CH 17

Azadine continued his pace, despite feelings of exhaustion and tiredness. Mediam and Ismail, who were moving behind him, asked,

“The fact that an ogre and the King of Tooth appeared means that an army of monsters might be moving into the Central Hinterland, right?”

“There is a chance.”

“Then…”

“From what I saw, there were ogres, magic-using goblins, and hobgoblins as squad leaders. It felt like a regular army.”

Azadine spoke of what he saw, remembering they were aiming for a copy of the magic book.

A scout troop of monsters had been sent to search for the copy. In light of this, everything made sense.

‘Does this mean that they have a bunch of these staves?’

Azadine was curious and took out the staff.

“So, Mediam, can you tell what this is?”

“Um, a magic staff?”

Mediam took the bone staff that Azadine had pulled out.

“I think I would need to focus on it to study it in earnest. I am a bit tired now, but if you ask me to do this, is it like you acknowledging me as a servant?”

“Isn’t this the same as meeting kinsmen in the town of Manita and asking for a favor? Can I not ask this much?”

“Hmmph, you are still acting like this. May I ask you for a favor too?”

“Like what?”

“Hmm. W-well? Now that I think about it, I don’t have anything else to ask you other than to accept me as a servant?”

“Right?”

“Then, if I can think of something, I will ask later.”

“That is a bit…”

“Well, I think it will take some concentration to study this. So can I do this after a good sleep?”

“I’m tired from the constant battles as well. I have also been walking.”

“Should we rest here then?”

“No, let us hurry. The goats’ feed cost is high, so let us not delay any longer.”

They had arrived at the gateway and pretended to be a blind person and some pilgrims. They fed the goats using cow feed at an inn and bought supplies for themselves. Travel was, after all, a journey of constantly spending money.

“Follow me. Ah, before that, I think we need to start with the disguise again.”

Azadine began to change into his blind person disguise again. He wore his clothes loosely and crouched down, shrinking his height by bending his body. The relative length of his arms and legs also made them look weak and small.

His body was quite flexible, so Azadine changed how he stood to change his appearance.

After returning to his blind disguise, Azadine caught up with the people who were evacuating down the road. It didn’t take long for them to find the group since there were a lot of people traveling at night.

“Ah, you are safe.”

“Fortunately.”

They were happy that Azadine and his party were safe.

“Yes. I have good ears and heard the shouts of victory from the village.”

“Uh?”

“I think we can head back to the village. Could you possibly contact them with a signal or lantern or something?”

“That…”

“If there is a side where we can see the village, I think we can check it.”

“…”

The people who were evacuating seemed shocked at these words. However, they knew the village was safe when they noticed the lanterns at the gateway were lit.

“I think sending a few people to the village to check it out would be alright.”

Azadine’s suggestion made sense to the people. It was important to evacuate in the case of a monster invasion. Still, it wasn’t good for the women and elderly to leave the village and take such steep roads.

Count Casel of Salasma was not a merciful person. There would be no chance that people who had abandoned their village would be given refuge.

Therefore, it was everyone’s opinion that they wanted to return to the village as soon as it was safe.

“R-right.”

The people decided to stop their evacuation and sent a swift person from the group to check the state of the village. They would then meet with a runner halfway and learn of the situation.

Once the ogre invasion was resolved, the village sent a dispatch to inform the evacuating villagers.

“A member of the Messenger Clan appeared and defeated the ogre?”

“That’s right! The ogre wasn’t even the main problem. Bone! A large monster appeared. How should I describe it… Anyways, someone from the village must have called on the Messenger Clan. That is why we need to check with the outsiders.”

“The foreign merchants? Or the pilgrims?”

“Right. Where are those pilgrims?”

“Uh? Ah? What?”

“Wait, now that you mention it?”

The people were taken aback as the pilgrims had disappeared without them realizing it.

It wasn’t too difficult to make their way out under the cover of the night. Azadine changed his disguise again and grumbled.

“This is annoying.”

“Still, it is amazing, just dressing up. Your impression changes drastically, doesn’t it?”

“Well, the clothes are still loose, so there is a lot of room to hide things. You can’t do this in hot climates, so I need to be careful.”

Azadine said this and headed down the mountain path.

“Why did we send the people back to the village when there’s a chance the ogres might come back? Don’t you think it’ll be dangerous?”

“No, they had to go back. They’re family. If they are going to leave the village, they should do it together. It is better to evacuate with their family. When and where would they meet again if they scattered during the evacuation?”

“Still, if they stayed in the village and it ended up being attacked…”

“The leader there is a seasoned hunter. He can understand the situation.”

“That’s alright then. Didn’t you get into a fight, though? Are you not tired?”

“I am tired, but I have to earn money for our traveling.”

“Earning money?”

“That.”

Azadine pointed his finger down the mountain path. The illegitimate son of the Margrave, who had plundered the village, came into sight along with his mercenaries.

“As the Emperor’s Messenger, you shouldn’t commit robbery. However, it is alright if we take a small amount from people who looted a village.”

“In the end… this is it.”

Ismail clicked his tongue.

The illegitimate son and his men numbered around 20. All of them were strong mercenaries, and the children of the Messenger Clan considered them to be potentially strong opponents. Even more so considering Azadine had built up fatigue.

‘Even if he can beat them in perfect condition, it doesn’t mean a guaranteed win.’

It was dangerous to go against many people when you were alone. This was especially true when the body was exhausted, and concentration was low. Actually, in many cases, fatalities among messengers didn’t happen because of fighting strong people but from such trivial encounters.

“Isn’t it bad to be careless?”

“It is fine. Take a good look.”

Azadine clicked his tongue. Despite not being his job, he will set an example for these children.

Tarki and the mercenaries under his command were all exhausted.

The mercenaries were tired from carrying the loot from the village down the mountain path. Still, they were all aware of the horrors of the mountain roads, which was why they were taking a break in an orderly manner.

The guards looked out to the darkness while speaking.

“Don’t ogres move south during a drought? I think this is the end for us since we abandoned the frontier protection mission to help protect the lord while he searches for the book.”

“It is alright for us to get out of here.”

“Would you like to get out? To end up not making as much money? Besides, our employer hasn’t found the book yet, so I don’t think it’s quite over.”

“It’s nice to be employed long-term with high salaries.”

“Does it feel like danger is approaching?”

As they said this, they stood at the ready.

Someone was watching them in the dark.

‘They are quite skilled. They aren’t as well-armed as Kozel’s men, but they’re better. I am too tired for this too…’

Azadine, who had hidden at the base of the path, counted the number of targets and searched for a route in.

‘Do not overdo it. How many men should I take down?’

He drew a string across the tree branch and pulled it apart slightly.

-Bsss

The wood made a sound as it rubbed against each other.

“Uh?”

“What?”

Two guards came his way, and Azadine hid back in the bushes. As the guards approached, he grabbed them by the vital points in their necks.

“Kuak?!”

“Euk?!”

The two mercenaries collapsed without being able to resist. It was good that he was able to grab their vital spots because there was no armor around their necks.

‘Nice. Shall I just rob their valuables quickly?’

He approached the mercenary’s cart and searched through the box within. The box was locked, but he could unlock it without difficulty.

Treasures that had been looted from the villagers were inside, such as silver candlesticks and bulky plates. There was also money, but it wasn’t comparable to things made of gold.

‘Did Lord Kozel plunder the gold first? That gang didn’t look too rich, though. Ah, they must have sold it to merchants passing through the gate, and the money was sent home.’

Azadine took the silver candlestick and plate and then searched for other treasures. There were also boxes of fragrant wood, well-made dressing tables, and small bookshelves covered with silver leaf.

These were worthwhile, but they were too big and heavy. Additionally, the shapes were noticeable, meaning it would be obvious that they were stolen when he tried to sell them. Wouldn’t a merchant know of things like bookshelves and tables?

‘The silver candlestick is the best value for money compared to its weight. Well, that’s the loot covered. Should I look into their supplies?’

Azadine approached the mercenaries’ belongings and began to rifle through them. Beans, oats, arrowheads, and goods to feed their horses.

‘Oh, this is nice. They have arrowheads here. Nice. Not the cheap ones but real steel ones, right?’

Azadine was excited and took those things as well.

His load was heavy now. Although Azadine had greater strength compared to real humans, there were limits to what he could carry.

If he wanted to leave without a trace, he should relinquish his greed and only take things he could. However, as Azadine dug through the mercenaries’ cargo, he found something strange.

‘Uh? What is this now?’

A staff made of bone.

It was a staff identical to the one he had taken from the goblin.

‘The fact that it is here meant that this wasn’t plundered. This was something they had from the start.’

As Azadine stood in shock.

“Ah, You!”

A voice suddenly came from behind him.

Tariki woke up, climbed out of his sleeping bag, and peed into a bush.

“Ah, damn it. Is it wrong to drink before bed? It is so cold when I wake up…”

He grumbled about the conditions and went around the camp to discover that the guards were gone. He had set two people to watch his tent, but they were nowhere to be seen.