The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 284

“What?”

“No, not you, the one over there.”

Azadin addressed Delia, then retrieved the ceramide longsword, Aurelia Dawn, from his back.

“I didn’t come to fight. My master wishes to see you.”

The woman who entered, appearing as an elf, was Dahlia, the sister of Wild Druid Cedrin, who had died and become a member of the Fimbul Horde [a legion of undead warriors].

Her master could be none other than Lord Sok, the undead knight and leader of the Fimbul Horde.

“Lord Sok wants to see me?”

“Yes. My master is calling you with good intentions. However, it seems Lord Sok is a bit… unable to enter Fireglyph [a fortified city].”

“I understand. I’ll go.”

Azadin decided to meet Lord Sok at a designated location outside Fireglyph, complying with his summons.

*********

Outside Fireglyph, Lord Sok’s subordinates were stationed at a water mill.

They looked no different from elves in their living days, but their true identities were gruesome undead, wights [undead creatures], monsters hungry for human blood and essence.

Azadin went to meet them alone, without any subordinates.

“…I don’t know whether to call it brave or foolish.”

The wights were bewildered to see Azadin arrive alone without any backup.

However, Azadin didn’t really have a choice.

“Now, Fireglyph has Lord Zekt and Prince Kalintz. Even if you capture me, you can’t just invade Saint Mallory [a major city] without resistance, and I’m confident in my ability to escape.”

Azadin responded to the wights’ sarcastic remarks and casually touched a nearby rock with his hand.

The snow and hail had melted, but the rock was still cold.

It was an unbelievable temperature for a summer rock.

“Have you come?”

At that moment, the mill door opened, and a sturdy orc knight walked out.

Clad in black armor, he clicked his tongue at seeing Azadin alone.

“Lord Azadin. It’s good that you trust me, but keep in mind that the hags [evil witches] are still after your head. What if I were to covet the power and knowledge they promised?”

Even though the Fimbul Horde’s ambition to descend from Fireglyph and attack Saint Mallory had been thwarted, he still had a reason to target Azadin.

However, Azadin knew better than anyone that his threat was empty.

If he really intended to capture Azadin, he would have attacked first. He wouldn’t have warned him himself, would he?

“Thank you for the advice, Lord Sok. So, what did you call me for?”

“…Amazing. Why are you being so polite now? Are you feeling fear because you came alone?”

“Rather than that, since you called me with good intentions, I will consider you a senior in the knight order. At least for this moment.”

When Azadin had met Lord Sok before, he was an intruder who had flown into his territory. In contrast, now they were meeting by appointment, so Azadin decided to acknowledge Lord Sok as a senior.

“A respectful junior. I like it. If you consider me a senior, I should act like one.”

Lord Sok nodded at Azadin’s attitude and began to warn him.

“Fimbulwinter [a legendary, harsh winter] is beginning. Summer will disappear for the next three years. The Knights of Salvation have lost their virtue, and kings have lost their thrones. The light of kingship that protects Hybris [a kingdom] is fading, and indeed, the light of kingship in Butuma and Korasar has gone out. A crisis for humanity is upon us.”

“Is there a solution?”

“Yes. Becoming undead. Becoming a body that doesn’t need food or heating fuel. That way, you can endure the harsh winter.”

“……”

The Fimbul Horde, Lord Sok’s undead army, was originally created to prepare for Fimbulwinter.

But the solution to prepare for the harsh winter is to become undead?

“…Even if that’s the case for you, a lich [a powerful undead sorcerer], don’t wights need blood and essence? From using other undead, I’ve seen that their bodies wear down and don’t recover, they just keep wearing out.”

To ordinary people, the undead are invincible beings, a sinister curse, but after using undead through necromancy, there are many shortcomings.

Becoming undead wouldn’t allow one to simply endure Fimbulwinter.

“There is a way to solve that problem.”

“What….”

“Among the relics of the ancient gods, there is something called the Eye of Ashajit. A gem that endlessly bleeds. They say one can turn a fountain red with blood, and two can stain a river.”

“Are you saying that after we all become undead, we’ll live by eating that blood?”

Azadin thought it was a joke, but Lord Sok looked at him as if to say, why not?

He was serious.

This Lord Sok is truly out of his mind.

Whether he’s out of his mind because he became a lich, or he became a lich because he was out of his mind from the start, it’s hard to tell which came first.

“You deserve to live. I sense virtue and conviction in you. But those knights who cannot uphold virtue don’t deserve to live as humans. Wouldn’t it be better for those who don’t deserve to live as humans to become undead rather than devour people? If we turn half of humanity into undead now, food consumption will be halved.”

“…I thought you were going to tell me a way to stop Fimbulwinter. My expectations were too high. So, do you have that Eye of Ashajit?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have it. But I know where they are. One is in the Chadra Monastery, and the other is held by a vampire named Griselda.”

“Griselda?”

“Niselda’s mother.”

“Ah.”

Azadin recalled the words of the blood mage Bernard, who said he had come to find the blood of the ancient gods, and nodded.

So that’s how it fits together.

Was that the blood of the ancient gods that Bernard was trying to find?

‘But still, is it because he’s a lich? Turning humans into undead and having them live by drinking blood from such suspicious things. Is he sane?’

Even if orcs are known to be eccentric, the idea of overcoming Fimbulwinter by becoming undead and drinking suspicious blood from ancient gods is truly impossible for a sane person.

Azadin questioned Lord Sok’s mental state and asked.

“So, are you saying that you want me to go get it?”

“The Chadra Monastery is made so that an undead like me cannot approach it. The monastery head’s powerful magic is rejecting me. Of course, if I start attacking her magical defenses, I can break them eventually, but she and I have made a pact to respect each other. I cannot break that pact first.”

Even in this place, the Chadra Highlands, full of thugs trying to get women for their lust and desire for domination, the Chadra Monastery was asserting its power as a forbidden zone for men.

Azadin thought it was Niselda, a member of the monastery, who was responsible, but it seemed that the monastery head was separately exerting her power, and it had such a strong coercive force that even Lord Sok could not enter the monastery carelessly.

“So, you want me to go into the monastery and get the Eye of Ashajit.”

“That’s not all. You have Niselda under your command, right? Have her cooperate in finding Griselda.”

“First of all, it’s hard to say this while treating you like a senior, but I will refuse the proposal to turn those people into undead. Then, of course, I will have to refuse the proposal about the Eye of Ashajit as well.”

“Is that so? Your thoughts will change when the hunger starts.”

“Then let’s discuss it then.”

“If you lose your strength from hunger, you might not be able to do it even if you want to. The monastery head and Griselda are not easy opponents. And I know you use necromancy? Do you have a problem with the undead?”

“I’m more inclined to let dead meat take the place of living people suffering from illness and death. I also don’t want to desecrate corpses if possible. Is there anything else? You seem quite knowledgeable about the knowledge of the ancient gods, so please.”

“…There is a relic called the Eternal Sun that burns vampires. It’s a relic of Soleil [a deity] who hates vampires, but it could also be used to grow crops. But I don’t know its whereabouts. Griselda might know.”

“Yes. Hmm. What else is there?”

“The emperor, Yaeslat, studied Fimbulwinter and established countermeasures. Wouldn’t you, the emperor’s envoy, know more about this?”

“…That’s news to me.”

“And if you have a sword made from the bones of the messenger Wendigo [a mythical creature], you can use a barrier spell that repels the cold of winter. If you keep burning firewood to fight the cold of Fimbulwinter, you’ll have to cut down all the forests in the world, so a barrier spell against the cold will be very useful for survival.”

“…Ah.”

Azadin was startled to hear the words ‘a sword made from Wendigo’s bones.’

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I used to have it, but I lost it in a fight.”

“Oh dear.”

Lord Sok clicked his tongue at those words.

“I’ll teach you a spell to find weapons. It’s an old spell that finds the location of a weapon that has a connection with you and creates the conditions for it to return to your hand. It’s a blue fate spell. Have you heard of it?”

“Pardon? No. I’m not knowledgeable enough to have heard of it.”

“Hmm. Then take it. You can learn it yourself. With your skills, you should be able to learn it.”

Lord Sok took out a pen from his pocket and began to write in the air.

Then, letters glowing with magical power appeared, forming a page, and flew towards Azadin.

When Azadin received it with his hand, it turned into a shimmering page of a grimoire [a book of magic] and materialized in Azadin’s hand.

“This is….”

Azadin was amazed by Lord Sok’s tremendous magical talent.

Is this the magic of a being who has escaped the fate of the orcs? Now he could somewhat understand why he had become undead to escape the short lifespan of the orcs.

“I’d like to teach you directly, but I don’t have time. You should be able to learn it yourself with this much.”

“Th, thank you.”

“Don’t be too grateful. We might fight again over the Niselda and Griselda issue. When that time comes, the wights might have a feast with your blood and flesh. However, I hope it will help you in some way to recover the sword made from Wendigo’s bones, so learn it quickly and use it.”

“Ah, I’m being shameless, but while I’m asking, let me ask. Is it possible to cure Elemental Wailing [a magical disease] with angel’s blood?”

“……”

Was he being too brazen? Azadin thought as he looked at Lord Sok, who was speechless.

But then, Lord Sok burst into a hearty laugh.

“To cure Elemental Wailing with angel’s blood. That’s a truly peculiar idea.”

“Peculiar idea?”

Azadin was half-doubtful.

In fact, although Giacomo is an alchemist, in Azadin’s eyes, Giacomo’s skills do not match those of Lord Sok, let alone Bernard.

Even if he has spent his whole life researching it, he cannot deviate much from Lord Sok’s ideas.

But Lord Sok is saying it’s a peculiar idea? Did Giacomo’s idea surpass Lord Sok’s plan?