Ch. 74 The soft, supple body offered no resistance whatsoever.

“Melina… Little Wood…”

Mia murmured, her arms looping around Melina’s neck.

Melina’s eyes involuntarily drifted toward this girl who might be her sister.

Mia’s fair and youthful-looking cheeks were flushed from the alcohol.

Her already messy long golden hair was now damp at the roots with fine beads of sweat, and the ends were drifting apart in disarray.

Only the dark cloth covering her eyes remained as cold and unyielding as ever, firmly tied across her face.

It shielded those eyes which, if revealed, would surely be glazed and hazy.

Yet it was precisely this blindfold, blocking that ethereal gaze and resting on the girl’s coquettish face,

that brought a half-hidden, irresistible allure.

Ah, what on earth was this…

Was this a kind of emotion?

As a girl born to be kindling, she was extremely eccentric in how she treated both others and herself.

After all, before she knew her mission, she had almost never interacted with anyone.

Even after knowing her mission, it was only about searching for the destined Soldier alongside Torrent.

The only emotional connection she had with another Soldier

was the thin bond shared with her cold mother.

And now.

The intoxication of the girl in her arms seemed to pass into Melina’s mind through empathy.

Her cold body, manifested from her soul, also grew warm from the warmth in her embrace.

Along with thoughts as tangled as spider silk.

Confusion, ignorance, bewilderment…

Melina walked down the stairs and laid Mia down on the bed in the basement.

The girl seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

Just as Melina was about to stand up, she was suddenly pulled back into that meager embrace.

“Don’t go…” Mia murmured.

She saw Melina before her, and in her half-dreaming, half-waking state, she also saw fire.

Melina.

Born as kindling, one who walks alongside fire.

“Walk with me, Melina.”

She said, “I will save you.”

Melina gently pried those drunken, weak arms from her body.

She always remembered; even without Mia’s reminder, she would remember her mission.

The one who walks with fire will one day meet Destined Death.

Therefore, I only hope for you to become the Elden Lord.

That would be enough.

“Whew.”

The kindling girl sighed and stood up.

From behind her came another Soldier’s voice.

“Are you the one attached to Mia, accompanying her at all times?”

Melina turned and gave a slight bow to Sellen.

“My apologies for it being our first meeting after so long. I am Melina, merely a nobody who wishes to help Lady Mia become the Elden Lord.”

Sellen leaned against the study door with her arms crossed.

She looked at Mia, who was sleeping as soundly as a baby on the mattress.

Yet she asked Melina, “You know this child very well, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me more about her?” Sellen looked up at Melina. “Of course, without involving any secrets… I just want to know about her life outside of my lessons. Would you tell me?”

Melina nodded. “I sincerely thank you for the effort you’ve put into Lady Mia. Therefore, I will tell you everything I know.”

Of course, without involving *that* secret.

‘Mia is my sister.’

—

Wilden put down his knife, which he’d used as a utensil.

“Your seasoning is delicious, Kalé.”

The soldier stood up.

“You’re full?”

“Yes.”

Wilden nodded.

Kalé shrugged.

He watched Wilden walk out of the camp; now, only he and Patches were left.

“Why is it always me who has to stay with you…” the merchant grumbled, then forcefully tore off the left hind leg of the roasted sheep.

The soldier who left the camp arrived at the highest point of the Waystation Street Ruins.

It was a massive piece of debris that had fallen from the sky to the ground.

He sat down at the very edge of the debris’ peak.

He gazed absently at the seemingly unreachable Erdtree.

‘A king, of course, must make the people happy, make them smile!’

The innocent girl’s drunken words still echoed in his ears.

Wilden didn’t know how much of those words were true and how much were false.

But he knew.

In that distant place, at the foot of the Erdtree.

In the highest tower of the palace.

There was once a young man with golden hair as brilliant as the sun, looking down upon the royal capital where petals covered the streets and tiles were plated with gold.

He said,

“I want this prosperity to last forever. I want my people to laugh to their hearts’ content under the Erdtree.”

The young man’s voice, his appearance, and his wish…

had never been forgotten by the knight who stood behind him then.

Post-Serialization Remarks

Let’s save the heartfelt talk for later and start with some spoilers.

Since this book is of the infinite flow genre, let’s mention the worlds we’ll be visiting later.

Confirmed worlds include (in no particular order):

warhammer fantasy,

The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings,

Type-Moon World,

God of War (Norse Saga).

Pending worlds include:

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!,

Overlord.

The list is subject to additions.

This is a group formed together with another author who also writes about elden ring to support each other, so there are many people and it’s quite lively. Everyone is welcome to discuss the plot and exchange opinions.