The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 32

“Hmm.”

Azadin quickly dealt with the hunting dogs and then watched to see how everyone else was doing. Now that the hunting dogs, which were disrupting the formation, were gone, it was time to see the adventurers’ skills.

Indeed, the adventurers easily repelled the zombies using the power of their formation.

‘The adventurers are quite skilled. They even brought spears for hunting and formed a solid formation. But…’

This is a forest.

What would happen if they were attacked from various angles that the formation couldn’t handle?

In fact, even in this situation, if Tarky and Azadin hadn’t intervened to stop the hunting dogs, there would have been losses. Azadin took a step back and assessed the adventurers’ abilities.

*********

The short battle at the entrance of the lumber mill village was over. It was a great victory for them, without even a scratch. However, everyone was terrified and had exhausted themselves with the excitement of the battle.

The undead, by their very existence, are disgusting, and people are either terrified or enraged just by looking at them.

“Th-this is different from what we agreed on!”

“Let’s go back. This is too much!”

The merchants who came to trade with the lumber mill and the adventurers they hired were trying to turn back. Kaka, Chico, and the other Cell Sword members were flustered.

“No, we were hired to repel wyverns.”

“We can’t just turn back!”

“There are undead before the wyverns. It’s a different story!”

“But, uh, it seems like the undead are all taken care of now.”

“No, the fact that undead are appearing in this forest means that anything could come out of here. What if ghosts or wraiths appear later? Are you confident you can handle that?”

The overall sentiment was that everyone wanted to retreat, wyverns or not.

Living monsters are easy to hunt, but the undead are difficult. Even if you wound them, they don’t bleed, and their functions only stop when their bodies are completely severed. Above all, according to the Hubris people’s superstition, those killed by the undead also become undead, so everyone fears them more than monsters.

“But, can you go back?”

Azadin asked them.

“Huh? What do you mean….”

“Huh?”

Only then did the adventurers and merchants realize that their retreat path had disappeared. They had clearly walked straight along the forest path, but now, lush trees were growing behind them.

‘The trees have changed their positions.’

Azadin knew this would happen from the moment he saw the dark power boiling in the forest.

‘The caster is watching us. They’ve blocked our retreat….’

Azadin could feel the caster’s hatred for these merchants.

‘They plan to kill us all.’

If these people really enslaved and exploited a woman just because she was of the Messenger Clan bloodline, and even made the children born from her slaves for generations….

That’s a death sentence.

Even the kind-hearted Azadin doesn’t want to let them live. However….

‘I can’t let them die before the investigation progresses. I need to keep them alive until then.’

Thinking that, Azadin observed the merchants’ reactions.

“Ugh! What happened?”

“We’re all going to die!”

“H-how can the path disappear? It was definitely there!”

The merchants were terrified and ordered the adventurers to go back the way they came. The adventurers were displeased with being treated like arrow fodder, but they were also curious, so they turned around and went back. And soon they returned.

“T-the path is gone.”

“There is a path that isn’t a path, but it’s too narrow and dangerous.”

If a large number of people pass through a narrow path, the formation will inevitably become long. If they are ambushed, they will be wiped out.

“Let’s stay in this village for now, since it’s wide here.”

Azadin said that, but the merchants and adventurers shook their heads.

“N-no way!”

“This is where that Messenger Clan woman was.”

“Th-that woman. It must be that woman! As expected of the cursed Messenger Clan. I knew it!”

The merchants didn’t even pretend to listen to Azadin and were terrified.

“Let’s leave quickly. This village is ominous.”

“Y-yes, let’s do that.”

“But the way back looks too dangerous.”

“It doesn’t matter. We have a compass.”

“Well, we’ll figure something out, right?”

The merchants, ignoring the adventurers’ objections, clamored to go back.

Azadin thought these merchants deserved to die, but he couldn’t let them die until things were certain. So, he had no choice but to call Tarky aside.

“Huh?”

“Hey, you, calm these people down.”

“Huh? Me?”

“I can’t do it, can I? You’re a noble, so you’ll have more influence.”

“Ah, I understand. I’ll try my best, but….”

Tarky hesitated and approached the merchants.

“Alright, you lowly things. Pay attention for a moment.”

“…….”

Even the merchants who were in a panic from fear all shut their mouths for a moment.

“I am Tarky, the son of the Margrave of Kazel. My life is far more precious than your fly-like lives. I’m risking my life to investigate this place, so why are you lowly creatures so worried about your lives? Join us in investigating this place and become witnesses to my glory as I uncover the secrets here. It will be a story worth boasting about for generations, even for you lowly things.”

*********

Thanks to Tarky’s encouragement(?), many of the merchants, along with the mercenaries they hired, insisted on retracing their steps and left.

Now, only Kaka, Chico, who were directly assigned the mission by the Cell Sword Guild, Azadin’s group, and Tarky remained.

Tarky was puzzled as to why his persuasion had actually driven people away.

“Why are they acting like that?”

“That’s what I want to ask. How can you say such things in that situation?”

Azadin was completely amazed by Tarky, who was so cowardly but unmatched when it came to being a nuisance. It was like, once a person crossed a certain line, their very existence became strange. How could he speak so terribly? He felt like tearing open his head to see what was inside.

“Well, thanks to that, we don’t have to be careful anymore.”

Midiam said with a smile, which was terrifying. If their identities were exposed, they only needed to silence Kaka and Chico. Of course, in that case, the rest of the humans would be killed or rendered incapable of speaking.

Kaka and Chico, unaware of the inner workings, sighed.

“Oh, brother. Why did you say such things? It’s dangerous if people scatter.”

“Then why didn’t you go back with the merchants?”

“If there’s magic that’s obscuring the path we came from, it’s more dangerous to retrace our steps.”

Chico said, carefully taking out a charm from her pocket and touching it. It was a baked lizard charm used by the shamans of Butuma. It was a primitive charm that could be eaten when hungry or used to draw charms with its ashes, and she scraped off some of the ashes and sprinkled them on the ground.

Even though there was no wind, the ashes moved and began to draw waves on the ground, as if iron filings were being drawn by magnetism.

“Powerful black magic is dominating this area. It’s obvious, considering there are undead.”

“Is that so?”

Azadin clicked his tongue and looked around the lumber mill. There was a huge waterwheel saw installed to cut wood. Around the waterwheel saw, there were workshops, accommodations, and warehouses.

And….

The warehouse door was shaking. Someone inside was banging on the warehouse door, which was bolted from the outside. Everyone drew their weapons and approached cautiously.

“Is it an undead?”

“Is there anyone out there? I’m a person!”

A young woman’s voice came from inside the warehouse.

“Is that what an undead would say?”

“I’m really a person! I’m, um, I’m a paladin of the King’s Church!”

“A paladin of the King’s Church?”

Azadin approached the door and removed the bolt. The door swung open, and a young female knight popped out. She was wearing plate armor, so she seemed to be a full-fledged knight, not a trainee, and she was armed with a shield and a small mace.

She must have been pushing against the door, because as soon as Azadin removed the bolt, she tumbled to the ground.

“Wack!”

The Kaka and Chico siblings, startled, jumped back to avoid her. The female knight, who had fallen awkwardly to the ground, remained lying there.

“Oh, dear. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine… no, I’m not!”

She suddenly jumped up as if struck by lightning and ran towards the bushes before the others could stop her.

“It’s dangerous to act alone.”

“But it’s something I have to do alone! Don’t come!”

“Ah….”

Azadin realized what she was trying to do and stopped chasing her. She disappeared into the bushes, and after a while, she returned looking a bit more composed.

“…….”

“Ah, well, I was locked up for a while, so….”

“No need to explain.”

Azadin said, and the paladin blushed with embarrassment. It seemed she had a sudden need for the restroom.

“Ah, I’m late with introductions. I’m Meya, the chief officer of the Salasama Diocese.”

A chief officer of the diocese was an officer directly under the bishop, a considerable elite in the King’s Church. Unlike other paladins, they worked in the bishop’s diocese, that is, in a major city, and their salaries were also paid directly by the diocese, making them the envy of other paladins.

Paladins who couldn’t become chief officers had to travel around a vast jurisdiction, carrying out missions given by their superiors, and they had to earn their own living expenses, equipment repair costs, and horse feed without any fiefdom.

Because of this difference, they naturally didn’t just pick anyone. Those with outstanding abilities, exceptionally good family backgrounds, or those with outstanding looks who could charm the city dwellers, or those with professional skills such as tax, accounting, law, or librarianship. Only these people could become chief officers.

Azadin was puzzled and asked.

“What is someone of your status doing here?”

“It’s because of a sacred mission, of course.”

“Then why were you locked in the warehouse?”

“When I was investigating the warehouse, monsters attacked the village. The people went into a frenzy and locked me in the warehouse, and since all I had was this….”

She showed her mace. It was a very small mace with elegant silver engravings, more like an accessory for the upper nobility than a weapon.

It was a great weapon for someone without armor, but it was no better than a poker for those wearing armor. Seeing her carrying such a thing, she seemed more suited for paperwork or commerce than combat.

“O-of course, I have my weapons, but they’re with my horse… there were other paladins in the village besides me, so I never thought something like this would happen. I could have used a divine smiting spell to break down this warehouse door, but that would have put me in danger too. Hmm?”

Meya said that and suddenly looked around. Wasn’t the village full of traces of blood and slaughter?