Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Brazen Challenger 1
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"Ah."
Azadin brought the canteen to his lips, only to be left disappointed. Just a drop or two of water barely moistened them.
"This is bad."
He let out a sigh and tucked the canteen back into his pack.
"Why did you brag to the petitioner that we'd arrive in two days? I have to take responsibility for it, you idiot spirit."
[How dare you speak such irreverence to the Emperor's Voice.]
A voice echoed around Azadin.
This spirit, known as the Emperor's Voice, was originally created to hear the petitions of supplicants and connect them to the nearest heralds. An artificial spirit made by the Emperor, its power extended across the entire Hubris continent.
Even centuries after the Emperor's death, the spirit's power showed no signs of waning—in fact, it remained as potent as ever. It was proof of just how mighty a mage the Emperor had been, or perhaps a god in his own right.
But Azadin, a member of the herald clan that served the Emperor, just snorted.
"Let's be real—the Emperor went and died without any backup plan, so now the whole world hates us former heralds of his! They call us 'New King Killers' and 'Soulless Blasphemers' and all that crap. You went and boasted to the petitioner, so I ditched all my gear just to make good on your big talk, running myself ragged. Now I'm dying of thirst. And all I've got left is hardtack—if I eat that now, it'll choke me to death without any water to wash it down."
[...My apologies for that. But don't worry. Your squires will arrive soon.]
"Squires? I don't have any squires."
Not every member of the herald clan was a herald. There were only 108 who could become heralds, matching the 108th Herald of the Emperor's Voice—the rest either served as squires to the heralds or took up trades to preserve the clan itself.
In Azadin's case, though, he was so unpopular among the herald clan that no one had ever volunteered to be his squire.
[Two people have recently applied to be your squires. Young and exceptional talents, both of them.]
"Hmm. No one in their right mind would apply to be my squire. Exceptional talents? I don't buy it."
Grumbling, Azadin trudged along the dusty road and then came to a stop. A ruined village with a well came into view. At the village entrance, he spotted human silhouettes shimmering like heat haze.
"Ghosts?"
Azadin's hand went to the sword at his waist.
[They're not enemies. Petitioners.]
"...Really?"
As Azadin approached, faces materialized among the shadows. They were unmistakably the people he had seen hanging from the mulberry tree at the edge of the village where he'd accepted their petition.
A young girl, her lover, and their family stood on the roadside like wanderers. When Azadin drew near, they clasped their hands together in a cautious bow. Azadin returned their greeting with a nod.
"This land lacks both the King's Radiance and the Great Archangels' blessings, so lingering here too long won't do you any good. I've avenged your grudge—now go to the afterlife."
But when Azadin said this, the ghosts pointed toward the well in the ruined village.
"Ah, are you trying to give me some water? I mean, I do need it, but you don't have to go that far... Please, find your rest."
For all his words, Azadin eagerly pulled the canteen from his pack and hurried to the well. He tugged on the pulley, and sure enough, it felt heavy.
A well that should have been bone-dry, yet it had this weight to it.
"Wow, this looks parched as hell, but to draw water from it... You ghosts must've gone through a lot."
Excited, Azadin yanked the bucket up quickly... Only to find it filled with sand—and a single sheet of paper that glowed with its own light.
"......"
[Oh, a copy of the New King Scripture.]
"New King Scripture copy?"
Azadin flinched at the name.
"Why this...?"
His lips trembled. Just then, a will-o'-the-wisp floated by in front of him.
"No, I mean, th-thank you, but..."
He turned back to the ghosts, who bowed to him once more before vanishing into the swirling sands.
These petitioners had already died, their pleas fulfilled beyond what was needed. Yet for Azadin's sake, they had sought out and gifted him a copy of the New King Scripture before departing to the afterlife.
It was a tale of gratitude repaid even in death, but Azadin smacked his lips in agony. His parched mouth made his tongue stick, and his cracked lips threatened to bleed.
"I'm grateful, but this... Why me, of all people?"
Azadin picked up the page from the New King Scripture copy and clicked his tongue. The paper glowed on its own, inscribed with script no human intellect could decipher.
That was true of all grimoires. It was impossible to fully comprehend one without prior knowledge. Most had to be studied indirectly through "keys"—interpretive texts.
[You're not pleased? Isn't this what all heralds yearn for?]
The Emperor's Voice spoke calmly.
"I can't just be happy about it."
Azadin gazed at the New King Scripture copy now in his possession, sensing the strange hand of fate at work.
*********
The herald clan had originally been known as the "Aragasa" tribe.
They were descendants of a fleet that had braved a typhoon from another continent to wash up on Hubris. Grateful for the Emperor's warm welcome upon their arrival, they swore loyalty to him and became his heralds.
The Emperor bestowed upon them the grimoire "Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon" and the spirit known as the Emperor's Voice.
Thus, the herald clan became the Emperor's blades, agents, and enforcers, personally executing noble violators of his law and enjoying great prosperity.
But after the Emperor's death and the empire's collapse, that prosperity turned to poison.
The people of Hubris believed in the afterlife. Good karma led to noble rebirths, placing nobles and royals at the pinnacle of reincarnation. Harming them was an abhorrent act that spat on the wheel of souls itself.
Thus, no matter how much kings and nobles exploited and abused the people, no one dared resist. The royals were powerful mages, and Hubris faith deemed staining one's hands with divine blood the ultimate blasphemy.
Yet the Emperor needed someone who could commit such blasphemy without hesitation. To govern the vast Eight Kingdoms under his law, he required beings who would ruthlessly execute corrupt royals and nobles.
That was why he welcomed the foreign herald clan, granting them the grimoire and authority.
Unaware of this... or blinded by his favor.
The herald clan, who freely stained their hands with divine blood, became known as "New King Killers"—despised and shunned.
In Hubris faith, such brazen blasphemy was unthinkable. The people came to hate and scorn the herald clan as soulless...
And so the belief arose that crimes against the soulless herald clan incurred no karmic debt.
After the Emperor's death and loss of power, that scorn and hatred returned as persecution upon the herald clan.
Worse still was the covenant with the Emperor. Even after his death and the empire's fall, the oath of service bound the clan generation after generation.
The herald clan had to continue their duty as the Emperor's heralds. To break the contract required 100,000 imperial gold coins. But with the Emperor gone and the empire vanished, no more such coins could be minted.
Unable to gather the gold, the herald clan turned to another idea.
What was the source of the Emperor's power?
The kings of the Yaegas divine race, and the New King Scripture passed down through their thrones.
The Emperor had surely wielded his might through it. If they obtained the New King Scripture and mastered its truths, they could overcome the Emperor's magic-bound oath.
Thus, acquiring the New King Scripture became the herald clan's ultimate goal.
They would fulfill their duty while seeking the scripture—to escape the curse of servitude.
This was the herald clan's purpose.
*********
In short, a copy of the New King Scripture was something every herald in the clan would risk their life for. Yet Azadin had it in hand and seemed distinctly unthrilled.
"I'm thankful to the ghosts for doing this for me. It's great that the dead went out of their way to give me a gift before finding peace. But I'm worried that copies like this are starting to circulate in the world. Because the reason they're out there..."
Azadin stared at the New King Scripture copy for a moment, then rolled it into a tube and stowed it in his pack.
"Well, they found it for me, so I can't just leave it behind. Guess I'll take it."
Azadin left the village behind and resumed his journey.
The road that had taken two days running there would take even longer on the way back. He'd rushed ahead without conserving water or stamina, but now with none left, he'd have to ration his remaining strength carefully.
"Still, once I cross that mountain ahead... There's water on the other side."
Azadin eyed the mountain path before him. The endlessly towering trail stretching out made his head spin.
How much farther did he have to go?
Could he make it without water until then?
He was pondering this when—
*Shwick!*
An arrow suddenly flew at him.
*********
Two mountain goats the size of ponies descended the trail. Saddles were strapped to their backs, bearing a boy and girl who looked to be in their early teens. Even on the rugged path, their bodies barely swayed, gliding down the slope as if it were flat ground.
"Wow, it's so desolate down there."
The land below the trail was a vast wasteland.
"They said no rain for a month—looks like it's true."
The girl stuck out her tongue at the rising dust. Below, abandoned villages and farms, stripped of people, whipped up dirt clouds with every gust of wind.
"Lady Midiam!"
The boy, following behind, called out to her.
"Let's turn back! It's not too late!"
He trailed the leading girl, desperately trying to change her mind.
"No way? We're already this far—what are you talking about?"
"You're a descendant of the founders. You don't need to become a squire to some bottom-tier herald! Just say you changed your mind and we can go back."
"What, so I should just sit around sucking my thumb in that boring sanctuary forever? Don't make me laugh. I want to see the world."
The girl insisted, but she clicked her tongue as she surveyed the vista before her.
"But the scenery here's pretty lousy. Can't say it's better than the sanctuary."
The eastern inland, starved of rain for so long, had withered into a barren wasteland of crumbling dust.
Of course, twilight casting shadows over such desolation could spark imaginations of the supernatural. But the young boy and girl were far more drawn to human achievements than natural scenery.
"Going farther in is dangerous without water. These goats we're riding drink ten times what a normal person does."
"But that idiot herald went in, didn't he?"
"He probably released the goats nearby and went on foot."
Kerim goats had incredible endurance but were vulnerable to heat and dryness. No one could ride ones that guzzled several times a person's water intake into such a barren, arid place.
"So please, turn back. Once you meet the herald and tell him you'll be his squire, there's no going back. And the guy in question is that 'cursed Azadin,' isn't he?"
The boy shuddered as he uttered Azadin's name.