Paladin of a Ruined Order - Chapter 103

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

Chapter 103: Cleaning

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Around noon the next day, Elbridge left the Order of the Rusted Shield's temple with a few simple cleaning tools.

Following the Goddess's oracle that said good fortune would surely follow if he cleaned abandoned temples, he was on his way to clean an unmaintained temple.

Unlike yesterday, though, Elbridge wasn't going alone.

"Wouldn't the gods be uncomfortable with a nonbeliever like me doing the cleaning? I think it'd be better if I just stayed behind..."

"Stop making excuses and come with me."

Elbridge ordered Sonia into forced labor.

Since Sonia was receiving room and board at the Order of the Rusted Shield's temple, she couldn't refuse her landlord's orders.

There were at least several hundred unmaintained temples.

Elbridge looked over the abandoned temples and murmured, "Which temple should we clean first...?"

As if it had been waiting, the Goddess sent down an oracle.

- Elbridge. How about the temple of the Wheel Goddess over there? The Wheel Goddess is a fine goddess.

It was said that a divine name wasn't given, but chosen by the god themself.

That was why gods often chose divine names based on objects that best represented their lives: the Golden Tray, symbolizing wealth; the laurel wreath, symbolizing victory; soot and wine, symbolizing ink; and so on.

Along the same lines, those who invented a particular tool and Ascended in recognition of that contribution often used their invention as their divine name.

The God of the Brass Cup was a prime example. It was said that, while still human, the God of the Brass Cup had created brass for the first time.

The Wheel Goddess must have done something similar. She might have been even older than the God of the Brass Cup.

Elbridge offered a prayer.

"Is there a reason we should clean the Wheel Goddess's temple first?"

- As far as your Goddess knows, she has the most beautiful and generous heart.

Elbridge interpreted the oracle in his own way.

'She must be a goddess the Goddess knows personally.'

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield sent down another oracle.

- Elbridge. If you ever have difficulty deciding which temple to clean, ask your Goddess anytime.

"Understood."

Elbridge pictured what the Goddess of the Rusted Shield might be doing.

Gods were probably subtly asking her to clean their temples first, and she was likely showing off in front of them.

The two entered the temple.

A statue of the stern-faced goddess looked down at Elbridge and Sonia, covered in years of grime.

Sonia tilted her staff toward the floor and murmured, "Flow."

Water streamed from the tip of Sonia's staff and soaked the temple. Elbridge smiled in satisfaction.

'Bringing Sonia was the right choice.'

The dust in a temple left neglected for a long time didn't stay soft like dandelion seeds. It turned into sticky grime.

Water was essential for scrubbing that grime away.

Elbridge had learned yesterday that fetching water from the well took longer than the actual cleaning. With Sonia here, though, there was no need to struggle to find water.

After spraying water around the temple, Sonia began scrubbing away the old grime with a long-handled brush.

She brought up their conversation from the previous evening.

"Like Rombel said, the Master of the Central Magic Tower might be hiding something. But isn't everyone like that? Wouldn't it be stranger to live with every last part of yourself exposed?"

The Master of the Central Magic Tower wasn't simply the most skilled mage at the Central Magic Tower.

He was the foundation of the Magic Tower and the spiritual pillar of mages.

Sonia was no exception, so she actively defended the Master of the Central Magic Tower.

"Maybe it just feels that way because Rombel is more honest than most people. Dwarves don't have many secrets."

Elbridge answered, but Sonia continued without missing a beat.

"The Master probably didn't tell people about his weakness for no reason. He must have had no choice but to mention it while explaining why he had come down from heaven. To let people know his situation accurately, and to avoid pointless misunderstandings later."

"That could be true."

Elbridge nodded. Rombel's argument had been convincing enough, but Sonia's had merit too.

"The Master must have made a difficult decision after a lot of thought and shown that weakness to everyone... Doubting even that weakness is just cruel."

"Rombel isn't exactly warm. He doesn't tend to watch what he says, either."

Straightening up, Elbridge thumped his lower back a couple of times with his fist.

"Sonia. What kind of person was the Master of the Central Magic Tower, in your eyes?"

"He devoted his whole life to magic and to mages. His dream wasn't simply to become a god in heaven. He said his dream was to ascend first and guide other mages into heaven as well. And..."

The Master of the Central Magic Tower's plan had been quite specific.

If mages ascended to heaven one after another under his lead, they could band together and overcome the other gods even if they tried to push them around.

As he scrubbed away the grime, Elbridge asked, "Sonia. Do you know what the Master's divine name was while he stayed in heaven?"

"God of Cycles and Flow."

It was a fitting name for a mage who used the flow of power.

"After we're done cleaning here, should we look for the Master of the Central Magic Tower's temple?"

Sonia pursed her lips at Elbridge's suggestion.

"I told you the Master had no believers. You're going to look for a temple of a god without believers? Here in the east, not even the central region?"

"Sonia, I guess you don't know why Solenion is called the Holy City."

"Who do you take me for? It's because there are a lot of temples."

"Have you ever wondered why Solenion has so many temples in particular?"

"Well..."

Sonia couldn't answer.

It wasn't strange. Most people were like Sonia.

Everyone knew Solenion had many temples, but few cared about why.

"It's simple. The First Lord of Solenion set the goal of building a temple for every god. That goal became a tradition and has continued to this day."

Some gods Ascended after accomplishing heroic feats and immediately gained countless believers. Others, like the Master of the Central Magic Tower, Ascended unnoticed and were naturally forgotten.

People considered that normal.

The First Lord of Solenion was different.

The First Lord believed that having many believers upon Ascension didn't make a god greater, and that a god who Ascended without believers wasn't any less great.

"They believed that every god had accomplished great deeds and received the Chief God's call. The number of believers they currently had was only a matter of timing and luck."

That was why the First Lord of Solenion set the goal of building temples for every god.

Famous gods and obscure gods. Half-forgotten gods, and even gods who had newly Ascended, all received temples without exception.

So people could at least recognize that god's existence. So they could be given even the smallest chance to gather believers...

"The problem was that there were simply too many gods."

Even though small, modest temples were built rather than grand and lavish ones, the cost was difficult to bear.

If the First Lord hadn't been able to take as much stone as desired from the hill at the edge of the territory, and if the people hadn't quietly followed the First Lord of Solenion's decision, it wouldn't have been surprising if the territory had collapsed.

The neighboring lords laughed at the First Lord of Solenion.

The First Lord's children, who later became lords themselves, laughed as well.

Yet when the world fell into chaos and cities collapsed one after another, Solenion alone survived without wavering.

It was the city watched over by every god. The gods of heaven did everything they could to prevent Solenion from falling.

That was how the largest city in the east came to be.

A city protected by every god. The Holy City, Solenion.

"...That is why Solenion's lord still builds new temples today."

When Elbridge finished, Sonia murmured, "It was an incredible city. Or should I say it was an incredible lord?"

Elbridge and Sonia finished their cleaning as well.

They hadn't completely removed every old stain, but they could consider that the mark of time and let it go.

'Come to think of it, maybe I didn't need to stay in Solenion while worrying about the demons in the Dickens Viscounty. Even if this world falls apart, Solenion will surely survive until the very end.'

Thinking that, Elbridge looked at the statue of the Wheel Goddess.

Sonia, who was looking at it as well, said, "Don't you think the statue's expression looks brighter?"

When they had first entered the temple, the statue's face had been stern. Now, the corners of its mouth were faintly raised.

That was the only way the Wheel Goddess, who had not a single believer, could express her gratitude to Elbridge and Sonia.

Gathering every last bit of her remaining divine power, the Wheel Goddess thanked them.

"It probably isn't your imagination."

Elbridge gathered the cleaning tools and left the temple.

* * *

- Elbridge. Excellent. At this rate, your Goddess may become the most popular god in heaven...!

The oracle came in a much more excited voice than usual. Elbridge offered a prayer.

"Your joy is my greatest joy, Goddess."

Sonia, who had been watching Elbridge, asked, "I've been wondering for a while. You're not talking to yourself, are you?"

"I pray whenever an oracle comes down."

"...I've seen you offer those random prayers a lot. How often do you get oracles, exactly?"

"About ten times a day?"

Sonia started to say something, then closed her mouth. She seemed to have decided the thought was blasphemous.

"Sonia. I think you're smarter than Rombel."

"Why all of a sudden?"

"If you were someone who blurted out everything that came to mind like Rombel, a bolt of lightning would have struck you by now."

Elbridge looked up at the sky. The sun was still high.

"Should we keep going for a while?"

Carrying his cleaning tools, Elbridge searched the northern side of the shaded hill.

After some time, he stopped in front of a temple.

"Here it is."

The temple's pillars bore an inscription: God of Cycles and Flow.

It was a temple built when the Master of the Central Magic Tower had Ascended in the past.

Elbridge entered with Sonia.

The statue of the Master of the Central Magic Tower gazed into empty space. It didn't look very different from the Master Elbridge remembered, except that it appeared slightly younger.

"How long has it been since the Master of the Central Magic Tower came down to earth?"

"I don't know exactly. At least fifty or sixty years, maybe as long as a hundred?"

Those who had ascended to heaven surpassed the limits of their lifespan. Even ordinary humans could easily live two or three hundred years.

The issue was that the statue, and the temple itself, had been maintained well enough for Elbridge to vaguely distinguish the difference in age between the real Master and the statue.

It wasn't particularly clean, but it didn't look like a temple abandoned for hundreds of years.

"Sonia. You didn't know the Master of the Central Magic Tower had a temple in Solenion, did you?"

Sonia nodded.

"Could the mages of the Eastern Magic Tower have maintained this temple?"

"That's entirely possible. Mages respect mages of exceptional skill."

Still, something bothered him.

His intuition told him there was more to this.

Elbridge slowly walked around the temple, then found a small book in the back.

The Book of Oracles.

Every order with believers had one.

Every order that had once had an Archbishop had one, without exception.

Elbridge opened the half-rotted Book of Oracles.