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st04

'...Next, turn your textbooks to page 132.

Terran Calendar 31, the Empire of Hippogryph was officially renamed the Empire of Ursus. We have already spent two lectures talking about and analyzing this piece of history.

Historians believe that the cause of the Hippogryphs' fall from power was primarily its ruling class's corruption and incompetence, as well as the rise of Ursus and the forces of production that it represents.

This war is often referred to as Ursus's uprising, representing the Ancients' standing up against the Elders' authority. From this point onward, the legitimacy of the Elders' rulership across Terra gradually waned.

Yet if we look back on this war from a different perspective, we'll find a set of questions that naturally follow.

Suppose it was another Ursus race that had been ruling the country instead of the Hippogryphs. Would the revolution still have taken place?

If, as the rulers, the Hippogryphs had not insisted on a policy of racial discrimination, if they stopped taking Ursus wealth as their own and gave the Ursus equal opportunity...

Would the Hippogryph Empire's downfall have been averted, or would it have come sooner?

What if... the Khagan's cavalry never set foot on these lands?'

Hello, are you here to listen in on Miss Koshelna's lecture?

Miss... Koshelna?

That's right. Her lectures on imperial history are very popular.

I've been noticing young men and women such as yourself listening in from the hallway. You aren't one of our students, are you? You don't look like a college student.

You can actually go inside if you'd like. She's not going to mind if you stand in the back of the classroom. You'll be able to hear her more clearly.

No need. Her voice is pretty clear as is.

Okay, then. This lecture is almost over anyway. I still have other lectures to attend, so please excuse me.

By all means, please.

'You may not be able to find the answers to these questions in any textbooks.

But I hope you will give them some thought. Let them occupy your brain as you eat, as you bathe, and even as you sleep...

And when an idea has lingered in your brain long enough, write it down. I'm very interested in your opinions.

Okay, let's wrap it up here. Enjoy your brief freedom until the next bell.'

Do you have any questions, Miss?

Found you.

Why did she go into the city?

To look for someone.

And why is this someone worth the risk?

Nine, you said it yourself. We can't get anywhere close to the nomadic cities while we're in Ursus.

We want to pass judgment on her, don't we? Before she talks, she needs an answer still.

Without this answer, she won't even believe half a word she says herself, and neither will we.

We shouldn't be believing her to begin with!

She went into the city herself. What if she makes a run for it? All the efforts and sacrifices that went into rescuing her and all our plans about her going forward will all go to waste!

They won't.

She knows very well that she has nowhere to go.

Besides, as long as you still trust me, I can guarantee you this. No matter where she goes, I will take her in again.

I trust you... but that's based on everything you've done for us in the past year.

You're not like her. You don't talk big. This is something that all of us like about you. It's a good thing, and you should make sure you don't start picking up that habit.

Are you worried I'll be influenced by her?

I don't think that'll happen so easily.

Nine, a patrol unit is approaching—

Stay hidden.

Just as we predicted. In half an hour, this route won't be so safe anymore.

She better come back in time.

I thought I would've seen you much sooner—

—Talulah.

Koshelna... Couldn't have picked a more obvious name, could you, Kashchey?

Ah... Names. Names are just a way to refer to people. If the sound of this name reminds you of certain unpleasant memories, you can call me Fiolet.

Never mind. Your name is of little importance to me. Just like your appearance, your name is not worth remembering.

Why have you come then, Talulah?

Because you want a definite answer from me? Because you want me to tell you that, yes, Kashchey has left your body, and you're just Talulah and no one else?

In that case, you will get what you want. I can tell you exactly what you want to hear right now.

The question then is... are you willing to believe me?

You want me to believe a Black Snake?

Is this a new trick you're playing, Kashchey?

You gave me more than enough information to find you in the shortest amount of time. I can only assume that you were luring me here.

Have you gone back to our home, then? Our home, both yours and mine?

That's not my home. It's nothing more than ground zero of a conspiracy, a nest beloved of venomous snakes.

That's an awfully hurtful way to describe it.

But you read my letter nonetheless, didn't you? You remembered the channels through which Duke Kashchey received the Scales' correspondence. Not even the Secret Police who took over the dukedom could figure it out.

A letter sent ten years ago, and its sender is tenured here at this college.

I don't know if I should be gasping in admiration of how well prepared you are, or if I should be grateful that this channel stayed hidden for ten years while your Scales have long been reduced to nothing?

Does it make you happy that the territory has fallen into such neglect? Talulah, under your rule, they could have lived a much better life. They shouldn't have been torn to shreds by the Fourth Army.

Stop pretending you care about them more than I do.

Tell me. What is there in this small northern town for you to willingly stay here?

Kashchey, if I remember correctly, you preferred cities further south.

Not only because the air there is more humid, but also because lands where you cultivated generations of authority are more suitable for your scheming.

But not the tundra. The folk here lead a hard life. They have plenty to worry about sorting out issues with their food and harvest.

To them, the speeches you pride yourself on are like the artificial flower you wear. No purpose beyond aesthetics.

Talulah... Talulah.

What if I told you I'm here because your footsteps can be found in the tundra?

I'd say you're feeding me nonsense.

'The history of humanity is a history of struggle.'

You remember, don't you?

You applied everything that I taught you through the years to your struggle.

If you remember all of that, then shouldn't Talulah, the Fighter of the Tundra, and Talulah, the woman who succeeded the title of duke, be one and the same to me?

Yet you destroyed everything that I built in the tundra.

Did I?

Who do you truly blame for this series of fatal mistakes in your heart?

If you actually thought yourself innocent, you wouldn't have needed a year and a half to ponder how you should die.

The very moment your head turns, you will throw yourself into the next struggle.

Talulah, I know why you came to me.

You want to use your judgment on me to judge yourself. You want to hear me repent, so that you can start repenting yourself.

What you want is a tiny, pitiable bit of mental comfort.

Go on.

You want me to go on? I thought—

You thought I would let you witness my fury? No, Kashchey. You don't deserve it.

I've rehearsed everything you've said up to this very moment in my head, down to the very last word. A year and a half isn't that short, and I had nothing to do while I was imprisoned at Rhodes Island.

If you want to survive this meeting, you'll need to say something more original.

Very well. I can tell you've gotten more patient, thanks to that period of self-imprisonment.

But I brought up the tundra not because I wanted to provoke you.

Take a look at this school. Look at the students' faces.

They believe that the sunlight of may will melt the tundra's snow. They also believe that Ursus, colder and harder than even the tundra, will change beneath their feet.

So you're sullying their innocence with your despicable ideas?

You think I'm trying to find the next successor among them?

No, my dear. I'm just a normal university lecturer. The only things that I impart here are knowledge and ideas. I hold no authority or wealth.

If they want authority, they can fight for it themselves. If they seek a conspiracy, they are free to find the most suitable techniques in my lessons.

You want me to believe that the failure you experienced through me devastated you so much that you washed your hands of it all?

Failure? I never thought of that as failure.

Reunion was not destroyed in the Chernobog core city, and neither was Kashchey's plan.

Right, you managed to stop Kashchey. The war he sought, the war that could've changed Ursus history in an instant never came to be.