The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 373

The Sacrilegious Holy King 3

“You are too much. I had decided to live in this faraway land, looking only at you. But that vow, that marriage contract, is so easily broken?”

“It’s not easily broken. Since the honor of Chitai has been tarnished, I will send gifts as atonement. I’ve put enough sincerity into it to shake the finances of the Arangi Kingdom, so your father will be pleased. He made a pretty good profit by selling off a common princess.”

“Did my father receive the gifts?”

“Yes. So, you will not be allowed to return home. The position of clergy I’ve arranged is better for you. Rest assured, the Rescue Knights are running out of white mana, so they will desperately want you, who carries the blood of Yaegas [a divine race with long lifespans and strong bodies].”

Thus, Princess Hawol of Chitai, after being the queen of Arangi, became Bishop Akenar.

*********

Such a harsh fate was not unique to Bishop Akenar.

Many princes, to please their fathers, learned swordsmanship and magic, doing all sorts of dirty work for the kingdom, but in the end, they gained nothing and had to enter the church or become a Celsword [a warrior monk], abandoning even their status and names.

The fates of princesses were not much different.

The long lifespans, strong bodies, and continuous youth of the Yaegas divine race were, for them, more of a curse.

After that, Bishop Akenar became an existence that lived because she could not die.

It wasn’t like she had the right to refuse, but she lived in regret, cursing herself for having yearned for this terrible marriage when she was young and knew nothing.

But one day, a young and handsome new hero appeared before her, and that was Azadin.

Ironically, Bishop Akenar, despite having such a terrible marriage, came to adore Azadin.

This young man, who came with Count Planck’s sword, conquered the Chadra Plateau with amazing conviction and will, gradually building his power and accumulating strength to resist destruction.

And the letters he sent every week were filled with respect for her, his patron.

She was no longer the pure teenager she once was, but that made her even more certain that Azadin was different from any other man she had ever seen.

But even if she harbored feelings of love, even if she revealed them to Azadin, could these feelings ever be fulfilled?

Especially after she became a vampire?

Azadin said that even if she was like that, even after becoming a vampire, he would accept her.

Even if she abandoned the name of Bishop Akenar and was just an anonymous vampire, he wanted her to have meaning in her life by performing her duties in his territory.

She wanted to believe in that kindness and rely on it. But Bishop Akenar, Princess Hawol of Chitai, knew.

The life of a vampire, having to live by relying on the warmth of a man who would never be hers, was bound to be painful.

She knew that living with the pity of the man she loved would be far more painful than living as a widow, abandoned by that ruthless Arangi king, so she humbly accepted death.

*********

“Ah……”

Azadin let out a long sigh as he looked at the letter written by Bishop Akenar, or rather, Princess Hawol of Chitai.

‘To be born as a sightless monstrosity and to become someone who evokes feelings of love in another.’

Surprisingly, Azadin was excellent at politics, schemes, and reconnaissance, but he knew nothing about love.

He could not have imagined that Bishop Akenar, because she loved him, would refuse to live with Azadin’s pity after becoming a vampire.

[It’s not your fault, Azadin. Ara’el was a common target. She was someone everyone desired and coveted.]

Ara’el’s voice comforted the heartbroken Azadin. Surprised, Azadin looked around, but no one else seemed to hear it, as they showed no reaction.

‘That’s not comforting at all. It’s more like resignation than comfort.’

[That’s what it means to be a target of desire. That Bishop Akenar also ruined her life by being caught by a vulgar soul. But Azadin, you shouldn’t give your body to everyone out of pity, should you? Love only when you desire it. This is Ara’el’s voice, speaking with the authority of Ara’el, who makes up half of your body. Do not give away your chastity out of pity or altruism, whether it’s to a man or a woman.]

‘It’s not like that. It just hurts.’

[Endure it, Azadin. You’ve been doing well so far. You can’t save everyone.]

Ara’el’s voice rebuked Azadin as if it were something Ara’el would have said when she was alive.

*********

While Azadin was talking with Ara’el’s voice, Nicelda examined Akenar’s remains.

“It seems that Bishop Akenar committed suicide. Not that she was annihilated by the light of the King’s Radiance.”

Nicelda picked up Akenar’s clothes.

There was a hole pierced through Akenar’s clothes by the sharp edge of a broken pillar in the abandoned mine. She must have rushed towards this broken pillar and pierced herself, committing self-harm.

“Hmm. Yes, I suppose so. No matter how much I guaranteed her life, there was no way she, a descendant of the Yaegas divine race, could endure life as a vampire. I shouldn’t have left her alone; it was a problem I could have foreseen. I was complacent.”

Azadin folded the letter and put it in his pocket, sighing.

“It can’t be helped. If anyone should be blamed, it’s Griselda for turning her into a vampire. Count, no, Your Highness, you did everything you could.”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

Edir struggled and protested as Nicelda called Azadin “Your Highness.”

“That title seems too hasty. Don’t call me that. I’m not on good terms with the Inquisitors, and they’ll try to kill me openly now.”

“Understood. I just wanted to call you that.”

“If you call titles just because you want to, accidents happen.”

Azadin swept up Akenar’s ashes, put them in her clothes, and wrapped them up to store her remains.

“I think I’ve done all I can. Hmm?”

Azadin said that and then flinched. The blood that fell from his eyes had landed on Akenar’s ashes.

In old tales, there were stories of vampires being resurrected with just a drop of blood on their ashes, but that was a false story. The ashes where Azadin’s blood fell only clumped together slightly and did not cause any change.

“Are you alright?”

Even Zibeck, who had been annoyed with Azadin, thought that Azadin’s condition was unusual.

He was bleeding too often.

But Azadin answered calmly.

“What could be wrong with me? I’m fine. Let’s rest a bit and go back. This place is dangerous.”

But then, Azadin smiled wryly.

A foreseeing bird was in the sky.

The Messenger Clan was still nearby.

*********

Azadin and his party began to move to avoid the Messenger Clan.

They moved in the opposite direction of where the foreseeing bird had flown, following the mountain path, moving as quickly as possible while hiding themselves.

But on the opposite ridge, human shadows appeared.

The Messenger Clan’s servants, holding shields, were lined up at key points, blocking the path, and next to them were archers with black steel arrows on their bows, waiting.

“Ugh.”

Nicelda and Zibeck flinched in surprise.

They had moved in the opposite direction of where the foreseeing bird had flown, but they had met them here.

Moreover, they were in a state of perfect attack preparation.

“Be careful. Those arrows are hard to block even with magic. They are the kind of arrows that assassinate even the Divine Kings.”

Azadin warned Nicelda not to act rashly.

Those black steel arrows, made from the scales of the Dragon of Destruction, Azadin, were weapons that could kill even the Divine Kings, and anyone, no matter how strong, was in danger when they were aimed at them.

However, the Messenger Clan did not attack Azadin despite having such a clear advantage.

“It seems like it’s been a while, Azadin. You’ve made quite a name for yourself. Honestly, I’m impressed by the achievements and activities you’ve accomplished since leaving the clan.”

Their leader, Sion Etar, said that to Azadin in a tone that was hard to tell if it was sarcastic or admiring.

The other Messenger Clan members lined up next to him were also looking at Azadin with complicated feelings.

‘Azadin of Muan.’

‘The cursed one, the one who betrayed the clan.’

‘But he was clearly the weakest, the one who was despised for being weak, and yet that guy defeated even the strongest of our clan and even broke the Biwon [a powerful artifact or barrier].’

‘We respected the strong, and he proved that he was strong, didn’t he? Isn’t it our system that was wrong to oppress him, who was strong?’

‘Above all, he was a member of the Messenger Clan, yet he received the title of Count from those hypocritical Eight Divine Races. Honestly, that was a triumph. He’s still a hateful guy, but it was still exhilarating at that time.’

The Messenger Clan still considered Azadin a traitor to the clan, but they couldn’t help but feel their shoulders rise when Azadin made a name for himself.

‘Yeah, he betrayed us and screwed us over, so he should at least do that much.’

‘The guy who was trained in our clan is this good.’

Azadin satisfied that strange pride.

Thus, the current Azadin was hated as an enemy by the Messenger Clan but respected as a strong one.

Sion Etar made a proposal to such Azadin.

“If it’s alright, would you consider returning to the clan and cooperating with us?”

“If I say no, will you shoot me right away?”

“Ah, I can’t do something so uncool. But Azadin, would you tell us the plan you have in mind? We don’t understand it at all. Just now, it seemed like the light of the King’s Radiance was emitted, but it couldn’t have been emitted by the Dwarf King Manawidan.”

“………”

“Could it be you?”

Sion Etar asked that question and then laughed in disbelief, as if he himself found it absurd.

The people of the world say that the Aragasas [a race of people] are soulless blasphemers. The Aragasas themselves deny it, of course, but even so, they cannot help but be aware that they are completely different foreigners from the people of Hybris.

No matter how much they mixed their blood with them, they discriminated against the Aragasas, so could Azadin, who inherited the blood of the Aragasas, have manifested the light of the King’s Radiance?

It was an absurd delusion.

But….

“That’s right.”

“……!!!”

Sion Etar was so surprised by Azadin’s answer.

“Y, you were right.”

“I knew it.”

“Son of a man!”

A commotion spread among the Messenger Clan.