The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 330

Night of the Soulless Blasphemer – Episode 331 (331/514)

#331. The Inquisition 1

A major incident occurred: Azadin, a trainee knight of the Rescue Knights, invaded the border of the Banreung Kingdom, killed Prince Kalzmati of Banreung, and seized the County of Sandokar.

This alone was enough to turn the world upside down. But what happened after that was even more extraordinary.

The Count of Sandokar accused the Banreung royal family to the King’s Church.

The charge was vampirism, a crime of treason against humanity.

Prince Kalzmati of Banreung was a vampire, and his attack broke the covenant of the god of war. Therefore, he would serve Azadin as his new lord and request the protection of Sandokar from the Rescue Knights.

The Banreung Kingdom naturally denied the allegations and declared the Count of Sandokar a traitor, excommunicating him.

*********

“Are you crazy…!”

Prince Kalintz, who had given Azadin the pass, slammed his fist on the desk in the Fireglyph Chapter Master’s office and banged his head against it.

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Calm down. You’re going to break something.”

Azadin, the very person who had caused this enormous incident, was unperturbed.

He was more worried about the objects colliding with Prince Kalintz’s head than the head itself.

“You crazy bastard! How could you just invade?! And how did you even win? No, you’re really something! How did you manage to take over an entire county?”

“It’s not so much that I took it, but rather that I fell into the Count’s trap. Actually, as a Count, he saw with his own eyes that the Prince of Banreung died in his territory and was a vampire.”

“But why you, a trainee knight….”

“Well, if the Count bows his head to me, a member of the Messenger Clan [a clan known for their information gathering and often viewed with suspicion] and a soulless blasphemer, it’ll draw the attention of the King’s Church and the public, right? If I just said there were vampires in the Banreung royal family, would the King’s Church listen? They’d shut me up right away.”

Indeed, the incident of Sandokar accusing the Banreung royal family was spreading rapidly around the world.

Azadin, who had already gained fame for subduing the heroes of Chadra, was now seeing his notoriety spread like an uncontrollable wildfire.

With the eyes of the world focused on them, the Banreung royal family could no longer push their way through.

“So, Ibechek of Sandokar is actually using you, isn’t he? And you know that….”

“Originally, I was going to create a trade route there, but if I became enemies with Sandokar, the trade route I had established would be useless. Of course, I could go through Arangi, or fly on a hippogriff [a mythical creature, half-horse, half-eagle]. It’s not like I couldn’t smuggle. Besides, if the other party is pointing at me and saying they’ll surrender, it wouldn’t look good if I didn’t accept.”

“Hmm. No, the Wisdom Order is plotting to harm you, and you’re doing such a good deed. You’re definitely going to be summoned for an inquisition. An inquisition. How can you, a trainee knight, take on such a big task? You should have asked the higher-ups and made a decision!”

“Honestly, this is something that deserves an inquisition.”

Azadin also regretted that he had gone too far with the Rescue Knights this time.

From the Rescue Knights’ perspective, they had accepted a guy who was already carrying all sorts of bad rumors, such as being a member of the Messenger Clan, a soulless blasphemer, and a king slayer, and now this guy was just causing major accidents.

Taking over the border county of the Banreung Kingdom was no small matter.

As Prince Kalintz said, he should have asked the higher-ups first and made a decision.

Of course, if he had done that, the County of Sandokar would have been trampled by the Banreung Kingdom, and Azadin would have had no obligation to protect the County of Sandokar, nor any justification to cross swords with the Banreung Kingdom….

The Count of Sandokar had gambled his life, and Azadin had accepted that gamble.

“What will you do if the Wisdom Order summons you to Saint Mallory for an inquisition?”

“But I can’t leave my post right now. I’m in the middle of deploying troops to the County of Sandokar.”

“Forward deployment….”

Prince Kalintz covered his face with his hands.

In other words, Azadin had moved his troops because he was worried that the Banreung Kingdom would invade Sandokar.

From the Banreung Kingdom’s perspective, a guy who was known as a madman all over the world had brought his troops and deployed them next to their border.

That’s how the story goes.

“Are you saying you’re going to refuse to attend the inquisition? While conducting a local military demonstration as you please!”

“It’s a performance. To be precise. If a full-scale war breaks out, I can postpone the inquisition, right? I think that’s the rule?”

“There’s such a rule?”

Prince Kalintz looked through the codex.

A request to postpone attendance at an inquisition was indeed possible. When there were important matters, a Rescue Knight could request the postponement of an inquisition from the higher-ups. However, there had never been a case where it had actually been used. Especially not for a trainee knight!

But it did exist in the regulations.

“It’s real?”

“I’ll have to prepare to fight the vampires of the Banreung Kingdom, so there’s enough reason to postpone it.”

“Well, I guess so. But are you really going to ignore the inquisition and go to war with the Banreung Kingdom?”

“Hey. Watch your words. I’m not fighting the Banreung Kingdom, but the vampires that are eating away at the Banreung Kingdom. Besides, a solution to the Elemental Wailing might come out. Surely the Rescue Knights don’t need to get permission from the higher-ups to fight vampires, do they?”

Certainly, a paladin doesn’t need to get permission from the higher-ups to fight monsters like vampires.

However….

“You’re just a trainee knight, and you’re saying you’re going to fight an entire kingdom. Even Arangi and the Yaegas gods haven’t conquered the dwarves.”

“I’m just fighting vampires. Their identities are just masks they chose to infiltrate the human world.”

“Okay. So, what can I do to help?”

“Subtly tell the higher-ups. If they put me in an inquisition, the authority of the higher-ups might be undermined. It would be better to watch the situation. Something like that.”

“……….”

“Why?”

“Isn’t that a provocation?”

“A provocation? I thought it was the unvarnished truth.”

“If the esteemed bishops and high paladins hear that putting a mere trainee knight in an inquisition could damage the reputation of the knights, what do you think they’ll think? It’s probably better not to say that.”

“If that’s the case, it might be better to promote me. Then it wouldn’t be as embarrassing to be defeated by a high paladin rather than a mere trainee knight, right?”

“Heh heh heh. You rascal. Are you serious?”

Prince Kalintz couldn’t help but chuckle at Azadin’s overly arrogant answer.

“Oh, whatever. Okay. I’ll pass on those words as they are. But you know that me, the Chapter Master of Fireglyph, doing such a thing, I’m not trying to take credit, but you know, right?”

“I’m always grateful to the prince. Thank you for taking this difficult path with me.”

“…You’re twisting my arm to get a bow [a metaphor for manipulating someone into giving praise].”

Prince Kalintz decided to go all in with Azadin since things had come to this point. He had made the decision a long time ago, but why was he so uneasy?

“Is there anything else I can help with?”

“Just provide rear support for the areas where the defenses of Vermilion and Yongcheonji, etc., are weakened due to the forward deployment of troops.”

“Okay. I’ll maintain the security of the rear and organize patrols on the roads.”

Prince Kalintz promised to provide rear support so that Azadin could fully engage in a showdown with the Banreung Kingdom.

*********

After reporting to Prince Kalintz, Azadin headed to the Sandokar gate.

He led soldiers and workers to pave the road to the Sandokar gate and eliminate the monsters along the way.

He also began work to repair the Sandokar gate, which had been damaged by the vampire attack.

“Oh, my. I’m so sorry. Haha. I didn’t think things through… I’m so sorry for receiving this help.”

Count Ibechek of Sandokar was being nonchalant as he watched Azadin bring his troops to repair the gate fortress.

“I saw on the way here that the land is fertile. And it’s a border area. The customs revenue must be considerable, and the agricultural production must be significant. But why hasn’t it developed?”

The path from the Chadra Plateau to Sandokar had fertile land due to the accumulation of sediment from the water flowing down from the Chadra Plateau.

Although there were Brees [a type of monster], goblins, beasts, and monsters, the potential of this land was considerable.

“What do you mean it hasn’t developed?”

“If you pave the road well and clear the monsters that appear along the road, there should be enough productivity. Why haven’t you done it all this time?”

“Hahaha. The land between the County of Sandokar and the Chadra Plateau is a gray area, whether it belongs to the Banreung Kingdom or the Knights’ territory, so I left it alone. If I touched it carelessly, it would become a political issue.”

Count Ibechek of Sandokar made a statement that seemed to mock Azadin’s mistake. Wasn’t Azadin’s action of taking over the land between the Chadra Plateau and the Banreung Kingdom, a politically sensitive area, a mistake?

It was a statement that seemed to criticize him.

Even though he had surrendered to Azadin and handed over Sandokar, he was mocking Azadin’s choice to accept it as a blunder.

Ibechek, who had sworn allegiance to Azadin for an unconventional reason, was not just a madman obsessed with chivalry.

He had sworn allegiance to Azadin after thorough political and material considerations.

“Hmm….”

When Azadin didn’t respond, Ibechek, thinking that his words had gone too far, quickly began to make excuses to change the atmosphere.

“Besides, this area is swarming with Brees and goblins. You may be able to cut down Brees like weeds on the side of the road, but most soldiers don’t even want to look at them. I inherited this armor from my ancestors, but I’m not a good fighter. Not everyone is a warrior.”

Azadin listened to Ibechek’s excuses as if he were not listening and looked around his territory.

The roads were not well paved, and there were not many farms, but Sandokar was wealthy.

The people were well-nourished, the army was well-armed, and there were plenty of supplies.

“Well, I guess the Dwarven Arrow’s offer to turn a blind eye to drug smuggling was sweet. It would be difficult to move soldiers to eliminate monsters when it’s not necessary.”

“Ugh….”

Ibechek bit his tongue as if he had nothing to say to Azadin’s words.

“I’m going to crush the Dwarven Arrow and the drug smuggling organization. You should identify the drug addicts in your territory. And select people who are suitable to be drafted into the standing army. It’ll be much easier than eliminating monsters. Count Ibechek?”

“O-of course, I can do that much.”

Ibechek felt utterly intimidated as he looked into Azadin’s purple eyes, which seemed to see through his inner thoughts.

“Don’t worry, Count Ibechek. I highly value the fact that you, the Count of Sandokar, entrusted your sword to me and swore allegiance to me, which is not something that can be done simply for profit or scheming.”

Azadin knew that it was not an ordinary decision for Ibechek, a member of the Yaegas god clan, to entrust his sword to him.

If he had blindly sworn allegiance to Azadin without political consideration, Azadin would have rejected him.

“T-thank you. But, I was wondering, are you okay? From the Rescue Knights’ side….”

Count Ibechek of Sandokar was now worried about Azadin.

“How could I be okay? But it’s quite a distance from Saint Mallory to here, so it’ll probably take some time for them to move properly. It would be nice if it was settled by then….”

Azadin was speaking as if it were someone else’s problem.