Night of the Soulless Heathens – 316



#316. Sectarian Dispute 6

“First let me tell you what the messages flying in now contain. Sir Azadin.”

Gareth told us about the contents of the messengers that had flown in.

The content of the messengers that suddenly flew in from the sea along with the icebergs was always the same.

The Nagas began to attack regular ferry ships and trading ships simultaneously.

Because of Fimbulbert’s prophecy many trading ships have arrived at St. Mallory to buy food and they have swept away the food.

Ships loaded with food were tottering along the coast and in the shallow coastal waters the Nagas could not easily attack the ships. The Arangi and Banreung kingdoms had built coastal fortresses and regularly dispatched patrol ships to protect the passing merchant ships in return for receiving tolls.

But this time it was different.

The Nagas attacked the ships prepared to collide with the regular patrol ships and as a result many Nagas were killed but food was also lost.

The food transport ship sank and a significant amount of food went into the sea.

“….”

If true the situation is serious. We already knew that the Nagas were not mere monsters but a powerful civilized race that had seized hegemony over the world but even taking that into account this troop attack is a victory in information warfare.

The Nagas were victorious in the preliminary battle of information warfare before a huge war.

“We believe this is a supply attack by the Nagas. In other words the Nagas knew that Fimbulbert was coming so they went out of their way to attack the supply. However the sect is divided into wisdom courage and mercy and is still wasting time. Is this worth it?”

It certainly makes sense when you listen to what he says. He may have joined hands with Jecht but it was Azadin who joined hands with Jecht too.

Still Azadin asked just in case.

“Then Sir Gareth what will the Order of Courage do with this scroll?”

“I will announce to the world that the Celestial Fire is a being made by grinding down the statue of an angel and I will delegate the command of the knights to a union of three sects. In the case of the Wisdom Church I will impose a penalty. In addition I will organize the reincarnations of the people of the Northern Qi into a separate unit and thoroughly utilize them as a vanguard unit.”

There is no denying that the Celestial Fire Knights are a useful tool. Since I cannot throw away the weapons I have worked so hard to create I will divide the command and reduce the influence of the Wisdom Order so that the Wisdom Order does not benefit alone.

It was a fairly reasonable story.

Among the three sects of the Knights Templar the Order of Courage is the most underestimated among the people but if what Sir Gareth says is true the Order of Courage is the most fearsome organization that has hidden its teeth and claws.

‘They’re scary guys. But they’re plausible.’

Azadin was convinced when he heard that.

“But then I don’t need it right? I’ll give you the scroll now. Just make sure it’s not something I found but something you found at the Order of Courage.”

If the culprit who stole the scroll was revealed to be Azadin the Wisdom Order and the Northern Qi would hate Azadin. If they ended up hating him that would be fortunate. They could have sent an assassin to assassinate him.

“Lord Azadin are you really going to act separately like this? Are you going to act independently without joining any of the three major sects? Bringing this scroll is a great achievement and our sect holds you in high esteem. If you join our sect through this path you will be given a high position immediately… But wouldn’t it be strange to give an award to someone who is not a member of our sect?”

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Gareth was taken aback by Azadin’s words but Azadin was firm.

“Yes. I don’t think there’s a need to decide now. I have my own thoughts and an organization to lead so I’ll go back and discuss it with my subordinates and slowly decide on my course of action.”

“Hmm. Okay then do that.”

Gareth had no idea that Azadin would refuse their offer. The Knights of Salvation were so focused on the sectarian conflicts that they had only seen those who wanted to become part of a larger sect so he had never thought that there would be someone who would refuse to join the sect.

‘Hmm. Even though I am of lowly birth like the Jeonryun clan it is a great honor that I was allowed to join our sect. The Wisdom Sect came out forcefully so we tried to offer a conciliatory policy but you arrogantly refused. But this kid is calm.’

Azadin was shocked when he learned that Gareth and the Order of Courage had joined forces with Jecht but otherwise he was calm. He had probably already anticipated that the Order of Courage would attempt to seize control of the Celestial Fire Knights on their own. Perhaps he had intended to hand over the Scroll of Past Life to the original Order of Courage.

‘I gave him the scroll and there was no reason to force or pressure him so I guess I have no choice but to end it on a good note for the future.’

Gareth was a little offended that Azadin rejected his offer but he thought positively about it and moved on.

“Then Sir Gareth could you please get us out of the castle? It’s closing time but I want to get out now. If I stay inside the Wisdom Order will bother me again.”

“It is possible.”

“Then please. I think I have to hurry.”

Azadin was able to get out of St. Mallory’s safely even though it was closing time thanks to Sir Gareth’s help.

*********

“Whew good. You made it out alive and safe.”

Azadin breathed a sigh of relief as he left St. Mallory’s.

Zibek apologized to Azadin.

“I’m sorry I was caught helplessly without being able to resist.”

“No. Sir Zibek. Of course he joined hands with Jecht. Well. Rather it was my fault for letting Jecht go too far thinking he wouldn’t be able to use his power here.”

Azadin showed Jecht many of the cards he had in his possession thinking that even Jecht would not be able to use his power in St. Mallory.

But I didn’t know that Jecht would move the Order of Courage to retrieve the scroll. Of course since the Order of Courage took the Scroll of the Past Life Jecht wouldn’t be able to get his hands on it.

“But Captain. Why did you hand over the scroll to the Order of Courage? If that’s the case why didn’t you hand it over to the Order of Mercy who adores you so much?”

Scott asked curiously.

“Huh? Why do you think so? Don’t you just think it was taken away?”

When Azadin asked Scott shrugged.

“No Captain. Do you think I’m stupid? Since you refused to hand it over to the Jecht of the King’s Church and the Mercy Church the only one who can use the scroll to pressure the Wisdom Church is the Courage Church. Even if you hand it over to the Kurts or the Nagas they won’t be able to use it.”

Scott noted that there were few forces that could use the scrolls to their advantage by elimination.

‘He really is no ordinary guy. Is he smart because he’s an orc? Is he smart?’

Azadin was impressed by Scott’s sharpness.

“Are you saying that it was taken away on purpose? That is?”

Jebeck was also embarrassed.

“No it wasn’t taken on purpose. In fact I couldn’t have imagined it being taken at this time. This is what it is.”

Azadin waved his hands.

“But if I were to hand over the scroll to someone I would have handed it over to the Order of Courage. However when I think about it the Order of Courage is the weakest of the three so I was going to hand it over to him. But now that I look at it the Order of Courage is no slouch either.”

“Why?”

“Well… First of all I want virtue to be revived. But I can’t blindly worship virtue and whip people into not being fascinated by the Celestial Fire or the Celestials’ exploits. In reality anyone can’t help but be fascinated by the Celestials’ hot handling of divine power. When Triodana took back the Wendigo’s dagger in one go my mouth dropped open.”

Azadin wanted people to uphold virtue itself not worship heroes or angels.

But realistically I also knew that it would be difficult.

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“The problem is that while people are so inspired by the activities of Celestial Fire they are actually the conspiracy of the Northern Qi. They are fake angels made by grinding up angel statues. There is no benefit in exposing this. It is the same for other sects.”

It is a terrible crime to destroy the statue of an angel but we cannot blame the current Celestials for it.

If this fact is made public and responsibility is held some of the high-ranking priests and paladins of the Wisdom Order will be held accountable.

But the trend cannot be reversed.

As Fimbulbert becomes more severe and the monsters become more rampant people may demand that the number of Celestials be increased even if it means destroying all the statues of angels.

“So in the end there’s no way to stop them from turning angel statues into Celestials?”

Jibek said that with a slightly disappointed tone. I thought that Azadin might be able to solve it with some innovative method but even he didn’t seem to have that kind of talent.

“Realistically the existence of the Celestial Fire Knights brings enormous benefits. I can’t give that up.”

“Then are you going to let the Celestial Fire Knights continue to operate?”

“That’s not it. We need to stop their actions and make it public that they are destroying the statues of angels… At the very least we’ll stop them from destroying the statues of the three archangels.”

Azadin clicked his tongue as he said so.

“…You’re even going to change the statues of the three archangels?”

“Yes Lord Zibek. Let’s say you are old and sick and near death and you are tempted to be reincarnated as a Celestial.”

“I will not comply. A natural death is the pride of a man who has even a little bit of Yaegasu blood.”

“No let’s say you’re a noble who’s desperate to live one more day. What if we offered them the statue of the Trinity Archangel and brought them the blood of an angel and they could reincarnate you with that? Not just any ordinary angel statue.”

“…That is so blasphemous. It is terrible.”

“No what I mean is… If he’s going to destroy the angel statue anyway wouldn’t he want to destroy a higher-ranking angel statue when he reincarnates?”

Azadin suddenly remembered the tremendous power of Lord Triodana.

Clearly judging from his appearance he looked not much different from Lord Karna…

That power alone was several or even dozens of times greater than that of Lord Karna.

‘Surely… you haven’t already replaced the Archangels of the Trinity have you?’

Azadin frowned feeling ominous.

‘Of course that won’t happen. If the statue of the Archangel of the Trinity is destroyed the one who will be reincarnated with it will not be the descendants of the other Northern Emperors but Northern Emperor Cohen Lionaire himself.’

If a king who is a member of the Eight Kings Tribe is reincarnated as an archangel he will be able to achieve a great unification that will unite the two faiths of the King’s Church and the Knights Templar.

He who does not hesitate to commit any dirty deeds for his own gain reigns over this continent of Hybris as a living god.

When that time comes no matter how much truth Azadin brings it will never be able to stop him.