Lucian had Hildegard make a detailed list of all the ingredients she would need.
That way, once they returned to Stormveil, he could have everything prepared at once.
At the same time, he asked her to pack whatever she needed to bring.
Fortunately, Hildegard owned very little, so she was ready to depart in no time.
Taking Hildegard and the little Living Jar she had taken in with him, Lucian flew through the skies at high speed back to Stormveil.
Upon returning, he sent her to join the others gathering for the expedition to the Siofra River.
As for himself, he intended to make a trip to Jarburg.
The poachers were still active throughout the Lands Between, and the Living Jars remained in a precarious position.
He had already taken the Albinauric Village under his protection. Now, all that remained were the various jar settlements scattered across the world.
Using the Guidance of Grace, Lucian instantly arrived atop the eastern cliffs of Liurnia.
There, he extended his perception into the skies, connecting with the Stormhawks that constantly patrolled over the lake.
If they could find Alexander first, that would be ideal.
It didn't take long before the Stormhawks located exactly the person he was looking for.
Following their guidance, Lucian found Alexander trudging through the waters of Liurnia.
The person sitting on top of the great jar, however, came as quite a surprise.
'Millicent?'
He hadn't expected that after setting out from Caelid separately, the two of them would end up traveling together in Liurnia.
After thinking it over, Lucian nodded slightly.
Honestly...
Wasn't this a good thing?
Because of her missing arm, Millicent could barely use the swordsmanship she had once taken such pride in.
She wasn't completely defenseless, but she possessed only just enough strength to survive in the perilous Lands Between.
Watching her set out alone had always been a cause for concern.
Alexander, on the other hand, was both incredibly kindhearted and more than capable of protecting himself.
Since he was also headed for the Altus Plateau, their routes naturally overlapped.
At least now, Lucian didn't have to worry so much about Millicent running into danger along the way.
Still...
Watching Alexander steadily march deeper toward the center of Liurnia Lake, Lucian couldn't help feeling puzzled.
'Alexander... where exactly are you trying to go?'
'Jarburg definitely isn't this direction.'
'In fact... if I remember correctly, there are some extremely unpleasant enemies over there...'
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Alexander's group encountered trouble.
Seeing what was happening, Lucian twitched at the corner of his eye and immediately rushed toward them.
—
Sitting atop Alexander's lid, Millicent looked around at the increasingly dense fog with growing exasperation.
"Alexander..."
"Are you sure your hometown is this way?"
Alexander folded his arms and began doubting himself.
Truth be told...
He had never actually returned to his hometown.
But surely...
Surely he remembered the general direction...
...Right?
There was no way he'd gotten lost again...
"HAHAHA... don't worry."
"As long as we keep moving forward, the road will continue to reveal itself!"
Millicent sighed inwardly.
"...Who says things like that?"
By this point, she was completely certain.
Alexander was lost again.
Although they hadn't been traveling together for very long, it had been enough for her to learn one thing.
Normally, Alexander was dependable.
His terrible sense of direction, however...
That was extraordinary.
Still, she had never imagined someone could even forget the way back to their own hometown.
Looking out across the endless, mist-covered waters of Liurnia, the two had little choice but to continue onward.
Before long, the dense woods and glittering glintstone formations gradually disappeared into the fog.
In their place stretched an open expanse of water.
A solitary pavilion stood in the distance.
Within it shimmered the unmistakable light of a magical sending gate.
Millicent raised her left hand and pointed toward it.
"Why don't we rest there for a while?"
"We can figure out where to go next afterward."
Alexander agreed immediately.
After all, he had already admitted he was lost.
This was clearly the moment to let someone else's brain do the thinking.
As they drew closer, several spirits suddenly burst from the previously still waters.
The moment they spotted the wandering ghosts that haunted Liurnia, both Alexander and Millicent tensed.
Where there was one spirit...
There were usually many more.
Finding one ghost was much like finding a cockroach in your home.
It wasn't that a single one had happened to wander by.
It was because there were already far too many hiding where you couldn't see them.
Sure enough, more and more spirits emerged, surrounding the pair.
The ghosts were highly mobile.
Once they latched onto someone in the water, escaping them became extremely difficult.
The only option was to destroy every last one.
Oddly enough, every other time they had encountered spirits, it had been near ruins.
Only such places held the souls of the dead who had twisted into spirits through suffering.
Though both Millicent and Alexander found it strange, they immediately prepared for battle.
Alexander would handle the fighting.
Millicent, wielding her katana with only her left hand, would support him where she could.
Though badly outnumbered, Alexander was a Hero-class Warrior Jar.
Against ordinary spirits, he felt no fear whatsoever.
As the ghosts rushed toward them, he raised both massive arms and smashed downward.
His heavy stone fists carried overwhelming force, instantly pulverizing two crawling, twisted spirits into scattered fragments.
Meanwhile, Millicent raised her katana with one hand, blocking another spirit that dove from above.
Alexander's enormous hand immediately shot upward, seized it in midair, and hurled it away.
But at that very moment...
Every surrounding spirit surged forward at once.
They swarmed toward the pair in a vast tide.
There were so many that they could completely engulf both of them.
Escaping would not be easy.
Yet Alexander showed no trace of panic.
Instead, he popped open the lid on top of his body and shouted,
"Millicent! Get inside!"
"There are too many of them! They'll overwhelm you otherwise!"
Seeing the countless spirits closing in, Millicent didn't hesitate.
With a nimble leap, she jumped straight into Alexander's jar body.
Although Warrior Jars carried the remains of fallen warriors within them, Alexander had deliberately left an empty compartment separated by a net for storing supplies.
It happened to be just large enough for Millicent.
As soon as he closed the lid, the spirits descended.
They clung to Alexander from every direction, covering his body while striking him relentlessly.
Attacks rained down from all sides.
To Alexander, however...
They amounted to little more than scratches.
"HAHAHA!"
"Attacks this feeble will never defeat Iron Fist Alexander!"
Completely surrounded, Alexander thrust out both arms and spun his entire body at incredible speed.
Like a giant spinning top, he whirled through the water, sending up enormous waves.
The spirits were flung away in every direction.
Unfortunately for them, their intelligence left much to be desired.
The moment they recovered, they rushed back in without a second thought.
Alexander's thick, rock-hard arms became deadly blades under the momentum of his spinning, tearing spirit after spirit apart in midair.
His fighting style was simple.
But overwhelming strength required no sophistication.
Without expending much effort, he annihilated every last ghost.
Only after the area had fallen silent did he open his lid again.
"Whew..."
"All taken care of."
Millicent clung to the rim of the jar and awkwardly climbed back out.
Her hair and clothes were in complete disarray.
"Ugh..."
"I think I'm a little dizzy..."
"But... thank you."
After taking a moment to steady herself, she finally climbed all the way out.
"HAHAHAHA! I don't get to use that trick very often, but it's certainly effective."
Just as the two believed the danger had passed...
Something changed.
Ahead of them, an overwhelming presence suddenly emerged, sending a chill through both of their hearts.
Something terrifying was taking shape.
Beside the pavilion, a denser cloud of yellow-black miasma billowed outward, carrying with it endless resentment and curses.
A grotesque creature slowly appeared before them.
Far larger than the ordinary spirits.
Its face was deathly pale.
Its countless limbs writhed together like the legs of a monstrous centipede.
It was a Royal Revenant.
The instant Alexander saw the horrifying creature, he stepped forward, shielding Millicent behind him.
In the next instant, the Royal Revenant twisted its head at an impossible angle.
Its empty eye sockets fixed upon the two of them.
Seeing such a horrifying monster for the first time, Millicent's heart skipped a beat.
Then—
As though her eyes had deceived her for a split second...
The Royal Revenant was already standing directly before them.
It reared its body high into the air and released a piercing scream of agony.
Then the numerous twisted arms beneath its body began slamming downward in a relentless frenzy.
Faced with the barrage of strikes, Alexander immediately met them with his own fists.
But two fists could never overcome so many hands.
And the Royal Revenant possessed far more than four.
His punches and defenses blocked only part of the assault.
The remaining blows landed squarely against his body.
Though each of Alexander's strikes was far more powerful than the Revenant's individual limbs, he could only fend off three or four arms at a time.
Feeling the tremendous force crashing into him, Alexander's heart sank.
'This thing...'
'It's every bit as strong as I am!'
Worse still, in close combat...
Its body was simply built better for fighting.
The cracks that had only recently been repaired with adhesive slowly began to spread across Alexander's body once again.
Sensing his injuries worsening, regret welled up inside him.
Perhaps...
He should have stayed in Redmane Castle a little longer.
Recovered completely before setting out again.
In his current condition...
He couldn't honestly say he would defeat the Royal Revenant.
'This is going to be another brutal battle.'
'I need Millicent to get away while I hold it back!'
Yet at that very moment, taking advantage of the exchange between Alexander and the Revenant...
Millicent darted out from behind him.
Seizing the opening with perfect timing, she swept her katana through the air.
The blade plunged deep between two of the Royal Revenant's adjacent arms.
However, the slash from her left arm was ultimately far too weak.
Her left arm simply wasn't her dominant hand. Both its strength and technique were lacking, preventing her from severing the limb in a single stroke.
Seeing her blade lodged halfway through the creature's arm, caught against the bone and only a hair's breadth from cutting through, Millicent gritted her teeth.
With one final surge of strength, she forced the sword through.
The two grotesque limbs flew high into the air, scattering foul black ichor across the lake. Wherever it splashed, the water hissed with a nauseating, rotten sizzle.
But that half-second delay came at an enormous cost.
The Royal Revenant shrieked in agony.
Its piercing scream crashed into Millicent's ears like a physical blow.
Her body trembled violently, and blood immediately streamed from both ears.
The Revenant abandoned its assault on Alexander altogether, several of its remaining arms whipping toward Millicent instead.
Alexander was completely tied down.
Anxious as he was, there was nothing he could do to help.
Fortunately, Millicent had only lost her right arm, her means of attack. Her physical abilities themselves remained intact.
As a being born from Scarlet Rot, someone with an unknown connection to Malenia, Millicent possessed extraordinary physical gifts.
Just like her four sisters, she had begun life with the capabilities of a true Hero, with limitless potential still ahead of her.
A simple duck, followed by an agile backward leap, was enough to widen the distance between herself and the Royal Revenant once again.
Though she'd severed two of its limbs, the overall battle remained unchanged.
Then—
A brilliant light suddenly descended from the heavens.
A single beam of radiant sunlight pierced through the perpetual mist hanging over Liurnia's lake.
Bathed in that light, the Royal Revenant let out an agonized howl.
Its twisted body began melting away beneath the sunlight, dissolving bit by bit until nothing remained.
Without the slightest chance to resist...
...it vanished completely.
Millicent and Alexander were both startled by the sudden turn of events, immediately scanning their surroundings warily.
Only when a familiar voice reached their ears did they finally relax.
"I didn't expect both of you to make it all the way here."
"It's been a while."
Lucian stood beneath the nearby pavilion.
Since his armor had been destroyed, he had been wearing the new clothes Boc had tailored for him.
At long last, he no longer had to walk around naked.
Alexander's eyes immediately lit up.
"HAHAHA! So it was you!"
"I was wondering who could possibly wipe out such a terrifying monster in a single blow!"
Lucian smiled before noticing the fresh cracks spreading across Alexander's body.
"Oh?"
"Are you alright?"
"Looks like we'll have to patch you up again."
Alexander casually slapped his own side.
"Don't worry! Even if I leave these alone, they'll heal quickly enough."
"Besides, that adhesive works wonderfully! Before I left, I made sure to ask Hildegard for some, so I've been carrying it inside me. HAHAHA!"
Hearing that, Lucian finally relaxed.
He then turned toward Millicent.
Ever since he'd appeared, she'd stood quietly to one side, lips pressed together without saying a word.
She was genuinely happy to see him.
But at that moment, Millicent suddenly realized...
Compared to the last time they'd met...
She hadn't improved at all.
Forget repaying Lucian for everything he'd done.
He had saved her once again.
She found herself unable to face him.
Seeing her remain silent, Lucian took the initiative and walked over.
"Millicent."
"It's been a while."
"How has your journey... been?"
Looking up at him, Millicent offered an embarrassed smile.
"Ah... yes... my journey..."
"Limgrave is much more peaceful than Caelid."
"And Stormveil has become so lively and prosperous."
As she spoke, her gaze slowly fell again.
"...I'm sorry."
"It's been so long since we last met..."
"...and yet the first thing you see is how powerless I still am."
"It seems..."
"...I'm still no closer to repaying what I owe you."
Watching Millicent struggle beneath the weight of her own pride, Lucian couldn't help sighing inwardly.
'Millicent really is a strong girl.'
Only...
Sometimes, she was too strong.
She could have leaned on others more.
No one would have blamed her.
Yet that unyielding pride was also part of what made her who she was.
Even in circumstances like these...
...she refused to abandon her dignity.
Lucian wasn't sure how to comfort her.
And besides...
Simple words of consolation weren't what she truly needed.
Perhaps everything would begin to change once he was finally able to give her the prosthetic arm.
Since that was the case...
There was no need to continue this conversation for now.
Instead, Lucian gently reached out and brushed a hand through her disheveled hair.
With only one arm, Millicent still couldn't tie her hair properly by herself.
The hairstyle Lucian had tied for her long ago had already come loose.
After the battle they'd just fought, it had completely fallen apart.
"Your hair's a mess."
He smiled gently.
"Let me tie it for you again."
Millicent blinked in surprise.
She hadn't expected him to say that.
Hurriedly lowering her head, she glanced at her reflection in the lake.
Only then did she realize how disheveled she looked—
Especially in front of Lucian.
Flustered, she quickly nodded before turning her back toward him.
"...Mm."
"I'd appreciate that."
Though her back was to him...
...the rosy flush spreading across her ears and down the back of her neck was impossible to miss.