The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 77

Judge Zekt 3

Seo-dong Beldon was not a petitioner for gold coins. Therefore, there was no reason to reveal their identity to them.

Above all, since Duke Kozel had lost his eyes to the Messenger Clan, or rather, to Azadin himself, his feelings towards the Messenger Clan must be extraordinary. There was a need to consider the possibility that Kozel’s emotions might explode if they revealed they were from the Messenger Clan.

‘If he knew that I was the one who made him a cripple, he would bring all the holy knights and whatnot to get revenge.’

Azadin spoke nonchalantly, and Beldon sighed. Fortunately, Azadin’s bluff seemed to have worked. Even if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t be wise to investigate in detail the group that had eliminated the Count, who had transformed into a giant monster, and the mummy soldiers.

‘Even if they are really from the Messenger Clan, Duke Kozel’s personality would definitely lead to a fight. But fighting the one who killed the Count is not a wise thing to do.’

Beldon, who had a strong tendency to avoid trouble and go smoothly, was not planning to inform his employers about Azadin being from the Messenger Clan, even if it were true. Still, he had to haggle.

“Why did you proceed with the job without any agreement on an advance or payment?”

“I infiltrated to do some preliminary investigation, and I saw that the Count was preparing to kill everyone in this area. Even though it’s not our business, if we dragged our feet, the damage would be immense, and we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. So, we had no choice but to move quickly. My colleagues suffered a lot.”

The colleagues Azadin was talking about were, of course, Midiam and Ismael. But to Beldon, it sounded like there were other assassins similar to Azadin. There was no way Azadin could have carried out such a massive battle alone.

“So, you brought the payment when you came to meet me, right?”

“O-of course.”

Beldon handed Azadin a leather pouch. Inside, there was a brooch decorated with gold and opals, and gold coins.

“This is…”

“We were short on gold coins, so we brought jewelry. It should be worth about 50 gold coins.”

“It’s difficult to handle, isn’t it? I don’t even know if the market price is really 50 gold coins. And if you trace this…”

“I’m sorry. It’s the result of our best efforts.”

In fact, the Countess and Kozel had been very talkative.

‘Is it really the work of an assassin?’

‘Do we really have to pay that money?’

‘We never agreed to 50 gold coins, so why did you proceed with the job on your own? Considering that, can’t we reduce the price?’

They had tried not to pay or to reduce the payment. Beldon had been sweating profusely trying to persuade the Countess and Kozel.

‘If those guys are really the ones who killed the Count… if we don’t pay them, they will threaten the Countess and Duke Kozel. How will you handle that?’

Only after explaining the danger of reducing the assassin’s fee to the Countess and Duke Kozel did they reluctantly accept the brooch.

If this man didn’t agree with this, they would have to ask the Countess’s family for help, which was a very troublesome matter.

“Alright. Fine, I’ll compromise with this. It seems like everyone around here knows that this brooch belongs to the Countess, so I’ll have to go to another country to dispose of it.”

Azadin took the pouch and asked Beldon several more questions.

“Is there anything else you need help with? I heard the Countess and the church are having a power struggle over the territory of Salasma?”

“Can you assassinate church people too?”

“Hmm. Who?”

“Sir Zekt, the Judge.”

“Judge? If he’s a Judge, he’s a high-ranking member of the Knights Templar, right? There are only sixteen of them in the whole world? That kind of person is in Salasma?”

“Yes. He’s interfering in the territory of Salasma, and the King’s Church is trying to prohibit the Count’s bloodline from inheriting and return the territory of Salasma to the King’s Church. The reason is that since the Count has turned into a Naga [a serpentine creature], all of the Count’s bloodline might be contaminated.”

“Ah.”

Azadin clicked his tongue after hearing that story.

“Surely you won’t reveal that to the public.”

Depriving the Count’s bloodline of their inheritance rights because the Count, a legitimate noble, had fallen into a monster was not an attractive option for the church.

It would be tantamount to admitting that the bloodline of the nobles, the bloodline of the Yae-gas gods, was not perfect, which was like abandoning the foundation of the King’s Church.

“Killing the Judge doesn’t seem like it would improve the situation? I refuse that request.”

“Um. Ah, I understand.”

“Then, good work.”

Azadin handed the signet ring to Beldon and walked out of the alley.

*********

Azadin said goodbye to Baroness Nort and came out of the mansion.

“So, where do we go now?”

“Let’s chase after the Nagas. Where did their trail end?”

“It leads to the southwest…”

“Southwest, huh… Let’s follow that way for now.”

As they descended from the highlands, they saw that many refugees were still pouring into the outer walls of Salasma.

The city was becoming more and more desolate as the rivers dried up in various places, and the sewage accumulated by the influx of refugees was not being cleaned. Now that there was no leader, the future of the people who had gathered in this city would not be smooth.

They were walking while thinking about that when it happened.

When they were near the farm area outside the outer walls of Salasma, they saw something running from behind. It was a group of knights and non-commissioned officers on horseback. At the front of them, something wearing armor was running like a beast.

“…Huh?”

A person was running on all fours like a beast. A fierce light was emanating from their eyes. Azadin’s eyesight could see a black aura emanating from them. It was a product of black magic.

“What is that?”

Azadin focused his vision and looked at those chasing from behind. They were holy knights of the King’s Church.

‘Did an undead escape and they’re chasing after it? But…’

When a righteous king sits on the throne, the light of the king’s authority protects the land.

The throne brought by the Yae-gas gods, the Eight Kings’ Throne, is itself a magical book of the Divine King’s Scripture and a powerful magical artifact.

And the light of the king’s authority is real. In cities and villages, where the believers of the King’s Church are, the light of the king’s authority actually works to suppress the activities of the undead and monsters and protect humans.

‘For an undead to appear in broad daylight in a big city, it would take a lot of effort in magic.’

Of course, it was Count Kozel who made that possible, but even he would have needed a lot of money, manpower, and the help of the Nagas to create such an undead.

But that thing….

“It looks like they’re coming for us?”

“What should we do?”

Midiam and Ismael asked.

“What else? Let’s run away. There’s no reason to fight something like that.”

Azadin was holding the reins of the Kerim mountain goat without riding it. On the other hand, Midiam and Ismael were riding the Kerim mountain goats. If he suddenly got on the goat here, it would look suspicious to the people around him, so Azadin quickened his pace and signaled Midiam and Ismael to go ahead.

Just then, there was a fork in the road, and Azadin’s group entered it… but the undead deviated from the path and ran straight towards Azadin’s group. Moreover….

-Dizzy!

A magical attack flew from the holy knights, but it was clearly aimed at Azadin’s group, not the undead. It was a colorless basic magic that had no light or sound, but that’s why it was dangerous.

The magic makes one’s consciousness go blank in an instant, and if used on running horses or beasts, the effect is enormous. Azadin, Midiam, and Ismael were fine, but the Kerim mountain goats they were riding became dizzy for a moment due to the magic.

“Ah!”

“Damn it!”

Midiam and Ismael now knew for sure that the opponent was targeting them. For holy knights, who value honor, to launch a preemptive attack with magic. Perhaps it had been revealed that they were from the Messenger Clan.

In this situation, Azadin ordered Midiam and Ismael.

“Go first!”

“What?”

“I’ll hold them off.”

“No, you said that last time and ended up needing our help.”

“Your physical condition isn’t good either!”

Midiam and Ismael tried to stop him, but Azadin turned around and blocked the undead that was running towards them.

But….

“Krrr!”

The thing that charged at them, growling like a beast, was surprisingly someone Azadin knew.

‘Isn’t that the guy? What was his name? The one who tried to kill a civilian family by letting an arrow slip!’

Sir Gazrek had become an undead and was charging at Azadin.

“Alright! Sweater!”

Azadin grabbed the reins of the Kerim mountain goat and took out his sword from the saddlebag. Azadin calmly watched the attack of the undead Gazrek and blocked his attack with his sword and shouted.

“Now!”

At that moment, Azadin’s Kerim mountain goat, Sweater, kicked Gazrek’s corpse with its hind legs, sending it flying. Thanks to its tremendous leg strength, Gazrek’s body flew straight through the air.

“Uh….”

The holy knights who were chasing after them were flustered. He seemed to be taking out a weapon from the saddle, but then the mountain goat attacked with its hind legs. They were completely caught off guard.

‘It’s a good thing it was the undead Gazrek who got hit, but what if it had been me?’

Even if they were wearing armor, would they be okay? The thought sent shivers down their spines.

While the holy knights were flustered by the sudden event, Azadin chased after Gazrek to finish him off. With only one foot on the stirrup of the Kerim mountain goat, he ran along as if he were hanging from a running carriage.

“Krrr.”

The undead Gazrek got up. If it were a human, they would have suffered from internal bleeding or fractures after being kicked by the Kerim mountain goat, but Gazrek got up without any damage.

However, Azadin, who had rushed in with the Kerim mountain goat, plunged his sword into the top of Gazrek’s head. It happened before he could even get up and regain his balance.

Normally, it would have hit for sure. But at that moment, black magic suddenly went berserk from Gazrek, and he retreated backward like a beast.

“…….”

Azadin frowned as he looked at the one who had used that magic. A holy knight wearing golden armor was approaching. He was wearing a helmet, so his face was not visible, but his voice was young.

“My, my. You have great skills. I would never have thought you were just an ordinary pilgrim.”

“Sir Knight, an undead is walking around in broad daylight, are you just going to stand there?”

“He is Sir Gazrek. Sadly, he was killed by the Messenger Clan somewhere, and he became a wraith knight with the sole purpose of finding them and getting revenge. But do you know what the characteristics of these wraiths are?”

“…….”

“They have the ability to find and track down their enemies within a certain distance. In other words, it means that you are the one who killed Sir Gazrek.”

The holy knight in golden armor pointed out Azadin as the murderer of Sir Gazrek.