WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 16

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Two Gold Coins

Everyone except Rob, who had lost both eyes, saw the Crow demonic beast crash to the ground.

"···You hit that?"

Javelin throwing was a high-skill feat, no matter how simple it looked. It was even harder if you had to throw an unfamiliar spear instead of the one you normally used.

"What the···. No, never mind."

But Elbridge had already shown a more impressive feat before the javelin throw, so people could let it pass.

"You said his name was Elbridge, right? Was he a mercenary who worked in the west or the south? With that level of skill, word about him should have spread."

At Magnus's murmur, Charlie replied.

"I heard he wasn't a mercenary. He was a paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield."

All Charlie could offer was that Elbridge was a paladin.

Even so, it was not especially useful. There was no clear link between being a paladin and Elbridge's skill. Weren't the paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray the best counterexample?

While people murmured among themselves, Elbridge ran toward the falling Crow.

Distortion-type demonic beasts sometimes caused all kinds of unexpected trouble if left alone, so they had to be killed the moment an opening appeared.

The Crow that had crashed to the ground looked at Elbridge with its eight red eyes.

Kraah-

It felt like it had something to say.

But that was none of Elbridge's concern. He swung his sword without hesitation and sliced through the Crow's neck.

Slice.

Since it was not an enhancement-type demonic beast, the Crow's feathers and skin were not much different from those of an ordinary bird. Its head came off in one stroke, and blood splashed out.

"Phew···."

As relief that the beast had been eliminated washed over him, Elbridge was also seized by a huge surge of exhilaration.

Demonic beasts carried evil god fragments, and those fragments contained divinity.

As the Crow's divinity seeped into Elbridge, he tasted an intensity of exhilaration he had never felt before.

It was like someone who had suffered from thirst for hundreds of years finally quenching it with cool water.

This was different from when he had hunted the wolf demonic beast last time.

Back then, in order to recover his arm, he had not been able to properly absorb the divinity and had had to offer the demonic beast's heart and evil god fragment to the god.

He had taken in the divinity that remained after the offering, but that had been like scattering a little mist over dry, cracked ground.

This was different now. The divinity left behind by the Crow belonged entirely to Elbridge.

It was not even an immature beast that had only just begun its demonic-beast transformation. Since it was a beast on the verge of moving from the middle stage to the later stage, it was fairly high-grade, and its divinity was not small either.

This amount was more than enough to be a spring shower, not just a drizzle.

Elbridge clenched both fists out of habit, then opened them again. Power overflowed through his entire body.

A memory surfaced from the distant past, when he had been an apprentice paladin and had felt the moment of rising above ordinary people for the first time.

'There was still a long way to go···. But this was a good start.'

Then the goddess's oracle came down.

- Elbridge. My most cherished paladin. That was splendid. But another god's power has stained that feat, and your goddess feels a small worry in her heart because of it···.

After waking from the seal, this was the second time Elbridge had used divine power.

But both times, it had not been power given by the Goddess of the Rusted Shield. The first had been the healing power granted by the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss, and the Goddess of the Rusted Shield had directly linked him to it. The second was the power from the Goddess of the Golden Tray.

The first power had not been something the Goddess of the Rusted Shield had given him directly, so she had not felt slighted. But this time was different.

'Could she be angry?'

No. There was no displeasure or anger in the goddess's voice. Passing power among paladins had often happened in the past.

'...Then why?'

Elbridge realized the reason quickly.

It was close to self-reproach, or anxiety. Self-reproach that she could not grant proper power to her only believer, and anxiety that Elbridge might leave for another church.

'How should I answer?'

Elbridge reached a judgment very quickly.

"I'm frustrated by this situation too, Goddess."

The goddess's voice did not come again. Still, Elbridge could instinctively tell that her unease had deepened.

He naturally continued.

"My shortcomings are truly frustrating. If I can rebuild the order as soon as possible, I won't have to rely on other gods' power···. I am deeply sorry, Goddess."

After making the goddess tense as if he might defect at any moment, then reassuring her with a natural reversal, that was the way to speak. A strong contrast always left a dramatic impression.

He had also clearly shown that he felt no dissatisfaction toward the Goddess of the Rusted Shield, so this was the best answer Elbridge could think of.

As expected, the goddess's voice brightened noticeably.

- Elbridge. Your efforts are not lacking in the slightest. Also, as I have said repeatedly, your goddess is satisfied if you lead a peaceful life, so there is no need to feel burdened.

"Goddess. I am a paladin, an archbishop, and a High Cardinal. I have no intention of neglecting my duty in the slightest. I will definitely restore your power to you. For now, I will aim to win back even one seat in this year's year-end election and return to the assembly···."

Because Elbridge's tone was concrete and resolute, the goddess naturally relented.

- If that is what you wish, your goddess will also help with all her strength.

Elbridge finished speaking with the goddess, then approached the paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray.

The paladins, who had until then treated Elbridge as if he were invisible, naturally stepped back one by one.

Elbridge carried Rob, who had lost both eyes, on his back and said, "Let's go."

Since the place where they had found the Crow was not far from Holy City Solenion, they were able to reach the city before evening.

"Sir Rob, your eyes...!"

The priests of the Order of the Golden Tray immediately put Rob on a stretcher and took him to the temple of the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss. The urgent matter was, for the moment, settled.

The accompanying paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray came over to Elbridge.

And the red-haired paladin, Magnus, said to Elbridge, "You helped us greatly. I don't know how we should repay you."

Repayment, then.

Since the other party was the Order of the Golden Tray, renowned for its wealth, the first thing that came to mind was financial compensation. It was also the compensation he desperately wanted. Looking at the Order of the Rusted Shield's finances now, all it had were a few gold coins at best.

But the words would not come out.

"Well..."

Elbridge had rarely thought he was bad at anything.

Of course, he was not omnipotent, being human and all, but he thought he possessed at least above-average ability in everything a paladin needed.

And now he realized there was one thing he was bad at. Talking about money.

Asking for financial compensation was much harder than he had expected. The words would not come, as if his throat had closed up. That was a different problem from ordinary negotiation.

He did not know whether it was because he was not used to asking for compensation, or because it was simply in his nature.

As a result, the story that came out of Elbridge's mouth was painfully clichéd.

"Well... I don't need any repayment. It was what I should have done. As a paladin, or as a hired hand."

Then Marcus cut into the conversation.

"Hey, now!"

Marcus was not as good a fighter as Elbridge.

But naturally, there were things Marcus was better at. One skill was needed right now, and that was negotiating compensation.

Mercenaries often faced unexpected situations, so there were many cases where they had to do more than they had originally agreed to.

In those situations, how much extra compensation they could wring out depended entirely on personal ability. Marcus was a fairly seasoned mercenary, so he could not help but be accustomed to bargaining for pay.

"Well, Sir Elbridge is right that it was the job. But all you asked for was a little help with the demonic beast hunt, wasn't it? I doubt these folks expected this much of a performance either... right?"

The paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray, who had been listening to Marcus, nodded.

"Then of course compensation has to follow! Sir Elbridge may not be used to counting money, but I am not like that. There's no way people of the Order of the Golden Tray wouldn't know about the beautiful culture of performance bonuses, and we're not even talking about another church."

Marcus said that, then curled his thumb and index finger into a circle.

"All right, let's put it plainly. How much can you give?"

Marcus then wore a displeased expression.

"...Why are you butting in? We were talking about Sir Elbridge."

"Hey now, did anyone ask for my compensation? I'm talking about Sir Elbridge's pay too. As for me... the agreed compensation is enough."

The paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray looked at Marcus with suspicious eyes.

No matter how they looked at it, it seemed like Marcus would wedge himself between Elbridge and the Order of the Golden Tray and take a cut.

But Marcus did not flinch under their stares.

"Now, back to the main point. In my view, if Sir Elbridge hadn't been here, you folks would have died."

Then one of the knights who had been quiet until now asked. Was it Abe?

"Setting other things aside, let's make one thing clear. Sir Elbridge said that beast couldn't even pierce armor, did he not? We wouldn't have died."

After listening to Abe, Marcus snorted.

"That's not something someone who was walking around without a helmet because it felt stuffy should say. Same goes for the rest of you. If that crow's beak had been jammed into your foreheads, do you think you'd have lived? At the very least, three of you would have died."

"That Crow demonic beast never even rushed us. If anything, only Sir Rob would have taken the hit."

"Whether it rushed you or not doesn't matter. You all would have charged at the crow bastard to save Sir Rob. Then you would have been in the same danger. Am I wrong?"

Abe hesitated.

There was no way Abe could argue back by saying something like, "I wasn't planning to save Sir Rob."

What was worse, everyone knew that the only person who had actually tried to save Rob was the itinerant knight Richard.

If Marcus started blabbing about how the paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray had just stood around, hesitating while Rob was left to fend for himself, their reputation would take a serious hit. The church's reputation and their own.

Abe, like the other paladins, knew very well how important reputation was. They were merchants before they were paladins.

A merchant without money could still make money. A merchant who lost his reputation could do nothing.

Now someone had to step up and set the standard.

While everyone was glancing around, the youngest, Charlie, spoke up.

"For now... I'd like to offer twenty gold coins as compensation. That's all I have on me right now. If there is a chance later, I'll offer more."

Twenty gold coins was four hundred silver coins. A considerable sum.

A veteran mercenary earned about half a silver coin per day, so twenty gold coins could hire two veteran mercenaries for about a year.

But Marcus was not satisfied.

"I think Sir Charlie offered more gold coins when he made a dedication during the fight with the deer demonic beast... wasn't that a little stingy?"

"That did not come out of my own pocket. It was an offering supported by the church. It was a pretty heavy sum for me too."

"I see... Fine. What about the rest of you? It would be a fine ending if our poor Sir Elbridge could at least get a proper suit of armor as the reward for his devotion."

Since the youngest Charlie had mentioned twenty gold coins, the others could not mention anything lower.

"I'll give twenty too. But I don't have the money on me right now... I'll deliver the gold coins to the Order of the Rusted Shield by tomorrow."

"I'll give twenty too. No, I'll give forty, including Sir Rob's share. Sir Rob would probably be willing to pay that much too."

Elbridge did not join the conversation. He just watched.

He had thought he would be lucky to get the five gold coins originally promised as his fee, but Marcus stepped in and before long they were promising one hundred gold coins.

'One hundred gold coins would be two thousand silver coins...'

An enormous amount of money. Enough to hire ten veteran mercenaries for a full year and still have change left over.

And that was not the end of it.

"I didn't really do much either... so I'll give half of my compensation. Take it."

Richard, and the itinerant knight whose name Elbridge still did not know, each handed Elbridge five gold coins. The two itinerant knights must have been promised ten gold coins as their pay.

Then a priest of the Order of the Golden Tray appeared and handed Elbridge and Marcus five gold coins each.

"You said the two of you had been promised five gold coins each, correct? Here is your compensation."

Elbridge was dazed.

'What is this...'

He had been on the verge of losing even the five gold coins that had been promised to him as pay, since they would go to Charlie's treatment costs, and now he was holding fifteen gold coins in his hands.

He had never held this much money in his entire life.

That was true even without counting the one hundred gold coins he had been promised for later.

Marcus spoke to the paladins of the Order of the Golden Tray in a deliberately cheerful voice.

"All right, everyone worked hard. If there's a good job next time, come find Marcus."

Marcus patted Elbridge on the back. Elbridge left the temple of the Order of the Golden Tray with Marcus.

Even after leaving the temple, Elbridge remained silent. He still had something to think about.

'...How much should I share with Marcus?'

One hundred gold coins plus fifteen.

This was money he had earned for his own contribution, but it was also money he would not have received if Marcus had not stepped in.

At the very least, he would need to give him ten percent, and to keep Marcus from feeling slighted, maybe twenty or thirty percent.

'If I say I'll give him about twenty percent, I can give him all fifteen gold coins I have now, and the rest tomorrow or the day after...'

But then something unexpected happened. Marcus, who had been walking beside Elbridge, suddenly shoved his hand into Elbridge's left pocket.

It had been an empty pocket. But when Elbridge put his hand inside, two gold coins were there.

When Elbridge looked at Marcus, Marcus grinned.

"I said I'd give you two gold coins, didn't I? I'm very exact with money."

If Marcus had asked for money, Elbridge would have shared whatever amount it was.

But Marcus had not asked for gold coins.

"Are you sure that's okay?"

Marcus answered Elbridge's question.

"Well, I didn't do anything major. Three gold coins' worth of my luck is enough."

Only then did Elbridge understand.

Marcus was a man who wanted luck.

If he liked luck that much, it made sense that he had chosen to follow the God of Fox Rain, the deity said to bring luck, instead of the Goddess of the Golden Tray, who symbolized wealth luck.

Marcus was a man who liked money.

If he liked money that much, it also made sense that he had eagerly tagged along on a demonic beast hunt just because he had been promised five gold coins. He had done so even though he knew he could not hunt even a single beast on his own.

But at the same time, Marcus was not greedy enough to cram every bit of overflowing luck into his own pocket.

Marcus turned on his heel.

"See you next time. I have a feeling we'll be meeting again soon... I hope I can benefit from you then too."

Marcus waved at Elbridge, then disappeared into the crowd of Solenion. There was not the slightest trace of reluctance in his steps.

Elbridge waved back at Marcus with a slightly dazed expression. He kept waving even after Marcus was no longer visible.

Something he could not quite put into words welled up inside Elbridge's chest.

In this strange world, and in front of the utterly daunting goal of rebuilding the church.

He felt like he might actually be able to accomplish something now.

Even Elbridge did not know why he was feeling that way just then.

He stood still among the crowd for a long while, and then the goddess's voice reached him.

- Elbridge?

"Yes, Goddess."

As he answered, Elbridge fiddled with the gold coins in his pocket.

Fifteen gold coins in his right pocket. And two gold coins in his left pocket.

Elbridge spoke again.

"Goddess. Today, I think I can offer about five bottles of the finest anointing oil."

- There is no need to overdo it. Of course, the anointing oil from last time was very satisfying, but anointing oil is not the only thing that can please your goddess...

For someone turning it down, her voice revealed her anticipation a little too clearly.

Elbridge smiled faintly.

"I know. But every now and then, a day like this comes along, doesn't it?"

Then Elbridge, too, started walking through the crowd of Solenion.

Soon, the young paladin's figure was hidden by the people and could no longer be seen.

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