Chapter 247
Chapter 247
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 247
Chapter Title: The Knight Order's Secret Weapon 1
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“What?!”
MacDougal was dying, vomiting blood from his mouth.
And behind that MacDougal stood a beautiful young woman in green robes, holding a dagger.
“Heh heh heh. The sixth Hospitaller killed. The promise has been kept.”
“What?!”
The moment the witch panicked, a hand of darkness suddenly appeared behind her and seized her face, covering everything from her eyes upward.
“Argh!”
Enraged, Azadin swung the Aurelia Dunn at the darkness, but it swiftly swallowed the witch and retreated.
“Ahahahahaha!”
“The contract is complete! Hospitaller! This child belongs to us now!”
The Shade Hags left those words behind and vanished.
The darkness that had enveloped Vermilion Fortress receded like an ebbing tide, and the stars and moon reappeared in the sky.
As if nothing had happened, a clear night sky unfolded.
*********
The Shade Hags had been repelled and retreated. But it was no situation to celebrate.
“Damn it! MacDougal?!”
Azadin rushed to MacDougal, but he was already dead. Vitality had been sucked from the wound, leaving his skin shriveled and twisted like dead wood.
“Sorry, Captain. I tried to protect him, but it all happened too fast.”
Camilla offered those words with an awkward smile. The blood sorcerer Bernard rummaged through MacDougal’s body and gave a wry smile.
“I understand why the Shade Hags are claiming the contract is fulfilled. Take a look at this.”
Bernard revealed a rune tattoo inscribed on MacDougal’s heart. Unlike ordinary tattoos made with ink, this one was formed from pure mana.
“What is it? This?”
“It’s the Assassination Grimoire engraved on agents of the Order of Mercy. They call it the Silent Scripture.”
“Silent Scripture?”
“It’s an assassination grimoire much like the Flower Bird Wind Moon used by the Emperor’s Heralds. Yes, he wasn’t just a simple herald. He was a Hospitaller—and one of the Order of Mercy’s assassins, no less.”
The Rescue Knights Order is divided into three holy knight orders, each embodying a virtue.
Courage, wisdom, mercy.
Of these, the Order of Mercy leads publicly in relief and aid efforts, but rumors persist of spies and assassins lurking in its shadows.
To think MacDougal was one of those rumored assassins?
‘I knew MacDougal was a spy…’
Azadin had realized it upon seeing him manage Izmira—that he’d been assigned by the order’s upper ranks specifically for her sake.
But he never imagined he belonged to the Order of Mercy.
“I had no idea he was such a heavyweight. Still, this means the Shade Hags’ contract is now complete.”
As Azadin looked glum, Legion and Kalan approached.
“Captain, doesn’t that actually make things better?”
“What?”
“The witch’s situation is pitiful enough, but after she killed five knights, she was a criminal who’d face execution even after returning to human form. And…”
“We took out an assassin from the Order of Mercy ahead of time, didn’t we? On top of that, we pulled off the feat of driving away the Shade Hags. You know those things are the monsters from the scary stories grown-ups tell fussy kids! The bards should’ve been here to see it!”
Legion flailed his arms dramatically, making a fuss. But Azadin’s expression remained dour.
“Even so, it might be best to hunt down the Shade Hags for good. Bernard, if we have their blood, can we track them?”
With that, Azadin whistled. A crow swooped down from the sky and retrieved an arrow from the ground.
“……”
It was Arael’s voice, manipulating a nearby bird to recover the arrow that had struck a Shade Hag.
Azadin took the arrow and inspected the tip. It was flecked with a bit of blood and flesh. It had definitely hit one.
“It’s possible. But Captain, I think it’s best not to pursue them just yet.”
“Why?”
“First off, this fortress won’t run without you. He was outed as a spy, but with Herald MacDougal gone, no one else can handle the knights’ duties properly.”
“……”
“And second, for the fortress’s independence.”
“The fortress’s independence?”
“True silver is an extremely valuable specialty good. If word gets out that the curse is lifted, the other Rescue Knights will surely come trying to seize this place. And from what I can tell, you didn’t join the Rescue Knights Order without some greater goal in mind, right? This fortress’s output will definitely help you achieve it. The curse was filled with six victims, so claim it still lingers overhead. No one will want to risk it and take the fortress from you.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Azadin fell silent upon hearing Bernard’s pointed words.
What Bernard was saying implied that both the Rescue Knights Order and the soldiers had long known they were under the Shade Hags’ curse.
Yet they hadn’t told Azadin.
‘It’s not just because I’m of Herald blood… Warning someone about becoming the curse’s target might make you one yourself… that kind of superstition. Though being Herald Clan probably played a part too.’
But that superstition would now serve as Azadin’s shield. The order wouldn’t dare conduct a proper inspection out of curse fears.
“Fine. Even if we go after the Shade Hags, we stabilize the fortress first.”
Azadin resolved to turn the curse to his advantage.
*********
The soldiers of Vermilion Fortress were little more than a band of brigands.
But with Azadin having survived the Shade Hags’ curse, they had no choice but to acknowledge him.
Especially the two squad leaders who had challenged him directly and lost—they turned into utter loyalists. Vermilion Fortress was no longer a den of thieves but a true stronghold.
Azadin mobilized the soldiers and residents to clear nearby farmland, expand housing, organize archery ranges and training grounds, and then began drilling the troops.
The soldiers, accustomed to living like bandits, grumbled about Azadin’s training. But with squad leaders Kalan and Legion fully on board, they couldn’t refuse.
That said, the third squad leader, Comec, refused to submit to Azadin. He showed up with his men in tow.
Azadin had gathered the peasant recruits into a squad and was drilling them on basic marching formations with spears, how to hold a formation, and how to wheel it in sequence if enemies appeared on the flank.
The sight resembled children playing at soldiers—absurd and comical—so Comec and his men burst into laughter.
“What good is this childish game!? In a real fight, it’s all about ruthless temperament, raw strength, and sword skill!”
Pirate-born Comec and his crew swaggered about, reminiscing on their days swinging cutlasses to raid merchant ships.
“Hm? You think so? Want to test it?”
“Huh?”
Azadin selected only the peasant recruits, formed them into a squad, and handed them training spears with cloth-wrapped tips. He beckoned to Comec.
“Bring the ones who agree with you.”
“No, wait…”
“If you win, I’ll exempt you from training and throw in a bonus pouch of silver. Sound good?”
Azadin pulled out a genuine sack of silver coins and shook it in front of them.
“Eup?”
“But if you lose, you train quietly—and from now on, you handle all the chores too.”
“…….”
Comec and his men conferred briefly.
“No way we lose to a bunch of peasants, right?”
“Let’s do it!”
Comec’s squadmates were all pirates who’d sailed the Andaz Inner Sea with him, each confident in their blade work to some degree.
In their eyes, they were wolves and the farmers were sheep. There was no way they could lose, so they boldly accepted Azadin’s challenge.
They all ended up getting thoroughly thrashed.
“Tsk tsk. Breaking a spear formation with individual prowess is incredibly tough. You thought you could brute-force your way through without even grasping the point of the training?”
Azadin had anticipated the outcome and used the chance to crush Comec and his men’s arrogance.
“And this training is just the beginning. I’ll teach you what I’ve learned step by step, but first, complete this basic infantry drill. Once that’s done, I’ll share Aragas’s exquisite secrets.”
Azadin dangled the promise of Aragas’s secrets to entice the soldiers still obsessed with swordsmanship and mystical martial arts.
Defeating battle-hardened pirates with peasant militia—and mentioning the secrets they craved—made every soldier take training seriously.
Two busy weeks passed that way.
“The supply convoy should arrive any day now.”
Legion remarked to Azadin as he tidied the training ground.
“Supply convoy?”
“The tax collectors from Fireglyph. They take our true silver quota and in exchange provide the supplies we request or handle mail transport.”
“Supplies?”
“Right. It’s not like they fulfill just any requisition form. They buy true silver at this rate and sell us goods at that one. Here’s the list.”
Legion handed over his notebook.
“These prices are way too exploitative.”
Azadin frowned at the rock-bottom true silver purchase rates and the inflated supply prices.
It was impossible not to see the Rescue Knights Order as outright exploiting Vermilion Fortress.
“Yeah. That’s why dealing with private merchants is more profitable. We just need to meet the minimum quota here. Fireglyph won’t push for more anyway.”
Evidently, as long as the set delivery quota was met, the higher-ups left them alone.
Just then, Arael’s voice—which had been pulling double duty as Azadin’s scout—spotted the supply convoy from overhead.
“Speak of the devil. Looks like company’s coming. This is bad. We still haven’t reported MacDougal’s death.”
Azadin had been drafting regular reports to the Rescue Knights Order headquarters in Fireglyph on the Chadra Plateau and to his patron, Bishop Akenar. But with no courier since MacDougal’s death, he’d put them on hold.
What would happen if he had to report the herald’s death now?
Moments later, the supply convoy entered Vermilion Fortress. The convoy’s herald haughtily produced a letter.
“A letter from Chapter Master Hexenmeyer of Fireglyph. Captain Azadin of this fortress—proceed immediately to Fireglyph with no more than a minimal escort!”
An unexpected summons order.