Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 27 - All-In
Chapter 27 – All-In
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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After a few busy days where there was no time to rest, the heat of the Grand Festival that had covered the shantytown began to cool down little by little.
Viveca, sitting in a chair, stretched with a satisfied expression.
“It was successful. Wasn’t it?”
Working together for the past few days, Elbridge and Viveca grew a little closer. To the point where they could treat each other without much distance.
“Is that so? It is my first time proselytizing, so I do not know well.”
“It is amazing. Probably no one knew this many people would visit.”
“Viveca. Out of the people who visit the temple, how many actually join the order?”
When Elbridge asked indirectly, Viveca pondered for a moment before answering.
“Well… even if only one in ten joins, it is excellent.”
It was a ratio not much different from Felix’s story.
“Are there originally that few people who join?”
“Because people do not visit the temple with the determination to change their order. They do not change their order as easily as one thinks.”
However, as Elbridge verified through the Goddess of the Rusty Shield, one out of every seven people who visited the order offered a prayer to the goddess. It was a much higher ratio than Viveca’s expectation.
“But that is the story of ordinary orders. In the case of the Order of the Rusty Shield, you will have to lower your sights a bit more. Our order at least has the authority of healing, but… honestly, the Order of the Rusty Shield has no useful authority at all in ordinary times. Even if only one in fifteen or twenty becomes a believer, it is a decent result.”
“Hmm.”
“Of course! Still, you do not need to be disappointed. There were so many people who visited, after all.”
Just like Viveca’s words, the number of people who visited the Order of the Rusty Shield was larger than expected.
In the meantime, the success rate of proselytizing was also significantly high, so the number of people who offered prayers to the goddess during a period of about ten days exceeded nine hundred in total.
Of course, the Order of the Rusty Shield still had a long way to go to obtain a seat in the Heavenly Council. However, even this much would allow him to utilize much more authority than when there were only one or two believers.
Elbridge asked.
“What about paladins? Is it common for about one in ten paladins to also transfer orders?”
“Well. I do not know well about that. Because it is rare for paladins of other orders to visit our order with the intention of transferring.”
Regrettably, among the paladins who visited the Order of the Rusty Shield, not a single person had offered prayers to the Goddess of the Rusty Shield yet.
As Elbridge stood up with a bitter expression, Viveca asked.
“Elbridge. Where are you going?”
“I have items to receive, so I think I should go to the Mage Tower.”
“What about proselytizing?”
“It seems everyone who would come has come by now, so I think we can wrap up proselytizing at this point.”
Viveca’s brown eyes sparkled.
“Alright. And… Elbridge. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“You were a big help the past few days. Thank you, Viveca.”
Although Elbridge politely expressed his gratitude, Viveca’s expression was unsatisfied.
Therefore, Elbridge added a word.
“…Shall I bring you some snacks on my way back?”
Viveca glared at Elbridge.
*
As soon as Elbridge arrived at the Mage Tower, he went to find the dwarf Rombel.
Rombel was sweating profusely while hammering a piece of iron.
“What’s this, Rombel. Is it not finished yet?”
Only then did Rombel put down the hammer.
“No. Your commissioned item was completed a few days ago. Why did you come so late?”
“I was a bit busy because work piled up.”
“I thought you would come right after the Grand Festival ended. Were you busy recruiting believers?”
Elbridge was slightly surprised.
“What, Rombel. Did you come to watch the Grand Festival?”
“Of course I went. It is one of my few pleasures… Anyway, I watched it well. Your skill is still the same.”
Rombel was talking like that, and handed over the items Elbridge had ordered.
They were a gauntlet enchanted with a grip strength enhancement spell and a cuirass enchanted with a warp defense spell.
The magic enchanted on the cuirass could not be tested right away, but the gauntlet’s performance could be checked immediately.
Elbridge put on the new gauntlet, gripped a block of wood rolling around the workshop with his thumb and index finger, and pulled.
As a result, he could tear off the block of wood without much difficulty.
“Excellent. It is not expensive for nothing.”
“The mage in charge of enchanting put in a lot of effort. He probably couldn’t even sleep properly.”
“Tell him thank you.”
As Elbridge sat in the chair, clenching and opening his fists, Rombel sat across the table.
“So. Did the recruitment of believers go well?”
“I gathered quite a few ordinary believers, but strangely there was no paladin trying to enter the order. The Order of the Bloody Spear seemed to have received quite a few new paladins… I do not know the reason.”
At that, Rombel laughed.
“Elbridge. That is natural.”
“Natural?”
“The paladins who visit the Order of the Rusty Shield and the paladins who visit the Order of the Bloody Spear have different purposes.”
“Different purposes?”
“Yes. The paladins who visit the Order of the Rusty Shield are probably interested in you, not the order. It would be reasons like respect or awe as a paladin.”
Elbridge was slightly disappointed.
Did it not mean he had pinned his expectations in vain on paladins who had no intention of entering the order?
“How is the Order of the Bloody Spear different from me?”
“Those guys won the Grand Festival. Rather than living miserably as they do now, the paladins of small-scale orders probably wanted to transfer to the Order of the Bloody Spear to spread their wings. Meaning they intended to join the Order of the Bloody Spear from the beginning.”
Elbridge lamented.
“If we had won without surrendering, our order could have recruited new paladins too? If I had known it would be like this…”
At that, Rombel shook his head.
“That would not be the case.”
“Why?”
“Because what you can show is individual capability, not the capability as an order. And the way you fight is even more of a problem. Although paladins would look at you and think you are amazing, they probably would not think they want to fight like you.”
Elbridge scratched the back of his head.
“I do not understand.”
“Imagine sitting children down and showing them a fight. If you show them paladins fighting in an orderly and upright manner, the children will like it. But if they see you fighting with holes pierced in your palms and shoulders, all the children will burst into tears.”
“Rombel. Those people are paladins. They are not children.”
Rombel pounded the table with his thick palm and burst into laughter.
“Haha! Elbridge. Your head is stuck two hundred years ago. Those paladins are children.”
“Just because I grew two hundred years older does not mean those paladins become children. Those people also are thirty or forty years old.”
“Elbridge. Paladins and knights grow by feeding on experience, not time. If they cannot pile up experience, they cannot become a paladin who does their share even if they turn a hundred years old. They are just children holding swords.”
Rombel was talking about the mindset of the paladins from over two hundred years ago and modern paladins.
The paladins of the past who, as a result of surviving by rolling in battlefields, became able to endure any sacrifice to kill the enemy.
The modern paladins who wore sparkling armor and trained in safe places.
Rombel seemed not to recognize the latter as paladins.
“But… it was not particularly violent combat either. Rombel, you know it too. The Order of the Rusty Shield was not an order that used particularly violent tactics.”
“I know. The bastards of the Bloody Spear or the Echoes of War were more violent. But what does that matter? Now is not that era, and there are not many people left who remember that era.”
Rombel rested his chin on his short arm and continued talking.
“Elbridge. I know you became anxious because you wanted to recruit believers and paladins as soon as possible. But there is absolutely no need to rush. Sooner or later, when demons appear and the world becomes chaotic, people will vie with each other to flock to the Order of the Rusty Shield.”
“Actually, I am not confident about that either. Because our order lacks a bit of benefits that can be given to believers…”
Rombel snorted, cutting off Elbridge’s words.
“Benefits? Do you think there was anyone in the past who visited a combat order hoping for such things? Not a single person did!”
Rombel was right.
The believers of combat orders in those days did not bring up things like benefits. People served the gods of combat orders solely to survive.
Believers wished that the god would look after the paladins even one more time instead of themselves.
Only then would the paladins of the combat order be able to enjoy even a bit more authority and hunt even a few more demons.
It was not a leisurely era to distribute limited authority to ordinary believers.
Of course, there were non-combat orders at that time as well.
But the believers of non-combat orders could not talk about their belonging order proudly. Since they were prone to be treated as shameless people who could not lay down their greed even when the world was in danger.
“There is no need to be anxious, Elbridge. You just silently do the thing you do best. Hunt magic beasts, and establish achievements. Then the order will naturally grow. It is not far. No, it is not just not far. Such a world has approached right before our nose. Each order is competing to order Mage-Tower-crafted armor.”
“Is that so…”
The conversation quieted down, and Elbridge and Rombel each sank into thought.
Just then, there was one thought that arose in Elbridge’s head.
“Rombel.”
“Why?”
“Why do you not participate in the Grand Festival?”
Over two hundred years ago, Rombel was a warrior with skills outstanding enough to be counted on one hand among all dwarves.
Meaning, if Rombel entered the Grand Festival, he could grasp the victory without difficulty.
Meaning that although facing five people at the same time like Elbridge would be overwhelming, beating down five people one by one would not be difficult to pull off.
Rombel hesitated.
“…There are not many dwarves in the east, so it cannot be helped. I cannot enter the Grand Festival all by myself, can I?”
“Other orders also form teams and enter well. You can do the same, can’t you? Seeing that you regularly go to watch the Grand Festival. It would be better to stand on the stage if possible.”
“I cannot because work is busy. Regrettably.”
“…Hmm.”
Elbridge thought.
‘This guy, it seems like he is hiding something.’
However, Elbridge decided not to dig any deeper.
Since more occasions to request him to make armor would arise in the future, would it not be troublesome if their relationship became awkward?
“I should get up soon. By the way, can I use the borrowed armor a bit more?”
“Of course. I will take care of the aftermath, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you. See you later.”
Elbridge left the Mage Tower after exchanging simple greetings with Rombel.
Then, as if waiting, the goddess’s voice was heard.
– Elbridge. I must deliver glad tidings to you.
“What tidings are they?”
– Just a moment ago, a new believer offered prayers to me, and with this, the believers of the order have exceeded one thousand. No other order in the world could have increased their believers five-hundred-fold in ten days. All of this is thanks to your active performance, Elbridge.
“How could that be entirely my capability? It is thanks to the goddess leading me to the right path.”
Just as he was about to let it pass after saying that, there was a question that flashed through Elbridge’s head.
“Goddess. May I ask just one thing?”
– Ask anything. Your goddess will answer you with all her heart…
“By any chance, was there a paladin who offered prayers to you?”
– There was none.
“Ah…”
Elbridge lamented. To have gathered a thousand believers but not have a single new paladin?
It was indeed regrettable news. In this way, was the recruitment of believers not only half-successful?
Just then, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield asked Elbridge.
– Elbridge. Why do you feel so regretful?
“The day of the demon’s arrival is imminent. To think there is no paladin to shine the goddess’s name together… As the archbishop, cardinal, and Chief Paladin, this cannot but be extremely regrettable news.”
However, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield answered in a benevolent voice.
– Elbridge. There is no need to feel regretful at all.
“Goddess. You do not need to comfort me. Since all of this is due to my own lack of virtue…”
– It is not like that, Elbridge. Your goddess thought deeply while watching this Grand Festival, and reached a new conclusion.
“What conclusion might it be?”
– That our order does not need new paladins. For the time being, you, Elbridge, will be the sole paladin of our order.
“Yes?”
Because Elbridge could not understand the goddess’s story, he asked falteringly.
“Over two hundred years ago. I heard the archbishop say that you, Goddess, regretted that the number of paladins was small. But now, for what reason…”
At that, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield replied.
– Elbridge. As you know, the authority your goddess can bestow is limited. But having watched the capabilities of the paladins of other orders in this Grand Festival, there was not a single paladin that met my standards.
“…”
Somehow, he felt like he knew what story would follow.
– Rather than allocating authority to immature paladins, I reached the conclusion that it would be better to concentrate all authority on a single, uniquely outstanding paladin. For the future of the order, and also for your safety.
For the first time since the creation of the world, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield declared an all-in, risking the fate of the order.