Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 101 - Cat in the Dream
Chapter 101 – Cat in the Dream
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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As Sonya attempted to pull the cat out of the box, the black cat’s eyes flashed.
Following that, the cat unleashed a barrage of attacks with its white paws. Swift, swift, swift.
“Ouch!”
It was not a particularly significant attack, as a few droplets of blood welling up on the back of Sonya’s hand was all there was to show for it.
However, in the moment Sonya recoiled, the cat kicked off the box and sprang out, vanishing beyond the alley.
Yet at the very next moment, the black cat that had run away was trapped inside the box.
One of the representative characteristics of a dream—ambiguous causality and a jumbled sequence of events.
Trapped in the box once more, the cat spoke to Sonya.
– You are quite something, more than I expected.
“I almost lost you this time. I barely managed to catch you.”
Watching this scene, Rombel spoke to Elbridge.
“Exchanging mutual compliments after merely hitting and getting hit a few times by a cat’s paw… Listening to it makes me feel embarrassed for no reason. Don’t you feel the same?”
Sonya flared up.
“This was not a simple clash. I completely blocked the mental image of a cat escaping naturally with plausibility, and overlaid and bound the mental image of a cat remaining in the box onto the dream. Do you have any idea how close it was?”
“Ah, sure you did…”
When Rombel replied half-heartedly, Sonya looked at the cat, signaling for it to quickly explain.
However, the cat merely wagged its tail and replied playfully.
– I only struck with my paw, though?
“…”
Sonya gave up on explaining.
Explaining a complex concept to Rombel, who knew nothing of magic, was no easy task, and whatever she said here would surely sound like self-praise.
The black cat spoke from inside the box.
– Since it’s been a while since I met people, I wanted to play for a few more days while teasing you… but I got caught earlier than I expected. While there are countless ways to escape the box, changing the rules of the game midway wouldn’t be fun.
A game.
Yet it was not an outlandish story. The black cat had put everyone in Solenion to sleep, made them dream a shared dream, and even controlled people as it pleased.
Although Elbridge could not accurately judge a mage’s skill, it was foolish to think Sonya’s ability exceeded that of the black cat simply because she had caught it.
Elbridge asked.
“Are you truly a demon?”
Some demons retained at least a sliver of reason. However, he had never seen a demon rational enough to hold such a calm conversation until now.
– A demon… That depends on the criteria for a demon. But I do not think of myself as a demon. Not yet.
“If you are not a demon, are you a deity?”
A vivid curiosity sparkled in the cat’s eyes.
– You are no ordinary fellow. You know things a normal human could not possibly know.
The cat sprang out of the box, circled Elbridge while rubbing against his leg, and even sniffed him slightly.
– Your status is too high for an ordinary human. It is strange that you are still on the earth. In the old days, you would have ascended to heaven several times over. Though I do not know about nowadays, since the standards must have changed… Even the dwarf next to you is not at a normal level.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Sonya cut in.
“Elbridge. Why does the assumption of not being a demon lead to the speculation that it is a deity?”
Sonya had not witnessed the God of the Flowing Water turning into a demon.
Like most people, Sonya believed gods and demons were entirely separate entities.
“You know that the total amount of authority a god can bestow changes in proportion to the number of seats they hold in the Heavenly Council, right?”
“Of course I know that.”
“Just because their seats increase or decrease does not mean the actual power a god possesses changes. It is only that the maximum limit of authority permitted by the Chief God changes according to the number of seats. And if they exert power beyond the level permitted by the Chief God, they become a demon.”
Sonya’s eyes went wide.
Sonya was clever. Beyond merely understanding Elbridge’s words, she was likely deducing the premises and possibilities that lay beyond that story.
That gods and demons were fundamentally identical, that demons were also under the Chief God’s control just like any other deity, and all sorts of other possibilities…
Sonya pressed her temples firmly.
“I am learning so many new things. At this rate, my consciousness might bloom, and I might become a second-class mage.”
The black cat spoke.
– In any case, since you won the game, I must give you a reward. What do you wish for?
A brief moment of thought, and then Elbridge and Sonya’s answers overlapped.
“Information.”
– Information… I can give that. But my information is quite outdated.
“It does not matter. Tell us who is behind the one who broke your seal.”
A disappointing answer returned to Sonya’s question.
– Even I do not know that. Do you have any other questions?
Elbridge asked with a modicum of respect.
“First, I would like to ask who you are.”
The black cat purred slightly. It seemed to like the question about itself.
– I am an ancient god.
“If you are an ancient god, how ancient are we talking about?”
– I was a god even before the Heavenly Council existed.
The black cat seemed to want Elbridge’s party to look up to it. Indeed, Sonya had an amazed look on her face.
But Elbridge and Rombel were different.
For there was a story that those associated with heaven had commonly told.
‘The thrones of heaven are limited, and the gate to ascend to heaven is growing narrower.’
Conversely, it meant that ascending to heaven was not difficult in the past.
The fact that the black cat was an ancient god… meant that the feats he had achieved on earth in the distant past might be quite trivial.
Regardless of that, though, knowing about the world before the Heavenly Council existed was intriguing.
“What was the world like in those days?”
– They were good times for the gods, but the earth was a living hell.
Sonya raised her hand high and asked a question.
“You said that if a god wields power beyond their seats, they become a demon, right? Then before the Heavenly Council existed, there must have been no demons, correct?”
Elbridge admired her internally.
To think this far based only on the few words of information she had heard just moments ago. Her processing speed was fast.
– Correct. There were no demons in those days.
“If there were no demons, why was the world a hell? The world was peaceful until just a few years ago.”
– Indeed, you would not know what the Heavenly Council means to the gods.
The black cat climbed atop the old temple in question and aligned its four paws neatly.
– A god’s superiority or inferiority being decided by popularity means that a heavenly god must walk on eggshells around humans. But before the Heavenly Council was established, there was no such thing. Once they ascended to heaven, there were heaps of gods who looked down on the humans of the earth like insects.
“Like insects…”
– Exactly. Just as a child steps on and kills ants for fun, there were heaps of gods who descended to the earth purely for amusement to torment or kill humans. It was only natural that the lifetime of effort made by humans would turn to ash due to a simple whim of a god.
“…”
– Rather than a time when there were no demons, it would be more appropriate to think of it as a time when all gods were demons. You would be shocked to know how many of those who became gods in heaven were recognized for their achievements in opposing a god, or in leading a community without being swept away by a god.
Sonya believed the black cat’s story.
However, Elbridge harbored a small doubt.
“Is that story just now truly the truth?”
– If you do not want to believe it, then don’t.
As if its feelings were hurt, the black cat rose from its spot. Elbridge hastily added to his words.
“It is not that I do not want to believe it. From what I have experienced so far, I have heard that beings with a connection to heaven cannot convey the stories of heaven to the earth. It is because you seem to be the sole exception that I ask.”
The black cat slunk back down to a sit.
– That is a heavenly rule set directly by the Chief God, and a rule of the world. However, dreams are not reality, nor are they the world you see with your eyes, so a god’s gaze cannot reach inside dreams. The same goes for the Chief God. Since there is no fear of being caught no matter what I say in a dream, is there any reason to be afraid?
He had thought there were no exceptions to the rules set by the Chief God.
Yet this cat might be the only being in the world who had escaped the Chief God’s rules.
The black cat introduced itself once more.
– I am one who straddles the line between a god and a demon. I wielded authority exceeding the limit set by the Chief God, and before becoming a demon, I sealed myself to hide within the seal. For just like dreams, the Chief God’s power does not reach inside a seal.
Sealing a god. It was an unfamiliar concept, but it did not seem impossible.
If demons and gods shared the same origin, would it not be natural that a god could be sealed just like a demon?
“If so, why did you, who were sealed, appear here?”
– I was living quietly inside the seal, but some fellow smashed it. It was so sudden that I did not even have the luxury to reconstruct the seal. If I dawdled, I was in a position to truly become a demon… so I hid in dreams as a matter of urgency. Actually, I only confirmed for sure a short while ago that the Chief God’s eye does not reach inside dreams.
The black cat rubbed its face against its forepaws a couple of times and then continued its story.
– The reason I came to this city… is because I am from this region. Causing the dreams was not out of any particular malice either. I was bored, and also glad to be back, so I merely played a little prank. Even if you had left it alone, it would have ended without issue, so do not be displeased.
Sonya furrowed her brow slightly.
To think that the massive chaos in Solenion over the past few days was merely a prank.
Impulsive, immature, eccentric—
Yet Elbridge could gauge the reason the black cat had acted that way, if only a little.
Although there was a difference in the duration, Elbridge had also lived inside a seal.
“You were very lonely.”
The black cat did not reply but merely looked at Elbridge. However, because there was no answer, Elbridge could tell that his guess was correct.
“The people in the dreams yearned for one another. Because you were weary of loneliness, you likely wished for others not to be lonely.”
– Humans have a habit of assigning meaning for no reason.
Elbridge spoke without paying any mind.
“Wishing for someone to recognize your existence when you had to play a senseless prank to hide in a dream, and playing a prank while hoping we would follow—isn’t it for a similar reason?”
He knew because he had spent time inside a seal.
At first, he had considered the years inside the seal to be mere boredom, but what was far greater than boredom was loneliness. A person could not live alone.
In the past, Elbridge had not been an affectionate person. He had been somewhat cold and did not easily accept strangers.
But after waking from the seal, he could not do that. The merchant Rick whom he had first encountered, the mercenary Marcus, the old knight Walter… In the past, they were people he would have passed by without exchanging a single word.
The necessity of companionship?
No. That was closer to something fabricated.
If it had been the Elbridge of the distant past, he would have found a way somehow and moved alone. He still possessed that level of ability even after being released from the seal.
Yet Elbridge had accompanied them despite various inconveniences and formed relationships. Elbridge had felt the preciousness of relationships to his bones inside the seal.
The black cat spoke.
– A heavenly god suffering because of loneliness? You are talking nonsense.
“No. I know someone similar to you.”
– Similar to me?
The person Elbridge thought of was the Central Mage Tower Lord.
“He is one who descended from heaven, weary of a life with neither close gods nor believers. He is looking forward to the day he gathers believers again and ascends to heaven.”
The black cat looked at Elbridge. It was a gaze carrying faint displeasure.
– Prying into such a part. You are a ruder fellow than I thought.
Elbridge shook his head.
“It was not I who pried. He was the one who told me first.”
The black cat stated flatly.
– No. That cannot be. It is either a lie, or you induced such an answer.
“Why do you think so?”
– Having no believers might be something he could tell you. Since there are many similar gods, it is not particularly embarrassing. But having no close gods in heaven is different.
“…”
– Those without friends do not say they have no friends. They make excuses as if they have at least a few friends. Although very rarely there are those who do say they have no friends… at the very least, they do not bring up such a story first. If he brought up the story of having no friends first when you did not even press him, then it is a lie. That is for sure.
An assertion full of conviction.
Elbridge asked the black cat.
“Did you have many friends in heaven?”
The black cat smiled.
– I had at least a few.