A thin wisp of smoke drifted from Marika's smoking pipe. Marika quietly took a puff of the tobacco and then slowly exhaled it.
Marika was sitting on a lounge chair on the balcony of her bedroom. The corners of her eyes were red and swollen from crying just now. Her distraught yet still beautiful appearance would incite a protective urge within any man. The nightmare just now made her completely insomniac, so she chose to light her treasured tea leaf tobacco to calm her mind. But everything in the dream is still vivid in her mind, making her irritable and unable to calm down. On the tea table beside her was the multiverse walkman she hadn't used for a long time. The small black box plays "Kletka" sung by the Belarusian band Molchat Doma. The post-punk melancholic style fits Marika's mood right about now.
"My king, the tea is ready for you."
At this moment, Bedivere approached the balcony and gracefully put down a tea set on the tea table.
Bedivere picked up the teapot, poured the hot tea into the teacup, and handed it to Marika carefully.
"This tea has a calming effect, I hope it will help you calm your mind."
Seeing Maeika take the teacup, Bedivere introduced its effects.
"Thank you, Bedivere."
After Marika took a sip of tea, she put it down and responded lightly.
Bedivere saw that although she had calmed down, she was still depressed, so he decided to sit down and talk to her to make her feel better.
"My king, the music you chose is really special, it has a very unique style!"
"Really? As long as you like it."
Marika still responded despondently.
"My king..."
Seeing Marika, who is normally cheerful, so at loss, Bedivere also felt a twinge of pain in his heart. He swore to protect Marika's smile, but now his king is frowning in depression and Bedivere is unable to do anything. Bedivere knows nothing about Marika's past, except that she is currently a single mother. Although Bedivere is curious about Marika's past, he is polite and considerate enough that unless Marika reveals it herself, he will not speculate at will
The two were silent for a while. In the end, Marika knew that it was impossible for her to keep silent after having Bedivere stay up so late in the night to come take care of her, so her expression was still lonely, but she still took the initiative to say to Bedivere:
"I'm sorry, Bedivere. I lost my composure when I woke up. I was just frightened by some bad memories in the dream."
"It's okay, my king. As human beings, there will always be a few bad memories that you don't want to recall. This is inevitable. I won't mind it."
Bedivere comforted gently. But his kind consolation only made Marika feel more guilty. He knew nothing of her unsightly true self. So she decided to confess her past to Bedivere at this very moment. She gather all the memories she had regained in the dreams and asked him:
"Bedivere, do you know that I was married before in the past?"
"I had some guesses, but I didn't dare to make a rash conclusion."
"Well... The story goes like this.. A long time ago, when I was a child, my people, the Numens, were scattered around the Lands Between, some roamed above ground, some turning to the underground for safe haven, all were struggling to survive. Endless wars, famine, diseases, it was tough times, but we were content with what we have. Unfortunately, our already small population continues to dwindle, we are on the edge of extinction. But suddenly one day , a meteor fell from the sky. My younger self happened to be near the place where the meteor hit the ground. It was also at that moment that I met the Greater Will."
"The Greater will?"
Bedivere questioned. He had only heard a few rumors about the Greater Will from his small talks with the Tarnishes. Marika continued her story:
"The Greater Will revealed to me that He is an ancient god. That meteor contains the seed of his will, the seed of the Erd Tree. And I, as the first person to discover the seed, will act as his messenger and carry out his will. Young and ignorant, deceived by the bright future He promised, I unknowingly became His puppet. I followed His will, planted the seeds of the Erd tree in the Crucible of life, and led my people to grow gradually. Gradually the Erd tree kingdom began to gain a foothold in the chaotic Lands Between. He then asked me to make the Lands Between kneel and worship Him, and assigned me to conquer it entirely, and wiped out countless weak races who dare resist him. At that time, I didn't know what damage I had done. I was like a hunting dog, fulfilling my master's orders. But it was in that troubled time that I met my first husband, Godfrey. Godfrey was a good man and a good husband, he was a strong and wild warrior, but on the inside he had a gentle heart. He is also very loving with our first child, Godwyn. We were happy in those moments, and I wanted to stop all that bloodshed and live a peaceful life, with my family. But the Greater Will is not satisfied, He wanted more. More land, more wars, more worshippers, more demigods. So Godfrey, as the First Elden Lord, accompanied me to continue to fight across the Lands Between, challenging powerful kings one by one. The dragon king in the sky city of Farum Azula, the Fire giants of the north, the Carian royal family of Lyrnia, and the Storm king of Lymgrave. They either surrender or are completely exterminated. The Greater Will only gives these two options. It was also at that time that the Greater Will created a separate consciousness in my mind, Radagon. I had no doubt he was created to surveillance me, to make sure I was His good little tool. Anyway, I would describe me and Radagon's situation as two minds one body, he is a completely independent personality. We can physically combine and separate into two physical entities at will. When combined, when my consciousness takes the reign, and we are a woman. When his consciousness takes the reign, we are a man. Of course, he and I are separated most of the time. After all, no one likes to share a body with another person 24 hours a day. This secret is known to no one except the Two fingers, the wardens sent by the Greater Will. Later he also started a family of his own, as the husband of the royal family of Caria, our allies, and has his own children. Gradually our enemies fell one by one, and I became the king of the Lands Between, at least that's what I thought. Just when I thought the wars could finally end, my second child was born. They are a pair of very cute twins. The elder brother is called Morgott, and the younger brother is called Mohg."
"His Royal Highness the Second Prince?"
"Yes. Godfrey and I were happy to have more children, but...our children are children of the Crucible. The Greater Will cannot tolerate mutations under His Order. So, for the first time in my life, He forcibly hijacked my body and used it to forcibly abandon my children in the sewers of the Royal Capital."
Speaking of this, Marika shed tears of humiliation. After these dreams, Marika's memories of her original body and her reincarnated soul have gradually overlapped. The memories and emotions of the two were confused. What the original body felt, Marika felt it too. She is gradually, unconsciously merging herself fully into the original Marika's identity. So when she speaks of abandoning her children, the kindness of her reincarnated soul when in contact with that unpleasant memory, becomes a cocktail of pain and regret.
"It was then that I realized that I had always been just a puppet in His hands. That was when I had the idea of wanting to get rid of Him. After that, Godfrey, Godwyn, and I often secretly went to the sewer to visit Morgott and Mohg. Perhaps either the Supreme Will detected my disobedience, or He felt that Godfrey had lost his usefulness. He took over my body by force again, forcing me to deprive Godfrey of his Grace and divorce him. He also deprived Godfrey's legion of their Grace, and exiled them from the Land Between."
"It's unreasonable! How can a god betray his loyal believers like this!"
Bedivere spoke up about the unjustness of the Greater Will for Marika.
Marika laughed self-deprecatingly, and continued:
"What's worse is yet to come my dear knight. The Greater Will then also forced Radagon to divorce his wife. Poor Renalla, her heart was broken when Radagon left her side. The most disgusting thing is that Greater Will forced me to marry Radagon, hoping that we could produce what he called a "perfect successor". Renalla's children hated me because of this. Radagon is not much better either, he is like a stupid dog, he couldn't even raise the idea to resist this injustice. Later Radagon forced himself on me and I gave birth to twins again. "
"He what!?"
Bedivere's eyes widened angrily when he heard Marika's confession. The woman he was loyal to, the one he cared about the most, and the woman he secretly admired suffered such an insult! Bedivere's sense of justice as a knight of the round table made him unable to ignore the injustice Marika suffered. Bedivere's hands clenched tightly into fists.
But Marika didn't seem to see his expression, and continued:
"But in the end His plan turned out to be a ridiculous joke. The two children of Radagon and I were each born with a curse. The elder brother Miquella can never grow up, his body remaining a child forever, and his younger sister Malenia is possessed by an outer god of corruption, the Scarlet Rot, causing her limbs to rot and turning her into a ticking time bomb. Is there a bigger joke in the world?"
When Marika said this, her voice was already crying. The pipe in her hand had been put down at some point.
"But you know what? I was not going to lie down like this. I've tried everything to overthrow that damned space bastard. I teamed up with Renalla's daughter, Ranni. She was a clever girl, she knew when to put aside her hatred to achieve something greater. We planned to use the death rune to get her out of her demigod body to avoid Two Fingers from monitoring my bloodline for the Greater Will. I turned a blind eye to her secret plans to assassinate my eldest son. In the end, I smashed the Elden Ring and plunged the Land Between into a civil war and chaos. When everything is reduced to ruins in the war, the tarnishes outside the Lands Between, and my king, my Godfrey, can take advantage of it and burn that goddamn golden tree of the Greater will. And pull that dog Radagon down from the throne. Unfortunately, my plan was discovered by the Greater Will. He locked me together with Radagon in the Erd tree as punishment. He then enticed the Tarnishes to hunt down my children and take their power as a sacrifice to him, with the title of Elden Lord and me as the final prize."
Speaking of this, Marika was sobbing. Drawing from the memories of the original body, regret, pain, and self-loathing overwhelmed her.
"I watched my children killed one by one by a special Tarnished, even my Godfrey. That person is like a machine, ruthlessly carrying out his mission, and no one can stop him. Fortunately, Ranni found him, showing him the true face of the Greater Will. Later, the two of them worked together to kill the Two fingers, so that the Supreme Will could not rely on them to spy on the Lands Between. Finally, they entered the Erd tree, killed Radagon and my original body that was controlled by the Greater will, and drove that disgusting space slug out of the Lands Between."
"What did they do then, my king?"
"I am not sure, but I think they left the Lands Between. And honestly I am happy for them. I knew Ranni hated me, but some part of me, perhaps because of Radagon, saw her as my daughter too. Anyway, I am glad she found her own happiness."
"Then what about you, my king?"
"Luckily, the system found me and allowed me to revive my children. But I didn't choose to take revenge against that alien god who ruined my life, but fled to this world with my tail between my legs, like a coward."
After Marika finished her story, she with tears in her eyes, looked at Bedivere who fell into silence. Her story incorporates everything she knows about the game's plot and her acquired memories. But telling the story was torture for Marika. Those memories seem to be her own experience, maybe it is her ability as a New type that allows her to empathize with her past self? But this empathy also gave her a deep loathing for herself, past and present.
"What do you think? After knowing my true face, knowing that I was just a stupid and dirty woman who tried to overthrow God in vain, how do you feel? It's laughable, isn't it?"
"Don't say that about yourself!"
Bedivere suddenly hugged Marika tightly and shouted.
"Please, don't treat yourself like this! In my eyes, you are definitely not as bad as you say!"
"Bedivere...!"
Marika was completely surprised by Bedivere's sudden embrace. Her tear-red eyes widened in surprise. Bedivere himself was also surprised, he rarely lost control of his emotions like this. But at this moment he couldn't let the woman he cared about continue to cry like this. Even though he knew that he and Marika might never have a future together, he still held her in his arms with all his heart at this moment.
"Master, even though you faced so many tribulations, aren't you still standing here just as strong? You face everyone with a smile and work so hard every day, just for everyone to live a good life! Isn't that worth something to you?!"
Bedivere yelled loudly. Marika's New type senses felt the strong emotions overflowing from Bedivere, and her eyes gradually eased from the sadness following Bedvere's inspiring words. Bedivere let go of his embrace a little, and gently supported Marika's face with his left hand, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"So promise me, don't do this to yourself, okay? You're the kindest, bravest, brightest person I've ever met. If you don't have confidence in yourself, then trust me! Trust the you who I believe in! If you encounter difficulties, I will protect your smile, your happiness, and your future! This is my promise as your most loyal knight!"
Bedivere hugged Marika affectionately, and poured out his oath to her. Obviously this should be the oath of a loyal knight to his monarch, but at this time it is more like an oath of a man to his beloved woman he wants to protect.
"I really am an idiot..."
Marika should have been afraid of a man's contact because of that dream, but she didn't feel any resentment when she was hugged by Bedivere. On the contrary, she felt very at ease.
"You're right... I went through all that yet I am still here. But now I am wallowing in self pity, I am such an idiot."
Marika still spoke in a tearful voice, but a wry smile appeared on her face.
"Ah Master! How rude of me to do that all of a sudden! My deepest apolgies!"
Seeing Marika's mood finally improved, Bedivere breathed a sigh of relief. But at the same time, he also realized how impolite he was, holding Marika in his arms, so he hurriedly let go of Marika in a panic.
"It's okay, hehehe~ You are really strange! You were so serious just now."
Marika looked at Bedivere as if he was a boy with his first love, and she laughed through her tears. He was usually that handsome and composed white knight, but this time it was Bedivere blushing and at a loss.
"I am sorry…"
Bedivere apologized while blushing and scratching his head in embarrassment.
"It's not that simple for someone else to hug me suddenly, but if it's you, I... I don't mind."
Marika wiped away her tears and said with a blushing face.
The two fell into silence under the somewhat ambiguous atmosphere. The two quietly looked at the stars in the dark night, feeling each other's existence. Seeing the incomparably bright and moving beauty beside him under the starry candlelight, Bedivere summoned up his courage and asked:
"Um… Master...can I make a request?"
"Huh? What's the matter?"
Marika turned her pretty face and asked.
"Everyone says you have a heavenly voice, but I've never had the honor of hearing you sing. I wonder if I have..."
Bedivere lowered his head shyly, and his voice became smaller and smaller.
"What? If it's just singing, I'm completely fine with that!"
Marika said with a smile.
"Really?! Thank you!"
"Hey~! It's nothing! Really!"
Marika smiled and patted Bedivere on the shoulder. At this time, Bedivere is no longer her subordinate, but a confidant friend who can confide her sincerity without restraint.
"Then what kind of song do you want to hear?"
"Anything is fine, just pick a song that pleases you."
"A song I like?..."
Marika thought for a while, then cleared her throat and started singing.
［The author recommends BGM: Nier Series Ver1.22OST-Ancient Song Devola］
Kuwata tsunowo vralai
Tsuriji pufuralekai
Kwondzuvai undovartsu wronduwail
Tjortetei jeki liago
Jiunmata ivelischpfuli
Neftyoma sorepiyamei
Schijiyako alefni fatalliya
Nic'hpisfa unhorselye
Otrajain aforeje kurasolda
Towari hatasei mic'hatasei tsufrallai
Otrajain aforeje kurasolda
Towari hatasei mic'hatasei tsufralai ilja
Ullilya kojijichatjukaijai-wa nyame fretsumekri fretsumekri linganmai
Ulreri manja huteharraku-mu harirch lahadachfei lahadachfei shindulhwo
Influenced by Marika's beautiful singing in an unknown and ancient language, Bedivere gradually realized that Marika was not Artoria. Being summoned to this world, ever since he first laid eyes on Marika, Bedivere himself has been intentionally or unintentionally treating Marika as another King Arthur. Perhaps it was his guilt for Artoria that made him see Marika as a way to make up for his regret. But listening to the singing of the woman in front of him, he knew he was wrong. Marika has never been the ideal king, she is just a fragile girl who feels fear and inferiority just like ordinary women, and needs love and approval. And Bedivere felt that no matter how he restrained himself with the knightly code, he still couldn't help but fell in love with her hopelessly. But in the end, the knight still did not confess his true emotions. He just smiled and listened to the singing of the blonde beauty.
'With this kid here, this girl is getting better already! Looks like I don't need to be her emotional babysitter afterall.'
The system sighed secretly.
Another week later...
In the past few days, Marika has recuperated herself and continued her fight against Stank. This time with Bedivere by her side supporting her, she feels more confident.
With the efforts of engineers working tirelessly day and night, more than forty Viking warships were finally completed. It is also thanks to the magic in this world that the warship can be completed so quickly.
This time non-combatants like Siduri and Melina were left in the Ligu. Swords have no eyes on the battlefield, and Marika doesn't want anything to happen to her precious daughter and her most trusted priest.
The whole army is on the warship ready to sail to Stank's castle, the final destination of their expedition.
"Alright! It's time for some action and show that bastard Stank what's up."
Achilles' blood boiled with excitement for the battle to come, his warrior blood urging him to slay all his enemies on the field. Achilles turned his head and shouted to the knights on his warship:
"Brothers! Are you ready to make your name on the holy battlefield!"
"Oh oh oh oh!"
Achilles' subordinates responded to their general with excited battle cries while rowing. Since the first battle of Uro Castle, Achilles had become comrade-in-arms and has formed a deep friendship with the knights under his command battle after battle. Now, as long as Achilles calls them forth, the high-mobility corps, which has recently increased to 300 people, will voluntarily follow him into the most dangerous depths of the battlefield.
On another warship, Jin was chatting with his colleague Ladybug about the upcoming battle. Strictly speaking, Ladybug and Jin, who are also generals, also have their own hundred subordinates and a warship.
"By the way, where did you get this armor? I don't remember that you have this armor in your luggage, do you? And you haven't seen Mr. Hewg, have you?"
Ladybug looked at Jinn who was wearing a crimson samurai O Yoroi armor and asked curiously.
"Huh? What are you talking about? I've always been carrying this armor in my luggage"
Jin said in puzzlement, then turned his head and continued to wipe his samurai helmet with a half-moon headdress with a cloth. This is his first battle after joining his new lord, so he is determined to show himself well on the battlefield, so as to repay Marika's kindness.
"Does this guy have a four-dimensional pocket?"
The ladybug murmured from the side.
"Lydia, wait for me. I'm almost there!"
On another warship, Einar looked at the continuous river, chanting his wife's name.
And at this time...
At the dining table in his castle, Stank is struggling to get in touch with his other castellan. The orderlies he sent to Tucker and Riley never responded. The fact that Marika never responded to his messages made Stank very anxious, fearing that his trick had been seen through. The lecherous Stank wants his men to grab Marika as his own trophy. But it's all in vain if she doesn't show up.
"My lord, I am worried that since the other city lords has fell silent recently, maybe they've been beaten—"
"You shut up!"
The officer standing on the side spoke worriedly to Tank, but was interrupted by Stank angrily.
"Just talking nonsense! Useless! How can a small country with only one city take over a large area of my southern territory! You think their soldiers grow on trees!?"
Stank picked up a piece of chicken leg from the dining table, took a big bite, and reprimanded the officer who spoke with his mouth full of food. His fat belly quivered, and his ugly, frog-like face contorted from chewing.
"I'm sorry, Lord Stank, for my lack of consideration."
In order not to anger his master, the officer quickly apologized.
"Hmph, that's more like it!"
Stank snorted coldly, then took a sip of red wine.
"And I have an undefeated ace in my hand, right? Syros."
Stank casts his gaze across the table.
"Of course, Lord Stank. Your money shall be well spent for my 'services'."
A black-haired man in a black battle suit stuffed with all kinds of knives and hidden weapons, said. He had the look of a cunning and vicious snake. This person is the master of hidden weapons, Shadow Warrior Syros.