Elden Lord of Cinders

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Lloyd waited for a while. He genuinely wanted Tanith and Two Fingers to have a talk. From what he'd just heard, Tanith seemed to have a lot of misunderstandings about Two Fingers. Even if they couldn't resolve everything, at least they could start by clearing the air.

As for translation… well, finger reading.

Lloyd planned to handle it himself. Although his last attempt to act as a Finger Reader for Renna had failed, he hadn't given up. One step at a time, one bite at a time—everyone has a process when learning a foreign language.

Besides, last time he'd already managed to understand a sentence from Two Fingers without relying on the Finger Reader Crones. If he could get one more this time, then another next time, and another after that…

Lloyd was convinced that as long as he kept at it, one day he'd become a proper finger reader.

What he didn't expect was that, while he was eager to play translator, Tanith just froze up, holding back for ages without saying a single word.

It was a bit of a letdown.

Still, it didn't really matter. If Tanith didn't want to speak, he'd just talk to Two Fingers himself.

With that thought, Lloyd left Tanith aside, held out two fingers, and began gesturing at Two Fingers.

Then…

"You swear so badly," Two Fingers remarked.

"Eh? No, that's not—"

Failing at finger reading again left Lloyd a little discouraged. But before the feeling could sink in, something in Two Fingers' comment sparked an idea, and his eyes lit up.

Wait a second—cursing?

"Hey, Finger, you can understand me, right?"

Two Fingers nodded.

"Then if you can understand me but just can't express yourself, I can teach you some gestures to use!"

"…?" Tanith had just come back to her senses, baffled.

What shocked her even more was that, after a brief pause to think, Two Fingers actually nodded.

Then she watched as Lloyd squatted down, holding out his own fingers to mimic Two Fingers' shape and demonstrating a few motions.

"This is called hooking your fingers—it means provocation."

"This is called squatting—it means insult."

"This is pointing down—it means pointing down."

He also taught rubbing the head to show doubt, holding one finger straight and the other bent for "Hey, I've got an idea!", and slowly bending both fingers together to express agreement or praise.

Two Fingers studied intently.

After all, this was the first time it had ever been a finger reader for someone else—maybe the first time in the history of fingers that such a thing had happened.

When the lesson ended, Lloyd nodded in satisfaction and pointed to Tanith.

"Now you can talk to her."

Two Fingers thought for a moment, then turned toward Tanith and began.

First, it hooked its fingers at her. Then it pointed toward the battlefield just outside the door and did a few squats. Finally, it stood straight, poked the ground with one finger, pointed down with the other, and twisted in circles while pointing down.

"…?" Lloyd stared.

Great, it figured out spiral pointing down on its own?

Some kind of Elden Ring genius—so much talent.

After finishing the routine and seeing that Tanith wasn't responding, Two Fingers turned to Lloyd, indicated it had to get back to work, and signaled for him to send it back.

Once it was gone, Lloyd thought about it and realized the "conversation" probably hadn't been very friendly. It might even have jeopardized the Volcano Manor side quest.

So, after a moment's thought, he decided to bring someone who could smooth things over and show goodwill, to ease the awkwardness from earlier.

…

"Where's Rykard?"

A blue-skinned, four-armed figure appeared via fast travel and immediately spoke—only for Lloyd to pull them aside.

"I haven't even done my side quests yet, and you're already starting the boss fight? You trying to ruin it for me?"

He pulled Ranni behind him and turned back to Tanith.

"Sure, my buddy here might have some issues with you, but the Praetor Rykard's sister is my friend. That should prove I'm trustworthy, right?"

He paused, and seeing Tanith still silent, he remembered something.

"Oh, right—you guys said you were defilers, yeah? Well, so am I. I've defiled people before, and I still do. If you want, I can call someone over right now and show you."

Tanith stayed quiet, but Ranni behind her finally spoke.

"Who did you defile?"

"Chaos."

"…That Frenzied Flame Incarnation?"

"Yes—or more precisely, the essence of the Frenzied Flame. Didn't Renna tell you?"

"No. She's been busy lately and hasn't really told me much of anything."

Listening to them talk, Tanith fell into even deeper silence.

After a bit more small talk, it became clear to Lloyd that she wasn't going to engage further. He figured this was probably the end of the side quest, so he didn't dwell on it and began wandering around the manor.

First, he headed for the guest rooms on the left. Pushing open each door he could, he found several people inside.

"Ah, it's you."

The man sitting in the chair with a scepter in hand looked up at Lloyd, his voice low.

"Why come to a place like this? Volcano Manor is a den of rebels who desecrate the Guidance of Grace and hunt their own kind. Do you understand what that means?"

It was "Knight" Bernahl, whom Lloyd had met before while scouting Stormveil. Back then, he had been in a tattered warrior's shack, selling Ashes of War for Runes. The two had met and talked several times, and Lloyd had bought various Ashes of War from him.

Then one day, Bernahl suddenly disappeared. Lloyd had wondered where he went—turns out it was here, to Volcano Manor.

As for his question...

"I know," Lloyd replied without hesitation.

It was an evil side quest. Completing it meant a reward—probably a very good one. And once it was done, he'd be the biggest villain of them all, the one who could wipe out every other villain.

Seeing his matter-of-fact expression, Bernahl paused for a moment, then shook his head, sounding almost regretful.

"If you understand, then I won't say more. I thought you were a model among the Tarnished… perhaps that's why I'm confused."

"Joining in blasphemy will only end in ruin. Before you hunt your fellow Tarnished, think carefully."

Lloyd blinked. "In that case, why did you become a lawbreaker?"

Bernahl fell silent, as if lost in memory, then shook his head and said nothing. Instead, he gestured toward the corner of the table.

A letter lay there. Lloyd walked over and picked it up—a commission from Volcano Manor. Once he took it, a red marker appeared on his map.

"That's the Manor's target. Kill them, and you can return here for your reward."

"This is my final warning—lawbreakers turn their blades on their own, stand against gold and the Fingers, and no matter what, they will never meet a good end. It's not too late to stop. Put the letter down, leave this place, and it will be as if nothing ever happened."

Lloyd considered it for a moment, then left the room.

A moment later, he came back.

"I asked the Fingers. They said it's fine."

Bernahl: "...?"

"Oh, and when I talked to them, I mentioned you. They said they know you, and they're sorry about the Finger Maiden. But the message from above was that she was to serve as kindling, so they sent her to find you."

"In the end, they realized something was wrong and tried to stop it. But the witch ignored their orders—she burned herself because she wanted you to become Elden Lord."

"They also said they miss the old days at the Roundtable, liked seeing the two of you together, and hope you'll return someday if you can."

Lloyd had no idea what Two Fingers really meant, but he passed on the message anyway. For some reason, Bernahl's expression turned strange after hearing it.

The room fell silent. Deathly silent.

In any case, once he'd delivered the message, Lloyd slipped the commission letter into his pocket and left.

...

After leaving Bernahl's guest room, he found Rya in another. After a brief exchange, she asked if he had heard any strange sounds in the mansion.

When Lloyd said no, Rya was quiet for a moment, then shook her head.

"Maybe it was just my imagination..."

No, it had to be a clue about a hidden passage.

After saying goodbye to Rya, Lloyd ran into another familiar face.

"Yo, Patches. Crouching here for a reason?"

The bald man crouched in the hallway looked startled at Lloyd's sudden appearance, but once he recovered, his expression grew odd.

"Ah, you're here too. Not that I'm surprised—you're the type to try places like this…"

"You sound like you knew I'd show up," Lloyd said, crouching down in front of him in the same pose and studying him curiously. "So, why are you here?"

Patches didn't bother to hide it.

"That so-called Guidance of Grace and the Fingers? I agree it's all nonsense. Since there are people with second thoughts planning to strike when no one's looking, I figured lending a hand wouldn't hurt."

He paused, then added, "Besides, I find Tanith pretty interesting. I don't know how strong the one behind her is, but she's so confident—openly declaring her blasphemous intent and ambition, and still standing there with that composed, dignified air. Never met a woman like her before..."

Realizing where the conversation was heading, Patches suddenly shifted the topic.

"By the way, how'd you get here?"

"Rya brought me."

"Oh, Rya..."

Patches nodded, then shook his head as if remembering something.

"Wouldn't be surprised if Tanith starts wondering soon what exactly that girl dragged back here…"

Actually, she probably already was.

After chatting with Patches for a bit and buying a few things, Lloyd took another look around Volcano Manor. Finding nothing else of interest, he opened his map and fast traveled to the Site of Grace near the red marker from the commission letter.

"You really plan on completing their mission?"

Ranni emerged from thin air, watching him with a faintly curious look.

"Of course."

Lloyd nodded without hesitation. As he'd said before, bad-guy side quests usually came with hefty rewards—definitely worth collecting.

Still, even though he'd decided to take on this one, he had no intention of following their instructions to the letter. While chatting with Patches earlier, he'd learned that Volcano Manor judged mission completion based on equipment.

After all, corpses weren't exactly convenient to lug around in the Lands Between, and some Tarnished didn't even leave bodies behind when they died. For a warrior, armor and weapons were more important than life itself. If he could get hold of those, it was as good as declaring the owner dead.

And that gave Lloyd plenty of room to work around things.

[Invade the world of "Old Knight" Istvan?]

At the target location, he touched the red sign, chose "Yes," and entered Istvan's world as a red phantom.

Istvan looked a little surprised to see him. The two had crossed paths before—in the cave where Boc worked as a tailor.

Back then, Lloyd had just cleared the place out and run into the old knight on his way out. Istvan had said he'd heard of a group of troublesome Demi-humans nearby and had come to investigate.

Lloyd made his intentions clear right away. Although the idea of him joining Volcano Manor—and especially of taking Istvan's gear back as proof—was a bit absurd, after some back-and-forth, Istvan agreed.

Because honestly, talking to Lloyd was more exhausting than fighting him.

Once Lloyd had the old knight's equipment, he wasted no time returning to Volcano Manor to turn in the "kill."

When Tanith saw him hand over Istvan's gear, the expression beneath her mask was… difficult to put into words. Much like her mood at that moment.

Still, after a long silence, she gave him the reward as usual.

As for whether Lloyd had actually killed anyone… in his mind, the job was done, so it was done. Tanith had given up trying to make sense of it.

Afterward, Lloyd returned the equipment to Istvan, then quickly picked up another set of letters and, using the same method, completed two more commissions in a single day.

His speed and efficiency left Bernahl, who had been watching, utterly stunned.

Seriously—was he always this competitive, even as a lawbreaker?

Once Bernahl recovered from his shock and saw just how actively Lloyd was "hunting" Tarnished, he handed over a special commission: a letter to hunt one of the surviving founders of the Roundtable Hold.

He had originally intended to handle it himself, with someone he could trust. But after hearing what Lloyd had said earlier, his resolve wavered.

"That thing you said about the Two Fingers…"

"I don't know. I was just passing along the message."

Taking the letter, Lloyd shook his head. "If it comes to it, I'll drag the Two Fingers over here so you can talk face to face—but not today. I've pulled them out too many times lately. They've still got work to do."

Without waiting for a reply from the now-silent Bernahl, Lloyd left the room.

Since the questline was already nearing its end, the two new red markers were both in unexplored areas. He decided to wander Volcano Manor one last time, in case he'd missed anything, before heading out.

During his rounds, he ran into Rya again.

"Tarnished, how did you end up here? Everyone's rooms are in the other direction…"

As she spoke, she caught the look on his face.

"Why do you look so shocked?"

After a brief pause, realization struck her.

"No way—am I still in my serpent form?!"

The orange-scaled creature—more lizard or small stone dragon than woman—lifted its stubby arms to touch its face. Then her expression shifted to pure horror.

The shrimp in her hand slipped free and fell to the floor with a small clack.

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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