act29side

Sorry, Frau Giallo. I made another mistake.

Why did you stop?

I don't think I played the last bar on the last line very well...

Your heart is in the right place. Don't let yourself be bound by the melody. Instead, guide it with your will.

I can't help but think about what I did wrong though.

Then don't hold yourself back.

Music is the voice of your heart. It's a language to express yourself with. If you let yourself be caught up in the grammar before learning how to speak, then language itself loses all meaning.

Your embarrassment, your self-doubt, and your thirst for the future... They're all real. So let them live in the sound of your instrument.

But that's not what my Arts professor said.

He said that Originium Arts is a rigorous field of study. That it's about uncovering the order within chaos, like putting together a mess of unrelated notes to form a beautiful chord.

But I'm having too many distracting thoughts, and my sound is all over the place. That's why I can't control the energy of my Arts well.

I taught another student just like you before. He was reserved, shy, and not very good at expressing himself.

Wh-What happened to him?

He became a very brave man.

A shame that he couldn't live the longer, more beautiful life I'd hoped he would.

But I was fortunate enough to hear his last performance. The cry of his instrument... was hardly inferior to the famed musician with whom he shared a surname.

Oh, was he the descendant of someone famous?

Herkunftshorn. Have you heard his work?

Who... did you just say?

People often call him the Witch King.

<i>Th-That</i> Witch King? *cough*... People hardly ever call him by name.

Really? But to me, he was first and foremost a musician.

Uh... Everyone says he stopped performing with regular instruments toward the end of his life.

His music... No, you could hardly call that noise music... They say it instilled fear in anyone who heard it.

True. His rhythm was in no way harmonious. Every last measure far exceeded what his audience imagined based on the previous one.

But I'd never felt such a strong... will.

You really shouldn't talk about this on campus.

I heard the Empresses' Voice and the Gendarmerie keep a close eye on Ludwigs-Universität. You'd be in deep trouble if they were to catch wind of it.

You should return to your dorm.

Keep practicing this piece. No matter what commotion you may hear outside, focus only on your own rhythm.

Arturia.

So it's you. If you're here to speak to me personally, then I take it the show is about to begin?

Almost. Our guests are arriving as they should, one by one.

Will you be performing everything that will happen today for me, just like you used to? I'd like to be present when the melody begins.

You wish to listen from beginning to end? I'm afraid that would be a very long piece.

A lot of people will be hurt today. Some will even die. They will be sacrificed because of me, and I cannot allow myself to look away.

Even though it hurts so much. You're far more determined than anyone.

You... When my performance reaches the end of your life, what will I see?

Ludwigs-Universität.

I've seen the name in more than a few books I've read. Most recently... in a leading publication on Originium Arts theory. But the name comes up as early as ancient scrolls engraved with secret Arts.

The crest of that university shines brilliantly in the history of Leithanien's Arts.

It's merely a variant of the Urtica family crest.

But it remains Leithanien's oldest university.

Once, I used to fantasize about life on a campus like this.

Walking through a campus covered with red leaves, surrounded by friends of similar ages, with an endless buffet of books and literature in the library... Every day must be fulfilling here.

With Their Majesties' permission, you are free to enroll in any school in Leithanien.

Oh... have you noticed the eyes of the students walking around us?

Their thirst for knowledge is enough for them to forget the divide between their upbringings.

Yet before Kurfürst Ludwig chose to make his spire a 'university,' all knowledge was locked away by decree.

So... how can I bring myself to use that very same authority to pollute such unique purity once more?

...The Gendarmerie?

Your so-called purity has never really existed.

Did you summon them here?

I wouldn't need to. The eyes up on the Spires have never looked away from Leithanien's lands.

And especially not from here. Before you lies the oldest spire in the Urtica territory. The Witch King stayed in it for a decade, and often returned even after his coronation.

The campus may seem peaceful from the outside, but every centimeter of this place can be traced back to the Witch King.

And that includes the man we're looking for.

Herr Gerhard Hoffmann?

Nein. We will find his teacher first. He's the one most familiar with Ludwigs-Universität.

Since the era of the Witch King... No, since an even more distant past, he's never left this school's most ancient spire.

...Why are there so many gendarmes on campus?

You said earlier that I was a wanted criminal.

You think they're here for you? No way... Besides, we've been very careful on the way. There's no way we got their attention.

Quick. Find a place to hide!

Team 5, Team 6, move up.

Team 4, search the whole spire. Do not let any suspicious characters through.

Stop! You can't just run around and use Arts like you own the place.

This is a university. A lot of the research we do here requires a stable environment.

Even the slightest disturbance could cause irreversible damage to the sophisticated equipment and the complicated Arts that have been cast.

Seize him.

Why? I didn't break any laws!

Your name.

Louis. Louis Schnitzler—You haven't answered my question!

The Schnitzlers of Fortsgard? Take him to the classrooms.

I don't understand...

Keep searching.

Take any commoners to the courtyard, and lock the nobles in the classrooms.

Take control of anyone and anything related to House Urtica.

I'm only a Schnitzler by name! My father didn't even inherit the title. What gives you the right to do all this over something that happened decades ago—

Because we're investigating what happened decades ago.

Young Herr Schnitzler. As long as you behave yourself, I assure you nothing will happen to you.

My family will be participating in the celebration soon! I'm going to have an audience with Their Majesties!

Ludwigs-Universität is the most historic university in Leithanian! Not even the Kaiserinnen's armies dared damage a single brick of this spire twenty-three years ago!

What gives you the right to trample on knowledge and the arts, on Leithanien's traditions?!

The Kaiserinnen's orders, young Herr.

The culprit who murdered our commander is hiding in this school.

If you want to protect it, then tell all your classmates that they'd better report anything they know about a strange Sankta and the Witch King's remains.

The Kaiserinnen's orders...?

No way...

You seem surprised.

Surprised? No, I'm just an idiot. Given her personality and disposition, how could I have thought she'd keep herself at arm's length?

I can't waste time chasing after Arturia anymore.

I thought she was the target of your mission too.

Only part of it. My... client wants to understand the reasoning behind her actions, in order to prevent her from getting in the way of our plans.

But now there's a bigger problem. I can't let this ruin the plan itself.

You...

I have no further questions. As you are Leithanian, I will not be required to execute your will.

Forget it. Not like I was expecting anything resembling a goodbye from you.

Herr Executor, the case Arturia is involved in is far more serious than you could ever imagine. Even your pope has no right to interfere.

Here's some advice: abandon your mission before the Gendarmerie make it here. Leave Zwillingstürme.