Night of the Soulless Heathens – 302



#303. St. Mallory Underpass 1

“Are you saying that if I don’t use poison I won’t harm you?”

Ahaji who was listening from the side asked in confusion. He was telling me to keep attacking him but I don’t know if he was being generous or arrogant.

“It is also the mission of the Emperor’s messenger to show the skills of the older generation to the younger generation of riders.”

“But you are a member of the Rescue Knights…”

“I am now a rescue knight and the emperor’s messenger.”

“Is that a part-time job?”

“Sadly without me there would be no Emperor’s messenger.”

When Azadin said this the captured messenger boys and girls became indignant.

“What nonsense!”

“Your claim is one-sided!”

“Yes. I claim that my clan betrayed their oath to the Emperor and you claim that I betrayed my clan. There are parts of your claims that seem to contradict each other but aren’t they? If you were trained as messengers you would be able to tell.”

“….”

Azadin’s junior messengers heard his words and understood what he was talking about.

Azadin’s claim is that his clan has betrayed the Emperor’s oath and betrayed him.

The clan believes that Azadin has betrayed the clan’s wishes.

These are not contradictory stories.

The young messengers who understood Azadin’s meaning were confused.

“You are the only herald of the rightful emperor and we are not?”

“You’re not stupid after all. That’s exactly what I meant.”

“That’s… crazy… nonsense! That’s….”

“You know if the Emperor still existed would the Aragasas want to rule the people of Hybris and escape his control?”

“….”

“The wishes of the clan and the will of the emperor are completely different.”

“Then you are still a traitor and enemy of our clan!”

“Yes. If joining hands with Nagawa and sending down messengers to stop the clan that pursues their ambitions is the way to betray the clan and if that means turning everyone into enemies then I will gladly turn them into enemies.”

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“…What can a guy like you say!”

The boy and girl messengers were indignant but they could not attack right away since they had received a favor from Azadin.

My body isn’t in a condition to do that.

“Then I’ll take my leave now. You guys get out of here. I’ll let you go without much damage for now but if you attack me again I’ll inflict permanent damage one by one. From something as light as your fingers to something as heavy as gouging out your eyeballs so be sure to keep that in mind before attacking me.”

Azadin left them behind and continued on his way.

After crossing this bridge we were now in an area patrolled by the Knights Templar St. Mallory’s Unit so there were no more scoundrels or duelists to be seen.

Ahaji who called himself a swordsman followed Azadin but since he was walking with a man on a hippogriff his speed was so fast that Ahaji was far behind.

It was only natural that Ahaji’s pace would slow down as he was carrying that stupid plank around.

“Don’t you need the Emperor’s gold? I can’t keep up with you.”

Jibek said a word as he watched Ahaji walk away.

As Azadin is the Emperor’s messenger he will still want to collect the Emperor’s gold coins so if you give Ahaji some time to recover he will rush to offer Azadin the gold coins himself.

That’s what Jebeck was saying.

But Azadin shook his head.

“Okay. Let’s focus on St. Mallory now.”

*********

Was it because Azadin’s threats were so important? There were no raids that night.

Azadin took a good rest at the inn in St. Mallory and went to Van Dyke’s store in St. Mallory in the afternoon.

“….”

The Bandyke Company is the external trading company of the Aragasas. Naturally there were Aragasa agents within it.

They were astonished to see Azadin so confidently come to their store.

“I want to buy arrows. I need a lot of Cheonggangjeon. And I also need a ignition bullet that catches fire when thrown. Don’t worry. I’ll pay.”

Originally the Emperor’s messenger did not pay money to the company under the messenger clan but instead received a bribe. However Azadin put the money on the table.

“Excuse me sir… Are you crazy? Where did you come from?”

“Why? Are you giving up your business as a merchant? As the Emperor’s messenger I know how many merchants are under Aragasa and where they are. Why aren’t you saying anything? It’s because I have to keep the minimum of gentleman’s agreement. Are you saying we should just take it all off? Are we going to throw away everything we’re wearing and fight without even the slightest bit of dignity or manners? Who will lose out then?”

“….”

Of course it is much more damaging to lose the trading organization.

The side with more to lose has no choice but to sacrifice itself.

“Since we’re talking about the gentleman’s agreement isn’t it a bit embarrassing to use a poisoned arrow to catch me?”

“Poison arrow?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hmm the clan that recently attacked uses poison arrows. Otherwise it’s fine.”

“That crazy guy…..”

The Aragas were shocked by Azadin’s tyranny demanding that they keep the gentleman’s agreement and hand over their items…

The young and energetic Aragatsas saw Azadin again.

‘I heard you were a traitor to your clan but you still have a dignified attitude.’

‘They say he’s Arael’s younger brother. He really is handsome.’

‘Come to think of it after all he’s the one who defeated the leader. Isn’t he worthy of being called a hero?’

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‘No. It was Arael’s skill that defeated the former leader and the author was just taking advantage of the situation. What the…’

‘But his attitude is confident and he doesn’t say anything that isn’t true…’

‘Who shot a poisoned arrow and couldn’t even hurt him?’

‘You’re doing that because you’re scared of the poison arrows right?’

‘But what if you shoot the poison arrow even if it doesn’t hit you and then hit someone else nearby? Who shot it?’

It would be difficult for most people to imagine a situation where an arrow is fired and then hits someone else but among the Aragasa the herald clan it was an everyday occurrence.

That is why when using poisoned arrows you must use them only when you can hit them with certainty and not create blind victims. If you create such victims the person who shot the arrow will be slandered as incompetent and stupid which was the custom in Aragasa.

In other words from the Aragasa’s perspective Azadin’s warning not to use poison arrows was a justified action.

“So… the Cheonggangjeon? What on earth are you going to use it for? Surely you wouldn’t say you’re going to use it to fight against our clan?”

“I think I need to have a showdown with Inquisitor Jecht.”

At that moment everyone secretly admired Azadin.

‘You want to fight the inquisitor of the King’s Church?’

‘It’s an act worthy of the name of the Kingslayer but isn’t it true that the Inquisitor is harder to catch than the King?’

The current Herald Clan had lost a lot of human resources due to the failure of the old Senate’s operation and internal strife within the Arael tribe and they were doing their best to replenish those human resources.

But Azadin has built his own warlord in the Chadra Plateau and is now fighting against Inquisitor Lord Jecht. While the Aragas are hiding and being benevolent he alone is making a brilliant performance.

There Azadin’s appearance with Harconian eyes that made both men and women feel good gave him the air of a hero.

He is known as a traitor to his clan but seeing him in person is a different feeling. To this extent he is worthy of admiration.

In the end they gave Azadin various useful equipment such as a hearing aid and a flare for a cheap price.

“And are there any rumors about the Arael tribe? How are the four members of Hwajopungwol doing? And Midiam Etar?”

“That’s something we can’t tell you.”

“It seems that everyone knows that I joined the Knights of Salvation and am living in the Chadra Plateau so I am worried that Midiam Etar may act rashly. That is why I asked. Surely you have not captured Etar’s daughter and put her away somewhere?”

“…hmm.”

“Well I guess I can tell by your reaction. At least you didn’t die or get hurt. Oh did you bring me the item? Thanks. As expected the Aragasa are good at making arrows.”

Azadin took the lecture and the flare he had received from them and walked out.

“Wow so cheeky…..”

“They are all so confident. They have a feeling that they have transcended life and death.”

“No one would betray their clan unless they were that crazy.”

“….”

The Aragasas working at the Vandyke Trading Company were speechless at the sight of Azadin boldly barging in to them and trading the items he wanted.

Even those who hated him the most could no longer deny that Azadin was a piece of shit.

*********

Jibek who was waiting outside the store smiled bitterly.

“No matter how divided the line is we are still clan. You are tormenting us quite a bit.”

“If others heard that they would misunderstand. I wasn’t bullying you.”

“I’m sure he must be feeling complicated after seeing you. He’s too big of a target to attack alone and there must have been many who’ve already attacked and failed. But he must have been getting on my nerves while you were acting all naughty right in front of me.”

“Scott would be good at that. Just the fact that I didn’t bring Scott with me shows how much consideration I had for them.”

“Well that’s true.”

“So which way did you go during your infiltration training?”

Azadin asked Zibek.

Fort St. Mallory was divided into the old fortress which was said to have been built by giants and angels a long time ago the commercial district where knights and merchants lived around the fortress and the slum area that expanded by building illegal huts on the silt piled up in the river.

Although it started as a fortress as befitting the headquarters of the Knights Templar the city continued to expand as people flocked in and the population increased. The population of the entire metropolitan area was estimated to be 150000 according to the legal census but if you include the people who came and went secretly without paying taxes the actual population was estimated to be 250000.

Where on earth did the King’s Church train its agents in a special training ground in a faraway land in order to invade this place?

“There is an underground passage called the Giants’ Sewer. If you pass through it you can reach the heart of Fort St. Mallory. However Lord Jecht and his men will already be there. Didn’t you send them to the West Wing?”

“Rather than fighting a street fight in the city for no reason it would be better to make a decision calmly and avoid harming the people who are strict.”

“Is that why you sent the letter to Lord Jecht?”

“I’m confident I can win.”

“….”

“But Sir Jibek you’re not feeling too well are you? And I’ve also accumulated some toxins from the long journey. Let’s rest today.”

“You’re resting?”

“Now that I’ve come to St. Mallory I have to do some sightseeing. I’ve always wanted to see St. Mallory.”

Since childhood Azadin has lived reading the Knights Templar’s pamphlets until they were worn out. In other words for him the headquarters of the Knights Templar St. Mallory was a place he had dreamed of.

It was absurd to come all this way and then just get down to business without even looking around.