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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 13

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Order of the Golden Tray

'Anyway, after living this long, I've seen all kinds of things.'

Now it was hard to say whether "young paladin" still fit him anymore, but in the past Elbridge had definitely been a young paladin.

Being young did not mean he had less experience than other paladins. Elbridge had become a paladin at a far younger age than most.

He had spent nearly ten years as a paladin and had met knights and paladins from all kinds of orders and churches.

He had met paladins from major combat churches like the Bloodstained Spear, Laurel Wreath, and Antlers, of course, but he had also met paladins from churches of other races like Iron Anvil and Thornbush many times.

He had even worked with paladins from noncombat churches that had little to do with battle, such as the Order of the Olive Tree Goddess, which symbolized abundance and peace.

Still, this was the first time he had seen a paladin of the Order of the Golden Tray.

Two hundred years ago, there had not even been paladins in the Order of the Golden Tray.

The Order of the Golden Tray rarely cared about anything unrelated to wealth. But when wealth was involved, they moved faster than anyone else.

When the Archdemon descended, they had signed exclusive contracts with craftsmen faster than anyone else. When word spread that paladins had gone off to fight demons, they had even set up gambling tables on the outcome of the battle.

There was only one reason they could behave like that and still never become the enemy of the other churches. They poured a large portion of the money they earned into supporting other churches.

Elbridge had lived his life seeing that side of the Order of the Golden Tray, so it was only natural that the current situation felt strange.

In any case, Elbridge and Marcus were hired on the spot.

"Anyone else want to go with the Order of the Golden Tray? Hmm... good. The two people with their hands raised, come here. We'll leave right away."

Marcus looked elated.

"To think I could earn five gold coins this easily!"

As expected, he had been blinded by the huge sum.

Elbridge soothed him.

"Mr. Marcus. It may be an easy job, but I don't think it will be a safe one."

"Even so, this kind of work doesn't come around often... Besides, isn't it amazing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Even with five gold coins on the line per person, they hired us right away without nitpicking. If it were me, I would have checked thoroughly to see whether we'd ever fought a real demonic beast."

"Probably because payment comes after the job. The Order of the Golden Tray isn't naive."

The two of them moved along with the paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray.

As they traveled, two more people joined them. Both were knights.

"There are knights with us. They don't look like paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray..."

At Elbridge's words, Marcus answered.

"Both of them are itinerant knights. They wander from place to place without serving a lord... You could basically call them high-end mercenaries. Still, their skill is trustworthy. I've taken on requests with them before, so I know."

Apparently not planning to call anyone else, the fat paladin who seemed to be the leader gave instructions to the itinerant knights.

"We'll be moving right away, so explain the mission yourselves."

A party of nine, made up of five paladins, two itinerant knights, Marcus, and Elbridge, left the outside of Holy City Solenion.

One of the itinerant knights walked over to Elbridge and Marcus and spoke to them.

"Marcus, is that you? Have you been well?"

"Sir Richard. It's been a while."

The knight called Richard had shaved off all the thinning hair on his head, as suited an itinerant knight, and his shiny bald head matched his broad features well.

"Sir Richard. May I ask you something?"

"Feel free. Explaining the mission is part of my job too."

"What exactly were we hired for? I thought there'd be an important role because the pay was so high, but judging by the atmosphere, that doesn't seem to be the case."

"If a fight with a demonic beast comes up, all you have to do is help out and not run away when they ask for assistance."

"That's all?"

"It's a wealthy church, after all. They probably weren't expecting much from mercenaries they hurriedly hired when they set out to hunt demonic beasts."

Marcus scratched his chin.

"That may be true, but... no matter how I think about it, the mission itself is strange. Demonic beasts aren't the sort of thing you see every day, so nine times out of ten we'll fail to find one and come back empty-handed."

"If we come back empty-handed, that's even better. We can get paid comfortably without doing any work, can't we?"

Elbridge thought differently.

'The paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray would definitely know that demonic beasts are increasing... Had they really not even told Richard something that basic?'

Then Marcus lowered his voice and asked Richard.

"By the way, Sir Richard. Why is the Order of the Golden Tray suddenly hunting demonic beasts? They're the kind of people who couldn't become knights in the normal way, so they bought titles with donations, aren't they?"

"So I hear, an order came down from the upper ranks of the church."

"What kind of order?"

"They said the church would cover all related costs, so they should build up demonic beast hunting experience as quickly as possible. Thanks to that, I get to take a cut too."

"What a sudden order. They should just have kept doing business as usual..."

"Tell me about it."

Marcus and Richard mocked the Order of the Golden Tray's bizarre whim and then started chatting about trivial matters.

Elbridge, arms crossed, thought about why the upper ranks of the Order of the Golden Tray had made that decision.

'...That wasn't an order given on a whim.'

Like every other church, the Order of the Golden Tray had to prove its ability if it wanted to rise higher.

Someone already recognized for their ability would not have issued a foolish, dangerous order on a whim.

'I personally delivered Baron Riverford's letter to the Order of the Golden Tray. They know that everyone in Dickens Viscounty vanished. That's enough of a clue to suspect that a demon appeared. They must be certain, or almost certain.'

'It seems the Order of the Golden Tray didn't share the information in Baron Riverford's letter with other churches or with ordinary people. Was that to keep the world from being thrown into chaos by sudden news? Or was there another reason?'

'It has to be tied to getting the paladins experience hunting demonic beasts... But why?'

At last, Elbridge thought of one more variable.

The fact that the abilities of modern paladins had fallen drastically compared with those of the past.

Then the pieces fell into place.

'...Ah. So that's what this is.'

Even when the world had been in chaos in the past, the Order of the Golden Tray had not trained paladins simply because they were stingy.

The Order of the Golden Tray knew how to spend enormous sums when the time came to spend them.

Elbridge guessed they had not trained paladins because it had simply not been cost-effective.

No matter how quickly they trained paladins now, they could not catch up to the paladins that the existing large churches had spent years cultivating.

Rather than pour money into training mediocre paladins, it was the rational choice to spend nothing and give up on paladins altogether.

But now it was different. With the exception of a tiny number of combat churches, all churches' paladins were mediocre. The combat churches' paladins probably were not as outstanding as they had been in the past, either.

In other words, the distance the Order of the Golden Tray's paladins had to cover to catch up with the others had shrunk dramatically.

From a gap they could never bridge to a gap they might more or less catch up with, or even surpass.

'Even if they don't reveal the information, news related to demons is bound to spread through the world before long. Are they trying to make the most of even a short window for the church's benefit?'

When he thought about it that way, everything fit neatly.

Unlike the combat churches, which had entered a dark age because demons had disappeared, the dark age of the Order of the Golden Tray had been the earlier period when demons ran rampant and the world was in disarray.

Soon the world would become chaotic again, and the combat churches would regain their strength. That was as clear as day.

In this situation, the rational response for the Order of the Golden Tray was to sharpen their paladins' skills as quickly as possible and get through the dark age.

They had both motive and ability. After all, didn't the Order of the Golden Tray hold the most seats in the Heavenly Council?

'But how do they plan to find demonic beasts? Even if there are more of them, they can't be so common that you're tripping over them.'

As Elbridge continued thinking, a sudden oracle from the goddess came to him.

- Elbridge, Elbridge. Why are you traveling with the paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray? Don't tell me...

The goddess's voice trembled faintly. She was clearly imagining the worst.

Elbridge bowed his head and answered in a calm voice.

"Of course I'm not planning to rely on the Order of the Golden Tray. I only meant to hunt demonic beasts with them and recover even a little of my former ability."

The goddess said with relief,

- Elbridge. Your goddess always respects your judgment. But do not forget that she also wants you to remain safe.

"Actually, that's not the only reason I'm here, Goddess. Do you remember the oil I offered on the day I arrived in Holy City Solenion?"

As soon as he had entered the temple, Elbridge had done a little cleaning, wiped the goddess's statue with the finest oil, and offered half a bottle of the remaining oil to her.

The goddess's voice brightened at once.

- Of course. That was the first oil offered in one hundred and sixty years and eight months. Its fragrance lingered for a long time and made your goddess very happy.

"The oil cost twelve silver coins a bottle. Also, if you gathered everything the church currently owns, it would only come to four gold coins and five silver coins. That's a rather tight budget for running a church. On top of that, your goddess's only paladin still hasn't managed to afford armor..."

The goddess's voice cut off for a moment, then continued in a more solemn tone.

- No, Elbridge. In fact, the church does have a little hidden wealth.

Elbridge's ears perked up.

- If you look under the first table in the prayer room, there are still two old silver coins someone dropped long ago...

"..."

Since it really was only a little, Elbridge let the goddess's story go in one ear and out the other.

"Even so, that only makes four gold coins and seven silver coins. But this request pays five gold coins in just four days. Even if I buy one more bottle of oil, the church's assets will more than double."

Was it because she was more shocked than expected by how dire the church's finances were, or because Elbridge had hinted at another bottle of oil?

The goddess could no longer stop Elbridge as she had before.

- Elbridge. Never forget that your goddess always respects your wishes and values your devotion.

"Yes, Goddess."

When the goddess's oracle ended, the party stopped walking.

A young man stood there blankly, waiting for them. He bowed deeply toward the paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray.

"This way, honored paladins."

The paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray followed behind him as if it were only natural.

Not long after, everyone stopped again.

Far ahead, a demonic beast that looked like a lizard stood motionless.

"Excellent."

The fat paladin handed the young man a full ten gold coins.

Only then did Elbridge and Marcus understand why the paladins had spoken as though they could definitely hunt the demonic beast.

The Order of the Golden Tray had probably put up enormous rewards and sent people out to find demonic beasts.

'...This is hunting in the literal sense, not extermination.'

The fat paladin seemed to rank above the other four paladins and spoke with a slightly haughty air.

"I'll demonstrate first, so watch carefully."

"Yes."

That paladin's weapon was an iron club as thick as an adult's leg.

It was so heavy that anyone who had not strengthened their body with divine power or mana would not even be able to lift it.

Still, the paladin did not lift the iron club right away.

The fat paladin spread a piece of silk on the ground, then took out a pouch and poured gold coins onto the silk.

There was so much that it had to be measured by volume rather than count. Roughly two fists' worth of gold coins.

Kneeling, the paladin removed both gauntlets and held up the silk with bare hands.

"I offer these gold coins to the Goddess of the Golden Tray."

Then the gold coins on the silk scattered like mist.

- ...!

Elbridge thought he had faintly heard the Goddess of the Rusted Shield make an admiring sound, but he did not show it. His own reaction was the same as hers.

To offer that many gold coins in front of a single demonic beast?

Even paladins who hunted demons rather than demonic beasts rarely offered that much wealth.

Still, the effect was tremendous.

A pale haze rose around the fat paladin's body, and veins as thick as a child's fingers bulged on the forearms.

The paladin's footsteps also became strangely heavy.

Even though the paladin seemed to move lightly, the sound carried the feeling of an iron club smashing hard into the ground.

"Hup!"

The knight drew in a breath and kicked off the ground fiercely.

Boom.

The paladin was incomparably faster than Sir Walter and even faster than most paladins from two hundred years ago.

Come to think of it, that made sense.

'This is the authority granted by the goddess who holds sixty-one seats in the Heavenly Council...'

The lizard demonic beast noticed the paladin only belatedly and swelled up. Like the wolf-type demonic beast they had encountered before, it seemed to be an enhancement type, and its glossy, metallic armor plating stood out.

The fat paladin's movements were crude.

The paladin could not wield the weapon with enough precision to exploit an opening, nor could they react to the beast's movements. Even when the lizard demonic beast tried to bite the paladin's unarmored forearm, they could not dodge.

However, the overwhelming authority born from that massive offering solved everything.

The lizard's teeth could not sink deeply into the paladin's now-hardened forearm. And in the very next instant, the paladin's iron club struck the lizard in the side.

Thwack!

The beast's waist bent in a bizarre direction, and flesh burst apart.

"Ooh...!"

The paladins watching from the side broke into applause and admiration.

Marcus the mercenary, and even the itinerant knight Sir Richard, could not hide their shock.

"That's incredible strength. Is that a paladin's true power?"

Elbridge was shocked too.

But what shocked him was different.

'...Could it be that the Order of the Golden Tray thinks brute strength alone is enough to hunt demons?'

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