Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 102 - The Dust-Covered Temple and the Loner

Chapter 102 – The Dust-Covered Temple and the Loner

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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True to the black cat’s claim that it was merely a harmless prank, from the following day, the people ceased to dream those dreams.

“What is this? Is that dream… not happening today?”

“Sigh, thank goodness.”

“It is indeed a relief. A relief, but…”

Yet unlike when an ordinary demon was defeated, the people could not bring themselves to rejoice entirely over the disappearance of the mysterious dream.

A person is bound to feel lonely even in a crowd.

A world devoid of loneliness, the experience of being together with others in perfect connection, was just that alluring.

The dream had ended, but its aftermath remained.

Couples who had lived on mere loyalty and affection recalled their past excitement, while the youths forged new bonds. For those who had hesitated, burdened by the pressure of approaching one another, the past dream served as an ample catalyst.

However, not everyone went on to make new connections.

Like a certain mercenary, there were also those who turned away harboring bitter wounds.

*

Just as shops relocate, temples can also move.

Religious orders with many followers moved their temples to the south side of the hill, where the sunlight was plenty and the land was expensive.

Even orders with few followers sought to relocate their sites to the east or west of the hill.

As a result of such passage of time, only temples whose followers had ceased to visit remained in the shade on the north side of the hill.

And now, Elbridge’s steps were heading there.

After thoroughly searching the north side of the hill, Elbridge discovered a familiar temple.

The small temple where he had spotted the black cat in two of the dreams.

Sure enough, the temple in that dream existed in reality as well.

However, the condition of the temple was different.

Unlike the clean, albeit old, roof of the temple in the dream, this temple was filthy starting from its roof.

Since the roof was in such a state, the interior could be no different. The state of the temple’s interior was even worse than that of the past Temple of the Rusty Shield.

Yet that very disparity was proof that this temple belonged to the black cat.

‘This is definitely the place.’

Elbridge had come looking for this temple to confirm the black cat’s divine name.

Elbridge was about to inspect the interior of the temple immediately but paused in his tracks.

For looking at the dust-covered temple brought back unpleasant memories.

Elbridge went outside, gathered some simple cleaning tools, and returned.

There was no rush. Elbridge leisurely began to clean the temple of the nameless god.

Before long, the oracle of the goddess descended.

– Elbridge. Watching you clean the temple of another god makes me feel strange.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I will stop.”

People did not maintain abandoned temples because of their fear of incurring the wrath of the god they served.

However, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield was not narrow-minded.

– I do not mean it in that way. I was merely reminded of your goddess’s temple, which was covered in a thick layer of dust until not long ago.

“It was a pitiful sight.”

– Yes. A dust-covered temple is the symbol of a forgotten god, so seeing that sight, no matter who the god is, they cannot help but feel a sense of self-deprecation.

“It was a far more serious problem than I thought.”

– The reason small-scale gods gradually sever their interest in the earth is not because they have few believers, or because they have none. It is because it is painful to look at a dust-covered temple.

Watching Elbridge sweep with rustling sounds, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield continued.

– Your goddess, too, wanted to descend to the earth and clean the temple herself more than once or twice. Maintaining a forgotten temple is a great deed, so someday, there will be a reward, whether large or small.

“If I clean deserted temples, will the owners of those temples feel grateful to you as well, Goddess?”

– It will most likely be so.

Elbridge resolved to clean the temples of forgotten gods whenever he had spare time. Would it not be a good thing if the heavenly goddess benefited from a small bit of devotion on earth?

Elbridge hoped the Goddess of the Rusty Shield would not live in loneliness in heaven like the Central Mage Tower Lord or the black cat.

“Goddess. Do you know who the owner of this temple is?”

– He is one of the ancient deities. He is also a god who left behind teachings for numerous other gods.

“What kind of teachings would that be?”

– He personally left behind the lesson that when ascending to heaven, choosing an ambiguous divine name and a mediocre authority could make life in heaven far from smooth.

“…”

Elbridge cleaned the temple thoroughly, and now it was time to wipe the divine statue. However, the shape of the statue was different from typical ones.

An ordinary divine statue had a high pedestal beneath it, with the statue standing upright upon it.

However, this statue was not standing but sat perched upon the pedestal. He wiped the statue meticulously with a wet towel, but it was so worn that even identifying the facial features was difficult. He could only vaguely guess that it was a male.

Yet, the divine name below the altar was not difficult to read.

[God of Naps and Gentle Breezes]

It was a divine name he had never heard before, and one that would surely bestow a rather useless authority.

It made him understand why the god had no believers without even needing to ask.

Ugh—

The cleaning, which had begun early in the morning, only finished after the sun had tilted considerably.

Elbridge sank to the floor and leaned his back against a pillar of the temple.

He was exhausted from cleaning so meticulously, and the weather was warm. Naturally, drowsiness washed over him.

As he nodded off to sleep, the black cat appeared and spoke to Elbridge.

– Hey. Do you know why I was always on the temple roof?

The Elbridge in the dream replied.

“I do not know.”

– Because so much time had passed with it covered in dust that I could no longer recall a temple that wasn’t.

The black cat placed a tiny forepaw on Elbridge’s knee and spoke.

– Thank you.

It was a strange feeling. Encountering a god was rare enough for a human, yet to receive words of gratitude from a god he did not even serve. Although the cat was not a fully whole deity… that did not make it any less special.

Elbridge replied sheepishly.

“It was nothing.”

– It might have been a small favor to you.

The black cat stared quietly at Elbridge.

– Therefore, you will never be able to fathom how I, who have stared only at a dust-covered temple for over a thousand years—I, who had become unable to even remember what the interior of my temple looked like—feel right now.

Wagging its tail gently, the cat left its final words.

– I will surely repay this debt.

*

Elbridge returned to his temple only after the sun had set.

Matilda seemed to have left work, as she was nowhere to be seen.

Elbridge carefully approached the offering box and lightly shook the locked container.

Clink.

A satisfying weight made itself felt.

Just as he was about to prepare for bed, Elbridge detected a clamorous voice coming from the prayer room.

“A person’s charm! It lies on the inside, not the outside!”

It was Marcus’s voice.

Why was Marcus, who wasn’t even a believer of the Order of the Rusty Shield, in the prayer room? Elbridge drew closer to the prayer room.

A sacrilegious drinking party was underway inside the prayer room. The participants were Rombel, Marcus, and Sonya.

“…What are you doing in the prayer room right now?”

Elbridge spoke coldly, but Rombel replied confidently.

“It is content that the Goddess of the Rusty Shield would find interesting as well, so we deliberately moved our seats to the prayer room. After all, wouldn’t the stories told in the prayer room be heard better?”

Indeed, a sacrilegious remark befitting a non-believer.

“What kind of story is it for you to do this?”

“The story of Marcus getting dumped.”

Though sacrilegious, it was an undeniable fact that the Goddess of the Rusty Shield would find it intriguing.

As Elbridge slipped over and sat down, a drunken Marcus grumbled.

“Who got dumped? I was the one who decided to let Ada go.”

It seemed the name of the woman Marcus had danced with was Ada. Marcus rambled as he continued his story.

“I won’t deny that there were parts of Ada’s appearance that suited my tastes. But I haven’t talked much with her, nor have I spent much time with her. To forge a bond in the blink of an eye just because of a circumstance thrust upon us? That is absurd. In the end, I decided to let Ada go.”

Contrary to the content of his remarks, regret and lingering attachment dripped heavily from Marcus’s voice.

Elbridge shook his head.

“The credibility is far too low.”

“Right? Even you think it makes no sense, don’t you, Elbridge?”

Rombel shouted excitedly. At that, Marcus roared.

“I can swear by the God of the Sunshower. I was the one who brought it up first and told her to find a good person instead of me!”

“I’ve heard that quick-witted people sometimes dump the other person first right before getting dumped to save their pride.”

“Me? If you didn’t see the look in Ada’s eyes when she was completely infatuated with me, keep your mouth shut!”

Sonya chimed in.

“It doesn’t really matter who said to break up first. The one who drinks more alcohol after the breakup is the one who got dumped.”

“…”

Marcus was left speechless.

As if that had been the deciding blow, the drunken Marcus began to shed tears as large as chicken droppings.

Yet, no one comforted Marcus. It was because they knew it wasn’t the first time Marcus had hit on someone, and because of the unspoken rule among men that there was no need to wipe the tears of a man who had passed the age of ten.

While Marcus sobbed and hiccuped, Elbridge asked Sonya.

“Sonya. I have something I am curious about.”

“What is it?”

“What kind of person is the Central Mage Tower Lord?”

Sonya shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know in detail. I wasn’t close to the Tower Lord. The conversations you had with him are probably more than the dialogues I’ve ever had with him.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just tell me as much as you know.”

“Hmm—.”

Sonya thought for a moment and then replied.

“A magnificent mage. He is someone who became a heavenly god and then descended to the earth, and he is also the one who turned Middlemarch into a city of mages.”

“Do you know the reason the Central Mage Tower Lord descended to the earth again?”

“I heard that he ascended on impulse without any particular preparation, so he didn’t have a single believer following him. Not only was having no believers sorrowful, but the other gods of heaven apparently even excluded him on the sly…”

Sonya’s story was likely grounded in truth to some degree.

Since even the Goddess of the Rusty Shield had said she did not know the Central Mage Tower Lord well.

However, the words spoken by the God of Naps and Gentle Breezes would not leave Elbridge’s mind.

His statement that those without friends do not bring up the story of having no friends first.

Looking at it from that perspective, the Central Mage Tower Lord’s behavior was the exact opposite of what the God of Naps and Gentle Breezes had said. Hadn’t the Central Mage Tower Lord been the one to first tell Elbridge’s party the story of how he did not interact with anyone in heaven?

Considering Sonya knew the story as well, it had to be assumed that all the mages of the Central Mage Tower knew it.

No, not just the mages of the Tower, but perhaps everyone in Middlemarch knew.

Elbridge spoke.

“The saying that those without friends do not bring up the story of having no friends first. What do you think of it?”

Elbridge intentionally avoided mentioning the name ‘black cat’ or ‘God of Naps and Gentle Breezes.’ There was nothing good to be gained from mentioning the name of one who had hidden in dreams to escape the Chief God’s eye.

Of course, Sonya and Rombel had that much tact as well.

“Well, I don’t know exactly… but it does feel quite plausible.”

Unlike Sonya, who replied vaguely, Rombel agreed with that opinion quite actively.

“That is true. I know it because I spent a fairly long period of time as a loner.”

Rombel filled his cup to the brim with beer.

“Once the war settled down, those who fought alongside me scattered in all directions. My wife died, and I was driven out of my hometown; I suddenly became a loner. Although it was a bit better after entering the Mage Tower, looking back, I think I was incredibly lonely before that.”

It was a story he would not have told had he not been under the influence of alcohol.

Rombel leaned back, bringing Elbridge, Marcus, and even Sonya into his field of vision.

“If someone had asked me back then if I had no friends, I think I would have answered that I did. Even though it was only dwarves who had scattered far and wide so I couldn’t meet them, or whom I couldn’t even tell if they still considered me a friend… I definitely would have done so.”

Sonya asked.

“Isn’t that just you, Mr. Rombel?”

“No. I can say for sure. Everyone would act just like me.”

Men extremely dislike revealing their own weaknesses.

And whether there is someone you can trust, or someone who can help you, is not simply a sentimental or emotional issue.

It is a problem touching upon a more instinctive realm of survival.

“When one would lie even if the other party asked first, for me to bring up such a story on my own? There is absolutely no way. I didn’t think much of it back then… but thinking about it now, it’s strange.”

Rombel gulped down his beer in one breath and spoke.

“That bastard, the Central Mage Tower Lord, is hiding something.”