gravel

This bounty hunter won't dare try anything with you again, and you're not currently 'chattel.' No one will get in your way. Rush back home, hm?

What's wrong?

I... can't actually return, Miss Gravel.

I have no money, and besides, I don't know where my home even is...

Isn't it right in Kazimierz? Just mention the village name, and...

I-I'm not from here... when I was tiny, I was kidnapped and brought to a Kazimierz village.

Go home? Alright, where do you call home? Of all of Kazimierz's villages, which is it?

It's... It's not...

Hm?

...I'm... not from here.

Then tell, young lady. Just where is it you come from?

...I... don't know.

I forgot everything.

I—I wanted to escape, but I already forgot where I even came from...

And then one day, a hunter told me he could take me to find a Knight, and they'd bring me home, and if I was lucky I could become a Knight myself.

So I was... taken to Kawalerielki. I only learned afterwards that they were planning to sell me, and make me serve someone else.

But that's not what I want to do! I want to go home! What I heard was he could take me to find a Knight, to take me home...

Leaving Kazimierz by herself, finding her hometown and her parents, that's just asking far too much of a young kid.

Grr. I know.

(Of course I know. I couldn't be any clearer about this.)

That thing on your arm... isn't it a 'barcode'?

Surely that doesn't mean, you...?

Yes... it's true.

Unlike you, I never had even the chance to flee the hunters, and I got sold straight off. My one bit of luck is the old man who bought me was beyond charitable, without a doubt.

Even so, becoming a Knight was all your own effort. From commoner to a campaign knight... anyone knows why that ain't an easy time.

That's amazing. So you really can become one...

After you became a Knight, did you ever return to your home to see your parents?

I miss them so much. I want to see my mom and dad again...

I never found them.

Huh?

I once went to a village, where you once happened to be. Maybe because I was searching for clues about those hunters, wanting to find out where they took me from.

But... I never found anything.

No. None of this is real.

Gravel... Knight?

Don't drag me into the whirlpool of memories again. All this is... it's what I always, always feared happening most.

If I hadn't met the master of the house, if I hadn't become a Knight, if I'd never found my family... just what kind of state would I end up in?

But I've known, since long ago, that none of it will ever trouble my heart again.

Gravel, what are you talking about?

And you, Marcin, you too. It could never miss you that I'd left Kazimierz, joined Rhodes Island... That's right, I came back from 'Rhodes Island.'

I know... Can tell from a quick look in your eyes. You've come to say farewell to me.

I'm... going to Rhodes Island. To follow them.

Hmph. Have you already told them your name?

Not yet. I need to confirm for myself once more, whether or not they're deceiving me, whether they want to use me for evil.

Then go. To that Rhodes Island to see, and continue your hometown search as you do.

I know... you haven't given up on finding it. It is the right thing to do, Gravel.

Father, I...

Stop.

It is just as we said those years ago, Gravel. Go. You were to leave sooner or later. As you are decisive in this moment, so there is little to long for.

Come back to Kazimierz, should you want to come back. And should you not... then do not be burdened, and go!

'Rhodes Island'? Gravel, you're a Maypole family vassal, a fourth-order knight...

All that is... the past now, Marcin. I belong to Rhodes Island now.

You...

What this girl just told us, all of this is 'my' story.

I went unsaved by a Knight, was trafficked into Kazimierz, sold into Kawalerielki... and I didn't even know how to go about getting back home.

But you got your own family in Kazimierz too. As a Maypole vassal, as a Knight, you must be so happy...

I am a vassal to the master of the house. I'll forever revere him, be grateful for him.

But, the last thing he said to me... is that I shouldn't forever long for this place.

I left Kazimierz. Because I had a reason to. And it was time to find my own true home and parents.

Yes... this is all just a dream.

And I know this, because there wouldn't ever be another child kidnapped into Kawalerielki.

Those ruthless scum dressing up in the skins of 'bounty hunters' were the last force in the trafficking business. As far back as I'd followed every village patrol and punished every hunter, they were already—

Gravel.

...Unf... ugh.

(This is... Rhodes Island?)

Gravel.

Yes, Doctor.

(So that really was just a dream.)

(I've been having similar dreams, one after another, but...)

Sorry, it looks like I... fell asleep.

It's alright. You seem a little shaken, anyhow.

Hehe, are you worried about me?

Funny. I'm usually the one watching you. I never imagined I'd be in another's gaze.

......;Just checking in.;Don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I...

I understand. I know you don't get distracted at work. You're just supervising me, making sure I'm doing my job properly, aren't you?

Ah~. Anyway, don't let me weigh on you. Go on, continue with your work.

Actually, Gravel... if you're tired, it's alright to nap.

Hm? That'd be dereliction of duty, wouldn't it, Doctor~

......;It wouldn't.;It's not that big a deal.

You really are cunning, Doctor.

In Kazimierz, I'd hardly ever have the time to sleep. I'd dream so often... not that they were any good dreams.

Doctor, after losing your memory... have you ever felt helpless, or alarmed, maybe?

......;Yes.

I do dream often. Of leaving my home, being brought to Kazimierz. I find all sorts of people to assist me, even my own dream 'me', hoping they can help me find my way home.

But the thing is, every time I'm asked where my hometown is, I just...

Even today, I still can't bring to mind where it is I came from. I only remember it was a place completely different from Kazimierz.

Poor, a backwater... fragile. The parents of mine who couldn't even protect their own child.

But no matter what, all these years and years, I've wanted always to find my home, to return and see my parents. I don't know if they're well, or if they'd still remember me.

How lucky of me, to be picked up by that old knight, to have a fate unlike the other 'chattel', to seize knighthood by my own efforts.

But, I've never forgotten... why it is I became a Knight.

The power to seek myself, the ability to protect others. And now, I have... protecting your life as my calling.

......;Ahem.

Aw~, are you embarrassed? It's alright, Doctor, I won't guess at what you're thinking. Right now, watching your every movement is the only function of these two eyes.

Just give me this chance, let me stay by your side to defend you, and that'll be fine.

Alright, you'd better head on back to work, Doctor~. Or perhaps, you wanted to learn about me, all especially?

(Nod.);(Shake your head violently.);......

It's alright, Doctor. I'll be keeping you company for a very long time. When the time comes and you want to know, I'll tell you all about my past.

I'm even freer than I was, leaving Kazimierz and coming to Rhodes Island, and it lets me keep searching for my home.

Right now... it's in quiet interactions, like these, where I can be most at peace.

Although...

(We're at the point where I can sleep in the Doctor's office... I suppose that's a little privilege of mine?)