Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 88 - Inner Wall

Chapter 88 – Inner Wall

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Sonya spoke, thoroughly lowering her voice.

“Subduing them is completely pointless. They’ll just escape anyway!”

Just like when they first encountered the Ghost Knight, the two-halved Ghost Knight began to disperse like smoke.

However, Elbridge immediately slammed the Ghost Knight’s upper body onto the ground and drew his sword.

There was no need to offer a prayer asking the Goddess to bestow her divine authority. For Elbridge’s sword was already emitting a faint glow.

Thrust.

Elbridge’s sword pierced the helmet.

The dark smoke that filled the Ghost Knight’s armor scattered a little more, then quietly stopped. It was as if the smoke had been pinned down along with the helmet.

Sonya’s eyes widened a bit further.

“What is it? How did that happen?”

“Just as a demon has a nucleus, an ethereal entity also has a core. And for an ethereal entity that was once human, the head is usually the core.”

“Not the chest?”

Sonya also knew that an ethereal entity had a core.

However, she had thought its location would be the chest where the heart resides. The heart is the organ that pumps blood and the source of life.

“Because most of the sensory organs that interface with the world are in the head. Even while thinking of the heart as the source of life, humans unconsciously place more importance on the head.”

“But I’ve heard that even if a demon is humanoid, they often have their nuclei in their chests rather than their heads.”

“Because a demon’s self-awareness is incomparably distinct compared to a general ethereal entity. Perhaps they overcame their instincts and came to value the heart over the head…”

Elbridge’s explanation was half experience, half conjecture.

And Sonya thought that Elbridge’s explanation was quite persuasive.

“How do you know that?”

“I saw it in a book.”

How many answers in the world were as vague yet effective as this?

However, Sonya seemed unsatisfied with that response.

“In a book? Even though you are a paladin, you must have visited a Mage Tower’s library before?”

“You know it well. I went to the Central Mage Tower with Marcus.”

Elbridge replied in that manner, then gestured with his chin toward the Ghost Knight’s helmet.

“Sonya. You can seal it, right?”

Since magic was a study of handling flows, the method of sealing did not deviate much from that category. Cutting off the flows around the target, or creating a loop that prevented the target’s flows from leaking out.

Mages used to say that sealing was a simpler trick than one would think.

If it was only at the level of sealing a retainer rather than a demon, it would be even easier.

Sonya tossed a small quartz shard next to the helmet, then chanted a spell while gesturing with her staff.

Before long, the black smoke residing within the helmet was sucked into the quartz.

Elbridge picked up the quartz and threw it to Sonya.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“It was a knight of your family. If you are lucky, you might somehow find a way to restore them to their original state.”

“I don’t know. Is that really possible…”

“Try your best.”

Sonya nodded and pocketed the quartz.

Elbridge said.

“Let’s go.”

*

Before long, the quartz shards tucked in Sonya’s pocket increased to two.

The method of defeating the second Ghost Knight was exactly the same as the first. Rombel, who had prepared himself, launched a surprise attack by throwing his axe with all his might, and Elbridge and Sonya finished it up.

Bart, the brewer, said to Sonya:

“We will look around this vicinity. Is that alright?”

“Go ahead.”

Highly excited, the crows scattered in all directions.

Neither Sonya nor Elbridge had any intention of holding them back. Since there was absolutely no possibility of them being helpful in battle, it was better to leave them to go about their own business.

Sonya toyed with the quartz in her pocket and said blankly:

“…I struggled for several months. Was dealing with the Ghost Knights really this easy?”

Rombel laughed heartily.

“As long as you don’t panic, you can handle them easily. It’s even easier if you have a mage’s enchantment. When dealing with ethereal entities, there’s not much better than an enchantment!”

However, Sonya shook her head.

“Easy for you to say. It’s completely meaningless if there is no one to plunge the enchanted weapon into the Ghost Knight.”

“Didn’t you say there were mercenaries and hedge knights?”

“A single Ghost Knight easily handled five mercenaries. We did manage to defeat a Ghost Knight once or twice by pure luck, but it was purely accidental. The survivors were so terrified that they even ended up leaving…”

Sonya spoke like that, then suddenly smiled with satisfaction.

“Anyway, it went well. Since I showed them it wasn’t my fault, people won’t be able to tease me anymore.”

“They teased you? A noble lady?”

“I had a feeling they let themselves tease me. The atmosphere shouldn’t get depressing, after all. Anyway, every chance they got, people would say things like, ‘You call yourself a mage, but you’re of no help’… At first, I let it go, but later, even I started to have second thoughts. I wondered if I had stubbornly insisted on entering the Mage Tower for nothing.”

Elbridge was listening to the conversation between Rombel and Sonya without much thought.

However, the last story caught Elbridge’s attention.

Elbridge asked Sonya.

“You stubbornly insisted? To whom?”

Sonya replied confidently.

“My dad, of course. I was young, so isn’t that to be expected?”

“No. That’s not what I’m asking. Wasn’t it Viscount Dickens who wanted to send you to the Mage Tower?”

Sonya snorted as if it were absurd.

“What are you talking about? My dream since childhood was to be a mage. Since my dad didn’t want to send me to the Mage Tower, I even went on a hunger strike at a young age to go study abroad.”

“Did Viscount Dickens ever create a connection between you and a mage?”

“Well. I don’t think so… The first time I saw a mage was when I went to Solenion with my mom to watch the Grand Festival. The moment I saw the mage, I thought: I have to become a mage too.”

The story that had been assembled in Elbridge’s mind was unraveled.

‘Wasn’t Viscount Dickens sending Sonya to the Mage Tower to handle the demon’s seal?’

According to Elbridge’s expectation, Viscount Dickens should have proactively led Sonya to the Mage Tower. No, at the very least, he shouldn’t have blocked Sonya from going to the Mage Tower.

The fact that Viscount Dickens had tried not to send Sonya to the Mage Tower meant that the Viscount had no intention of utilizing the demon’s seal.

‘Viscount Dickens collected the seals with pure intentions?’

No. There was no way.

Even if Viscount Dickens was a noble, a demon’s seal was not a commodity that could be obtained so easily.

Even in the distant past, the locations where the demon’s seals were stored were confidential. In this era, there would be even fewer people who knew.

If so, how did Viscount Dickens identify the locations of the seals?

“Sonya. The possibility of you saving your life has occurred to me.”

At Elbridge’s words, Sonya’s eyes lit up.

“What? Really?”

“It is not certain. I will ask you a few things, so think as deeply as possible and answer honestly.”

“Alright. Just ask.”

“Did Viscount Dickens frequently leave the fief to collect the seals?”

“Well. I can’t know the exact reason he left… but it’s certain that he didn’t go outside the fief very often. And he didn’t leave the fief vacant for long.”

Collecting a demon’s seal was not something that could be entrusted to another person.

The fact that Viscount Dickens did not leave the fief for long meant that he moved while knowing the locations of the seals to some extent.

‘How did Viscount Dickens know the locations of the seals?’

Did he search by using his noble authority and wealth?

No. The locations of the seals could not be found in such a manner. Hadn’t the locations where the demons were sealed been kept secret to prevent such attempts?

Of course, one could get lucky and obtain information, but the seals found in such a manner would be one or two at most. However, Sonya had said: her father had many of those orbs.

A person who knew the hidden locations of the demon seals.

Who could possibly be the one to tell him the locations of those seals?

The answer was simple.

Those who sealed the demons.

‘The combat orders.’

Any other possibility was slim.

“Sonya. From what I see… it seems your father fell prey to a malicious scheme.”

“A scheme?”

Until now, Sonya had thought that all her hardships, the ruin of the viscounty, her father’s downfall, and the destruction gradually approaching Sonya herself were due to her father’s mistakes.

Because she thought so, she must have been able to endure everything and hold out steadfastly.

But if that was not her father’s mistake, what emotion would Sonya feel?

It was rage.

Elbridge realized that Sonya’s breathing had become noticeably rougher.

Marcus, who had failed to grasp the thread of the conversation, asked Elbridge:

“How is the story unfolding now?”

“I will tell you later. There is too much I need to explain first…”

“Hmph.”

“By the way, does the God of the Sunshower not deliver oracles much lately?”

“He seems a bit busy these days. He is an inherently busy deity, after all.”

He would indeed be busy, and the fact that Elbridge’s party’s activity hours had recently become slightly later must have also had an impact. The God of the Sunshower wouldn’t be nocturnal like a certain goddess.

Elbridge asked.

“Sonya. Here is the second question.”

“Ask.”

“Which order did your father follow?”

“Well. There are quite a few.”

It was customary for a lord not to strongly manifest religious color, even if only for the harmony of the fief.

The Marquis of Solenion was like that, and the Baron of Riverford was as well.

However, in this world, the earth and heaven were too close.

Even for a lord, remaining a permanent non-believer was a foolish choice. Eventually, the majority of lords chose the path of serving several gods in turn.

From which combat order would Viscount Dickens have obtained the hidden locations of the demon seals?

It was wise to place the orders that had some connection first on the suspect list.

“Still, there must be some orders that come to mind. Tell me the orders your father belonged to. All of them.”

With her brow deeply furrowed, Sonya spoke as she folded her fingers one by one.

“Golden Platter, Brass Cup, Laurel Wreath, Olive Tree.”

He was only listening to the story. Yet Elbridge felt as though a pulse were throbbing in his temples.

Thump, thump.

What Rombel had said a while ago came to mind.

‘Actually, I know who benefits the most if that seal is broken. I also know which group benefits the most.’

‘Who?’

‘You and your order.’

Surely it couldn’t be, but he was afraid that the name of the Rusty Shield would come out of Sonya’s mouth.

Elbridge prayed in his heart.

Please. Let the name of the Rusty Shield not come out.

Let it not be that the Goddess released me into this world.

Let a future where the people of this world hate the Goddess not arrive.

Sonya’s words continued falteringly.

“Cracked Mirror, Library of Wisdom, Bloody Spear, Staghorn, Soot and Wine.”

Yet Sonya’s words did not seem to end.

“…Sunshower, Echoes of War, Burning Torch. And… hmm. I think that’s about all I know.”

Fortunately, the name of the Rusty Shield did not appear in the long suspect list. Elbridge let out a sigh of relief. Indeed, there was no way he could have followed a ruined order.

“He dabbled in a wide variety. Even for a lord, isn’t it general practice to decide on five or six orders and follow them in rotation?”

“My dad got tired of things easily.”

It was a simple reason.

Out of the order names he had heard so far, Elbridge sifted out the names of the combat orders.

‘Laurel Wreath, Bloody Spear, Staghorn, Echoes of War.’

For now, four orders were put on the suspect list, but the probability of another order being the culprit could not be ruled out. Since it was unlikely Sonya knew every single order Viscount Dickens had dabbled in.

– Elbridge. Hearing that the name of the Rusty Shield Order is not included among those many order names, your Goddess’s heart is rather aching.

“…Goddess. It is best not to have our name on that list.”

– Hmph. Your Goddess also knew that. It was just something I said, so do not pay it any mind.

Along with that oracle, Elbridge’s steps stopped. Before they knew it, the party had arrived in front of the inner wall.

Rombel muttered.

“Are the other two Ghost Knights inside the inner wall?”

“It’d be better if they weren’t… Sir Walter. Will you be able to scale the wall?”

“It is possible. There seem to be plenty of handholds.”

“What about Sonya? Doesn’t someone need to carry Sonya on their back?”

While discussing who would carry Sonya, the night clouds covering the sky formed a small gap. Faint moonlight shone through the clouds.

In that brief moment, Elbridge’s eyes, thoroughly accustomed to the darkness, discovered black figures standing atop the inner wall.

“They have come to greet us.”

“Greet? Who?”

Elbridge pointed to the top of the wall.

Two Ghost Knights were looking down at the party.

Seeing that sight, Rombel burst into laughter.

“Haha! Yes. It’s better to finish the job before going in. Marcus. Why don’t you try fighting one this time?”

“My night vision is poor, so I’m not very confident…”

“Right, right. I’ll take care of it until this time.”

The two ghost mounts leaped down while carrying their masters.

Subsequently, the two ghost mounts began to run down the steep inner wall. The darkness wrapped like cloaks around the two Ghost Knights fluttered.

‘They look threatening, but… they aren’t that strong.’

Stepping on the steep inner wall, Elbridge leaped up toward the Ghost Knight. An excellent sense of balance and muscle strength reinforced by divine power allowed Elbridge movements close to acrobatics.

The distance to the Ghost Knight rapidly narrowed.

And almost at the same moment, the Ghost Knight and Elbridge drew their swords.

The Ghost Knight’s sword, and the mount running down the inner wall, descended upon Elbridge. Elbridge stretched out his left arm, grabbed a small stone projection, and threw his body upward with a light spin.

His body flipped. The positions of heaven and earth swapped.

A dangerous acrobatics. It was also the movement that could end the battle the fastest.

Screeeech—

The Ghost Knight’s sword lightly brushed past Elbridge’s back.

On the other hand, the sword held in Elbridge’s right arm penetrated the Ghost Knight much deeper. From bottom to top. From the groin, passing through the cuirass, to the helmet—

And when Elbridge’s sword reached near the Ghost Knight’s helmet.

Elbridge felt a bizarre sensation through the hilt of his sword.

Crack.

Inside the Ghost Knight’s armor. In the space that should have been empty. He felt the sensation of something breaking. Subsequently, Elbridge’s sword pierced through the crown of the Ghost Knight’s helmet and came out.

His body flipped once more, and the positions of earth and sky returned to normal.

The Ghost Knight was seen losing its balance and falling to the ground. In that brief moment, Elbridge confirmed what it was that he had cleaved inside the Ghost Knight’s armor.

He saw a round object shattered into two pieces, scattering in the air.

‘…An orb.’

It was an orb. Not a normal orb.

From the cross-section of the severed orb, a dark substance was leaking out and taking shape.

A chill ran down his spine.

For now. For now, if they were lucky, it might be possible to clean it up.

However, the Ghost Knight that had appeared in this place was not only one.

Elbridge shouted instinctively.

“Rom—bel—!”

There was no time to tell him to stop.

Just as Elbridge had run up the inner wall and cleaved the unstable Ghost Knight, Rombel was also kicking off the inner wall and swinging his axe toward the other Ghost Knight.

Screeeeech—

A gloomy metallic sound.

And in the midst of that metallic sound, something breaking was faintly seen.

Rombel’s situation was not much different from Elbridge’s.

Rombel’s gaze touched the shattered orb, passed through the Ghost Knight Elbridge had cleaved, and turned toward Elbridge.

‘Two shattered orbs.’

The flow of time, which had seemed to flow infinitely slowly, returned to normal.

Thud.

Having cleaved the Ghost Knight in a single blow and landed splendidly, Rombel asked Elbridge:

“We’re fucked, aren’t we?”