"Oh my goodness, I really can't stand you dwarves. You're even more stubborn than the stepping stones under my dining table. I told you that cabbage can't be planted here. This field has already been planted with so many vegetables by you. Continuing to plant cabbage will only tire out the land. Don't your muscular dwarf brains have any concept of planting density?"
A handsome Elf in a brown cloth robe had somewhat lost his elegance, clutching the seeds he brought from Rivendell tightly to his chest.
The red-bearded dwarf in charge of the field below him heard the Elf's reasoning, exchanged glances with two fellow dwarves beside him, and burst into laughter: "Haha, my lads, did you see that? This pointy-eared fellow actually doubts our planting techniques. He must not know how magical the Erdtree brought by Lord Arthur is, so he's still clinging to his pathetic ideas and unwilling to accept our persuasion."
"Exactly! If you ask me, these pointy-eared ones are the stubborn ones. We immediately discovered the magic of this land!"
Nepheli Loux listened to the quarrel, rubbing her forehead with a headache. She said, "Sir Elf, how about this? You first set aside a portion of the seeds for the dwarves to plant here, and keep some to plant according to your own ideas."
The Elf shook his head repeatedly. He said in a beautiful voice, "I understand your kindness, Lady Nepheli Loux, but I really cannot trust the dwarves. These seeds are high-quality varieties that the Lord specifically instructed me to select. Even if one seed fails to sprout because of these dwarves, I would feel heartbroken."
As soon as the dwarves heard the Elf's words, they began to argue fiercely with him again.
In the fields outside Morne Castle Castle, the Elf and the dwarves, who were quarreling over how to plant vegetables, suddenly noticed that the previously quiet Morne Castle Castle began to buzz with activity, with people constantly walking out of the castle's main gate.
Some of them were wearing relatively luxurious brocade robes, while others were in more ordinary cloth robes.
There were even some humanoid creatures, some covered in scales, others with wings on their backs, walking out. The Elf and the dwarves didn't mistake them for orcs because these humanoid creatures also had long, thick tails dragging behind them.
However, those dressed in clothes and those with long tails walked distinctly on two separate sides, seemingly wary of each other.
The Elf, with better eyesight, also noticed that whether they were the dressed people or the long-tailed humanoid creatures, their eyes were golden, consistent with the light of the Erdtree.
After Arthur summoned the residents of The Lands Between and the Misbegotten, strands of golden light descended from the branches and leaves of the Erdtree, and the Grace entered each of their bodies equally.
This was also why the Misbegotten were able to calm down, and why the nobles and commoners did not object.
Although the rebellion in Morne Castle was full of suspicious points and involved the conspiracy of the mad flame followers, ultimately, the fundamental reason for the Misbegotten's rebellion was that they were treated as slaves and subjected to inhumane oppression by Morne Castle.
Therefore, after Arthur equally bestowed blessings upon the Misbegotten, it also meant that the Misbegotten's identity was recognized by the Erdtree, allowing them to live normally as commoners in the Erdtree's territory, rather than as slaves to be slaughtered at will.
And those nobles and commoners of The Lands Between who already regarded the Erdtree as their lifelong faith, seeing Arthur, who could command the Erdtree, naturally dared not harbor any grievances.
However, Arthur also knew that the conflict between the two sides could not be completely erased by his words alone; the current peaceful coexistence was entirely due to the pressure he exerted on the nobles and commoners.
Perhaps while he was present, the children of the Erdtree and the Misbegotten would not have conflicts. However, once Arthur left, the forcibly suppressed conflicts between the two sides were very likely to erupt again.
Therefore, Arthur did not foolishly arrange for the two groups to live and work together, but rather divided two plots of land to separate them.
This long-standing conflict also needed a long time to slowly wear down. What Arthur could do now was to minimize the provocation between the two sides.
Soon, these two groups, shortly after exiting the castle gate, split off to the left and right, with the dressed people going right and the long-tailed people going left.
Following these two groups was a hundred-man squad of King's Army soldiers, led by two Godrick Knights.
However, about eighty percent of the soldiers in this hundred-man squad were auxiliaries. These auxiliaries wore white undergarments and chainmail shoulder capes, with round helmets, but they were not wearing the green and gold uniforms embroidered with Godrick's banner.
Moreover, they held relatively short daggers, and it was clear their equipment was not as good as the Godrick soldiers in front of them.
Auxiliaries, as the name suggests, were soldiers who assisted the King's Army in battle, far inferior in combat power to the regular King's Army.
Their main duties were actually to stand guard for the King's Army, transport weapons, operate the ballistas on the castle, and cooperate with the King's Army to create openings for the enemy.
But now, these numerous auxiliaries could also spare manpower to help cultivate land and herd livestock.
Nepheli Loux, who was mediating the conflict between the two sides, immediately understood that Arthur was summoning the King's Army soldiers, residents, and Misbegotten of The Lands Between.
She was about to open her mouth to find a reason to explain this phenomenon for Arthur, but found that the Elf and the dwarves were merely curious about what kind of people were coming out of the castle, but they had no questions about why the castle could continuously produce people.
Well, the Elf and the dwarves attributed everything again to the magical title of "wizard."
Nepheli Loux, after spending a long time with these native inhabitants of Middle-earth, would find that no matter what unfamiliar things happened in the Erdtree's territory, they never found it strange.
Some of them were surprised, but they quickly convinced themselves with "it must be a new gadget made by the wizard" and never questioned any rationality.
Since the Elf and the dwarves had no questions about these suddenly appearing large groups of people, Nepheli Loux was happy to relax and not waste her breath explaining.
Then, this female warrior was surprised to find that they had stopped arguing. The Elf walked towards the area where his kin lived, and the dwarves also ran towards their farmhouses.
Nepheli Loux asked in surprise, "Wait, what are you going to do?"
The Elf heard the voice, stopped, turned, and bowed to Nepheli Loux: "Lord Arthur's kin have traveled so far. I think they must need delicious food and clear spring water now."
The Red-Bearded dwarf, without looking back, yelled, "You're just giving Lord Arthur's kin spring water? As expected, pointy-eared thinking is beyond our comprehension. We're going to bring them fine wine and milk! And steaming hot roasted meat! Hahaha, there will surely be a grand celebration feast tonight, and we'll drink till we drop!"
The Elf's mouth twitched as he watched the excited dwarves, shook his head, and then bowed to Nepheli Loux again before bidding farewell.
A banquet?
Nepheli Loux looked at the residents and Misbegotten walking in different directions, sighing in her heart. The atmosphere of the evening banquet might not be as joyful as the dwarves imagined.
Inside Morne Castle Castle, on the open ground illuminated by the Erdtree's light, besides Arthur, there were several figures standing distinctly, with Arthur as the dividing line.
There was Edgar, the silver-armored City Lord, with his blind daughter Irena protected behind him. Opposite them were a Lion Hybrid covered in fiery red fur with a lion-like face, and a hunched, robust, scale-covered Misbegotten holding an iron hammer, Hugh the blacksmith.
Beside Arthur was a man wearing golden and silver armor, with both hands inserting a golden greatsword into the golden grass—D, the Hunter of Death, who was also Rogier's good friend, Darian.
Hugh also protected a cute girl with golden hair and a red hood behind his hunched body. He nervously gripped his iron hammer, glaring fiercely at Edgar, who was also glaring fiercely back.
The girl with the red hood was Roderika, who tuned spirits for Arthur in the Roundtable Hold of The Lands Between.
"Hmph."
The Lion Hybrid snorted, blocking Edgar's glaring gaze and using his mighty body to shield Hugh and Roderika.
Roderika looked at the tense atmosphere between the two sides, placed a hand on her chest, and nervously asked, "tarnished, what's going on? I… I feel so many similar memories suddenly entering my mind…"
At the same time, Edgar, Irena, Hugh, and Darian all simultaneously clutched their foreheads.
The Lion Hybrid, however, was unaffected and wondered what was wrong with them. Especially when Hugh showed a pained expression and his body swayed, the Lion Hybrid even leaned over to support him with concern.
To Arthur's surprise, it was Roderika who recovered first.
Her clear emerald green eyes gradually turned golden as the Grace returned to her body. Roderika looked at Arthur with admiration and heartache, muttering, "tarnished, you truly have worked hard."
Arthur gave Roderika that familiar smile: "Roderika, welcome. However, you might be busy these days. Spirit tuning? No, not spirit tuning, but some clerical work. Kenneth Haight will explain it to you in detail; he's almost overwhelmed these days. Do you know Kenneth Haight? You do? That's good."
Although Roderika was somewhat surprised that her job changed from spirit tuning to the simpler and easier clerical work, she immediately agreed because it was arranged by the tarnished she trusted.
This was also why Arthur summoned Roderika; as a fellow member of the royal family, Roderika must have received a good higher education and could solve the problem of Kenneth Haight being overwhelmed by work alone.
With the residents Arthur had summoned not long ago, Kenneth Haight's workload was certainly going to increase.
If Arthur didn't find Kenneth Haight a few assistants, this endearing noble would surely complain to Arthur in his theatrical manner while working diligently until he collapsed from exhaustion.
On the other side, Edgar and his daughter snapped out of their memories; the father immediately turned around, wanting to tightly hug his daughter but worried his hard armor would hurt her.
Arthur motioned to Roderika to talk later, then walked over, passing the Lion Hybrid, who bowed slightly to him.
"Wise and benevolent Elden Lord," the Lion Hybrid said with sincere reverence.
Arthur nodded slightly, then stopped in front of Edgar and his daughter, Irena, cleared his throat, and said, "Edgar, let me first examine Irena's body."
Edgar, the middle-aged knight, did not immediately agree, instead, a hesitant and worried expression appeared on his face.
He knew from a memory of a certain reincarnation that Arthur had become the Elden Lord, and thus dared not defy Arthur's command, but his deep love for his daughter gave him the courage to stand between Arthur and Irena.
Arthur watched Edgar's actions, decisively took a King's Army Straight Sword from his spatial backpack, and placed the sharp blade against Edgar's neck, sighing softly before sternly saying, "Edgar! You've recovered those memories; you should know why I'm doing this. I have no tolerance for the mad flame. But I promise you, as long as the mad flame witch is not dwelling within Irena's body, she will be fine. On the contrary, I will arrange light work for her."
Edgar's movement was sudden; his knees buckled, and he knelt heavily on the golden, soft grass. The grass did not bear deep marks from this, but rather Edgar's body, as if drained of strength, sank deeply into the grass.
The sound of him kowtowing echoed under the tranquil Erdtree. The bloodstain on his forehead was like a cruel red flower, slowly blooming under the golden light, each drop of blood reflecting Edgar's inner struggle.
Then he raised his head, his lips trembling, his voice carrying a faint, almost imperceptible sob: "Tanes, Your Majesty, Irena could never be a minion of the mad flame. She is so kind, showing goodwill even towards Misbegotten."
Arthur remained unmoved. He looked at the blind, bewildered, and frightened Irena, and slowly said, "Irena might not be, but that doesn't mean the mad flame hasn't planted a seed within her. I once had a friend named Yura. When I was weak, he blocked a powerful Bloodfiingers who hunted tarnished for me. He also charged with me when I challenged a dragon. In the end, he died in a battle against a pure purple Bloodfiingers."
Arthur took a deep breath, looking at Edgar, whose face also showed a bewildered expression. He tried his best to suppress his anger towards the mad flame, and said in a low voice, "You must be curious why I mentioned this friend. That's because at some point, a minion of the mad flame—Shabriri—had taken root within his body! And after Yura died, this shameless mad flame minion took over his body!"
"And you must also know that your daughter, Irena, after her death, a mad flame witch named Hyetta appeared, identical to her in appearance and voice. Edgar, I don't believe a knight who has guarded Morne Castle for many years couldn't see that this was a mad flame conspiracy, even if you were once caught in a frenzy of killing."
Irena then spoke, in a faint and somewhat frightened voice, "From your voice, are you the kind tarnished who helped me deliver the letter to my father?"
Arthur looked at Irena, whose body was trembling with fear, reaching out and constantly fumbling to find her father. He calmed himself and nodded, "Yes, it's me. But because some things happened later, I need to check if there are any marks left by mad flame followers inside you. I apologize to you, but I will not stop examining your body, because this is very important to me."
Irena nodded, "From your willingness to deliver a letter for me, I knew you were a kind person. Although I cannot see, I can hear that your current tone carries deep sadness and anger. This shows that you have been deeply hurt by the 'mad flame' you spoke of. To put your mind at ease, please feel free to examine my body."
"Irena..." Edgar heard his daughter's words, tightly grasped her soft hand, and softly called her name.
Irena felt her father's presence and soothed Edgar with gentle words: "It's alright, Father. The tarnished is truly a very gentle person. He was the only one who was willing to listen to the request of a blind girl like me, and he didn't bully me because I couldn't see anything. So I trust him."
Then she faced where Arthur had just spoken and said, "Please begin, tarnished."
Just as Irena finished speaking, under Arthur's control, several Grace surged into the blind girl's body from the Erdtree.
Not only that, but he also held a catalyst for performing Prayers. The Golden Order Fundamentalist Prayer, Regression, a Prayer that removes all mimicry and reveals true forms, was cast as golden radiance emanated from Arthur's body.
Irena's body did not undergo any changes, indicating that there was no mad flame within her body at present.
Arthur calmly said to Irena, who still didn't know the examination was over, and to the worried Edgar, "The examination is complete, Irena. Your body is fine."
Seeing this, Edgar collapsed onto the golden grass, relieved.
Arthur looked at Irena, his tone softening again as he faced this kind young girl who was innocently caught in the mad flame's conspiracy. He said to her, "Irena, take off the cloth binding your blind eyes. As a reward for your willingness to be examined, I shall bestow upon you sight."
After Arthur's words ended, Irena suddenly felt a warmth surge through her body, and then the warmth shot directly into her eyes, which had been plunged into darkness.
Edgar, meanwhile, knew that his daughter's body was being enveloped by the Grace bestowed by the Erdtree.
He looked at Arthur, who pointed at Irena, then turned and walked towards D, temporarily leaving the tragic father and daughter to their reunion.
Before Irena's eyes, darkness was like thick ink, boundless and heavily pressing down on her vision. However, in this endless night, wisps of golden light began to quietly bloom, until light completely occupied her eyes.
Then, in the next moment, Irena felt the light blocked by something, and only then did she realize it was the cloth wrapped around her eyes that was obstructing the light.
Edgar stood up, excitedly watching his daughter remove the cloth covering her eyes, revealing a pair of bright golden eyes that looked at him with vitality.
"Father?" Irena felt a familiar and comforting aura from this unfamiliar middle-aged knight and subconsciously called out.
At this moment, D, the Hunter of the Dead, walking towards Arthur, looked at the father and daughter embracing each other and said, "You've shown me quite a reunion. But I never expected that weak tarnished, hmm... would become the Elden Lord. That truly surprised me."
Arthur smiled and said, "It's not just Edgar and Irena who are reuniting; you also have an old friend looking forward to meeting you."
"Oh?" D looked at Arthur in confusion, but found that his gaze passed him and looked behind him.
Arthur shouted loudly towards the sorcerer who had been hesitating in the distance, not daring to come closer, "Rogier, how much longer are you going to stay there?"