Night of the Soulless Heathens – 290



#290. Celestial Fire 4

Azadin got down from the hippogriff and was clearing a path by cutting away the bushes and branches with his sword.

The forest paths in the mountains where farmers pulled carts were wide enough for mules and horses to pass but the hippogriffs were always getting scratched and nicked by the branches.

‘But if that’s the case I would have ridden a horse. It’s really uncomfortable for a hippogriff to walk.’

The hippogriff’s large size was not only a problem but its body structure was not well suited to walking.

The hippogriff’s hind feet have hooves like a horse’s and its forefeet have sharp claws like those of a bird of prey which are good for using explosive strength in short bursts but not so good for walking on the ground for long periods of time.

However it was impossible to fly with two peasants on board as Firewinter was too tired to fly into the sky.

‘If I had flown alone in the sky I would have gone much farther than I am now. But it would be bad to have such thoughts. If I had been selfish this rich man would have died.’

Azadin tried to endure the situation thinking about the preciousness of the lives he had saved but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed by his situation.

‘Why did I find those Bree guys then? Huh?’

As Azadin passed by cutting the grass in front he suddenly noticed a group of troops approaching from the south.

Azadin had Arael’s voice floating in the sky and was using it as a scout and it was Arael’s voice that discovered the troops.

There were about five mounted troops ten heavy infantry and under the heavy infantry 20 to 30 regular spearmen and archers so the size of a platoon of a mixed battle group was moving.

‘Should I bring Arael’s voice closer since it’s hard to see because of the forest?’

Azadin cautiously approached Arael’s voice.

But as Arael’s voice descended into the forest the vision shared by Azadin began to fog.

A powerful magic whether it was the magic of this forest or that of the troops muffled Arael’s voice.

‘Hmm. It looks like it’s not Bree but an armed human. What if it’s Lord Jecht? But I don’t think Lord Jecht would be carrying a flag. Damn I want to get a closer look at the flag but the shared vision isn’t very good.’

Azadin hesitated for a moment and then decided to meet them alone.

In the current state of Firewalker he couldn’t burn everyone so if he was the target Azadin had to fly into the sky alone and escape so that the rich man wouldn’t get caught up.

*********

As Azadin emerged from the bushes the scouts were startled and aimed their spears at Azadin.

“Who are you?!”

“I am Azadin a trainee knight of the Rescue Knights!”

“Rescue Knights…..”

The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief when the man who suddenly appeared mentioned the Rescue Knights.

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

Azadin was also relieved.

This was because the flag of the rider behind the scouts belonged to the Rescue Knights.

But a nervous voice was heard from behind the scouts.

“If you’re Azadin aren’t you the messenger clan that infiltrated the Chadra Plateau? A soulless blasphemer! You’re supposed to be a prisoner of the Chadra Plateau so why are you here?!”

“I don’t remember being a prisoner?”

As Azadin spoke the rider behind the scouts approached.

The flag of the knights had a design of flaming wings beneath the three-winged flag the symbol of the Knights of the Rescue Order.

“You’re not a prisoner? Didn’t you immediately commit the crime of desertion by leaving the barracks? You….”

He said so took off his helmet visor and looked at Azadin.

He was a handsome young man with curly blond hair and an aristocratic appearance. He looked down at Azadin with an irritated gaze and flinched when Azadin’s eyes met his.

I had thought he would be an exotic and strange being when I heard he was a spy from the messenger clan but I was surprised to see that he was actually a young man with an attractive appearance.

“I did not desert. Here is my permit! And I came as a brother of the Knights and you immediately treat me as a criminal and offend the brotherhood! Tell me your names!”

“Umm…”

The rider’s expression softened at Azadin’s confident attitude.

“I am Aramis a hospitalist of the Order of the Knights of the Salvation and a member of the Order of the Celestial Fire. Azadin of Chadra. What brings you here?”

“Celestial Fire…?”

Azadin was surprised by Aramis’ statement that he was a member of the Celestial Fire Knights.

‘Is that Celestial Fire? I wanted to meet you anyway but I didn’t think I’d see you this early.’

The original reason Azadin left the Chadra Plateau and headed to St. Mallory was to gather information about the Celestial Fire Knights.

But who would have thought that I would see the Celestial Fire Knights here?

“While traveling with the official permission of the Chapter Master I discovered a monster attacking villagers in the forest. Here….”

As Azadin whistled hippogriffs and peasants came out of the forest.

“These are the witnesses.”

“Ah… Sir Sutton!?”

Deegan and Duns who were drawn out by Azadin’s whistle recognized the old knight riding a shabby mule-like horse next to Aramis.

“ah.”

“Do you know me Lord Sutton?”

“Yes. We are tenant farmers.”

It seemed that the old knight named Sir Sutton was a knight who held this area as his fief for he spoke thusly.

The peasants testified that the Breedles had come out of the forest and attacked them and that Azadin had rescued them.

“Hmm. I made a slip of the tongue a little while ago. Please forgive me Lord Azadin. I made a rash remark.”

Aramis apologized to Azadin and did not even check the pass Azadin presented.

When I saw Azadin’s face before he could even hand me the pass his attitude had already softened considerably.

“Very well. I accept your apology Sir Aramis. I needed Celestial Fire’s help anyway.”

“So Sir Azadin if it’s alright with you would you like to join us?”

At that moment the other knights following Aramis were startled.

“Oh Sir Aramis!”

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

“This will be the work of Celestial Fire. Something like that…..”

“Why did it have to be that kind of person…”

Azadin laughed at the sight of those who openly opposed him in front of him.

‘I’m listening you guys. No matter how primitive the enemy is why do you feel like you’ve already won?’

They were worried that Azadin would take credit for them.

In fact Azadin’s fame had already spread widely thanks to his activities in the Chadra Plateau.

On the other hand the Celestial Fire was just starting out. Of course if they were made of Celestial even a newly started order of knights would become famous in an instant but the general knights considered Azadin’s reputation a threat and were wary.

“Now is not the time for us to be arguing over credit among ourselves. Shouldn’t we start by saving people?”

Aramis made a sensible statement here.

‘Oh? This kid? Pretty good?’

Azadin who had been suspicious of Aramis since their first meeting began to feel affection for Aramis after hearing those words.

“Sir Azadin. As you can see we are short on cavalry since we are coming as a mixed force. The terrain is also forested and of course I do not doubt the skill of our trained knights but it would be good to have someone who can dive from the sky and trample the enemy.”

Azadin had a hippogriff so he requested that he dive down from the sky and cut down the flanks of his enemies.

“First let the cavalry attack first then fly and attack the enemy’s flank. Hippogriffs unlike horses don’t have much stamina so just flying in the sky consumes a lot of stamina. You shouldn’t handle them the way you would handle a horse.”

“I see. I don’t know anything about hippogriffs either.”

Aramis agreed with Azadin’s words.

‘That’s good. I was already curious about the power of the Celestials so should I check out what other Celestials besides Izmilla are like?’

Azadin joined the force led by Aramis to see what they could do.

*********

Azadin climbed down from the hippogriff’s back to conserve his stamina and kept pace with his companions.

Aramis continued to ask Azadin questions.

‘How did you get the hippogriff?’

‘Why did you come from the messenger clan?’

‘How do the messenger clan train?’

‘Do the messenger clans really hunt the Yaegasu gods and drink their blood as rumored?’

And so on absurd questions followed.

Azadin felt tired as he answered such questions dryly.

“I think the scouts should be a little quieter while they’re searching. Unless those Bree guys are blind they’re bound to be…”

“With so many troops on the move anyway it’s inevitable that there will be noise.”

“But if the commander starts talking the soldiers will relax and start chatting which will lower their concentration.”

Azadin said that but thinking about it it was a good opportunity. This time Azadin asked.

“Where are you from? You seem to be of quite noble blood.”

“My parents are knights. I’m not in a position to claim any kind of family name as humans would say.”

“…Are all Celestials like that? I heard that your leader Karna is of Northern Qi bloodline?”

“What? How do you know about Captain Karna’s work?”

“I’m a bit close with Izmila.”

As we learned thanks to Prince Kalintz Azadin gave the name of Izmilla a Celestial.

“…So you know I’m a Celestial. Unfortunately there are many things about Celestials that must be kept confidential. Please understand.”

Aramis asked Azadin all sorts of questions even the most mundane ones but he remained silent when asked about himself.

Of course because Aramis is a Celestial.

‘I thought you were a reckless brat but you know how to keep secrets. Hmm?’

At that moment Azadin heard a commotion from ahead.

Sure enough a scream was heard from in front of me.

“Save me!”

“Ugh?!”

It was the screams of the villagers.

Those who escaped from the village were being chased by Bree soldiers.

The Breeds had lower bodies like those of mountain goats or deer so they could quickly leap through the bushes and catch up with people in an instant.

The Bree warriors attacked the villagers with large deer-horned axes and barbaric spears made from cleavers taken from humans.

The villagers also fought back but the Brie soldiers were much larger and stronger so they were no match for them.

“How rude!”

Aramis handed over his standard to his attendant and leapt forward on his horse.

-Heavenly encouragement!

He cast a spell to encourage his steed and drew his sword from his horse. It was a two-handed longsword of ceramite made for ground combat but Aramis swung it with one hand and blew off the head of a Bree soldier.

“Ugh!?”

The Bree soldiers rushed at Aramis but Aramis not caring about being surrounded continued to charge forward slashing at any enemies he came across.

‘He’s pretty good as a cavalryman. The problem is….’

Azadin who was watching the scene from behind evaluated Aramis coolly.

Just like Izmila Aramis’ basic skills are not bad either. He is a great knight.

But it lacks experience.

It’s a great breakthrough for cavalry but if you charge alone with so few cavalry you’ll just get surrounded by enemies.

Above all if he is the supreme commander and charges into the enemy lines alone there will be no adjutant to take command from behind.

Aramis who had been running wild was trapped in the middle of enemy territory by the Bree soldiers’ phalanx.