Millicent held her blade, originally intending to fight the Cleanrot Knight. However, the knight's sudden act of kneeling left her momentarily stunned.
After dealing with the other enemies nearby, Millicent had already spotted the Cleanrot Knight guarding the room from a distance.
At the time, however, the knight seemed to be asleep. She remained curled up with her head lowered, making no movement at all.
Millicent had therefore planned to rely on her agility to rush in and seize the initiative with an immediate attack.
Now, with her blade in hand and the Cleanrot Knight kneeling before her, Millicent found herself in an awkward position. She didn't know whether she should strike or hold back.
Millicent was no stranger to Cleanrot Knights.
The Swamp of Aeonia was filled with Cleanrot Knights who had once followed Malenia to Caelid.
However, after spending so many years immersed in the Lake of Rot, their bodies had been constantly afflicted by Scarlet Rot.
Even though those Cleanrot Knights had once performed incantations to resist the Rot, their effects had gradually faded over the long years, leaving them unable to continue resisting its influence.
Thus, the once-proud Cleanrot Knights had all become powerless to fight back. They had fallen into corruption, becoming puppets of the Rot and losing their own consciousness entirely.
This was the first time Millicent had ever encountered a Cleanrot Knight who still possessed her own mind and could communicate normally.
Millicent bit her lip, feeling somewhat at a loss.
'Malenia? Me?'
At that moment, the Cleanrot Knight seemed to have finally woken up. She took a proper look at Millicent and carefully examined her appearance, only to suddenly realize that the person before her was indeed not Malenia.
Although she had an extremely similar, almost identical appearance and hair color, and had likewise lost her right arm, Scarlet Rot was also surging within her body...
Lady Malenia's build, however, was nowhere near this petite. And her missing limbs were not limited to just one.
Lord Miquella would forever remain young, but Lady Malenia had continued to grow and develop normally.
As for the Millicent standing before her, she was not even as tall as Lady Malenia's stature.
There was naturally no way Lady Malenia could have started growing backward and become shorter.
Even so, at first glance, the resemblance had truly been startling.
The Cleanrot Knight immediately stood up and crossed the weapons in her hands, holding them upright before her.
"That's not right!"
"You're not Lady Malenia!"
Millicent blinked, then simply raised her blade and pointed it at the knight once more.
"I am indeed not..."
"And I don't believe I ever claimed to be."
The Cleanrot Knight said nothing. She merely continued holding her weapons, silently trying to ease the awkwardness of having mistaken someone else for her beloved mistress.
After a brief silence, the Cleanrot Knight was the first to speak again.
Still gripping her weapons cautiously, she asked Millicent:
"Who exactly are you? And what have you come here to do?"
"Also, what is your relationship with Lady Malenia?"
Even if this person wasn't Lady Malenia herself, the Cleanrot Knight had no intention of attacking first.
She was certain that the person before her had some connection to Lady Malenia.
Seeing that her opponent was capable of communicating normally, Millicent thought for a moment before slowly lowering her blade and returning it to its sheath.
"My name is Millicent. I don't actually know what my relationship with Malenia is, either."
"There is only one thing I'm certain of: she and I are related by blood."
"But whether we're parent and child, sisters, or whether I'm her clone, or perhaps something else entirely..."
"I can't explain any of that myself. Regardless, I have a reason for wanting to meet her."
The Cleanrot Knight listened silently, trying to judge the truth behind these astonishing words.
After a while, she slowly separated her crossed weapons and let them hang naturally at her sides.
"Then where is Lady Malenia now?"
Millicent pressed her lips together and gave a somewhat reluctant answer.
"She... isn't doing very well at the moment."
The Cleanrot Knight immediately grew anxious upon hearing this and hurriedly pressed her for an explanation.
"What do you mean by that?!"
She had been stationed here during the Shattering. At that time, there had not even been any news of the campaign to the south.
Faced with the knight's questions, Millicent merely fell silent and turned her gaze aside.
Since she was so closely connected to Malenia, their fates were intertwined. If one was disgraced, then the other was disgraced as well.
What Malenia had done in Caelid was something Millicent found difficult to bring herself to discuss.
Lucian shook his head and spoke on Millicent's behalf, bluntly recounting what had happened in Caelid.
"During the Battle of Aeonia, Malenia voluntarily removed her Unalloyed Gold Needle and released the Scarlet Rot within her body."
"Radahn and Malenia both suffered devastating injuries, while all of Caelid was completely contaminated by Scarlet Rot."
"After blooming the Scarlet Aeonia, Malenia lost consciousness. She was taken back to the Haligtree, and has not been seen since."
Upon hearing that Malenia had voluntarily released the Scarlet Rot, the Cleanrot Knight's faith was put to the test.
The weapons in her hands gradually slipped from her grasp, falling to the ground with a clear metallic clang.
"How could that be?"
"How could Lady Malenia... release the power of the Rot?"
"Impossible. That can't be..."
Lucian nodded, mercilessly shattering her hopes.
"It's absolutely true. I have no interest in lying."
After remaining dazed for a moment, the Cleanrot Knight turned to look at Millicent once more. Trembling, she asked another question.
"Then... why have you come here?"
Millicent looked at the Cleanrot Knight and answered seriously.
"I want to return something to Malenia... I want to give back the will she once possessed."
"Her pride as a human, which allowed her to resist the whispers of the Scarlet Rot, and the vows she once upheld, only to break them with her own hands."
"To accomplish this, I must travel to the Haligtree. And to do that, I must find a prosthetic arm that will allow me to fight again."
Millicent looked past the Cleanrot Knight toward the room behind her.
"It seems... I may have come to the right place after all."
The Cleanrot Knight looked at Millicent and remained silent for a long time, as though she were making some kind of decision.
She picked up her fallen weapons, stepped aside to clear the way, and spoke to Millicent.
"You're looking for a prosthetic arm? Then please, follow me."
"You may call me Dalia."
"I will treat you with the same reverence I would show Lady Malenia, and I will follow you."
—
The room was filled with various statues. Several shelves had also been set up among them, holding supplies from the Haligtree.
The Cleanrot Knight named Dalia led Millicent and Lucian over to the shelves. She took down a large chest and placed it on the floor.
Then she reached out and opened the lid, revealing its contents to the two of them.
Inside the chest were two complete sets of Malenia's golden prosthetic limbs.
Each set consisted of three pieces, corresponding to Malenia's right arm, left leg, and right leg.
No matter which part had been lost or damaged in battle, the prosthetics stored here could be used to replace it.
Millicent picked up one of the prosthetic arms and ran her fingers over the smooth, delicate Unalloyed Gold. She couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
The prosthetic arm really was exceptionally well-made. Millicent was certain it would be capable of performing every movement she wanted with perfect precision.
"Such an exquisite prosthetic arm..."
"No wonder Malenia was able to overcome her congenital disabilities and gallop across the battlefield."
"And there are two complete sets stored in a place like this?"
Dalia nodded slightly and explained to Millicent.
"Lady Malenia's body no longer grows, so there is no need to adjust the dimensions. The craftsmen only need to produce them in one fixed size."
"The craftsmen of the Haligtree held Lady Malenia in such great reverence that they made a sufficient number of replacements."
"However... I'm afraid this size may not be suitable for you..."
Millicent shook her head helplessly.
"Yes. The dimensions don't match."
It was easy enough to tell just by holding the prosthetic arm against her own.
The arm in her hands was longer than her left arm by the length of an entire palm, along with another half of a forearm.
If the difference had been only slight, that might have been acceptable. She could have made do with it.
Even if the prosthetic couldn't perform perfectly, her right arm would still be far more capable in combat than her left. Unfortunately, with such a huge difference in length, there was simply no way she could use it.
If she attached it as it was, not only would she fail to regain her former strength, she would probably end up worse off than she was with her left arm.
Millicent sighed softly, feeling rather disappointed.
"Ah... Does that mean this trip was for nothing?"
Dalia looked Millicent up and down. After thinking for a moment, she spoke again.
"Not necessarily. There may still be a way."
"I remember Lady Malenia very clearly. Your body's proportions should be exactly the same as hers."
"If we can find a prosthetic arm made for the right stage of her growth, you should still be able to use it normally."
Millicent glanced around the room, where there were nothing but statues. Her intentions were already obvious.
Dalia shook her head and hurriedly began to explain:
"The supplies kept here are all properly stored military provisions."
"There are actually many other prosthetic limbs scattered throughout the castle."
"Back when the Haligtree made its deal with Maleigh Marais, the lord of the Shaded Castle, they traded a great many things."
"A large portion of those goods consisted of prosthetic arms and legs that Lady Malenia had once used, but which had eventually been replaced because her body had grown and they no longer fit."
"Those prosthetics should still be in the lord's hall, assuming nothing unexpected has happened."
Only after hearing Dalia's explanation did Millicent remember.
Mr. Patches had indeed mentioned before that Maleigh Marais, the lord of this castle, had a peculiar hobby of collecting Malenia's prosthetic limbs.
She had originally assumed he was talking about the two sets stored here. It turned out he had meant the others.
It seemed there was still hope after all.
Hope rekindled in Millicent's heart, and she hurriedly asked Dalia:
"Really? Could you tell me exactly where that room is?"
"If I can find Maleigh Marais, I'll be able to find the prosthetic arm, right?"
Dalia glanced at Millicent before answering.
"If it were you, he would surely agree without hesitation and gladly offer the prosthetic arm to you..."
"Unfortunately, Maleigh Marais is no longer the lord of the Shaded Castle."
"A man named Elemer has occupied this place, and his strength far surpasses that of Maleigh Marais."
Millicent was quite surprised by this news.
"From what I had heard, the only person I knew to be the lord of this castle was Maleigh Marais..."
She had learned about the Shaded Castle from Patches.
Millicent knew that Maleigh Marais was its lord, but she had never heard anything about Elemer.
She had no idea what had happened in the meantime to bring about such a drastic change within the castle.
Dalia nodded, understanding that Millicent's information was out of date.
"It's difficult for news from the Shaded Castle to reach the outside world. This place is one of the most remote regions under the Erdtree's control."
"Besides, the entire area is covered in poisonous swamps. Nobody wants to come here."
"Even if Maleigh Marais managed to escape, he wouldn't be able to find any decent reinforcements."
"So the news probably never got out in the first place. And perhaps nobody even cared."
Lucian nodded, finding her explanation quite reasonable.
It wasn't that the Shaded Castle was a place where not even birds would shit. It was more that any bird passing through would probably die from the poison.
On top of that, Maleigh Marais's position was rather awkward. He had originally been a lord under the Erdtree, but during the Shattering, he had defected to the Haligtree.
Now that the Shattering was over, even his backing, the Haligtree, had been driven back.
The fact that the Erdtree hadn't sent anyone to wipe him out after the war was probably because the place was so desolate that they couldn't be bothered to waste the effort. Or perhaps they had simply forgotten it existed.
Alone on the Altus Plateau, Maleigh Marais had no way of obtaining reinforcements even after losing his castle.
Lucian knew the Shaded Castle's situation perfectly well. However, for his own reasons, he hadn't wanted to explain it all to Millicent himself.
Now that Dalia had provided an explanation, it was much easier for him. He only needed to add a few details.
For example, Elemer's strength.
Seeing that Millicent seemed eager to take action, Lucian hurriedly poured cold water over her enthusiasm.
"Don't act rashly and assume you can easily kill Elemer."
"Elemer is no pushover."
"He's a powerful warrior from the foreign land of Eochaid, and he's highly skilled in the use of 'energy.'"
"At the same time, he's an exceptionally vicious death-row criminal, notorious for murder and plunder."
"At the very least, you won't be able to fight him until you've obtained a prosthetic arm."
Millicent gritted her teeth, finding the situation rather troublesome.
If she wanted a prosthetic arm, she first had to get past Elemer.
But if she wanted to defeat him, she needed to obtain a prosthetic arm first.
In this situation... if she wanted to handle everything herself, what was she supposed to do?
Millicent's gaze unconsciously drifted toward the shelves nearby.
These were all supplies that the Haligtree had prepared for Malenia. Their variety, quantity, and quality were all excellent.
Following Millicent's gaze, Dalia immediately offered:
"Please feel free to use any of the supplies here."
"The Shaded Castle has already fallen into ruin, and the Haligtree probably won't be able to intervene here again. Given your identity, you are fully entitled to use them."
Millicent nodded and began selecting the supplies that might prove useful.
There were plenty of items that could be used in battle. Perhaps she could rely on them to find a way to contend with Elemer...
No, if all she needed to do was reach the lord's hall and retrieve the prosthetic arm, perhaps she wouldn't even need to fight him.
She might be able to lure him out of his room with some items and use that opportunity to sneak in and find the prosthetic.
As for trying to obtain the prosthetic through negotiation...
Millicent simply couldn't bring herself to entertain that idea.
After all, Elemer was an exceptionally vicious death-row criminal. For the sake of her own safety, it was best to assume from the outset that he was someone who couldn't be reasoned with.
Dalia seemed to remember something and spoke to Millicent once more.
"When Elemer seized the Shaded Castle, the knights stationed here did not take part in the fighting."
"So if you happen to encounter any of them elsewhere in the castle, please don't be alarmed. We won't stand in your way."
"After meeting you, my companions will surely react just as I did. None of us will attack you of our own accord."
Hearing Dalia's assurance, Millicent felt relieved.
She continued selecting the items she could use and packing them away. Once she had made all the necessary preparations, she was ready to set off.
However, as Dalia watched Millicent preparing to leave, she suddenly called out to stop her.
"If..."
"If one day you truly manage to find Lady Malenia..."
"Could you also deliver a message to those of us knights who have been scattered and left behind?"
Millicent looked at Dalia and nodded.
"Please, go ahead."
"I will make sure your words reach her."
Dalia tightened her grip on her Cleanrot Spear. The incantation engraved upon it had grown dim, yet it still emitted a faint glow.
"Lady Malenia... I hope she can continue fighting. I hope she can continue resisting."
"Lady Malenia's invincible figure on the battlefield, and her magnificent will to never surrender to the Rot, are still deeply engraved in my mind. Even now, they remain the pillar that supports me."
"It was precisely because I was moved by those wonderful things that I willingly chose to fight alongside Lady Malenia, accepting the consequences of gradually succumbing to the Rot..."
"We Cleanrot Knights... even insignificant mortals like us are still struggling against the Rot..."
"So, please. I beg you to convey this small wish of ours to Lady Malenia."
"Please, never surrender to the Rot..."