The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 42

Although Azadin was furious, no matter how angry he was, if he stayed still, he would die from the Curse of Service within a year. There was no changing that.

“So, in the end, the only way to live is to ask the Chieftain to revoke the dismissal, huh?”

“Y-yes. That’s the smart thing to do.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t it work if you proved your innocence?”

“Tch. This is infuriating. So, if I can’t prove I’m innocent, I just die? What a genius way to motivate a person. Huh?”

“W-we didn’t do it.”

“Don’t get mad at us. We’re not feeling well either.”

“Hey, you guys deserve to be castrated just for how you treated me like a dog when we were kids. Huh?”

“Eek…”

“Castration? Isn’t that too cruel?”

“I was loyal to the organization, but now they’re trying to kill me along with my sister without asking any questions. How am I supposed to not be cruel? I was a sensitive boy, you know. A sensitive boy who served the Archangel of the Trinity! But if you keep acting like this, you’ll turn me into a cold-blooded, vicious killer!”

Azadin was so angry that he even considered killing his seniors, Kellibre and Adan. He had no good memories of them, even if they were his seniors. Rather, he had enough resentment to chase them down with a packed lunch and murder them.

However, if he thought about it calmly, he shouldn’t kill his clan members if he wanted to have his dismissal revoked and apply for reinstatement. Besides, this was a village. It was a commercial area where caravans were stationed, so there were many people coming and going.

“Ugh. I need to hold back.”

“So, about us capturing you…”

“No thanks. I don’t want to be your achievement. I’ll break through with my own strength.”

“But the clan has been ordered to arrest or eliminate you. Are you going to fight every clan member you meet from now on?”

“It would be a lie to say I don’t want the credit, but you need to be captured by us to go safely! Other clan members might kill you!”

Kellibre and Adan tried to persuade Azadin. But Azadin refused.

“No, if I’m captured helplessly, will the Chieftain or the Elders acknowledge me? They’re not enlightened enough to admit they made a wrong decision. Wouldn’t they rather just kill me and bury me? So, I’ll go to the Salasma Regional Commander on my own two feet. And I’ll kick the asses of anyone who gets in my way. Come to think of it, the only clan members I wouldn’t feel bad about kicking are Aldis and my master. I don’t care about the rest! I’ll kick them to the moon!”

Midiam and Ismael looked at each other.

‘This guy loses his mind when he’s angry. This is a big problem.’

Ismael thought so, but Midiam shrugged.

“He has to be that good, right?”

Midiam was already taking Azadin’s side.

*********

Kellibre and Adan watched Azadin carefully.

“T-then…”

“We’re free to go now, right?”

“I’ll let you go, but it’ll be a pain if you gather others and challenge me again, right? Judging by the looks of it, the dismissal and arrest orders for me have just been issued through the network, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re already badly injured, so we can’t fight again anyway.”

“Still, you guys tormented me when we were kids, right? Thinking about that…”

There was enough motivation to torment them too. When Azadin said that, Adan and Kellibre bowed their heads.

“W-we were wrong about that.”

“Please forgive us, thinking of it as a mistake from our childhood.”

“Hmm. A mistake from childhood?”

Azadin shrugged.

“Okay. I have a favor to ask anyway.”

He needed people to send the children rescued from the fire keeper’s house to Baroness Nort. When Azadin asked them to do it, Kellibre and Adan both nodded. They didn’t know what Azadin would do to them if they refused.

“Anyway, we’ll also report that the Emperor’s voice defended you.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re the epitome of a messenger, otherwise, the Emperor’s voice wouldn’t have gone that far.”

“We’ll testify.”

Adan and Kellibre begged with their hands and feet and loaded the children onto the peddler’s guild’s wagon. Whether they were being sincere or just sucking up to survive, Azadin let them go because the two injured men were no longer a threat.

“Then, let’s hurry and meet the Salasma Regional Commander first.”

Azadin, who was cursed with the Curse of Service, was now in a hurry.

“Rest assured. I will guide you quickly, brother.”

Tarki took the lead and began to guide the way.

*********

Although Azadin called him a bastard, Tarki was indeed a noble.

Even though he was the illegitimate son of Count Kazel, the Margrave of Salasma, Tarki’s mother was the daughter of a baronial family and was wealthy. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to hire a mercenary group of about 20 people.

So, Tarki was in a different position than other illegitimate children. He was born to a concubine, not the legal wife, but if all the children born to the legal wife were to die, he could become the head of the family.

There was a reason why he felt wronged every time he was called a bastard. So, he easily passed through the gates within Salasma’s sphere of influence.

“I am Tarki, the son of Count Kazel! Clear the way, I have urgent business!”

Neither the gate’s security forces nor the self-defense forces dared to argue with him, a knight. The people at the gate recognized Tarki at once, as he had already passed through there when he led the mercenary group to battle.

‘Oh, that bastard is back again?’

‘What happened to the mercenaries?’

‘I don’t know. I wish they were killed by monsters somewhere.’

‘Or maybe he just ran away after taking the money?’

‘That damn noble bastard. He won’t die.’

The villagers and gate soldiers were secretly cursing him, but they quickly opened the way.

“Hehehe. Did you see that? My status?”

Tarki, who had been intimidated at first, began to become arrogant as he passed through several gates with his face as a pass.

“It’s certainly convenient.”

Azadin admitted that. He understood why Tarki was dissatisfied with being called a bastard.

“A guy who tried to plunder the people is a legitimate noble and a knight. What a mess.”

Thanks to Tarki, the passage through the gates was faster, so the speed naturally increased. Before they knew it, the group was able to enter the area near Salasma.

*********

Salasma was a city with about 3,000 households and its attached farms, and it had been prosperous since ancient times due to a large copper mine.

As they approached the area near the city, with its attached farms and villages, the number of passersby increased dramatically. As the number of passersby increased, the traffic of merchants also naturally increased.

“……”

Azadin felt a gaze staring at him from among the crowd and clicked his tongue.

‘It’s the Corasar Peddler’s Guild. They must know about the order to eliminate me.’

The messenger clan members had discovered Azadin while passing by nearby.

“Well, if it isn’t…”

“Isn’t that Azadin?”

They approached Azadin as if they were close friends. They were from a higher class than Azadin, but they were people he had never met during his training period, so Azadin didn’t know them well.

“Excuse me, but who are you?”

Azadin asked that sincerely, not intending to mock them. Azadin was a celebrity among the messenger clan members, so he could be recognized at once, but they were not, so there was no way for him to know their names. However, it seemed to have stimulated their complex.

“Hey, this guy…”

“Just because you got lucky and became a messenger, you’re acting too cocky, aren’t you?”

They seemed to hate Azadin for being a messenger despite not having the skills. At that time, Tarki stepped forward.

“Hey, what are you doing, you guys? Do you know that I am Tarki, the son of Count Kazel of Salasma, and you’re talking nonsense?”

“……”

“How dare you lowly merchants act up in front of me? Why are you bothering my group?”

“Ah, no, sir.”

“We apologize.”

Whatever their inner thoughts were, their public status was that of merchants. They couldn’t cause trouble in front of people with Tarki, a knight.

“If it ends with an apology, why would there be a royal law!”

“……”

“Hmm.”

They looked at the passersby. There were quite a few people walking around. There were farmers carrying vegetables on ox carts, shepherds leading goats, and farmers carrying farming tools on donkeys. There was also a peddler selling bread and tea with an advertising flag on his back.

They couldn’t kill Tarki in front of these people. They bowed their heads like ordinary merchants.

“Please forgive us.”

“We are ignorant and did not recognize the knight’s dignity.”

“Hmm. Is that so? This elder is a bit thirsty, so give me some alms to quench my thirst. If you accumulate alms, you might be born as nobles in the next life, right?”

Tarki joked with a good-natured smile.

“……”

Azadin, Midiam, and Ismael looked at Tarki and were bewildered.

‘This guy is useful?’

Azadin, who had been ignoring Tarki, liked this side of him. He had quite excellent acting skills.

“……”

“H-here you go.”

Looking at Tarki, who was openly demanding money, the peddlers reluctantly took out money from their pockets.

“It’s not enough. I guess I can’t expect much from you. Go. I’ll generously forgive you.”

“Th-thank you.”

As the peddlers retreated, Tarki looked at the people around him.

“What? Is there a show? Or are you going to give some alms to this elder?”

“Oh no, sir.”

Everyone moved away as if fleeing from Tarki, who was causing trouble in the middle of the road.

“You’re good, bastard? I take back what I said. You have great acting skills.”

When Azadin was impressed, Tarki shrugged.

“What do you mean? I don’t know if this much will even cover the feed costs. Should I squeeze some more out of the others?”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

“How about that guy?”

“Huh?”

Azadin was bewildered as he looked at Tarki, who was pointing at other merchants coming from the opposite side. The merchant he was pointing at this time was not a messenger clan member, but just an ordinary person.

It turned out that Tarki was just extorting money from merchants by causing trouble and acting like a jerk, as was his usual habit. He wasn’t trying to help Azadin by acting, but was just acting as he usually did.

‘Ah, this guy. I shouldn’t have praised him.’

Azadin was angry when he was dismissed and the Curse of Service was activated, but he was basically a devout believer in the Trinity Archangel. He was essentially a good person, so now that his anger had subsided, he had no desire to torment innocent people.

“Ah, Azadin over there?”

“Hmm?”

Midiam drew Azadin’s attention.

“Over there…”

“Ah.”

Azadin saw a group of armed soldiers approaching in front of him. At the head was a young girl in armor riding a horse, and behind her were three armed men and women.

They were very actively causing trouble for the passersby, and they discovered this side and were approaching.