The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 307

“This… little bastard.”

He was angry, but the hippogriff was scary.

And Azadin’s name was also frightening.

“If it’s Lord Azadin, is he from that herald clan? From the Chadra Plateau….”

“There were many who tried to pass without paying taxes by selling that name, right? Isn’t this guy a fake too?”

“Still, there wouldn’t be a braggart riding a hippogriff. Honestly, if he wanted to fly away without paying the toll, he could just fly away, but seeing him waiting here….”

“Okay, okay, just shut up, please. It’s noisy and unpleasant, isn’t it?”

The road guards looked distressed.

But Scott kept nagging and demanding things from them, irritating them.

“Ah, but I need some drinking water. Do you have any clear water? If possible, I’d like you to fill my canteen too. As you all know, these kinds of tasks are much more efficient when done by those who know the terrain and the arrangement of things here. Right? You’re not going to say you don’t know, are you? Or is it that? Since it’s your time being wasted, you should go get the water yourself? Ah, really. Everyone, the value of time is relative. Unlike you, I, with my high intellect, can engage in deeper contemplation and higher-dimensional thinking in the same amount of time. As a being with intelligence that transcends species, consider efficiency. Ah, it’s probably hard for your intellect to imagine, isn’t it? Was the word ‘efficiency’ too difficult?”

“Hey, you….”

Just as the tax collectors couldn’t hold back and lowered the heads of their spears to Scott’s chest level.

“Excuse me, but that orc over there is with our group. Did he cause any trouble?”

Azadin and Zibeck finally arrived on the road.

Azadin revealed his face brightly, while Zibeck, being a wanted man, wore a helmet with a face guard, hiding his face and stepping aside to avoid the soldiers’ gazes.

“Ah.”

“Wh-who is it?”

“Those purple eyes? It’s, it’s really Lord Azadin.”

The guards were bewildered and lowered their spears.

“Ah. Captain. You came just in time. Whew. Look at the muscles I’ve built in my arms from holding the hippogriff’s reins.”

“…Are you so worried about gaining muscle from breathing that you can’t live?”

“That’s already becoming a problem. When you breathe, the diaphragm muscle squeezes the lungs, and among the orcs I know, there was one who died from respiratory failure because his diaphragm became too thick.”

It might sound like a joke, but it was actually a common cause of death for orcs who gained muscle too easily. Muscles would grow in their internal organs, shortening their lifespan due to decreased cardiopulmonary function, which was the orcs’ inherent curse.

Azadin, seeing the guards looking at him with sparkling eyes, gave them money. He had emptied his coin purse at the inn on the way, so the smallest denomination he could take out of his wallet was a silver coin.

“This is for the toll, and the rest is for you to have a drink as an apology for this guy bothering you.”

“Oh, no need to say that.”

“It’s alright. Hahaha.”

“You’re a very considerate person. Haha.”

The soldiers declined with their mouths but quickly pocketed the silver coins Azadin gave them.

Then… Azadin noticed that there were stakes driven into the ground by the roadside, and wanted posters were attached to the stakes.

Zibeck’s wanted poster was at the very top.

“Then, can we pass? I think we need to hurry. If you’ve grown so fond of Scott in the meantime that you want to share a farewell, I won’t stop you.”

Azadin asked the soldiers just in case. Then the soldiers welcomed it.

“You mean you’ll get rid of that orc and the hippogriff?”

“Of course.”

It seemed that Scott had tormented them so much that they were ready to throw flower petals everywhere just because Scott was leaving.

Without any inspection from the guards, Azadin passed the three-way intersection with the disguised Zibeck.

But then, it happened.

“Wait a minute. Even so, the person wearing the helmet over there needs to show their face.”

Unlike the soldiers, someone who seemed to be an officer stopped Azadin’s group.

The soldiers clicked their tongues, but Zibeck silently lifted the visor of his helmet. His rough skin, covered with thick pockmarks, was revealed, and his cheekbones were wrapped in bandages, making him look extremely ugly, but his gray eyes were calmly settled.

He had already done a thorough job of disguising himself before coming here.

He used Bree’s skin to disguise himself, and it looked so convincing that it was impossible not to be fooled.

“Oh, I, I’m sorry. Oh dear. Our squad leader hasn’t been in his position for long.”

“He tried to join the Celestial Fire Knights but was cut off.”

“No, it’s okay. He did his duty.”

Azadin suddenly asked them.

“So, have you seen any people from the King’s Church?”

“People from the King’s Church? Hmm. Ah, there’s a female paladin nearby who is buying up food with a merchant group.”

“The prices are constantly rising, so the farmers don’t want to sell, so they seem to be acting a bit forcefully… but they don’t seem to be resorting to robbery, considering the King’s Church’s reputation.”

The soldiers trailed off.

Originally, food purchases were supposed to be done at the Saint Mallory trading post.

But if they did that, the Rescue Knights would take a cut, so they were bringing their own merchant groups and dealing directly with the farmers.

This was tax evasion, but it had been tacitly overlooked for other merchant groups until now.

When caravans came inland, they not only bought food with money but also brought various goods needed by the villagers, which benefited the villagers.

But the King’s Church wouldn’t sell luxury goods or crafts to the villagers.

From the Rescue Knights’ perspective, they needed to give the King’s Church, which was freely roaming within their territory, a stern warning.

“You might run into them on the way… but it’s best not to engage them if possible. That female paladin is said to be a disciple of an Inquisitor.”

“A disciple of an Inquisitor?”

Zibeck was startled by those words.

“Do you have someone in mind?”

“It’s not just one person. There are many. But who among them….”

“Hmm. It would be best not to meet them if possible, but I don’t know what will happen. Still, there are many villages from now on.”

As they got closer to Saint Mallory, if you looked down from the hill, you could see vast farmlands, farms cultivating those farmlands, and villages where farms gathered to form towns.

‘If I were alone, I would have just flown away on the hippogriff, but if I travel on foot, I’ll probably meet them anyway, right? This hippogriff is inconvenient in many ways if I’m not flying on it.’

Azadin slightly regretted his choice to bring the hippogriff.

If he had known he would join Zibeck’s group, he would have brought it by horse.

However, the hippogriff puffed up its chest when it met Azadin’s eyes.

It was proud of itself for carrying Scott all the way here according to Azadin’s orders.

‘…It’s cute when it acts like that. I can kind of see why Selim likes hippogriffs so much.’

Azadin felt better seeing the hippogriff’s intelligence.

*********

Receiving a warm welcome from the gate soldiers, Azadin set off on the road.

They considered Azadin a savior just for getting Scott out of their sight.

“How much did he torment them for their reaction to be this good?”

“I shared a little of my outstanding insight with those who couldn’t control themselves because of their low intelligence. And then, they all shed tears of emotion, you know? It’s a relief that even though they’re stupid, they know how to distinguish the good from the bad.”

“…….”

Azadin was speechless, listening to Scott’s self-serving interpretation.

*********

After that, Azadin continued to travel by land, carrying Scott and Zibeck on the hippogriff.

As they approached Saint Mallory, there were more people coming and going, and it began to become bustling, and many people paid attention to Azadin’s group leading the hippogriff.

“Ah, are you the famous Lord Azadin?”

“Indeed.”

There were many gates as the road was busy, but they all nodded and let them pass when Azadin presented his pass.

Lord Zibeck, who was wanted, was disguised with a disguise tool made from Bree’s skin, and most of them didn’t even ask him to take off his helmet.

“It’s a problem when you become too famous.”

Azadin felt unpleasant, feeling like the whole world recognized him.

Basically, the Emperor’s herald, as the Emperor’s secret envoy, has no benefit from becoming famous. People who like this kind of fame might do anything to become famous, but Azadin was one who disliked fame.

Then Azadin encountered a bridge gate.

From now on, it was the Saint Mallory territory. It wasn’t the city center yet, but from here, it was the jurisdiction of Saint Mallory.

But… on that bridge, a female knight of the King’s Church was holding a flag and glaring.

A female knight wearing full plate armor, with her hair disheveled and her helmet in her hand, was holding a flag and blocking the road.

“Who is it?”

Azadin wondered, and Zibeck said.

“…It’s Lady Meya.”

“Lady Meya?”

“Have you forgotten? The chief officer of Bishop Salasma, the illegitimate child of Lord Gazrek.”

“Oh. Ah. That.”

Azadin recalled the memory.

Lord Gazrek was definitely the one who, after harming a civilian in an unlucky stray arrow accident, killed the witnesses to cover up the fact, and then clashed with Azadin.

Thanks to that, Azadin was falsely accused of being a paladin killer, and Lady Meya was chasing Azadin to avenge her father….

“Hasn’t she given up yet? It’s a long way from Salasma to here? Why doesn’t she just go back?”

“Be careful. She doesn’t seem to be in her right mind. Besides, she will recognize you and me.”

“……..”

The problem was that she was blocking the road, and now it was too late to turn back because the hippogriff that Azadin was leading was too eye-catching.

Indeed, Meya discovered Azadin’s group.

“You there, leading the hippogriff! We are currently searching for a wanted criminal! We ask for your cooperation.”

“What authority does the King’s Church have to search here?”

When Azadin retorted, she was startled.

“You are….”

She tilted her head, hearing Azadin’s voice.

Then, she raised her finger and covered Azadin’s eye area from her sight.

Seeing Azadin’s lower face, his mouth, jaw, and neckline, she was shocked.

“Could it be you!? Is it Azadin!?”

“Yes. I am Azadin, the Emperor’s herald and a trainee knight of the Rescue Knights.”

“You….”

She tried to swing her weapon, but Azadin stopped her.

“Wait a minute. Do you know what it means to swing a weapon at me? The Rescue Knights have accepted me as a member. Surely you wouldn’t….”

“You are my father’s enemy!”

“And your father committed the crime of killing a civilian. Besides, isn’t it not even a legitimate father-daughter relationship in the first place?”

“Shut up! Don’t frame my father! It makes me angrier that you and the traitor Zibeck are defiling my father’s honor with such dirty words than my father being killed!”

From Lady Meya, who was shouting in anger, there was no trace of the calm demeanor she had shown before, only madness and stubbornness remained.

Originally, she had accepted the fact that her father had committed the crime of killing a civilian only after hearing Lord Zibeck’s words.

However, after Lord Zibeck was expelled from the King’s Church’s paladin order, she believed that Zibeck was actually in league with Azadin, and therefore, his testimony was just a deception to trick her, who had a desire for revenge against Azadin.

That’s why she had returned to the path of revenge. This time, she included not only Azadin but also Zibeck as targets of revenge! That’s why she had come all the way from Salasma to Saint Mallory, a long way away.

The problem is that the rumors have spread unnecessarily far.