"We're just saying to attack the monster! After we defeat the monster, then we can catch the member of the Herald Clan or do whatever!"
"Ah! Y-yes!"
"Let's attack the monster first!"
The villagers all raised their bows and began shooting arrows.
Azadin chuckled bitterly as he watched the arrows fly over his head. Compared to his own shots, their archery seemed utterly feeble.
There were some strong bows among them, but even those couldn't pierce flesh, merely bouncing off the monster's teeth. It looked like the villagers were trying to help by shooting arrows, but to Azadin, it felt like a waste of arrows.
'Give those arrows to me instead.'
Still, seeing how their attacks were focused solely on the monster made their resolve clear. At least, until the fight with the monster ended, they considered Azadin an ally.
They might turn on him afterward, but for now, the fact that they viewed him as a comrade was enough to satisfy him.
"Well then..."
Azadin took advantage of a brief moment of ease to stretch his shoulders. While dodging the monster's attacks, he stretched his back, swung his arms, and loosened up his body.
"What the hell are you doing?! Hey!"
A goblin, one of the minions of the King of Fang, snarled as it advanced. Knowing that Azadin was barely slicing away at the ends of its tentacle attacks, it tried to close the distance further.
But the closer it got, the more painful the villagers' arrows became. Their accuracy improved, and the force of their projectiles increased.
Thanks to the time they bought him, Azadin was able to loosen his shoulders somewhat.
"Good. Now then..."
Azadin set down the sword corroded by digestive acid.
"Shall we begin? My shoulders aren't fully loosened yet, but... this should be enough!"
He tossed aside the sword, which had started to deteriorate, and instead picked up a tooth lying on the ground. The sharp tooth resembled a triangular axe head.
Picking up the tooth, which looked like it came from a shark, Azadin swung it with his loosened shoulders and hurled it to the side.
-Swish!
The tooth ripped through the air and sliced through the tentacle.
-Thud!
It embedded itself in the body of the minion of the King of Fang.
"Kieeeek!"
The minion writhed in agony from the sudden, intense pain.
"Good. This seems to be effective."
Azadin quickly picked up more teeth scattered on the ground and began throwing them one after another.
Although his shoulders and elbows weren't fully loosened, he relied on clean weight shifts and precise timing to throw efficiently without putting too much strain on them.
The teeth hurled from Azadin's hands flew sharply, ripping through the minion of the King of Fang.
"Graaaaah!"
Unable to endure the excruciating pain, the minion's body convulsed, and the tattooed goblin's head emerged from within.
"You... you bastard! I am meant to be the King of Fang. I've transcended to become a greater being, a god, and yet because of a mere human..."
"Unfortunately for you, I am a Divine King Slayer."
Azadin responded and threw another sharp tooth, splitting the goblin's skull.
***
Even after splitting the goblin's head, the minion of the King of Fang continued to live, but the outcome was already decided. Azadin had countless projectiles at his disposal, and the minion's normal attacks couldn't reach him.
The only option left for the minion was to cast magic, but whenever the goblin head emerged to chant a spell, Azadin would shatter it, effectively shortening its lifespan.
"N-no! King of Fang, Kararon!"
The goblin shaman, who had tried to seize the throne of the King of Fang, made a final plea before falling in death.
And finally...
-Rumble!
The massive mass of flesh and teeth, the minion of the King of Fang, began to collapse.
'There's still a chance that lesser demons or similar creatures could show up, but...'
Azadin carefully stepped forward, avoiding the falling chunks of flesh, and retrieved the wand lying on the ground.
'I'm not sure, but it seems like this thing was used to locate the Book of the Divine King.'
If it really could help find the Book of the Divine King, it would be useful for Azadin as well.
'But considering that even a mere scout had one, it might be a common item among monsters. Either way, it's worth holding on to.'
Azadin took the wand and turned around.
"Hmph."
"You soulless heretic!"
The village's vigilantes were glaring at Azadin, some with their bowstrings drawn.
'How impolite. Drawing a bowstring could lead to accidental firing.'
Azadin sighed. Although they had fought together while the monster raged, in the end, he was still a persecuted herald.
Some people were grateful and welcomed him for helping, but others remained suspicious. The hunter, who appeared to be the leader of the vigilantes, stepped forward and asked a question.
"What were you thinking? Why... why did you defeat that monster?"
"It's obvious! That monster must've been summoned by him!"
"Exactly! Isn't it strange how the monster appeared so suddenly?"
Some people, clearly disgusted by the Herald Clan, made ridiculous accusations. They had probably been taught by the king's church that imperial heralds were soulless, blasphemous beings who deserved death.
Poorly educated rural villagers had no choice but to follow the church's teachings, even as they were exploited by it.
"As you all know..."
Azadin raised his voice.
"I simply fulfill my mission according to the emperor's gold coins. Someone used the emperor's gold to make a wish on your behalf."
"What?"
"Someone did?"
"Is it one of us?"
"I'm not at liberty to say, nor do I have the right to."
Ignoring the confused murmurs, Azadin approached the village's gate. No arrows or stones were thrown at him.
"Since my task is complete, I assume I can pass now?"
"..."
"Or do you plan to fight me for the king's church's sake, even after being plundered by that noble bastard?"
"Well..."
"Do not insult our faith."
"Right, you are all faithful subjects. Of course you are."
Azadin yawned. He had marched through a drought-stricken frontier village and fought consecutive battles due to his mission under the emperor's gold. Even for a trained herald, exhaustion was inevitable.
"So, I'll be on my way."
"Ugh?!"
One of the villagers tried to fire an arrow, but the hunter stopped him. Meanwhile, Azadin lightly jumped onto the gate's wall without touching it and climbed up effortlessly.
"I'll take some arrows with me."
Azadin grabbed a handful of arrows from the quiver atop the wall.
"..."
"Hmph."
"So, the devil of gold helped us because of the gold coin?"
"Someone in the village must've used the gold, right?"
"Who could it be?"
The villagers looked at each other suspiciously, but there was no such person among them.
'Because it's a lie.'
Azadin shrugged, jumped down from the wall, and crossed the gate.
As he walked away, he heard the hunter muttering behind him.
"...Thanks."
The hunter spoke quietly, so others wouldn't hear him.
It seemed the hunter had figured out that Azadin was lying, or perhaps, even if someone had genuinely paid him a fair reward, the hunter simply wanted to show his gratitude.
The king's church sentenced anyone to death just for being associated with the Herald Clan. Therefore, what the hunter had just said was an extremely risky move.
"Well, you're welcome."
Azadin waved at them and started running toward the road.
[Gold coins, huh… You lie so naturally.]
The emperor's voice spoke to Azadin.
"If I don't say it like that, they'll remain clueless and continue to live in fear of the king's church, won't they?"
[Don't you resent them? After you defeated the monsters for them, and they treat you like this?]
"Well, humans are inherently weak beings. I'm satisfied that they treated me kindly, even when I was pretending to be blind. If someone extends kindness to the powerless, they too deserve to receive kindness in return, don't they?"
Saying this, Azadin hurried along the path, avoiding the villagers.
"Ah, but I'm exhausted. Pretending to be blind made it easier to pass through gates, but this time, I really got caught in a mess."
***
After defending the eastern gate village from the minions of the King of Fang, Azadin ran along the road for one mealtime (approximately 30 minutes). Before long, he spotted two youths leading a Kerim goat.
Midiam and Ishmael, holding a torch, were returning along the path when they saw Azadin.
"Ah! Azadin! You're here!"
Midiam greeted him joyfully.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere, right?"
"No, I'm fine. Did you turn back to wait for me? You could've just kept going."
It was only a brief journey together. Since they had already managed to find him, the two of them should have no trouble returning to the holy land on their own.
But Midiam shook her head.
"It would've been sad if we just left like that."
"Well, I said it to be taken that way. So, what's with the torch?"
"They gave it to us because they said one of our group members got separated. Convincing them to turn back and let us search on our own was really tough."
"They insisted we take this, at least."
It seemed that when Azadin explained to the villagers that he had gotten separated and lost in the mountain path, they had given the torch to Midiam and Ishmael to help find him.
"You managed to shake them off well. The villagers wouldn't have let two kids go so easily without worrying about you."
"Yeah. When we told them that the goat could ward off most monsters, they accepted it. I was worried because they were Hubris folk, but as long as they didn't know we were Aragasa, they were all... well, maybe they were just being nice because I'm so pretty."
"Hehe, not because you're young, but because you're pretty, huh?"
"Yes."
Midiam pouted her lips.
"I'm 13 years old. I'm not that young. There's even a queen in the north who got married at my age."
"Anyway, you didn't even get any gold coins, and you wasted your energy for nothing. Sure, the Hubris folk were kind, but you didn't need to put in so much effort."
Ishmael, seemingly displeased with Azadin and Midiam's growing rapport, interjected with a comment.
"When I pretended to be blind, they helped me without expecting anything in return. That's why I ignored any personal gain and helped them. As Midiam said, protecting and helping the people is a beautiful thing. Without that kind of beauty, life loses its fun."
"So, what happened? What about the monsters? How many were there? Did the villagers thank you after you defeated them?"
Curious, Midiam bombarded him with questions. Though she came from the founder clan, the Aether bloodline, and carried herself with an air of superiority, she was still a child—eager to explore the world and full of excitement.
'She's actually quite adorable. The children of the clans, no matter how prestigious their lineage, undergo strict training in the holy land. At this age, they're naturally curious about the world.'
Azadin responded to Midiam, who was looking at him with sparkling eyes.
"One ogre and about a squad of goblins. There was also a minion of the Kurt Divine Clan."
"W-what? A minion?"
"You defeated a minion of the Kurt Divine Clan?"
"It wasn't a particularly strong one."
Azadin spoke as if it were no big deal.