The Traitor Of The Clan (1)

“Karzen. I can deal with the incoming assassins.”

“You, the one who was famous for being dull, think you can handle our Aragasa and other Messengers?”

“I’ve already won duels against many active Messengers. Besides that, I’ve done plenty of meritorious work—I’m now the Second Herald.”

“Second Herald?”

Karzen was half in doubt at the claim that Azadine had earned such a high rank.

“Please leave the assassins to me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. How could we trust you? If you turn on us and try to kill Manza-Jadek, we’ll lose our employer and be totally ruined. A life of wandering, insulted as a soulless blasphemer by everyone—one of those is enough. I don’t want my children to live such a terrible life!”

“……”

Azadine, hearing Karzen’s words, came to understand why so many quit being Messengers and chose to truly serve the Golden King.

Life as the Emperor’s Messenger was harsh and humiliating. Even if it was an honorable and necessary duty, who would want to pass such suffering on to their children?

It was only the Curse of Servitude that forced them to inherit the position—otherwise, no one would do it.

If there was a way out, then serving someone like Manza-Jadek who offered that escape was a natural choice.

‘I used to scornfully ask how they could betray the Messenger Clan and serve such a ruined man, but now that I understand the full story, I completely sympathize with their feelings.’

Thinking of a parent’s desire to give their children a life free from persecution, Azadine came to understand why Karzen and the other Messengers had chosen to serve the Golden King Manza-Jadek.

Azadine truly wanted to help Karzen and her subordinates. So he humbled himself and began to persuade them with utmost sincerity.

“If I were to personally kill Manza-Jadek and take his throne, how do you think the rest of the clan would see me?”

“They’d admire you, of course.”

“Do you think the top of the Senate wants that? I’m Azadine of Disgrace. The one everyone in the clan despised and ignored. Who would want to see someone like that suddenly rise to success?”

“But you’re already the Second Herald, aren’t you?”

“That’s exactly the problem. My sponsor, Aldis, made that decision on her own. I’m sure many are unhappy about it.”

Karzen was taken aback by Azadine’s argument. She had seen people ask to be trusted before, but never someone who asked others to trust their bad reputation.

“If you can’t trust me, then trust my infamy. Many of my kin hate me. Do you think they would ever allow someone like me to succeed?”

“That’s the strangest persuasion I’ve ever heard.”

“Regardless, please believe in my abilities. I’ve defeated several active Messengers in combat. If I stand with you, you’ll be able to get through this situation with minimal damage.”

Karzen already knew that they couldn’t stop a serious assassination attempt from real Messengers with just their own strength… so Azadine’s words touched directly on the fear and anxiety she had been wanting to escape.

“Fine. Gold Emissary. I’ll trust in His Majesty’s judgment for entrusting you with the Gold Decree. He’s not one to act rashly—he must have had his reasons.”

On the palace rooftop, beneath a stormy sky, Royal Guard Captain Karzen gathered her senior guards.

It seemed like they might be planning to eliminate Azadine altogether, but once Karzen decided to trust him, the other guards were relieved.

“If that young and energetic guy is willing to take on the Messengers, we can finally breathe easy.”

“I’m just a servant, not even a Messenger, so I’ve been losing sleep thinking about them attacking. What a relief.”

“But isn’t Azadine of Disgrace known for being a dullard? Can he really match against active Messengers?”

Among the guards were three Aragasa, but they were all older, or had always held low ranks among the Messengers—or weren’t Messengers at all. That’s why they had feared an attack. With Azadine volunteering to deal with the active Messengers, they welcomed him with open arms.

“Alright, alright. Our guard unit includes not just Aragasa, but necromancers, blood mages, and other heretical mages the King’s Church wants dead. Let’s fully mobilize their manpower and support him. Azadine, stay on the central rooftop of the palace. If we spot an assassin, we’ll call you in to assist.”

“Will that be okay?”

Doing things that way meant the guards would be scattered in all directions, while Azadine would be stationed closest to Manza-Jadek.

He had asked them to trust him, but to think they would trust him this thoroughly…

“Ah, whatever. If this is a gamble, we might as well bet everything. I wouldn’t call this a replacement, but you better defend him well. You’ve got no issue fighting your kin, right? Since they’ve treated you like dirt, this is your chance to take them down and get knighted by Manza-Jadek.”

“Knighted?”

“Why not? How long are you going to cling to the ghost of a dead emperor, wandering at his command? Settling down here isn’t a bad idea.”

“It’s hot and humid, and the bugs are vicious, but at least you won’t have to live under the eye of the King’s Church.”

It seemed life in Vthuma suited them well—Aragasa within the guard all sang its praises.

“But if that guy becomes a Gold Emissary, won’t he shoot up in rank? If he settles here, we might end up nobodies.”

At that, Karzen clicked her tongue in realization. She had originally approached Azadine out of dissatisfaction with his appointment as Gold Emissary and royal representative.

But somehow, the conversation had shifted to praising life in Vthuma and settling down.

“Well, let’s think about that after we get through this crisis. No point fighting over power before the battle even starts.”

“True enough.”

“Alright then, Joan.”

A young mage with a crow made of wax on his shoulder jumped in surprise.

“Y-Yes!”

“Stick close to him and support him.”

“Understood.”

“Who’s that?”

“Joan. He’s on our team. A blood mage—but he faints at the sight of blood.”

“……”

“Still, he’s useful as a messenger. Alright then!”

Karzen and the royal guards moved to their assigned positions.

A storm was rolling in, but the Naga’s assault remained sluggish.

The Nagas’ tactic was to first flood the city, then launch a full-on assault once the city’s defenses were rendered useless by the inundation.

They were used to fighting in water, whereas humans struggled to move once submerged—making it a logical and effective strategy.

However, this also meant they wouldn’t carry out a full-scale attack until the storm had sufficiently flooded the area.

The problem was that Vthuma regularly experienced squalls and thus had a well-maintained drainage system. This time, they had even evacuated flood-prone areas in advance and thoroughly prepared their defenses.

While Coral Sahar had been immediately overwhelmed by flooding, Vthuma’s waters drained quickly, preventing serious submersion.

Even when the Nagas tried to enter through the waterways, Vthuma’s army, which had mapped out the entire sewer system, responded with focused attacks.

Warriors of the sea serpent tribes, many times larger than the average human, surged out of the canals, but they were torn apart by war elephants. The corpses were immediately raised into corpse soldiers by necromancers affiliated with Vthuma’s forces and sent back against the Nagas.

The Nagas also used necromancy actively, but since they had to fight uphill, they inevitably suffered greater losses.

“…That’s the report.”

Joan, the blood mage of the Royal Guard, received the battle update via the wax crow perched on his shoulder and relayed it to Azadine.

Azadine and his group were taking shelter beneath a statue on the palace rooftop, avoiding the storm winds and rain.

“Vthuma’s army is doing surprisingly well.”

“Which is why they say they’ve won every battle under the Golden King’s reign. Impressive, right, Captain?”

While Shati was troubled by Vthuma’s success, Scott was elated as if it were his own achievement.

“I knew they’d fight well from the beginning. The way they evacuated and organized their defenses wasn’t ordinary.”

Azadine felt conflicted. Vthuma’s competence only meant that the Messenger Clan’s intervention would arrive sooner.

But was he truly prepared to fight his own kin? Azadine wasn’t sure of his resolve.

From the looks of it, even Aldis and Kazas were involved in this massacre.

Knowing their personalities, he wanted to believe otherwise, but Kazas had once served in the Naga Empire and was even called a Demon King. Azadine couldn’t claim to know everything about him.

And the same could likely be said for Aldis.

“How about using this chance to become a knight under Manza-Jadek and settle here? Everyone seems to be living happily. How long are you going to keep wandering? The king seems to like you. Judging by what I saw, the position you were granted looks pretty high.”

It seemed Shati liked that Manza-Jadek had promised them generous pay and status.

A wealthy and benevolent king—serving as a vassal under him would surely be the kind of happy and stable life anyone would envy. It was close enough to reach with just a hand.

But…

“What’s wrong? You don’t look too pleased. You told me to betray my kin, and now you’re feeling guilty about betraying your own?”

“It’s just…”

“That’s odd. Your kin discriminated against you, didn’t they? I doubt they treated you well. So why does betraying them hurt so much?”

Shati mocked Azadine. At that moment, Joan, the blood mage assigned to Azadine by the Royal Guard, jumped in surprise.

“Ah, we have a situation!”

“What is it?”

“There’s been an infiltration at the eastern sewer defense outpost. A highly skilled assassin—probably from the Messenger Clan. They’re requesting reinforcements.”

“Hmmm.”

Whether Azadine was ready or not, the time to fight his own people had come.

At the sewer behind Vthuma’s eastern gate, the Nagas who had infiltrated through the narrow canal were now being ambushed.

A passage just wide enough for one Naga to crawl through had been left open, and when they entered, soldiers waiting above attacked them with spears.

It was clearly a trap.

But the blood-hungry Nagas still forced their way through the narrow opening, eager to earn merit.

They deployed a squad of mummified soldiers—preserved and reinforced through necromancy. While the mummies absorbed the brunt of the spear and blade attacks, the Nagas pushed through and managed to insert a small force.

But the situation flipped again when the eastern gate guards arrived, led by war elephants.

“So it’s our turn now.”

“Good. I was getting sick of watching those fish stinkers.”

Due to the Messenger Clan’s internal conflicts, many positions had opened up, and new Messengers were starved for achievements.

Haldun, a descendant of Aman—one of Aragasa’s Five Bloodlines—joked casually.

“So, what do you think, Mediam Ethar? Don’t tell me the Ethar bloodline plans to take all of Vthuma for themselves?”