"Melina…"
Arthur's trembling voice slowly permeated the entire courtyard like a stream, while the young woman not far in front of him watched him with an unreadable gaze.
Of course, Arthur also thought that perhaps she, like others who had just been summoned, was undergoing the memory of eight cycles of reincarnation.
Melina was indeed sorting out the memories that had suddenly appeared in her mind, just as Arthur had guessed.
Among the memories constantly surfacing in her mind, there were moments of her hunting down the tarnished who had embarked on the path of mad flame, but more often, there were memories of the tarnished on the snowy mountain, whom she had put to sleep with magic, yet he still refused to let go of her hand.
Melina let out a long breath, first curiously raising her hand to examine the body the Erdtree had newly bestowed upon her, but she didn't expect her actions to make Arthur nervous.
Then, a beautiful arc formed on her lips, and with that familiar voice, she said to Arthur, "Hmm… I think you must have a lot to tell me, and a lot to explain to me. But it's alright, this time we have plenty of time. I will listen quietly to your story, the one I don't know."
Upon hearing Melina's words, Arthur's eyes instantly turned red, and a great burden in his heart finally lifted.
He was truly afraid, extremely afraid, that Melina, upon recovering her memories and knowing he had once wholeheartedly embraced the mad flame, would face him with a cold attitude full of hatred and hostility.
Only you, I don't want to see you look at me with that tone again.
Arthur said in his heart.
He took a deep breath, trying hard to remain calm, but his still trembling voice betrayed his emotions: "Okay…"
The light of the Erdtree became soft here, flowing like melted honey across the spacious ground in front of the cathedral.
Melina's features were clearer than in Arthur's memory; she lightly stepped over the floating golden Rune shards, each step creating ripples like starlight.
Then she stood still in front of Arthur and easily took off his helmet, revealing the still young and handsome face beneath.
However, unlike when Melina first met him, the light in Arthur's eyes was no longer as vibrant as before, but seemed to have experienced vast changes.
Melina raised her hand, her warm hand gently caressing Arthur's slightly stubbled cheek, then lowered it.
Arthur met Melina's gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing as he said, "I haven't gained weight, nor lost it."
Melina, after examining him, handed the helmet to Arthur and pinched her nose, saying, "I wasn't going to say whether you've gained or lost weight. I just think you still don't like to bathe much, just like before. Can I smell sweat as soon as you take off your helmet? And did you attend a banquet last night? Your clothes reek of a mixture of alcohol and food, even a mouse wouldn't want to come near."
But facing Melina's sharp tongue, Arthur felt a long-lost sense of familiarity.
He laughed and explained, "There was indeed a banquet tonight, and yesterday I was celebrating with newly met friends in a distant place after defeating a powerful enemy."
Melina, still pinching her nose, asked with concern, "Are you injured anywhere?"
Arthur shook his head, even complaining somewhat childishly, "No, you know I've defeated many Flying Dragons and Ancient Dragons in The Lands Between, but General Radahn refused to let me fight that dragon no matter what. He, on the other hand, had a blast. Although he explained the reason to me later, I still feel a bit annoyed."
Melina asked, puzzled, "Radahn?"
Arthur held his helmet at his waist with one hand and extended the other to Melina: "Yes, the General Radahn you and I both know. But too much has happened. Come with me to a quiet place in the Royal Capital Leyndell suitable for talking, and I'll tell you everything I've experienced during this time."
Melina, without any hesitation, placed her hand in Arthur's palm, and she softly said, "Okay."
Arthur firmly clasped Melina's hand, as if afraid she would suddenly disappear, and then blew the horse Whistle to summon Torrent.
"Ah, Torrent, long time no see. Thank you for staying by Arthur's side all this time." After Arthur helped her sit sideways on the horse's back, Melina gently stroked Torrent.
Torrent, seeing Melina, paused for a moment before happily wagging its tail and snorting, carrying the two slowly through the temporarily empty and quiet Royal Capital Leyndell.
Arthur looked at Torrent's demeanor and teased, "See? Even Torrent misses you, Melina."
After a soft "Mm" from Melina, she silently prepared to listen to Arthur's stories, the ones she didn't know.
Arthur, with mutual understanding, didn't ask Melina where she wanted to start, but instead began to tell her, bit by bit, about his experiences since arriving in Middle-earth.
As the morning star dipped below the horizon, Torrent's mane brushed away the last wisps of night fog.
Melina sat quietly behind Arthur, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the cape on the back of his armor.
Arthur's narration ebbed and flowed with the evening wind, and Melina's timely questions filled the gaps in his words.
"...That day, Smaug's breath seemed to melt the entire Dale, but Radahn used gravity magic to deflect the dragon's flames elsewhere…"
"…When we broke into the Lonely Mountain, it was Bilbo Baggins who reminded us where to find the enemy's leader. We then arrived at the bottom of the Lonely Mountain—just like when you and I traversed the Leyndell sewers—and found the enemy leader, Azog…"
Melina kept her eyes downcast, watching Arthur from behind, sometimes her fingers unconsciously clutching a corner of her cloak due to the thrilling experiences Arthur was recounting.
Torrent would occasionally stop to nibble on dew-laden wild grass, and the cloth bags hanging from the saddlebags swayed with the plot of Arthur's story, as if containing Gandalf's pipe, Bard's harpoon, and Thorin's frozen shell axe.
As the first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, Arthur saw Dain's hammer shatter the skull of the last Troll.
Unbeknownst to them, Torrent had already carried Arthur and Melina to the very top of the Royal Capital's main gate; the towering city walls enveloped the city like a giant curtain, and the buildings within the city were awakening in the morning light.
"Look, I knew Nepheli Loux and the others would definitely travel at night to come and check the situation."
Arthur stood on the city wall, pointing into the distance. On the outskirts of the Royal Capital, a group of people could be faintly seen approaching.
Only then did Melina realize that Arthur's narration had long since ceased. In this one night, Arthur had crushed about two years of his time in this world into the sound of Torrent's hooves.
Melina looked at Arthur and softly asked the tarnished, who was willing to find a way out for The Lands Between because of her single word, "Have you never hated me?"
Arthur's movements stopped.
After an unknown period of silence, he finally said in a hoarse voice, "Of course, I once resented you. In those nights of gradual madness, I roared at the Grace, questioning why I had to burn myself out for one person."
Melina pursed her lips, and before she could speak, she was interrupted by Arthur's clearer voice after he cleared his throat with a light cough: "But perhaps because of your influence, I've also grown fond of the flora and fauna of The Lands Between. Although that world is tattered, there are still people like you willing to mend it into something beautiful."
Then Melina saw Arthur turn to her with that silly grin he had when they first met: "So don't think too much about this. Didn't I also once ignore your advice and walk the path of the mad flame? And on that cycle's journey, I did many strange things too. So, are we even now?"
Melina was infected by the silliness on Arthur's face and laughed too, then suddenly pinched his earlobe with her fingertips, making Arthur grimace: "You think jumping into lava and secretly eating mushrooms from the Scarlet Rot kin counts as even? If one day your brain is roasted into a honey muffin by the mad flame, I might be able to mold you a new brain with Rune fragments, if your remaining intelligence is still enough to understand the word 'danger' by then."
Arthur quickly interjected: "Let's go down to the city wall first. Nepheli Loux is almost at the city base."
Only then did Melina release Arthur's earlobe, but there was no red mark on his earlobe at all.
When they were in The Lands Between, Arthur and Melina first arrived at Royal Capital Leyndell, but the main gate could not be opened.
But this time, the hundreds-of-meters-tall stone gate slowly opened to both sides, causing a slight tremor on the ground. Even Arthur, who had seen countless strange sights, felt his heart stir at this scene.
"Arthur!"
Nepheli Loux saw the tiny figure after the huge city gate of Leyndell opened from afar and quickly called out his name.
She only brought her right-hand men, Storm Knight Oleg and Ingwell, with her this time. However, Bilbo and Legolas were also very curious about how they were covered in golden light as soon as they lay down, so they voluntarily followed along.
As for the elves, humans, and dwarves who had lived in the Golden Tree Territory for a long time, they were already accustomed to this phenomenon.
Anyway, there was no need to worry; it must be Lord Arthur performing his magical sorcery, summoning the buildings from his homeland to this land.
The only thing that would affect them was having to update and memorize their current location on the map again, so they wouldn't get lost when traveling far.
The most troublesome might be Haight Fortress, which was responsible for daily territory patrols, because as Stormveil Castle's position moved, they would certainly have to re-plan their patrol routes.
However, with the Storm Hawks of Stormveil Castle assisting in the sky, our diligent Sir Kenneth Haight will surely complete his work smoothly.
This time, Arthur summoned Royal Capital Leyndell to replace Stormveil Castle's position, while the original Stormveil Castle was moved by him towards the direction between Halbarad and Limgrave Greatbridge.
Simply put, Stormveil Castle is currently to the southeast of Minhiriath.
Of course, Stormveil Castle was not too far from Royal Capital Leyndell, otherwise Nepheli Loux and the others would not have been able to reach the Royal Capital in one night.
Arthur led Melina over, just in time to see Legolas staring wide-eyed at Royal Capital Leyndell behind Arthur and Melina.
The magnificent and dilapidated Royal Capital was reflected in his emerald eyes, and the glow of the Erdtree dyed his cheeks honey-colored.
Legolas exclaimed: "By the great Iluvatar, such a miraculous building exists in the world!"
After a brief moment of surprise, Bilbo looked at Arthur. He had noticed the woman behind Arthur, who had kept her face hidden under her hood, since they arrived.
Therefore, Bilbo walked over and directly asked: "Arthur, is that… behind you?"
The hobbit cleverly did not speak the name he suspected, as Arthur had told him many names of women he had met, and Rogier's later additions made Bilbo aware of the more complex relationships between Arthur and these women.
For example, Miss Millison, whom he met in the Lonely Mountain, harbored indescribable emotions towards Arthur.
Therefore, Bilbo believed that if he casually blurted out a woman's name that didn't match the person behind Arthur, he would certainly cause Arthur some minor trouble in his future life.
So Bilbo chose to let Arthur speak for himself.
Arthur didn't understand that Bilbo had thought so many things in just a few seconds. Upon hearing the question, he answered very happily: "I told you her story; she is Melina."
Oh, it's the woman whose name Arthur mentioned most frequently.
What was the name of the woman Arthur mentioned second most frequently? Was it Lani?
Bilbo subtly glanced at Arthur, then smiled and nodded, stood on tiptoe and extended his hand to Melina, greeting her kindly: "Hello, I am Bilbo Baggins, the first friend Arthur made here."
Melina paused for a moment, then lightly dismounted Torrent, briefly shook hands with the hobbit, and then released it. She lowered her hood and softly replied: "Hello, esteemed Sir Bilbo. Last night, Arthur also told me about you, and I am very grateful that you provided him with a warm home and food when he needed help the most."
Just as Bilbo was about to say it was nothing, he heard Melina continue: "Also, if Arthur does anything in front of you that cannot be understood by normal human thinking, such as suddenly swinging his sword at a wall saying there's a hidden door, or suddenly smashing all the tables and chairs in the house, I apologize to you on his behalf."
"Huh?" This time it was Bilbo's turn to be stunned.
Arthur quickly said: "That's not true. I'm not a psychopath; I know when to do things and when not to."
You actually did that!?
Bilbo suddenly looked up, staring at Arthur in surprise.
At this moment, Nepheli Loux stepped forward and said to Arthur: "Congratulations on summoning Leyndell as well. You actually accomplished such a great feat in just one night."
Arthur replied: "You didn't come here just to say that, did you?"
Nepheli Loux shrugged: "Of course not, after all, this isn't the first time you've summoned a building. I was planning to tell you this morning when you came to the City Lord Hall, since you just brought a friend back yesterday, and the Storm Legion also needs me to tally the post-war situation."
Arthur asked: "What is it?"
Nepheli Loux replied with a faint smile: "Relax, it's nothing urgent. While you were busy with the Lonely Mountain, two rangers claiming to be from 'Black Gate' arrived. They heard about the Erdtree and came to see, leaving a letter inviting people from the Golden Tree Territory to Black Gate. If you have time now, come back to Stormveil Castle with me, and I'll give you the letter. You can decide for yourself."