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Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 53

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Year's End

"Uh..."

No words came to mind.

How could anyone answer that, claiming to have no close gods and little knowledge of other gods?

"...I see."

But thinking about it, it made sense.

Among the gods who had ascended to heaven, only a tiny fraction held seats.

Conversely, the overwhelming majority of gods in heaven held no seat at all, and many of them likely had no believers either. The absence of a seat meant weaker divine power, and weaker divine power meant believers drifting away.

But most of those gods still stayed in heaven.

So what reason could the Master of the Central Magic Tower alone have had to come down to the earth, unlike the other gods?

A heavy silence blanketed the Magic Tower Master's office, and the Tower Master spoke as if making an excuse.

"Of course, it's not just me. Mages tend to keep somewhat to themselves even in heaven. You know how it is, right? Mages never followed gods very closely to begin with. I suppose once you're known as a former mage, the other gods can't help but look at you sideways."

"...I suppose so."

"Besides, we mages don't force ourselves to reach out to others. Better to focus on research than pour time into relationships. A little solitude is a mage's nature, like an old familiar friend..."

"Understood."

The Master of the Central Magic Tower offered every possible justification for having no friends, but no matter how Elbridge turned it over, it still sounded like an excuse.

Still, raising a different opinion now seemed likely to make things awkward, so Elbridge simply nodded along in silence.

'When I first met them, I thought they seemed like someone with real gravity to them...'

Somehow, even their way of speaking seemed to have shifted since then.

In any case, the Tower Master seemed pleased with the group's reaction, and turned to look at Rombel with a somewhat satisfied expression.

"Now it's time to answer your question, Rombel. You asked about Ascension, didn't you?"

"That's right."

"Ascension, hm... Give me a moment. I need to think about how much I'm allowed to say."

The Master of the Central Magic Tower crossed their arms, paced several loops around the office, and finally stopped.

"All right. First, I should say up front that I don't know everything about Ascension either."

In other words, while not everything, they knew a considerable amount.

"Tell me whatever you can."

"You probably already know this, but whether a new god is accepted into heaven is decided by a vote among the existing gods. If more than half of all seats approve, the candidate can ascend to heaven."

"Who becomes the subject of that vote?"

"That's exactly what I'm getting to. The person who becomes the subject of the vote is usually called the Ascension subject, or Ascension candidate. And choosing an Ascension candidate isn't within the ordinary authority of the gods."

Rombel's eyes went wide. That was exactly what he had been most curious about.

"Then who chooses the candidate?"

"The Chief God decides. But no one knows what criteria the Chief God uses to choose Ascension candidates."

"Is there any other advice that might help?"

"Well. It would help to accomplish some feat that would catch the Chief God's attention, or to display exceptional ability."

"Attention, huh..."

Even half an answer left Rombel's face brightening.

Wasn't that already far better off than Elbridge, who had gotten nothing at all about Leonhardt?

And the Tower Master's story wasn't even finished yet.

"And there's one more important piece of information I want to give you."

"What is it?"

"The number of divine thrones in heaven is fixed, and Ascension keeps getting harder. Compared to the distant past, before even I ascended to heaven. No, compared to a time far, far further back than that, right now..."

Elbridge felt a faint trace of anger and passion in the Central Tower Master's voice.

And the Central Tower Master wasn't looking at Rombel, the one who'd actually asked the question, but at Elbridge. With eyes carrying a hint of pity.

'...Why, exactly?'

The Central Tower Master seemed about to continue, then let out a deep sigh and shook their head.

"...No. I can't say any more about this. I'll ask for your understanding."

"You've helped enormously."

The Tower Master smiled faintly, then turned to look at Marcus.

"So, finally, what did you come here hoping to ask of me?"

Marcus, at his usual best, would have stated exactly what he wanted without hesitation. But right now, unlike his usual self, he was a little dazed.

"I didn't come here wanting anything. I just ended up tagging along. I don't have anything to ask for. I've already been paid."

"You've already been paid?"

"Yes. In the hallway..."

Understanding the reference, the Tower Master smiled warmly.

"Was it an enjoyable experience?"

"It was breathtaking."

"Even so, you came to see me, and it would be a poor showing for the host not to treat a guest properly. Whenever you feel like seeing the view from the top floor of the tower again, come find me. The mana lift will always be ready to carry you up."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Marcus himself was too absorbed in the view outside the window to notice, but to Elbridge and Rombel, that was no small reward.

Marcus wasn't even a mage, and yet he'd just earned the right to visit the Master of the Central Magic Tower whenever he pleased.

The Tower Master beckoned to Marcus.

"Since you're already here, look at the view from this window instead of the hallway. My office window is much bigger than the hallway's, so you'll be able to see even more."

"Thank you."

Marcus crept over to the office window and lost himself gazing at the scenery outside.

Sure enough, the window was bigger than the hallway's, and it faced several directions, so Marcus could see even more than before. Rombel and Elbridge quietly began looking out the windows too.

Then, a voice reached Elbridge's ear.

[Don't turn around. Stay still.]

Unlike an ordinary voice, this one dug straight into his ear.

But it was a little different from the oracle a goddess sent down.

Elbridge recognized whose voice it was immediately.

[You said you wanted to know about someone named Leonhardt.]

Elbridge shifted only his eyes, glancing sideways. He met the gaze of the Tower Master, who was pretending to admire the view alongside Marcus.

There had to be a reason the Central Tower Master was using this method instead of just speaking plainly.

Elbridge answered by shaping the words with his lips.

'Didn't you say you didn't know?'

The reply came at once.

[Of course, I don't know much about Leonhardt. But I have a hunch, so I can give you a lead. Only, this conversation must never reach heaven. Nor should it reach the god you serve. If this conversation ever leaves your mouth, I could be in danger, and so could you and the god you serve.]

A secret conversation that even the gods in heaven weren't meant to find out about. Elbridge's mind spun.

[If you swear you won't leak this lead to anyone, I'll give it to you. This lead touches on heaven itself, beyond just the individual named Leonhardt, so even offering it is a favor granted at real risk. If you accept my offer, blink three times.]

Elbridge agonized over it for a long while.

Setting aside the fact that the scope was far bigger than he'd expected, the news that trouble might reach the Goddess of the Rusted Shield deepened his conflict.

But in the end, Elbridge made up his mind. If he didn't take this lead, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

'Take the lead first, and decide later whether to bury it or dig deeper. That's the wise choice.'

In the end, Elbridge slowly blinked three times.

Then the voice of the Central Tower Master came again.

[Go to the Lake of Eternity.]

Elbridge stared at the Central Tower Master.

But that was all the Central Tower Master had to say.

A few days later, Elbridge and his companions left Middlemarch, seen off by the Vice Master and the mages.

Still, Elbridge's steps felt heavy.

'The Lake of Eternity, huh...'

There was only one thing Elbridge knew about the Lake of Eternity. That it lay in the southern part of the continent.

Elbridge tried to sketch a rough map in his head.

The Holy City of Solenion, in the east of the continent.

Middlemarch, in the center.

The closest he'd come to going anywhere near the south recently was entering the mountain city in the southeast.

Of course, there was still considerable distance between the mountain city and the Lake of Eternity.

'...Is there any excuse I could use to head to the Lake of Eternity?'

Nothing came to mind.

The best he could manage was heading to the mountain city of Barquntol first, then finding some suitable excuse there to move west.

But the odds of a convenient excuse turning up in Barquntol were low too. Dwarves didn't have much contact with the outside world to begin with.

'If things stay like this, I'll end up going back east... No, wait. The Tower Master never set a deadline for reaching the Lake of Eternity. There's no need to rush.'

Just then, a loud sneeze rang out.

"Achoo!"

Elbridge glanced over. Marcus was pulling his collar tight, looking a little embarrassed.

"...It's getting colder by the day."

It had still been autumn when they entered Middlemarch, but over the past few days the weather had turned cold, and now, suddenly, it was winter.

Only then did Elbridge come to his senses.

'I couldn't have headed south anyway.'

Winter's approach meant the year's end was near.

And every year at the end of the year, there was an extremely important event.

Far, far more important than even the Summer Grand Festival.

Elbridge shook off all his worries and spoke with a lighter expression.

"Our schedule's tight. Let's move quickly."

The three of them walked briskly, sparing time only for eating and sleeping, and arrived at the Holy City of Solenion.

Solenion was blanketed in snow, yet it was wrapped in a strangely intense heat.

"We made it in time."

Marcus said so while stretching wide, then spoke to Elbridge and Rombel.

"Elbridge-ssi. I hope for good results. Oh, right, I'll come by the temple tomorrow, so let's split the payment then."

As he said this, Marcus gave a quick glimpse of the bag slung on his back.

That bag held the payment from Michel and Milia's request, along with the thank-you gifts from the Central Magic Tower.

Especially plentiful were the gifts the mages of the Tower had given Elbridge specifically. If not for Elbridge's efforts, those mages might well have died...

The three of them scattered, each heading toward their own destination.

Elbridge's destination, of course, was the Hillside Slums.

Pushing through the crowds, walking briskly, Elbridge offered up a quiet prayer.

"Goddess. The time has come."

An oracle came back instantly.

- Yes. At last...

Elbridge sensed deep excitement in the goddess's oracle.

It made sense, really. The Goddess of the Rusted Shield had been waiting two hundred years for this very moment.

Every year at year's end, a vote was held across the entire continent.

A vote in the Heavenly Council, deciding how many seats each god would hold.

Of course, not everyone needed to gather in one place to vote.

All anyone had to do was pray, declaring their support for whichever god they served.

Elbridge saw the marks of various churches gleaming on the backs of people's hands as they passed through the streets.

The moment the voting began, praying to the god one served would leave that church's mark glowing on the back of one's hand like that.

Once someone declared support and prayed, praying to a different god before year's end wouldn't change the vote's outcome.

So the people who already bore a church's mark this early, right as the vote had just begun, were the ones who'd prayed without weighing anything else... In other words, the most devout believers.

So how did the less devout believers behave?

"Pray to the Goddess of the Golden Tray, and get instant cash!"

"Believe in the Goddess of the Olive Tree! Just pray, and you'll get a generous free gift-!"

Those kinds of people waited until the very end, then chose a church and prayed.

Voting gifts tended to grow bigger the closer it got to the deadline.

Of course, this was all something Elbridge had heard from Marcus and Rombel.

'...What an age we live in.'

Elbridge looked out over Solenion, which had turned into a massive marketplace, then climbed the hill road toward the Hillside Slums, offering up a prayer to the goddess.

"Goddess. How many people have prayed to you so far?"

- Wait just a moment. Your goddess is about to tell you something that will astonish you...

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield answered with great confidence. But after that, no answer came back for a long while.

Eventually, Elbridge prayed again.

"Goddess? What's wrong?"

Then the Goddess of the Rusted Shield delivered her oracle in a trembling voice.

- The dwarves of the mountain city prayed almost immediately, but here in Solenion, only about a hundred people have actually prayed so far...

That was hard to make sense of.

"Goddess. Didn't we take in a thousand new believers after the last Grand Festival? I heard that around three-tenths of all believers usually finish voting on the very first day."

Working backward, that meant roughly three hundred believers of the Order of the Rusted Shield currently remained in Solenion.

Was it really plausible for seven hundred believers to have drifted away in just over half a year?

The goddess answered, hesitating.

- Truthfully, as time passed after the Grand Festival ended, fewer and fewer people prayed to me. I suppose the excitement of the festival simply faded.

Believers who came easily left just as easily. That had been an unchanging truth since ancient times.

Elbridge had expected some amount of attrition, but he hadn't expected it to be this bad.

"It's fine, Goddess. What matters is the seats, isn't it? As long as we can hold onto two seats, some lost votes shouldn't matter much."

But an even more devastating answer came back.

- Elbridge. I've been running the numbers, and it looks a little precarious. At this rate, we might end up with one seat instead of two. And I've already gone around bragging that we'd definitely have two...

The goddess's voice trembled.

Elbridge even sensed a faint tremor of tears in that oracle. Good grief.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield stayed silent for a long while, then delivered her final oracle in a voice that had steeled itself once more.

- Grand Warrior Elbridge. Your goddess believes in her High Paladin and Archbishop. Somehow, protect your goddess's second seat.

"...Understood."

He'd answered, but he had no confidence at all.

Five days remained.

Elbridge felt more than a little lost.

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