Night of the Soulless Heathens – 46



#46. Aldis 1

“Even though it’s a relief item this bread is honestly not of good quality.”

It was a bread that was as hard as a rock and if you hit it it would probably break a human skull. When Azadin sniffed the bread he could smell the wood as if it was mixed with sawdust.

“There’s sawdust mixed in?”

“Right? That’s what the Rescue Knights are like. They receive a lot of alms but the giving is only formal.”

When Medium badmouthed the Rescue Knights Azadin shook his head.

“Formal and all the only ones taking care of the refugees right now are the Rescue Knights. There are so many mouths to feed so there’s no point worrying about the quality of the food.”

But Azadin who was examining the bread again frowned.

“But I just can’t eat this bread on its own.”

Azadin broke the bread put a piece in his mouth and frowned.

“Ugh I want to spit it out. But I have to eat what I put in my mouth. This is bread prepared by the Rescue Knights for the refugees so I can’t just put it in my mouth out of curiosity and throw it away.”

“Isn’t it bad for your health?”

“It’s okay. I’m very strong. I’ll be able to digest this bread.”

Azadin struggled to swallow the bread he had put in his mouth.

“Should I boil some porridge? I think it will help with digestion.”

“okay.”

“But I don’t really want to eat the porridge with the bread in it. Do I have to put it in? Give it to the other refugees?”

“You’re complaining about the rice. Just boil it well so that it doesn’t get mixed up.”

Azadin prepared a pot and first coated the pot with spices and marinated lard then added water and oats. As he was boiling the porridge children gathered around him.

“In the name of the Archangel of Mercy the merciful elder I ask you to do me a favor.”

“I starved for three days.”

“I’m hungry.”

Refugees near the campsite are blatantly forcing children to beg.

“What does the Rescue Knights give?”

“Only give it to adults and tell the children to join the Rescue Corps.”

“There are a lot of people but there are too few sheep.”

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

The children claimed that and looked at the boiling pot with shining eyes. Their faces were pale from starvation but their eyes were shining brightly so it seemed that their claim that they were starving was not a lie.

Azadin also threw the Rescue Knights’ bread into the pot to increase the amount of porridge and then divided it among the children’s bowls.

“Eat and leave right here.”

“yes?”

“Eat and go.”

Azadin fed porridge to his children.

“What are you doing?”

This time the one who started a fight was not Midiam and Ismail but Tarki who had organized the camp.

“Why do you ask me a knight by profession to take care of horses and goats and feed those lowly creatures? After all the Rescue Knights are the ones who are providing relief!”

“I brought bread from the Rescue Knights. Since I received relief goods as a non-refugee I have to pay it back with interest.”

“The interest rate seems excessive.”

“Don’t be so stingy with the kids’ food. They’ll grow up well later… okay?”

At that moment a group of people approached Azadin’s camp.

On their luggage was a small flag of the Korasaar Peddler Guild. The clan had discovered Azadin and come looking for him.

“You are doing a really great job.”

The one leading the peddler group took off his hood. He was a middle-aged man with a thin build who looked tough.

“I never thought that Azadin would walk down the street confidently while being wanted by the clan.”

“Regional leader?”

“Should I call you Regional Leader Salem? You said that you treated our union members very badly? You said that you beat and humiliated them to make them listen to you because a messenger is superior to a servant.”

The reason why Azadin went to Salasma was because Salem the local chief of Salasma was personally leading the peddler movement.

However this local leader was extremely angry. As a high-ranking official of the Saban family he seemed to have been informed of all the rudeness(?) that Azadin had shown to the members of the Korasaru Peddler Guild. He glared at Azadin as if he was going to kill him with just his eyes and shouted.

“Get people around you.”

The servants secure the space by erecting human walls to keep others out.

“Clear the people around Tarki.”

Azadin also asked Tarki to expel the man.

“Hey you little brats! This old man wants to eat the meat of a child so if you come near him carelessly he’ll roast you in the campfire! Get out of here!”

“Wow!”

The children ran away in shock. In an instant they drove away the people around them. This time Midiam and Ismail forced Tarki to retreat. In this way they made room for Azadin and the local chief Salem to have a private meeting.

As the local chief applauded servants brought in an auxiliary chair and set it up behind him and brought in a pole and a cloth to set up an awning. The sun had set and the night was deep and it was already dark so putting up the awning completely blocked the view of the surroundings.

That’s not all. The servants took out instruments and started playing drowning out the conversation between Azadin and the chief. Azadin and the chief Salem began a private conversation in the space they had created.

*********

“You are as good as any nobleman.”

Azadin was disgusted at the sight of the local chief Salem enjoying his wealth. The awnings chairs and musical instruments were not things that ordinary travelers would carry. Salem’s hobby was to carry cargo separately to show off his dignity which was a greater luxury than that of the average noble.

“Shut up Azadin. I’m itching to kill you right now. If you weren’t hiding in a crowded place I would’ve killed you a long time ago.”

Salem threatened Azadin. It was an empty threat.

“You said Arael betrayed you? Then I don’t think that’s the case now. It’s unlikely that Arael betrayed alone. Didn’t the group that followed Arael betray along with her?”

Arael was a symbol of those who did not belong to the five founders and she had many followers. If she had betrayed the Herald Clan then there would be quite a few zealous factions that would betray them so the current Herald Clan leadership would have been hit with a bomb.

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

“You! Are you in league with Arael?”

Salem’s anger proved Azadin’s guess correct.

“No absolutely not. That would never happen.”

Azadin touched the wound. The scar on Arael’s face stung.

“I want you to withdraw my dismissal. I am not on Arael’s side.”

“You cheeky brat. Why should I do that? I’ve heard that you and Arael aren’t on good terms but that could just be a desperate measure to deceive others.”

“Haha. You’re talking nonsense. What’s the point of infiltrating my clan? Everyone in my clan looks down on me. If I infiltrate will they trust me and give me good information? You know very well that that’s not possible right?”

“….”

Azadin’s words were sarcastic and sarcastic but true. The whole herald clan despised him but they had been staging a feud between the siblings all these years in order to infiltrate Azadin as a spy? Since their childhood?

That can’t be. The local leader knows that there’s some truth to what Azadin is saying but before that he hated Azadin.

‘I don’t like it.’

Salem the head of the Salasma region was a man who valued authority and hierarchy. For him orders from above were absolute. Therefore it was entirely reasonable for the elders to dismiss Azadin.

Azadin is not on Arael’s side? He did not join the rebellion? What does it matter?

In the Eight Kingdoms even in the lands of dwarves and elves the system of collective punishment was a given. In a world where it was common sense to punish a felon’s family Azadin was a criminal simply because he was Arael’s blood relative.

Even if Azadin and Arael are not on the same side and are not on the same side there are many who want to kill him to vent their anger.

However Azadin was recklessly shaking up authority and hierarchy by claiming his innocence. If he had just knelt down and begged the higher-ups would have taken care of it but he couldn’t wait and dared to assert himself as a criminal.

‘And you’re laughing at me for saying stupid things?’

Azadin said this because he was frustrated that he saw himself as being on Arael’s side. However from the regional leader’s perspective it only sounded like Azadin was mocking him.

“I understand that you are not on Arael’s side. But why should I consult the Senate to overturn your dismissal?”

“Because that’s the right thing to do. A young man from the clan and a messenger is being harmed by an innocent false accusation and the local chief whose mission it is to help the messenger is ignoring that fact?”

“Hmm helping you would be the right thing to do. But maybe not? Maybe you are Arael’s spy or even if you are not you can threaten Arael’s family to restrict her actions.”

“Are you saying that you will take Arael hostage? That would be impossible wouldn’t it?”

“Even if that were not the case if the elders and leaders were to withdraw their words and actions in the current situation the prestige of the organization would be shaken. It is more important than ever to correct the organization’s discipline and hierarchy.”

“No Arael has already betrayed and left so the organization’s prestige has already been completely destroyed. Weren’t you the ones who incited Arael by calling him the descendant of Harconia and the greatest genius of all time? You have already proven your own lack of vision so do you think you can revive the organization’s discipline by firing an innocent man now?”

“You! Do you dare criticize what the elders and the leader have decided?”

Salem was indignant that Azaddin dared to criticize the elders’ handling of affairs.

In fact this was a communication problem that arose because Azadin and Salem had the worst compatibility. Salem was saying that if the elders and the leader ‘immediately’ retracted their words and actions the prestige of the organization would be shaken.

In other words he was telling Azadin to listen quietly and not to openly rebel since he would later withdraw his position to avoid damage to his reputation when the mood died down.

But to Azadin it sounded like he was being told to die alone rather than lose face. It couldn’t be helped since there were so many things omitted.

On the other hand from Salem’s perspective it feels like explaining everything in detail to Azadin who is her subordinate is too much of a hassle and she feels ashamed of that alone.

‘I am the superior. Don’t you think I should do well for you? Why do you the inferior bother me so much? Are you trying to hurt my dignity?’

This is how Salem felt towards Azadin. The clever Azadin understood well what Salem was trying to say and why he was acting this way but he hated it because of that.

“Okay. Then I won’t rebel on the surface so please lift the execution order immediately and give me a firm answer that you will withdraw the dismissal within six months at the latest. Write up a contract…”

“You insolent brat! You dare to get a contract from me when words alone would suffice?”

“When lives are at stake words won’t suffice.”

Azadin also raised his voice.