WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ Paladin of a Ruined Order

Chapter 9

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Oswald

As the atmosphere grew odd, the knight who had set out the demonic beast's forepaw asked Baron Riverford, "Baron, what's wrong?"

"Sir Eberhard. It's..."

Only then was the knight's name mentioned. The middle-aged knight with the dashing mustache was Eberhard, and the younger knight, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, was Oswald.

Even so, Baron Riverford could not explain the situation clearly to Oswald and Eberhard, and just fumbled awkwardly. He clearly found the uncomfortable situation burdensome.

Baron Riverford's son, oblivious to the mood, said, "I heard Sir Walter and Sir Elbridge hunted the wolf demonic beast... What happened?"

Oswald and Eberhard stiffened.

Walter folded his arms and thought.

'Just as I thought.'

Walter had assumed they would be embarrassed. But the reaction that followed was different from what he expected.

The relatively young knight, Oswald, frowned and said to Sir Walter, "Sir Walter. I didn't think you were that sort of man."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"I know you've been desperately seeking accomplishments these past few years. But don't forget that honor matters more than achievements to a knight."

Walter understood the implication and went slack-jawed.

"Do you think I stole your credit?"

Oswald did not deny it. In the end, Walter could not hold back any longer and jumped to his feet.

"To be honest, I'm starting to think you took the forepaw from the demonic beast Sir Elbridge and I hunted."

"...Sir Walter. Let me ask you one thing. Just now, the young lord said that Sir Walter and I, Sir Elbridge... or rather, that man over there. The two of you hunted the demonic beast. Is that true?"

"It is."

"Do you honestly think that makes sense?"

Walter hesitated.

Even Walter thought it did not sound very plausible. Just two people hunting a demonic beast.

And not a single person dead or maimed.

Walter raised his voice.

"Believe me or not, Sir Elbridge and I did hunt that demonic beast. There was a witness too. Go find Marcus at the Mercenary Guild. He was the witness."

"Are there no other witnesses?"

"...No."

"The only witness is a mercenary who follows the money... Hm. I see."

Oswald mocked Walter.

Walter wanted to swing a fist right then and there.

But unlike the agitated Walter, Elbridge remained calm from start to finish. That was because Elbridge didn't think hunting a demonic beast was much of an achievement. He didn't care who ended up taking credit for it.

If anything, Elbridge kept eating like he was watching an interesting play.

Then Knight Oswald pointed at Elbridge.

"You said Sir Elbridge, didn't you? Which territory are you a knight of?"

Elbridge answered flatly.

"I am not a knight bound to any territory."

"Were you an itinerant knight?"

An itinerant knight was a knight who wandered without any proper affiliation.

They often refused to settle anywhere so they could shirk their duties, which was why they had a poor reputation among knights. Of course, that had nothing to do with Elbridge.

"I am not an itinerant knight. I am a paladin of the Goddess of the Rusted Shield."

Oswald snorted with laughter.

"A paladin? You have to be kidding."

"Is there a problem?"

"If you were an itinerant knight, I might at least pretend to believe you. But a paladin? Who doesn't know that anyone can become a paladin if they donate enough offerings? I don't even think paladins are knights in the first place. A knight like that hunted a demonic beast?"

Elbridge was taken aback. So you could become a paladin just by making offerings?

It was hard to believe, so Elbridge looked around.

But Oswald and Eberhard, of course, and even Walter and Baron Riverford, did not seem inclined to deny it.

Elbridge gave a hollow laugh.

"Hah."

The knights and paladins Elbridge remembered respected each other.

But if people were asked which they respected more, knights or paladins, the answer would clearly be paladins.

It was far harder to become a paladin, and the duties a paladin had to bear were far heavier.

To become a knight, all you had to do was prove your aptitude, receive a lord's financial support, build up mana, and train. Paladins were not made that way.

Only after years of training and being recognized for their aptitude could someone become a candidate paladin. Only after becoming a candidate paladin could they follow a paladin and gain real combat experience.

Only after hunting demonic beasts together with a paladin three or five times could they be recognized as an apprentice paladin.

In the process, about half of the candidate paladins died.

For an apprentice paladin to be recognized as a paladin, they had to survive a battle with demons.

They didn't even have to win. Surviving, even if it was only thanks to the care of other knights, was enough. But even that was no easy thing.

Among the apprentice paladins of ordinary churches, seven to eight out of ten died at the final stage.

The Order of the Rusted Shield had it even worse. The paladins of the Order of the Rusted Shield mostly roamed battlefields where conditions were terrible, so only about one in ten apprentice paladins survived.

When ten or twenty young people with excellent aptitude gathered together, only one survived to become a paladin.

Why would people with such outstanding aptitude choose such a brutal fate?

The answer was simple. They had lost everything to demons and demonic beasts.

Demons and demonic beasts left survivors with fear and rage. Most people swallowed their rage and let fear win.

But those who overcame fear with rage walked the path of the paladin so they could burn the demons down with them.

Even those who crossed the line of death and came to be called paladins lived in an age when they could still die one after another in battles against demons.

If they grew tired of endless fighting and refused to battle demons anymore, they were no longer called paladins. It was the same for paladins in every church.

The universal respect and admiration paladins received came from their endless devotion and sacrifice.

That was why even knights, let alone high nobles, would not dare show such rudeness toward paladins.

Elbridge set down his fork and knife.

"Did you say Sir Oswald?"

"Yes."

"Honestly, I don't care where that demonic beast's forepaw came from. I'm also not interested in the flimsy honor that forepaw might bring."

Looking back, it was not hard to understand.

This was a world where demons had become little more than tall tales.

In a world like this, who would be called a paladin just for surviving a battle against demons?

The paladins of the present age had to be different from the paladins of the past.

Maybe, as they said, they had earned the title of paladin thanks to generous offerings.

Maybe they had taken up the title because they needed a respectable status to show others.

But Elbridge was from another time.

He lived in this age, but he was still a man of the old world, and he remembered too many paladins too clearly.

He could not ignore words that insulted all paladins at once.

That would be an insult to the many paladins who had fought with death in mind.

Elbridge stood and pointed at Oswald.

"But that mouth of yours needs to be corrected. Step outside."

The people in the reception room, which also served as a dining room, gathered in the small courtyard inside the lord's castle.

Unlike Baron Riverford's son, who looked full of anticipation, Baron Riverford himself seemed restless and uneasy. There are always people like that in the world, people who find every conflict between others burdensome.

When Oswald drew his sword and set down the scabbard, Elbridge walked over and picked it up.

"Why are you taking the scabbard?"

"I don't have a sword. I'll use this instead."

"..."

Oswald let out a deep sigh and said to Elbridge, "At least put on armor. However much this is a duel, I have no intention of hurting the lord's guest."

"I don't have armor either."

"No sword and no armor... You're quite the character."

After saying that, Oswald went to the back of the lord's castle and brought back a blunt practice sword.

"I was going to bring one for you too, but there was only one practice sword. You can use a real sword if you like. I'll lend you mine."

"I'll pass."

"..."

Unlike Walter or Elbridge, Oswald had only just arrived, so he was still wearing his cuirass.

When Oswald started fussing with his cuirass to take it off, Elbridge stopped him.

"Don't take off the cuirass."

"If we're both not wearing armor, it'd be fair."

"I don't have much experience sparring or dueling with people."

Hearing that, Oswald let out a bitter laugh.

"You challenged me so boldly, and now you're getting scared? Honestly..."

"I just don't have confidence I can end this without injuring you, Sir Oswald. Just leave the armor on."

"Hah."

No one could simply swallow an insult like that.

Oswald tore off his cuirass and tossed it aside.

"All right, then. Let's see what kind of skill our esteemed paladin has."

Oswald tapped the ground with his sword twice, then kicked off the earth.

Whoosh!

A knight's explosive burst of speed. Along with it, Oswald's practice sword aimed for Elbridge's shoulder.

No, it tried to. As the tip of Oswald's sword was still finding its line, Elbridge's scabbard shot out half a beat faster and twisted the tip off course.

The instant Oswald's balance wavered, Elbridge's scabbard flew toward his brow.

"...!"

Oswald twisted his head and dodged the scabbard. It was a response fast enough to impress even himself.

But the very next moment, he felt a hard blow at the outside of his knee and crashed to the ground.

Thud!

"...?"

Oswald did not immediately understand what had happened. So he looked down at the knee that hurt.

There was a shoe print from Elbridge on the outside of his right knee.

"Take it."

Elbridge held out the scabbard to Oswald with a bland expression.

Oswald pushed the scabbard away with his hand and said, "I made a slight mistake."

Even as he said it, his ears turned red.

By his own standards, that was an unmistakable loser’s line.

A faint thought began to stir that Elbridge might be different from ordinary paladins.

But he had no intention of accepting defeat so helplessly. It may have been Elbridge who issued the duel challenge, but he had been the one to provoke the other first.

Even if it cost him a little face, he needed a second chance.

"I see."

Fortunately, Elbridge accepted Oswald's rematch.

Oswald said, "This time, you may attack first."

In truth, that was closer to a request than permission. Everyone except Oswald felt that way.

'Block the first strike, then counter calmly.'

Oswald expected Elbridge to rush at him with explosive speed.

But Elbridge simply walked up and swung the scabbard. It wasn't very fast. Oswald blocked it easily.

The scabbard came again. It still wasn't fast, so he blocked it reasonably well. He still didn't have room to counterattack.

A third attack followed. It still wasn't fast, but this time something about it felt a little dangerous. Before he had any chance to counter, a fourth blow came at Oswald. He thought he had blocked that one too. But the sword flew from his hand and bounced away.

Clang. The blunt practice sword rolled across the ground with a metallic ring.

Elbridge said calmly, "Don't get arrogant. Keep training steadily, and you'll become a better knight than you are now."

To Oswald, the strongest knight had always been the one with the greatest power and the fastest speed. Skill and experience came after that.

And Elbridge was the first person Oswald had ever met who stood outside that logic of strength and speed.

That was only natural. Oswald had just gone through his first demonic beast hunt and was fired up.

By contrast, Elbridge was someone who had gone through dozens of battles against demons, battles where he could never know where the next attack would come from. From the start, it had been absurd for Oswald to think he could fight and win against Elbridge.

"Th..."

Oswald might have been impatient, but he was not someone who lacked even the minimum pride of a knight.

He was also a knight with a strong competitive spirit and a strong drive to improve.

That was why Oswald had no choice but to admit that Elbridge's sparring was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He had already forgotten the grievance over the wolf demonic beast.

His face red as if it would burst, Oswald said to Elbridge, "I admit defeat. I also apologize for my rude remarks. So..."

Oswald bowed deeply.

"May I challenge you one more time?"

He knew he had to swallow his pride and gather up whatever scraps of skill and experience Elbridge had to offer. The pride he bent now might save his life someday.

Elbridge answered in a slightly gentler voice.

"Very well."

That was when it happened.

Creak...

Just as the duel of pride was about to quietly turn into a sparring match, the lord's small gate opened.

And five people appeared.

All five were knights on horseback.

The man at the front was the largest, and from his clothing he seemed to rank above the other four.

Baron Riverford was startled.

"Viscount Dickens!"

'Viscount Dickens?'

That was the name of the neighboring lord Oswald and Eberhard had gone to help.

With Viscount Dickens's sudden appearance, everyone except Elbridge was taken aback.

"What brings you here? You look rather tired..."

That was Baron Riverford's polite way of putting it.

The five knights looked like defeated soldiers. They were utterly exhausted, their eyes looked haunted, and blood and dirt stained parts of their badly maintained armor.

Viscount Dickens said in a dazed voice, as if dreaming, "Another wolf demonic beast appeared on the way back to my territory."

"Good heavens!"

As he listened, Elbridge sorted through the situation.

'Elbridge and Walter hunted one wolf demonic beast.'

'Oswald and Eberhard claimed they helped Viscount Dickens hunt a wolf demonic beast.'

'And Viscount Dickens said that on the way back to his territory, he found one more wolf demonic beast.'

'...Three demonic beasts?'

If there were two demonic beasts, it might have been boasting or a lie. But if there were three, the story changed.

Baron Riverford comforted Viscount Dickens.

"Your Excellency. Please don't worry. My three brave knights are always ready to help Viscount Dickens."

But Viscount Dickens shook his head.

"Lady Neria died, but the hunt was successful. It was nearly identical to the one we'd faced before, so even in our exhausted state, we were able to win."

Then why had Viscount Dickens come to Riverford Barony instead of returning to his own territory?

"When we reached the territory, then..."

Elbridge's chest tingled.

For some reason, he felt like he understood what was happening.

"There was no one there."

"No one? What do you mean, no one?"

"Exactly that. No one at all. Adults, children, men, women, farmers, merchants, even my retainers and family members. Even stranger, there were no bloodstains, no traces of fire, and no signs that anyone had left."

In a world where demonic beasts were rare, three of them had suddenly appeared.

People had vanished without a trace.

From Elbridge's experience, when a bizarre situation like this happened, it was almost never wrong to assume demons were involved.

Hard times make strong people, and strong people make peaceful times.

Peaceful times make weak people, and weak people bring on hard times.

The peaceful age of the weakened, the age when demons had become legends, was coming to an end.

Elbridge thought,

'...Life.'

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