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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 20

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Peak Season

The brown-haired woman still looked unconvinced as she studied Elbridge's armor.

"···By the way, where are the other paladins?"

She had come looking for a paladin, yet she was asking where someone other than Elbridge was.

It was a somewhat nostalgic reaction.

Back when how long you survived was taken as a measure of a paladin's skill, Elbridge had had to endure plenty of suspicion and distrust because he was too young.

As time passed and his name and face became known, that gradually faded, but those misunderstandings never disappeared completely. Even his age at the time of his sealing, twenty-six, was still considered very young among paladins.

Elbridge answered.

"I'm the only paladin in the order. Why do you ask?"

"That... wasn't what I expected. There was an oracle, so I thought there would be a more experienced, seasoned middle-aged paladin."

"I'm afraid I'm not a seasoned paladin."

The brown-haired woman jumped at Elbridge's answer.

"I didn't mean it badly. You just looked so young..."

"I didn't think you meant anything by it. It's a joke, so don't worry about it."

The woman looked a little awkward, then belatedly introduced herself.

"I am Bibeka, an apprentice paladin serving the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss."

"I am Elbridge, a paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield."

"Sir Elbridge. As I said, I came here to ask for your help. If you help us, the Eastern Diocese of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss will reward you generously. For example···."

Elbridge shook his head.

"I don't need any reward."

Elbridge was in a position where he had to repay a debt. If he accepted too generous a reward, it could become another debt, so it was better to avoid creating a new one right after clearing the old one.

Whatever Bibeka made of Elbridge's answer, her face fell.

"Huh? But I really need to take Sir Elbridge with me···."

"It's not that I won't help you. I just don't want any compensation."

"Eh?"

It was an unexpected answer, and Bibeka's round eyes widened even more.

Elbridge gave a small smile.

Wasn't it fun to deal with someone whose feelings showed all over their face?

"···Do you have a reason for that?"

"The Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss has already shown me favor, so I'm only trying to repay it, even if belatedly."

But Bibeka still did not understand Elbridge's answer.

Thanks to Elbridge following along so readily, Bibeka's steps were almost light enough to lift her off the ground.

The two of them kept talking as they headed for the Order of Spring Rain and Moss.

"By the way, why does the Order of Spring Rain and Moss need a Grand Warrior?"

As far as Elbridge remembered, the Order of Spring Rain and Moss rarely clashed with other orders.

Even when combat churches fought each other, nobody ever went after the Order of Spring Rain and Moss. If they got on its bad side and then failed to get treated in time, they'd be the first to suffer.

Thanks to that, the Order of Spring Rain and Moss was treated like a kind of noble house among combat churches.

"These days, we've been having friction with another order. They're the ones picking the fight, though."

"Which order would be crazy enough to do that...?"

"The Order of the God of Flowing Water."

"Ah."

The Order of Spring Rain and Moss and the Order of the God of Flowing Water had a lot in common. That was especially true because both were combat churches centered on healing power.

Still, as Elbridge remembered it, the Order of the God of Flowing Water was on the smaller side even among combat churches with healing power.

"By the way, how many seats do the two orders have?"

"Our Order of Spring Rain and Moss has seven seats, and the Order of the God of Flowing Water has just one, barely. There's no comparison. Compared with our order, the Order of the God of Flowing Water is basically a hole-in-the-wall shop."

Whether Bibeka was oblivious or simply honest, she was rather bold with her wording.

'If one seat is a hole-in-the-wall shop, what does that make our order...'

Elbridge was grateful that the Goddess of the Rusted Shield could not hear Bibeka's remarks.

Hadn't the goddess gone gloomy for days the last time Felix called the Order of the Rusted Shield a shipwreck?

"Is there even a temple for the Order of the God of Flowing Water in the east? I thought that order's influence was concentrated in the southern part of the continent."

"About five years ago, a temple was built. It was more like a prayer room for believers in the eastern region, though... Anyway, that's not the important part. The Order of the God of Flowing Water has been openly challenging our order for a month now. They're slandering us and trying to provoke a clash."

"Do you have any idea why?"

Bibeka hesitated.

"I don't know if I should even tell you this..."

"Don't worry. Nothing you say will leak out."

"Actually, this year the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss gave us two oracles. Yesterday's oracle told us to go find the Order of the Rusted Shield and ask for help, and the one from a month ago brought some very important news."

Elbridge's ears perked up.

Given his circumstances, he received the goddess's oracles often, but other orders rarely did. There were plenty of times when two or three years passed without a single oracle.

"What was the oracle from a month ago?"

Bibeka lowered her voice and spoke with great meaning.

"A demon appeared in Dickens Viscounty. And before long, another demon will appear."

"Ah, yes... I see."

Elbridge wasn't surprised, because he had been the source of that information.

Nine times out of ten, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield must have passed the information along to the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss.

Bibeka stopped walking and folded her arms.

"You don't believe what I'm saying? I heard it directly from the archbishop!"

"Of course I believe you, Lady Bibeka."

"But your expression..."

"I just look like that when I'm surprised. It causes a lot of misunderstandings."

Elbridge made a halfhearted excuse, and Bibeka looked a little unconvinced.

But the one in control of the conversation now was Elbridge.

"···Anyway, I think the oracle from a month ago and the Order of the God of Flowing Water's provocation are connected. The timing lines up almost too neatly, doesn't it?"

Bibeka seemed not to know the exact link between the oracle and the current situation.

But in the end, her guess would not be wrong.

The Order of the God of Flowing Water was probably provoking the Order of Spring Rain and Moss because the demon's appearance had given them an opening.

'They probably want to turn the whole thing upside down while they have the chance.'

There weren't many gods with friendly relationships like the Goddess of the Rusted Shield and the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss. Most of them were said to compete with and keep watch on one another.

That was inevitable when they had to compete for limited seats.

But apart from the fierce competition, the balance of seats rarely shifted. Competition always favored the one already ahead.

'In a peaceful world, no new star can rise.'

With nothing special happening, the major orders could keep their advantage solidly in place, and the smaller orders had no opening to force their way in, so they could not easily seize a chance to rise.

It was a world where the gods' seats and ranks had become fixed over a long peace.

When the news that demons had appeared spread among the gods, did every god worry about it?

Surely not.

Opportunity always hides in crisis and chaos.

It would not have been strange for a god who barely held onto one seat, or a god with no seat at all, to see the appearance of demons as an opportunity.

Elbridge remembered the past.

'Really, it feels like the world is going back to how it used to be...'

There had never been a world like that, where all humanity united and fought together the moment a powerful enemy appeared.

It had been that way two hundred years ago too. Conflicts between orders were more common than clashes between paladins and demons.

At the very least, it started with verbal sparring between priests, and in serious cases it escalated into armed conflict between orders. As a result, many orders broke apart.

"At first, we didn't respond to the Order of the God of Flowing Water's provocation. But the provocations kept getting worse until they reached a point we couldn't tolerate anymore. The believers also seemed to want us to respond somehow... Honestly, I don't think continuing to ignore them is a good answer either."

At Bibeka's words, Elbridge nodded.

"Ignoring them only works once or twice. If you keep your ears closed, sooner or later people start believing what they say. By the way, what exactly did they say?"

"Those bas..."

Bibeka stopped herself and coughed. Ahem-ahem.

"To put it a little more politely, they claimed that the Order of Spring Rain and Moss wouldn't be able to protect its believers in a time of chaos. Right now, nobody cares about that story... but if demons really do appear, people will remember it and start doubting us."

"That's a fair point."

"So I was looking for a way to respond, and then the Grand Festival happened!"

A word Elbridge had never heard before popped up.

"The Grand Festival?"

"You live in Solenion and you don't know about the Grand Festival? The Summer Grand Festival?"

Elbridge made up an excuse.

"This is the first I've heard of it. I left Solenion a long time ago and only came back after a long absence."

That was not a lie. He had been away for a full two hundred years.

"The Grand Festival is a huge event where all the orders gather. It even includes a friendly match where five paladins from each order team up and compete... The Order of the God of Flowing Water even boasted that they would crush our order in that friendly match."

"That's a great chance to shut them up."

"But to anyone looking at it, it seems like our order will have a hard time winning."

"···."

Bibeka hurriedly defended herself.

"It's not because we're lacking skill! It's a difference in our orders' tendencies. The Order of the God of Flowing Water is just a little more battle-oriented than ours, that's all... On the other hand, our order is much better at healing."

"I understand. So that's why you came to ask me for help."

"Yes. While the archbishop was agonizing over a solution, last night's oracle came down. It told us to go find a paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield!"

"But is it possible for me to take part in the Grand Festival with the Order of Spring Rain and Moss? I'm a member of the Order of the Rusted Shield."

Bibeka answered proudly.

"If a paladin's order didn't submit a separate application, that paladin can enter together with paladins from another order. It's a rule meant to encourage small orders that can't field five paladins to participate."

"The Order of Spring Rain and Moss can't possibly have fewer than five paladins... Isn't that abusing the rules?"

"What does it matter if we bend the rules a little?"

Elbridge stared at Bibeka.

Then Bibeka answered without a hint of hesitation.

"An old sage once said, win or lose, it's a disgrace... no. If you can't be honorable, at least win. It's better to win somehow than to lose badly in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators."

The instant he heard one phrase, Elbridge's eyes lit up.

"Hundreds of thousands? Are there really that many people coming to watch the Grand Festival?"

"Of course! It's the biggest event in Holy City Solenion. The paladin duels are among the events that draw the most spectators."

Elbridge asked seriously.

"Lady Bibeka. How did the Order of Spring Rain and Moss do in the Grand Festival in the past?"

"I heard the best result was passing the preliminaries and winning once more in the main event. They also got knocked out in the preliminaries a lot. The preliminaries are tough from the start. It would be nice if the Order of the God of Flowing Water lost in the preliminaries."

"I see···."

Then the Goddess of the Rusted Shield, who had been silent until now, whispered into Elbridge's ear.

- Elbridge. Where are you going?

Elbridge thought for a moment, then whispered softly.

"I'm going to recruit new believers."

At last, the peak season had begun.

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