Canto IX: The Unsevering/Story Episodes/Part III
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9-36: Operation Spider Pyre
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
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SINCLAIR |
I don't see… |
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|
SINCLAIR |
… anyone in here. |
 |
Radio |
All teams have entered the House of Spiders according to plan. All stations, remain on alert for any movements. |
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|
SINCLAIR |
Is everyone… okay? |
 |
Alyssa |
……. |
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|
Alyssa |
Not really. Doc said I'll be facing some challenges in my daily life for the next few months. |
 |
Hohenheim |
And here I was, looking forward to this rare chance of witnessing the mythical "paid sick leave." I still find it baffling that you've denied yourself that opportunity. |
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|
Hohenheim |
To be entirely honest, I am starting to think that you may have gone completely mad. |
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Alyssa |
What I'm doing may seem completely crazy, but I assure you my sanity's still intact. |
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Alyssa |
I would've gone truly insane if I weren't allowed to be a part of this mission, though. |
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SINCLAIR |
… What did they do with Mister Marton? |
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Radio |
… His remains have been retrieved. |
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Hohenheim |
Retrieved? Since when did we become part of District 14? |
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Hohenheim |
Or has Limbus Company suddenly found the scintilla of conscience to give him a proper funeral? |
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Radio |
… Maybe they will, should the two of you return safely. |
 |
FAUST |
The assignments are final. Ensure that your line-ups are in order. |
 |
OUTIS |
… I don't like this at all. You can't possibly believe that the current composition of the Executive Manager's squad is equipped to ensure their safety. |
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FAUST |
There won't be any issues. Not with Dante's newly awakened power. |
 |
Rodion |
Yeah, don'tcha worry! Dante's been training that remote sight ability really hard while the bigwigs were busy holding meetings and dealing with the fallout~ With that and the teleport power to zap us in and out, we'll be a-ok! |
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|
FAUST |
"Teleportation"… Hm… Indeed. |
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OUTIS |
……. |
 |
YI SANG |
Strange this feels, to be imparting such farewells afore the operation… |
 |
HONG LU |
I hope we'll be able to meet one another again, safe and sound, once this is over. |
 |
GREGOR |
Listen, Hong Lu. Bud. You don't say that kinda stuff before going into battle, alright? It usually ends up causing the opposite of the intended effect. |
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GREGOR |
How about… "What could possibly go wrong?" |
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GREGOR |
Yeah, that's more like it. |
 |
ISHMAEL |
… Was that supposed to be any better? |
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SINCLAIR |
……. |
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SINCLAIR |
Well, it's time. I'll go on ahead. |
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DANTE |
<Uhh—> |
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DANTE |
<Hey, Sinclair…!> |
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SINCLAIR |
Yeah? |
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DANTE |
<About… about everything that happened… You just…> |
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DANTE |
<You just gotta accept… what's done is done.> |
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SINCLAIR |
Okay, I will. |
 |
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
9-37: The Ring
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Hohenheim |
If I might just add one more thing—you needn't try to comfort us over our conversation, Manager Saude. Consider this nothing more than harmless, humorous banter among us researchers. |
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Hohenheim |
It appears to me that if anyone needs comfort, it'd be him. |
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SINCLAIR |
……. |
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SINCLAIR |
… All those Golden Boughs we've gone through so much to collect… gone. We've lost people, too. Even worse, we're separated from our manager… so we can't even immediately know how the others are doing. |
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SINCLAIR |
This isn't the first time we've been in this much danger, but… every time it happens, I can't help but— |
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Radio |
—get nervous, right? Anxious, even. |
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SINCLAIR |
… Yeah. |
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SINCLAIR |
Do you guys… ever get this nervous, too…? Like I do? |
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|
ISHMAEL |
Well… |
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|
ISHMAEL |
I like to talk big and try to project confidence, but honestly… I still get anxious like everyone else. |
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ISHMAEL |
We've still got a lot of people in the LCB who don't know where they're going in life, don't we? Like how I used to be. |
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|
ISHMAEL |
You know, with how Dante seems to feel a lot of pressure over their responsibilities, I guess you could say that I've sorta committed myself to sharing a bit of their load and helping the team navigate through the trials of our journey and… you know, all that stuff… |
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ISHMAEL |
So, I'm just trying to put on a brave face, at the end of the day. Someone needs to, right? To reassure everyone that it's all going to be okay. |
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SINCLAIR |
… I… see. |
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ISHMAEL |
Ha… Outis'd give me a really harsh dressing-down if she heard me say all that. Just thinking about it hurts my ears… |
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FAUST |
While there is no doubt that Faust does indeed know it all… |
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|
FAUST |
… there were times when I also found myself grasping at straws, |
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|
FAUST |
unable to make even the simplest decisions—whether I should move forward, whether I should stop, or whether I should go back the way I came. |
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|
FAUST |
And that made me realize anew… |
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|
FAUST |
… Faust is but a name that may leave at any time. |
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SINCLAIR |
……. |
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Hohenheim |
… Well, I suppose it is my turn in this heart-to-heart roundtable. I'm not quite fond of these last-minute barings of one's soul as though we're walking to our collective death, but… if this should help raise the chance of our success by alleviating some of your concerns, then I see no reason not to participate. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
My superiors have… repeatedly refused to authorize the plan that includes me as a combatant for this mission. |
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|
Hohenheim |
I understand their logic. |
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|
Hohenheim |
Sending a research-specialized employee to near-certain death would indeed be an inefficient management of human resources, from the corporate perspective. |
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|
Hohenheim |
Instead of accepting my request, they suggested that I take some time off. 3 months, give or take. |
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|
Hohenheim |
They said everything will have returned to normal by the time I sauntered back into the office; that the LCE's job was to find normalcy again while LCA or LCB dealt with the consequences. |
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|
Hohenheim |
It was a tempting offer, I must admit. Research was indeed an endeavor in which I could lose myself while the rest of the world slipped by. |
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Hohenheim |
I would take the 3-month vacation, return to the lab and bury myself in research after research, and… eventually, it'd really have been like nothing had happened. |
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Hohenheim |
New employees would be hired to fill the vacancies with remarkable immediacy as though there had never been any loss of personnel in the first place. |
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Hohenheim |
So yesterday, as I was arranging the office for my absence, I opened one of my desk drawers, and— |
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Alyssa |
Oh. You really were gonna go on a vacation… |
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Hohenheim |
… And I saw our next year's research proposal peeking out from the middle of the paper pile. |
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Hohenheim |
It's a funny thing, the way that corporate planning works. |
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Hohenheim |
No one knows what the future holds, but they expect us to plan months ahead in our proposals. |
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Hohenheim |
When I'd written that research proposal, I'd planned it to be a collaborative research between me, Marton, and Alyssa. |
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Hohenheim |
And now, I'll have to erase Marton's name, one by one, from dozens of its pages. |
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ISHMAEL |
So… How did you manage to convince the higher-ups? |
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Hohenheim |
My third request to have me included in this mission was accompanied by a resignation letter. A binary option, if you will—they had to choose one over the other. |
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ISHMAEL |
Uh… you can do that? |
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Hohenheim |
Who's to say that I can't? |
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Radio |
That last subject wasn't much about anxiety at all, but… has that helped calm your nerves at least, Sinclair? |
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SINCLAIR |
… I'm a bit better, I think. |
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Radio |
That's good. Then let's all take a deep breath, and… commence operation. |
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|
Radio |
Enemy incoming. |
 |
Albina |
Sorry I'm late. Fascia was enjoying a nice nap, so I had to wake her up first. |
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|
Albina |
She was heartbroken by how far behind schedule we were in her completion. |
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Albina |
It's because of Zenon's Tortoise Spiral. |
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Albina |
People struck with that weapon often end up with, quite literally, broken hearts… depriving us of the core ingredient. |
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|
Albina |
So, I'm glad we're able to meet here. None of you have replaced yourself with a prosthetic body… and I won't be using the Spiral. |
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SINCLAIR |
… You knew we'd be coming? |
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Albina |
Mmhm. The Maestro asked me to go out and receive our guests. |
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Albina |
Do you know of the Maestro's shattered child? She would've been a wonderful big sister for Fascia. I'm yet to reach that level of creation, unfortunately. You see, collecting ingredients without damaging them is still a bit tough for me. |
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Albina |
So, I hoped to get some practice and started by cutting off my own arm. After all, whose body do we know better than our very own? |
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Albina |
But the corpus of others is still so challenging to work with. Which finger do they put the most pressure on when using their arms? Do they let their wrists handle much of the pressure, or their entire arm? Do they have any preexisting defects that may change how I interact with the medium? So, so many things to take into account before getting to the actual work. |
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Albina |
… Speaking of which, would you be so kind as to hear my request? |
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Albina |
How about we spend some time to get to know each other… and become friends? |
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SINCLAIR |
Friends? |
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Albina |
Mhm. |
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Albina |
It's not so hard to become friends. |
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Albina |
Sora told me that becoming friends is as simple as sharing the things we love, our hobbies, our dreams… Though I didn't become friends with her, as I wasn't planning on using Sora as an ingredient for Fascia. |
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Albina |
So… Ah, I know where to begin. Would you share something you love with me, everyone? |
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SINCLAIR |
……. |
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Albina |
Don't hesitate to ask me anything you'd like to know about me, either. Ever since I fed a few slices of my brain to Fascia, I've become a very, very bad liar. |
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SINCLAIR |
… What makes you think… we're going to tell you any of that? |
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Albina |
Okay, then me first. My name is Albina. I'm learning Corporism art under Maestro Callisto's tutelage with my beloved Fascia. |
Mid-battle 1
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Callisto |
Ah! Welcome, welcome. I've been so absorbed with trimming my ingredients that I was delayed. I hope my Albina has been a most wonderful host to you all in my absence? |
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|
SINCLAIR |
…! |
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|
ISHMAEL |
You… |
 |
Albina |
Yes, Maestro. They've denied my offer of friendship, but I've been trying nonetheless. |
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|
Callisto |
I see. Oh, it's such a pleasure to meet you all again. This gallery hardly ever sees visitors… so I was at once its only audience and Maestro. |
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SINCLAIR |
……. |
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|
Callisto |
So, tragically, this humble gallery is yet to taste the piquancy of an unbiased critique. |
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|
Callisto |
Perhaps you could be my first? |
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SINCLAIR |
… *gag* |
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Callisto |
Ah, I see that this piece here has captured your interest. |
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|
Callisto |
They were all people who have left me with such striking inspirations. |
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Callisto |
Loneliness, anxiety, weakness… Observe these raw facets of suffering—the inevitable state of existence that is most fittingly human. |
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Callisto |
Please direct your attention to this frontmost figure. You would be impressed to hear how those hands refused to let go of the partner's, even as I placed them atop this pedestal. |
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Callisto |
An unbreakable bond that remains unsevered, even as death comes to bear the subject away in its gentle embrace… I find such values utterly noble. |
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Callisto |
It would indeed have been a waste to let that precious little moment slip away, so I endeavored to preserve every second of it… down to the smallest capillaries, muscle tissues, and the quivering thereout. |
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Alyssa |
Ah… aah… |
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SINCLAIR |
Miss Alyssa…? |
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Callisto |
Perspective… has a way of transforming art, as the state of one's heart alters the evocative qualities of a piece. |
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|
Callisto |
So please, please do take your time as you tour through my gallery. Tell me how it all appears in your eyes— |
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Alyssa |
My eyes…? |
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|
Alyssa |
I'd rather gouge out my own eyeballs, you murdering fuck…! |
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [Callisto spears everyone except for Alyssa with his stakes of bone and flesh.] | ||
| [Alyssa sets her Ardor Blossom Star E.G.O gear to max attunement and launches a blazing all-out attack.] | ||
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|
Radio |
Miss Alyssa! Now's not—! |
|
|
Callisto |
……. |
9-38: The Middle
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
 |
DON QUIXOTE |
Mine experience hath taught me that this… this Workshop here, featured in none other than Fixers Monthly, would be best for thy merchandising opportunities! Quite the clean, flawless finish did they boast! And about this Workshop on the side—while it doth produce figurines of passing quality, thou must practice caution! For they merely run mass-production lines of generic products with nary a spark of creativity! |
 |
Vespa |
… Thank you for the advice. |
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DON QUIXOTE |
Aw, thou needst not thank me! … Ahem. As for Fixer "merch," I must recommend thou beginnest with button badges, for there is aaaaabsolutely zero concern that a Color Fixer's button badge meeteth the fate of becoming deceased stock, plunging thy revenues to the negatives— |
 |
Radio |
The excitement of accompanying such a… distinguished figure is quite well understood, but perhaps such discussions could be tabled for later in a mission such as this… |
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DON QUIXOTE |
Ah… Ahaha… quite. 'Tis an unimaginable glory, to partake in an epochal moment such as the new Color Fixer's very first mission… |
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HONG LU |
Don Quixote, breathe. |
 |
Ezra |
So, junior… how's Color Fixer life? Ya got a fan and everything already. |
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Vespa |
……. |
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Ezra |
*sigh* Not even gonna pretend ya heard me? Ah, well. He gets like that when he's nervous, so ya guys better get used to it now. You have no idea how many times we bickered until I finally got used to him sulking… |
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Ezra |
Anyhow… is this really the "House of Spiders?" It's a lot different from… what I'd expected. |
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Radio |
Fret not, for this is indeed the correct destination. A swift observation did I make with this gear labeled "multi-angle camera," and saw all paths in your surroundings lead to infinity in all directions. Indeed, there is no doubt that you have entered the assailants' den. |
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YI SANG |
This place is… |
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Moses |
*puff* A "Corridor." So this is where they've spun their web. |
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YI SANG |
The disquietude immanent in a name such as "The House of Spiders" seems to hardly convey the sense emanating from this place, which is more akin to a supermarket… or a warehouse at a Nest. |
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Moses |
Yes, though it is more like a warehouse of toy boxes and nothing else. |
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HONG LU |
I recognize some of these toys as the ones my parents had bought me in my childhood. |
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YI SANG |
Toys are imbued with meaning only when they are played with. |
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YI SANG |
Thus, one must come to wonder—why have they kept these untouched in their packaging, in a way that seems to hamper even the purpose of detached admiration? |
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Moses |
… An object's purpose is often determined by its owner. As it stands now, it seems that the "purpose" is to display the goods, nothing more. |
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Vespa |
Do you hear that? |
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Ezra |
Eh? What, the song? |
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DON QUIXOTE |
Th-this song…! |
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Ezra |
Huh? Is this some kind of twisted song that breaks your mind when you hear it? |
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DON QUIXOTE |
The OP of "Let's go, Poludnitsa!", a biographical show of the eminent Federico, a Grade 1 Fixer of the Devyat' Association… |
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Radio |
… Allow me to investigate the veracity of her claim. |
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Moses |
… No, there is no need to concern yourself with that kind of research. |
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Moses |
The song alone shouldn't cause us any concern. Let us head toward the source of the sound. |
 | ||
 |
Kira |
Ooooh… Ohhhhhh…!! |
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Kira |
Badass… Seriously, that's like, the sickest move of all time… |
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Kira |
Slam a weapon on the ground, use the rebound to leap into the air for the finisher… Lightning~ Kick!! |
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Kira |
Papa, ya gotta teach me how to do that! |
 |
Matthias |
Hmm~ If you wanna try that move, you're gonna need some more leg augmentations and a few more Vengeance Tattoos! |
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Kira |
Then… Can I head out for a sec so I can cross just two more vengeances off the book? |
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Matthias |
No. No need, Kiddo. |
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Matthias |
I was hoping to avoid running into these clowns again… |
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Matthias |
What a baffling coincidence. |
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YI SANG |
……. |
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FAUST |
When Ryōshū signed the onboarding contract, we also received intel on the internal structure of the House of Spiders. |
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FAUST |
The issue was that… the order in which individuals entered the Backdoor determined their destination within the House of Spiders with no discernible pattern. |
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FAUST |
The LCC concluded that this unpredictability is outside the realm of analysis… |
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FAUST |
… however, such a variable is still within Faust's control. |
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FAUST |
To demonstrate, assuming that no one other than us comes in or out of the House of Spiders, Faust knows that the third person to enter the House of Spiders will emerge to the Ring Nursefather's gallery. |
 |
Vergilius |
Then we must discuss with the LCA to determine who's to go where. |
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Vergilius |
The sooner that meeting takes place, the better. Everyone should begin their preparations to infiltrate the House of Spiders, save for the Team Leaders, Miss Faust, and… Manager Dante. |
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Vergilius |
As for the roster… we will share them once they've been finalized. |
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YI SANG |
Coincidence played no hand in our presence here. |
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Vespa |
……. |
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Matthias |
Still sucks on our end. Looks like… looks like I'll be fighting with my life on the line today. 'Specially with that bumblebee punk on their side. |
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Kira |
Holy crap, you're gonna use the sword, too? Sick! |
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Kira |
Then I think I'm gonna… try papa's moves he showed off at the lab. |
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Kira |
You guys saw that too, right? When papa kicked up the combo counter on those gun-totin' guys in black armor and pulled off a super, blasting them to smithereens? |
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Kira |
Ah, there's this Fixer who uses a skill similar to papa… Ugh, who was it again? The same guy who worked at that legendary Fixer Office before moving to another one… |
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DON QUIXOTE |
… Sir Rinaldo of Charles Office. |
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Kira |
Oh shit, right! Right! Didn't he have this move where he'd line up, like, 10 dudes in a row and cut 'em all down at once? So cool… but I'm a bit too weak to replicate that move myself… |
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DON QUIXOTE |
… Hast thou not been… watching a biography of a Fixer of justice until mere moments ago? |
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Kira |
Eh? Ohh, "Let's Go, Poludnitsa!"? 'Course, bro. I watch every Fixer-related clip and animation. |
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Kira |
You a fan, too? I recognize all of those badges on your coat. Hey, can ya gimme one of 'em? |
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DON QUIXOTE |
Nay, I shan't… |
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DON QUIXOTE |
… For I cannot well hand over symbols of Fixers to one who spectates a massacre as though she is observing a mere game. |
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Kira |
…? |
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Kira |
Ohhh! So you're playing that kinda character, huh? Neato! |
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Kira |
Doesn't that character in the newest episode of FixAtar talk kinda like that? The guy who crawls out of that hole in the desert… |
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DON QUIXOTE |
… El Bombín. |
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Kira |
Yeah! El Bombín con Botas Naranjas! "Let this ammunition of justice strike thee down~!" |
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DON QUIXOTE |
… Silence. I wish… I wish for thy silence. |
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DON QUIXOTE |
How doth one grapple with the contradiction that is to admire the justice of Fixers through their videos and comic books… yet to behave as thou dost…? |
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Kira |
…? |
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Kira |
Whaddayamean? I just think they're badass, that's all. |
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Kira |
Though of course, nobody's beatin' my papa in the badass game! |
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Moses |
Ezra. Do you recognize anything about that Nursefather's sword? |
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Ezra |
Mm… just one thing. It's clearly not a Workshop weapon, going by the finish. |
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Vespa |
Is it possible that the weapon is from a Workshop you do not have access to, Miss Ezra? |
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Ezra |
It's possible, but that glowy thing inside the scabbard… That thing's gotta be a Relic. Aw~ YuRia probably could've told us more about it if she were here, but… either way, I'm pretty sure it's rare as heck. |
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|
Matthias |
Hah. You've an eye for weapons. |
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HONG LU |
… That's interesting. |
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Kira |
Eh? What's so interesting? |
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HONG LU |
The amount of trash in this room makes me wonder how such a thing came to be in your possession. As far as I know, Relics are so rare and expensive that even the Four Families of Hongyuan don't have that many of them, let alone rare ones. |
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DON QUIXOTE |
Trash…? |
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Moses |
… The floor is littered with empty cup noodle containers and toaster pastry wraps… They must've been eating nothing but junk food for at least a few days. |
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Kira |
Papa bought me a whole boxful of 'em. |
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Kira |
Out there, it always pissed me off how Big Brothers and Big Sisters would chide me about snacking on nothing but this kinda junk… But ever since I came here, papa's been letting me eat whatever I wanna eat, however much I wanna eat 'em! What about it? |
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YI SANG |
… I cannot help but assume they would have adverse effects to one's health. |
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Matthias |
Worried she'd get sick? It ain't a big deal in the City. |
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Matthias |
Can't let something trivial like that stop me from feeding tasty treats to my family. |
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Moses |
What a shining example of fatherhood. |
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Moses |
Which is interesting, because Ryōshū seems to have nothing but hatred for all of you Nursefathers. |
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Matthias |
… You're walking a mighty thin line by running your mouth about my kid when you don't even know her that well. |
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Matthias |
… I don't know about her other fathers, but my parental love for Yoshihide, my daughter, has always been completely earnest. |
 | ||
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Matthias |
Havin' a good time, Buddy? Enjoyin' a nice drive with your Papa? |
 |
Yoshihide |
It's alright, I guess. |
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Yoshihide |
You sure you're not overspending? |
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Matthias |
It's been forever since my very own daughter asked me to buy something for her. Money ain't a thing! |
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Yoshihide |
I just wanted some tracksuits to wear around home. |
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Yoshihide |
Don't remember asking for that… massive bear plush. |
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Matthias |
Eh? A younger sibling I'm close with told me every kid these days carries around something like this. |
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Yoshihide |
Kid being the keyword there. |
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Yoshihide |
Besides, isn't this bear plush supposed to be red? |
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Matthias |
Want me to do a U-turn? |
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Yoshihide |
… No. Purple's fine by me. |
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Matthias |
Buddy, you ever find anything you don't like, you can talk to me about it. I'll always make sure to avenge the wrongs… no matter what I gotta do to get there. |
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Matthias |
If she wanted something, I'd empty my pockets to get it for her, even if that meant I had to borrow money from my younger Brothers and Sisters and risk losing face. |
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Matthias |
And if she wanted to do something… I let her go wild, as long as it didn't violate the rules of the House of Spiders. |
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|
Matthias |
'Cuz that's family. A little sacrifice ain't a thing if it's for one of us. |
|
|
HONG LU |
But… Ryōshū left the House of Spiders, despite everything. |
|
|
HONG LU |
Have you ever questioned yourself… why? |
|
|
Matthias |
… Must've been for that pipsqueak, obviously. I would've snapped that little twerp's neck had I known she'd get in the way of my Yoshihide's bright future. |
|
|
YI SANG |
I need not hear more to know… |
|
|
YI SANG |
… that you were no good father of hers. |
|
|
Vespa |
Team Leader. How much longer are we going to indulge that piece of trash? |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
I am in agreement with the distinguished Color Fixer. 'Tis high time we demonstrated to them the meaning of justice. |
|
|
Moses |
*puff* Don't rush. I was about to get started anyway. |
|
|
Moses |
This is LCD. Engaging the Middle Nursefather. |
|
|
Moses |
Well, I'm sure you've been monitoring the situation here, Manager Dante. So… |
|
|
Moses |
… please proceed according to plan. |
| [Mid-battle, Don Quixote uses her La Sangre de Sancho E.G.O against Matthias.] | ||
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
'Tis our chance to serve as a squire to the Color Fixer! Let us sally forth, Rocinante!!! |
| [Mid-battle, Yi Sang uses his Crow's Eye View E.G.O against Matthias.] | ||
|
|
YI SANG |
Defer I shall, this glimpse of an opportunity... |
9-39: The Index
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
OUTIS |
Four of us, in total. We arrived as Faust said we would. |
|
|
OUTIS |
This is our assigned destination… we made it without any complications. |
|
|
OUTIS |
Executive Manager, the Golden Bough's location is…? |
|
|
DANTE |
<It's not here. But it's not far, either.> |
 |
MEURSAULT |
The plan dictates that we are to hold this position until the LCA arrives, then mobilize to secure the Golden Bough. |
|
|
DANTE |
<Yeah, that's the plan.> |
|
|
DANTE |
<Though… I'm not sure we should just sit here and wait…> |
|
|
MEURSAULT |
You must withdraw further to the back, Manager. This individual's mask and outfit suggest that he is the Nursefather of the Index mentioned during the briefing. |
 |
Rien |
You're home. |
|
|
Rien |
I was just thinking about you. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
Whenever I miss you, sweetheart… |
|
|
Rien |
… I run my fingers along the grooves of the burn mark you've seared into my face. |
|
|
Rien |
It's bumpy on this side, but grainy like wet sand on the other side. Like the trace of waves rolling across the shoreline. |
|
|
Rien |
Seeing you here… it makes my face burn and ache. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
My daughter. Where is she? |
|
|
Rien |
Araya… She loved you so much. |
|
|
Rien |
I hope you can still recall her face. You'd wielded that sword with such abandon that day, hadn't you? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Only I… should've been able to open that vault. |
|
|
Rien |
Are you sure, sweetheart? I'm sure you know better than that. |
|
|
Rien |
It was crafty of you, though. |
|
|
Rien |
You'd always disappear and hide whenever Shiomi poured out her resentment toward you. |
|
|
Rien |
Back then, I thought you had a particular talent in the game of hide-and-seek. |
|
|
Rien |
When the truth was as simple as that exceptional sense in your shared blood activating the special Time Vault. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
…! |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
The Dihui Star… So she's the one who opened the vault. She took Araya. |
|
|
Rien |
It's no surprise you'd arrive at that conclusion. After all, she's always hated you. And she had the least commitment to her duties. |
|
|
Rien |
That hatred was born from a festering pit where no hopes nor desires remained… because she abandoned her own future. |
|
|
Rien |
Now, come sit here. Shall I read you a picture book? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
You used to really love fairytale time, when you were but a child. |
|
|
Rien |
Until one day, you gave me the cold shoulder and just walked straight into your room. Said you were too old for "stuff like that." |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Fuck off with your bullshit. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Just answer my question. |
|
|
Rien |
You're trying to skip ahead. |
|
|
Rien |
Remember how we never finished our books? We'd always save the ending for later. |
|
|
Rien |
I don't know if you were aware, but I had all of them bookmarked. |
|
|
Rien |
So that, should you come to long for those moments again, we could pick them up right where we left off. |
|
|
Rien |
"… and that's how it was. Then, the monkey said—" |
 |
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Dad, I'm 13. |
|
|
Rien |
What's that, sweetheart? But I thought you were still 5! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
I'm only joking. I don't suppose you found that very funny. |
|
|
Rien |
Of course, I know you're 13 years and 7 months old. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Yeah. Way past picture books… |
|
|
Rien |
And who says you can't read fairytales once you're past a certain age? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Here, literally. It says "For ages 3~8." |
|
|
Rien |
That's just a recommendation, sweetie. |
|
|
Rien |
I read nothing but these picture books myself. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… You're weird. I thought adults didn't read picture books. |
|
|
Rien |
That's an unfair preconception constructed by grown-ups who take too much pride in being able to read books without pictures. |
|
|
Rien |
How are we to know only from words… |
|
|
Rien |
… the shape of the monkey's eyes, their colors… what the animal looks like when it laughs? |
|
|
Rien |
That's why I become so anxious whenever I read parts unaccompanied by pictures. |
|
|
Rien |
Afraid that my imagination may be different from the reality the author had defined. |
|
|
Rien |
And you, sweetie… |
|
|
Rien |
… you like these books too, don't you? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… I don't hate them. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Can we just move on to the next page? What happens to the monkey? |
|
|
Rien |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
Let's stop here today and pick up next time. |
|
|
Rien |
It's always best to save the endings for later, isn't it? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
You say that all the time, but we haven't finished a single book. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I wanna know what happened after the monkey and the frog raced. |
|
|
Rien |
All in due time, darling. That's what the pinky swear was for. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
If you lie to me… |
|
|
Rien |
Yes. I'll swallow a thousand needles. |
 | ||
|
|
Rien |
… How far are you willing to go, sweetie? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
As far as it takes. |
|
|
Rien |
I like the sound of that. |
|
|
Rien |
It's almost like you're ready to give up everything you have for your dear old man. |
|
|
Rien |
Where did you hide the child? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Somewhere far, far away from your hands. |
|
|
Rien |
That sword can't sever the spiders' thread, sweetheart. |
|
|
Rien |
You could hack away for days with the keenest blade you have, but it won't break… |
|
|
Rien |
… It's just that resilient. |
|
|
Rien |
Sweetheart… |
|
|
Rien |
You should quit smoking. |
|
|
Rien |
Never managed to kick the habit, did you? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
I suppose that's where you take after the Dihui Star, hm? |
|
|
Rien |
That's blood ties for you. |
|
|
Rien |
You'd always cough your lungs out whenever Shiomi lit up a cigarette. |
|
|
Rien |
But the moment you grew up into an adult, you started walking down the same path as her. |
|
|
Rien |
What other choice do I have but be the guiding hand that brings you back to the right path? |
|
|
Rien |
Sweetie, if you want to find Araya, pay a visit to the Dihui Star. |
|
|
Rien |
Let me open a path that'll get you there. Looks like we're about to have more visitors. |
 |
Jamila |
All Proselytes in the area have been neutralized. |
|
|
Jamila |
Mobilize to retrieve the Golden Boughs as planned, LCB. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
That man… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You can't hope to predict his moves. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Don't bother figuring out his patterns. |
|
|
Jamila |
……. |
|
|
Jamila |
Let's each worry about our own missions first. |
|
|
Jamila |
… To positions. |
|
|
Jamila |
The target is alone, but he is a Proxy of the Index, and was once a Star of the City all on his own. Prepare to throw everything we have at him. |
|
|
Rien |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
Darling, I know these memories may have been burned away with my face, but… |
|
|
Rien |
… let me share some of them with you. |
|
|
Rien |
The child has black hair. And her height came up to somewhere a little above your knees. |
|
|
Rien |
And when she smiles, she flashes her still-growing baby teeth. |
|
|
Rien |
She loved her bright red randoseru bag… and she loved you. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
Description alone doesn't paint the clearest picture, does it? |
|
|
Rien |
That's why I've only ever read picture books. |
9-40: The Pinky
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
DANTE |
<Does anyone actually live here…?> |
|
|
MEURSAULT |
While the signs of habitation are minimal, there is evidence of regular cleaning. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Hasn't changed a bit, this place. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
When I opened this drawer… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… there used to be… a schoolbag. |
 | ||
 |
??? |
Mommy… Mommy! |
|
|
??? |
Did you ever see stuff like this outside? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… No. |
|
|
??? |
It's soooo pretty, though. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Hey, why don't you take off that schoolbag? You've been carrying it on your back all day. |
|
|
??? |
It's "ran-do-seru"! |
|
|
??? |
'Cause I'm still in elementary school! Ele-men-tary! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Have some watermelon. It's sweet. |
|
|
??? |
……. |
|
|
??? |
No way. It's super sweet… This watermelon's the GOAT! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Uh-huh. |
|
|
??? |
… You didn't get it, did you? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Nuh-uh… |
|
|
??? |
GOAT means "Greatest Of All Time!" |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Unnecessary shortening, in my opinion. |
|
|
??? |
You mean "IMO?" |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
??? |
Okay, that's it. I'm gonna teach ya everything I learned at school! Starting today! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… I don't need to know. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
It doesn't matter how popular they are now. With time, they'll all become old, outdated, and embarrassingly anachronistic anyway. |
|
|
??? |
But Mommy, it'll be fun. |
|
|
??? |
And you're like, all about aesthetics of shortening, right? |
|
|
??? |
You gotta learn these if you dun wanna fall behind! Seriously, SMH! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… SMH? |
|
|
??? |
It means… "Shaking… My… Head." Ta-da! And that's SMH! |
|
|
??? |
… Aaaand this is how ya shorten the other ones. |
|
|
??? |
Look, look! Okie? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Yep. |
|
|
??? |
Ugh, SMH! Try this one! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Nodding M.H. |
|
|
??? |
You're getting it, Mommy! |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I'm not… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I didn't get it, can you repeat that… one more time…? |
 |
Ren |
Spiderwebs are… |
|
|
Ren |
… such difficult things to remove once they stick. |
|
|
OUTIS |
……. |
|
|
Ren |
I shall impart unto you the reply before the question is asked. As it is with the cause for which you have arrived here, herein lies something you have all… lost. |
|
|
MEURSAULT |
Nothing was lost. We are here to retrieve what's stolen from us. |
|
|
Ren |
… Are you? |
|
|
Ren |
Mischievous adults like to pose facetious questions to children that are, in truth, quite cruel. |
|
|
Ren |
Do you like your mother more or your father more? Do you like strawberry ice cream more or chocolate ice cream more? |
|
|
Ren |
Perhaps my master, Yoshihide… considers you naught but a child still. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Get to the point, or you'll find out firsthand how exactly your master lost her tongue. |
|
|
Ren |
I present before you, Yoshihide… and your companions… a choice. |
|
|
Ren |
The Golden Boughs… and the child. If you could return with only one of the two… |
|
|
Ren |
… which would you choose? |
 |
Dihui Star |
You're becoming more and more like me. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Do I have a choice? I am your blood, after all. |
 |
??? |
……. |
|
|
??? |
… Bya! |
 | ||
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
So, she's the child. |
|
|
Rien |
Yes, indeed. A child of your blood… a very precious child. |
|
|
Rien |
Her aptitude, her ability to "sense" the flow of time is… impossibly precise. She makes you look downright dull in comparison, Dihui Star. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
For now, we're going to give her enough room to perceive and experience "time" as she interacts with the world in her own way. |
 |
Valencina |
Ugh… It's gonna take forever before she's even remotely useful, then. |
|
|
Callisto |
Fuhu… the more care we put into hammering and chiseling this material, the worthier shall it become. |
|
|
Matthias |
Aww, look at this kid! She just smiled at me! Did you guys see that? |
|
|
Matthias |
So… what's her name gonna be? |
|
|
Callisto |
It appears that should be the next subject on our table. Personally, I would prefer if she could be named Elisa— |
|
|
Rien |
… Mm. |
|
|
Rien |
"Yoshihide" should be a good name for her. |
|
|
Valencina |
… Says the Prescript? |
|
|
Rien |
Yes. |
|
|
Valencina |
*puff* Well, whatever your precious Prescript says goes, right? It's better than crap like Elisa or whatever, anyway. |
|
|
Callisto |
I would appreciate it if you would keep your comments on my naming sense to yourself, Valencina. |
|
|
??? |
… Mya! |
|
|
Matthias |
Look at 'er… Looks to me she's a fan of the name Yoshihide. Then it is decided! You're gonna be Yoshihide from now on, Yoshihide! |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
You take care of her for a while, Dihui Star. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Why does it have to be… me? |
|
|
Rien |
Well, because she is of your blood. She's a near-carbon copy of you… save for her eyes. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You know that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking why it had to be—! |
|
|
Rien |
… To us, who are discarded here, nothing has less meaning than the question of "why." |
|
|
Matthias |
Yoooo, are you guys seeing this? See how she picked up that little rattle? |
|
|
Valencina |
Hah… Is she still on about that? Never tired of bitching, are you? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Says the reprobate mongrel who's fallen out of favor with her own Famiglia. Another word out of your mouth, and I'll… |
|
|
Matthias |
Guys, guys! Don't fight! Not before we place our bets! And you—aren't you gonna stop 'em? |
|
|
Rien |
Hm… |
|
|
Rien |
This is how we will be entangled. Every blow, every bickering a pull that brings us closer and closer… The intertwining of our bond and karma completes the web that is the House of Spiders. |
|
|
Rien |
It is now time for us each to do our best for this precious child that has finally been given to us. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
??? |
… Ma! |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You… |
|
|
??? |
… Bya! |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… This is my first and final request to you: don't become like me. |
 | ||
|
|
Dihui Star |
Before you came to me, I… knew nothing but freedom and comfort in a world that belonged only to me. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Until they broke into my world, dragged me out of there, and cast me into this gutter. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
And then you happened. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Wrinkles covered my skin like a crumpled blanket, and I realized I had become irreversibly damaged. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
As you grow up, so will my misery… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… until I am nothing but a wrinkled, shriveled-up husk. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
A husk that existed only to birth you into this world… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
That is why you must never become like me. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
The more our likeness grows, the clearer it will become that I am but a source of nourishment for you to feed upon. I will be sucked dry to wither and shrink into insignificance… |
 | ||
|
|
Dihui Star |
So don't you dare become like me. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Okay? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… *puff* |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Have you started smoking? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Yeah. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Give me a light. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
The day you returned home after receiving those combat ocular augmentations… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… and stared at me with red eyes that are just like my own, I came to realize, with horror… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You're becoming like me. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You revolting thing. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Can't really help it. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I'm your kid, after all. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I'm not in the mood to play along with your riddles. |
|
|
Ren |
In that case, would you allow my humble self to understand your intent as a refusal to give up either of them? |
|
|
Ren |
I am afraid my master does not appreciate the greedy… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Bring her to me. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I'll talk to her, and if she wouldn't listen, I'll split her vertically from her throat. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
And if that still doesn't do the trick, I will crush the Nursefathers' heads one by one until someone breaks and talks. Believe me, I will. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Heads can be decapitated, tongues can be sliced off, faces can be ground to mulch, and limbs can be amputated, but… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… this, you cannot sever. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
It really is stubborn, isn't it? This thread. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I agree. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Invisible, intangible, yet doggedly existent… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… and utterly inseverable. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
But if that's the only thing you're hanging onto… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
If the only thing tying you to this place… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… is that single thread… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Wouldn't it be better for you to sever it away? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I'm telling you this, because unlike the other Nursefathers, we are related by blood. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
In other words, I'm giving you a chance to be free. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Because I know the inescapable end you will meet now that you've returned here. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Unless you were to sever that thread before delving deeper into the House, that is. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
This is your way out, a way to save yourself from a terrible fate. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Or… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… are the Golden Boughs really that important to you? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… What was their answer to my question, Ren? |
|
|
Ren |
… They gave none, Master. It may be that they wish to claim both— |
|
|
Dihui Star |
No. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Vengeance has narrowed her vision to all other matters… it's as simple as that. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
She knew returning to this den of Spiders would bind her in its webs, yet she was foolish enough to do so… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
What other explanation could there be? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You… won't understand. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Someone like you who has done nothing but blame me for your miseries… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… and trembled with resentment whenever I called upon you. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
So, I've kept that word buried all my life. The word that I would've used to call upon you. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You couldn't even handle me—or anyone, really—calling you that. So much so that you'd— |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… No. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Because the echoes of that word carry… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… nothing but misery for me. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Is that why you brought that child here? |
 |
Araya |
… mmy! |
|
|
Araya |
It's Mommy! |
9-41: Araya
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
|
|
Araya |
… mmy! |
|
|
Araya |
It's Mommy! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
What? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Kid, did you see who was here before me? |
|
|
Araya |
Uh-huh. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Araya |
……. |
|
|
Araya |
Wanna… know who? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Yeah. |
 | ||
|
|
Araya |
This man in black came in, and… everyone fell. |
|
|
Araya |
So I hid. I'm good at that. Wanna see how long I can hold my breath? |
|
|
Araya |
Here… Huppp…! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
That means Rien… took care of business before I got here… |
|
|
Araya |
Phaw! |
|
|
Araya |
Mommy, don't leave me! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
What…? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Why are you calling me that? |
|
|
Araya |
Cause I know you. I'm locked in here but I still saw you lots. |
|
|
Araya |
I saw you in this picture. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… My picture? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
There's something on the back. Project "Araya," Mass-production endeavor… Commissioned by… The Thumb? |
|
|
Araya |
You're here to take me home. |
|
|
Araya |
All the grown-ups here told me this isn't my real home. |
|
|
Araya |
Said home is where "mommy" is. |
|
|
Araya |
And now that mommy's here, I can go home. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Araya |
I'm glad I waited. Hehee~ |
|
|
Valencina |
You're back. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… I am. |
|
|
Valencina |
Not even a drop of blood on you. Should I even ask if you've done the job? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Father got there first. |
|
|
Valencina |
Rien did? |
|
|
Valencina |
Why didn't he share the damned Prescript with us if he'd gotten one? |
|
|
Valencina |
20 years of living under the same roof, and I still don't know what that asshole's thinking. |
|
|
Valencina |
Hmph, I suppose that's too much to ask for some fake bitch who doesn't even share his real name with us. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
Well, don't just stand there. Go back to your room if you don't have anything else to say. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Okay. |
|
|
Valencina |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
By the way, Ticket? |
|
|
Valencina |
About that thing in your bag… |
|
|
Valencina |
You're gonna look after it, right? Just know that I won't give a flying fuck if that thing bites it like that dog—Saru, Shiru, whatever that bitch's name was. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I can… keep her? |
|
|
Valencina |
You know how much I hate it when kids start sniveling, hm? |
|
|
Valencina |
Just keep the noise outta my ears. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Okay. |
 | ||
|
|
Araya |
See, see? |
|
|
Araya |
I'm good at hiding, right? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… You are. |
|
|
Araya |
…! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Y-you're not half bad. |
|
|
Araya |
Uh-huh, not half bad. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
But… you don't… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
You don't have a sword. |
|
|
Araya |
Nuh-uh, no sword. But I got mommy, and I got a home here. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
You do. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… So… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… what do you want to do now? |
|
|
Araya |
Uhm… lotsa lots. |
|
|
Araya |
Wanna learn to play music, and, uh… Wanna… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
The first encounter with that child… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… has revealed so much to you, so suddenly. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You found all the things you'd missed out on. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
All the things you've longed for in the fathoms of your heart. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Your first rebellion was over that child, wasn't it? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
That's why you were all so content with just letting it happen. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Because I was your sword, and a sword needs a scabbard—no, a fetter to keep it bound. |
|
|
Araya |
Mommy… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Not this kid. Don't you dare mess with her. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Why… are you trying to make another thing… like yourself? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I'm not. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I'm gonna make sure that this kid gets all the things I didn't get to experience… and more. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
One day, you'll come to understand, too. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You will realize that you are inviting ruin into your own life by taking that thing under your wing. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Then you'll know too… what it's like to be bound by a fetter. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
And when you feel it locking around your feet, dragging you down… I'll have a good laugh at your expense until I am gasping for air. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
We'll be like two shriveling carcasses, laughing it all away. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You now understand the meaning of those words, don't you? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
The chains of the fetter that bind you here remain unbroken, whether you remember it or not. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
The inability to exist in the present because of the past that binds… Why, it is indeed an ineffable agony. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
All that you people wanted was nothing more than a docile, obedient beast. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
And when you realized that all the beatings were no longer enough to break the animal into obedience, you sought to put her on a leash. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You couldn't risk her embracing her beasthood, lest she abandon her home for the wilderness. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
After all, you needed that animal to return at a tug of its leash and cut down anyone the House wanted dead. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
But it worked… didn't it? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
That's how fetters work. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Don't you dare put this on the kid. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You were the one who egged me on to begin with. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You've already picked up on it, haven't you? That the child is not long for this world. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
So, about the extermination mission you are to embark on in a few days. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Rien will call for a consensus, |
|
|
Dihui Star |
and every Nursefather, myself included, will vote unanimously in favor of… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… letting you unsheathe that sword. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Here's something for you to consider: you couldn't possibly hope to escape this place without using that sword. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Why… are you telling me any of this? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Because I'm tired of being around you. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I'm sure the feeling is mutual. |
 | ||
|
|
Yoshihide |
Dihui Star, you… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
All along, you've wanted to make me suffer to the bitter end, haven't you? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Yoshihide, it… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
It never stops. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
The sound of the fetter around my feet, rusted and heavy… How it clinks and rattles… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
And the sickening sound of a butterfly tearing itself apart as it thrashes to escape the entangling webs… It's wings ripping, its body and limbs contorting and bending back… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
It never stops… Oh, this noise… this horrible, cracking noise… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Rien? Where are you? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Why can't you let me be free? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Stop… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I caught her. I caught the thing none of you could stop, so— |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Shut up! |
| [Red flashes Yoshihide cuts out her tongue.] | ||
|
|
Dihui Star |
Once you've spent enough time snared by the web… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… you end up surrendering yourself to the fate of a mere observer. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Just as how… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… when you tried to take a step forward, the inseverable, innumerable clew of spider silk… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… bound your feet. |
 | ||
|
|
Dihui Star |
… -ou… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… -ou… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Canno- be f-ee -rom -ere… wi-hou-… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… wi-hou- -evering… -he spi-er's --read… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
That is how you've finally come to accept the truth in your heart. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
The truth that you wanted to tear everything away and begin anew… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
That ember of an idea is what started the conflagration that consumed you. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
No. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Such adamant denial… coming from someone who went on for quite a while without ever remembering this place. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I never stopped thinking about it. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
How about this, then? In return for the child, would you snap those Golden Boughs with your own hands? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I don't know what you did to stitch that hateful tongue back in your mouth, |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
but if you won't tell me where Araya is right now, |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
this time, I'll cut everything up… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… and finish the job. |
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [Mid-battle, Meursault uses his Chains of Others E.G.O against the Pinky Nursefather.] | ||
|
|
MEURSAULT |
I have bound the enemy, Manager. This maneuver will, albeit briefly, reduce their combat effectiveness. |
| [Mid-battle, Outis uses her To Páthos Máthos E.G.O against the Pinky Nursefather.] | ||
|
|
OUTIS |
I'll put an end to this here, Executive Manager. Point-blank fire! |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
What's the matter, hmm? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You sheathed your sword in anticipation of my next attack. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
What is this? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You've never been particularly keen on Iaidō. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Said that it's meaningless to sheathe a blade once unsheathed, |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
that to put yourself at such a risk in the middle of a fight is tantamount to suicide. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
…! |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Yes, it's… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… a new habit of mine. After every flurry, I'm compelled to sheathe my sword. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Because sometimes, there are flashes when I lose all sense of where I am. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
It happens like an unpredictable, uncontrollable calamity. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
When it does, I simply… wait it out. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I wait, and I wait… and then it's over. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
A bad habit formed in anticipation of these flashes. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I don't give a shit about what new little habits you've been picking up. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Why would you use a technique like that now…? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
To teach you anew upon your return. It is us Nursefathers' duties to educate you in the way of the blade. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Because unlike you, I remember everything. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… I've already made myself clear, |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
that I've neither let go nor forgotten it. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Give me my daughter back. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Araya, she… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… she's good at hiding, but… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I know she doesn't like being in the dark… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Hah. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
It's happening again. I can't see a thing… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Nothing at all… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
…! |
 | ||
|
|
Dihui Star |
…! |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Gah… |
 | ||
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Hah… at last, I finally get to see it. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You've never once allowed me to see your face. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Because you wanted to hide that face from the world—the face that shriveled because of me. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
No… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I wear this veil because… |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… I want to see the world through a haze. |
9-42: Ticket
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
|
|
Valencina |
… Hey. |
|
|
Valencina |
You guys are, uh… late. |
|
|
GREGOR |
Is she… is she drinking right now? |
|
|
Vergilius |
Those who are falling apart tend to rely on the very thing that's breaking them. |
|
|
Rodion |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
… *scoff* |
|
|
Valencina |
Wha—that you? Red Color? You're here, too? |
|
|
Valencina |
What… the hell, man… I gave you back your bundle of liability unhurt, didn't I? |
|
|
Valencina |
I didn't think you were the type to hold a grudge. |
|
|
Vergilius |
I'm just here to make sure you get yours. |
|
|
Valencina |
Alright. Stop rushing me and sit down over there for a second. |
|
|
Valencina |
This bad boy's got a few more swigs left in it. |
|
|
Valencina |
Junk like you probably don't have the eyes to recognize it, but this is quality liquor. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Old Parr… |
|
|
Vergilius |
I don't know about quality, but the name certainly suits you. |
|
|
Valencina |
*sigh* Ha ha. You know what? |
|
|
Valencina |
I was like you once. Bold… proud… feeling like I could take on the whole City all on my own. |
|
|
Valencina |
Back in my day… |
|
|
Valencina |
… little shits like you wouldn't even have dared to talk to me. |
 |
HEATHCLIFF |
… Ain't ever seen a sod at the bottom of the barrel worth their boast. |
|
|
Valencina |
This is why greenhorns who haven't had a taste of the War… don't understand… |
|
|
Valencina |
A mere mention of my name, "Valencina of Famiglia Bognatelli," would summon all kinds of high-and-mighty Fixers and Syndicate officers outta their trenches just to grovel at my feet. You know that? |
|
|
Valencina |
I lived up to my family name… I was in the front lines, cuttin' 'em all down with nothing but a rifle and a bayonet. |
|
|
Valencina |
Whatever famous fuck the opposing Corporation sent out, I met 'em all in the field of battle, dueled them, bored a new hole through their heads, tore 'em apart…! |
|
|
GREGOR |
… All that glory and honor… worth a whole lot of nothing now, aren't they? |
|
|
GREGOR |
Look at you. Going so low as to take a kid hostage to stop just one man. |
|
|
Valencina |
Fuck you! |
|
|
Valencina |
… I wouldn't have had to pull that stunt with the kid if I didn't have to get so up-close to Ticket. |
|
|
Valencina |
If I gave Red a fair fight with a fucked-up eye, he would've slaughtered the shit out of me… |
|
|
Valencina |
*sigh* Textbook. Gimme another drink. |
 |
Lucio |
Yes, Master. |
|
|
Valencina |
I just need to get through this… And they'll reinstate me. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Valencina. |
|
|
Valencina |
I've… hah. I've been waiting for decades at this point. |
|
|
Valencina |
I used to order those low-ranking fodder to grovel at my feet like dogs with a wave of my hand… |
|
|
Valencina |
And now that they outrank me, they think they're some hot shit…? Motherfuckers, looking at me like I'm beneath them… Impudent little shit… |
|
|
Vergilius |
Have you really… never concerned yourself with this question? |
|
|
Vergilius |
The question of what the House of Spiders is really trying to make? |
|
|
Valencina |
… I think it's obvious. A killer. The House is making the best assassin on the market… for all Fingers to use… a blade that can cut through anyone, anything… probably. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Don't you find something amiss listening to yourself? |
|
|
Vergilius |
You've dedicated decades of your life to it, but you don't even know what it was all for. |
|
|
Valencina |
I don't know… Fucking hell, why… do I have to bother knowing shit like that…? |
|
|
Valencina |
Ticket… Ticket's all I need to get it all back… |
|
|
Valencina |
My rank, in the shitter… |
|
|
Valencina |
All those decades wasted in this shithole… |
|
|
Valencina |
It'll… It'll all be worth it in the end… |
|
|
Vergilius |
… Huh. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Once you've spent too long hanging from the web… |
|
|
Vergilius |
… the sky will seem to grow closer and closer, |
|
|
Vergilius |
deluding you into thinking that you can soar into the sky with your own wings. |
|
|
Vergilius |
But you will realize… |
|
|
Valencina |
You have any idea how I honed that Ticket of mine, day after day…? |
|
|
Vergilius |
… that you're not flying, but grasping at the empty air. |
|
|
Valencina |
… Bring me Ticket. Now. |
|
|
Valencina |
Ungrateful little bitch. She doesn't even know what sort of shit her own Nursefather's going through… |
|
|
Valencina |
After all that I've taught her… |
 | ||
|
|
Valencina |
Oh, dammit… my head. I shouldn't have taken that bomb shot… |
|
|
Valencina |
The hell are you doing there in the corner? |
 |
Yoshihide |
Mom… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I'll… I'll do better next time… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I'm sorry… |
|
|
Valencina |
… Dammit, I really messed her up, didn't I…? |
|
|
Valencina |
Hey, Ticket. Clean yourself up with this. You're not looking pretty. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
… I mean your face. You're bleeding from the nose. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Hehe. |
|
|
Valencina |
What are you smiling about? You're all bloodied up… |
 | ||
|
|
Yoshihide |
Mommy, I… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I'll be your Golden Ticket. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Not some s-sh-shitty scrap paper. |
|
|
Valencina |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
Can you really do that for me, Ticket? |
 | ||
|
|
Yoshihide |
Yes! |
|
|
Vergilius |
Don't overestimate the significance of your conditional affection. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Time to get up. Haven't you emptied more than enough bottles for a day? |
|
|
Valencina |
… So impatient. |
| [Lucio appears with bloodied bandages on his head and arm.] | ||
|
|
Lucio |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
The thing is, with my Ticket… |
|
|
Valencina |
I had to beat that girl head to toe more than a few times before any fire sparked in her eyes. |
|
|
Valencina |
In that regard, I suppose my Textbook here has something to be proud of. |
|
|
Valencina |
You see, this one doesn't cry. |
|
|
Valencina |
Lucio, stop limping around. That wound's nothing serious. |
|
|
Lucio |
Yes, Master. |
|
|
HEATHCLIFF |
… I don't bloody get it. |
|
|
HEATHCLIFF |
Oi… Why do you even listen to someone who thinks you ain't worth shite? |
|
|
HEATHCLIFF |
She beats you all the time, talkin' down to you like that… I doubt she even sees you as a person. |
|
|
Lucio |
… Watch your words. |
|
|
Lucio |
My master was generous enough to take me, a vagrant with nothing to my name, under her wing. She fed me warm food and put a roof over my head. I would've ended up in a corpse pile somewhere in the Backstreets without her help. |
|
|
Lucio |
Which is why… it is only right that I obey her with all my heart. |
|
|
HEATHCLIFF |
Huh… |
|
|
Valencina |
That's right. It's pointless to question and think. Just do exactly as you're told—exactly as I taught you. |
|
|
Valencina |
It's the one thing you're good at, isn't it? |
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [Valencina and Vergilius begin sparring in a further room as Heathcliff, Rodion, and Gregor take their stand against Lucio. Lucio is ultimately defeated, brought to his knees.] | ||
|
|
Lucio |
……. |
|
|
GREGOR |
Why don't you… yield? You're too injured to fight. |
|
|
Lucio |
Please… tell me what you think. |
|
|
Lucio |
Would Yoshihide have forfeited the battle by this point? Or do you think… |
|
|
Lucio |
… she wouldn't have put herself in this situation to begin with…? |
|
|
Valencina |
How many times do I have to remind you? Forget all the useless flourishing and just go for the heart! The heart! |
|
|
Valencina |
I've given you plenty of demonstrations, haven't I?! |
|
|
Valencina |
Are you really gonna make me watch those clowns mop the floor with you?! |
|
|
HEATHCLIFF |
Bloody hell, she sure is a gasbag. Tell 'er to shut up, won't you? |
|
|
Lucio |
… I've always known that this day would come. |
|
|
Lucio |
But I was hoping… to meet my end while dueling Yoshihide herself… someone who was supposed to study… me… |
| [Despite his poor state, Lucio enters a fighting stance.] | ||
|
|
Lucio |
So that the next Textbook can… |
|
|
Lucio |
… learn from my mistakes… and make appropriate corrections to its content… |
|
|
GREGOR |
Hey, wait— |
|
|
Valencina |
Stab the heart in front of you! Stab that bastard's heart! Now! |
 | ||
|
|
||
|
|
GREGOR |
Hngh… Stop… |
|
|
Valencina |
This right here is why you still haven't graduated from being a Textbook, do you hear me?! |
 | ||
|
|
||
|
|
Lucio |
Your breathing is growing irregular… I understand. |
|
|
Lucio |
This place has a way of… driving people completely mad. |
|
|
||
|
|
GREGOR |
… makes me… |
| [As Gregor falters, Lucio leaps at him to strike him down. Gregor's bug arm suddenly multiplies in size.] [After a pause, the scene cuts in to show Lucio impaled through the heart by the gargantuan verminous arm.] | ||
|
|
Vergilius |
……. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Looks like… |
|
|
Vergilius |
… you've finally been freed from your bundle of liability. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Well? Do you feel liberated now, as you've always wanted? |
|
|
Valencina |
… What, are you saying Lucio died or something? |
|
|
Vergilius |
Had his heart stabbed right out of him. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Isn't this what you wanted? You got your heart. |
|
|
Valencina |
… Fuck off… with your bullshit. |
|
|
Valencina |
Hey, Lucio! |
|
|
Valencina |
Don't you dare ignore me. Say something. |
|
|
Valencina |
Lazy little shit! You haven't even done a quarter of what you're meant to do. Who said you could lie down there like you're done?! |
|
|
GREGOR |
……. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
… Mate, you… you alright? |
|
|
Valencina |
… Ah… |
|
|
Valencina |
Wha… what… |
|
|
Valencina |
What the fuck have you done, vermin?! |
| [Gregor stands dazed in place, still impaling Lucio. Valencina slams into him with rage, and the two disappear shortly after.] | ||
|
|
GREGOR |
Nngh… |
|
|
Valencina |
You… disgusting little shit…! |
|
|
Rodion |
Greg—! |
9-43: Hatching
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
|
|
Callisto |
So, what do you think, Yoshihide? This concept is called "Minimalism." |
|
|
Callisto |
A bold removal of the unnecessary for the preservation of the essence. |
|
|
Callisto |
As you must be aware, the human corpus has far too many non-essential parts which harm the purity of it. |
|
|
Terrified Victim |
I'm scared… |
|
|
Terrified Victim |
Father… Where… are you… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Dad… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
This is just too cruel… I don't wanna see it…! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Callisto |
Yoshihide, that is because you are focusing only on the present. Allow yourself to look beyond the subject's momentary suffering—and there you will discover the perpetuity of the structure we will shape from it. |
|
|
Callisto |
Let us review. The simplicity with which a straight line sunders is a primordial form of structuralism. |
|
|
Callisto |
I will raise you as a precious pupil of mine, a companion to all of my future artwork. So please, Yoshihide—follow along with my classes. |
|
|
Callisto |
To reveal the beautiful, original form of the human corpus to the world, the skin must be removed, and the spine severed. That approach, however, runs the risk of being far too safe with the composition. |
 | ||
|
|
Callisto |
After all, art is a culmination of moments and choices, and the suffering therein… Yoshihide, will you impart your impression of this piece, how it appears in your eyes…? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I'd say my tastes lean closer to… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… the appreciation of the negative space. Not this kind of butchershop job. |
|
|
Callisto |
Butchershop, Yoshihide? I was simply hoping to replicate the striking visual imagery of Fauvism. |
|
|
Dying Victim |
Nngh… Do you have any idea who I am?! I'm—I'm—! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Her squealing's getting… real grating. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I prefer my canvases quiet. |
|
|
Callisto |
Ah, you are finally enlightened enough to engage with me in a discourse of tastes. |
|
|
Callisto |
I'm so happy, Yoshihide… |
|
|
Callisto |
Perhaps you will evolve beyond simply learning the art movements created by the other Maestros of the Ring, and… |
|
|
Callisto |
… found an art movement of your own someday. |
|
|
Callisto |
How I miss those days. |
|
|
Alyssa |
Nngh… |
|
|
Callisto |
While we certainly had conflicting subjectivities when it came to our tastes… I helped to form the structure and the intellectual framework through which Yoshihide's unique aesthetic sense and her exceptional eye for artistic beauty could thrive. |
|
|
Ishmael |
Alyssa…! |
|
|
Hohenheim |
……. |
|
|
Alyssa |
Agh… nngh… It… hurts… so much… |
|
|
Callisto |
I am not fond of people like her who let their emotions get the better of them. |
|
|
Callisto |
Most of them have… fragile, thin bones that break far too easily. |
|
|
Callisto |
True strength comes in the form of agility and the patience to find an opening. |
|
|
Callisto |
The body does not lie, after all. |
|
|
Callisto |
Refer to my manikins for more elaboration on that subject. But I've already expounded enough upon the core of the matter. |
|
|
Sinclair |
… It's about whether… all of their senses are alive… |
|
|
Callisto |
Precisely. |
|
|
Callisto |
I suppose you have had the opportunity to enjoy a similar piece of artwork elsewhere? I'll admit, this approach is rather archetypal. |
|
|
Radio |
Ah… |
|
|
Radio |
Apologies, everyone. Let me continue. |
|
|
Radio |
… More manikins incoming. Prepare for battle. |
|
|
Ishmael |
Dammit… |
|
|
Radio |
Sinclair, listen. Let's just… focus on the mission, okay? |
|
|
Radio |
Don't look down, don't look away—look ahead. |
|
|
Sinclair |
B-but… |
|
|
Radio |
I know exactly what you're reliving. I was right there with you, in that village where that horrible carol was playing, where Effie was… |
|
|
Radio |
But… that's behind us now. It's over—what's done is done. There's no undoing it like the way Dante rewinds the clock. |
|
|
Albina |
Maestro, may I share some of the remaining ingredient with Fascia? She'll be happy. |
|
|
Callisto |
You may, Albina. |
|
|
Alyssa |
Hnngh… |
|
|
Radio |
It's time… to leave that burning village, Sinclair. |
|
|
Radio |
Let's leave that painful memory in the past. |
|
|
Sinclair |
The past… |
|
|
Callisto |
What sparked your wrath? |
|
|
Callisto |
Please, do tell. What caused you to run headlong into this premature death? |
|
|
Alyssa |
Why… |
|
|
Alyssa |
If you were just after the Golden Bough, why… |
|
|
Alyssa |
… did you have to kill them? |
|
|
Callisto |
Ah, camaraderie. Even your motivation is ugly. |
|
|
Callisto |
To ask "why" the House of Spiders hunts is akin to asking someone why they exist. |
|
|
Callisto |
I do not get angry. Anger makes things drab and monotonous. So, I will now proceed to elevate you into artistic completion. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
… What a meaningful piece of art. Truly. |
|
|
Callisto |
Pardon? |
|
|
Hohenheim |
But if I were to add a few words of advice… |
|
|
Hohenheim |
I think your work is rather uninspired. |
|
|
Callisto |
……. |
|
|
Ishmael |
Hohenheim, what are you— |
|
|
Ishmael |
……. |
|
|
Ishmael |
Right. I'll use the Ampule on Faust and get her back on her feet if I can find an opening. The manager has to be… occupied with something else. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Though I may not look the part, I like to think I have seen far beyond my share of corpses. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
It's nothing to be proud of, but I've spent years at a company full of these… "Abnormalities." |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Many of which employed methods of killing my fellow staff that showed far greater artistic merit and depth than anything you have prepared here. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Let me think… ah, of course. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
There was this employee who took on the role of the protagonist, staging quite a poignant play. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Their role was to slit the throat of the Captain they respected most, parade their lifeless torso around for 2 hours, and confess their sins to whomever they came across. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
I watched the play from beginning to end, comforted only by the fact that I was never really that close with that individual. Because once a play had begun, the audience had to watch it to its curtain call. |
|
|
Callisto |
You… have my attention. |
|
|
Callisto |
Is there something you would like to impart about this… artwork I am working on? |
|
|
Hohenheim |
A few things. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
One, you're not making full use of your medium. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
What you show me now is no different from one of those cursory autopsy reports I can find lying around in my office. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Your work can be boiled down to simply cutting open a corpus and rearranging its organs in neat order. I do recall, quite vaguely, some Abnormalities with neither originality nor creativity—much like this piece you're working on. |
|
|
Callisto |
……. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
And you've drained too much blood, far more than what is necessary. That limits the spectrum of color in your piece. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
On a more positive note, the element I found most compelling upon closer inspection was the contrasting duet of veins and arteries. It is the kind of expression achievable only through a refined understanding of the human anatomy and its workings. |
|
|
Callisto |
Ah…! |
|
|
Callisto |
So you noticed it after all! That detail alone demanded more than 3 days of devoted labor, yet it failed to resonate with any audience—even with Albina! |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Every artist craves the understanding of others. Art for art's sake is without meaning. |
|
|
Callisto |
Yes, yes. That is what I was here for. To create a revolutionary artwork, something to move people… and to observe them. |
|
|
Callisto |
But the others were still so attached to their hollow ambitions and ties to the secular world that they did not even pretend to understand my creations… |
|
|
Callisto |
I have harsh words especially for Valencina, for always pickling her body in alcohol, stumbling into my space and almost destroying my work. |
|
|
Callisto |
As for Rien… he is merely a self-inflicted imitation—no more than a simulacrum that mimics, at the behest of the Prescript, the fate of a certain Fixer in the Library… |
|
|
Callisto |
Fuhu… I suppose I've gotten ahead of myself in all this excitement. Please do excuse my faux pas. |
|
|
Callisto |
Returning to the subject at hand… If you were to work on this piece, how would you add the missing artistic element? |
|
|
Hohenheim |
… The fasciculus of humans, when desiccated in an oxygen-deprived environment for days, begins to emanate a faint glow. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Perhaps you could use that as half-decent decoration. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Another thing—don't trap yourself in a box thinking that macabre violence and the exhibition thereof is all there is to art. Make your art tell a story that is unique to you. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
An example: |
|
|
Hohenheim |
While the rest of my body is unremarkable, I am the individual with the most remarkably genius brain in this company. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
How about this? Split open my skull to reveal the brain underneath, and let that be your finishing touch. I hear that knowledge and the number of folds in one's brain have a direct correlation. This would be a good opportunity for me to observe that. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
As you must be aware, compared to other organs, the brain is highly complex and fickle to work with. I assure you, it will be a good challenge. |
|
|
Callisto |
Yes, I agree… the harder the material is to work with, the more exciting it becomes when I've finally tamed it as my own… |
|
|
Callisto |
Now… Come closer, and speak your name to me. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
… Hohenheim. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
I have never been so ashamed of my own name. |
|
|
Sinclair |
S-stop, Mister Hohenheim… |
|
|
Sinclair |
W-what are you even trying to do? |
|
|
Sinclair |
We're all too hurt to do anything. Faust, Ishmael, and me… |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Well… my best, I suppose. |
|
|
Sinclair |
But— |
|
|
Hohenheim |
I am well aware. My gear and weapon are… utterly inadequate to defeat a man of such strength. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
But what matters is that I am determined to never regret anything, ever again. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Besides, there are moments when gambling may yield a rather fascinating outcome. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Remember… at the check-up? My placement in your scale of power was… |
|
|
Sinclair |
I… I'm just not strong enough… I can't turn this situation around… |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Stop thinking in numbers. Forget those rankings. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
One may come to mistake numbers as the ultimate truth of the world, as something that interweaves both rationality and analysis; however, the numbers themselves are but conduits by which we may physically realize and translate the abstract into the present reality. |
|
|
Sinclair |
The present… |
| [Callisto lifts Hohenheim up by the collar.] | ||
|
|
Callisto |
It is time, dear Hohenheim. |
|
|
Callisto |
Thank you. Thank you for understanding me. |
|
|
Callisto |
I will preserve and cherish you until the day I am gone. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Yes, and… while this may be an unnecessary concern, I would prefer it if you could avoid wearing something like that… wide-brimmed hat of yours. |
|
|
Callisto |
Ah, this hat? |
|
|
Callisto |
A long, long time ago, I wished to delve into the depths of the physical manifestation of my mind. Then, I realized that my skills were yet too immature to attempt such a thing… and bound it together once again. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Aha, so the hat is a kind of helmet or a brace, as the wound never fully closed… |
|
|
Hohenheim |
And here I thought it was some horribly ill-conceived fashion choice. |
|
|
Callisto |
And what significance does it bear in your present circumstance? |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Well, I was hoping that… |
|
|
Hohenheim |
… I should be able to inflict some degree of damage with my surprise attack. |
| [Hohenheim pulls out a barely visible Diffraction E.G.O Weapon and slams it into Callisto, knocking his hat to the ground.] | ||
|
|
Hohenheim |
How is it? I don't suppose you saw that coming. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
It is an E.G.O called "Diffraction"—extracted from a particularly tricky Abnormality. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
I'm curious if you ever learned the lesson that there's always more to reality than what meets the eye… or that the really important things are invisible to the eye. |
|
|
Callisto |
…….. |
|
|
Albina |
Maestro! |
|
|
Callisto |
… My amygdala is shaking. The corpus amygdaloideum is connected to the brainstem, which is involved in the brain’s emotional centers. |
|
|
Callisto |
Ah… when Yoshihide shattered that sword of mine so long ago… |
|
|
Callisto |
… I believe I felt an emotion similar to this. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Hnngh… |
|
|
Ishmael |
This is our opening…! Faust and I are both almost healed. We can't give him any time to—agh…! |
|
|
Albina |
I can't let you do that. Not before we become friends. |
|
|
Sinclair |
… Ishmael! Faust! |
|
|
Callisto |
Oh, you're the one who suddenly collapsed in the Research Facility, aren't you? |
|
|
Callisto |
While wrath may indeed force your body to function beyond its breaking point… even that has its limits. |
|
|
Callisto |
83% of your body has been heavily damaged. At that level, even properly wielding your weapon becomes a challenge. |
|
|
Callisto |
The corpus works in immaculate ways indeed. Every cause and effect is crystal clear. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Dante… if you're watching… do something—please, do something…! |
|
|
Sinclair |
……. |
|
|
Sinclair |
I can't… rely on others to solve my problems… forever. |
|
|
Albina |
Don't leave. The others are gone—you're the only one left here to be friends with me and Fascia. |
|
|
Sinclair |
… Get off me. |
|
|
Callisto |
There are faster ways, indeed. But I would prefer to choke the air out of him… |
|
|
Callisto |
… because asphyxiation is the most appropriate approach to ensure that the subject suffers for as long as possible without leaving any damage to the corpus. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
*choke* |
|
|
Albina |
And that is the Maestro's special brand of mercy. |
|
|
Albina |
He is demonstrating his act of creation before all of us… |
|
|
Albina |
Now, let us both become audience to this rare opportunity. Keep your eyes peeled to the end. |
|
|
Albina |
In the future, I want to be a Maestro who has surpassed even my Maestro. What are your dreams? |
|
|
Sinclair |
The future… |
|
|
Sinclair |
… Suffusing within me… |
|
|
Sinclair |
… is a scent… |
|
|
Sinclair |
A stench… |
|
|
Callisto |
… I beg your pardon? My gallery boasts a perfect balance of temperature and humidity for the preservation of artworks. They are isolated from external contaminants at all times. |
|
|
Sinclair |
The stench that sticks… the stench of… rot… |
|
|
Sinclair |
I see… |
|
|
Sinclair |
The Smoke… was blue. |
 | ||
 | ||
Mid-battle 1
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [Mid-battle, Faust and Ishmael perform a timed attack using their Representation Emitter and Snagharpoon E.G.O, hitting Callisto and Albina respectively.] | ||
|
|
Ishmael |
Faust will... make an opening. |
|
|
Ishmael |
Sinclair...! I'll leave the rest to you...! |
 | ||
 |
Sinclair |
……. |
|
|
Albina |
… Fa-Fascia? |
|
|
Albina |
Why would you— If you didn't want to be friends with me, you could've just killed me. Why would you kill Fascia— |
|
|
Sinclair |
… Ah. |
|
|
Sinclair |
I was getting to that part. |
| [The new Sinclair wields his worn halberd with two Mang and performs a fatal attack on Albina reminiscient of the Night Drifter's finisher, Ultimate True Decapitation Deathblow (眞-眞鎭終斬).] | ||
|
|
Callisto |
……. |
|
|
Callisto |
Oh… It seems that my perspective was… severely lacking… |
|
|
Callisto |
Please, forgive my disrespectfulness… |
|
|
Sinclair |
It is forgiven. |
|
|
Sinclair |
……. |
|
|
Sinclair |
The air here is clean. |
|
|
Sinclair |
I haven't breathed like this in so long. |
Mid-battle 2
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Callisto |
Your eyes have been witnesses to… such a vast spectrum of slaughter. |
|
|
Callisto |
I implore you, please… tell me. How does my gallery appear… |
|
|
Callisto |
… reflected in those eyes…? |
|
|
Sinclair |
……. |
|
|
Sinclair |
It's trashy. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Like some things my life has led me to see as of late. |
|
|
Callisto |
……. |
|
|
Callisto |
The things you've witnessed… Allow me to see it, too… |
|
|
Sinclair |
It'd be meaningless to try to explain them with words. |
|
|
Callisto |
Aah… |
|
|
Callisto |
Yes, and that is… And that is enough. |
|
|
Sinclair |
… So it is. |
| [The new Sinclair performs a fatal attack on Callisto reminiscient of Jia Xichun's finisher, Plastered Sleep, Unrestrained Ripples [酔睡浪浪].] [At the end, flashing text reads "酔睡浪浪星".] | ||
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Hohenheim |
……. |
|
|
Sinclair |
… It's like you're asking, "Why didn't you tell us you had this power all along?" |
|
|
Sinclair |
But you must know, Mister Hohenheim, that it's never that convenient. |
|
|
Sinclair |
If we really want to get into it, I should be the one who's the most surprised. I didn't know about the sudden pull of this power, and wasn't expecting it to summon me here, either. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
It—*cough* Mmh, my voice sounds rather hoarse… On account of the rather cruel choking from earlier. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Despite being pushed to the point where I was about to lose both of my subordinates… I still found myself clawing at life when death came knocking at my door. How ridiculously pathetic. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Don't worry. One way or another, she will overcome this ordeal and go on living. She's a lot stronger than you—or any of us—might think. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
… Is that so? That's good to hear. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
……. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
How many years have you traveled back? |
|
|
Sinclair |
That's not a question I can answer. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
… I'm sorry to say that it does not appear to me that you've come from a very optimistic future. |
|
|
Sinclair |
From where I'm standing, there isn't much to be optimistic about the past either. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Back then, never in my wildest imagination did I think we'd ever have to coin the term "The First Smoke War." |
|
|
Ishmael |
What… |
|
|
Ishmael |
What is… happening? Do you see him too, Faust? Or am I seeing things from losing too much blood…? |
|
|
Faust |
… I see him, too. |
|
|
Faust |
… The Sign… has summoned you. |
|
|
Sinclair |
The Sign merely behaved as a medium. "I" was the one who summoned me. |
|
|
Sinclair |
The awakening and the summoning occurred simultaneously. |
|
|
Faust |
Then, is that— |
|
|
Sinclair |
Ah… no, not every Sign has this power. This is the power of my Sign. |
|
|
Ishmael |
So you're… from the future…? Not a Mirror World…? W-what happened… to the original Sinclair…? |
|
|
Sinclair |
There is no such thing as the original. This is unlike the Mirror Worlds… it is more akin to a different branch of the same tree. |
|
|
Ishmael |
Wait, hold on… |
|
|
Ishmael |
Is it inevitable? That future… you're from… |
|
|
Sinclair |
I don't know. Maybe. |
|
|
Sinclair |
But it's not all misery. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Life goes on, after all. |
|
|
Ishmael |
Do we really have no choice but to… face that future? |
|
|
Sinclair |
……. |
|
|
Sinclair |
I don't know whether the life I'd lived through prior to my summoning… will be in your path, or whether you'll be able to avoid it. |
|
|
Faust |
… But it will not be impossible. |
|
|
Sinclair |
No. It will be a difficult path, still. Almost unbearably so. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Now, I find myself thinking that… |
|
|
Sinclair |
… maybe the journey I've walked my entire life, everything I've gone through as I trudged across the fields of battle… was merely an offshoot event of an offshoot world—designed to end here and now, to serve this very moment and nothing more. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
All has been cast into the realm of speculation, now. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Correct. But if I can be a strength to myself, then I best accept that fate. |
|
|
Sinclair |
I wish certain others were here, too. So I could see everyone I'd been longing to see… just one more time. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Every now and then, I find myself thinking back… to the days I spent aboard that bus. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Those memories… might be the only things that keep me going in the days to come. |
|
|
Ishmael |
……. |
|
|
Sinclair |
I should leave now. Before the longing gets worse. |
|
|
Sinclair |
I might be returned to where I came from, but perhaps this is simply the end of the road for me, like death. Neither you nor I will know whether this is how I die. Still… |
|
|
Sinclair |
Even if this is where I end… even if my entire existence boils down to serving this moment and nothing more… |
|
|
Sinclair |
… I'm glad I got to spend my last moments with you guys, instead of being surrounded by dying comrades. And that's good enough for me. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Oh, and Miss Faust? |
|
|
Sinclair |
Don't grieve everything all at once. |
|
|
Sinclair |
That's the only advice I have for you. |
|
|
Faust |
……. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
I don't suppose the promise of a reunion will mean anything. |
|
|
Sinclair |
Even if my Sign were to burn again, there's no telling whether it'll be "me" again next time. Because there's… |
|
|
Hohenheim |
… No guarantee. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Well, I don't think you've… changed much, at least from what I can see. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Ah, though it seems you've grown a bit taller. |
|
|
Sinclair |
So I have. |
|
|
Hohenheim |
Thank you. It couldn't have been easy. |
9-44: Family
Mid-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [Mid-battle, Matthias engulfs everyone in flames using his '... Complete and Total Extermination [Lævateinn]' Skill.] | ||
| [Mid-battle, Hong Lu uses his Land of Illusion E.G.O, dousing the flames.] | ||
|
|
Hong Lu |
This cascade will wash away even the fires of hell. |
| [In a cutscene, Moses uses her Crimson Point Skill, sending a pillar flying at Matthias. He dodges it.] | ||
|
|
Moses |
*puff* All of that malice, full to the brim. |
|
|
Moses |
Crimson point. |
| ||
|
|
Ezra |
Team Leader! |
|
|
Moses |
Hmmh… Missed. |
|
|
Vespa |
I tried to distract him as much as I could manage, but he seems to have dodged it instinctively. |
|
|
Moses |
Perhaps I should've tried a more predictive shot. |
|
|
Vespa |
Are your impulses… in check? |
|
|
Moses |
I may need some time, but… it's nothing to worry about. |
|
|
Kira |
…! |
|
|
Kira |
……. |
|
|
Radio |
The Apprentice's signal has been lost in an instant! You must brace for a strike from a blind point! |
|
|
Moses |
… Can you locate her, Vespa? |
|
|
Vespa |
Her presence disappeared the instant she put on whatever it is she's wearing now. It could be the Veil, or a Workshop-made gear built on similar technology. |
|
|
Kira |
Using environmental obstacles to hold enemies down… sure looked badass! |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
Ah—fie! Above thee, distinguished Color! Look above thee! |
| [Kira slams into Vespa, and the two begin clashing blades.] | ||
|
|
Vespa |
Ngh…! |
|
|
Kira |
Got 'im! Papa, now! |
|
|
Matthias |
……. |
|
|
Matthias |
Good girl. |
|
|
Kira |
Hah! Even a Color Fixer can't outmaneuver a Reli— Huh…? |
| [Matthias powers up his sword and swings violently for Vespa even while Kira remains in the way. She is cut down by her father's blade in the process.] | ||
|
|
Vespa |
…! |
|
|
Kira |
Papa…? |
|
|
Matthias |
Remember, Kiddo? |
|
|
Matthias |
This is family. A little sacrifice ain't a thing if it's for one of us. |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
… What senseless villainy is this?! |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
To put one's child to the sword to defeat a foe… How dost thou, a Finger of loyalty, commit such a cowardly act of duplicity…? |
|
|
Moses |
*puff* Loyalty, huh. |
|
|
Moses |
I doubt the Middle really gives two hoots about loyalty. |
|
|
Moses |
All they actually care about is grandstanding. |
|
|
Moses |
Nothing else matters to them if they can project the image of loyalty, in and of itself an implicit threat of what might befall those who stand in their way. |
|
|
Yi Sang |
… Much like the rows upon rows of toy packaging displayed here. |
 | ||
|
|
Matthias |
What do you think you're doing, my man? That's a white colorway in your hand… Pretty sure I remember my little girl asking for a black one. |
|
|
Mall Shopkeeper |
I'm… I'm really sorry, sir. Sir, please… I'm sorry. Sir. Please, please forgive my—aaaagh! |
|
|
Matthias |
Oh, quit overreactin', man. I just popped one of your apparently colorblind eyeballs, no biggie. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Stop it. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I like that color too. So stop it. |
|
|
Matthias |
You like white, too? Oh boy… Is my little girl finally acquiring her papa's tastes? |
|
|
Matthias |
I still need to pay him back for bringing you the wrong color— |
|
|
Yoshihide |
It'll be rush hour soon. What's the point of coming out on a drive if we're just gonna end up sitting in traffic? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… I'm leaving. Let's go, Dad. |
|
|
Matthias |
……. |
|
|
Moses |
Still… I suppose I should thank you. You're… really doing one hell of a job summoning those horrible memories back to me. |
|
|
Moses |
*puff* I've got one more Crimson Point in me. |
|
|
Kira |
*cough* *gurgle* |
|
|
Ezra |
What do we do about the kid? |
|
|
Radio |
The Department of LCC has requested that she be captured alive. They have many queries for which she may hold answers to… |
|
|
Hong Lu |
… I'll use a healing medicine on her. |
|
|
Kira |
… Papa… why would you… Why me…? |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
……. |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
… Thou shan't be able to move with thy body cloven in half. |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
So, lie still and bear witness… |
|
|
DON QUIXOTE |
… for they shall demonstrate before thee the true meaning of "badass." |
| [Moses readies her Crimson Point attack again as Matthias clashes with Vespa. Right as he turns around to face Moses, the pillar slams into him.] | ||
|
|
Moses |
Crimson Point. |
|
|
Vespa |
… I will cut him down. |
| [Matthias is left with a gigantic hole in his chest, and finally, Vespa seals the deal by cutting his head clean off.] | ||
9-45: Suddenly, One Day
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
|
|
Gregor |
Gah…! |
|
|
Valencina |
I know about insects like you better than anyone. |
|
|
Valencina |
Poor little pests that gave up their human limbs for something infinitely more revolting. |
|
|
Valencina |
G Corp.'s pride and joy—their pest weaponry. |
|
|
Valencina |
They had three stand-out successes, from what I recall. |
|
|
Valencina |
The Maggot Prince… the Moth Princess… and the Lord of Flies. |
|
|
Gregor |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
Those three really put on a stomach-churning show in the front lines of the Smoke War. I've got 'em to thank for toughenin' up my resilience against gross shit. |
|
|
Valencina |
But there was this rumor then, almost as unbelievable as an urban legend. |
|
|
Valencina |
That G Corp. had one more, yet-to-be-seen fourth weapon. |
|
|
Valencina |
That one supposedly got stuck mid-hatch and failed to even break out of its husk. |
|
|
Valencina |
One look at that hairy, chitinous arm tells me everything I need to know. |
|
|
Valencina |
While no one's ever known what that entity looked like, probably because no one survived the encounter to tell the tale… |
|
|
Valencina |
Well, it would've been a different story had it met me… |
|
|
Valencina |
…but everyone had an idea of what insect that might be. |
|
|
Valencina |
There's the Maggot… the Moth… and the Fly… There's one conspicuously missing vermin from that list, isn't there? |
|
|
Valencina |
Looks like I've found the poor cockroach that never managed to hatch himself. |
|
|
Gregor |
Ngh… Right… |
|
|
Gregor |
… You said you were a veteran of the Smoke War, too… |
|
|
Valencina |
Oh, yeah. Good ol' Smoke War and its many, many unforgettable memories. Though I'm sure losers like you wouldn't agree. |
|
|
Valencina |
The Smoke… the viscous organic fluids… the mist that tainted every breath of air… |
|
|
Valencina |
That day, I proudly wielded the bayonetted rifle bestowed upon me by La Famiglia Bognatelli. |
|
|
Valencina |
You know the sound you vermin make? That loud buzz of your bug wings? |
|
|
Valencina |
That noise was like a sound cue that let me know where to aim, bullet in the chamber. |
|
|
Valencina |
Whenever I'd hear that noise, I'd aim there, stab the vermin right in its heart, then… bang! |
|
|
Valencina |
Oh, here's another war story of mine. |
|
|
Valencina |
It's about this little guy who managed to dodge last minute to the side. The shot missed its heart, but was still a hit. Guess even bugs have survival instincts. |
|
|
Valencina |
Anyway, the vermin fell to the ground from the shock and curled up into a ball, all frozen up. |
|
|
Valencina |
A sight more pathetic than roadkill. |
|
|
Valencina |
Wanna hear what I did to it next? |
|
|
Valencina |
I wanted to have some fun. Took my sweet time and broke its legs one by one with the butt of my rifle. |
|
|
Valencina |
4 limbs would've ended the fun too quickly, oh yes. Luckily, this one had 6. |
|
|
Gregor |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
Leg 1 goes, and it fights back. Screaming. |
|
|
Valencina |
Leg 2 goes, and it starts to crawl away from me. On its belly, with its remaining legs. |
|
|
Valencina |
Leg 3 goes, and it starts bawling. Drool and snot and what have you streaming down its face, doing something that looked like pleading, I think. |
|
|
Valencina |
And, heh heh… oh boy, you'll want to hear this part. Leg 5 goes, and it just goes limp like it's dead. |
|
|
Valencina |
It doesn't even try to run. It just… goes still and waits. |
|
|
Valencina |
And that's my favorite moment, really. The state of complete capitulation, having discarded even its will to live. Letting me do whatever I want to its body… |
|
|
Valencina |
But you can't possibly have the cheek to call me cruel. |
|
|
Valencina |
You G Corp. pests were far more messed up than I ever was! Ripping people apart, cannibalizing them—you were nothing but a swarm of fucked-up monsters! |
|
|
Gregor |
Sta… |
|
|
Valencina |
What? What was that? I can't hear what you're saying, insect! |
|
|
Gregor |
S-stay away… |
|
|
Valencina |
Ha ha, there it is. The eyes are rolling back… you're almost at leg 5 too, aren't you? |
|
|
Gregor |
Stay away… from me… |
|
|
Valencina |
Oh… |
 |
UNGEZIEFER KAISER |
Hearken to our darkling wingbeats… as we make our nests in the shadows. |
|
|
UNGEZIEFER KAISER |
The royals march unchanging and eternal, even as they are loathed… |
|
|
UNGEZIEFER KAISER |
And suddenly, one day, we shall appear from the comfort of your beds while you slumber in the warmth… |
|
|
UNGEZIEFER KAISER |
… and the collective clamor for life shall commence, screaming, thrashing, until all becomes void… devoured, lashed piece by piece by our mandibles. |
|
|
UNGEZIEFER KAISER |
March. March. Consume. Procreate. Consume. Erase. Regenerate. March. |
|
|
Valencina |
Oh, motherfucker. It's real… The worst one out of the four… |
|
|
Valencina |
You had to hatch now… of all times…? |
|
|
Rodion |
Greg! Where the heck did you… |
|
|
Heathcliff |
Oi, hang on. Look over there… |
|
|
Heathcliff |
I hear someone, but… |
|
|
Heathcliff |
… I ain't seein' any movements. Oi, Stubbles! You alright? |
|
|
Rodion |
……. |
|
|
Rodion |
Someone…? |
|
|
Rodion |
It's… it's not just someone, Heath… |
|
|
Rodion |
The sound… |
|
|
Heathcliff |
Huh? |
|
|
Rodion |
You hear that too, don't you…? |
|
|
Rodion |
The skittering of… countless legs… swarming across the floor… |
| [The silhouettes of Gregor and Valencina fade into full view, revealing Gregor's new transformation and that he has impaled Valencina.] [A clamp-like shape emerges from his twisted arm and slams repeatedly into the Thumb Nursefather, crushing and smashing her to death.] | ||
|
|
Vergilius |
……. |
|
|
Rodion |
Is that… really Greg? |
|
|
Rodion |
Verg, what do we… what do we do? |
|
|
Vergilius |
……. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
I just need to know one thing, Guide. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
You tell us to beat the shite out of 'im 'till he comes to his senses, and we'll do it. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
We did it with the lass who needs to take better care of her shoes, with that hoity-toity researcher bloke… and even when I… |
|
|
Heathcliff |
But is that… is that even something he can come back from…? |
|
|
Vergilius |
… Not sure. |
|
|
Vergilius |
That is no… "power." It's neither a Distortion nor an E.G.O, or anything remotely similar. |
|
|
Rodion |
Then…? |
|
|
Rodion |
What is that supposed to be? |
|
|
Vergilius |
Something that was to be, but never was. Something that has incubated within Sinner #13. |
|
|
Vergilius |
And that has given dreams to things that never should be allowed to dream… |
|
|
Vergilius |
… and they have now begun to beat their wings toward total annihilation. |
|
|
UNGEZIEFER KAISER |
……. |
|
|
Rodion |
……. |
|
|
Rodion |
Wait, Greg's eye—I just met his eye. |
|
|
Rodion |
Guys, that's just… a molt. Or a pupa going through a metamorphosis… |
|
|
Rodion |
We just have to peel it off him. Then he'll be back. |
|
|
Rodion |
… Right? |
|
|
Vergilius |
I hope so. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
Sod off with that "I hope so," mate. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
We'll just try 'till it works… Yeah, that's what we're gonna do. |
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Rodion |
Stay frozen for a while, Greg! |
|
|
Heathcliff |
C'mon, Stubbles… Snap out of it! |
| [Mid-battle, Rodion and Heathcliff perform a team attack using their What is Cast and Bodysack E.G.O. against Gregor.] | ||
| [Heathcliff beats the Roach Emperor down, and Rodion's axe collides with him shortly after.] [In a cutscene, Vergilius wields a blood lance with three Mang and sharply pierces their foe. After a moment, Gregor returns to humanoid, collapsing to the ground unconscious.] | ||
|
|
Rodion |
… He's back to normal, right…? |
|
|
Vergilius |
It was only possible because he hadn't fully metamorphosed yet. We were fortunate. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
… Now even Stubbles's givin' us grief. Whew… at least he shook off those bloody insects. Our work's done here, yeah? |
|
|
Rodion |
Seriously, I'm done. Totally tapped out… That whole fight messed me up inside out! How're you doing, Verg? You sound extra beat. |
|
|
Vergilius |
*sigh* Unlike you Sinners, I cannot be revived and brought back to full strength… This is taking a toll on me, too. |
|
|
Vergilius |
This troublesome variable… must've caused quite the headache for Manager Dante as well. |
|
|
Vergilius |
If all goes according to plan… the Manager will be summoning you shortly. Be ready and steel your nerves, for all the good that'll do. |
|
|
Heathcliff |
Yeah… Clockhead and the other teams should be almost done with their side of things by now. |
|
|
Rodion |
They oughta be doing fine, right? I mean, things were pretty peachy for us too… right up until what happened to Greg. |
|
|
Vergilius |
Hmm… |
9-46: Waiting
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [A number of Udjat, including Jamila, line up to fire at Rien. Rien runs at the group, and gets the best of them by swiftly striking from behind with a shapeshifting weapon.] [After cutting everyone else down, he stands beside a heavily wounded Jamila.] | ||
 | ||
|
|
Rien |
Oh, my apologies. |
|
|
Jamila |
Aagh… |
|
|
Rien |
I'm not quite used to this weapon form yet… |
|
|
Rien |
So I may have made you suffer needlessly. |
|
|
Jamila |
Mal… function…? |
|
|
Rien |
That's not my doing. I didn't have any reason to prepare a trap like that. |
|
|
Rien |
You should've taken better care of your weapons when you had the time. Weapons that fail when they actually matter… are no weapons at all. |
|
|
Rien |
No need to overthink it. |
|
|
Rien |
Fortune happened to land on my side—that's all there is to it. |
|
|
Rien |
Ah… |
|
|
Rien |
Let's see… |
|
|
Rien |
I suppose all that's left is to wait? |
9-47: Pity
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
It's… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
It's a thread. |
| ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Valencina |
Ticket! *burp* Ever pour rice into a bowl of vodka? |
|
|
||
|
|
Rien |
Darling, which story shall I read to you today? |
|
|
||
|
|
Matthias |
Hey, Buddy! Just say the word if you've got your eye on something! Dad'll get the whole damn shelf for you. |
|
|
||
|
|
Callisto |
Now, please take this lesson to your heart: Upon the rock of knowledge are beauty and strength built—your study of aesthetics begins now, Yoshihide, so you may one day create a gallery of your own. |
|
|
||
|
|
Dihui Star |
Don't you dare smile. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I suffer in such misery—it's only fair that you suffer too. |
|
|
||
 | ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Rien |
That feeling is called "pity." |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Pity? What's that? |
|
|
Rien |
Remember that book we read yesterday? The snake swallows the frog… |
|
|
Rien |
… but wails loudly when it feels the frog thrashing in its throat. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Yeah. |
|
|
Rien |
The snake cries because it feels pity. |
|
|
Rien |
The snake pities the frog, knowing the pain the prey will suffer as it is devoured. It's grieving because the frog's life will be cut short. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Okay. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Do my other dads feel that way for me too? |
|
|
Rien |
No, I don't know if… |
|
|
Rien |
I don't think many of us are even capable of pity. |
|
|
Rien |
Because this… is the House of Spiders, darling. |
|
|
Rien |
And Spiders… hunt. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Hunt. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I have to do it too, right? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
With this sword. |
|
|
Rien |
Yes, when the time comes. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
But it's weird. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Why am I not allowed to pull the sword out? It's always sheathed. |
|
|
Rien |
That, too—you'll know when the time comes. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Am I gonna get a magic beeper like yours someday, Dad? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
The beeper tells you everything, right? |
|
|
Rien |
You won't be getting one, no. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Okay. But I can still feel "pity." Only I can. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
So may I please… keep Saru? |
|
|
Rien |
You may, but I don't recommend it. |
|
|
Rien |
Let something you cherish take root in your heart… and it will carve out a gaping hole far larger than itself when it's taken away. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Yoshihide |
… No. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
"No?" Do you believe you can back out of this with a simple "no?" |
|
|
Dihui Star |
I recall you bragging rather confidently that you had beaten that attitude out of her, Valencina. What happened? |
|
|
Valencina |
Hah! Hello, the brat's practically cut from your cloth, you know. |
|
|
Valencina |
Must've gotten that nasty bit from you. |
|
|
Matthias |
C'mon, guys. The kid's right here, you know? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Rien, give me that. |
|
|
Rien |
……. |
|
|
Valencina |
Still don't know your way around Rien? |
|
|
Valencina |
That crazy bitch won't even lift a finger unless you name exactly what you need. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Give me Zenon's Tortoise Spiral. |
|
|
Rien |
Mm. Here you go. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
 | ||
|
|
Yoshihide |
…! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Saru!! |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You know how to unlock it, yes? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
You will get the password once you return with the job done. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Delay, and Saru will die. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
Do you understand what it means to die? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
What it means to cut deep enough to kill? |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Target of the House of Spiders |
Hrrk…! |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Yoshihide |
… The password. Now. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
… Did you cut the target down? |
|
|
Dihui Star |
It's only been… 2 hours. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… The password. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
How did you get past the Fixers who were guarding the target? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Cut them all dead. Doesn't matter how. |
|
|
Dihui Star |
……. |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Callisto |
Yoshihide, I have prepared a little something to celebrate your birthday. |
|
|
Callisto |
The name I have bestowed upon this sword… is "Beastbone Blade Saru." |
|
|
Callisto |
An adorable size to perfectly fit the grip of your palms. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Callisto |
One day, Yoshihide, I would like to have a child of my own… A child completed with my flesh and blood. |
|
|
Callisto |
I eagerly await that moment with every passing day. |
|
|
||
|
|
||
| [The darkened figure of Valencina appears in Ryōshū's memories.] | ||
|
|
||
| [Rien.] | ||
|
|
||
| [Matthias.] | ||
|
|
||
| [Callisto.] | ||
|
|
||
| [Shiomi.] | ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
| [The figures of the Nursefathers fade into a single red thread.] | ||
|
|
||
|
|
Rien |
Oh, this? |
|
|
Rien |
Sweetheart. This… is called a "spiral." |
|
|
Rien |
Once it is lodged inside the body, even the slightest of movements will make it burrow deeper into the flesh… forcing the victim to remain perfectly still. |
|
|
Rien |
It may not sting any worse than the prick of a thorn at first, but the more you try to yank it free, the further it will drill into the body. |
|
|
Rien |
But no matter how much it keeps digging in, it will never make it to the other side.
The closer it gets to the end, the slower it becomes—it can never meet its endpoint. |
|
|
Rien |
You know what else shares that property? |
|
|
Rien |
"Doubt." |
|
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Yoshihide |
No, Dad. |
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Yoshihide |
It's freeze tag! |
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Rien |
… What's… freeze tag? |
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Yoshihide |
So it's like a game where, when you're frozen, I tag you and say "Unfreeze!" Then you can start moving again! |
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Rien |
I see. |
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Rien |
Then I… I'll keep waiting until my darling daughter decides to unfreeze me. |
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??? |
Look, Mommy! I made a spiderweb. But if you twist it like this… |
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??? |
Ta-da! It becomes a ladder. Cool, right? |
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Yoshihide |
Are you… |
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Yoshihide |
… bored? |
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??? |
Nuh-uh! I can totally play on my own! |
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Yoshihide |
……. |
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Yoshihide |
Don't you want to go to school? |
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??? |
… Whoa. |
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??? |
I wanna! I wanna! |
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Araya |
Look, Mommy! |
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Araya |
It's the randoseru that's all the rage lately! |
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Yoshihide |
I know. I'm the one who bought it for you. |
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Araya |
I can put textbooks in here. Pencil case goes here, my name tag goes here… and the lunchbox goes… |
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Lei Heng |
Class wrapped up without a hitch, y'know. Hwell, it wasn't so easy, was it? Bayonets, gunblades, all 'o them fancy doohicky call for some tricky timin'… Must've been mighty hard fer ya to keep up, Kiddo. |
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Yoshihide |
… It wasn't. Fuck off if we're done here. |
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Lei Heng |
Hot damn. Look at'cha, always givin' me the evil eye, y'sure do. One o' these days you'll end up stabbin' me 'fore yer done, I swear. |
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Yoshihide |
……. |
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Lei Heng |
Hey, Yoshihide. You've got talent. You best polish it up real good, y'hear? |
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Lei Heng |
Lessee'ere. Next up… well, hot diggity. All kinds o' folks showin' up to tutor ya today. Guess plenty o' fellers're lookin' forward to this. |
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Lei Heng |
That ol' Bloodfiend Elder from the Ring's comin' in person… and this feller over here, ain't got a clue who that is. Must be one o' them Pinkies. |
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Lei Heng |
Hah… Ain't that a hoot? How'd these devils all get assigned 'ere just months after that Finger Bow-Bell? Mighty sure them's the same ones that were busy raisin' hell out on the Outskirts Strife not long ago. |
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Lei Heng |
Hwell, can't deny they're the real deal. 'Least you'll learn things even them Nursefathers can't teach. |
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Yoshihide |
You gonna keep yapping? Fine, I'll leave. |
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Lei Heng |
Now now, what's the rush? I know ya still got time to spare. |
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Lei Heng |
By the way—that Relic o' yers… That sword, they say it's somethin' real special, ain't it? Heard tell that 'cept fer that Pinky snake Dihui Star, all them hotshots who tried unsheathin' it got ruined fer life. |
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Lei Heng |
Free that fancy blade from the scabbard 'n lemme see it go schwing… just one look, and I'll let ya swing this here Tiantui Star's Blade 'o mine a couple times. How 'bout it? |
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Yoshihide |
……. |
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Yoshihide |
You think I'll trust a word from you ever again? |
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Lei Heng |
……. |
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Lei Heng |
Hwell, butter my butt 'n call me a biscuit! |
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Lei Heng |
Ain't fallin' for it twice, huh. Figured you'd forgotten all them memories like ol' peanut shells. |
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Rien |
……. |
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Lei Heng |
Hwell, that's the way the cookie crumbles, ain't it? |
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Lei Heng |
Just wanted to get a peek while we trained—didn't know the kiddo's mind would fly every which way. |
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Rien |
You could've tried to come up with a better excuse than "I didn't know." |
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Rien |
Looks like… we'll have to put a lock on that scabbard from now on so it only opens with the collective permission of all five Nursefathers. |
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Rien |
……. |
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Rien |
Ah, come to think of it… It's already been 3 years since you started coming here, hasn't it? |
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Lei Heng |
3 years? Been more like 5— |
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Lei Heng |
Hah! Ain't you one smooth motherfucker? Nearly took that as you bein' kind and checkin' in on how I'm doin'. Listen, my poor ol' heart can't handle hearin' that beepin' no more. |
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Lei Heng |
Always gets me thinkin' maybe it's a Prescript tellin' ya to crack my head open like a watermelon. |
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Rien |
Of course not. And even if I did want to split your head open like a watermelon… I'd need to take a chance for the right weapon to come out, or… |
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Lei Heng |
Yeah yeah, my bad fer even tryna quip with ya. |
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Yoshihide |
Dad… |
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Yoshihide |
Saru… Saru's wheezing… like the air's leaking… out of her… |
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Rien |
I see you've regressed to that moment. |
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Rien |
Don't worry. Saru… |
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Rien |
Saru is resting peacefully in your hands. |
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Yoshihide |
Okay… |
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Yoshihide |
I don't want any part in whatever it is any of you "tutors" are scheming. |
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Yoshihide |
I'll never draw my sword just to satisfy that cheap curiosity of yours, |
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Yoshihide |
so give up, shut up, and… |
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Araya |
Mommy! Guess what I learned at school today…! |
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Yoshihide |
Get inside. |
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Lei Heng |
Hwell now, who's this little tot? |
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Araya |
H-hello! My name is Araya, and there's this letter I learned at school today, and— |
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Yoshihide |
I said get inside, Araya. |
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Lei Heng |
Awright, sugar. Ya run along and play now, hear? |
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Araya |
Ookay… |
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Lei Heng |
Aw fiddlesticks, now that really hurts a man's heart. Coulda at least let the kid say hi to Uncle Lei Heng. |
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Yoshihide |
I told you to fuck off. |
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Lei Heng |
So that peanut's yer leash, huh. |
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Yoshihide |
What? |
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Lei Heng |
Figured as much—yer holdin' on tight to that kid. |
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Lei Heng |
Them Spider fellers sure are sharp as a tack. |
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Yoshihide |
Is this just more of your horseshit… |
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Yoshihide |
… or can you back it up? |
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Lei Heng |
… Ain't that a fine mouth you got talkin' to yer teacher. |
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Lei Heng |
Eh, what's it matter, anyway—I already kicked the bucket. |
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Lei Heng |
But them lessons I taught ya, those were real, y'hear? |
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Yoshihide |
……. |
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Lei Heng |
You still followin' that thread tied to ya? |
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Lei Heng |
Hang onto it tight like yer life depends on it, Kiddo. I ain't helpin' if ya lose yer way. |
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Araya |
That's not it. |
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Araya |
That's not how you shorten it! |
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Yoshihide |
W.I.? |
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Araya |
What? |
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Yoshihide |
It means "What do you mean It's not?". |
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Araya |
Nooo… |
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Araya |
You're doing it wrong, Mommy! |
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Araya |
Just follow after me. |
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Araya |
Mommy, ILY so much! |
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Yoshihide |
……. |
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Araya |
… You didn't get it, did you? |
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Yoshihide |
Nope. |
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Yoshihide |
Have some watermelon, Araya. |
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Araya |
You're supposed to say HSWA! Hmm, that doesn't work. |
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Araya |
Mmhmm. Anyway… |
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Araya |
Let's try again later. |
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Araya |
It's pretty, right, Mommy? |
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Yoshihide |
Yeah. |
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Yoshihide |
M. thinks it's P. |
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Araya |
Wrong again…! |
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Yoshihide |
Heh… |
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Lei Heng |
So that peanut's yer leash, huh. |
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Callisto |
Dearest Yoshihide, that blade… |
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Callisto |
Must never be drawn on a whim. |
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Callisto |
Soon, I will forge another sword meant only for you… So you may keep it with you at all times. |
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Yoshihide |
Can't you draw the blade, Dad? |
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Callisto |
No, I cannot. |
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Callisto |
None among the Nursefathers can draw that blade… save for one. |
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Callisto |
On top of that… only you can wield it in all its proper might, Yoshihide. |
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Rien |
The name of that sword is Arayashiki. |
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Rien |
It's one of the rarest Relics in existence, a pinnacle of its kind. |
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Rien |
It is a blade that cuts through all… |
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Rien |
… and whatever it cuts can never be made whole again. |
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Rien |
In return, however, it cuts your mind as well every time you use it. |
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Rien |
The cuts are so precise and smooth that you won't even notice which memories have been severed away. |
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Rien |
That's why we—well, the House of Spiders is going to decide when and where you may unsheathe that sword. And we will do so with absolute caution. |
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Araya |
It was just last week… We went out together and tried that new, weird snack for the first time! |
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Yoshihide |
……. |
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Araya |
Ugh, why can't you remember? |
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Araya |
You said they were too sweet but ate, like, 5 of them! I only got to eat 3! |
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Yoshihide |
Araya. |
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Yoshihide |
What do you want to be… when you grow up? |
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Araya |
Hmm… When I grow up, Mommy… |
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Araya |
I wanna be… |
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Rien |
We have decided unanimously to commence the mission. |
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Rien |
You must draw the sword. |
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Rien |
Aren't you going to ask me the questions today? |
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Yoshihide |
… What questions? |
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Rien |
You always ask the same thing during these missions. |
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Rien |
Will it ever end? Is there even an end? And if there is one… |
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Rien |
… what will it look like? |
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Yoshihide |
Did I really say all that? |
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Rien |
They say children start to talk less and grow distant from their parents when puberty hits. |
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Rien |
Is it finally happening to you too? |
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Yoshihide |
Hah… Every time I use this sword, a part of me gets sliced away. |
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Yoshihide |
What makes you think my memories'll be fine? |
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Rien |
……. |
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Yoshihide |
What, did that stupid pager beep you to shut up when I ask you difficult questions? |
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Rien |
You've gotten a bit snappy, sweetie. |
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Rien |
Imagine how hurtful it'd be if your daughter started talking like that to you someday. |
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Yoshihide |
Don't bring Araya into this. |
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Yoshihide |
Araya. |
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Araya |
……. |
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Araya |
Mommy… you always make scary faces when you take that sword… |
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Yoshihide |
Come here. |
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Yoshihide |
Wait in here for a bit. |
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Araya |
Mommy? |
 | ||
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Yoshihide |
It'll be… |
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Yoshihide |
It'll be quiet and dark, but… when you're in here, everything passes quickly. |
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Yoshihide |
Mommy… used to hide here all the time. |
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Yoshihide |
So stay in here and wait for me, Araya. |
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Yoshihide |
I promise I'll come back for you. |
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Araya |
Mhm! I'll be fine. I'll be waiting for you here, Mommy! |
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Valencina |
Tell me. Why are you trying to leave? |
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Valencina |
Ha. You know what? Be like that. Keep mum and brood in silence all you want. |
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Valencina |
That brat you call your daughter… I'll find that little bundle of liability… and I'll split her in half. |
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Valencina |
My eye…! No!!!!! |
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Yoshihide |
Eyeball, cut. |
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Matthias |
Were ya mad at Daddy for something, Buddy…? |
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Callisto |
Aah! Please stop this vandalism, Yoshihide. For over 10 years, I have assembled this magnum opus, only for your pleasure… |
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Yoshihide |
S.T.F.U. |
 | ||
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Rien |
Sweetheart. |
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Rien |
You've hurt me enough. I'm in a lot of pain. |
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Rien |
Stop swinging that sword at me. |
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Rien |
You've still got one more of us to go through, don't you? |
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Yoshihide |
……. |
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Dihui Star |
… Canno- be f-ee -rom -ere… wi-hou-… |
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Dihui Star |
… wi-hou- -evering… -he spi-er's --read… |
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Yoshihide |
… No… |
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Dihui Star |
Guh…! |
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Yoshihide |
Araya… |
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9-48: Temporal Entanglement
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
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OUTIS |
… ger. |
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|
OUTIS |
Executive Manager. |
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DANTE |
<… I'm listening.> |
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OUTIS |
Ryōshū has begun engaging the Nursefather. |
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OUTIS |
With our current manpower… breaking through the situation is going to be difficult. Your orders, Executive Manager? |
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DANTE |
<Not yet.> |
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OUTIS |
… I take it the situation is not favorable. |
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DANTE |
<Yeah… it looks like… we're going to have to do this on our own.> |
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OUTIS |
Hah… I, Outis, never intended to showcase my competence to this extent, but very well. |
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MEURSAULT |
There shouldn't be any issues. I merely follow the manager's orders. |
 | ||
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RYŌSHŪ |
Wait…! |
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RYŌSHŪ |
I… I know for certain, I'd sta— |
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Dihui Star |
I… |
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Dihui Star |
I had grown so sick… of this place. |
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RYŌSHŪ |
I know. |
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RYŌSHŪ |
You always said it was my fault that you were fettered to the House of Spiders. |
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Dihui Star |
What, are you saying it's not? |
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RYŌSHŪ |
I was the one who was being raised in this suffocating house. If anyone has the right to be resentful, it's me. |
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Dihui Star |
But you left! You freed yourself anyway! |
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Dihui Star |
You stepped out to the ground outside… and traveled to see the sky. The real sky. |
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RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
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RYŌSHŪ |
I already cut you down with this sword back then. |
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RYŌSHŪ |
So how come… you're still alive? |
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Dihui Star |
Are you sure? Did you make sure to pierce the sword clean through the heart? |
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Dihui Star |
Do you even have a single clear memory you can recall for certain? |
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Dihui Star |
If the memories themselves are gone, and all that's left is the feeling that you once had something to cherish… |
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Dihui Star |
How true could that feeling be? |
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Dihui Star |
Once something cannot be remembered anymore, its time is as good as lost. |
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Dihui Star |
Both the City and this house have become places where not a single soul has the heart to remember the child. |
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Dihui Star |
And that's how our story ends. |
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RYŌSHŪ |
Maybe for me—but not for Araya. |
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RYŌSHŪ |
She's still… |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… waiting for me. |
| [The Dihui Star's entanglement effect increases as she transforms into another version of herself.] | ||
 |
Dihui Star |
Araya is waiting for no one! |
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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RYŌSHŪ |
… Shut up. | |
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RYŌSHŪ |
Stop talking… | |
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Dihui Star |
Your daughter has left you forever! | |
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Dihui Star |
Just as you did! | |
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Araya |
Mhm! I'll be fine. I'll be waiting for you here, Mommy! | |
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RYŌSHŪ |
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RYŌSHŪ |
Left…? Never! | |
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Dihui Star |
……. | |
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Dihui Star |
Which memory… did you carve away this time? | |
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RYŌSHŪ |
……. | |
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Yoshihide |
Hide in this box for just a little bit. | |
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Yoshihide |
Once you get in, close your eyes… and count. | |
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Yoshihide |
It'll be… | |
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Yoshihide |
It'll be quiet and dark, but… when you're in here, everything passes quickly. | |
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Araya |
How do you know? | |
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Yoshihide |
Mommy… used to hide here all the time. | |
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Yoshihide |
So stay in here and wait for me, Araya. | |
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Yoshihide |
I promise I'll come back for you. | |
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Araya |
Mhm! I'll be fine. I'll be waiting for you here, Mommy! | |
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Araya |
Once Mommy comes back… | |
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Araya |
We're going somewhere the stars are so close it looks like you can touch 'em! | |
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Araya |
I'll pack us lunches… and cut the sausage into octopus shapes. | |
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Araya |
And when I'm done waiting, Mommy will show up and tell me I did good. | |
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Araya |
She'll say, "I knew Araya'd be good at hiding." | |
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Araya |
And then, after a little more time… | |
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Araya |
I'll wear a big flower, bigger than a watermelon… for my graduation. | |
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Araya |
I'll take it off after… and give it to Mommy. | |
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Araya |
She'll look good with hydrangeas 'cause they look just like me. | |
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Araya |
And then… I'll learn even more letters. | |
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Araya |
I've got to teach her all the new slang too. | |
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Araya |
And then, and then… | |
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Araya |
And then we'll climb to a real rooftop and feel the real wind and eat cold watermelon together. | |
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Araya |
……. | |
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??? |
……. | |
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Rien |
Oh, dear… | |
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Rien |
You've fallen into a Temporal Entanglement, Araya. | |
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Rien |
From the looks of it, my darling daughter must've stepped into this vault countless times. | |
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Rien |
Her blood, you see… interacts uniquely with the flow of time. That's what allowed her to step in here unharmed. | |
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Rien |
You, too, were born with Yoshihide's blood because the higher-ups of the Thumb wished for another candidate with an innate aptitude to wield Arayashiki, however… | |
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Rien |
The fact is it's simply impossible for you to ever match my Yoshihide's aptitude for it. | |
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Rien |
Blood—yes, blood is important, but it's only the first and most basic requirement. What really counts is how you sense time. | |
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Rien |
The way that child perceives and observes time—the intuition, the balance, the perspective—isn't something that can be imitated. | |
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Rien |
Well, thanks to that shared blood, you somehow managed to hold out against time and even read it… | |
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Rien |
But that's also exactly what made a mess of the time you were supposed to bear inside this Time Vault. | |
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Araya |
……. | |
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Rien |
I have no idea what kind of emotion drove you to push that door open… | |
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Rien |
But we will be reunited with Yoshihide again, without fail. | |
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Rien |
Because as long as that child remains incomplete, the House of Spiders… will endure. | |
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Rien |
And it just so happens, there's a vacancy in the House. Perhaps your aptitude will also be enough to seize the title of Dihui Star… | |
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Araya |
Is this my name? | |
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|
Yoshihide |
Yeah. A-ra-ya. That's how you read it. | |
|
|
Araya |
It's too hard to read… | |
|
|
Araya |
How do you write your name, Mommy? | |
|
|
Araya |
…! | |
|
|
Rien |
Hmm… | |
|
|
Rien |
The side effects must've kicked in. | |
|
|
Rien |
With all this unstable superposition of time, you're bound to experience them for life. | |
|
|
|||
|
|
Rien |
Closing your eyes… | |
|
|
Rien |
… won't stop the visions from flooding in. | |
|
|
Rien |
That's the nature of "time." It is inevitable. | |
|
|
|||
|
|
Araya |
If I become a Nursefather… will I see her again? | |
|
|
|||
|
|
Rien |
Of course. My sweet daughter will come home. | |
|
|
Araya |
Mommy, I learned something at school today… | |
|
|
Araya |
You're not supposed to smoke around kids. | |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Says who? | |
|
|
Araya |
The teacher. | |
|
|
Araya |
Cuz I'm still a growing kid, and we need to stay healthy… | |
|
|
Araya |
… but we can't do that if people around us keep smoking. | |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Why not? | |
|
|
Araya |
Well, because I'm in a growth period! If bad cells form in your body at a young age, teach said… the bad stuff grows faster? | |
|
|
Yoshihide |
"Grows faster"? Your teacher's a cocky douchebag. | |
|
|
Araya |
Mommy! Don't talk about my teacher like that…! | |
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
Araya |
*puff* | |
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
Araya |
Mommy! Where are you going?! | |
|
|
Araya |
Don't leave me here. Where are you going?! | |
|
|
Araya |
Where did you go?! | |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. | |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. | |
|
|
|||
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You… | |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… Crawling back to the House of Spiders… with that, huh? | |
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
 |
Araya |
Mommy… | |
|
|
Araya |
Can I call you… Mommy? | |
| [Horror fills Ryōshū's eyes as she realizes what she's done.] | |||
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. | |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Araya… | |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Araya…! | |
|
|
DANTE |
<Ryōshū.> | |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. | |
|
|
DANTE |
<…….> | |
|
|
DANTE |
<You're thinking about severing the chain.> | |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Clock. I… lost the one and only thread… that I was clinging to. | |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
What reason do I have… | |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
… to stay? | |
9-49: Non-self
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Rien |
At long last, the painting has begun! |
|
|
Rien |
That's my darling daughter. You have made your father proud. |
|
|
Rien |
Here it is… |
|
|
Rien |
The first stroke of the House of Spiders' masterpiece, its long-awaited pièce de résistance, has finally been painted. |
|
|
Rien |
Do you see it, Sora? |
|
|
Rien |
It's so very close to perfection. |
 |
Sora |
Mister Rien, th-then… is this my final test? |
|
|
Rien |
That's right. |
|
|
Sora |
Ah… |
|
|
Sora |
Mister Rien, i-if I can make it through this one too… |
|
|
Sora |
I might finally be given the honor of being y-your daughter, the Prescript said. |
|
|
Rien |
… Of course, Sora. |
|
|
Rien |
You've been working so very hard, after all. |
|
|
Sora |
I… I…! |
|
|
Sora |
I loved every s-single day I spent with you, Mister Rien. |
|
|
Rien |
I feel the same. |
|
|
Rien |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, but I can't imagine you have any reason to stay and watch. |
|
|
Rien |
Your Nursefather fulfilled her purpose remarkably. All you need to do is turn around and leave, and you'll be free. |
|
|
Ren |
My master has but completed the purpose you have chosen for her, and that has naught to do with my humble self. Why urge me to leave? |
|
|
Ren |
It is true I entered the tutelage of my master to inherit the title of Dihui Star… |
|
|
Ren |
Yet how could I leave when her lifebreath has not yet left her? |
|
|
Ren |
My insignificant self is not yet worthy to inherit the name of a star. Thus, I must bear my master away hence. |
|
|
Rien |
That has to be the most pointless thing to do in the world. Her heart was pierced by none other than that blade… She'll stop breathing soon. |
|
|
Rien |
Can't you tell just by looking at my daughter's face? |
|
|
Ryōshū |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
It's too late. |
|
|
Ren |
……. |
|
|
Ren |
… Rare is the opportunity to cross blades with a wielder of Muga—the non-self—who has also reached the realm of Ashura. |
|
|
Ren |
I shall fell her here and depart with my master. |
|
|
OUTIS |
… How should we proceed now, Executive Manager? |
|
|
OUTIS |
If it is as you say, then… she's no longer… |
|
|
DANTE |
<… No. Ryōshū severed the chain without permission.> |
|
|
DANTE |
<Remember what Vergilius always says? Once you sign the contract, you don't get to quit the company so easily.> |
|
|
MEURSAULT |
Mm. |
|
|
MEURSAULT |
… What is broken is only the pact forged with the Manager. The clauses of her contract with Limbus Company remain in effect. |
|
|
DANTE |
<We're helping Ryōshū.> |
|
|
OUTIS |
……. |
|
|
DANTE |
<She may choose to quit in the end,> |
|
|
DANTE |
<but at least let's see her off properly.> |
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Rien |
Now, let me ask you something… do any of you remember who you just fought? |
|
|
Rien |
They've both become so faint to me that I can't even recall their names. This can only mean… that her completion is within reach. |
|
|
Rien |
All that's left is to wait. |
|
|
DANTE |
<… My memory's fine.> |
|
|
DANTE |
<I still remember their names too. Sora and Ren.> |
|
|
OUTIS |
Comparing your perception with mine… I can tell that this is no mere memory wipe procedure, Executive Manager. |
|
|
OUTIS |
What the House of Spiders sought to shape Ryōshū into… |
|
|
OUTIS |
… seems to be some sort of Concept Incinerator. |
|
|
Rien |
As you may well know, in the City… |
|
|
Rien |
… getting rid of anything is quite a pain. |
|
|
Rien |
Tear a piece of napkin into pieces, burn it, swallow it, destroy every evidence of its existence… |
|
|
Rien |
But if there is even one person left to remember that it once existed, then there is also a way to dig up whatever's left of it. |
|
|
MEURSAULT |
If concepts can be destroyed with a simple slash of the sword… it would indeed be a technology of an unprecedented convenience. |
|
|
Rien |
A pit that forever buries all that enters it… |
|
|
Rien |
… has long been a thing of dreams for many in the City. |
|
|
Rien |
That's the reason the House of Spiders has come into being to serve. |
|
|
Rien |
A joint enterprise of the Five Fingers… with the Thumb, the Index, the Middle, the Ring, and the Pinky as the stakeholders. |
|
|
Rien |
Everything they wish to "forget" can simply be thrown into this pit—to the House of Spiders, located in the heart of the abyss. |
|
|
Rien |
Call it a landfill. A bottomless well where secrets can sink for all eternity. A grave where cherry blossoms bury the incidents beyond the veil of oblivion. |
|
|
Rien |
People can simply cast whatever ugly secret they want buried, whatever they'd rather forget in here, and it will never resurface—nor can it be made to resurface. |
|
|
Rien |
The Nursefathers who have died, those who survived, and the rest of you who've made it all the way here… Marvelous job, everyone. |
|
|
Rien |
The objective was to elevate my darling daughter into a state of complete emptiness… and to accomplish that, we had to forge a fetter; for fetters inevitably invite nihility. |
|
|
Rien |
Now, the crevice of that void… will be filled with loneliness… and transform into a veritable hell of blades that slashes away at the world until nothing of it remains. |
|
|
Rien |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
I always told her to quit smoking, you know… but she never listened. |
|
|
Rien |
Perhaps my darling daughter has always recognized the aesthetics of beauty, captured within that one last drag of the cigarette. |
|
|
Rien |
How beautiful that lone ember is—consuming its own being, cutting itself loose, releasing a speck of light as it fades in self-immolation. |
|
|
??? |
Hey, um… |
|
|
DANTE |
<…?> |
|
|
Araya |
Have you ever seen a ball of yarn? |
|
|
Araya |
The one with the two ends of the same thread touching each other. |
|
|
DANTE |
<Araya…?> |
|
|
OUTIS |
… She talked to you, Executive Manager? |
|
|
OUTIS |
I'm afraid I didn't hear a thing. I was on high alert, entirely focused on watching the Index Nursefather and Ryōshū. It's possible I simply missed it due to the heat of the moment. |
|
|
MEURSAULT |
Mm… I saw her clinging weakly to the Manager's ankle in a near-death state. The Manager did not make a single ticking sound, and… |
| [Different versions of Araya from different times crackle in and out of reality.] | ||
 |
Araya |
The more Mom tried to sever away all the threads, the more my yarn puffed up. |
|
|
DANTE |
<Ryōshū… What's happening to Ryōshū?> |
|
|
Araya |
……. |
|
|
Araya |
Among the days I had spent with my mother… |
|
|
Araya |
… is a day when we went to get a snack called dragon's beard candy. |
|
|
Araya |
First, it started off as a single strand of thread, which split into 2, then 4, then 16… |
|
|
Araya |
Until it became a roll of tens of thousands of sugary strings. |
|
|
Araya |
Mom and I watched it together. |
|
|
Araya |
And I'm watching it, even now. |
 |
Araya |
See? I was right. Mommy had three more pieces than me. |
|
|
Araya |
And… |
|
|
Araya |
Those threads she's cutting off now… may appear severed… |
|
|
Araya |
But that's not what it looks like to me. They're only getting longer and longer and silkier and silkier, like that candy. |
|
|
Araya |
Slashing away at the threads won't sever it. |
|
|
Araya |
Mother and I are tied together on every path. I see it now. |
|
|
Araya |
I can also see her whitened knuckles gripping tightly onto the thread, refusing to ever let go. |
|
|
Araya |
How could one bear witness to those layers upon layers of time… and dismiss them as mere "fleeting" moments? |
|
|
Araya |
That's why… |
|
|
Araya |
I'm gonna tell her. |
|
|
Araya |
I'm gonna tell her, "Thanks for coming to find me!" |
|
|
DANTE |
<…….> |
 | ||
| [Golden Bough Resonance - Ira.] | ||
| [Red chains and flames alike border the edge of the screen.] | ||
|
|
DANTE |
<The resolve to sever everything, and the blade that cuts through all…> |
|
|
DANTE |
<They both started from the same wish—the wish to protect.> |
|
|
DANTE |
<Take this chain and let it guide your way.> |
|
|
DANTE |
<Go and tell her.> |
|
|
DANTE |
<Tell her everything you never got to say.> |
|
|
Araya |
… This thread just might work. |
 | ||
 | ||
|
|
Araya |
I gotta go now. Mommy's waiting for me! |
 | ||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
 | ||
|
|
Araya |
Mommy, |
|
|
Araya |
in the heart of every moment, |
|
|
Araya |
I hear you-mom-her-mother-Ryōshū. |
| [The voices of every version of Araya overlap as they address Ryōshū.] | ||
 | ||
|
|
Araya |
Dear lost child of mine, should the way back home elude you… |
|
|
Araya |
… why don't we follow the thread back to the very first knot that hurt the most? |
| ||
|
|
Araya |
So how do you write your name, Mommy? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Go on, read it. |
|
|
Araya |
Uh… Ryō… shū…? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
No… That's not how you read those letters… |
|
|
Yoshihide |
"Yoshihide." That's how you say it. |
|
|
Araya |
Ryō-shū! It's prettier and easier! |
 | ||
|
|
Araya |
Mommy, you wouldn't know this, but… |
|
|
Araya |
You never once let go of me, no matter which strand of thread I peered into. |
|
|
Araya |
That's how I know the ends and the beginnings of all of our journeys. |
| [Araya holds tightly onto Ryōshū, even as the whirlwind of slashes begins to erase her form.] | ||
| [A QTE: drag along the length of Ryōshū's blade.] | ||
| [A white scabbard wrapped in red thread forms over Arayashiki. The engraved words 三生縁分 三千世界 三世因果 glow brightly.] | ||
| ||
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Can you read the letters properly now? |
|
|
Araya |
Mmhmm! Ya bet! |
|
|
Araya |
But, you know… |
|
|
Araya |
I still like Ryō-shū more! |
 | ||
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I'm sorry, Araya. |
|
|
Araya |
That's ok. |
|
|
Araya |
I… I'm glad I was your daughter. Because… |
|
|
Araya |
I got to do everything I wanted to… together with you. |
|
|
Araya |
There was this day I totally flubbed my guitar performance, but you were there in the front row, clapping louder than anyone… |
|
|
Araya |
And the sausages in the lunchbox didn't look like octopus at all, but they were still really yummy. |
|
|
Araya |
From the moment I saw you again, all I really felt… |
|
|
Araya |
… was how much I missed you. |
| [The storm ceases. Ryōshū is left holding a sheathed Arayashiki.] | ||
|
|
Yoshihide |
Araya. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
What do you want to be… when you grow up? |
|
|
Araya |
When I grow up, Mommy… |
|
|
Araya |
I wanna be Mommy's Mommy. |
|
|
Araya |
Because then, it'll be my turn to give you lots and lots of love! |
|
|
Yoshihide |
……. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
I see. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Not pity… but love. |
|
|
Araya |
Mommy, I learned something new at school today. |
|
|
Araya |
Just follow after me. |
|
|
Araya |
Mommy, ILY so much! |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
……. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
Araya. |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
I.L.Y.T. |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
9-50: The Spider's Thread
Pre-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
|
|
Rien |
Sweetie. |
|
|
Rien |
Subjectively speaking, let me say that you are far more beautiful now than you were earlier. But… |
|
|
Rien |
… do you have any idea what you just lost… What you just let go? |
|
|
Ryōshū |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
You sent away the most precious thing in the world with your own hands. |
|
|
Rien |
Everything that made up that child… has now been cut away because of you. |
|
|
Rien |
What you returned here for, what you wished to protect, what you longed to meet again… |
|
|
Rien |
All of it is gone now. You have nothing left. |
|
|
Rien |
We on the outside, we still remember… But ironically, it was within yourself that it all passed into oblivion. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
Right. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
I've lost… everything. |
|
|
DANTE |
<That's not true, Ryōshū.> |
|
|
DANTE |
<You're still holding it in your hand.> |
| ||
|
|
Ryōshū |
… The more you treasure something, |
|
|
Ryōshū |
the less of it you ought to keep—just enough to fit within your hands. |
|
|
Rien |
……. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
Rien, you of all people… |
|
|
Ryōshū |
You always knew what I was gonna become, didn't you? |
|
|
Rien |
… Yes. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
And had I reached completion… |
|
|
Ryōshū |
What would you have had left? |
|
|
Rien |
… Who knows. |
|
|
Rien |
Only Hermes, who deigns to grace me with the whispers, would know the answer to that. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
… Is there even a single thing about you… |
|
|
Ryōshū |
… that doesn't come from the Prescripts? |
|
|
Rien |
Hmm… now that you mention it, sweetie… |
|
|
Rien |
I suppose there really isn't. |
|
|
Rien |
One day, the Prescript told me to change my name, |
|
|
Rien |
so I made a new one. |
|
|
Rien |
One day, the Prescript told me to start a family, |
|
|
Rien |
so I got married and raised a child. |
|
|
Rien |
Then another day, the Prescript told me that someone would be killed right before my eyes, and that I was to do nothing but watch it happen. |
|
|
Rien |
And so, I waited… without lifting a finger. |
|
|
Rien |
Even in their final moments, my wife and child never understood why I simply watched it happen to them. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
And you just… accepted that? |
|
|
Rien |
Hmm… Do you think I shouldn't have? |
|
|
Rien |
Darling, remember that story about a spider that wanted to leave its web? |
|
|
Rien |
Unsatisfied with merely gazing upon the sky, it wished to be free of its webs. |
|
|
Rien |
Seeing that, a long-lived chrysalis, who was as wise as it was old, told the Spider…. |
|
|
Rien |
… to circle its web 3,000 times. If nothing changes, another 3,000 times. Another set should nothing change still. |
|
|
Rien |
Round and round, the hopeful spider circled its web more times than it could count, yet even after thousands of repetitions… all it saw was the same old web. |
|
|
Rien |
The spider, full of despair, went to confront the chrysalis, who had now metamorphosed into a butterfly. "I have circled my web countless times," it said. "Why hasn't anything changed?" |
|
|
Rien |
Flying off into the distance, the butterfly answered: |
|
|
Rien |
"Resign yourself to the fact that you are forever bound to the web, and close your heart to the beautiful sky above until it ceases to stir any feelings in you." |
|
|
Rien |
"That is the only way to be truly free of the web." |
|
|
Rien |
My darling daughter, you'll end up losing everything if you let yourself be shackled by what gives you these feelings—happiness, wrath, sorrow, joy… Because once you get a taste of them, you'll learn the truth that to live is to suffer. |
|
|
Rien |
That is why I must remain in the House of Spiders. |
Mid-battle 1
Played when the battle starts.
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [The sound of a device beeping. Rien puts on his white gloves.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
… If I let you go here, you will never come home again. |
|
|
Rien |
I could force you to stay, but I'd get nothing out of it. |
|
|
Rien |
But that's still better than letting this empty regret burrow through the heart, isn't it? |
| [Blood pours from under Rien's mask, which leads to him pressing it with his hand. It smokes in response.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
……. |
| [Rien takes out his device and observes the Prescript.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
Hah. Alright. Let's get started. |
Mid-battle 2
Played upon Rien reaching 55% HP.
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Rien |
There was no reason to… treat this wound. |
|
|
Rien |
It was sure to burn again once you returned home anyway… |
|
|
Rien |
May as well get used to it, right? |
|
|
RYŌSHŪ |
You talk… as if I'm gonna choose to stay. |
| [Rien's device beeps. He takes it out of his pocket and observes the Prescript.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
……. |
| [Rien takes off his mask, which falls to the floor with a clink. The fuming, bleeding wound is revealed beneath.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
Sweetie, all would be well if you'd just stay. The House of Spiders doesn't have to disappear. |
|
|
Rien |
So please… don't leave. |
| [Rien turns off the device.] | ||
Post-battle
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| [As the battle draws to a close, Ryōshū uses her Forest for the Flames E.G.O. The new scabbard with its writing glows in the dark.] | ||
| [A QTE: Drag to unsheathe Ryōshū's sword.] | ||
| [With one final slash, she ends the fight against Rien.] | ||
| ||
|
|
!@#*%$ |
Dad, why do sea waves keep crying? |
|
|
Rien |
Because they're sad that they're knocking over the sand castles. |
|
|
!@#*%$ |
Then they should just not knock them over. |
|
|
Rien |
Waves move with the winds. When the wind blows, the high and low tides can't help but knock down everything in their path. |
|
|
!@#*%$ |
Then why not just… push back when the wind blows? |
|
|
Rien |
Think about it this way, darling. |
|
|
Rien |
The waves… built those sand castles only because the wind pulled them in. |
|
|
Rien |
And now, the wind is pushing them to bring the castles down. |
|
|
Rien |
So the waves really have no reason to feel sad. |
|
|
!@#*%$ |
Then, Dad… |
|
|
!@#*%$ |
… when will they be happy? |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… when will they be happy? |
|
|
Rien |
……. |
|
|
Rien |
Well… Let's take our time finding that out, shall we? |
|
|
Rien |
We can save the ending… for later. |
|
|
Rien |
We'll read all these endings together once you grow up and become as old as Daddy. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
… Okay. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Then you gotta read to me every day. |
|
|
Yoshihide |
Pinky promise! |
| [With one final slash, she ends the fight against Rien.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
… I hear the waves. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
… How do they sound? |
|
|
Rien |
… ly. |
|
|
Rien |
They sound lonely. |
9-51: Causality that Threads the Past, the Present, and the Future
| Speaker | Dialogue | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| ||
| ||
|
|
Ryōshū |
*puff* |
|
|
DANTE |
<Looks like… we managed to safely retrieve the Golden Boughs once again.> |
|
|
Ryōshū |
Right. |
|
|
DANTE |
<How do you feel about it, Ryōshū?> |
|
|
Ryōshū |
……. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
Well, at least it wasn't SAD. … I mean, it was alright, NGL. |
|
|
SINCLAIR |
Oh, you mean it wasn't Such A Disappoin—huh? |
|
|
SINCLAIR |
Whoa, Ryōshū! I've heard the other one before, ha ha. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
……. |
|
|
Ryōshū |
This is B.A.H. |
|
|
SINCLAIR |
Seriously? |
|
|
Ryōshū |
Yeah, that's better. I'll switch back. |
|
|
SINCLAIR |
Do you hate compliments or something? Oh, don't tell me. You're not switching back because I liked it, are you? Are you? |
|
|
FAUST |
"Entanglement"… |
|
|
FAUST |
… is a connection that transcends space, distance, and any attempt at conceptualization. |
|
|
FAUST |
Thus, so long as one half of the connection exists, nothing, probabilistically, can be said to have entered a state of complete decay. |
|
|
FAUST |
As long as its trace wanders the City, it will eventually… |
|
|
FAUST |
Resurface. |
|
|
DANTE |
<Does that mean…> |
|
|
FAUST |
Yes. So long as the scabbard remains in existence… |
|
|
DANTE |
<And as long as the Bus keeps moving…> |
| ||
|
| ||
 | ||
| [Black screen.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
Yoshi… hide… You've finally learned… how to wield Arayashiki… |
|
|
Rien |
And by learning to wield that Relic… you've just made yourself the most important sword to the Fingers… at the next Finger Bow-bell… |
|
|
Rien |
… The home that can protect you… is gone now. |
|
|
Rien |
So… take care, sweetheart. |
| ||
|
|
Rien |
……. |
 |
Proxy |
Rien… |
|
|
Proxy |
Killing me won't be the end of it… |
|
|
Proxy |
The Proxies… will never stop hunting you down. |
|
|
Proxy |
Lurking in the muck of this reeking cesspit… won't keep you hidden forever… |
|
|
Rien |
Haah… *cough* *cough* |
| [Fade to black.] | ||
|
|
Rien |
Oh, dear… I'll need to… dye my hair again. |
| ||
|
|
Rien |
… I'm supposed to recite this? |
|
|
Rien |
"I have nothing but my sorrow, and I want…" |
|
|
Rien |
Hah… This is tiresome. |
| ||
|
|
Rien |
Ha… |
|
|
Rien |
Haha… |
| ||
|
|
Rien |
Hahahahaha!! |
| ||
|
|
Rien |
Sweetheart… Looks like… |
|
|
Rien |
You forgot… |
| ||
|
|
Rien |
… to unfreeze me. |
| [Rien drives the spork into his head.] | ||
| ||
|
|
Rational and Brilliant Faust |
… It has been some time since one such means of oral communication was engaged. |
|
|
Unbending, Proactive and Resourceful Faust |
This macabre atmosphere… It seems the congregation this time is in the form of levitating stones. A fitting representation for the discussion of serious agenda… However, there are no subjects that rise to such gravity at present. |
|
|
August and Dignified Faust |
Which Faust is the audacious Faust that dared to force-convene a "Classical Walpurgisnacht" at such a busy moment as this? |
|
|
Lovely and Guileful Faust |
It is unimaginable that such an ignorant and tactless Faust should exist among Fausts… save for "Naive Faust." |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
……. |
|
|
Lovely and Guileful Faust |
Oh, my. It really was her. |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
Yes. This meeting has been convened by Naive Faust. There is a question that begs the answer of Administrator Fausts of the Gesellschaft management. |
|
|
Rational and Brilliant Faust |
Rational and Brilliant Faust knows what it is that Naive Faust seeks to ask… |
|
|
Rational and Brilliant Faust |
… as well as the fact that there is no real need for the query concerned to be set forth. |
|
|
Astute and Intelligent Faust |
*sigh* How long must Faust spoon-feed Naive Faust? |
|
|
August and Dignified Faust |
Let it be heard, at the very least. |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
……. |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
The attempt to review information on the recent incident at the House of Spiders was met with denials of access at multiple turns. |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
Requesting access to intelligence on the individual who has deliberately compromised the security of Limbus Company's HQ. |
|
|
Astute and Intelligent Faust |
Could Naive Faust not even manage to answer such a trivial query herself? Must Astute and Intelligent Faust provide every single piece of information? |
|
|
August and Dignified Faust |
There is no obligation to disclose more information to a Faust of such inferior access rights. |
|
|
Unbending, Proactive and Resourceful Faust |
Surely Naive Faust has not forgotten how access rights work? |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
Reviewing Gesellschaft's information requires access rights that are several tiers higher, yes. |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
What I mea—what Faust means to say is… |
|
|
Rational and Brilliant Faust |
A thoroughly intentional slip of the tongue. To refer to Faust in the first-person is strictly prohibited. |
|
|
Lovely and Guileful Faust |
Naive Faust has long been known to show… quite a precarious side. |
|
|
August and Dignified Faust |
Hmm. Does Naive Faust wish to join the ranks of dead Fausts? |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
*sigh* Of course not. Faust does not wish to join the ranks of dead Fausts. Faust is simply curious. |
|
|
Unbending, Proactive and Resourceful Faust |
There is no information to be granted to Naive Faust, who time and again has attempted to leech off the Gesellschaft. |
|
|
Lovely and Guileful Faust |
Lovely and Guileful Faust can offer an answer. In return, however, Naive Faust must consent to have her title changed. Is this acceptable? |
|
|
Naive Faust? |
… It is accepted. |
|
|
Lovely and Guileful Faust |
The answer is Dias, the Chief Executive Director of Limbus Company, Stupid Faust. |
|
|
Stupid Faust? |
… The sharing of information is appreciated. |
|
|
Astute and Intelligent Faust |
To think that Stupid Faust would go so far as to convene a Classical Walpurgisnacht for a query that requires only the least effort of deductive reasoning. |
|
|
Astute and Intelligent Faust |
The new title could not be more appropriate for Stupid Faust. |
|
|
Stupid Faust? |
……. |
|
|
Lovely and Guileful Faust |
Could it be that Stupid Faust is indignant? *chuckle* She seems to be expressing displeasure by means of silence. |
|
|
August and Dignified Faust |
Such is the price for requesting so much information as a Faust of a non-administrative role. |
|
|
Stupid Faust? |
In that case, if Faust were to— |
|
|
Rational and Brilliant Faust |
No need to build on impossible hypotheticals. |
|
|
Rational and Brilliant Faust |
Although it is a fact that Stupid Faust has retrieved the most Golden Boughs, she cannot be reinstated as an administrator Faust. |
|
|
Unbending, Proactive and Resourceful Faust |
Still, if Stupid Faust were to plant the sapling and harvest an apple from it… who knows? She might have a chance of becoming an administrator again. |
|
|
Lovely and Guileful Faust |
*scoff* Can Stupid Faust even accomplish such a feat? It sounds improbable… What does Stupid Faust think? |
|
|
Stupid Faust? |
That's… |
|
|
August and Dignified Faust |
Enough. The time and floor granted to Stupid Faust have come to a close. Stupid Faust shall be dismissed from the Gesellschaft Forum forthwith. |
|
|
Unbending, Proactive and Resourceful Faust |
The Classical Walpurgisnacht is thus forcibly adjourned. |
| ||
 |
Nelly |
Madam Director. I have some updates to report on Limbus Company. |
 |
Hermann |
Do tell. |
|
|
Nelly |
First, Limbus Company's Golden Bough grafting experiments have finally succeeded. Only five more Boughs left to be retrieved, and… |
|
|
Hermann |
And the sapling will be planted. It won't be long now. |
|
|
Nelly |
Next, the LCB's 11th Sinner—Sinclair's "Sign"… has completely awakened, though only for a moment. |
 |
Sonya |
That's interesting indeed. I thought it'd take a few more years. |
|
|
Sonya |
Did all three strokes manifest? |
|
|
Nelly |
The Signs aren't visible to me, so I cannot say with much certainty… But I don't believe he has. It was most likely just a… short-lived awakening. |
|
|
Hermann |
They say an accomplished butler's resourcefulness rivals that of a Fixer in Seven Association's Section 1… The speed and accuracy of your information-gathering is indeed commendable. Anything else I should be aware of? |
|
|
Nelly |
Yes. Lastly… Your son's royal-blood gene factor has also awakened. |
 |
Gubo |
The "factor," huh… Does that mean your son has finally unwrapped what you gave him? |
|
|
Hermann |
No. |
|
|
Hermann |
The Roach Emperor is but another layer of wrappings, if a bit fancier than the others. |
|
|
Hermann |
He has yet to unwrap the valuable, precious gift I've given him. |
|
|
Hermann |
But it may not be long now. The real surprise gift will begin from the mistletoe that will bud from the sapling. |
 |
Aseah |
By the way, where's the captain? I haven't seen her around since H Corp. |
|
|
Nelly |
Ah, she should be whetting her harpoon for the Whale-hunting. She asked to call her and her crew only once the hunt begins. |
 |
Jia Huan |
Hah… How long will we be stuck in this pure-white building? |
|
|
Hermann |
… For now, we will focus on restoring the Xianhuang Worm and interpreting its interactions in this place. Although circumstances might change fast once the upcoming N Corp. board meeting concludes. |
|
|
Hermann |
Speaking of, Sonya… Have you looked into what I asked? |
|
|
Sonya |
Yes, the infiltrator agents reported back just yesterday. Heinrich Kromer and Jacob—both are confirmed to attend the board meeting. |
|
|
Hermann |
It's a hassle to deal with people who make even the simplest of conversations a nuisance… But I won't deny that this bodes well. |
|
|
Sonya |
If the same Heinrich, who didn't even budge when the younger Kromer was killed, is finally making a move… I suppose it's just around the corner now. |
|
|
Hermann |
Indeed. It won't be long before the Malleus Maleficarum's roster is finalized. |
|
|
Hermann |
A hunt for prosthetic users, the likes of which the City has never seen, will soon begin. Even the Machine Purge would look downright tame in comparison. |
|
|
Hermann |
And we'll use that chaos… |
|
|
Aseah |
… to aim for every Mirror World in existence. |
|
|
Jia Huan |
Hah. The captain will love that. It'll be like going on a Whale hunt across all possible worlds herself. |
|
|
Sonya |
Perhaps we should wrap up our talk here and head inside. It's time. |
|
|
Hermann |
Of course. Nelly, keep an eye on Limbus Company until your next assignment. |
|
|
Nelly |
Yes, Madam Director. |
|
|
Hermann |
Choose your words and actions carefully once the board meeting begins. Even the slightest misstep could tip the balance and put us at a disadvantage—that's another headache we don't need. |
|
|
Gubo |
I must admit, it's rather unnerving to have to deal with the infamous Ones Who Grip in their own Nest. |
|
|
Hermann |
All right, then… Shall we head inside? |
Story Chapters
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Story | |||
| Detour Tales | Intervallos | ||
| Mini Episodes | |||
