act12side

Right. You studied abroad in Victoria, and Victoria hasn't really meddled in Bolívar's affairs that much. If you haven't ever gone out of your way to look into our history, I can't fault you for not being familiar with the subject.

Before Iberia discovered this place, it was nothing more than a plain called Bolívar.

The Iberians found many Originium veins here, and that's why they decided to stay and turn it into a colony.

Then, one way or another, Iberia's rule here came to an end.

After a period of chaos that lasted 130 years, the Leithanians came.

And that's how Bolívar became a Leithanian dependency.

About two centuries ago, Bolívar evolved from a dependency to a vassal state. That's the Singas dynasty.

You could say that was when Bolívar became the Bolívar we know, although the Singas dynasty's subjects never called themselves Bolívarians.

Then, during the Witch King's reign, Leithanien tried to stir up civil unrest in Columbia through Bolívar.

But not only did their efforts fail, Bolívar was actually invaded by Columbia, and that was when the Coalition government was established.

And from then on, Bolívar was split between both Columbia and Leithanien.

Leithanien didn't really care about Bolívar that much, and while Columbia was teeming with ambition, Bolívar was too big for it to engulf at once.

And that's how this tug-of-war started.

Then, unable to bear the situation any longer, the Bolívarians chose to take up arms.

They formed a resistance movement and called themselves True Bolívarians, and they swore they would make Bolívar a real country one day.

Unfortunately, things only took a turn for the worse. True Bolívarians's establishment only dragged Bolívar into even deeper waters.

In the end, this is the mess that Bolívar has found itself in.

The Coalition government, the Singas dynasty, and True Bolívarians. The three sides are in a perpetual war with no end in sight.

Not only that, but this city Dossoles emerged out of the chaos.

Under Ms. Candela's management, not only is the city well-liked by all three governments, but all three of them even owe Ms. Candela many a time.

That's because this city has resources that they can't just ignore, and Ms. Candela also has the power to defend this city.

And so, the city has become a place that all Bolívarians set their sights on.

Every Bolívarian who's fed up with war dreams of saving up enough money to come here for a vacation, or even get a fresh start here.

Miss Ch'en, you and Miss Lin are good at heart, so I am sure you both are well aware.

Aware of what kind of a place this city is.

Let's say the three governments are still intent on uniting all of Bolívar. That's something that would never cross Ms. Candela's mind.

To put it bluntly, Miss Ch'en, this city's prosperity was built on top of the pain and suffering of all Bolívarians.

And the more prosperous it is, the less hope this country has.

This is a fact that many of those who truly love Bolívar cannot accept.

And you are one of them?

I am.

There should not be a city like this within Bolívar's borders.

Your goal is to destroy it.

No, that would be a waste.

Our goal is to sow terror.

So you're telling me all this to try to talk me into helping you?

Hardly. I'm not so confident that I can persuade someone to join our ranks with just a few words.

But I am hoping you and Miss Lin could stand by and not get involved.

I am sure you can see. You can at least see how this might be justice, Miss Ch'en.

As long as the two of you stay out of this, I can guarantee you that our men won't do a thing to you.

You are strong. Having fought alongside you in the championship, I am well aware of that.

Fighting you would cause us a lot of unnecessary losses.

I am hoping you and Miss Lin would consider this proposal of mine.

Ernesto.

Please, go ahead.

Not long ago, I found myself caught in a conspiracy far more complicated than this one. The only thing I got out of it was the realization of my own weakness.

But, at the very least, I still dare to say this: There is no justice in spreading terror.

Besides, you aren't telling the truth.

I am not sure I follow, Miss Ch'en. I'm admitting to being the mastermind.

No, you aren't.

We're locked in your shop. That's pretty suspicious.

Effective, but also very rash, and I doubt you didn't consider the possibility that it was going to blow your cover.

So I was thinking you might still have a trick up your sleeve.

But suppose you are the mastermind behind all this, I don't think any tricks up your sleeve could make up for your cover being blown.

Then I figured it out. If your was never that important to begin with... In other words, if getting your cover blown never mattered to you in the first place...

Then it all starts to make sense.

Your thinking is that, it would be all the better if you managed to stall us, but even if that didn't work out and you ended up getting your cover blown, all that would lead to is this situation that we find ourselves in now.

I would see you as the one behind all this, unable to get a glimpse of what's behind you.

And even now, you're still playing us like a fiddle, aren't you, Ernesto?

If you were truly being played, you'd never say as much, Miss Ch'en.

We don't have enough information. I know this might be a setup, but it is one that I have to jump into.

Yet with what little clues you had, in just one short week, you almost got to the bottom of this plan we've been working on for years.

Miss Ch'en, you and Miss Lin never fail to impress.

Really, quite a lot of people tell me I'm blowing this out of all proportion by making you two my primary enemies.

But I'm really glad I did. Otherwise, if I'd been just a little careless and let slip just a little more, you would already have it all figured out.

Too bad. You failed.

Ernesto says and turns on the TV.

Phew...

Hey, D.D.D. You're finally awake.

Waking up after catching some Z's is pretty normal, no?

You crashed straight into bed the moment you got back last night, though. That really had me worrying.

How are things looking outside?

If you're asking about the city, it's just like before. Bustling.

I heard a lot of people talking about what happened yesterday while I was having breakfast. Didn't seem like they care much, though.

Well, things already got pretty watered down.

Mayor Candela's amazing.

With all that went down, nobody could've seen that coming.

I was really shocked when I saw it on TV too.

I've never seen anyone calm things down like that.

And quite a few people actually went and fought the terrorists.

I was right there. It just felt so bizarre.

Some of the terrorists were going straight after Ms. Candela, and they were really close.

But she didn't even seem to care about that. All she cared about was getting the drones to the ship so she could get a good look at the action there.

She was just standing, pointing at the screen and the sea while talking to the other spectators around her.

It was like nothing that was happening was real.

Then, those two girls showed up.

It was like them being there dragged everything back to reality.

It was so... so exciting!

So you want to create something.

Ahaha, you know me well.

How long have we known each other?

Yeah, that's right. I wanna create. I want to write a song that to document the fear, gratefulness, confusion that I feel right here right now.

This is a song I'm writing for myself, but it's got to do with them.

On its own, this city is a decent place.

Leithanien's musicals, Columbia's movies, and Bolívar's coffee. I've got to experience everything I wanted to try.

But the people here are so boring. I got tired of playing with them about halfway through the competition.

If I'd known this is how it would turn out in the end, I would've boarded the ship with Miss Ch'en after I made sure she was alright. I probably could've helped her that way.

Oh well, I'm starting to be sick of this city. Maybe I'll check out wherever Miss Ch'en's going.

I bet there are just as many nice people like her where she comes from.

That's way too reckless of you, Swire.