Chapter 20 – Astra Follower 1

-Srng!

Mediam pulled out her dagger and vanished before their eyes using the Mistletoe Technique.

She climbed onto the back of one of Azadine’s peers in an instant and pointed her blade at his neck.

“What?!”

“You…”

Everyone, including Azadine, was shocked at her boldness.

‘I knew she was going to do something, but I didn’t think she would go this far!’

While everyone was flustered, Mediam’s young voice rang out clearly.

“Yah, how dare you servants dare to keep acting sarcastic to the messenger?”

“N-No, this little girl?”

At that moment, Mediam’s blade moved slightly.

-Swish!

Blood flowed from the lightly cut skin.

“Little girl? Can you not understand the situation? I am of the Ethar Clan. How dare a servant make such funny sounds?”

“Ah…”

“What? Do you dislike the messenger? Then try this before insulting him. If you win, you might become a messenger, right? Why aren’t you taking on the challenge in earnest instead of trying to insult him by being sarcastic? What? Do you want to set an order amongst yourself? Don’t make me laugh. Does being a messenger look easy?”

The members of the peddlers guild were quite flustered at Mediam’s aggressiveness. It looked as if she was ready to kill.

Mediam’s words were, strictly speaking, correct. A messenger was at the top of the clan’s hierarchy, and this group was one that was created to assist them. It was an organization that was created to gather information and money.

However, those who ran the guild’s operations had a different idea. After all, the Emperor was dead, and the messengers were forced to act because of a curse that no longer had meaning. The important thing was money and the social credit that could be obtained through it.

In any organization, those who earned money would eventually become the leader. Still, those within the society didn’t ignore the messengers. Azadine was simply an exception. However, Mediam’s words were still on point.

“What is your mission? Is your mission not to support the Emperor’s messengers for the clan’s sake? Then why are you insulting a messenger as if they meant nothing? Is this how you perform your mission?”

“No, that….”

“If you dislike Azadine but aren’t confident enough to challenge him, don’t act out. Just smile pleasantly like the people of Hubris when they do business. Can you even do that? If you can’t, you aren’t good enough to even be a servant. Go farm in Sanctuary or just die at my hands now. You’re not a messenger but a child who doesn’t know what’s right. All your dreams are just in vain!”

Mediam snorted in derision, removed her blade from his neck, and walked back towards Azadine before they realized.

“Euk….”

“Damn it.”

Azadine’s former peers, who had returned to their senses, considered whether or not to retaliate against her, but…

“Yah. She’s… Ethar.”

“Right?”

“Shit. Someone in our position can’t touch anyone from the Ethar.”

“Huh.”

Azadine’s peers forced down their anger as they realized Mediam’s status as a member of the Ethar Clan.

“Here is a cloak. How about using this?”

Mediam, while ignoring Azadine’s motives, picked up a cloak for sale at the caravan.

“Let’s do that.”

Azadine accepted the cloak and headed towards the bath at the back of the caravan.

“Azadine is here?”

At the southern side of the Korasar Peddler Guild caravan was a man named Derek, who was their leader.

In the past, he had attacked Arael, a promising clan member, and was injured when she responded. His ankle, in particular, had been fractured, and he couldn’t move normally even after it was healed, making it impossible for him to function as a messenger.

Because of that incident, the clan elders sent Derek away as an adopted son to a merchant family. They made him step back as a messenger. They did this since they considered him no longer qualified to carry out the duties of a messenger.

It was a humiliating punishment but also a lenient one at the same time.

There were arguments between messengers that no one in the clan would touch, even if there was a reason. Derek’s attack on Arael had been for personal reasons. Since he was defeated fairly, he couldn’t say anything even if he had died.

However, thanks to the Savan family’s support, Derek could continue to live by transitioning from a messenger to a merchant.

“Yes. Azadine came and requested a simple maintenance.”

“Deal with it. Helping messengers is the mission of our organization.”

“Is that alright? This is the man who ignored all the procedures and was made a messenger just 3 months ago. Everyone hates him.”

“It’s fine. Besides, he won’t stay as a messenger for a long time, right? Didn’t a daughter of the Ethar clan apply to become his servant? A duel would inevitably happen there. Must have been a bold child? Did she want to set a record by becoming a messenger at 13 like Arael?”

Derek laughed slyly.

A record similar to that of Arael’s would be set by Azadine. But this time, Azadine would be on the receiving end.

If that happened, a very pleasant scene would happen for Derek, who hated Arael. However, the servant reporting to him was in a state of shock.

“B-But you see.”

“What?”

“That same daughter of the Ethar clan caused some havoc around the barracks.”

“Caused havoc? For what?”

“I heard that when some of Azadine’s peers were insulting him, she threatened to cut their throats?”

“What?”

Derek groaned when he heard this. It was clear what the situation implied. The daughter of Ethar, Mediam, was Azadine’s servant.

“Hmm? I heard he was incompetent, but he defeated someone from the Ethar Clan? Or has she not challenged him to a duel? Perhaps she’s waiting to confirm his skills?”

Derek tried to understand her intentions.

A brave girl who had come to win a position as a messenger through a duel. From Derek’s point of view, Mediam was an arrogant girl who could defeat Azadine.

No matter how much Azadine was hated by the Messenger Clan, a messenger for the Emperor needed to be respected. For a young girl who had just finished training to challenge a messenger… was an act that could harm the clan’s hierarchy. The elders, naturally, would disapprove.

Derek, however, had actively helped her. If Azadine lost to Mediam, then his disgrace would also disgrace Arael.

But to think that she was working for Azadine.

“Perhaps it is simply too insane of an idea to challenge him to a duel, so she is observing the situation first? Or maybe she likes him, I don’t know. Besides, she’s a person who can become a messenger once the summer comes.”

“Right? Hmm. I thought she was a fool with no thoughts, but she must have recognized something. What is Azadine doing?”

“Taking a bath.”

“Really? Then ask if he would like to have dinner together and invite him to my table.”

“I understand.”

The man left to relay Derek’s words to Azadine.

The caravan campsite was made up of several tents. Azadine placed a bathtub between two of them and took a bath.

Azadine handed over his clothes to the servants and soaked in the tub.

“Excuse me, Azadine?”

A servant had arrived. Due to the polite tone, it seemed like he wasn’t Aragasa but was just an employee.

“What is it?”

“Mr. Derek wants to have dinner with you.”

“Derek? Alright. I do have something to say to him.”

Azadine agreed to the meal with Derek. When he arrived, Derek was eating in a fancy tent at the center of the caravan.

“Wasn’t it an invitation for dinner? Not even waiting until the guest arrived.”

Azadine was slightly taken aback at seeing that Derek was already eating.

“Um. I eat early. Why don’t you take a seat?”

Derek wiped his mouth and invited Azadine. This, too, was a stone being thrown. Azadine sighed at how openly Derek was insulting him.

“Derek.”

“Endure it. Your servant attacked a member of our guild, right? Did she touch them knowing that they were employees of the Savan family?”

This was the problem.

Obviously, for a messenger family, the role of a messenger was a priority. It was a position that transcended blood.

In other words, it was an official position beyond social classes and an appointment based on the system and skills.

But for the bloodlines of the five founders and those working for them, the focus had shifted slightly towards money and power. They prioritized their own authority over the honor of the messenger.

The problem was that if one ignored this, the backlash would be extremely strong.

“Fine. Mediam indeed was rude today, so end the rudeness with me.”

Actually, Mediam wasn’t even his servant. Still, he decided to take responsibility for her as he put a spoon of food in his mouth.

“Now, get to that point already. I had to deal with ogres and goblins recently…”

“You did?”

“I got caught in a situation.”

Azadine placed the bone staff on the table.

“Have you ever seen this?”

“Ah, this.”

Derek nodded.

“Even if you couldn’t contact the chief, this was why I called you, Azadine. Members of the Kurt clan are looking for pieces of the magic book, Heavenly King’s Book of Truth… this is their tool for that..”

“I guess everyone knows now.”

“That’s right. You didn’t think you were the only one who knew and decided not to report it, right?”

“Would I enjoy reporting anything when the people are only eager to see me to insult me?”

“And you came here for something like that.”

“It was on the way.”

“Well, bringing the staff is a decently good thing. I will praise you for that. Did you get the book?”

“No, not from them.”

“Is that so? You speak as if you found it somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else? Did no other messenger find it yet?”

“….”

Derek’s eyes widened at Azadine’s words.

“What?”

“T-then you have it?”

“Just one page.”

Derek looked shocked as he said.

“W-where did you get it from?”

“Looking at your reaction, it seems like everyone is progressing slowly.”

“How and where did you get it?!”

“Inside a well in an abandoned frontier village.”

“Is that so? Damn it. You got one that easily?”

“It wasn’t so easy.”

If the spirits hadn’t guided him, he wouldn’t have been able to obtain this copy even if he had dug through the well. However, he wasn’t about to speak of the details here.

“Ah, you see, if I have it, I’ll get chased by those with this staff, right? If you are collecting the pieces, then you need to avoid being tracked.”

“Never mind that. If you have the copy of the book, hand it over.”

Derek asked Azadine to hand over the piece. However, Azadine found it odd how desperate Derek seemed.