act11d0

Oh, a leaf. It fell on your head...

Huh? What?

A few boxes of dried meat. Fresh-picked fruit. Water. It's early autumn. Still a long way to winter...

We have time.

Okay. You're still kind of confusing me with that talk.

Anyway, it's your call when to start the war.

War? No...

Huh?

Look. The hunters are back.

Seems our food will be better tonight.

I hope so. We should eat more meat while we can. Food is going to be a big problem come winter.

Did Bob ever write back?

Haven't heard from him since we got to Leithanien... Erm, by the way, I've been meaning to ask...

Like, was his code name 'Bob' and they started calling him 'Big Bob' because he's a big guy, or was he 'Big Bob' from the start?

...I don't remember.

Whatever. They're bounty hunters. Maybe they found the treasure.

Treasure. Hm.

It would be nice... if there was a treasure to help us too.

It's been 27 days!

How could she take so long to make contact? She's obsessed with punctuality!

Atro... where are you...?

Folinic?

Oh, Lisa... Err, I'm supposed to call you Operator Suzuran now, huh?

It's a good code name.

Hehe, thanks!

You've been watching the communication room for 20 hours now. Aren't you going to take a break?

Has it been that long?

Yes! So please go to the break room and get some rest. I'll take over for you.

Okay... It's really been that long...

Still no word from Atro?

None yet. I already put in an application to go to Leithanien. If Amiya approves, I'll leave right away.

Leithanien? Don't you have work to do?

She's my classmate, and my best friend. I can't... I won't abandon her.

Atro's last contact was with the office in northern Leithanien. Unless something big happened, she wouldn't go far from there.

Then I'll go too!

No.

Huh?! Harsh...

You- you just want to find Atro, right? It won't be dangerous?

Who knows what the situation could be.

That's okay! I'm a fully accredited operator now, and a student of Dr. Kal'tsit!

And I can't stand seeing my big sister Folinic's worried face all the time! I have to do something!

*Sigh*. I never imagined little Lisa would worry about me someday. Everything's all out of order lately.

Big or small, we all have worries.

Well, okay! I reported in to the local branch office anyway. If anything goes wrong, they'll send help.

Let's just wait for Amiya's approval and then we'll go together. But you'll have to stay close by me.

A message? Is it Atro?

No. It's a brief, sent by an operator in Leithanien who received our message.

Folinic?

Atro was spotted in a small town in Leithanien... And about one month ago...

That town suffered a Catastrophe.

九尾狐活动 纯剧情关

Come in.

...Hello.

I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to say. But go ahead and say it.

It's on me then.

I suspect that Catastrophe Messenger Biederman was the mastermind behind all of this.

This is the only assessment I can make based upon the extreme scarcity of physical evidence.

I've seen your evidence. Biederman was a Contingency Contract Catastrophe Messenger.

Rhodes Island has worked with them a lot, and they have contributed substantially to the fight against Catastrophes.

But that doesn't mean they're all so 'benevolent.'

Speaking from experience as a bodyguard for Catastrophe Messengers, you are correct.

After the Catastrophe struck Wolumonde, Biederman made the determination that the town could not be saved.

In order to save as many lives as possible, he decided to assassinate a Rhodes Island operator and draw the attention of the outside world. Totally feasible.

But would Contingency Contract really sit by and let this happen? They should have some kind of standard.

The Contingency Contract is merely platform for offering up bounties and accomplishing goals. What goes on behind the scenes, no one knows.

But there is a small group of Catastrophe Messengers with rather extreme beliefs that conflate Catastrophes with man-made disasters. If you'll excuse the turn of phrase, they're a bunch of sick utilitarians.

As long as it frees people from the fear of Catastrophes... No, they're not even interested in helping people. It's all about fighting some ancient, imaginary enemy they call 'Catastrophes.'

No action is too rash for them.

And now they've taken up root in this well-regulated contractual mechanism. They're far more entrenched than I had previously thought.

But... herein lies the problem.

This overreaction was predicated on a belief in Rhodes Island. The belief that Folinic would come looking for Atro.

I don't know by what means this madman used the Contingency Contract, but I do know one thing for certain.

He would not hinge his entire plan on 'feelings.' In their eyes, what we do is something akin to acting out a fable.

To bet everything on Rhodes Island's bonds with its operators... is very strange.

...It's all just speculation.

No.

This makes sense.

Why?

—That thing in your hand, is that a 'Gramophone' core?

This is the only physical evidence of the scale of the fire. It was undoubtedly started by overloading this core.

But Biederman... wasn't Leithanian.

Even if he could somehow get his hands on this core... He... would not have been able to master the Originium Arts that caused it to overload and incinerate those people.

He'd only been here for half a year. Not to mention the L-44 'Gramophone' system is a rather new product.

If he really learned how to do this is in such a short time, he should have gone to the Central University and joined one of the Spires.

So...

Yes. Even now, we're still not sure who the real killer is.

Aside from the collection of disasters that devastated our town and made our jobs even more difficult...

...We have nothing.

Let's not be too quick to lose hope. These are all pretty shallow inferences.

Do Folinic and Suzuran know about this? So much has happened, but they're the ones who would be affected the most by this.

...Honestly, I don't know how to break the news to them.

Miss Folinic has been struggling to accept the emptiness of her vengeance. That may be selfish, but it's what's best for everyone.

...Or, we can continue searching for the truth.

Most of the rebels have been arrested. Others left with Mudrock. But there are still some out there protesting. After all that, no one's in much of a mood for trouble.

But the jail isn't in good shape. Not to mention, the riots also damaged a lot of supplies. Rations are getting even tighter.

I know.

Now then... how is Tatjana?

She was under a lot of stress to begin with. Seeing that snapped her. The psychological damage is a lot more serious than her mild burns.

I see... That's my fault... *cough* *cough*——*hack* *cough*!

If we continue down this road, it's only going to cause more conflict.