By the time Lansseax chased after him, Miquella was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a trail of tiny footprints in the sand.
"Alright, don't chase him. He probably wants to avoid us and see Malenia alone." Raven smiled, holding Lansseax back. "Let's not disturb the siblings for now. I know a survivor here; let's go find her first."
Raven stopped a knight and asked about Nova. With over a thousand uncommunicative survivors in the camp, he hadn't held out much hope, but to his surprise, the knight actually knew where she was.
"Nova from Madam Morgan's Boutique? She's been assisting our work tirelessly and has been a huge help," the knight said. "She communicates with us using a chalkboard and is responsible for persuading the highly aggressive infected. I'll take you to her."
The knight led them to the other end of the camp and pointed. "There, she's right over there."
When they saw Nova, she was sitting back-to-back with a heavily pregnant patient. They were seated about half a meter apart, communicating with each other in a hoarse, barbaric voice.
As the patient spoke, she began to cry. Nova let out a series of low, guttural sounds. Although it still sounded grating, Raven knew these were likely words of comfort. The patient gradually regained control of her emotions, nodding continuously as a tearful smile appeared on her face.
A physician stood nearby, arms crossed, tapping the tip of his shoe impatiently against the ground. Seemingly having lost his patience, he picked up a chalkboard, quickly scribbled a few lines, and held it up.
[Stop wasting time and get to the point. Ask her about her feelings towards the baby in her womb. Is it affection or disgust? Have her rate both emotions on a scale of one to five.]
Nova shook her head and wrote a reply on her own chalkboard.
[She is still very agitated; we cannot provoke her like this.]
[Tell her that if she does not cooperate with our research, we will consider forcing an induced labor.]
"Enough," Raven walked over and said to the physician. "What are you doing?"
"Do not interfere with my important research."
"Master Memphis, this is Prince Raven. Please answer his question," the guiding knight interjected.
The physician paused, then turned around, offering a haughty, shallow bow as a perfunctory apology.
"Forgive my rudeness, Your Highness. This is a rare case of a pregnant infected. It's a highly typical case with immense research value—"
"Will your research help improve the treatment methods?"
"...No. But studying the cognitive boundaries of the Kindred of Rot regarding the self and other individuals can help us deduce the operational patterns of a rot colony—"
"Then stop harassing this pregnant woman," Raven interrupted. "Our priority right now is curing the patients."
"There is absolutely no possibility of curing these infected. Their symptoms will continually worsen. They will gradually lose the ability to communicate through writing, their temperaments will become increasingly violent and bloodthirsty, and they will ultimately turn into complete Kindred of Rot. Surgery and the 'Flame, Cleanse Me' incantation can only slightly delay this process. Their only value is allowing us to gain a greater understanding of the rot."
"They will be cured," Raven said, not wishing to argue further. "Now, please leave this place."
"As you command, Your Highness." The physician threw down his chalkboard and stormed off angrily, followed by a group of apprentices.
[Prince Raven, is that you?] Nova held up her chalkboard.
[Yes. You can recognize me?] Raven replied using words formed from flames.
Nova drew a smiley face, not answering directly.
[What's going on with this patient?]
[She accidentally killed her own child. I'm trying to help her move past it, telling her that the rot sickness can be cured, and that she needs to at least think of the other child in her womb.]
[Well done. Please inform all the patients that we have found a way to completely cure the rot. Tell them not to give up hope. If they can hold on for at most two months, they will return to normal.]
The chalk in Nova's hand paused, taking a long time before it began to move again.
[Really?]
[Of course.]
[The physician told me that the infected were beyond saving and that we would soon enter the next stage of infection.] Light red tears streamed from the corners of Nova's eyes. [I've been terrified to sleep, afraid that when I wake up, I won't be able to recognize writing anymore. I really almost couldn't hold on. Thank you, Raven.]
After casting 'Flame, Cleanse Me' on both her and the pregnant woman, Raven looked at the knight. "Later, gather fifty—no, sixty of the more severe patients. I will treat them with the flame."
[You must hold on,] Raven wrote with flames and waved goodbye to her. He didn't know what this gesture looked like in her eyes, but Nova smiled through her tears and waved back.
"Well, now we have to go and destroy the Goddess of Rot," Lansseax said, resting her hands behind her head and stretching from side to side. "It's a pity we'll be saving Godwyn in the process. Sigh, if only the Scarlet Rot could keep my sister away from Godwyn."
"Didn't you think Fortissax was just putting on an act with the royalist faction?" Raven said. "Godwyn might not have actually contracted the rot."
"My sister wouldn't lie to me." Lansseax shook her head. "It seems something really did happen to Godwyn."
"Forget it. Godwyn's struggle with the royalists has nothing to do with us anyway." Raven let out a breath. After hearing what Ranni had told him, these matters didn't seem as worth caring about in comparison. "Let's go find Miquella."
Mentally executing the 'Wild Strikes' art to enhance his senses, Raven quickly spotted Miquella's footprints. "This way."
They followed the footprints to the other side of the camp and saw Miquella sitting on a row of wooden crates, gazing off into the distance.
"Shh." Noticing their approach, Miquella raised his index finger in a hushing gesture, then looked back over the camp.
In the clearing in the distance, a tall, red-haired young woman extended her prosthetic blade, bending over to push an iron hoop as she ran. Her golden prosthetic arm gleamed in the setting sun. Beside her, two children were also running and pushing iron hoops, while another child, seemingly tired from playing, sat on the sand watching them race.
The only discordant element was that the sounds coming from over there weren't the crisp laughter of children, but rising and falling sharp, guttural roars. The children were covered in festering traces of rot, with hardly any intact skin to be found. Their level of infection appeared even more severe than the first patient Raven and the others had encountered.
"Is that... Lady Malenia?" Raven blinked, finding it hard to believe that the legendary, invincible Valkyrie was here playing hoop-rolling with children, and seemingly enjoying herself at that.
"Yes," Miquella nodded.
"Have you just been sitting here watching from afar?" Raven was somewhat puzzled. "Why don't you go over?"
"My sister looks very happy; I don't want to disturb her." The corners of Miquella's mouth lifted slightly. "She hasn't been this happy in a long time."
"If you go over, Lady Malenia would be even happier," Raven said. "As soon as she heard you were taken by Fortissax, she rushed all the way here from the Haligtree to find you."
Miquella turned his face, his smile gentle yet melancholic.
"Do you know what I look like in the eyes of rot patients?"
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(182 Chapter - Ongoing)
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