Ch. 89 Pre-war Night Talk

Mia wore a hood on her head and a coarse scarf wrapped around her face.

Combined with her all-black outfit,

she looked like a terrorist now.

It couldn’t be helped.

After all, this was Stormhill.

The power of the storm constantly clashed in the air, letting out deafening roars.

The gale danced wildly across the land to its own rhythm. Objects were powerless against its strength; the sky was gray and heavy, not a single ray of light piercing through.

The Erdtree could not be seen from here.

These winds seemed to contain a strange power.

In the wind, the entire world seemed covered by a thin gray veil, much like being in a fog, with visibility barely reaching a thousand meters.

It was as if the gale had torn the dark clouds in the sky to shreds and then tossed them haphazardly onto the earth.

Everything in the world turned dark because of it.

Even if one wrapped themselves tightly, the wind would pour in through the gaps in the fabric, battering one’s eardrums.

Mia faced the wind; with her eye patch’s protection, she wasn’t afraid of the gale blinding her, but Patches could only see the road ahead by squinting.

The three of them traveled with immense difficulty.

After leaving the small path in the canyon, they ran headlong into the howling north wind.

As luck would have it, to get to Stormveil, they had to head north against the wind.

“How can anyone possibly live here?!”

If Stormhill existed on Mia’s previous Earth, it would surely take the top spot on the list of ‘most uninhabitable places in the world’.

Though called Stormhill, it was actually a plateau.

As far as the eye could see, the vegetation growing on Stormhill all took on a very curious posture.

Except for the low-lying grass.

The trees swaying in the wind all leaned to one side, with branches on one side and none on the other.

They looked like combs stuck into the ground.

Clearly, because of the never-ceasing gale, all the branches of the trees were gathered on one side.

In Mia’s knowledge, unless it was a sandstorm or a typhoon/hurricane accompanied by heavy rain, no wind could block one’s vision like a mist.

Clearly, the wind on Stormhill was not a typhoon or hurricane. A dust storm was even less likely; the wild vegetation here, aside from being deformed by the wind, was almost no different from the grasslands below the hill.

“The wind is lighter in the morning or at noon!”

Amidst the whistling wind, Mia heard Wilden raise his voice to answer.

But Mia had no idea what time it was.

They had walked for several hours against the wind, and every step felt incredibly difficult.

The overcast sky of Stormhill made it hard for the girl to tell.

Better find a way to camp first.

Not far ahead, there was a cliff.

This night’s rest was not peaceful.

Anyone would find it hard to sleep soundly in the middle of the night with the sound of the gale constantly ringing in their ears.

Fortunately, the next morning, just as Wilden had said, the wind slowed down considerably.

The wind on Stormhill would only occasionally slow its pace but would never stop. Taking advantage of the weaker wind during the day, Mia pushed through her fatigue to make time.

When the wind grew stronger again, they would have to seek shelter.

On Stormhill, the time available for traveling in a day was reduced by about a third.

One morning several weeks later, the wind-veil permeating Stormhill gradually dissipated. Facing the wind against her face, Mia saw a majestic mountain peak to the north.

Stormveil Castle was on that mountain, situated at the summit.

Overlooking this plateau shrouded in storms.

A massive bridge with no visible end started from that mountain peak. Its enormous piers were of unknown thousands of meters in height, spanning the sky. From this distance, it looked like a thin white line connecting to the eastern horizon.

If her estimation was correct,

they would be beneath Stormveil Castle in another day and a half.

After all,’seeing the mountain kills the horse’—it looked close, but the walk was far.

By afternoon, the wind grew strong again, and the mountain peak was once more hidden within the wind-veil.

“There seems to be a shack ahead!” Mia, riding Torrent, had the highest vantage point. She saw a glimmer of grace in the gray wind-veil, just a few hundred meters ahead.

And beside the grace, a shack stood lonely and isolated.

She wondered if this shack was the one where she would meet the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ Roderika in the game.

“Let’s spend the night there!” Wilden saw it too.

The Soldier leaned forward, walking at the front against the wind.

The shack was soon reached.

It wasn’t until they got closer that they realized it wasn’t just one shack, but a cluster of two or three shacks surrounding each other.

It seemed it had once been a waystation.

But there were no figures inside the shacks.

It seemed Roderika was not here.

This was not the world of a game, and the people living here were not cold NPCs.

Mia never expected to meet specific people at fixed locations.

Because these characters, who had become vivid, all had their own destinies.

Mia took a moment to touch the grace.

Very fortunately, among these shacks, there was a relatively intact room that could provide shelter from the wind.

A campfire was lit in the room, protected from being blown out.

Sitting back against a wall that blocked the wind and pulling back her hood, Mia finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The three Spirit Wolves and the three people huddled together in the shack, escaping the wild winds outside.

The campfire was stirred by the wind occasionally swirling into the room, its flickering flames carrying a hint of madness.

Midnight.

Mia, who was not sleeping deeply, was startled awake by a strange movement. She sat up from her sleeping mat and threw back the blanket.

Stormhill, already obscured by the wind-veil and unable to see the Erdtree, was pitch black at night, with the gale howling incessantly in her ears.

The dilapidated shack trembled in the wind, making a creaking sound.

Occasionally, a strange wolf’s howl would drift in from the distant wind.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked around.

The campfire had already gone out.

But the Spirit Wolf, emitting a white fluorescence from its body, served perfectly as a night light.

The brightness was just right, not at all glaring.

Mia saw Patches lying on a sleeping mat, his head wrapped in a scarf that covered his ears and the upper half of his face, leaving only his mouth exposed; he seemed to be sleeping soundly.

But Wilden was not there.

The young girl stood up, condensing an inch of starlight in her hand; following the sound, she walked into the hall of the shack.

Wilden sat there, leaning against the north-facing wall, carefully sharpening his twin swords with a piece of fine sandstone he had picked up.

The “scritch… scritch…” noise was incessant, clearly audible even amidst the whistling gale.

“What are you doing in the middle of the night?” Mia asked with a yawn.

Hearing the question, Wilden stopped his movements and looked up: “Just maintaining my weapons… Did I wake you? Sorry.”

As he spoke, he tucked the stone into his pocket.

He then took out a piece of soft leather and carefully wiped his twin swords.

He was indeed finishing up the weapon maintenance.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Mia waved her hand: “With such a strong wind, I couldn’t sleep well anyway.”

She sighed, found a wooden crate, and sat down with her back against the wall as well.

“Go on with your work; there should be a battle later.”

She propped up her face listlessly, brightened the starlight a bit, and then took out the book given to her by Teacher Sellen.

“…”

Wilden remained silent.

Even though it wasn’t much different from usual, Mia felt the atmosphere was a bit subtle.

“What’s up?” she asked curiously.

With Wilden’s persona of being a man of few words and decisive action, it was truly difficult to get a chance to understand him.

Wilden sheathed his twin swords.

“May I ask what you plan to do at Stormveil Castle?”

“This…”

Mia was taken aback.

She didn’t know how to answer.

‘She wants to challenge Godrick and then obtain the great rune,’

Should she say it honestly like that?

She didn’t know how Wilden would respond if she said that.

Even though she trusted this Royal Army Soldier who had followed her for several months, she still couldn’t ignore the Emblem of the Tree and Beast that Wilden wore.

If Mia honestly stated her purpose,

She was certain the two would not turn their blades against each other.

But would they part ways because of it?

No, no, no.

Mia patted her own face in her mind.

Hadn’t she planned to part ways at the foot of Stormveil Castle from the beginning?

But if they were to say goodbye now… she still couldn’t bear to let go of this friendship.

But this seemed to be a matter of stance…

Wilden saw Mia’s hesitation.

He continued to look quietly at the girl before him: “You are Tarnished.”

Mia nodded.

“I know why the Tarnished return to The Lands Between,” Wilden said, nodding gently like an elder: “They want to challenge the demigods, obtain their great runes, and repair the elden ring.”

Mia pursed her lips and nodded without denial.

Wilden was right.

To put it more bluntly, the story of the Tarnished is about coming to The Lands Between to break up a fight, and then killing everyone involved along the way.

“Yes, I hope to repair the elden ring.”

Mia took a breath, calmed her emotions, and looked Wilden firmly in the eye.

“So, my purpose in going to Stormveil Castle is to challenge Godrick and then get his great rune.”

“I see,” Wilden nodded.

“So, I’ve told you my goal… If you find it hard to accept traveling with me, you can leave at any time…”

As soon as she finished, Mia regretted it and added urgently: “No, I don’t mean I’m kicking you out. Didn’t we agree to part ways at the foot of Stormveil Castle…”

“It’s alright.”

Wilden comforted her, then leaned back against the wall.

“I know why the Tarnished return to The Lands Between… Wanting to travel with you was my own choice.”

“I have a question.”

He looked at the petite girl.

Mia swallowed and nodded, indicating she was listening.

Wilden asked: “Do you know what kind of Soldier King Godrick, who occupies Stormveil Castle, is?”