Night of the Soulless Heathens – 249



#249. The Knights’ Secret Weapon 3

“Nice to meet you.”

Azadin also shook hands with Kalintz.

“Yes. The sword you have on your back is Aurelia Dunn.”

“Did you know?”

“It’s one of the famous swords of the Salvation Knights. Since you’ve recovered it and are holding it does that mean you’ve put that Sir Planck to rest?”

“yes.”

“Hehe. If it’s okay with you wouldn’t you like to come with me? I need talented people in many ways.”

“Unfortunately I am currently only a trainee knight of the Salvation Knights so I cannot serve anyone as I please.”

“Oh right. Right. Haha. Then take care. The Chapter Master called the advisors and soldiers to the office but I hope it wasn’t for you.”

Prince Kalintz said so and patted Azadin on the shoulder. A huge hand like a bear’s paw shook Azadin’s shoulder.

“Then see you next time Sir Azadin.”

“Yes Prince. Next time.”

Prince Kalintz left after giving Azadin a meaningful greeting.

The tenth lieutenant Zan and the northern Aragats under him followed Prince Kalintz out of the office. And a servant walked in through the door they had left.

“You’ve been waiting for a long time. The Chapter Master is calling you. The attendant will wait here and you will come in alone. Oh and please disarm yourself…”

It’s a blatant demand.

“Ugh. That’s strange. Sister.”

Even the dim-witted Countach sensed the Chapter Master’s malice.

“Are you okay? How about just turning it all upside down and running away?”

Even though Camilla said so Azadin just shrugged.

“Even with bare hands it doesn’t seem like it would be that dangerous?”

“what?”

“But can my colleagues hold the weapons? These are no ordinary swords.”

“That much is okay.”

The servants complied with Azadin’s request.

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Azadin was able to meet with the Chapter Master only after he had unsheathed his longsword Aurelia Dunn and his Moonbow and given them to Countach to carry as well as his small everyday dagger.

*********

Chapter Master Hexenmayer was now a northerner of forty-five years of age.

Originally he was one of the warlords who fought against the hobgoblin tribes of the north and his amazing military skills were highly praised and he became a member of the Knights of Salvation.

Having become a member of the Knights of Courage he never doubted that one day he would become a Knight of Courage.

However his higher-ups took issue with him for breaking the commandment of celibacy and having many concubines and he was eventually pushed out of the competition for the Knights of Courage and became the Chapter Master of Fireglyphs here.

Chapter Master was also a high position but being Chapter Master of the Chadra Plateau meant being exiled to live here forever dealing with monsters.

He harbored a grudge against this and responding to the persuasion of the Northern Qi who was also from the north leaked information about the pilgrimage group.

And now he has summoned Azadin the man who had prevented the pilgrimage from being annihilated to his domain.

He had already prepared his soldiers brought along a sergeant to write a statement and even a torturer to torture Azadin. He was momentarily impressed when he saw the black-haired young man entering his office.

He was a young man with a dignified and elegant appearance as if he were a heavenly angel transformed into a human being.

Her beautiful features like those of an ancient god mysterious purple eyes and smooth skin drew exclamations from even him a warrior from the rough north.

“Wonderful. Are you Azadin the Emperor’s messenger?”

“Yes. And now I stand here as a hospitaler-errant.”

When Azadin answered like that the soldiers were also perplexed. The answer they received was completely different from what they had expected: elegant and dignified.

“What about Fort Vermilion?”

“Recently the platoon leaders I was serving with have been dying one after another. I only found out when I arrived at the scene.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

An apology came out of Hexenmayer’s mouth.

In fact he was preparing to catch the opponent and throw him in jail right now but he said he was sorry. Even Hexenmayer himself didn’t know why he was saying such things.

Should we say that it was the opponent’s dignity? I was drawn to Azadin who had a different vibe.

“It’s okay. I fully understand that you are busy.”

“So what happened at Fort Vermilion? Are you okay? Why did your previous platoon leaders die? Has the killer been neutralized now?”

Hexenmayer asked still defiant even though he already knew that the incident was the work of the Shade Hags.

But at the point where he asked if the killer had been neutralized Azadin realized that he was lying and knowingly doing so.

Since Azadin couldn’t possibly have killed the Shade Hags instead of asking if the killer was caught you ask if he was neutralized.

“The culprits were the Shade Hags. A woman who suffered from the injustice of the apostasy committed by her predecessors became a witch and summoned the Shade Hags who granted her wishes according to the witch’s contract.”

“Then how did you survive? The witch’s curse must still be on you?”

“To my shame the Shade Hags said that my soul belonged to the Emperor and that I was not subject to curses. Sadly however MacDougall the Squire and Warden was killed in action.”

Azadin spoke the lie he had prepared in advance.

‘Hmm. I see. So the Shade Hags’ curse only applies to the Salvage Knights? This kid is not one of us but the Emperor’s messenger so he is not subject to the curse. If the curse had been lifted I would have taken over Fort Vermillion and made it my source of income. Is this guy the only one who can manage the fortress at the moment?’

If Azadin is purged Vermilion Fortress will once again become an unmanageable no man’s land. From the perspective of the Knights who need the rare resource called Jinsa Azadin cannot be purged.

This is what Azadin was aiming for.

Only Azadin can manage the Vermilion Fortress. If you want a steady supply of jinsha there is no other alternative than Azadin. That was the impression he wanted to give.

However Hexenmayer did not summon Azadin simply as a member of the Knights Templar.

“Sir Azadin I have reliable information that you are in possession of a copy of the New King’s Book…”

“A copy of the New King’s Book? I once had it. I returned it to the damaged Quartz Throne of Bthuma in order to drive away the Nether messengers who threatened Bthuma. I have already written down the contents in a statement in Coxhall.”

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“Hmm. I saw the statement.”

Before meeting Azadin in person Hexenmayer had decided to imprison Azadin in his prison.

However when I actually met him I realized that Azadin’s nobility was no joke and without him the production of Jinsa would be disrupted.

“Don’t misunderstand. I called you here to find out about the situation at Fort Vermilion. You may leave now. I will provide what Fort Vermilion needs so have a letter of recommendation drawn up. I will also select a new squire and send him to you.”

Eventually Chapter Master Hexenmire agreed to allow Azadin to continue running Fort Vermillion.

*********

“I almost got into trouble.”

After finishing his interview with the Chapter Master Azadin sighed.

At first glance it seemed like they were trying to imprison Azadin but Azadin’s excuse the importance of mining Jinsha and his favorable impression all combined to ruin the Chapter Master’s original plan.

Moreover they did not know that MacDougal was an assassin of the Mercy Church so when they heard about his death they regarded it as nothing more than the death of an unknown herald.

Chapter Master Hexenmayer was a member of the Order of the Courageous Knights so he would not have any ties to the Order of Mercy.

“See? It’s just like I said. I told you to go around with your face exposed.”

Camilla who was waiting in the reception room grumbled at Azadin.

“Of course it was effective to go around hiding my face. But wasn’t it also a big appeal to the fact that I was the only one who could operate the Jinsa mine? Why are you acting so arrogant?”

“Even so if you had a strange mask on your face you would have been thrown in jail. It looks like you called me here with the intention of killing me. I’ll admit what I have to admit.”

“Yes. I really appreciate the advice Camilla. Thanks to you. Otherwise I would have been in big trouble.”

“Really? Then let’s buy something.”

As soon as Camilla spoke the blood wizard Bernard stepped forward as if he had been waiting for her.

“While I’m here I’d like to buy some alchemy equipment.”

“alchemy?”

“Yes I do some alchemy.”

“That’s right. You came here on purpose to study blood magic right?”

“Yes. I’m not just going to use it for research but I’m also going to make money from alchemy. Wouldn’t it be very profitable if I did alchemy directly in a place where there’s a cinnabar mine? My skills aren’t lacking either.”

“Hmm. Okay. I’ll buy it.”

While he was in Fireglyph Azadin decided to stop by the market to buy some alchemy equipment and other items.

Azadin’s group asked the market merchants where they could obtain alchemical equipment.

“If that’s the case then Van Dyke Trading Company would be dealing with it.”

When people recommended Van Dyke’s Company Azadin’s expression hardened.

“Does that company have a store here too?”

“Of course. It is a bit expensive but it is the most successful store because it has rare items. The largest building in the square is the Van Dyke store.”

“Oh there it is.”

Azadin noticed a shop in the middle of the square and hesitated for a moment.

The Vandyke Company was a subordinate organization of the Herald Clan like the Corasar Peddler Guild. It was a tool for gathering information making money and gaining worldly power. It was a business of the Five Great Clans.

The Emperor’s voice has disappeared and now only Azadin remains as the Emperor’s sole herald but that does not mean that the herald clan the Aragats of the Harconian realm are destroyed.

Their worldly power still remains.

‘I wonder if I’ll get attacked if I go there for nothing. I wonder what happened but if I go now they won’t look kindly on me.’

To the clan Azadin would be their mortal enemy who interfered with their wishes.

After the fall of their leader Hatir what happened to the other clans? Although he was curious about that Azadin decided not to meet them and bring trouble upon himself.

“Bernard the alchemy equipment. You go and choose it yourself.”

“Is that okay? What about the cost or negotiation?”

“Let’s try to solve it within this budget.”

Azadin handed over a bag containing silver and gold coins.

“Let’s meet over there after we look at the items.”

Azadin pointed to the Fireglyph Victory Monument. A monument was built at the entrance to the plaza to commemorate the victories of the heroes who fought here in the past and to console their souls.

“All right.”

Azadin separated from his companions and examined the Fireglyph Victory Monument.

This is a monument commemorating the victory of the ‘War of the Fireglyphs’ in which the Archangels of the Trinity held off the Nether armies at Fireglyphs.

800 years have passed since then and the inscription on this victory monument has dissolved in rainwater and has been worn away by human hands but Azadin looking at the inscription imagines a time when all of humanity joined forces to fight against the giant strange evil gods.

But then it happened.