act13d0

Goddamn it...

We left a single forest. It cost half of us to do so...

...Mudrock.

Can we fight back?

Our group... has so many civilians, still. We can't...

...Mudrock?

Ah... Is something wrong?

Our pursuers... There might... be something we know about them.

Them, their Originium Arts... taking Infected lives as toys...

This sort of thing... should have long since faded into the past... but a few nobles research it, still...

They must be attendants of the towers, or Arts researchers... damn them, damn them...

...As long as they're not 'Knights,' worse has not yet come to worst.

Don't worry... At the very least, for now... we've escaped them.

The way back to Kazdel... is a long, long one.

So long that I've forgotten how my homeland looks.

Kazdel is a desolate barren. Still, some wanderers have taken to the old ruins of bygone wars. Founded towns you could call prosperous.

Resplendent cities the Sarkaz had never been allowed to have. But I'm only asking for somewhere quiet. A place to catch my breath for a while, in the middle of this age-old conflict.

...Past this mountain, we'll be in Kazdel...

From the top, we should see a great bridge, and past the river... a hundred kilometers north, a village where outsiders have settled.

...Is that where we're headed?

Yes...

I once... lived there.

Mudrock, we've finished securing our route ahead. No sign of any pursuers.

Good...

Let's move. We'll pitch our camp on the other side of the river before sundown.

...Mudrock!

Twenty-odd of our mercenaries got attacked by that lot! We never even so much as saw their faces!

...We can't fight them. Too dangerous... Would you send your people to die like that?

We-We're sorry... we just...

No... I wasn't saying to... *Sigh*.

Move. Don't look back.

I'll keep the rear.

Mudrock?

Ah... sorry. I fell asleep...

You're exhausted.

You haven't given your Arts any rest since the attack.

I'll be fine.

*Sigh* No-one can change your mind, I've learned that much.

...You know, I'm beginning to miss the good old days, when we were fighting Leithanians we could actually see.

The Gendarmerie, the armed guards, the militiamen. Hell, even the caster regiments...

We did everything we could to avoid conflict with them... After all, they didn't want to risk going down with us.

But ever since last month, things changed.

...Mudrock, promise not to laugh at me, but I'm a little scared.

...Casters cloaking their true colors. Fearful Arts. Completely unable to protect ourselves. Where's the shame in being afraid?

Yeah. You're not wrong, for sure.

...If, and this is only hypothetical, if they were still behind us even now... or suppose they're on the other side of the bridge. What then?

Would we have to fight? Or—

Casters, with few exceptions, are frail. We are many and strong. They know that all too well... their Arts are strange, and powerful...

But the strongest caster is still a human. Don't be afraid.

They kept pace with our march in the forest. For a whole month, we never found any of their camps, never found any of their supply convoys, never even found a single trace of their movements...

Only lone teams, one after another, failing to returning contact.

Turning Infected into Arts Units... it's possible, but the concept itself... no, even the raw difficulty would be far too...

Ah, I see... they're experimenting.

Huh?

We're the perfect test subjects. An inexhaustible supply of them.

From their point of view, that is... all we are.

...Then who the hell are they?

Good question...

Past here, we should see the village in the basin.

The final stretch... and then we'll be...

Wait until the scouts come back... See how things are in the village.

Maybe this is where... we can start thinking about life afterwards.

Life afterwards? We can... finally call an end to our flight...?

...Now we lay down our weapons and begin anew?

What kind of life to live, I wonder...

Mudrock? Where are you going?

Hm... To take a look from the hilltop.

Alright. Stay in contact. We can set off at any time.

Mm.

Before I left for Leithanien, I had been putting off the question.

Was returning to Kazdel truly right? Can a new life happen just like that?

What I witnessed in Leithanien taught me many things.

There are times when fate, destiny and such become a simple excuse. A byword for all of life's unchanging paths.

I only want to live on... I want us all to live on.

Kazdel's villages... are more prosperous than before.

Cooking smoke. Wagons. Markets.

How long has it been since I last saw—hm?

Yet some things—

—you cannot run from.

Are these...

...bones?

Mudrock.

What?

There's fog again... I don't know if it's just the fog of morning in the mountains, or...

But either way, everyone's shaken. We need you to calm us all down.

Mm—

Yes. I can barely see the village from here anymore... fog has come.

Wait until the scouts return. Then come to me here.

We're all here.

...Do me a favor.

What are...? Are these someone's bones? Sarkaz remains?

They were small... Probably a child.

Here. It's a broken knife. Rusted. This child might've died in battle.

Mm... help me bury them, at least.

You could use your Arts to...

I want... to do it with my own hands.

So lend yours too.

Ah. Okay...

...Everybody. In front of us is a new life.

We've made it back.