The Shadowed Legacy Of The Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 280

The Council of Elders, rather than being deterred by such a threat, actually joined in the attacks on Korasar and Butuma.

Azadin eliminated the key figures in the Council of Elders who made that decision, and the Council has yet to recover from that loss.

“If you hadn’t done that, we would have been in control of that power by now, the rulers of everything!”

“And you would have accepted the power of an unknown darkness, becoming a servant of an ancient god without even realizing it.”

“………”

Dilia didn’t deny it.

She herself already knew that Azadin was right.

And at that moment, she understood why Azadin fought back, even while being abandoned and cursed by the entire clan.

‘To avoid accepting the power of an unknown darkness and becoming a servant of an ancient god.’

That would surely be the worst thing that could happen to one’s self.

The young man before her was not a traitor to the clan.

The clan was the traitor.

But even knowing that, she couldn’t admit it. If she admitted it, she might have to fight too.

Turning her back on the clan,

Abandoning her family,

Being cursed by everyone, yet still upholding the truth.

That was something impossible for her.

“It will be a harsh era. Cooperation will be necessary. Remember my words then, Dilia. I don’t hate you. I don’t hate the clan either.”

“The clan hates you.”

“Yes. So remember, Dilia. When a crisis comes and there’s no room left for hatred….”

“…….”

“I don’t hate you.”

Dilia was speechless at Azadin’s words.

*********

‘I won’t hate you.’

That was actually a useless statement.

A person’s heart can only be proven by actions, and even then, only by consistent actions, not just a fleeting moment.

But Azadin declared that he wouldn’t hate them without any conditions.

‘Too arrogant. Is he saying he’ll extend a hand of reconciliation anytime? But… it’s not bad.’

There was no possibility of reconciliation between Azadin and the clan, but the fact that the choice was entirely up to the clan wasn’t a bad thing.

‘No. This is no different from now, is it? Why am I feeling good, as if I have the upper hand?’

Dilia realized that Azadin’s words were just empty words with no value.

But at the same time, she realized that Azadin’s eyes were just like Araiel’s.

That’s right. This young man looked exactly like Araiel, whom she had admired.

Come to think of it, when he defeated the Chadra Ogres one after another….

She had felt joy.

She had felt pride watching Azadin, who had caused great losses to the clan, manage the troublemakers that even the Relief Knights couldn’t handle so easily.

‘Yeah, the guy who gave us so much trouble shouldn’t be easily defeated here.’

She seemed to have been cheering him on with that kind of feeling.

As those feelings came back to her, Dilia felt her heart soften.

‘Looks are really important. If he were still the monster with his eyes covered like before, I would have been reluctant to even be in the same room with him.’

The young man before her had a neutral, beautiful appearance, resembling his twin sister.

But what made her feel he was beautiful wasn’t his appearance, but his talent, his pride, and his unwavering will, even if it meant turning the entire clan against him.

Yes. All the elements that made her admire Araiel were also present in this young man, in Azadin.

Dilia had realized that fact.

“Okay, fine. If we can keep hating you, it doesn’t matter whether you hate us or not. We’ll continue to cooperate. But Azadin, you’d better get your subordinates under control quickly.”

“Subordinates?”

“Yes. There’s an opinion among the clan that the recent Elemental Wailing explosions… are mainly happening to those who see visions of destruction, isn’t there?”

“…….”

To put it nicely, they were visions of destruction, but originally, they were called lunatics who talked about the Jupiter era, doomsday prophets.

Some people anagrammed the word doomsday prophet and called them ‘doomed fools’… Everyone thought that those who had already ruined their lives were just singing for the world to end.

But ‘those who see visions of destruction’ suddenly became a cool name, didn’t it?

“Sir Braham of the Southeast Rock Fortress was one of those who saw visions of destruction. If he died from the Elemental Wailing, you’ll lose control of the Southeast Rock Fortress. You went to the trouble of paving the way there, but if you lose control, you’ll just be doing someone else a favor, right?”

“That’s true. Good point. Thank you, Dilia.”

“…It’s just unavoidable cooperation.”

Dilia accepted Azadin’s thanks like that and clicked her tongue.

No matter what, she had ended up giving Azadin the best advice she could personally give.

*********

As Dilia had warned, Sir Braham of the Southeast Rock Fortress also succumbed to the Elemental Wailing and died.

The command of the Southeast Rock Fortress was temporarily taken over by the minotaur knight Selim, but in the meantime, Prince Kalintz and Sir Zekt released the dwarven sorcerer Chashan on bail.

It was revealed that Chashan had paid a huge bail to have all his gang released and still possessed a large amount of weapons and drugs.

And….

An accident occurred in an area that Dilia hadn’t warned about.

*********

“I’m leaving because I’m worried about my daughter.”

When Azadin gathered his subordinates for a countermeasures meeting, the alchemist Giacomo declared his departure.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a criminal. What are you talking about? You’re alive because the Captain is letting you be, otherwise you’d be hanged. It doesn’t even make sense that you’re alive. If the Knights find out, you’ll have to die.”

The half-elf Legion opposed Giacomo’s departure, saying it was nonsense.

But Giacomo’s mind was firm.

“People have been exploding from the Elemental Wailing. I need to know if my daughter is dead or alive.”

“…How? Do you have a plan?”

“I have to do something. Just staying here won’t help me find out where my daughter is, will it?”

Giacomo was saying that as a parent, he couldn’t help but worry about his daughter.

But everyone just scoffed.

In Hybris, the relationship between parents and children could be affectionate, but there were many cases where it wasn’t.

Looking at those gathered in exile places like the Chadra Plateau, most of them had bad relationships with their fathers, if not their mothers.

So they could only see Giacomo as trying to escape under the pretext of his daughter.

However, Azadin, who had received formal education from the Relief Knights since childhood, or rather, had actually studied by reading books until they were worn out, was looking at Giacomo’s denial with a certain respect.

Azadin had no family.

The only blood relative he had, Araiel, had left a large scar on Azadin’s face, and to him, family was a void that was lacking, something that would never be filled.

Of course, Aldis had given him love as a mother, and Kazas’s love could be compared to that of a father.

But since they were love from others that could be taken away at any time if they had a real family, Azadin was curious and longed to know what the affection of blood relatives was like.

However, the atmosphere was too bad for Azadin to side with Giacomo.

Legion said, annoyed.

“To be honest, I don’t think your daughter is alive anymore.”

“Stop it, Legion. That’s too harsh.”

Azadin stopped Legion.

But even Legion, who always adored Azadin, couldn’t tolerate this. The dwarf Kalan spoke instead of Legion.

“Captain Azadin. We respect you. But this isn’t something that can be handled by being nice. There has to be a hierarchy in an organization. As a leader, it would be good if you made that clear.”

“We absolutely can’t just let someone who wants to leave go!”

Kalan and Legion were setting the mood like that, and even the blood mage Bernard, who was closest to Giacomo, opposed Giacomo’s departure.

“If you just go out there without a plan, you’ll end up killing a lot of people because you can’t control your magic and get hanged. If it’s discovered that you’re alive, Captain Azadin will be held accountable.”

“Then… what am I supposed to do? Just stay in Vermilion and make profitable drugs like a slave alchemist? And if I get the Elemental Wailing, will you harvest the magic stones from my body?”

That’s why he ran away.

The Banlung Academy had established a hypothesis about the Elemental Wailing.

It mainly affects those exposed to magic and alchemy.

So they were teaching magic to humans under the pretext of magic knowledge, using them as workers in alchemy factories, hoping that the Elemental Wailing would spread.

But now that he had escaped from the Banlung Academy, Giacomo realized that his situation was no different from before.

“Giacomo.”

At that moment, Azadin reached into his chest.

Everyone was startled.

Was Azadin going to punish Giacomo for breaking the rules of the organization?

A dagger seemed to be about to fly out of Azadin’s chest and pierce Giacomo’s head right now.

Even a light coin, if thrown with Azadin’s monstrous power, could easily shatter a person’s skull.

But what Azadin took out was a vial.

Inside was the experimental treatment for the Elemental Wailing that Giacomo had made.

“Giacomo, you haven’t taken this medicine even after entrusting yourself to me. Elemental Wailing patients are appearing, but you haven’t even tested it,”

“Huh?”

“Since I’ve guaranteed your safety, shouldn’t you refine this medicine even closer to perfection? I guaranteed you research facilities not only for profit, but also because I wanted you to refine this Elemental Wailing medicine more thoroughly. But you haven’t even taken the medicine back from me.”

“Ah, th-that’s….”

Giacomo’s head, even the shaved part, turned bright red.

When he handed over that vial, Giacomo thought that his life was not long for this world.

Giving the treatment to Azadin was just a childish act, a minimal atonement for his daughter, who he didn’t even know if she was alive or not.

If he really wanted to save his daughter, he should have improved that medicine now that he was alive.

But Giacomo, in order to prove his usefulness in the newly joined organization, was voluntarily taking the path of an alchemy slave that he had broken out of, and he wasn’t even thinking about improving the medicine.

In the end, his daughter’s illness, his love for his daughter, was just an excuse.

An excuse to give justification to a sudden impulse.

Knowing that all too well, the seasoned Legion and Kalan were looking at Giacomo with contempt, as if he were a bug.

And Azadin was also seeing through Giacomo’s shallow intentions.

Giacomo knew that he had been stripped bare and thrown in front of everyone’s eyes, and he bowed his head in shame.

“I was wrong, Captain. I said something stupid. I’ll withdraw my statement about leaving.”

Giacomo answered and bowed his head.

“Hmm? Have you finally come to your senses?”

“You did something stupid. For a mage, anyway.”

Legion and Kalan were not happy, but they seemed to accept Giacomo’s apology.

Bernard also just sighed and kept quiet, so it seemed like things would end here.

However…