Youkar, Walite - Chapter 5. Royal envoy

Youkar turned her head, a vague figure was slowly trudging his way through the chaos. She snapped back to attention and drew Celestial Hold’s blade. The figure, upon seeing the moon shine off the still wet blade, immediately bailed and ran. However, the figure wasn’t very fast. Youkar caught up with the figure after a few steps and clutched him by the back of the neck, causing him to sprawl backward.

The figure cried out in pain, covering his face with his hands, and yelled, “You, you can’t kill me! I’m, I’m a royal emissary! Assassination… is a serious crime!”

Youkar’s cold blade forced his hands aside, and the clanking sound of metal echoed as she noticed that his hands were shackled. “A royal messenger? Is that true?” Youkar tilted her body, allowing the moonlight to illuminate his face, finally getting a glimpse of the messenger’s features. His features were well-defined, with light golden hair, deep blue eyes, a clean-shaven chin, and an appearance in the early twenties.

“Are you allied with those bandits!?” The messenger attempted to mask his trembling voice out of fear, attempting to appear authoritative in front of Youkar.

“Not at all, but you must be quite wealthy,” Youkar replied as she raised her blade.

“What are you going to do?” The messenger was terrified, once again hiding behind his hands as Youkar swung her blade. With two crisp sounds, the sturdy shackles snapped and fell with a thud.

Seeing his restraints removed, the messenger touched his wrists and the fear on his face eased a little: “Are you… an adventurer?”

“You can understand it that way, Your Excellency the Messenger^[1].” Youkar reached out, helping him to his feet and brushing the dust off of him as she did so. “I thought you were remnants of the bandits. My apologies for the misunderstanding.”

“No problem, brave lady. May I ask if you are the one who dealt with these filthy bandits?” The messenger asked Youkar in an exaggerated tone, to which she nodded in response. The messenger’s words grew even more ludicrous: “Then you should truly receive a generous reward from His Majesty the King. This band of brigands has tarnished the honor of the realm and should be thoroughly eradicated.”

Youkar, not interested in the messenger’s pleasantries, asked directly, “What brings you to the vicinity of Cross town? Why were you captured by the bandits?”

The messenger straightened his posture, coughed a few times, placed his left hand behind his back and his right hand on his chest. His unconvincing tone took on a slightly more dignified air as he spoke, “I am here on the orders of His Majesty the King to revoke the position of the lord of Cross town. He has raised taxes without authorization, colluded with bandits, even detained inspectors, and falsified achievements. These are unforgivable crimes. However, His Majesty remains merciful and has decided to send me to deliver this decree. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side, and I was taken hostage by these individuals and detained here.”

Youkar found the official speech she was hearing somewhat sleep-inducing, about ready to give him a piece of her mind.

Finally, the envoy coughed, extended his hand, and asked, “Ah, this righteous lady, would you be willing to escort me to Cross town to deliver His Majesty’s decree? Upon completion, I am willing to recommend you to be knighted in the kingdom.”

Youkar, seeing that this guy finally got to the point, rolled her eyes and put her hand forward the same.

The messenger, seeing this, quickly grasped her hand and exclaimed excitedly, “Ah, thank you! May the goddess bless you.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Youkar raised her right eyebrow, closed her eyes, and mimicked the messenger’s exaggerated tone, saying, “Justice needs to eat too, so how much are you offering?”

“What for?” The messenger seemed a bit puzzled, but he could very well be pretending not to understand.

“How much is the reward?” Youkar withdrew her hand, placed her hands on her hips, and continued, “In other words, how much money are you offering, Your Excellency?”

The messenger’s expression changed immediately upon seeing this. He took a step back and exclaimed in reproach, “How could you? Assisting His Majesty the King is a duty every citizen should undertake, and it is an immensely honorable deed. How can you measure it with something as filthy as money?”

Youkar didn’t offer any explanation but instead straightforwardly repeated, “Money.”

The messenger then resorted to the law, threateningly saying, “Do you know what the crime of extorting a messenger entails? It could mean decades in prison. I won’t remain silent!”

Youkar narrowed her eyes slightly, disdain evident in her voice as she reminded him softly, “There are no guards here, and you’re just a single man. Even if I killed you, nobody would know. Isn’t that right?”

After saying that, Youkar had enough with the messenger. She just raised her blase as not so subtle threat.

“Wait a moment!” The messenger seemed clearly afraid, but made a final attempt: “Do you have no sense of justice at all? If I die! The king’s orders won’t be conveyed, and those poor residents will continue to live in dire straits!”

Youkar didn’t bother to reply. She knew the answer; even if he died, the king would send another messenger to convey his orders. Even if Cross town changed its lord, it would still be full of lies and empty promises.

As for a sense of justice? That’s something you can’t eat.

Just as the blade was about to fall, he hastily knelt down and begged for mercy, saying, “I’ll pay! I’ll pay, isn’t that enough? Two silver coins, will that suffice? It should be enough, right?”

Upon hearing this, Youkar quickly halted, and in a nonchalant tone, replied, “I’ll take whatever you have.”

“You’re robbing me! How are you any different from those damned bandits?” The messenger cried out in despair, but reluctantly, his body surrendered the purse, offering it with both hands.

Youkar took the wallet, opened it, and counted the money. There was quite a sum: twenty-eight copper coins, ten silver coins, and one gold coin.

Youkar reached out and singled out the gold coin, flicking it with her thumb. It spun in the air, tracing a graceful arc before landing softly in her palm.

Youkar pocketed the gold coin, her face lighting up with a gleeful expression. She closed the wallet and tossed it back to the messenger.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

The messenger’s face contorted into a bitter smile, his eyes almost squeezing out tears of sourness. Youkar didn’t bother with him, just turned her head and walked away, leaving behind a remark: “Get going, why kneel there? Waiting to be eaten by wolves?”

The messenger’s mood was almost explosive; he wished he could kill the half-human right then and there, but all he could do was seethe in silence.

“Never mind that, when that lord is overthrown, we’ll collect more fines.” The messenger sniffed, comforting himself, and then stood up. However, Youkar had already walked away.

“Hey! Wait for me! Is this your idea of service?” The messenger was furious, then dashed to catch up with Youkar.

……

Back in Cross town, the two returned with the king’s crest. Soon after, soldiers were swiftly dispatched in the name of the king, heading straight for the town center, the lord’s mansion.

——
[1] Honorary and nobility titles, when used as the replacement for a name, like “His Highness the Prince is sick.” are traditionally capitalized as a form of respect and a way of highlighting its importance in the text.

Ah, robbing. A fine art. I’ll try out different things to make notes and announcements as less annoying as possible, starting from moving them from top to bottom. I’ll profit of the weekend to cleanup and fix any errors that might have slipped in the earlier chapters, like “Crossroads town” instead of “Cross town” in chapter 3, for the observant. You can skip these without worry, important announcements (like schedule changes) will still be on top.