The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 491

Among humans, Selim was an incredibly powerful warrior. Any giant was like a child before Selim. However, among the minotaurs, Selim was just a bit larger than the others; he wasn’t an overwhelming presence. He was afraid. He was afraid that the family he had finally gained, his kin, would be disappointed in him. He was afraid of losing his position as a division commander. In truth, he had only joined Azadin’s army in its early days as a founding member, and he had received the undeserved position of division commander. He was afraid that it would be revealed that he was not particularly skilled in personal combat, strategy, or leadership. He was afraid that his position would be exposed as a sham. He was afraid of losing the minotaur wife and children he had finally gained. He was afraid of being abandoned by his family. Considering his position as a division commander in Azadin’s army, he should punish the minotaurs who were committing murder to restore public sentiment. However, seeing the looks of contempt, hatred, and resentment from the people, it wasn’t easy. Since he was a minotaur, they distrusted him. In the meantime, the humans, dwarves, and elves had fled. Now, only minotaurs remained around Selim. The minotaurs seized the refuge and captured people passing by, enslaving them and returning the treatment they had learned from the elves to the humans. Selim closed his eyes to the situation.

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“What’s this? A human I haven’t seen before?”

“Who authorized you to be armed? Put down your weapons!”

The minotaurs were disarming the humans. Those who resisted were killed and eaten, while those who obeyed were enslaved and used for various chores. Suddenly, a heavily armed human had appeared at their refuge.

“I want to meet Selim.”

“What? You want to meet the chieftain?”

“That’s ridiculous. Who do you think you are?!”

“I’m an acquaintance of Selim. If you interfere with my meeting, Selim will be angry, you know?”

The human was speaking like that. It was the kind of thing a typical con artist would say. ‘I’m an important person, so let me meet with a high-ranking official. Otherwise, I’ll punish you.’ However, his words weren’t entirely empty, as other human slaves around him recognized him and were flustered. They carefully spoke, watching the minotaurs’ expressions.

“Um, excuse me, Minotaur-nim. That person is…”

“Shut up. You guys are always trying to trick us, thinking we’re just a bunch of cow heads, aren’t you? I’ll just eat you all up?”

“Let’s kill him.”

The minotaurs had no intention of letting the person claiming to be Selim’s acquaintance live. Their goal was to isolate Selim from other humans and completely transform him into a member of the minotaur tribe. Selim’s human acquaintances, his connections and relationships from before he returned to the minotaur tribe, even if they were genuine and not a scam, or especially if they were genuine, had to be thoroughly destroyed.

“Hmm? You’re smarter than I thought. Is this the elves’ doing?”

The human who claimed to be Selim’s acquaintance realized that the minotaurs were intentionally trying to separate him from Selim and kill him, so he drew his sword.

“You bastard!”

A minotaur swung a large battle axe. It was a weapon that was difficult for a human to use even with both hands, but the minotaur swung it around like a hand axe. There was no precision in the attack, but against such overwhelming physical ability, all martial arts were useless. The minotaur’s arm length, combined with the length of the battle axe’s handle, created an attack range even longer than a human’s halberd. However, the human stepped back and hooked the sword he had drawn onto an ashwood longbow.

Attaching a sword to a bow? Even if an arrow was heavy, it wouldn’t be even 1/20th the weight of a sword. If you fired a sword with a bow, it wouldn’t fly properly. However, the fired sword was faster than anyone expected.

-Thud!

In an instant, the minotaur’s head was split vertically.

“Huh?!”

“This guy!”

Another minotaur was surprised, but the human who had already attacked rushed in with terrifying momentum, picked up the battle axe that had fallen to the ground, and attacked another minotaur. In an instant, the axe was embedded in the minotaur’s knee, and the human, stepping on the axe handle, jumped up and kicked the minotaur’s jaw, shattering it.

“Don’t be ridiculous! A human like you!”

The minotaurs tried to deny what was happening before their eyes. A sword imbued with the power of the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon White Crane [a martial arts style] fell on the head of such a minotaur. The minotaur raised his axe to block the attack, but the sword seemed to bend, sliding over the axe and into the minotaur’s head.

“Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon!”

“A member of the Herald Clan?!”

“No. This person… no, this one is…”

The minotaurs were flustered. Only then did they recognize Azadin’s identity. Of course, the minotaurs still couldn’t distinguish humans, so it was more that the minotaurs’ servants had given them a hint about Azadin’s identity.

“Yes. I am Azadin. You lawless creatures. There is still food left, yet you kill people and eat them. How do you intend to repay that sin? Does Selim know about this?”

At that moment, Selim appeared among the minotaurs.

“C-Commander…?!”

“Selim! You’re alive.”

“Ah, well…”

Selim avoided Azadin’s gaze, rolling his eyes. He knew well that he was in a shameful position. So, he couldn’t dare to meet Azadin’s eyes.

“Selim, what are you doing? Why aren’t you showing respect?”

The matriarch, who was said to be Selim’s family, rebuked Selim.

Azadin smiled bitterly as he looked at Selim’s mother, the matriarch.

“As an official, Selim is a lord, so you should step back for a moment. Am I not talking to Lord Selim right now?!”

“I-I apologize.”

The matriarch was flustered and stepped back after showing respect, but her eyes were gleaming with suspicion. It seemed she intended to watch closely, tense about what Azadin would do with Selim.

‘Oh, dear, oh, dear. I left this weakling alone without any safety measures, just because he was meeting his family. Ah, damn it. I tried to manage everything alone, so there are so many gaps.’ Azadin regretted his actions as he saw that Selim’s kin, the minotaurs, were not ordinary. If he had known they were like this, he should have isolated Selim from them. It was a pity that he hadn’t. Even if he could go back to the past, it would be the same. He would have been met with resistance, with them saying, ‘What grounds do you have to keep us from seeing the kin we finally met?’ However, now that everything had reached a breaking point, he couldn’t help but wonder, ‘What if I had done this in the past? What if I had done that?’

“Selim.”

“I don’t know, Commander.”

Selim shook his head and sat down.

“I was wrong, so kill me. But I would appreciate it if you could spare the woman who is carrying my child.”

“What are you saying? You want to die because you were wrong? A person who truly repents thinks that their own life is not enough to atone for their sins. Your actions now are just giving up and throwing away your life.”

“C-Commander.”

“Where is Midiam? Where are the others?”

“If you mean the Empress, Lord Sok captured her. He said he would turn her into an undead and make her persuade you too. The others either died fighting Lord Sok or ran away.”

Azadin was shocked by Selim’s words. Lord Sok was trying to turn Midiam into an undead? If that was true, it was a big problem. He had to go find Lord Sok right away, but…

“Selim. I considered you a comrade, not just a subordinate. Like you, I was different from the people around me since birth and was ostracized. What sustained me was the teachings of the Knights Order.”

“……”

“Still, the judgment must be fair. Did you harm the people? Did you allow cannibalism?”

“They were criminals who were going to die anyway, so isn’t it a waste not to eat their meat? In this situation, we have to eat something to fill our bellies.”

Selim made an excuse. A pathetic answer that he himself was aware was an excuse. Of course, it wouldn’t work on Azadin.

“Once you start indulging in the taste of human flesh, even those who don’t deserve to die will be executed to obtain that meat. If they were truly executed after a fair trial, then the bodies should be left intact to maintain fairness.”

“…You’re so great.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re so great! You’re so great, Commander! We ended up like this because we followed you! We don’t even know if we’ll survive this long night, but how can you speak so righteously and freely? We’re not like that! And even you couldn’t protect your own woman!?”

“What?”

Azadin was taken aback by Selim’s sudden personal attack. But then, it happened.

“Attack!”

Seeing Selim’s agitated reaction to Azadin, the other minotaurs thought it was an opportunity and launched a simultaneous attack on Azadin. However, at that moment, Azadin’s figure disappeared.

-Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon Twilight! [a martial arts technique]

Azadin’s figure, which had disappeared with a blurry afterimage, melted into the darkness. At the same time, the halberd began to dance. The heavy halberd, as light as a reed swaying in the wind, lightly sliced through the charging minotaurs.

“Ugh! What are you doing! Stop it!”

Selim tried to stop his kin who had rushed at Azadin, but now, with his kin being slaughtered, it looked like he was stopping Azadin from killing his kin.

“Selim!”

“This way! Get out of the way!”

“That Emperor is indeed no ordinary man!”

The minotaur matriarch immediately moved Selim back and deployed other minotaur warriors. In name, Selim was the chieftain, but all these minotaurs were acting according to the matriarch’s will. They still didn’t know Azadin’s valor. They had heard rumors, but they didn’t truly understand what kind of being Azadin was. Selim, who was called Chadra Oger [a title or nickname] and knew well what kind of monsters Azadin had subjugated, couldn’t bear this moment where his kin and Azadin were fighting each other to the death.

“Stop!”

Selim stepped forward, blocking Azadin’s spear with his body, and instead, he punched the faces of the minotaurs who were attacking him with his iron fist. Azadin’s spear stopped, and the minotaurs tumbled.

“Selim!”

“What are you doing!”

The matriarch and the minotaurs were enraged at Selim, who had sided with Azadin. However, Selim met their gaze and suddenly shed tears.

“I confess, I’m so scared right now. I can’t bear this moment because I’m so afraid. What if this night is eternal? When I think that, my kin are so precious that I’m afraid of losing them if I point out their wrongdoings, even though I just found them!”

“Haa.”

Azadin let out a long sigh after hearing Selim’s words. Azadin understood Selim’s situation to the bone. He had grown up among the Herald Clan, but Azadin was a monster from Muan. If it hadn’t been for Aldis and Kazas, his two benefactors, he wouldn’t have been able to endure the loneliness and would have died long ago. Azadin himself deeply sympathized with how much loneliness Selim must have felt.

“But Selim. Abandoning your beliefs to be loved by someone is abandoning yourself. Can you offer what you have thrown away to those you love and ask them to love you? You must protect your own dignity.”

If you throw yourself away while begging to be loved, you will only become cheaper. Even if the whole world doesn’t love you, at least you must be confident in yourself. That alone was how Azadin had endured his long life of loneliness and despair. Azadin told Selim that story.