act15mini

And they might be able to help you.

My friend Mayer, for example, knows a lot about dealing with dangerous objects.

And we're super close, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind me filling her lab with potentially risky weapons, haha...

But research can take a long time, huh. I can't exactly take your weapon from you for years.

(Hm...?)

Thank you. You're a hard worker.

But I told you not to touch my bow.

This is for me to deal with, and only me. That's what Arges said.

...What are you doing, Magallan?

Huh?

Let go.

Magallan lets go without even thinking about it. The splash brings her back to her senses, and she stares at the ripple on the surface of the water.

Wh-What did I just throw in there?

The flagon the Ursus trader gave you.

You were scooping up muddy water from the marsh with it.

I taught you to filter mud and sand with clothes, but... I don't think you forgot. You didn't look right.

Oh! You're right! I somehow got distracted again!

I need to get it back... It was a gift.

You don't dare reach out, do you?

Yeah.

Give me your hand.

You know a way to deal with this situation?

...Phew.

I feel calmer now.

That was amazing! With just a vine around my finger!

Oh, you have one around yours too.

Yeah.

But you shouldn't try to get it back.

Remember what Simone said? Be careful.

Alright...

Strange... That was a defense meant specifically for demons.

Could Simone's warning have meant...

...The dead have answered.

Most want to be buried.

One... remained silent.

Silence means there is no objection, at least?

We must respect the wishes of the dead.

...Very well, we'll hold a funeral as usual.

Be careful when you get on the boat, Magallan.

Thanks!

This is how the wetland tribes do it.

The boats are launched once night falls. The river carries them to their final resting place, where they will sink into the water along with the boats.

Only then can the dead be freed from the shackles of the flesh to walk free amongst the trees, and travel with the flowing water to find their bloodline.

However, this funeral is also our farewell to our homeland.

Which is why we will also bring our belongings and travel along with the dead.

...These boats will carry the dead home, and the living away from it.

Can Typhon and I come with you? We're not part of your family or tribe or anything.

Of course you can.

In fact, I'd appreciate it if you did.

I've long known that I'm just a lone wanderer, far from Sami... Still, it's painful to have to ride in a boat by myself while saying goodbye to my last blood kin.

...At least being able to hold a funeral will comfort the tribe.

Both the living and the dead.

What is it, Typhon? Need a hand?

No.

It's just that your hand is so cold, Gitano. Like you've been standing in the freezing wind for a long time, and the best you could do was rub your hands together.

There's something I've been meaning to ask you.

What did the dead tell you?

Or rather, what was the 'silence' in your divination?

The horn has been blown. Don't look back.

Fate has instructed us to move forward. What was left behind will eventually return to us.

Row.

There is no more talk. The shaman's song can be heard from the head of the fleet.

The dead follow their ancestors, as their names are read one by one.

A breeze rings a string of bells on the boat carrying the bodies.

The ceremony has begun. The fleet will not turn back.

...I'm sorry.

The fourth time, I still saw the ceremony.

The fifth time, I asked... Lazal.

Lazal, there's something I want to tell you.

...Or maybe it's something I wanted to hear you tell me.

The road away from that blizzard was long. The river never thawed.

I lived away from Sami, sailing with a boat of iron. It was so firm and steady that I couldn't help but dream back to how our clansmen dragged their boats across the river.

Many lost the strength to pull their boats. Some lost the strength to pull even themselves forward.

...Too much was lost on that path. I dared not turn back.

But in the end, that's all there is to it. I dared not turn back.

We made opposing decisions, and even took up arms against one another, but the reason I never came back wasn't because I resented you.

...But perhaps none of that's important to a warrior stationed in the north.

The leaves in the urn are almost burnt up.

So please, tell me...

Why do you—

Why do you still refuse to answer, brother?

Darkness, fog, darkness.

An empty crystal ball.

Why do I see nothing?

The snow's getting heavier.

C'mon, take a swig.

Pah. I still regret giving that Sami flagon over to that girl.

Forget it. You'd be in serious trouble if the border guards found it.

Besides, do you really believe that a few words inscribed on his drum and flagon are enough to keep someone safe?

In this land of ice and snow, the only thing that can protect us is vodka.

—Well, now it's just vodka, anyway.

That's not what I meant.

It's just that... the night before the incident, we were all still sitting together and chatting.

Yeah, I remember, the two of you had little sisters who are about the same age.

And he never got a chance to make up with her.

So just think of it as me feeling sorry for him.

*sigh* I know what it's like. People who've been fighting for so long have so much blood on their hands that they can never go home.

But in the end, even after telling us all those stories about his family squabbles, he never told us who they were fighting.

They gave their lives to save us, but we never even found out what happened.

I should've kept his flagon. Honestly, I don't know how else to honor the memory of these mysterious Sami, other than with something I can touch.