ㅤㅤ“Is the Redmane castle. Beyond it is a desert where General Radahn, or what is left of him, stays. I heard a festival is to be held in the next few days.”

ㅤㅤ•° she's quite interested in it herself, though she doubts that they would let someone like her join.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ•° she pointed at a castle on a piece of land separated from most of caelid, connected through a bridge and guarded by soldiers fighting rotted birds and dogs. The regular sight for someone like her.

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° it was unspoken, of course, but they do not attack each other unless needed. She personally found them rather disgusting, and would happily hunt them down if truly needed.

ㅤㅤ“Over there,”

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° she led him down a stone road, occasionally tugging at his arm to walk on the red grass and dirt to avoid any direct conflicts with the children of rot. Dangerous and invasive as they were, the Cleanrots and them have reached a sort of ... middle ground.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“The war against the rot never stopped. It may not be able to be purged, but so it will be controlled.”

ㅤㅤ•° by flame, by human hands, by moving as if oneself was a flowing water.

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° she momentarily stopped in front of one, taking in the heat and feeling the rot crawl back to her core. If she were alone and feeling rather brave, she would pick one of the stones and carry it with her, but this one looked to be half-melted, and would be dangerous for her.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“You'd be correct. They were built and burnt by the Redmanes, General Radahn's army, to stop most creatures of rot from advancing beyond Caelid.”

ㅤㅤ•° despite the danger, she found them to be reassuring. No one beyond the borders would suffer the same fate as her, if they keep away.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“Runes can be used to strengthen oneself, if one has a maiden to help them. Alas, they usually only serve the Tarnished.”

ㅤㅤ•° the knight pocketed the runes, adding to her total. Three bags now.

ㅤㅤ“Every living being drop runes. We'll just have to hunt them down.”

ㅤㅤ“The usual merchant that sells me these is further in. His name is Kalé.“

ㅤㅤ•° opening her pouch, she checked for the amount of runes. Barely enough for two bags. Good enough.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ•° she moved forward on shaky legs, her body on slowly recovering from the scarlet rot's advances. She looked back momentarily, gesturing at the captain to follow, then continued her walk forward.

ㅤㅤ•° eventually the red sky made way to a calm blue, and they were now in Limgrave.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“My deepest gratitude to you, captain ... ”

ㅤㅤ•° she instead said, slightly bowing down to him.
ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ•° the knight's head turned to the captain, a look of utter gratitude appearing in an instant. Though from her position, she could almost, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 see the face within the void. She almost reached out, but her mind righted itself before she could even move her hand.

—&—

ㅤㅤ•° she gasped for air, all while both of her hand reached out to the flame, close enough that it would lick her fingertips but not burn her through her armor. She felt relief like no other, like she was back to fully being human again. she wasn't, of course.

—&—

ㅤㅤ“Are you travelling alone.ᐣ”

ㅤㅤ•° she suddenly asked, turning her head towards him.
ㅤㅤ