Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Black Magic Calamity 5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Uh, no way, you guys?”
Duty Officer Maya panicked and gripped her mace. Azadin shook his head.
“We’re just a group of merchants, adventurers, and pilgrims.”
“Ah, right. Y-Yeah. Then what about this?”
“It looks like the villagers fell victim to some evil magic. When we arrived, they’d all turned into undead and came at us.”
“What? You mean the people from this logging village? Oh my God. And you took them all down?”
“Ah, it wasn’t just us—there were other merchants and mercenaries, but they took one look at the village entrance, turned tail, and left without coming in.”
“I see. If you hadn’t shown up, I’d still be stuck in there.”
“Are you hurt? How long were you trapped?”
“I’m not sure. There was water and food inside the warehouse, so I managed to hold out...”
“Mind if we take a quick look inside?”
“Ah, no!”
Maya objected as soon as Azadin suggested searching the interior.
“There might be some clue to this incident in there.”
“There isn’t!”
“Why are you so sure?”
“W-Well...”
But at that moment, Midiam spoke up.
“The paladin probably held out in there and took care of her... personal needs in the corner of the warehouse. She might’ve just handled the big one, but the little ones would’ve been more frequent...”
“Waaah!”
Maya collapsed right there on the spot. In other words, she’d been blocking Azadin and the others from entering because she didn’t want anyone finding out she’d had to relieve herself inside while trapped.
“Not a big deal. Mind if we investigate anyway?”
“No, before that—mind if I ask who you are? Investigating things like this is our paladin order’s specialty. It’d be better if a trained professional took control instead of throwing around wild guesses.”
Maya’s point was perfectly valid—for someone saying it just to hide traces of her bathroom breaks, anyway. Of course, Azadin was an imperial herald, trained in investigations himself.
Imperial heralds trained not only in martial arts but also memorized case studies on accidents, murders, and crimes. But how could he reveal he was a herald to a paladin of the King’s Church?
Azadin let Midiam step in for him.
“That trained professional would still be locked in the warehouse if we hadn’t come along, so can we take the case? We’ll take responsibility and investigate, so just come with us.”
“......”
She shut her mouth as he subtly brought up her imprisonment. How could she argue after being reminded of such an embarrassing memory?
“F-Fine.”
Maya gave up and allowed the group to inspect.
Azadin looked around inside. The warehouse doubled as a food storage, with a large bathtub full of water. She must’ve drunk from here and eaten from the stores to survive, and judging by the mess, it looked like she’d been trapped for about a day.
There were deep gashes on the door from sword strikes, and a broken shortsword lay abandoned nearby.
‘So the duty officer wasn’t just carrying that decorative mace.’
She’d entered armed with a shortsword and shield, gotten trapped, tried to break the door down, and snapped the blade.
“Were you trapped for about a day?”
“Yes.”
“The villagers were alive before that? The attack happened the moment you got locked in. That about right?”
“Yeah.”
Maya glanced at the undead corpses around her, as if searching for something.
“Oh, by the way—did you happen to see any other paladins besides me?”
“Other paladins?”
“I came here on orders from the bishop to subdue the wyvern. Dealing with a magical beast naturally requires hunters.”
The paladin order had many squire knights who needed to earn merits for formal induction.
“My father happens to oversee the squire knights, so we came here together to hunt the wyvern.”
“Your father?”
“Yeah. My dad’s a paladin in the church too. We’re a father-daughter duo upholding the King’s Church laws across generations!”
She puffed out her chest proudly.
‘Nothing to be proud of.’
Azadin chuckled inwardly. By the order’s rules, paladins of the King’s Church weren’t allowed to have children. Otherwise, what was the point of sending defeated heirs to the church instead of killing them? They might raise kids, build secular power, and reclaim their inheritance someday.
To prevent that in the past, they’d castrated paladins upon ordination. But as the order’s discipline loosened, castration was the first thing scrapped. Licentious paladins indulged in pleasure, sometimes fathered bastards, and those kids became more illegitimate offspring absorbed into the church.
In short, this Maya was born one of those bastards.
‘If it was a child born before ordination, her father would’ve become a priest instead of a paladin.’
A father and daughter both as paladins wasn’t something to brag about. Just in case, Azadin asked about her father and the squire knights’ appearances. He quickly reached a conclusion.
‘The ones I killed.’
This forest and logging camp connected to the farm Azadin’s group had left yesterday. The paladins dispatched to hunt the wyvern had probably loosed arrows in the woods, accidentally killed a farmer, then massacred the entire farm to cover it up when someone escaped. They’d run into Azadin’s group and gotten killed.
And one of their own was still alive here. Duty Officer Maya of Sarasma was Sir Gazrek’s daughter—the man Azadin had slain.
“Whatever happened, my father’s an outstanding paladin. Superb martial skills, impeccable conduct. I doubt he’d fall to a few undead.”
“Is that so?”
Azadin chuckled.
Sir Gazrek had indeed been a formidable foe. Azadin had taken him out with a surprise attack, but in a fair fight, he might’ve been tricky.
An outstanding paladin, though?
‘An outstanding one wouldn’t have a daughter.’
How could a man who broke the rules and sired a bastard be outstanding?
Moreover, the Sir Gazrek and his crew Azadin had seen botched their archery, killed civilians, then massacred a whole group to cover it up.
Blood might run thick, but they weren’t outstanding paladins.
‘He might be a great dad, but... better keep quiet. No need to tangle with her and have her come at me for revenge—ruin my appetite.’
He decided to separate from her for a bit.
“Your weapons and gear on your horse? We didn’t see it turned undead. If you’re okay with it, scout the area with the merchants and knights to find your horse. Might even find your comrades.”
“And you?”
“We’ll investigate the warehouse and village more.”
Azadin sent the paladin off on reconnaissance.
*********
Azadin searched the warehouse further but found nothing special.
“So what now?”
Midiam asked.
“Use this logging camp as a base and explore bit by bit? Or backtrack the way we came, like the other merchants?”
“Use the camp as a base. If a living human’s behind this, they’ll need food and water supplies.”
“And if not? Most black magic calamities happen when someone full of resentment dies and becomes a wrathful spirit.”
The living needed extensive training and talent for black magic, but the dead gained it instantly as spirits, so calamities were usually their doing.
“Does that mean we keep playing helpless kids? It’ll be a burden on you.”
Midiam had the female paladin in mind.
Azadin had forbidden Midiam and Ismail from using bows. A child wielding such a strongbow would scream “herald clan” instantly.
It was a secret even from the merchants—doubly so from a paladin. And that wasn’t all.
“If a human’s behind this, they’re probably...”
“Yeah.”
Midiam and Azadin had a rough idea who was responsible.
*********
Black magic calamities usually stemmed from wrathful spirits. Someone who suffered injustice in life, denied proper burial for some reason—secretly murdered and buried—would rise as a vengeful ghost. Most just caused curse-like phenomena.
But occasionally, they wielded power worthy of the name “calamity.” If this was one, the prime suspect was the woman treated like a slave for her herald blood.
She must’ve been murdered and become a wrathful spirit.
“Dead and turned spirit, or alive and trained in black magic? The latter’s possibility...”
“The latter’s got some chance.”
Azadin cited past case studies.
Black magic was more talent than study. If she’d strongly inherited herald blood and the hereditary grimoire of fire, wind, water, and moon, awakening as a black magic sorcerer one day wasn’t impossible.
“Then, knowing you, you’d wanna persuade her?”
“Why think that?”
“You value aesthetics. Me? I’d kill her. Sympathy for sad memories and painful pasts is fine, but you can’t use a cracked jar just out of pity. Cheaper to buy a new one, right?”
No matter how tragic the backstory, no need to pity-use a broken vessel. The human mind didn’t recover easily once shattered.
Some strong-willed souls reforged themselves sharper amid horror. But most shattered. Personal sympathy was one thing—trusting them was another.
Midiam grinned, laying out her stance.
“Even so, if you convince her, I’ll respect you.”