CH 36

Mediam, as a member of the Ethar bloodline, a reputable family among the Aragasa, didn’t harbor many good feelings towards the people of Hubris. However, she did agree with Azadine’s words.

Protecting the people was a beautiful thing. Even if they regarded the Aragasa as their enemies, safeguarding helpless civilians was the epitome of nobility for those who sacrificed themselves in war. This did not apply to just those warriors that belonged to the nobility…

It was simply the correct thing to do for a human being.

‘Until now, nobody spoke of this to me.’

People who only thought about things from the perspective of the Aragasa would never talk about ethics or respecting nature and its beauty. In reality, Mediam had already begun to respect Azadine to some extent.

What if Azadine was capable of presenting his thoughts in a charismatic or magnetic way?

Respect for him would only keep increasing.

“Please stop, My Lady.”

Ismail grumbled as he saw this.

“There is no need to save and forgive someone like that. They need to be eliminated. We don’t know what will happen if we let someone who caused such chaos with Black Magic live. And what do you mean by respect…”

Ismail was slowly boiling internally to the point of insanity from his jealousy.

Respect and Mediam?

Mediam was someone who showed no interest in her peers or even those older than her. He couldn’t understand why someone like her was showing such interest in the accursed Azadine. Not only was he eyeless, but he also had the blood of a traitor! Neither could he understand why Azadine found her annoying.

Ismail was ready to even sell his soul to get that kind of attention from her!

“I don’t care if you two respect me or not. I just plan to do what I can.”

“So, will you keep hiding our identity? Should we stay still without shooting any arrows? Does that mean we should just handle the luggage like the young children of Hubris?”

“No, not exactly.”

Azadine took something out of the storage in the warehouse.

“Use this.”

Azadine pulled out hunting bows used by residents of the village. Compared to the children’s version of the Moon Horn Bow used by the Messenger Clan, this bow had less tension power and was typically used by normal 13-year-old boys and girls.

“Umm, this?”

“Yeah, let’s start making preparations.”

“What do you mean? What preparations?”

“Of course, I’m talking about a defensive battle. Going into the forest or, more accurately, a trap is moronic. Let’s lure the enemy here..”

After saying that, Azadine started preparing to light a fire.

“We will need a lot of arrows. We might run out if we just use the arrows that the villagers used as well as what we have on us. In the meantime, how about waxing the bows and making some arrows.”

“Ugh. I don’t wanna make arrows.”

Mediam found the task troublesome.

“Hmm… Isn’t it about time you wax your Moon Horn Bows? If you don’t care for them consistently, you know the bow will break, right?”

Though shorter than regular bows, the Messenger Clan bows were quite strong. However, maintaining their condition and caring for them was just, if not more difficult. If they weren’t waxed at least once a week, the bow would dry out and break apart as if they exploded.

Azadine, after lighting the fire, sat down and took out his supplies, which included materials needed to make arrows. He had threads and feathers and began to trim the wood he had gathered from the trees in the sawmill.

Using a hand axe that was sharp enough to shave with, he split the wood to make arrow shafts and baked those over the fire to dry off any moisture or resin.

“Get ready.”

“Okay.”

Ismail, who was also working, combed the fur of their Kerim Goats using an oil comb. This was done to collect sebum, wax ester in the goat’s fur.

Azadine then shook the wood to ensure that any griddle, fleas, lice, dust, and other similar things would fall off before greasing the wood using an even coating of wax ester. He would then bake the shafts over the fire to dry them further. This was how they made their arrow shafts.

“Next.”

Azadine handed the arrow shafts over to Mediam. After cutting them into fine pieces, she inserted the feather and tightened it to the shaft using a thread before trying to attach an arrowhead made of animal or fish bones.

“Don’t use a normal arrowhead. Finish off with the thread. You’ll need to use that wisely.”

“But then the arrow…”

“Arrows made using fresh wood dry up and become worthless anyway. For the arrowhead, we’ll use the iron tips. We’ll use everything for this defense. We need to use them all before they dry up anyways, so instead of using the Goblin arrows, this quality will be enough.”

Iron tips meant iron metal that could also be used as currency. Among the metal currencies used in the Eight Kingdoms, the only iron that could be used for arrows were from the Elm Leaf coins that were made using poured iron.

It was rumored that they were made into arrows during wars or emergencies. However, from the perspective of those who used arrows, it was an absurd comment by those who didn’t use bows.

Iron used for currency was mixed using metal with many impurities. Arrowheads made by using this kind of iron that simply mimicked the shape would have lower penetrative strength. Though its power was enough to hurt an opponent without armor, the arrowhead was useless against an armored target.

On top of that, many Elm Leaf coins became worn out and crooked while in circulation. You would need to select strong and good-quality coins to use for arrowheads.

“All the mountain goats have been combed.”

Ismail had collected just enough wax ester and immediately moved towards Mediam.

“Then stick in the arrowheads.”

Azadine instructed Ismail to insert the arrowheads. The three of them, much like the other members of the renowned archers of the Messenger Clan, were extremely familiar with the arrow-making process. They had created more than enough arrows of satisfactory quality in no time.

Azadine, after making all the arrows, continued to grease the Moon Horn Bows using the remaining wax.

“Great. Now…”

Azadine fitted the head of a halberd on a piece of wood he had trimmed. It was the halberd that had belonged to the chief of the guards. After applying the remaining wax to the halberd head, he baked it over the fire, evenly infusing the wax into it.

In the time that Azadine, Ismail, and Mediam spent polishing up their bows and making their arrows, the rest of their party collected wood, furniture, and other things from the village to strengthen their barricade. It was impossible to cover all the fences around the sawmill, so they simply used the houses, warehouses, and other buildings as a line of defense. They planned to stop any enemies from entering easily by using things to block the windows.

“I don’t think that he’s just a simple pilgrim.”

Kaka, who was following the defense plan that Azadine had set up, expressed his surprise while at the same time dragging and arranging the furniture as he was told. Regardless of the enemy’s point of entry into the village, he piled any object in a heap to utilize their existing boundaries to the fullest.

“Exactly what is that man’s identity? By chance, is he someone who committed a great crime in the past and became a pilgrim?”

“I don’t know much, either.”

Tarki had no choice but to reply this way because he couldn’t simply say that Azadine was the Emperor’s messenger.

“I’m sorry. I’m the one who’s originally supposed to take command.”

Maya, the knight captain of Salasma, was ashamed and embarrassed that she couldn’t conduct herself properly despite being a Holy Knight.

At that moment, they detected movement from the forest.

-OO wong?

It was the cry of a wyvern. From the southern entrance of the sawmill, they spotted the merchants who came shambling through the fog.

“Grrr.”

“Kooo.”

The merchants and their bodyguards had, at some point, become undead. After leaving the sawmill using the southern path, demons attacked and massacred them. They had now reappeared after being transformed into undead.

“Well, that was fast.”

Azadine clicked his tongue as the merchants were eliminated faster than expected. Disregarding the merchants, the mercenaries and adventurers who had accompanied them were not weak pushovers.

“Okay then, everyone, get into battle formation!”

Azadine handed short spears to Tarki, Kaka, Chico, and the Holy Knight Maya before sending them to the front. He stood inside the warehouse while holding his bow.

The undead made from the corpses of the merchants and adventurers funneled into the village entrance towards the barrier they had made. Suddenly, a woman’s voice could be heard from the sky.

[Hahaha. You people are pretty amusing, huh?]

The wyvern surprisingly spoke using a young woman’s voice. The spell caster responsible for this situation probably used the wyvern to transmit her voice.

‘If she can control the undead or other creatures, of course, it’d be easier to control a flying creature like a wyvern. Guaranteed visibility and easier movement.’

Azadine had known from the start that the woman’s spirit possessed the wyvern. Since the possessed body was so close, he initiated a conversation.

“Are you the person of the Messenger Clan who annihilated this village?”

The voice was startled by Azadine’s question.

[Huh? How do you know that?]

“The merchants talked about it.”

[That’s right. Those bastards enslaved me and trampled over everything that I am. Just for the mere reason that I was descended from the Messenger Clan! They treated me like a piece of soulless rock!]

“Are you alive?”

[Of course, I am!]

Though she said this, the words of the most vengeful spirits always claimed they were alive. They could not be taken at face value and could not be trusted.

“How did you get your power?”

[Why do I have to tell you that? If you’re that curious about it, become undead like the other ones here. Then you’ll find out, even if you don’t want to!]

“Even if we’re not connected to those who abused you in any way, will you still consider us enemies?”

[Shut up! If you people are the only ones with a soul, and I’m just a soulless rock on the street, I will crush all of you! You so-called great people of Hubris, I’ll dye your souls in pain!]

It seemed that the spell caster, who had been treated like a slave and abused for being of the Messenger Clan, seemed to harbor great resentment and planned to take revenge on the people of Hubris as a whole. As someone from the same Messenger Clan, Azadine felt it was unfair.

Seeing the situation escalate like this, Mediam whispered to Azadine.

“Won’t we be able to persuade her by letting her know we’re from the Messenger Clan too?”

“Then what about that Holy Knight?”

“We’ll have to kill her. What else?”

“If we kill the Holy Knight, what about Tarki’s half-siblings?”

“Well, in their case, too. We don’t have a choice, do we?”

“Ah, Mediam.”

Azadine sighed.

“You can’t give so little importance to someone’s life even if that person is a Holy Knight of the King’s Church.”

“Oh my goodness. Are you being serious?”

Ismail, who was listening in, was shocked.

“Then do you have something in mind?”

“Well, since she said she’d take everything away because she thinks of herself as quite powerful…”

Azadine shrugged and looked.

“We need to let her know who is the strong one here.”

The corpses of the adventurers and merchants approached the warehouse from the sawmill’s entrance. Azadine picked up an arrow and placed it on the bowstring.

“Aren’t they too far? We need to shoot when they get closer, so…”

Maya recommended that Azadine should shoot after luring the enemy closer, but Azadine replied.

“I’d like to do that, but there’s too many. For us, soon, space will be our barrier. If they take away that space, our barrier will shrink too.”

In other words, he meant that shooting an arrow from far away was necessary to secure the most space. After saying this, Azadine fired his arrow.

-Swoosh!

With the roar of the air as it pierced through, the arrow flew true.

-Hit!

When the arrow made contact with an adventurer’s skull, its jaw was crushed and slammed into its helmet from the inside, blowing it away. The only thing left behind was a dreadful noise.