Night of the Soulless Heathens – 230



#230. Northern Aragasa 1

“Ugh?!”

The force of his swing changes direction towards the ground causing the half-orc to fall forward unable to control his momentum.

Azadin grabbed the half-orc by the collar and spun him around turning the large man around as if he were a kitten and standing him up again.

“Ugh. Sister. This guy uses magic. It’s scary.”

“Oh I get it so be quiet. I’m about to get embarrassed.”

Whatever the circumstances everyone could not help but be astonished at Azadin’s skill in handling the giant half-orc as if he were a kitten.

‘As expected you are the Emperor’s messenger. The name ‘Kingslayer’ is not an empty one.’

‘It’s scary. How dare you treat the Countach like a child even though once he starts running wild no one can stop him.’

Izmila a trainee knight also felt uncomfortable with Azadin.

‘It’s also oppressive to keep wearing a mask. Is this really the Emperor’s messenger?’

Then Azadin asked Ismila a question.

“So Miss Knight? What do you think?”

Instead of questioning the grumpy scribe Azadin decided to question the seemingly clumsy Izmila.

“I am suspected of being the illegitimate child of Bishop Sehnath. Perhaps they are using me to tarnish the high honor of the Knights Templar…”

“Pfft.”

While Izmila was speaking the thief couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“How rude!”

The sergeant-at-arms MacDougal couldn’t help but glare at the female thief but neither the female thief nor the blood magician could hide the smile on their pale faces.

The part that made everyone laugh was the part about ‘the high honor of the Knights’.

There are probably not many people in the Order of the Knights of the Salvation who think that the Order of the Knights of the Salvation is honorable. Nevertheless the young lady a trainee knight who is ignorant of the ways of this world seemed to think that the rumors about her birth were damaging the honor of the Order of the Knights of the Salvation.

“Somehow for a trainee knight his equipment is too good.”

“Well I wouldn’t be surprised if she were the daughter of the Northern Emperor.”

“Northern Emperor? What is the Northern Emperor?”

Azadin was surprised and asked when the blood mage Bernard mentioned the emperor.

“Oh you don’t know that? Cohen Lionaire the king of Assander founded the Northern Alliance and declared himself emperor.”

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“Cohen Lioner.”

Azadin smiled bitterly when he heard the name.

It seems that Cohen the king of Assander and disciple of Sir Planck who murdered Sir Planck of Wisdom has now declared himself emperor.

‘That means it’s been quite some time since Sir Planck died. I guess I’ll have to add some time to what I heard from him. It looks like Sir Planck lost his sense of time after becoming a Death Knight.’

The Aragasas appointed as the Emperor’s messengers are required to conduct a fairly detailed investigation and study of the area they are in charge of before embarking on their mission.

So although they have a fairly detailed knowledge of the geography and situation of the area they are in charge of they naturally do not have as much knowledge about areas they are not in charge of.

In Azadin’s case he was originally in charge of the Korasaar region so he had little knowledge of the Arangi and Assander regions.

“Where is the nearest place where I can get help?”

“The nearest place is the coastal city of Coxhall. It is the episcopal city so the heroes of the Order will gather there like a cloud. If you get there no matter how strong the evil men are they will retreat in an instant like the darkness at sunrise!”

The Knights Templar were originally a group of knights but as their power grew they needed administrative and political power and this led to the creation of a clerical class.

If it was a city where a diocese was established it would probably be a fairly large city almost like a royal palace.

“Then let’s go that way. I don’t know the geography of this place very well so can you give me directions?”

“Oh I understand. But keep in mind the pilgrims originally intended to take refuge in Coxhall. But the enemy’s attacks were fierce and the strange fog they created made us lose our way driving us like rats in the darkness of the night.”

“Do the enemies know that we are evacuating to Coxhall?”

“That’s right. Our approach to Coxhall was expected by the enemy. Their evil attacks will surely continue once again. I am not afraid of being harmed but I am afraid that the future of a knight with a bright future like Sir Ismilla will be cut short.”

“Hmm. But I guess we can’t just move without any supplies. Let’s go to Coxhall for now. I don’t know the way around here very well so please ask for directions.”

Azadin left the guidance to the herald.

Currently only two people in the group Squire MacDougal and Knight-in-training Izmilla have horses.

In other words the group had no choice but to move according to the pace of the road.

The ghost goat that Azadin rode on was a mutated version of Arael’s voice and it seemed that it could not appear while the sun was up. So Azadin walked along with them.

“Hey you.”

A thief approached Azadin.

“What business do you have?”

“You can fool other guys but you can’t fool me. Do you know the identity of your enemy?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Azadin tried to ignore it but Camilla was so sure of it that she didn’t fall for such nonsense.

“You appeared behind the ones who surrounded us from beyond the fog so you could see the enemies with your own eyes. But you didn’t bother to search the corpses while you were killing the enemies. Isn’t that because you already know the identities of the enemies?”

“Hmm? You said Wear Rat earlier.”

“A simple cult group could not have attacked the Knights Templar pilgrimage group so effectively. If you really didn’t know the identity of your enemy you would have investigated them diligently. But you didn’t.”

Camilla believed that Azadin had discovered the identities of his enemies but was keeping it a secret.

“I don’t know about the enemy either. I’ll find out later when the enemy attacks me on the way to Coxhall anyway. But….”

“Just what?”

“There are Northern Aragasa among the enemies.”

“Northern Aragasa?”

“Yes. You could say they are my distant cousins.”

Azadin said so and frowned.

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The messenger clan began when the five families of Aragasa arrived in this land on five ships and were taken in by Emperor Yaeslat who highly regarded their talents and made them the emperor’s messengers.

However even after the fall of the emperor there were those who came to the continent of Hybris from outside. They drew a line with the existing Aragasa who were bound by contracts of service and lived separately. Since they mainly appeared in the north they were called Northern Aragasa.

The northern Aragasas who were not bound by contracts of service were still excellent archers and powerful assassins although they did not have the magical book of the Flower Bird and Moon bestowed by the Emperor.

Those who attacked the pilgrims were as Azadin had expected the northern Aragats.

To be precise it was a mixed force including Northern Aragatha’s Trackers Mejeri’s Were Rats Lizardmen and Hobgoblins.

“You idiots you finally got close to the target and now you’re backing off. What are you doing?”

The young Aragasa who ruled the pursuers was irritated. He was a young man in his early twenties with brown skin and sharp narrow eyes.

“That’s… the other party summoned the emperor’s messenger.”

The Northern Aragasa Trackers who seemed to be only in their teens explained while waving their hands and feet and making a fuss.

The messenger of their fellow emperor who was possessed by the curse of service was an object of curiosity to them.

“The Emperor’s messenger?”

“yes.”

“That’s strange. Was it because I called that it came that quickly?”

“I don’t know if it was a coincidence but it came very quickly.”

“Hmm. Rumor has it that the Hatir faction was destroyed in Korathar and Bthuma. Is it true that the Emperor’s messenger has appeared?”

Although it was not yet known among the common people word of their fellow emperor’s messengers had already spread quickly among the northern Aragats.

They already knew that the Emperor’s Herald had been destroyed during Arael’s rebellion internal strife and the invasion of Btuma.

“It’s strange. Is the curse of service really that strong? Even if they cause trouble among themselves and the organization falls apart they still have to carry out the mission given by the Emperor. Poor guys.”

“Yes. That’s why I think the leader will find it fun.”

“Wouldn’t this be a good opportunity to learn about the Hatir clan’s circumstances?”

“You idiots. The mission comes first. Interest comes later. If you back out here the opponents will be arrogant and arrogant. Don’t you think you can mess with them without knowing how high the sky is?”

The 1st Lieutenant looked around in annoyance and saw the War Rat Shaman and the Lizardmen complaining.

“If your men hadn’t run away along the way we would have already accomplished our mission.”

“How do you plan to compensate for this damage ‘Messenger Clan’?”

The War Rat Shamans and Lizardmen glared sinisterly.

Rather than being really dissatisfied it’s more like they’re trying to find fault with something and tear it down. Since they’re a despicable race that will pounce on you if you show any weakness they get all arrogant if you show even the slightest weakness.

‘That’s why I didn’t like it.’

The sergeant sighed and moved his body. His fingers stopped right in front of the War Rat sorcerer’s eyeball.

-Shhh!

The beard of the War Rat Warlock was cut off by the 10th Lieutenant’s fingertips.

Cutting the hair with your bare hands… It would be difficult to cut it this cleanly even with a blade.

“Hic!?”

In a situation where the lid of the Wear Rat would have been opened if it had come in just one more inch the sergeant stopped his hand and spoke.

“It was the judgment of the field that abandoned the mission midway. And we value the judgment of the field. The field is always changing so if we do not respect that judgment a dead instructor will end up harming a living member. Is that what you want?”

“Oh no…..”

“And don’t call us the Heralds. I warned you.”

As the 10th Lieutenant glared at the Wear Rat sorcerer who was mocking them the Wear Rat sorcerer immediately tucked his tail and retreated.

“I didn’t mean to upset you but I wanted to point out that there is a cost to staying. My men are starving.”

“There must be enough corpses to fill the stomach.”

“Because discipline is disrupted while eating.”

“…Understood. I’ll divide you into districts. You can loot eat corpses or rest as you see fit. We’ll handle the Emperor’s messengers.”

Captain Aragasa divided the area and sent Mejeri’s men and the lizardmen to the rear.

“Chief. Does this mean we have to deal with the Emperor’s messenger alone?”

“Rather than confronting her let’s just talk about it. Maybe we can communicate.”

Captain Aragasa said so and shook his hands.

“Where then shall we meet the Emperor’s messenger? Activate the clairvoyance magic.”