The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 48

In the Aragasa Kingdom, deep within the Kerim Mountains, lies the sanctuary of the Messenger Clan. Nestled among rugged rocky peaks, where fierce winds and fog often gather, making it nearly impossible for ordinary people to venture, the Messenger Clan members train. Afterward, they spread across the world, serving the Emperor according to their contracts and living for the liberation of their clan.

However, twice a year, during the summer solstice festival, messengers from all over the world return to the sanctuary to report on their training, process the fallen and injured, reward the deserving, discipline the errant, and conduct personnel changes.

But in the Kerim Mountains, long before the summer solstice festival, a messenger was humming a tune as she climbed a cliff. It was Aldis, the silver-haired girl.

“Ah, I brought a few too many gifts this time. I wonder if they’ll like them.”

Aldis, delighted that she was nearing her hometown, stood before the sanctuary. It was a path that ordinary people could not find due to the frequent fog and strong winds. However, Aldis called upon the Emperor’s voice and, guided by it, navigated the maze and entered the sanctuary.

-Swoosh….

Before her lay a waterfall and valley nestled in the mountains.

“Hmm, I came in from the southeast this time. Ah, this place is always a sight to behold. It’s just a bit too buggy.”

Aldis was talking to the Emperor’s voice.

[You have a strong lineage of the Yaegas gods. Do not offer your precious blood to the mosquitoes. If there is any benefit to killing, it is the killing of mosquitoes.]

The Emperor’s voice was advising Aldis to slay the mosquitoes.

“If that’s what you wish.”

Aldis lightly cast a spell at the mosquitoes flying toward her.

-Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, Sparrow!

Numerous projectiles of power intercepted all the flying mosquitoes, and the remaining projectiles seeped into the bushes, killing any mosquitoes they found, flying until the magic power was exhausted.

Aldis, satisfied with the sight, led the Kerim mountain goats and walked on. It was then.

-Splash….

Something fell into the valley water.

“Hmm… what was that?”

[A child.]

The Emperor’s voice answered Aldis’s question.

“Huh?!”

Startled, Aldis rushed to the valley. The valley’s currents were very rough, and the water temperature was so low that even adults found it difficult to swim. A young child had fallen into such a valley.

“Eek!”

Aldis threw off her Moon Horn Bow and various valuables as if discarding them and jumped into the valley water.

*********

When Azadin regained consciousness, beautiful purple eyes were looking down at him. Aldis was crying.

“Azadin! Are you okay?”

“Oh, Aldis?”

“Why on earth did you do that! Why did you go to the outskirts of the sanctuary… you idiot!”

“……”

Azadin realized that both he and Aldis were naked and tried to turn his head away in embarrassment. But Aldis hugged Azadin tightly. His body temperature had dropped too much due to the cold water of the valley, and Aldis’s warm embrace felt so good.

“……”

Seeing Aldis crying for him, he couldn’t bear the pain in his heart. He couldn’t bring himself to say that he had tried to commit suicide because he had no will to live and was in pain.

“Ah, what brings Aldis here? There’s still a month until the solstice, isn’t there?”

“I was worried that some rascal might fall into the water while I was gone, so I came early. I even bought a lot of gifts.”

“……”

“Training is hard, isn’t it?”

“Ah, no. Training is nothing now. I was cut anyway.”

“Cut?”

“Yes. They said I can’t become a messenger….”

“Well, it’s okay. There are so many jobs in the world besides being a messenger. It’s actually strange to want to be a messenger. It’s all hardship every day. You know, when I was little, I wanted to work at a candy factory because I wanted to eat candy so badly. You know?”

“Ahaha. Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Aldis said that and looked at the campfire.

“The firewood is running out. I’ll go pick up some kindling.”

She got up naked and picked up kindling nearby. Meanwhile, Azadin sat blankly inside the blanket she had prepared. Aldis, who had rekindled the fire, hugged Azadin and wrapped the blanket around them again.

“A-aren’t we going to the village?”

“I was thinking of watching the stars with Azadin here today?”

“Stars? You mean those things that shine in the night sky?”

“Yeah. Ah, I brought a book of fairy constellations today.”

“Constellations?”

“It’s a myth of the fairies who were here before the Yaegas gods arrived on this land. They connected the bright stars shining in the night sky to create constellations and added their mythical stories. Hehe. I’ve been learning fairy languages these days, you know? I’ll read it to you.”

Aldis opened the snacks she had bought as gifts and shared them with Azadin, counting the stars in the early summer sky after sunset and telling him the legends of the fairies.

I can say with certainty that Azadin had never known beauty before that. The night sky was just a vast emptiness, and the stars twinkling within it were too insignificant to pay attention to.

But after that day of counting stars with Aldis, Azadin knew what beauty was, and the stars became a poignant longing.

*********

Azadin, who had failed basic training, received vocational training. As a member of the Messenger Clan, if he could not become a messenger, he had to become a servant, a merchant in a trading company, or a worker.

While basic training was underway, all the human resources of the sanctuary were focused on the basic training process, so Azadin, a dropout, had some free time. Since Aldis was there, Azadin looked for Aldis every day.

Aldis also gave her time generously for Azadin, who must have suffered while she was away.

“This book is so interesting. I, I came to return it.”

Azadin returned the entrance book of the Rescue Knights to Aldis.

“No, Azadin, you keep it.”

“Huh? C-can I really?”

“But what part did you like so much?”

“The three virtues. They say that if the Rescue Knights uphold the virtues of courage, wisdom, and mercy, they receive power from the three archangels and can use white magic. White magic, that’s the power the Yaegas gods use, right?”

“Ah, yes. Hmm. Hehe.”

“I wish I could use magic too.”

The young Azadin was fascinated by the Rescue Knights because of their claim that anyone could use white magic if they upheld the virtues, regardless of their lineage.

A defective product who cannot use magic. A dropout. A half-wit. A monster. A monster of the void.

It was inevitable that this young boy, despised even among the persecuted Messenger Clan, would be fascinated by the claims of the Rescue Knights.

However, Aldis, who had traveled to various places as a messenger, had never seen anyone use white magic in the Rescue Knights. Or at least, no one used white magic with the power of the three virtues.

The only ones who used white magic in the Rescue Knights were the last descendants of the Yaegas gods, who were of noble blood but had no inheritance rights and were forcibly ordained, like in the King’s Church.

‘Hmm, the Rescue Knights. They seemed like a bunch of swindlers to me. Well, there were some good people, but those priests were all a bit….’

The Rescue Knights were those who boasted that they would protect humanity from the abyss of the world called Nether. According to their claims, beneath the continent of Hybris was a deeper abyss of the world called Nether, where unspeakable, heterogeneous evils existed.

Compared to that Nether, the source of powerful black magic, the Kurt gods were nothing, and even the Yaegas gods, who defeated the Kurt gods and saved humanity, were nothing.

Because of such claims, they were once considered heretics, and even religious wars broke out. However, after the King’s Church became a mess, the status of the Rescue Knights rose, and now they are recognized without being considered heretics….

‘White magic. The higher-ranking knights used it, but those guys were all nobles.’

In the end, only those who inherited the blood of the Yaegas gods used white magic. Or, it is said that there are more people who can use white magic in the ‘Inner Sea Peninsula,’ the headquarters of the Rescue Knights….

Aldis had never confirmed it.

‘Even though the King’s Church has become a mess, a place for handling illegitimate children, the Holy Knights of the King’s Church are still far superior in terms of human resources than the Rescue Knights.’

But there was no need to talk about that now. Seeing Azadin, who had been depressed, so full of life, Aldis wanted to comfort Azadin in any way she could.

*********

“Do you want to become a Rescue Knight?”

“R-Rescue Knight? Yes. But I’m Aragasa… would they like me?”

“Hmm?”

“I heard that everyone hates the Aragasa. That we killed their precious gods. But the other kids all like it. They boast that they are so strong that they can even kill gods, so they are afraid of them. But then what am I? I’m Aragasa, but I’m weak and have no power… but people will still hate me because I’m Aragasa. No… before that.”

Azadin touched his face. A face where flesh filled the place where his eyes should be.

“It’s a problem before being Aragasa. This face! Everyone says I’m disgusting to look at and tells me to cover my face. Last time, the kids put a sack over my face, and I almost suffocated to death.”

“Who did that? Which bastard!”

There was a subtle anger in Aldis’s voice.

“Ah, th-that’s a bit….”

Azadin knew from experience that involving adults in children’s problems would not solve the problem but make it worse.

Aldis was a member of the Jedaha clan, a messenger, and a scholar of the Academy of Arts who studied magic. Her voice had a strong authority, but she had too many tasks assigned to her, so she couldn’t be with Azadin. In other words, even if Aldis protected Azadin, it wouldn’t be of much help when she was absent.

Azadin was happy that Aldis was here now, but he became depressed again when he thought that she would eventually have to leave.

“Would the Rescue Knights hate me too?”

“Azadin.”

Aldis hugged Azadin tightly. The faint scent of lavender permeated Azadin’s nose.

“If you read the book, you know, right? That the Rescue Knights’ ideology is that anyone can become a Rescue Knight if they have courage, wisdom, and mercy?”

“Yes.”

“You just need to have courage, wisdom, and mercy. You can be anything.”

“Even though I was born Aragasa and can’t even become a servant, let alone a messenger?”

“Originally, only a very small number of Aragasa become messengers. It’s natural that most can’t even become servants. In the end, what’s important is not how others see you, but the image of yourself that you accept.”

“Th-that’s….”

Azadin made a crying face.

“That’s the problem. I hate myself right now.”

“Then, Azadin, do you perhaps hate me?”

“Th-there’s no way!”

Azadin was startled as if he had heard blasphemy and waved his hands in denial.