WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 70

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God's Love

Someone shouted.

"It's not too late! Move, now!"

The people attacking the fortress ran desperately toward the paladin who had killed the young wild boar.

"Heh, heheh."

But the paladin who had killed the young wild boar moved even faster.

He flung the young boar's corpse into the air, and the small body scattered like smoke.

Bireone's expression turned rigid.

"...It's over."

As if answering Bireone, a low, rumbling wild boar cry rose from somewhere far off.

Elbridge asked, hoping his guess was wrong.

"Bireone, what did that man just do?"

But his hope was crushed cleanly.

"A stampede happens for one of two reasons. First, when the wild boar population grows too large. Second, when a young one dies but its body isn't found."

"Does the body matter that much?"

"Yes."

Bireone scanned the battlefield as he explained.

"When a young boar screams, the adults come to save it. They'll rampage until they either rescue the young one or find its corpse. But that man just destroyed the body. So what do you think happens now?"

"..."

"Since they never found the young one's body, the boars will run without end, searching for a young one that's still alive somewhere out there. Smashing everything in their path."

A clear explanation.

But Elbridge was troubled for a different reason.

"That's a habit that could be exploited anytime. What kind of confidence made the southern churches wage war like this? Unless they all meant to die together..."

Bireone shook his head.

"No. This is an extremely rare case. Southerners won't trigger a stampede even if it means losing their whole church."

"Why not?"

"Because if someone does that, not just the one responsible and their paladins, but their entire bloodline, gets branded an enemy of every church in the south and killed without mercy. Triggering a stampede is the greatest taboo in the south."

Just as he finished explaining, Bireone's gaze fixed on a spot in the forest.

Twenty or so paladins and priests were gathered a little way from the battlefield.

'The Order of the God of Flowing Water.'

People captured by the Stump Church and dragged to the battlefield.

Just as Elbridge moved to rescue them, two wild boars burst howling from the trees.

Grrrr—

The two boars ignored Elbridge and charged toward the battlefield.

A few people groaned at the sight.

"Damn it, they're already here!"

"Deal with it! Don't give up yet!"

The paladins of the Curved Sword Church coordinated skillfully and cut down the two boars in an instant. A clean response, from people used to demonic beasts.

But there was a problem. While they handled those two boars, five more had already appeared.

People shouted.

"Get out before you're surrounded!"

Paladins from each church began scattering in every direction.

But the boars closed in from all sides far too fast.

"Damn it!"

The scattering people were pushed toward the fortress wall as if driven there by the boars.

Bireone pulled at Elbridge.

"We need to get out too, before it's too late."

But Elbridge's eyes stayed fixed on the people of the Order of the God of Flowing Water.

"What about them?"

"I don't weigh spoils against my own life, Elbridge."

That was true. To Bireone, the Order of the God of Flowing Water was nothing more or less than spoils.

Elbridge wasn't unable to understand Bireone's reasoning.

But understanding it didn't mean he could just run.

He thought of Leonhardt. Elbridge wasn't someone who could refuse every compromise and act only on what was right, the way Leonhardt had.

But neither was he someone who could think only of his own safety, or turn away from a possibility that still remained.

"...No. There's still a chance."

"You'll change your mind soon, Elbridge."

Ignoring Bireone, Elbridge ran toward the people of the Order of the God of Flowing Water.

'I have to do what I can.'

One boar was charging straight at the Flowing Water church people.

Elbridge cut it down with a single stroke and prayed to the goddess.

"Goddess. Grant me your sealing authority!"

- Be careful, Elbridge.

Along with the oracle, dozens of massive pillars appeared out of thin air.

Larger and sturdier than the ones from when he'd used the power in Mountain City Barquntol.

The pillars made from the goddess's power began falling freely.

Thud, thud, thud, thud—

They surrounded the Flowing Water church people in an instant, taking the shape of a temple.

That temple was a fortress for Elbridge and a shield wall for the people of the Order of the God of Flowing Water.

When the sudden, massive display of divine power appeared, a hush fell over the chaotic battlefield.

The power Elbridge had shown was on a scale nothing like what the southern paladins could produce.

The Flowing Water church people muttered, dazed.

"This is..."

Elbridge spoke with his back to them.

"Isalvius asked me to save you. Don't be afraid."

Hands trembling, the Flowing Water church people nodded.

A small hope bloomed in their chests, the hope that they might actually survive.

Even Bireone, who had been about to flee, found his legs had stopped moving.

Bireone thought that Elbridge really might be able to save these people.

'...Fine. I can afford to dawdle a little longer. I can survive no matter what happens. I have Leap.'

Bireone reached Elbridge's side.

"Elbridge. What are you planning?"

"I'm going to change the current."

Any moving mass always has a flow to it.

Elbridge thought that, like a rock lodged in the middle of a river, he could shift the wild boars' flow, even just a little.

Grrrr—

The boars were gathering faster and faster. Just within Elbridge's line of sight, there were already easily over a hundred. It was hard to even imagine how many more filled the Great Forest.

But one thing was certain. The boars would keep multiplying without end until they formed a horde of tens of thousands, or more.

Now there was only one thing left for Elbridge to do.

'Hold on until the flow changes.'

Grrrr—

The boars charged, toward the fortress, toward the southern paladins, and toward Elbridge and his sealing authority.

Elbridge lowered his stance, half burying his feet in the soft southern soil.

Even after casting the sealing authority, the goddess's power still had room to spare.

No doubt the strength of her four seats at work.

Elbridge prayed again.

"Goddess. Grant me the authority of No Retreat."

The moment Elbridge's shield flared white, a boar collided with it.

Boom—

Wild boars weren't quick, and they had no sharp claws.

But they had the raw power of their massive bulk. Power far stronger than most demonic beasts could muster.

That kind of force was hard for ordinary people, even paladins, to withstand.

The paladins and priests of the Order of the God of Flowing Water expected the boar's weight alone to send Elbridge flying. But Elbridge didn't budge an inch, holding the charge off completely.

Slash—

At the same time, Elbridge's sword swept out, splitting the boar's skull and destroying its brain.

Far less divinity flowed into Elbridge than from an ordinary demonic beast.

'...So it's true. They really are a cross between a demonic beast and a boar.'

With this little divinity in them, offering the corpses to the goddess wouldn't mean much.

That was fine. He'd already expected as much.

Another boar charged past the fallen corpse.

Elbridge raised his shield and thrust his sword upward. The blade drove straight through the boar's heart in one motion.

Elbridge swung his sword like a man possessed. Each swing ended another boar's life, and before long a small hill of boar corpses had piled up in front of him.

Grrrr—

Once the boars could no longer see Elbridge, they began ramming the sealing authority relentlessly, as if they believed their young were trapped inside.

'This isn't good.'

The boars didn't seem to care even when their skulls cracked or blood poured from their snouts. Some even snapped their own necks charging into the barrier and died on the spot.

As dozens, then hundreds of boars clung to the attack with desperate force, even Elbridge grew worried.

The sealing authority was bearing an enormous strain, so of course its power was draining faster.

"...Goddess. Please."

- It's still all right, Elbridge. Isn't your goddess a mid-tier goddess with four whole seats?

Despite the playful words, tension was plain in the goddess's voice.

Before long, boars filled Elbridge's entire field of vision. In the end, Elbridge gave Bireone an order.

"Bireone! Get the people out, one by one!"

"...Understood."

Fortunately, Bireone had the means. He threw his harpoon into a massive tree, then began using his Leap to carry people out one at a time.

Still, it was a heavier task than Bireone could easily bear. The number of times he had to use his power was simply too high.

Blood ran freely from Bireone's nose, and his eyes turned bloodshot red.

"Damn it. What the hell am I even doing..."

Risking himself to carry "spoils" out of danger clearly took a toll, because Bireone kept muttering complaints the whole time.

By the time he'd moved about half the people out, Elbridge noticed the strain on his sealing authority had eased.

The boars that had been ramming the pillars nonstop were quietly drifting toward somewhere else.

Had they decided they couldn't break the sealing authority?

No. The flow had simply changed.

Elbridge checked what had caused the shift.

'The fortress wall collapsed.'

The wall of the Sinking Shadow Church. One corner of it had come down.

Grrrr—

The boars, worked into a frenzy, poured into the fortress like a flood.

At the sight, the paladins of the Order of the God of Flowing Water stamped their feet in anguish.

"No, no...There are people in there too..."

There had to be countless people inside the fortress. People of the Sinking Shadow Church, ordinary southerners.

But the Flowing Water paladin had a more specific reason for his anguish.

"How many of our people are in that fortress?"

"At least twenty, no matter how you count it. Is there any way to save them?"

Elbridge shook his head.

This wasn't a matter of avoidance or compromise. It was simply a matter of what was possible and what wasn't.

If he left now to try to save them, the people he'd already rescued would die too. And it wasn't as if Elbridge could stop the boars now sweeping through the fortress.

'Damn it.'

But because the boars had rushed into the fortress, a path had opened up for Elbridge again.

Elbridge released the sealing authority and said,

"This is our only chance. Let's move."

Bireone shouted to the priests and paladins of the Order of the God of Flowing Water.

"Move!"

The Flowing Water church people ran after Bireone and Elbridge, glancing back again and again.

One paladin spoke through tears.

"People are dying in that fortress. Our god is weeping..."

The idea that the God of Flowing Water was weeping was probably not just a figure of speech. According to Isalvius, the God of Flowing Water loved his followers more than anything.

Watching twenty of his followers die in terror, it didn't seem likely that the God of Flowing Water could stay composed.

Elbridge clenched his jaw and answered.

"...There's nothing we can do. We have to keep moving."

Elbridge thought that the God of Flowing Water might be too human to really be called a god.

The group headed north, toward Bireone's fortress.

The rain, which had started as a drizzle, began pouring down in sheets.

Unlike the east, the rainwater here was lukewarm, and it almost felt like the tears of the God of Flowing Water. Not that it really was, of course.

The ground turned to mud, sucking at their feet with every step. Elbridge thought as he walked.

'Did the boars vent their fury and scatter?'

Not likely. Bireone's face was still set in stone.

So where had the boars gone?

There was no way to know. But there was one thing Elbridge hoped for. That the stampede wasn't headed this way.

It was evening by the time the group made it back to the fortress.

The sky, darkened by rain clouds, didn't even show a sunset.

When Elbridge and Bireone arrived at the gates, an excited crowd came out to meet them.

People of the Silver Javelin Apostles, the Order of the God of Flowing Water, and churches whose names Elbridge didn't even know, along with a few onlookers...

Rombel shouted in a booming voice.

"Hey! You're back?"

Rombel walked up to Elbridge with a satisfied grin.

The expression alone said everything. It was the look of someone who'd finished a job well done.

"You look like a drowned rat. But things worked out fine, huh?"

"...I suppose."

"What do you mean, you suppose? You brought back this many people."

Rombel had a point. Two people managing to smuggle out twenty was a result better than anyone could have hoped for.

But a worry had come up that overshadowed even that success.

Bireone spoke to his subordinate, Dicha.

"Dicha."

"Yes, sir."

"The stampede has started."

The mood among the crowd that had come to greet them sank instantly.

"...The followers of the Order of the God of Flowing Water said their god is weeping. Is that why?"

"Yes. A great many of their followers likely died because of the stampede. Let's go inside first and talk about what to do. Whether we should stay in the fortress or abandon it and flee somewhere else..."

Just as they were about to head inside talking like that, Bireone's steps came to a halt.

He dropped abruptly and pressed his ear to the ground.

"...Damn it. Get inside!"

No one asked why. Bireone's urgent voice explained everything on its own.

The stampede was heading toward this fortress.

'Either our luck is spectacularly bad, or something followed us here.'

The group went inside.

Once word of the stampede spread, silence swallowed the whole city like paper soaking up water.

People climbed the walls and stared out at the Great Forest.

Grrrr—

Before long, the boars came into view.

Thousands of them, at a glance, and that was just what was visible.

'There's no way to prepare, and no time to prepare either.'

The boars kept up their charging speed and began slamming their massive bodies into the wall.

Thud. Thud. Thud—

The thick wall trembled faintly.

If the wall gave way even a little, no one needed to be told what would follow.

"God of the Silver Javelin..."

Faces went white all around.

Even the Apostles of the Silver Javelin and Bireone wore grim expressions. No matter how brave they were, there was no way to stop a stampede. All anyone could do was hope luck kept them alive.

Thud, thud, thud.

Grrrr—

Marcus, stiff with tension, asked Elbridge.

"El, Sir Elbridge. This is going to work out somehow, right? Right?"

"Would you rather hear the honest answer or the hopeful one?"

"...Never mind. The God of Fox Rain is telling me not to even ask."

Marcus's face fell.

Given the situation, it wasn't as if the God of Fox Rain would have a solution either.

Elbridge thought about what he needed to do.

'Watch from the wall, and cast the sealing authority wherever the wall breaks.'

Of course, that didn't seem like it could be any kind of real solution.

Once a wall started to collapse, the breach would only keep spreading. In the end, it would all be for nothing.

Elbridge offered a small prayer.

"Goddess. What should I do?"

- ...

The goddess had clearly heard his prayer, but she gave no answer.

Elbridge smiled bitterly.

Just as he thought that was the end of it, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield spoke again, her voice unusually serious.

- Elbridge. The child your goddess treasures most.

"Yes, Goddess."

- Don't worry. Whatever price it takes, I'll keep you alive...

Something about her words sounded strange. A price?

What price could a god possibly pay?

Thud. Craaaash—

At that moment, part of the southern wall came crashing down.

Elbridge sprinted immediately toward the southern wall.

'First, seal off the breach with the sealing authority...!'

But as he ran, something strange happened.

The dark sky brightened, just a little.

Without anyone signaling it, every head turned upward.

Looking up, they saw something descending through the rain clouds, wrapped in light.

It had the shape of a person.

'A god?'

But it wasn't the Goddess of the Rusted Shield.

It was an elderly, male-formed god.

Isalvius, standing nearby, murmured.

"God of Flowing Water..."

Ah. So it was the God of Flowing Water.

But to Elbridge's eyes, something about how the God of Flowing Water was appearing seemed off.

Back in the mountain city, when the Goddess of the Rusted Shield had manifested, she had shown herself splendid and powerful, radiating presence.

Long ago, whenever other gods had appeared on battlefields, it had been the same. Gods usually showed their followers their most confident, most dignified selves, to raise morale.

But right now, the God of Flowing Water was weeping, in visible agony.

'This doesn't look like an attempt to raise morale...'

The God of Flowing Water spoke.

- My children. Forgive your god, who was too fearful and too small-minded, and let the moment slip away.

The voice wasn't loud, but it was immense, and it reached every ear clearly.

Still, Elbridge's confusion didn't ease.

Why was the God of Flowing Water descending now, of all times?

The God of Flowing Water pointed a finger at the sky.

The raindrops pouring from the storm clouds gathered together, forming one massive mass of water.

- Forgive this unworthy father.

The God of Flowing Water pointed a finger at the horde of boars.

The massive mass of water that had formed in the air became a wave crashing down over the land, sweeping across the ground. Even the horde of wild boars couldn't withstand that wave.

A god had stepped in personally for his followers, and yet no one rejoiced.

Elbridge, Rombel, Marcus, Isalvius.

Every single person there froze like stone.

Everyone understood, all at once, that something was fundamentally wrong.

Something that should never happen.

Something that was clearly forbidden even to a god was happening right in front of them.

---

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