Chapter 31

Millicent hadn't had a good dream in a long time. Truly bright ones, free of pain and suffering, felt like a distant memory. She no longer believed such dreams could return.

But this one was good.

She dreamt of herself, completely healthy and breathing deeply, walking through a vast garden. A fragrant garden, filled with greenery and a variety of trees. Living plants.

Millicent couldn't quite tell what she was doing in that garden. Perhaps strolling, enjoying the nature. Perhaps sniffing flowers or climbing trees like a little girl. Or maybe she was simply lying amidst the greenery, thinking about nothing.

That was how it went until she decided to explore the garden further and stumbled upon a silhouette hidden among the flowers. Millicent instantly recognized the figure of her benefactor, smiled brightly, and ran toward him, wanting to express her gratitude.

However, she never reached him. She stumbled when she realized the calm, composed silhouette, as she got closer, was naked.

For Millicent, a girl perhaps too soft and innocent, this was far too much to take in.

A brief fall.

A flash.

Awakening.

Millicent slowly opened her eyes, her breathing quickened by the unexpectedly abrupt end to her dream. She couldn't recall the last time she'd had such vivid dreams. Maybe… this was a good sign.

"I'm covered with a blanket?" the thought flitted through her mind.

She immediately knew who had tucked her in: the one who had helped her. The realization filled her with a surprising warmth.

"How are you feeling?"

The unexpected question, asked in what seemed like a cold, emotionless voice, struck Millicent as surprisingly warm and gentle. She couldn't remember anyone addressing her like that before. Not even the person she'd once held dear, let alone her sisters.

Her thoughts cleared. Her body felt light, airy in a way she hadn't experienced for a very long time.

Millicent wanted to thank her savior from the bottom of her heart, but…

That was when she fully took in her surroundings, her mouth dropping open in disbelief. Words stuck in her throat, and her face turned the color of her hair.

Her savior, just as in the dream, was nearly naked before her!

Millicent had never seen a man's body up close. Her life had been filled with endless battles against rot-ridden monsters and the teachings of her adoptive father.

She had certainly never seen a body so perfectly developed. Her gaze, despite herself, darted nervously over him, making her feel even more flustered. She wanted to scream like a little girl and cover her face with her hands.

Well, hand.

"I-I… was hoping… to see you again…"

By the Greater Will, it was impossible to put into words how difficult those words had been for her to say. She tried to sound calm, but she utterly failed. Against her will, Millicent wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.

The man's face broke into a smile.

Even among the unfortunate waifu, Millicent's fate as the red-haired waifu was unusually tragic. While Melina and Ranni had choices, Millicent was guilty only of being born in a soulslike.

Sometimes Kosta struggled to keep himself from tearing up at such heartbreaking stories. True soulslike players might roll through emotional pain just as they rolled through combat, but only if their controllers or keyboards didn't break first. Right now, though, he wasn't a tryharder.

He was an ordinary, miserable fan of waifu, who loved soulslikes and thus was destined to suffer all the more.

"Konstantin. Just Kosta."

Melina, seeing the suffering behind her chosen champion's smile, exhaled softly.

"I… I… p-please… c-cover yourself…"

Millicent's voice was quiet, barely audible, but to Kosta, it sounded like thunder.

From the look on Millicent's face, it seemed she was about to cry. For a waifu fan, this was like an arrow to the knee—the worst of all betrayals.

'Huh?'

Melina had never seen her Tarnished gear up so fast. Within a second, he was fully dressed, as if he'd never been undressed at all.

"Forget the laundry or discomfort…"

The man's barely audible mutter caught Melina's attention. Her accursed eye… well, given how often it opened these days, it seemed it might as well remain open all the time.

She squinted slightly.

'If I act like that, will he stop undressing?'

The thought came and went quickly.

She no longer wanted to manipulate his feelings like that.

Millicent blinked, momentarily not believing her eyes. For a second, she even thought he might not have been naked at all—that it had just been some trick of her fevered mind.

Needless to say, that didn't make her feel any better.

Pulling herself together, Millicent removed the blanket and leaned against the wall behind her before…

Simply and unceremoniously standing up.

Lightness. She hadn't felt such lightness in so long. She felt as if she weighed no more than a feather. As if she could jump and fly at any moment.

Even if it all turned out to be a lie and the curse knocked her back down again—this time for good—the red-haired girl wouldn't regret it.

The relief she felt was priceless.

Her heart swelled with gratitude. And alongside it—a deep sense of shame. She must have looked terrible: her bloodstained, tattered, dirty clothing, smell of rot that had seeped into her.

She didn't even want to think about the state of her hair.

"P-please, give me a moment to at least fix my hair…"

Kosta frowned thoughtfully.

He had no intention of letting the quest limit him.

"I can take you to the Castle, where they'll help you."

Millicent, holding her old hair tie between her teeth as she tried to brush her hair back with one hand, froze, her eyes widening as she stared at nothing in particular.

"C-Castle?"

Her voice was so faint it was as though she might lose consciousness.

The Tarnished shrugged.

"They'll feed you, give you new clothes, and heat up a bath. There are certain perks to being the boss of a location."

Millicent didn't fully understand some of the words her savior used, but she grasped the overall meaning. Normally, an offer like that from a stranger might seem suspicious at best, but…

The red-haired girl had no doubt he was sincere. Her heart filled with even greater warmth…

…and shame over her own helplessness.

"I feel like I can manage on my own… Thank you…"

She could always accept his help later. Her benefactor had already done so much for her. Besides, she couldn't bear the thought of appearing in such a state before a large group of people.

She still had some pride left.

Kosta, sensing the true tryhard spirit in this waifu, nodded solemnly and didn't argue. That didn't stop him from producing a comb out of thin air and offering it to Millicent.

Honestly, Kosta rarely thought about such trinkets. This had been Melina's idea, and by now he saw no point in arguing—he simply let the overactive waifu stock him up with whatever she brought.

As it turned out, not without reason.

Millicent hesitated for a moment when she saw the offered comb but then timidly took it. Refusing would have been foolish, after all.

"Th-thank you…"

'What a sweet girl,' Sellen's illusion smirked.

The sorceress fully understood why Konstantin had done so much to help the red-haired waifu.

Had Millicent been a student of the Academy, Sellen wouldn't have dared suggest involving her in any of her experiments. In fact, Sellen might even have admitted to herself that she'd have defended her. After all, she wasn't completely heartless.

Carefully observing the scene, Sellen glanced toward the jealous servant of the Tarnished.

'Well, well... Have you fallen for her charms too?' the sorceress mused to herself with a mischievous chuckle.

Though Melina, the false Finger Maiden, looked contemplative, she clearly bore no ill will toward the unfortunate red-haired girl.

With the comb in hand, Millicent managed to tidy her hair much faster. While she still didn't look her best, there was a notable improvement in her appearance. She looked more put-together and visibly pleased with the change.

When she tried to return the comb, Millicent found herself met with Kosta's stern gaze, one that brooked no argument.

"Keep it," he said simply.

Millicent hesitated for a moment before nodding and pressing the comb against her chest.

"I understand," she said softly.

Taking a deep breath, Millicent felt a small surge of confidence.

…well, not complete confidence, but it was a start.

"My apologies for when last we met. I fainted before I could even thank you. Everything is as you said. Everything you said turned out to be true."

Her quiet voice carried a hint of wonder, her eyes lighting up.

"Since inserting the needle, the scarlet rot has ceased to writhe. Even the nightmares have abated… And now, though I can scarcely believe it myself, I can move as I please."

"I'm glad."

Kosta knew he couldn't remain silent. So, he simply said what he truly felt: happiness. For a fan, there was no greater joy than seeing a waifu happy.

Millicent lowered her head, finding it hard to put her feelings into words. After all, no one had ever taught her how to openly express her emotions, nor had there been anyone to express them to.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to properly repay you, but please accept this small token of my gratitude…"

She couldn't even remember who had given her the talisman or when. That no longer mattered. What mattered was that it was the only valuable item she could offer her benefactor.

Kosta didn't argue with the waifu trying to repay him in any way she could, silently accepting what he recognized as a nod toward yet another alternate ending that was cut from the game (1).

Seeing him take the only thing she could offer, Millicent sighed in relief.

However, her relief was short-lived. She realized she had no idea what to say next. Her topics were quickly exhausted, and…

She was terrible at conversations.

Kosta, noticing the quiet panic on her face, narrowed his eyes.

The real Lands Between had forced him to sweat in entirely different ways than he ever had before, and he knew he would continue to do so. He would keep sweating, enduring, so that the light of the waifu would never fade.

It might not have sounded particularly lofty, but it was a deeply held conviction.

He shifted into the necessary mode.

Now he would lead the conversation. And no waifu would help him—not this time.

"The needle was broken. An old man in red, Gowry, repaired it. Do you know him?"

Millicent furrowed her brows for a moment before her eyes widened in recognition.

"I…"

"Let's go."

The girl blinked dumbly before nodding without question. Before she could say anything, the man pulled a whistle from nowhere and summoned Torrent.

"Huh?"

As the ground seemed to disappear beneath her feet, Millicent found herself locking eyes with the steed.

Torrent, half-hoping for yet another siege, snorted and glanced at his summoner with a silent question.

"What a beauty!"

Millicent's whisper reached Torrent's ears, causing him to shift his gaze toward her again. Before he could snort again, Millicent, her smile radiant, approached and began stroking him with a gentleness perhaps no one else could muster.

Melina stared blankly at how her old friend succumbed so easily to Millicent's touch, nuzzling his nose against her.

"You're in big trouble, aren't you?"

The witch's sly whisper made the maiden's face twist as though she'd bitten into something sour.

The false Finger Maiden turned her head to her shoulder, where a fearless miniature version of Sellen had perched.

"Get off me, witch."

"Aren't you going to try catch me again?" Sellen squinted playfully.

Melina didn't respond right away, turning her attention back to her Tarnished and the red-haired girl, who was awkwardly climbing onto Torrent. The girl's expression, when Kosta mounted the steed as well, was one of someone about to faint.

"It's pointless now," Melina muttered. "You've gotten what you wanted."

Sellen skeptically eyed the supposedly unbothered false Finger Maiden.

As if that feigned calmness could fool her.

"You're overcomplicating thi—"

Melina's burned, scarred hand seized the startled illusion of Sellen, who froze, realizing she was in real trouble. Her gaze met Melina's cursed eye, which stared directly at her.

Millicent glanced around, sensing a strange tension in the air.

Kosta, catching a glimpse of the scene from the corner of his eye, remained outwardly calm. Or mostly calm.

He would've liked to focus on untangling the drama among the few beautiful things in the Lands Between, but first, he had to finish the main quests.

And, of course, ensure that the other "quests" didn't destroy each other in the process.

At least he trusted Meli-Meli enough to know she wouldn't do anything to Sellen…

…too serious, at least.

The journey to Gowry's shack didn't take long. Strangely, the old man wasn't there. But in his place was a giant, cursed dog prowling near the shack.

Millicent, seeing the massive beast mutated by rot's curse, didn't even have time to react before something whizzed past her, striking the snarling, irritating dog square in the head.

The irritating, utterly maddening dog.

It didn't seem to comprehend what had happened, glancing around in confusion until its eyes locked with Kosta's. And then, just like that, it fell. A thin stream of runes flowed into the Tarnished, a testament to the creature's fate.

And most importantly, it wouldn't, finally, respawn.

"This is for all the soulslike players, whose nerves you shredded." Kosta whispered.

Millicent dismounted Torrent and approached the massive dog's corpse.

'A dagger?'

She knew firsthand just how tough these creatures were. While they hadn't posed a problem back when she still had both arms, she had to admit they were… exceedingly irritating. For an ordinary piece of metal to not only pierce through the beast's skull but lodge itself so deeply required truly insane strength.

From the beginning, Millicent had suspected her savior was a Tarnished. But the sheer power Konstantin had displayed exceeded all logic.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—she had no time to pay attention to rumors.

Still…

It wasn't as if the red-haired girl cared about her savior's strength.

'I probably needed to say goodbye to him…'

She remained uncertain. The image of the old man named Gowry seemed oddly familiar and significant to Millicent. It felt as if meeting the man her savior had mentioned might clarify things, but…

He wasn't here.

Millicent felt like she was supposed to do something important. She was striving for something. Yet she couldn't remember what it was. The sensation was agonizing.

She didn't know what to do or where to go.

Perhaps she should set out on a journey(2)…

"I can help you," came Konstantin's calm voice.

Millicent broke from her thoughts, turning to him.

"Help me?"

"To find a replacement for your arm."

The girl grew visibly uncomfortable.

"You've already done so much for me, Konstantin. Th-thank you, but…"

For a moment, Konstantin's face twitched, but then…

"I might need your… help in battle."

Melina froze, fingers wrapped tightly around the illusion of the sorceress. Even Sellen, who had been struggling futilely to free herself from the deceptively delicate grip, fell silent, slack in Melina's grasp.

The two women exchanged glances.

'He… asked for help on his own? Just like that?!'

Their thoughts aligned once more.

"'I'm going to get called even less now…'

A sorrowful whisper from Latenna, laden with infinite melancholy, went unnoticed. Behind her, her spectral wolves howled mournfully.

Millicent, oblivious to the slight hitch in Konstantin's voice, flinched at the sound of his words. Her heart began to pound.

She had been born a warrior. Perhaps too gentle and timid for the role, but a warrior nonetheless. The red-haired girl didn't believe that offering her talisman had been sufficient repayment to the Tarnished.

Besides the talisman, all she had was her sword. But without her dominant hand, she was nearly useless. At least compared to Konstantin, she was.

Millicent desperately wanted to repay him. At the same time, she longed to rediscover her purpose, to remember it. The thought of finding a replacement for her arm seemed like an impossible dream—one she hadn't even dared consider.

Unbidden, her gaze drifted to the dog's corpse.

"But you…" Millicent cut herself off abruptly. "…I understand."

Konstantin nodded, his expression pensive.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to visit a few locations first."

"Locations?" she repeated, unfamiliar with the term in this context.

There was still so much for her to learn—about the Lands Between and the people within it.

"I want to check out a fort and attend the Festival of Combat."

He said it as though discussing the weather. Without a doubt, he was eager for the festival. But compared to finding a suitable mystical prosthetic for a waifu, it seemed far less important.

"A fort and the Festival of Combat…"

Millicent frowned slightly, then…

"...The Festival of Combat?"

Her expression became more pitiful than that of a kitten left out in the rain.

As if that wasn't enough, her stomach growled audibly. It was impossible to tell when she had last eaten a proper meal.

From Melina's and Sellen's perspectives, it seemed that Millicent only avoided a mortified squeal through the sheer, monumental willpower of an unbroken warrior.

Nothing else could explain it.

(1) There are numerous hints suggesting that the player might have originally been able to unlock a "Rot Ending." Sadly, it seems this idea was scrapped, taking with it a significant amount of lore that now only raises more questions.

(2) In Millicent's questline, she tells the player she is embarking on a journey to find her purpose. The player can encounter her in various parts of the Lands Between afterward. The level of luck or foresight required to complete her entire questline during a first playthrough without guides is truly mind-boggling.