Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 38 - Those Who Went Up and Those Who Came Down (Part 1)

Chapter 38 – Those Who Went Up and Those Who Came Down (Part 1)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The next morning.

As soon as Elbridge woke from his sleep, the Goddess’s oracle descended as if it had been waiting.

—Archbishop Elbridge. I really did not know that the believers would increase this much.

It was just a day ago that the Goddess of the Rusty Shield scraped her authority to the very bottom to use it.

However, the oracle the Goddess of the Rusty Shield sent down now had a clear voice and no noise was mixed in. It was surely thanks to the rapid expansion of the order’s influence.

Elbridge replied.

“Goddess. Were there that many who offered prayers last night?”

—It was beyond expectations. I thought that the dwarves remaining in the Order of the Steel Anvil would be the majority, no matter what.

Elbridge snapped to alertness.

Because the Goddess’s oracle was implying the fact that more than half of the dwarves had crossed over to the Order of the Rusty Shield.

“Did more than half of the dwarves offer prayers to you, Goddess?”

—Indeed, Archbishop Elbridge.

No wonder the oracle descended as soon as he woke up.

Surely, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield had been waiting for Elbridge to wake up, with the intention of boasting.

“Since the God of the Steel Anvil maintained three seats with only the population of the mountain city Barkuntol… if we secured more than half of this city’s population as believers, isn’t it virtually confirmed that we will occupy one seat at the end of the year?”

The Goddess of the Rusty Shield replied triumphantly.

—Is there any reason to conclude it is strictly one? Knowing that it might be two…

Elbridge almost stood up and clapped his hands. Two seats, no less!

Of course, it was an incomparably small number of seats compared to the Golden Platter Order, which was said to occupy as many as sixty-two seats in the Heavenly Council, or the Olive Tree Order, which occupied well over thirty seats.

However, if they limited their competitors to the combat orders of the shantytown, the situation would be different.

Currently, the Laurel Wreath Order, said to be the most successful in the shantytown, had three seats, and the Bloody Spear Order, a prominent competitor of the Laurel Wreath Order, had two seats.

It was a situation where all the seats of Solenion’s shantytown orders combined did not even reach ten seats.

In this situation, if the Order of the Rusty Shield grabbed two seats at once and was reborn as a prominent order of the shantytown, how thrilling would that feeling be?

“Congratulations, Goddess.”

—Of course, this is thanks to your dedication, Archbishop Elbridge.

If the story had concluded here, it would have been very heartwarming and nice, but the Goddess ended up adding a word.

—The one who referred to our order and muttered about a shipwreck… Felix, he was called. On the day your Goddess occupies two seats, I really want to see what kind of expression that fellow will make.

It seemed the wound Felix had left with his pure goodwill and three-inch tongue was extremely deep.

Since Elbridge hoped that the Goddess would not dig up painful memories, he naturally shifted the topic.

“By the way, the reason why there were many who offered prayers to you yesterday is likely due to the dwarves’ temperament. Dwarves dislike being in debt, do they not?”

When one received great help but had no proper way to repay it, it was common to express gratitude by entering the other party’s religious order.

It seemed the dwarves, who had been leading isolated lives, had reached a similar conclusion.

—It must certainly be so. However, because the dwarves’ faith was as firm as a rock for the past thousand years, your Goddess did not think that this many dwarves would offer prayers.

Elbridge thought deeply and then said,

“The fact that it is a temporary faith must have worked positively instead. Because it is a faith with a fixed period, wouldn’t they have been able to offer prayers to you, Goddess, without agonizing deeply over it?”

Even if the dwarves were disappointed in the God of the Steel Anvil, if their faith for the entirety of their remaining lives was at stake, they would not have easily offered prayers to the Goddess of the Rusty Shield.

However, as Elbridge said, the faith the dwarves were showing right now was temporary.

A temporary faith that would last only until the day Rombel ascended to heaven and became a god, or until the day Rombel failed to ascend to heaven.

At shortest, a few years; at longest, a few decades of faith.

Of course, if it were an ordinary human, that period would have felt extremely long, but the average lifespan of dwarves reached four hundred years.

Even if it was several decades, the weight of that time was bound to be different from that of humans.

Elbridge continued speaking.

“Also, the timing is extremely good. To accept believers on a large scale when the order is in its most difficult period. At this level, it is certain to be of great help even if all the dwarves leave the order in the future.”

The Goddess of the Rusty Shield replied significantly.

—Archbishop Elbridge. The dwarves will not easily leave the order even when that day comes.

“Why is that?”

—As I said, not long ago, your Goddess learned the method of holding onto believers from the Goddess of the Olive Tree. Back then, your Goddess did not only learn about pyramids. There was also a technique called the foot-in-the-door technique.

“…By any chance, what kind of technique is that?”

—The Goddess of the Olive Tree said that if one establishes even a small relationship in any manner, it becomes difficult to break that relationship. Over the next few years, the dwarves will fall into the charm of your Goddess and the order, meaning that even if the day when Rombel truly ascends eventually comes…

The door swung open.

While the highly excited Goddess of the Rusty Shield was drawing a hopeful future, the door opened and Rombel appeared.

The Goddess’s oracle naturally cut off.

Rombel said to Elbridge,

“Elbridge. I have something to ask.”

“What?”

“Before being trapped in the seal or after being released from the seal, did you ever grasp an opportunity to ascend?”

Elbridge shook his head.

“No. Never.”

“Really? You stood out even two hundred years ago, so I thought there would have been an opportunity for you to ascend.”

“Me? There was no reason for me to ascend past the knights who were more active than me.”

“Knights who were more active than you?”

“Sir Leonhardt is a prime example.”

Leonhardt was the person who was the Chief Paladin of the Order of the Rusty Shield around the time Elbridge was sealed two hundred years ago.

Others clicked their tongues looking at Elbridge, calling him a tremendously skilled individual, but Elbridge considered Chief Paladin Leonhardt to be several steps above himself.

“…Many also come to mind among the paladins of other orders. Even if their activity itself was less than mine, considering that they were allocated less authority than me…”

Rombel cut in, interrupting Elbridge’s words.

“I don’t know about others, but Sir Leonhardt ascended, didn’t he?”

“Huh?”

“I heard that not long after you were sealed, Sir Leonhardt ascended.”

Elbridge came to know the current status of an old connection in an unexpected manner.

“Really?”

“It’s a story that everyone who should know knows. You wouldn’t have known since you were sealed for two hundred years, though.”

“By any chance, what is Sir Leonhardt’s divine name?”

“I don’t know that. However, it is certain that his order did not establish itself. Among the gods who ascended since two hundred years ago, there is no god who newly occupied a seat.”

“Ah…”

When Elbridge lamented, Rombel shrugged his shoulders.

“Not everything goes well after ascension, right? Besides, was Sir Leonhardt’s personality ordinarily fiery? If the order was operated well, that would be even stranger.”

Just as Rombel said, establishing a great achievement and becoming a heavenly god does not mean all problems are solved.

Wasn’t it a well-known fact that just as earthly people live while competing on earth, gods live while competing in heaven?

Heavenly competition is that fierce.

Only an extremely small portion of gods are successful enough to ascend to heaven and occupy a seat, and even after occupying a seat once, if they make a slip, they are highly likely to lose their seat and be pushed out of the council.

Since it was extremely rare for a god once pushed out of the council to reclaim a seat, if the Goddess of the Rusty Shield returned to the council at the end of this year, it could be said to be quite unusual.

Rombel muttered.

“Although your great achievement at the time would fall behind Sir Leonhardt’s, since you were sealed for two hundred years, I thought you might have obtained the qualification to ascend to heaven. Is it still insufficient…”

Elbridge sank into deep thought.

If given the opportunity to ascend to heaven, would ascending to heaven be the correct decision?

Rombel stretched and said,

“Since things have turned out like this, I should go to the Central Mage Tower.”

“Why the Central Mage Tower?”

“The current Central Mage Tower Lord is someone who came down to the earth from heaven.”

“What?”

He had heard that just as a mortal on earth can ascend and become a god, it is also possible for a heavenly god to descend to earth and become a mortal.

However, that was merely a story of possibility and impossibility,

and this was the first time he had heard a story that such a person actually existed.

“Just why did they descend from heaven?”

“I don’t know the reason. But even to grasp a clue to ascension, I think I must visit them once.”

While Elbridge and Rombel were conversing, a new presence approached.

He naturally thought it would be Marcus, but Mayor Valdrek’s secretary was standing there.

The mayor’s secretary showed simple courtesy to Rombel and Elbridge and said,

“The mayor is looking for you.”

*

The secretary guided Elbridge and Rombel to the city hall reception room and disappeared.

Marcus had arrived at the reception room before Elbridge and Rombel, and his expression was quite good. It seemed the believers who entered the Sunshower Order yesterday were not few in number.

Rombel asked Marcus,

“Hey, Marcus. What did Mayor Valdrek call us for?”

“We came here after taking on a request, did we not? And a request is bound to be followed by a reward.”

“Oh, right. That was it.”

Since Rombel’s purpose was entering the Red Mountains, he had no particular interest in the request’s reward itself.

Similarly, Elbridge had also completely forgotten about the reward.

Receiving a lot of new believers and having the Goddess of the Rusty Shield obtain a seat. Because there was no greater reward than that for Elbridge.

‘Still, since they are giving it, there is no reason not to receive it.’

While he was letting his imagination run wild about what the reward would be, Mayor Valdrek walked over with steady steps and greeted them.

“Did you have a peaceful night?”

“Thanks to you.”

As soon as Rombel received the greeting, he straightforwards asked back.

“Mayor Valdrek. Did the God of the Steel Anvil send down a new oracle?”

A bit of suspicion was contained in Rombel’s voice.

The suspicion that the God of the Steel Anvil might harbor a grudge and cook up some scheme.

Mayor Valdrek read the underlying meaning contained in Rombel’s words.

“Just in case, I am telling you that the God of the Steel Anvil will not harm you, Mr. Rombel.”

“Is that so?”

“If nothing else, the God of the Steel Anvil’s heart wishing to protect the race was definitely sincere.”

“I do not doubt that.”

“Since the old order has collapsed and there is no way to return to the past, wouldn’t the God of the Steel Anvil wish for the dwarves to find stability even if it is through the method you lead, Mr. Rombel?”

Mayor Valdrek’s voice was bitter.

Having watched the downfall of the god he had served all his life, how could he not be so?

However, Mayor Valdrek was a dwarf who knew how to distinguish between public and private matters.

“As you might have guessed, the reason I invited you here is to discuss the reward of the request.”

When the talk of the reward came up, a happiness hard to hide bloomed on Marcus’s face.

“…I will give you the opportunity to take one item each that you want from Barkuntol’s first-class treasury.”

Only one each? Elbridge and Marcus were unenthusiastic, but Rombel was slightly surprised upon hearing that story.

Dwarves are born artisans. To the extent that due to that manual dexterity, in the distant past, all dwarves had to live as slaves.

And there were two reasons why the God of the Steel Anvil established a base in the Red Mountains.

First, because there was no other space like it as a hiding place for the dwarves, and

second, because veins of all kinds of rare minerals existed in the depths of the Red Mountains. Bronzimmar, the city connected to Barkuntol, was a mine shaft in the distant past, and even now a giant mine shaft exists inside Bronzimmar.

In other words, only the best masterpieces among items made of rare minerals were stored in the first-class treasury of the mountain city Barkuntol. Since an item entering the treasury was something that barely happened once in ten years, its value was hard to convert into money.

“Or, we can also newly make the item you want. Since there are no mages, enchanting would be impossible, though…”

Marcus fidgeted with excitement in his seat.

“Let’s look around the treasury first before deciding. Shall we go right now?”

However, Mayor Valdrek’s story had not finished yet.

“And, for Sir Elbridge, there is one more item I want to show you separately from the reward.”

“What is it?”

“The shield of Sir Leonhardt, who has now ascended, is stored in Barkuntol.”

Elbridge’s eyebrow twitched.