WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
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◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈
Chapter 19: This Order Needs a Great Warrior (1)
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The name “Tuon,” which Orisin had chosen on a whim, became the name used for the Sword Spirit.
The first reason was simple.
“Kriel. It won't do us any good to casually mention the name of one of the Seven Demon Weapons. Let's call it something else for now.”
It was to conceal Gratuon's true identity. It already looked somewhat similar to the Seven Demon Weapons. A knight carrying an ash-gray blade like Gratuon and calling it Gratuon?
‘The Sacred Kingdom would put a bounty on me that very day...’
The second reason was this.
[Was Gratuon not the name of a defeated loser, broken and fallen in the end? It has gained a new form and a new master, so it is only proper that it receive a new name.]
For some reason, the Sword Spirit itself seemed to prefer Tuon over Gratuon.
That left Kriel dressed rather strangely. Orisin's Horn Dagger hung at his left hip, while Tuon's ash-gray Cross Sword rested at his right.
His greatsword, his original main weapon, was slung across his back. There was a reason Orisin had teased him about needing to hold one sword in his mouth while fighting.
Watching him, Morgina felt conflicted. From her point of view, an Abyssal monstrosity like Tuon should never have attached itself to Kriel.
‘Still, just looking at his outfit...’
It perfectly suited her personal tastes, or, according to discreet rumors circulating through the Holy City, the common tastes of the Church of Eve Kaha.
It was not unusual for followers of Eve Kaha, the goddess of fallen warriors, to be pleased by appearances that evoked a battlefield.
Kriel felt uneasy under Morgina's strangely heated gaze.
“Your gaze is impure. Were you thinking something suspicious?”
“What do you mean, impure? That's rude. I was thinking of ways to resolve your cursed condition.”
“Is that so? My apologies.”
Though Kriel nodded, he was certain that the Saintess with the strange personality had been imagining something bizarre.
[Neigh, let's get going, everyone. We need to hurry and see Eve Kaha's headquarters, don't we?]
At the urging of the legless horse, Kriel and Morgina started walking.
* * *
The grand temples built in the Holy City of Temlis served as the faces of their respective orders. Even orders that practiced frugality tended to possess some degree of splendor or refined elegance.
Eve Kaha's grand temple was no exception. With subtle decorations such as raven statues and wing-shaped reliefs, it displayed a restrained beauty.
Kriel had not expected Eve Kaha's headquarters to be so “beautiful,” though.
That was simply how temples worked. Temlis was the most popular tourist destination in the Sacred Kingdom.
To catch travelers' eyes, they lavishly decorated the grand temples while leaving each order's true place of origin, its headquarters, mostly unadorned.
After all, the only people who came all the way to a headquarters were devout pilgrims and priests of the order. It was the capitalist judgment that spending money on decoration would not increase revenue.
And Eve Kaha's headquarters, the birthplace of faith in the Raven Goddess...
[Hey, is this really a temple?]
“Technically.”
Put kindly, it was unique. Put less kindly, it resembled the Demon King's castle.
Kriel could understand the inconvenient location atop an unnamed mountain. To receive a god's revelation, one usually had to go somewhere exceptionally high or exceptionally low, or at least somewhere unusual.
He had also let the sight of hundreds of ravens in flight and rows of ancient trees suited to ravens pass with the thought that it was fitting for a Raven Goddess.
The grand finale of the remarkably lively hiking trail, where ravens lined the branches of leafless old trees, was a red lake.
‘Red’ was not a metaphor for water reflecting a sunset or autumn leaves. Around the black fortress at the mountain's summit ran a circular river like a moat, and every drop of its water was blood-red.
Between the circular river and the fortress was a real moat, running in intricate patterns. Viewed together with the moat leading to the castle, it looked like an enormous magic circle centered on the black fortress.
Ravens flew around the black fortress at the center of the magic circle. For some reason, red mist rose from the fortress, an exquisite decoration that made the temple feel like a cousin to hell.
[Wow. It looks more vicious than the Demon King's castle. Eve Kaha really has terrible taste....]
Normally, when Orisin said something that got under Morgina's skin, Kriel took Morgina's side. The one who picked a fight out of boredom was usually the horse ghost.
This time, though, Kriel had no choice but to agree with Orisin. Had Morgina grown up in a place like this and turned out that way? She was practically living proof of how important one's surroundings were to a child's emotional development.
Naturally, Morgina did not quietly agree.
“You dare insult my order?”
[Would any pilgrim even come to a headquarters that looks like this? They'd run away in terror!]
Morgina wrapped red Divine Power around her hand and struck Orisin. It was a sight that would almost feel incomplete without it.
The Cross Sword at Kriel's right hip hummed.
[I do not understand why, but it is a comforting sight. I like it.]
[See? Even an Abyss spawn likes it! Eve Kaha really has terrible taste!]
“Shut up! You're the strange one for not understanding this beauty!”
Kriel nodded once as he watched a person and a horse ghost squabble over something so trivial.
‘I should just go on ahead.’
It was quite some time before the two enemies noticed Kriel trudging toward the black fortress.
* * *
The blood-red water was not water.
“Ah, that's real blood.”
[Damn it. Six Principles, are you not going to keep your youngest goddess in check?]
“...It doesn't smell like blood, though.”
“That's because it's special blood.”
Morgina raised her right hand, showing him her palm. It was the hand that always remained pale and unblemished, even though she cut it whenever she fought, thanks to Divine Power.
“The miracles our order's priests use involve making weapons with blood as a medium, right? This is an extension of that. We gather only the purest blood of our priests to forge weapons. Not disposable things made with Divine Power and thrown away, but the finest weapons awarded to true warriors.”
[So it's a kind of furnace. Hey, Tuon. Want to try swimming in there?]
“What are you doing?”
Kriel stopped Orisin, who had suddenly said something strange while staring at the Cross Sword. Orisin looked ready to grab the sword in their mouth and dunk it in the blood.
[Your sword said it liked that. From what the thug Saintess said, the blood flowing there is less biological blood and more the essence of Divine Power that has taken the form of blood. I was wondering if it would have an adverse reaction to Divine Power.]
At first, Kriel had been ready to object to Orisin calling it “your sword,” but after hearing the rest, he found the question interesting. Deep down, he hoped Tuon would give a positive answer.
[I do not listen to those weaker than myself.]
It was a firm refusal.
* * *
There was no gatekeeper at the entrance to Eve Kaha's headquarters. Morgina raised a mace forged from blood and Divine Power, then struck the castle gate as though beating a gong.
Thoom!
A heavy vibration rang out, and the gate began to open without even a creak.
[Six Principles. What are you going to do about your youngest, really....]
Orisin muttered in shock at the fact that this barbaric display was the official way to enter.
Morgina simply ignored the lament and grabbed Kriel, pulling him along.
“Come on. Since we're here, we should greet the Head of the Order.”
“Didn't I come here as an outsider? Shouldn't I wait in a reception room?”
“What outsider?”
Morgina smiled faintly.
“You're our order's Champion right now, aren't you?”
Come to think of it, the original reason for visiting Eve Kaha's headquarters had been to step down from the position of Champion. Kriel had no choice but to follow Morgina and meet the Head of the Order.
The inside of the black fortress was more ordinary than he expected. In other words, priests lived their daily lives there, just as they would in any other temple.
Some of Eve Kaha's priests prayed quietly. Others fed ravens, and he occasionally saw priests fighting with several weapons or carefully honing them.
Rather than greeting one another aloud, Morgina and the priests silently exchanged bows. It left quite an impression on Kriel, who had mostly seen Morgina running wild with a mace in hand.
‘It reminds me of when she first arrived at the Western Army.’
Back then, he had thought she was simply a quiet priest of a minor faith. Timid, unable to speak properly, and persecuted because her order was weak.
It was true that she could not speak properly. The issue was that it was not because she was timid, but because she had been furious and considering whether to smash the heads of those thugs pretending to be knights.
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking drew Kriel from his thoughts. The door was more ordinary than he expected for the Head of the Order's room.
“Grandmother, it's me.”
“Come in.”
Kriel was taken aback. He had heard Morgina call the Head of the Order “Grandmother” a few times, but she called the Head of the Order that to their face as well?
Judging by the Head of the Order's easy acceptance, it seemed to be an everyday form of address. Since the Church of Eve Kaha did not forbid its clergy from marrying, they might truly be related by blood.
Kriel revised that thought when he caught sight of the elderly woman beyond the open door.
She looked far too kind to be related to Morgina.
“I'm here. And this is...”
“I know. The grand temple sent word. I heard you high-handedly appointed a new Champion.”
“What do you mean, high-handedly? Do you know how capable he is?”
“I do not mean you placed someone incapable in the position. I mean you forced someone who did not want it to take the seat.”
Morgina quietly looked away. Having silenced Morgina, the Head of the Order turned to Kriel.
“You must be Morgina's Champion.”
Footnotes:
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