Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 113 - Silver-Gray Knight (Part 1)

Chapter 113 – Silver-Gray Knight (Part 1)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After the impressive but brief commotion ended, Elbridge’s party returned to the inn, mingled among the mercenaries.

Buzz, buzz—

Whether because they had grown talkative after the recent event, the mercenaries at the inn did not return to their rooms but gathered in the central hall of the inn, chattering boisterously.

Seeing them clustered in groups ranging from as few as three or four to as many as a dozen, it seemed they had gathered by mercenary bands.

Like the other mercenary bands, Elbridge’s party also gathered and sat around a single table.

However, they could not easily start a conversation. This was because the distance to the adjacent table was too close, making them subtly self-conscious.

“…”

Starting to speak only to glance over, and trying to say something again only to look askance.

Elbridge’s party and the mercenaries at the next table, who were subtly conscious of each other, reached a tacit agreement to first introduce themselves.

The man at the next table introduced himself first.

“I’m Murbach of the Murbach Mercenary Band.”

Murbach was a man with thick, dark hair covering the backs of his hands and forearms, and exceptionally bushy eyebrows. Was he about fifty years old? Judging by his unusual name, he was highly likely from the West.

But what stood out even more was Murbach’s gaze. Unlike ordinary mercenaries whose sclerae were yellow or turbid, Murbach’s eyes were as clear as a child’s.

Marcus mimicked Murbach and replied playfully.

“I’m Marcus of the Marcus Mercenary Band.”

As Marcus and Murbach shook hands, Sonya complained.

“Why do we have to be the Marcus Mercenary Band?”

“Well… I’m the only one with experience in this industry, aren’t I?”

“Even so!”

“Alright. Then let’s go with the Sonya Mercenary Band or the Dickens Mercenary Band. Which one do you prefer?”

Once the stage is set, it isn’t easy to step forward.

Besides, Sonya did not want her name and family to become famous as mercenaries.

“…Let’s just stick with the Marcus Mercenary Band.”

Murbach and his men chuckled.

They had known from the beginning that Marcus’s words were a joke.

“It doesn’t matter even if you aren’t mercenaries. I just meant for us to introduce ourselves. You guys arrived at Fort Hebron yesterday, right?”

“That’s right.”

“If any questions arise while you are staying at Fort Hebron, feel free to ask anytime. We’ve been staying here since around late spring this year.”

“Late spring… You’ve stayed quite long. For what reason did you come all the way from the West to Fort Hebron?”

Murbach stared at Marcus with his clear eyes.

“The sweetest fruit grows on the steepest cliff. If I wish for my name to be remembered as the Mercenary King of this generation, there is no better place than Fort Hebron.”

“I’ll cheer for you. That way, I can brag about having a friendship with the Mercenary King later.”

“Haha!”

Once the light introductions were finished, Murbach naturally started to speak.

“Is this the first time you guys have seen a demon?”

“It’s not the first time. We’ve encountered one before.”

“I thought so. You looked calm all along. Still, it’s a relief that the demon you met as soon as you arrived at the fortress was a gentle one.”

“Gentle? The guy who pierced the gate with a sword?”

It was Rombel, not Murbach, who answered Marcus’s question.

“He turned back as soon as the gate closed. Is there any other demon as gentle as that?”

Murbach chimed in at that.

“That’s true. I’ve seen demons four times while staying at Fort Hebron, and this is the fifth. Among them, this is the first time a demon turned back just because the gate closed.”

“What were the other demons like?”

“They didn’t approach stealthily like that. The first demon I saw… just when I thought an ominous cloud was lingering over Fort Hebron, it suddenly appeared inside the fortress. The next demon shattered the closed gate and entered the interior of the fortress.”

A fortress is a facility for defense.

However, a demon has no reason to consider human circumstances. Nor is it bound by human common sense.

If the fortress is difficult to breach, it can simply manifest inside. There are also plenty of demons who can ignore the fortress and pass right by.

Even so, there were two reasons why people stayed inside Fort Hebron.

First. Although the walls could not block demons, they could defend against a significant portion of magic beasts.

Second. Because demons often manifest in places where people gather.

The people of Fort Hebron did not live in Fort Hebron to hide from demons.

They stayed inside the fortress to lure the demons.

“Anyway, this demon is unique. For a demon, its size is small, and its appearance is similar to a human’s. It’s as if it’s imitating a human.”

Murbach, as well as the other mercenaries, chattered about this and that regarding the four-armed, silver-gray demon.

For rather than shrinking back in the face of a worrisome situation, talking it over to find a solution was the way of mercenaries.

However, Elbridge fell into thoughts different from those of the ordinary mercenaries.

Elbridge knew that demons were once gods, and he knew that gods were once humans.

Then what kind of person was that demon in the past?

‘Probably, a knight.’

One who was a knight and became a god.

Suddenly, a person came to mind. Leonhardt.

But Elbridge was certain.

‘It’s not Sir Leonhardt.’

If there were any commonalities with Leonhardt, there was no way Elbridge wouldn’t have recognized them.

And the Goddess of the Rusty Shield would have given him a hint somehow.

*

The silver-gray knight was different from ordinary demons in many ways.

He did not lead magic beasts like other demons do, nor did he disappear somewhere. He simply sat quietly at a spot far from the wall and passed the time.

Perhaps because Murbach was well-connected, every time he disappeared and returned, he would convey the situation to Elbridge’s party.

“Marcus. The atmosphere is flowing in a strange direction.”

“In what way?”

“Whether to deal with that guy or leave him alone. Consensus is not being reached even from that stage.”

“…Leave a demon alone?”

“Except for driving his sword into the gate, he hasn’t shown any threatening actions all day. Many are of the opinion that we should watch the situation a bit longer.”

As the atmosphere became lukewarm, the three elves grew anxious.

They wanted to return to the Forest of Thorns as soon as possible, but since the silver-gray knight was blocking the north of Fort Hebron, they could not leave the fortress.

And the next morning, a mercenary shouted as he entered the inn.

“They say the knights are going to fight the fellow with four armpits!”

With that shout, the mercenaries who were in the inn poured out in a rush and headed up the wall.

Already, countless knights and paladins, as well as Count Hebron, the lord of Fort Hebron, were on the wall.

However, the mercenaries, apparently not afraid of the nobility, cheekily squeezed their way into the narrow space.

“Hey there, budge over a bit. Let us have a look too.”

Thanks to them clearing some space, Elbridge’s party could also secure a spot on the wall.

The party craned their necks and looked down below the wall.

There were eight people who stepped forward to suppress the silver-gray knight. All of them wore shining armor.

As they crept closer, the silver-gray knight finally stood up.

“He’s moving!”

The silver-gray knight didn’t even think of hiding his arms like last time.

With his four arms holding four swords, he calmly watched his opponents.

“Grr, grr!”

As the scent of humans wafted, a few magic beasts revealed themselves.

As the four-legged magic beasts tried to rush at the knights, ignoring the silver-gray knight,

Smoothly.

The four arms of the silver-gray knight moved slightly.

The very next moment, the bodies of the magic beasts passing by the silver-gray knight were shredded. Neatly sliced cubes of meat tumbled across the ground.

“A demon killed magic beasts?”

It was naturally bewildering. Magic beasts were a demon’s minions and limbs. For such a demon to kill magic beasts was extremely rare.

However, what made Elbridge and Rombel tense up was a different point.

‘Clean.’

The silver-gray knight’s sword strikes were so fast and concise that even Elbridge and Rombel found it difficult to follow with their eyes.

Although it was common knowledge that humanoid demons were relatively easy to deal with, it didn’t seem like that would be the case for that silver-gray demon.

Subsequently, the silver-gray knight charged toward the eight challengers.

“Form ranks!”

The knights’ response was textbook itself.

Raising shields, extending long spears. A formation to block the opponent’s charge.

Once the demon drew close, they would cast aside the unwieldy long spears, draw their swords, and resume the fight.

However, the silver-gray knight did not slow down.

Ssssh—

The silver-gray knight, showing movements like a ghost, slipped through the dense tips of the spears.

And then, a dizzying and brilliant flash.

And the carnage that followed.

With just a single clash, eight knights lost their lives.

“…”

The onlookers on the wall lost their speech.

That was closer to a human’s way of fighting rather than a demon’s.

However, the silver-gray knight was stronger than most ordinary demons. To the extent that even Elbridge felt a bit helpless.

Elbridge thought about what would have happened if he stood before that silver-gray knight.

‘I wouldn’t die instantly.’

But that was all. He just wouldn’t die instantly, but he couldn’t paint a picture of winning.

Even if he fought together with Rombel, the result didn’t seem like it would be much different.

To skillfully handle four swords simultaneously, any single one of which would be burdensome. It would be as difficult as facing four outstanding knights at the same time.

The Goddess of the Rusty Shield subtly handed down an oracle.

– Elbridge. You seem to have many worries.

“I was a bit flustered. Demons who wield swords are rare, and demons who wield swords so exquisitely are even rarer.”

– Of course, it is true that he is quite powerful. But compared to your Goddess’s prime, he certainly falls short. Your Goddess was once an unrivaled paladin…

It wasn’t a very credible oracle.

When they met Niseras in the past, hadn’t Niseras referred to the Goddess of the Rusty Shield as ‘not the strongest, but the most beloved paladin’?

However, since conveying that statement exactly would highly likely cause the Goddess of the Rusty Shield to pout, Elbridge had to swallow back the words that had almost reached the tip of his tongue.

“…It is only my regret that I cannot match your skills, Goddess.”

– Do not regret it. You are still young, and your possibilities are endless…

Just then, Count Hebron issued a command with a low sigh.

“For the time being, do not approach the demon rashly, and let us watch the situation a bit longer.”

*

The next day as well, the silver-gray knight stayed to the north of the wall.

Just as humans defended the fortress to hinder the demons’ southward descent, the silver-gray knight seemed to be staying quietly to block the humans’ northward advance.

The people inside the fortress talked busily about the silver-gray knight.

“It’s unfortunate for the dead knights, but the situation has actually improved.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Did you see that fellow with four armpits killing the magic beasts yesterday? It seems his relationship with magic beasts and other demons is bad. That guy will protect our fortress from demons.”

“Can you be sure it will remain that way in the future? We must go and kill him as soon as possible.”

“Count Hebron himself has no intention of moving, so who is going to kill him?”

“Anyone will do it. Whether knights or mercenaries!”

People’s opinions split in two.

Between the ‘we can leave him alone for now’ faction and the ‘we must get rid of the uncomfortable thing as quickly as possible’ faction.

Of course, the opinion to wait was dominant.

Since that was the opinion of Count Hebron, who held the final responsibility for the fortress.

In the midst of this, the ones whose insides were burning were the three elves—Selene, Johannes, and Aurelius. Their path back to their hometown was blocked, wasn’t it?

“No matter how much I think about it, it seems something is happening in the Forest of Thorns. It’s as if that demon is blocking humans from approaching the Forest of Thorns…”

Elbridge’s head was also in a tangle.

‘Is it the right answer to stay quietly in the fortress following Count Hebron’s instructions? Could a serious event be occurring in the Forest of Thorns, just as the elves worry?’

But he lacked the confidence to pierce through that silver-gray knight and pass.

Even if they won after all sorts of hardships, no small sacrifice would follow. That was closer to a certainty than a guess.

However, it didn’t take even a day for the situation to abruptly change again.

That evening. Someone shouted loudly.

“It’s the south! That demon bastard, before we knew it, he moved to the south of the fortress!”

People poured onto the southern wall and looked down below.

The silver-gray knight was standing quietly amidst a pool of blood.

Around the demon, the corpses of dead people, destroyed wagons, and all kinds of items lay scattered.

Someone watched that sight and muttered.

“The supplies…”

Although Fort Hebron was spacious, no matter how spacious, it was still a fortress.

Inside the fortress, they could neither hunt nor farm. A situation where supplies were absolutely necessary for the fortress to hold out.

The silver-gray knight stared quietly at the people of Fort Hebron.

Marcus spoke.

“…That bastard, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but it seems like he’s grinning right now.”

The demon’s face was not visible, obscured by the helmet.

However, there was no one who disagreed with Marcus’s opinion.

The demon had besieged the fortress all by himself.