Night of the Soulless Heathens – 6



#6. Bold Challenger 2

The curse of service.

It is a contract between the Emperor and the Herald Clan. The Emperor provides various benefits and grimoires while the Herald Clan continues to provide suitable talents for the Herald and all the clans cooperate wholeheartedly with the Emperor’s Herald System.

However this contract contained a clause that would punish any who betrayed their clan and the Emperor with a terrible death.

But so far only one person has invoked this provision.

That was Acre the Traitor Azadin’s father.

*********

The Herald Clan participated in the war of succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Tarasar in order to be freed from the curse of service and after many sacrifices they finally obtained a copy of the Book of the New King.

However there was one person among the clan who stole the copy of the New King’s Book and ran away. That person was Acre. The elders and leaders threatened Acre by casting a curse of service on the traitor.

‘If you do not return the copy of the New King’s Book the curse will kill you.’

‘If you don’t want to be killed by a curse hand over a copy of the New King’s Book.’

However Acre scattered copies of the Book of the New Kings into the sky from the Heart Mountains of the World scattering them throughout the Eight Kingdoms.

In the end the angry elders did not lift the curse and Acre died giving birth to twins in a male body the twins Azadin and Arael.

Ironically among these two twin siblings Arael is a peerless beauty a powerful magician and a genius swordsman and has grown to become the strongest messenger in the clan’s history…

Azadin was a lesser fool.

Arael was blessed in every way but Azadin was an incompetent person below the average for a typical herald clan.

In the Jeonryeong clan everyone starts to learn how to use a bow at the age of 8 and by the age of 12 they have mastered the Iseongung (two-legged bow).

The art of shooting the first arrow with the second arrow and dropping it.

It means becoming a master of archery.

However until he was eight years old Azadin occasionally wet his bed and could not even hang a bow. This may not seem so strange for the people of Hybris but it was an unbearable weakness for the Heralds.

Eventually Azadin failed the basic training of the Herald Clan and was bullied by other children until he was taken in by the elder Kazas at the age of 12 and became his servant.

However just three months ago Azadin became the messenger at the insistence of Elder Kazas.

Although it was a forced job due to the curse of service being the Emperor’s messenger was an honorable and glorious position for the messenger clan.

The entire clan strives to become a messenger… The moment they turn 8 they all gather together and go through a ‘selection process’ to have their talents and abilities evaluated and become messengers.

Azadin was eliminated during the selection process.

‘Azadin is the dullest and most stupid of the messenger clan.’

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‘That boy couldn’t even string the lightest bow until he was 12 let alone the bowstring that everyone else was able to use.’

‘There’s no way a guy like that can perform the duties of a messenger.’

‘He is a man who cannot even be entrusted with a servant let alone a messenger.’

Those who had spent their childhood with Azadin claimed that in their memories he was weak helpless and cowardly and that it was unjust for him to become a messenger even if he had the recommendation of the elders.

In fact the parents of the Jeonryong clan used to scare their daughters with these words when they did not listen.

‘If you keep doing that I’ll make you marry Azadin.’

In other words from the perspective of the messenger clan Azadin was an insult in itself.

The cursed incompetent Azadin.

That was the evaluation within the clan.

*********

“You really can’t use magic like the rumors say? Are you cursed?”

“I don’t know if the curse is true or not but he is known to be incapable of magic. However that difficult elder Kazas took him as his disciple.”

“What’s the point of that? He’s a traitor’s son anyway. A traitor’s son who can’t even use magic is a messenger. Isn’t it because someone like that is just taking up space that someone as capable as me can’t become a messenger? I’ll have to test my skills when we meet.”

“Oh no.”

The boy was terrified at the girl’s words that she would test his skills.

“What’s wrong?”

“A servant should not attack a messenger recklessly.”

“Can we have a duel?”

“If a servant challenges a messenger to a duel and loses he will be punished. All rights over your life and death will be his.”

“What if I lose? Hehe. There’s no way I’d lose to a half-ass who can’t even use magic right?”

“But Elder Kazas is a mysterious being. He is mentioned in the Senate but no one has ever seen him in person. Rumor has it that he is an elf. Could it be that he sent Azadin as his messenger simply because he was a young man and wanted to do him a favor?”

“Then? Elder Kazas took in a idiot who couldn’t even hold a bow until he was 12 and trained him. He came down early this year or late last year. How many years did he train for? Did he suddenly transform into a powerful being who could devour other messengers after training for about 10 years?”

“that….”

It would be nice if that were possible but unfortunately it isn’t.

The training method of the Herald Clan is already perfected to the point where the order may be reversed later on but if there is an overwhelming difference at the age of 12 that difference will remain for the rest of one’s life.

At least by the age of 12 you need to be able to complete basic training without falling behind so that you have the potential to excel or make great strides later on.

Then a bird descended from above and landed on her shoulder. The bird was a translucent spirit made of soft light.

It was an artificial spirit created using foresight magic.

It can share vision and monitor its surroundings but its body is translucent so even if it is blown away it will not be detected by those around it.

“Hmm. I think I found the messenger of the rumor. That’s good. Hide behind the rock over there with the Ismail goat.”

“yes?”

“I must check Azadin’s skills.”

The girl said so and took off the moon-shaped bow she was wearing around her waist and filled the bowstring.

“Oh my goodness. Mr. Medium…..”

The boy was embarrassed but he could not disobey the girl’s order so he hid behind a rock by the roadside dragging the goats with him.

“Okay then!”

The girl took out two arrows from the quiver and removed the arrowheads.

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“I don’t think that’s possible but it would be difficult if it were true. Should I just say this as a greeting?”

She fired one foot high into the sky and the other at a slightly lower angle. It was the skill of the Jeonryong Clan the Yi Seon-Gung adjusted to hit the one coming up from below the mountain path at the same time.

The girl who fired two arrows like that quickly hid behind a rock.

*********

-Waaaaaaaaa!

Arrows flew aiming for Azadin.

“Ugh?!”

I took out my empty quiver and twisted my body to the side to catch the flying arrows. Two arrows one on a low trajectory and one on a high trajectory were sucked into my quiver almost simultaneously.

Two arrows flew at him almost simultaneously.

This is the skill of the Jeonryeong clan Lee Seon-gung.

The arrow struck the bottom of the quiver without going through so it seemed to be an empty arrow without a head. Even so if it had hit it would have been a disaster.

“Who are you?”

Those who had been hiding behind the dry rock revealed themselves. They were a boy and a girl leading a mountain goat.

“Hmm. Rumor has it that he can’t even use magic but he’s still a messenger.”

The girl approached him strutting. She had bright blonde hair and a contemptuous look in her eyes but she was as beautiful as a fairy.

Judging from the fact that she was holding the Moonlight Bow the bow of the Herald Clan it seemed that this girl was the one who shot the arrow at Azadin.

“Was that arrow you just shot your way?”

“Yes I sent you a quick greeting. How is it? My greeting.”

“Ah. I I….”

The boy following the girl was timid unlike the confident girl. The brown-haired boy with droopy eyes seemed embarrassed perhaps because he was of a lower status than the girl.

“What are your names?”

“This is the Medium of Etar.”

“I am Ismail. I am here to assist you in this mission.”

“Aide? This is it?”

Azadin burst into laughter at the brazen behavior of the kids. As the son of a traitor who betrayed his clan he had been bullied by his clan since childhood so he was used to such things.

But would he have thought that even the brats who called themselves servants would attack him?

“I just added my arrows because I felt your tradition was empty. Wasn’t it a great help?”

The girl boldly defended her attack with these words.

“And there’s no way a messenger could die from a pointless arrow shot from such a long distance. If that were the case then he’s not fit to be a messenger. Isn’t that right?”

“Are you laughing now?”

Azadin’s expression was hardened.

Even though it was a pointless arrow he dared to launch a surprise attack. He felt deep in his bones that he was despised by his clan but he was not a spineless person who would sit still and be insulted by such a child.

“First of all apologize for your rudeness Medium. Otherwise I won’t talk to you.”

“You’re not talking? But….”

“If you want something from me respect me. Either as a member of Aragasa or as an enemy! Which one?”

Enemy or compatriot?

Azadin was asking that. Medium was about to say something but then realized that Azadin was not the type of person who could handle jokes so he apologized.

“Etar’s Midiam apologizes for the rudeness Herald Azadin. I am Aragatha.”

Within the contract of service the Aragats are one.

It meant to treat them as compatriots not enemies.

“Fine. I accept your apology. But from now on don’t ever point your weapon at anyone again. If I had been nervous and fought back my arrows would have been tipped. Do you understand? If you don’t intend to kill you shouldn’t play with weapons.”

“yes.”

Azadin’s warning was valid. Among the heralds the concept of a rider is so strongly tied to the hierarchy that it is common for someone to be harassed with a pointless arrow…

In other places once the arrows start flying it’s no different from saying “Let’s kill each other.” This girl wasn’t stupid so she immediately understood what Azadin was saying.

“But is there water?”

I’m extremely dehydrated and I feel dizzy because I moved so quickly in response to the arrow that suddenly flew at me.

“Oh yes. Here it is.”

Ismail got down from the goat took out his water bottle and handed it to Azadin. Azadin took the water bottle and put it to his mouth.

Carefully hold the water in your mouth and wait for it to be slowly absorbed into your mucous membrane. Just by doing this you will gradually regain vitality in your body.

“You look thirsty.”

“hmm.”

The boy and girl waited for Azadin who was absorbed in drinking the water without saying a word. He drank the water little by little so that he would not get sick and then sat down for a while to meditate.

‘It’s completely different from the rumors?’

Midiam a girl from the messenger clan felt embarrassed.

The cursed Azadin was a source of ridicule and mockery among the heralds. The only time the humorless heralds would laugh was when they were taunting and joking about Azadin but the young man before them seemed to be a rather strict and proud herald.

But now that she had come this far there was no turning back.