act35side

Blame Pepe. Our dear Princess was just too good at her job—

—Lazvar Effendi?

I apologize, esteemed Overseer, but the museum is not in a position to offer hospitality during this emergency...

Please, no need for formalities. I'm no longer the Overseer; just a humble craftsman, free again at last.

The museum cannot guarantee your safety at this time. We must advise you to leave the city center as soon as possible, by any means possible...

After I handed everything over, I stood before the flowing sands with Zubayr Effendi for a while.

You saw him?!

I saw him attempt to repair one clay statue after another using Arts, but eventually he stopped and said to me, 'Such is our duty.'

I understand. Duty is what we uphold to the very end, without ever asking why.

To whatever end.

What can I do to save the city?

Alright, it's time to show my leadership skills. Soon you'll realize that you should've listened to me and stayed in the museum to protect the others—

We'll end up where we started if we turn left here.

...What the heck is going on? This hasn't happened before, in all my time in these sewers.

Let me just say that I've never gotten lost when leading my crew. This isn't an indicator of my incompetence.

I didn't say it was. Perhaps these winding passages were designed to confuse your sense of direction.

I overheard part of the conversation as the museum curators were perusing the survey records.

They believe these old sewers are just a small part of the city's underground structures, and they might be able to deduce a path to the deeper levels through historical records.

They had been assisting an archaeologist, trying to find clues that may lead to the site known as the 'treasure trove' in ancient documents.

If the former site of another massive building really is hidden beneath this city...

A treasure trove?

...Forget I said anything.

You don't seem afraid.

Afraid of what?

Isn't our job just to find the sand leak and close the gate to that section? If the gate's broken, we'll just seal it with the boards that we're carrying.

There is a good chance we won't find it.

Well... that would be a shame, since the city is getting buried in the sand, if we fail.

But we'll be the first to see the sand rushing up from deep down, and we may have time to call the museum and warn them to run. We'll be dead for sure, of course.

Wait... is this why you insisted on coming to the sewers?

Because it's dangerous, and you need to be at the front of it?

Narantuya, Aspasia, do you hear me?

Yeah, we're together.

We found a clue.

Listen carefully and you should find Lazvar's clockwork fowlbeasts... They're machines that resemble blue fowlbeasts.

We've estimated a few possible locations for the deep-level structures. If you can create an opening in the wall, the clockwork fowlbeasts can fly down and gather information.

With enough information, we should be able to find exactly where the sand is rushing in. But there is one caveat...

The clockwork fowlbeasts are unable to perform heavier tasks like toggling switches and plugging gaps... you will have to go into danger.

You must have seen it in the memories that I showed you. The circlet you're wearing is the same as my sister's.

It was passed down through the family.

I wondered why my family was so obsessed with recording the Shahanshah's history. Father had no answer; he simply said it was our inherent duty.

But now I see the answer is so simple: it is out of a daughter's longing for her father.

My sister always believed that he would return, someday.

She never saw that day. And I never got the chance to say goodbye to her.

All I had left for company after my sister's death was my father's shadows.

Leave your obsession with the City of Gold behind, Pepe. I know how to seal consciousness into a gem, and how to build a body that never decays.

You will have life eternal to experience, to discover, to record...

I'm sorry, Zubayr... I can't replace your sister and keep you company.

I have a younger brother myself. He's the Historian of Shar-Agade.

A shame. It is hardly an honor. They know too much that cannot be put to paper.

My foolish brother wanted the historians to document history to his liking, and so he forced my sister to send one of her twin sons into the palace.

A thousand years later, coercion has become honor.

The Sovereign of Beasts said all historians will have their tongues cut out. Is that true?

I do not know the ways of the current Shahanshah, but it is a proven way to keep a secret.

I need to go to the City of Gold and find him, no matter what.

I knew it.

Then leave, Pepe.

No... Not yet.

I can't leave this city to its fate.

I can't allow the constructs to continue wreaking havoc in the city.

Spare the city. As you said, the most precious treasures have not been defiled.

I cannot stop, Pepe, even if I wanted to.

In our lives, we go through many choices, big and small. One links to another, carving out unique circuits for all of us amidst infinite branching paths.

My oaths to Father and Sister have been etched as circuits, preserved for all eternity upon these gems.

I can never defy them.

Never.

Then tell me how to stop the constructs, Zubayr.

I have already told you the answer. The rest is up to you, Pepe.

Catch me if you can, like the invading armies so many centuries ago.

There's something I've been meaning to tell you, since talking to Ajazi and Ajani the other day.

Man, this is a hard rock. I hope we have enough time... what did they say?

A blue clockwork fowlbeast circles overhead, urging them to dig through the stone bricks before them.

Aspasia is glad that everything is going smoothly. She has only one more task before embarking on the path, if it indeed exists.

I learned why you thirst for wealth. You feel like you owe your past crew.

Oh. When did they start? The night when we fled for our lives? Or the time when I gave away all the treasure?

After you left.

I heard many stories from Ajazi and Ajani—how they struggled to use saws properly while logging, often breaking them with brute force. How they tried their hand at bookkeeping but messed up the records.

How someone slaughtered their last burdenbeast with a knife, then sold the knife to buy a pot to treat everyone to a feast.

...Word about his cooking spread, and he opened a food stall at the market. Customers flock to his stall till this very day.

How someone wrote a novel based on their time as a desert bandit and became published in the local paper. The latest chapters feature your gang traveling back in time to fight for the Shah's throne.

Most of your old crew have a house and don't need to migrate with the seasons. If they fix their roofs in time, they won't even leak during monsoon season. I'd say they're all doing rather well.

...Of course I know that.

I respect you, but I don't think you owe them anything.

Just as you don't have to save an entire city just to save Ajazi and Ajani.

You should get out, go back to see them... then put down your burden, your 'duty', and start moving forward again.

Aspasia is interrupted by the rumbling of a sliding boulder.

The pair seems to have stumbled upon one of the mechanisms of the ancient maze; the etched brick retreats into the walls of the canal, and they hear the sound of falling a few seconds later.

The entire wall begins to collapse, but as Anat said, what lies beyond is not sand.

Pitch-black darkness indicates that they are staring at the interior of a massive structure.

There is no path in front of them. The sound of quicksand is clearly audible from deeper in, as though there is a raging river deep in the abyss.

A river from which there is no return.

The pair throw down their pickaxes and draw their weapons at exactly the same time.

Kicking up a cloud of dust, they face off less than ten paces apart.

What are you doing?

Stopping you from jumping down.

Wasn't I the one who had to stop you just now?

Been wanting to say this, if you came to die, I can't let you go any further.

I thought you would be better than those two stooges, but it turns out you need me to save you, too.

...I told you, you don't have to carry this burden.

You've got it wrong. I just want to go down and see for myself. Besides, no one can do it better than me. That's all.

I want a mountain of gold, even if I didn't care about letting my crew live a better life. I'm just greedy, plain and simple.