The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 37

It seemed Calypso was expecting to keep Midiam as his attendant and torment her continuously.

“The way to respect superiors… But if we’re going by rank, you’re my junior, so shouldn’t you be respecting me as your superior first? You just barged into my territory and interfered with my work.”

“It’s not interference, it’s help. That woman isn’t one of our clan.”

“No. She is one of our clan.”

“What?”

“She endured ten thousand nights in the name of Aragasa [a revered ancestor or deity]. If we abandon someone who has endured the insults poured upon our clan just because she isn’t of our bloodline, then the honor of Aragasa is tarnished.”

“……”

Midiam was in awe of Azadin’s words.

‘It’s hard to explain in words, but… I understand one thing.’

Midiam, as an Aragasa, didn’t particularly like the Hybrids. But when she saw the Hybrid knights looting and tormenting civilians, and then running away when they were in danger, Azadin had said,

‘It is beautiful to protect the Hybrid people.’

At the time, she thought it was foolish. She was an Etar [a noble family within the messenger clan]. As a noble among the messenger clan, she was disgusted that other nobles were not fulfilling their duties.

But now, seeing Azadin striving to keep a vow he didn’t have to make, and upholding his own aesthetic… she felt it was beautiful.

‘Even if she isn’t of our blood, he won’t turn away from someone who endured insults in the name of Aragasa.’

Not just a false pride and honor to appease a dead spirit….

Midiam felt a noble aesthetic in his genuine desire to uphold pride and honor. But this was an era where aesthetics were ridiculed. Calypso and his servants just snorted.

“You decide the honor of Aragasa? You, the biggest fool of the clan?”

Azadin shook his head.

“No matter what you say, I won’t duel. Get lost. I’m busy.”

Azadin said that and turned towards Midiam and Ismael.

“You said this woman left a journal? Let’s find it. If we find that, those guys won’t have anything to offer us.”

“Wait. You bastard! Are you going to ignore me? The information network of the Korasar Merchant Guild is far superior to that woman! You’ll never find it without the information I have! Duel me!”

“The God-King Scripture copy has already chosen me. No matter what you say, I won’t bet the God-King Scripture copy.”

“Ugh….”

Azadin knew exactly what Calypso desired most. In the end, these guys were trying to pick a fight with Azadin to steal the God-King Scripture copy.

“Alright, fine, Azadin. You win. I’ll duel you with the God-King Scripture copy as the stake! If I win, you hand it over, and if I lose… I’ll find that woman’s children, who aren’t even of our clan, free them from slavery, and take them to the sanctuary if possible. How about that? Isn’t that a tempting offer?”

“Oh?”

Azadin was surprised by those words.

“That is indeed a bit tempting.”

“Hahaha. Really? Then will you duel with the God-King Scripture as the stake?”

“Hmm, alright. Then, I’ll specially… put up the God-King Scripture copy. But in return, you must not only rescue this woman’s children, who suffered humiliation and were sold into slavery in the name of Aragasa, and take them to the sanctuary, but also become their guardians and raise them into fine Aragasas. How about that?”

“Oh? Fine. It’s not a difficult task.”

Calypso was delighted that Azadin showed signs of accepting the duel. Now he could legally take the God-King Scripture copy from Azadin. He was underestimating Azadin and was happy.

‘Even if he was trained by the mysterious elder Kazas, this guy is known as the biggest fool in the clan, right? I thought I was making a pointless trip, but this is great. It’s good that my opponent is such an idiot.’

Calypso never considered the possibility of losing.

How could he? Azadin was someone the entire clan treated as a fool. The idea of losing a duel to Azadin was unimaginable.

“Then how should we do this? Should we start formally, a hundred paces apart?”

“No, that’s annoying. Let’s do it right now. The only things at stake are the God-King Scripture and this matter, right? It’s not like we’re betting ranks or anything else, so let’s keep it simple.”

“Really? Alright.”

At that moment.

-Thwack!

With a loud thud, Calypso’s head fell to the ground.

“That’s the end. Keep your promise.”

Azadin snorted and withdrew his hand.

*********

“Huh?!”

Meiya, the chief officer of the Salasmar parish of the King’s Church, woke up with a start.

“Ugh….”

Every part of her body ached. She had clearly cast her only offensive magic, the Judgment of Heaven, and was caught in the blast, spectacularly self-destructing.

The Judgment of Heaven itself didn’t harm the holy knights of the King’s Church, but the problem was the shockwave that exploded along with the released power. She had been knocked unconscious by that shockwave.

“What happened?”

She looked around. She had passed out while fighting the undead, so she should be dead by now, but she was currently inside a small carriage. It was too realistic to be the afterlife or heaven.

“Ugh.”

“Ugh….”

The Kaka and Chiko siblings were also seen waking up.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

The person driving the carriage was relieved.

“What happened?”

“Well, you see.”

*********

The members of the Korasar Merchant Guild, though servants, had pride in being the de facto power of the messenger clan.

Behind them was the Saban family, one of the five founding families of the messenger clan, and unlike the messengers who spent money, they actually earned it. With the power of that money, they could hire mercenaries, buy land, and live without any regrets.

But Midiam had scratched their pride.

‘If you’re a servant, don’t dare talk back to a messenger.’

That alone was a huge insult, but the opponent was Midiam of the Etar family, the rival of the Saban family. Moreover, that messenger was none other than Azadin.

Azadin was the son of the traitor Acre. He was the one who scattered the God-King Scripture copy, which the entire messenger clan had painstakingly acquired with much bloodshed, in the Heart of the World Mountains. He was a great traitor to Aragasa.

Although his son couldn’t be blamed for his father’s sins, Azadin had shown a helpless demeanor afterward, earning the hatred of many, and everyone loathed him just for his eyeless, deformed appearance.

Treat him as a messenger?

Enraged by this, they connected with the messenger Calypso, who happened to be nearby.

The messenger Calypso. He was a wise messenger who knew the money and power of the Saban family well and maintained a good relationship with them. But….

-Thud!

That Calypso was knocked out by a single, light punch from Azadin. Or rather, calling it a punch was just an assumption. In fact, the other servants didn’t even see what Azadin did.

He wasn’t within striking distance, but Calypso fell just from Azadin lightly flicking his hand.

‘Huh? He wasn’t within striking distance?’

‘Did he have a hidden weapon?’

It took them some time to come to their senses.

“Now, then, keep your promise.”

“Ah, w-wait a minute!”

“A, an ambush!”

They wanted to argue that it was an ambush, but even if an imperial messenger was ambushed and lost, or poisoned, it was still a disgrace.

“No, you begged for a duel in front of everyone, agreed on the terms and method, and now you’re claiming it was an ambush? Are you trying to tarnish the honor of the messenger Calypso?”

Midiam openly sneered.

“No, it was an ambush.”

Azadin admitted it was an ambush.

“Because it was an ambush, I knocked him out in one hit without any aftereffects. If I hit him wrong, his face would fly off.”

“……”

Midiam and Ismael knew that Azadin wasn’t joking, but was speaking sincerely. It was fortunate that Calypso was cleanly knocked out by the ambush; if he had fought properly and been hit by Azadin, he would have suffered permanent damage.

“No, such bluffing….”

The servants, who thought Azadin was bluffing, noticed the strange atmosphere as Midiam and Ismael’s expressions became serious.

“Now then, everyone from the Korasar Merchant Guild! Hand over the data.”

“The data, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Well, we never imagined we’d lose, so we didn’t bring it.”

“……”

At that moment, Ismael brought a small wooden box from inside the warehouse.

“Is this it?”

“Where….”

Inside were umbilical cords wrapped in bandages, with the dates of birth and the names of the merchant guilds they were sold to written on them.

“Is this right?”

“Yes. It is.”

“Looking at this, I remember. Roughly….”

The members of the Korasar Merchant Guild dredged up their memories and roughly wrote down what had happened to the children who were sold.

Even though these children were mistaken for being from the messenger clan, it wasn’t easy to keep slaves in a large city, so they were sold as slaves to rural areas, to villages that the merchant guilds with trade records frequently visited.

“They’re closer than I thought.”

“Yes. The holy knights of the King’s Church wouldn’t tolerate the enslavement of Aragasas, so if you exclude the major cities where they frequently appear, well… it’s similar. You can’t sell slaves so openly.”

“Alright. Then shall we start tending to the injured?”

Azadin looked at Kaka, Chiko, Tarki, and Chief Officer Meiya. They were all injured and suffering.

Tarki had collided head-on with the bear’s charge, but fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured because he was wearing full plate armor. However, he was unconscious from the impact.

“Hmm.”

Azadin focused his vision. His eyesight had a peculiar property; the farther he tried to see, the narrower his field of vision became, and the closer he tried to see, the wider his field of vision gradually became, until he could see 360 degrees in all directions. If he concentrated, he could see through the skin.

“There’s internal bleeding, but no fractures. He’s fine.”

Azadin also examined the Kaka and Chiko siblings. The siblings were unconscious and panting. The problem was that the spear had been pushed back during the collision with the bear, hitting their abdomens. Their injuries were more severe than Tarki, who had been sent flying, because they were wearing light armor.

“They won’t die, though. It’ll take quite a while for them to fully recover.”

Azadin then examined Meiya. Meiya’s body was fine, but her mind was the problem. She had been caught in the explosion of divine magic and had spectacularly self-destructed.

‘The holy knights of the King’s Church don’t systematically teach divine magic to immediately increase combat power, but instead focus on teaching a few things that suit their specialties first, right? Thanks to that, this young lady didn’t use other magic and got hit using the Judgment of Heaven even at close range. If she had other divine magic, she could have broken out of the warehouse without weapons.’

As Azadin examined Meiya’s wounds, Ismael asked,

“Is there a need to keep the holy knight alive?”

“I killed this young lady’s father too… I don’t want to needlessly massacre an entire family. And if I kill a holy knight, others will ask questions, and will I have to kill them all too?”

If he killed the holy knight, he would have to explain to Kaka and Chiko, or kill them too. Azadin, who had faith in the Trinity Archangel, didn’t want to see unnecessary bloodshed if possible.

So, he decided to keep them alive and transport them using the Korasar Merchant Guild’s carriage.