Across the great round table on the second floor of Roundtable Hold lay the corridor housing the study of Gideon, "Sir Gideon Ofnir." The fellow liked decorating his armor with "eyes" and "ears." Just looking at him was enough to trigger trypophobia.
Still, he was a wise man in the lore, knew plenty of clues about the Demigods, and had plotted a few things himself.
Bookshelves lined Gideon's corridor, packed to bursting with books. At the far end stood a small library, its door open, its interior clean and tidy.
Shielded candles illuminated the room without risking setting the books alight.
As usual, Gideon was bent over his desk, searching through his reference materials.
Living in an age without computers was such a pain. To learn anything, you had to search through books one by one. Going to the toilet and bathing were a hassle too, and the food was pretty crude. Worse still, there wasn't even any boiled drinking water.
These people drank their water cold, straight from the source, or quenched their thirst with weak fruit wine.
Zhao Si couldn't help grumbling, "Why spend every day studying that stupid Order? Wouldn't it be better to advance technology and improve people's lives? Could you stop acting like knowledge and research were dangerous, and returning to primitive society was the only way to be happy?"
After a few casual complaints, he had reached the doorway.
Gideon's inseparable bodyguard wasn't posted outside. Zhao Si had no idea when he had joined.
Before entering, Zhao Si politely knocked. "Sir?"
"Hmm?" Gideon looked up. "Oh, it's you. Did you need something?"
"I'm a little uneasy," Zhao Si said, getting straight to the point. "The Two Fingers gathering the Tarnished makes me feel like something major is about to happen."
Gideon nodded. "There's no need to be uneasy. But you're right. The honored Fingers must be gathering the Tarnished to guard against something, and they've probably already sensed it. I've consulted a great many sources myself, but found nothing. Under King Radagon's rule, everything appears orderly. There's no sign of trouble."
"Could it be..." Zhao Si pointed overhead. "A threat from beyond the sky?"
"It's possible, but highly unlikely. The Starscourge shattered the stars and sealed the heavens. Nothing outside can get in." Gideon sounded very confident.
Even children on the street could recount the mighty feat of the Starscourge, "Red Lion" Radahn, who had smashed the firmament and severed the connection between heaven and earth. Everyone sang his praises, and schools taught it every day.
"Then could it come from underground?" Zhao Si pointed beneath his feet.
Gideon considered this for a moment. "There's nothing underground. No threat could come from there. The honored Fingers likely established Roundtable Hold to protect the Golden Order. So I believe we should start with the fundamentals."
"But King Radagon and Goddess Marika protect the Erdtree and the Order. Is there anything that could threaten them?" Zhao Si asked.
"Yes," Gideon said with certainty. "Of course there is. But it has already been cordoned off, so there's no need to worry too much."
Gideon hadn't called it "sealed," because the blackflame in the great cauldron atop the Mountaintops of the Giants could not be extinguished, and it was the Erdtree's bane.
There were quite a few outside forces capable of threatening the Erdtree: blackflame, frenzied flame, and scarlet rot could all affect it.
"Then could it be... a problem among the Demigods themselves?" Zhao Si cautiously introduced the most dangerous subject.
He wondered whether the Two Fingers would know they were discussing the Demigods on their turf.
Gideon thought deeply for a moment. "That isn't impossible. But aside from competing for the throne, what disputes could they have? And King Radagon is so powerful. Surely no one would be foolish enough to challenge him head-on."
Even brothers in ordinary noble families fought to the death over becoming head of the household. It was perfectly natural for a god's children to covet a throne as exalted as that of the Elden Lord.
But who could drag Radagon off that throne? It was impossible.
The conversation had reached a dead end. Gideon didn't seem to know much about the underground dynasty, the Eternal City, or the frenzied flame. There was no way to steer the subject toward Ranni.
No one would believe a nameless Tarnished who accused the Lunar Princess Ranni, without a shred of evidence, of harboring rebellious intentions and plotting to murder Godwyn, the first Demigod.
Zhao Si could only try another subject. "Then do you know what Fia's story is?"
"Fia is a Deathbed Companion. Unless you have a reason to, you needn't associate with her." Gideon spoke of Fia without any emotion, as though merely stating a fact.
"She isn't a Tarnished, is she? Why is she here?" Zhao Si continued.
"I asked that question as well, but the honored Fingers gave no clear answer. They only said that she came to Leyndell after leaving her homeland. When she heard the Fingers were establishing Roundtable Hold, she volunteered to join." Gideon didn't know much about Fia either.
"A Deathbed Companion's profession has something to do with death, doesn't it? Did the Two Fingers allow her to join because we might be dealing with something related to death?" Zhao Si chose his words with some care.
"Death?" Gideon paused, apparently failing to grasp what Zhao Si meant.
"I mean true death." Zhao Si took two steps forward and finally voiced what he had been trying to say. "Death of the soul. The kind where you don't return to the Erdtree."
Gideon visibly jolted. "No. That's impossible. No such power exists in this world."
"What if it really does, and someone wants to use it against the Demigods?" Zhao Si was so nervous that sweat broke out on his forehead.
"What evidence do you have?" Gideon countered. "Heresy of that kind must never be allowed to exist."
Zhao Si froze and stepped back, suddenly feeling guilty. "I... I don't have any evidence."
He unconsciously clutched the burn scar on his wrist. Fire, a burn scar-clear signs of heresy. The Two Fingers simply hadn't noticed.
Gideon let out a long breath, as though he had been afraid Zhao Si might actually produce evidence.
"Still, you've given me a possible line of inquiry. Perhaps it's worth investigating. Otherwise, it's difficult to explain what we're doing here." Gideon showed a little approval for Zhao Si's suggestion.
Zhao Si relaxed as well. As long as he had piqued Gideon's curiosity, perhaps he could get him to investigate. Any plot, whatever its nature, would eventually leave traces. Even a Demigod's conspiracy.
The reason no one had guarded against it at first was that no one had imagined such a thing could happen.
One last thing. Zhao Si asked, "May I read the books here?"
"Of course. These are all resources granted to us by the honored Fingers, including quite a few books that are no longer available elsewhere. Browse as you please," Gideon said.
Zhao Si nodded and began scanning the shelves for books that interested him.
The last hours of the morning were spent in a sea of words,
immersed in reading. Thankfully, this body's original owner had been literate, sparing Zhao Si any worries about language or writing.
Amid the books singing praises, he noticed something rather strange: when the First Elden Lord Godfrey went on his campaign and lost his grace, Radagon abandoned his first wife, the Full Moon Queen Rennala, and swiftly succeeded him as the new Elden Lord.
Something was wrong here!
Whether Radagon had been in a hurry was beside the point. With old Godfrey campaigning in the wilds, the crown prince should logically have governed in his absence. His eldest son Godwyn should have held the reins of power. Even if Godfrey could no longer remain king after losing his grace, Godwyn should still have succeeded him.
No matter how you looked at it, the throne should never have fallen to Radagon, Caria's son-in-law. Nor did the books record where Radagon had come from. He was like an all-capable hero who had appeared out of thin air, swindling Rennala out of both her wealth and her love. In the end, he was nothing but a scumbag who abandoned his wife and children to take the throne.
"So... nobody knows about Marika and Radagon's relationship, and nobody objects to Godwyn not inheriting the throne?" Zhao Si thought this was a bug.
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