act42side

Well...

El, what are you doing?

Exusiai takes out a patron firearm and puts it on the workbench.

She smoothly disassembles it, from the magazine to the barrel to the action to the case ejector...

I'm not a terrorist, or some kind of super-mercenary. I just know my guns like I know my own joints.

I remember how I came into possession of each and every gun—yes, ALL of them.

But the one that left the deepest impression on me was the first one, when I stepped into this little shop, along with my parents and my sister...

Exusiai's hands do not slow down even as she continues talking.

My sister told me that every Sankta has their very own patron firearm, or guardian gun, the same as we were born with our unique halos.

So, picking a guardian gun is like making a friend.

We place our trust in empathy, open our hearts to one another, and learn to get along.

You were what, four or five years-old at the time? You were tiny, didn't have a halo, and you couldn't even talk. We didn't even notice you.

By the time we knew you were there, you had your hands on the scope I had picked, feeling it with a face full of curiosity...

Well...

Magister Paganini said he found me in the gardens of an Ecclesia Requietum, and brought me back to this workshop.

I seem to have, er, problems with speech, and he thought I was mute at first. It took a few years for me to be able to put a few syllables together.

I caused him so many headaches. I was never the kind of kid he could be proud of. I sneaked out that day, without even knowing why, and I was so anxious I almost cried...

Put your hand on it, Vani, just like old times.

Huh?

Hesitantly, tentatively, Vannini puts her hand on it.

Master Pag put my hand-picked parts together. My mind filled with thoughts when I held it in my hand...

Protect my parents and sister, make new friends, have the coolest graduation ceremony in Laterano... it told me I could do all that.

You felt it, didn't you?

The stuff you just said wasn't what I remembered at all, Vani.

I remember that I picked my guardian gun with a little girl I didn't know. We watched the fowlbeasts across the street, used the barrel as a talk tube...

She didn't talk, but I could feel what was in her heart when we played together with the parts. That's why I knew she was happy when I saw her reddened eyes at the end.

This is our secret. That's why I didn't say anything to my sis when she asked if I was bullying you.

For me, that wasn't the day I made one friend. It was the day I made two.

Exusiai brandishes her gun, which she has already reassembled, and smiles at the young apprentice gunsmith.

Vannini has her eyes fixed on Exusiai, that sense of confidence and pride that was on her face throughout the process.

Vannini cannot tell where the confidence and pride came from. It is almost like Exusiai is saying, 'I'm a Sankta, and this is a Sankta thing.'

What is it, Vani?

Well, I basically recreated what happened... you still don't remember anything?

(Shakes head)

B-But I believe you, El.

Uh... huh?

I was really sad when Magister Paganini told me this workshop would have to close.

I thought it was because I've lived here for so long with him that I didn't want to leave...

I believe you about this link that you say patron firearms bring us, El... even though it means that something has happened to the Holy City that I can't comprehend.

Yeah!

How can I help?

You've been here in the firearms workshop for so long. Surely you've got a way to help me make an explosion that will shake the city?

Is Fia alright?

Mostima is with her.

You know what she's like. It's not so easy for her to forgive.

What about Andoain?

He left.

If there's anyone who has a right to be angry, it would be you, Lemuen. You were the one who suffered the most.

I can't argue with that, Reverend.

But all emotions change with time.

In the five years that I spent in that coma, Andoain served his sentence in a nomadic abbey, traveling across Terra, offering assistance to our scattered kin as his way of atoning...

Finally, he decided to come back to Laterano, reintegrating as an ordinary Nurturer.

Laterano needs him, and he deserves a second chance.

I'm glad you think that way... what was it you wanted to talk to me about?

Still Fiammetta. You know she insisted on taking firearms courses when she was in school.

She was always the first to show up for class, and the last to leave the firing range. She loved guns in a way nobody could ever doubt... even though she never learned to use one.

But when you gave her your gun and that speech, that look in her eyes...

I couldn't tell if it was doubt or disappointment, but the one thing I know is that it wasn't pure joy.

Is that right...? I thought she would be happy. At least, before Andoain showed up.

I still don't understand how she feels, after all these years...

Your announcement took me by surprise, let alone Fiammetta.

'The prohibition on patron firearms for non-Sankta will be lifted, along with other rules like it.' That part.

Yet the arms control that we've been pushing for so long has only now come to its most important stage.

You mean the two policies conflict?

What I want to ask is, have you received any further revelations?

Have greater goals been bestowed upon our arms control work?

The goal has never changed. All forms of control exist so that everyone will be able to use guns more efficiently, more widely.

The firearms workshops have a long history, but also plenty of flaws. Gunsmiths and customers both put way too much energy into them, trying to make each and every gun unique.

Once the Shrine of Gunsmithing in Pagus Michaelion starts operating for real, Laterano will be able to provide armed support to all nations and all races, when we have to.

If the goal has never changed, why do the changes of the present seem so sudden, so... out of place?

Maybe because we're not so great at imagining the future.

You're right that the Matriarch has bestowed a greater revelation upon me. All will partake of the same revelation at the Nativity.

When the time comes, it won't be just you and Fia; millions of people will gain insight into the future, both inside and outside Laterano.

You're sharp, Lemuen, and I'm sure you understand that our first priority is to make sure that the Nativity goes off without a hitch.

I will continue to hunt the criminal trying to blow things up at this important time.

Leave. Now.

I don't want to see your face.

In the end, the gathering parted on less-than-pleasant terms.

He had spent much time mulling over Patrizion's invitation before accepting it.

He was not unprepared for what might happen. But with a new dawn about to break in Laterano, he had decided to come and visit old friends, for reasons that he could not, or would not, put into clear words.

What will become of the past once the new Laterano comes?

He wanted a confirmation, nothing more.

The wind brings a cloud that casts a tiny shadow in a corner of the street. Andoain frowns.

He takes a few steps, then stops and waves over a confessional.

Automated Confessional CONFESS-47, at your service. Please insert your Signa Creditorum or citizen credit card before beginning your confession.

Sorry, I just remembered I have something else I need to do.

It's you.

Is something the matter? Were you being followed?

Was that why you waved over a confessional? To check your surroundings? Do we need to call the guards?

No, I guess I was just imagining things.

Were you looking for me?

The Matriarch has returned to the Shrine of Nurtury.

We came to take you back.

Welcome back, Cardinal Lemuen.

Here are the handover documents for five firearms workshops in Pagus Faber. This one's owner, Paganini, has signed the papers.

Good work. The Notarial Hall can take the rest.

Speaking of which, there are some exceptional circumstances with the workshop on Via Borgos...

The owner, Paganini, has an apprentice who is going to take her qualification exam. The Curia will have to provide some form of compensation now that the shop has been shut down.

Her name is Vannini, I think. I happened to pass by her when I left... she had fiery red hair and a bright smile on her face. A really sunny disposition.

Via Borgos... sounds familiar.