The Liar
The next day, Elbridge visited the site with Mayor Tibo.
The mayor flipped the ground with magic to examine the roots of the plant-type monster. Even from the condition of the roots alone, it was impossible to be certain whether the beast was dead or alive.
Still, it was clear the monster looked far weaker than it had the day before. The mayor seemed relieved that things had progressed this far.
“Just the fact that it hasn’t regenerated yet is already a blessing.”
“You said it regenerated completely in a single day last time, correct?”
“Yes. Anyone could see it was fully recovered. The situation now is much better than then. Nine times out of ten, it will die… but we should still keep watch for a few more days.”
Things were going well.
However, Elbridge hesitated for a moment before bringing up what had been weighing on his mind.
“To receive an elixir after helping for only a single day… I can’t help but feel the reward is a bit excessive.”
It was something he could only say because Marcus wasn’t around.
Of course, Elbridge had no intention of actually returning the elixir. But if there was anything more he could do to help, he would feel much more at ease.
Yet the mayor simply shook his head.
“What matters is not how long it took to handle the matter, but how difficult the task was. Knowledge of the poison hemlock and the skill to inject its sap—if you lacked even one of those, this would have been impossible no matter how many years you spent on it. Please don’t feel burdened.”
“Are you truly certain it’s all right?”
“Yes. If it truly troubles you, then while you stay here for the next few days, you could lend a hand with the villagers’ chores… or no. It would be better if you played with the bored children. The adults are so busy that the little ones don’t receive enough attention.”
“Would that really be enough?”
“More than enough.”
“Understood.”
Only then did Elbridge’s heart feel at ease.
*
Elbridge returned to the village determined to play with the children with all his heart and sincerity, but the duty had already been taken over by Rombel. The children were half enchanted by the first dwarf they had ever seen.
At this rate, I have nothing in particular to do…
In the end, Elbridge decided to use the spare time to teach Marcus the sword.
Yet Marcus’s speed in learning the blade far exceeded expectations.
Normally he swung his sword like a wild brawler with no foundation whatsoever, but he followed the forms Elbridge taught him surprisingly well.
“You said you’ve never learned the sword before, correct?”
“That’s right. Everything I know, I picked up haphazardly from real fights.”
Marcus’s physical reflexes were decent enough. But his true value lay in his head.
He rarely forgot anything he learned once, and he often grasped the meaning and key points of a movement before they were even explained.
He’s sharp. I thought he was just another common mercenary, but he’s an uncut gem no one has bothered to polish.
At this level, his talent surpassed that of most ordinary holy knights.
Of course, he was no longer young, and he had accumulated quite a few bad habits from years of brawling. Even so, Marcus was far too talented to end his life as an ordinary mercenary.
“Let’s stop here for today and focus on mastering this movement.”
“I understand the other forms, but… I have no idea what this last one is for. It doesn’t seem useful in actual combat at all.”
“It’s to correct a bad habit. Every time you take a step, your shoulders and upper body sway far too much.”
The authority of an instructor was overwhelming, so Marcus continued the training without complaint.
And there was one person watching Elbridge closely after the lesson ended.
It was the young boy to whom Mayor Tibo had conjured a frog with magic on the first day the group arrived in the village.
His name was Osric, I believe.
Osric approached Elbridge and spoke.
“Mister. Can’t you teach me too?”
In truth, it was rare to find a boy that age who didn’t yearn for the sword.
“I can teach you. But I won’t go easy just because you’re young.”
“That’s fine. I can do anything.”
Most children who spoke like that collapsed before long.
And Osric was no exception.
For a child who had just passed ten years of age to endure grueling training, he needed more than mere persistence—he required a powerful motivation to overcome it. Something like a serious trauma, for example.
However, Osric was an ordinary boy who had never experienced anything particularly traumatic, so he quickly grew exhausted and sat down.
“Can we continue training later and hear an interesting story instead?”
A very childlike reaction.
Elbridge found this far more comfortable than training the boy anyway.
“An interesting story? Hmm. What would be good…”
Elbridge decided to tell him about the Holy City of Soleneon.
When Elbridge’s calm tale reached the Grand Tournament, Osric let out a gasp of wonder.
“Wow. There are all kinds of gods in the world.”
“Indeed. Even now, the world is full of gods and orders I know nothing about.”
“I should visit Soleneon someday. I’m curious how people from other orders live…”
“Other orders?”
Osric’s last remark hinted at one thing.
That everyone in this village worshipped the God of the Eternal Voyage.
Of course, it wasn’t uncommon for people who followed the same deity to gather and form a village.
But Elbridge grew cautious. He had seen the case of the mountain city Varkuntol not long ago.
“Osric. Do the adults scold you if you believe in another god?”
“No, they don’t.”
“Yet there’s no one in this village who follows another god?”
“Well… that’s right.”
“It seems the powers granted by the God of the Eternal Voyage are exactly what this village needs.”
“Yes. They say that if you follow the God of the Eternal Voyage, the village becomes harmonious.”
It was similar to the power of the God of the Brass Cup, who symbolized communal peace.
Whether due to that power or not, the village did indeed appear peaceful and harmonious.
But Osric wasn’t finished.
“And there’s one more important thing…”
“Hm?”
“You seem like a good person, so I’ll tell you specially. But you can’t tell the adults I said this. Okay?”
Children struggled to keep secrets. Osric was no different.
Elbridge instinctively realized that something unusual was about to follow.
“All right. What is it?”
“I heard that on the day this world is destroyed, only the God of the Eternal Voyage can save us.”
“…?”
Elbridge had trouble understanding what he had just heard.
“I don’t quite understand. Could you explain a little more?”
“They said a day will come when people can no longer live on the ground. Only the God of the Eternal Voyage can save us then.”
“…Is that so? How exactly would he save you?”
“The God of the Eternal Voyage has prepared a village just like ours up in the sky. Even if the ground is destroyed, the people of our village can live peacefully in heaven.”
Elbridge doubted his own ears.
No religious order spoke of such things.
What destruction was supposed to befall the world? He had never heard of anything like it from any order.
If such a thing truly existed, and if even an ordinary believer could know of it, then Elbridge should have been the first to learn of it.
The story of a village prepared in heaven was even stranger.
As far as Elbridge knew, no god could freely ascend their followers to heaven. Especially not a deity without even a single seat in the assembly.
Moreover, the tale of a heavenly village implied one more thing.
That not only did everyone in this village worship the God of the Eternal Voyage, but that every single follower of that god lived in this village.
Among all the gods Elbridge had encountered so far, the most insular had been the God of the Steel Anvil. Yet even that god had not demanded that every believer remain inside Varkuntol. He had simply prevented the influx of heretics.
Elbridge hid his feelings and played along.
“What an amazing god. I’m growing more curious.”
Satisfied with the reaction, Osric spoke with a refreshed expression.
“Anyway, if it looks like the world is going to end, you should come to our village with the other uncles and believe in the God of the Eternal Voyage. Our mayor is a good person, so he’ll probably accept three more people.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. Thank you, Osric.”
Elbridge patted the boy’s head, then stood up with a hardened expression.
*
“Goddess.”
The Goddess of the Rusty Shield must have been looking elsewhere, because she did not respond immediately to Elbridge’s call.
“Goddess. Goddess.”
After Elbridge called out several times with pauses in between, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield finally answered.
My most beloved child. Thy goddess is here.
“Goddess. I have been waiting eagerly.”
The Goddess of the Rusty Shield began making excuses.
Elbridge. The Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss brought an offering of sweets, so I was merely delayed in confirming it. It is not that thy goddess neglected her one and only holy knight. It was a gathering to pray that the seat we shall claim at year’s end will be two rather than one, so I could not refuse.
Yet apart from the excuses, the Goddess of the Rusty Shield seemed slightly pleased. Perhaps she liked that Elbridge had called for her so desperately.
“I too pray that you will obtain two seats, and I will devote my full strength so that we may even hope for three.”
Thy goddess shall gladly accept that heart, Elbridge. By the way, what matter has made thee seek thy goddess with such urgency? Thou art not usually like this…
“It is about the God of the Eternal Voyage.”
Ah, that insignificant god without even a single seat… Yes. What was the problem? Surely that insignificant being did not forget his place and dare to pick a fight with my one and only holy knight?
“It is not that. Actually, a short while ago…”
Elbridge relayed to the Goddess of the Rusty Shield everything he had heard from Osric.
The goddess grew serious as well.
The destruction of the surface? Thy goddess has never heard such a tale. The idea of creating a village in heaven for followers is even more absurd.
“I have never looked upon heaven myself, but I offered this prayer because I share the same thoughts as you.”
I shall look into it more closely. Just what kind of being this God of the Eternal Voyage is…
Thanks to the goddess’s reaction, the suspicion that had begun to fade slowly raised its head once more.
A god’s name he had never heard before. A foreign doctrine. A skilled mage who called himself archbishop.
Everything from beginning to end was strange.
Elbridge carefully wandered the village, observing Mayor Tibo’s movements.
On the surface, there’s nothing out of the ordinary…
Tibo was busy all day long.
Unlike the haughty mages who usually kept to themselves, he actively used magic to help the villagers. When he couldn’t use magic, he rolled up his sleeves and worked alongside them. When he grew too tired to move, he played with the children.
Perhaps because of that, the villagers did not treat Tibo—their mayor and self-proclaimed archbishop—with distance. They seemed to genuinely cherish him.
Yet Elbridge could read a faint trace of guilt on Tibo’s face.
*
Elbridge called Marcus and Rombel over and shared his thoughts.
Both men nodded after hearing him out.
“Now that you mention it, it is strange. How can there be an archbishop but no temple?”
Marcus countered Rombel’s opinion.
“Maybe the mayor’s house doubles as a temple? That’s odd too, but… it’s possible there simply isn’t a separate temple.”
“And they let outsiders sleep in a temple? That’s nonsense.”
Their opinions differed, but they reached the same conclusion.
“Let’s examine the mayor’s house first.”
Fortunately, the three of them were already staying and eating at Mayor Tibo’s house, so the villagers would not grow suspicious.
While looking around the house, Marcus picked up a thin book and said,
“Look at this, Sir Elbridge. There’s a book of doctrine. It seems this house really does double as a temple.”
A book of doctrine was one of the representative items kept in temples.
But Elbridge’s thoughts were different.
“There’s something more important that’s missing.”
“What is it?”
“The Book of Oracles. The record of every oracle a given order has received so far. It must be kept in the archbishop’s residence or the temple.”
Of course, the Rusty Shield Order’s Book of Oracles was stored in the temple in Soleneon rather than in Elbridge’s travel pack. Recording every oracle he received would itself be a highly irreverent act.
But that was an extremely exceptional case. Nearly every other order kept their Book of Oracles in their temple.
“Maybe it’s hidden somewhere?”
“There’s no reason to hide it. In most cases, they proudly display it.”
Rombel was paying attention to a slightly different detail—the numerous religious symbols placed throughout the house.
Bowls and pottery. Trinkets that resembled holy relics.
With a dwarf’s keen eye, Rombel spotted the oddity.
“This scrap of cloth is displayed as if it were a holy relic, but it was made only twenty or thirty years ago. And this pottery… it’s just an antique with the order’s emblem carved into it. Look here—the traces of it being scraped with a knife and filled with pigment are obvious.”
It was suspicious. The more they looked, the more suspicious it became.
While the three of them put their heads together and stared at the pottery, a familiar voice spoke.
“What are you all looking at so intently?”
“…!”
Elbridge and Marcus jumped in surprise.
It was Mayor Tibo. At some point he had entered the house and was now watching the three of them.
However, Rombel still showed no sign of noticing that Tibo had appeared.
Still looking down at the pottery, Rombel said,
“What do you mean, what? Come here and look. There’s a crack, see?”
“A crack, you say?”
“Yeah. Right here…”
Mayor Tibo lowered his head to look at the spot Rombel was pointing to.
And at that moment, Rombel swung the pottery he held in his right hand like lightning, smashing it against Tibo’s temple.
Crash! The pottery shattered into pieces, and Mayor Tibo lost consciousness and slowly collapsed.
“…”
Elbridge and Marcus were rendered speechless by the sudden turn of events.
How were they supposed to handle this situation?
After a brief silence, Rombel shrugged his shoulders and said,
“Honestly, I didn’t have a choice, did I?”