WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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Chapter 38: The One Who Went Up and the One Who Came Down (1)

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The next morning.

When Elbridge woke up, the goddess’s oracle came down as if it had been waiting for that moment.

"Archbishop Elbridge. Honestly, I never expected the number of believers to grow this much."

It had been only a day since the Goddess of the Rusted Shield had burned through every last drop of divine power.

Yet the oracle she sent now was clear, without a trace of static. That was surely thanks to the rapid growth of the church.

Elbridge replied.

"Goddess. Did that many people pray to you last night?"

"That was beyond expectations. Even so, I thought more than half of the dwarves would remain with the Order of the Iron Anvil."

Elbridge snapped fully awake.

The goddess’s oracle was implying that more than half of the dwarves had switched over to the Order of the Rusted Shield.

"More than half of the dwarves prayed to you, Goddess?"

"That is correct, Archbishop Elbridge."

No wonder the oracle had come the moment he woke up.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield had likely been waiting for Elbridge to wake so she could brag.

"The God of the Iron Anvil had been holding three seats on the strength of Mountain City Barquntol’s population alone... If we secure more than half the people in this city as believers, isn’t it basically certain that we’ll take one seat by the end of the year?"

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield replied with satisfaction.

"Why assume it will only be one? It might be two..."

Elbridge almost jumped to his feet and clapped. Two seats, of all things!

Of course, that was nowhere near the 62 seats held by the Order of the Golden Tray in the Heavenly Council, or the Order of the Olive Tree Goddess, which held well over thirty.

But the situation changed if the competition was limited to the combat churches in the Hillside Slums.

The current top church in the Hillside Slums, the Order of the Laurel Wreath, held three seats, and its strongest rival, the Order of the Bloodstained Spear, held two.

Even if all the seats held by the churches in Solenion’s Hillside Slums were added together, they still would not reach ten.

If, in a situation like this, the Order of the Rusted Shield suddenly grabbed two seats and rose up as a major church in the Hillside Slums, how thrilling would that be?

"Congratulations, Goddess."

"Of course. That is thanks to your devotion, Archbishop Elbridge."

If the conversation had ended there, it would have been warm and pleasant, but the goddess had to add one more line.

"The one who called our church a shipwreck... Felix, was it? I want to see the look on that guy’s face when your goddess takes two seats."

Felix’s wound, left by pure goodwill and his silver tongue, must have cut very deep.

Elbridge hoped the goddess would not stir up painful memories, so he naturally changed the subject.

"By the way, the reason so many people prayed to you yesterday was surely because of the dwarves’ nature. Dwarves hate owing favors, don’t they?"

When they received enormous help but had no proper way to repay it, it was common to show gratitude by joining the other side’s church.

The dwarves, who had lived isolated lives, seemed to have reached a similar conclusion.

"That must be true. But over the past thousand years, the dwarves’ faith had been as solid as rock, so your goddess never expected so many dwarves to pray."

Elbridge thought for a moment, then said, "That temporary faith may have worked in our favor. Since it has a set term, wasn’t it easier for them to pray to you without thinking too deeply?"

Even if the dwarves were disappointed in the God of the Iron Anvil, they would not have easily prayed to the Goddess of the Rusted Shield if it meant staking their entire remaining life as believers on it.

But as Elbridge said, the faith the dwarves were showing now was temporary.

It would last only until the day Rombel rose to heaven and became a god, or until the day he failed to make it there. At most, it was faith for a few years, maybe a few decades.

Of course, if ordinary humans were hearing that, the span would have felt very long, but dwarves lived an average of four hundred years.

Even a few decades carried a very different weight for them than it did for humans.

Elbridge continued.

"Also, the timing is excellent. The church is taking in believers on a large scale at its hardest moment. At this rate, even if all the dwarves eventually leave the church, it will still have been a tremendous help."

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield replied pointedly.

"Archbishop Elbridge. Even if that day comes, the dwarves will not easily leave the church."

"Why is that?"

"As I said, your goddess recently learned how to hold onto believers from the Goddess of the Olive Tree. Back then, your goddess had learned more than just the pyramid. She had also learned the so-called foot-in-the-door tactic."

"Could you tell me what that means?"

"The Goddess of the Olive Tree said that if a small connection is made in any way, it becomes harder to cut it off. For the next few years, the dwarves will grow attached to your goddess and the church, so even if the day truly comes when Rombel ascends..."

Bang.

In the middle of the Goddess of the Rusted Shield’s hopeful vision of the future, the door opened and Rombel appeared.

The oracle cut off at once.

Rombel said to Elbridge, "Elbridge. I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Before you were trapped in the seal, or after you were released from it, did you ever have a chance to ascend?"

Elbridge shook his head.

"No. Never."

"Really? You stood out even two hundred years ago, so I thought you would have had a chance to ascend."

"Me? There was no reason for me to ascend when there were knights who did more than I did."

"Knights who did more than you?"

"For one, Sir Leonhardt."

Leonhardt was the person who had been the Order of the Rusted Shield’s High Paladin around the time Elbridge was sealed two hundred years ago.

Other people had looked at Elbridge and clicked their tongues at his incredible skill, but Elbridge had always thought that High Paladin Leonhardt was several levels above him.

"...I can think of a lot of paladins from other churches too. Their actual accomplishments may have been less than mine, but when I think about how they were given less divine power than I was..."

Rombel cut in and interrupted Elbridge’s words.

"Whether you know the others or not, Sir Leonhardt ascended, didn’t he?"

"Huh?"

"I heard that not long after you were sealed, Sir Leonhardt ascended."

Elbridge learned the news about an old acquaintance in an unexpected way.

"Really?"

"It’s a story everyone knows. You were sealed away for two hundred years, so of course you wouldn’t know."

"By any chance, what is Sir Leonhardt’s divine name?"

"I don’t know that. But it’s certain that the church never really found its footing. Of the gods who have ascended since two hundred years ago, none have taken a new seat."

"Ah..."

When Elbridge let out a sigh, Rombel shrugged.

"Things after ascension don’t all go smoothly, do they? And was Sir Leonhardt’s personality ever mild-mannered? It would be stranger if the church were running well."

As Rombel said, achieving great deeds and becoming a god in heaven did not solve every problem.

Just as mortals on earth compete and live their lives, gods in heaven do the same. Competition in heaven was that fierce.

Only a tiny number of gods succeeded enough to rise to heaven and claim a seat, and even then, one misstep could cost them that seat and send them out of the council.

Once a god had been pushed out of the council, it was extremely rare for them to win a seat back. If the Goddess of the Rusted Shield returned to the council at the end of this year, that would be quite unusual.

Rombel muttered, "Your accomplishments back then were probably not as great as Sir Leonhardt’s, but I thought that since you had been sealed for two hundred years, you might have earned the right to ascend. Was that still not enough..."

Elbridge fell into thought.

If the chance to ascend to heaven were given, would ascending be the right choice?

Rombel stretched and said, "At this point, I need to go to the Central Magic Tower."

"Why the Central Magic Tower?"

"Because the current Master of the Central Magic Tower is someone who came down from heaven."

"What?"

He had heard that just as a mortal could ascend from earth and become a god, a god in heaven could descend to earth and become mortal.

But that had only been a question of whether it was possible or not.

This was the first time he had heard that such a person actually existed.

"Why did the tower master come down from heaven?"

"I don’t know the reason. But I should probably go meet him at least once to look for clues about ascension."

While Elbridge and Rombel were talking, a new presence approached.

He naturally thought it was Marcus, but the mayor’s secretary was standing there.

The mayor’s secretary gave Rombel and Elbridge a brief bow and said, "The mayor is looking for you."

* * *

The secretary led Elbridge and Rombel to the reception room at city hall, then left.

Marcus was already waiting there, and he looked quite pleased. It seemed that the Order of the God of Fox Rain had gained quite a few believers yesterday.

Rombel asked Marcus, "Hey, Marcus. Why did Mayor Baldrek Deepdelver call us?"

"We came here after taking on the request, didn’t we? Requests come with rewards."

"Oh, right. That’s true."

Rombel had come to the Red Mountains, so he had not paid much attention to the reward itself.

Elbridge had likewise completely forgotten about it.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield gaining seats after receiving a flood of new believers was already more than enough reward for Elbridge.

Still, there was no reason not to take what they were offering.

While his imagination ran wild over what the reward might be, Mayor Baldrek Deepdelver walked over at a brisk pace and greeted them.

"Did you rest well last night?"

"Thanks to you."

As soon as Rombel returned the greeting, he asked bluntly, "Baldrek Deepdelver. Did the God of the Iron Anvil give a new oracle?"

There was a trace of suspicion in Rombel’s voice.

He suspected that the God of the Iron Anvil might be nursing a grudge and plotting something.

Baldrek Deepdelver read the meaning behind Rombel’s words.

"Just in case, I’ll say this now. The God of the Iron Anvil will not harm Rombel."

"Really?"

"Whatever else may be said, the God of the Iron Anvil’s desire to protect the dwarven race was definitely sincere."

"That I don’t doubt."

"The old order is gone, and there is no way to go back, so it may be that the God of the Iron Anvil hopes the dwarves will find stability even if it has to be through the path led by Rombel."

Baldrek Deepdelver’s voice was bitter.

He had watched the fall of the god he had served all his life, so how could he not be?

But Baldrek Deepdelver was a dwarf who knew how to separate public matters from private ones.

"As you probably guessed, the reason I called you here was to discuss the reward for the request."

At the word reward, Marcus perked up.

"I will let each of you take one item of your choice from Barquntol’s First Vault."

Only one each? Elbridge and Marcus were unimpressed, but Rombel was a little surprised when he heard that.

Dwarves were born craftsmen. Because of that gift for craftsmanship, dwarves of the distant past had once been forced to live as slaves.

And the God of the Iron Anvil had established a foothold in the Red Mountains for two reasons.

First, there was no better place to hide the dwarves.

Second, the depths of the Red Mountains contained veins of all kinds of rare minerals. Bronzimmar, the city connected to Barquntol, had once been a mine shaft in ancient times, and even now a huge mine shaft still existed inside Bronzimmar.

In other words, only the finest masterpieces made from rare minerals were kept in the First Vault of Mountain City Barquntol. It was so rare for anything to enter the vault that it happened maybe once in ten years, and its value was almost impossible to calculate in money.

"Or, if you want, I could have something made fresh for you. There isn’t a mage here, so enchanting would be impossible, though..."

Marcus visibly perked up.

"Let’s look through the vault first and then decide. Shall we go now?"

But Baldrek Deepdelver’s explanation was not over yet.

"And, apart from the reward, there is one more thing I would like to show Sir Elbridge."

"What is it?"

"Sir Leonhardt’s shield is currently stored in Barquntol."

Elbridge’s eyebrow twitched.

Footnotes:

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