act18d0

(Kal'tsit...! Quick!)

Young one, come, sit here. What's your name?

Kal'tsit.

That is neither a nom de guerre, nor a nom de plume, correct?

I can hear... from the manner in which you introduce yourself, I can hear, you love this name, don't you, Kal'tsit?

Hard to say.

We don't have long, Grand Duke. In a short moment, your guards will come charging in here.

Oh... it seems I must make space for the assassin after my own life...

Hmm. My communicator should be right by my side...

Here it is.

Ha. What a prudent murderer. Just when did you pilfer it?

Please give it to me.

Thank you for your trust, young one. You make such ease of it... no matter who sent you, I trust you will become one vastly capable.

Sir, this is a servant of the retreat... who hails from my homeland. I wish to chat with her further. Do not disturb us, until I give the order.

Trespassers are in violation of military order. Do you understand?

Good.

Where is your homeland?

Right on the other side of Pine Valley.

Are you so willing to trust me because you have all your means well prepared? Even if they came charging in, you could still escape unscathed, couldn't you?

I will not answer that.

Or you really aren't from the Royal Guard. You are neither twisted nor terrible. Yes, how could the Royal Guard leave their work to others?

They are Ursus's most selfless monitors. Only those capable of being weighed on the scales, will the Royal Guard look at with value.

Alright. I've lost, young one. I cannot guess at all at your oh-so-mysterious past.

Why have you come?

My duty lies here.

Kal'tsit, will I pass away painfully?

You won't. The drug will slowly erode your nervous system. You'll fall asleep as though entering a coma, and never wake up.

To an old soul plagued by illness, this may even be considered a favor.

I thank you.

I've been meaning to ask, are you a doctor? A scientist?

Do you have a shining pair of eyes? Do the odors of medicine cling to your fingers?

Do—

—Hold on, hold on. Did you come... come for that affair in Chernobog?

Kal'tsit... Kal'tsit... the director who died in the inferno that day, was that the name?

If you truly remember every sacrifice, then perhaps I'm unable to escape the all-seeing eye of Ursus.

Ah... it's you, you're the very Kal'tsit...

How strange... that you hid from the Secret Police. What's more, and stole into this place without even changing your name...?

How did you do it?

There are always ways, Grand Duke.

Some want me dead, and some do not. I thought you a scientist, one that should not be so... easily fooled.

Ah... or could it be, some have paid you off? Some have exploited your vengeful rage, so as to have me killed?

I believe I have no comment, Your Grace.

It is time. I will inject the drug.

Ah, you have signed my death warrant. Very good. This may be leagues simpler than such torture...

Hmm...

It's done, Your Grace.

How much time do I have left?

Fifteen minutes, Your Grace.

Tell me, young one, is the scenery before me very beautiful?

All the land is budding, and the sunshine will feed it, filling it with hope.

Is it beautiful?

It's a magnificent scene, but this magnificence is trivially ordinary to Ursus.

Heh. Young ones always are good with words... How many of our people... could ever see this view?

That's right... flowers, my flowers. I scattered seeds... have they sprouted? Have they begun to bud? These eyes of mine, so ruined, could not even persevere long enough to see them bloom...

So far, at least... you're out of luck.

It seems the Empire's winter was detrimental to the growth of these ornamental plants.

Ah... they cannot bloom here?

In this boundless winter, what did you plant?

When I was young... I took part in a war against Kazimierz. Have you fought a war before, Kal'tsit?

War is wild and chaotic. Ten-some minutes past the first sound of gunfire, formation and battlefield had lost all meaning.

A few knights wounded my leg, and bludgeoned my head. I tossed my helmet aside, and as if for my life, I crawled... crawled until I reached a flower field.

In there I blacked out, and was later saved by reinforcements. In my giddy daze, I remembered what those flowers were like.

...Pine lilies.

Yes... after the war, I asked someone to bring back some seeds from the frontier. I hated their Kazimierz scientific name, and so called them by a completely new one.

I like those flowers. My city regarded them as a symbol of the city itself. Ursus's soil... is more suited to raising them than Kazimierz's.

My wife... cared for them, cared for them so well.

But they... never broke through the soil.

Spring didn't come soon enough, Your Grace.

Ah... the earth of my beloved Ursus. Know it can nurture hopes of all kind.

It is irrigated, too, by the bodies of the poor and the Infected.

I don't deny it has likely committed all manner of atrocity. Yet even so, the earth forgives all... ah, I feel tired...

That doesn't seem a very convincing excuse.

Excuse? No, young one... I never thought I'd earn any pardon, and I never wanted for one...

Only—Only in life's final moments, do I think... I was able to realize... the meaning... it was all...

Pine lilies...

I want... to see her again...

Leave, now, young one.

I feel... how warm, the sunlight, as if I... can, once... again, see...

Hahh...

Perhaps you never had the means to pardon yourself in your final moments.

(Ursine) May yet Ursus forget you, Grand Duke.

(Ursine) ...Ursus... my...

...motherland...

Sir, the Grand Duke has fallen asleep.

You don't need to tell me. We've had orders. We can only enter after half an hour.

Hah. Same home as the Grand Duke, hmph?

I've heard why you young women are all squeezing to work in this retreat. It's just to seek patronage from important nobles, isn't it?

Are you satisfied now? What are you staring off for? Don't tell me you want me to shine your shoes?

No, how could I dare... I'm very sorry! Sir, don't be angry, I'll be going right now...

Gah, lowlife...

Paring knives will very easily rust, and lead to infection. We'll pay close attention to his condition, rest assured.

Good, thank you.

It seems the blood rushing to my friend's head has cost me a considerable amount of time...

After he leaves the infirmary, please tell him, he has set alight the blaze in our hearts, and please have him trust. Trust his friend Islam Witte.

But for now, I must be on my way with my Messenger.

Safe travels.

(Kal'tsit—!)

(We leave immediately.)

(The Minister of Finance will have those bureaucrats' subordinates jumping at shadows. That's our best cover.)

(Is... is he dead?)