Avenger Of Vengeance (4)

“Hey, you lot. From now on, don’t use poison arrows when you attack me. An animal, or even some other person besides Yushi, could die. If you keep just that one rule, well, I’ll treat it as having challenged a superior Messenger and let it slide.”

“What? D-don’t be ridiculous. We were trying to kill you….”

“We were going to beat you to death because you’re the enemy of the clan! Of course we have to use poison or whatever else we can!”

At that, Ahalji sneered at the young Messengers this time.

“So, that means you do recognize that your own skill falls short. You cannot win by skill, so you would kill with poison if necessary? Seeing you begin by admitting that you are even more incompetent, it seems you truly know nothing of honor.”

“No, why is this pain-in-the-ass bastard acting up from earlier?”

“A petty little man who was whining because the promised gold coin was too precious dares insult the Messenger Clan? We are the Messenger Clan! Aragasa! Don’t you know that?”

“How laughable, threatening others while bound in rope after being defeated.”

“I can untie you, so do you want to fight among yourselves first?”

When Azadine asked that, Ahalji quieted down. He knew very well that even defeating these young Messengers with his own skill would be difficult.

Seeing that, Scott finally added a word as well.

“Hoo. Why are humans so foolish? The tongue is a sword that cuts the body. I understand that they do foolish things because they are uneducated and lacking in intelligence, but still, one would think they would possess at least that much wisdom as instinct, if nothing else.”

“…….”

It was astonishing to see Scott be the one telling them to watch their mouths. Azadine untied the ropes binding the young Messengers.

“Do not use poison. Make sure no other living creature around you suffers harm. If you do this again next time, then I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

“Ugh….”

“Next time?”

“Don’t tell me you mean to let us go alive and shame us? Kill us instead!”

The young Messengers were beside themselves, their joy at being freed mixed chaotically with the humiliation of having received mercy from Azadine and many other emotions besides.

“I told you, I’m not going to kill you. I said I’d leave you alive and gouge your eyes out. You all know very well how merciless the Aragasa are toward the weak, don’t you? If you lose your eyes and become useless not only as Messengers but even as servants, how do you think the friends you have spent your lives with, and even your families, would treat you?”

“…….”

The young Messengers were horrified when they heard Azadine’s words. Certainly, just as he said, the Aragasa were cruel to the weak. Was Azadine himself not living proof of that? Thinking of that, they could understand that, hating the clan, he was more than capable of doing such a thing.

Though Azadine was sparing them now, his warning that next time he would gouge out their eyes was by no means an empty threat.

“Then if they do not use poison, you mean you will not harm them even if they ambush you again?”

Ahalji, who had been listening from the side, asked in confusion. He was practically telling them to keep attacking in the future, and it was hard to tell whether that was magnanimity or arrogance.

“Showing the techniques of the elder generation to the young of the lower ranks is also the duty of the Emperor’s Messenger.”

“But you are one of the Rescue Knights….”

“Right now, I am both a Rescue Knight and the Emperor’s Messenger.”

“Is it possible to hold both posts at once?”

“Sadly, without me, there is no Emperor’s Messenger.”

When Azadine said that, the captured boy and girl Messengers flared up in anger.

“W-what nonsense!”

“That is just your one-sided claim!”

“Right. I claim that the clan betrayed its covenant with the Emperor and betrayed me, and you claim that I betrayed the clan. It seems as though those claims conflict, yet there is a part that does not conflict, is there not? If you were trained as Messengers, you should be able to catch on.”

“…….”

Hearing Azadine’s words, the junior Messengers understood what he meant.

Azadine’s claim was that the clan had betrayed the Emperor’s covenant and betrayed him.

The clan’s claim was that Azadine had betrayed the clan’s cherished wish.

These were not mutually contradictory statements. The boy Messengers who grasped Azadine’s meaning were flustered.

“You mean that only you are the rightful Emperor’s Messenger, and we are not?”

“So your heads are not entirely useless after all. That is exactly what I mean.”

“T-that is nonsense! That is….”

“You know it too, do you not? If the Emperor still existed, do you think he would have wanted the Aragasa to rule over the people of Hubris and break free of his control?”

“…….”

“The clan’s wish and the Emperor’s will are plainly different.”

“Then you are still the betrayer and enemy of our clan!”

“Yes. If opposing a clan that joins hands with the Naga and even seeks to summon Descenders in pursuit of its ambition makes me the betrayer of the clan, and means turning everyone into my enemy, then I will gladly make them my enemies.”

“Who do you think you are, you bastard!”

“Well then, I should be on my way now. You lot, get lost as you please. I am sending you off with no real harm done for now, but if you come at me again, from then on I will inflict permanent damage one piece at a time. Lightly, I’ll start with fingers; more heavily, I’ll gouge out your eyes, so make sure you understand that before you come at me again.”

Leaving them behind, Azadine set off on the road again.

Once they crossed this bridge, they entered the patrol zone of the Saint Mallory unit of the Rescue Knights Order, so neither ruffians nor duelists were seen any longer.

Ahalji, the self-proclaimed swordsmanship instructor, followed after Azadine, but since they were moving so quickly with a person mounted on the hippogriff, he eventually lagged far behind.

Carrying around that ridiculous plank of his, it was only natural that Ahalji’s pace would slow.

“Don’t you need the Emperor’s gold coin? At this rate, he won’t be able to follow us.”

Seeing Ahalji falling farther behind, Zebec made a comment.

If they gave Ahalji some time for his body to recover, would he not come charging at Azadine on his own to offer up the gold coin? That was what Zebec meant.

“Forget it. More importantly, let’s focus on Saint Mallory now.”

Perhaps Azadine’s threat had worked, because there was no attack at all that night.

The party took ample rest at an inn in Saint Mallory, and only around the afternoon did they head to the Saint Mallory branch of the Van Dyke Trading Company.

The Van Dyke Trading Company was the Aragasa’s external merchant guild. Naturally, there were Aragasa agents inside. They were dumbfounded that Azadine boldly came to their shop in person.

“I want to buy arrows. A lot of Blue-Steel Arrows. And I also need ignition bombs that burst into flame when thrown. Don’t worry. I’ll pay.”

Originally, the Emperor’s Messenger did not pay money at trading companies under the Messenger Clan, and instead even received operating funds from them. But Azadine placed money on the table.

“Um, customer, have you perhaps gone insane? What do you think this place is, that you would come here?”

“Why? Are you planning to give up doing business as a trading company? As the Emperor’s Messenger, I know exactly how many trading companies there are under the Aragasa and where they all are, so why do you think I have not spoken of it? Because I uphold the minimum gentleman’s agreement. Surely you are not suggesting we throw all that away? Shall we really strip off everything we are wearing and fight without even the barest dignity or decency? Who would lose more from that?”

“…….”

Of course, the side that would lose the trading organization would suffer far more. The side with more to lose had no choice but to restrain itself.

“Since the topic of gentleman’s agreements came up, I might as well say this too. Is it not a bit shameful to use poison arrows just to catch me?”

“Poison arrows?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hmm, some clan children who attacked me recently were using poison arrows. Well, if not, then never mind.”

“Madman….”

The Aragasa were flabbergasted by Azadine’s outrageousness, barging into their place, demanding that they uphold a gentleman’s agreement, and hand over goods.

Yet the young and hot-blooded Aragasa began to look at Azadine differently.

‘I heard he was the traitor of the clan, but his attitude is bold.’

‘They said he was Arael’s younger brother, and sure enough, he is handsome.’

‘Come to think of it, whatever else, he is the one who defeated the former leader, is he not?’

‘No. The one who defeated the former leader was Arael, and that fellow merely snatched the benefit beside her. What are you….’

‘Well, that is not exactly wrong, but….’

‘But it sounds like whoever used poison arrows could not even wound him?’

‘He is acting like this because poison arrows scare him, is he not?’

‘No, but poison arrows are a bit much. Even if you knock one aside, what if it hits someone else nearby? Which idiot shot it?’

Ordinary people would find it hard to imagine a situation where an arrow that had been knocked aside struck someone else, but among the Aragasa, that was an everyday occurrence.

That was why poison arrows had to be used only when one was certain of hitting the target; one must not create blind victims. If someone did create such a victim, it was Aragasa custom to denounce the one who shot the arrow as an incompetent fool.

In other words, from the Aragasa point of view, Azadine’s warning not to use poison arrows was entirely justified.

“So then… the Blue-Steel Arrows. What exactly do you intend to use them for? Surely you are not going to say you mean to use them against our clan?”

“I think I may have to cross blades with Sir Ject the Arbiter.”

At that moment, they all inwardly admired Azadine.

‘He intends to fight an Arbiter of the King’s Church?’

At present, the Messenger Clan had lost much of its manpower due to the failure of the old Senate’s operation and the infighting caused by the Arael branch, and was concentrating all its strength on replenishing those human resources.

Yet Azadine had built up his own warband on the Chadra Plateau and now intended to fight Sir Ject the Arbiter. While the Aragasa were laying low and biding their time, he alone was displaying dazzling feats.

On top of that, Azadine’s fine appearance, together with the Eyes of Harkonia that inspired affection in both men and women, gave him the bearing of a hero.

He was known as the traitor of the clan, but seeing him in person left a different impression. At this level, he was certainly someone worthy of admiration.

In the end, they sold Azadine Blue-Steel Arrows, incendiary bombs, and various other pieces of equipment a Messenger might use at bargain prices.

“And by any chance, have you heard any rumors about the Arael branch? How are the four of Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon doing? What about Mediam Ethar?”

“That is not something we can tell you.”

“It seems that everyone knows I joined the Rescue Knights Order and have been living on the Chadra Plateau, so I am worried Mediam Ethar might act rashly. That is why I asked. Surely you have not dragged Ethar’s daughter off and locked her away somewhere?”

“…Hmm.”

“That reaction tells me enough. At least she has not been killed or injured. Ah, have you brought the goods? Thanks. As expected, Aragasa make the best arrows.”

Azadine gathered up the Blue-Steel Arrows and incendiary bombs he had received from them and walked out. The Aragasa working at the Van Dyke Trading Company were left speechless as they watched Azadine boldly barge in, trade for the items he wanted, and leave.

Outside the shop, where he had been waiting, Zebec gave a bitter smile.