"So you're not going to attack me…"
"I told you it was a misunderstanding, didn't I?"
Mia and Kalé sat together by the bonfire in the Church of Elleh, the scene outwardly peaceful.
Before Kalé had a chance to bolt like the White Mask, Mia had at least managed to explain her and Veldon's intentions clearly enough to keep him from fleeing.
"Though I don't understand why a Tarnished would be traveling alongside one of Godrick's soldiers—and getting along so well, at that… thank goodness you seem to be people I can coexist with peacefully."
That was what he said.
Yet every time Kalé glanced at Veldon standing guard nearby, he looked visibly uneasy.
Veldon didn't spare him a look. Meanwhile, Kalé swayed left and right in front of Mia, as though testing whether she could actually see him.
"My name is Kalé. I'm a merchant born of the Nomadic Merchants. I travel while conducting business…" He trailed off halfway through, cautiously waving a hand in front of Mia's eyes.
Smack.
Mia caught his wrist.
"I can see," she said with a polite, restrained smile.
Kalé tugged his hand back.
It didn't budge.
He pulled harder.
Mia tightened her grip.
"I'm sorry! I absolutely wasn't trying to test you and then slip away!"
"We're not bandits!"
"Ow, ow, ow—!"
After a brief scuffle, Kalé finally sat down obediently.
He seemed to have accepted, at last, that Mia and Veldon weren't robbers.
"Ever since the Elden Ring was shattered, the people of the Lands Between haven't been quite right in the head…"
Sneaking a glance at Veldon in the distance, Kalé muttered quietly, "Thank goodness for you Tarnished. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to keep my business afloat."
Then he leaned closer to Mia. "Why are you traveling with him?"
It was obvious he didn't trust Veldon in uniform.
"I helped him with something. So he agreed to help me in return. As for the specifics…" Mia sized up the merchant. "Not convenient to disclose."
"I understand, I understand." Kalé waved it off and let the topic drop. "So? Care to buy anything? I've got tools, equipment—even information."
"I don't really need to buy anything…"
But she did have quite a few things she wanted to sell.
"Give me a moment," Mia said solemnly.
She stood, walked behind a crumbling low wall, and when she emerged again—under Kalé's stunned gaze—she was carrying a heap of weapons and armor taller than half her own height.
Clang!
She dumped the entire pile in front of him.
"I knew it! You are bandits! How else would a soldier of the royal army be walking around with a Tarnished?!"
"Don't run!"
Grab!
—
Kalé squinted as he turned a golden slender sword over in his hands.
"Three thousand runes. I'll only take two."
"Three thousand? That's all?" Mia haggled fiercely. "Look at the engraving. Look at the gilding. This is a blade carried by the nobles of Leyndell."
"You have no idea how hard it is to find buyers these days." Kalé spread his hands helplessly. "The ones wandering the wilds are all half-mad, and the royal army won't welcome us. My only real customers are the occasional Tarnished."
He had a point.
Mia conceded that much inwardly, but she refused to relent aloud.
"Four thousand."
"I hadn't had a customer in ages before you showed up. And you're not even buying anything…"
"Three thousand eight?"
"Seven thousand for both."
"…Deal."
Mia pushed the second Noble's Slender Sword toward him.
After picking through her spoils for quite some time, Kalé had selected only those two pieces as being in good enough condition to purchase.
Mia gathered up the rest of the messy equipment, returned behind the low wall, and when she came back out, her hands were empty.
Kalé stared, eyes full of curiosity.
"You're… ah, never mind. Trade secret, I suppose."
"I'd like to buy a few things."
"What are you getting?" Kalé clutched his coin pouch, ready to settle the accounts all at once.
Mia bought food.
She had money, but Kalé didn't have much to offer.
Only a few strips of dried meat.
And water.
Along with the water, she purchased a Cracked Pot.
'An empty vessel that restores itself even if broken. Required for crafting certain pot items.'
Perfect for carrying water—or other liquids.
Since transmigrating, Mia hadn't eaten a single thing or taken a sip of water.
Touching Sites of Grace could sustain her life, but it didn't change the fact that she hadn't eaten in a long time.
She wasn't exactly starving.
More like… craving.
"Want some?" Mia offered a portion of the dried meat to Veldon.
Veldon accepted and sat atop a fallen stone pillar, chewing quietly.
Mia watched him curiously. "What did you eat while you were trapped in that cave?"
"The food ran out long ago." He tore thin strips from the tough meat with his teeth. "But even without eating, we don't die. We're just hungry."
"Just hungry?"
That sounded unbearably cruel.
Kalé rubbed his hands by the fire and chimed in, "A lot of those wandering nobles? Quite a few of them went mad from hunger."
Too hungry to endure it—yet unable to die.
Unable to die—so forced to endure the torment without end.
"Why not… grow crops?" Mia asked, looking down at the lush grass by her feet. "Is this place barren?"
"Farming?" Kalé snorted. "Everyone's off to war. The shardbearers are pouring everything into fighting to become Elden Lord. Even business has dried up. Farming? No one starves to death anyway—might as well conscript another soldier."
Mia lowered her head and bit into the dried meat.
"…Ugh."
It was awful.
Salt. Nothing but salt. The gamey stench of beast flesh rampaged through her mouth unmasked.
Her face turned green before she managed to swallow.
"You can have the rest," she muttered, stuffing all of it into Veldon's hands.
This barely qualified as food. More like "biological maintenance material." Whatever craving she'd had was crushed on the spot.
Veldon didn't refuse. He accepted the remainder without comment.
Kalé watched the two of them, then asked, "So—you Tarnished who've returned from beyond the Lands Between… your goal is to become Elden Lord, isn't it?"
Mia nodded.
"If you truly become Elden Lord, then you…" Kalé trailed off, shaking his head. "Never mind. That's not what I meant to say."
He changed the subject. "You two look like you're heading far afield. I've got some tools useful for surviving in the wild."
The merchant rummaged through his pack and pulled out a sizable leather pouch.
"Mortar, whetstone, knife—useful tools. More than that, really. They'll come in handy for camping outdoors."
"Since we've had a good chat, I'll give you a discount. Three hundred runes."
"Deal."
—
Later that evening, Mia used the flint from the tool pouch to light another bonfire inside the church.
The building was in ruins, but it still blocked the wind—better than nothing in the open wilds.
She just hoped it wouldn't rain.
After night had settled in, Mia pulled out the sleeping mat she'd found in the Cave of Knowledge.
The edges crumbled into powder at the slightest rub.
For a brief moment, she remembered her previous life.
What else could she do? People had to keep moving forward.
"Haah…"
With a long sigh, she lay down atop the mat, soft grass gathered beneath it for padding. Not comfortable—but not unbearable either.
"You're not sleeping?" she asked when she saw Veldon sitting against a pillar, several weapons still strapped to his body.
"Someone should stand watch."
Mia glanced aside. Kalé had already retreated into his twig-built tent. His donkey lay curled nearby, ears twitching.
"Alright."
She accepted Veldon's decision and lay back down.
Staring up at the starless sky, she finally had time to think about her situation.
Memories of the past and worries for the future left her restless.
In both lifetimes, this was her first time camping in the wild.
Maybe she lacked a sense of security.
Mia forced her eyes shut.
The crackle of the bonfire carried her into uneasy sleep.
—
She didn't know how long had passed when she opened her eyes.
The fire had burned out. The night was still deep.
Mia sat up, disoriented. A mist seemed to shroud her vision, everything hazy.
When she stood, she realized the fog only drifted below her knees.
It was as if she'd stepped into a dreamlike realm. A cool, fragrant scent lingered at the tip of her nose.
But this was the Church of Elleh.
Kalé lay in his tent, only his feet visible, fast asleep.
Veldon, who had sworn to keep watch, sat against the wall—eyes closed.
What was happening?
"Tarnished… come here."
A gentle, ethereal voice pierced the mist.
Following the sound, Mia saw her.
A woman seated atop the church's broken wall.
White robes. A wide, pointed hat.
Even without naming herself, her attire proclaimed it clearly—
A witch.
For reasons unknown, still groggy from her abrupt awakening, Mia walked toward her.
Standing below the low wall, she finally saw the woman's face.
Not the flesh tone of ordinary humans—but a deep blue, like polar ice.
Four arms extended playfully from beneath her heavy cloak—two resting upon her knees, two clasped before her chest.
Her face was doll-like in its perfection, captivating regardless of one's gender.
Yet what left the deepest impression was the single closed eye.
Mia stepped closer and looked up.
"Perhaps this is our first meeting," the witch said calmly. "I am Renna."
"Word reached me that a certain forgotten child has returned to the Lands Between. It took me some time to find you… but it seems that child is you."
"…What?"
Mia frowned in confusion.
Something was off. The dialogue didn't match her memory.
And the timing of the witch's appearance was wrong as well.
Seeing her reaction, Renna tilted her head slightly. "You don't know? Have you forgotten… or has she simply never told you?"
"What do you mean?" Mia pressed.
Renna did not answer directly.
"I have something to deliver. A keepsake entrusted to me by that person."
She extended her hands—one holding a small bell, the other a tiny box.
"This is the Spirit Calling Bell. Ashes that have not returned to the Erdtree may use it to summon spirits. For a time, they will heed you as their master and reenact the battles they fought in life…"
She paused.
"Use it as you see fit."
She set both items down upon the stone beside her, clearly expecting Mia to retrieve them herself.
"Excuse me—"
Seeing Renna about to deliver her exit line, Mia could no longer wait.
"What did you mean earlier? What have I forgotten?"
Her urgency wasn't unfounded.
From Renna's words, Mia sensed that her transmigration might have been part of someone else's deeper design.
"Perhaps she withheld the truth for her own reasons," Renna replied.
"Can you be more specific?"
"This is as far as I shall go. I believe we may meet again. Until then, savor the Lands Between."
"Wait—Ranni—!"
As Renna began to fade, Mia blurted out her true name in desperation.
Too many questions remained unanswered.
Ranni's appearance had dragged her into a mystery she couldn't decipher.
"Oh?" Ranni smiled with interest. "So you are not entirely ignorant."
But she had no intention of staying.
Her body was already dissolving into motes of light.
"I look forward to seeing what you choose to become."
The witch Renna—the Lunar Princess Ranni—vanished.
Only the two items remained upon the wall.
Mia stood there, mind blank.
Riddles upon riddles. And Ranni wasn't an NPC.
She wouldn't wait patiently for Mia to digest one line before delivering the next.
Mia felt as though her brain was about to overload.
Long after Ranni had gone, she paced anxiously beneath the night sky.
'A forgotten child…'
Was that her?
'She'—who was that?
Was her transmigration hiding some deeper secret?
"Child… child… she…"
"Whose child am I?"
"…Hers?"
Suddenly, Mia froze.
She twirled a strand of her golden hair between her fingers—
And slowly turned her gaze toward the radiant Erdtree.