The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 4

The Night of the Soulless Blasphemer – Episode 5 (5/514)

#5. The Audacious Challenger 1

“Ah.”

Azadin brought the canteen to his lips, only to be disappointed. A mere drop or two of water barely moistened his lips.

“This is a problem.”

He sighed and put the canteen back in his backpack.

“Why did you boast that we’d arrive in two days? I have to take responsibility for it, you stupid spirit.”

[How dare you speak so disrespectfully to the Emperor’s Voice.]

A voice echoed around Azadin.

This spirit, known as the Emperor’s Voice, was originally a being that listened to the petitioners’ requests and connected them to nearby heralds. It was an artificial spirit created by the Emperor, and its power extended throughout the entire Hybris continent.

Even hundreds of years after the Emperor’s death, this spirit’s power had not diminished at all; rather, it remained strong. It was proof of how powerful a mage the Emperor had been, or perhaps even god-like.

However, Azadin, a member of the Herald clan that followed the Emperor, scoffed.

“Let’s be honest, the Emperor died without a plan, and now the whole world hates us, the Emperor’s heralds! They call us the God-King slayers, the soulless blasphemers. You boasted to the petitioners, and I had to run like crazy, leaving everything behind, just to keep up with your lies. Thanks to you, I’m dying of thirst. All I have is dried rations, and if I eat them now, I’ll probably die of indigestion.”

[…I am sorry about that. But do not worry. Your attendants will arrive soon.]

“Attendants? I don’t have any attendants.”

Not all members of the Herald clan were heralds. Only 108 individuals could become heralds, corresponding to the 108 spirits of the Emperor’s Voice. The rest either became attendants to the heralds or engaged in other occupations to preserve the Herald clan itself.

In Azadin’s case, he was so unpopular among the Herald clan that no one volunteered to be his attendant.

[Recently, two people have volunteered to be your attendants. They are young and outstanding talents.]

“Hmm. No sane person would volunteer to be my attendant. Outstanding talents? I doubt that.”

Azadin grumbled and stopped walking along the dusty road. A dilapidated village with a well came into view. At the entrance of the village, he saw human figures shimmering like heat haze.

“Are those ghosts?”

Azadin placed his hand on the sword at his waist.

[They are not enemies. They are petitioners.]

“…Really?”

As Azadin approached, faces emerged from the shadows. They were the people who had been hanging from the elm tree at the entrance of the village where he had received the petition. [This refers to the previous chapter where Azadin helped the spirits of the dead.]

The young girl and her lover, along with their family, stood on the road as wanderers. When Azadin approached, they carefully greeted him with their hands clasped together. Azadin returned their greeting with a nod.

“This land has neither the light of the King’s grace nor the protection of the archangels, so it is not good for you to stay here long. I have avenged your grievances, so go to the afterlife.”

Azadin said this, but the ghosts pointed towards the well in the dilapidated village.

“Ah, are you perhaps trying to give me water? Well, I do need water, but you don’t have to go that far… You should rest in peace.”

Even as he spoke, Azadin took out the canteen he had put in his backpack and excitedly approached the well. When he pulled on the well’s bucket rope, he felt a heavy weight.

For a well that should have been completely dry, this heaviness was unexpected.

“Wow, it looks like a dried-up well, but for water to come out of here, the ghosts must have worked pretty hard.”

Azadin excitedly pulled the bucket up quickly, but… inside the bucket, along with sand, was a piece of paper that emitted its own light.

“……”

[Oh, it is a copy of the God-King’s Scripture.]

“A copy of the God-King’s Scripture?”

Azadin was startled by the name.

“Why is this…”

Azadin’s lips trembled. At that moment, a will-o’-the-wisp passed before his eyes.

“Well, th-thank you, I guess…”

He turned to look at the ghosts, and they bowed to Azadin again before walking into the sandstorm and disappearing.

Even as ghosts, they had repaid the favor to Azadin, who had fulfilled their petition even though they were dead. They had found a copy of the God-King’s Scripture and given it to him before departing for the afterlife.

It was a heartwarming tale of ghosts repaying kindness, but Azadin clicked his tongue, feeling pained. His lips were so dry that they cracked and bled when he moved his tongue.

“Thank you, but this is… why me?”

Azadin held up a page of the God-King’s Scripture and clicked his tongue. The paper emitted its own light, and there were writings on it that were impossible for a human to read.

That was how grimoires were. It was impossible to fully understand a grimoire without any knowledge. Therefore, most grimoires had to be learned indirectly through a commentary called a ‘HaeSeo’. [HaeSeo is a term for a commentary or interpretation of a text, often used in East Asian cultures.]

[You do not seem pleased? Is this not what the heralds yearn for?]

The Emperor’s Voice spoke calmly.

“I’m not in a position to be simply happy.”

Azadin looked at the copy of the God-King’s Scripture that had come into his possession and felt a strange twist of fate.

*********

The Herald clan was originally a people called ‘Aragasa’.

They were the descendants of a fleet that had been shipwrecked on the Hybris continent after passing through a typhoon from another continent. They swore allegiance to the Emperor, who had warmly welcomed them when they arrived, and became his heralds.

The Emperor gave them the grimoire ‘Kacho Fugetsu’ (Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon) and also the spirit called ‘The Emperor’s Voice’. [Kacho Fugetsu is a Japanese term that refers to the beauties of nature.]

Thus, the Herald clan became the Emperor’s sword, his agents, and his executors, directly executing the unruly nobles who violated the Emperor’s laws, and they prospered.

However, after the Emperor’s death, when the empire collapsed, their past prosperity turned into poison.

The people of Hybris believed in the afterlife. If one accumulated good deeds, one could be born into a noble existence in the afterlife. Therefore, nobles and royals were considered to be at the highest level of the cycle of reincarnation. Harming them was a terrible act that despised and destroyed the cycle of souls itself.

Therefore, even if kings and nobles exploited and abused the people, they could not bring themselves to resist them. The kings and nobles were also powerful mages, and the beliefs and customs of the Hybris people considered it blasphemous to stain their hands with the blood of the divine.

However, the Emperor needed someone who could commit such blasphemous acts without hesitation. To rule the vast Eight Kingdoms with the Emperor’s law, he needed someone who could ruthlessly punish the corrupt and domineering royals and nobles.

That was why the Emperor had warmly welcomed the foreign Herald clan, giving them grimoires and authority.

Without knowing that fact… or perhaps knowing it but intoxicated by the Emperor’s favor.

The people called the Herald clan, who had recklessly stained their hands with the blood of the divine, God-King slayers, and they despised and rejected them.

In the beliefs of the Hybris people, the Herald clan had committed an unforgivable blasphemy, and they were hated and despised as soulless beings….

A belief arose that crimes committed against the soulless Herald clan were not considered sins.

After the Emperor died and they lost their power, that contempt and hatred turned into persecution and was repaid to the Herald clan.

The oath they had made with the Emperor also became a problem. Even though the Emperor had died and his empire had collapsed, the oath and the contract of service they had made with the Emperor remained, binding their clan for generations.

Even though the Emperor was dead, the Herald clan had to continue their mission as the Emperor’s heralds. If they wanted to dissolve this contract, they had to pay 100,000 gold coins of the Emperor for the cancellation. However, since the Emperor was dead and the empire had disappeared, the Emperor’s gold coins were no longer being made.

When it became impossible to collect the gold coins to dissolve the contract, the Herald clan began to think differently.

What was the source of the Emperor’s power?

The kings of the Yaegas god clan, the grimoire passed down on their throne, the God-King’s Scripture. [Yaegas is likely a reference to a specific lineage or group of gods within the story’s world.]

The Emperor must have exercised his power through that God-King’s Scripture. In other words, if they could obtain the God-King’s Scripture and understand its principles, they could also overcome the oath made with the Emperor’s magic.

Therefore, the Herald clan made obtaining the God-King’s Scripture their goal.

While fulfilling their contract of service, they would obtain the God-King’s Scripture. And thus, they would break free from the curse of service.

This was the goal of the Herald clan.

*********

In other words, a copy of the God-King’s Scripture was something that the entire Herald clan would risk their lives to obtain. Yet, Azadin, even after obtaining it, seemed displeased.

“I am grateful for what the ghosts did for me. It’s nice that the dead gave me a gift before they could rest in peace. But I’m worried that this has started to spread in the world. Because the reason this started to spread is…”

Azadin looked at the copy of the God-King’s Scripture for a moment before rolling the page into a circle and putting it in his backpack.

“Well, I can’t just leave it behind since they found it for me. I’ll have to take it.”

Azadin left the village and set off on the road again.

The road that had taken two days to run on the way here would take longer to return. He had rushed here without considering water consumption, but on the way back, he had no water left, so he had to distribute his stamina and water as much as possible.

“Still, if I just get over that mountain… there will be water on the other side.”

Azadin looked at the mountain path ahead. The sight of the endless, high mountain path made him dizzy.

How much further was there to go?

Could he really return safely without water until then?

He was pondering such questions when it happened.

-Swish!

Suddenly, an arrow flew towards Azadin.

*********

Two mountain goats, each the size of a pony, were descending the mountain path. Saddles were placed on their backs, and two teenagers, a boy and a girl, who looked to be in their early teens, were riding them. Even as they descended the rugged mountain path, their bodies minimized shaking, and they easily descended the slope as if it were flat ground.

“Wow, it’s desolate here.”

The land below the mountain path was a vast wasteland.

“It’s true that it hasn’t rained for a month.”

The girl clicked her tongue as she looked at the rising dust clouds. Below the mountain, the villages and farms that had been abandoned by people were scattering dust every time the wind blew.

“Lady Midiam!”

The boy called out, following behind the girl.

“Let’s go back! It’s not too late now!”

The boy followed behind the girl, trying to change her mind.

“I don’t want to? What are you talking about, after coming all this way?”

“You, a descendant of the founder, don’t need to become an attendant to the lowest-ranking herald! You can just cancel it and go back.”

“Are you saying I should just keep twiddling my thumbs in that boring sanctuary? Don’t be ridiculous. I want to see the world.”

The girl insisted, but she clicked her tongue as she looked at the scene before her.

“But the scenery here is not that great. I can’t say it’s better than the sanctuary.”

The eastern inland region, where the vegetation had withered due to the long drought, had turned into a desolate wasteland with dry, powdery dust scattering everywhere.

Of course, when twilight cast shadows on this wasteland, it stimulated the imagination of supernatural things, but the young boy and girl were more interested in the things that people had created than in such natural scenery.

“It’s dangerous to go any further without water. The mountain goats we’re riding drink ten times more water than ordinary people.”

“But that stupid herald went in, didn’t he?”

“He probably released the mountain goats nearby and walked in on foot.”

Kerim mountain goats were excellent in endurance, but they were vulnerable to heat and dryness. It was impossible to enter such a desolate and dry place riding Kerim mountain goats, which needed to drink several times more water than people.

“So, let’s go back. Once you meet the herald and say you’ll become an attendant, there’s no turning back. Besides, isn’t the other party that ‘cursed Azadin’?”

The boy shuddered as he said Azadin’s name.