Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 67 - Love of God (Part 2)

Chapter 67 – Love of God (Part 2)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Elbridge also agreed with Vireon’s statement that the number of seats did not reflect the individual ability of a paladin.

For he had seen to the point of weariness substandard paladins boasting simply because they belonged to a giant order.

However, the existence of those who dragged down the average inevitably meant that those who pulled it up also existed.

Such was the case for the paladins who were called paladins.

Those who showed exceptional performances even in mid-sized or giant combat orders.

Thud.

As Elbridge’s scabbard slammed into his lower abdomen, the paladin of the Silver Harpoon Apostleship threw up the food in his stomach.

“Urgh, cough, cough.”

This made it the fourth one.

Elbridge looked around and asked.

“Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me?”

Although many flinched while burning with competitive spirit, no one stepped forward.

Because Vireon, the leader of the Silver Harpoon Apostleship, had firmly established beforehand that those without a chance should not challenge.

‘It is amazing that they still want to step forward even after seeing them get beaten up like this. If they were eastern paladins, they would have tried not to step forward even just to save face.’

This was probably because the temperaments of the eastern and southern people were different.

According to what Elbridge had observed so far, southern people were, on average, more belligerent than eastern people.

Vireon clapped his hands with a satisfied expression.

“Good. That is more than enough to qualify you. I will guide you to a place to stay.”

The lined-up paladins—it seemed the Silver Harpoon Apostleship called paladins “apostles”—dispersed, and Vireon guided Elbridge’s party himself.

Elbridge inwardly wished to stay in a treehouse, but unfortunately, Vireon’s steps headed toward a direction with fewer trees.

Elbridge watched Vireon closely.

Since his height was more than a head taller than Elbridge’s, he was of an uncommon height.

Yet despite being so tall, Vireon did not look dull at all. It was due to his muscles, which felt elastic just by looking at them.

Rombel asked.

“Paladins… No. Did you call them apostles? Anyway, you must have known those guys were no match for Elbridge. Why did you make them fight?”

Rombel did not miss the fact that, before the duel began, Vireon’s gaze lingered particularly long on himself and Elbridge. It meant he had guessed the party’s skills to some extent.

Just as Vireon recognized the skills of Elbridge’s party, Elbridge and Rombel also thought that Vireon was no ordinary fellow. For Vireon possessed the unique aura of a strong expert.

Elbridge thought that Vireon was closer to the paladins of the past than to the paladins of the current era who had forgotten combat. Among them, was he not an expert close to the level of a paladin?

Vireon replied to Rombel’s question.

“A person can learn more from defeat than from victory. Though there is the problem that the probability of dying while learning is high…”

“That is true.”

“You can show my subordinates a new way of fighting and defeat them. But you will not take their lives. Is there any reason for me to miss such an opportunity?”

It meant he had deliberately induced the fight to train his subordinates.

However, in Elbridge’s opinion, there was an awkward part in Vireon’s story.

“What if we had left because we felt offended?”

“That would not happen.”

“No. If we had resolved to do so, we could have.”

“You plan to gather the paladins and priests of the Order of the Flowing Water in this fortress, and then join up with the Black Handaxe Brotherhood. You would not leave so easily.”

Because Vireon suddenly hit the nail on the head, Elbridge’s party lost their words for a moment.

Before they knew it, Vireon was looking back and smiling.

Watching that, Elbridge realized. Vireon had subtly tested Elbridge’s party. And now, Vireon’s speculation had turned into certainty.

There was no point in denying it here. Elbridge asked back.

“How did you know?”

“Everyone knows that the Order of the Flowing Water has a lot of interaction with the Black Handaxe Brotherhood. There is no other reason to come to us without joining the Black Handaxe Brotherhood.”

Elbridge slowly touched the hilt of his sword with his fingers and thought.

Should he cut Vireon down here? Could he clean-cut Vireon down before the people of the Silver Harpoon Apostleship arrived? If he killed Vireon, would he be able to handle the aftermath?

Before Elbridge could make a decision, Vireon spoke.

“I have no intention of telling the other guys. Use me as much as you want.”

“Use you?”

“Yes. You came with that intention anyway, did you not?”

Elbridge still could not see through Vireon’s intentions precisely.

“Why are you willing to take the risk?”

“The current situation in the south… broadly speaking, can be described as a five-way struggle. With only the forces of this fortress, we cannot seize the initiative or take all of the Order of the Flowing Water. But with you, a possibility arises. Let’s raise the stakes a bit more before deciding on a master.”

Vireon wanted Elbridge’s group to gather as many paladins and priests of the Order of the Flowing Water as possible.

Meaning that whether the believers of the Order of the Flowing Water would go to the Black Handaxe Brotherhood as originally planned, or remain by the side of Vireon and the Silver Harpoon Apostleship, was a matter to be considered after that.

“Are you saying we should simply postpone the bloodshed?”

“It might turn out that way. But in the end, the probability that the Order of the Flowing Water will remain with us is also high. Despite appearances, our order is quite capable. More reliable than the Black Handaxe Brotherhood. Reliable enough to become a new trading partner.”

Elbridge was inwardly impressed.

Because Vireon possessed not only martial power and judgment, but also the insight to grasp situations where he should make a bold move.

Would the Order of the Flowing Water remain by Vireon’s side as he expected?

Or would they seek an opportunity to stab each other in the back?

That much was unknown. However, their immediate interests aligned.

Cooperating with the Silver Harpoon Apostleship, and rescuing as many people from the Order of the Flowing Water as possible.

“I will cooperate for now… but I do not want to kill people from other orders.”

Vireon grinned.

“It does not matter. I also intend to avoid an all-out war. There is no value in a victory achieved by losing our forces.”

Vireon’s steps stopped. In front of the party was a cozy one-story house.

In this city where space was scarce, being assigned an independent space where they did not have to jostle with others would be a considerable privilege.

After Vireon left, Rombel spoke as he entered the house.

“Elbridge. I thought Vireon would step forward after you beat up those four. But Vireon did not step forward.”

“He did not.”

“Yet the subordinates did not seem disappointed at all by Vireon’s behavior.”

This meant one of two things.

Either the Silver Harpoon Apostleship did not expect Vireon’s victory, or they had absolute certainty in Vireon’s skills.

And in the eyes of Elbridge and Rombel, the people’s reactions were closer to the latter.

Elbridge spoke with sincerity.

“I would like to fight him if an opportunity arises.”

*

Vireon came to the party to ask for help much earlier than expected.

It was the second day after Elbridge’s party arrived at the fortress.

“We will move tonight. Get ready.”

“Already?”

“Tonight, the Order of the Surging Sword will strike the Black Handaxe Brotherhood. We will enter their empty fortress, rescue only the people of the Order of the Flowing Water, and slip out.”

“Does that mean only a small number of people will move?”

“Yes. Me, one of my subordinates, you, and that dwarf…”

Vireon was looking at Marcus with a subtle expression.

As if he could not grasp exactly how skilled Marcus was.

Elbridge advised.

“If you are unsure, let’s take him along. At the very least, he will not hold us back.”

“Understood. Then there are five of us in total. Keep armaments to a minimum. Since we will avoid major fights and move as stealthily as possible.”

Marcus’s expression was complicated.

For the reluctance of being dragged to a place he did not want to go coexisted with a strange pride that he seemed to be somewhat recognized by Elbridge and Vireon.

A moment later, the five men slipped out of the fortress under the cover of darkness. Unlike usual, Elbridge was also lightly dressed without wearing armor.

The Great Forest of the south was even busier at night than during the day.

Chirp, chirp-

Bird calls, insect buzzes, and the late-blowing night breeze rustling the leaves. All those sounds carried through the night air, echoing far away.

Occasionally, something huge moved in the forest, making its presence known.

Rustle.

“W-What is that?”

The thing moving in the darkness was as large as a huge cart or a small carriage.

As Marcus drew his sword in a panic, Vireon’s subordinate replied.

“Do not attack. It is a ground boar.”

“A ground boar?”

“It is the most common magic beast in the south. There is even a saying that if there are ten magic beasts in the south, eight of them are ground boars.”

Marcus replied in bewilderment.

“There are that many of a single type of magic beast?”

“Yes. Those guys have high reproductive capacity. They give birth to six or seven piglets at a time.”

This was a story that shook the common sense of not only Marcus but also Elbridge and Rombel.

“Wait. Magic beasts breed?”

“Yes. Though there is no way to know their exact origin, we think they might be a species created by crossbreeding a magic beast with a normal wild boar. In a way, they are only half magic beast.”

“I have never heard of such a thing…”

“Their habits are also somewhere between a magic beast and a wild animal. Unlike magic beasts that rush at humans upon sight, ground boars rarely attack humans first. Though their size is incomparably larger than a normal wild boar…”

“Hmm. So they are just big but nothing special.”

Hearing that, Vireon laughed.

“You should not underestimate them. They are not threatening under normal circumstances, but the magic beast that has killed the most southern people is actually the ground boar.”

“Did you not say that ground boars do not attack humans?”

“Very rarely, they form a massive swarm and sweep everything away. Southern people call that a stampede.”

A stampede.

Marcus gauged the size of the ground boar faintly visible in the darkness and said.

“If it is a swarm… about thirty or forty?”

“No. At least thousands, or tens of thousands or more.”

Because Marcus could not tell if that story was a joke, he tried to read Vireon’s expression in the darkness.

Vireon laughed in the darkness. Even in the dark night, Vireon’s white teeth were clearly visible.

“I told you. The most common magic beast in the south is the ground boar, and the magic beast that has killed the most people is also that ground boar.”

“I cannot even imagine it…”

“You see how big those guys are? If tens of thousands of ground boars go crazy and start running, nothing like city walls will be left standing. The reason large cities cannot be formed in the south, unlike other regions, is also because of those ground boars. Even if we built a huge city, it would be instantly destroyed if swept away by a stampede.”

He had thought the cities were small because of the dense forest, but it was because of the ground boars?

Marcus looked extremely tense even in the darkness.

“That stampede thing… does it happen often?”

“No. The last time was when a city disappeared around the time I celebrated my coming-of-age ceremony. The walls of that city are not far from here, should I show you?”

“…No. I am fine.”

Unlike his appearance, Vireon was quite a storyteller, so he walked while telling the party all sorts of stories.

The story of how he walked for a month with the intention of finding out where the Great Forest ended, stories of seeing strange magic beasts, funny or bizarre customs of other orders, badmouthing the Black Handaxe Brotherhood, and how dreadful the Order of the Flowing Water’s complaints about money were…

Sometimes there were people who delivered stories in an exceptionally realistic and interesting way even when telling the same stories as others.

In Elbridge’s eyes, Vireon was exactly that kind of person.

‘If he had been born in the east instead of the south, would he not have become a smooth-talking mercenary…’

In return, Marcus, who was also a good storyteller, shared stories from his time working as a mercenary in the east.

With two good storytellers present, the atmosphere could not get heavy even if it wanted to.

As the five men walked for quite a while chatting companionably as if they were on a picnic, Vireon reached out his hand and stopped the party.

“Alright. Tell me the rest of the stories on the way back.”

In front of them was a fortress slightly smaller than the one belonging to the Silver Harpoon Apostleship.

‘Is this the base of the Order of the Surging Sword?’

The height of the wall was about five or six times the height of an average adult male.

Vireon said.

“Hey. You said you did not like killing people at all, right?”

“Yes.”

“Same here. Let’s handle it with the bare minimum and slip out quietly.”

Vireon laid down his harpoon and curved sword on the ground. Because he worried about the moonlight reflecting off them.

Elbridge asked.

“Are you fine without weapons?”

“Of course I am. Actually, unarmed combat is my specialty. Rather, I am not confident in weapon techniques.”

Night clouds sweeping in quickly on the wind covered the bright yellow half-moon.

Vireon bounced lightly a couple of times in place with elastic movements, then kicked off the ground and ran forward.

Tap-

Reaching the wall in an instant, Vireon scaled the wall like a wild animal.

Even though he used only his two hands and two feet, he was much faster than someone climbing a ladder.

Elbridge was inwardly amazed.

‘It is as fast as a squirrel climbing a tree.’

Vireon scaled to the top of the wall in just a few breaths.

The clouds still covered the moon. Moving silently like a ghost, Vireon snapped the necks of the two men who were dozing off on the wall.

Rombel admired as he watched that.

“That fellow’s movements are extraordinary. Even in the old days, such a guy was rare.”

“I suppose he is not full of confidence for nothing.”

A rope was thrown down from the top of the wall. The remaining four approached the wall and climbed up the rope.

Once they were on the wall, Vireon grinned.

“Now, let’s handle this as quietly and quickly as possible and get out.”

Vireon, Vireon’s subordinate, Elbridge, and Rombel leaped down inside the wall.

Even though four people leaped down from a high place, not a single footstep echoed.

As Marcus hesitated, feeling like he was somehow expected to leap down too, the God of the Sunshower delivered an oracle.

– Marcus. Do not do anything foolish, and just use the stairs to go down.

“Understood.”

The devout believer Marcus faithfully followed the oracle.