WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 49

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When Flowers Bloom

The research facility the mages led them into was as neatly arranged as the inside of the Magic Tower.

The only difference was that magical lights, instead of windows, lit the place.

"Search carefully, even if it takes time."

The mages were even casting spells as they searched for the intruder.

Careful searching bred confidence, and hasty confidence erased from their minds the possibility that the intruder might have been left behind them.

In other words, the more certain the mages became, the safer Elbridge's group became as they followed behind them.

Even so, Michel still looked uneasy.

"It's a relief that things are going well, but... what if even one of them suggests searching behind us again?"

Marcus snorted.

"Heh, that won't happen. I've been a mercenary long enough to know."

"Why not?"

"Look at the mages' faces right now. It hasn't even been that long, and they already look bored to death."

The group leaned out a little and looked at the mages.

All they could see were backs and a little of their side profiles. Even so, those profiles showed every kind of emotion: anxiety, irritation at the sudden assignment, and boredom from doing the same thing over and over without results.

"Do you know what happens if someone says we should search the rear again here?"

"Not really."

"They get treated like the fool who can't read the room and just makes extra work for everyone. They'll look like someone who couldn't handle their assigned job properly and only got anxious afterward, so their superiors will chew them out too. If they need to blow off steam, and if something does happen, they'll want a scapegoat as well."

Since it was a convincing enough guess, the clients were impressed.

"Ah... that makes sense."

"People at the bottom have their own way of doing things. Since you all come from rich families and never did menial work, it's only natural you wouldn't know."

There was definitely a reason Marcus had survived more than ten years of rough mercenary work despite only middling skill.

When it came to the instinct and judgment he had honed by slogging through real fights, Marcus was better than Elbridge.

Milia said sympathetically, "You must have gone through something like that too, Mr. Marcus. That must have felt unfair..."

"Of course. I wasn't the one getting chewed out. I was the one doing the chewing out."

"..."

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield, who had been listening, sounded impressed.

- Hah. How could a god and her follower be so devious... Truly, a perfect pair.

"I think so too, Goddess."

As the group moved slowly after the mages, a massive tremor rolled through the entire underground area.

Boom-

Just once.

But there was no one who failed to notice how much power it carried.

Not long after that tremor, one mage appeared from the opposite side.

The newly arrived mage asked, "You've been making noise for a while. What's going on?"

"Oh, team leader. We were searching because there was an intruder."

"An intruder? Did you check the description?"

"We couldn't. But the two guards at the entrance were unconscious, and the door had been opened. It's certain an intruder showed up."

The mage they called the team leader clicked their tongue.

"Bad timing..."

"Shouldn't today's experiment be canceled?"

"The Seventh Experiment started three days ago. How could we cancel it now? The Magic Tower's entire schedule revolves around the experiment... Sigh. Finish the search as quickly as possible and wait."

"Understood."

Taking that as permission to search however they wanted, the mages' pace became completely different from before.

Following behind them, Elbridge's group whispered.

"It looks like important research is going on."

"For now, let's keep going."

Boom-

The same dull tremor from before rolled through the ground again.

And the intervals between them were gradually getting shorter.

Everyone could guess it without much trouble.

This huge tremor had to be connected to the experiment.

Boom-

After a few more tremors, the mages reached a large door.

The mages chatted with noticeably lighter expressions.

"Maybe there wasn't an intruder after all?"

"Or maybe they tried to come in, gave up, and ran away."

"Who knows. Anyway, don't forget the team leader said to finish the search as quickly as possible. Even if there had been an intruder, we would have found them if not for that rush. Got it?"

"That makes sense."

The mages covered for themselves with matching answers, then went through the large door.

Boom-

Now the only ones left in the corridor were Elbridge's group. The huge door was still slightly open.

Marcus crept up and peered inside, then motioned to the others.

"You can go in. No one is looking this way."

The other four approached the door and looked inside.

"Wow..."

"Shh."

Beyond the door was a hemispherical space so huge it was hard to believe it was underground.

There were many ways to describe the space, but seeing it brought a recent memory to Elbridge's mind.

'It's similar to the Grand Festival stadium.'

A hemispherical structure, as if someone had cut the top half off a sphere.

A layout that let everyone look down on the center.

Even the size was similar.

The only difference was that, unlike the Grand Festival stadium, the lighting was concentrated only in the center of the space.

And just as Marcus had said, not a single person was looking toward the entrance they had come through.

The mages in the dark were only staring at the brightly lit center.

"The space is wide, so there should be plenty of places to hide. That's a relief."

The group moved quietly and took cover in a corner where they would not catch the other mages' attention.

Then, crouched like children playing hide-and-seek, they looked down at the center just like the mages did.

Boom-

In the center of the space sat a blue sphere, about twice a person's height.

Its surface rippled as if water were flowing over it, and chains were wrapped tightly around it.

"What is that?" Patrick asked.

Milia answered, "It's a seal."

"A seal?"

"You saw a barrier on the way here, right? Think of this as something made much stronger. The chains wrapped around the seal are artifacts tied to it too."

Milia said that, then trembled.

"But there is way too much mana in that seal. Of every spell I've ever seen, this is the most... That isn't a seal one or two mages could make. What on earth is sealed in there?"

Quick-witted Marcus knew who could answer that question. Elbridge.

When Marcus glanced at Elbridge, Elbridge opened his mouth.

"Do you know about demons?"

The answer came from Milia.

"Any mage does. If you look at the old records kept in the Magic Tower, there are countless detailed records proving that demons really existed."

"Then do you know what role mages played in the war against demons?"

"Many roles. They supported the paladins and knights of the time with all kinds of magic."

"If you had to name the most important one?"

Milia answered at once.

"Sealing them. Demons are not things that die or disappear."

Elbridge pointed his chin toward the blue sphere in the center.

There was no clearer explanation than that.

Just then, a tremor rang out from the blue sphere. Boom-

Patrick's eyes widened.

"Mr. El. Have you ever seen a sealed demon?"

"By chance."

It was a rather casual answer, but no one doubted Elbridge.

The hired mercenary had no reason to lie to them, and Elbridge carried the calm air of someone who was telling the truth.

Marcus let out a low groan.

"No wonder. I had a really awful dream last night..."

"Mr. El. There's a demon inside that seal?"

At Milia's question, Elbridge shrugged.

"It's too strong, so I can't say for sure whether there's a demon inside. But this is the strongest seal I've ever seen. At least dozens of times stronger than any ordinary seal."

That was what Elbridge found strange.

In the past, when demons were sealed, they had not needed a seal that strong. Even when subduing and sealing the Archdemon, it had been the same.

Boom-

A vibration came from the seal.

Boom, boom-

And the rhythm of the vibrations gradually shortened.

Elbridge thought the sound was a lot like a heartbeat.

Boom-

Then an older female mage came out to the center of the space, into the brightest area.

Her expression was neat and calm. She looked to be over sixty, maybe close to seventy. Anyone could tell she was someone important.

"Is she the Tower Master?" Marcus muttered.

Milia shook her head.

"No. She's the Vice Master of the Central Magic Tower. Though, with something this big happening, she probably isn't unrelated..."

Then the Vice Master of the Central Magic Tower spoke.

"I will begin the Seventh Experiment. Mages of the proud Central Magic Tower, focus. For your honor, for the Magic Tower, and for the people of the whole world."

Boom-

Then the Vice Master of the Central Magic Tower raised her staff and shouted.

"Where the hand of god does not reach, we open the road."

At that, hundreds of mages in the darkness answered in unison.

"We inscribe the answer on the burning tablet."

The Vice Master of the Central Magic Tower waved her staff. The chains wrapped around the seal came loose.

Boom-

The Vice Master of the Central Magic Tower slowly stepped back and recited the spell.

"Even seeds buried in the cracks of cold stone will one day sprout. What is suppressed will yearn for freedom. The chains will rust and the seal will fade, and as light erases shadow, memory will also dissolve the seal..."

Like untangling a ball of thread, a strand of energy stretched out from the seal and began disappearing into the air.

The unsealing gradually accelerated, then became frighteningly fast in no time at all.

Boom, boom-

As the thick seal came undone, the thing trapped inside finally revealed itself.

But its shape was different from what the three clients or Marcus had expected.

Marcus muttered, "Somehow, this looks a little different from what I saw in the mountain city last time..."

What emerged from the seal was the shape of a woman.

A white figure, about one and a half times taller than an ordinary human.

She wore long, flowing clothes, and a cloth covered her eyes.

She held a water bottle in both hands, and both of her legs were buried in the rock. Her white skin looked more like pale stone than human flesh.

Aside from the slightly strange atmosphere around her, she did not look threatening.

But Elbridge was certain. Demons carried a distinct aura, one that was hard to put into words.

His skin prickled.

For the first time in more than two hundred years, hatred and rage surged up from deep inside his chest.

Elbridge wanted peace more than anyone else, but at the same time, he also needed a target for his anger.

Marcus looked at Elbridge in the darkness and felt something was off.

Up until now, the Elbridge Marcus had seen had been a kind young man, capable and sometimes a little clumsy.

The kind of person you could find anywhere, except for the sheer skill.

But right now, Elbridge looked different.

'That's less like a legendary paladin and more like...'

Elbridge suppressed the boiling surge in his chest and quietly offered a prayer.

"Goddess. Please let me carve out that demon's rotten heart."

Unexpectedly, an oracle returned in a voice that sounded a little calmer than he had expected.

- Elbridge. Your goddess hopes the sole paladin can bravely defeat the demon. But at the same time, she also hopes you won't hate the demon...

Elbridge did not fully understand what that oracle meant.

And then the seal finally broke.

Boom, boom, boom.

The white woman opened her eyes. Even with cloth over them, everyone could tell.

She did not rush at the mages or scream. She simply tipped the water bottle in her hands and moistened the ground.

Tiny sprouts sprang up at once from the earth. Small green sprouts.

But as if that still was not enough, the white woman slowly poured more water over the ground. Even more sprouts bloomed.

Boom, boom, boom.

The Vice Master of the Central Magic Tower said, "Begin."

Along with that, every mage watching the white woman from the darkness began chanting.

With a vast murmur, dozens and then hundreds of layers of nets appeared and wrapped around the white woman. Only then did Elbridge understand what experiment the mages were conducting.

In the wars against demons in the past, mages had been limited to support and sealing work.

They helped paladins and knights subdue demons, then sealed the demons after they had been subdued.

But now, the mages were trying to seal an unconquered demon using only the power of mages.

Even if it were possible, it would not be an efficient tactic.

But possible and impossible were completely different things.

This might be an experiment that could change the standing of the Magic Tower and the mages in the coming age of chaos.

'If knights and paladins were the stars of the last war, maybe mages will be the stars of this one.'

As long as victory was possible, Elbridge did not care who held the initiative.

He stood quietly in the dark and hoped the mages' experiment would succeed.

Sealing magic approached like spiderwebs blown by the wind and covered the demon.

New seals layered over the old ones, one after another. The demon's movements were restrained in an instant, and water no longer dripped from the demon's bottle. The vibrations that had echoed nonstop also began to fade.

Michel whispered, "Looks like it worked, right? We should get out before it gets any later."

Then one bud at the demon's feet burst open.

Pop.

And a tiny speck of pollen, too small to see, flicked out and mixed into the air.

One of the countless grains drifted into the nose of the mage standing closest.

They had been too focused on casting spells to realize what had happened.

Then they felt a foreign sensation inside their nose.

The mucus membranes inside their nose swelled at an incredible speed.

The membranes, and the skin around the nose, could not bear the sudden expansion and tore apart.

Fresh flesh filled the tears as they formed.

That new flesh, along with the surrounding skin, swelled again, and the skin tore once more. Then more new flesh surged up.

"···!"

The tearing and regeneration happened so fast that, to ordinary eyes, it looked as if the person's body was suddenly being covered in flesh.

The newly grown flesh sealed their nose and mouth shut.

They collapsed, clutching their throat with an arm that had begun to twist and deform.

Their writhing stopped.

And a tiny sprout pushed through their skin.

"···."

No one screamed.

This was already the sixth time the experiment had been carried out, and there had already been several victims.

But a silent disturbance spread through the room.

That disturbance shattered their composure. Magic that could not stay calm could no longer remain as solid as before.

Boom.

Another tremor rolled through the space.

Every mage sensed it at once.

The result of this experiment would be one of two things.

Either they would achieve a hard-won sealing after paying a heavy price, or they would fail to seal it and everyone would die.

Shing.

A faint metallic sound rang out.

Elbridge had already drawn his sword.

"Michel, Milia, Patrick. Cover your nose and mouth, and get out now."

Marcus tried to make his presence known, hoping Elbridge would tell him to run too.

But Elbridge did not call his name.

"···."

Marcus looked at Elbridge, a little hurt.

And he thought that, since the day they had first met, Elbridge had never once shown such a vivid expression before.

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