After taking care of the Bloodhound Knight, Blaidd was ready to say goodbye to Lloyd since he had other tasks to handle.
But when he turned around and saw Lloyd standing there, waving the Bloodhound's Fang through the air, he paused.
"Are you testing the blade?"
It looked like he was, but his movements were a little odd—and he was still holding a shield...
Without turning around, Lloyd replied, "No, I just wanted to see if it could be canceled."
Blaidd blinked.
"...Canceled?"
"A special technique. Good kids should learn it."
After confirming that the Bloodhound's Fang couldn't be canceled, Lloyd put away the shield in his other hand and turned to Blaidd.
"By the way, are you heading out?"
"Yeah." Blaidd nodded. "Thanks again for earlier. I left in a rush and didn't bring much, so this is all I can give to show my gratitude. I hope it's not too shabby."
He handed him a few Smithing Stones.
Lloyd accepted them without fuss and was about to say goodbye when something occurred to him.
"Wait, do you have any way to stay in touch? Like a messaging spell or something?"
As a seasoned Souls fan, Lloyd knew just how ridiculously hard it was to track side quests in these games.
Even in the old linear, box-style maps, completing every side quest without a guide was nearly impossible. Where the key items were, where the NPCs went, what to do when they vanished after certain triggers, what items or gestures were needed...
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
From what Lloyd could tell, this one—whether Souls Four or Five—seemed to be open-world. If important side quest NPCs just wandered off, what was he supposed to do, chase them across the entire map?
Sure, the Souls series had always been light on guidance, but in an open world? You couldn't seriously expect players to just comb through every inch of the map hoping to randomly stumble onto a side quest, right?
That would be way too punishing.
"I don't have anything like that right now," Blaidd shook his head.
Even in a world with magic, there were only a few means of communication. Blaidd himself could project into a magic tower to speak with his allies when needed—but that was something Ranni had set up for him. As a greatsword-wielding warrior, he didn't know how to use that kind of spellwork himself. And since he was out on a hunting mission and had to stay low-profile, he obviously hadn't brought any communication tools.
He didn't think it strange that Lloyd wanted to exchange contact info.
Sure, he was a bit weird in some ways, but they'd fought side by side twice and had gotten along pretty well. They weren't close, but they were at least friends. Before he left, he even planned to ask him to mention his name to Iji, as a kind of reference.
But when Blaidd said he didn't have a way to stay in touch, Lloyd's expression grew complicated.
Wait a minute, Miyazaki... you're not seriously putting key side quest characters into an open world with zero tracking, are you? That's just...
"Don't you have the Furlcalling Finger Remedy?"
Alice suddenly chimed in.
"You picked up a bunch of Ruin Fragments earlier. Just draw a Golden Effigy on one and give it to him. Then he can contact you when he needs to."
Huh? That thing could be used like that?
Lloyd hadn't even considered it. He did exactly as she said, then handed the Ruin Fragment with his Golden Effigy to Blaidd.
Blaidd stared at the golden stone in his hand, sensing the power inside. For a moment, his expression turned complicated.
How should he even respond to this...
Well, given the power he and the girl had shown earlier, pulling off something like this wasn't all that surprising.
"What a pity," he murmured to herself.
If it weren't for his mission, and the fact that Ranni's situation couldn't afford any delays, he honestly would've liked to stick around and see just how much chaos this guy could stir up.
"I'm heading out. Oh right—if you head north and make it to Raya Lucaria, and you come across a rather large old blacksmith, just mention my name. Say I sent you. He should give you a bit of special treatment."
With that, he tucked the stones into his pocket and left.
Once his figure had completely disappeared, Melina, who had remained missing the entire time she was present, reappeared.
Her expression looked... a little off.
"What's wrong?" Lloyd glanced at her. "If it's about Ranni, I haven't forgotten your request. If you're worried, I can repeat it for you—"
"No." Melina pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Was I deceiving you?"
Lloyd: "?"
Before he could ask, Melina continued on her own.
"I've been watching you all along, unsure if you could really see the Guidance of Grace... or whether you'd step up to face the challenges."
"Torrent trusted you from the very beginning. I was the one who lacked sincerity. Especially..."
She trailed off and didn't finish that sentence.
After a brief pause, she added, "Even though I've lost almost everything, I can still offer you one form of guidance."
"The Roundtable Hold. It's a place where guided Tarnished—heroes—gather. I can take you there."
After saying that, she just stood there, looking uneasy.
Technically, it wasn't a big deal. But thinking back, Lloyd had never once questioned her identity since their first meeting. He'd trusted her completely. And during their previous conversation, his words had left her tangled in her thoughts—while she...
"Pfft, that's it? I thought it was something serious."
So, it's like needing to beat Master Gundyr to enter Firelink Shrine, huh? This world's just open and doesn't have Gundyr, so there must be other requirements.
As for Melina not trusting him—that made perfect sense.
He knew she was a Fire Keeper—a figure the Undead could always trust in Souls-like worlds—but she didn't know a thing about him. Not even that his power wasn't of this world. It'd be strange if she trusted him from the start.
"So, how do we get to this Roundtable Hold?"
Facing Lloyd's casual demeanor, Melina went silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
"Just for a moment... let me touch you."
Then, she reached out—not a cautious fingertip touch this time, but gently took the hand Lloyd extended toward her.
There wasn't even a trace of hesitation.
...
Very few people could answer where the Roundtable Hold was.
More people knew about the original Roundtable Hold since it had once stood in a corner of Leyndell, the Royal Capital. Its vast size and grand design made it hard to miss.
But after a series of events, that original Roundtable Hold fell apart. When it reappeared and became active again, even its original founders couldn't find its new location. All they could do was return to the old hall in the capital and reminisce about the past.
And now, in this mysterious place where the current Roundtable Hold resided, a new guest had arrived.
The moment Melina touched his hand, Lloyd's vision blurred for a second. When he came to, he was already standing inside the Roundtable Hold.
Just as the name suggested, at the center of the hall stood a massive round table. In the very middle of the table was a large Site of Grace, with numerous weapons driven into the floor around it, radiating an overwhelming presence.
Encircling the round table, the walls, torches, and divine statues created a solemn, sacred atmosphere. A few figures stood nearby.
And his eyes were immediately drawn to one of them.
A man in a silver helmet, leaning casually on a scepter, stood there with a relaxed posture.
But what caught Lloyd's attention wasn't the scepter.
It was the helmet—covered entirely in...
"Ears!"