Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 63 - Paladin of Green Eyes
Chapter 63 – Paladin of Green Eyes
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Nngh—
Matilda, who had been constantly running her pen next to Elbridge, stretched.
Matilda looked at Elbridge and spoke.
“I have handled all the urgent matters, so I will leave early today. That is fine, right?”
Since Matilda was a freelance priest, she had to leave by sunset.
However, rendering her contract conditions meaningless, Matilda had pulled all-nighters every other day from the end of last year to the beginning of this year. This was because there was simply so much work.
Elbridge replied.
“Of course. I am always grateful.”
“No need to thank me. It is only natural that I do it.”
“The priests of other temples must also know that you have done far more than your assigned role, Miss Matilda.”
At that, Matilda wore a playful smile.
“It is all planned. I have to leave a strong impression when it’s busy so that no one will give me a hard time even if I work leisurely and slack off during normal times.”
“Haha.”
“You must be just as tired, Sir Elbridge. Take some rest now.”
“Yes. I will rest after wrapping this up.”
As Matilda stood up from her seat, she clapped her hands lightly. Clap!
“Oh right, I almost forgot the present.”
“A present?”
“Wait a moment.”
Matilda walked over to a corner of the temple, brought back a bottle slightly larger than a span of a hand, and handed it to Elbridge.
“It is homemade mead. If you warm it up and drink it, you will be able to sleep deeply.”
Elbridge uncorked the mead and sniffed it. The scent of cloves was intense.
It was clear that it was made less as an alcohol for drinkers and more as something semi-medicinal.
“Thank you, Miss Matilda.”
Matilda departed with a light step.
Elbridge also finished his work quickly, warmed up the mead, drank it, and went to bed.
*
At some point, Elbridge found himself watching a young child following closely behind a man.
‘…What is this?’
Elbridge examined the child’s face.
That child’s face was astonishingly similar to Elbridge’s.
Before long, Elbridge realized what this situation was. It was a dream.
Elbridge was looking at his childhood self in the dream.
‘A lucid dream, of all things.’
Ordinarily, he would have woken up from his sleep naturally.
However, perhaps thanks to the mead mixed with cloves, today’s Elbridge did not wake up.
Lucid dreaming was an uncommon occurrence. Even more so if it was a lucid dream where one could watch oneself from the side.
It felt almost like coming to watch a realistic play.
‘Should I just watch…?’
Elbridge carefully observed the situation.
The person leading young Elbridge had red, messy curly hair, a face that existed in Elbridge’s memory.
‘Was this when I was first sold? If so, the place we are about to arrive at is…’
Young Elbridge arrived at an abandoned temple on the outskirts of a small village.
The man who had brought Elbridge spoke.
“Welcome to the Order of Ivy and the Well. Train hard and become a fine paladin. Only then can your family live in abundance.”
Young Elbridge was guided to a room that looked like a storehouse.
As soon as the door was opened, a musty smell of sweat wafted out, and there were nearly twenty children in the dark room.
Young Elbridge sat down hesitantly in a corner.
Not long after that, the sound of a bell announcing prayer time echoed.
Dong — Dong —
Just as young Elbridge habitually tried to clasp his hands together, someone spoke.
“There is no need to pray.”
Young Elbridge looked at the person who had said that.
It was a child who looked about fifteen years old, quite large in stature with a fair amount of facial hair.
Elbridge smiled faintly as he observed the scene in the dream.
‘In those days, that kid looked like an adult to me. But he is nothing but a child.’
Young Elbridge asked the bearded child.
“Why? It is prayer time, isn’t it?”
“The God of Ivy and the Well does not answer prayers.”
“Really?”
“This is an order that sells people. That slave trader settled in this temple knowing that the God of Ivy and the Well has absolutely no interest in the earthly realm.”
“If we do not pray, why does the temple even exist?”
“Because it doesn’t look good for an order to openly trade with slave traders. They need a slave trader pretending to be a real order like this.”
Even so, young Elbridge clasped his small hands together and offered a prayer to the new god.
Even if he doesn’t answer others’ prayers, he will answer mine. He seemed to have had such a thought.
Of course, the God of Ivy and the Well had never let Elbridge hear his voice.
Yet in Elbridge’s memory, the Order of Ivy and the Well was not a particularly bad place.
Because although the training was hard, there were many peers, and they gave them plenty of food.
*
A slightly blunt-faced female knight came into view. A familiar face once again.
‘Was this when I was sold for the second time?’
The female knight asked young Elbridge.
“Are you Elbridge?”
“Yes, Sir Martina.”
“I will teach you how to maintain armor first. As long as you do this well, you won’t fall out of favor with a knight. How much have you learned of weapons training?”
Contrary to her blunt expression, Martina was a thoughtful and kind person.
She was also the person who taught him the basic social skills a squire needed to know, and first showed Elbridge how to handle a shield.
However, he had not been able to learn much of shield handling. Because Martina died in the battle right after that.
Rain began to fall from the sky.
Elbridge lowered his gaze, looking at Martina’s corpse, whose upper torso was gone.
A short distance away, young Elbridge was shivering.
He did not remember exactly which order Martina had belonged to.
Because almost all the paladins had lost their lives in a single battle, and the order had dissolved into thin air.
In such cases, squires and apprentice knights would end up being treated similarly to the spoils of war by knights of other orders.
A paladin with a pointed mustache walked up and stood in front of Elbridge.
“You are now a squire belonging to the Order of the Dusk. Get up and follow.”
However, young Elbridge’s legs gave out, and he could not rise from his spot.
He stumbled up, only to collapse back down, repeating the cycle several times. Yet the mustache-wearing paladin did not help Elbridge, simply watching quietly.
Finally rising to his feet, Elbridge spoke.
“…I, I want to go home.”
At that, the paladin swung his gauntleted right hand and slapped Elbridge across the cheek.
Crack — Thud!
Elbridge, who had struggled to stand, went rolling far away.
“Your brothers have died! The paladin you followed has died! Do not desecrate their sacrifice! Swear to avenge your brothers in the Order of the Dusk!”
Looking back, it seemed this paladin hadn’t slapped Elbridge because he particularly wanted him to pull himself together.
Because he used to hit him on any pretext, even when Elbridge did nothing wrong.
However, young Elbridge did not know that at the time, and only knew that if he showed weakness here, he might be abandoned on the battlefield.
“…I swear.”
Young Elbridge followed the mustached paladin toward the Order of the Dusk.
Similar situations occurred several times.
Narrowly surviving defeated battles to be rescued, then passed on to another order…
Yet a situation arrived that even Elbridge, who had grown accustomed to extreme circumstances, found difficult to endure.
Before he knew it, Elbridge, now around thirteen or fourteen years old, lay sprawled at the bottom of a rugged mountain with a broken leg.
‘I really thought I was a goner that time.’
Atop the mountain, a giant serpent-shaped demon was coiled.
If the paladin Elbridge served hadn’t pushed him down the mountainside right before dying, Elbridge would have certainly died as well.
Dozens of gathered paladins could be seen marching to fight the demon.
And they all died too.
When defeated twice in a row by the same demon, the standard response was to give up the fight and wait for the demon to move on.
Young Elbridge could be seen moving his lips to pray. Yet even at that time, his god did not send him any oracle.
Now, only two futures remained for young Elbridge. Dying from thirst and hunger with his leg broken, or being slaughtered by the demon that crawled down the mountain.
When about two days had passed like that, a miracle occurred.
Four paladins began to climb the hill.
The serpent spewed venomous smoke and crushed the paladins with its massive body.
Three died that way, but the last man survived and succeeded in suppressing the demon.
Both young Elbridge and the present Elbridge admired the sight.
‘Even looking at it now, that sight is truly…’
The moment the paladin who suppressed the demon was about to leave the spot, young Elbridge squeezed out every ounce of his strength and screamed.
“Save me! Save me!”
Miraculously hearing the shout, the paladin walked over and knelt before Elbridge.
Golden hair resembling an autumn wheat field and green eyes. An imposing build and large features.
And a playful expression unbefitting the situation. The memory was still vivid.
Feeding Elbridge lukewarm water from a canteen, the paladin smiled contentedly.
“See? I had a feeling at least one person would be alive.”
Instead of his childhood self, Elbridge looked at the green-eyed paladin and smiled.
*
The green-eyed paladin carried Elbridge on his back, walking for a long time.
The temple they arrived at was engraved with a symbol Elbridge also recognized. An olive branch and three olives. The Order of the Olive Tree.
Leaving Elbridge sitting on a chair, the green-eyed paladin took a deep breath and walked into a room.
Almost immediately, a shout could be heard.
“You son of a bitch! You, you didn’t just save some brat! You killed three of your comrades!”
Followed by a crash — the sound of someone tumbling.
That was not the end. Curses and heavy, dull thuds echoed several more times.
“Do you think you’re the only paladin? Get lost! You selfish bastard!”
When the door opened, the emerging paladin had blood flowing from his nose.
Snort—
The green-eyed paladin blocked one nostril and blew the other. Then, as if spitting, blood shot out from his nose and stained the floor.
Rubbing his jaw, the green-eyed paladin muttered as he carried Elbridge on his back again.
“Fucking asshole. Even when I said I was sorry…”
The paladin walked out of the temple with Elbridge on his back.
Young Elbridge was also old enough to understand what was going on.
The green-eyed paladin had suppressed the demon and saved Elbridge through his independent action, but had lost three comrades in exchange.
In return, the paladin was reprimanded and expelled from the order. It was not a particularly harsh punishment. Any order would have given a similar sentence.
Carried on his back, young Elbridge spoke.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“Three paladins died because of me. And you were kicked out of your order…”
“No need to be sorry. I was the one who did wrong. I did something that fully deserved getting expelled.”
Oof.
The green-eyed paladin continued talking as he climbed the stairs.
“But, Elbridge. I hate compromise.”
“Compromise?”
“Yes. It doesn’t matter how small it is. Once a person starts to compromise, they gradually compromise on the important parts as well. In the end, everyone becomes the same.”
Carrying Elbridge on his back, the green-eyed paladin visited a few more temples.
“Do you happen to need a paladin who fights well?”
However, that paladin was rejected by every single temple.
It was so even in an era when paladins were always in short supply. It was surely not because of a lack of skill.
“You have nowhere left to go now, right?”
“No. There is a place to go. It’s a bit of a distance away, but there is one order that will absolutely accept me.”
“Really?”
At young Elbridge’s response, the green-eyed paladin made a big fuss.
“Ayy, even you don’t believe me? Sigh. Now my feelings are hurt.”
“I didn’t mean it like that…”
“My friend is the chief paladin of that order. He looks like a bandit leader, but his skills are pretty decent. The other knights are quite skilled too. It’s incomparable to ordinary orders.”
Elbridge, who was watching the two, walked over with steady steps and stood beside the green-eyed knight.
Late at night.
Carrying young Elbridge on his back, the green-eyed paladin left the city and began walking into the darkness. Elbridge, who had grown into an adult before he knew it, kept pace alongside them.
In the deep darkness and the rhythmic swaying, and amidst the warmth of a dependable adult, young Elbridge’s breathing slowed.
Eventually, the green-eyed paladin slowly turned his head toward Elbridge walking beside him and grinned.
“I knew from the very beginning that you would grow up splendidly, Elbridge.”
Elbridge, now an adult, also smiled.
“Do not lie, Sir Leonhardt.”
*
When Elbridge woke up, the window outside had already brightened.
The first thing that came to mind was Leonhardt’s face.
Following that, the words of the Central Mage Tower Lord came back to him.
[This clue goes beyond the individual Leonhardt and reaches the heavens.]
[Go to the Lake of Eternity.]
Leaning against the window, Elbridge quietly gazed at the southern sky.