Independent Path (5)

Speaking such words against the king was utterly blasphemous, but sometimes, sincerity could never be conveyed through mere politeness.

Hearing Azadine’s blunt yet pure assessment, King Ansethus IV smirked bitterly.

“A straightforward evaluation. I may not be a wise or virtuous king, but I am not a tyrant either. I suppose I am an incompetent one, though.”

“Well, considering how much of a mess Salasma and Count Lantarique have become, you did just leave them alone.”

“……”

“I was worried you might get too relaxed.”

“You’re an insolent one, aren’t you? Azadine, was it? I’ll remember that name. Regardless, even allowing someone like you to approach the throne would send the priests of the King’s Church into a fit. Officially, I cannot permit it.”

“Officially, you say?”

“Unofficially, we can cooperate. But before that… you must first prove your loyalty to me.”

“And what exactly do you mean by proving loyalty?”

“A member of the Messenger Clan has infiltrated the food storage and is poisoning the supplies. Would you capture them for me?”

“Hm.”

Azadine hesitated upon hearing this.

Although he despised Arael, he did not want to become an eternal enemy of Arael’s faction.

If he were to kill his own people for the sake of the Kingdom of Korasar, the Aragasa would never forgive him. Even in the midst of a civil war, there were limits.

The king must have known this, which is why he set such a condition for Azadine.

Yet, if Azadine refused, the king would have no reason to trust him.

“Understood. I will investigate and put a stop to the poisoning.”

“Good. If you succeed, I will grant you special permission to investigate the throne.”

The king had given Azadine a difficult task.

Azadine also wanted to take this opportunity to meet Arael’s faction at least once.

‘I need to make sure my allies are safe. Sir Zebec, Shati, and Scott are all people they wouldn’t hesitate to kill, which is worrying.’

From the perspective of the Messenger Clan, Zebec, a Holy Knight of the King’s Church, Shati, a Naga, and Scott, an orc, had no reason to be spared.

Even though Azadine was Arael’s twin, it was unlikely that Arael’s faction would go out of their way to keep them alive just to avoid upsetting him.

‘I just hope they’re safe.’

With that thought, Azadine began investigating the food storage.

“This is the so-called poisoning?”

“Yes. As you can see, though, it’s more like…”

Rather than poisoning the food, it would be more accurate to say that the supplies had been contaminated.

Initially, the attackers had tried to set fire to the storage, but since the place was too damp, the fire hadn’t caught well. Instead, they had brought in animal carcasses and excrement, spreading their blood over the food to spoil it.

After that, they had killed a guard, pulled out his intestines, and scattered them over the provisions to further contaminate them.

King Ansethus had referred to this as poisoning.

“This is vague. Isn’t this more like sabotage? They’ve already attacked once, so there’s no guarantee they’ll return.”

“Exactly, right?”

The soldiers agreed.

“But calling it poisoning gives us an excuse to investigate internally. We’ll inspect the soldiers, the citizens, and the maids.”

“What?”

The soldiers were stunned. Was Azadine, a Messenger, saying that he would personally investigate those inside the royal palace?

“It is the king’s command. Do you have any objections?”

“Uh… no, sir.”

The soldiers understood Azadine’s intent.

This Messenger was broadening the scope of the king’s order to carry out his own objectives—rooting out Arael’s faction within the palace.

He was distorting the royal decree to achieve his own goals. Yet, because it was still technically the king’s command, the soldiers had no grounds to oppose him.

“Relax. It’s not like I plan to investigate as a Messenger.”

Azadine then donned his helmet.

“From now on, call me Inspector Sir Epheth.”

The refugees inside the castle were assigned tasks such as crafting arrows, moving stones, and drawing water.

This was both to counter the constant downpour and to prevent the madness of the Nether from seizing them. The castle’s defense commander had ordered civilians to work in exchange for food rations.

As a result, the castle was lively, and the spread of madness was suppressed. However, this also created the perfect environment for spies to operate.

Under the name of Inspector Sir Epheth, Azadine began investigating the civilians.

There were approximately twenty thousand refugees within the royal palace. It was impossible to investigate every single one.

However, Azadine knew that if the Messenger Clan was infiltrating the throne room, they would position themselves in places with easy access to it. Thus, he began narrowing down his suspects based on those who could approach key facilities.

“We should investigate the maids.”

“The maids?”

“Yes.”

“But their identities are well-documented. Some of them even have noble lineage, so they aren’t people we can easily scrutinize.”

Royal maids had to have verified backgrounds, and many were noble children who lacked magical talent to become priests or Holy Knights of the King’s Church. It was a common occupation for them.

As such, the soldiers could not imagine that the Messenger Clan had infiltrated them.

But Azadine shook his head.

“Really? On the contrary, if someone is beautiful and well-mannered, isn’t that the easiest way to infiltrate?”

“What do you mean?”

“If a beautiful woman, well-versed in etiquette, arrives with a trustworthy recommendation and claims to be of noble lineage, who would even bother verifying it?”

“Still, you can’t just go around inspecting the maids…”

“That’s right. Men and women should maintain propriety. How would you even do it?”

The soldiers protested, but Azadine simply pulled his helmet down further and puffed out his chest.

“I am Inspector Sir Epheth. Ahem.”

‘This bastard…?’

The soldiers were bewildered by Azadine’s absurd act, but they had no grounds to stop him. Even if he was twisting the orders a little, the king had indeed commanded him to investigate the incident.

“……”

Azadine took the list of maids from the head maid and began his search.

“Shall we check the maids’ quarters?”

“The maids’ quarters?”

“N-No way!”

“I’m not saying I’m going inside. I mean that agents are bound to approach the maids.”

With that, Azadine headed toward the quarters. There, he spotted a familiar figure.

A large stonemason, wearing a leather cap pulled low over his face, was repairing a wall near the maids’ quarters. Something about him felt oddly familiar.

‘That’s Kahsan, isn’t it?’

Kahsan the Bowbreaker, a member of the Messenger Clan, had disguised himself as a stonemason to work in the area. Most likely, he had taken the job to easily communicate with someone who had infiltrated as a maid.

Since Azadine was wearing a helmet, Kahsan hadn’t recognized him and was focused on his work.

Just then, the soldiers following Azadine spoke up.

“Even if His Majesty ordered this investigation, we cannot allow you to be disrespectful to the maids.”

“That’s right! The idea that a Messenger Clan member is among the maids is absurd!”

“……”

At that moment, Kahsan unconsciously glanced in Azadine’s direction.

— Thunk!

Without hesitation, Kahsan hurled his chisel at Azadine.

“Tch!”

Azadine realized that the soldiers’ careless words had ruined his plan. He struck away the chisel flying toward his face.

“Hik?!”

“Get down!”

Azadine swung his helmet to block the stone fragments scattering toward the soldiers.

“Azadine?!”

“Kahsan. If you’re here, that means Nefti must be nearby too, right?”

“Tch!”

Without answering, Kahsan turned and bolted. Despite his massive, bear-like size, he moved with incredible speed, vanishing in an instant.

“Stop right there!”

Azadine gave chase, but Kahsan grabbed whatever was within reach and hurled it behind him. Azadine swept aside the flying debris with his cloak and closed the distance.

“Damn it!”

“Kyaaah!”

Ahead of Kahsan, a handmaiden and a maid carrying laundry collided with him.

With a smirk, Kahsan grabbed the handmaiden and flung her down the stairs.

“Ugh!”

Azadine leaped forward, catching the handmaiden and saving her. In that brief moment, Kahsan cast a spell.

A small stone shot toward Azadine, imbued with Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon - Yellow Crane magic, bending sharply midair and homing in on his vital points.

This spell was usually cast on arrows to give them extreme directional shifts, but it also significantly increased penetration power. In this case, the enchanted stone was like a spear.

Azadine braced himself, channeling his anti-magic resistance, and kicked the stone away. However, in the brief window of distraction, Kahsan widened the gap between them.

“You bastard! Ugh…”

Azadine felt his leg going numb. Even though he had deflected the enchanted stone, the residual magic had temporarily paralyzed his limb.

By the time he recovered, Kahsan had already escaped.

“Damn it. How is a guy that big so fast… Ugh.”

Annoyed, Azadine helped the handmaiden and maid back up before sighing. The soldiers arrived moments later, panting.

“Huff… huff… huff…”

“Th-That was insanely fast! You—!”

“S-So, what happened? Did you catch the Messenger Clan member?”

“Ugh, for god’s sake… Could you all shut up for a second? Are you trying to announce to the whole castle that we’re hunting the Messenger Clan? Because of you lot, he noticed and ran off!”

“It’s because of us?”

“Yes! You idiots kept loudly discussing the investigation while he was right there listening! All that effort to stay disguised was pointless!”

“S-So… will you report this to the higher-ups?”

The soldiers paled. If Azadine reported this as their fault, they would be punished—possibly even flogged. The thought of public whipping terrified them.

“Forget it. I lost him too, so I can’t act like I did everything right. I’ll report the situation, but I’ll cover for your mistake.”

“……”

The soldiers were shocked. A Messenger Clan member… was covering for them?

“So what will you do now? Will you still investigate the maids?”

“No. After that commotion, whoever infiltrated as a maid will know we’re onto them and will flee. Instead, question the stonemasons.”

Kahsan had successfully lost Azadine, but sprinting through the castle had naturally drawn attention.

With his enormous size and distinctive features, it was impossible for him to blend in. To escape, he killed a man, disposed of the body, and used the opportunity to vanish.

Meanwhile, Azadine gathered the soldiers and met with the head of the stonemasons.

“…H-He was quite skilled. He said he was a stonemason from Lantarique, and I believed him.”

The head stonemason wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Who did he meet with most often?”

“A maid named Riterua. She said he was from her former master’s house, so I didn’t think much of it.”

“Riterua? What’s her height? Hair color? Features? Why was he working near the maids’ quarters? Who assigned him that task?”

Azadine fired off questions, overwhelming the stonemason leader.