The previous text has been modified and slightly condensed; it won’t affect readers who have already seen it.
— “Ha…
I can’t run anymore!” Mia’s face was flushed red.
Her hands gripped a pillar by the roadside, and her body was bent at a ninety-degree angle.
After bluffing their way past the Tree Sentinel, fearing he might notice something wrong again, Mia and Wilden sprinted forward at top speed.
They ran for over half an hour.
“We shouldn’t…
be caught now, right?” The girl’s flat chest heaved continuously as she panted hot breath.
Her damp breath turned her lips into an enticing color, like polished red apples.
Sweat also glued strands of hair to her ears and soaked her neck.
Although she looked disheveled, it gave the girl a sense of maturity that didn’t quite belong to her petite body…
“If he really saw through us, we wouldn’t have been able to escape.” In stark contrast was Wilden.
While Mia was sprinting, the Soldier had been following closely behind her.
And while Mia felt like she was about to die from running, Wilden was still following behind her as calm and unruffled as ever.
“Don’t you…
*pant* *pant*…
get tired?” Mia turned to look at him, gritting her teeth.
Wilden was still wearing his full set of equipment: a greatsword on his back, a Brass Shield, two Straight Swords at his waist, a massive Tower Shield in his left hand, and a Painted Spear in his right.
“I get tired,” Wilden said.
Those words weren’t convincing at all.
He wasn’t even out of breath.
“But there won’t be anything else to do.” That Hollow face of his probably provided all the answers.
“I’ll rest for a bit…” “Aaaagh—” A chilling cry, like a final death struggle, came from overhead.
“Eek!” The sudden cry startled Mia.
She looked up along the pillar she was leaning on.
A Hollow, weathered almost into a skeleton, hung from a tall Y-shaped Gallows.
“…” Mia quickly let go of the Y-shaped Gallows.
“What is this…” Mia took a few steps back, staring at the Hollow hanging from the rack.
Its limbs were little more than bone; heaven knows how long it had been hanging there.
Only its head, which could only be described as ‘tattered,’ emitted meaningless sounds in an uncanny way.
“If one loses themselves to a long life, they end up hanging here until their body and soul are completely weathered away,” Wilden explained.
“Uh…
let’s keep going.” The Hollow hanging on the Y-shaped Gallows was certainly no pleasant sight.
Compared to the greenery on both sides of the road, it felt like a defilement.
It wouldn’t be too late to walk a bit further and find a more suitable place to rest.
She had just thought that, but before she could take more than a few steps, the muscle spasms from her previous intense exertion made her retch.
She lowered her head and dry-heaved in discomfort, only bringing up some bile, as her stomach was empty.
“Ah…” she groaned in discomfort and wiped her mouth.
The cloth covering her eyes was nearly soaked with involuntary tears.
As she stood up unsteadily, Wilden supported her from the side.
“What’s wrong?” “I feel…
a bit unwell…” Mia whimpered.
To make herself feel better, she pursed her lips and tried taking deep breaths through her nose.
She hadn’t felt it much before, but now her calves felt like jelly.
After all, she had run for so long at such a high speed.
I must have run ten kilometers by now, right?
Wilden held Mia’s shoulder—due to the height difference, he didn’t even have to raise his hand—and looked into the distance.
Suddenly, he said, “There’s a building ahead.” “What?” Mia strained to lift her head.
Although the forest wasn’t particularly dense, she couldn’t see anything except a massive ruin looming ahead.
“I’m taller than you, so I can see further.
Let’s go there to rest.” “…” She wasn’t in the mood to argue about her height right now.
She had no strength left, and her mouth felt sticky from nausea.
If only she had some water to rinse it out…
Ah, right.
The girl suddenly took out an Estus Flask (crossed out) flask of sacred tears.
She took a sip.
A very small sip, just enough to wet her lips.
Even such a small sip washed away most of the aches and fatigue throughout her body.
“I feel much better.” Mia exhaled a breath of stale air and let go of Wilden’s support.
“Where is this building you mentioned?” Speaking of buildings so close to the Stranded Graveyard…
It was likely the Church of Elleh.
“I can only see its spire.
Let’s head that way.” Among the trees and weeds, he found a dirt path that was barely passable, branching off to the left from the main road.
That road had once been fairly wide, but now it was overgrown with all sorts of vegetation.
Following Wilden, Mia saw the Church of Elleh a moment later.
The stone building had long since fallen into ruin.
On the remaining structures, the bricks were so weathered that not a single straight line could be found.
The roof was long gone, and every wall was incomplete.
Only the church’s bell tower still stood tall, its battered frame reaching upward.
What Wilden had seen earlier must have been the bell tower of the Church of Elleh.
A sense of relief, a feeling of “finally saved,” welled up in the girl’s heart.
“How about we stay the night here?” Mia said to Wilden before they even stepped inside.
“…” Wilden looked up at the bright sky.
“We can cover more ground before nightfall.” “No rush, no rush.
Who knows where else we’ll find to stay if we pass this place up?” “There is no need to stay the night.
If we keep walking, we’ll reach Stormveil in five days.” “But I can’t do that!” Mia cried out.
That’s five days!
From morning to night, without any rest!
With such an outrageous pace, she’d end up dead and miserable with her tongue hanging out!
“…” Wilden didn’t seem to understand.
“The Tarnished truly are fragile.” “It’s probably not a matter of being fragile…” Although she really wanted to snap back with, “What would a Hollow like you know!”, Mia’s emotional intelligence told her she shouldn’t say that.
Before even entering the Church of Elleh, Mia saw the golden grace floating in the roofless hall.
And.
A figure very familiar to elden ring players, sitting in the corner like Santa Claus.
Or rather, the man in red, the nomadic merchant Kalé.
He was jokingly called Santa Claus because of his red clothes and pointed cloth hat.
With a campfire, an erhu (?), a donkey, and his luggage close at hand, Kalé had established a cozy little corner for himself in this ruined church.
When Mia and Wilden walked in, Kalé was holding his instrument, but he was just staring blankly at the fire.
Then he saw Wilden walking in front.
He jumped up instantly and bolted toward his donkey.
‘Why is it the same situation as with the White Mask again!’ Mia felt a wave of exasperation.
She immediately jumped out from behind Wilden and shouted: “Wait a minute!”