Ch. 90 The Soldier's Request

Looking at the girl beside him, Wilden asked the question.

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

Mia pondered.

Did she know what kind of Soldier Godrick was?

Of course she did.

After all, she had played this game and completed it many times.

The demigod who calls himself the Golden Lord is a descendant of the first king, Godfrey.

As the son of Godwyn the Golden and grandson of Godfrey, Godrick is one of the demigods with the thinnest bloodline.

He is also the weakest demigod.

After the Shattering began, Godrick, as a descendant of the Golden Lineage, was forced to flee his home.

‘The weak man sought power through the terrifying act of Grafting:

O Soldiers, one day we shall return home together, to our home at the foot of the Erdtree.’

This is the Remembrance obtained by the player’s Tarnished after defeating Godrick.

In The Lands Between, without power one is nothing. Despite being the most legitimate descendant of Godfrey, he could only humiliatingly become the lord of a defeated army, stranded in Limgrave, far from the Royal Capital.

He used the evil art of Grafting just to gain power and bring his subordinates back to the Royal Capital, but even so, he remained the weakest among the demigods slain by the Tarnished.

Godrick was actually a complex character, possessing a fully tragic aura.

Even after obtaining the limbs of a dragon, he never got to see his home, Leyndell, again, dying humiliatingly under the sword of a Tarnished.

In the end, he couldn’t even let his ancestors witness his power.

Facing Wilden’s inquiry, Mia nodded firmly.

She knew very well what kind of Soldier Godrick was.

“But I’ve never seen him with my own eyes,” Mia added.

“That’s enough,” Wilden replied.

He saw no contempt or disdain in the girl’s words and attitude, so he believed Mia’s answer.

“If you defeat King Godrick, how will you treat him?” the Soldier asked next.

How to treat Godrick?

Speaking of which, since she was Melina’s sister and Marika’s child.

Therefore, Godrick’s father Godwyn, the Golden Firstborn, was her half-brother.

Thus, Godrick was her… nephew.

“…”

There was a long silence.

“As long as he’s willing to listen to me…”

“Do you wish in your heart to kill him?” Wilden asked.

“No.”

Mia shook her head.

“Do you wish in your heart to mock him?”

“No.”

“Even if he is the weakest Shardbearer?”

“I don’t think that’s his fault,” Mia pursed her lips: “Deciding a Soldier’s value by measuring their physical strength is a very foolish idea.”

Wilden’s words made Mia feel quite surprised.

“You—are also a demigod, aren’t you?”

Although it was a question, he didn’t seem to think there was any error in his judgment.

When he asked, Wilden already had the answer in his heart.

Mia was stunned.

Beneath her blindfold, her eyes gradually widened.

“How did you know…”

“I once served a demigod,” Wilden replied.

A smile appeared on his face, which was no longer as withered as before.

It was evident that Wilden had a handsome face when he was young.

“Therefore,” he said, “I have a unique perception of a demigod’s aura.”

If one were to explain the principle…

It was probably because demigods possessed the most powerful grace; even without holding a great rune, that aura could make one feel extraordinary.

“This…” Mia was a bit flustered, pinching the hem of her clothes and looking away.

This was naturally the guilt that surfaced in her mind after her hidden identity was exposed.

Wilden looked at Mia as she displayed such a human side: “You are different from any demigod I have ever seen.”

“Well,” Mia rubbed her nose, “before coming to The Lands Between, I knew nothing about my identity. So please, just treat me like an ordinary Soldier…”

“It is precisely because of that,” Wilden replied, “that you possess a quality that none of the Shardbearers have.”

That should count as a compliment, right?

Feeling a bit awkward, Mia curled her toes inside her shoes.

“Then, let’s get some rest early tonight.”

“I understand.”

Wilden closed his eyes and nodded.

“Good, as long as you understand. Goodnight.”

As Mia was saying this, she saw Wilden suddenly stand up, face her, and drop to one knee.

“Get up, get up!” Mia waved her hands in a panic, trying to pull Wilden up.

This sudden gesture left Mia completely at a loss.

But the latter remained motionless.

“I wish to swear my fealty to you.”

The Soldier spoke, switching to honorifics when addressing Mia.

“Stand up first…”

In her past life on Earth, Mia was just an ordinary Soldier. Seeing someone show her such deep respect was truly difficult to adjust to.

Especially when someone she had become familiar with knelt before her and spoke of swearing loyalty—words that undoubtedly felt like ‘historical regression’—it made her feel even more uneasy.

“Do you accept my fealty?” Wilden asked again.

Mia knew that this wasn’t a time where he would simply do as she wished.

And so, “I accept.”

Mia answered solemnly.

Wilden stood up.

“…” Mia looked at him with a complex expression.

The young girl had never felt she was a particularly unique existence, nor was she a leader-like figure.

Though at certain times, she did indeed display such capabilities.

But she herself didn’t seem to have that kind of self-awareness.

Therefore, she didn’t feel it was something to be pretentious about.

“By the way, weren’t you loyal to Godrick?”

Regarding Wilden’s sudden and serious oath of loyalty, Mia still had many doubts.

Wilden did not deny his past allegiance.

He nodded.

“But I hope even more for this war to end.”

After the elden ring shattered, the demigods initiated the Shattering, fighting amongst themselves to become the Elden Lord.

Everyone coveted the throne beneath the Erdtree, and brothers and sisters turned their blades against one another.

The long, chaotic struggle has continued until now, and this once prosperous land has become desolate and savage.

“Godrick continues his Grafting, turning a blind eye to everything happening on this land. He has strayed from the righteous path of a lord.”

“…” Wilden paused.

“Please forgive my greed… if possible, I hope you can correct the misguided path Godrick is walking.”

“I believe that when a lord deviates from his true heart, it is my duty as a subject to help him return to the right path.”

“You think I can make Godrick return to the right path?” Mia asked with a frown.

“Yes.” Wilden nodded.

“Why?”

“Because you possess a quality that most of the other Shardbearers do not.”

It was the second time Wilden had said such a thing.

“What exactly is that quality?” Mia tilted her head.

“Inclusivity.”

Inclusivity?

If this was a trait that other Shardbearers lacked, Mia begged to differ.

Mia shook her head: “I don’t think that’s a quality only I possess.”

In the Forbidden Lands of the north, shrouded in snow, there still remained the unfulfilled dream of a certain young Empyrean.

The hope that everyone, regardless of race, could live under the radiance of the Erdtree was by no means just a naive thought held by Mia, a transmigrator with a god’s-eye view.

Wilden replied, “But you are the one closest to me.”

Mia fell silent for a long time. It would certainly be a lie to say she hadn’t thought about using her current identity to resolve those lingering regrets.

In the game, the protagonist was just a Tarnished being controlled; who they killed and when they killed them were all dictated by the game’s creators.

No matter what the player thought, they couldn’t change the game’s code.

But if one could interact with the characters in the game as a real Soldier, how many tragedies could be averted?

And how many enemies could be avoided?

Mia had been doing exactly that since she arrived in this world.

She didn’t attack Wilden on sight, and later, she and Wilden had narrowly bypassed the Tree Sentinel together.

From traveling with Patches to passing through the Stormgate without any obstacles.

Through communication and wisdom, Mia had still accomplished many things.

She also hoped to do more. For a long time, she had been thinking: if she defeated Godrick as a demigod, could she create another possibility?

“Actually, I already had that intention…”

Being asked to do something she already wanted to do made Mia’s feelings somewhat difficult to describe for a moment.

“Thank you.” Wilden realized that Mia didn’t like the kneeling etiquette, so he simply bowed slightly.

Mia waved her hand: “Let’s just get some rest early.”

If there was going to be a battle when they reached Stormveil tomorrow, she didn’t want to have a poor night’s sleep.

But unfortunately, a poor night’s sleep was likely unavoidable.

The conversation with Wilden was destined to make her think about all sorts of things, keeping her awake until midnight.

“I’m going back to sleep now.”

Mia turned around, let out a sigh of relief, and walked toward the room.

The sigh was masked by the whistling wind.

The girl glanced back at Wilden with an inquiring look.

“I will keep watch here.”

“Alright then.”

Since this was a common occurrence, Mia didn’t mind.

If Wilden had followed her back into the room just like that…

Mia would instead have been troubled by how the two of them should interact after that oath of loyalty.

We’ll talk about it tomorrow morning.

Wilden watched Mia return to the inner room.

Then he sat back against the wall, his golden eyes gazing at the pitch-black night sky outside, his face showing a reminiscence of the past.