The race

With Bloodhound Knight Darriwil defeated, the walls of the entire evergaol lit up with magical radiance, so bright it hurt my eyes.

A moment later, a gentle breeze brushed my cheeks.

When I opened my eyes, it was already dusk, and the entire hillside was bathed in orange-red light.

Blaidd the Half-Wolf stood where his former comrade had fallen, holding the doll modeled after Ranni's original appearance. He gazed up at the dazzling Erdtree without saying a word for a long time.

"Wolf bro." I broke the silence and tossed him the Flask of Crimson Tears.

Blaidd came back to his senses. After catching it, he asked curiously, "What's this?"

"Drink it. It'll heal your wounds."

"Then you have my thanks." Blaidd drained it in one go, but his wounds only healed a little.

-Sure enough, it wasn't as effective on other people as it was on me. Probably because we'd received different blessings of grace.

Blaidd returned the Flask of Crimson Tears to me, then rummaged in his pocket. "Oh, right. Thanks for your help today, Zero. Here's the reward I promised. Take it."

He held a snow-white stone. If I remembered correctly, it was a Somber Smithing Stone.

"No need. I barely helped at all, anyway." I shook my head.

"Oh, right! You said you wanted Bloodhound Knight Darriwil's weapon, didn't you?" Blaidd seemed to have a sudden realization. He gently closed his left hand, gathering ghostly blue light that took the shape of the Bloodhound's Fang.

...That wasn't really what I meant, though.

Still, since he insisted on giving me something, I wasn't going to turn him down. "Th-thanks, wolf bro."

Blaidd smiled. "It's nothing. I can't use that fellow's blade, so it'd only go to waste with me... Oh, right. You Tarnished are going to keep traveling in search of the Elden Ring, aren't you?"

"...You won't stop us? Bloodhound Knight Darriwil seemed to have the same idea, after all." I was a little puzzled.

Blaidd shook his head. "You Tarnished aren't like him. You don't serve the princess, so it won't affect us... Still, I'd like to warn you: that road won't be an easy one."

"Can't be helped. Since Queen Marika called us back, it's sort of the Tarnished's mission." I spread my hands.

Well, even if I told him now that I wanted to help Ranni, wolf bro probably wouldn't believe me.

"True enough." Blaidd slung the Royal Greatsword onto his back. "Oh, right, one more thing... If you head north to Raya Lucaria and see an old blacksmith who's rather large, tell him I sent you. He should give you some special treatment."

I nodded. "Old man Iji, right?"

Blaidd's watery wolf eyes went wide. "H-how did you know? Have you already met him?"

Uh. Déjà vu.

They really were master and servant. They even made the same absentminded mistakes.

I explained, "You let his name slip while you were fighting Bloodhound Knight Darriwil. I figured it must be the same old man."

"...D-did I really say that?" Blaidd scratched his cheek awkwardly and sighed. "I've gone and said too much again. No wonder that fellow Seluvis is always telling me to watch myself, lest I accidentally betray Ra... the princess."

Well done, wolf bro. So you really couldn't keep a secret to save your life.

You nearly exposed all four members of your team just now-though you'd already exposed three and a half!

"Ahem! Ahem!" Blaidd hurriedly feigned a cough to cover his mistake. "T-time to say goodbye, Zero."

"Wait, wolf bro. I've got one little favor to ask... Actually, it might be a pretty big one. Do you still have some time?" I quickly stopped him. Since we were already near the Weeping Peninsula, I might as well try to change the future a little!

Blaidd looked puzzled. "Let's hear it first."

"I want to protect someone over on the Weeping Peninsula, but I'm afraid I can't do it alone. I can't be in two places at once, so..." I added, "Of course, this person should have absolutely nothing to do with any of you."

Wolf bro pondered for a moment, then turned toward the peninsula to the south. "Kale said things were pretty chaotic over there, too. Getting someone out safely certainly wouldn't be easy..."

"She-she should be just past that bridge. It's not far. All I need is for you to protect her for a while when I leave."

"No problem!" To my surprise, Blaidd readily agreed.

"Huh? Really?"

"You did me a big favor. Just giving you things I don't want hardly seems like a fair exchange."

"That's great! Thank you, wolf bro."

"But the Bridge of Sacrifice is heavily guarded. Most people can't even get near it. Do you have a way across?" Blaidd had a point.

On my first playthrough, I'd blundered over there and been mobbed by soldiers. There was even a ballista that hit like a cannon. Torrent had suffered plenty along with me.

Still, they had their tricks, and I had mine.

I patted my chest. "No problem at all. What about you, wolf bro?"

"Once it gets a little darker, I should be fine." Blaidd sounded confident.

"Then how about a race to see who gets to the other side first?"

"Oh? Sounds interesting."

Awooo~

As the night grew darker, we heard the first howl of a coyote. Both fully prepared, we set off for the Weeping Peninsula.

"Let's go, Torrent!"

"Neigh-"

Riding Torrent, I headed down the southwest slope from the Forlorn Hound Evergaol.

The hill was roughly divided into three tiers, like a cake sliced at an angle:

The bottom tier had nothing, with only some junk items and a ring of Misbegotten lying in ambush at the end;

The top tier held the evergaol;

And if you followed the middle tier to its end, you'd find a Spirit Spring-a shortcut I'd only stumbled upon on my fifth or sixth playthrough.

As a Spectral Steed, Torrent could ride that updraft to make an enormous leap!

"Now! Jump!"

Facing the Weeping Peninsula, we leaped, and a fierce gust lifted us as though we'd sprouted wings.

"Waaaah-"

I couldn't help shouting. It was just like riding a roller coaster, with the wind battering my face until my eyes felt dry and sore.

At the highest point, everything seemed to stand still. I could even clearly hear the river flowing below and see its rippling reflections beneath the night sky, like a string of pearls.

"Waaaaah-"

The weightlessness gave way to the crushing sensation of a rapid descent.

I clung tightly to Torrent's neck, only then starting to worry that I might get flung off.

And as the ground rushed closer, a question finally occurred to me-did Newton exist in the world of the Elden Ring?! This was practically jumping off a building! Even if Torrent could take it, wouldn't the Tarnished's fragile little body end up with broken bones-

In a daze, I thought I saw a few blue-gray butterflies flutter past me.

When I opened my eyes again, Torrent had landed steadily on a stone pillar on the Weeping Peninsula's riverbank.

Wh-what a thrill!

Maybe a little too much of one.

That first experience felt like my heart had been brutally put through the wringer. Next time, let's start with an easier spring. The one before the Bridge of Sacrifice would be good, and I could grab a Scroll of Magic, too.

Oh, come to think of it, I still hadn't gotten a Glintstone Staff.

I'm so sorry, Master Sellen. Your pupil's been dragging his feet.

My wildly jumbled thoughts finally settled down somewhat. Suddenly remembering my race with wolf bro, I hurriedly had Torrent use Double Jump up the nearby rock face, climb onto the top of the slope, and continue onward.

Just ahead lay the far side of the Bridge of Sacrifice.

Ah, wolf bro was already standing by the roadside, right where Irina, the daughter of Castle Morne's lord on the Weeping Peninsula, appeared in the Elden Ring game.

In the story, she would ask the Tarnished to deliver a letter to her father, the castle's lord, only to be ambushed and killed by some unknown villain afterward.

After that, Irina's body would be taken over by the Three Fingers of the Frenzied Flame, becoming Hyetta, a Finger Maiden of the Frenzied Flame.

The evidence for this was that someone had used the cloth White Mask Varre gave the player, with instructions to kill any Finger Maiden, and Varre had accepted Irina's blood as well.

But now I had Blaidd the Half-Wolf helping me. Let's see who'd dare touch a hair on her head while I went to deliver the letter!

"Wolf bro, you're so fast!" I waved in greeting.

Blaidd spun around, his words coming out in muddled whimpers. He looked utterly flustered. "Aw, awooo, Zero, y-you're here? I-I just skirted the shadows and ran straight across the bridge. It was nothing."

That hardly counted as nothing, did it? Had he been so fast that the soldiers guarding the bridge hadn't even noticed him?

I couldn't help finding it a little funny. "What's wrong? Why are you so nervous?"

"Don't come any closer!" Blaidd tried to block something with his body.

Unfortunately, I'd already noticed:

-Irina, the castle lord's daughter, was already dead.