Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 31 - Mountain City Barkuntol (Part 1)
Chapter 31 – Mountain City Barkuntol (Part 1)
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Another thirteen days had passed since then.
“Is there really no way to enter?”
To the nameless knight’s question, Rombel replied servilely.
“Yes. There was absolutely no way. The knight who came from the County of Hugen waited for a full month before returning the day before yesterday.”
“Tsk. Understood.”
With this, Rombel sent back the party that had come to the Red Mountains for the fifth time.
Rombel’s acting skills were truly at an astounding level.
Because among the five groups of reinforcements they had faced so far, not a single person had doubted Rombel’s words.
As Rombel approached triumphantly, Marcus spoke.
“By the way, not a single one of the dwarves who went to request help has returned.”
“Because they would have carefully selected and sent out only dwarves whose day of death was near. The dwarves who went to request help must have all been stamped with the demon’s brand. So that they would die without returning.”
The demon’s brand was the trace that had been discovered on the upper body of the dwarf who died in the Holy City Solenion.
As far as Elbridge knew, every demon stamped a brand on its victims.
The methods of stamping a brand varied.
In some cases, they stamped the brand on the soul after killing to claim it as a trophy, while in other cases, they killed after stamping the brand.
Among them, the most common method was to stamp a brand on a living person, present death to those who failed to erase the brand within a certain timeframe, and harvest their soul.
That was the reason Elbridge had thought of a demon when all the fief inhabitants of the Viscountcy of Dickens vanished without a trace.
The demon had most likely stamped a brand on all the fief inhabitants as soon as it appeared.
Marcus asked back.
“Are you saying that the God of the Steel Anvil wished for the departed dwarves to never return? Why on earth?”
“He’s the fellow who was reluctant even when sending out warriors for the battle against the demon. How troublesome would it be if a dwarf who had tasted the outside world came back and started talking about other gods? He has to block it in advance.”
It was a truly vicious method.
Elbridge asked Rombel.
“Now that I think about it, it’s also strange that dwarves believe in and follow the God of the Steel Anvil. Even though dwarves are natural-born blacksmiths, they wouldn’t all be blacksmiths.”
“They don’t follow him because they are blacksmiths. Since the God of the Steel Anvil is the only deity of dwarf origin, there is a prevailing atmosphere that they must ‘naturally’ follow him. Even as a god, he is worse than a dog.”
Rombel frequently criticized the God of the Steel Anvil at every turn.
And every time, Marcus was startled.
“Mr. Rombel. You’re sure the God of the Steel Anvil isn’t listening to this, right?”
“I told you he can’t hear. The God of the Steel Anvil abandoned me, and I also turned my back on the God of the Steel Anvil, didn’t I?”
“You didn’t mention turning your back. Then, which god do you follow, Mr. Rombel?”
“I am an unbeliever. From two hundred years ago until now, I have never followed a god. Do you think I entered the Mage Tower for no reason?”
When Elbridge met Rombel at the Mage Tower, Rombel had spoken as if he still followed the God of the Steel Anvil.
Now that they were in the same boat, he had confessed everything, but at that time, perhaps it had been uncomfortable to confess that he had been expelled from the order.
Elbridge crossed his arms.
“But no matter how I look at it, the God of the Steel Anvil is a bit strange. Retaliating against a believer who changed their faith is forbidden in the Heavenly Council, isn’t it? If he blocks you from entering, isn’t that retaliation?”
“He probably made up a plausible excuse. That he wasn’t trying to retaliate, but that the Red Mountains is originally a space where only his believers can enter… something like that.”
“Would such an excuse work?”
“I don’t know well what happens in heaven either. But he probably didn’t cross the line by a hair’s breadth. The more despicable a fellow is, the better he is at reading the room, isn’t he?”
While they were chatting, Elbridge felt a new presence.
However, this presence was different from what he had felt so far. It was not a presence approaching the valley from far away, but a presence felt from inside the valley.
Looking back, a female dwarf was visible, standing with a bewildered expression.
Her stubby limbs were unmistakably those of a dwarf, but unlike male dwarves, she lacked a bushy beard, making her oddly cute.
“Huh…?”
The female dwarf stealthily approached and asked.
“Who are you guys? Perhaps…”
That reply was the responsibility of his fellow dwarf, Rombel.
“My name is Rombel. Having heard the news that our brethren in the Red Mountains are facing immense trouble, I have come from Solenion with my companions.”
The female dwarf said hesitatingly.
“My name is Bruni. But… why are you waiting here? Instead of entering inside the valley.”
“It is because we cannot enter through that valley.”
“Yes? But Mr. Rombel, you are a dwarf, aren’t you?”
Seemingly, Bruni showed no sign of knowing Rombel.
Rombel wore a melancholic expression.
“Actually… due to circumstances, we cannot enter inside.”
“What circumstances?”
“Two hundred years ago, I was expelled from the Order of the Steel Anvil.”
“Pardon? How can a dwarf be expelled from the order?”
“It is because I committed a grave sin in my youth. I will show you the evidence.”
Rombel pretended to approach the valley, then once again showcased his personal talent of quickly throwing his body back to escape beside the corpse.
This time too, the valley closed and opened with a loud noise.
“Lately, there were people who said they heard a loud noise near the valley. Was that because of you, Mr. Rombel?”
“Correct. I was looking for a way to enter inside the Red Mountains.”
“Since it’s my first time meeting someone who doesn’t serve the God of the Steel Anvil, I don’t know what to do… By any chance, could I know for what reason you were expelled?”
Rombel wore a bitter expression.
“Miss Bruni. I am one of the warriors who left the Red Mountains two hundred years ago to fight the demon.”
“That war… I heard about it from my mother.”
“At that time, I was young and foolish. As I mingled with a crowd serving all kinds of minor gods, a moment came when my faith wavered.”
Embarrassment immediately rose on Bruni’s face.
“So, did you turn your back on the order?”
“It wasn’t that. I committed the blunder of keeping someone who turned their back on the order by my side.”
Rombel’s expression looked calm on the surface. However, Elbridge noticed that Rombel’s jaw was tightly clenched. He was clearly struggling to hide his true feelings.
“The God of the Steel Anvil gave me opportunities several times. But foolish as I was, I did not recognize those opportunities.”
Of course, it was a story different from the facts. Because the God of the Steel Anvil had expelled Rombel from the order without a single word.
However, he could not honestly confess such a story in front of Bruni.
“Belated regret washed over me. But it was already too late. My prayers did not reach the God of the Steel Anvil.”
“Don’t tell me you believed in another god?”
“No. I was not foolish enough to repeat the mistake once more. That is why, looking forward to the day the God of the Steel Anvil would answer my prayers, I waited for two hundred years.”
“Wow…”
“And about a month ago, I heard that our brethren had fallen into trouble. The moment I heard, I realized it! This was the God of the Steel Anvil giving me one last opportunity! I immediately grabbed my axe and left the Holy City Solenion. And I have been waiting in front of the Red Mountains until now.”
At a glance, it appeared Rombel was speaking to Bruni, but in reality, this was a speech directed toward the God of the Steel Anvil.
To a dwarf warrior with high self-esteem, this was a humiliation hard to bear.
However, if one wants to swing an axe to cut off the enemy’s neck, one must first approach within striking distance.
Rombel endured the humiliation in order to chop down the faith of the Order of the Steel Anvil.
To show them an unbeliever like himself solving the problem that the God of the Steel Anvil could not solve.
To thoroughly shake the faith of the dwarves.
And to lead the God of the Steel Anvil to ruin.
“Miss Bruni. Please guide me inside the Red Mountains. I wish to wash away my sins through this opportunity and become a servant of the God of the Steel Anvil once more.”
Bruni pondered for a long time.
She looked unsure of whether guiding Rombel inside the mountains was the right choice.
“By any chance, you guys, how long have you been waiting here?”
“We have waited for roughly a fortnight.”
“Were there no other people besides you?”
Elbridge could guess Bruni’s thoughts.
Instead of letting the uncomfortable Rombel into the Red Mountains, Bruni was trying to find out if there were other people.
‘She is no fool.’
However, Rombel’s acting skills easily masked Bruni’s suspicion.
“Other people? Did you request help from places other than the Holy City Solenion as well?”
“Mmm… I heard that was the case.”
Rombel wore an expression of utmost seriousness.
“As one who served the God of the Steel Anvil. I promise you, risking the faith I have rebuilt over two hundred years. No one has approached this valley for the past fortnight. Miss Bruni is the first.”
Rombel promised Bruni, risking a faith he did not even possess.
It was a truly unconscionable statement, but Bruni did not notice the contradiction.
“Mmm. Understood. If you go so far as to say that.”
Bruni took a step inside the valley.
Unlike when Rombel entered, the valley was quiet.
However, Elbridge and Marcus were slightly tense.
‘I hope the valley doesn’t close belatedly while we are entering…’
However, Rombel did not hesitate in the slightest and followed behind Bruni.
Elbridge followed behind Rombel because he did not want to show a tense figure in front of him, and Marcus forced himself to follow behind Elbridge due to the oracle sent by the God of the Sunshower.
As they advanced a few steps like that, Rombel stopped his steps.
Bruni looked back and asked.
“What is it?”
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”
Bruni began to walk again.
However, Elbridge noticed that Rombel was searching for something.
Rombel crouched down and picked up a small object from the ground.
It was an object that looked like a white pebble or perhaps a bone fragment.
Holding his fist tightly clenched, Rombel moved his steps to follow Bruni.
*
Once they passed through the valley, the dwarf city revealed its appearance.
Since the dwarves’ city was located slightly lower than the entrance of the valley, the party could look down upon the city at a single glance.
Rombel inhaled deeply and said.
“Welcome to the Mountain City Barkuntol.”
Elbridge and Marcus admired it without concealment.
“Wow…”
“It’s amazing.”
An ordinary city was formed naturally by people gathering and living together.
The shape of the city was bound to be created like loosely piecing together small fragments.
However, the city inside the Red Mountains was different.
Every building, like a delicately crafted sculpture, radiated outward from a single central point. A sight as if hundreds of concentric circles had been stacked in succession.
It was not only the shape that was exquisite. The scale was also beyond imagination.
To the extent that one could understand why this city alone could occupy three seats in the Heavenly Council.
He had heard stories that there was a dwarf city in the Red Mountains, but the only ones who had been there directly were dwarves. How long had it been since a non-dwarf visitor came to this city?
Marcus smirked and whispered to Elbridge.
“It feels like a dream. To think I would come to Barkuntol.”
“Same for me.”
The height of the dwarves barely reached the chests of Marcus and Elbridge.
The party naturally monopolized the gazes of all the dwarves.
As they walked a little like that, a dwarf called the party to a halt.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Rombel!”
“Gundrik. It’s been a long time.”
Judging by the atmosphere, he appeared to be Rombel’s old friend.
However, Gundrik hesitated just as he was about to offer Rombel a handshake.
“…Rombel. I thought I caught a rumor that you were expelled from the order. It must be a false rumor, right?”
Rombel replied.
“It is not a false rumor.”
“If so, you…”
“Currently, I am an unbeliever. I have no god I serve.”
The expressions of the surrounding dwarves turned grave.
The dwarf called Gundrik was the same.
Gundrik said.
“Rombel. If it were a human, maybe… but for a dwarf who does not follow the God of the Steel Anvil to set foot in this mountain city is a terrible insult. Even now, declare that you will serve the God of the Steel Anvil.”
Rombel shook his head.
“No. I cannot do that right now.”
“It is not a matter that can be postponed. Rombel. Right now—”
To that, Rombel replied.
“I am one who committed a sin and was expelled. To wash away my guilt, a corresponding exploit is necessary.”
Gundrik’s eyes went wide.
“You… don’t tell me.”
“I have come to ward off the threat that has befallen the Mountain City Barkuntol. Only then might I wash away at least a little of the impiety I committed toward the God of Steel and Anvil.”
Was it because the statement itself was plausible, or was it because Rombel’s facial acting was so outstanding?
The atmosphere, which was turning threatening, dissolved like melting snow.
Gundrik smiled with satisfaction and offered Rombel a handshake.
“Welcome back to your hometown. Rombel.”
“Thank you. Friend.”
Rombel clasped Gundrik’s hand, and several dwarves clapped as if moved.
However, Elbridge watched that scene with an expression carrying a hint of dread. He could understand the resentment, but wasn’t the lying way too natural?
Just then, the voice of the goddess was heard in Elbridge’s ears.
—Elbridge. I changed my mind.
“What thought do you mean?”
—Since your goddess thinks that a paladin must be truthful, it seems a single paladin in our order is enough…
Elbridge was deeply moved by the goddess’s wisdom.