Night of the Soulless Heathens – 321



#321. Herald of Famine 5

“I understand but is it really necessary to respond with such annoyance?”

“It’s not like we’re living comfortably either so it’s annoying to hear you say that.”

Indim still seemed displeased with Azadin.

“Yes yes. You’ve worked hard. To be honest you were the next generation of the head of the four-member clan of Hwajopungwol and even after Arael’s death you maintained your faith with her… I’m grateful.”

“Thank you for something that isn’t worth a single coin… Tsk. Hey. You punk. Let me see your face. Why the hell are you covered in blood? You’re putting blood on Lady Arael! What are those knights talking about!?”

Indim recalled Azadin’s face that is Arael’s appearance and was at a loss between his inner anger and his longing for Arael.

‘I have to be careful. I wonder if this kid will end up cutting off my entire face and putting it on display somewhere.’

Azadin felt a sense of crisis as he watched Indim’s reaction.

“By the way Azadin I understand that you joined the Salvation Knights. But why… are you fighting those in the Salvation Knights?”

Dimia was worried about Azadin and wiped the blood off Azadin’s body with her sleeve.

“If I tell you the story it will be long. Since your colleagues are here I will tell you the story.”

Azadin explains how the Northern Cohen Lioner inserted his forces into the Order of the Salvation Knights.

And he told me that the Celestial Fire Knights were created using the secret technique of grinding down angel statues and reincarnating them into Celestials.

*********

When Azadin told them what he had found out everyone was surprised.

Even Zibek and Scott who had already heard the story were newly amazed by the knights’ acts of blasphemy as well as the grand plan of the Northern Emperor behind it and his patience to achieve it.

Since the two people who already knew the story were like that the four no three people who were hearing about Hwajopungwol for the first time couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Oh my goodness. That happened?”

“A whole order of knights like that were created using such magic. How long did it take to prepare…?”

“You’ve been living a busy life too. I’m impressed that you joined the Rescue Knights with such a deep meaning. To be honest I was suspicious that you were just throwing away your mission and going to have fun so I’m embarrassed.”

Seraph was particularly impressed by Azadin.

In fact he was the one who was extremely disappointed when he heard that Azadin had joined the Rescue Knights.

I knew that Azadin liked the Knights of Salvation. So wasn’t he going to the Knights of Salvation to throw off all his burdens and just find the peace he had dreamed of as a child?

I was wondering if I was running away from a great mission.

However Seraph who learned that Azadin was trying to fulfill a new mission within the Rescue Knights was ashamed of his suspicions as they had been strong.

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“Of course. I am carrying on Arael-sama’s legacy. It has to be that much.”

Indim snorted as he watched Seraph blushing. He trusted Azadin. Was that what he wanted to say?

“So what are you going to do now Azadin?”

“I have to go back to Chadra to prepare food and train my troops. Then I have to retrieve the Wendigo dagger and then I have to raid Banling Academy to investigate the Elemental Wailing… There’s a lot to do.”

The Wendigo’s dagger is currently held by Celestial Triodana of the Church of Wisdom.

“Wendigo Dagger. Would you like us to retrieve it for you?”

“No. I’ll take care of the Knights’ work. You guys continue to monitor the movements of the Aragasas. If possible check on the whereabouts of the Medium. I know you’re busy and have a lot of work to do but dealing with the Aragasas will save you some trouble anyway right?”

Azadin talked with the four members of Hwajopungwol or rather the three of them about their past events and future plans.

*********

Azadin and Scott Seebeck disembarked in rapids where the current was so strong that their raft could no longer go up.

“Then I wish you good luck. Azadin.”

Dimia bid Azadin a graceful farewell and was about to leave but then Indim got off the ship for a moment and approached Azadin.

“Oh and that um. If you have a hard time satisfying your desires I’ll take care of it for you. I’m busy right now so I’ll visit you in about a month. You said Vermillion on the Chadra Plateau right?”

“…….”

“What? Why?”

“I was joking.”

“…Are you kidding me?! You little brat. I had such a big heart to give you permission!”

“I thought you said it as a joke so I could tell you weren’t unaware. Don’t you just want to do it with me?”

“Hey! You idiot. Don’t say things like that in the presence of Lady Arael! Even if it’s a joke there are things you can and can’t say!”

Indim looked embarrassed then quickly flew up and climbed onto the boat.

Azadin chuckled at the sight.

“Goodbye Indim. Stay safe.”

“Okay okay!”

Indim felt embarrassed and accepted the pole from Dimia then hit the boat hard and disappeared into the distance.

“…Captain. Are you going to get in big trouble if you make jokes like that? Whether you’re a human or an orc you have to be careful with your words and actions.”

“Hmm. Hearing you warn me about my words and actions I definitely feel a sense of crisis that I have made a big mistake.”

Azadin suddenly came to his senses when he heard Scott say a word to him.

“The Aragas also take Fimbulbert as a given. Sir Azadin. So what are you going to do now? Even if you go to the Chadra Plateau I doubt the Northern Emperor will just leave you alone…”

“No. If the Order of Courage does well they won’t have the energy to worry about me right now. I should just take care of myself for a while and build up my strength.”

“Strength?”

“okay.”

Azadin said and rubbed his fingers together. A crackling electric spark flew between them.

“There are still many grimoires within me that I have not fully digested. Did you see the four members of the Flower-Bird-Pung-Wol quickly move around the small boat using only a single pole? That is also something that Arael can do but I had no idea until I actually tried it.”

Azadin has not yet fully mastered the various talents and magical powers he received through his fusion with Arael.

It takes enough time.

But it is questionable whether time will be given.

*********

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When Azadin returned to the Fire Glyphs Prince Kalintz the Chapter Master of the Fire Glyphs rushed out to welcome Azadin.

“Sir Azadin! You have returned safely! How fortunate!”

“….”

The welcome was so warm that Azadin was taken aback.

“What happened? Why are you so welcoming? I ran out practically barefoot?”

“No. That’s not it. The Celestial Fire guys came and confiscated the grain and their attitude was quite arrogant.”

“You’re probably related by blood but why are you acting so arrogant?”

“The ones who have killed the most heads of the Eight Kings are not the Jeonryung clan who are criticized as the God-King-Slayers but the Eight Kings clan themselves. We don’t get along because we’re blood relatives. In fact we’ve killed more people than we care to.”

He wasn’t the type of person to say things like that. Judging from the way he spoke it seemed like he had really suffered a lot from the Celestial Fire Knights.

“These guys must think that if they poke them they’ll find a storehouse full of grain! They’re telling us to hurry up and plant crops and provide food before Fimbulbert comes. What should we do? Sir Azadin?”

“Just listen to me without feeling bad. No matter what I think it’s right to farm. When I was in St. Mallory there was an incident where the sea froze over.”

Of course it was a disaster that occurred when the Wendigo’s dagger returned but the approach of Fimbulbert was already a fait accompli among many forces. It never hurts to be prepared.

Whether you like Celestial Fire or not you should stock up on food as much as possible before Fimbulbert approaches.

“…Well that’s true but in a situation like now even if I farm it’ll all be taken away. Just look at the quota they gave me.”

As Prince Kalintz indicated with his chin Zan the commander of the Northern Aragasa and a confidant of Prince Kalintz coughed and came in handing over some documents.

When Azadin looked through the documents he saw that they were demanding yet another huge amount of grain so much so that it could be called extortion.

“If anyone heard me they would think I was farming. It’s the tenant farmers who are being robbed.”

“You shouldn’t say such things when you’re a knight. Anyway these guys came empty-handed and even demanded that we hand over our ships. Are there any such unscrupulous people?”

“Did you give me a boat?”

Azadin asked already knowing the ending. The transport ship he had seen on his way here must have been the ship that had been requisitioned from Fireglyph.

I already know the conclusion but I wanted to hear what on earth Kalintz was complaining about.

“What can I do if I give it to them? Those guys have gathered all the high-ranking officials and are using them as their backers. I heard that all the knights of virtue support Celestial Fire? On top of that they also subdue monsters as they come so their reputation is no joke. They are all handsome men and women so the residents are going crazy because they are good at stealing food. But when the price of food goes up for the Fire Glyphs tomorrow they are going to curse me.”

“…ha ha ha.”

“It’s no laughing matter. So Sir Azadin. How is the atmosphere at St. Mallory’s?”

“It was true that the Order of Wisdom was trying to unite the entire Order with the Celestial Fire as the focus. The Order of Mercy and the Order of Courage were also working to stop it and I was able to find out the secrets of the Celestials by providing them with some assistance.”

“…The Secret of the Celestials? Isn’t that too grandiose? Of course Lord Azadin I don’t distrust your abilities but you managed to accomplish such things in the short time you spent visiting St. Mallory?”

It seems he didn’t have high expectations considering he even gave Azadin a pass to go to St. Mallory.

Indeed even Azadin had not dared to expect that he would find out such a crucial secret in such a short period of time.

“To be honest it’s not just my ability. In fact it was the Mercy Order that contacted me first. They also thought it would be difficult if they lost control to the Wisdom Order so they needed a suitable word to use.”

“Are you talking about the Mercy Church?”

Prince Kalintz was shocked to hear that Azadin had made a deal with the Cult of Mercy.

“Those guys are assassins. How dare you do business with them.”

“And the facts and evidence that I found out were handed over to the Order of Courage.”

“You received it from the Mercy Order and gave it to the Courage Order? Isn’t that something that involves assassins? It’s something that can’t be done without getting out of the boat and dangling around so you did a good job.”

Prince Kalintz clicked his tongue as he listened to Azadin’s tale of bravery.

Certainly hearing that made Azadin realize that he had done something extremely dangerous.

“Well it was worth taking that level of threat. In terms of external activities the Order of Courage was much more powerful than the Order of Mercy. And in fact I couldn’t not give it to them since the Tercio Brigade was pointing their guns at them.”

“So what is Celestial’s secret?”