Night of the Soulless Heathens – 16



#16. The Aristocrat’s Byproduct 1

Azadin continued to march even though he was tired and exhausted. Midiam and Ismail followed him and asked Azadin.

“But the appearance of the Ogre and the Tooth King’s retinue could mean that the army of monsters continues to surge forward from the central inland region?”

“That could be a possibility.”

“then….”

“From what I saw there were magic-using goblins and a hobgoblin as a squad leader so it felt like a regular army.”

Azadin said recalling that they were after a copy of the New King’s Book.

A scout sent by the monsters to find a copy of the New King’s Book. It would be reasonable to see it that way.

‘Does that mean I have a bunch of wands I got today?’

Azadin took out his wand out of curiosity.

“So can you tell me what this Medium is?”

“Um is it a magic wand?”

Medium accepted the bone wand that Azadin had taken out.

“I think I really need to focus and do this. I’m tired right now. Oh but if you ask me to do this do you recognize me as a servant?”

“That’s not it. We’re compatriots that I met in a foreign land. Can’t you ask for something like that?”

“Hmm. You still act like that. Then can I ask you a favor?”

“What kind?”

“Hmm. Well I guess so? Now that I think about it other than asking you to accept me as your employee there’s nothing I can ask for?”

“yes?”

“Then I’ll ask you later if I remember.”

“Not that kind of thing.”

“Anyway I think I’ll need to concentrate a bit to do this wand test. Can I do it after I wake up?”

“Well I’m tired after fighting just now. I kept walking.”

“Then shall we rest here?”

“No let’s hurry. The goats’ feed costs a lot of money so let’s not delay too much.”

When they arrived at the gate pretending to be blind pilgrims they fed ox porridge to the goats at the inn outside the gate and bought food for themselves. Traveling is ultimately a series of expenses expenses expenses.

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“Follow me. Oh but before that I need to change my disguise again.”

Azadin began to change into the form of a blind pilgrim again. He put on his clothes inside out and crouched down making him appear to be a foot shorter and his arms and legs also appeared to be shorter.

His body was so flexible that just changing his posture made his appearance look completely different.

Azadin who had returned to his appearance as a blind pilgrim followed the people who were fleeing. They were many in number and it was night time so he was able to find them before long.

“Oh you’re safe.”

“That’s fortunate.”

They were glad that Azadin and his party were safe.

“Yes. I have good ears so I heard the shouts of victory coming from the village.”

“yes?”

“I think you can go back to the village. Can you contact us by any means like a light signal?”

“that is….”

“If there is a way to see the village you might be able to check it out.”

“….”

The people who were fleeing were half in doubt about Azadin’s words but when they saw the lights on in the gate village at the top of the mountain they knew that the village was safe.

“I think it would be okay to send a small number of people to the village to check it out first and then move forward.”

When Azadin suggested it the people thought it was reasonable. It was important to evacuate from the invading monsters but it was also not an easy task for the elderly and women to leave the village and go down the rugged mountain path.

Count Kasel the Margrave of Salasma is not a very merciful man towards his people so he will not be generous in accepting refugees who have abandoned their village and fled.

So everyone agreed that if it was safe they wanted to return to the village as soon as possible.

“That’s right.”

The people decided to stop their flight for a moment and pick out the quickest ones to go back to the village to check. Soon they were able to meet up with the people who had sent them from the village.

The village also sent out messengers to inform the villagers who had fled after the ogre invasion was resolved.

“The messenger clan showed up and defeated the ogres?”

“Yeah. The ogre wasn’t the problem. Hey! Well a big monster showed up what should I call it? Anyway I think one of the villagers called the messenger clan. So I have to keep a close eye on outsiders…”

“If they are outsiders are they merchants? Or are they pilgrims?”

“Yeah. Where did those pilgrims go?”

“Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Come to think of it?”

People were puzzled by the disappearance of the pilgrims.

*********

It wasn’t that hard to slip away under the cover of darkness. Azadin changed his clothes again and grumbled.

“I do it but it’s really annoying.”

“Still that’s amazing. Just by disguising yourself your impression changes drastically.”

“Well the clothes are still big so there’s not much room to hide them. You can’t do it in hot regions. You have to be careful.”

Azadin said so and went down the mountain path.

“Why did we have to send people to that village when the ogres might attack again? It seems like it would be dangerous.”

“No I should have sent them away. They are family. If you are going to abandon the village it would be better for the family to evacuate together. If you evacuate in different directions when and where will you meet again?”

“But if you stay in the village and get into trouble….”

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“The leader of the vigilante group is a seasoned hunter so he’ll understand the situation well.”

“That’s good. But you fought right? Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m tired but I need to earn travel expenses.”

“You’re earning travel expenses?”

“That.”

Azadin pointed down the mountain with his finger. He could see the campsite where the illegitimate son of the count who had plundered the village and his mercenaries were camping.

“As the Emperor’s messenger I shouldn’t commit robbery but I guess it’s okay to collect some alms from those who plundered the villagers.”

“Good deeds… you know.”

Ismail clicked his tongue.

The bastard son of the Count of Change and his subordinates numbered about 20 people. They were all skilled mercenaries so from the perspective of the Herald Clan they could be a more difficult opponent than the Ogres. Furthermore Azadin was currently exhausted.

‘Just because you think you can beat an opponent under perfect conditions doesn’t mean you can necessarily win.’

It is always dangerous to fight against multiple people alone especially when you are tired and have lost focus. In fact many messengers’ signs are not about fighting strong or difficult opponents but rather about something more trivial.

“If you let your guard down won’t something big happen?”

“It’s okay. Look carefully. Ah.”

Azadin clicked his tongue. He almost said he would set an example for these children even though they were not his servants.

*********

Tarki and his mercenaries were camping exhausted.

They were exhausted from carrying loot from the village and coming down the mountain path. However the mercenaries knew well how dangerous the mountain path was so they posted sentries and rested in an orderly manner.

The sentries chatted while watching the net.

“Didn’t the ogres move south during the drought? But the Count of Chang has abandoned his duty to protect the border and is instead looking for the New King’s Book. It seems like this place is finished.”

“We can just make it big and get out of here.”

“But would you quit? There’s not much money to be made there. Besides my employer hasn’t found the New King’s Book yet so I don’t think he’ll quit here.”

“It’s good because if you’re employed for a long time your salary will increase.”

“Does it feel like that much danger is approaching?”

Even as they said that they stood guard with an upright posture.

There was someone watching them in the darkness.

‘They’re pretty good mercenaries. They’re not as well-armed as the guys Prince Kozel brought but they’re still formidable. I’m tired too.’

It was Azadin who had snuck into their camp without warning. He calculated the number of opponents and looked for an infiltration route.

‘Let’s not push ourselves too hard and let a few of them sleep?’

I hung the string on a tree branch and pulled it away slightly.

-Booth.

The wood rubs against each other and makes a sound.

“huh?”

“what?”

Two sentries approached. Azadin hid himself in the bushes and as the sentries approached simply grabbed the vital spot behind their necks.

“Huh?!”

“Huh?!”

Two of the men fell limply. It was fortunate that they were not wearing plate armor around their necks so they could be struck at their vital points in one fell swoop.

‘Okay. Then shall we quickly loot some valuables?’

I approached the mercenaries’ wagon and searched through the boxes. There was a lock on the box but I was able to open the lock without much difficulty.

Inside were treasures plundered from the townspeople including silver candlesticks and plates that were quite bulky. These were also valuable but they were bulky compared to the gold ones.

‘Was the gold one plundered by Prince Kozel first? Hmm Prince Kozel and his men didn’t seem to have much money. Oh I guess they sold it to merchants passing through the gate and sent some to their own homes.’

Azadin took the silver candlestick and plate and looked at the other things.

There were also things like carpets and tapestries boxes and dressing tables made of luxurious incense wood and small bookshelves covered in silver.

These are valuable but they are too big and heavy. In addition they are so obvious that if you get rid of them you will know where they were stolen. Don’t you know that when you look at your own bookshelf or dresser?

‘Silver candlesticks are the best value for money items. Well let’s stop looting them. Maybe I should look through the mercenaries’ supplies.’

Azadin approached the mercenaries’ cargo and began to search through it. There were beans and oats for horse feed as well as arrowheads.

‘Oh good. You have an arrowhead. That’s good. It’s not a cheap leaf-shaped arrowhead it’s a real steel arrowhead.’

Azadin was so excited that he took those items too.

Now his body feels heavy. Although Azadin possesses greater strength than the average human there is a limit to the things he can carry.

In order to leave without being caught and without leaving a trace you have to let go of greed and pack moderately. However Azadin who was rummaging through the mercenaries’ cargo discovered something strange.

‘Huh? Why is this?’

It was a wand made of bone.

The wand that was identical to the one I had obtained from the goblin warlock earlier was in the mercenaries’ cargo.

‘The fact that it’s here means that it’s not loot but something these guys brought with them originally….’

It was at that moment that Azadin was confused.

“Ouch! These guys!”

Suddenly I heard someone’s voice behind me.

*********

Tarki woke up got out of his sleeping bag and urinated in the bushes.

“Oh shit. Was it a bad idea to drink before bed? I woke up cold. It’s high altitude…”

After grumbling and doing my business I turned back to the campsite and found that the sentries had disappeared. I had posted a two-man guard but they were nowhere to be seen.