WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 3 Ch. 1: Those Who Gather Around the White Table

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There was a long white table in the conference room of the Holy Knight Order headquarters in the Reyel Holy District.

Modeled after the table the angels had used for meetings in myth, it was treated as a sacred object, a place for those who served God to sit.

Aside from the Pope and the Saintess, only the commander of the Holy Knight Order and its division commanders were permitted to sit at the White Table.

Now, the five division commanders, excluding the commander of the Holy Knight Order, were seated at the White Table.

The commander, who occupied the first seat at the White Table, had been summoned by the Pope and was late in arriving.

So, while they waited for him, the five division commanders discussed an urgent problem facing the Holy Knight Order.

Diego Falke, commander of the Fifth Knight Division and the most junior among them, leaned back in his chair and stifled a yawn.

（...Ah, I want a smoke.）

Diego was a man in his forties, with black hair and unshaven stubble.

He had originally led a mercenary company in the south, but when the Blessing Survey Committee discovered he was Blessed, becoming a Holy Knight became unavoidable.

One way or another, his ability had been recognized, and he had risen as high as commander of the Fifth Knight Division. Frankly, though, he could hardly be called devout.

Before Diego, Stella Garnett, the only female division commander and commander of the Fourth Knight Division, was delivering an impassioned speech.

"The number of new recruits to the Holy Knight Order has fallen from last year. This is a grave situation."

Stella was a woman in her late twenties with long, straight chestnut hair.

Her features made her look strong-willed. Earnest, incorruptible, and exemplary, she was the very image of a Holy Knight.

With complete sincerity, she appealed to the division commanders.

"Should we not take action to strengthen the Holy Knight Order's appeal?"

This had been casual conversation to pass the time until the commander arrived. How had it become so stiff and formal?

Her excessive earnestness felt a little stifling to an old former mercenary like Diego.

（I wish the commander would get back already... He was summoned by His Holiness the Pope, right?）

As Diego cracked his neck with a crick, crick, a young man with dark blond hair, Percival Barnes, commander of the Third Knight Division, spoke loudly.

This man was always loud.

"Then why not advertise how delicious the Holy Knight Order's cafeteria food is! Our cafeteria food is great! Thank you, cafeteria staff, for making such delicious food!"

Following Percival's remark, Rudolf Marriott, commander of the Second Knight Division, a stern-faced middle-aged man with red hair and glasses, spoke up.

"Appeal is something that strongly moves people's hearts..."

Rudolf's voice carried the depth and weight unique to someone skilled in careful, far-reaching schemes.

Pushing up his glasses with one fingertip, Rudolf said:

"In other words, a bath of bundles of cash."

Rudolf Marriott, commander of the Second Knight Division, came from a family connected to the Marriott Company, one of Erington's leading corporations. As such, he understood well how to stir up people's desires.

Still, putting a bath full of bundles of cash on a Holy Knight recruitment poster would surely look bad. Earnest Stella's temple even twitched.

Diego leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"This is getting more and more worldly... Food, money, so next comes women?"

Muttering that, Diego looked at Elbert, commander of the First Knight Division.

With pale blond hair like moonlight and refined features, Elbert was a handsome man. He was a hero beloved by men and women, young and old alike.

"A handsome man like the hero Elbert Randolph must have women throwing themselves at him, right?"

"I'm sorry. The woman I love won't give me the time of day."

The hero said something sad with a beautiful face.

Scratching his cheek, Diego asked:

"...The woman you love?"

"She's married, and she rejected me."

"...So, a married woman?"

"Yes."

Elbert nodded with perfectly clear eyes.

At once, earnest Stella Garnett rose from her chair with a clatter. Her face was bright red.

"I am disappointed in you, Elbert! To think you liked married women! A division commander engaging in infidelity is unforgivable. Duel me here and now, Elbert!"

"That is not it, Stella. It is not that I like married women. The woman I love happened to be married."

As words like married women, infidelity, and duel flew around the room, the door opened and a small man of about fifty entered.

His brown hair had thinned considerably. Small and somewhat plump, he wore little round glasses over sleepy-looking eyes with heavy lids. This was Gordon Ross, commander of the Holy Knight Order.

Most of the division commanders were large people. Even Stella, the sole woman among them, was fairly tall.

Amid them, Commander Ross, the smallest of all, surveyed the room with sleepy eyes and spoke quietly.

"All of you, what are you doing, lowering the dignity of Holy Knights yourselves?"

Commander Ross's words were brief, tinged with exasperation.

Stella shrank back, but protested.

"Commander, we were very seriously exchanging opinions about the personnel issue..."

"I believe the appropriate wording for the recruitment poster would be, 'Become a Holy Knight, eat all the delicious food you want, soak in a bath of bundles of cash, and live the high life. I even got a cute lover.' Sir."

When Diego cut in, Commander Ross said without even smiling:

"I see. That wording fully reflects who you are as a former mercenary, Commander Falke."

Precisely so. Food, money, and women were easy-to-understand rewards for Diego Falke, the former mercenary.

Then Percival, ever hot-blooded, spoke up.

"I've got it! How about, 'Eat delicious food, get plenty of exercise, and attain your ideal body!'"

Certainly, that was somewhat more refined than food, money, and women.

Diego agreed carelessly.

"Sounds good to me. Then the poster can say, 'Become a Holy Knight and get your ideal abs!'"

"It lacks catchiness. I propose adding, 'Let's Get Fit☆,' at the end."

At stingy Rudolf's words, Stella snapped, "How shallow!" while Elbert made an off-target comment, such as, "The star does make it more approachable."

Just as the discussion seemed ready to descend into confusion once more, Commander Ross spoke.

"All of you."

His voice was not especially loud, but the five division commanders fell silent.

It was the voice of someone skilled at moving people. Indeed, Commander Ross was a former soldier.

"Securing personnel is the Blessing Survey Committee's job."

The Blessing Survey Committee Gordon referred to was an organization that searched for the Blessed and recruited them as Holy Knights. Former mercenary Diego himself had been found by that very committee and become a Holy Knight.

The hot-blooded Percival lifted himself from his chair.

"All right, then we'll support the Blessing Survey Committee! Keep it up, Blessing Survey Committee! Bring us wonderful new comrades!"

Percival called out encouragement toward the Papal See building that housed the Blessing Survey Committee. Since he was such a loud man, it was simply noisy.

Then Rudolf pushed up his glasses and spoke in a low voice that did not hide his displeasure.

"The Blessing Survey Committee's negligence is conspicuous. I struggle to understand why they left a Double Blessing unattended for so many years."

At the words Double Blessing, Diego looked at Elbert, thinking, （Yeah, yeah, I know.）

Apparently, the noble hero Elbert Randolph had recently taken on a squire. The son of former Holy Knight Duncan Lawrence, named Allen.

That Allen possessed a rare Double Blessing.

Percival asked Elbert:

"A Double Blessing! What combination?"

"〈Destruction〉 and 〈Regeneration〉. 〈Destruction〉 is middle-ranked, while 〈Regeneration〉 is lower-ranked."

With a few exceptions, the strength of the blessings granted to the Blessed was divided into three ranks: high, middle, and low.

In Allen Lawrence's case, his blessing of 〈Destruction〉 was strong, while his blessing of 〈Regeneration〉 was weak. Even so, a Double Blessing alone was valuable.

Regardless of their type, each blessing strengthens a Blessed person's body to a certain extent. With two blessings, his physical ability would surely be considerable.

"With that combination, he'll get very hungry. All right, I'll tell him about the cafeteria's secret menu!"

In a gloominess almost the complete opposite of cheerful Percival, Rudolf said:

"...A question. If it had long been known that he possessed a Double Blessing, why was he not immediately made a Holy Knight?"

"It was the wish of my friend, Duncan Lawrence."

As Elbert spoke with a gentle smile, Rudolf's stern face grew even grimmer.

"To leave someone with talent buried is a loss."

"Perhaps he wished to remain buried. My visit may have forcibly dug him up."

"Human worth has an expiration date. If you are going to dig it up, you should do so at the proper time."

Despite being a Holy Knight, Rudolf possessed a merchant's temperament. He hated waste and loss, and had a habit of speaking of human worth as though it were the worth of merchandise.

The fastidious Stella frowned at Rudolf's words, but Elbert placed a hand over his chest and spoke with a calm expression.

"Whether this was proper or disastrous, let us entrust it to the angels' will. If it was improper, I will accept the punishment I deserve."

How admirable of the High Holy Knight （Paladin）, Diego muttered inwardly.

Characters

Commander Gordon Ross （sleepy eyes）

First Elbert Randolph （likes married women）

Second Rudolf Marriott （bath of bundles of cash）

Third Percival Barnes （delicious food）

Fourth Stella Garnett （straitlaced female knight）

Fifth Diego Falke （former mercenary）

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