WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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Chapter 137: To the West

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After Rita left, Elbridge lay in bed, lost in thought.

'The one behind this is the Master of the Central Magic Tower.'

Elbridge was certain that the Master of the Central Magic Tower had orchestrated the entire situation.

It wasn't a hasty conclusion. The evidence Elbridge had gathered pointed to it, as did the conclusion reached by the elves. Even Rita, who had once been a goddess in heaven, seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

'Rita said the seals kept in the west haven't been broken yet.'

Judging by the circumstances, the Master of the Central Magic Tower had released demons across the eastern, northern, and central regions of the continent.

Was there any reason for the Master of the Central Magic Tower to leave only the demons in the west untouched?

'It's more reasonable to assume the Master of the Central Magic Tower's plans went wrong in the west. The question is how likely the Master of the Central Magic Tower is to come west.'

Elbridge recalled his visit to the central region.

When his group had first arrived in Middlemarch, the Master of the Central Magic Tower had been away. That was why the experiment to seal demons had been carried out under the Vice Master of the Central Magic Tower's leadership.

'Sonia said the Master of the Central Magic Tower often leaves their post, too. The Master of the Central Magic Tower isn't someone who stays put.'

If that was the case, there was a fairly high chance the Master of the Central Magic Tower would appear to resolve the problem in the west.

Given the circumstances, the Master of the Central Magic Tower would likely come alone rather than bring other mages. Things were favorable in many ways.

'The surest way to subdue the Master of the Central Magic Tower is to wait for the Master of the Central Magic Tower in the west.'

Having finished his thoughts, Elbridge shifted in bed a little before falling asleep.

* * *

Early the next morning, Elbridge quietly left the cabin without waking his companions.

There was one more thing he had to do before heading west.

His steps brought him to where the sacred tree had once stood.

An elf sat beside the stump that remained. It was Orion, who had been the third Sentinel.

Orion's expression, however, was deeply sorrowful.

"It seems you've been through a lot."

Orion gave a mournful smile at Elbridge's words.

"I've lost everything I had..."

Without question, Orion had suffered the most in the recent incident.

A Sentinel's duty was to protect the sacred tree.

But with the sacred tree gone, there was no longer any need for the position of Sentinel.

Jin and Bella had Ascended, so the disappearance of the sacred tree didn't cause them much trouble.

Orion was different. They had lost the position of Sentinel, and the goddess they had served had descended to earth.

Of course, Orion's strength remained unchanged, but people tended to think first of what they had lost rather than what still remained in their hands.

And among all that Orion had lost, something else saddened them most.

Orion spoke despondently.

"I won't live much longer."

"You should still be able to hold on for several years. Something may come up in that time."

Orion shook their head.

"It's not that urgent."

"How much time do you have left?"

"Judging by my current condition, around a hundred and fifty years... If things go poorly, I may not even reach a hundred. But I'm certain I won't live beyond two hundred."

"..."

The sympathy rising in Elbridge's heart quietly faded away.

Even by elven standards, that was a strangely generous amount of time.

"How about leaving Thornbush Forest and accomplishing great feats so you can rise to heaven as well, Orion?"

"I don't really like going to unfamiliar places. Leaving my hometown is still a little..."

It seemed Orion wasn't particularly desperate after all.

The small amount of sympathy remaining in Elbridge's heart vanished completely.

"Anyway, what brings you here, Elbridge?"

"I'd like to ask about the archery Jin showed during the last battle."

Elbridge wasn't an archer. There was only one thing about Jin's archery that could interest him.

The arrow that had pierced through Starwave while surrounded by white light.

"Are you talking about arrows infused with divinity?"

"Yes."

There were gods who granted divine power similar to it.

But Jin's arrow hadn't been the result of a god directly intervening and granting divine power. In other words, Elbridge might be able to learn the technique as well.

Neither the famed Knights of ancient times nor the Sentinels of the past had displayed such a skill. It had most likely been developed within the last two hundred years.

"Fortunately, that's something I can answer. Elbridge, have you ever sensed the divinity within your body?"

"I have, like every Paladin."

Orion waved their hands.

"That's not what I mean. I mean whether you've ever directly sensed the flow of divinity, beyond simply accepting it and feeling the changes it brings to your body."

"I haven't..."

Orion nodded a few times.

"Hm. That's fine. It may feel unfamiliar, but it isn't a difficult technique to explain."

"Please teach me."

Orion straightened their posture and pointed to their chest.

"The first step is awareness. In other words, sensing the existence of the divinity flowing within your body. Like feeling the warmth flow down your throat and into your stomach when you drink warm water on a cold day. Like feeling cool air seep into your lungs after running until you're exhausted."

Someone born unable to see couldn't understand the scenery of a summer day just from hearing it described.

Someone born without arms couldn't understand the sensation of moving their fingers.

In the same way, Elbridge couldn't immediately grasp Orion's explanation. Still, he engraved Orion's words firmly into his mind.

"After awareness comes concentration. You guide the divinity you've sensed and gather it together. The final step is release."

Orion raised their thumb in place of their still-unhealed index finger.

"Awareness belongs to the realm of sensation, while concentration and release belong to the realm of action. But release is the only part visible to the eye."

White light wrapped around Orion's thumb.

When Orion lightly pressed a nearby rock with it, Orion's thumb smoothly sank into the stone before pulling free. The mark of Orion's thumb remained in the rock.

"That's all. Simple, isn't it?"

Orion shrugged as if it were nothing.

Yet Elbridge could sense a subtle pride in Orion's expression. Contrary to how simple Orion made it sound, it must have taken considerable time to master the skill.

"...It sounds difficult."

"It may feel that way at first. But if you remember my explanation, you've at least learned the general direction. All you need now is tireless effort."

"Does this technique have a name?"

"Since Bella created it, we called it Bella-style Combat Art."

It was an unimaginative but straightforward name.

Just as Elbridge was about to let the matter pass, Orion's eyes gleamed.

"But now that Bella has become a god, casually mentioning her given name would be irreverent."

"Then...?"

"Please call it Orion-style Combat Art."

"..."

Orion's desire for recognition was so obvious that Elbridge simply stared at them.

Orion stared right back.

Through that shameless gaze, Elbridge understood Orion's thoughts.

It was a shallow plan to spread Orion's name far and wide through Elbridge, then rise to heaven.

Still, there didn't seem to be much of a problem with it.

Orion was the one who had named it whatever they pleased. Even if Bella became angry someday, Orion would bear the consequences, not Elbridge.

Since he had learned an excellent technique, Elbridge could at least call it by the name Orion requested.

"...That's truly a wonderful name. Thank you for your teaching."

Elbridge shook Orion's hand.

* * *

Several days after the group left Thornbush Forest and headed south, Hebron Fortress came into view.

Sonia stretched with both arms raised.

"It hasn't even been a month since we left Hebron Fortress, but it feels like a whole year has passed."

Sonia had no index fingers on either hand. They had remained severed since the Owner of the Index Finger appeared last time. Rombel and Marcus were missing their index fingers as well.

One reason Elbridge's group had come to Hebron Fortress was because of those fingers.

Paladins and priests with Healing Authority were stationed at Hebron Fortress, so their fingers could be healed.

Creakkk, rumble rumble.

As the four approached Hebron Fortress, the gates opened without anyone even asking who they were.

Marcus looked quite pleased by the situation.

"The famous Knights of Hebron Fortress recognize me. I can really feel that I've made it."

Rombel snorted.

"Hmph. It wasn't Knights, it was guards who recognized you. And they probably recognized Elbridge and me, not you. No, maybe they recognized Sonia. There are hardly any girls around Sonia's age in Hebron Fortress..."

Marcus glared at Rombel.

But Rombel wasn't the sort to shrink back from a look like that. Instead, he raised a hairy fist to threaten Marcus.

Elbridge's group headed straight for the infirmary.

The smiles on Marcus and Sonia's faces slowly faded. They remembered what Elbridge had told them about the treatment for their index fingers.

Even if Healing Authority was poured into a wound, new flesh wouldn't grow from an injury that had already healed.

To regrow a severed index finger, the skin where the finger should be would have to be cut open.

Marcus hesitated, then stopped walking.

"Should I just live without an index finger? Quite a few Mercenaries I know are missing a finger or two..."

"If it were your little finger, you could leave it alone, but you need to regrow an index finger sooner or later. Stop hesitating and come in."

Elbridge practically pushed the group into the infirmary.

As soon as they entered, countless gazes turned toward them.

The other Knights appeared to have only just returned from battle, as many of them were having their wounds treated.

Count Hebron was among them.

"Sir Elbridge. Have you returned after finishing your business?"

"For now, yes."

"For now?"

If Elbridge had come to the infirmary, he must have been injured.

Count Hebron looked Elbridge over, then the rest of the group.

Then he noticed that all three people besides Elbridge were missing their index fingers.

Count Hebron's family had guarded Hebron Fortress since ancient times, standing on the front line in the war against demons.

Unlike the eastern nobles who dismissed demons as nothing more than legends, Count Hebron was among the nobles of this era most knowledgeable about demons.

That was why Count Hebron understood what the group's wounds meant.

"Sir Elbridge, surely..."

Those who lived on the battlefield tended to believe in superstition to some degree, and they didn't like to speak ominous names aloud.

Count Hebron was no different, so he trailed off awkwardly.

"Yes. The Owner of the Index Finger appeared."

"Did you perhaps drive it back? I wouldn't expect it from anyone else, but Sir Elbridge..."

Elbridge shook his head.

"No. The Owner of the Index Finger lured Starwave in and left the battlefield."

"Starwave too? It's a miracle that you returned alive. I need to notify everyone at the fortress. We must prepare more oil-soaked wood in case we need to start fires at any time, and have everyone carry daggers to cut off their index fingers..."

"A dagger will be necessary, but fire won't be. We sealed Starwave."

"...You sealed Starwave?"

Count Hebron knew Elbridge wasn't someone who made reckless jokes.

Even so, he studied Elbridge's expression to determine whether those words were true or an empty boast.

"Is that true? You sealed Starwave?"

Not only those waiting for treatment but even the priests in the middle of treating injuries looked at Elbridge.

To them, Starwave was less a demon than a natural disaster.

"Of course. Look."

Sonia rummaged through her things and pulled out two sealing tools.

"This is Starwave's sealing tool, and the other one is for another plant-type demon."

"...I knew you were skilled, but I didn't know you were capable of that much."

"It was the Sentinel of Thornbush Forest who subdued Starwave. I only held Starwave back for a while until the Sentinel could subdue it."

Elbridge spoke modestly.

But even that was difficult to accept. Most of the people in Hebron Fortress had seen Starwave from afar at least once.

'...Was Starwave a demon that could be held back?'

As everyone stood confused, Elbridge continued his explanation.

"In recognition of that feat and their past feats, the two Sentinels Ascended, and the Goddess of Thornbush descended to earth."

"...I have no idea what's going on."

"It's a complicated story. I'll explain it again later."

After briefly wrapping up the explanation, Elbridge approached a man waiting for treatment.

It was Murvach, the captain of the Murvach Mercenary Company.

"Murvach."

"What is it?"

Elbridge's group had come to Hebron Fortress partly because it was on the way west, but they had also come to ask Murvach for help.

Elbridge, Sonia, and Marcus were all from the east.

Rombel's situation wasn't much different, as he came from a mountain city in the southeastern region. Elbridge's group was fairly well-traveled, but none of them were familiar with the west.

Murvach, on the other hand, was from the west.

"There's something very important I need to do. Would you come west with us?"

Murvach thought for a moment before asking Elbridge. Unlike an ordinary Mercenary, he didn't discuss payment.

"For someone like you to say that... Just how important is it?"

"I don't know."

When an ordinary person said they didn't know something, it meant one thing.

When someone like Elbridge said they didn't know, it meant something entirely different.

The words were the same, but their meanings were completely different.

Murvach gave a quiet laugh.

"I'll leave with you tomorrow."

Footnotes:

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