Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Kin of the Fangs 2
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“You bastard!”
“I’ll curse you until the day I die!”
Those who had lost one of their eyes showered him with all sorts of insults, as if their fawning moments ago had been a lie. Some of the curses were quite creative, leaving Azadin impressed.
“Being full of vigor is good, but wrap those wounds properly so they don’t get infected. Wash them clean. It’s important to rinse the severed optic nerve with strong liquor. And no drinking until they heal.”
Azadin gave them advice to prevent further infection and led his mountain goat onward. Midiam and Ismail followed behind him, towing their own goats.
*********
The mountain goats walked steadily, having recovered with plenty of water and grass. Midiam glanced back at the bandits they’d left behind and smiled.
“I was surprised at first, thinking you were just letting them off without any punishment. But watching what you did, it seems like a pretty good approach after all.”
“Those who bully the weak and pillage won’t understand that pain until they become the weak themselves. Losing one eye will ruin their depth perception, making brawls a real hassle from now on. That’ll shift them from the perspective of the plundering strong to the plundered weak, giving them plenty of time for remorse and repentance. People can’t understand others without experiencing their position firsthand.”
“So what you’re doing isn’t just saving their lives—it’s saving their souls too. Giving them a chance to repent. I mean, other clans would’ve just killed them outright, so letting them live is already a mercy. Oh, but what if their wounds get infected and they die?”
“Well, then they’ll have to hope for the afterlife. I’m only human, powerless to do everything.”
Azadin was undoubtedly a righteous man, but he was no pushover. He executed those who needed executing, even if it meant they might lose their lives as a result.
In some ways, it seemed even crueler than killing them cleanly.
“But is it really okay to let them live? They harbor grudges against you now.”
Ismail still couldn’t fully accept Azadin’s methods and looked uneasy. But Azadin just shook his head firmly.
“What, they might not even survive the trip down the mountain, and by the time they report me, it’ll be far too late anyway. Though it does bother me a bit.”
“Huh?”
“The fact that Margrave Kazel is looking for a copy of the New King Codex. There’s no reason he wouldn’t want one, but a noble of his stature should know better than to chase after it recklessly.”
“I heard on the way here that Margrave Kazel ranks fairly high in the Korasar royal succession order. But he lost the succession struggle and had most of his lands stripped away, leaving him as just a margrave...”
Ismail relayed the rumors he’d picked up along the way.
“Maybe he’s politically out of the running for the throne but hopes to claw his way back with the magical power from a New King Codex copy?”
“That’s exactly what’s odd about it. The Korasar king is younger than Margrave Kazel and perfectly healthy. If he’s still pursuing a copy despite that... hm. A dangerous man. We’ll need to stay vigilant until we’re out of his territory. Time to ditch the mask.”
The hawk mask, symbol of the Heralds, left an unforgettable impression, so he had to remove it to travel incognito.
“Oh, finally getting to see your real face.”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s hideous—not much to look at.”
Azadin said that and removed his mask. Midiam and Ismail both gasped in surprise.
Azadin’s bare face was strikingly handsome, with a sharp nose and defined eyebrows. Except for the long horizontal scar where his eyes should have been.
“Y-Your eyes... they’re gone?”
“That’s why Azadin...”
The name Azadin came from an eyeless evil dragon in the ancient myths of the Herald clan.
The myth passed down among the Heralds told of the eyeless death dragon Azadin, incarnation of the reaper, clashing endlessly with the righteous angel Arael in the battle between good and evil. On the final day of the world, their mutual destruction would end the mythic age.
The name of the eyeless death dragon suited him perfectly.
“But you never seemed blind at all.”
“And yet... I can see. Little one... Midiam.”
“You can see without eyes? How?”
“No idea. I’ve just always been able to see, ever since birth without eyes. That’s why they named me Azadin.”
Azadin tucked the mask into his bosom and pulled out the staff strapped to his Kerim goat’s saddle.
“Thanks to it, I pass through anywhere easily. Soldiers leave a blind man alone. It’s no issue traveling solo... but with you two along, play along and match my story.”
Azadin clicked his tongue as he said that.
“Hang on, why am I even with you two...? Let’s split once we reach somewhere safe. Yeah?”
“Come on. Can’t you just take us on as attendants? We’ve come this far already.”
“No way. You’ll just be a hassle.”
Ignoring Midiam’s coquettish plea, Azadin unstrung his bow and quiver.
“A blind man carrying a bow would look suspicious, so I’ll stow the arrows...”
Azadin stowed his arrows, leaned on his staff, and walked on.
He made a fine blind pilgrim.
*********
The Imperial Highway.
It was the road built after Emperor Yaeslat unified the continent.
This road threading through the continent’s major cities was a marvel of engineering and magic. Three hundred years after construction, it still gleamed like new without major repairs.
The King’s Church had renamed it the Continental Highway, but people still feared Emperor Yaeslat’s lingering power. Away from the Church’s eyes, some still revered him.
On that highway walked pilgrims.
Faith in the Archangels of the Salvation Knights, worship of the Yaega gods in the King’s Church.
Regardless of those doctrines, the people of Hybris believed in reincarnation. Accumulating merit in life to reincarnate higher in the next.
Pilgrimages to build that merit were recognized by both the King’s Church and Salvation Knights. Azadin’s group posed as such pilgrims, traveling the Imperial Highway.
“Hey, quit staring already.”
“But thinking you were injured in some accident makes it even more fascinating. You must’ve been a total hunk originally. Your jawline is killer.”
“What?”
“Better than some half-baked eyes. The scar lets my imagination fill in the blank. Makes you look even more dashing.”
Midiam admired Azadin’s face.
“You sound just like Arael.”
“Like Arael? Did she say that too?”
“No.”
Azadin shook his head.
“She’s the one who gave me this scar.”
Azadin touched the scar and shuddered.
*********
At the junction where side roads from the eastern interior met the Imperial Highway—the gateway to the highway—lay a village of some three hundred households.
In the sparsely populated north, it counted as a sizable town. In the densely packed central regions, a three-hundred-house village without even a proper name was unremarkable.
People called it the Eastern Gate village. Currently, a mercenary band led by Tarqi, the bastard son of Margrave Kazel, occupied it. They searched villagers’ and travelers’ belongings for the New King Codex copy.
Naturally, if no copy turned up, the mercenaries didn’t repack the luggage neatly. If they found valuables or money, they simply took them.
It was outright plunder.
*********
True to its name, Eastern Gate village served as a checkpoint on the roads to the Imperial Highway. With inspections and searches at the gate, Midiam and Ismail panicked at the sight.
“Huh?”
“It definitely wasn’t this bad last time...”
When they’d passed through before, it had just been a simple toll. Now, obvious thugs were plundering openly.
“Hm.”
Even Azadin, playing blind with his staff, was taken aback.
‘Did they ramp up because I took out Kozel’s son? No, that was just the day before yesterday—news couldn’t have spread that fast.’
Just then, merchants nearby spoke to Azadin.
“Hey, friend. You blind?”
“Yes.”
“And the kids?”
“Orphans on pilgrimage with me.”
Azadin replied and made the sign of the cross. It symbolized faith in the angels and the Salvation Knights.
“Ah, got it. Traveling with orphans—you must be nobility.”
“Not nobility... just a pilgrim wandering in search of miracles.”
“Good lord. May the Three Great Archangels bless you.”
The merchant made the sign before Azadin.
“But what’s going on here?”
“What’s going on? Haven’t you heard the rumors about New King Codex copies circulating lately?”
“The New King Codex?”
“Yeah. Word is the Heralds stole it and made copies, now popping up everywhere. Margrave Kazel’s bastards are fired up to find one. Bring it in, and instead of sending it to the King’s Church, you get a knighthood or something.”
The inheritance laws of the Eight Kingdoms followed primogeniture. The eldest inherited all titles and lands intact; the rest, if lucky, became bureaucrats or vassals under their brother...
With no land to divide, they became adventurers, merchants, or joined the King’s Church as clergy.
Clergy in the King’s Church sounded prestigious but meant heavy duties and meager rewards—most avoided it.
A noble bastard’s life wasn’t easy, but far freer and comfier than a Church holy knight. To avoid forced ordination, they hunted Codex copies with zeal.
Or used the hunt as an excuse to rampage.
‘This is bad.’
The problem: Azadin carried a New King Codex page, well-hidden in his bosom. Seeing them rifle through luggage, it was no joke. Right before his eyes, mercenaries stripped a merchant of jewels hidden in his undergarments.