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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 23

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Take It Easy

A beat later, the crowd burst into cheers.

"Oooooooo-!"

"Which church is that guy from?"

"How did he cut through the armor? Did he stab through a gap?"

Bloodshed always got people excited.

The crowd was thrilled by the unexpected bloodshed.

What Elbridge had done was on a completely different level from the nosebleeds and torn flesh seen in earlier matches.

Elbridge pointed outside the arena and said to the knight he'd stabbed in the knee.

"Get down."

The knight with the stabbed knee obediently followed Elbridge's order.

He knew that with his knee injured, he could not show his true skill, and that even if his knee were perfectly fine, he still would not be able to beat Elbridge.

Now, the eyes of the paladins left in the arena were fixed on Elbridge.

Only a few paladins understood Elbridge's move immediately, and only a few more were able to piece it together later from the severed latch piece and the place where the sword had lodged.

The rest had no way of knowing what had just happened.

But even the paladins who did not understand Elbridge's move understood one thing for certain.

Charging Elbridge now would be foolish.

Elbridge stared silently at the bloodstains left in the arena, then lifted his head and asked.

"Anyone else want to try?"

No one stepped up with any confidence.

The paladin with the stabbed knee had been the man everyone else in the arena wanted to avoid until moments ago.

Elbridge had cleanly subdued a man like that with a sword, not even a blunt weapon. If you had any brains, you stayed away from Elbridge.

It also mattered that they could advance to the Main Round without having to wipe out the Order of Spring Rain and Moss that Elbridge belonged to. Weren't there two teams that got through the preliminaries, not one?

On top of that, Elbridge was not showing any intent to attack the other paladins aggressively.

Taking all of that into account, the paladins reached the most rational, most sensible conclusion.

"Come on, then!"

That was, to ignore the Order of Spring Rain and Moss and decide the second advancing team among themselves.

Only then did Elbridge let out a sigh of relief so quietly that no one noticed.

Phew-

Despite the bold, relaxed attitude he was pretending to have, Elbridge was quite tense. He did not have much experience cutting people down.

Unlike paladins from other churches, who sometimes fought hostile churches as well, the paladins of the Order of the Rusted Shield rarely had to fight people.

Thanks to Elbridge, the balance of the arena had shifted, and one person had oddly benefited from it.

The pseudo-dwarf lying on the ground, who had been getting beaten with clubs.

Even while he had been pounded enthusiastically, he somehow seemed to have avoided serious injury. As soon as the clubbing stopped, he slipped to his feet and returned to Elbridge and Bibeka's side.

"The mood changed all of a sudden. What happened?"

"Someone came at me, so I put one down."

"Nobody's even coming this way."

"I suppose it's because they saw blood. It must have put them off."

"Haha! Is that so? Anyway, good work! You fight pretty well even with a sword. I trusted you from the start, you know."

Bibeka, who had been listening to the conversation between the pseudo-dwarf and Elbridge, wore a very complicated expression.

Elbridge watched the match as if he were a spectator. Then, when the number of people standing on the arena floor reached six, a bell rang.

Ding-

That was the signal that the two teams advancing to the Main Round had been decided. The red-haired paladin watching the match from below the stage threw both hands up.

"Nice! We're in the Main Round! I thought it was all over when we got shoved down there..."

"Sir Elbridge fought a lot better than I expected."

"Haha! Would the goddess have given us an oracle for no reason? I knew it would turn out this way!"

While the teammates were chattering, Elbridge quietly stepped aside and whispered to the goddess.

"Goddess. I have a question."

Then he heard the goddess's excited voice.

- I'll answer anything. My proud paladin.

"The God of Flowing Water seemed to know me. Do the other gods know me too?"

- The past was in chaos, and you only traveled through harsh battlefields that were hard for people to reach. Most gods would not know what you did before you were sealed.

"Then how does the God of Flowing Water know me?"

- Because most know that my one and only paladin took on the Seal Core and held out for two hundred years, Elbridge.

That meant the gods could guess who Elbridge was from nothing more than his status as a paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield.

Elbridge lowered his voice even more.

"Goddess. You told me that if the world learned who I was, there would be people who envied or hated me, and people who would blame me for what would happen later."

- There certainly would be.

"Then isn't it possible for the gods to hold a grudge and give oracles to each church about who I am? If that happened, pretending to be my own descendant would be meaningless."

- You need not worry about that.

"Why not?"

- Because there is little to gain and much to lose. No god is ignorant of how the world works now, so what fool would make an enemy of the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss?

The Order of Spring Rain and Moss was one of the strongest churches among those with healing power.

Under ordinary circumstances, falling out with the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss might not have caused much trouble.

But once the world grew chaotic, the situation changed.

If the enraged Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss ever gave an oracle ordering a certain church's followers not to be healed, that church would have to bear enormous consequences.

"I understand. That's a relief."

- Rest easy. No one will suspect you even if you claim to be Elbridge VIII, the distant descendant of the Silent Paladin.

Only then did Elbridge let go of his worries.

Elbridge watched the matches that followed with interest.

It was undeniable that the paladins' overall skill level had fallen.

'There isn't a single person who deserves to be called a paladin. Well, that was only natural...'

No, there wasn't even anyone here at the level of an experienced paladin.

But if he lowered the standard a little, the picture changed.

There were still plenty of people who would barely count as paladins by older standards, or who could at least be called decent for apprentices.

They must have trained hard, never shied away from danger, and built up their skill that way.

Thanks to that, Elbridge could see a faint possibility.

'Talented, diligent people are born in every age. If they face a crisis severe enough to crack the shell and get lucky enough to survive it, they'll become proper paladins too.'

Even after excluding the paladins from minor churches who had entered the competition as part of a team with another church, three combat churches stood out.

The Order of the Bloodstained Spear, the Order of the Laurel Wreath, and the Order of Antlers.

The paladins of those three churches were in a different class from the others.

They passed the preliminaries with overwhelming skill. Not a single one of the fifteen paladins sent by the three churches had been eliminated.

Elbridge felt mildly pleased. All of their temples were close to the temple of the Order of the Rusted Shield.

'Our Hillside Slums neighbors...'

With that, the eight preliminaries were finished in a single day, and the sixteen teams advancing to the Main Round had been decided.

The Grand Festival's Main Round began the very next day after the preliminaries ended. Even to Elbridge, the schedule looked brutally tight.

"Do they normally move straight into the Main Round without a break in between?"

At Elbridge's question, the red-haired paladin, Scarlet, answered.

"If they rest even a day, the spectators complain. It only makes the paladins who have to fight suffer."

Ding-

A heavy bell rang. It meant the bracket drawing was about to begin.

Since Scarlet was the team captain for the Order of Spring Rain and Moss, she stepped forward and drew the lot. And the result was-

"Oh, this isn't good."

Of all things, their opponent was the Order of the God of Flowing Water.

Not just Scarlet and Bibeka, but the pseudo-dwarf and pseudo-elf also looked uncomfortable at the thought of facing the Order of the God of Flowing Water.

"Why? If we beat them cleanly, wouldn't that be the best possible result?"

When Elbridge asked, the pseudo-dwarf answered.

"If we end up facing them and losing, it'll be too humiliating."

"Then win."

"Sir Elbridge. Good situations don't need special preparation. Smart people live by preparing for the worst."

"I'm not sure worrying about it right now will prepare you for anything."

"Is that so? Haha!"

Even the match order put them first.

Scarlet and the pseudo-elf looked so tense they seemed ready to throw up on the spot.

But Elbridge thought this situation was better. Wasn't it natural that the match starting first would draw the most attention?

"Goddess. I will carve the name of the Order of the Rusted Shield into every spectator's mind and come back."

- Go and enjoy yourself to your heart's content, Elbridge.

When the ten people who had taken off their helmets stepped onto the arena and faced one another, the host introduced them one by one.

"...Johannes, paladin of the Shattered Mirror Church, Michel, paladin of the Burning Torch Church!"

The people whose names were called stepped forward half a pace at a time and offered a brief greeting to the crowd.

The gazes of tens of thousands of people seemed to press down on the ten paladins.

"And their opponents, the paladins of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss: Scarlet, Hakon, Arvid, Bibeka..."

Elbridge was also fairly tense. He had never shown his face in front of this many people before.

'Yesterday, maybe because I had my helmet on, I wasn't that nervous.'

It was a different kind of tension from fighting for his life. The kind that made it feel as if his heart might burst through his chest. But it was tinged with excitement too.

"And nooooow-!"

After dragging it out for a long time, the host introduced the one person who drew the most attention from the crowd.

"Paladin of the Order of the Rusted Shield, El-bridge!"

"Wooooooah!"

"He's younger than I expected?"

"I've never even heard of the Order of the Rusted Shield."

A huge cheer followed the drawn-out introduction, along with the crowd's murmuring.

A faint shiver ran through Elbridge.

In the last two hundred years, maybe even before that, the name of the Order of the Rusted Shield had never been announced before so many people.

Elbridge privately thought the Goddess of the Rusted Shield must be feeling something similar.

The ten paladins pulled their helmets down.

The only one still holding a sword was Elbridge.

Before coming up to the stage, Elbridge had remembered the explanation Bibeka had given him.

"The Main Round is five on five. And if you look at it calmly, this match is pretty favorable to us."

"In what way?"

"It's not officially written that way, but in general the Main Round is fought one on one, knocking the opponent down one by one. Even if four people lose in a row, you still win if the last one standing can beat all five of theirs."

Bibeka had said that, then tucked her brown hair behind her ear.

Still, Elbridge thought Bibeka's hand movement had been a little awkward. She also looked tense for some reason he couldn't quite place.

"I see."

When Elbridge answered calmly, a hint of dissatisfaction settled on Bibeka's face.

"Why?"

"...Never mind. Anyway, Sir Elbridge's skill isn't ordinary, so I think we have a high chance of winning. If we beat the Order of the God of Flowing Water, it would tie our church's best record ever. This is a huge chance..."

As Elbridge was thinking that far, the host's shout cut off his thoughts.

"Leeeet the match begiiiin!"

The Order of Spring Rain and Moss wanted the clearest, most overwhelming victory possible, so they put Elbridge at the front and sent the other four down below the stage.

Was there any better way to show an overwhelming difference in ability than one person crushing all five opponents?

But none of the paladins from the Order of the God of Flowing Water stepped down from the stage.

"Why aren't they coming down...?"

A very brief silence.

And then, the very next moment, the five paladins hired by the Order of the God of Flowing Water charged at Elbridge.

At once, Bibeka shouted.

"You cowardly bastards!"

Booing from the crowd followed.

"Boooooo-!"

The decision of the Order of the God of Flowing Water was simple.

If they fought Elbridge in a normal way, the odds of losing were high.

Having the five of them fight in turn would only mean five losses in a row.

Only a few days ago, they had boasted that they would crush the Order of Spring Rain and Moss. If they then lost in a pathetic way, they would be treated like complete idiots.

That left the Order of the God of Flowing Water with only two choices.

Break custom, gang up on Elbridge, and win ugly.

Or endure five shameful losses.

A sage from long ago had once said this.

If you're a fool whether you win or lose, then be the fool who won.

This was the result of that gang-up.

Yet Elbridge actually felt more at ease. It felt like throwing off an uncomfortable coat.

'Come to think of it, how much experience did I even have with fair and square fights?'

No one looked for fairness or honor in battles against demonic beasts or demons.

The fact that he had escaped those awkward rules even a little made Elbridge happy.

Though his body was not in perfect condition, he felt better than he had when hunting the wolf demonic beast or fighting the crow demonic beast.

It was probably because he'd killed the crow demonic beast and absorbed a fair amount of divinity.

Elbridge slid his right foot back slightly.

Then, lowering his stance, he whispered, "Goddess. The time has come."

He did not wait for the goddess's reply.

As always, at the most important moment, what he had to trust was not a god, but his own ability.

Elbridge sprinted.

He moved with more force and freedom than at any time since waking from the seal.

Then he swung his sword. The five paladins also swung their iron clubs at Elbridge.

As the four paladins of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss scrambled back up onto the stage, Elbridge and the five charging paladins crossed paths in an instant.

There were five paladins hired by the Order of the God of Flowing Water.

Three of them were untouched.

But one had the latch beside his cuirass sliced off, and one had the Couter on his elbow knocked away.

"Ugh..."

The man whose latch had been cut off let out a low groan and clutched his pelvis. Blood seeped from the area and soaked his hand.

The other person's arm was bloodied too. It wasn't life-threatening, but it made continuing the fight impossible.

By contrast, Elbridge's armor had only been grazed a little by the iron clubs.

The booing in the arena died down for a moment.

And then, the cheers exploded.

"Ooooooh!"

"Did you see that? Did you see that? Waaaah!"

Amid the racket so loud it could be felt on the skin, the priest of the Order of the God of Flowing Water finally understood the meaning of the oracle they had heard yesterday.

'Just how far are you planning to take this? Please, take it easy...'

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