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An average downtrodden Victorian optometrist who fled here after his shop was taken away from him amidst the war.

He sympathized with the Infected who were being discriminated against, and so chose to join their group and help out a little with his abilities.

You've always displayed a respectable character ever since I got to know you, Mr. Nowell.

But it's because of that... I...

Please speak your mind, Talulah.

I'm just curious why a long-lived like you would deign to conceal your identity and do such insignificant things.

I noticed. Of course, this is still much better than the worst-case scenario I thought of.

However... you can deny it, and we'll speak of it no more. I'll tell Nine though.

I won't.

Nowell smiles, plucks a leaf and fiddles with it.

There are actually many Victorians who I'm well-acquainted with, that know my identity... I only wish to avoid scaring my travel companions.

But I'd like to correct you on one point, Talulah. I'm not 'deigning' to act like this.

My longevity aside, I doubt I'm any more talented than ordinary people.

The long-lived gain their longevity through different means, as diverse as the Originium Arts they use.

But we aren't always influential figures, Talulah.

In fact... I'm much more interested in your story.

A descendant of the red dragon, founder of Reunion, and the leader of the Infected movement that took off in Ursus. To think you'd still act so shrewdly towards a so-called 'long-lived'?

...Who exactly are you, Mr. Nowell?

Just some guy.

A hundred and fifty years ago, I was telling my third son the fables I learned from my travels in Yan, and he left my side from impatience.

And as I stood before his granddaughter's granddaughter, I was once again a stranger in a large family.

So now I harbor anger and pain inside me, giving up entirely on both family and love as I try to locate the villain hiding in Victoria who manipulated my fate.

I spent the last century researching... researching the ''long-liveds', the 'gods', the 'masterminds', the 'immemorials', and myself.

I tried to benefit from the system of nobility, to hone my Originium Arts, to accumulate wealth and exchange it for secrets...

I tried every method you can fathom to get closer to the truth, but I haven't been successful at all.

I didn't manage to become nobility or wealthy. I only had a little shop... that's all I really had. Combat abilities wise, I might not even be able to defeat Mr. Guard.

Time has only taught me to recognize the reality that I hold no talents at all.

That's the story of an ordinary person, Talulah. This tale I can freely share with you.

Nowell drops the leaves that were in his hand, and the breeze blows them far away.

He dusts himself off, and picks up his suitcase once more.

Please, rest assured I hold no ill intent towards you all. I only wish to find... the 'hands of fate' that cursed me.

She hides behind the country, treating her monarch as her glove, and the city-state her chessboard.

She merely looks upon everything labeled 'Victoria' with a cold gaze. If needed, 'Victoria' can even be destroyed and rebuilt, and topped off with a new flag after.

How can I believe she isn't involved in our current turmoil of absurdity?

She's definitely hiding within the dukes. Watching the Sarkaz and Victorians engage in mutual slaughter. Bloodshed and sacrifice are merely heartless parameters and indicators to her.

Perhaps you might have been manipulated by a similar pair of 'hands' before—you have royal blood running through your veins after all. She has no reason to let you nor Alistair's daughter go.

Me? I do know another conspirator, but he doesn't deserve to be called a god, nor can he manipulate my fate.

But that's exactly how they live on, Talulah.

I want to know how to kill them.

Or perhaps, how to kill myself.

It's getting late, I need to fix little Susanna's glasses.

Mr. Nowell, you...

Talulah. The reason why I willingly tell you all of this, and why I joined Reunion—do forgive my selfishness—it is due to the intuition I've honed by the extra century I've lived.

You too, have resisted such a predetermined fate.

All of you here have.