The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 298

“Why don’t you just think of it as the ramblings of a drunk and let it go?” Azadin feigned nonchalance, which seemed to fluster them.

“A, Azadin?”

“You know me? It’s troublesome to become too famous.”

“Y-you bastard.”

“We were in the Chadra Highlands too! And you don’t recognize us?”

They seemed hurt that Azadin didn’t recognize them. Well, they wouldn’t have joined the Holy Knights just for the sake of it.

Back when they were more reckless and ambitious, they must have wanted to make a name for themselves.

‘No, but I really don’t know them. From my perspective, I wish you guys would just ignore me.’

When they realized Azadin genuinely didn’t know them, the hurt members of the Order shouted.

“Damn it! Send a messenger bird! We have to tell Lord Jekt!”

These were the attendants who accompanied Lord Jekt when he came to the Chadra Highlands as an inquisitor [an official of the Church who investigates heresy].

They were part of the inquisition in the Chadra Highlands, at Fireglyph, so it wasn’t strange that they recognized Azadin’s face.

They recognized Azadin and were preparing a cage to send a messenger bird to Lord Jekt.

However…

-Thwack!

Lord Zibeck rushed in and swung his sheathed sword like a pickaxe, knocking down a soldier with the hilt.

Azadin also picked up Grimslaw’s club.

‘I need to throw it in reverse.’

Originally, Grimslaw’s club was a weapon that could subdue people without killing them, even when thrown fiercely, by adjusting its power.

However, now that the Executioner of Qing had attached himself to Grimslaw’s club, turning it into an axe, throwing it in the normal direction would cause the axe blade to split the opponent.

If he didn’t intend to kill, he had to throw it in reverse, using the club part to strike, making it a weapon that could choose between lethal and non-lethal.

When Azadin threw it in reverse, the handle struck the soldiers, sending them crashing to the ground.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me!”

One of the more skilled attendants parried Grimslaw’s club that Azadin threw with his sword and also blocked Zibeck’s attack as he rushed in.

As the two clashed swords, he recognized Zibeck.

“You bastard! It’s Zibeck?!”

“Severus, is that you?”

“Gah! Zibeck!”

Severus, the attendant, twisted his sword, trying to stab Zibeck in the neck, but Zibeck also twisted his sword, deflecting Severus’s stab and hitting him in the jaw with the hilt.

Teeth flew out as the attendant tumbled to the ground.

“Eek…”

The minstrel, who had been watching the scene, seemed to have sobered up and was backing away with a bewildered expression.

“Oh, my goodness.”

The innkeeper was also terrified by what was happening in front of his shop.

“I am Azadin, a trainee knight of the Rescue Knights. Innkeeper.”

“Y-yes…”

“Here.”

Azadin took out his coin pouch and threw it to the innkeeper. It was a pouch for carrying change, but it was full of copper coins, so it was a considerable amount.

“Use this to clean up in front of the shop and keep that minstrel quiet.”

“Yes, sir! I’ll keep him quiet. Yes.”

There was no good in spreading the story that Azadin of the Rescue Knights had attacked and defeated the King’s Church attendants. Of course, he might get the urge to talk again after drinking, but that’s why Azadin gave money to the innkeeper, who was holding the liquor bottle. If the minstrel wanted to recklessly spread this story, he would have to do it somewhere other than this inn.

“Now then… could I use some water?”

“Yes. I’ll prepare some clean water…”

The innkeeper was about to fetch water, but Azadin dragged the unconscious attendants to the horse trough in the stable next to the inn and dumped them in.

“Cough?”

“Gulp!”

They woke up when they fell into the water.

“Oh, you…”

“You’re not dead. That’s a relief. Now, you guys can contact Lord Jekt with your messenger bird, right?”

“…Y-yes, we can.”

“If we don’t contact him on time, Lord Jekt won’t stay still.”

“Ah, so Lord Jekt cares deeply for his subordinates?”

At that moment, the attendants were at a loss for words.

They could say that if only Azadin was there, but with Zibeck, one of Lord Jekt’s top disciples, standing right in front of them, they couldn’t say such a thing.

“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to harm you. I just want to see Lord Jekt. Where does this messenger bird go when you release it?”

“Uh…”

“There’s a diocese [a district under the pastoral care of a bishop] of the King’s Church in Saint Mallory. It’ll fly there.”

Zibeck answered instead.

“So, Lord Jekt was heading to Saint Mallory. Why didn’t he travel with you?”

“He’s probably traveling at a forced pace, changing horses continuously. The attendants give up their horses and stay behind to travel separately.”

Lord Zibeck answered again.

As a Holy Knight of the King’s Church and a disciple of Jekt, he knew Jekt’s methods well.

“Hmm, then let’s send the messenger bird. I’ll write the letter.”

Azadin took out a piece of paper and scribbled on it with charcoal.

“To Inquisitor Lord Jekt, whom I, Azadin of Chadra Vermillion, have long admired. I was admiring your reputation when you left Chadra so quickly, and I regret not having the chance to get to know you better. I happen to be going to Saint Mallory, and I would like to meet you sometime. I would like to clear up any misunderstandings and get to know you better. Respectfully, Azadin.”

“………”

Jekt’s attendants were bewildered as they watched Azadin write a challenge to Jekt.

“Y-you’ve got a death wish.”

“Lord Jekt is the strongest knight of our time. Even if it’s you…”

“Is Lord Jekt stronger than Lord Sok?”

“Anyone… huh? Sok?”

“Of the Pimbul Horde? The Undead Sok?”

The attendants were speechless.

Was Azadin mentioning that because he had defeated Lord Sok?

“No, don’t misunderstand. I’m just asking because I’m curious. It’s not that I defeated Lord Sok, but I’m curious. Who is the strongest knight on this Hybris continent?”

“……”

At that moment, the minstrel, who had been cowering in the corner, raised his head.

“I’m curious about that too.”

“Caw!”

Lord Jekt’s attendants glared at him as if they would devour him. The minstrel then lowered his head again and hid.

“Are you sure about this, Lord Azadin? There’s no need to poke a sleeping lion.”

“I have a reason for doing this.”

Azadin tied the letter to the messenger bird’s leg and released it from the cage.

The pigeon bobbed its head a few times and then flew powerfully into the sky, disappearing into the distance.

“Now then, shall we go? Oh, before that, I need to make sure you guys don’t cause trouble for the people here.”

“Are you going to cut their tendons or castrate them?”

Zibeck remembered that Azadin often damaged the genitals of his enemies.

The attendants’ faces turned pale at the mention of castration.

“Well, castration is usually for rapists, and these guys haven’t done anything like that, have they? They haven’t committed a crime severe enough to cut their tendons either.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’ll take their weapons and hide them somewhere along our path. Without weapons, they won’t be able to cause trouble for people, and if they don’t quickly chase after us to find their weapons, they’ll suffer financial losses and damage to their warrior-class pride.”

“What…”

“What are you trying to do?”

The attendants protested, but Azadin took their weapons and put them in the inn’s shed.

“If we come across a large tree stump, I’ll hide them shallowly behind its roots. Innkeeper, open the shed door when the sun sets.”

“Uh, well, sir knight. That’s a bit…”

The innkeeper was troubled.

He was afraid of incurring their wrath if he locked them up until evening.

“It’s okay. They’re going in empty-handed without weapons. And when they come out of the shed, they’ll be more focused on finding their weapons, right? If they don’t hurry, random people passing by on the road might get lucky.”

Azadin pretended to take the attendants’ weapons and gave them to the innkeeper.

“When you release them in the evening, tell them that they found their weapons by chasing after me. Then they’ll be grateful and won’t harm you.”

“O-okay, sir knight?”

“Sorry for the trouble, innkeeper. You have to live without being disliked by either the King’s Church or the Rescue Knights, and now you’ve been dragged into this.”

“Ah, no, it’s okay. Th-thank you.”

The innkeeper was grateful that Azadin was concerned about his safety.

Azadin entrusted the rest to the innkeeper and set off on the road again.

“Your consideration is meticulous, Lord Azadin.”

“Well, I hope this will allow us to pass safely.”

“Once you sent the messenger bird, Lord Jekt will know that they were robbed of it. They have to return to Lord Jekt as soon as possible to explain themselves. They won’t have the time to waste bothering the people at the inn.”

“That’s a relief. Ah, I need to go find Scott quickly. If that guy starts bothering others with his mouth, it’ll be no joke.”

“Haha. That’s right. When he came to Prince Darhan Zadek as a mercenary, the prince was also considering whether to muzzle Scott for the sake of the army’s morale.”

“Then I need to find him even faster.”

Azadin and Zibeck both shared a sense of urgency to join Scott before he caused an accident.

*********

At the southern three-way intersection, there were toll collectors.

This was where the northwest main road built by the Rescue Knights and the main road leading north to the Banreung Kingdom intersected. The toll collectors dispatched by the Rescue Knights collected tolls from merchants, and this became an official source of income.

However…

“Hmm. A hippogriff.”

“Hmm. An orc.”

The toll collectors had troubled expressions.

An orc riding a hippogriff was claiming that he didn’t have any toll money and that his companions would pay when they arrived.

Of course, normally, there would be no reason to listen to such nonsense.

Orcs were a selfish mercenary race that only knew their own kind, worshiping the gods of the Kurt Pantheon [a collection of gods worshipped by orcs] and disregarding human beliefs.

They were practically heretics who could be killed without criticism, but most of them were mages, so ordinary soldiers didn’t dare to touch them.

However, this guy was claiming the following:

“You, born as a foolish race, may find it difficult to understand, but the one who has the honor of employing Scott McGreene, the unparalleled genius born under the favor of the great Orc god Kanak, is none other than Commander Azadin of Vermillion in the Chadra Highlands. He is the leader of a powerful warlord who has conquered the Ogres of the Chadra Highlands and is growing with the momentum of the rising sun. Ah, it’s true, he begged me so much to join his army. Well, he has the insight to build such a large warlord in such a short time. Why hide it? This hippogriff is also his beloved steed. So, you guys oppressing me is a huge mistake. Do you understand? Ah, perhaps you are too unintelligent to understand such a simple principle? Tsk tsk. That’s why humans should be beaten and force-fed education when they are young. What are you relying on to not educate them when they have such low innate intelligence?”

“………”

He was talking so much that they couldn’t understand everything, but they could tell that he was completely trampling them like weeds on the side of the road.