WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
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Chapter 158: Season of Poverty
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"It looks like a lot has changed while I was away. Matilda, could you spare me some time?"
"Of course."
Elbridge sat across from Matilda in the prayer room.
Looking through the open doorway, he said, "It's good to see the temple so lively. Even more so now that there are priests. By the way, Matilda, how many priests are there?"
"Seven, including the Archbishop and me. We hired five more."
Seven people in total. That was far too few for the number of seats the Order held, but enough to give the Order a proper shape.
"You must have been busy with so much work, yet you even took charge of training the priests. You've worked very hard, Matilda."
Matilda burst out laughing.
"...Why are you laughing?"
"Wow, that is seriously old-fashioned. It really drives home how much of a person from the old days you are, Archbishop. These days, Orders almost never train priests themselves. They recruit them from schools or hire experienced priests."
Elbridge understood what she meant by hiring experienced priests. He had hired Matilda herself, who had been a freelance priest. But a school?
"What school are you referring to?"
"Obviously, a specialist school for training priests, one with a long and proud history."
As she spoke, Matilda showed him the ring on her index finger.
He had never paid it much attention before, but the edge of the ring bore a finely engraved inscription.
[Solenion Priest Training School, 88th Class]
"..."
Judging by Matilda's age, the latest cohort was likely well past the hundredth. It did have enough history to boast about tradition.
"Why was the school established?"
"If an Order trains priests itself, it has to cover the cost. But when there's a school, the students pay their own tuition, which is better from the Order's perspective."
"Ah..."
"Cost isn't the only issue. Priests trained directly by an Order might not turn out to be the exact kind of talent it wants... In any case, the school was established to reduce the burden on Orders. It's the natural flow of the times."
Elbridge realized Matilda was speaking from the perspective of an Order, not a priest.
'They say a position shapes a person.'
Perhaps recalling old memories, Matilda wore a wistful expression.
"Having professional teachers is an advantage too. Schools teach many things. Reading and writing, arithmetic, general knowledge, heavenly bills... Of course, they teach a little theology as well. Once students graduate, they submit applications to Orders based on their grades."
"Applications?"
"Yes. There are about a hundred applications piled up in my office. Would you like to see them?"
"...No, that's all right."
"Just let me know whenever you do. I'd be happy if the Archbishop chose them himself... Anyway, students with good grades often go to large Orders like the Golden Tray or the Olive Tree. They pay better, and their social standing is better too."
"I see."
They chose their desired Orders according to their grades.
Elbridge had privately believed he had almost adapted to this new era.
Yet the changes brought about by the flow of time were like raisins in bread. They kept appearing at unexpected moments, which made the comparison especially fitting.
"But there was a major shift this year. The combat churches made a remarkable advance. Of course, the best among them was our Order of the Rusted Shield. Securing four seats all at once was that impressive... And Sir Elbridge's name carried a lot of weight too."
Matilda smiled proudly.
"Thanks to that, the two graduates with the highest grades, the valedictorian and salutatorian, joined our Order. Oh, and the other three are experienced priests from large Orders. It would be inefficient to build an Order entirely out of newcomers."
Elbridge looked outside the prayer room again.
The Order of the Rusted Shield's temple had become quite respectable after expansions, repairs, and steady maintenance. Still, it was nowhere near as dazzling as the Golden Tray.
"I doubt the conditions you offered were better than those of the Golden Tray or the Order of the Olive Tree... Yet you managed to recruit such talented people."
"Graduates in the upper ranks tend to care about immediate compensation. But graduates who are truly confident in their abilities tend to choose an Order with strong growth potential like ours rather than a large Order. If they join a rising Order, they're more likely to become high-ranking priests."
It was difficult to accept emotionally, but he could understand it with his head.
Still, the more Elbridge listened to Matilda's explanation, the more one question grew in his mind.
"Matilda, there's something I'd like to ask."
"Yes? Go ahead."
"The new priests' abilities are one thing... but what about their faith?"
Matilda's eyes widened, then she burst out laughing a beat later.
"Archbishop, look at me. I joined an Order without any particular faith myself, but now I serve the Goddess with all my heart."
"That's because you, Matilda..."
"One generous bonus can create faith where there was none. It's the same with wearing priestly robes bearing the large emblem of a successful Order on the way to and from work. The priests in our Order have no ordinary faith right now. If someone told them to jump into a pit of fire, they'd seriously consider it."
So that was why the priests had looked so cheerful.
"I understand the priests' situation... What about the Order itself?"
"First, we estimate that the number of believers in Solenion has more than doubled. We think we'll gain around six seats at the end of the year."
The Order of the Rusted Shield's believers were divided into two groups.
The dwarves of Mountain City Barquntol accounted for roughly two seats, and the believers in Solenion accounted for another two. If the dwarven believers remained unchanged and only Solenion's believers doubled, that would make six seats.
'But there will be believers in western Leodel now too. There won't be many at first, though...'
Elbridge was pleased.
"You've done excellent work while I was away. Thank you, Matilda."
"To be honest, Sir Elbridge deserves more credit than I do. Many people joined the Order after seeing you... In any case, it'd be good for you to show your face in as many places as possible until the end of the year. With some luck, we might even aim for seven seats."
"Me?"
"Yes. While you were away from Solenion, the rumors about you only grew more widespread."
Elbridge narrowed his eyes.
"Matilda, didn't you say you would try to calm down the rumors about me?"
"It turns out rumors aren't something you can control at will."
Matilda hesitated slightly before continuing.
"And honestly... it isn't my fault. This happened because Sir Elbridge has been so spectacularly active. No matter who had been in my place, they couldn't have covered up the rumors."
"How bad is it?"
"To the point that if Sir Elbridge went to the square and shouted, 'I, Elbridge, am the Silent Paladin!' not many people would be surprised."
Put simply, everyone had found out.
Still, Matilda was clearly right to say it was Elbridge's fault. He had gone everywhere and involved himself in all kinds of matters to revive the Order.
"Um, actually, there's a more important problem."
"What is it this time?"
"The Order's financial situation isn't very good. No, it's precarious."
The Goddess of the Rusted Shield had not delivered any oracle, but Elbridge had felt her presence all along. When Matilda brought up the Order's finances, that presence grew a little fainter.
Elbridge recalled the offering box he had checked before leaving Solenion. Its satisfying weight had filled his heart with abundance.
Yet the Order lacked money.
As far as Elbridge knew, much of an Order's spending went toward personnel expenses, and the Order of the Rusted Shield had only seven priests. Elbridge himself was unpaid.
They might not have been prosperous, but things should not have been bad enough for Matilda to worry.
"It seems expanding the Order required a great deal of money. Then again, the number of believers increased enormously..."
"Um... To be honest, the major expenses weren't caused by expanding the Order."
"Then what was the cause?"
"First, our believers don't donate as much as those of other Orders of a similar size. There are a few nobles among them, but aside from those people, we don't have wealthy believers. You probably have a general idea that rich merchants flock to the Golden Tray."
Elbridge's heart grew heavy. He found it difficult to bring up matters of money.
"Isn't that the case for all combat churches?"
"Not every combat church is like ours. Other combat churches regularly hunt demons or demonic beasts and receive rewards. But our Order almost never does that."
"I understand that our income is low. But our expenses should be even lower."
Matilda looked like she was about to say something, then wore an embarrassed expression.
"My ability was lacking."
But Elbridge read something in her expression.
'She's hiding something.'
There were only Elbridge and Matilda in the prayer room.
There was only one reason Matilda would hold back here. Someone who could be watching this space.
That meant the Goddess of the Rusted Shield was involved in the financial problem.
The fact that the Goddess's presence had faded as soon as money was mentioned also gave Elbridge confidence.
"I see... I'll be staying at the temple for a while, so let's find a solution together, Matilda."
"Understood, Archbishop."
* * *
At dawn the next day, before the Goddess of the Rusted Shield had awakened, Elbridge rose from bed and went outside.
As expected, Matilda was sitting in the prayer room, still dim with the darkness peculiar to early dawn.
Elbridge sat across from her and asked, "Matilda, did the Goddess perhaps insist that you buy high-quality oil for her?"
The Goddess's eyes and ears could not reach them, so Elbridge's question was direct. Matilda was equally direct.
"Something like that did happen once or twice... but it wasn't enough to shake the Order's finances."
"Then what is the problem?"
"Whenever something good happened, the Goddess would occasionally hand out bonuses to the priests."
"And?"
"She handed them out rather often. And the Goddess is very generous. One of the new priests was looking through a carriage catalog, if that tells you anything... I don't think the Goddess has any sense for money."
Elbridge tensed at that cold conclusion.
"You should have stopped the Goddess, Matilda."
"I couldn't. If she had quietly delivered an oracle to me, I could have tried to persuade her somehow. But in situations like that, the Goddess always delivers a public oracle... And if I stood in the Goddess's way, what would happen to her dignity? There was truly no way to stop her."
Matilda shook her head as if she had a headache.
Elbridge imagined the scene. The Goddess, excited for some reason, handing out bonuses to the priests. The priests loudly praising the Goddess. Pleased by their reaction, the Goddess becoming even more excited and handing out more bonuses.
It was a self-perpetuating chain of ruin impossible to break from within.
"How much money does the Order have left?"
Matilda shook her head.
"None at all. The Order of Spring Rain and Moss noticed something was wrong and lent us operating funds, so we're barely holding on."
"How much debt do we have?"
"About thirty gold coins."
It was a large sum for an ordinary person, but not much compared to the scale of an Order. The problem was that they were operating at a loss.
Elbridge thought, 'It wasn't the priests of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss who noticed our situation. The Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss must have understood what was happening and lent us money first.'
Their creditor was the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss. The one who knew the Goddess of the Rusted Shield best was also the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss.
If he needed advice, she was naturally the one to ask.
Elbridge looked around. The darkness of early dawn still lingered.
'There's still time before the Goddess awakens.'
Elbridge said, "Matilda, I'll find a way to deal with that problem, so don't suffer over it alone."
Only then did Matilda smile in relief.
Elbridge immediately ran to the Temple of the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss.
Footnotes:
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