Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Black Arrow 1
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Ismail disliked everything about Azadin, from one to ten.
The boys and girls of the Herald tribe were thrown into fierce competition from a young age. For those with no talent or family background, failing to prove themselves in the Herald selection process meant living as a loser for life.
Yet this guy, who should have been eliminated and doomed to loser status, had become a Herald. Even with an elder as his patron, everyone grumbled about the unprecedented appointment—and the man himself was chasing the honor of being the Emperor's Herald.
The people of Whubris had no souls, they declared when it came to Aragasa. What honor was there in protecting scum like that?
The entire Aragasa nation would reject it. What right did this heretic Azadin—who failed the Herald trials and couldn't even cast a single spell—have to decide such a thing?
*Granted, his skills are undeniable...*
When Ismail recalled how Azadin had subdued Count Salasmar, he had to admit the man's prowess. Even so, just looking at Azadin made his skin crawl, like bugs were slithering across it.
"Azadin's right. We are the Emperor's Heralds, and our original mission was something profoundly honorable. We've just forgotten it amid all the persecution."
What irritated Ismail even more was how Midiam had started defending Azadin lately. He could sense her unmistakable fondness in how she justified his words and actions. That, above all, grated on him.
Why did Azadin—a guy he'd just met—captivate her more than he did, the one always at her side tending to her needs? And Azadin didn't even have eyes, for heaven's sake!
"Is there any reason to cling to an honor no one acknowledges? Hmm?"
Just as Ismail sneered, the sensation from the Foresight Bird suddenly cut off.
"Huh?!"
Something had attacked and destroyed the Foresight Bird. But how?
The Foresight Bird spell sent an artificial spirit—a faint, transparent wind spirit nearly invisible from the ground—aloft to share its senses for reconnaissance.
For someone to spot and strike it meant they were no ordinary foe.
"This is bad! Everyone, up!"
Midiam roused the exhausted women.
"What's happening?"
Delmer asked.
"The enemy's here!"
"Oh, damn."
The Naga woman Shati also frowned at the ominous aura from behind.
"Everyone, move along the streambed!"
Brand shouted to the group.
"But that leaves us completely exposed..."
Beyond the streambed, thick underbrush grew everywhere, leaving no other option for moving at night without light. But wouldn't the same hold true for the enemy?
"Those who can fight, stay here and hold them off!"
Brand declared, swinging his crowbar through the air.
*This old man's lost his mind. Wait, he was always a bit off.*
Ismail truly disliked everything about this situation.
*********
It took the escaped slaves ages just to pack up and prepare to flee. They'd barely grabbed their belongings when arrows whistled from the underbrush. One struck the crowbar in Brand's hand, glanced off, and split his brass washbasin.
"Argh!"
Brand the knight staggered back, blood pouring from his forehead. The shot rivaled the Heralds' archery in power. It had come from an Ashwood longbow.
*But the guy who used that bow had his fingers severed by Azadin, right? Another archer?*
Ismail ducked in confusion.
"Eek!"
The women, startled by Brand's bleeding, stood up instead—perfect targets for the archer.
*Annoying!*
Ismail fumed at the sight.
*Pathetic weaklings. Run already—why make a fuss over a little blood? Any Aragasa kid of twelve would shrug off blood... even gut wounds; they'd flee first, then stitch themselves up with a fishhook!*
As Ismail glared indignantly at them, Midiam shook him.
"Ismail, calm down and into the brush!"
"Ah, right!"
Ismail felt ashamed for getting worked up. Seeing the weaklings had made him hate them so much he'd lost his cool. But didn't that make him no better than the ones he despised? Why did they repulse him so?
While Brand collapsed and the slaves panicked, the bandits emerged from the underbrush.
"You dare set fire to our lair?"
"We treated you like gold and jade, and you still can't get it through your thick skulls?"
The bandits grinned slyly, looking like a pack of forest hyenas. Even in the dark, their gleaming eyes burned with violence and greed.
"Donear... how much more evil must you pile up before you're satisfied!"
"Ha, Sir Brand. We always thought your big talk was a joke. Never dreamed you meant it. Guess we overlooked a true knight right under our noses."
The bandit leader Donear burst into jovial laughter as he stepped out from the shadows beneath the trees. Under the faint starlight, his face resembled a bronze mask plated in gold.
"Yeah, trying to run, huh? Where to? Rantaric? And what then?"
Donear mocked.
"Sir Brand, you know this, but I'm here on Count Rantaric's orders. Everything I've done was by his command. Think you can just flee to Rantaric lands and survive?"
"Eek!?"
The escaped slaves gasped in horror.
Count Rantaric was behind these bandits? If true, nowhere in his territory would offer salvation.
"Only I can save you. I'll sell you as slaves. Sure, you'll serve some rich bastard's house, but play your cards right and you might end up a concubine. Not ideal, but wasn't your life miserable before?"
Even Donear wore a bitter smile as he said it.
"In Whubris, everyone's miserable unless they're nobles. Especially you lot—monsters who ate their own family's flesh, right? Cannibalism's a capital crime. If the holy knights find out, they'll burn you alive."
The slaves trembled at Donear's vileness. He'd forced them to kill and eat their kin to shatter their spirits—and now he threatened them with it!
"Cannibalism?"
But Brand recoiled at the word. The horrific memory he'd desperately buried resurfaced.
"Ah..."
The crowbar slipped from Brand's hand.
"Yeah, looks like you remember now. Everyone here has sinned by cannibalism—their own families, no less. You're no exception, Sir Brand. What a knight we have here."
"No... l-lies! I..."
"Heh heh heh. Couldn't get enough of watching you squirm, that's why I kept you alive."
Donear roared with laughter at Brand's shuddering form. In that instant, an arrow pierced the underbrush toward his head.
*********
The arrow had been loosed simultaneously by Midiam and Ismail, hidden in the brush.
"Tch..."
Donear deflected one arrow with his sword and dodged the other. Handling two incoming shots in one motion—impressive swordsmanship, befitting the leader of Count Rantaric's planted agents.
But as he parried, Donear groaned.
"Urk!"
Another arrow had embedded in his head.
The Herald tribe's secret art: Shadow Archery.
It concealed additional arrows within the shadow of the first. A technique hard to block even in daylight—let alone at night. No wonder he'd fallen for it.
-Thud!
As Donear collapsed, the bandits panicked.
"Huh?! B-Boss?"
"No way!"
Arrows began flying from the brush again.
-Thunk!
The bandits fell one by one. But...
"Huh?"
"Doesn't even hurt?"
"Wait—it's stuck in my head!"
The bandits stared at the arrows in horror. Strangely, there was no pain. And from the wounds, maggot-like worms wriggled up, sealing them as blood trickled to a stop.
"You idiots."
Donear rose, exasperated.
"If you fools fall for that, my act was for nothing. That oblivious?"
He yanked the arrow from his own head. Maggot-like worms writhed, filling the hole.
An arrow to the skull, yet he stood unscathed as worms mended the wound—what kind of monster was this!
"Boss!"
"You morons failed to flush out the small fry because you're so dense. Those are definitely the kids that Herald Azadin had with him."
Donear recalled his encounter with Azadin. The seemingly youthful boy and girl he'd brought along—their handiwork, no doubt.
"What now?"
"You, you."
"Yes?!"
"Into the brush—find them. Just two kids."
"Yes, sir!"
"Got it."
The bandits charged into the underbrush at Donear's command.
"Urgh... you bastard!"
Brand recovered and rose, but Donear strode forward, striking him with the sword's hilt.
"Kahahaha! Behold the great knight! Brass Knight!"
Brand tumbled across the ground. As Donear raised his foot to stomp the fallen man, Delmer lunged from behind, thrusting her blade. Donear parried effortlessly and seized her throat.
"Gack!"
"Hey, Delmer. Not your time yet. No matter how bored, you should've stayed put."
"Y-You scum! Donear!"
Delmer struggled, but Donear hoisted her one-handed with inhuman strength.
That's when Donear noticed an unfamiliar bag at Delmer's side.
"Hm? What's this bag? Naga woman's, huh?"
Donear opened it. Dazzling light poured from within.
"Hmm. This what the knight wanted? Bells that glow on their own."
He pulled out the glowing bells, puzzled.
"No way..."
"Indeed—the New King's Battle Chart copies!"
The Naga woman Shati stepped forward from among the slaves.
"New King's Battle Chart copies?"
Of course, Donear knew what the New King's Battle Chart was.
The king's grimoire.
The source of power for the Yaeghas divine race.
This was it? The self-emanating light from the paper made it believable.
"Yes, offer those to Cobra Queen, and she'll grant her grace. Otherwise, you all die."
At Shati's words, the bandits bristled.
"What? You threatening us?"
"Not me killing you. Think that knight will let you live?"
The bandits fumed, but Donear held them back.
"Fine, Naga woman. This is fun. What're you gonna say? Spit it out. Make it interesting, and I'll listen."
Donear showed interest in Shati's words. But...
"Yes, I'd like to hear that too."
A new figure emerged from the underbrush.