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I still don't get it. Why would a lady like you choose to spend your days in a hole like this? Aren't you afraid of the Infected?

Are the Infected not but normal people saddled with misfortune?

Just like this child of mine, yet unborn. Maybe she'll become Infected herself, or remain a lucky one who just makes friends with them.

Either way, I wish for her to live in a city full of love and goodness.

If continuing to mine here will harm the environment, shouldn't we stop?

For now, this city can only rely on nature's bounty. Even so, our descendants will definitely carve out a home with their own hands.

I hope then that you and I, and all of them—that all of us will find our own place in Siesta.

The elderly unhindered by age, the sickly unburdened by despair, that is the Siesta of my dreams... That is the Siesta I wish for my child to see.

Could that really ever happen?

Well, let's start with the mines!

Little Black Sheep, why are you all alone? Do you know where the rest went?

Also, you keep eating these old signposts and addresses on letters. Is it because you're lost?

You... can you understand me...?

The fluffy creature remains silent as it sniffs about, picking the next signpost to be devoured.

Did you get lost when Siesta moved?

Or is your home on the undeveloped plate instead of the mines?

The fluffy creature paws the ground urgently as Adele stands, silently looking at it.

Where does it want to go?

Hesitantly, it approaches Adele, pressing its head to Adele's chest as if listening to her heartbeat.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump...

Not this sound, not this sound.

The fluffy creature lowers its head and continues following the path ahead.

Are you looking for your home, or your friends and family?

Do you know where to find them?

The fluffy creature turns its head, staring inquisitively at Adele.

Adele, where are you?

I need to you help me with some data, can you come to the museum now?

Adele looks at the expectant creature in front of her.

Ah... Professor Keller, I-I... I'm sick today!

I feel dizzy, and I have a headache too. Also my legs hurt... I feel terrible...!

Terrible? Adele, what's wrong?

Do you need to go to the hospital? Do you need my help? Do you have medicine on hand? I... How's your body temperature, are you feverish?

No, Professor Keller, I'll be fine... I'm at the hospital right now!

With no reply forthcoming, the fluffy creature stomps the ground impatiently and turns to leave. Adele rushes to keep up with it—

A car speeds by, frantically honking at Adele who's just taken a step forward.

Honk~~ Honk~~!

Ugh, my ears...

Adele? What are you doing here? Weren't you...?

P-Professor Keller... I-I...

(I must have been pushing her too hard, if a girl like Adele feels the need to fake an illness to rest...)

Adele...

If you're feeling overwhelmed, you could take a day off to rest.

Turning its head to confirm that Adele is no longer following, the fluffy creature skips off and leaves the street.

Professor Keller, I want to take some time to relax here...!

What if I told you that I want to offer you a job with stable pay that isn't detrimental to your health? I'll even provide special lodgings for you.

Don't worry, I can guarantee the working environment and conditions, as well as medical services. You just need to pay a portion of the rent to the government...

Heh, even you can't go on, can you? I don't know what those government people are on about, but I know this much at least. These things take a lot of money, not a mere hundred or thousand gold certificates.

With this money, I might be able to buy a decently comfortable bed, eat a nice meal, and it may even save my life if it comes to it. But it can't build what you're promising.

...I can do it.

Doctor, if you were to say you'd build us a cheaper hospital. Frankly, I'd be really grateful, and I'd actually believe you could do it. But saying that you'll provide jobs, homes and healthcare...

Just look around you. It's been so long and this place is still undeveloped.

I beg you to place your trust in me. I'll stand by my words.

So, if there really was a place like that, would you be willing to move there? Would you be happy with it?

Frustrated, Ceylon feels her heart hammering in her chest, its beat pounding in her ears.

What was that? Sorry, I missed what you said...

I said, even Mr. Pelipper, our boss back at the old mines, only got us so far with all of his wealth and power.

Doctor, we don't know you, and you don't owe us anything. We'll be grateful even if you just come to treat us once in a while.

The fluffy creature trots ahead, Adele following closely behind while Keller walks apologetically beside her.

After hesitating several times, she slowly opens her mouth.

Did you know, Adele, Siesta's layout remained the same even after it moved... There's a coffee shop down this street.

Adele continues hurrying along the path without stopping, as if chasing after something.

...Katia, Magna and I met at that coffee shop.

Adele stops moving and squints into the distance, trying to spot the shop.

Is it... that one over there? I can't see the sign clearly, Mock...?

Mockingbird Café.

Keller sighs in relief and changes her tone.

I was just a student back then, knowing little about the world besides what I read in books.

Katia and Magna burned... Two young flames, with eyes even brighter than obsidian.

My parents... What were they like back then?

Brilliant... Interesting, and very attractive.

Of course, some people thought they were weird. Not professors or scholars, they were more like two vagrants chasing after volcanoes.

They liked bright clothes and accessories, believing that they granted courage. They would sometimes camp beside lava flows just to feel the movement.

Eh? Pfft, I thought they'd have banned that kind of thing!

They did. They banned me from doing it. Because I once followed them to collect some liquid from a sulfuric acid pool and accidentally stepped in a pit of boiling water.

Katia managed to drag me out. I hadn't even felt the pain yet but my shoes had already split like garlic cloves...

I gave Magna quite a fright. Even though it was an accident, she kept trailing after me from then on, fearing that I'd just fall into another hole somewhere when she wasn't looking.

The fluffy creature seems to realize something, turning its head to look Keller up and down.

As if worrying for her, it butts her ankles and even tries to eat her shoe heels, so that she can walk more comfortably.

Just like Mutti worrying about me getting hurt.

Magna? You couldn't compare her care for me to what she felt for you.

Sorry... I was lost in thought.

After you were born, I came to visit you occasionally. I thought you looked so much like your parents...

You doing the same work as them now feels like... It feels like a part of them has never left, that they still remain here.

...If only they were still here.

Following the salty scent of the sea carried on the breeze, the fluffy creature begins scampering away. The towering cranes of the undeveloped plate peak over the horizon as Keller hurries forward and turns her head.

Adele!

Magna once said we are like tiny little ants standing on this vast landscape, talking big about how we plan to conquer it.

Look at the both of us now, Adele. Two little ants standing here, facing this building dozens of times bigger than us.

I used to think I would be just like before, feeling infinitesimally small and amounting to nothing.

(Whisper) But it's only now do I realize some things are too hard to say aloud.

Professor Keller, what do you—?

Nothing...

Adele, how can I tell you...?

You can still see a little bit of the old Siesta from here. Mount Siesta is over that side.

Who knows when it will really erupt?

The creature carrying a miner's lamp slows down and stares blankly in the direction of Old Siesta.

The waves wash over the distant gravel, the surface sparkling like brilliant gems.

Once it erupts, once the museum is ready, my work will finally be done.

I'm sorry, I've taken up so much of your time, Adele...

It's alright, Professor Keller. There's no one else who can tell me about my parents anyway.