The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 325

“…Were they alive?”

Azadin was bewildered as he watched the humans, who had suddenly turned to stone due to Elemental Wailing in the burnt-down house and farm, begin to move.

[Aaaah….]

They opened their mouths and screamed. Not just one corpse that Azadin was looking at, but all of them screamed in unison.

And… a hot wind rose from them.

“Avoid it, Lord Azadin!”

“Ugh!”

Azadin immediately used the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon technique [a movement technique] to escape the spot.

The Elemental Wailing victims began to explode simultaneously. One person turned into a massive pile of magic stones, their volume increasing more than a hundredfold.

One person became a huge stone pillar, expanding in volume and smashing everything around them.

Originally, Elemental Wailing victims would suffer as parts of their bodies turned into magic stones, eventually dying. The amount of magic stones produced was far greater than a single human body… but this time, it was as if all the magic stones were released at once.

“What on earth is going on?”

Azadin looked in the direction where the pillars of magic stones had exploded.

The magic stones, which had increased in volume, were all growing in one direction.

The magic stones grew like thorns towards the northeast, as if indicating a direction, but.

“This is not enough.”

It was still impossible to know. A single arrow drawn on the road wouldn’t be enough to find the way. There needed to be continuous signposts to know the path… and if there were enough Elemental Wailing victims to serve as signposts, it would mean the end of humanity.

“The magic stones….”

“What should we do, Captain?”

Bernard asked Azadin. Since people had turned into magic stones, collecting them would be useful in many ways.

Just selling them would bring a considerable income.

However, Azadin shook his head.

“I don’t think this is the time to be greedy for magic stones. Elemental Wailing might not be increasing only here. If that happens….”

The price of magic stones would plummet.

But it sounded like he was putting a price on human lives, so Azadin trailed off.

“First, let’s give them a proper burial.”

“Huh? A burial, you say?”

“Yes. To comfort the souls of the dead and pray that they find rest under the guidance of the Three Great Archangels [a religious reference]…. It’s okay. A simple burial for the Rescue Knights won’t take that long.”

Azadin gave the dead a simple burial and left.

“A necromancer who gives burials. Our captain is truly unpredictable.”

The blood mage Bernard found it strange that Azadin, as a paladin, would give burials to the dead.

Thanks to that, some time was wasted, and now the sun was setting.

*********

Chashan’s group had gathered at the Sandokar Gate first.

No one said that Azadin had missed Chashan’s group because he was giving burials to those who died from Elemental Wailing.

Azadin’s burial was a simple prayer. It didn’t take that long.

You couldn’t blame him for missing the enemy just because he took a minute to catch his breath.

Besides, Azadin’s group was also slightly exhausted from the continuous battles.

To succeed in defeating them individually, they had to show tremendous mobility and breakthrough power, and for a small group, that level of mobility and breakthrough power put a strain on their stamina.

Azadin led them to an inn about 4 leagues [a unit of distance] away from the Sandokar Gate.

However, the inn was in a terrible state.

In the stable of the inn, where they used to do business, the severed heads of horses were hanging, and the corpses of dead people were scattered around.

The horses of the merchants Azadin had sent were dead, and those merchants, whom Azadin had trusted and sent to Banreung, were dead and hanging.

Looking at the bullet holes here and there, it seemed that Chashan’s group had ambushed the caravan at this inn.

There was some resistance, and then a brutal massacre occurred.

Chashan’s group had tortured and abused the caravan merchants right here, cutting off their fingers while they were still alive to provoke Azadin.

Azadin shuddered as he looked at the gruesome traces.

“Let’s give them a burial.”

If they didn’t bury them right away, their bodies could be resurrected as undead.

Azadin, as he had done with the Elemental Wailing victims, gave the merchants’ corpses a burial with the prayers of the Rescue Knights.

“While we’re doing this, Chashan’s group will escape further. It seems different from the Elemental Wailing victims.”

Niselda urged Azadin to pursue them. The corpses of the Elemental Wailing victims had turned into magic stones, so there was no need to touch them, but here, Azadin was taking down the horribly scattered corpses, cleaning them, and collecting them.

Naturally, it took more time and effort than with the Elemental Wailing victims.

However, Azadin shook his head.

“Since the sun has set, rushing the pursuit will lead us into a trap. Niselda, not everyone has night vision like you. And Chashan was originally expelled from the Dwarven Arrows [a mercenary group]. There’s no way they won’t hold him accountable for using so many of the Dwarven Arrows’ elite troops.”

Chashan was known to have been the founder of the Dwarven Arrows, but after being purged by his subordinates and coming to the Chadra Plateau, he had built a drug farm on the Chadra Plateau and created a drug organization comparable to the Dwarven Arrows.

However, seeing him now borrowing the Dwarven Arrows’ forces to take revenge on Azadin, it was doubtful whether he had really fought against the Dwarven Arrows.

Wasn’t the conflict between Chashan and the Dwarven Arrows a disguised conflict?

Wasn’t it a disguise to avoid blaming the Banreung Kingdom for spreading drugs and committing crimes all over the world?

“…Captain.”

At that moment, Scott pointed somewhere to Azadin.

As Azadin finished the burial, a light began to shine near the stable of the inn.

When Azadin approached, spirits appeared. They all had the appearance they had in life, with traces of the brutal torture and massacre they had suffered at the hands of the dwarves. Thanks to the brief burial Azadin had given them, those who had been beheaded were holding their heads in their hands, and those who had been cut in half were walking around with their upper bodies on their waists, like boys holding up their falling pants.

[Lord Azadin….]

They were happy to see Azadin. They could have said something resentful, but they all looked peaceful.

“I’m sorry. It’s because of my lack of virtue that I put you in danger….”

[No, Lord Azadin. You warned us that this path was dangerous. Until now, no noble or knight has ever shown us such fair treatment.]

“Well, that’s….”

Azadin was the one who was persecuted, not a knight or noble.

He claimed to have inherited the blood of the emperor to not be inferior to others, but in fact, the blood of the emperor was intentionally amplified within the Messenger Clan, to the point that it was rare for someone in the Messenger Clan not to have inherited the blood of the emperor.

Azadin himself knew that he was not a noble, but to these people who were used to the atrocities of the nobles, each and every action of Azadin, who had been appointed as a knight of the Vermillion Fortress, was a fresh shock.

Since they didn’t hate Azadin even in death, Azadin had to wonder if these ghosts were just a convenient illusion he had created.

[Don’t worry too much. Lord Azadin. You were a good lord.]

[If you don’t feel it, I’ll tell you, it’s because the others are useless lords.]

“…That’s a very reasonable statement. I’m convinced.”

Azadin nodded at the ghosts’ words.

[Anyway, we didn’t gather here to talk nonsense.]

[Be careful. The master of Elemental Wailing is approaching.]

“The master of Elemental Wailing?”

[The person who spread Elemental Wailing to humans and their successor are coming to find you.]

[That is….]

The ghosts tried to say something, but they couldn’t say any more.

“It seems the Banreung Academy has finally figured out how to propagate Elemental Wailing.”

[That’s right.]

“This is a big problem. Giacomo’s daughter is in danger. I promised to save his daughter.”

Azadin had promised to find Giacomo’s daughter, a young girl who had contracted Elemental Wailing.

If the research on Elemental Wailing was over and they had achieved some results, there would be no reason for the Banreung Academy to keep Giacomo’s daughter alive.

So, when Azadin worried, the ghosts looked at each other and nodded.

[His subordinate’s daughter, or rather, it’s ambiguous to even call him a subordinate.]

[Thank you for even trying to keep such a promise.]

[So, about our promise… will you keep it?]

[Please contact my wife and tell her that I died. There should be a ring on my body, tell her to give it to my son…. It’s just a faded silver ring now, but it has runic letters that prove our noble family lineage from a long time ago.]

“I will deliver it.”

[I… tell my wife that I hid silver coins under the chicken coop, and to use them to help our son get married.]

The spirits asked Azadin to convey their last words to their families and to deliver their belongings.

Azadin promised to fulfill all of their requests and to pay 15 Arangi silver coins [a currency] each as compensation to their bereaved families.

Then, the ghosts, satisfied, blessed Azadin and left.

*********

Scott, who had been watching the scene, clicked his tongue.

“Seeing this makes me a little hesitant about using necromancy.”

“Only a little?”

Azadin was surprised that a necromancer like Scott would feel hesitant about invading death. But if he felt hesitant, he felt hesitant, why only a little?

“The soul, spirit, and flesh are separated from each other, and I only use the flesh and spirit at most.”

“Well, I think so too. That’s why we should value funerals even more. By performing a funeral, we can completely separate a human’s soul and body. It’s a ritual to give rest to the soul and to prevent the act of damaging the body from hurting the soul, to separate the dead from the cruelty of the world so that no more pain is inflicted on this pitiful soul. If possible, Scott, you should also perform a funeral before using necromancy.”

“…Uh, Captain. Usually, I, an orc, am often misunderstood by humans, but that statement just now was a bit….”

Even Scott, an orc and a necromancer, thought he was crazy.

Scott wasn’t the only one surprised to see Azadin talking to spirits.

Niselda, a half-vampire, was also amazed.

“Does this happen often?”

“Occasionally…?”

“What are you….”

“Anyway… the master of Elemental Wailing is appearing. It’s a good thing Giacomo isn’t here. If he were, he would have rushed in without thinking.”

The blood mage Bernard said, shivering.

“Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“…Ah, yes. But, um. No, it’s nothing. There’s no reason for him to come all the way here.”

Bernard trailed off. It seemed like he had someone in mind, but it didn’t seem like he would get a good answer by pushing him too hard here.