The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 419

The Night of the Soulless Blasphemer – Episode 420 (420/514)

#420. Overlord of the South (1)

Azadin was struggling to finalize the post-war arrangements in Bissen. Originally, he had tried to minimize the expeditionary force to ensure smooth supply lines, but as a result, the post-war processing was delayed.

“Your Majesty, I think you need to see this in person. There are mountains of corpses in the abandoned mine shafts.”

“Ah, damn it…”

With Count Ibechek of Sandokar assassinated, Azadin wanted to return the expeditionary force as quickly as possible. However, the post-war arrangements were not easily concluded. In Bissen, adjacent to Butuma, many Butuma refugees had arrived. When the Bissen people revolted, they had seized the refugees’ food and property, killed them all, and dumped them in the abandoned mines.

Azadin decided to thoroughly investigate this incident and punish all those involved. He couldn’t entrust it to anyone else and had to investigate the matter himself.

“First, Indim, Seraph.”

“Yes?”

“Can’t you two at least move? Go to Sandokar, investigate Count Ibechek’s assassination, and track down the perpetrator, Camilla.”

Azadin entrusted the investigation and pursuit of the case to Indim and Seraph. This was originally the main duty of the Emperor’s messengers, and there were no more suitable people than them.

“That’s the kind of work an Emperor’s messenger would do. If you entrust that to us, won’t it give the impression that the Aragasas [a powerful noble family] are colluding in secret?”

Indim sneered.

However, their help was desperately needed now.

“Come on, don’t say such things. If you need any supplies or expenses, just ask.”

“Alright. There’s no need for pointless emotional games, right? Let’s leave right away.”

“Okay. I’m counting on you.”

Azadin entrusted the pursuit and investigation of Camilla to Seraph and Indim, and he headed to the tribunal.

The tribunal was a makeshift stage set up in the plaza. There, gallows were prepared for the executions, and the former governor, officials, and soldiers who had played a leading role in the massacre and looting of the Butuma refugees were dragged out.

Azadin impassively declared their crimes and executed them. The gallows could execute six people at a time, but there were so many to kill that it took quite a long time.

Executing the official class would make post-war processing even more difficult, but he had no intention of letting those who had massacred the refugees live.

“I will abolish the Bissen province. It will be rebuilt later, but for now, it seems that the losses will outweigh the gains from operating the mines here until Pimbulbert leaves. It would be better to relocate all the residents to Coxhall, where the climate is relatively mild.”

Azadin decided to withdraw the governor of the Bissen province and temporarily abandon Bissen.

This concluded the post-war arrangements, but now the problem of transporting the residents to a safe place arose.

Fortunately, this could be done using waterways, so it was just a matter of securing ships.

“Um, Your Majesty, it’s a bit difficult to use ships these days.”

Ismail was troubled. Having become Midiam’s closest aide and grown into a leader of the messenger clan, especially the Etar bloodline, Ismail had also become a liaison for the trading companies run by the messenger clan, including the Etar bloodline. From the perspective of such trading companies, gathering ships to transport goods and people from Bissen was quite a painful task, as the Nagas [serpentine humanoids] were swarming the coast, making it difficult for ships to travel.

“Currently, the trading companies have no spare ships. However, there is a trading company that has offered to lend us ships.”

“Then we should borrow them. Which trading company is it?”

“It’s the Telbarin Guild.”

“Telbarin…”

Azadin frowned at the name.

The Telbarin Guild, though calling itself a trading company, was usually referred to as a group of slave traders by ordinary people.

With dark-skinned elves as its trading company executives, they were a quasi-criminal group that, like the messenger clan’s trading companies, moved solely for the benefit of the elves.

“The Telbarin Guild is here?”

“Yes. They came from the Butuma direction. They are requesting an audience.”

“Let’s meet them for now.”

Azadin decided to meet the Telbarin Guild that had come to Bissen.

*********

“It’s an honor to meet someone of such renowned reputation.”

The envoy of the Telbarin Guild was a silver-haired elf with dark skin.

She was a tall woman, a head taller than Azadin, with smooth skin as if cast from black bronze. Her dark skin was adorned with copper-colored metallic tattoos, giving her an appearance more like a sculpture than a human.

“Your Majesty’s fame has reached my ears. Oh, King of the New Covenant.”

“So, who are you?”

“Ah, I am Agilaia, who runs a small trading company called the Telbarin Guild.”

Surprisingly, it was not a branch manager but the guild master herself who had come.

Azadin was surprised by this fact, but he deliberately did not show it.

“Ms. Agilaia, it’s nice to meet you. I heard you can lend us ships.”

“Yes. I thought Your Majesty might be in dire need of them right now. And since we are merchants, we will gladly provide services that match the price, of course. How about five double-decker fast ships? If you cram people in, you can move about 200 people per ship, a thousand people at once. I heard you are abolishing the Bissen province, and considering those who will go by land, one trip should be enough to evacuate everyone, wouldn’t it?”

“…Hmm.”

Azadin clicked his tongue at Agilaia’s words. It was quite a good offer. But these days, when ships were scarce and valuable, there was no way they would just lend them out.

“What’s the cost? Can we pay with food?”

“Hehe. Of course not. What we want is a promise.”

“……”

“Of course, it’s not just for lending you five ships. I’m saying this to have a good relationship with Your Majesty in the future. There are bad rumors about us Telbarin, but if you think about it, we are just placing talented people in the right places to give better productivity to this world.”

She had euphemistically put the act of capturing people and making them slaves.

Those who had become slaves would not be able to agree with that.

“Is that so? Then what do you want from me?”

“I would like you to accept my daughter. I don’t dare to hope for the position of your main wife, so if you would accept her as a concubine, our Telbarin Guild will do our best for Your Majesty in the future.”

“Look, I already have a main wife. I don’t want to increase the number of concubines.”

“Hehe. Of course, I know that well. But if you are a great hero, shouldn’t you sometimes have a polygamous marriage for the sake of the harmony of the people? Especially for minority races like us, we cannot trust relationships unless they are formed through marriage.”

“……”

Azadin chuckled.

No, the Arangi king was killed by an elf queen, and these elves were so shameless.

“Can’t we pay in another way? Deciding on a marriage just for borrowing five ships seems too hasty. Besides, didn’t the elves side with the Northern Empire Cohen Lionheart? Why are you contacting me now?”

“You are misunderstanding. We are not subordinates of the Northern Empire Cohen Lionheart. We are just patriots who are worried about the future of their own people, shall we say?”

“Patriots… So, why are those patriots looking for me?”

“Because you are the true Holy King, not the Northern Empire. But it would be hard to believe if I said that. Well, the truth is, we want warm land in the south. Do you understand if I say it like this?”

Azadin smiled at the words of the Telbarin Guild Master.

So, they wanted to curry favor with Azadin, who was ruling the warm regions, which seemed plausible but not quite.

‘They are hiding their true intentions. They are saying things that a normal merchant would never say.’

The Arangi Kingdom incident and the notoriety of the Telbarin Guild as slave traders were also bothering him.

“First of all, I refuse the marriage proposal. I don’t want to trade in that way. If there is no other way to pay for it, then let’s forget about borrowing the ships.”

Azadin showed that he could give up borrowing the ships. Indeed, the Telbarin Guild Master Agilaia seemed slightly flustered by Azadin’s bold move.

“That’s unexpected. I heard you were a noble person who could endure any sacrifice to save the people.”

“If marriage is a sacrifice to be endured, then it’s better not to do it, right? And even if I don’t borrow your ships, it’s not like the people of Bissen will die right away, will they?”

“Ah, you didn’t know. Currently, the Kurt Pantheon [a pantheon of gods worshipped by non-human races] has also designated King Azadin as an enemy to be eliminated. The army of the King of Teeth is marching south from the east. They will arrive here in a week.”

“What?”

Azadin clicked his tongue at those words.

*********

Araelle’s voice confirmed the facts.

[What they say is true. A large army is currently marching south along the mountain range. In the Butuma region, an army of ogres has already set up camp, and they are preparing for war.]

After briefly checking the information, Azadin smiled bitterly. After confirming by sending Araelle’s voice quite far, what this elf merchant was saying was true.

“The crimson-winged Celestials [powerful divine beings] and the Elemental Wailing patients who saw the visions of destruction also see Your Majesty as a thorn in their side. And the followers of the Kurt Pantheon are also hearing revelations from the gods. They say that whoever defeats Azadin, the King of the Rebellion, will be granted eternal life and glory. They will become the right hand of the gods and, on the day they die, will be lifted into the sky to enjoy the glory of being with the eternal halls of the gods.”

The elf Agilaia spoke of the Kurt Pantheon’s revelations.

“You know too much.”

“Yes, because we also have the faith of the Kurt Pantheon.”

“……”

“It’s good to serve many. Why should you be obsessed with just one faith?”

In other words, unlike humans, the elves also served the gods of the Kurt Pantheon. The gods of the Kurt Pantheon were the gods of races hostile to humans, such as the Nagas, giants, and goblins, but the elves were maintaining their faith as well.

If humans believed in such a faith, the King’s Church would have burned them alive… The elves lived in their own territories, minimizing the interference of the King’s Church and living freely, so they must have been keeping such faith.

“The army of the King of Teeth is marching south in a week? What are their numbers? What are their troop types?”

“Are you going to fight them? I don’t think that’s possible. Doesn’t Your Majesty have many pressing problems right now? If you cooperate with us, we will become Your Majesty’s loyal servants.”

“It would be foolish to believe the words of a merchant who says they will become a servant. But okay. I will borrow the ships.”

“Then…”

“But no marriage.”

Azadin made that point clear. He had seen many kings, nobles, and people of noble lineage lose their minds after marrying elves.

Azadin himself could not be sure that he was an exception.