In the end, a game world is still a game world. If you want to turn it into a world that fully follows real-world logic, it takes a lot of secondary creation~ Hope everyone can understand.
—
His outfit was no different from the two soldiers Mia had taken down earlier.
Even his face had little distinction.
Sunken cheeks, dehydrated lips, a few brittle strands of hair spilling from beneath the helmet. Endless years had dried away the unique features a person once had.
What remained was only uniformity—pale, withered skin.
But this soldier's eyes—his gaze—were different from the Wandering Nobles' ashen, lifeless pupils. They were still moist with vitality. Golden irises flickered as he blinked through eyelids like bark.
The moment Mia saw him lift his head, a thought surfaced in her mind:
'He's different. Not like those mindless corpses that charge at strangers without a word and start hacking.'
"Where did you come from, little girl?"
The soldier asked slowly in a hoarse voice, so slow it was as if he were nothing more than a swaying stone.
Mia's throat tightened. She swallowed nervously and answered, "I jumped down."
The soldier nodded. "That is unfortunate."
"What do you mean?"
"We're trapped here as well."
"I'm not trapped. I'm about to get out."
The soldier didn't respond. He tilted his head. "I haven't seen young people in a long time." He studied Mia unhurriedly, then only after several breaths spoke again. "You're Tarnished, aren't you?"
Mia took a step back.
In the game, this world was not kind to Tarnished.
Seeing her guarded reaction, the soldier continued, "A Tarnished returned from beyond the Lands Between—why are you here?"
"I jumped down," Mia repeated, then asked in return, "And why are you here?"
"As you can see, I'm merely a soldier. A soldier who serves the shardbearer Godrick—" He paused, searching his memory. "You came from that direction. You must have seen my comrades, yes?"
"Those… um…" Mia hesitated, unsure whether she should tell the truth outright—I beat up everyone I met on the way here.
Noticing her hesitation, the soldier understood that she had seen them. For some reason, he asked with a hint of anticipation, "Have they returned to the Erdtree?"
"Don't worry. Tell me their condition as it is. I won't harm you."
Even if you did harm me, it'd probably be fine… I'm strong enough and I can revive anyway…
Mia guiltily glanced aside. "They… um. They've lost their minds. The moment they saw me, they tried to kill me… I was just defending myself."
As she spoke, she clenched her left hand and watched the Godrick soldier's reaction.
To be honest, if she truly had to kill someone who could speak to her normally, Mia didn't know whether she would have the resolve to do it. The undead she had fought before didn't look like people in her memory, and they couldn't communicate like people either.
This Godrick soldier also wore a corpse-like face, but… at least he was polite. He still possessed a normal mind.
Hearing Mia's words, the soldier only nodded.
"So that's how it is?"
"What do you mean?" Mia asked.
"Hm." The soldier paused. "The people of gold are born from the Erdtree's blessing. After death, whether body or soul, all should return to the tree. But after the Ring was shattered, returning to the Erdtree became a luxury we could only long for."
"Those who have died open their eyes again. Their souls are imprisoned in bodies that gradually dry out… No one knows whether they can return to the Erdtree, when they can return to the Erdtree. More often, we wait—wait, and keep waiting—waiting for the day we can return to the Erdtree. They say that if one becomes a hero, one can return to the Erdtree. So we took up weapons and joined the war. But the journey to return… is far too long."
"Some bodies return to the Erdtree, yet their souls still wander the world. Some souls have returned, yet their bodies refuse to leave. And some have long since been driven mad by immortality. Some, in order to be able to die, even touched the accursed Deathroot and became Those Who Live in Death."
"But… those wandering ones who have already lost their minds—what difference is there between them and Those Who Live in Death?"
"O Erdtree… can I return to you as well?"
Perhaps because Mia was Tarnished, the soldier said so much.
"So they've become walking corpses." The soldier smiled—meaning those along the path whom Mia had subdued. His shriveled lips couldn't cover his teeth at all. Who knew how his muscles could still form a "smile." When he smiled, his gums showed in a chilling way.
"Don't be afraid. I've seen many Tarnished," he continued. "Not only Tarnished from across the sea. The Erdtree can no longer bless everyone, so after the war began, Tarnished were born within the Lands Between as well. They're thin, small, fragile and short-lived—far weaker than you descendants of the heroes of the First Elden Lord. Even if they're recruited into the army, they can only do chores, operate machines—mere foot soldiers."
"I truly can't tell whether these Tarnished lost the blessing because they were hated, or lost the blessing because they were favored. They are weak… but at least they can die for good."
Mia pursed her lips. What a heavy story.
At some point, she had found a stone and sat down too.
"At least you're still clear-headed, aren't you?"
Hearing all this, Mia let her hostility fade.
"I don't know how long I'll stay clear-headed," the soldier replied. "I don't know whether I can return to the Erdtree before I become like those walking corpses."
"You really want to return to the Erdtree?" Mia asked.
"I do. I really do. They say that as long as you become a hero, you can return to the Erdtree. Because I believed that, I took up a spear and served King Godrick."
From his tone, he was stating his wish—yet there was not the slightest spark of passion or fighting spirit.
Mia frowned. "And now?"
"Now?" The Godrick soldier answered calmly. "Now I just sit here."
"Why don't you go out?" Mia asked again.
It looked like these people had been in the Cave of Knowledge for a very, very long time.
"Ah." The soldier spoke slowly. "Let me think…"
Mia was half afraid he would fall asleep.
He thought, and thought, and thought—nearly two minutes—before finally speaking.
"Our original task was to escort several nobles south, far from the war, to Castle Morne. We never expected to lose our way and end up here."
"And then… what was the reason…" The soldier lifted his head and stared at the cave ceiling, pondering.
"A dragon? Or demi-humans… In any case, the cave we sheltered in collapsed, and we were trapped here…"
"Why not leave?" Mia asked, frowning.
For Tarnished, this Cave of Knowledge required fighting through to escape.
But for a Godrick soldier, it should have taken only a few steps.
After all, the Cave of Knowledge's boss was a Godrick soldier wielding a greatsword.
"Of course we tried. We tried to dig a tunnel." The soldier raised his hand and pointed toward the narrow passage leading to the boss room. "But just as we were about to succeed, that man couldn't endure it anymore and went mad—becoming the kind of walking corpse you saw."
"That man?"
"Our leader," the soldier answered. "The strongest among us. When we were on the verge of freedom—when I could already hear the hollow echo from the other side of the rock wall—he went mad. Since then, he's guarded that place. No matter who approaches, he attacks."
"Why not subdue him?" Mia asked.
"We serve the same shardbearer. I cannot raise my sword against him."
"…Blind loyalty."
Mia propped her chin on her hand, thinking.
"What about me, then? If I—if I can subdue him, you'll be able to leave."
The moment the words left her mouth, their gazes met.
'There's an opening.'
Facing the soldier's golden eyes, Mia's lips curled upward.
"You want to leave here, don't you? You want to see the Erdtree again. I can take you out."
"Just… after you leave, help me with one thing. Take me to a place."
"How about it?"
The soldier lowered his head and rubbed his hands, silent.
Mia stared at him, unblinking.
Waiting.
Until he finally raised his head again.
"I agree."
The soldier answered.
Mia beamed. "Great!" She stood up and, with a girl's manner, brushed the dust from her clothes. "What's your name? I'm Mia."
"Veldon. Soldier Veldon."