The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 33

“Oh, could it be you guys?” Paladin Meya, flustered, grabbed her mace. Azadin shook his head.

“We’re just a group of merchants, adventurers, and pilgrims.”

“Ah, yes. I see. Then, what about this?”

“It seems the villagers were victims of some evil magic. When we arrived, they had all turned into undead and attacked us.”

“What? The people of this lumber mill village? Oh, my goodness. And you all fought them off?”

“Well, it wasn’t just us. There were other merchants and mercenaries, but they didn’t even enter the village and turned back.”

“I see. If you hadn’t come, I would have been stuck in there.”

“Are you alright? How long were you trapped?”

“I’m not sure. There was water and food in the warehouse, so I could hold out, but…”

“May we take a look inside?”

“Ah, no!” Meya objected as Azadin suggested looking inside.

“There might be clues about what happened inside.”

“There’s nothing like that!”

“Why are you so sure?”

“W-well, that’s…” But then, Midiam spoke up.

“Perhaps the paladin was relieving herself in the corner of the warehouse while she was stuck inside. She probably took care of the big business just now, but the small business would have been more frequent…”

“Waaaaaah!” Meya slumped down on the spot. So, she was trying to prevent Azadin and the others from entering because she didn’t want them to see that she had urinated inside the warehouse.

“That’s a trivial reason. May we investigate?”

“No, before that, excuse me, but who are you? Investigating such matters is the specialty of our paladin order. Rather than making wild guesses, it would be better for a trained person to take control of this case.”

Meya’s words were completely reasonable, especially considering she was saying them because she didn’t want anyone to see the traces of her urine. Of course, Azadin, as the Emperor’s messenger, was also trained in investigations.

The Emperor’s messengers were trained not only in martial arts but also in reading and memorizing various accident cases, murder cases, and crime cases. However, the other party was a paladin of the King’s Church, so Azadin couldn’t reveal that he was a messenger.

Then, Midiam stepped forward in Azadin’s place.

“That trained person was trapped in the warehouse and would have been stuck there if we hadn’t come. Should she be in charge of the case? Instead, why don’t we take responsibility for the investigation this time, and you can just follow along?”

“……” Being subtly reminded of her being trapped, the paladin shut her mouth. It was inevitable that she would be speechless, as it brought back shameful memories.

“Very well, then.” Meya gave up and allowed the group to look around.

Azadin looked inside the warehouse. It was also used as a food storage, and there was a large tub filled with water. It seemed she had survived by drinking the water and eating the food from the storage. Judging by the mess, she had been trapped for about a day.

Looking at the entrance, there were traces of the door being slashed with a sword, and a broken short sword was left nearby.

‘So, this paladin wasn’t just carrying that decorative mace.’ It seemed she had entered armed with a short sword and shield, and when she got trapped in the warehouse, she tried to break the door with the short sword, which ended up breaking.

“Were you trapped for about a day?”

“Yes.”

“And before that, the villagers were alive? The village was attacked the moment you were trapped. Is that correct?”

“Yes.” After answering, Meya seemed to be looking for something while observing the undead corpses around her.

“Ah, by the way, have you seen any other paladins besides me?”

“Other paladins?”

“I mean, I was ordered by the bishop to subjugate the wyvern here. Of course, hunters are needed to deal with magical beasts.”

There were many trainee knights in the paladin order who had to earn merits to be formally appointed.

“My father happened to be in charge of guiding the trainee knights, so he came here with them to defeat the wyvern.”

“Your father?”

“Yes. My father is also a paladin of the church. We are a father-daughter duo who have been protecting the laws of the King’s Church for generations!” She puffed out her chest proudly.

‘That’s nothing to be proud of at all.’ Azadin inwardly scoffed at her words. According to the rules, paladins of the King’s Church are not allowed to have children. Otherwise, there would be no point in sending those who lost in the succession battle to the King’s Church without killing them. They might have children someday and gain secular power to reclaim their rights.

To prevent such a situation, they used to be castrated upon entering the order. However, as the rules of the paladin order became more lax, the first thing to disappear was castration. So, dissolute paladins often enjoyed pleasures and had children, and those children became other illegitimate children and were incorporated into the church.

In other words, this Meya was born as such an illegitimate child.

‘If she was born before her father entered the order, then her father would have become a priest, not a paladin.’ So, a father and daughter being paladins is nothing to be proud of. Azadin asked about the appearances of her father and the trainee knights, just in case. And he soon came to a conclusion.

‘They’re the ones I killed.’ This forest and lumber mill were connected to the farm where Azadin’s group had left yesterday. It was likely that the paladins dispatched to hunt the wyvern had accidentally killed a farmer while shooting arrows in the forest. To cover up the incident, they massacred the entire farm, and then they met Azadin’s group and were killed.

But a related person was still alive here. The paladin Meya of Salasma was the daughter of Lord Gazrek, whom Azadin had killed.

“I don’t know what happened, but my father is a very excellent paladin. He is skilled in martial arts and has a very upright demeanor. There’s no way he would have been defeated by a few undead.”

“Is that so?” Azadin chuckled.

Indeed, Lord Gazrek was a fairly strong opponent. Although Azadin had eliminated him with a surprise attack, he might have been a difficult opponent if they had fought properly.

But an excellent paladin?

‘If he were an excellent paladin, he wouldn’t have a daughter.’ How could he be an excellent paladin when he broke the rules and had an illegitimate child?

Moreover, Lord Gazrek and his group that Azadin had seen were the ones who had killed civilians by misfiring arrows and then massacred the civilians to cover up the incident.

She was biased because they were her family, but no matter what, they couldn’t be excellent paladins.

‘He might be an excellent father, but, well, I should keep my mouth shut. If I get involved with this woman and she attacks me as her father’s enemy, it won’t be pleasant.’ So, he decided to separate her for a while.

“Are your weapons and equipment with your horse? I didn’t see any undead horses. If you don’t mind, why don’t you go with the merchants and knights to scout around this area and look for your horse? You might find your companions as well.”

“Then what about you?”

“We’ll investigate the warehouse and the village a bit more.” Azadin said that and sent the paladin out for reconnaissance.

*********

Azadin investigated the warehouse further, but there was nothing special.

“So, what do we do now?” Midiam asked.

“Shall we use this lumber mill as a base and explore little by little? Or should we turn back the way we came, like the other merchants?”

“We’ll use the lumber mill as a base. If the phenomenon happening here is caused by a living human sorcerer, we’ll need a supply of food and water.”

“What if it’s not? Usually, incidents involving black magic are mostly caused by someone who died with a grudge and became a vengeful spirit.”

It takes a lot of training and talent for a living person to use black magic, but a vengeful spirit immediately fulfills the talent for black magic, so disasters are usually caused by vengeful spirits.

“Then, do we have to keep pretending to be helpless children? That would be quite a burden for you, wouldn’t it?” Midiam was thinking about the female paladin.

Azadin had forbidden Midiam and Ismail from using bows. If children were handling such powerful bows, it would immediately reveal that they were from the messenger clan.

It was a fact that had to be hidden even from the merchants, let alone from the paladin. And that wasn’t all.

“If the person who caused this incident is a human, then that person is probably…”

“Right?” Midiam and Azadin had a rough idea of who was behind the events here.

*********

Black magic disasters are usually caused by vengeful spirits. When someone who has suffered a great injustice in life is not properly buried for some reason and is murdered and buried secretly, they become an evil spirit and rise again. Most of these evil spirits only cause curse-type spiritual phenomena.

However, sometimes they exhibit powerful forces that are truly worthy of being called a disaster. If this is such a black magic disaster, the most likely candidate is the woman who was treated as a slave because she was from the messenger clan.

It was likely that she had been murdered and become an evil spirit.

“I don’t know if she died and became a vengeful spirit or if she learned black magic while alive, but the latter possibility is…”

“The latter is also somewhat possible.” Azadin said, citing past accident cases.

The magic of black mana is more about talent than research. If she truly inherited the blood of the messenger clan and inherited the ‘Hwajopungwol’ grimoire [a grimoire is a textbook of magic], it wouldn’t be strange for her to suddenly awaken to black magic one day and become a sorceress.

“Then, given your personality, wouldn’t you want to persuade her?”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because you value aesthetics. But I would kill her. Having sad memories and a painful past is something to sympathize with, but you can’t use a broken bucket because of sympathy. It’s cheaper to buy a new bucket, isn’t it?”

No matter how pitiful their past is, there’s no need to use a broken vessel because of sympathy. Once a human’s mind is broken, it’s hard to repair.

Occasionally, people with strong mental fortitude do not lose themselves in any terrible pain and instead become sharper and stronger. But most humans who are not like that are broken and shattered. You can sympathize with their personal stories, but you shouldn’t trust those people.

Midiam smiled as she spoke with that logic.

“Nevertheless, if you succeed in persuading her, I will respect you.”