The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 8

#9. The Audacious Challenger 5

Midiam and Ismail followed Azadin, their eyes fixed on his every move. It was then that they remembered the letter they were carrying.

“Ah, wait a moment, Azadin.”

“……”

Azadin didn’t respond.

“Um, Messenger?”

“……”

“Hey, handsome guy walking down the road?”

“Pfft.”

Ismail couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Azadin sighed and stopped walking.

“What is it now?”

“There was something I forgot. I have a letter for you.”

“A letter? Who sent it?”

“The regional head of Salasma.”

“Tch.”

Azadin’s disappointment was evident at the mention of the regional head.

“Were you expecting a different letter?”

“No.”

Azadin shook his head.

“Haa. Okay, give it to me.”

Azadin took the letter from Ismail and opened it. The content was a reprimand for his repeated failure to submit progress reports and a notice that the collection of copies of the Divine King’s Scripture, which had recently surfaced in various parts of the world, would be factored into his performance evaluation.

‘If it’s in a letter, then all the other messengers must already know.’

Azadin sighed as he read the regional head’s letter.

“Do you guys know about this too?”

“Huh? We haven’t read the letter.”

“I heard that copies of the Divine King’s Scripture are appearing around the world.”

“Ah, we know about that. The copies of the Divine King’s Scripture that your father betrayed the clan and scattered around the world… Ouch!”

As Midiam spoke thoughtlessly, Ismail couldn’t help but step on her foot.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you doing that?”

But Midiam didn’t understand the situation at all.

“Never mind. So, you guys know about it too, huh?”

If even the candidates for attendants, who weren’t even official attendants yet, knew about it, then a significant number of the messenger clan must know about the copies of the Divine King’s Scripture.

“How many have been collected? They said it would be reflected in the performance evaluation, but what’s the weighting?”

“Collecting copies of the Divine King’s Scripture? Well, I don’t know?”

“You don’t know that? Hmm, I guess I’ll have to go see the regional head.”

Azadin lamented the fact that he had to go see the regional head as the letter stated.

“Okay. Thanks for delivering the letter. I received it well.”

“Then, will you give me a reward for the letter?”

“A reward?”

“Yes. Please recognize me as an attendant.”

“No, that won’t do.”

“Why not?”

“First of all, your motives for coming to me are impure.”

“Motives?”

“Yes. You came to challenge me because I looked easy, didn’t you? So why should I take you as an attendant?”

“W-well, I was definitely wrong. But messengers are supposed to take attendants, aren’t they?”

“That’s the second reason. In principle, the relationship between a messenger and an attendant is a matter for the individuals involved, but conventionally, each family arranges it out of consideration. But little miss, do you think the Etar clan would recognize me as your teacher? I’m Azadin, the one despised by the entire clan. Did you tell your family head that you would serve me as your teacher and get permission before coming here?”

“Ah. N-no, I didn’t.”

Midiam had just rushed in, thinking only of defeating Azadin and becoming a messenger herself, without considering the consequences. When Azadin pointed that out, she had nothing to say.

“Right? I don’t want to get caught up in something you did on your own.”

“Then, is the reason you won’t take me as a slave because I’m an Etar?”

“That’s part of it, but I fundamentally don’t believe in slavery.”

“O-oh, I see.”

Midiam was speechless at Azadin’s words.

“So, if you understand, will you please step aside now?”

“Uh. Um.”

Midiam was flustered and asked,

“Then, can we at least be travel companions for a while?”

“Travel companions? Why would I?”

“Well… I can tell you about what’s been happening in the clan.”

“……”

Ismail watched Midiam’s pleading with amazement. Midiam of the Etar clan was originally arrogant and cocky. But Azadin completely ignored her, and Midiam was trying her best to get involved with him.

“Since we’re going the same way anyway, can’t we at least go that far together?”

“Well, it’s not like I own this road, so you can follow me if you want.”

Azadin said that and started walking ahead.

*********

The messenger clan consists of 108 messengers, the attendants who serve them, and ordinary people engaged in various trades.

Among them, those engaged in commerce are spread all over the world in the form of guilds to support the messengers, and a guild branch like that is the regional headquarters.

The person in charge of messenger liaison there is called the regional head.

Originally, it was started to support the messengers, but business is not something that can be done with a half-hearted approach.

Only when they became serious about business did the guild start to function, and now the roles have been reversed to the point where it seems that the messengers exist to support the guild.

It was like this:

‘Since we are starting commerce for the first time, the existing guilds are very territorial. Let’s kidnap the families of the existing guilds and trade them.’

‘The immigration officer in XX region demanded bribes and confiscated our goods. If we give a bribe once, we’ll have to keep giving them, so I want to kill him as a warning. Kill his entire family brutally and display them.’

The messengers were deployed for such missions.

Azadin hated that. Although the entire clan was bound by the curse of service, what the Emperor wanted from the messenger clan was to maintain order, not to participate in assassinations, kidnappings, extortion, or threats.

At this rate, aren’t they just assassins hired by a merchant guild?

So, when Azadin refused the demands of the Salasma regional head several times, the regional head began to look at him very unfavorably. Especially since Azadin was the son of a traitor, he was already treated poorly among the messenger clan, and now his relationship with the regional head had deteriorated…

He had been avoiding the Salasma regional head, but after the copies of the Divine King’s Scripture began to circulate in the world, it seemed that an order had been issued to prioritize the communication network throughout the organization.

He was told to go to Salasma to meet the regional head, but Azadin was currently in a remote area of the Salasma margrave’s territory. Even if he walked along the road, it was unknown how long it would take to reach Salasma.

Moreover, the nearby villages were already devastated due to a month-long drought. The teahouses and inns along the road had all been abandoned. As they continued to walk along the road, the weather began to get cold as the sun set. Azadin decided to camp by the roadside and prepared for the night.

He had come in a hurry and didn’t have proper luggage, so he wrapped himself in his cloak and sat by a rock to avoid the wind. Meanwhile, Midiam and Ismail kept warm by huddling against the goats they had brought and chewed on dried rations.

“Come here.”

“No, thanks.”

Azadin couldn’t bring himself to rely on their goats when he had told Midiam and Ismail to get lost. However, Midiam saw this as an opportunity and beckoned to Azadin.

“We’re from the same clan. Isn’t it strange that we’re separated when we’ve met each other in this distant land?”

“……”

Ismail was bewildered by Midiam’s words.

Was this really the arrogant Midiam he knew?

It seemed that she was upset about being defeated by Azadin and being rejected by him. Midiam, who had never been treated like that in her life, was trying her best to show Azadin that she was needed.

“Don’t you need water? I still have some left in my canteen…”

“……”

Azadin sighed and slowly approached their Kerim goats. Just being near the Kerim goats made a noticeable difference in warmth.

“Well, since we’ve met a clan member in this distant land, I guess this much is okay.”

“Right?”

Midiam smiled brightly and handed her canteen and dried rations to Azadin.

“Ugh, I’m sleepy. Should we set up a watch?”

“The Emperor’s voice warns us, so messengers don’t need a watch.”

Azadin replied. Midiam glanced at Azadin, who was looking up at the stars in the night sky.

Midiam scrutinized Azadin’s face. The lower part of his face, revealed under the bird-shaped mask that was characteristic of messengers, was still youthful, with smooth skin that had hardly any beard. Overall, judging by the masked appearance, he was presumed to be quite handsome.

‘I don’t know what the part hidden by the mask looks like, but just looking at part of his face, he’s really handsome. I want to see the part hidden by the mask too.’

Midiam had a bold thought and went to sleep.

*********

Perhaps it was because of the fatigue from the long journey, but when she opened her eyes, the morning sun was rising. It seemed she had slept well without dreaming.

“Alright, little miss and droopy eyes. Get up already.”

Azadin had already gotten up and was stretching. One way or another, he had also slept warmly thanks to their Kerim goats.

At first, he had been far away, but when he came to his senses, he had somehow stuck to the Kerim goats’ fur. Embarrassed, Azadin cleared his throat and looked at the sunrise.

“Little miss, huh? Well, I’m Midiam. But if it’s an affectionate nickname, I’ll gladly accept it.”

“Okay, Midiam.”

If he kept calling her little miss, it would sound like he had affection for Midiam. Azadin decided to call her by her name.

“Uh, I’m Ismail. If you’re going to call me by a nickname…”

“Shut up, droopy eyes.”

Ismail had tried to follow Midiam’s lead for no reason and got nothing out of it. Azadin checked the condition of the goats and said,

“I slept warmly last night thanks to your goats. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. We just happened to meet a fellow clan member in this distant land.”

Midiam was already joking and smiling.

“But these goats don’t have horseshoes.”

“Horseshoes?”

“If you put those on, the goats won’t be able to walk on mountain paths.”

“But you guys came along the Emperor’s Road.”

Azadin pointed to the road.

“If you walk on a paved road with bare hooves, the hooves will wear out too quickly. I have horseshoes among my belongings, so let’s walk until we put them on the goats. The goats are also thirsty. If we don’t cross that mountain and return to a place with plenty of water soon, the goats won’t be able to hold out.”

Azadin began to urge them on.

“Ah, th-then?!”

When Midiam excitedly followed behind, Azadin drew a line.

“This is only until we meet other clan members nearby. You guys are going back from there. Got it?”

“Ah, yes.”

Midiam looked at Azadin, who was still drawing a line, as if she was resentful.

Azadin walked very fast, and each step was very large, so there was not much difference in speed between him and those riding the goats. Midiam, since their speeds were the same, rode her goat alongside him and continued to gaze at Azadin’s face.