The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 466

“For me, power and honor are merely tools. If the Northern Empire acts in a manner befitting the title of King of Kings, I would gladly hand over all the glory to him.”

Azadin spoke in a serious tone.

It’s common for those in power to say they don’t like power but have no choice because no one else can do it… but Jibek knew Azadin was sincere.

“Please don’t say such things in front of others. If the king they serve says such things, they’ll think the ship they’re on is sinking and run away. Or are you testing me now? Seeing how far my patience can go?”

“Ah, of course, that’s just the ideal, and I know very well that it’s not realistic. Just because I put down my sword first doesn’t mean the Northern Empire will trust me, and it’s also a problem that the actions of my followers would become ambiguous. And if I let go of power, the new medicine will eventually lose its momentum and disappear. Even if I wanted to yield to the Northern Empire, I can’t.”

“Yes. I’m glad you know that. Then why do you say it’s the truth and not a deception?”

“Well, because my heart is sincere in that I would give up power if the Northern Empire is worthy of it. It’s not a deception.”

“That’s a rather pointless thing to say. Do you know that some words are better left unsaid? The tongue is a sword that cuts the body, so it would be wise for Your Majesty to be more careful with your words.”

Jibek clicked his tongue at Azadin’s pointless words but was relieved inside.

Azadin genuinely saw power as just a tool.

However, that didn’t mean he was someone who would give up everything and step down.

He was aware that he needed to seize power to leave even a small spark of the ideal he held for future generations.

“So, I was thinking of sending an envoy to the Northern Empire and asking to meet at the border.”

“Do you think they’ll come?”

“It would be burdensome for them to come. But they can’t ignore it either. When they received my letter requesting aid, they must have been happy thinking I was about to die after the grain warehouse was attacked by Sebalhan’s counterattack, but now I’ve stationed a large army at the border. Once they confirm the troop concentration, the Northern Empire will never be able to ignore it. Even if they don’t come running out barefoot to meet me, they will send an envoy and start negotiations for a meeting.”

“That’s true. Was that also part of your plan?”

Jibek was once again impressed by Azadin’s deep scheming.

“No, it just turned out that way. While managing such a vast territory and giving various instructions, things just keep happening all at once, and it’s hard for me to keep track of everything.”

“Those words are for me alone…”

“It’s okay. Of course, I don’t say it to others. I have to maintain the image of a king with deep thoughts who doesn’t reveal his true intentions.”

“I see.”

Jibek knew that Azadin had many hardships and closed his mouth.

*********

The Telbarin Guild’s headquarters was outwardly located in Asander, but their real headquarters was in the underground city of Asander.

In the past, during the Naga Empire, the elves were defeated in their resistance against the Nagas and had to surrender their city to them.

The Nagas sank the ancient elven city in the Asander basin, where hot springs gushed out, and used it as a resort, treating the elves like their livestock.

Initially, the Nagas treated the elves as food, but the elves proved their worth to the Nagas.

They taught the Nagas the pleasures of culture and entertainment, and for their contribution, the Nagas made the elves their stewards, placing them in charge of managing other slaves.

The elves became the Nagas’ stewards, taking the lead in enslaving and even slaughtering other races.

Yet, the elves survived when the Naga Empire fell.

However, the problem now was that they had to serve a new master, the Yaeghas gods.

The Yaeghas gods were clearly a strong and wise race, but their power was rooted in the divine power that was inevitably diluted in the material continent of Hybris. [Hybris is the name of the continent where the story takes place.]

Therefore, compared to their ancestors, the divine kings, their descendants, the modern kings and nobles, were nothing more than ordinary, and the elves formed a secret society, longing for the day when they would become the masters of everything.

The public face of that secret society was the Telbarin Guild.

At the Telbarin Guild’s headquarters, the Asander branch, elves were gathered, discussing the current situation.

“This is quite unexpected. King Azadin is indeed very capable.”

“We tried to burn the warehouse and use the Nether Ink Scripture to get rid of him through Sebalhan, but he escaped so easily.”

“We gave Sebalhan a copy of the Nether Ink Scripture, but he only managed to use it in such a crude way. I’m disappointed in Sebalhan. Even though it was a copy, we had to sacrifice hundreds of slaves to make it. Do you understand?”

The elven secret society, using the name of the Northern Empire, gave Sebalhan the secret scripture of the Nether to stop Azadin and also to control the Northern Empire.

However, due to Sebalhan’s unexpected rampage, they did not achieve much.

They could prevent Azadin from capturing Chitai, but Azadin succeeded in withdrawing his troops without much damage.

Sebalhan did not pursue Azadin to the death but continued to slowly expand, engulfing the surrounding mountains and forests, like mold gradually spreading on a wall.

It seemed as if he was growing stronger to devour the entire world.

Normally, this would be a terrifying development, but for the Telbarin Guild, the whereabouts of Azadin’s army were far more important.

Azadin’s army avoided a war of attrition with Sebalhan and brought the withdrawn troops directly to Changgok to confront the Northern Empire.

“He lost control while studying the Ink Scripture and ended up like that. It’s not so much Sebalhan’s limit as it is that he was too hasty due to the urgent situation. King Azadin’s forces were pushing up to the White Tiger Pass, so it’s understandable that he was in a hurry as a king.”

“I heard that King Azadin’s health is not good. When is he going to die? I heard he’s spitting up blood and such?”

Surprisingly, the elves had also obtained information that Azadin’s health was not good.

Even though all the ministers in Azadin’s court were keeping their mouths shut, the elves’ information network, like mold seeping into an old house, could not be stopped.

“It doesn’t seem to be tuberculosis; it seems that his body is being torn apart from the inside because the magic book is too powerful, causing him to cough up blood.”

“Surprisingly, King Azadin’s Divine King Scripture seems to be more powerful than any of the past Yaeghas divine kings. Do you know that his divine protection is manifested in the southern battles with the merfolk and Nagas while he was attacking Chitai? It is said that with King Azadin’s power, they can cultivate and harvest crops to a limited extent in the south.”

“Oh…”

“My goodness.”

“It’s natural that he’s coughing up blood after doing such things. He seems to be overdoing it, but it will still take a long time for him to die and disappear from our sight.”

“So, we can’t just wait for him to die of illness?”

“Yes.”

“But I heard that King Azadin is a disciple of Kazas. If he is a disciple of Kazas, shouldn’t we be able to cooperate with him?”

For the elves, Kazas was the name of one of their old kings, a hero who was called the Demon King and wielded power over all.

As Azadin continued to rise, the elves discovered that he was a disciple of Kazas and made it a source of their pride.

‘Look at that. It’s because he’s Kazas’s disciple that that messenger clan guy is flying around like that. He has defeated all sorts of kings and stood tall as the overlord of the south, so his teacher must have been outstanding.’

‘Indeed, we are Alfrim. Alfrim is the best race, and history proves it. Other races besides us Alfrim are inferior races that are hard to even mention, and especially the Yaeghas gods, who are at their worst, are nothing more than corrupt tyrants who can no longer properly use the power of the Divine King Scripture. We must quickly absorb their power and deal with them to bring the hegemony of the continent back to Alfrim.’

That was the ethnic consciousness of the elves, who called themselves Alfrim.

From that perspective, although Azadin was not an elf, could he not be seen as their most loyal ally as Kazas’s successor?

“Have you not read his new medicine? He is a thorough follower of the Salvation Knights’ ascetic school. He is the opposite of those in power. He will become our enemy, not our friend, because the path we seek is different.”

“But there is no ruler who cannot be melted by our Alfrim’s bedroom arts. If we send our mature daughter to be his concubine, we can melt his heart with pillow talk and make him our ally, can’t we?”

“He is said to be faithful to only one wife.”

“Oh, my, is he insisting on monogamy? That’s not something a king should do. The culture of those with short lifespans is truly barbaric.”

The elves extremely hated monogamy because they believed it forcibly suppressed the natural human instincts and confined human sexual activity to a system for simple reproduction and inheritance.

It was a mockery of existence itself; that was the elves’ aversion to monogamy.

“Anyway, giving him the Ink Scripture this time was a bit too much. The Northern Empire is also noticing.”

“He was already noticing from the beginning. He probably knows that we have other intentions. However, a significant portion of his assets are provided by us, so he can’t treat us carelessly.”

The Northern Empire’s seven years’ worth of grain was, in fact, thanks to the elves’ assets.

Cohen Lionheart of the Northern Empire, who was originally a Salvation Knight but suddenly returned to secular life after the royal family died, was actually chosen to be king by the elves.

These elves had massacred all the royal family of Asander, allowing Cohen, who had a low claim to the throne, to become the king of Asander.

It was also the elves who provided funds and talent to Cohen, who had no real foundation, and built warehouses to store seven years’ worth of grain and bought the grain for Cohen’s ambition.

Asander is a bit wealthier than other kingdoms, but it doesn’t have more than twice the productivity of other kingdoms. Butuma was wealthier in terms of wealth.

The reason why Cohen, the king of Asander, was able to operate an intelligence organization spanning the entire continent was because the funds came from the elves.

“It seems difficult to persuade King Azadin, and the Northern Empire is also wary of us, so this is quite a problem. What about the Nagas?”

The elves of Telbarin called themselves Alfrim, but they also had connections with the Nagas.

Beside the kings who fought for secular and spiritual power of humanity, they were willing to join hands with the Naga race, who oppressed humanity for the sake of their own race, regardless of humanity, and even with the envoys of the Nether, as long as it was beneficial to them.