After passing through the Mistwood and taking a look at the Minor Erdtree, Kaito set off again, finally arriving near the underground Siofra River within 10 days.
It was truly a mysterious world.
There was a world above, and a world below, it seemed.
At the cliff edge by the river's end, Kaito saw Blaidd.
He was standing there alone, looking into the distance, at the starry sky, at the structures far away, with a confused expression.
At that moment, no one knew what he was thinking.
Seeing this, Kaito dismounted Torrent. Melina and the Fire Keeper, who had been in front and behind, had already dismounted earlier.
The group slowly approached behind Blaidd. He had already sensed them, slowly turned around, seemed to smile wryly, and nodded at Kaito.
"Lord Kaito, you've finally arrived."
"I'm sorry, but I've found nothing here as well."
Wolf Brother Blaidd shook his head bitterly, his tone filled with discouragement and unwillingness.
Fortunately, Kaito had arrived; perhaps everything would turn around?
"Heh, have you been waiting here long? Have you eaten anything?"
"...Not very long. I've been constantly wandering around the area."
"You've worked hard. Let's eat something first, then we can exchange information."
"...Okay. As you wish."
Perhaps Kaito had rushed all the way to meet him and hadn't eaten properly, Wolf Brother Blaidd felt a bit guilty.
Agreeing to sit nearby, they found some dry firewood. Melina and the Fire Keeper took off their backpacks, took out dried and compressed food, and began cooking.
Soon, the aroma of food filled the air. Throughout the process, Wolf Brother Blaidd didn't say much. When Melina handed him a bowl of fragrant noodles, he thanked her.
Kaito's abilities were truly convenient. He only needed to bring the ingredients; he could create pots, pans, bowls, and utensils on the spot with his powers.
When he was hungry, he would occasionally hunt, then barbecue, or pick wild fruits.
"Lord Kaito, look at the structures over there by the cliff."
"That's Nokron over there. It's clearly right in front of my eyes, but I can't find any way up."
"I've tried using teleportation gates, and forcing my way through is blocked by a magic barrier, making it difficult to break and enter."
"Next, we either split up and continue searching, or search together. Lord Kaito, what do you think?"
After quickly finishing his noodles and expressing thanks, Blaidd looked at the magnificent structures beyond the cliff.
To be honest, it wasn't impossible to cross over, but there was indeed a barrier there.
Forcing one's way through would be very troublesome and would also attract significant attention.
Of course, if Kaito really wanted to break in, he certainly could. The trouble would be just throwing a few Planet Befall.
But some processes still needed to be followed, as some important plot points needed him to trigger and complete.
If things went haywire, it would be even more troublesome for Kaito.
In the game, there was simply no other way; you had to obediently follow the story, right?
"I see. But besides this, do you have any other clues?"
"...If there were any, perhaps Seluvis knows something, but he won't tell me. Those guys, clearly all serving Lady Ranni, always hold everyone back."
"I see."
Kaito nodded, saying nothing more.
After all, he already knew the story.
At this point, the player could return to Seluvis's Rise and ask him, and after being mocked and informed by him, they would know what to do next.
Then, it was time to fight the real brother-in-law, General Starscourge Radahn.
Though later in the game, you also needed to find Sorceress Sellen.
And she would tell you everything she knew, sincerely wanting to help her apprentice.
In her original words, she would tell the player: "The fate of the Carian royal family changes with the stars, and that includes your Lady Ranni. But when General Radahn shattered the stars' turning flow, that established flow came to an abrupt halt."
"That man is himself a star's seal. If General Radahn dies, the stars will begin to turn again, and Ranni's fate along with them."
In short, go find him and defeat him.
As for the story after his death, that was a long tale.
Bringing his thoughts back to the present.
Kaito also finished his noodles, put the bowl down, and drank a bowl of clean water magically generated by the Fire Keeper to rinse his mouth.
"Blaidd, while I was coming to find you, I asked some people along the way. They told me that to reach Nokron, you need to find General Radahn and defeat him."
"So next, we will set off for the far southeast corner of the Lands Between, to Redmane Castle, to find him."
"I'm not entirely sure how exactly to do it."
"But since this is one of the clues to reaching Nokron, let's give it a try. It's certainly better than staying here blindly searching, don't you think?"
"Incidentally, I also heard a saying from them..."
After Kaito slightly modified Sellen's original words and telling Blaidd, Blaidd fell silent.
Radahn was Ranni's brother.
He had met him many times when they were young.
"General Starscourge Radahn... stopping Lady Ranni's fate from turning..."
"In fact, I've heard this more than once."
"The location you mentioned is correct, southeast of Limgrave, south of Caelid. And that city will be holding a festival soon, I think about a month from now?"
"Anyway, it's a combat festival where you can challenge Radahn, the strongest demigod historically..."
"Also, because of the Tarnished's appearance, the once-yearly combat festival has recently become monthly or bi-monthly."
"Lord Kaito, whether your information is true or not, perhaps it's worth a try."
"Besides, Lord Kaito, you would need to face him eventually, wouldn't you?"
"Perhaps we just need to participate in Radahn's festival normally. Especially you, Lord Kaito, you might encounter other Tarnished and compete with them."
On this topic, Blaidd became much more talkative.
He didn't overthink it, focusing solely on completing tasks for Ranni faster and better.
After saying this, he grew excited, already eager to set off immediately.
"You're right. We should head there next. But it's a very long journey... we definitely won't make next month's combat festival. We'll have to take our time."
"...Indeed. And there are many enemies along the way."
Blaidd nodded, but he wasn't discouraged or intimidated; on the contrary, he was brimming with fighting spirit.
No matter how many difficulties lay ahead, he would cut through them all!
No matter how long it took, he would get there!
He had been unable to find any clues or a way to Nokron before, and now he had them. How could he not be excited?
He wished he could teleport there right now!
But since he hadn't been there, he still needed some preparation. Most importantly, it depended on Kaito's decision.
"Haha, enemies are good. No enemies would be a problem; I still need to increase my strength."
"...Lord Kaito, you're too modest."
"No, we cannot fight an unprepared battle. And on this trip, we must win. I don't want to end up losing; maybe losing means death."
"Blaidd, let's go slowly. The time isn't important; the result is. Anyway, you've already spent a lot of time searching; a little more won't hurt."
"What about Lady Ranni..."
"Don't worry, she's not in a hurry either. The most important thing is stability."
"...Alright! I'll do as you say, Lord Kaito."
"Good, then without further ado, let's set off. Finding some opponents to fight along the way wouldn't be bad. We might even get to cooperate and improve our mutual understanding."
"Well said."
Blaidd had no doubts, nodded in agreement.
Soon, the four of them began traveling together.
First, they would scavenge and explore around here.
Kaito intentionally took his time cultivating their relationship.
After three days, when they were talking more freely, Kaito felt it was about right. So, during another meal, he asked a question he was concerned about.
"Blaidd, from Iji, I learned about things between you and Ranni. I'm curious, how do you see Ranni? Besides being her vassal and serving her, what other feelings do you have?"
"Hmm? Lord Kaito, why do you ask...?"
"Heh, just curious. Because Iji cares a lot about you, before I came here, he appeared before me and asked me to look after you."
"I-Is that so?"
Blaidd nodded somewhat awkwardly; he knew his own personality well.
"I think of her... as my own older sister."
"Oh?"
'Really?'
'Then I'll consider you my little brother-in-law!'