Night of the Soulless Heathens – 124



#124. Lantarik Entry 3

In just one week Guillaume Wald took complete control of the fortress and its surrounding estates.

Meanwhile Azadin explored the secret base of the Naga Empire. He didn’t get any special information except for the Nether translation but he was able to obtain a lot of money and weapons.

Since I had been on a forced march for a week I had plenty of time to explore the secret base rest and prepare. My broken ribs were completely healed and I was able to relieve the fatigue I had accumulated from traveling.

But soon something came up that required me to leave this place.

*********

“Azadin! Lord Judge Jecht has appeared in a nearby village!”

Sir Jibek came to tell Azadin about this. Azadin who was training with Midiam and Ismail was shocked to hear this.

“Ject? How far away is it?”

“It’s a day’s drive.”

“Oh shit. I didn’t make much time.”

Azadin frowned at those words.

“Are you buying time?”

Medium asked.

“When I gave the New King’s Book to Nephthy I left my traces on her. To avoid Jecht’s pursuit.”

Azadin gave a copy of the Book of the New King to Nefty the 75th member of the Herald Clan and placed an amulet made of his own blood in it. If Jecht tried to track Azadin with magical powers he would go to Nefty and his group.

“Now that I think about it I did something like that. I felt like I had given him a nice Shinwangjinseo.”

Medium was impressed.

“Otherwise there would be no reason to give the Shinwangjinseo.”

“I thought you were trying to get along with the tribe of Arael.”

“Well if we could get along that wouldn’t be a bad thing. But Arael and I are fundamentally incompatible.”

“They say it’s still far away in the garden. What should we do?”

Sir Jibek asked Azadin.

Should you fight? Should you run? If you fight should you chase him down ambush him on the road and assassinate him?

Or should we fight in front of people and produce witnesses who saw Jecht use black magic? There were several options.

“If I ambush him on a deserted road I think there will be more harm than good. If I fight him in a crowded place will he stop using nether magic and worry about people’s eyes? Or will he just kill all the witnesses?”

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Azadin shrugged.

“Anyway if we fight we can’t avoid the sacrifice of innocent people. Let’s run away. The nether magic that Jecht uses will be quite a burden to him.”

“Is the person who performed the miracle of defeating the Wendigo running away in fear of the Paladin? Even after defeating the Nether Reaper?”

“First of all I didn’t create the miracle. The miracle created me. And secondly….”

Azadin chuckled at Ismail’s question.

“Anyone who doesn’t admit to fear is just a fool. Yes. That guy Jecht is scary.”

“You’ve accomplished a miracle but you’ve chosen a very modest approach.”

“A person can die if they are stabbed just a little bit by a sword. Even a dragon-slaying warrior can die from a child’s stone throw. You can’t let your guard down. So are you ready to run away?”

Azadin and his men packed their belongings so that they could escape at any time and they even changed the horseshoes of their goats and horses.

*********

Guillaume Wald willingly joined Azadin in his escape from Jecht.

“But wouldn’t it be better to take the soldiers with you?”

Brand asked. There were soldiers in the new height fortress who had been under Lord Brok’s command and he suggested that it would be a good idea to take them with them.

“If you fight you should only fight Adler and his closest associates. There’s no need to fight a big fight unnecessarily. If you bring a lot of troops things will get worse.”

Guillaume Wald answered Brand and asked him:

“But my father treated the messengers more like guest generals than subordinates. If that was the case using the Emperor’s treasury as bait for the deal wouldn’t Adler also know about the Emperor’s treasury? Maybe he’s already opened it.”

“That can’t be true.”

Azadin asserted.

If the Emperor’s treasury had been opened and its contents had fallen into Arael’s hands there would have been no silence among the Heralds.

The Arael tribe would have actively tried to gain the support of other messengers who were still neutral by letting them know that they had obtained the emperor’s treasury.

Azadin and his party were able to head to Lantarik for about a day without any problems as they had successfully shaken off the Jecht lord.

But the next day… it started to rain in the morning.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen rain.”

Azadin who was on a mission in the dry region of Salasma where drought and famine were rampant was delighted to see rain for the first time in a long time.

But after a while….

The wind became a gale and the rain became a downpour making it difficult to see even an inch ahead. The rainwater on the road increased so much that everything except the Emperor’s Road became a mud puddle and overflowed.

“Why is the weather so crazy?”

“Whoa whoa! It’s slippery!”

The road called Emperor’s Road Imperial Road or Kingdom Road was paved with stones so that it did not turn into mud when it rained. Instead rainwater flowed over the stones and the goats’ hooves slipped.

Azadin and his party hurriedly made the horse and goat walk along the road. Then Scott’s foot sank into the mud and he screamed as he was pulling the wheelchair attached to the goat.

“Ouch! I should have brought the palanquin.”

“Even if you bring a palanquin we won’t accept it.”

Medium was annoyed at Scott for mentioning the kiln.

“As expected you have low intelligence and are trying to solve everything with your body. Why not just use Underde?”

“If you make an undead carry a palanquin in the middle of the street even if they aren’t a paladin they won’t let you off easy.”

“That can also be fooled with illusion.”

“No that’s fine. Don’t do useless things. The palanquin is useless but the wheelchair can be used as a spare part if necessary.”

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In fact Azadin used the wheels of his wheelchair to move heavy objects such as spears.

As Medium and Scott were arguing they saw an inn with a large lantern in the distance at the three-way intersection.

“Let’s go there first!”

“Yeah. I’m hungry!”

Scott agreed.

*********

The road became rough due to sudden heavy rain and strong winds.

It seemed as if everyone around had gathered at the inn as quite a few people had gathered there to take shelter from the rain.

But inside the very spacious inn a murderous atmosphere hung around.

Sharp weapons reflect a dull light in the hands of people. Weapons reflecting the light of fireplaces and torches. Those holding them were two groups of people.

“You bastards! Where the hell do you dare go!”

“Does the Corasar Bobusang Guild look funny to you?!”

“Then does the Telvarin Guild look funny?!”

“No it’s scary. Aren’t you a slave trader for a drug cartel? Oh my it’s scary.”

“Where are you wandering bastards!”

The armed merchants drew their clubs and swords and growled at each other as if they were about to strike at any moment.

“The Peddler’s Guild and the Telbarin Guild?”

Azadin recognized some of them as the Korathar Guild of Traders. But the Telvarin Guild.

‘Are you slave traders?’

The ones who sold the children of the Swamp Witch were none other than the Telvarin Guild. These armed merchants were both merchants and villains and their core was an organization with an elven family.

Three peddlers were creating a barricade by overturning tables while the remaining large group of armed peddlers were threatening the peddlers’ union.

It was obvious that the numbers were not balanced. There were about ten armed merchants threatening them while the peddlers’ union had only three. The reason that a fight did not break out right away was probably because they were effectively responding by setting up barricades.

Brand stepped forward at Azadin’s gesture.

“Ahem. Gentlemen. Here is Lord Guillaumewald Acting Count of Lantaric rightful heir to Lord Garnahair Count of Lantaric and Protector of the Barony.”

“Huh?”

“uh….”

“This man has just driven out the Wendigo the monster of the fog that was taking control of the New Heights Fortress and is now on his way to Lantarik. What is the matter with you? If you have any difficulties hardships or lawsuits please come to me. I promise a fair judgment in the name of Count Lantarik.”

“In the name of Count Lantaric…..”

A burst of laughter broke out among the armorers of the Telvarin Guild.

It seemed that Count Lantaric Garnahair’s reputation was not very good. Or maybe they had something on their mind.

“So what happened?”

Guillaume Wald stepped forward with a commanding air. He was an ugly man with an inhumanly long face and sharp eyes but now his grotesque appearance was imbued with a majesty that was not ordinary.

Everyone trembled as if some great non-human being had transformed into a human and was radiating majesty.

‘I’m just weak to authority.’

Azadin was evaluating it that way.

“That guy from the Corasar peddler union over there used some strange trick to steal our letters.”

“What are you talking about! We caught them by doing spy work stealing our trade ledgers purchase prices and other business secrets.”

The moment they heard their words Azaddin and Midiam Ismail were shocked.

‘Did you get caught?’

‘Idiots.’

The Korasarr Bobusang Guild is a secret organization of the Korasarr Kingdom region of the Herald Clan. They are known externally as merchants but in reality they are spies. However they were caught doing spy work.

“No we just happened to find the letter while we were saving someone who had been attacked by a group of thieves.”

“But why was the seal on the letter broken?”

“I guess the thieves read it.”

“The messenger carrying the letter was stabbed to death by something like a hook. But the weapon he was holding and the marks on his wound match?”

The weapon held by the staff of the Korasarr Bobusang Guild was a blackjack. It was a club with a leather strap and a heavy stone inside which could be used for striking or if slightly modified could be used as a throwing ball.

In addition the iron hoop with the leather strap had sharp teeth and the teeth were stained with blood. The armed merchants claimed that the blood was that of their fellows.

“You liar. Where are the few people who use weapons like this?”

“No. That’s not all.”

One of the merchants removed his hood revealing blond hair with a hint of green a hair color that was impossible for a human to have and one that indicated he was an elf.

In fact he appeared to have pointy ears and war paint with white pigment lines drawn under his eyes. He must be a high-ranking member of the Telvarin Guild.

“Don’t fool the Elf’s nose. The blood on that weapon will be the blood of my ancestors.”

“Ugh.”

“Elf…..”

Even the members of the Korasaru merchant guild who had been through thick and thin were taken aback when they saw an elf among the opposing armed merchants.

The reason the Telvarin Guild is treated well everywhere despite being treated like slave traders and villains is because the elves are never easy going.

Besides they had a guilty conscience.