I want to be a faded person for life

There are many goats and tortoises living near the hills. The existence of these ordinary creatures made Xiangzi feel somewhat relieved. They proved that there are at least normal creatures in this world.

But now is not the time to observe these cute animals. Just as Xiangzi tried to pull his hair back, he heard the sound he least wanted to hear.

The sound of horse hooves could be heard not far away, and at the same time, the sound of heavy armor plates colliding with metal plates was approaching.

Shoko Toyokawa's heart was pounding and cold sweat covered her whole body. She immediately stopped moving and slowed down her breathing.

She didn't even dare to look up to confirm whether the other party had discovered her. She could only curl up deep in the bushes and wait for the axe blade that might appear above her head at any time.

She seemed to feel the warm, heavy breath of the warhorse hitting her back. At this moment, Xiangzi could hardly bear the fear and rushed out of the bushes to flee forward.

Finally, she endured it and the sound gradually faded away.

After more than ten seconds, Xiangzi dared to turn his head and look behind him through the shadow of the bushes. The knight in golden armor had indeed walked away.

Xiangzi felt that the other party should actually be aware of his presence, but as Fan Lei said, they regarded him as a harmless thing like a goat, and there was no need to take action to clean it up.

The girl suddenly pulled her hair back from the goat's mouth, then slowly stood up and entered the dilapidated church in front in a half-squatting position.

Only when she saw the golden flames in the center of the church did she finally feel completely at ease.

Even if she dies, she will be resurrected in this church. The new blessed flame is stronger than the one on the hill, and she can be resurrected at least five times.

Xiangzi walked to the blessed flame and sat on the ground.

The chapel was in a very dilapidated state. There were no floor tiles, only relatively flat land. Several old stone pillars supported the church's roof, which was missing most of the roof. The statue at the deepest part was the same style as the goddess statue in the courtyard where the nobles with limbs were located.

There was a bonfire crackling under the statue of the goddess.

At this time, there was another person in the chapel besides Xiangzi.

An old man wearing a red straw hat and a red and white soft hat was resting beside a stone pillar next to the campfire. Not far away from him was a skinny black donkey carrying large and small bags.

"Holy... Santa Claus?!"

This was Xiangzi's subconscious reaction.

The other party also noticed that there was one more person in the church.

"...What a strange name."

"You are the Fader, right? And it looks like... you won't attack me."

"I'm not Santa Claus. My name is Craig... although you may not be able to tell, I'm a businessman."

The guy dressed like Santa Claus didn't seem very enthusiastic and had no intention of getting up from the ground, but even so, it was enough to make Xiangzi feel inexplicably moved.

This is truly the most normal person I have ever seen since I came to this world.

Thinking about it carefully, since arriving at this place called the border or [Nimgefu] by Fan Lei, most of the people he encountered were monsters and murderers who would attack at the slightest disagreement.

Even for Fan Lei, with whom he had interacted before, the blood-stained appearance was not normal. When Xiangzi stood next to him, he always felt that he would suddenly stab him at any time.

The sky had darkened, and only the towering golden tree in the night sky was still emitting a soft fluorescence.

To be honest, Xiangzi seemed to have never seen any celestial body similar to the sun in this world, so she had no idea what principle caused the changes of day and night at the border area.

Although I couldn't spot the sun, I could still see the night sky and stars through the top of the church.

A gust of night wind blew through the dilapidated wall, and along with a light blue light, a third person appeared in the church.

The third person, wearing a gray-brown hooded robe, sat in the other corner of the campfire. Looking at the other person's figure, Toyokawa Shoko felt a strange sense of closeness for no reason.

It’s as if... I have known this person for a long time.

"You are..."

Xiangzi quickly abandoned this idea, as the other person's temperament was completely different from Deng's.

Rather than a lamp, it's closer to the one who likes to grow cucumbers...

As he thought this, the visitor took off his hood, revealing his brown, slightly curly hair and a delicate, doll-like face.

It was a face that made Xiangzi feel familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar. It was also as beautiful as a doll, but it had different characteristics that were unique to her.

The one-eyed girl raised her head. Her voice was ethereal and beautiful. She might be a good candidate to be the lead singer of a band.

"Nice to meet you, the one who came through the fog."

"I'm Melina, and I want to negotiate a deal with you."

Chapter 8 Entrusting the ring to me on our first meeting?!

"Mu...are you Mu?"

Although the appearance was different, the plant-like temperament of the other person was exactly the same as that of someone Toyokawa Shoko was most familiar with.

The one-eyed girl's expression didn't change much, but the experienced Xiangzi still detected some subtle emotions from it. The other party seemed to be very confused at this moment.

"I'm not some Mu... I think I should have introduced myself already. My name is Melina."

Looking at Xiangzi's little face that looked like it was about to cry, Melina's voice finally softened a little.

"If you mean 'wood', my brother did say I was like a piece of wood a long time ago, but that was many years ago."

"I'm sorry...I recognized the wrong person, Miss Melina."

Xiangzi wiped the corners of his eyes fiercely with the back of his hand, as if the slight cowardice he had just revealed did not really exist.

She was weak and had died several times already. Since she was having a conversation, she had to remain calm.

"Regarding the conditions you just mentioned..."

Melina breathed a sigh of relief. She really didn't know how to comfort others. Being able to continue the normal conversation like this would certainly be a better outcome.

"Do you know the Finger Witch?"

This name naturally reminded Xiangzi of the body in the chapel, because the other person was indeed holding a severed finger that had turned into corpse wax in his hand.

"They are the ones who serve the Two Fingers, help and guide the Faded... But now you have no witch by your side."

Fan Lei, wearing the white mask, seemed to have said the same thing, so would the original witch lady stay with him?

The person she was waiting for in the chapel was actually herself.

[Even if the guidance is broken, please become the King of Elden. ]

Xiangzi gained a new understanding of the last words of the witch lady, whom he had never met.

The other party died alone in the dilapidated chapel in order to wait for the "Fader".

I rely on the witch's relics to reach my current place, and she is also the link for me to reconnect with the lamp in this world.

I really want to talk to a living witch lady once——

Obviously, I am not something special.

"...I can take their place."

When Melina said this, Kale, who was sitting silently beside her, opened his eyes slightly, as if he heard something unbelievable.

"I can transform runes into your power. If you desire the Elden Ring... or if you have any other desires, this power will surely be of assistance to you."

"In exchange, I hope you can do me a favor—take me to the foot of the golden tree."

This does not conflict with what Toyokawa Shoko wants to do. The Stonewell that the blessing points to is in the same direction as the golden tree, and she does need strength and a guide who understands this land.

As for whether there are other reasons... Although the other party is not Wakaba Mutsu, it is undeniable that Xiangzi still subconsciously wants to get close to this one-eyed girl.

"I accept the terms."

Melina nodded.

"Very good... then the deal is done. Then there is another thing——"

As she said this, Melina stretched out her hands from under her cloak. They were a pair of hands covered with burn marks... Xiangzi always felt that these hands were somewhat familiar.

"This ring is for you."

On Melina's open palm lay a softly glowing gold ring.

No, no, no, even if there's a good connection, giving someone a ring on first meeting is still too...

Xiangzi's face turned red and he leaned back with an embarrassed expression.

"Huh... I feel like you're thinking about something weird."

Melina paused, not pursuing the point further.

"This is a spirit horse whistle. It can call upon the spirit of a steed named Torret. Call upon its name when you need to travel long distances."

Xiangzi took the ring,

"Why me? There shouldn't be anything special about me."

She felt that she could not bear such a heavy burden of kindness.

In response to Xiangzi's doubts, Melina replied like this.

"It was Torret who chose you... I hope you can treat it well in the future."

-

Shoko Toyokawa rode a spirit horse named Torret on the land of Nimgefu.

Torret was not the same as the horse she had in mind. Although it was generally similar to the horses on Earth, it had two buffalo-like horns on its head.

Torret is quite docile, and one can even vaguely sense her intelligent presence. Toyokawa Shoko can even have simple conversations with her.

Xiangzi bent down and fed the red fruit in his palm to the clever horse.

Although she had received riding lessons from the Toyokawa family when she was a child, to be honest, she didn't have the confidence to ride a horse alone without supervision.

But Torrett is different. This overly docile and smart child will never make the people on horseback feel unsafe.

In addition, Toyokawa Shoko's own balance ability is much higher than a day ago, which is the main reason why she can now ride calmly.

This change comes from Melina.

Last night, Xiangzi experienced what it was like to transform runes into power.

The runes seemed to be some kind of glowing substance that resided in the eyes. According to Melina, they seemed to be tiny fragments of the broken Elden Ring.

The more runes or Dharma ring fragments you possess, the more powerful power you will gain.

As for the so-called [Elden Ring], Xiangzi still didn't understand what it was. He only knew that it was the "existence that can support the world" mentioned by the one-eyed girl.

After the latter was broken, it had some negative effects on the world. The mission of the so-called Faded One is to collect the rune fragments and meet the Circle again.

The Faded Ones are those whose golden pupils have lost their golden color after being stripped of their blessings by Queen Marika, the goddess who once ruled the borderland.

They were given the task of returning to the borderland to fight for an audience with the Circle of Law.

Xiangzi felt that these people were all wrong.

She was not a faded person at all. She had never been blessed, so what could be taken away from her?

It's just that her pupils are naturally light gold, a feature that happens to be consistent with the so-called faded ones.

There was no point in hiding something like this, and I was well aware of the consequences of misunderstandings.

So this time Xiangzi chose to confess.

Melina remained noncommittal about this statement, simply ending the conversation with, "Memory loss among those who have faded is common."

Melina did extract the blessing from Xiangzi's eyes and used it to enhance her power. These runes probably came from the limb-removing nobles who fell to their death.

Compared to a day ago, Xiangzi's physical ability is now much stronger, so riding a horse has become a very easy thing.

Xiangzi put his hands to his eyes, and when he moved his hands away, floating golden dots of light appeared in his palms - this was the so-called rune.

In addition to being used to enhance strength, it is also the universal currency of this world. Xiangzi sold his ceremonial rapier, which he was not using well, and used the runes he got in exchange to buy food and cheap soldier's mail from Kale.

After completing her preparations, she set out again to find the light.

Chapter 9 Zombie Soldiers

The function of blessing is not just resurrection and healing of the body.

With Melina's explanation, Xiangzi gradually figured out its other uses, including but not limited to pointing out the way, storing items, and even teleporting back and forth between recorded blessing points.

Something that is so convenient and magical can only be called "God's blessing".

Xiangzi ended his summons to Torret in front of a forest. When she turned over and got off the horse, the spirit horse dissipated into smoke.

The blessed light pointed in the direction of the woods, but Xiangzi, who had become very cautious by now, did not choose to ride directly into the woods.

Shoko Toyokawa squatted behind a bush and carefully observed the front.