Elden Ring, building a legion of ashes

Chapter 149: Extra Money Required (Thanks to King of Sparks)

Xia Tong took the necklace and examined it quietly by the firelight.

It was an oval-shaped relief pendant.

The dark silver metal trim is engraved with extremely intricate and classical vine patterns.

At the center of the pendant is a relief of a woman's portrait.

The noblewoman in the painting has slightly wavy, shoulder-length short hair and an elegant and dignified demeanor.

Xia Tong recognized her at a glance.

That was Tanis, the current mistress of the Volcano Mansion.

Looking at this noble and aloof portrait, for some reason, Xia Tong suddenly pictured Patch's lewd face.

"Patch would probably love this necklace if he saw it, right?"

"Maybe I'll sneak a kiss every night before bed."

"When I see Laya later, I'll have to ask her if she has any extra duplicate styles. Maybe I can use them to rip off Patch," Xia Tong thought to herself with a wicked grin.

"I really like this necklace, Brother Shrimp. I wonder if you could... part with it?" Xia Tong looked up and asked tentatively.

Road.

"No, no!"

Upon hearing this, Brother Shrimp immediately shook his head vigorously and reached out to take the necklace back.

"I like it too! You know, it's so boring being here all alone in this lousy place."

"The woman on this necklace is so beautiful, it makes me feel good to look at her a few more times."

"Hmm—in that case, I'll offer 500 runes to buy it, is that alright?" Xia Tong offered her offer.

"This is not Rune's problem."

"How about 1000 Runes?" Xia Tong immediately doubled it.

"Oh dear, oh dear, this really isn't Rune's fault!" Shrimp Bro refused again firmly.

"1500 runes?"

Upon hearing this number, Brother Shrimp's eyes behind his mask lit up instantly, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

He rubbed his hands together, feigning hesitation, and sighed, saying, "Sigh—never mind. Since you really like it, brother, I'll reluctantly give it to you."

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Xia Tong then bid farewell to Brother Xia and proceeded in the direction he had indicated.

Soon they arrived back in the shallow waters of the lake, where the surroundings remained as desolate as ever.

Looking at the basin in front of him, Xia Tong couldn't help but sigh.

In fact, during the heyday of the Realucalia Academy and the Caria royal family, this vast basin was a fertile valley.

At that time, the land was paved with wide and flat stone slab roads.

Not far in front of Xia Tong, there stands a stargazing pavilion made of gray and white stone with Gothic pointed arches.

These stone pavilions were once widely built as rest stops in forests or by lakes, providing shelter from the rain for royal members on their travels, or allowing academy magicians to pause at night, gaze at the stars, and explore the mysteries of the brilliance.

Standing in the very center of the pavilion is a statue of an ancient stargazer.

However, the entire Lienia Basin is undergoing an extremely slow process of land subsidence that has lasted for thousands of years.

As a result, the lake has overflowed and flooded, and half of these once exquisite stone pavilions are now submerged in foul-smelling silt.

After passing more than a dozen star-gazing pavilions that were mostly submerged by water.

Xia Tong finally saw the figure of the girl in green clothes in the thick fog ahead.

Unlike the NPC who stood straight in the pavilion waiting for the player in the game in my previous life.

At this moment, she was not standing, but rather like a frightened little animal, pitifully curled up in a corner of the stone pavilion that was covered with puddles.

Her hair was disheveled, and her face was covered in black stains. Her once elegant green uniform was now covered in mud and looked filthy.

Around the stone steps where she was curled up, there were scattered small bones of fish and shrimp that had been eaten.

"That's terrible!"

Xia Tong was speechless at the sight, and a pang of sympathy rose in her heart.

"It seems that after Shrimp Bro stole her necklace, Laya has been struggling to survive for the past two weeks by eating raw small fish and shrimp."

"Look how you've driven that young girl to this point."

Xia Tong led the spirit horse, stepping onto the waterlogged stone slabs with a dull thud, and entered the Star Gazing Pavilion.

Upon hearing footsteps, the girl jerked her head up like a startled bird, her eyes filled with vigilance.

"Hello, my name is Xia Tong."

Xia Tong tried her best to make her voice sound gentle.

"You don't look well—do you need help?"

Laya, a girl with a somewhat forlorn expression, slowly raised her head and looked at the man in front of her.

Xia Tong had dark skin and wore a somewhat rugged Kaidan mercenary outfit, but fortunately, her face was relatively peaceful.

She looked to be in her early twenties, not much older than herself, so Laya wasn't too scared.

"No—I'm sorry, you must have found this amusing. Faded One."

Laya quickly stood up and bowed slightly to Xia Tong.

As the "daughter" of Tanis, the mistress of the Volcano Mansion, Laya may have a somewhat strange demeanor, but she has clearly received a good upbringing and is influenced by aristocratic etiquette, making her far superior to Shrimp Bro.

"Are you having some kind of trouble? Do you need my help?" Xia Tong asked with a smile, her tone gentle.

"Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Laya."

The girl's voice was timid and aggrieved: "I was sent on a journey by my master, but I was attacked by a..."

"A scoundrel's attack. He stole a very important necklace from me—"

"I don't know—would you be willing to help me?" Laya raised her empty eyes and looked at Xia Tong with hope, but then lowered her head in disappointment.

"However, this matter must be quite difficult for you. Because—the person who stole the necklace was also a Faded One."

"If you are unwilling to draw your sword against your compatriots, I will never force you."

"Huh? You're saying a thug stole your things? Then look—isn't this it?"

Xia Tong didn't follow up on her words, but instead, as if by magic, took Laya's necklace out of her bosom.

On the dark silver pendant, Tanis's elegant and aloof appearance was still clearly visible.

Upon seeing the necklace she had lost and found, Laya's pupils dilated in disbelief.

After a brief moment of surprise, Laya's face turned deathly pale. She couldn't help but take a step back, her voice trembling as she asked, "You—you're not in cahoots with that bandit, are you?!"

In Laya's innocent mind, a terrifying possibility immediately came to mind: the robber accomplice in front of her had deliberately run over with her necklace just to play a trick on her and make fun of her!

"what?"

This time, it was Xia Tong's turn to be a little confused.

He never expected Laya to think that way. But thinking about it carefully, it did feel very strange that he had come to return the necklace without accepting any commission.

Because the words "kindness" and "friendliness" are almost non-existent in border areas.

"Haha, you've misunderstood. I meant no harm. It's just a coincidence. Here, take the necklace back."

As she spoke, Xia Tong casually tossed the pendant engraved with Tanis's portrait to Laya.

Laya hurriedly caught it, afraid that the precious pendant would fall and break on the waterlogged stone slab.

"Now that you've got the necklace, I should be going."

Xia Tong shrugged helplessly. He lightly leaped onto Toret's horse, ready to leave.

"Wait! Wait!"

Laya gripped the necklace tightly, feeling its real texture, and realized that she had wronged the good person.

She immediately became extremely anxious and shouted, "Lord Faded One, please don't go!"

"I'm so sorry, I misunderstood you earlier! Because of what I've been through these past few days—I'm terrified. Please don't leave!"

Laya, whose body was already somewhat hunched, bowed even more deeply, her attitude extremely sincere.

Seeing Laya's humble and submissive posture, Xia Tong sighed softly on horseback before dismounting from Toret's back.

Seeing Xia Tong stop, Laya took a deep breath and her expression became solemn: "Lady Faded One, although I have already introduced myself, please allow me to introduce myself again with solemnity."

My full name is Zerayas.

"I am here on the orders of Lady Tanis, the mistress of the Volcano Mansion, to invite those with heroic aspirations who have faded to the mansion. This is my duty as a recruiter."

Laya stared intently at Xia Tong: "You're very strong. I suppose you snatched this necklace from that bandit?"

"You are not only powerful enough, but also have a kind heart. You are even willing to fight your own people with swords for strangers."

"These are precisely the qualities you possess that my master desires!"

Please accept this item.

As she spoke, Laya solemnly took out a parchment letter with a red wax seal from her bosom and handed it over.

"This should be the invitation from the Volcano Official Residence," Xia Tong thought to herself.

"Without this letter as proof, you cannot enter the official residence."

Laya continued in an almost fanatical tone, "Faded One, possessing the bearing of a hero! Advance towards the Altar Plateau of the Golden Tree Land!"

"Those who, though blessed and guided, can only eke out a living on the borderlands, gazing at the golden tree from afar, are not worthy of being called heroes. You are definitely not one of those ordinary people!"

"Once your strength is proven in the borderlands, the Volcano Mansion will certainly formally invite you to become a hero fighting alongside us, and even—to become one of our people!"

Hearing these highly persuasive words, Xia Tong accepted the invitation without comment.

"Oh, right, there's one more important piece of information I need to tell you personally."

Lia leaned closer and lowered her voice, saying, "This Lienia region was originally connected to the Altan Plateau via the Didos Elevator at the end of the main road."

"However, that large elevator hasn't been running for a long time. To start it, we need to collect two lost tokens."

"So, if you want to get to the Yatan Plateau as soon as possible, I suggest you go find the ancient cliff ruins first."

"It's an ancient tunnel hidden deep in the valley at the bottom of the giant elevator. It's said to be a secret passage carved out from both the Lienia and the Altan Plateau. Although dangerous, it does allow you to bypass the giant elevator."

"Lord Xia Tong, you must be a true hero! I believe in your abilities! I look forward to our next meeting at the Volcano Residence!"

As if she had been waiting for a long time, she finally met a fading subject who perfectly met her requirements, like Xia Tong. Laya seemed a little excited and kept talking.

Xia Tong listened quietly, looking into her hopeful, cloudy eyes, and couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.

This girl named Laya can be described as an extremely tragic character in the game's storyline from my previous life, one whose fate is filled with unresolved sorrow.

She was not a noble royal descendant at all, but a deformed offspring born from the union of the blasphemous serpent deep within the Gemir volcano and a woman named Ditika.

The great serpent devoured countless heroes, while Ditika, through some blasphemous ritual, conceived these serpent-man monsters that defied the laws of nature in her womb.

Tanis adopted Laya, dressed her in human clothes, and bestowed upon her a false sense of dignity, not out of any noble cause.

maternal love.

This was entirely to exploit her seemingly harmless appearance to recruit more fading beings from the outside world, in order to find more flesh and blood nourishment for that greedy, blasphemous king, Lakad.

Laya naively believed herself to be a descendant of a noble royal family and devoted herself wholeheartedly to serving the official residence.

When he later learned the truth, it made her want to commit suicide to find relief.

"Sigh, let's take it one step at a time."

Xia Tong sighed inwardly, "I definitely can't tell you directly now that your adoptive mother, Lady Tanis, is actually a madwoman with a heart of stone."

"Are you going to stay here any longer?" Xia Tong asked, looking at her dirty skirt.

Laya patted the dirt off her clothes. Although she was still hunched over, she seemed much better. "I'm heading to the Yatan Plateau next. Perhaps we'll have a chance to meet again soon."

Xia Tong nodded slightly, then mounted her horse and continued on her way towards the academy.

As they moved closer to the academy, the surrounding fog gradually thinned.

Suddenly, through the thin mist ahead, Xia Tong, with her excellent eyesight, spotted two people lurking furtively in the muddy shallows.

A huge figure wriggling in the water.

Upon seeing their appearance, he immediately felt a churning in his stomach.

"It's so ugly—"

These two creatures each had an enormous, frog-like, bulging, round head, with not a single hair on top, and rough skin that had a sickly grayish-black color.

It seemed that the sound of Xia Tong riding the Torret across the water had startled them.

One of them suddenly turned around and looked at Xia Tong.

On its flat and wide face were a pair of incredibly large, bulging dead fish eyes.

Below the large eyes is a huge mouth that almost spans the entire length of the face.

Although the mouth was closed at the moment, it still gave people a very disgusting and strange feeling.

The moment I saw Xia Tong.

Without the slightest hesitation, the two second-generation Platinum Sons charged straight at them!

Each of them was also holding a huge, rough wooden stick that was much longer than their short, stout bodies.

"As expected of the second-generation Platinum Son—compared to the first generation, he's reached a new level of ugliness."

Xia Tong cursed inwardly.

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