WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 140: Miles

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Elbridge submitted the membership papers and stepped outside, then approached a nearby street vendor.

Anyone could speak to a merchant, but if they wanted an honest answer, they had to buy something first. Pointing at the grilled skewers laid out before the vendor, Elbridge spoke solemnly.

"Two, please. Not the ones already cooked. Grill them fresh."

"Just wait a moment."

Elbridge watched the vendor fan the coals back to life, then casually asked,

"Sir, how long has that Order of the Rusted Shield temple behind you been there?"

"It opened around spring this year, I think."

If it had opened this spring, that would have been after the Goddess of the Rusted Shield gained a seat. Still, something seemed strange.

"For a building that opened this spring... it didn't look new."

The vendor answered as though it were nothing.

"It used to belong to another church. They just changed the sign."

"The sign...? You mean they changed the god worshipped at the temple?"

"That's right."

Elbridge was quite taken aback.

Good heavens. Leaving the temple intact and changing only the god it served. It was unimaginable in the east, but it apparently wasn't particularly unusual in the west.

"The previous church ran into financial trouble and packed up not long ago. People keep coming and going from the new church, so... I don't think it'll be leaving anytime soon. It's been good for my business, too."

"It certainly seemed that way. Who's the highest-ranking person at that temple?"

"The Western Diocesan Head. He's got a tired face and dry, faded blond hair like straw. You'll know him the moment you see him."

"I see."

After Elbridge finished his brief questions and stepped away, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield sent down an oracle.

- Elbridge. What do you intend to do?

"...They must be punished."

Impersonating a Paladin or priest had long been a serious crime. If one was lucky, it ended with a severe beating. If one was unlucky, it could lead to death.

If impersonating a Paladin or priest was punished that harshly, profiting from a fake temple deserved an even harsher penalty.

Still, Elbridge felt uneasy about killing people. Not long ago in Norens City, someone had acted as if they wanted to be half-killed, so Elbridge had killed them. But he didn't think this person would act that way.

Besides, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield didn't seem fond of killing people either.

The thought that he might put Murvach in a difficult position also troubled him. Murvach had returned to his hometown after twenty years, and if Elbridge, whose identity Murvach had guaranteed, became involved in a murder case... that would be repaying kindness with betrayal.

'Even so, I can't let this slide. I need to find out how many people are caught up in this scam, too.'

Elbridge thought it was highly likely that the priests themselves didn't know they were taking part in a scam. Gods usually delivered oracles only through their highest-ranking priests. If an Archbishop or diocesan head pretended to receive oracles and deceived the priests, the priests would have no choice but to believe them.

'I should meet him first, then decide the severity of the punishment.'

Elbridge lingered around the temple.

Fortunately, the person he suspected of being a con artist appeared soon enough. Just as he had heard, he had a tired expression and faded blond hair.

Of course, that sort of appearance wasn't rare. But Elbridge became certain this was the con artist, the Western Diocesan Head, when he casually opened the offering box.

Clink, clink, clink-

Heavy silver and copper coins poured from the offering box into a sack. The Goddess of the Rusted Shield exclaimed in admiration.

- He may be wealthier than our Order, Elbridge.

"I think so too, Goddess."

The con artist carried the now-heavy sack into an ordinary house on the outskirts of the city. As Elbridge looked around and was about to quietly follow him inside,

Creak-

The door opened, and someone emerged again. Judging from his features, it seemed to be the same con artist from earlier.

Elbridge couldn't be certain because his appearance and clothes had changed.

"A disguise?"

His blond hair had turned black, and his clothes were much neater. At a glance, it would have been difficult to recognize him as the same person.

"Why is he disguising himself?"

- He must need a disguise because he is doing something he cannot be proud of.

The con artist crossed the city and entered another temple. This time, it was a temple of the Order of the God of Fox Rain.

'Could he be a priest of the Order of the God of Fox Rain running a scam?'

No. Once again, the con artist opened the offering box, took the money, then returned home and changed his appearance.

This time, he had red hair and a robe pulled low over his face. The temple he headed to was one of the Order of the Laurel Wreath.

"..."

The Order of the Rusted Shield, the Order of the God of Fox Rain, and the Order of the Laurel Wreath.

The three churches had several things in common. They were reasonably well known, had little influence in the west, and ordinary believers found it difficult to directly experience their divine power.

In other words, they were perfect churches to impersonate in Royal Capital Leodel.

- He seems to be a professional con artist.

"I think so too."

- Good. We can decide his punishment later. Subdue him first, Elbridge.

Elbridge shook his head.

"I think we should wait a little longer. We need to determine how many churches have been harmed and find out where he has stored all the money collected so far."

Elbridge intended to recover the money the con artist had collected illegally and put it to good use. If he set aside about a third as the Order of the God of Fox Rain's share, there likely wouldn't be any problem.

After leaving the Order of the Laurel Wreath's temple and returning home, the con artist loaded the sack of money onto a cart and headed somewhere. Judging by his clothes, though, he didn't seem to be going to a temple.

'Has he hidden a vault somewhere?'

That worked out well. Thinking so, Elbridge followed behind him.

* * *

The con artist arrived at the outskirts of the city.

What was strange was that several laborers were sweating profusely in the sparsely populated outskirts.

'Construction work?'

More than one building was being erected.

There were several broad, low buildings with very plain, simple designs. They looked like they would barely keep out the dew.

Among them stood one building with a slightly different shape. Unlike the others, it was nearly complete. A sign at its entrance read Orphanage.

Of course, an orphanage was a necessary building. The problem was that there were no orphans in it. The neighboring buildings were empty as well.

'...What on earth is he doing?'

Elbridge followed the con artist again.

A woman approached him and angrily confronted him. She lowered her voice and threatened him, but Elbridge could hear her clearly.

"I don't care if you're doing pointless things. Just tell me where you're getting all this money!"

"..."

"I won't tell anyone, so just come clean. You're going to get yourself into serious trouble at this rate."

His eyes darted around uneasily, then he quietly slipped away.

The woman watched his retreating back and let out a deep sigh.

- Elbridge. That woman may be able to answer your question.

"I think so too, Goddess."

The woman happened to be heading in Elbridge's direction. Elbridge hid behind an empty building and waited.

The moment she passed by, Elbridge's strong arm covered her mouth and pulled her behind the building.

"...!"

The woman struggled at the sudden assault, but she could not break free from Elbridge's trained arm. Still covering her mouth, Elbridge spoke calmly.

"I don't intend to harm you. I'm Elbridge. I would like to speak with you about the person you were just talking to."

The woman stopped struggling and turned her gaze toward Elbridge. She wasn't calm yet, but she didn't seem likely to scream.

Elbridge removed his hand from her mouth.

The woman looked at Elbridge with wary eyes.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"You seemed curious about where that person gets his money. Is that correct?"

"...Yes."

"I can answer that question. In exchange, please answer mine."

The woman considered it for a moment, then nodded. Whether she agreed to Elbridge's proposal or thought she had no choice was impossible to tell.

"My name is Elbridge. I'm a Paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield, and..."

Elbridge introduced himself again and began to explain. His story ended with the con artist's actions that he had observed while following him.

After hearing everything, the woman let out a deep sigh.

"...I thought it might be true, but I can't believe it really is."

"What is going on?"

Troubled by the situation, the woman pressed her temples.

"My name is Susan. That man... I've known Miles since we were children."

Miles, Miles. Elbridge repeated the con artist's name in his mind and committed it to memory.

"Miles was a priest. He left Royal Capital Leodel a few years ago."

"May I ask which church he belonged to?"

"He was a freelance priest, so he didn't really belong to any particular church. What was the last church he worked for again...?"

"Let's skip that for now. Please explain what happened first."

"All right. Anyway, Miles returned to Leodel near the end of last winter. Since then, he's been going around trying to borrow money."

Elbridge looked at the buildings around them. A few were complete, while many more were still under construction. There were also countless plots where Miles appeared to have selected land for future buildings.

"So he was going to build these buildings with borrowed money."

"That's right. Completely useless buildings... Well, an orphanage is necessary. But Leodel's existing orphanages can easily handle all the orphans it has right now. Even so, Miles said he had to build one. You build an orphanage when there are orphans, don't you? Does it make sense to build an orphanage and wait for orphans to appear? The other buildings are the same."

Susan's expression was full of irritation.

"When I asked why he had to build such things, he said they would be needed soon. He said demons had already appeared in other regions, and those places were in chaos..."

Only then did Elbridge understand what was happening.

Miles had wandered the continent and seen cities where the situation had become dire.

The situation in Solenion in the east was not good either.

Refugees from across the eastern regions were pouring into Solenion, the largest city. Yet Solenion lacked both space to accommodate the refugees and space for them to continue living.

Children who had lost their parents and people with no proper means of making a living gathered on the city's outskirts, forming shantytowns. Many could not even get into a shack and endured the night crouched in alleys.

There was so little room to live that the guards had to drive away the refugees who kept arriving.

But the people of Leodel in the west had not experienced anything like that yet.

Even if Miles cried out about the need to prepare, his words would never reach those in power. More importantly, those in power were not the ones who needed such buildings.

How many people would want to build something that was not immediately needed, not for themselves but for others?

Elbridge suddenly remembered Bart, whom he had met in Dickens Viscounty. Bart had said he would gather enough funds to get back on his feet and build a brewery in Solenion.

After falling into hardship, Bart had taken risks for himself and his family.

But Miles was taking risks for others before hardship even came.

Susan continued to grumble.

"I thought he'd gotten some strange idea into his head and let it go. No one would lend a huge sum to someone who said such nonsense. But recently, he got money from somewhere and started construction. When I asked who he had borrowed it from, he couldn't even answer... Ugh."

"Thank you for telling me."

Elbridge looked in the direction Miles had gone, then turned and began walking away. He did not know how to resolve this situation.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield was not a particularly clever goddess, no matter how generously one put it. But she was also wise, with wisdom earned through all the years she had lived.

That was why Elbridge offered a prayer.

"Goddess. Is using unjust means for a righteous purpose a good deed? Or is it an evil deed?"

The Goddess could not answer easily.

Fortunately, there was a god somewhat wiser than the Goddess of the Rusted Shield.

- Why not ask the God of Fox Rain, Elbridge?

Footnotes:

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