The Strange Kale

After leaving Roundtable Hold, the Tarnished arrived at the Church of Elleh. The moment he appeared, Boc expressed how much he had missed him and offered his heartfelt congratulations on slaying a demigod. He was even more excited than the Tarnished himself.

"All right, all right, calm down." The Tarnished pressed one hand downward.

"S-sorry, my benefactor. Slaying a god is such a mighty feat... Ah, you're sure to become a lord. I've always believed that." Boc was genuinely delighted to see his benefactor take another step along his chosen path.

"I've been waiting for you all this time, and I've prepared a cloak for you. Let it be my gift to celebrate!" Boc picked up a carefully wrapped package from a stone seat nearby. The Tarnished accepted it and immediately took out what was inside: a scarlet cloak. It had no lavish decorations, but the workmanship was exquisite, and the material was reasonably durable.

"Oh..." The Tarnished swung the cloak around and fastened it behind him. Fluttering in the wind, it brought out the murderous aura surrounding him all the more. Only once he had properly put it on did he understand its true purpose: intimidation.

The cloak was pure blood red, with no unnecessary ornaments. That simple shade alone was enough to display the wearer's ferocity.

"I knew I was right about you, Boc. This is so much better than the faded cloak on my old set of armor."

"As long as you like it." Boc beamed, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

"Look, Mel, it suits me perfectly." The Tarnished kept swishing the cloak around in front of Melina.

"Uh..." Melina stepped back half a pace. Between that strange nickname and the Tarnished's rather foolish antics, even the normally unflappable Melina was shaken.

"Looks like you don't appreciate this cloak's style. Never mind, someone will. Hahahaha!" The Tarnished burst out laughing. Indeed, he was a serious cloak enthusiast. The armor he had worn before also had a huge cloak hanging from its back, so Boc's latest creation had struck right at his tastes.

"..." Amid this rather bizarre scene, with the Tarnished and Boc brimming with excitement and Melina remaining silent, the Wandering Merchant Kale, likewise dressed in red, rode his donkey into the Church of Elleh.

"Kale?"

"Oh...? Ah, it's you, Tarnished. Looks like you've been doing well." There was something strange about Kale's tone. His already enormous hat now almost completely covered his eyes.

The instant Melina saw Kale, she instinctively took several steps back. This was unlike the embarrassed retreat she had made to avoid the Tarnished. This time, there was a hint of wariness.

Hm? What's gotten into her? Puzzled, the Tarnished turned sideways and quietly shielded Melina behind him.

"Tarnished..." Melina's expression shifted slightly.

"Anything you want to buy...? I have new stock." Kale paid no attention to their strange behavior. Neither did Boc beside him; he merely thought the two were standing rather close together.

"Speaking of which, it really has been a while, Kale. I thought you weren't coming back to this church." Rather than answer whether he wanted to buy anything, the Tarnished skirted the question. This man made Melina wary, and the Tarnished himself could sense that something about Kale's aura was slightly different from when they had first met.

Fortunately, Kale was not particularly powerful. Even if something unexpected happened, the Tarnished could handle it. That was why he did not rush to leave, but instead stayed to talk to Kale.

"Hehehe, a wandering merchant... How could I have a fixed place?" Kale spoke unhurriedly as he laid out his new wares.

"Tarnished..." Melina tugged at the hem of his clothes.

"Hm?" The Tarnished looked back. Melina's face was as expressionless as ever, but her eyes were filled with a complicated emotion.

"..."

"No... It's nothing. Don't mind me." Melina seemed to think of something and shook her head.

"Hehehehe, the young lady behind you seems rather shy around strangers. Still, with a chatterbox like you around, that should change soon enough." By now, Kale had finished arranging his goods. He sat cross-legged on the ground, his gloomy gaze fixed on the grass.

"Tell me, what good things do you have now?" The Tarnished remained in front of Melina. Kale was indeed noticeably different from when they had first met. To be precise, he had become somewhat dangerous.

Before, Kale had spoken in a subdued tone, but now almost every sentence carried a tremor... This was not a normal person's way of speaking.

Oh...? Is this the same aura as that thing on the Weeping Peninsula...?

"Ah... Everything you could want. New information, new equipment, all of it."

"Then I'll take a few pieces of information. Preferably about Liurnia. We'll be heading there soon," the Tarnished said calmly.

"Oh, of course I have that." Kale pushed forward several envelopes and curled his fingers toward the Tarnished, signaling for him to pay.

"I really never expected you to kill a demigod... Impressive. Truly impressive." Kale tilted his head as he spoke.

"He was too weak."

"Hehe, that old bastard had it coming, I suppose. Oh, right, if there's anything else you need, buy it while you can... By the next time we meet, I might have left this place again. And perhaps I won't ever return."

The Tarnished gave it some thought. He did need a few things, so he bought plenty of arrows and throwable Fire Pots from Kale. After chatting with him for a while, he left the church with Melina and Boc.

"Hehe... A Tarnished who slew a demigod... Good, very good." Once the group was far away, Kale suddenly burst out laughing. The patch of grass he had been watching abruptly erupted in golden flames tinged with red.

"..." After arriving at the Site of Grace by Agheel Lake, Melina remained silent.

"What did you sense on him?" the Tarnished asked once they had settled down.

"Fire... Very frenzied fire... If a fight had broken out there, that frenzied flame would have burned everything around us to ashes."

"You seem to know a lot about it."

"Perhaps... I do. Don't... touch that flame." Melina stumbled over her words. Perhaps, having lost her memories of the past, she retained only an instinctive trace of fear toward that flame. But that was enough to prove how dangerous it was.

"Never mind... Kale doesn't seem to have any intention of making enemies of us right now. Perhaps we'll learn what that aura of his is about later." The Tarnished decided not to dwell on it any longer. As Melina had said, fighting him would cost more than it was worth... And that aura was very similar to what he had sensed on the Weeping Peninsula.

So Kale was probably only one of them. Killing him would accomplish nothing, and Kale himself bore the Tarnished no hostility. He had also been the first person the Tarnished could hold a normal conversation with after arriving in the Lands Between... Hopefully, they would not end up on opposing sides.

Afterward, the Tarnished settled Boc back in the Stranded Graveyard. He had wanted to take Boc to Roundtable Hold, but it only accepted Tarnished, and Boc was a demi-human, so that clearly would not work.

Once he had taken care of Boc, the Tarnished traveled through grace to Sellen's location. The noise of the massive iron door being lifted interrupted her reading, but when she looked up and saw that the visitor was her apprentice, she was not annoyed.

"Oh my... A few days apart, and my apprentice seems to have grown considerably stronger again... It looks as though you've made a breakthrough in another field." There was a smile in Sellen's voice.

"I just killed a demigod."

"Mm... Just what I'd expect from my apprentice... Though you've yet to cast any magic, I believe you'll manage it someday. Now, my apprentice, what brings you to your teacher?"

"My next stop is Liurnia. I haven't gathered all the Great Runes yet, but I'm still curious about the situation there. It's the place closest to the Altus Plateau, after all... And I might find a sorcery catalyst there. Since you're from Liurnia, I wanted to ask if there's anything I should watch out for." His knowledge of Liurnia was limited to the past. Unlike when he had first arrived in Limgrave and had no reliable contacts, he now knew plenty of dependable people. It was best to ask about the situation first.

"Just stay away from those conservative old bastards." Without even thinking, Sellen launched straight into cursing the conservatives. "Ahem... Of course, there's also the war between the Academy and the Carian Royal Family. It seems to be continuing. If you go there now, you might be attacked by either side. After all, my apprentice, you're also a Tarnished... You understand."

"So it's not peaceful there either. But that doesn't matter. Anyone who wants to kill me had better be prepared to die instead... I heard there's a Glintstone Dragon there."

"You mean Smараg... Hehe, that fellow is even more brutal than your teacher. You might never guess where he came from."

"He used to be a human, and a sorcerer... But this man, well... It might sound strange coming from me, the Witch of the Stone Cluster whom everyone fears, but he was truly vile. He delighted in devouring sorcerers... Afterward, he seems to have pursued the power of dragons as well. Eventually, the erosion of glintstone gradually transformed him into a Flying Dragon capable of casting Glintstone Sorcery."

"Damn, that's vicious." He had never expected a Flying Dragon's origins to be so complicated.

"Still, now that you mention it, my apprentice... You could use that fellow to make a suitable catalyst." Sellen rested her hand against her chin in thought.

"I heard that nourishing a weapon with large quantities of glintstone can turn it into a catalyst too."

"That certainly works... It's just that the amount required is truly enormous. With that Flying Dragon, though, it would be a different story. The immense glintstone energy inside him would be enough to nourish a weapon."

"Hehe, my apprentice, it seems you've encountered people with some ingenious ideas on your journey. That's good... It helps you discover new horizons." Sellen nodded in satisfaction.

"My apprentice, once you've obtained a catalyst you're happy with, your teacher will have to put you through a proper test. Be ready."

"Of course, of course."

"Oh, right, my apprentice. Before I was expelled, a strange graveyard appeared in Liurnia... It seems to have been built in secret. I don't know much about it, but I think it should be useful on your journey. I have a feeling someone is hidden inside."

"Someone hiding there? That's interesting. The last time I heard about a place with someone hidden inside, I found you," the Tarnished said with a smile.

"Then all the more reason for you to take a look," Sellen replied, a hint of amusement in her voice as well.

"As for the location... Wait a moment, my apprentice. Let your teacher draw it for you." With that, Sellen picked up paper and a pen and drew a simple map from her somewhat hazy memories.

"It's been quite a while since I left Liurnia, and my memories are rather vague. This is the best I can do."

"It's fine. As long as I have the location." Besides, Liurnia ought to have one of those magical maps too. Comparing them when the time came should pose no problem.

"All right, my apprentice, off you go. May your journey go smoothly."