The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 357

“Are you alright? If you feel any discomfort, I can use blood magic…”

Ever since acquiring Ashajit’s eye, Bernard had been itching to use blood magic. He even suggested, since there was a shortage of fodder for the horses:

‘How about mixing blood magic-made blood pudding into their feed? It could reduce the consumption of fodder, beans, and oats.’

But he was met with responses like:

‘That’s a bit…’

‘I don’t want to ride a vampirized horse. Wouldn’t that turn them into vampires?’

‘Isn’t that coming from Ashajit’s eye? Isn’t that Nether blood?’

‘Even if he is your father by bloodline, please maintain some common sense and decorum. As your daughter, I am ashamed.’

Despite being restrained by everyone for these reasons, he still hadn’t come to his senses.

“I’m just organizing the Divine King’s Scripture. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Is that so?”

When Azadin mentioned the Divine King’s Scripture, Bernard didn’t press further.

Azadin had acquired a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, possessed the power of a king, and was qualified to demand the throne.

That fact was so hopeful for Bernard that even with Ashajit’s shadow looming before him and fierce blizzards raging, he moved forward without fear.

*********

Thanks to Bernard’s blood magic, Azadin’s group entered the direct territory of the Allied Royal Family without much difficulty.

Ahead, the heart of the mountain, the capital of the Banreung Kingdom, was visible. And near the vast mining city in the Banreung region, along the coast, fortresses with the flags of the Rescue Knights were lined up.

The elite of the Rescue Knights, the Celestial Fire Knights, had arrived.

“Hmm… I’ll release the blood magic. This magic makes us appear as vassals of the blood god Ashajit to those around us.”

Bernard was surprised to see the fortresses with the Celestial Fire Knights’ flags and deactivated the blood magic.

He was afraid they might be mistaken for sorcerers by the Celestial Fire Knights.

‘Well, if we’re using blood magic, we are sorcerers.’

There was no need to get into a difficult situation.

As soon as the blood magic was released, the fortress gates opened, and Celestial Fire Knights on horseback approached Azadin’s carriage.

Two knights and four attendants on horseback surrounded Azadin’s carriage. Surprisingly, the knight leading them was Sir Aramis, whom they had met once before.

She was the commander of the detachment that Azadin had first encountered when he received a pass from Prince Kalintz and headed to Saint Mallory.

“Hmm? Sir Azadin?”

Lifting the visor of her helmet, a youthful girl’s face was revealed. A beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl looked at Azadin with an innocent smile.

“Ah, it’s been a while, Sir Aramis. Or maybe not that long?”

“What brings you here…?”

“I received an Erantry Quest [a quest given to a knight errant]. To rescue Bishop Akenar of Coxhall.”

“Ah. An Erantry Quest? I’m envious.”

“Hmm? Envious? What do you mean by that?”

“It’s like something out of an old knight’s tale. I’m envious. We don’t have much experience as trainee knights, and yet we’ve all become Hospitallers [knights who provide medical care].”

“……”

Some start as trainee knights and are ordered on impossible missions, while others become Hospitallers right away just because they are Celestials [people with divine powers].

It was clear that the Knights were openly discriminating based on lineage and birth, yet Aramis was envious of Azadin.

Having lived a life full of favor without any setbacks, she couldn’t understand being discriminated against and oppressed. She probably saw it as a prepared trial, like in an old hero’s tale.

‘This kid… has no malice? Maybe the Celestial reincarnation ritual failed, and her mind is still a child while her body is an adult?’

Looking at Sir Aramis’s condition, Azadin realized that the Celestial reincarnation ritual had been continuously modified and improved.

“I wish I could switch places with you.”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t handle it. Sir Azadin, didn’t you pacify the Chadra Plateau?”

“And now, he has been asked to be a protector by the Margrave [a noble title] of Naisandokar and the Count of Sandokar. Count Azadin, that is.”

Jibek, annoyed that Sir Aramis kept calling Azadin just ‘Sir,’ clarified that Azadin had become a Count.

“Ah. You’ve become Count Azadin. Naisandokar and Sandokar… isn’t that a vast amount of land?”

“Well, right now, it’s land that doesn’t produce anything and only has more mouths to feed. It’s a wasteland teeming with slash-and-burn farmers who fled to avoid taxes and residents like bandits who comply with drug trafficking organizations.”

“But it is a glorious thing.”

“More importantly, do you have any information about Bishop Akenar of Coxhall? What’s the situation here with the Celestial Fire Knights?”

“It’s not good. We’ve had casualties.”

“Casualties?”

“Yes. It’s embarrassing, but until now, the Celestial Fire Knights have been completing missions in various places without losing any knights, even if attendants and soldiers died. Until now, we were able to handle things with our skills and the celestial power inherited from the angels. But in Banreung… they have cannons.”

It seemed that the Celestial Fire Knights, as usual, had relied on their skills and the power of their Celestial birth, only to suffer heavy losses from Banreung’s artillery.

Azadin didn’t miss the fact that the expressions of Sir Aramis and the other Celestial Knight with her darkened when talking about the deaths of Celestials.

“Even the Arangian Guards couldn’t capture Banreung.”

Azadin mentioned the Arangian Guards as an example. It was a subtle criticism of the Celestial Fire Knights for ignoring the lessons of the Madoc War between the Arangian Kingdom and Banreung.

‘It seems they’ve been doing well with their innate angelic power, but now they’re suffering from a lack of experience. This is… weren’t the upper echelons of the Celestial Fire Knights all children of the Northern Empire? They should have some military experience, but they’re like this?’

Moreover, he didn’t like their attitude of being relieved that there had been no deaths among the Celestials.

When Azadin first acted with the Celestial Fire Knights, there were considerable casualties among the soldiers and attendants when fighting the Bree army.

The Rescue Knights had selected elite troops from various places to enhance the status of the Celestial Fire Knights, but the Celestial Fire Knights had mismanaged their forces, driving attendants and soldiers into dangerous situations.

They didn’t care much about such sacrifices, but now that there have been sacrifices among the Celestials, they are taking it seriously.

‘Is it a problem that I feel so twisted when dealing with those who are polite to me?’

Azadin smiled wryly, looking at Sir Aramis, who was being polite to him.

“Ah, instead of this, please come to our fortress.”

“How about the fortress?”

“We attacked it with the Nisraf’s cannons and captured it. It’s our bridgehead now. The inner part of the Banreung port has coastal batteries installed, so it would be dangerous for the Nisraf to enter.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“Yes?”

“No, I was worried that the Nisraf might be in danger if it went in.”

Azadin was relieved that the Nisraf, a historic artifact of the Rescue Knights, had not been sunk by Banreung’s coastal artillery.

“That’s right! It would be shameful not to pass on a masterpiece like the Nisraf to future generations. Fortunately, it’s perfectly fine without a single scratch!”

Aramis was delighted to see that Azadin seemed to value the Nisraf.

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, no, it’s just…”

Azadin suddenly thought that Aramis was quite cute. Is this how it feels to have a younger sibling?

‘Ismail was never cute.’

Ismail suddenly came to mind.

*********

The coastal fortress seized by the Celestial Fire Knights was the first coastal artillery fortress blocking the entrance to Banreung Port, not a good place for many soldiers to be stationed.

However, the Celestial Fire Knights had mounted cannons on the Nisraf, silenced this fortress with those cannons, and then unloaded supplies here to create a campsite.

Strangely, soldiers and attendants were stationed inside the fortress, while the knights stayed outside.

“What is this?”

“Ah, Celestials are less sensitive to the cold. We placed people inside to avoid the sea breeze.”

“Is that so?”

Seeing this, the Celestials weren’t fundamentally bad. Usually, knights don’t have the concept of giving up comfortable places for attendants or soldiers.

Azadin, seeing this, suddenly asked,

“The Northern Emperor, Cohen Lionheart?”

“Ah, he is the patron of our Knights. He provides us with supplies, funds, and weapons.”

As expected, the members of the Celestial Fire Knights were favorable to the Northern Empire.

However, it didn’t seem like the Northern Emperor himself had come here.

Then, another Celestial Knight approached Azadin.

It was Izmilla.

“Sir Azadin! To meet you here!”

“Ah, Sir Izmilla.”

“What brings you here? Could it be that you knew we were stuck and came to help…?”

“Well, it’s because of an Erantry Quest.”

“Ah, an Erantry Quest!”

Izmilla exclaimed in admiration.

“Wonderful. As expected of Sir Azadin.”

“……”

Izmilla also admired Erantry Quests.

Not only her, but other Celestials also admired Azadin.

“Ah, it’s Sir Azadin.”

“That’s him? He’s handsome. And much younger than I thought.”

Curious gazes poured in from all directions, tickling Azadin’s skin. They all sent friendly looks. Although Azadin was born of the Messenger Clan, most of the Celestial Fire Knights were blank slates, born when the reincarnation ritual was not yet complete.

They were young and had been instilled with only the pure ideals of the Rescue Knights under high-ranking clerics, so they didn’t discriminate against Azadin and just looked at him with curiosity.

But there were also gazes filled with hostility among them… those born after the reincarnation ritual had become relatively stable, the children of the Northern Empire.

“Sir Azadin, or rather, Count Azadin now. The Margrave of Naisandokar.”

Trio Dana and Karna walked out of the barracks. Karna, the commander of the Celestial Fire Knights, and Trio Dana, a Celestial of the Wisdom Order, were twins who looked almost identical except for their skin color.

Both were Celestials born after the reincarnation ritual had stabilized in the later stages. Created to project the will of the Northern Empire into the Rescue Knights, these two were wary of Azadin, who, unlike the Northern Empire’s intentions, had independently gained fame and formed a large force within the Rescue Knights.

“Ah, Sir Azadin is a Count?”

“Where is Naisandokar?”

It was a border region that the Arangian Kingdom had abandoned, but for those who didn’t know the geography well, the fact that Azadin had become a Count was important.

“Amazing!”

“It’s a great honor for our Rescue Knights.”

The Celestial Knights were impressed that Azadin, a trainee knight of the Rescue Knights, had become a Count and received an Erantry Quest.

Wasn’t it a heroic tale of self-made success from scratch?

‘No, this isn’t the reaction I was expecting.’

Trio Dana was flustered by the Celestials’ friendly reaction to Azadin.