act18d0

Even if you were trying to shatter your own fate, this is the worst possible method you could choose.

Ugh... Uhh... Eugh!

Elliot Glover...

You are now an Infected. This is the fate you chose for yourself.

Aghh... Hahh...!

Well, this is just the perfect fate for me, then...

If you don't want to live a life of suffering, I have many ways to set you on your way.

No... I just... guh.

Perhaps this... will help me... break away from these shackles... Now I have nothing... to do with my past...

Sorry... for dragging you into this mess...

I'm surprised you can still apologize.

That's because I hate you too, Kal'tsit...

I thought you weren't going to treat me like a Columbian anymore.

No... That's not why...

Do you really think you can decide somebody else's fate for them...?

I've never once thought I could.

But that is exactly what you are doing, Kal'tsit... even though no one could say you made the wrong decision doing that...

*Sigh*... but it's all coming to an end now, isn't it?

Ugh, ha...

This doesn't change when I will be leaving, and you need to lay down and get some rest right now.

So is this what Oripathy is...?

It differs from person to person.

So does that mean... I don't need to use those Arts Units to conduct Arts Device experiments now?

You haven't received any in-depth Originium Arts education, and it will just kill you even sooner.

So you are saying I can do it.

Yeah... That's not so bad.

Keep going straight, and you will reach another way out of the black market.

Only Old Isin knows of this exit. No one has even been here.

An altar.

A grave.

My lady... There will be no obstacles in your way.

Elliot.

I'm going to Ursus.

I know that. Why are you telling me this now?

That's not important. What I'm asking you is... Are you going to stick with me?

You could go back to Columbia to continue your business. Before you make your decision, at the very least.

Or you could stay.

Old Isin is right. No one controls fate itself.

He will help you.

If that is my lady's wish, Old Isin will offer you his assistance, dear child.

You're saying all this now...?

I can't decide your future for you.

Even if you try to prove to me you're cutting off ties with your past, no matter how extreme your methods, you know from the beginning this is how you've always felt deep inside your heart.

I'm stopping war, I'm stopping the Sargonian civil unrest set off by the legacy of Sarkaz witchcraft, and I'm preventing a large-scale Originium infection—That's my goal, to put it simply.

So you're saying... You've already succeeded?

And what do you think of all those people who died on your quest?

I get it. I know you saved me. You were really there to save us, and I owe you my life—But they weren't just making preparations for war. That's not their crime—

—War has already started, Kal'tsit.

You've seen it, haven't you? You've been in so many battles on your journey. How many people have you killed? And how many of them were out to kill us?

The padishah, the lords ameer. The civil war has started already. If all this come to an end, does it really mean they will gladly set aside their differences and start throwing parties?

You don't understand how the Sargon nobles and the lords ameer work. Their corruption and pride will bog them down.

So you'll just... come up with some pointless summary and get up and leave?

I can't, Kal'tsit. Sorry... but I can't.

What do you want to do?

I will find every last one of them...

From Sargon to Columbia.

All of them.

Ah... Persistence.

Looks like the child has made up his mind, my lady.

This is the choice he made, Isin.

Old Isin knows. Old Isin respects both of your wishes. Old Isin is very old, after all. Old Isin wants to leave behind a kindling that will spark a new fire...

Will you help me?

To the best of my ability, my child.

Thanks...

Thanks.

Then, Kal'tsit—

It's time for us to say goodbye.

Newly awaken from his nightmares, the old man reminisces the glory of the old days as tears well up in his eyes.

The young researcher contemplates to himself. The anger welling up in him manages to suppress even the pain of his infection.

As for Kal'tsit, she merely stays quiet, saying not a word.

The nomad then takes her leave by herself.

My lady... Please do not forget Old Isin's reward.

In some twenty years, you will return with a gold coin to take away with you this helpless soul.

Mon3tr, it's time to go.

6上

13 Years Ago

8:09 P.M. \ Heavy snow

Victoria Border Autonomous Region, County of Toron, Vincent Manor

It is a great city. All Victorians should find time to pay it a visit and gaze upon its magnificence.

So you are saying our respectable dukes have not yet arrived at a conclusion?

Yes, that is correct. They haven't yet. For the time being, Londinium is still a city without a master.

So I take it you had the fortune and privilege to tour Londinium with the Duke of Normandy?

Alas, the Duke is forbidden from entering Londinium by law. Of course, he is a fine gentleman, so he would never be so presumptuous as to invite himself in, so we instead enjoyed dinner on a ship together in the Londinium countryside.

What kind of a hero is the Duke?

Well... he is the most gracious and erudite of nobles. His views in economics and politics are unique and unparalleled. Not only that, but my understanding is that he is well-trained in music, and he possesses an impressive art collection, testament to his respect for the arts.

It is because of heroes like him that Victoria remains prosperous as ever!

Despite not having a ruler for the past dozen or so years, Victoria has managed to maintain its stability.

But the truth is that the Dukes were getting in each other's way behind the scenes, and that's not all...

If so many Victorian nobles actually fell victim to food poisoning and hunting accidents, then the country's noble rule would've crumbled to dust long ago.

And three years ago, your father nearly experienced that first hand.

Yes...

His leg is actually injured.

There is a noble who is an academic enemy of my father. They were at a cocktail party together, and he made his move after the party.

That must have been well disguised, if it was thought to be an accident.

My father had a few leads, but he didn't want this affair to get in the way of relaying intelligence.

How many of Thomson's men are there in this manor right now?

A lot of them, such as the ones you were talking to earlier... They also paid my father's villa a visit before tonight's party.

Richard was quite critical of your father just now...

Ahaha... I suppose he spoke much of it from his heart... He has had quite the rivalry with my father for the past several years...

Yet they still assemble around Thomson. Your father is a good leader.