Глава 13

Phew, good thing it's just those seeds.

These seeds are not on my list of approved transactions.

I don't care how you got your hands on these, but I suggest you knock it off with the stupid ideas.

From today onwards, we'll deal with any suspicious individuals directly.

Why am I even telling you this?

Anyway, you'd better stay in line. Don't do anything stupid.

It's so quiet, it's eerie.

Should I turn around and look?

I like the flowers you're growing, these 'roses.' We don't have them in Kazdel.

There's a battle. I need to leave town, and I won't be back so often anymore.

You must be happy about that.

Send these flowers to my tent later, <i>Gardener.</i> This coin is my down payment.

One last word of advice. Don't go near the work site at the center of the town.

These scary men are interested in such fragile flowers?

Oh! My roses...

The white petals are stained in red blood.

Was his hand pricked by the roses' thorns?

He didn't feel any pain?

Weird Sarkaz.

Oh no!

It's safe now! Are all of you okay?

Phew—Free at last. It's such a tight squeeze inside!

Easy. You were just about ready to fight him, weren't you?

I know we can't bring trouble so soon—

Sorry, Rockrock...

And...

I'm Feist.

I didn't expect them to start looking so early today. I heard there's a group of... 'armed militants' outside the town.

The two of them look at each other.

We're sorry for all the trouble.

Magdelene, right? Things here are a little not like what we expected.

The situation is a bit... awful, I suppose? But there's a surface-level 'peace' maintained here.

Do the villagers serve the Sarkaz?

Rockrock!

Although the face of the young man named Feist shows many signs of battle weathering, I can nonetheless see a fearless courage in his clear eyes.

Rockrock seems to be his partner. I can imagine the two of them fighting alongside each other.

It's been some time since I saw such zealous vigor in this town.

It's not a problem. It's true... Our town is working for the Sarkaz. Normal for Rockrock to be having doubts.

You told me you were refugees...

I'm guessing you must be more than refugees who escaped Londinium, seeking supplies?

Sorry about that. We didn't tell you who we were before.

We're with the Londinium Citizens' Self-Salvation Corps.

Londinium... But what are you doing here?

Hm, it's a long story, and we'll have time to talk more about that.

But first, could you tell me what the Sarkaz are building in the center of the town?

Kal—Our consultant is worried about what's being built here. Feist and I have tried getting closer to the area, but the Sarkaz are guarding the place very tightly.

We could only see a giant blood-red crystal.

It's much bigger than all the other ones that we've seen in both scale and complexity.

You mean... the thing we are building here isn't unique to this place?

We believe this is one of the Sarkaz's combat Arts Circles, but Brentwood's might be more special than that.

Our forces are planning to strike this place. Our fighters are... not in the best of shape right now, but with your help—

War.

Ever since the news came that the dukes have made it here, more and more of the town's residents have been talking about that ever-distant war.

But they only ever let their imaginations run wild lamentably away from the Sarkaz's view.

They only ever boast in their drunkenness, that the dukes' fleets will follow the routes they whimsically draw on maps to save Victoria.

They fantasize about how the Sarkaz will run away from Brentwood as they shout their rallying cries.

But what exactly is war?

I can't see any of it whatsoever in this quiet, Sarkaz-controlled town.

I don't want to ever see it, either.

The Sarkaz... are going to be leaving very soon. There's nothing that they could want in our town.

Feist, Rockrock, you two should be on your way soon. It's dangerous for outsiders to be here.

You can take the alley behind the greenhouse. The Sarkaz don't patrol that area.

Even though Brentwood isn't at the forefront of the conflict between the dukes and the Sarkaz... the situation here isn't normal at all.

Whether it's the change in the movement of supplies to Brentwood for the last couple years, the almost intentionally ignored geographical location, and the enormous Arts node you're building.

Where are these Originium crystals from? How did the Sarkaz come up with such a detailed plan in such a short time?

This is a little embarrassing, but we still don't know what exactly the Sarkaz are trying to do.

That's not a good thing...

Magdelene, if you could help persuade everyone to help, we still have a chance to stop them.

Even if it's just helping us figure out the situation of the Sarkaz garrison stationed here—

You can stop hiding.

Hello, Self-Salvation Corps.

(Feist, the evacuation route we were planning to take is still open.)

(Let's see how this plays out. We can't give up on this chance to get them on our side.)

(If Dr. Kal'tsit's right, what the Military Commission is planning here... has to be extremely important.)

Relax. I was just passing by, and thought I would thank my friend.

Magdelene, Will said he forgot to say thank you, and asked me to thank you in his stead.

*sigh*... He's always had those unrealistic fantasies ever since he was a kid.

(This doesn't feel quite right.)

(It sounds like Will is the drunkard who almost opened the cupboard we were hiding in?)

(Shh... Let's not get into that.)

*cough*... Freda, I'll leave these two Self-Salvation Corps members to you.

Do you need me to fill you in on their situation?

No need. I heard everything outside.

Freda... the mayor—

The Mayor of Brentwood was my father. He's dead.

Fortunately... he's the only one who lost his life in this town so far.

But I'm afraid I have to turn down your request.

I respect your bravery to stand up against them... but I can't put all of the town's residents at risk.

My father had the same idea, and he's already paid the price. Resistance would only bring unnecessary sacrifice.

The Sarkaz camp is not far from the main entrance to the greenhouse. For your safety, please leave quickly.

Brentwood will take care of its own.

Peace doesn't come easy and... I... I'm afraid of breaking it once more.

Freda, don't you see the problem in that?

They made me a promise. They'll leave as soon as their plan is completed—

You trust the Sarkaz's word?

I have to.

Rockrock, let's go.

Feist!

Mayor Freda, we'll working in the surrounding area. We... We're waiting to rendezvous with our other teams.

If you need assistance or... if things take a turn for the worse, you can find us there. That's our promise.