Night of the Soulless Heathens – 240



#240. Rookie Paladin Azadin 1

As the name suggests there was a mine in the Chadra Plateau Vermilion Fortress that mined cinnabar (mercury sulfide = vermilion).

However in the past six months the platoon leaders assigned to this fortress have been dying day after day. There are already five knights who have died in three weeks at the longest and three days at the shortest.

For half a year the fortress had been running without a single paladin.

The soldiers of Fort Vermilion were rough and tough convicts gathered from all over the world.

The leaders of such soldiers were each called squad leaders and the most senior of the squad leaders at Fort Vermillion was a half-elf male named Legion.

This half-elf with a teardrop tattoo under her eye was sentenced to an extraordinary 500-year prison sentence for cannibalism having sex with both men and women and then eating them.

The charges were so enormous and splendid that from the moment he arrived he became the de facto leader of Fort Vermillion.

“Hmm.”

And now the squad leader Legion was sitting at the office desk on the top floor of the fortress that originally belonged to the platoon leader munching on beef jerky and looking over the letters.

“Fireglyph contacted me to say they’re sending a new platoon leader this time.”

“What? You guys are ridiculous. Five rookie knights have already gone to the underworld in a row and you haven’t even sent them to investigate?”

Another squad leader Kallan a comrade of Legion grumbled.

Kallan was a member of the Cotton Dwarf mercenary band and suffered from berserker disease killing countless people.

Although he is superior to Legion in terms of fighting ability and ferocity he is vulnerable to illusions when in berserker form so he gave up his position as leader because he knew that he would be at a disadvantage in the matchup with Legion who uses illusions.

“Would the knights be afraid to come here? Since we need a jinshi we’ll keep sending them here like that.”

“Anyway even if a new person comes they’ll just be a corpse. This fortress is cursed. I don’t think those stupid paladins can do anything about it.”

“But hmm. This time the platoon leader seems like he’ll be a bit fun?”

“Why? Could it be a female knight? Hehe. Then we need to keep her alive for a long time right?”

“No that’s not it… I heard they’re the messenger clan?”

“What?”

Kallan doubted his ears.

“A member of the Herald Clan became a Paladin? Is that even possible? Aren’t they soulless blasphemies?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure if that’s possible. Those tight-fisted knights wouldn’t have recognized the Herald Clan as Paladins. But one thing is for sure.”

Legion’s lips parted revealing sharp fangs.

“It’s interesting. Just knowing that he’s a knight from the Herald Clan is exciting.”

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“Hey you. Don’t eat it. Even though you’re the kind of guy who won’t be able to hold out for even a week it’ll be difficult if you finish it. Please put up with this bad habit.”

Kallan snorted took out his pipe and put it in his mouth.

*********

“Ughhh. Sir Izmila! Why….”

MacDougal was leading his horse up the mountain path sobbing.

In front of him Azadin was swinging his ceramite longsword Aurelia Dawn cutting through the weeds and clearing a path.

“Stop whining McDonald’s.”

“What do you know? I was in love with Sir Ismilla! In my heart I was already thinking of marrying her and having a happy family. But why…?”

“Hey stop dreaming. You sent the entire pilgrimage group to the Chadra Plateau but she was the only one left out. How great is her status? Do you think you’ll get along with someone like that who isn’t a knight or a noble? And even if that weren’t the case the other person seemed completely thoughtless.”

“So what I’m saying is that you were able to experience true love that transcended the barrier of social status.”

“That would require the other person’s consent right? Stop whining and just take care of your horse. The road is rough.”

Azadin cut down the weeds extinguished the fire on his ceramite longsword and placed it back in its sheath.

“How is the rear?”

Behind Azadin followed the herald MacDougall and a band of peasants armed with clubs. Behind them were Camilla and her younger brother Countach who were tasked with keeping watch to prevent the peasants from escaping.

“No problems so far!”

Camilla’s lively voice was heard.

“Okay. We’re almost there so let’s all take a breather here for about ten minutes.”

Azadin ordered a rest.

“You kept saying earlier that it was almost here…”

“This is already the third break.”

People grumbled like that but without saying anything they all sat down on the street and rested.

Azadin smiled and concentrated as he listened to them complaining to him.

Arael’s voice materialized above his head looking around. Looking down from above with a bird’s eye view each terrain came into sharp focus.

“Hmm. Is that Fort Vermilion?”

Arael’s voice makes it seem as if they can be touched. However the path is a rough mountain path so it takes a long time to get there. If Azadin were alone he would have already arrived but if he were to take ordinary farmers with him it would take a long time.

“hmm?”

However Azadin discovered a group approaching him through Arael’s voice. The troops armed with crossbows and spears were coming down from Fort Vermilion.

There are about ten people. It’s not a very threatening number but the terrain is rugged so the side attacking from above has an absolute advantage.

‘I know that’s unlikely but we should get out of vulnerable areas right?’

Currently there is a strong suspicion of a rebellion in Fort Vermilion. It is natural since all the platoon leaders who were appointed have died young and no one has been able to exercise command for half a year.

Azadin decided to climb up to a relatively safe flat area after looking at the terrain.

After a while armed troops arrived in front of Azadin and his group.

“We are soldiers of Fort Vermillion. Are you the new platoon leader?!”

“Yes. I am the new platoon leader Azadin. It’s nice to meet you. By the way who are you?”

“I am a soldier from Fort Vermillion. Hehe.”

The soldier who had been speaking like that chewed something and then spat it out.

It was chewing tobacco. It was a rather expensive luxury item and spitting it out in front of a superior was considered rude even by the etiquette of the time.

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“But is it true that he is a soulless blasphemer?”

“Hmm?”

Azadin smirked as he noticed that these soldiers were deliberately being rude in order to gain the upper hand.

‘Looking at what they’re doing it seems like these guys aren’t the ones who killed the platoon leader.’

If they were really the ones who murdered the platoon leader there would be no reason for them to fight Azadin in the first place.

It’s better to kill them or subtly persuade them later. The fact that they’re fighting like this from the beginning just shows that these guys are just plain ignorant fools.

“Thank you for coming out to meet us. You seem to be full of energy. Would you mind taking care of our luggage? Okay leave all your luggage to them!”

“yes?”

“I’ll help you carry the luggage. Let’s go comfortably.”

When Azadin said that the soldiers who came down from Fort Vermillion laughed.

They took out new tobacco leaves and put them in their mouths chewing them and laughing in front of Azadin.

“Sergeant. We came all the way to meet you so why do you insist on using us as porters?”

“First of all let’s meet each other introduce ourselves say hello and as a new platoon leader let’s sing a song to show off our talents.”

“Are you bragging about your longevity?”

At that moment there was a whooshing sound of wind and something passed between the groin of the soldier who had just spoken.

Azadin lightly threw a rock which cut through his trousers and passed through.

-Thud!

His pants were cut off his underwear was torn and what was between his legs was hanging out.

“….”

A soldier who suddenly had his vital parts exposed to the outside air was flustered.

“My organ is a quick eunuch operation. Do you want to see it?”

“Hey hyung? What should I do?”

The soldier looks back in confusion.

As expected the real boss was hiding among the common soldiers and watching without causing trouble.

A giant a head taller than the others suddenly emerged from among the soldiers.

“I’m sorry Captain. The kids are being too rude. They’re all just being too hot-blooded.”

“There is nothing better than brute force to control your temper. If you get rid of it everyone will eventually become more docile.”

“Hahaha. That’s a fun joke.”

“So squad leader. What’s your name?”

“My name is Comek. Sir. Welcome to your new position.”

“Then would you help me carry the luggage? People are tired you know.”

“Yes. Is there any possibility?”

The squad leader named Comek said this and gestured to his soldiers. Then the soldiers panicked and started moving their luggage.

*********

“Surely this platoon leader is quite talented?”

“You’re a messenger clan.”

“Did you send that guy because you doubted us?”

“Damn it. Just send us some supplies and women. Are you some kind of soulless blasphemous platoon leader who ignores our requests every time?”

The soldiers silently carried their luggage even though they were secretly dissatisfied.

Thanks to this Azadin and his party were able to arrive at Fort Vermillion a little sooner than expected.

“Hmm.”

Azadin inspected the fortress and found a small watchtower fortress made of bricks though he did not know where he got it.

It was a small village with barracks and buildings for soldiers built around the watchtower fortress about 10 farmhouses in the surrounding area and another 10 or so accommodations on the mine side.

As Azadin arrived at the fortress’ front yard a half-elf with a teardrop tattoo on his face and a dwarf with his head erected walked out from inside the fortress building.

“Welcome new platoon leader. I am Sergeant Lee Jeon the 1st squad leader.”

“2nd squad leader Kalan.”

“This is 3rd squad leader Comack.”

“I am the trainee knight Azadin who has been appointed as the platoon leader here. Please take good care of me.”

“A trainee… you mean?”

Legion chuckled. The messenger clan is a trainee knight of the Knights of the Knights Templar. It was hard to hold back laughter at this situation.

“Then let’s first place the farmers and workers we brought in to their quarters and then deploy the headquarters troops.”

Azadin got right to work. His instructions were quick and precise so most of the work was done in no time.

The soldiers of Fort Vermillion who were ready to find fault with every single one of Azadin’s actions also found themselves finished with their work in an instant.

“As I was coming up I saw some abandoned houses at the entrance. If there aren’t enough houses I’ll repair them and use them. Until then even if it’s small I’ll put up with it. Do you have enough water? The water from the Jinsa mine is often toxic so I think we need to have clean water separately.”

“Ah. There is a sand reservoir to collect rainwater.”

“Sand reservoir? The wisdom of angels? How wonderful.”