WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 88

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Inner Rampart

Sonia dropped her voice as low as it would go.

"There's no point subduing it. It'll just get away no matter what!"

Just like the first time they'd run into a Ghost Knight, the one now cut in two started dissolving into smoke.

But Elbridge immediately hurled the Ghost Knight's upper body to the ground and drew his sword.

He didn't even need to pray to the goddess for divine power. His sword was already giving off a faint glow.

Thwack.

Elbridge's sword pierced the helmet.

The dark smoke that had filled the inside of the Ghost Knight's armor scattered a little further, then quietly stopped, as if the sword had skewered the smoke along with the helmet.

Sonia's eyes went wider.

"What? What just happened?"

"Just as demons have cores, spirits have a foundation. And for spirits that used to be human, the head is usually where that foundation sits."

"Not the chest?"

Sonia already knew spirits had a foundation.

She'd just assumed it would be in the chest, where the heart was. The heart pumped blood, after all. The source of life.

"Most of the sensory organs that connect a person to the world are in the head. People think of the heart as the source of life, but unconsciously, they end up valuing the head more."

"But I heard that even human-shaped demons often have their core in the chest instead of the head."

"A demon's sense of self is far more distinct than an ordinary spirit's. Maybe strong enough to override instinct and value the heart over the head..."

Elbridge's explanation was half experience, half guesswork.

But Sonia found it fairly convincing.

"How do you even know all that?"

"Read it in a book."

Was there any answer more vague and yet more effective than that?

Still, Sonia didn't look satisfied with it.

"In a book? You're a paladin. Don't tell me you've been to the Magic Tower library?"

"Sharp guess. I went to the Central Magic Tower with Marcus, actually."

Elbridge answered, then jerked his chin toward the Ghost Knight's helmet.

"Sonia. Can you seal it?"

Magic was the study of manipulating flow, so sealing methods didn't stray far from that framework. Cutting off the flow around a target, or forming a ring that kept the target's flow from leaking out.

Mages liked to say sealing was a simpler trick than people assumed.

And sealing something below a demon, mere spawn, would be even easier.

Sonia tossed a small quartz shard beside the helmet, muttered an incantation, and gave her staff a little flick.

Before long, the black smoke lingering inside the helmet got pulled into the quartz.

Elbridge picked up the quartz and tossed it to Sonia.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"That knight served your house. If you're lucky, maybe you'll find some way to turn them back."

"I doubt that's possible..."

"Try anyway."

Sonia nodded and pocketed the quartz.

Elbridge said, "Let's go."

Before long, the quartz shards tucked in Sonia's coat had grown to two.

The method for taking down the second Ghost Knight was identical to the first. Rombel threw his axe for the ambush, Elbridge and Sonia finished the job, done.

Bart, the brewing technician, said to Sonia, "We'll look around the area. That's all right, isn't it?"

"Go ahead."

The Crows scattered here and there, thrilled.

Neither Sonia nor Elbridge had any intention of stopping them. There was no chance they'd be any help in a fight, so it was better to let them handle their own business.

Sonia fidgeted with the quartz in her coat and said, hollow.

"...Months of suffering, and this is how easily a Ghost Knight goes down?"

Rombel laughed heartily.

"Easy enough, as long as you don't panic. Even easier with a mage's enchantment on hand. Nothing beats an enchantment when you're dealing with spirits!"

But Sonia shook her head.

"Easy to say. Doesn't mean anything if nobody's around to actually drive an enchanted weapon into a Ghost Knight."

"You had mercenaries and itinerant knights, didn't you?"

"One Ghost Knight handled five mercenaries without breaking a sweat. We got lucky and beat one or two, sure, but that's all it was, luck. Enough people got scared and left after that..."

Sonia trailed off, then suddenly smiled, satisfied.

"Anyway, it worked out. Now that I've shown it wasn't my fault, people can't tease me about it anymore."

"They teased you? A noble lady?"

"I let it slide, honestly. Can't afford to sour the mood. Anyway, people kept saying it, every chance they got. Said I called myself a mage but wasn't much help... At first I brushed it off, but later I started second-guessing myself. Wondering if I'd thrown a tantrum to get into the Magic Tower for nothing."

Elbridge had been listening to Rombel and Sonia's conversation without much thought.

But that last part caught his attention.

Elbridge asked Sonia, "A tantrum? At who?"

Sonia answered, matter-of-fact.

"My dad, obviously. I was a kid, so it's understandable, isn't it?"

"No, that's not what I'm asking. Wasn't it Viscount Dickens who wanted to send you to the Magic Tower?"

Sonia snorted, incredulous.

"What are you talking about? I wanted to be a mage since I was little. Dad didn't want to send me, so I even went on a hunger strike as a kid to force the issue and study abroad."

"Did Viscount Dickens ever create a connection between you and any mage?"

"Hmm. Don't think so... The first time I ever saw a mage was when I went to Solenion with my mom to watch the Grand Festival. The moment I saw one, I thought, I have to become a mage too."

The story that had come together in Elbridge's head unraveled.

'Wasn't Viscount Dickens sending Sonia to the Magic Tower to handle the demon seals?'

If Elbridge's guess was right, Viscount Dickens should have been the one steering Sonia toward the Magic Tower. Or at the very least, he shouldn't have been the one blocking her from going.

If Viscount Dickens had tried to keep Sonia from going to the Magic Tower, that meant he had never intended to make use of the demon seals through her.

'Did Viscount Dickens collect the seals with pure intentions?'

No. That couldn't be.

Noble or not, a demon seal wasn't something Viscount Dickens could have simply acquired that easily.

Even long ago, the location of a sealed demon had been kept secret. In this era, even fewer people would know it.

So how had Viscount Dickens learned where the seals were?

"Sonia. I think there's a chance you might survive this."

Sonia's eyes snapped open at Elbridge's words.

"What? Really?"

"It's not certain. I'm going to ask you a few things. Think hard and answer honestly."

"Fine. Ask away."

"Did Viscount Dickens leave the territory often to gather these seals?"

"Hmm. I don't know the exact reasons he left... but he definitely didn't leave the territory much. And never for long."

Collecting demon seals wasn't the kind of job you could hand off to someone else.

If Viscount Dickens hadn't been away from the territory for long stretches, that meant he'd moved with a fairly clear idea of where the seals were.

'How did Viscount Dickens know where they were?'

Had he used noble authority and wealth to hunt them down?

No. That method alone couldn't uncover a seal's location. Wasn't that exactly why the locations were kept secret in the first place, to prevent that kind of search?

Sure, he might have gotten lucky and stumbled onto information once or twice. But that method could only account for one or two seals at most. Yet Sonia had said her father possessed many orbs.

Someone who knew where the demon seals were hidden.

Who could possibly tell him that?

The answer was simple.

Whoever had sealed the demons in the first place.

'A combat church.'

Any other possibility was thin.

"Sonia. It looks to me like... your father got caught up in something ugly."

"Something ugly?"

Sonia had believed, all this time, that the suffering, the collapse of the territory, her father's ruin, and the ruin steadily closing in on her too, were all because of her father's own mistakes.

Believing that was probably what let her endure everything and keep standing.

But if it hadn't been her father's mistake after all, what would Sonia feel instead?

Rage. That was it.

Elbridge noticed her breathing had turned noticeably ragged.

Marcus, unable to follow the thread of the conversation, asked Elbridge, "What's going on right now?"

"I'll explain later. There's too much backstory to fill in first..."

"Ugh."

"By the way, has the God of Fox Rain been sending you oracles much lately?"

"Seems like they've been busy. Always a busy one, that god."

Busy, sure, but their group's activity hours slipping later and later probably played a part too. The God of Fox Rain likely wasn't nocturnal like a certain goddess.

Elbridge asked, "Sonia. Second question."

"Go ahead."

"Which churches did your father follow?"

"Hmm. Quite a few, actually."

Lords, for the sake of keeping the peace within their territory, generally avoided showing strong religious leanings.

The Marquis of Solenion had done the same. So had Baron Riverford.

But in this world, the ground and the heavens sat far too close together.

Remaining a permanent nonbeliever was a foolish choice even for a lord. Most lords ended up worshipping several gods in rotation instead.

Which combat church had given Viscount Dickens the hidden locations of the demon seals?

It made sense to start with whichever churches he'd already had some connection to.

"There must be some churches you remember. Name every church your father belonged to. All of them."

Sonia furrowed her brow deeply and counted off on her fingers.

"Golden Tray, Brass Cup, Laurel Wreath, Olive Tree."

Elbridge just kept listening. But he could have sworn he felt his own pulse pounding at his temples.

Thud, thud.

Rombel's words from not long ago surfaced in his memory.

'Actually, I know exactly who'd benefit most from breaking that seal. I know which group would gain the most, too.'

'Who?'

'You. And your church.'

There was no way it could actually happen, but he dreaded the possibility that the name Rusted Shield might come out of Sonia's mouth.

Elbridge prayed silently.

Please. Don't let that name come out.

Let it not be true that the goddess had set him loose on the world.

Let a future where the people of this world hated the goddess never arrive.

Sonia's list kept stumbling forward.

"Shattered Mirror, Library of Wisdom, Bloodstained Spear, Antlers, Soot and Wine."

And yet Sonia's list still wasn't finished.

"...Fox Rain, Echoes of War, Burning Torch. And... hmm. I think that's about all I know."

Thankfully, the name Rusted Shield never came up in that long list of suspects. Elbridge let out a breath of relief. Of course. There was no way anyone could have followed a ruined church.

"That's quite the collection. Even for a lord, isn't it usually five or six churches you settle on and rotate between?"

"My dad got bored easily."

A plain enough reason.

Elbridge sorted through the church names he'd heard so far, picking out the combat churches.

'Laurel Wreath, Bloodstained Spear, Antlers, Echoes of War.'

Four churches landed on the suspect list for now, though he couldn't rule out the possibility that the real culprit was one of the others. Sonia probably didn't know every church her father had ever dabbled in.

- Elbridge. It pains your goddess somewhat, that among so many church names, the Order of the Rusted Shield's name is nowhere to be found.

"...Goddess. It's better that name doesn't make that list."

- Mm. Your goddess knew that already. Just idle words. Pay it no mind.

The oracle arrived, and Elbridge's steps came to a stop at the same moment. Without realizing it, the group had reached the Inner Rampart.

Rombel muttered, "So the two Ghost Knights are inside the rampart?"

"Better if they're not... Sir Walter. Think you can scale the wall?"

"I can manage. Looks like there's plenty to grab onto."

"What about Sonia? Someone's got to carry her, right?"

While they were still debating who'd carry Sonia, the night clouds blanketing the sky parted into a small gap. Faint moonlight spilled through the break.

For just a moment, Elbridge's eyes, thoroughly adjusted to the dark, caught a black shape standing atop the Inner Rampart.

"Someone's come to greet us."

"Greet us? Who?"

Elbridge pointed up at the wall.

Two Ghost Knights stood looking down at the group.

Rombel burst out laughing at the sight.

"Ha! Good. Better to clear this out before we go in. Marcus. Want to take a swing at this one yourself?"

"My night vision's a little weak, so I'm not too confident..."

"Fine, fine. I'll handle this one too."

The two ghost warhorses leaped, carrying their riders.

Then the two ghost warhorses came charging down the steep Inner Rampart. The darkness wrapped around the two Ghost Knights like cloaks, fluttering as they moved.

'Menacing to look at... but not all that strong.'

Elbridge planted his feet against the steep rampart wall and leaped up toward the Ghost Knights. Fine balance and muscle strength boosted by divinity let him pull off something close to acrobatics.

The distance between him and the Ghost Knight closed fast.

And almost at the same instant, both Elbridge and the Ghost Knight drew their swords.

The Ghost Knight's sword, and the warhorse charging down the rampart, both bore down on Elbridge. Elbridge reached his left arm out, caught a small jutting stone, and flung his body upward with a light spin.

His body flipped. Sky and ground traded places.

A dangerous maneuver. But also the fastest way to end the fight.

Screeeech.

The Ghost Knight's sword grazed lightly past Elbridge's back.

Meanwhile, the sword in Elbridge's right hand drove far deeper into the Ghost Knight. From bottom to top. Through the groin, past the cuirass, toward the helmet.

And the instant Elbridge's sword touched the edge of the Ghost Knight's helmet.

He felt a strange sensation travel up through the hilt.

Crack.

Inside the Ghost Knight's armor. In the space that should have been empty. He felt something break. Then his sword punched out through the crown of the helmet.

His body flipped again, and ground and sky settled back into place.

He saw the Ghost Knight lose its balance and fall toward the ground. In that brief moment, Elbridge caught sight of what he'd just cut through inside the armor.

Something round, breaking into two pieces, scattering through the air.

'...An orb.'

An orb. Not an ordinary one.

Something dark leaked from the cut cross-section, slowly taking shape.

A cold sensation shot down his spine.

Still. Still, if they were lucky, maybe this could still be contained.

But the Ghost Knight that had shown up here wasn't the only one.

Elbridge shouted on reflex.

"ROM-BEL-!"

There wasn't even time to tell him to stop.

Just as Elbridge had cut down the off-balance Ghost Knight while scaling the rampart, Rombel had also kicked off the wall and swung his axe at the other one.

Screech-clang-

An eerie clash of metal.

And in the middle of that sound, something shattering flickered into view.

Rombel's situation wasn't all that different from Elbridge's.

Rombel's gaze landed on the broken orb, drifted to the Ghost Knight Elbridge had cut down, then settled on Elbridge.

'Two broken orbs.'

The flow of time, which had felt like it was crawling by, snapped back to normal speed.

Thud.

Rombel cut down the Ghost Knight in one stroke, landed cleanly, and asked Elbridge.

"We're screwed, aren't we?"

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