The Maiden's Guidance

Night had fallen before I knew it.

On the southern shore of Agheel Lake, I huddled beside the Site of Grace, staring blankly at the scattered, ethereal golden light.

...How was I supposed to keep going?

No, more importantly, why had I come to the Lands Between, to the real world of Elden Ring?

Suddenly, Torrent seemed to notice something and raised his head alertly.

"...Good evening, honored Tarnished."

To my surprise, it was Melina. Could this Site of Grace actually summon her?

Ah, no. There I went again.

This was the real world of Elden Ring. As a spirit accompanying the Tarnished on his adventures, Melina could probably appear whenever she wanted.

I was the one who still kept treating her as Little Wood from the game.

"...You're here?" Unsure what to say, I offered that stiff greeting.

Melina nodded gently and knelt on the other side of the Site of Grace.

Silence lingered between us for a long time.

"...Forgive me if I am mistaken, honored Tarnished." In the end, Melina broke the silence. "Your heart is filled with fear and confusion right now...May I ask what happened?"

"I..." I didn't know how to answer. Closing my eyes, I saw those scenes of death flash through my mind: Nerijus, the flattened soldiers, the Dragon Beastman...and myself, submerged in a pool of blood.

"Miss Melina." With a sigh, I told her the conclusion I had reached. "I'm sorry. I might not be able to fulfill our agreement...Please find another Tarnished to take you to the Erdtree."

"Why?"

"I...I deceived you. I'm not a real warrior, just an ordinary nobody."

"I do not understand what you mean, honored Tarnished."

"I'm saying I'm not a Tarnished at all, or some invincible warrior who longs to obtain the Elden Ring!" For some reason, agitation filled me, and the words poured out like water bursting through a dam. "I'm not even from your world! I'm just an ordinary office worker with no special abilities! Well, I quit my job, so I suppose I'm more of a shut-in...Do you understand?"

Melina looked at me and repeated my words. "You are not from our world?"

"That's right!" So I wrung everything I could from my tangled memories, doing my best to describe the peaceful, safe society I had come from, and the kind of ordinary person you could run into anywhere on the street, someone who couldn't even hurt a fly. I even told Melina that Elden Ring was a game.

Of course, I left out certain crucial endings, as well as special circumstances involving people like Ranni, whose secrets needed to be protected.

Melina was quite shocked as well, disbelief showing in her widened eyes.

"So now you know! I'm not the powerful Tarnished you imagined, the one you need!" I clutched my head. "I'm a coward...All this death is already suffocating me. Seriously, I feel like I'm going insane!"

The night breeze brushed softly over the grass and shrubs, stirring a faint rustle.

Somewhere in the distance, wolves howled, their cries hollow and lonely, so far away they sounded almost unreal.

Silence settled between us again, for a long, long time.

"...In truth, I lied to you as well, honored Tarnished," Melina said slowly.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry. I said I would take on the duties of a Finger Maiden...But I have no way to guide you." Melina looked at me, a trace of guilt in her eyes. "Even now, I do not know how to offer you guidance."

She raised her head and gazed at the radiant Erdtree on the distant horizon. Beneath her calm voice, a tide of sorrow seemed to surge. "Besides, I have lost the purpose I once had...I have forgotten the purpose my mother gave me at the Erdtree long ago, and the reason I can still live, even after my flesh was burned away and my body became a spirit."

Like a stone dropping into a lake, her words sent a small ripple through my heart.

I looked up and met Melina's gentle gaze. She smiled wryly. "When you think of it that way, we are rather alike, honored Tarnished."

"...We're not alike at all," I protested awkwardly.

"No, we are. We have no purpose, and we do not even understand why we are alive in this world." As she spoke, Melina actually smiled a little and reached out to stroke Torrent's head. "Could that also be why Torrent chose you and brought us together?"

Torrent gave a happy whinny in reply and stuck out his tongue to lick Melina's palm.

But still...

"I really am a coward, especially when it comes to death...Whether it's someone else's or my own, it terrifies me. Just thinking about it makes my whole body tremble, to the point that I can't even move." I still wanted to persuade Melina to leave. "If you stay with someone like me, you might never accomplish anything."

"Death is certainly frightening. After all, I have experienced it once myself." Melina paused, then spoke firmly. "But I believe you will not die so easily, honored Tarnished!"

"Wh...?"

"Forgive my presumption, but I have been watching you all along. At one point, I even doubted whether you were truly guided by grace," Melina continued. "But every battle you fought told me that you were worthy of being called a hero."

"I only barely managed to beat them by using what I knew about the game."

"And is that knowledge not your strength?"

"But it was only a game, with programmed AI. You're living, breathing people. You won't act exactly the way I expect." I felt helpless as I recalled that madman Nerijus. His fighting style and his frenzy had been almost nothing like the game, and I had nearly fallen to him yet again.

"A game, a game...Perhaps that is your greatest arrogance, honored Tarnished."

"Huh?"

"As you said, we are living, breathing people, not the game you speak of...Ever since the Elden Ring shattered, every person, every living creature on this suffering land has had to use every means they could just to keep going." Melina's words were utterly sincere, landing on my heart with the precision of a scalpel. "Yet something about your words feels off to me. Do you still regard this place as a game, no matter what? Or am I merely a game in your eyes as well?"

"Of course not!" I rushed to deny it, but...seeing Melina's serious, worried gaze, I faltered. "Of course...not."

No, that wasn't right.

Perhaps, deep in my subconscious, I still saw this world as the Elden Ring from the game, as some more advanced form of virtual reality.

That was why, whenever I encountered something that contradicted the game, I was thrown into disarray. I would even begin to dread the unknown lurking behind it, until that fear turned into an obsession with death.

...Perhaps I had never truly taken a good, serious look at this world from the very beginning.

"I am glad to hear you deny it, honored Tarnished. At least that means you have not been asking me to leave because you dislike me." Melina suddenly changed the subject.

-How could I? I couldn't like you more, Little Wood.

"Mother said that this world was indeed full of danger, yet she still wished to bring peace, security, and more blessings to this beautiful, vibrant land...Much like the world you originally came from, honored Tarnished." Melina lowered her eyes. "I fear I have no ideals as noble as hers. At first, I only wished to go to the Erdtree and discover why I survived...But now, would you allow me to amend our agreement, honored Tarnished?"

"Hm?"

"Could we, together with Torrent, take the time to explore this land Mother has protected?...Perhaps along the way, we will both recall our purpose and our reason for living." This time, Melina reached out to me of her own accord, smiling as she asked, "Would that be all right, honored Tarnished?"

"...Of course!" Moved despite myself, I instinctively took her hand.

Even Torrent whinnied cheerfully, rubbing his head against our clasped hands.

"Speaking of which, honored Tarnished, since you come from another world, may I ask your true name? It would make addressing you easier."

"Uh...My memory of that seems a little hazy."

"Is that so? What a pity."

"...Zero."

"Hm?"

"Melina, you can call me 'Zero.' In my world, zero is a ring. It is emptiness, with nothing in it, but it can also be the beginning of everything...I really like the sound of 'Zero,' and it can also mean that our journey truly begins now, from zero. That's my promise to you."

"I understand. Then, once again, I look forward to traveling with you, honored Zero."