him. The farmers swarmed the knight, who was paralyzed by the impact of Azadin’s arrow, and beat him to death as well.

Azadin clicked his tongue as he watched the carnage.

*********

The farmers decided to gather the bodies of the knights and those who had been killed. They wanted to desecrate the knights’ bodies, having lost their families due to the Holy Knights’ violence, but Azadin stopped them.

“A corpse is just a corpse. You can hate them while they’re alive. But there’s no need to be bound by hating the dead more than necessary. Don’t the people of Hybris believe in the afterlife? There’s no need to add more bad karma by desecrating corpses.”

“But there’s no need to give the corpses a funeral, is there?”

“You don’t have to. I’ll do it. It’s not bad to put in a little effort to prevent them from becoming undead. And it wouldn’t hurt to show a minimum of compassion in the place where grudges have been washed away. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“……”

At Azadin’s words, they reluctantly began to collect the bodies of their families.

While they were doing that, Azadin collected the bodies of the Holy Knights.

“You’re a very unique person.”

Midiam also began to help Azadin. Ismail searched the dead Holy Knights and checked their equipment.

“It’s better not to take the Holy Knights’ weapons. Most of them are church-issued. Let’s bury them together or use them as tombstones.”

Azadin decided to use the swords and armor the Holy Knights wore as burial goods, wrapped the bodies in cloth, and consecrated them in the manner of the Rescue Knights [a knightly order known for their compassion and respect for the dead].

‘…Consecrating the Holy Knights of the King’s Church in the manner of the Rescue Knights, wouldn’t that also be a desecration?’

Midiam thought so, but didn’t say it out loud.

“Hoo.”

Azadin, having finished his work and performed the funeral in the manner of the Rescue Knights, sat on a tree stump. He had planned to rest and reorganize today, but the atmosphere was not right for that.

“But were you really going to forgive them if they said they would become penitent knights?”

Midiam asked Azadin.

“Forgiveness isn’t up to me, but isn’t that the law?”

“The Holy Knights of the King’s Church might make false promises, right? After all, they consider us Aragasa [another name for the Messenger Clan] to be soulless heretics, so they believe that breaking promises with us is not a sin, no matter what?”

Soulless heretic, the name they called the Messenger Clan, carried that meaning.