The moment he crossed into Liurnia of the Lakes, a light breeze brushed past, carrying the faint scent of grass.
Just then, a figure appeared before Nolan like a ghost and dropped lightly into his arms.
Nolan looked down and saw that it was the gentle little goddess who could take on a spirit form. Smiling, he said, "Why did you suddenly come out?"
The little goddess blinked. "Staying in spirit form is so boring." With that, she nuzzled against Nolan's chest like an adorable kitten.
"It's one thing for Caria to let the Firelink Army cross the border, but having no defenses at all is strange."
Trina glanced around. Aside from the Carian cavalry guiding them and the regular garrisons stationed here and there, she could not see any other Carian forces.
Sister Ranni really does trust this guy a lot!
Nolan tightened the reins to keep the girl in his arms from slipping off the horse. "Given my relationship with Ranni, isn't that perfectly normal?"
"What kind of relationship do you two have?" Trina narrowed her eyes.
"We're allies for now, but who knows what the future will bring." Nolan pressed a hand to the little goddess's head and said rather boldly, "Besides, I think my character is still worthy of trust."
Trina crossed her arms, puffed out her cheeks, and said, "Hmph. You really are a bad guy."
"I'm the promised Lord of a certain Goddess. If I'm a bad guy, wouldn't that make her a bad Goddess too?"
Nolan looked at Trina teasingly, as though waiting for her answer.
But Trina's attention had been completely caught by the first thing he said. She only heard him say that he was hers. As for the rest, she had no room in her head for it at all.
In an instant, Trina's little face turned as red as a ripe apple, unbearably cute.
It took her quite a while to come back to herself. She hurriedly covered her embarrassment and pretended nothing had happened as she asked,
"What do you mean, the promised Lord of some Goddess..." Her expression suddenly turned serious. "Right. Where did you go last night?"
She remembered that, according to the schedule, the Lord of Cinder's time last night had belonged to her, but she had not been able to find him anywhere.
"I think I heard the Numen Ladies say they saw you in the room next to yours."
Like a little detective who had discovered a vital clue, Trina narrowed her eyes into slits and stared hard at Nolan.
She remembered very clearly that the room next to Nolan's belonged to Melina.
"Well..." Nolan glanced behind him without making it obvious. "It was just normal mutual assistance between collaborators."
In truth, there was another spirit-form girl beside him at that very moment, also sitting on Torrent and hugging him. But because she was in spirit form, no one could see the blush spreading across her face.
"As if I'd believe that." Trina rolled her eyes, utterly unconvinced.
"Aren't you a ghost yourself?" Nolan poked her cheek.
Trina snorted, but soon turned her attention back to the matter at hand.
"Nolan, why waste troops on the Eternal City beneath Liurnia of the Lakes?"
"I'm just having them learn a little about what's down there first, so when I go down myself, I won't be completely lost," Nolan said.
"You're going down too? For those Nox people?" Trina frowned.
"Of course not. I plan to leave those Nox people to Asimi," Nolan said. "I'm looking for someone else. Do you still remember where that Goddess was sealed?"
"The Lake of Rot downstream of the Ainsel River," Trina blurted out without thinking. There was no way she could ever forget something like that.
But the moment the words left her mouth, she froze.
Because she suddenly realized that Nokstella seemed to have been built along the Ainsel River.
"Your target is the Goddess of Rot?" Trina's eyes widened.
"That's right." Nolan nodded. "I'm the promised Lord, aren't I? Then of course I have to keep my word. This has dragged on long enough."
"Nolan!"
Trina called his name and hugged him tightly without the slightest hesitation.
And in a place the little goddess did not notice, among the Fire Knights, there was one knight who looked completely out of place in Cleanrot Knight armor, watching them with a quiet, haunting gaze.
...
In Elphael, the Holy City of the Haligtree, there was a room at the highest point in the center of the city, from which one could overlook the whole city's beauty.
But Malenia was in no mood to appreciate any of it. She sat on the bed, hugging a pillow with her head buried in it.
Her eyes were tightly shut, yet not entirely so. It was as if her gaze had pierced through her eyelids and fallen upon some distant place.
A faint, very faint smile appeared on her face, like a smile born of endurance.
Outside the room, Finlay, the chief Cleanrot Knight, looked at the tightly shut door and could not help frowning. "Her Highness still hasn't come out today?"
Arl, who was standing guard, nodded. "Yes. This makes the third day."
Finlay was silent for a moment, then said, "It's still early."
"Still early? Her Highness used to fall into deep slumber, sure, but she didn't lock herself in her room every few days like this." Arl looked deeply worried. "Shouldn't we ask Prince Miquella to come take a look?"
Finlay shook her head. Ever since Nolan left, her princess had liked shutting herself in her room, but Finlay knew it was not because of the Scarlet Rot.
"No need. Trust me, Her Highness is fine. She's just... letting it out. It's like when you were a child and didn't get the toy you wanted. Once you grow up, no matter how many you have, you still won't be satisfied. Understand? Her Highness is the same. Prince Miquella can't help her with this."
Arl still did not quite understand.
When he was little, what he envied most was that adults could go to the tavern every day and drink to their hearts' content. For some reason, different girls would even take them home every night.
Now he also liked going to the tavern to drink, then swaggering through the streets with glittering runes in his hand. At times like that, the women standing in the lanes and street corners would come out and take his arm...
All right, now he finally understood how Her Highness Malenia felt when she locked herself in her room.
Those girls really were mesmerizing. He had never expected Her Highness to like women too.
It was not exactly rare among nobles, so Arl quickly accepted the image in his mind of Malenia walking along with a girl on her arm while scattering runes.
Someone as gallant as Her Highness really was easy to fall for.
As far as he knew, there were quite a few girls in the city who wanted to become knights because they admired Malenia.
But he did not remember seeing anyone bring girls to Her Highness's room. How strange.
Could they be secretly sending people in because they were afraid Prince Miquella would find out?
Finlay seemed to know all about it. Could she be Her Highness's accomplice?
"You don't seem to be thinking about anything decent," Finlay said, looking at Arl with narrowed eyes, suspicion and displeasure in her gaze.
Arl's heart tightened. With Finlay staring at him like that, he immediately felt guilty, and a thin layer of sweat even broke out on his forehead.
"I think you only have time to let your mind wander because you're too idle." Finlay sneered. "Torre, you stand guard for him today. Drow, Orlan, take Arl to the training ground and put him through his paces. Don't let him laze around all day."
"Yes." The three Cleanrot Knights whose names had been called answered in unison, their faces full of gloating.
Only Arl let out a wail when he heard Finlay's order. He knew there was no escaping it this time.
***
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