CH 30

Chapter 30 Paladin(1)

Translator: BaeBae Editor: BaeBae

“God damn it. Can it piss down any harder.”

A man that looked like a merchant, entered an inn carrying a bundle on his back.

Water was dropping everywhere from his wet clothes.

The inn owner chuckled and took his bundle with an air of familiarity.

The unspacious inn was already full of people drying their clothes. The rain had drenched everyone.

“It’s not even the rainfall season, why is it pouring down so much.”

“Didn’t you hear? Something happened in the south.”

“What?”

“Yes to an extent, but rather because it’s a heavy sin to fight a Paladin. If you damage a Paladin’s equipment, a bounty is issued for your head. And Paladins, desperate to not be defeated, they’d rather die than have their equipment be taken. And in the instance they die, other Paladins will look to revenge them. So it’s almost always a good idea to avoid any fights, if you can.”

So basically, they were a thorn to fight and even if you’d kill them, bigger problems will follow.

“But aren’t you already fighting against the empire..”

“Even my master told me not to clash against them if possible. Any confrontation could spiral beyond control. We’re already facing problems related to them as of right now.”

Master huh. This got Juan interested. He implicitly agreed on Anya accompanying him. He felt she wouldn’t hold him back at least.

In many ways, Anya was a little strange and empty, but she did listen and understand his words well. This made him curious to who her ‘master’ was.

“What kind of person is your master?”

“My master? Hmm…. doesn’t really speak about himself…..he served the emperor a long time ago. He’d served him until he turned into his current state, a corpse.”

“Hmm.”

“I don’t know about things that happened that long ago….. Can’t even begin to imagine that only about a century ago, it was the age where gods roamed these grounds and holy spirits and creatures were tangled in war. I still can’t believe it. But my master is someone that was alive at the time and saw the emperor. Oh and although he sounds old, his face looks quite young.”

“I didn’t ask.… Did he mention specifically in what way he served the emperor?”

“I can’t reveal that sorry. Even if it’s you dear.”

Anya winked at Juan as she spoke.

“Although if you decide to join us, I’m happy to tell you!”

“You’re too carefree.”

Juan clicked his tongue.

“You said your master served the emperor, yet why are you going against the empire?”

“This empire is not the emperor’s empire. It is Vares Valte’s empire. You could argue maybe, the church’s. With your hair colour, wouldn’t dear have experienced all the rotten things about this empire? I’m certain that’s not what the emperor envisioned.”

For more,

Telgram was best suited to fight large armies, while Sutra was more appropriate for duels.

Because there was no one powerful like in the past, Juan felt Telgram was more than enough.

‘I’ll need to find out what item it is.’

Juan decided to dig deeper into Anya’s organisation later on.

Then the door suddenly opened. Another person drenched in rain walked in while mumbling some discontent.

The people inside the inn smiled bitterly and greeted the newcomer.

Juan eyebrows twitched. He could smell blood.

The innkeeper put on a smile as he took the man’s overcoat but then froze upon looking into his face.

“Uh, what? You see a ghost or something?”

“Uh, uuh, uuuhh. Fu, Fuck.”

The man wobbled for a few steps then toppled onto the floor. The atmosphere inside the room darkened.

Everyone inside the hall was a merchant, so in good faith they all crowded around to help the fallen merchant.

They took off his drenched clothes and wrapped him in a fresh towel before placing him beside the fire.

And after being fed some hot wine that the Innkeeper brought out, the man started to slowly come around.

“What happened. Are you in trouble? Did you encounter a creature or something? I don’t see any injuries on you though.”

“Wish it was that simple….”

The man was shaking in fear.

“Then did you meet a monster or what? Where’s your party?”

“I’m alone. It wasn’t a monster…..I met a Paladin.”

The hall erupted at the man’s words. The innkeeper expression hardened.

“Paladin? Was it a White crow flag? If it was, you know they patrol these areas quite often. Although i agree, it would be creepy meeting them in the middle of the night.”

“It… they weren’t patrolling. There’s a small village that I frequently visit, and there they….”

The tension inside the room tightened. The man hadn’t finished his sentence yet, everyone knew what had happened.

They’d heard of the church’s act from time to time, but only a few got to see the scene of the crime with their own eyes.

“If they were heretics, cleaning them out is the right thing to do! Our Paladin knights are working hard even through this horrible weather! Those low lifes are all defectors! Defectors, I say!”

One of the merchants cleared his throat then started loudly speaking to himself. But he soon shut his mouth after receiving several glares from those around him.

Nobody reprimanded him. Everyone knew why he was saying those things.

Juan stood up.

“Looks like they’re finally here.”

“Then shouldn’t we leave? Now?”

“I’m not sure.”

Juan grabbed Taltere’s blade on his waist.

“Didn’t you say Paladin knight equipment is the best of the best?.”

*****

Paladin Arwen had followed the merchant and was now fast approaching a village.

Having seen purification being done, the merchant turned pale and ran off.

The fact he sighted wasn’t an issue but it became one when he’d run away.

There was no reason for an exemplary citizen of the empire to run after seeing a Paladin.

An interrogation was needed.

“You lot wait here.”

Arwen stood his soldiers just outside the village. The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief at those words as they were on edge, wondering if they had to slaughter an entire village again.

“Is that really fine? Shouldn’t we conduct a search operation?”

The captain spoke up but deep down he didn’t really mean it. The other soldiers gave him a look that said, ‘why did you bring it up’, but luckily for them Arwen shook his head.

“This is an exemplary village. They pay their taxes diligently and often perform prayer meetings for the emperor. Taking a large armed force into the village, I’m concerned it would cause unnecessary harm.”

The captain didn’t know what to say after hearing Arwen’s caring attitude.

It was hard to see that this was the same person that was using a hammer to crush people in the past village. The captain just nodded without a word.

Arwen walked into the village through the torrential rain. He was the youngest from one of the capital’s noble households.

Having aspirations for power and needing to have some ties with the central church, his father made his youngest who was most promising into a Paladin.

While the cost was high, for anyone who learned swordsmanship and lived in the empire, becoming a Paladin was the ultimate goal.

Arwen happily accepted the opportunity.

However, the happiness didn’t last long.

A Paladin life was dull and boring. He didn’t find opportunities to use his ‘graced’ equipment.

So naturally, he found himself interested in the field of heresy interrogation.

Folk beliefs and ornaments could be argued as a mark of heresy.

He always found one or two bits of this when he pillaged a village.

Having been gifted the emperor’s grace, everyone trembled to their knees in front of him. Arwen punished apostates accordingly.

Following each pillage, Arwen would always dream of himself becoming an emperor during the night.

A pleasant dream where the whole world surrendered to his power and will.

The soldiers that were guarding the village entrance, hurriedly opened the gates after seeing Arwen approach. There was no one that didn’t recognise the White crow symbol in these lands.

Arwen spoke to the guards.

“Did a merchant enter this village just now?”

“Ah. Ye….Yes. This village only has a single inn. He likely headed there.”

Arwen nodded and went on his way. His steps echoed heavy thuds throughout the village.

The villagers quickly closed their doors and windows and with fearful eyes peeked at the Paladin with the White crow symbol.

Arwen’s who was heading towards the inn came to a stop.

“……….And here I thought it was an exemplary village.”

Arwen muttered to himself.

“I wouldn’t have guessed that I would find you here.”

“Seeing your armor, it seems like you’re the person I’m looking for.”

In the pouring rain, a single boy stood in the middle of the town square. A boy with black hair, just as Kato said.