Night of the Soulless Heathens – 280



#280. Internal crackdown 1

“….”

Camilla was taken aback by Azadin’s sudden words.

“It’s difficult. I came out with my younger brother so you’re looking at me so passionately.”

“…Sister.”

“Oh no Countach. It’s okay. It’s nothing.”

“No that’s not it sis. Look over there!”

“huh?”

Azadin was looking down the alley next to hers.

A beggar staggers out of the city of Fireglyph having been begging for alms.

Is this what it looks like to be drunk?

But the body of a drunkard is one in which his will is hindered by the alcohol.

But now Iza was walking out twisting her body driven by the whip of pain.

The expression distorted in pain made it seem as if the facial muscles were tearing the skin and the twisted body made even those who watched suffer.

“Ah… Euaaaah!”

He was clutching his head and bleeding from his eyes.

Amazingly the blood he shed froze every time it hit the floor growing on the floor like stalactites.

“what?!”

Azadin was so surprised that he jumped up and ran to him but he couldn’t bring himself to approach him.

Blood and ice began to pour out of the pedestrian’s body and cover the alley.

And a cold magical power emanated from his body.

“What is this?”

“It’s an elemental wailing! But….”

Camilla broke out in a cold sweat.

“Isn’t this a disease that develops and explodes so quickly!?”

*********

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The Emperor’s Herald of the Herald Clan was a sword forged to cut down the queen and ministers.

What this meant was that it required a minimum level of insight to understand the wrongdoings of the king and his ministers and the political repercussions that their absence would cause.

All Aragasas are born with innate spatial sense and physical strength.

Azadin is an exception though.

So when they are 10 years old they put a bow on a bow that adults can handle and shoot arrows and they often hit the first arrow with the second arrow.

Azadin is an exception though.

However knowledge and experience must be acquired through education.

So the messenger tribe trained the children using their own secret methods.

If a child who is not a member of the five great families lacks wisdom he will be beaten or starved.

If you are a member of one of the five great families magicians will stick to you and train you with mental elevation and concentration magic allowing you to acquire knowledge and scholarship in a short period of time.

Azadin was an exception.

Although he was not born into one of the Five Great Clans he was lucky enough to catch the eye of Elder Kazas and was able to receive benefits no less than those of the Five Great Clans.

Even children who were not part of the five great families received the same benefits(?).

They received mental stimulation and concentration magic and if they did not get results they were punished.

‘It’s okay if you don’t have talent. If you just keep at it everything will work out. Those who can’t hold out will die.’

This was Master Kazas’s guiding principle.

However even with all that knowledge and experience there were problems that could not be solved.

In the end reasoning is just guessing.

If you just infer and make assumptions when you don’t have the materials it becomes prejudice and stubbornness.

For the Emperor’s messenger who risks his life or rather for all the people living in this Hybris prejudice and stubbornness can sometimes become a poison that threatens life.

When you don’t have the materials don’t just assume you don’t have them but gather sufficient data and a basis for judgment.

But the Knights could not be trusted.

Although he had defeated the Oguls one after another on the Chadra Plateau and gained fame (he was defeated by Lord Sok but he returned alive so let’s leave that out) the Chadra Plateau was a lid on the Knights’ pot from the beginning.

It was a place of exile where disgusting things were put away and there Azadin was nothing more than a knight-errant.

Moreover since he is from the herald clan he would not be able to give out key high-level information about the Knights Templar.

But isn’t there a really great source of information here?

*********

“So. You came into the bedroom where your wife was sleeping on this late night?”

The woman in front of her turned on the lamp in annoyance.

Surrounding the woman in a thin gown were her bodyguards and doppelgangers.

“…The doppelganger’s transformation is canceled when he falls. I just found out that he was knocked unconscious instead of killed. Anyway there are bodyguards and a doppelganger so isn’t it a bit much to say that he’s sleeping alone in a bedroom?”

Azadin was in the bedroom of Delia the Fireglyph branch manager of the Vandyke Company.

“You should have some common sense Azadin. If what you say is true then I’m a woman who sleeps with bodyguards and doppelgangers. I’m suddenly a promiscuous woman.”

“…How you position yourself depends on your own frame of mind. But in my opinion Delia you don’t seem that messed up.”

“No stop talking nonsense. Why did you come here again this time?”

“I need information about the clan. Do the clans know now?”

“What are you talking about?”

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“Don’t be shy I’m talking about information from the world. Information about Korasar Butuma Tarasar etc.”

The Herald Clan had an artificial spirit called the Emperor’s Voice.

This was a being that would cling to the messengers and talk to them control small rats or bird creatures to convey messages and scout out the surroundings as well as take care of various other conveniences.

He was also the principal agent of the Emperor’s gold contract.

There was one side benefit to having such a being: it allowed for the transmission of information across the continent of Hybris very quickly.

Since the Emperor’s voice could transmit information from any distance the messenger clan made huge profits by using that information to buy food before anyone else when there was a drought buy medicine when there was an illness and buy tents when there was a fire.

It was not only of minor benefit but also very useful to their business enterprise.

“The Emperor’s voice has disappeared. Now we have to communicate by letter and messenger which takes a long time.”

“Don’t treat me like a fool Delia. When the Senate decided to turn their backs on the Emperor they must have been preparing for the moment when the Emperor’s voice would disappear. Isn’t the fact that Vandyke’s Company is doing well the proof of that?”

In fact this is not an example of Azadin demonstrating outstanding reasoning.

The Van Dyke Company was just running so well.

The day Azadin stirred up the Van Dyke Company if it were a normal company they would have had to send out messengers here and there and have the person in charge go back and forth to come up with a plan.

But work was proceeding simply as usual.

‘There is a tool that can convey information in place of the Emperor’s voice.’

It’s no different from saying that.

At least it was clear enough to Azadin who had stirred up the Van Dyke Company and sent several doppelgangers to the goal.

“Even if that were true why should I help you who betrayed our clan’s dreams and betrayed everyone? You have been excommunicated. Azadin. You are no longer one of our Aragasa.”

“The Senate may hate me. No you hate me too Delia. But hate or not you need me.”

“what….”

“Sir Jecht has been appointed Guardmaster of the Fireguards. Do you understand what I mean Delia? If you are to survive here in Fireglyph you will need my help going forward.”

“Are you threatening me? You’re going to sell my identity to the King’s Church?”

“I didn’t mean it that way but it’s okay to understand it that way. But Delia the threat I’m talking about isn’t the King’s Church. It’s something much more than that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What I am asking is the answer to my question. You already know.”

Azadin didn’t know exactly what was happening but he noticed that ominous things were already happening all over the world.

The reason why Lord Jecht came here and volunteered to be an advisor to the Knights of Salvation is because there are important events happening here that the proud King’s Church cannot even match each other’s level.

And aren’t you afraid of it?

That’s what Azadin was saying.

“Damn it. You’re a traitor to your clan…”

Delia was so angry that she ground her teeth but what Azadin said was true.

The reason the King’s Church had to bend its high nose also brought fear to Delia.

“The King’s Church has not joined hands with the Knights Templar for nothing. The Elemental Wailings are sweeping across the world. And the Inquisitors of the King’s Church who had reclaimed the throne after Bthuma and Korathar fell to the Nagas have been murdered.”

“Is that the end?”

“That’s not all. Reports say the southern seas are frozen.”

“South Sea?”

“They say that a huge iceberg is floating down from the Andaz Inland Sea where Netherstrom is.”

The Andaz inland coast is a subtropical sea with a mild climate even in winter.

In a place where it is rare to see snow let alone salty sea water the sea is frozen and there are icebergs floating around?

Delia frowned as she relayed the information the messengers had gathered from all over the world.

This is a story that would take several months to tell through conventional means of information distribution.

Of course the King’s Church and the Knights Templar also had means of transmitting information so they could transmit such information quickly but the more sensitive the information the less likely they were to share it with the general public and lower-ranking officials.

“I wondered why the King’s Church came to the Salvation Knights….”

“Yes. The King’s Church also withdrew because they believed they could not reclaim Btuma and Korasa on their own. It was once a land that could have belonged to our clan but you ruined it.”

“Looking at that it seems like the Senate is currently at a loss as to what direction to take. Has the alliance with the Nagas been broken off?”

“You killed the leader who was the center of the alliance. And you even consumed the copies of the New King’s Book that the clan had worked hard to collect. I can’t stand the fact that you caused the deaths of both Lady Hatir and Lady Arael!”

As she spoke Delia’s hands were trembling.

She was afraid too.

An unprecedented and unknown threat is threatening the world.

If you’re not afraid you’re not in your right mind.