The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 38

Calypso woke up with a disgruntled expression. His head was spinning, and he felt nauseous.

“Did I lose?”

“Rather than losing…”

The Korasar Merchant Guild’s servants were at a loss. Should they tell him the truth? That he was knocked out in one blow?

Then Azadin spoke.

“Then keep your promise, Calypso.”

“Y-yes, I will.”

He felt wronged for being ambushed and defeated in one hit by Azadin, but… his body was in no condition to fight again. The damage from Azadin’s single punch was no joke. He didn’t have the courage to challenge him again in this state.

“Among the children on the list, take those living as slaves to the sanctuary and become their guardian. For those who don’t want to go to the sanctuary and are in affluent environments, investigate their guardians. You have no complaints, right?”

“Even so, I am a herald. I don’t take back my words so easily.”

Calypso grumbled and clicked his tongue.

“Why again? Why are you being so polite all of a sudden?”

“Well, I was thinking that since you’re a senior, I should treat you with respect.”

From Calypso’s perspective, since he was knocked out by Azadin in one blow, insulting Azadin would be like spitting in his own face. It was better for him to respect Azadin.

“B-but how did that happen? You can’t even use the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon technique, can you? Was it Elder Kazas?”

Elder Kazas, Azadin’s master, was a mysterious elder whom no one in the sanctuary had ever seen. He was only listed in the council of elders and never appeared at meetings.

When he suddenly appeared, forcefully pushed Azadin to become a herald, and then disappeared, everyone cursed him… but after Calypso was knocked out cold by Azadin’s single punch, it was clear that this was Kazas’s doing.

“Well, my master will act on his own when the time comes. It’s not my place to reveal anything about him. More importantly, I’m counting on you. Ah, I’ll check on the children on the way to Salasma. You take care of this side.”

“Yes, senior.”

Was it because he had lost? Calypso called Azadin ‘senior’ and followed his instructions obediently.

“Oh, by the way. Where did you get that bone wand?”

“I killed some Kurt cultists in my area and took it from them.”

“Really? Hmm, so it’s a mass-produced item.”

“It seems you got one too, senior. Then this…”

“You use it. If you come across a copy of the Divine Scripture, you should recover it.”

“Understood. Then let’s finish this task quickly.”

Calypso bowed to Azadin and left with his subordinates.

After parting with Calypso’s group, Azadin loaded the injured onto the Korasar Merchant Guild’s carriage and left the lumber mill village.

“But it’s really unexpected.”

Midiam muttered, looking back at the devastated lumber mill.

“For the dead to return from death and cause a black magic disaster, killing the living. Well, they deserved to die, though. A copy of the Divine Scripture has appeared, and the Kurt cult is also stirring. This area is still suffering from drought. It looks like a sign of a great calamity, doesn’t it?”

“It’s not a sign, it’s already started.”

Azadin touched the copy of the Divine Scripture in his pocket, sensing that things would not go smoothly.

*********

Meiya, who had woken up in the carriage, was surprised to hear the story from the Korasar Merchant Guild members.

“You rescued us? And defeated those undead?”

“Yes. Fortunately, we hired some mercenaries. And you all had already defeated quite a few undead.”

The Korasar Merchant Guild employees explained the situation as Azadin had instructed them.

After Tarki, Kaka, Chiko, and Meiya had all collapsed, the undead fled when they arrived. There was a woman’s corpse buried under an old tree, and when they dug it up, the forest’s poison disappeared.

That was the story they had agreed upon.

“So, the cause of the black magic disaster was that corpse. Hmm. Ah, by the way, my horse?”

“The wyverns ate the horses. We recovered the saddlebags, though.”

“Ah.”

Meiya sighed, seeing only the saddlebags left. The saddlebags the merchants had recovered included not only hers but also her father, Lord Gazrek’s.

“……”

It would probably be difficult to find Lord Gazrek.

“Then, I should return to Salasma. Are you going to Salasma?”

“We are merchants, so we travel around this area. We’ll introduce you to other merchants going to Salasma at the junction.”

“Okay. Thank you for your consideration.”

“It’s nothing. Thanks to the other merchants being knocked out, our income is quite good.”

It wasn’t an empty compliment. Because of the black magic disaster at the lumber mill, the farms inside the forest were suddenly isolated. When the Korasar Merchant Guild arrived, they sold their goods at very low prices, resulting in a large profit.

“Well, we’re about to reach the continental highway. If you feel a bit better, it would be good to rest at an inn or something there. The carriage is…”

For the merchants, empty space in the carriage was money. They had given up space for cargo to carry the injured, so they had already helped them at a great loss.

Knowing this, Kaka and Chiko couldn’t rely on them any longer, even though they weren’t feeling well.

“But…”

Kaka looked back at Azadin.

“You don’t seem like an ordinary pilgrim. My sister… she’s a bit ashamed, but she can see the future through divination.”

“Huh?”

Azadin made a complicated expression at those words. Most people who claimed to be able to foresee the future or do divination were swindlers.

Then Chiko said to Azadin.

“You will probably become a great knight. Or maybe you already are.”

“A great knight?”

Azadin was the Emperor’s herald, someone who could never become a knight. And a great knight was something that didn’t exist in the present era.

In an age where chivalry was a joke, to call someone who could never be a knight a great knight….

The absurdity of it made the Korasar Merchant Guild members burst into laughter, but they all shut their mouths when Midiam glared at them fiercely. They remembered Midiam threatening them with a knife to their throats.

‘Damn it. Because Calypso was beaten so badly.’

‘Azadin is a guy who can’t use magic, so he must have only learned martial arts. Why would he fight at close range like an idiot? What a fool.’

The Korasar Merchant Guild members blamed Calypso for ruining a perfectly good opportunity with a ridiculous mistake. But some of them had other thoughts.

‘But could I knock out Calypso with one punch, even if he was careless?’

‘Calypso is still suffering.’

‘Azadin was a useless guy when he was young, how did he become like this….’

Azadin’s reputation was the worst, but at least those present now knew that Azadin’s skills were extraordinary.

“Then we’ll go report to the Sellsword Guild, so let’s meet again next time. You’re going to Salasma, right, brother?”

“Ah, y-yes, I am.”

“Then you can go with the adjutant.”

“Ugh.”

Tarki hesitated. Azadin’s group was from the herald clan, so they wouldn’t want to go with the adjutant. If Tarki went with Meiya here, Azadin might leave him.

He could return to Salasma with the merchants or the holy knight group, but Tarki was afraid of being killed by other ambitious siblings along the way.

If he went with the merchants, he wouldn’t be attacked by bandits or highway robbers, but he wouldn’t be able to withstand the count’s illegitimate children who were determined to attack him.

The holy knights and merchants wouldn’t bother fighting the count’s illegitimate children to protect Tarki. But fortunately, Meiya refused to go with them.

“No. I think I’ll… look for my father, who might be nearby. You all go to Salasma first.”

Meiya said that and started walking towards the gate that the rescue knight order was blocking, the way they had come.

“…Is she going to be okay alone?”

“Well, she’s a holy knight, so she should be fine, right?”

But then Azadin’s expression darkened.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Azadin? Are you worried about that holy knight?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Azadin was bewildered.

‘I can’t hear the Emperor’s voice?’

The foundation of the Emperor’s herald system was the artificial spirit, the ‘Emperor’s Voice.’

It was a useful spirit that advised within the boundaries of the laws set by the Emperor, found those who petitioned the Emperor and delivered them to the heralds, and also informed the heralds of the date and time.

But for some reason, the Emperor’s voice had not been heard since this morning.

‘I can’t even say anything about this, what is it?’

Azadin didn’t understand why this was happening.

*********

Calypso was traveling on a side road, away from the Emperor’s highway, with his subordinates. They weren’t his direct subordinates, but merchants from the Korasar Merchant Guild were following him.

“But are you really going to submit to Azadin?”

“I got a bone wand that finds the Divine Scripture… If I waste time taking care of those who aren’t even from the clan, other heralds will take the Divine Scripture and rise higher.”

Looking at Calypso’s parents, his father was a servant of the Korasar Merchant Guild, and his mother was a Hybrisian [a person from Hybris].

It was quite unusual for someone to become a herald when neither of their parents were heralds. It could be said that Calypso was very talented.

But that was why his desire for social advancement was even stronger. He had become a herald because of his talent, but he was essentially at the lowest rank. That was why he knew.

How much of a blessing it was to have good parents and be able to train in a wealthy environment from a young age.

So Calypso worked hard. Just becoming a herald was enough to be recognized within the clan, but if he collected the Emperor’s gold or copies of the Divine Scripture and achieved more merits, he could marry someone with a high rank in the Saban family.

He would be accepted as a member of the Saban family, the founding clan.

To that end, many heralds wanted to perform their duties more faithfully and achieve more merits. But at this good time to gain merits, he was being burdened with a task that had nothing to do with his specialty?

“It can’t be helped. I lost the duel.”

“It wasn’t an official duel with the herald’s rank at stake, was it?”

“That’s why it’s a relief. Otherwise, I would have suffered even greater humiliation. Ah, make sure the Korasar Merchant Guild keeps their mouths shut.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I don’t want to be the only one who suffers. Since the senior has a bad reputation in the clan, many guys will probably try to pick a fight with him, right? So, if more guys get beaten up, it will be a minor thing that I lost a duel.”

Calypso said that and chuckled.