The Shadowed Legacy Of The Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 60

“Are you perhaps going somewhere else? Or will you be staying in Salasmar? If you’re staying in Salasmar, we have a spare room in our house, so how about staying there? There are so many refugees right now that all the inns have been requisitioned by the Relief Knights. You won’t be able to find proper lodging anywhere.”

“Huh?”

“Of course, I will give you the gold coins. But how can I say that five gold coins is enough to repay the debt of saving my life? Please, allow me to host my benefactor at our mansion and give me a chance to repay your kindness, even if just a little.”

“……”

In fact, five Emperor’s gold coins is more than enough to repay the debt of saving a life. However, the Baroness seemed to be genuinely grateful to Azadin and wanted to treat him well in any way she could.

“And the children you sent, I’ve hired them as servants in our mansion. Shouldn’t you also check on their situation?”

“Well, in that case, I’ll be imposing on you.”

Azadin wanted to hear about the Count of Salasmar and was also curious about the Baroness’s true identity, so he decided to stay at her house.

*********

“I was going to, but I’m sleepy.”

The next morning, Azadin was rolling around in bed. After taking a bath and lying down, fatigue washed over him. He had been traveling along the road lately, and that alone had accumulated a considerable amount of fatigue.

On top of that, he had been fighting life-or-death battles almost every day, so he was exhausted. He had been pushing himself too hard.

‘I acquired five unused gold coins that weren’t used in the contract and three copies of the Divine King’s Scripture. With this much, I can be proud that I’ve been quite active, right?’

Mideam keeps teasing him because of the curse of service, but Azadin will not die from that curse.

Perhaps that’s why? Feeling a bit relieved, he was relaxing at the lodging prepared by Baroness Nort.

“What are you doing?”

Mideam knocked on the door of Azadin’s room.

“Resting.”

“Really? We were thinking of going back to the were-rat’s lair again. We want to check if the Relief Knights are cleaning up properly and if we missed anything.”

“Excellent. I should go too.”

He said that, but Azadin couldn’t get up. Muscle pain all over his body was tormenting him.

“But looking at you, your face is covered in fatigue. We’ll go by ourselves.”

“Be careful.”

“Don’t worry.”

*********

Mideam and Ishmael looked around near the were-rat’s lair. The Relief Knights were cleaning up the aftermath. All they were doing was dragging out the corpses and incinerating the were-rats’ bodies.

The rats, plump from eating human flesh, were being hunted cleanly by the refugees.

“The Relief Knights are cleaning up the mess.”

“Well, they’d want to hide their shame.”

“The Relief Knights’ organization is quite lax.”

Due to the nature of the Hybrids, who value the afterlife, most people are open to donating when asked to contribute to good deeds, whether they are good or bad. Everyone is used to the act of donating and giving.

When there is a famine like now, people tend not to open their wallets, but even so, a considerable amount of donations and offerings continued to flow into the Relief Knights.

The problem is that the Relief Knights are a very lax organization. Right now, there were three branches in Salasmar alone.

The Academy of Wisdom, the Relief Center of Mercy, and the Knights of Courage.

These three organizations each formed their own factions, so they didn’t even know that one of their facilities had become a were-rat’s lair and that a holy knight had fallen and become a follower of Mezeri.

“Hmm… impressive.”

Mideam was amazed as she watched the Relief Knights pull out the corpses of the were-rats and burn them. There were a huge number of them.

“Azadin must have handled all of that by himself, right? The Relief Knights are just dragging out the corpses and incinerating them?”

“Yes. Of course, they’re claiming that they were the ones who defeated them.”

“It’s their own facility in the first place, so they’re just spitting on their own faces. Because they manage their organization so poorly, were-rats were able to nest in their building, kidnap people, kill them, and search for copies of the Divine King’s Scripture without them knowing.”

Mideam muttered and looked around.

“I feel a lot of eerie gazes.”

Although Mezeri’s followers were destroyed, the Kurt cultists are not the only ones. There are probably more Kurt cultists hiding in this city.

“Miss.”

“Let’s go back. There’s no point in staying here for long.”

*********

On the hill, at Baroness Nort’s mansion, dispatched servants and cooks were busily coming and going. The Baroness, who usually lived frugally, had called in servants, maids, and cooks to clean the mansion and prepare meals, perhaps to entertain her guests this time.

“It’s serious. Hmm, could it be that that woman is smitten with Azadin?”

“Your speculation is excessive. Isn’t she a woman who already has a grown child?”

“But she looks like she’s only in her twenties?”

“It must be the blessing of the Spider Queen. She must be a Kurt cultist. I think we should have refused her offer. We should have put a knife to her throat and tortured her to get information.”

“That’s impossible. Anyway, that Baroness is Count Kazel’s lover, right? If we mess with her carelessly, there will be big trouble later. Ishmael often vents his dissatisfaction with the world with such absurd stories, doesn’t he?”

Mideam said that, seemingly unaware that she was the cause of Ishmael’s resentment, and went back into the mansion. She happened to meet Tarki at the entrance of the mansion. Tarki had taken off his armor and was wearing ordinary clothes, and he certainly looked like a noble’s son.

“Ah, Tarki.”

“Do you even talk to me informally? The Messenger Clan values seniority very much, don’t they?”

“That’s why I’m talking informally. Status is also very important.”

“Ugh.”

Tarki, who had never been told that his status was insignificant except by guys like Kozel, clicked his tongue at Mideam’s bold remark.

“Where is your mother?”

“She seems to have gone to the castle to meet my father.”

“What? Why?”

“She was kidnapped and released, so she’s reporting the situation. The servants are managing the mansion, so if you want something to eat, order them.”

“Ah, really? By the way, do your father and mother seem to have a good relationship?”

“I’m not in a position to say.”

“Because you’re a bastard?”

“No, I… never mind. Let’s not talk about it.”

Tarki shook his head and suddenly looked at Mideam.

“By the way, there’s a rumor that there was a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture in the were-rat’s lair. Is that true?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“From my mother.”

“What?”

“They say that when the leader of the were-rats was defeated, a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture recognized Azadin and came to him on its own?”

“Hmm. A copy of the Divine King’s Scripture?”

“A, a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture? If I had that, I could become the head of the family….”

Tarki’s eyes were wide open after hearing the rumor that Azadin had obtained a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture.

“You should give up. It’s called a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, but it’s not the complete pages. It’s probably in pieces. Surely, the Count wouldn’t be satisfied with just one page and recognize you as the head of the family, would he?”

“But!”

“And our Aragasa also needs a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture. No matter what you propose, we can’t give it to you.”

*********

Azadin was checking the escape routes of the mansion. Baroness Nort was showing him goodwill, but that didn’t guarantee that this place was safe.

“It’s uncomfortable without the Emperor’s voice.”

Baroness Nort clearly felt goodwill towards Azadin. But apart from that, it was certain that she was a follower of the Kurt cult and had items related to the Spider Queen Atra. She was an opponent he shouldn’t let his guard down against.

But then, a bird flew in.

[Azadin of the Messenger Clan.]

“Is that the Emperor’s voice?”

Azadin looked at the source of the bird’s voice. There, a crow with a large eyeball on its belly was sitting.

[Azadin….]

“Ugh!”

Azadin was startled and pulled out his dagger. He was ready to throw it to subdue the opponent if necessary. That kind of deformed bird could never be the Emperor’s voice.

[Calm down. I am the voice of Araiel.]

“…What?”

Azadin was shocked to hear that. He had heard countless times that Araiel was a genius. But was Araiel creating an artificial spirit similar to the Emperor’s voice?

[I have found your location, so I will send someone soon. Azadin, if you pledge your loyalty to Araiel, you will have a position above all others.]

“Are you out of your mind?”

Azadin scoffed. It was surprising that Araiel was trying to win him over, but the words she was saying were just ridiculous.

A position above all others.

Was she going to become the new Emperor? Was she going to overthrow all the Divine Kings of the Yaegas Clan, seize their thrones, and force the Hybrids to submit by force?

If that were possible, she would really have to hunt down the Hybrids like lice.

First of all, people hate the Messenger Clan. Even under the Emperor, when they had much more power, the Messenger Clan did not dare to dream of seizing power.

When the Emperor died and chaos came to the Eight Kingdoms, it was a much better time, but they couldn’t succeed then, so now Araiel?

“Are you crazy? You haven’t even unified your clan, and you’ve been dismissed, right?”

[If I was dismissed, I already know how to avoid the curse of service.]

Indeed, otherwise, so many messengers wouldn’t have sided with Araiel and rebelled.

‘It’s not a bluff… the results in front of me are too great.’

The perfection of the artificial spirit that imitated the Emperor’s voice was too great. The problem is….

‘I feel an evil aura.’

This artificial spirit smelled of black magic. It was clear that she had dabbled in evil magic.

[The Messenger Clan will not save you even if you offer the Emperor’s gold coins or a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture. They will try to kill you with the curse of service, so ask Araiel for salvation.]

As the artificial spirit said that, it curled up. The eyeball that was only on its belly sprouted all over its body, and….

-Thud!

With a loud bang, it turned into a pile of flesh, defiling Baroness Nort’s garden with blood, flesh, and eyeballs.

“Wh, what happened?”

A maid approached with a surprised face.

“No, it’s a cat.”

Azadin said that and retreated from the garden.

*********

After Azadin met the ominous voice of Araiel, Mideam, Ishmael, and Tarki returned.

“You were awake.”

“I just have muscle pain and am tired, but I can’t keep sleeping.”

Even if he tried to sleep, he couldn’t sleep anymore. Azadin asked Tarki.