A flood of memories rushed into Sio’s mind.
The misfortune of being placed on a carriage and sent to Helgen for execution, the overwhelming pressure of a black dragon spreading its wings to blot out the sky…
These plot points, which should have served as the beginning but which she had never actually experienced, now surfaced within her mind.
Because this was the “mission” she needed to undertake.
Under the entanglement of destiny, even if she started with a different life, she still had to face all of this.
That’s right.
In this dream, her soul…
was the “Dragonborn.” “Sio, are you alright?” Seeing Sio’s dazed and awkward expression, Kaye quickly dismounted and lifted Sio down from the horse.
“No, I’m fine…!
Just a bit dazed from the shock!” Sio shook her head repeatedly like a rattle to hide her inner panic.
Well, at least…
she was indeed the protagonist.
As expected, the plot had returned to its proper track!
It seemed a relaxing and pleasant trip through Skyrim was out of the question!
“Dragons should have been extinct for eras, but just now…” Sio put on a lingering look of fear after being shaken by the dragon’s roar, lightly biting her lower lip as she began to think.
It was perfectly reasonable for her to say such things.
After all, the persona she had always built for herself was that of a knowledgeable and clever girl!
“We need to go in and take a look.
Stay behind me.” Kaye drew his greatsword, shielding Sio behind him.
His gaze swept the surroundings warily as he walked slowly toward the ruined gates of Helgen.
Along the way, Sio used the Destruction Magic she knew to extinguish fires and help clear a path.
When the two officially stepped into Helgen, all they saw were debris and charred stone pillars everywhere.
Most of the buildings were destroyed, with ruined walls still burning fiercely; the remains left behind were mostly charred to unidentifiable carbon by the flames.
“This place is…” Sio narrowed her eyes, drawn to a structure that differed from the rest of the town.
It was a crudely built execution platform.
The girl could see two corpses lying there; one was headless, and the other had an executioner’s axe beside it.
[Well, it seems this guy is just like that horse thief; death was already the inevitable result of the world-line convergence…] Sio grumbled inwardly.
“Sio, come over here.” Kaye, who was investigating nearby, called her over.
Sio left the execution platform and jogged to Kaye’s side.
There, Kaye pointed out the broken equipment scattered on the ground.
“Imperial standard equipment.
What on earth was the Imperial Legion doing in Helgen…” Kaye could recognize the style of the equipment, but he couldn’t guess the Imperial army’s purpose or intention for being here.
[Naturally, it was to execute Ulfric here.] Sio, who was well-versed in the plot, naturally knew the answer!
The Imperial army had captured the leader of the Stormcloak rebels, Ulfric, at Darkwater Crossing and secretly escorted him to Helgen for execution.
Logically, he should have been sent back to Cyrodiil to stand trial.
However, even though Sio knew the inside story, she could only play dumb for now.
After all, the current “Sio” shouldn’t know these things.
“Should we go check the Helgen Keep?” Sio pointed to the fortress in the distance.
“Maybe we’ll find some survivors!” “Yeah, stay close to me.” Kaye nodded, gripped his sword hilt, and walked toward the keep.
Whether it was pushing open doors or leading the way, Kaye took it all upon himself so that Sio wouldn’t have to be exposed to danger.
As soon as they entered the keep, they smelled a mixture of decay and blood.
This should have been the fortress’s entrance hall.
But now, it looked more like…
a slaughterhouse.
Several mutilated corpses lay scattered across the floor.
Sio couldn’t help but frown and cover her nose, suppressing her discomfort as she continued to observe.
“Two, four, eight…
at least a dozen people are dead.” Sio’s brow furrowed.
Even after identifying the severed limbs in the pool of blood and brains, the number she could come up with was still just an estimate.
Because some limbs had been hacked into pieces so small they couldn’t even be pieced back together!
“It’s all Imperial steel armor.
And…” Kaye noticed a relatively intact corpse.
The armor on it wasn’t Imperial steel, but armor made of hide and chains.
If any organization in Skyrim used this kind of chainmail, it could only be the Stormcloaks.
“Stormcloaks?
Why would they be here?
Could the Empire be executing some important person here?” Sio widened her eyes, putting on an expression of surprise and confusion.
Her acting had always been outstanding, and besides, Kaye wouldn’t doubt her.
Well, deceiving someone close to her still made her feel a bit guilty!
She’d just have to make it up to him later!
“Let’s go this way.
The blood leads here.” Kaye patted Sio’s shoulder and pointed toward a passage on the right.
“I just hope we don’t run into those rebels on the way…” Sio muttered under her breath, obediently following behind Kaye.
The two followed the trail of blood through the passage, passing corpses and collapsed walls all along the way.
It seemed that not only had a fierce battle occurred inside the fortress, but that dragon had also rampaged outside, causing destruction.
Occasionally, a torch in the passage would crackle and pop, illuminating the mottled battle scars on the walls.
It was a sign of low-quality fuel.
These intermittent startling sounds always made Sio feel nervous.
Although the plot had returned to its track, not everything would happen as expected.
Maybe there really would be more enemies in the keep for them to fight…
Just then, the two heard the metallic clatter of a weapon hitting the floor.
Movement up ahead!
“Fight me!” Kaye immediately rushed forward with his sword—since this wasn’t a stealth mission, a battle cry would naturally boost morale!
But when he burst into the room, all he saw was a blood-covered Imperial soldier.
He had just tried to prop himself up with his weapon, but had lost his grip due to exhaustion!
A misjudgment.
Kaye was about to say something when someone suddenly crashed into his back.
It could only be Sio.
Sio had also been hurriedly following him, and unable to stop in time, she slammed headfirst into Kaye’s back, bouncing off and falling flat on her rear.
Who told her the weight on her chest was a bit heavy?
Being too hasty made it easy to lose her center of gravity, preventing her from using her agility to her advantage…
Kaye had to turn back to help, pulling Sio out from a pile of wooden barrels.
“You…
you aren’t Stormcloaks?” The Imperial soldier forced his eyes open; though his voice was weak, it was still guarded.
Until he saw the pair’s attire.
Clearly, the Stormcloaks only recruited Sons of Skyrim, and among Nord women, there were no such petite girls.
“Don’t talk yet!
I feel like you’re about to stop breathing!
Just stay still!” Sio rubbed her sore bottom with gritted teeth.
But hearing the Imperial soldier’s faint, dying voice, she ignored her aching rear and stumbled over to the soldier’s side to treat his wounds and heal his body.
A gentle Healing Touch nourished the soldier’s body, causing his wounds to gradually close and his breathing to become steady.
Nords had always been prejudiced against magic, but now he was being saved by Restoration Magic…
What else could he say?
His heart was filled only with gratitude…