Night of the Soulless Heathens – 110



#110. There are too many corrupt nobles 3

“Wow how violent. Those intelligent beings who can’t express their emotions through words are truly pitiful.”

Scott who had been hit by Ismail grumbled rubbing his nose.

“Shut up. If you don’t want to get hit anymore. And the reason I hit you is because you were talking to Medium.”

“No you say it’s nonsense? How could you possibly think it was nonsense after hearing that conversation just now? Is your ability to understand vocabulary really that low? The stupidity of these fools is always beyond imagination.”

“….”

“Let me explain. I warned you not to do so because I was worried that you might have sexual fantasies about me due to my intellectual charm and superior appearance. For an orc having a physical relationship with a race as immature as you is an intolerable and horrible crime.”

-Clang….

Ismail couldn’t stand it anymore and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“No wait. Where in what I said just now is there anything to be angry about? If you teach me something I didn’t know I wouldn’t be grateful. Oh really? Is that what you call an inferiority complex? This is it. I don’t know because I’ve never felt that way before.”

Scott was taken aback when Ismail became indignant.

“Stop. Let’s move. We don’t have time.”

Azadin began to move south first to avoid Count Lantaric’s army.

“If the mercenaries of the Cell Sword Guild don’t return they’ll probably realize something has happened. Fortunately….”

It is unlikely that the Cell Sword Guild members could have killed Guillaume Wald because he was such a bad fighter. The words lingered in Azadin’s throat.

‘No matter what it’s rude to say it out loud.’

Fortunately Guillaume Wald wasn’t without thought either.

“If this many mercenaries were all out to kill me I would have no doubt that I would succeed. If I had lost contact with the soldiers they would have thought that there was a mistake or that I was lucky enough to escape.”

“…sorry.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“No it’s nothing.”

“But you seem to be the leader of this group which is unusual. You and not the Paladin Lord Jibek? What on earth are you?”

“Ah you could say we are treasure hunters.”

“Treasure hunter?”

“To find the Count’s memoirs.”

“Father’s memoirs? Why?”

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“Because that memoir contains clues to finding the location of the treasure we seek.”

“So you’re saying you’ll help me?”

“Yes. I guess you need a reason to enter Count Lantarik’s mansion or castle. Rather than sneaking over the wall and avoiding the guards’ eyes to find the items it would be better to enter through the main gate with the help of the rightful heir and explore. Still it would take a long time to search the study properly so how could you get information under the cover of darkness?”

It would be very difficult to extract the necessary information from the Count’s memoirs and bundles of letters. The help of the clerk Brand who had already done so was urgently needed but Brand had now become mad again and become the Brass Knight.

“But how long does it take from here to Lantarik?”

Medium asked.

“If you hurry it will take four days. However….”

Jibek said so and frowned.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to get there safely.”

“It’s okay. Isn’t that the letter you left behind?”

Azadin shrugged.

“Come to think of it you left a letter where the bodies were. What was it?”

“Well let’s leave that for later enjoyment.”

*********

Count Lantaric’s vassals were in trouble.

It was a well-known fact that Count Lantaric was pushing his youngest son Prince Adler over his eldest son as the successor. That was why he had Guillaumewald trained by the knights and was even prepared to have him ordained at any time to reorganize the hierarchy.

However the knights who trained Guillaume Bald were in a difficult position.

‘You’re so untalented.’

‘Even if I join the Knights Templar I don’t have the ability to carry out my mission.’

The nobles who inherited the blood of the Yaegasu Shinjo are no matter how weak more powerful than ordinary farmers. It is only natural that while the farmers work the fields they can eat the food prepared by others and focus on training and education.

And not all of the members of the Paladin Order are great swordsmen. They only require the bare minimum of swordsmanship and combat ability and there are those who have never been on an outdoor mission since becoming a priest or a paladin.

And yet….

Yet the knights refused to accept him as their apprentice claiming he was incompetent.

‘You’re not doing this on purpose are you?’

The vassals suspected that Guillaume Wald knew the fate that awaited him and was deliberately acting incompetent to delay his ordination. However such suspicions soon subsided…

It was because Guillaume Wald was so unattractive. With a long face like a horse and slightly squinty eyes he was not handsome even in vain.

The things he did there were equally lacking so everyone thought that Guillaume Wald was not acting but was truly incompetent.

“But… why is there no news?”

The vassals left the Cell Sword Guild to deal with Guillaume Bald.

The monsters appeared and killed Sir Guillaume Wald.

I was going to report it that way but the Cell Sword Guild members who went out to scout in the morning clearly didn’t return until night.

“Once it’s daybreak let’s send out an investigation team.”

They wasted a day defending the fort.

*********

The next morning a scout party discovered the Cell Sword Guild members lying dead in the reeds.

“What the heck is this?!”

“What happened?!”

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The vassals looked around at the situation. They saw that the ambushed archers were shooting arrows and attacking the members of the Cell Sword Guild and they were killing them perfectly with swords and bludgeons.

Judging from the fact that no other corpses were visible aside from the Cell Sword combination it seems like it was a one-sided fight.

“Ambush? Who the hell is it?”

“Could these be the monsters that attacked the Count?”

“Or the messengers who approached the Count?”

“Because it’s an arrow…..”

As the men were telling the story one of them discovered something.

“Wait a minute! There’s a letter clutched in this corpse!”

“A letter?”

“Where should I look? Huh?”

They found a seal ring made of clay collected at the top of the letter. Although clay rather than wax was used they were able to identify the ring as belonging to Guillaume Wald.

The letter read:

‘A capable falcon hides its claws. I deceived you first so I fully understand your disloyalty. However I am the one who must rule over Lantarik and Adirov. If I do not strictly punish them how can I achieve good government? Therefore I urge you. Do not cause a clear-cut rebellion and tarnish your honor. A little disloyalty will be forgiven according to your future conduct.’

“!!!!”

Those who read the letter were shocked.

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Grandmaster Guillaume Wald?”

“oh my god.”

The messengers looked back at the letter in confusion.

So isn’t that to say that Guillaume Wald has been living his life hiding his skills and thoroughly acting like an incompetent person?

With Count Lantarik missing has he now shed his ugly mask and begun to show his true abilities? For the full-scale competition for the successor?

“That’s ridiculous. How could that be acting?”

“You won’t have any money or subordinates?”

“But wasn’t that the very purpose of hiding it? They might have secured human resources and funds without us knowing!”

“What should we do? Should we light a signal fire or flag to Prince Adler?”

“Then wouldn’t they know that we are informing Prince Adler?”

Beacon fires and flag signals are relay signals that are transmitted through fortresses placed along the Emperor’s Road. In other words anyone can see them.

If we start signaling by lighting signal fires here or hanging flags on the fort will Guillaumebald know about it and won’t he see it as a clear rebellion by his vassals?

“If Sir Guillaumewald really hid his powers and became Count Lantaric wouldn’t he punish us for signaling with flags and beacons?”

“We are already traitors anyway. We can only survive if Prince Adler becomes a count!”

“No it says in the letter that you forgive me.”

“You may say so now! But what will you do when you become a count and wipe us out? You will have already handed the sword to the enemy and we will just have to passively beg for his mercy!”

“But what if we fail to harm him now that we don’t know his capabilities? If we betray someone who promised to forgive us and get hurt then hell will be ours.”

The people began to argue about how they could survive.

In the end the consensus was to not raise the signal fire and flag because there was a chance that Guillaume Wald would find out and to send a separate messenger to warn Adler.

“I was so scared of that horse that I couldn’t even use the flag signal to send out a messenger.”

Count Lantarik had long considered the County of Salasmaa to be his enemy and had been preparing for war so he set up a system of flag signals by setting up forts and flagpoles between Salasmaa and Lantarik.

It is truly regrettable that we cannot use this proud flag signal system which has been invested with so much money and manpower.

*********

“Okay. It’s eating well.”

Azadin noticed that the letter he had written to Guillaume Baldur was having some effect as no signal fires or flag signals were being raised.

“Isn’t it just that the body hasn’t been found yet?”

“No way. Since the mercenaries didn’t return they must have sent out a reconnaissance mission and there’s no way they wouldn’t have found the scene where 20 people were killed.”

Azadin and his party considered wiping away all traces and running away but clearing away 20 corpses was no easy task. So in order to buy time Azadin created a letter and left it among the corpses.

“Even if you hesitate a little the effect will be achieved. The problem is….”

Azadin looked at Brand’s condition. Brand was talking to Guillaumewald in excitement.

“If Sir Guillaume Bald becomes a count will you accept me as your vassal?”

“Oh yes. If that’s possible.”

“Wow. So you’re becoming a knight at this age. It’s not just a knight’s title but becoming a real knight is finally fulfilling a dream I’ve had since I was young. I’m deeply moved.”

“Ahaha.”

Guillaumewald was in a difficult position. If what Brand was saying was true he considered Count Lantaric his mortal enemy and his anger and hostility were directed at Guillaumewald as well.

Even though he knew that Guillaume Wald was an abandoned child who was not well-loved by the Count his anger and hostility drove him to madness again.

Besides he was already quite old. There was no particular benefit to receiving the non-hereditary knighthood but for him to be so happy about it would be to give meaning to becoming a knight in itself.

He becomes keenly aware that the person before him is not the Sir Brand he knew but the real Brass Knight Sir Brand.

‘My father and his agents did such things to make this man like this.’