Paladin of the Dead God
Chapter 107

“Are you the captain?”

“Oh, no. I am…”

Eidan hurriedly tried to say something but straightened his back when someone kicked him from behind. He quickly made eye contact with the other sailors, grasped what the situation was, and nodded.

“I, I am Eidan Bearbeck of the ‘Brave Salmon’. May fair winds be with you. What brings the Bishop of the Codex of Light here?”

Eidan managed to regain his composure and spoke with dignity. Although his dignity was somewhat diminished by his soaking wet attire, the way he spoke, as if he were among nobility, hadn’t gone anywhere.

Isaac seemed to roughly understand the situation. It was unlikely that Eidan was the real captain, and someone of high rank had suddenly arrived, so they brought someone who could speak properly and entertain without making a mistake. It seemed likely that a man named Hyanis was the real captain.

Reflecting on the conversation, Eidan had never once claimed to be the captain.

‘I didn’t expect Eidan to be on this ship… But it seems I’ve come to the right place.’

If Isaac’s and Juan’s purposes were aligned, it wasn’t strange for Eidan to be on the ship. Indeed, as soon as Hyanis whispered something to him, Eidan’s face turned pale.

“A monster, you say? There seems to be some misunderstanding. The sailors sometimes mistake large waves or whales for something else…”

Eidan’s statement was met with a whispered retort from Juan, and the young priest relayed it with a sneer.

“Then why are there so many ships docked at this port? There must be some reason they can’t leave. It’s not the season for typhoons, and the seas aren’t rough. Is it because of a monster?”

Eidan looked around, at a loss for words, trying not to make eye contact with Isaac, but their eyes inadvertently met.

Isaac decided to give Eidan a bit of help.

“Bishop. May I ask you something, if you don’t mind?”

Juan narrowed his eyes but nodded. He and Isaac stepped aside for a moment.

“If there really was a monster, they would ask for help rather than hide it, wouldn’t they? There must be a reason they’re denying it so vehemently.”

“Do not underestimate the intelligence capabilities of the Inquisition, Sir Issacrea.”

Juan replied with a shallow smile.

“But you’re right. What’s out there is not a monster but the ‘Drowned King’, a seraph of the Salt Council. It’s in the records but hasn’t shown itself in nearly 300 years. However, it’s recently made an appearance.”

“Are you planning to vanquish the seraph?”

Isaac wondered if Juan Bishop was harboring some fantastical dream, having vanquished the prophet of the Red Flesh.

The prophet of the Red Flesh was not a warrior but a schemer, and they had managed to drive it away because they fought on advantageous ground. Against another seraph, they wouldn’t stand a chance, especially not in the sea, against a seraph of the Salt Council in its own element.

Isaac had no such foolhardy plan.

“Are you overconfident because you’ve vanquished a seraph before? The Drowned King is different from the prophet of the Red Flesh. It wouldn’t dare touch it on land, but in the sea, it must not be disturbed.”

Fortunately, Juan was not mad. Although he somewhat reproached Isaac, Isaac was relieved.

So, there was no need to push Juan into the sea.

“Then why have you come here?”

“I heard the Drowned King has made some outrageous demands of the followers. That’s why the ships can’t leave, stuck here, unable to come or go. Even the councilors of the Salt Council have gathered to decide whether to meet the demands of the Drowned King.”

Bishop Juan stroked his beard as he continued.

“What demands are those?”

“It’s not clear. They’re keeping it hush-hush… Whatever decision they come to, it’s none of our business. But the important thing is, I came to offer advice to handle it amongst themselves appropriately, in exchange for a suitable ‘gift’. If the order has come to us, we can’t just sit idly by, can we?”

So, the crux of the matter was that the port was blockaded due to an angel of the Salt Council, and Bishop Juan was here to extort money under the pretext of turning a blind eye to it.

The Salt Council bears the loss due to the port blockade, and if the Drowned King were to clash with the Codex of Light, the Salt Council would suffer losses, yet it is also the Salt Council that has to pay.

“Obviously, the Salt Council won’t just say, ‘Oh, then could you please take care of our angel for us?’ and lend a ship. They’ll pay a substantial amount. This is the secret to reforming heretics while generating profit. Do you understand?”

Juan seriously imparted this lesson to Isaac.

“Remember this. When heretics gather, for whatever reason, it becomes a pretext to extract money without any guilt!”

‘Do they even have a conscience to feel guilt?’

Isaac wanted to retort but could understand the logic, regardless.

Meanwhile, Hyanis and Eidan seemed to have finished their consultation and were watching them. Juan approached them, estimating how much they should be charged to overlook their situation adequately.

As Juan approached, Eidan spoke as if he had made a decision.

“The grace you extend even to the wandering followers of other faiths is overwhelming. I’m not sure how we could possibly repay such immense kindness, Bishop Juan.”

Eidan humbly lowered his posture as he spoke.

“If it’s alright, might we settle this conversation on board? We would like to show our ‘sincerity’ in appreciation of your grace.”

***

The ship was quite large, contrary to its outward appearance. However, it was cluttered with cargo due to being anchored at the port for a long time.

Juan was taken to the captain’s quarters and received luxurious alcohol and some ‘sincerity’ as a gift.

While he was examining the ‘gifts’, Isaac stepped outside to look around the ship.

The sailors were still busily moving cargo around, their tension palpable. It wasn’t long before Isaac was walking on the deck that the person he had been waiting for appeared.

“I didn’t expect you to come looking so soon. I was actually planning to contact you soon.”

“I didn’t know you had become the captain either.”

Only then did Eidan awkwardly shrug off the captain’s coat he was still wearing.

“Ah, erm. As you might have noticed, I’m not the captain. I’ve just been staying here to have a conversation with the ship’s captain. The guy wouldn’t speak unless he’s drunk, so after days of drinking, my head feels like it’s about to split.”

“Hyanis?”

“You know of him? Yes, that’s correct. He’s the captain of the ‘Brave Salmon’ and one of the councilors of the Salt Council.”

The Salt Council, being unable to receive divine oracles like other faiths, relies on its councilors to make significant policy and doctrine decisions. Since they cannot arbitrarily determine the will of the gods, they only resort to meetings in cases of severe conflict or opposition, often concluding with decisions shrouded in vague superstitions.

It seems that most councilors are captains or shipowners, thus unable to escape the grip of superstition.

“Then you must have shown him the relic.”

“Ah, yes! It was truly… a functioning relic.”

Eidan excitedly pulled something from his pocket. It was a model with a small, intricately designed ship inside a transparent glass bottle, a piece of art that could only have been created by the hands of a master glassblower, as well as a relic.

[Homeland of the Drifter (Rare)]

[When sea water is placed in the bottle, the bow of the ship model always points towards the location where the water was collected.]

It wasn’t anything extraordinary, just a slightly unusual compass like a luminous stone necklace. However, the significance lay in the fact that it was a relic of the Salt Council, and a ‘newly’ created one at that.

“Just as you said, when I filled it with sea water and recited the prayer, the relic was completed. There were records of such a relic existing, but the method of making it was lost when the Salt Desert was formed… This must be the first one made in almost a thousand years.”

Followers of the Salt Council are voracious seekers of ancient knowledge, artifacts, and ruins. The discovery of technology to create a new relic was an immense joy for them.

Especially if it was knowledge that had disappeared a thousand years ago.

“I’m glad it was helpful.”

Isaac considered himself fortunate to remember his time playing as a member of the Salt Council. Even as a Nephilim, it was impossible to create a relic of another faith without preparation. However, “Homeland of the Drifter” could be made by any follower of the Salt Council with a simple prayer.

This knowledge, that Isaac possessed, was enough to make the Salt Council hold him in high regard.

Eidan looked at Isaac with eyes filled with admiration, or perhaps thirst. There was an expectancy in his gaze that made Isaac uncomfortable, prompting him to look away.

The gray sea of the North churned ominously.

“If the council business is concluded and the relic is completed, that’s settled. But what about this monster of the North Sea? That’s about the Drowned King, right?”

“Yes.”

Eidan nodded somberly. Isaac had suspected as much but now had confirmation. He wondered why a seraph that should be dormant was awake but couldn’t pinpoint the reason.

‘Is this a butterfly effect stemming from Kalsen Miller’s disappearance, starting to distort history?’

Isaac had no choice but to assume so.

“I heard the Drowned King has made some difficult demands of the Salt Council. What are they?”

“That… I’m not at liberty to discuss.”

Eidan, usually compliant with Isaac’s requests, was hesitant on this matter. Followers of the Salt Council cannot lie; when faced with difficult situations, they opt to remain silent. Extracting information from Salt Council followers who choose to stay silent was not easy.

However, the answer came from an unexpected source.

“Allow me to explain, Sir Knight of the Grail.”

A man with ash-blonde hair appeared from around the corner of the corridor.

It was the sailor, or rather the captain, Hyanis, who had been dealing with Bishop Juan and Isaac earlier.

“The Drowned King is demanding human sacrifices from the Salt Council.”

***

Human Sacrifices.

The act of offering living people as sacrifices to perform rituals.

It was a common and powerful method for conducting rituals in the era when ancient faiths were prevalent, as it quickly satisfied the demands of faith. However, after the nine faiths came to dominate the world, such practices were strictly prohibited.

Thus, offering human sacrifices is one of the key distinctions between ancient faiths and the nine faiths. While the Red Chalice does engage in cannibalism, it’s for pleasure, not as an offering to the gods.

Of course, to those who become ingredients, the distinction might seem moot.

“Human sacrifices? Is that true?”

If the Drowned King truly demanded human sacrifices, it meant that the seraph was approaching its limits and was on the verge of corruption. Moreover, it suggested the entire Salt Council could be falling to the level of ancient faiths.

In other words, all other faiths, excluding the Salt Council, could become hostile towards them.

“Yes. The Drowned King has demanded human sacrifices. The council is still debating over it. They are uncertain if it’s okay to defy the command of a seraph.”

Hyanis’s face was etched with fatigue as he spoke.

Eidan turned pale upon hearing the conversation.

Revealing this to Isaac, who was superficially affiliated with the Codex of Light, was akin to providing a pretext for an attack. Eidan wondered if Hyanis had lured the bishop and Isaac onto the ship with the intent of eliminating them.

But Isaac looked at Hyanis with a cold smile.

Then, the ship began to rock heavily. The gray sea outside the window flowed sluggishly.

Isaac spoke up.

“You deliberately drew us into this ship.”

“Yes.”

Hyanis answered anxiously.

“I cannot accept the Drowned King’s demands. And since the Codex of Light has sent someone to deal with that ‘monster’, I could hardly refuse the help. Thank you for your cooperation, Sir Knight of the Grail.”