Chapter 35
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Bipolarity (4)
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The Gilford Mercenary Corps was quite renowned, even within the Empire.
Clean work. Exceptional skill.
And to top it off, the hearty personality of their leader, Gilford.
It was to the point where people would travel from afar just to hire Gilford.
The Gilford Mercenary Corps' current mission had also been assigned by a client who had come from a distant land.
The request was to break through the magical beasts blocking the path and investigate an old building; considering Gilford's skill, it wasn't a particularly difficult task.
And indeed, the extermination of the beasts had been proceeding without any issues so far.
"Captain? Why'd you suddenly stop?"
If it weren't for the mysterious pain emanating from the mercenary captain Gilford's arm, that is.
A sharp pain in his right arm brought Gilford to a halt.
He had no memory of being injured by a magical beast during the battle.
Despite this, the stinging sensation from his arm prompted him to roll up his sleeve and check his right arm.
"Hmm..."
Gilford endured the burning pain, carefully observing the strange phenomenon unfolding on his arm.
His skin was turning red, and a black mark was slowly appearing on it.
A symbol of a black wheat stalk.
Looking closely at the symbol, it seemed familiar, like something he had seen before.
Seeing Gilford clutching his arm with a troubled expression, the mercenary corps' mage, Jenny, asked him.
"Captain? What is it?"
"Seems to be a problem with my arm."
"Let me take a look."
The greatest strength of the mercenary corps was, without a doubt, its captain, Gilford.
At Gilford's words, Jenny immediately approached him.
As Jenny the mage came over, Gilford moved his hand and showed her his arm.
He had his suspicions, but he figured a mage would know more about this sort of thing.
Jenny's eyes carefully scanned Gilford's arm.
"What do you think? Does it look like a problem?"
"Captain. Did this just appear?"
"Yes."
"This looks like... the Mark of a Hero."
The Mark of a Hero.
Her words turned his suspicion into certainty, and Gilford began to ponder.
Heroes were those chosen by the Goddess to stand against the Evil God.
If the mark on his arm was indeed that of a Hero, Gilford would soon have to make a decision.
Would he disband the mercenary corps and head to the temple?
Or would he pretend not to know and continue to lead his mercenaries?
Either choice had its own set of pros and cons.
"Which temple's mark is it?"
"The Temple of Abundance."
"The Temple of Abundance..."
"Now that the mark has appeared, you just have to go to the Holy Land. By the way, the Captain as a Hero... it might be a better fit than I thought."
He had no memory of ever visiting the Holy Land, but Gilford had certainly heard of the Temple of Abundance.
The Temple of Abundance was one of the most powerful and influential temples within the Holy Land.
If Gilford went to the Temple of Abundance and revealed he had become a Hero, they would likely welcome him with open arms.
But for some reason, Gilford felt reluctant.
He didn't want to leave the mercenary corps he'd grown attached to, and the thought of being tied down by the duties of a Hero was a bother.
"I'm not going to the Holy Land."
"...What do you mean?"
"We have a job to do, don't we? I think I prefer being a mercenary captain to being a Hero."
With that, Gilford walked past Jenny and started moving forward again.
As the halted Gilford moved on, the men waiting for him followed suit.
Gilford turned to the men walking behind him and shouted in a booming voice.
"Alright, it was nothing! Everyone, keep moving."
Jenny, who had been standing there blankly at Gilford's words, was startled to see how far the group had gotten.
While she was spacing out, they had already put dozens of paces between them.
Flustered, Jenny sprinted toward the group ahead.
Pant. Her ragged breaths echoed around her from the exertion.
Barely catching up to Gilford's side, Jenny spoke while looking at his arm.
"Captain, are you really not going to the Holy Land?"
"Let's drop the subject. I like my comrades here."
"My, my, our Captain sure does love his sweaty men!"
At the vice-captain Gaph's words, the surrounding mercenaries burst into laughter.
Amidst the laughter, Gilford alone wore a troubled expression.
Gilford, leading the way, raised his middle finger at Gaph.
Then, with a dry laugh, he said to him.
"Gaph. Save the nonsense for when we're drinking."
"Gasp! How could I possibly disobey the word of our great Hero!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Gaph's response to Gilford made the mercenaries erupt in laughter once more.
Hearing Gaph's voice from behind, Gilford shook his head.
His men were the same as always.
Even with a mark appearing on his arm, the mercenary corps wouldn't change much.
Thump. Thump.
The heavy footsteps of the mercenaries echoed on the mountain path.
Perhaps because they had cleared out most of the swarming magical beasts.
No new magical beasts appeared as Gilford and his mercenaries walked the path.
"Captain! There's something over there!"
However, instead of magical beasts, what appeared before Gilford was a mysterious, dilapidated building.
The walls, which must have once been painted with vibrant colors, had failed to withstand the test of time, leaving only traces behind.
The roof of the building also appeared to have partially collapsed for some reason.
Whatever its original purpose, the building was no longer usable.
Spotting the structure, Gilford and his mercenaries stopped in front of it.
"The building looks pretty run-down."
"Is that the building from the request?"
"Probably."
The building was rather small.
Its size was a stark contrast to the effort that must have gone into its construction.
It was certainly not large enough to accommodate all the mercenaries.
Seeing the smaller-than-expected size of the building, Gilford turned his head to select a few men.
Jenny the mage. And Gaph, the vice-captain.
Taking these two with him should be enough.
"Gaph."
"Yeah, Captain!"
"Jenny."
"Yes."
"You two will follow me inside. The rest of you, wait out here."
Hearing the order to wait, the mercenaries each found a spot to rest and began to chat.
Having chosen his party, Gilford pushed open the building's door.
Creeak.
With the sound of straining hinges, the building's interior was revealed.
Perhaps because the building had been abandoned for so long.
The inside was thick with dust.
"Achoo...!"
"Jenny! Why are you sneezing at me... Huh, Captain! I see an expensive-looking sword over there!"
Gaph, who had turned his head to avoid Jenny's sneeze, spotted something and shouted.
Beyond the part of the roof that had collapsed inwards due to the passage of time.
There, on a worn-out altar, was a sword emitting a suspicious light.
The glow of the sword on the altar was fundamentally different from the light created by reflecting sunlight.
At the sight of the sword, which held a brilliant radiance, Gilford's hand moved reflexively.
"..."
Reaching for the sword, Gilford gripped the blade before him.
Grip.
As his hand closed tightly around the sword, the mark on Gilford's arm began to glow.
A warm sensation spread from the hand gripping the sword.
At the same time, a powerful voice echoed in Gilford's mind.
The voice that reached Gilford's ears was that of a dignified man.
- "Hero. Have you awakened?"
Hearing the voice, Gilford turned his head and looked around.
But only Jenny, Gaph, and Gilford himself were inside the building.
There was no sign of any stranger.
Unable to find the source of the voice, Gilford directed a question to the mysterious presence.
"Hiding your form, I see. Who are you?"
- "My name is Ascalon, the Divine Artifact. I have been waiting here for the Hero who will save the world."
"Don't tell me..."
- "Yes. The sword you are holding is my true form."
At the voice of the sword introducing itself, Gilford's jaw dropped as he stared at it.
A talking sword.
Gilford had never imagined he would personally encounter a sword spoken of only in legends.
As Gilford stared at the sword with a look of astonishment, Ascalon emitted a brilliant flash of light and asked him.
- "Hero of Abundance. What is your name?"
"I am the captain of the Gilford Mercenary Corps... Gilford Proud."
- "A Hero who was once a mercenary. You must be quite skilled in combat. In that respect, you may be better than the previous Hero."
Ascalon showed no particular reaction upon hearing Gilford's identity.
Rather, its reaction suggested it had met Heroes several times before.
From what he had heard so far, the Divine Artifact before Gilford seemed to be related to the Mark of the Hero.
It knew information about Heroes.
This was an opportunity for Gilford to gain the knowledge he lacked.
Gilford decided not to miss this chance and asked Ascalon for the information he was curious about.
"Ascalon. I have a question."
- "What is it you wish to know?"
"What is your connection to the Heroes?"
- "To the Heroes of each era, a fitting Divine Artifact is given. And I am the Divine Artifact prepared for the Hero of Abundance."
"That means..."
- "That you are my master."
The Ascalon before him belonged to Gilford.
Both in the sense of material ownership and in a religious sense.
The idea that the glowing Divine Artifact before him was his own was incredibly pleasing.
As long as no troublesome news came from the temple, that is.
"Master, you say. I like the sound of that."
- "Of course. Few people would dislike a Divine Artifact."
"You think so?"
- "At least, all the previous Heroes did. If you have any other questions, I will gladly answer."
"In that case, Ascalon, will there be any problem if I don't go to the Holy Land?"
Gilford posed his next question to the Divine Artifact in his hand.
To drive out the Evil God, he didn't need to be dragged around by the temple.
That was Gilford's line of thinking.
It seemed perfectly fine to smash any cult of the Evil God he came across while running his mercenary corps.
As long as he fulfilled his role one way or another, wouldn't that be enough?
In response to Gilford's question, Ascalon let out an unpleasant laugh.
- "Of course, that would be fine. Assuming you have the confidence, that is."
"I am Gilford, captain of the Gilford Mercenary Corps. Do I look like I lack confidence?"
- "Even if you are better than the previous Hero, that is only in comparison to the past."
"What does that mean?"
- "Because you will face the most difficult era of any Hero thus far."
You will face the most difficult era of any Hero thus far.
Gilford understood that Ascalon's words were no light warning.
As Gilford mulled over Ascalon's words, the sword continued its explanation.
- "The laws of the world will not be able to protect you."
"The laws of the world...?"
- "The Scales of Karma that governs the world is a being of bipolarity, of good and evil."
- "For good to exist as good, evil must also exist. The same is true for evil to exist as evil."
- "The moment this boundary completely collapses, the world will be filled with chaos."
"Are you saying there's something wrong with the Goddess right now?"
The topic of the Scales of Karma was unfamiliar to Gilford.
Nevertheless, he could understand the next part, at least a little.
For good to exist, there must be evil.
It was a very tricky condition for a great being who ruled the heavens to uphold.
It meant that even gods were not entirely free from certain constraints.
And so, Gilford asked about the problem faced by the gods who watched over the earth.
- "There is one simple, yet difficult, problem."
"What is it?"
- "The problem is that a great evil must exist for them to extend a hand of salvation to you."
The laws of the universe.
It was a problem far too vast and immense for Gilford to solve.