WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
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Chapter 129: Parent of the Elves (6)
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Right after Orion left looking satisfied, Elbridge offered a prayer.
"Goddess."
The Goddess's voice immediately sounded beside Elbridge's ear.
- Speak, my most precious child.
Elbridge asked, stumbling over the words a little.
"That Standing Committee Secretary... The position the Goddess of Thornbush suggested earlier. Could you tell me what it is?"
- Of course.
This oracle could be heard by everyone in Elbridge's party. Instead of sounding beside Elbridge's ear, the Goddess's voice came from the air above the cabin table.
In Elbridge's experience, there were two reasons the Goddess of the Rusted Shield would deliver an oracle publicly. Either she needed to convey her wishes to many people, or she wanted to casually brag about something. Judging by the Goddess's excited voice, it was clearly the latter this time.
- A standing committee is a system introduced when the Chief God observed another dimension and adopted a parliamentary system.
"Is it information that belongs to heaven's secrets?"
- It is not a secret. It is simply information that is not well known in the mortal realm.
Elbridge looked around.
Sonia wore a knowing expression, as though she had some idea what this was about. Marcus and Rombel, on the other hand, looked completely clueless. Elbridge felt quietly relieved.
'Thank goodness I'm not the only one who doesn't know.'
The Goddess's oracle continued.
- The Heavenly Goddesses’ Standing Committee is a gathering of the most beautiful, wise, and outstanding goddesses among heaven's many goddesses.
A slightly irreverent thought crossed Elbridge's mind.
The beautiful and outstanding parts were surely true, but perhaps he should take the wise part with a grain of salt. Of course, Elbridge wasn't foolish enough to say that aloud.
"It is a group that suits you perfectly, Goddess. Then what is a Standing Committee Secretary?"
- It is a position held by only the most exceptional goddesses on the Heavenly Goddesses’ Standing Committee... In other words, it means being a joint second-in-command. It is an indescribably important position. You could say your Goddess's status has risen another level.
Elbridge's ears perked up.
"Will that mean you can grant more powerful divine powers?"
- Not quite, Elbridge. It means your Goddess is recognized as one of heaven's most successful goddesses.
"Congratulations, Goddess."
Still, Elbridge found the phrase "most successful" a little suspicious. It somehow felt vague...
There was something else that puzzled him more.
"I have a question."
- Please, go ahead, Elbridge.
"The Goddess of Thornbush said she would appoint you as a joint second-in-command... Does that mean she is the leader of this standing committee?"
- Sharp as ever, Elbridge. The Goddess of Thornbush is currently serving as the chair of the standing committee.
"It feels a little strange that the Goddess of Thornbush, who has only one heavenly seat, is the leader of the standing committee... Shouldn't you, Goddess, who have four heavenly seats, hold the highest position?"
The Goddess of the Rusted Shield answered firmly.
- Elbridge. Of course heavenly seats are important. But they are not all there is to heaven.
Elbridge was a little bewildered, unable to understand what that meant.
Sonia, though, was different. She smiled knowingly, as if she understood everything.
"I think I know what that feels like."
"You do?"
"There are a lot of mages in the Magic Tower who want to ascend to heaven. Naturally, they're sensitive to information about heaven, and they apply some of heaven's systems to the Magic Tower too. The SC is one of them."
Abbreviations had a special power. If someone used one naturally, they somehow sounded like an expert. Sonia had only called the standing committee the SC, yet it somehow sounded convincing.
"The Magic Tower has a committee for female mages too. And the chair isn't the position held by the mage with the greatest magical skill. Being highly capable with magic does help, of course... But something else matters more."
"What is it?"
"An aura and presence that overwhelms everyone in the room. It's the same as how the young lady who draws every eye at a noble ball doesn't have to be the highest-ranking one."
Marcus cut in.
"When female mercenaries gather, there's always one intimidating big sister among them. Is it something like that?"
Sonia grinned, and the Goddess of the Rusted Shield did not answer.
* * *
Naturally, the conversation Orion had with Elbridge's party in their cabin was kept strictly secret. If its contents reached Jin and Bella's ears, something they did not want to imagine would almost certainly happen.
Given the situation, it was not easy to sound out Jin and Bella's intentions. Fortunately or unfortunately, Elbridge shared some common ground with the two Sentinels.
While Jin and Bella were teaching him, Elbridge carefully broached the subject.
"Actually, I spent two hundred years trapped in a seal."
Bella nodded.
"I have heard of a Paladin who was sealed alongside an Archdemon. I thought that Paladin might be you."
Thankfully, Bella did not seem suspicious. Elbridge asked tactfully.
"The two hundred-odd years I spent in the seal were terribly difficult and painful. Even a mere two hundred years were painfully difficult. The two of you must have remained in Thornbush Forest for thousands of years... Isn't it difficult?"
The answer he received was resolute.
"Of course, there are difficult times. But if not us, who would serve the Goddess of Thornbush and protect the sacred tree? As long as I have the strength, I intend to protect the Goddess of Thornbush and the sacred tree for as long as possible, ideally forever. That is my choice, and the duty the Goddess of Thornbush entrusted to me."
A few days ago, Elbridge would have found those words moving. Now, they felt a little strange.
In any case, the short exchange and the two Sentinels' eyes gave Elbridge certainty.
'...This isn't something that can be solved with words. They really do seem to want to live forever.'
There was no obvious way to solve the problem. It was out of the question to take Orion's side and fight the two Sentinels.
As Elbridge's party agonized over the problem and time passed, one person grew increasingly impatient: Orion.
Outsiders rarely came to Thornbush Forest. It was even rarer for anyone to be permitted to enter deep into the forest. If Orion missed Elbridge's party, there was no telling when the next opportunity would come. Orion grew more anxious by the day.
Late every night, Orion secretly visited Elbridge's party's cabin to ask questions.
"Has there been any progress?"
"Not yet."
"Ah..."
Orion let out a deep sigh. Elbridge tried to reassure him.
"It only means there has been no progress so far. It doesn't mean there will be no solution in the future. By the way, Orion. There are a few things I'd like to ask."
"Please, go ahead. I will tell you anything I can."
"First... Why can't Sentinels leave Thornbush Forest?"
"A Sentinel is a guardian and a watcher. Their divine power is maintained on the condition that they remain in the forest and protect the sacred tree. Once they leave the forest, the divine power of longevity is removed."
Placing restrictions on a divine power to increase its efficiency was a common method. For example, Delayed Death, one of the Order of the Rusted Shield's divine powers, was restricted by the condition that the brain, heart, and lungs remain intact. Nearly every divine power of the Order of the Bloodstained Spear assumed that its Paladin used a spear.
"Then... What is the sacred tree's role? At first, I thought it was a simple symbol, like the statues of deities in other orders' temples, but the more I look at it, the more it seems to be something else."
The sacred tree's pure white leaves and petals resembled Jin and Bella's silver hair. Elbridge did not know what it was, but it was certainly connected to the Goddess of Thornbush.
Unexpectedly, Orion shook his head.
"I don't know that either. I asked the Goddess of Thornbush once before, but she didn't answer."
"Hmm."
"It happened so long ago that she might answer if I asked again. The circumstances are different now as well."
But it was late at night, when even the gods would be asleep, so they could not receive an answer now. Elbridge shifted to a lighter question.
"You must have stayed in the forest for the past several hundred years as well, Orion. Don't you find it stifling? Jin and Bella seem to want to go outside the forest."
"Even before becoming a Sentinel, I did not leave the forest."
"Is there a reason?"
"I have never liked going to unfamiliar places. I am the sort who enjoys spending time alone at home."
It seemed Orion was not active by nature.
This time, Marcus asked Orion a question.
"When this divine power of longevity is removed, will Jin and Bella die immediately?"
Orion shook his head.
"I don't think so. Hojen, my predecessor as Sentinel, lived for several more months after the divine power was removed before passing away."
The conversation kept circling without making any real progress. Jin and Bella needed to decide to give up their divine power, or they needed to be made to leave the forest.
Then Rombel, who had remained quiet the whole time, spoke.
"I thought of a solution."
"What is it?"
"Could we get the two Sentinels drunk, then throw them outside the forest while they're passed out?"
It was not even worth answering, so Elbridge's party did not respond.
Just as the conversation seemed ready to end without any result today as well, Orion's long ears perked up.
"What is it?"
"I hear the Pre-Sentinels' voices. They are the voices of Sentinels who should be at the edge of Thornbush Forest right now. It seems something has happened..."
The party immediately went outside.
Orion let out a thin whistle, and an elf with brown hair appeared and knelt on one knee before Orion.
"What is it?"
The Pre-Sentinel answered Orion's question.
"A demon has appeared."
Elbridge's party remembered something they had half forgotten. They had not come to Thornbush Forest to take away the divine power Jin and Bella had received. They had come all this way to subjugate the demon at the forest's edge.
"Let's go."
Elbridge's party and Orion ran like the wind toward the forest's edge.
Sonia, whose feet were slow, naturally climbed onto Orion's back. Both Orion and Sonia looked rather pleased about it.
Before long, the party reached the edge of the forest. Around ten Pre-Sentinels had already arrived and greeted Orion and Elbridge's party.
"You have arrived."
Jin and Bella were nowhere to be seen, and the battle had not yet begun. Only a faint tension hung in the air.
Elbridge thought,
'Where is the demon?'
Then, as if it had been waiting, a strange sound reached them.
Wooooong-
It sounded less like the cry of an animal or person and more like wind passing through a cave. The one making that sound was, as expected, a demon.
A few elves whispered among themselves.
"It's that one again."
The demon was dark ash-gray, an amorphous demon without a fixed form.
"It won't enter the forest."
When Orion muttered that, Elbridge asked,
"Why do you think so?"
"That one is among the demons that always linger around the forest's edge. It circles the forest but never goes inside. It seems to know that Sentinels will appear if it enters the forest."
The Sentinels found demons troublesome, but demons found Sentinels just as troublesome. That was true of demons that retained even a little intelligence, as well as those that showed no trace of intelligence. The Sentinels' strength was not something to take lightly, even on an instinctive level.
As expected, the amorphous demon circled around Thornbush Forest before quietly disappearing.
Just as it seemed everything would end without incident, Elbridge felt a faint tremor beneath his feet.
His gaze turned toward the nighttime horizon. Far in the distance, he saw the earth being overturned. There was only one being that moved by overturning the ground like that.
The demon that carried the chaos of movement. The enormous serpent. Starwave.
'Thank goodness it isn't coming this way.'
Just as Elbridge thought that and turned to leave, Rombel muttered,
"What would happen if we lured Starwave into this forest?"
Footnotes:
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