Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 109 - Watchman
Chapter 109 – Watchman
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Seeing through an opponent’s intentions did not always lead to a positive reaction.
Thud.
The female elf skillfully kicked the sword up with her toes, catching the weapon she had laid on the floor.
The position where she had placed the sword, and her natural movement; it seemed she had kept in mind the possibility of having to grab the sword again from the very beginning.
The problem was that it was hard to guess the reason for the elf’s change in attitude.
‘Why is she suddenly acting like that?’
He did not know. However, he had no intention of causing unnecessary friction. Especially if they were people moving toward the same goal.
Elbridge raised his hands.
“I am not your enemy. Why don’t we resolve this situation through conversation?”
The female elf’s gaze turned toward the elf with a dagger embedded in his leg, and the elf who had collided with Rombel and passed out. It was not a situation where a friendly conversation could begin.
The female elf pointed her sword toward Elbridge. Her tightly set lips showed she had no intention of saying anything.
He did not know if she was too hot-headed to make a proper judgment, or if she had her own reasons to fight.
‘The opponent is only one.’
Since they were two, they had the advantage in numbers.
The problem was the presence or absence of weapons.
In most cases, one person with a weapon could hold the upper hand against two unarmed people.
At that moment, the gaze of the elf holding the sword briefly touched Gareth instead of her two elf companions before pulling away. It seemed she intended to somehow slip away with Gareth even if something happened to her companions.
Like Elbridge, Rombel also read the elf’s intention.
Rustle.
Rombel shifted to the side, blocking the path between the elf and Gareth.
“Elbridge. You can do it, right?”
Like most dwarves, Rombel was not accustomed to unarmed combat. Though he would be confident in arm wrestling.
“I’ll have to try.”
Elbridge crept backward. His target was the elf who had collided with Rombel and fainted.
If he had left his weapon behind, he could just use someone else’s. Elbridge reached toward the waist of the unconscious elf.
The female elf possessed only one advantage. Having a weapon was everything.
The reaction was immediate.
Tap—
The female elf lunged at Elbridge.
With agile movements and a steady upper body, she was an elf who knew how to fight reasonably well.
Instead of drawing the sword of the fallen elf, Elbridge immediately kicked off the ground and lunged toward the female elf.
“…!”
An optimal distance existed for every weapon.
A spear could attack someone far away, but not an enemy close by.
The same went for swords. A sword could strike at a longer range than bare hands, but once the opponent closed in beyond a certain distance, it lost its advantage.
The problem was that the distance was so extremely close that one rarely encountered such a situation in actual combat.
But now, Elbridge caught the female elf off guard with his bold decision and unexpected movement. He instantly penetrated inside the range where the sword held the advantage.
A distance close enough to embrace each other. Even the experienced Elbridge had never fought at such close range.
‘That must be the same for her too.’
Elbridge’s grip reached for the elf’s wrist.
To avoid having her sword-wielding wrist caught, the elf pulled her arm back and leaned her body backward. Elbridge’s hand grabbed empty air.
It would have been great if he had snatched her wrist in a single move, but failing did not cause any major problem.
Since he forced the opponent into an awkward movement and drew her attention, it was a decent harvest.
‘If I drew her attention with the movement of my upper body…’
Elbridge’s leg flew in from outside her field of vision, kicking the elf’s slender ankle.
Tilt. The elf’s balance collapsed as one of her legs was lifted. As if pushing back an enemy with a shield, Elbridge thrust his forearm forward and pressed hard against the elf.
Crash!
Being pushed while one leg was raised, the elf tumbled over with disappointing ease.
Elbridge immediately mounted the elf, snatched her sword, and threw it far away.
The time taken for the whole process was around three or four breaths.
The sound of clapping reached Elbridge’s ears.
– Ten points, Elbridge.
“Thank you, Goddess.”
Elbridge whispered softly and looked down.
The elf pinned beneath Elbridge glared up at him.
“Kill me.”
What did she mean, kill her?
Elbridge spoke as he got up.
“I have no particular intention of killing you.”
Even though Elbridge, who had been mounting her, was gone, the elf still lay flat on the floor, looking as if she had no idea what was going on.
The elf spoke.
“Aren’t you guys in league with that guy?”
‘That guy’ referred to Gareth, the Chief Paladin of the Order of the Watchman.
Elbridge sorted out the situation from the elf’s perspective.
The elves who sneaked into Gareth’s house with the intention of capturing him.
The two pursuers who caught up with them just as they subdued Gareth and were about to escape from Norens.
Furthermore, the two pursuers even knew the exact reason why the elves were trying to kidnap Gareth.
‘…It is understandable that they would misunderstand.’
Elbridge stretched out his hand toward the elf lying on the floor.
“You’ve got it wrong. Rather, I am in a position where I must cooperate with you.”
“Cooperate with us?”
“Yes. I am Elbridge of the Order of the Rusty Shield. Just like you, I arrived in the North while searching for clues about the one who broke the seal.”
The elf took Elbridge’s hand with a slightly suspicious expression.
*
Going to the inn together with the elves who had been causing all kinds of trouble in Norens was not a good decision.
In the end, Rombel returned to the inn and brought Sonya and Marcus.
“I am Elbridge of the Order of the Rusty Shield. That fellow is Rombel. And these are Marcus of the Order of the Sunshower and Mage Sonya.”
The calmed elves introduced themselves.
“I am Selene. These two are Johannes and Aurelius. We came from the Forest of Thorns.”
Strangely familiar names popped up.
Johannes and Aurelius. Those were the names of the meat the elves had used when ripping off people’s money at the inn.
“Since around last year, someone who meddles with the seals of demons appeared. While digging through the clues one by one, we arrived in Norens.”
Coincidentally, it was a similar situation to Elbridge’s party.
However, all curiosity regarding the elves was still not fully resolved.
Marcus asked.
“Why did you go around taking people’s money?”
“That wasn’t started by us. Since the elves from around here extorted money like that, we just subtly blended in.”
“…Did you run out of activity funds?”
The elf Selene waved her hands.
“It was a kind of deception. Even if you carefully look around your surroundings, you eventually leave a trail, right? But if you get branded as a completely strange person, you won’t face much suspicion no matter what you do. You become able to wander around anywhere.”
Although the chosen method was somewhat odd, it was not an action committed without thought.
Elves were just eccentric, not foolish.
Since they had roughly grasped each other’s situations, it was now time to interrogate Gareth.
Sonya nudged Gareth with her staff. However, the unconscious Gareth still did not wake up.
“Hmph.”
Sonya was not an easygoing person who would just leave someone alone because they did not wake up.
Sonya placed the tip of her staff near Gareth’s groin. And—
Flash.
A small bolt of lightning crackled from the tip of her staff.
“…!”
Gareth woke up instantly, clutching his groin and groaning.
“Ughhh…”
Gareth groaned and gasped for breath for a long time.
After a short while, Gareth regained his senses and looked around.
There was only one emotion reflected in Gareth’s expression.
Not fear, nor resignation, but relief.
Selene spoke to Gareth.
“You know why you are here, right?”
“I know. Though I didn’t expect it to be this quick.”
“I’ll tell you in advance. Your death here is certain.”
Gareth took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Even after hearing the statement that he would be killed, Gareth’s expression became a bit more comfortable.
There were two kinds of people in the world: those who committed a sin and thought they were lucky if they weren’t caught, and those who tormented themselves by chewing over their uncaught sins for the rest of their lives. Gareth was clearly the latter.
“…It is a fitting end for me.”
“I’m glad you know. But there is still something undecided.”
“What is it?”
“Whether the people of the world will learn about what you did, or if it will pass unnoticed, will be decided by your answer.”
Gareth’s honor. The honor of his family and companions.
And the future of the order depended on Gareth’s conduct.
“I know I have no shame. But please show mercy.”
“It depends on what you do. Tell us who is the person behind you.”
“There is no one behind me.”
The eyebrows of the three elves and Elbridge’s party furrowed.
“I have no intention of playing word games.”
“It is true that there was someone who demanded to know the location of the seal left in the Order of the Watchman. They promised vast wealth and the adoration of the world’s people to our precarious order. However, I did not tell them the location of the seal passed down in our order.”
Gareth gasped as he spoke, then paused to steady his breathing.
It was not an easy thing to calmly overcome the fear of death.
“The order’s seal still sleeps in the darkness and will not wake up in the future. For monitoring the approaching danger is precisely the role of a watchman.”
“Are you trying to say you are innocent now?”
“No. My sin is that I noticed the danger but did not inform the people. I did not let people know that such a proposal had been made.”
Selene did not understand Gareth’s words.
“Why on earth?”
“Because even if it was a precarious and false reward, I wanted the knights under my command to receive a reward for their long waiting. Furthermore, I wished for the order we have protected from generation to generation to continue to exist in the future.”
Elbridge recalled the orders of the East. Gareth’s situation was no different from theirs.
The feelings of a chief paladin who had watched an order stride toward extinction for a lifetime.
The feelings of a chief paladin serving a god who was anxious about being forgotten.
Wouldn’t that be similar to the feelings of a parent watching a dying child?
“I know it was foolish. But… I could not cast aside the recognition and respect that could be obtained through silence.”
“Fine. Who was the one who contacted you?”
The core question was thrown.
“Elfin of the Order of the Bloody Spear.”
The name was unfamiliar, but the name of the order was familiar.
Since the Order of the Bloody Spear was once a combat order that wielded great power across the continent, it was not strange for them to be maintaining their legacy in the North.
Rather, the fact that the Order of the Bloody Spear was mentioned, just like in the East, added credibility.
Selene asked.
“Elfin? Didn’t that guy die fighting a demon last winter?”
“That is correct.”
“Ah, dammit.”
Selene ruffled her hair in irritation. Didn’t this mean the clue they were following was cut off here?
Elbridge felt a similar way. At this rate, coming all the way to the North would be a wasted trip. Where should they go now? The West? Or risk the journey to the Center?
But fortunately, Gareth’s story was not over.
“However, I know who instigated Elfin. Because Elfin had a habit of blabbing about all kinds of things when he got drunk.”
The clue that was about to be cut off was reconnected.
Elbridge’s heart began to thump again.
Selene asked.
“The one who contacted Elfin. Who is it?”
“I heard it was the Central Mage Tower Lord of Middlemarch.”
Selene’s eyes shook in confusion.
It was natural since an unexpected person was suddenly mentioned.
But the reaction of Elbridge’s party was different. Hadn’t the one they suspected the most been the Central Mage Tower Lord?
Now, the suspicion toward the Central Mage Tower Lord became a conviction.
Sonya’s expression darkened. If the Central Mage Tower Lord whom she respected and followed was the culprit behind everything…
Selene asked.
“…The Central Mage Tower Lord? Why on earth would he?”
“Even I don’t know that far. Elfin probably didn’t know either.”
Elbridge raised his sword.
“Is there anything else you can tell us?”
“No. I have told you everything I know.”
“Is there anything you want to say?”
Gareth closed his eyes.
A brief silence.
And after a while, Gareth murmured in a relieved voice.
“O God. Let your watchmen die atop the watchtower.”
Elbridge rose from his seat. Before anyone knew it, a sword was held in Elbridge’s hand.
Elbridge’s sword shone coldly under the moonlight. The moonlight, moving without a sound, swept across Gareth’s neck.
Thud. The head of the repentant paladin fell.
Elbridge slid his bloodless sword back into its sheath and spoke.
“Let’s return.”