Night of the Soulless Heathens – 347



#347. Erantry Quest 3

“Have you heard the rumor?!”

“The Kingdom of Arangi offered the title of Count to Sir Azadin?!”

“Oh a count from the Jeonryong clan….”

Such rumors began to circulate among the soldiers.

Edir and Giddith came to the training grounds to be tested to see if they had the skills befitting the status of Doppelsöldner and heard the rumor.

The people of the Chadra Plateau were as happy as if they were one of their own when they heard that Azadin had been granted the title of Count.

However some of the refugee soldiers were clearly skeptical or doubtful.

“A noble position for that herald clan?”

“oh my god.”

“What the heck? Are you doubting Sir Azadin now?”

Then Edir stepped forward.

“It was the Heralds who murdered Lord Darhan Zadek the last royal of the Kingdom of Btuma. They are soulless people who mercilessly kill even the noble God-Kings…”

Then the soldiers of the Chadra Plateau burst into laughter.

“Puhaha. So what?”

“Could it be that this is all a ruse? Why on earth would he spend all this money to help people and train soldiers?”

“Aren’t you the one who came here to get a piece of that? Are you suspicious?”

“I… know very well how fatal it is when trust is betrayed. Of course right now I have a wife and children so I need to at least put food on the table… but even if I have to do something unreasonable I would rather lose my life.”

Although he is tempted by the salary that Azadin offers he is afraid that he will lose something more than his life. When Edir spoke honestly the soldiers around him spoke.

“At least Sir Azadin is clean.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because the Chadra Plateau was originally a place of exile for the Knights Templar. No fool would come to the Chadra Plateau to infiltrate the Knights Templar and increase their power.”

All the soldiers from Chadra acknowledged it.

Azadin was not the leader of a large warlord worthy of being awarded a countship from the beginning.

He worked his way up from the bottom and someone who has proven his skills cannot possibly be a spy.

“That guy doesn’t need to go undercover. He built it from the ground up with his bare hands.”

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“I guess everyone likes him.”

“Rather than liking it…”

“He has done so much.”

Those who were exiled to the Chadra Plateau were once forced to live like beasts. They were unable to move from their place of exile and inside vicious criminals and their superiors suppressed their freedom and they had no hope for the future.

Azadin integrated it to create hope.

He eliminated those who were useless and unworthy and united the lands of the Chadra Plateau. After taking control of Naisandhokar and Sandhokar he even made trade with the outside world possible.

There is hope.

At a time when the whole world was filled with despair there was more hope in the Chadra Plateau than ever before so it was unreasonable to not like the leader who brought such guidance.

“But what does it really do for him? Why does he do this?”

“We don’t know either. But from what we’ve heard….”

The soldiers nodded and said.

“It seems that Sir Azadin truly believes in the virtues of the Trinity.”

“yes?”

“By practicing wisdom courage and compassion. I really want to return the Rescue Knights to their original form.”

“Is that even possible…?”

Edir said this surprised at what he had said.

In an age when the virtues of the three were a laughing stock even though they relied on the Order of the Knights of Salvation the story of the three virtues was regarded as a fairy tale to appease children.

Does Azadin really believe that?

“A real knight? A herald?”

“We don’t know either. The captain has never said anything like that with his own mouth.”

“but….”

Everyone knew.

To Azadin these three virtues are so precious that he does not speak them out loud. If he speaks of them he will be ridiculed and doubted and that will soon hurt him. Those who speak of virtues out loud and wave them around like a flag are trying to use virtues as a justification and weapon. Those who truly cherish virtues simply practice them without saying a word.

Even the most ignorant of people realized this fact… Azadin practiced his virtues silently without forcing or preaching about them.

‘I can’t believe it.’

Edir did not want to believe. He believed in the royal family of Bthuma Manja Zadek and his son Darhan Zadek.

It felt like an insult to his master that Azadin a member of the herald clan was practicing virtue that even the Golden King’s bloodline had failed to do.

But it’s not Azadin himself who’s claiming it it’s the people around him the soldiers and his subordinates who saw the situation saying it… It’s foolish to say you don’t believe it.

*********

Azadin gathered the warlords and spoke about the proposal for the appointment of a Count that had been brought by the envoy from the Kingdom of Arangi.

“The rank of Count. I must accept it unconditionally! Captain! A Count is a Count! You will immediately become a great noble!”

The sergeant major Legion was excited.

“If I don’t give it to you you’ll definitely start a fight about using the Arangi Kingdom’s territory without permission… so there’ll be a lot I’ll have to give you.”

Likewise the same soldier Colonel Calan agreed that he should be given the title of Count.

Scott on the other hand opposed it.

“I disagree sir. Our current grain reserves are… about four years’ worth based on last year’s consumption. Sir. Do you know what I mean?”

Based on last year’s consumption it’s 4 years’ worth but the current consumption is much more than last year.

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This was because Azadin continued to accept refugees.

“Ha. How dare someone with such great intellect like me take on such administrative duties? There are other magicians Captain. Why don’t you use them instead of using your great intellect like mine for such work?”

Scott being the type who needs to show off started bragging about his administrative work.

Although Azadin’s other subordinates did not like Scott’s arrogant remarks Scott actually caught many embezzlers by checking the ledgers.

Since he has such a great track record no one can say anything to him.

“I know you tried. I appreciate it. But Scott if you’re so smart you must know how much food is needed from the refugees we’ve accepted now. How long can we last with the food we have now?”

“Based on the refugees we’ve received so far we’ll need about 2 years and 6 months’ worth of food. But if you receive the title of Count the Kingdom of Arangi will send a lot of refugees. Will you be able to handle it?”

It is definitely a problem. If you accept the earldom they will send a lot of refugees and if you don’t the Arangi Kingdom will retaliate. Even if Azadin’s party is in effective control if the Arangi Kingdom claims the Naisandhokar area the road between Sandhokar and the Chadra Plateau will be cut off. If they were satisfied with just collecting taxes it would be fine but if the Arangi Kingdom is resentful of being rejected for the earldom there is no way they won’t retaliate even more.

“According to the prophecy Fimbulbert will last at least three years. Even if we save what we have now for two and a half years there will still be people starving to death. No it won’t even be two and a half months. In fact we’ve been accepting refugees all this time. And the Kingdom of Arangi is sending more refugees. If this continues we might end up stealing food from others.”

Count Ivchek of Sandokar slyly changed the subject to ‘we’.

Sandokkar was a gateway fortress so it had six months’ worth of food stockpiled compared to three months’ worth for a normal castle.

But since we’ve ruined this fall harvest even if Fimbulbert only comes this year and ends we’re bound to experience the barley pass next spring.

In such a situation Count Sandokar Ivechek is secretly coveting the food stockpiled on the Chadra Plateau.

I hope that Azadin and the Chadra Plateau will only take care of Sandokar. Let’s ignore the large number of refugees that the Arangi Kingdom will take in.

Even if I think about it myself it is a mean and lowly idea but there is nothing I can do about it.

“No don’t accept refugees. But I would like to connect with Sandokar. Are you saying I should receive the title of Count? Or not?”

Niselda who had been listening became annoyed and questioned Count Ivechek.

“Shouldn’t we find a way to do that… well?”

“So what?”

“That’s um…..”

Evecheck was speechless and tucked his tail between his legs.

Azadin turned his gaze to Cedrin. The wild druid Cedrin had been contributing greatly to the reclamation and development of the territory and the construction of land and was now a figure similar to the captain of the engineers for Azadin’s warlords.

“Cedrin. What do you think?”

“I wish you would reject refugees but you wouldn’t reject refugees would you?”

Although Azadin had never said it himself everyone now knew something about him.

Azadin is a true knight. At a time when all the Knights of Salvation have become politicians and collaborators and have neglected virtue he a member of the Herald Clan is dedicating himself to upholding virtue.

There is no way that such an Azadin would ignore the refugees.

“There is a way to produce food. It will destroy some of nature.”

“Oh…..”

Everyone was delighted by Sedrin’s words. They were all relieved to hear that they would be able to secure food regardless of whether nature was destroyed or not.

“But if I do that I will lose my life. So before that I want to give peace to my family who are bound to Sok.”

Wild Druid Cedrin hated the idea of ​​his family being enslaved by the wights of Sok so he pressured Azadin under the pretext of food production.

But Azadin shook his head.

“No Sedrin. There’s no way I could produce food while killing you.”

“…therefore.”

Sedrin started to get angry.

“Don’t be friends with the Soks. That bastard is playing with the death of my family and if you befriend them it will seem like you are approving of the Soks’s trampling on my family! Do you need food? I can solve it by risking my life! And Azadin why do you ignore my earnest demands even when I threaten you with my life?”

Then Selim the Minotaur came to Azadin’s defense.

“…No there. That’s a bit too much. Captain Azadin doesn’t want to be friends with Lord Sok. It’s more like he comes by on his own says what he wants and then disappears.”

“Then I should stab him in the head as soon as I see him.”

“If that were possible you should have done it Sedrin.”

“what?”

Sedrin was indignant but the others who knew well how harsh Lord Sok was all responded to Selim.

Without the help of Lord Sok the attacks by the cult mutants and Griselda would have resulted in massive casualties and the loss of Ashajit’s eyes might not have been possible.

Sedrin would rather kill Sok and free his family than receive any benefits but the other Azadin warlords would rather postpone a showdown with Sok as long as possible.