Night of the Soulless Heathens – 182



#182. Naga’s Island 4

Dehashram felt secretly uncomfortable with Azadin’s skeletal remains but he was a Nagaraja who was good at pretending to be a merchant.

‘You have strong pride as befitting a hero. That’s how arrogant a man should be.’

Dehashram laughed off Azadin’s remark with the composure of a strong man.

“In any case you have accomplished something remarkable. Even if the world doesn’t know about it if you explain what you have accomplished to the Heralds they will be convinced that you are capable and worthy of your position. Why didn’t you do it?”

“Because… it’s my fault.”

“Come?”

“I don’t want to prove to my clan that I have accomplished so many things by bowing my head first and asking them to love me even though they don’t accept me. Above all I don’t agree with what my clan is doing right now. In order to be accepted by them I have to help them and act in their way. But that’s the only thing I absolutely cannot tolerate.”

“What exactly do you mean you can’t do?”

“An expansion of unnecessary slaughter. I’m talking about the massacre of civilians who aren’t even enemies.”

“Neither the Senate of the Heralds nor the tribe of Arael will think the slaughter unnecessary. Neither will I. Those who serve the King’s Church will not tolerate you taking the throne. So what good is it to kill them preemptively and weaken their power?”

“But I think it’s unnecessary. Even if they’re an incurable villain you have to think carefully before killing them. But I don’t want to massacre people who don’t have any grudges like farmers merchants and fishermen just because of differences in opinion.”

“So you are saying that you are not a member of the Senate or the Arael tribe and that you are simply heading to Btuma to warn them against their invasion. You are warning them against the Naga invasion and you are using your position as a Taoist priest of the Qing Dynasty to organize the Qing Dynasty to block our Naga invasion as effectively as possible?”

“yes.”

As he spoke Azadin pulled out the Azure Steel longsword he had on his back. The sound of the blade clinking was cold.

“Are you really trying to escape through all these guys? Haha.”

“It’s not a question of can. It’s a question of should.”

“I invited you. Since I invited you I have been as polite as possible never disarmed you and never poisoned your food. We have followed the customs of hospitality and you are going to break them?”

Dehashram looked at Azadin with a smile.

Dehashram’s bodyguards drew their weapons and hissed at Azadin but Azadin was confident that he could cut off Dehashram’s head much faster than they could move.

But the problem was that he followed the customs of hospitality as Dehashram said.

How could Azadin who was heading to Bthuma to avoid unnecessary slaughter kill someone who had shown kindness and observed the custom of hospitality? How could he possibly do such a shameless thing?

However attacking Dehashram and the Nagas here is an act that serves Azadin’s purpose of preventing the massacre of Bthuma.

Will you break the custom of hospitality and attack Dehashram to protect Bhutuma?

Will the customs of hospitality be observed?

Azadin sighed and looked at Dehashram.

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“Dehashram. Is there anything else you want? If so let’s make a deal. It is intolerable for me to prolong my life by relying on the customs of hospitality. I want to go to Btuma as soon as possible.”

“No way. Do you think I would do something in the form of a deal with you the fish I already have in my hands? Me?”

“If what you want is more than just a conversation with me then I’m sure we have something to trade.”

However even Azadin could not be sure at the moment. Dehashram as he had seen was a curious man no a naga.

If Azadin’s logic is correct he clearly wants more from Azadin than just a story about the past.

‘If it were normal I would have just bluffed…’

Azadin felt sweat forming in the hand holding the Azure Steel longsword ‘Blue’.

‘It’s such a shame to break the custom of hospitality and kill the host who treated me with sincerity.’

In other words he was already prepared to cut off Dehashram’s head if necessary.

Then Dehashram opened his mouth.

“If you think so then you’re a good judge of character. Haha. I have a deal to make with you.”

“Ah. That’s a relief.”

“Really? I think I’m lucky too.”

Dehashram smiled meaningfully.

‘I said it was fortunate that I didn’t have to cut off your neck.’

Azadin thought so but he had no intention of saying it out loud and hurting Dehashram’s feelings.

*********

The Nagas originally served the Kurt Goddess Cobra Queen Devislin and took pride in fighting against the evil ancient gods Nether who had threatened the continent of Hybris in the past.

However Nether beliefs were spreading even among the Nagas.

The Naga tribe a sea serpent tribe was the most susceptible to the influence of the Nether. The Naga tribe which was already large and powerful had become completely ferocious under the Nether’s grace and the other Naga tribes were powerless to do anything about them.

But of course the other Nagas could not help but be dissatisfied with this situation. They were the Nagas who took pride in fighting the Nether and protecting civilization.

But must we acknowledge that our fallen brethren who worship the Nether’s reaper are weak?

“So we plan to reduce their numbers by having the sea serpent nagas fight the Hybris or the Heralds as much as possible. It may not be a pleasant story for the humans to hear but it is something we have nothing to lose.”

“It’s so blatant what would the sea serpents say?”

“The sea serpents that have become servants of the Nether have poor judgment. It’s not that hard to trick them and trick them. However….”

“but?”

“Because they have become irrational beasts they force their demands on others but these guys are rude and stupid and won’t listen to me. Even now I told them not to touch my servant but they took our gardener’s son.”

“….”

“gardener.”

“Oh yes.”

A middle-aged man came in carrying a pair of small shoes and a dog leash.

“My son went out to look for his dog which had gone missing and ended up getting caught by some thugs.”

“Are you asking me to save that child or if he dies to take revenge?”

“Yes please. If you succeed I will officially say that you escaped. I will give you a small boat. And I will teach Shati the magic of controlling water flow so she can steer the boat and escape.”

“What if I fail and get stuck along the way?”

“At that time I will turn a blind eye. You will be considered a scoundrel who attempted to use the custom of hospitality to commit spying and assassination and you will be tarnished and killed. There is nothing I can do about that.”

“Hmm. Okay. Let me try it.”

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Azadin decided to grant Dehashram’s request.

“Are you okay Azadin Taoist? There are so many of you.”

Jiswa was perplexed. No matter how I looked at it Dehashram’s request was ridiculous.

The Nagas’ campsites are home to hundreds if not thousands of sea serpent Nagas who have both keen senses and incredible fighting abilities.

Searching through the barracks of those guys to find the gardener’s child or take revenge? No matter how talented Azadin or Scott are it’s not something that can be done with just this many people.

“Don’t worry Jiswa. It’s not that difficult. You just prepare your stuff.”

“Are you talking about an object?”

“If we escape by boat we’ll need food and water to get from here to Btuma. Pack them well in your backpack and prepare them.”

“…Uh. Yes?”

So does that mean you won’t be taking Jiswa on a sneak mission to search around the campsite right now? Telling him to pack his bags and leave.

I was taken aback by Azadin’s attitude which seemed to consider Jiswa as a success.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It’s good that I’m not going into dangerous places but… if I get out you and Mr. Scott will have to move alone?”

“Do you want to fight? Jiswa? Do you want to show off your bravery?”

“That’s not it. I am a blood magician but my level is not that high…”

I was embarrassed with Jiswa.

“If there are many people walking around it’ll just make them more noticeable. Small groups are better for infiltration. So shall we begin Scott?”

“Uh. Captain. I’ve rested a bit and recovered my magic power. You can do it anytime. But since there are no corpses I can’t start.”

“I’ll make a corpse for you in no time.”

Azadin said this and looked up at the sky. The sun was setting.

Jiswaga warned Azadin.

“Sea snakes are very aware of their surroundings even after the sun has set. They live in the deep sea where light does not penetrate well and everything flowing through their bodies including their skin mucus and blood is poisonous to humans…”

“doesn’t care.”

Azadin said so and bid farewell to Jiswah for a moment.

“Then let’s begin now.”

*********

After parting ways with Jiswah Azadin and Scott walked into the darkness and approached the camp of the sea serpent nagas.

“The voice of the emperor.”

[Are you asking me to find the human boy and the dog?]

“I see you were listening. What do you think?”

[I’ll look into it.]

After a while the Emperor’s voice responded.

[…I found it but it’s dead. It’s not something I can show my parents.]

“Which one?”

[It’s the fourth barracks down from the ridge you’re on. Both the child and the dog were eaten.]

“Then it’s the death penalty.”

Azadin approached the barracks of the sea serpent nagas.

“Oh Captain but if you try to infiltrate I won’t be able to follow you?”

Scott said this as he followed Azadin.

Azadin if you are physically fit you can approach the fourth tent without being detected by the Nagas but you cannot do it yourself.

That’s what he said but Azadin looked puzzled.

“What are you talking about? Kill everyone from the nearest barracks to the fourth barracks.”

“ok?”

“Would a child and a dog have just gone to the fourth barracks? They were already kidnapped in the first barracks and were only slaughtered in the fourth barracks. In other words everyone on the way there is an accomplice.”

“Ah. So you’re going to hold them accountable Captain? And you’re going to kill them all? Did I hear you correctly?”

As Scott pondered such questions Azadin drew Grimslow’s bow. For the first time in a while he put the string on his bow and shot a stone.

The Tan-gung bowstring is made by hanging a leather string between two bowstrings to shoot stones and the stones that are shot in this way have tremendous power. However will it work against the Nagas sea serpents with thick skin and scales that spit out toxic mucus?

Scott’s questions were soon answered.

-Pfft!

Naga’s head was ripped off whole with a terrifying sound.