The awakened Calypso had a displeased expression. Her head was dizzy, and her stomach churned.
"Did I lose?"
"Rather than losing…"
The servants of the Korasar Peddlers' Guild looked troubled. Should they tell her the truth? That she was knocked out in a single blow?
At that moment, Azadin spoke.
"Then keep your promise, Calypso."
"Y-yes."
Being ambushed and taken down in one hit by Azadin made her feel somewhat resentful… but her body was in no condition to fight again. The damage from Azadin's single punch was no joke. She had no courage to challenge him again in this state.
"Among the children on the list, take those who are living as slaves to the holy land and become their guardian. If there are those who refuse to go to the holy land and are in affluent environments, investigate their guardians. You have no objections, do you?"
"No matter what, I am still a herald. I don't take back my words so easily."
Calypso clicked her tongue, grumbling.
"Why the change? Why are you suddenly speaking so politely?"
"Well, after thinking about it, you're my senior, so I figured I should treat you with respect."
From Calypso's perspective, since she had been knocked out in a single hit, insulting Azadin would be like spitting into the sky—it would only fall back on her. Instead, showing respect to Azadin was the better choice for her dignity.
"B-but how did you do it? You can't even use Beauty of Nature, can you? Was it Elder Kazas?"
Azadin's teacher, Elder Kazas, was a mysterious elder in the holy land whom no one had ever seen in person. His name was only recorded in the elder council, but he never appeared at meetings.
When he had suddenly appeared, forcibly pushed Azadin into becoming a herald, and then vanished, everyone had cursed him… but now that Calypso had been knocked out cold by a single punch, it was clear—this must have been Kazas's doing.
"Well, my master will act when the time is right. It's not my place to speak about him. More importantly, I'm counting on you. Ah, the children along the way to Salasma—I'll check on them myself. You handle the others."
"Understood, senior."
Perhaps because she had lost, Calypso obediently followed Azadin's instructions, calling him senior.
"Oh, by the way, where did you get that bone wand?"
"I found the Kurt cultists in my territory using it, so I killed them and took it."
"Is that so? Hmm, as expected, it's mass-produced."
"Looks like you got one too, senior. Then, does this mean…"
"You keep it. If you come across any copies of the Book of the Divine King while traveling, you should recover them."
"Understood. Then, let's wrap this up quickly."
After saluting Azadin, Calypso left first with her servants.
Once Calypso's group had departed, Azadin loaded the wounded onto the Korasar Peddlers' Guild's wagons and left the logging village.
"But this was really unexpected."
Midiam muttered while looking at the devastated logging site.
"The dead returning from death, causing a black magic catastrophe, and killing the living… well, they deserved to die anyway. A copy of the Book of the Divine King has appeared, and the Kurt Divine Clan is stirring. This whole region is suffering from drought. This seems like a sign of the Great Catastrophe."
"It's not a sign—it's already begun."
Azadin touched the copy of the Book of the Divine King in his possession, sensing that the path ahead would not be smooth.
***
Meiya, waking up in the wagon, was shocked when she heard the guild members' conversation.
"You saved us? You defeated those undead?"
"Yes. Fortunately, we had hired some mercenaries as well. Besides, you had already taken down quite a few undead yourselves."
As agreed beforehand, the members of the Korasar Peddlers' Guild explained the situation in a way that aligned with Azadin's plan.
After Tarkiev, Kaka, Chico, and Meiya collapsed, the undead fled upon the guild's arrival. Under an old tree, they found the corpse of a woman. When they unearthed it, the poisonous miasma in the forest disappeared.
That was the story they had arranged.
"So the cause of the black magic catastrophe was that corpse. Hmm… Oh, what about my horse?"
"The wyverns ate it. We managed to recover your saddlebags, though."
"Oh…"
Meiya sighed, seeing only her saddlebags remaining. The traders had also retrieved the saddlebags of her father, Gazrek.
"...."
Finding Gazrek now seemed impossible.
"In that case, we should return to Salasma. Are you heading there as well?"
"We're peddlers, so we travel around this area. We can introduce you to other merchants heading to Salasma at a junction."
"That would be great. Thank you for your kindness."
"Think nothing of it. Thanks to other merchants dropping out, our profits have increased."
It wasn't just empty words. Due to the black magic catastrophe at the logging site, the farms deeper in the forest had been cut off. When the Korasar Peddlers' Guild arrived, they were able to buy goods at dirt-cheap prices, making a considerable profit.
"We'll soon reach the Continental Road. If you're feeling up to it, you might want to rest at an inn there. As for the wagon…"
To traders, an empty space in their wagon meant lost money. They had already suffered a financial loss by giving space to the injured.
Understanding this, Kaka and Chico knew they couldn't burden them any further, even though they weren't fully recovered.
"But…"
Kaka turned to Azadin.
"You don't seem like an ordinary pilgrim. My younger sister… it's embarrassing to admit, but she can read fortunes and glimpse the future."
"Huh?"
Azadin's expression grew complicated. Most people claiming to foresee the future or read fortunes were frauds.
But then, Chico spoke to him.
"You will probably become a great knight. Or perhaps… you already are one."
"A great knight?"
Azadin was the Emperor's herald, someone who could never become a knight. And the title of a "great knight" did not exist in this world.
In an era where chivalry was nothing more than a joke, calling someone who could never be a knight a "great knight" was…
The absurdity of it made the members of the Korasar Peddlers' Guild burst into laughter, but they quickly shut their mouths when Midiam shot them a sharp glare. They remembered how she had once held a blade to their throats in warning.
'Damn it, because Calypso got crushed so miserably…'
'Azadin's just some guy who can't even use magic, so he must have only trained in martial arts. But how could she be so stupid as to fight at close range? Idiot.'
The Korasar Peddlers' Guild members resented Calypso for ruining their perfect opportunity with her ridiculous mistake. However, some of them had different thoughts.
'But even if I were careless, could I really knock out Calypso with a single punch?'
'Calypso is still suffering from the blow.'
'When he was younger, Azadin was completely useless. How did he become like this…?'
Azadin's reputation had been at rock bottom, but at least those present here now understood that his skills were no joke.
"Well, we'll be heading off to report to the Cell Sword Guild, so we'll see you next time. Hyung-nim, aren't you heading to Salasma?"
"Ah, y-yes."
"Then you can go with the executive knight."
"Ugh."
Tarkiev hesitated. Since Azadin's group was of the Herald Clan, they would not want to travel with the executive knight. If Tarkiev chose to go with Meiya, there was a chance he would end up parting ways with Azadin.
He could just return to Salasma with the merchants or the holy knights, but Tarkiev feared running into ambitious siblings along the way who might kill him.
Traveling with merchants meant they wouldn't have to worry about bandits or roadside robbers, but they had no chance against the illegitimate children of a count who were determined to kill him.
Neither the holy knights nor the merchants would bother protecting Tarkiev at the cost of fighting the count's illegitimate children.
But fortunately, Meiya declined the offer to travel together.
"No, I will… search for my father, who may still be nearby. You all go ahead to Salasma without me."
Saying this, Meiya started walking back the way they had come, heading toward the gateway guarded by the knights of salvation.
"…Will she be okay, traveling alone?"
"Well, she is a holy knight, so she should be fine, right?"
But at that moment, Azadin's expression darkened.
"Huh? What's wrong, Azadin? Don't tell me you're worried about that holy knight?"
"No, it's not that…"
Azadin looked troubled.
'The Emperor's Voice isn't speaking to me?'
The foundation of the Emperor's herald system was the artificial spirit known as the "Emperor's Voice."
It provided guidance within the boundaries of imperial law, located those petitioning the Emperor and relayed their requests to heralds, and even informed them of the date and time—an incredibly useful spirit.
But for some reason, since this morning, the Emperor's Voice had gone silent.
'I can't even explain this… What's going on?'
Azadin had no idea why this was happening.
***
Calypso was moving along a side path, away from the Imperial Road, with her servants. She wasn't alone—some merchants from the Korasar Peddlers' Guild were following her.
"Are you really going to submit to Azadin?"
"I obtained a bone wand that searches for the Book of the Divine King… If I waste time taking in those children who aren't even of our lineage, the other heralds will seize the Book of the Divine King and rise higher than me."
Calypso's father had been a servant of the Korasar Peddlers' Guild, and her mother was a Hubris.
It was highly unusual for someone to become a herald without either parent belonging to the Herald Clan. This was proof of Calypso's immense talent.
But that also meant her desire for social ascension was even stronger. She had managed to become a herald thanks to her talent, but she was at the very bottom of the hierarchy. And that meant she understood something very well.
How much of a blessing it was to have good parents, to be raised in an affluent environment, and to have been able to train from a young age.
So Calypso worked hard. Becoming a herald was enough to earn recognition within the lineage, but if she could collect the Emperor's gold coins or copies of the Book of the Divine King and achieve greater merits, she might even be able to marry someone of high standing in the Savan family.
In other words, she could become a member of the founder family, the Savan family.
Many heralds were eager to complete their missions with greater dedication to gain achievements for this reason. But now, at the perfect time to earn merit, she had been saddled with a pointless task?
"I have no choice, I lost the duel."
"But it wasn't an official duel that wagered herald ranks."
"Which is fortunate. Otherwise, I'd have suffered even greater humiliation. Ah, make sure the Korasar Peddlers' Guild keeps their mouths shut."
"Why?"
"Why do you think? I don't want to be the only one who gets humiliated. Senior's reputation in the clan is already terrible, so plenty of people will come after him. But if more people challenge him and get beaten up, then the fact that I lost in a duel won't seem like such a big deal."
Calypso snickered as she said this.