The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 300

“Hmm. These guys….”

Azadin clicked his tongue, watching the young messenger subordinates attack him.

Fierce attacks came from all directions.

Though not as skilled as Azadin, they were not at a level that would shame the Emperor’s messengers.

However….

*What are they doing in a place with so many civilians?*

Azadin spun Grimslaw’s mace and axe, deflecting the incoming arrows.

While deflecting two, another arrow flew towards Azadin’s neck, but Azadin leaned to the side, catching the arrow with his quiver.

The arrow seemed to be sucked right into the quiver.

“So, he’s not just a simple dropout.”

“Well, he wouldn’t have become a traitor if he wasn’t skilled!”

“Be careful!”

One of them retreated, continuing to shoot arrows as a distraction, while the other two narrowed the encirclement.

Azadin was dumbfounded, watching the assassins charge at him while firing arrows.

He knew that the clan’s assassins would come after him since he had become a traitor to the clan, but these were just kids?

“…I will join you.”

Jibek grabbed his sword, but Azadin stopped him.

“No, take care of Scott. There might be others waiting in the back.”

He wanted to resolve the Messenger Clan’s issues among themselves.

Thinking this, Azadin deployed the Earth Spider [a technique that enhances speed and agility], dodging the incoming arrows, and approached the closest assassin.

“You dropout!”

A young messenger, clearly of a lower rank than Azadin, also deployed the Earth Spider, instantly closing the short distance and stabbing at Azadin with his sword.

However, Azadin used the pure magic Earth Spider and then Kazas Haze’s Earth Spider in succession, surpassing the speed of the charging messenger.

“What!?”

The young messenger, now behind him, spun around and kicked at Azadin. Sharp metal spikes protruded from the heel of his boots; even a graze would be dangerous, tearing flesh.

However….

-Thwack!

Azadin kicked the young messenger’s hip joint in mid-air.

Like a thrown wooden stick, the young messenger’s body spun, colliding with the railing, scraping against the edge as he slid down. He was wearing armor, so his skin wasn’t scraped, but the impact was enough to rob him of his combat ability.

“You!”

Another young messenger, wielding two daggers, appeared above Azadin using mistletoe magic [a type of magic that allows for quick movement and attacks] and launched a fierce attack, but Azadin didn’t even look at him.

-Whack!

Grimslaw’s mace struck the young messenger’s jaw.

“What!?”

Then, Azadin cast a spell, and a thin bolt of lightning fell from the sky, directly hitting the young female messenger who was keeping her distance, knocking her down.

In an instant, three young messengers were subdued by Azadin alone.

“Even though I left the clan, I’m worried about their future. With this level of skill, they’re messengers?”

The young messengers, losing consciousness, had to hear Azadin, the worst dullard in the history of the Messenger Clan, worry about the clan’s future.

*This, this humiliation….*

*********

Firewinter was hit by an arrow, but it was more of a stray shot from the battle than an arrow aimed at him, so he wasn’t seriously injured.

The feather layer was so thick that the arrow didn’t penetrate.

“You survived because you’re so fluffy. If it were molting season or you had hair loss, it would have been dangerous.”

Azadin clicked his tongue after confirming that the arrowhead was poisoned.

Messengers don’t use poison when fighting each other, especially when fighting for the honor of the messenger.

This meant that the Messenger Clan no longer considered Azadin one of their own and did not recognize the hierarchy of the Messenger Clan that Azadin held.

Before the Emperor’s voice disappeared, only Azadin was recognized as a messenger, but the Messenger Clan had created their own hierarchy and reorganized their organization, regardless of the Emperor’s choice.

“It’s a problem when you become famous. Meeting pursuers from two organizations in one day.”

Azadin sighed, tying up the young messengers with rope.

At that moment, Jibek cleared his throat.

“I don’t know about an organization, but it seems another person has come.”

“What is it this time?”

Azadin turned his head and saw a man carrying a sign, placing it in front of Azadin.

The sign read, ‘Tarasar Saber Swordsmanship Paid Lessons.’

“Are you the renowned messenger knight, Sir Azadin?”

“Messenger knight? I am Azadin, yes.”

“Then, I request a match!”

It seemed that Azadin had become so famous that a wandering swordsmanship instructor had come to steal his reputation.

Azadin sighed. If he had become this famous, the moment he entered a major city, all sorts of riffraff, whether they had a grudge against Azadin or not, would surely pick a fight with him.

“You’re not someone with a grudge, right? Then I’ll charge a duel fee.”

“What? A duel fee?”

“Yes. One gold coin from the Emperor.”

“That’s too… isn’t that extortion?”

“It’s only natural that the minimum cost for a messenger like me to fulfill someone else’s request is a gold coin from the Emperor, right? If you don’t have it, go get it somewhere. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Azadin dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

But….

He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a gold coin.

Surprisingly, it was a gold coin from the Emperor.

“Will this be enough?”

“Uh… really?”

“Well then, I am Ahalji of Tarasar! I request a fair and square match!”

-Thwack!

Azadin grabbed Ahalji by the collar, swept his legs, and lifted him to head height before slamming him into the ground.

He dropped him on his torso, but falling from head height would have been a tremendous impact.

“Ugh!”

“I asked for a gold coin from the Emperor, but I didn’t expect it to actually appear.”

Azadin took the gold coin from Ahalji and checked it. Surprisingly, it was genuine.

Azadin pocketed it and took out another gold coin, giving it to Ahalji.

“Wait! Hold on! That was invalid! How can you ambush me without a starting signal? That’s cowardly!”

“Okay, let’s start.”

“Th, then! This time for real!”

Ahalji drew his sword and charged at Azadin again, but when Azadin flicked his fingers, a lightning arrow flew and paralyzed Ahalji.

“Kkkkkkkkk!”

“Oh dear… So, are you satisfied now?”

Azadin asked, turning Ahalji’s jaw with his foot, who had fallen from the electric shock.

“How can you use magic in a match?”

“Oh, was it a match? I thought it was a duel.”

“I’m doing this to defeat you and spread my swordsmanship skills! It’s obviously a swordsmanship match!”

“Well, my reputation isn’t that I’m good at swordsmanship, is it? Shouldn’t you defeat all my abilities, including magic, with your swordsmanship to enhance your reputation as a swordsman?”

“Ugh, anyway, it’s invalid, invalid! You know how precious a gold coin from the Emperor is, don’t you?”

“That’s why I gave you change in gold out of conscience. Well, okay. If your wish is to fight with swordsmanship.”

Azadin picked up Aurelia Dawn [Azadin’s sword].

“Hoo. Okay. Then let me recover a bit….”

“Are you okay? Shall we start?”

When Azadin asked, the man named Ahalji, who had taken a stance, reached out his hand as Azadin approached.

“Wait, wait! I haven’t recovered yet! I was thrown and hit by magic… I haven’t recovered!”

“…It’s starting to get annoying. I have a lot of guests today.”

Although the Emperor’s gold coin is precious to the messengers, it is not particularly needed now that the service contract has been terminated. He was just collecting the Emperor’s gold coin out of a sense of duty.

“Ah, it seems I won’t recover in just one day. So, how about you return the Emperor’s gold coin?”

“…….”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t attacked me with an ambush and magic in the first place!”

Then, ridiculously, the young messengers who had been bound by Azadin grumbled.

“What a pain.”

“I know, right? A total pain.”

“Did you hear that?”

Azadin said, handing him the Emperor’s gold coin.

“I’ll give you a refund. Give me the gold coin.”

“Ah, okay. This is only because my body isn’t in good condition due to the ambush. Ahem.”

Ahalji received the Emperor’s gold coin back from Azadin and handed over the gold coin he had received as change. Then, the young messengers who were watching warned Azadin.

“Check if it’s the same gold coin.”

“He might have shaved the edges.”

“Y, you guys! I, Ahalji of Tarasar, would never do such a dirty thing!”

“Hoo.”

Azadin sighed, looking at the young messengers and Ahalji.

“Hey, you guys, don’t use poison arrows when you attack me in the future. Animals and other people can die from stray arrows. If you keep that in mind, I’ll consider it a challenge from a higher-ranking messenger and let it slide.”

“What? D, don’t be ridiculous. We’re trying to kill you….”

“We’re trying to kill you because you’re an enemy of the clan! Of course, we should use everything, including poison, to be fully prepared!”

Then, this time, Ahalji mocked the young messengers.

“That means they acknowledge that their skills are inferior. They’re going to use poison to kill because they can’t do it with skill, admitting that they’re more incompetent. They really don’t know anything about honor.”

“Why is this pain in the ass still trying to pick a fight?”

“A petty person who whined because he was worried about the promised gold coin dares to insult the Messenger Clan? We are the Messenger Clan! The Aragasas [the name of the Messenger Clan]! Don’t you know?”

“It’s ridiculous to threaten while tied up in ropes after being defeated.”

“I’ll untie you. Do you want to fight each other first?”

When Azadin asked that, Ahalji became silent. It would be difficult for him to defeat these young messenger clan members with his skills.

Seeing that, Scott said a word.

“Hoo. Why are humans so foolish? The tongue is a sword that cuts the body. I understand that they are foolish because they are uneducated and have low intelligence, but they should at least have that much wisdom by instinct.”

“…….”

It was absurd to hear Scott tell him to watch his mouth. Azadin untied the ropes that bound the young messengers.

“Don’t use poison. Don’t harm other creatures around you. If you do this again next time, I’ll pluck out your eyeballs.”

“Ugh….”

“Next time?”

“Are you planning to let us live to humiliate us? Just kill us!”

The young messengers were torn between the joy of being released and the shame of receiving mercy from Azadin, their emotions a complex mix.

“That’s why I’m not killing you. I said I’d pluck out your eyeballs. You know how ruthless the Aragasas are to the weak, right? If you don’t have eyeballs and can’t be used as messengers or even servants, how will your friends and family treat you?”

“…….”

The young messengers were shocked by Azadin’s words. Indeed, the Aragasas were harsh to the weak, as he said. Wasn’t Azadin a living witness to that? Thinking about that, they could understand that he hated the clan enough to do such a thing.

He was letting them live now, but Azadin’s threat to pluck out their eyeballs next time was by no means an empty one.