The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 29

Massacre of the Holy Knights 1

I’ve already earned a lot of gold. I’ve already got three coins, so I could brag to this guy and shut him up, but Azadin held back.

“More importantly, how about some tea? If you don’t give me tea, other passersby might think it’s strange, don’t you think?”

“Tea, you say? Ah, of course, I should serve you some.”

The peddler grumbled and brewed some tea.

“Do you have any snacks?”

“Yes. We have cookies made with sweet wormwood. Oh dear, I’m giving you something precious without even getting paid, Messenger.”

The teahouse peddler, though reluctant, provided the snacks. They were cookies made by kneading a bitter and sweet herb called sweet wormwood into the dough. Azadin shared them with his companions and asked while sitting down.

“So, what’s the mission?”

“The Relief Knights are doing relief work up ahead. They’re setting up camps for the refugees and distributing food to them.”

“They’re doing good work. Surely, you’re not telling me to kill those Relief Knights, are you?”

“No, that’s not it. The problem is that while they claim to help the poor, they’re forcibly taking donations from merchants.”

“Hmm, well, that’s about it.”

Azadin didn’t think much of it. He felt it was reasonable for the Relief Knights to forcibly take donations from the rich for the sake of the refugees.

‘The Relief Knights’ relief efforts are like a kind of righteous banditry, which sounds good in words, but I heard they end up taking more for themselves. Azadin is always generous to others, but he seems particularly lenient towards the Relief Knights? Is it because of his Archangel faith that he’s biased?’

Midiam had such suspicions.

The tea merchant, the Messenger Clan’s informant, continued his story.

“So, the merchants are gathering up ahead and going around the outside to bypass the area, and recently, wyverns have been appearing there.”

“Wyverns?”

“Yes. Because of the drought, refugees who fled have become bandits and are appearing nearby… and those Relief Knights are also looking for a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture.”

“So, what’s the mission?”

“We’d like you to take care of the wyverns and bandits on the detour… Will you do it? Or will you refuse again this time?”

“I should do that much.”

“Oh, that’s unexpected? What wind has suddenly blown you here?”

“Because it’s not assassination, but helping people.”

“Hahaha.”

The tea merchant laughed strangely. So, Azadin was subtly criticizing the other requests from the merchant guild as being for assassination or personal gain.

Of course, the tea merchant, who was just a servant in the Messenger Clan’s hierarchy, had been subtly criticizing Azadin, a Messenger, all along, but the tea merchant was of a higher rank. He didn’t recognize Azadin, who had failed in basic training and the selection process, as a Messenger, so the tea merchant felt insulted by his words.

At that moment, Midiam asked.

“Hey, Azadin, I can’t stand it anymore. Can I do it?”

Azadin nodded at her words.

‘What’s going on?’ the tea merchant wondered.

-Shing!

Midiam drew her sword and pointed it at the tea merchant’s neck.

“Huh?!”

In that situation, Azadin calmly sipped his tea.

“How dare a servant act up to a Messenger? You’re picking a fight at every turn.”

“N-No…”

“Show respect to a Messenger. If you don’t…”

Midiam pushed the sword into the tea merchant’s neck as if she would stab him. The merchant had to lean back as far as he could while sitting to avoid being pierced through the neck.

“Stop.”

Azadin stopped Midiam.

“Midiam, you are an Etar [a high-ranking warrior] and hold the position of a retainer, but the other party is of a higher rank than you. Bloodline and rank are important, but our clan also values the tradition of respecting elders. Considering that, you should put away your sword unless you intend to kill him.”

“Yes.”

Midiam wiped the blood off the blade, twirled it, and slid it back into its sheath, then knelt before Azadin.

She, a proud Etar, was deliberately showing excessive respect to Azadin in front of the tea merchant to show her respect for him. Of course, it was obviously done for the tea merchant to see.

“…”

The tea merchant was bewildered as he watched Midiam show such respect at Azadin’s single word.

“I’m sorry. You served us delicious tea, but you had to see this.”

Azadin wasn’t oblivious. He knew why Midiam had suddenly drawn her sword and threatened the tea merchant. He calmly drank his tea and apologized to the tea merchant.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

The tea merchant touched his neck wound with a sullen expression. Since Azadin, the Emperor’s Messenger, had apologized on behalf of the retainer’s rudeness, the tea merchant, as a servant, had no choice but to accept it. However, his feelings were hurt, and since it was technically the right thing to say, he couldn’t argue, putting him in a complicated situation.

The one who hits and the one who apologizes are separate, but in reality, they are a team.

*********

After parting ways with the tea merchant and getting back on the road, Azadin called out to Midiam after passing a hill where he couldn’t be seen.

“Midiam.”

“Yes?”

“First of all, thank you.”

“Hehe, you’re welcome. Since I’ve become your retainer, those who disrespect you are disrespecting me. Besides, the Corasar Peddlers’ Guild is owned by the Saban family, isn’t it?”

Saban was one of the five founding families of the Messenger Clan, and they had been enemies with the Etar for a long time. For various reasons, Midiam had taken this opportunity to show them what’s what.

“So, I’m grateful, but don’t insult anyone who has a deep relationship with the Saban family. It’ll make things bigger. There’s a rumor that my predecessor was purged for being disliked by the Saban family.”

“They’re capable of that.”

Midiam said that, but she didn’t seem to be afraid of the Saban family. Was it because she was still young and full of confidence?

“By the way, the Messenger Clan is really big and has a lot of members. Is that tea merchant also a member of the Messenger Clan?”

When Tarki asked that, Azadin clicked his tongue.

“Don’t try to know too much. As you know, we can’t expose too much of our organization.”

“But they seem really capable and influential. If it’s you guys, you could make me a count…”

“…”

“Ah, never mind. It’s nothing.”

Tarki shut his mouth after receiving Azadin’s gaze, but he still seemed regretful.

Seeing Azadin’s abilities and the Messenger Clan’s organizational power, he was getting greedy.

If they actively helped me, there would be no problem in inheriting the countship.

Seeing that he was clearly thinking that, Azadin sighed.

“You really believe that you’ll inherit the countship, don’t you? Are you stupid?”

“Huh?”

“Count Kazel is still young. He wouldn’t want to finalize the succession structure so tightly at a young age. Even you, your mother is from a wealthy and influential family, right?”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to give her child the Emperor’s gold and hire a mercenary group.

“Yes.”

“Because the Count is shaking the position of the head of the family, everyone is bringing their in-law’s wealth and doing what the head of the family wants. Do you think he’ll only use this good bait once? He’s not an old man with only a few days left to live. He’ll use it over and over again. When that time comes, even the children born in the meantime will gather and fight each other.”

“But we can’t just give up without doing anything, can we?”

“Please just give up. Instead of you guys pretending to be knights and going around looting people, wouldn’t it be easier on your body and mind to just wait in the Count’s court?”

“Being in the court isn’t that easy either.”

“But if you guys, who are also terrible people, go around, it’ll harm other residents. If you’re uncomfortable being in the city, it might be good to commit suicide and look forward to the afterlife. Unlike us Aragas, the Hybris people have souls, so the afterlife is guaranteed, right?”

“No, such harsh words…”

“Be grateful that I’m just being harsh! The civilians you guys looted could starve to death. Ah, there’s the inn! It must be the one the tea merchant was talking about.”

Azadin, who had been scolding Tarki, found an inn ahead of the road. It was an inn where merchants and adventurers gathered at a glance.

Two men and women among those at the inn recognized them and approached. They were two healthy-looking men and women with dark skin.

“Tarki, brother!”

“Is that Tarki?”

“Who are you guys?”

Tarki recognized them and looked at Azadin in surprise.

“Who are they?”

“They are my half-siblings.”

“Competitors?”

Azadin’s question implied, ‘Are they also fools who are foolishly hooked on the empty promises the Count is making and are squandering their mother’s wealth like you?’

“Not really. They are members of the Cell Sword Guild.”

The Cell Sword Guild could be described as a mercenary or adventurer group. It meant that they had given up on the competition to become the head of the family at a young age and had become mercenaries or adventurers.

I don’t know if they had a good sense of reality or if they gave up because they lacked maternal support, but unlike Tarki, who was acting like a noble, they were wearing light leather armor and were armed with swords, bows, and spears.

“Hello, brother. Who are these people?”

“Ah, these are…”

Azadin stepped forward and said instead.

“We are pilgrims. Fortunately, Lord Tarki is escorting us, and we are grateful.”

“Huh? You’re escorting pilgrims?”

“What about the mercenaries?”

“Ah, those mercenaries. They betrayed me.”

“Betrayed you?”

“They didn’t listen to me, so I just parted ways with them.”

Tarki made that excuse. The mercenaries he had hired had become followers of the Kurt god and had devastated the eastern relay village… It would be better to say that he had parted ways with them before that to reduce his responsibility.

“Are you okay since the mercenaries betrayed you?”

Usually, when mercenaries betray their employers, they often kill them. If that were the case, Tarki wouldn’t have survived.

“No, those guys just abandoned me because the conditions didn’t match. Actually, it might not even be considered betrayal.”

“I-Is that so? Ah, I’m Kaka.”

“I’m Chico.”

The two siblings introduced themselves to Azadin’s group.

“I’m Azadin. This is Midiam and Ismail.”

Azadin gave his real name without using a pseudonym.

“So, what are you guys doing here?”

“Ah, we’re doing Cell Sword work.”

“The merchants here asked us to take care of the wyverns that are appearing.”

“Wyverns? Not looking for a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture?”

“We don’t know exactly where that copy of the Divine King’s Scripture is.”

“If we just work and wander around, we might hear rumors or something, right?”

“Are you guys also trying to find it and aim for the countship?”

“No way. Our mother isn’t that interested in us… We don’t have enough background to dare to aim for the countship.”

“We’re going to sell it if we find that copy of the Divine King’s Scripture or whatever it is. It would be nice if you bought it, brother. Tarki is much better than Kozel.”

Azadin, who was listening to that, chuckled.