WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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Chapter 40: Liar (1)

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Since there was nothing pressing, Elbridge decided to go to the central region of the continent with Rombel.

And if Elbridge was going to the center, that meant Marcus had to go with him too.

"I've never followed anyone around in my life, but after trailing after Sir Elbridge, I feel like I've turned into fish shit."

Marcus grumbled for no reason, and Rombel snorted.

"Marcus. That's not a feeling. You really did turn into fish shit."

"···."

"Why are you making that face? If you have a better expression, say it."

"···No."

The three of them ran into a small problem.

They knew only which direction the center of the continent was in. They did not know the road leading there, or where any village worth passing through might be.

In truth, it made sense that Marcus and Elbridge did not know the way.

Marcus had spent his entire life active only in the eastern part of the continent, and Elbridge had not been active outside for two hundred years.

Rombel, who had actually been to the central continent, should have led the way, but unfortunately, Rombel had a terrible sense of direction.

Still, instead of apologizing, Rombel only grew more brazen.

"I'm not the only one who can't find the way. There are so few villages and towns around here that it's hard to find your bearings in the first place. Anyone who isn't local would be the same."

"···."

So they walked blindly toward the center.

Then Elbridge spotted wagon tracks.

"Let's follow those wagon tracks."

"How do you know where they lead?"

"Do you really think a wagon's going to keep rolling off a cliff? A village or a town will turn up eventually. We can ask the people there for directions."

The three of them followed the wheel ruts.

Fortunately, it did not rain, so they did not run into the disaster of the tracks disappearing halfway there.

People tend to be quiet around strangers, but that reserve disappears around familiar faces, so the three of them chatted about anything and everything as they walked.

"By the way, Sir Elbridge, are you heading to the center just because you want to learn more about the owner of that shield?"

"Because he was someone special."

"Well, he took the position of High Paladin from right under your nose, Sir Elbridge, and in the end became a god of the heavens. He must have been some incredible man."

"He was skilled, yes, but we were tied together in another way. If I had not met Sir Leonhardt, I might have died long ago instead of becoming a paladin."

"Now that you mention it, I have hardly ever heard any stories about your past, Sir Elbridge. How did you end up becoming a paladin?"

At Marcus's question, Elbridge gave a vague answer.

"There is nothing much worth calling a past. I just happened to become a paladin. How did you end up a mercenary, Marcus?"

Neither Marcus nor Rombel pressed him any further. They had enough sense for that much.

"If Sir Elbridge became a paladin thanks to Sir Leonhardt, then I became a mercenary thanks to my father."

"Your father was a mercenary too?"

"No, just a drunk. Even while he was always pleasantly drunk, he had a way with a leather belt that was no worse than a top-class mercenary. All he ever said was, 'Bring me more booze'... In the end, I stormed out of that house and became a mercenary."

"Oh dear."

"It wasn't all bad. If I hadn't practiced dodging that leather belt, I would have died in mercenary work. The heroic tale of Marcus, who got a dwarven master sword, started with dodging a leather belt."

This was a time for laughter, not sympathy.

Elbridge and Rombel chuckled.

Apparently satisfied with their reaction, Marcus pointed to the scar on the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not joking. The day I got this scar on my nose, I remembered my father's leather belt and managed to dodge the attack. If I hadn't had that experience, my face would have been split in two..."

Marcus, getting more and more fired up, went on with half-serious, half-boastful jokes, then suddenly stopped walking and stared ahead.

Elbridge and Rombel followed his gaze.

At the end of the wagon tracks, a fairly large village came into view.

Marcus stretched and said, "I'll tell you the rest later. Let's go in first."

* * *

What Elbridge's group noticed when they arrived was that the village was somehow different from an ordinary one.

"The people aren't wary of us."

"Looks that way."

In a big city, where strangers were always coming and going, that would be normal. Ordinary villagers usually kept their distance from outsiders.

But the people in this village did not seem wary of Elbridge's group. That was true even though Elbridge and Marcus were carrying swords, and Rombel had a huge axe.

Were they used to outsiders coming and going often?

That was unlikely. There was no inn in this village.

There was not even a building that might serve as one. And yet it was a fairly large village that looked like it could have housed well over a thousand people.

"Even a village half this size would have at least one inn. What kind of place is this..."

The three of them wandered around, looking for somewhere to stay.

After some time had passed, a man who looked to be in his mid to late fifties appeared with a cane and asked, "May I ask where you have come from?"

"We came from Solenion. We went south for some business and got lost, so we followed the wagon tracks."

"Wagon tracks, hmm. Then luck really was on your side."

"How so?"

"The wagons in this village rarely travel such long distances. The fact that the wheel ruts are still visible... that alone is surely heaven-sent luck."

"I see."

The man smiled gently and said, "I am the village chief here, Tibo. By any chance, is there a knight among you?"

Chief Tibo's gaze was fixed not on Elbridge, but on Marcus.

The sword Marcus had received from the dwarf village was obviously not something an ordinary mercenary would carry around.

Marcus drew himself up and said, "I am a mercenary. A pretty good one, Marcus. This here is Sir Elbridge, a paladin, and that fellow over there is Mr. Rombel, an excellent warrior."

"Luck on top of luck. Goodness, I never thought I would live to see something like this."

Luck, huh. That probably meant there was something here that needed either a knight or a mercenary.

Just as Marcus was about to ask what the matter was, Elbridge spoke first.

"Village Chief, you are a mage."

Chief Tibo looked a little surprised.

"That's right. How did you know?"

"By the shape of your staff."

Unlike an ordinary staff, Chief Tibo's was not carved from wood.

Several vines were naturally entwined together to form the staff, without any signs of being artificially shaved or cut.

That structure was meant to keep absorbed mana from being disturbed, which made it a typical mage's staff.

"That is some remarkable eye for detail."

"Why does a mage like you live in such a remote village?"

"There is a story behind it. If I start telling it, it gets long..."

At that moment, a few little girls came running up with shrill cries.

One of them grabbed Chief Tibo by the leg and pointed toward the boys in the distance.

"Archbishop! That Osric kid keeps playing with frogs!"

The chief burst out laughing.

"Osric. Put the frogs down. You must not play with living animals."

"But I finally caught a frog after so long!"

Smiling, Tibo waved his staff.

Then a transparent frog made of droplets of water appeared in midair and hopped into the hand of the boy called Osric.

"Wow!"

The boys let go of the frogs they had been holding, then started chasing the girls again, this time with a frog created by magic in hand.

Elbridge's expression turned serious.

There was no need to unleash some overwhelming spell just to judge a mage's ability.

If anything, the precision of the magic, and how much effort it took to cast, showed a mage's skill more clearly.

And to Elbridge, Chief Tibo was no clumsy beginner.

He was a capable mage, one fit for an important post even in most Magic Towers.

But there was something even stranger. It was the title the girl had used for Tibo.

"Chief. Did that child just call you Archbishop?"

"Yes."

Mages did not follow gods.

Some turned their backs on the gods and entered the Magic Tower so they could live free of divine influence. Others walked the path of sorcery in order to become gods themselves.

But not all mages abandoned the gods.

There had been mages who followed gods even in ancient times.

Still, this was the first time Elbridge had ever heard of a mage who also served as an archbishop.

An archbishop was basically the top person in a church, was he not?

As Elbridge's group stared at him, Chief Tibo gave an embarrassed smile and changed the subject.

"You probably don't have a proper place to stay... Would you mind staying at my house for a while?"

* * *

The three of them followed Chief Tibo to his house.

Religious symbols were placed throughout the house, and the pattern on those symbols was one Elbridge had never seen before.

Elbridge asked carefully, "May I ask which god you follow, Mr. Tibo? I am not very well-traveled..."

"I serve the God of Eternal Voyaging."

It was a god Elbridge had never heard of, neither in name nor in symbol.

At that moment, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield delivered an oracle.

No, it was a little too subtle to call it an oracle. It was a snort with a laugh in it.

- Hmph.

Still, that snort carried more meaning than most oracles did.

People in this world always looked only upward and never felt satisfied or happy even when they had much.

But the Goddess of the Rusted Shield could also look downward.

In other words, she was ready to act a little superior toward a god with fewer seats than she had.

- I've never heard that name before. It must be some tiny god who has never occupied even a single seat since ascending. A small, modest church, nothing like a certain goddess whose first seat is practically guaranteed by year-end...

Since the Goddess of the Rusted Shield seemed to just want to boast and did not actually expect a response, Elbridge committed the sin of listening with one ear and letting it out the other.

This time, Chief Tibo asked Elbridge a question.

"You said you were Sir Elbridge. Which church are you a paladin of?"

"The Order of the Rusted Shield."

Elbridge felt a little tense. If the answer came back that they had never heard of the name Rusted Shield, the goddess would surely be heartbroken.

But Tibo was far more knowledgeable than Elbridge had expected.

"The Order of the Rusted Shield. I have heard of it. It was the church that fought most bravely in the war against the demons in the past."

Now the goddess's self-esteem had shot through the roof.

- With only one or two seats in sight and already making such a name for itself, it's hard to imagine what next year and the year after will be like. I, a goddess, am a fearsome one...!

Once again, Elbridge let the goddess's oracle go in one ear and out the other.

"I haven't met many mages, but this is the first time I have seen one who also serves as an archbishop."

"I studied magic from a young age, then awakened to faith about twenty years ago. They say no one knows how life will turn out... and that was exactly how it went for me."

It was a plain answer, and there was nothing more to pry into.

Chief Tibo watched Elbridge's expression for a moment, then got to the point.

"By the way, all of you. If it is not too much trouble... could you help this village?"

From the moment he had heard their group composition and spoken of luck, Elbridge had guessed that this kind of request would come.

"It would be best to hear what kind of help you need first."

"Just hearing me out is already a kindness. Everything started about half a year ago. Around that time, the number of demonic beast appearances suddenly increased..."

Elbridge flinched. This was surely related to the seal between Elbridge and the Archdemon being broken.

"I'm not very skilled, but I'm still a mage, so I could drive off a few demonic beasts. But a while ago, one appeared that I could not handle."

According to Chief Tibo, there was a brook near the village.

The problem was that a huge plant-type demonic beast had appeared along that brook.

"Plant-type demonic beasts are supposed to be subdued with fire magic, right? So naturally, I burned it with fire magic and relaxed... but when I checked the next day, it was completely fine again."

"Because of the roots."

At Elbridge's answer, Chief Tibo looked impressed.

"Exactly. The demonic beast's roots had spread too deeply, so there was no way to remove it with fire magic."

Rombel cut in and asked, "Why not burn the roots too?"

"The problem is the brook right beside it. It's soaked with water, so it doesn't burn well in the first place. And there is no way to pull out every root one by one..."

"If it's hard to get rid of, why not just leave it alone? If it's a plant-type demonic beast, it doesn't sound like something that needs to be removed urgently."

"That would be a problem. The beast has been drinking from the brook, and the flow of the water has dropped a lot. If the brook dries up, our village won't be able to hold out."

Chief Tibo's expression darkened.

It did not look like he was certain Elbridge's group could solve the problem. He had only been asking for help because he was desperate enough to grab at any straw.

But fortunately, Elbridge knew how to deal with a plant-type demonic beast like that.

Just as Elbridge was about to accept Chief Tibo's request, he felt a gaze on him.

It was Marcus. Marcus was watching Elbridge's expression.

As if telling him to wait a moment, Marcus flicked his index finger left and right.

Then Marcus spoke in Elbridge's place.

"If we deal with that demonic beast, what will you give us in return?"

Footnotes:

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