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She's moving!

*cough* *cough*—

She's sweating all over and coughing up foam... her lips are blue too...

What do I do, what do I do... are Columbians this weak? I've never seen this happen to someone from Kjerag...

...I-I'll find help right now!

Joanna crouches down and lifts Elena violently by her clothes. She slings Elena over her shoulders and locks Elena's arms and legs with her own.

Heave, ho—

Hang in there, Elena!

You might as well put me out of my misery with a bolt if you're gonna carry me like this...

I think I'm really going to die now...

She forces out her last words, and closes her eyes...

'Alright, Genne, I know you like to listen to Dad's stories about the stars, but it's time to go to bed.'

'You want to see the stars outdoors? You're too little right now, but when you grow up, we'll climb the highest mountains and see all the stars, okay?'

'No, we're not taking you for a ride. Someday, you'll go to bed with a smile on your face under the starry firmament.'

'After all, your name means 'origin of stars'...'

She's awake!

Where am I...

A clinic in the mountains. This doctor saved your life.

Thank... you...

She's exaggerating. The concoction will only soothe your symptoms. You need to rest.

What's she sick with, doctor?

Foreigners have a hard time with Kjerag's high mountains.

While the symptoms may not be obvious in everyday life, Elena was clearly overexerted and exhausted when she was brought in, causing the symptoms to intensify.

I'm so sorry, Elena! Come on, Rift Cloudbeast, let's apologize together!

(Purrs)

It's alright, I know you didn't mean any harm.

Let me get up—

Elena stumbles as she tries to get out of bed. Joanna quickly moves to help her up.

By Kjeragandr, just stay put!

I'm fine...

No need to worry. She'll get better soon.

...I'm glad there's a clinic up here. I thought the snowy mountains were gonna be the last thing I'd ever see.

It's not easy for the hunters to go down the mountains, so they asked the Vine-Bead Court to send a doctor.

I was studying medicine at the Hall of Writings, so Elder Adso sent me. That was more than a decade ago.

Ever since Karlan Trade opened new hospitals in the cities, though, people have started to go there instead, even though it's further away, so things have gotten quieter here.

Doctor...

Oh, sorry, Mia. So busy I forgot about you.

Did the new stomach medicine work better?

No, doctor. My belly still hurts...

Hm, that's unusual. Did you get it checked in the city?

I don't trust the city people... so many have taken their chemical stuff and gotten sick in other ways.

Hm... well, take a seat, and I'll look through the books to see if there's something else that can be done.

...Maybe I can help.

I have a sonograph with me. It can be used to perform basic scans on human organs.

But that's city-folk stuff, isn't it?

Does it matter? It's not like you have anything to lose.

Forget it... never seen anything like this before...

Come on, Elena, help me convince her—

No.

Elena?

What I mean is, it's not city-folk stuff.

It's an instrument that 'She' has blessed.

Her words surprise even herself. She was not supposed to subscribe to such mysticism.

My, my...

You mean... Kjeragandr?

...Yes.

I had the honor of traveling together with the Saintess for a while. This instrument allowed me to see Her true form.

You know, of course, that She does not reveal herself easily. It stands to reason that She must have permitted this instrument to perceive Her.

She winks at the huntress next to her.

...She's telling the truth.

We're the Saintess's servants. We accompanied her when she sought an audience with Kjeragandr.

Yes, yes, the Saintess...

I do remember hearing people say that the Saintess was accompanied by two attendants when she came back, one of whom was a foreigner...

Where did you see Her, then? What did She say to you?

She said—

(Whisper) What DID She say?

'Seek not my temple, but my heart.'

We are all ignorant children in Her presence... before the mysteries of this great land.

True ignorance is to lack the courage to venture into the unknown beyond one's own beliefs.

I see...

I-I'll trust you. What should I do?

Please take off your jacket. I'll get ready.

Phew... thank you so much. Without you, I would never have realized that she had developed gallstones.

But... she refused to go to a hospital for treatment, even though she agreed to let me examine her.

I'll talk to Mia again when she comes back for her medicine next time.

It's not something that can be easily treated with pharmaceuticals alone. I wish I had tried harder to convince her...

...Mia's a smart woman. She may not have necessarily believed what you said about the instrument being blessed, but she agreed to be examined. That was the furthest she could accept, right now.

The smarter someone is, the more likely they'll be stubborn about their views. So their prejudices go way deeper than other people's.

It's so hard to change one's prejudices, without seeing certain things for oneself.

...Have you had a lot of experiences like this?

Yes. I didn't like the new things that Karlan Trade brought in at first, but I have to admit their usefulness when I see them in action, like today.

It's the other way round now. Quite a few people seem to have a prejudice against me, thinking that the old stuff from the past is all myths and lies. Nothing I can do about it.

Perhaps someday, they'll see the good in those old things, and realize their narrow-mindedness, haha.

Anyway, I should thank you on Mia's behalf. It's getting dark. How about you two stay for dinner?

Dinner? What do you have?

Mm... some vegetables, and two smoked sausages—

Wow! Did you hear that, Elena? We're in for a treat!

Elena takes a stroll outside the clinic after dinner. She can faintly hear Joanna and the doctor chatting around the dinner table.

The stars of Kjerag...

She rubs her hands together. The white vapors that come out as she exhales fade into the night in the wind. She walks forward slowly, toward the starry heavens that she can almost reach out and touch.

Good news! I finally got the doctor to agree to roast the last half of the sausage!

Have a little bit later, and then you can take the rest back with you when I bring you back to the station.

Why aren't you saying anything, Elena? Are you feeling sick again?

...Oh, no, I'm just thinking.

About what? This sky? You've been looking up at it for a while.

Yeah... I've never seen the stars so clearly with the naked eye.

I've looked up at them all my life. Didn't think they were anything special.

My family, the Urbicas, has a long tradition of astrology.

I don't get along with my parents anymore, but they used to watch the stars with me, using telescopes.

But the stars were always so dim when I pulled open the curtains and looked out at the night sky outside the window. My parents couldn't explain why; they just told me that you can't see the stars as clearly in the cities as you can out in the wilderness, on the mountains.