After parting with Hewg, the Tarnished continued down the corridor where the smith worked, but the door at the far end was firmly shut. No matter how hard he tried, he could not open it.
"Is this a fake door?" After several attempts, the door still refused to budge, as though space itself had sealed it shut. The Tarnished gave up and headed for the other door beside Hewg.
"Why are you back again?"
"Paying a visit."
"You really are strange. But I suggest you give up. The maiden behind that door seems to be waiting for someone. She always keeps it closed and has turned away plenty of heroes already." Hewg kept hammering the weapon.
"The more you say that, the more curious I get." If Hewg had said nothing, that would have been fine, but now he had piqued the Tarnished's interest.
"You really are just like the rumors say." Hewg's hands paused for a second before resuming their work.
"Don't listen to rumors."
"Heh. What should I listen to, then?"
"Look at the man himself." The Tarnished pointed his thumb at his chest. "How could rumors ever describe me accurately?"
"Hmph. Suit yourself. Try forcing your way in, and you might get thrown out." Despite his words, Hewg really did not think anyone could drive this man away. After all, he...
"All right, I'll suit myself, then." The Tarnished walked up and knocked lightly on the door.
"Another hero who has come here...? I'm sorry, but this room is not open to visitors." The maiden behind the door spoke her refusal in a gentle, accommodating tone.
"See? What did I tell you? You're not young anymore. Stop bothering the poor girl."
"Why are you so chatty? Where's that aloof attitude you had when we first met?"
"Hmph. I'm afraid if I don't talk to you now, you'll be hunted down before I get another chance." Hewg found it strange himself. Not only did he feel no aversion toward this Tarnished, he even found himself striking up conversations with him. Was it simply because he was that lord's sworn younger brother? But if that were the case, he should have been afraid of him instead.
"Well, thank you very much." What a vicious tongue this old Misbegotten had. Patches was a pest, but this one was venomous. What a pair.
"Just leave, you old wolf. She really doesn't want to see you."
"Yeah, fair enough. Forget it, then." Hewg had a point. But just as the Tarnished turned to leave, the door behind him suddenly opened, and a pretty blonde maiden stepped out.
"How could..." Hewg was dumbfounded, his hammer stopping in his hand.
"Oh? She came out after all."
"..." The maiden silently stared at the Tarnished. Then a pale red glow suddenly shone from her chest.
"It really is you..." Looking at the red light at her chest, the maiden's face filled with astonishment.
"What's going on?" The Tarnished was a little bewildered too. The way this girl looked at him was rather strange.
"I've been waiting for you for so long... Lord White Wolf." Her eyes were clear, and a soft, elegant smile rested on her lips.
"You know me?" The Tarnished furrowed his brow. Hewg, standing nearby, had no idea what was happening either. How did someone else know about the White Wolf?
"Please, come inside so we can talk." The maiden gave Hewg an apologetic look.
"Heh. I'm not interested in your conversation." Hewg froze for a moment, then resumed swinging his hammer, putting on an indifferent air.
"This way, then... Lord White Wolf." The maiden stepped aside to let the Tarnished pass, then closed the door again once he was inside.
"Who are you? Do we know each other?" The Tarnished surveyed the room's furnishings. It felt thoroughly lived-in, with the maiden's presence woven into it as well.
"Forgive my manners. My name is Fia. This is our first meeting." Fia gave a slight bow.
"Our first meeting?" We've never met, but she seems to know quite a bit about me. Could she be a descendant of an old acquaintance?
"Yes, this is our first meeting. But my people and I know a certain amount about you."
"Oh?"
"Deathbed Maidens... Does that explain it?" As she spoke, the maiden carefully observed his every movement.
"Deathbed... Ha, I see. You're their descendant?" He had indeed had some history with the place the Deathbed Maidens came from, though that had been before he arrived in the Lands Between. He had never expected their descendants to find him.
"Indeed." Fia nodded gently. "My people and I have been searching for you all this time..."
"What do you want with me?"
"To repay your kindness..."
"I don't remember doing anything that would require your entire people to repay me." Back then, he had been young and headstrong, having gained formidable strength at an early age. He had also done his share of helping those in need. He had merely happened to save them.
"Freedom and a will of your own... That was what you said, wasn't it?" Fia lowered her eyes halfway and swept up her hair with a smile.
"I did. What about it?" Had those words set something in motion? Honestly, he did not know much about them, only that they possessed some rather unusual abilities.
"It was because of you that the Deathbed Maidens gained the right to choose... basic freedom, so they would no longer be forced to share a bed with a corpse."
"What?" How had that become his doing? And what exactly was going on among her people?
"Deathbed Maidens embrace heroes, taking their warmth and passing it to dead great men to revive them. In the past, we had no right to choose... The duty of a Deathbed Maiden came before everything. Very few were allowed to live their lives freely as themselves."
"And a single sentence from me changed your traditions?" The Tarnished still found that hard to believe.
"No... it could." Fia shook her head.
"We survived that crisis thanks to you. You saved the fate of our entire people... Our ancestors were drawn to your strength and your free spirit. From then on, the White Wolf became our faith. You were our true hero, and to us, heroes stood above all else... So our ancestors enshrined the words you left behind as sacred truths. That alone was enough to change our traditions... And beyond that, you became the highest authority of all Deathbed Maidens."
"After that, the maidens gained choices of their own. Whether to become a Deathbed Maiden, whether to share a bed with a particular great man... Each of those decisions carried something they had never had before: the maidens' own will. It would be no exaggeration to say you changed us..."
"..." The Tarnished was stunned. He had never imagined that an unwitting gesture of his could change an entire people so profoundly.
"I heard that when news of your death in battle reached them, many of our ancestors set out one after another to search for your remains. None succeeded. Everything about you seemed to have been buried away. Even the Blood Wolf Bloody Finger, which could resonate with your blood, could not find you..."
"That happened? I had no idea."
"Hehe. Outsiders do see our deathbed practices as shameful, but we don't care... And so, as the years passed, this Bloody Finger..." Fia drew a red-and-silver Bloody Finger from beneath her collar, close to her heart. Meticulously maintained, it gleamed brightly.
"Passed through the hands of many ancestors before finally coming to me." Fia held it in her palm like a precious treasure.
"Where did that thing come from? It can actually resonate with my blood?"
"According to our ancestors, after that crisis, you asked for no reward. You simply said, 'All for freedom,' then left without a backward glance. To find you and repay your kindness, our elders gathered the blood you had left behind. Through their arts, they fashioned it into this Bloody Finger, a symbol of you."
"There are many Bloody Fingers, and every member of our people carries one... But mine is the original."
All for freedom... Goosebumps rose all over the Tarnished. That definitely belonged among his embarrassing old memories. The follies of youth.
"Hehe... To meet you again in my generation, I suppose I should thank Grace-and thank my people for driving me out." Fia covered her mouth and chuckled.
"You were driven out? Why?"
"We didn't know you had gone to the Lands Between. By the time we heard news of you again, Grace had already forsaken you. My people were outraged when they learned of it. Their hero had been abandoned... And so they came to despise Grace. I happened to awaken to it, and they branded me a traitor and drove me out."
"So that happened too..." He had never expected such a twist of fate.
"...Um." A blush crept over Fia's lovely face.
"What?"
"If you don't mind, could you let me feel your warmth...? The warmth of freedom that all my people believe in and follow."
"Have some restraint. Didn't you just say you have freedom now? You still want to be a Deathbed Maiden?"
"Please don't misunderstand... I... don't wish to become a Deathbed Maiden."
"Then what do you want?"
"As you once said, life should be free, and people should make their own choices... So... if you would allow it, I... wish to become a Wolf-Sleeping Maiden..."
"..."
"Huh?" Why did it feel as though his luck with women had improved considerably since returning to the Lands Between?
"I have been waiting for you all this time... For that, I turned away many heroes and abandoned the deathbed journey I should have undertaken, all so I could stay by your side."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm not forcing myself... I'm grateful that I can meet you in my lifetime. Even though this is our first meeting, that unique presence of yours still makes me feel warm and safe. Perhaps that is why my people follow you."
"..." The Tarnished looked at the resolute maiden and sighed. "All right. I should take responsibility for the bonds I left behind. But whatever you do from now on must come from your heart. Otherwise, you'll be tarnishing my reputation for 'freedom.'" He smiled faintly.
"Thank you so much... I understand." Fia slowly approached him, then somewhat awkwardly drew his head against her chest.
This actually feels pretty nice.
"Past or future, my embrace... everything I am belongs to you alone. I waited so long... and at last, you came... If you will have me, I will follow you forever..."
"And I want to know the real you, beyond the legends."
"Those are lovely words, but are you trying to smother me by holding me so tight?" At first, it had felt pleasantly soft, but the girl had gradually tightened her embrace until his entire face was buried between her rather impressive breasts, leaving him struggling for breath.
"I-I'm so sorry... This is my first time, so I'm not very practiced yet. I'll try harder in the future." Fia immediately loosened her hold.
"Whew. You nearly did me in. Even the armies of the Land of Fog bearing down on us weren't that terrifying."
"My deepest apologies... But you really are so warm." This was her first physical contact with a man, making her quite an oddity among the Deathbed Maidens. Yet before she awakened to Grace, none of her people had said anything about it. They all knew she had been devoted to the White Wolf hero since childhood.
From the moment she first heard of the free-spirited White Wolf, her fate had changed irrevocably.
"Why haven't those two come out yet...? What exactly does that girl have to do with the White Wolf?" Hewg stopped working, itching for gossip. Strangely enough, powerful soundproofing magic protected Fia's room, making it impossible to hear anything. Besides, his ankle shackles kept him from getting too close.
"...Ah! Forget it, forget it." Hewg grimaced, shook his head, and returned to his smithing.
"Lord White Wolf... Did you know someone has been using your name? The founder of this Roundtable Hold." Fia gently stroked the Tarnished's back as she spoke.
"I know."
"After I was driven out, I wandered into the Lands Between and happened to hear that the White Wolf War-ghost, Blaidd, had founded an organization... Other people guided me here. But the more I heard them describe him, the more something felt wrong. He didn't seem to match the man my people had spoken of. Only now do I understand..."
"This isn't over. He dug up my grave. If I get the chance, I'll have to get acquainted with him."
"Oh, right... Lord White Wolf, I have an adoptive father who was very kind to me when I first came to the Lands Between. He was the reason I came here. If you can, please help him when you meet him."
"His name is Lionel."
"Lionel? Well, what a coincidence." The Tarnished was rather surprised.
"You know him...? Was he an old comrade of yours?"
"More or less."
"No wonder my adoptive father brought me here... He must have heard that this place was founded in your name too. But I don't think he ever met the man using your identity..."
"I'll go see him if I get the chance. But what are your plans from here on?" the Tarnished asked.
"...I only wish to follow you." As she spoke, Fia tightened her arms around him, though this time her embrace was much gentler.
"I'm going to rebel and kill a god."
"I don't care..."
"I might die."
"Then I will use my own life force to revive you. If I cannot... I will die with you." Fia's voice was sincere.
"Then I'll have to do my best to keep that from happening. I have no intention of letting anyone die for me." The Tarnished smiled at Fia.
"I will always be by your side... May your road ahead be safe."