WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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Chapter 10: Hillside Slums (1)

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Viscount Dickens looked utterly bewildered and seemed to have a great deal he wanted to say. Baron Riverford also appeared eager to hear more about what had happened in the Dickens Viscounty.

However, Baron Riverford led Viscount Dickens and his knights into the lord's castle.

"I have many questions, but for now, you should rest. Please tell me the details later."

Elbridge understood what people meant when they said Baron Riverford was a good man. Unlike most nobles, consideration for others seemed to come naturally to him.

The exhausted viscount and his knights could not refuse Baron Riverford's offer. In the same breath, Baron Riverford even sent his own son off to bed.

Only Elbridge, Baron Riverford, and the baron's three knights returned to the reception room, which also served as a dining room. By then, the food had already gone cold.

Just before leaving the reception room, they had been sharply at odds over who had killed the demonic beast.

Now that they knew it had all been a misunderstanding, there was no reason to argue over who had slain it.

"Sir Walter. I apologize."

Oswald apologized to Walter, his ears bright red.

He still seemed bothered by having accused Walter so hastily earlier.

Walter shook his head.

"It was an easy situation to misunderstand. I also thought you were being shameless for a moment... Let's just chalk it up to the foolishness we each brought on ourselves."

"Understood. Thank you."

Once the quarrel had been settled peacefully enough, Baron Riverford began the serious discussion.

"What do you think happened in Viscount Dickens' territory? The viscount and his knights couldn't all have seen the same hallucination."

Walter, Oswald, and Eberhard all remained silent.

Just as Elbridge was about to bring up the idea that a demon might be behind it, the goddess's faint voice reached his ear.

- Elbridge. Do not say anything right now.

Keeping his head lowered, Elbridge murmured back just as quietly.

"For what reason?"

- If you speak too hastily, it will do more harm than good. The details can be discussed in Solenion...

Her voice gradually grew fainter, then cut off. She must have squeezed out every last bit of power she could use just to speak to him.

Elbridge did not disobey the goddess's words.

* * *

The next day, Elbridge received the horse Walter had promised him. It was a brown horse with a glossy coat.

"Sir Elbridge. I owe you a great deal. If you ever pass through this area again, please stop by. I will make sure you are properly received."

"Understood."

Just as Elbridge was about to leave the Riverford Barony, Oswald came hurrying over.

"Sir Elbridge. You said you were going to the Holy City of Solenion, correct?"

"Yes."

"His lordship asked me to have this letter delivered to the Temple of the Goddess of the Golden Tray."

Oswald held out a letter to Elbridge. Since it was not sealed with wax, it did not seem to be something meant to keep its contents from Elbridge.

Elbridge opened the letter. It recorded what had happened in the Dickens Viscounty.

Only then did Elbridge finally feel a little more at ease.

He had been bothered the entire time by the fact that he had not been able to bring up the demon yesterday.

'If I deliver this letter, people will realize that a demon appeared.'

Elbridge smiled with satisfaction.

"Understood. I'll deliver it as soon as I arrive."

"This is the travel money His lordship gave you. And this is a gift from me."

The pouch the lord had given him contained 2 gold. It was a very generous amount for travel expenses.

The gift Oswald had prepared pleased him even more. It was a sword that looked to be of fairly good quality.

Oswald said a little awkwardly, "Yesterday, you mentioned that you didn't have a sword. I'm sure this will be useful."

"I'll put it to good use."

"Have a safe journey. And I look forward to the day we meet again."

Elbridge nodded and left the Riverford Barony.

* * *

Elbridge reached the Holy City of Solenion without incident.

"...At last."

The Holy City of Solenion was the largest city in the eastern part of the continent, and to Elbridge, it was a city that felt like home.

Elbridge stopped a passerby.

"Which way is the horse market?"

"That way."

On his way to the horse market, Elbridge looked around Solenion.

'The city is much bigger than it used to be.'

Long ago, tall walls had surrounded the Holy City of Solenion.

But now there were so many buildings outside the walls that it almost looked as though the buildings were protecting the walls instead.

It was not only the city that had grown. There seemed to be several times more people than before, and the liveliness flowing through the city as a whole could not be compared to the past.

Elbridge sold the horse Walter had given him at the horse market.

"It's a good horse, but it's too old. I'll give you 3 gold and 10 silver."

He did not know enough about horse prices to bargain.

Still, since that merchant had offered the highest price in the horse market, it was probably not an outrageous amount.

'This should help the church's finances a little...'

After buying a bottle of the most expensive, highest-quality oil in the market, Elbridge headed for the hill.

Unlike other cities built on flat land, the center of the Holy City of Solenion was occupied by a hill.

It was fairly large but not steep, a hill even a small child could climb without much trouble, and atop it stood countless temples to the gods.

From the foot of the hill onward, there was hardly room to step because believers and priests who had come to visit the temples filled the place.

After delivering Baron Riverford's letter to the Temple of the Goddess of the Golden Tray, Elbridge straightened his back and headed toward the upper part of the hill. There was a reason for his confident bearing.

The temples in the Holy City of Solenion had been built on the hill in order to be a little closer to the gods.

Naturally, the larger a church's congregation and the greater its influence, the higher up the hill it could build its temple.

A temple on higher ground was a quiet source of pride among priests and paladins.

And the temple of the Goddess of the Rusted Shield sat fairly high on the hill.

In human terms, it was about shoulder height, or perhaps around ear level.

As Elbridge climbed, he saw several temples covered in a thick layer of dust and webbed over in places. They were temples of gods who had fallen from grace.

And yet none of those temples had disappeared. Even if a god had fallen into decline, no one wanted to tear down a temple and risk incurring divine wrath.

As a result, the view atop the hill had not changed from two hundred years ago except for one thing.

Back then, the higher a temple was on the hill, the more believers it had. Now it was the opposite.

These days, the temples at the foot of the hill were packed with people, while the temples higher up were nearly deserted.

Elbridge lamented inwardly.

'The world is turning upside down. It's the end of the world. The end of the world.'

At last, Elbridge arrived at the temple of the Goddess of the Rusted Shield.

Without exaggeration, it had the thickest layer of dust of any temple he had seen while climbing the hill. At a glance, it looked as though a gray carpet had been laid out.

'First, I should clean off some of this dust.'

Elbridge casually brushed the dust off the floor and table, then wiped the statue of the Goddess of the Rusted Shield on the altar with the high-quality oil.

He offered the remaining oil before the statue. Then he knelt and prayed.

"Goddess. I have come."

As if she had been waiting for him, the goddess's voice answered.

- You have come, Elbridge.

Perhaps because they were in a temple, or perhaps because he had offered oil to the goddess, her voice was much louder and clearer than before.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield continued her oracle.

- For more than a hundred years in the past, I had no believers, and no offerings were made to me. The divine power allowed to me each year was so small it could be compared to a grain of millet, so can you imagine how difficult it was to send you even a simple message?

The goddess grumbled. Depending on how one heard it, she almost sounded like she was pouting.

For some reason, Elbridge felt warmed by it.

"I also spent a long time trapped inside a seal, so I can understand your hardship at least a little."

- Yes. That would be so. You suffered greatly. My most cherished child.

Talking with someone who understood the hardships weighing on his heart was pleasant. Before he knew it, a smile had slipped onto Elbridge's face.

Then the Goddess of the Rusted Shield asked,

- I do not know why, but you look pleasant when you smile.

"Back then, wasn't it only archbishops who could receive your oracle? I only heard your voice twice myself. It feels strange to hear your voice as if it's the most natural thing in the world."

- That was partly to conserve the allowed divine power... and at the time, that was the fashion. To act haughty and solemn, to keep one's distance from the believers, and to behave mysteriously.

"Ah... I see. I guess the fashion in heaven has changed now."

- In truth, it is still the fashion. But as you know, I am not in a position to care about such things right now...

"..."

Elbridge wanted to say something, but if he spoke whatever came to mind, there was a good chance something highly sacrilegious would come out.

So he forced the conversation in another direction.

"Goddess. For what reason was I released from the seal?"

- I do not know either. Some great or small change must have occurred somewhere beyond my sight. For example, the power of the seal may have run out...

"Was the Archdemon released with me as well?"

- I cannot say for certain. But the disturbance caused by the demon not long ago was the first to occur since the Archdemon was sealed, so it may be connected to the Archdemon.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield was not a Chief God, so she was not omniscient.

Even so, this was extremely valuable information.

The biggest question had been answered, so now it was time to solve the most recent one.

"Goddess. Why did you stop me from mentioning the demon in front of Baron Riverford?"

- If you had mentioned the demon there, people would have guessed your identity, and I was afraid calamity would come upon you.

"Calamity?"

The goddess put it gently.

- Elbridge. You were a dam made from your own body to stop the Archdemon. But even when people look at a dam, they do not easily realize how precious it is in protecting them from the overflowing river.

"That much is fine. I'm used to it."

- The greatest problem arises when the dam breaks. Even when people see a dam that has collapsed for the first time in centuries, they do not thank it for its long labor. Instead, people are usually dissatisfied with the dam's weakness. People always feel the inconvenience that lies ahead more keenly than the comfort they have already enjoyed.

"I'm too foolish to understand how that metaphor relates to me."

The goddess's next oracle came a little late.

Almost as though a person were hesitating before saying something unpleasant.

- ...Elbridge. People are more likely to voice criticism than gratitude. With the demon rising and the hardships people will have to endure, those who remember the peaceful days will certainly want someone to blame. And that target will most likely be you.

Elbridge could not understand that oracle.

"I have done nothing wrong. There was no way for me to do anything wrong either. You know that, Goddess."

- Of course, I know that clearly. Elbridge. I believe most people would think the same way I do. But at the same time, there will also be many who suspect that you neglected the duty you were burdened with.

"..."

In other words, there might be people who thought the demon had returned because Elbridge had refused to remain buried inside the seal.

It was absurd. But Elbridge knew full well that the goddess's concern was quite realistic.

There were many people in the world who respected and honored paladins.

But there were also many who hated them. They envied the respect others showed paladins.

Those blinded by envy would sometimes come up with delusions convenient for tearing a paladin down.

As time passed, such people would think that, unlike foolish others, they had grasped the truth, and they would come to believe their own delusions.

Such delusions and beliefs did not need rational or logical grounds.

It was simply too easy, and too satisfying, to decide on the result you wanted and then imagine the evidence to fit it.

What was even worse was that when such people gathered, suspicion and delusion would snowball.

They always demanded an explanation, yet they had no intention of accepting one.

The goddess's voice that followed was filled with sorrow.

- Furthermore, there will certainly be those who think that if you disappear, the demon will disappear too. Just as in ages past, there were people shouting that if the paladins disappeared, the demons would disappear as well.

"...I understand."

- Good. Unless it is truly necessary, be careful not to reveal your identity.

The result of devotion and sacrifice was not always sweet. It had not been so in ages past, either.

* * *

While Elbridge was cleaning the temple with a somber expression, faint footsteps approached from deeper inside.

Step, step.

Elbridge's heart pounded hard.

'There shouldn't be anyone coming to this temple... Could it be that a prospective convert has already arrived?'

If rumors about the demon had already begun spreading, that was entirely possible.

For Elbridge, it was welcome news. The more believers there were, the greater the goddess's divine power would become, and the more divine power Elbridge would be able to use as well.

Of course, under the current circumstances, recruiting a few believers would not be enough for the Goddess of the Rusted Shield to secure a seat in the Heavenly Council... but wasn't the beginning half the battle?

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield also delivered her oracle in an unusually excited tone.

- Elbridge. Paladin, Archbishop, and High Cardinal Elbridge. If a prospective convert appears, be sure to seize them. Your goddess is prepared to welcome even one believer gladly...

"Understood, Goddess."

- In fact, your goddess learned how to catch believers from the Goddess of the Olive Tree in preparation for this very moment. It is called pyramid-style recruitment, which means that even if it seems like nothing at first, it promises great rewards later according to your results...

Step, step.

The footsteps drew closer and closer, then the owner of the footsteps came into view.

Unexpectedly, it was a paladin in armor. More than that, a young paladin, about Elbridge's age.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield grew even more excited.

- It would be even better if you could recruit a paladin. The age of strength is approaching.

Sales always began with a first impression.

To meet the goddess's expectations, Elbridge asked in a friendly voice.

"Hello. What brings you to the hall of the Goddess of the Rusted Shield?"

Then the unnamed paladin looked around the temple interior and said, "Well, I came to see whether there was a new guest in the Hillside Slums..."

"...Hillside Slums?"

"The temples at the very top of the hill. People hardly ever come to this side. Ah, I came from the temple right next door. The temple that serves the God of the Bloodstained Spear."

Elbridge felt a little disappointed. Of course.

"Oh. So you didn't come here to join the church."

"Join the church?"

"Yes. We're recruiting new believers right now."

"Hmm."

The young paladin looked Elbridge over from head to toe, then said, "How about you come over here?"

"...Pardon?"

"The Goddess of the Rusted Shield was pushed out of the Heavenly Council more than a hundred years ago, wasn't she? It would be better for both of us if you served the God of the Bloodstained Spear instead."

The goddess's uneasy voice reached his ear.

- Elbridge. Do not listen to the whisper of the devil. I will certainly make a firm protest to the God of the Bloodstained Spear. How dare that lawless one proselytize to my Archbishop in my temple...

Elbridge stood there in a daze, flustered by the completely unexpected suggestion.

Then the young paladin apparently took his silence for something else and added in a sly voice,

"As you know, our God of the Bloodstained Spear secured as many as two seats in the Heavenly Council this year. They are one of the big names in the Hillside Slums. So? Doesn't that sound tempting?"

Elbridge thought,

'...What the hell is this guy?'

Footnotes:

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