The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 99

“Count Rantark has been obsessed with that prophecy of the Jupiter since his youth. Because the light of the King’s Authority is actually weakening.”

“What!”

Though his position as a paladin was unintentionally precarious, Zibeck’s faith had not wavered. But now, an old man was making blasphemous remarks right in front of him, and he couldn’t help but be furious.

Was this old man mocking him, a paladin?

Normally, he should have been executed immediately for daring to insult the King’s Church. However, given Zibeck’s current situation, he was in no position to punish anyone as a paladin. More than anything, he instinctively knew that this old man was telling the truth.

‘At least, he believes it. And this old man is saying that Count Rantark also believes in that prophecy.’

The anger in Brand’s voice was too intense to dismiss it as the ramblings of a senile old man.

“Why on earth does Count Rantark believe in that dreadful prophecy?”

“If you are a paladin, shouldn’t you know? According to old records, all paladins of the King’s Church used to wield healing magic. But now, it has become a miracle that only the divine kings, those who sit on the throne, can perform by shedding their own blood. And that’s not all. The light of the King’s Authority is truly weakening.”

“……”

“Count Rantark Garnaher knew that. He is a high-ranking noble in a position to know. This isn’t just about Count Rantark. The royal family, high-ranking clergy, and high-ranking paladins of the King’s Church all know this. The light of the King’s Authority, the source of the King’s Church, is weakening, and the blood of the Yaegas gods is fading. This is an undeniable fact.”

Zibeck thought Brand’s words, daring to discuss the high-ranking officials of the King’s Church in front of him, were excessive. But when he thought of Sir Jekt, who was dabbling in black magic, a question suddenly arose.

‘Could it be that Sir Jekt is also turning to black magic because he knows this fact? To gain power other than the light of the King’s Authority?’

Though such doubts arose, Zibeck shook his head.

“That can’t be.”

“Hmm. You are a fine paladin.”

It was hard to tell if Brand’s words were mocking or sincere.

“Many high-ranking nobles, including Count Rantark, who are witnessing the twilight of the Yaegas gods, have either turned to black magic or attempted inbreeding among themselves to somehow restore the purity of the Yaegas gods’ blood. Count Rantark did both.”

“Inbreeding… you say?”

Azadin clicked his tongue. Inbreeding refers to breeding, or incest, to revive the old traits of a species with a noble lineage.

Was he saying that those close to the Yaegas gods had done that?

“That’s right. In the Count’s basement, there are countless skeletons of children. They were killed and secretly buried because they were failures of inbreeding.”

“Well, as a paladin of the Church, I cannot tolerate such blasphemy. Do you have any evidence to prove that?”

“I did. I was gathering such evidence and fleeing from Count Rantark’s land. But I was caught by Donair, a spy planted by the Count, and it was taken from me.”

“So you don’t have it now.”

“But there is a spare record in Rantark.”

“Are you saying we should go find it?”

“Can you all be quiet for a moment, warm-blooded creatures?”

Shati grumbled as she examined Azadin’s wounds. The broken ribs were tightly wrapped in bandages, causing some inflammation, but the more serious wound was the one from the black steel sword.

When she unwrapped the bandage, pus and blood were still flowing from the wound.

“Goodness. With a body like this….”

Zibeck was shocked that Azadin had not only been walking around with such a severe wound but had even fought.

“Tch.”

Shati applied poison to a cloth and wiped Azadin’s wound, then pricked her finger, drew blood, and applied it in a circle around the wound.

“Oh Cobra Queen Debislin, grant power to your humble servant.”

As she prayed to Debislin, the goddess of the Nagas, the power of green magic activated, and Azadin’s wound began to scab over quickly.

“Oh.”

“Amazing.”

Everyone watching was amazed.

“It feels strange when you all do that.”

Azadin, who was lying down with his chest wound exposed, gave a wry smile.

“You know, you had this much healing before, but you fought and tore the scab off again. If you do that again, I won’t heal you? Regeneration magic doesn’t get stronger the more you cast it. It just speeds up the healing time, but it’s the same if it gets infected.”

As Shati said that, Midiam scoffed.

“What are you talking about, acting like you have a choice when you’re a prisoner? You should just do as you’re told.”

“I’m a prisoner?”

“Then what? Are you a guest?”

“Why is this warm-blooded creature picking a fight with me? Is it because I’m uglier than you and you’re feeling inferior?”

“What!?”

As Midiam and Shati began to argue, Brand spoke.

“White magic healing is restoration. It erases the traces of the wound itself, but green magic healing is regeneration. It’s magic that reduces the time needed for a wound to heal. Ah, am I explaining magic to mages?”

Brand said that and grinned.

“This is proof that white magic is weakening. Originally, the magic used by the paladins of the King’s Church was much more powerful than the magic of the Kurt gods.”

“Why is this warm-blooded creature picking a fight with both the paladin and me? I’m using all the magic I have to heal, and you dare to belittle the Cobra Queen’s magic?”

Shati was annoyed with Brand as well. Azadin, who had finished his treatment, put on his clothes and tried to calm the situation.

“Okay, okay, calm down. So, Count Rantark has been dabbling in various black magic since his youth? Because, from Count Rantark’s perspective, he can see the power of the Yaegas gods weakening before his very eyes, just like in the prophecy of Jupiter?”

“So Count Rantark was devising various means, and in the process, he….”

“The Emperor’s Mint?”

“More precisely, something even greater than that. The Emperor’s Treasury.”

“Wow.”

Azadin whistled unconsciously.

“It sounds more impressive when you call it a treasury.”

“It requires a physical key. And clues to find it. But I’m not in my right mind right now, so I can’t fully trust the memories in my head. That’s why I want to go back to Rantark and retrieve the materials I hid.”

“Hmm.”

Azadin listened to Brand’s words and fell into thought.

“Let’s eat and rest first, then cross the river. There are abandoned houses in the nearby village, so we can pick up doors and such to make rafts or floats.”

*********

Azadin’s group began camping near the Kora River.

“Beans are for horses and goats, but we don’t have enough for people to eat.”

Azadin had generously given away the food he had been carrying to the refugees, so they were short on food for themselves.

“Shall I catch some fish?”

“Me?”

Ismail sighed as he looked at Azadin, who was asking him.

“Yes, please. I need to rest a bit more. I acted recklessly for no reason.”

He had pretended to be fine in front of others, but Azadin was also exhausted from his injuries.

“Understood.”

“I’ll help too.”

Zibeck stepped forward.

“I don’t need it.”

“No, actually, fishing is my specialty.”

Zibeck said that and took out a special fishing hook from his luggage.

“If I were at my family’s estate, I could use the fishing rod I made myself, but it’s a shame I can’t.”

So, he wasn’t interested in the food, but in fishing itself.

“You seem to like fishing?”

“It’s not that I like fishing, but rather that fishing likes me.”

‘This is serious.’

After hearing Zibeck’s words, Ismail realized that he was serious about fishing.

“Then you’ll be disappointed when you see what I do.”

Ismail said that and tied a string to an arrow. He shot it towards the water surface, and—

-Thwack!

A large fish was skewered on the arrow and pulled up.

“……”

While Zibeck, who had just taken out his fishing hook, was bewildered, Ismail shot another arrow and caught another fish. He caught fish with every shot, and Zibeck was visibly disappointed.

“Hmm, this isn’t fishing.”

“Right?”

Ismail pulled the fishing line and retrieved the fish skewered on the arrows. While he was doing that, a patrol consisting of one cavalryman and four infantrymen from Count Rantark’s bridgehead garrison was approaching.

“What’s going on?”

“Should we hide?”

“No, if we hide, they’ll think it’s strange. I’m a paladin of the King’s Church, why should I be ashamed to hide?”

Zibeck and Ismail heightened their vigilance in case something happened….

“Get out of the way!”

“Get out of the way if you don’t want to die!”

They shouted first. But the distance wasn’t closing at all.

“I mean, even if you say get out of the way….”

They should at least run quickly to get out of the way. Everyone was already exhausted, and even the horse the knight was riding was foaming at the mouth. They were barely crawling, so what was the point of telling them to get out of the way?

Still, just in case, Ismail pretended to move aside, but it took a long time for the patrol to reach Ismail and Zibeck.

Judging by the looks of it, their armor was damaged, and there was blood on them here and there, so it seemed like something serious had happened.

“Huff… huff….”

“Damn it. I told you to get out of the way, didn’t I?”

“But I did get out of the way? A whole legion of flies already passed us before you did.”

As Ismail spoke sarcastically, Zibeck interrupted and took over the situation.

“I am Zibeck, a paladin of the King’s Church. What is the matter?”

“A, a paladin?”

“Thank goodness!”

The soldiers and the knight sighed in relief.

“U, undead attacked the garrison. We must inform Count Rantark immediately.”

“Undead, you say?”

“That’s….”

“The residents nearby have become undead. The Count was right! These residents were all cultists!”

“Cultists? Calm down and speak clearly.”

After crossing the Kora River, Count Rantark’s army occupied a riverside village with a pier to secure a bridgehead and massacred the villagers.

The Count’s goal was to gain a favorable position in the territorial dispute. To that end, the Count’s army, with the Count’s permission, freely massacred the Salasman natives, committing murder, looting, and arson. But last night, the dead bodies suddenly began to rise.

“We executed them because they were cultists. I swear we didn’t intend to massacre them.”

Count Rantark’s knight said that, but it only proved how lightly oaths were taken.

‘They didn’t kill them because they were cultists, but because they wanted to loot them.’

Zibeck thought that, but as a paladin, he couldn’t ignore the words of someone who was making an oath without any basis.

“They didn’t kill them because they were cultists, but because they wanted to loot them.”

Ismail, who had a different position from Zibeck, blurted out the truth as it was.