The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 283

Azadin had bound Chashan’s group and finally succeeded in completely confiscating their hidden assets.

The amount of wealth they had accumulated through drug trafficking was so vast that they had to transport gold and silver coins by cart.

However, Azadin was not satisfied with just seizing the funds.

‘Now, let’s get to the point. I want to contact the Elemental Wailing patients managed by the Banlung Academy.’

‘Are you crazy? Elemental Wailing patients are the property of the Banlung Academy. The Banlung King is of the Yaegas divine race, but the Banlung Academy belongs to the dwarves. We prioritize the academy over the king’s orders.’

‘Ah, I suppose my words were too gentle, and you mistook them for a request. How about we start with a nice shave?’

At Azadin’s gesture, his subordinate brought a razor.

‘There’s an idiom about shaving a dwarf’s beard, but I wonder what it’ll actually be like if we do it.’

‘Hey! You bastard! Our bodies, hair, and skin are gifts from our parents! You barbaric humans! Are you going to harm the precious beard our parents gave us? Just kill me instead!’

‘Is that what a drug dealer says? Why didn’t you care about others’ bodies when you valued your own?’

‘Well, what do I care about the parents of those who aren’t dwarves? I could even kill their parents myself. It’s their choice if the bodies they received from their parents are ruined by drugs!’

Chashan and the other dwarf sorcerers sneered as if they didn’t care about other races.

‘Hmm, you guys are quite annoying. I think you’ll look better after a shave.’

‘Ugh! A, alright! You want to find the Elemental Wailing patients, right?’

‘Do you know about them?’

‘I don’t know! But I still have influence over the Dwarven Arrow, so I can investigate through them! If you shave my beard, it’s all over! They won’t listen to a beardless dwarf! Don’t touch my beard for your own purposes!’

Chashan succumbed to the threat of the razor.

Losing in a fight or being captured as a prisoner was something that could happen, but having their beard shaved was an unbearable humiliation for dwarves.

If Azadin had shaved Chashan’s beard, Chashan would have had no choice but to commit suicide.

‘Good. So, we’ve secured the funds and found a clue about the Elemental Wailing.’

Azadin’s allies were all dissatisfied with Azadin for not only forgiving Jacomo, who had said he would leave the organization, but also for agreeing to listen to his complaints.

However, Azadin resolved the issue too quickly.

‘How long did it take?’

‘…One day,’

Niselda said, nodding her head.

‘In the end, mercy is the right of the strong. Others cannot show mercy because they are not as strong as you, Lord Azadin. If they show mercy and are betrayed, they will suffer irreparable damage.’

‘Are you angry? That I showed mercy to those who didn’t deserve it?’

‘Not at all. Rather, I’m looking forward to it. Actually, my father and I have a personal matter, and seeing Lord Azadin resolve Jacomo’s issue, we are actually delighted.’

‘What is it? It’s scary. What are you planning to make me do?’

‘It’s not the right time yet… I’ll tell you later.’

‘Hmm?’

Azadin, who was talking to Niselda, raised his hand.

Ice shards were falling from the sky.

‘Is it hail?’

Hail in the summer was a common occurrence.

However….

-Thud… Thud thud….

The hail was getting stronger.

‘This is bad!’

Ice shards the size of fingertips were falling from the sky.

Even those wearing helmets were disoriented, and those who were not wearing armor were collapsing.

Everyone hid in Chashan’s fortress to avoid the downpour of hail, but….

‘Huh?’

Soon after, white snow began to fall among the hailstones.

‘…Snow in the summer?’

Everyone was horrified by the sight.

*********

It snowed on the Chadra Plateau.

The Chadra Plateau was a cool place even in the summer compared to other areas, and snow would sometimes fall on the high peaks even in the summer.

However, it was unprecedented for snow to start falling in the lowlands in the middle of the day.

Fortunately, it wasn’t accumulating, but the temperature suddenly dropped, leaving everyone bewildered.

Azadin surveyed the damage to the farms that had been devastated by the hail.

There was a lot of damage everywhere due to the sudden hail.

Not only were crops flattened by the hail, but buildings were also severely damaged, and many people were injured or killed.

‘Go around the villages, check on people’s situations, and help those who need roof reinforcements.’

Azadin thought that this hail might not be a temporary phenomenon and might continue, so he immediately headed to Fireglyph.

Fireglyph was also devastated.

Moreover, in the midst of all this, he saw employees of the Van Dyke Trading Company buying up the grains that were circulating in the market.

They were selling materials to reinforce houses and medicine for the injured, while buying up grains and food from the market.

‘Those guys… they knew?’

Azadin immediately headed to the Van Dyke Trading Company.

‘Ugh. Azadin.’

Delia, the branch manager of the Van Dyke Trading Company, frowned upon seeing the unwelcome guest.

‘…You’re hoarding food?’

‘It’s not like we’re only doing it today. We’ve been steadily buying it up. And what else would we buy in the territory of the Relief Knights other than food?’

‘Still, it’s strange to hoard when it’s not even harvest season, isn’t it? Was there some kind of instruction?’

‘Btooma and Corasar have finally collapsed. There are so many refugees coming from there that the King’s Church has requested support from the Relief Knights. That’s why Lord Jekt is here.’

‘I wondered why Lord Jekt came here, but it seems… things are already a mess elsewhere.’

He wondered why an Inquisitor, the pinnacle of the Holy Knights in the King’s Church, had come to a remote place like the Chadra Plateau, but it turned out that everyone had already anticipated the food shortage and had flocked to the territory of the Relief Knights, the greatest granary on the Hybris continent.

‘I don’t know the details, but my clan suspects that there is some kind of agreement between the Northern Empire and the King’s Church to seize the territory of the Relief Knights.’

‘Evidence?’

‘It’s just a suspicion since there isn’t any. How about you, Azadin? What are you investigating? You hate the King’s Church, don’t you?’

‘I don’t hate them?’

‘What?’

‘I even have a friend who is a Holy Knight of the King’s Church.’

‘Lord Zibeck, you mean? The one who’s famous for being a God-King slayer.’

‘…God-King slayer?’

Azadin was startled by the familiar title.

Usually, the title of God-King slayer was given to the Herald Clan. [A clan known for their ability to slay powerful beings.]

But why was Lord Zibeck given such a name?

‘Hmm? Didn’t I tell you? Just a moment.’

Delia went into the office for a moment and rummaged through something before taking out a wanted poster.

‘This is it, right?’

‘Huh?’

Azadin was shocked when he saw the wanted poster.

It was Lord Zibeck’s wanted poster.

The charges were surprisingly for the murder of a royal, specifically Darhan-Zadek, the son of the Golden King Manza-Zadek of Btooma.

‘This is?!’

‘It’s a wanted poster from the King’s Church. It seems it hasn’t arrived here through normal channels yet.’

‘Darhan-Zadek is dead?’

The wanted poster stated that Darhan-Zadek, the son of the Golden King Manza-Zadek, who had gained fame fighting the Kurut divine race’s followers in the northern fortress of Btooma, had been killed by Lord Zibeck.

‘Yes. Thanks to that, the Btooma army has collapsed, and the kingdom is almost destroyed… Refugees are fleeing. That’s why food prices are skyrocketing.’

‘I see.’

Azadin nodded.

‘It’s a false accusation.’

‘You really don’t think that Holy Knight Zibeck killed him?’

‘If he were the kind of person who could do that, he wouldn’t have been unknown until now. He has considerable swordsmanship and magic, but he was too principled to even rebel against the master of the place he was dispatched to. Even if Darhan-Zadek was an unforgivable villain, he would silently endure it if his death caused such great chaos.’

Azadin knew Zibeck’s character well.

Considering Darhan-Zadek’s reputation, he couldn’t have been an unforgivable villain. Even if he was a heinous villain unlike the rumors, it was impossible for Zibeck to assassinate him when the responsibility he carried was so heavy.

‘But isn’t it like spitting in their own face for the King’s Church to frame their own Holy Knight as an assassin?’

‘The one who framed him might not be the King’s Church. Could it be your clan? There aren’t many forces that would benefit from the collapse of the Btooma Kingdom.’

‘Don’t cross the line, Azadin. There’s no way I can answer such a question, right?’

Delia had agreed to cooperate with Azadin, but she was clearly drawing a line.

‘So, is your clan planning to profit from hoarding grain during this chaotic time?’

‘Rather than profiting, let’s just say it’s a struggle for survival, shall we?’

‘Judging by that, it seems the crop failure isn’t just a problem here.’

‘You know that the Kingdom of Corasar is suffering from drought, right? And recently, in the sea adjacent to Arangi and Chitai….’

‘Where the Netherstrom is?’

‘Yes. They say that large icebergs are drifting into the Andaz Inland Sea.’

‘…….’

The Andaz Inland Sea, where the Netherstrom is located, is a sea in the southern subtropical region, but it is famous for its low water temperature due to the cold current flowing in.

However, it is a place where squalls pour down due to the subtropical climate, so there is no way that icebergs could drift in intact.

‘This is serious. That’s like Fimbulwinter, isn’t it?’

Fimbulwinter. It was a kind of prophecy called the winter of destruction. [A legendary winter that precedes the end of the world in Norse mythology.]

When the age of Jupiter arrives and the ancient gods return, a harsh winter begins to herald destruction, and for three years, summer does not come, and all crops freeze to death due to the cold. A terrible prophecy that even the most faithful will have to eat human flesh to survive.

‘Fimbulwinter? That’s nonsense.’

‘Isn’t it a bit much to hoard food and blindly deny Fimbulwinter? This could be a problem later.’

Right now, it might just be said that they bought up food with money, but if a famine were to occur later and people really started to starve, then the people angered by the merchants could start a riot.

‘That’s why we’re providing materials, right? What’s the problem with preventing roofs from being pierced by hail….’

‘It’s definitely not a fair trade. But… I’m grateful for the news about Zibeck. If you happen to find Lord Zibeck, could you bring him to me?’

‘That’s not something you can ask a mere branch manager to do, is it?’

‘It’s fine if you want to trade with the Council of Elders. I’ll pay a price for Lord Zibeck’s safety.’

‘Hmm. You’ve grown a lot, Azadin. The guy who was ridiculed as the Azadin of Muan… you’ve grown too much.’

Delia felt a sense of time passing at Azadin’s statement demanding an equal trade with the Council of Elders.

‘Don’t get your hopes up. He’s probably hiding among the refugees, so it’ll be hard to find him. And our clan has had its hands and feet cut off because of someone’s betrayal, you know?’

‘Yes. I’m not expecting much either. But I’d be grateful if you could cooperate even a little.’

‘Hmph. You talk a good game.’

It was then that Delia said that.

The sound of the brass bell on the shop door rang.

Someone had entered.

‘Lord Azadin. Are you here?’

It was a young woman’s voice.

‘……’

Along with it, a chilling cold began to fill the Van Dyke Trading Company’s shop.

‘…Dahlia.’

Azadin had recently felt this chilling cold. It was the voice of Dahlia, the Wight who was the leader of the undead elves who had become subordinates of Lord Sok.