CH 8

“Phew, I might actually live.”

Azadine, sitting down after drinking some water, placed the stopper back on the can and returned it to the boy.

“So little lady and droopy eyes. What are you doing?”

“Little lady? That is very unpleasant. Are you really doing this after knowing I am of the Ethar?”

Mediam was upset that she was being treated like a child.

The Ethar clan was one of the five founding families of the Messenger Clan. It was a family that not only produced messengers for generations but also possessed enormous wealth from their activities. It was a family that would not fall behind in terms of heritage, wealth, or power.

“Since you are a servant, you aren’t of the blood of Ethar but are just a subordinate of mine. Do you want to be respected like a member of the founding families? Give up being a servant, and I will treat you like a lady of Ethar. Ah, by the way, did you know that messengers are officially untouchable by any blood relatives of the five families?”

Azadine made it clear to the girl of her position.

Even if she was descended from a great family, Azadine was the messenger. As she was a servant, there was no reason for her to receive respect. Even if she wasn’t a servant, the laws of the system meant that he didn’t need to give her respect either.

“No…”

“It looks like you volunteered to be my servant because you were bored with your duties in the Sanctuary. You weren’t thinking of challenging me to a duel, were you?”

“….”

Mediam was surprised. She had clearly intended to do just that.

Azadine, the son of the traitor, was a disgrace to the Messenger Clan. She heard that he was even bullied by his peers of the same generation and that he could not use magic.

The fact that this incompetent had been suddenly pushed into the role of a messenger made the young members of the clan protest against him. Contrary to the rumors, however, the Azadine in front of her was bold and confident.

He had been unfazed by the sudden arrows and spoke and acted aggressively. Aside from that, he also oozed confidence.

“Ah, you really mean to challenge me. Has Arael’s example emboldened all the children? Never mind, why are you even looking down on me to this extent?”

Azadine could guess what these children were thinking and clicked his tongue.

Azadine’s twin, Arael, was also a child of a traitor, but unlike him, she was considered a genius. She possessed absolute beauty, power, magic, and swordsmanship.

Being someone gifted with everything, she had taken up the posting of a servant and then easily won against the messenger she had been assigned to. She had defeated an adult messenger and took his place at the age of 13.

Just like any group, the Messenger Clan highly valued its hierarchy. Arael’s unconventional move was not seen well by the Elders.

However, a duel within the clan was a right guaranteed by the Voice of the Emperor.

Arael had proudly acquired her position and, as a result, continued to knock down the elders with their slanders and schemes, solidifying her position within the clan.

Perhaps due to her existence, the dream of becoming a messenger through duel was no longer a fairy tale among the younger members of the clan.

“I will not say anything bad about you, so just give up and head back to Sanctuary. Working alongside a servant who has no intention of respecting me is worse than working alone.”

That was the theory, anyway. However, there was no way that Mediam, who had come this far, would just head back.

But…

“Mediam, No, this man….”

Ismail, the boy, tried to stop her. Rumors stated that Azadine was incompetent and unskilled. Mediam’s ability was also superior to those of the same age.

Even considering all that, their instincts clearly told them something different.

The man in front of them was dangerous. Mediam could feel it.

A man who was completely different from the rumors.

Azadine was no fool. He was a clever man who fully understood his limits.

But….

‘Wouldn’t it be a disgrace if I didn’t challenge him simply because he was too strong?’

She was the one who decided to duel him in the first place. Yet, after seeing her opponent, she felt fear and yet did not wish to give in.

He would break them again and again.

Despite her fear, she challenged Azadine to a duel.

“Messenger Azadine, I, Mediam of the Ethar, formally challenge you for your role as messenger.”

“Are you serious? If I win, this position will go to you, but you know what will happen if I win, right?”

“I do. My life and death will become yours. Everything I own will be yours. That promise is made, and when the time comes, I will commit…”

Puak!

Mediam fell off her goat in an instant. Azadine had lightly flicked a stone that landed perfectly between her eyebrows.

It had moved quickly and powerfully despite being flicked by a finger.

“Kuak!?”

“Little lady, no one who thinks so little of life should take up a weapon.”

“Uh? Miss Mediam…”

Even Ismail was shocked. It had happened right before his eyes, but he couldn’t spot the movement.

“I will arrange it, so just go back to Sanctuary. If you accept every challenge with that mentality, no one will be left in the clan.”

Azadine gave the children his earnest advice, but Mediam was enraged by the sudden attack.

“What is this rude attitude of ambushing someone who asked for a duel!?”

“Hmm?”

Azadine was surprised to hear her response.

“That is true, but is that something a person who shot me with an arrow while I was just walking down this road could say?”

“That is different.”

“No, you should be ashamed. You ambushed me without me knowing about it. You were ambushed by someone right in front of you. Which of us was more careless?”

“….”

“Give up. Once you start a duel, then there is no turning back. I am sorry, but you are weaker than me. Beating an adult at the age of 13 is only possible for Arael. I know my reputation is low within the clan, but no matter what you do, I will not give up my position as a messenger to someone who could lose to a 13-year-old.”

Azadine tried to refuse the duel again, but Mediam simply shook her head.

“Will you accept my duel or not? I think it is disgraceful to surprise me while I was making a formal duel request for the position of a messenger. Azadine! The duel will start once we are a hundred paces away from each other! How dare you tarnish an honorable duel through such a dishonorable act!”

“Ahh… you’re being serious?”

Azadine scratched his nose.

“Yes! Now take this seriously!”

Mediam moved backward upon the path and began to distance herself from Azadine. At about a hundred paces, she dismounted from her mountain goat.

“Now we are at a hundred steps! Azadine, I challenge you for the position of messenger!”

“Are you really going to do it?”

While Azadine looked in shock, a ghostly voice filled the air.

[The duel has been proffered, Messenger Azadine. Accept the challenge.]

“Ah, oh my.”

“… V-voice of the Emperor?!”

Ismail was shocked at the appearance of the voice. The Voice of the Emperor was a spirit that attached itself to each messenger. That was the voice he heard.

Now that the Emperor’s Voice had stood witness, this could no longer be dismissed as just a child’s prank.

‘This is bad.’

Ismail became anxious. He was part of a family that had been in service to Mediam’s clan from the time of his parents.

Following Mediam, applying to become Azadine’s servant and to return her safely home fell under his responsibilities.

However, Ismail was careless. Suppose Azadine was really the idiot of rumors and had become a messenger due to an elder’s whim. In that case, Mediam should be able to win.

No, not just Mediam. Any challenger would be able to, in fact. All of Ismail’s peers dreamed of becoming a messenger by challenging Azadine whenever the chance was afforded to them.

However, the Azadine he was seeing now was a completely different person than what the rumors had painted him to be.

‘Yet from Miss Mediam’s point of view, she would be intimidated by seeing the other person and think that it was an insult to reject her initial challenge.’

The Messenger Clan regarded fear as shameful and would try to break through it head-on. It was a common tendency among the young children who were still ignorant of the world and did not know of the frustrations inherent in the process.

The problem was that this duel wasn’t something that could be committed too lightly. If you failed just once, then you would become a slave. To become a slave to Azadine, the most ridiculed person within the Messenger Clan, would be an insult worse than death.

Now that the Emperor’s Voice had intervened, it was impossible to undo this challenge. If Mediam won, then it would be good, but her defeat would bring about an entirely new level of chaos.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to achieve victory!”

At that moment, Mediam notched an arrow on her bow.

‘This man was definitely someone who trained in martial arts instead of magic. Then I just have to keep my distance and fight!’

Mediam cast a spell on her arrow.

‘White Crane!’

Shoot an arrow high…

‘Yellow Crane!’

Then shoot an arrow low. It was the same attack as before, but if someone tried to catch these magic arrows, they would suffer injuries.

‘This skill would end it. I had shot two arrows at him earlier. Now that these two are shot using a different form, and from a further distance, he would want to catch these arrows as well!’

In a duel between members of the Messenger Clan, the number of arrows carried by your opponent was very important. Azadine would undoubtedly try to catch the arrows.

Indeed…

Azadine didn’t move to dodge but simply waited for the arrow to come.

‘Hmm? He seems confident in his skills.’

While they thought as such, Azadine placed an arrow on his bowstring. He then ran forward and shot it high.

-swish!

With the sound of the wind cutting through, Azadine’s arrow shot down Mediam’s arrow in the air. Shockingly, it didn’t even make a direct hit but had instead just flown up and was cut down by the wind. Mediam’s arrow lost its strength and fell limply to the ground.

Azadine, following a pattern to catch the falling arrow, had picked up a stone from the ground and placed it on his bowstring.

‘Not possible.’

Ismail, who was observing the duel, laughed as he saw Azadine about to launch a stone using a bow.

There was a special type of bow that was used to shoot stones. It was called an Iron Bow and had strings attached to it differently to allow it to shoot stones as well as other objects. The bowstring also had a screen that allowed an even transmission of power.

If someone placed a stone on a normal bow, it would only lead to a hand breaking from the force.

But…

-Kwak!

Azadin simply shot it.

‘Uh?’

Azadine clenched his hand tightly on his bow and then pulled it away.

‘Extreme Aragasa shooting?!’

It was a battlefield archery technique that lowered one’s accuracy due to the bow being grabbed for maximum shooting speed.

Those of the Messenger Clan were also renowned for their precision.