Roundtable Hold

Lu Mingfei opened his eyes.

That familiar young girl's face came into view—delicate features, an expression as calm as still water...

Ah.

He was back.

He had clearly sworn to himself before leaving that he would never come here again.

Yet tonight, Lu Mingfei had somehow taken out the Parting Black Crystal. Seeing that its cooldown had ended, he had somehow left his dorm alone, headed for Norton House where no one would visit, and activated the black crystal.

Lu Mingfei looked around.

The sky was as gloomy as ever. Stormveil Castle stood grandly ahead of him, while behind him lay a plaza bristling with the weapons of the defeated.

What was I thinking...?

Lu Mingfei wished he could slap the version of himself from five seconds ago and demand to know why he had abandoned his wonderful twenty-first-century life, why he had not continued enjoying his life as a dragon-slaying hero, and instead run to this godforsaken place to suffer.

But deep down, Lu Mingfei knew perfectly well.

He was afraid.

With every day he immersed himself in that life, his fear deepened by another degree.

Because he did not have the strength to kill Norton.

That had been a cheat Lu Mingze gave him, purchased with a quarter of his life.

Lu Mingfei considered himself barely capable of going toe-to-toe with those A-rank Mixed-Bloods now, but a Dragon King?

Give him a break. At most, he could probably perish together with a third-generation dragon.

But no one else knew that. Everyone thought he was a super Mixed-Blood capable of rivaling a monarch.

If a second Dragon King awakened one day, then as the Secret Party's trump card, an S-rank super Mixed-Blood, he would naturally be duty-bound to face it.

And standing behind him were the principal who had shielded him from the Board of Trustees' investigation, the blond Italian chairman who gave him money and weapons, and the red-haired witch who had pulled him out of the abyss of high school...

What was he supposed to do?

Sell another quarter of his life?

That was why he had returned.

Returned to the Lands Between, where he could grow stronger at the cost of nothing but loneliness, pain, and helplessness—without dying.

Just as Lu Mingfei was pondering life, an ethereal female voice interrupted him.

"Roundtable Hold."

"Huh?"

Lu Mingfei froze for a moment, then looked to the side.

It was Melina.

"Roundtable Hold. Are you... still going?"

The young Tarnished slapped his forehead, finally remembering.

He had completely forgotten about it.

"Have you been waiting long?"

Melina gently shook her head.

The flow of time on the two sides was completely different, then...

"What kind of place is Roundtable Hold?"

"It is where heroes gather, and a sanctuary for those seeking the path to the Elden Ring. Fighting is forbidden there, and there is no need for vigilance. That has been Roundtable Hold's ironclad rule since time immemorial."

"Then let's go..."

Lu Mingfei slowly extended a hand and touched Melina's fingertips.

The golden light of the Site of Grace enveloped Lu Mingfei's body. When the light faded, the rusty stench hanging around Stormveil Castle's gates vanished. In its place were silence and emptiness.

He stood within a vast hall.

The dark stone tiles beneath his feet had been polished until they reflected like mirrors, cold and hard.

The hall was extraordinarily spacious, yet it did not seem luxurious. Instead, it carried an air of forgotten solemnity and legend.

At its center stood a huge round table of archaic design. Its surface was covered in thick dust, and its edges were carved with intricate patterns that had long since blurred beyond recognition.

Several ancient, mottled straight swords had been thrust into the round table. An unusually large Site of Grace floated above it, emitting golden light.

Many equally dust-covered high-backed chairs surrounded the table, most of them empty. Only one chair was occupied.

Two men stood by the wall.

One wore a tattered linen robe and a strange ornament around his neck. His eyes were covered by strips of rag, making him look like a clergyman.

The other man was handsome, dressed in exquisite silver armor with an outrageously flashy crimson cape. Yet the aura he gave off was all too familiar to Lu Mingfei. It was... decadence and cowardice.

After considering it, he ultimately decided to speak with the man in the flamboyant silver armor.

But before he could take a step or say a word, a dull male voice came from behind him.

"...Oh, a new Tarnished has arrived at Roundtable Hold."

Lu Mingfei turned around and was startled.

The man's appearance was exceedingly distinctive.

He wore a suit of armor covered in eyes and ears, leaning on a staff as he stood beside the enormous statue of a goddess in a posture that suggested he was taking a nap.

"The last newcomer arrived a long time ago. Very good. As an elder of Roundtable Hold, I welcome this junior here.

This place is safe... Relax and make yourself at home."

Lu Mingfei hesitantly asked,

"Are you... the master here?"

The man slowly turned his head and scrutinized Lu Mingfei from head to toe before replying blandly,

"You are a clever one.

"I am Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing, current steward of Roundtable Hold. Calling me this place's master would not be entirely wrong."

Lu Mingfei nodded.

"Greetings, senior."

Sir Gideon did not respond and merely continued speaking to himself.

"Since you are so sensible, I will give you a piece of advice.

Right now, you merely have a way to enter and leave Roundtable Hold. In other words, you are only a passerby. Remember that well, and do not overstep your bounds."

Lu Mingfei scratched his head.

"Oh."

"I have said all I needed to say. Relax and make yourself at home."

With that, the man ignored him.

"Do you have a blacksmith here?"

Lu Mingfei suddenly asked.

Logically, a place like this, which looked like a basic town designed specifically to serve players, ought to have a blacksmith, merchants, apothecaries, and instructors for all kinds of professions...

Wanting to get rid of this immature Tarnished sooner, Sir Gideon raised his staff and pointed in a direction.

"You really do!"

Lu Mingfei was delighted.

Following Gideon's directions, Lu Mingfei passed through a stone doorway and entered a corridor. In a corner beside one of the doors, a furnace blazed fiercely. An ugly blacksmith stood beside a massive anvil, swinging his hammer.

Lu Mingfei had never seen a species like this before.

The blacksmith was clearly old, with a graying beard and a hunched frame. Bony keratinous growths extended from his back, jagged and uneven, while his rough skin was covered in scales. He was truly not much to look at.

Noticing the figure before him, the old man lowered his hammer and raised his head.

"Never seen you before. Hmm, but what needs doing is still the same.

Take out your weapon. I'll forge it."

"Can you repair armor?" Lu Mingfei asked.

The old blacksmith of that unknown race raised his head and squinted at Lu Mingfei for a long while before saying,

"Are you looking down on me? What kind of blacksmith can't repair armor?"

Fortunately, the old blacksmith did not hold it against Lu Mingfei.

He took the Exile Knight armor Lu Mingfei handed over in his callused palms and felt the texture of its surface with his fingertips.

"That's a style I haven't seen in a long time..."

The blacksmith revealed a complicated expression, but the nostalgia did not last long.

He held out a hand to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei looked at the hand, then at him.

The two stared at each other wide-eyed.

"...What?"

Lu Mingfei hesitated.

"Runes!"

The blacksmith was growing impatient.

"What?"

Lu Mingfei, a miser who had just made an interplanetary trip, was aghast.

"It costs Runes too?"

What Melina had told Lu Mingfei was this:

Roundtable Hold had been established by order of the Two Fingers to serve the Tarnished, a place where heroes gathered. So Lu Mingfei had instinctively assumed that all the services here were free.