jesca2

It's stuck. I can feel its leg...

Pull it out.

Won't it hurt the mother?

They're stronger than you think.

Alright, I'm pulling!

Pull!

I wiped its nose and mouth clean. It can breathe now, but it's too weak to stand up and drink from the mother. What should we do?

Wait.

Ah, okay...

...No, it's still not standing up.

Well, it was born about half a month early, due to today's accident.

Carry it back. We'll have to feed it by hand for a while.

What if... it never stands up?

Don't make any assumptions about its fate, Jessica. Like I said, they're stronger than you think.

Mr. Woodrow! We need you back at camp!

What is it?

Th-There's a fight!

You go first, Jessica, I need to get the burdenbeasts back into the corral.

Jessica? But things are pretty chaotic right now. I'm not sure if she—

Yeah, I'm not sure if I—

It'll be fine. Go. I'll be there right after I take care of these guys.

But what if—

Just go and see what's going on. You'll need to learn to deal with this stuff on your own sooner or later.

Do it! Give 'em the ol' one-two!

Man, that kick must've hurt.

Excuse me, gentlemen, please disperse.

B-Be careful, Jessica. These guys ain't the type to look before throwing a punch.

No need to worry about me. So what happened? Why are they fighting?

I-I'm not sure.

What do I do now...?

Leave it to me, I'll take care of this.

(The crowd's too thick for me to go in directly...)

Maybe I can get in from above.

The girl quickly assesses her surroundings. Vehicles and low wooden houses, scattered fencing and scaffolds, and a tall water tower directly in the middle of the camp.

She quickly plots an unobstructed route through the scattered buildings.

She unwinds a rope from one of the tents, climbs one of the scaffolds, and uses the rope to swing to the central water tower.

From there, she has a complete view of the chaotic scene on the ground.

Looks like the brawl began with those two at the center. The rest simply went with the flow.

So if I stop them, the others should settle down too.

She leaps down and lands in the center of the crowd, lithely dodging an incoming punch before grabbing the attacker's arm and wrestling him to the ground.

Pinning her opponent, she takes a deep breath and shouts—

All of you, stop this immediately!

Let's sit down and talk it out.

We should be helping each other out here on the frontier, not picking fights. We need to learn to accept our differences.

Hmph...

Tch...

Ahem... So how did you two start fighting in the first place? You even dragged the rest of the camp into it.

Talk to me. Maybe I can help mediate.

Oh, you'll hear me out then?

Of course.

It all started two months ago...

(Two months... Their grudge goes back that far? I should have noticed sooner.)

We were at the market together, discussing whether to keep fowlbeasts or burdenbeasts once we're married.

Wait... you're getting married?

Darn tootin'! If we don't do it now, the baby will have to be born next winter.

So... you were fighting over whether to get fowlbeasts or burdenbeasts?

Yeah!

...Is that really worth coming to blows over?

Of course!

I'm sorry, I'm still confused... Can you go into more detail?

(Maybe it's more complicated than that... I should hear them out.)

A few fowlbeasts won't make us any money! We should be raising burdenbeasts!

And I'm supposed to just leave you alone at camp while I take them out into the wilds to go grazing?!

You think I can't take care of myself?!

No need to stand up, ma'am. Use your words.

Who'd worry about a woman who can take out a grown man with a single punch?!

Sir, you should sit down too...

Stop arguing and settle this the old-fashioned way!

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Just calm down, everyone... Er, what am I supposed to do here?

You're just afraid I'll cheat on you, aren't you?!

Where the hell did that come from?!

Folks, please, just sit down...

(Don't fight anymore, please...)

Then what are you on about?!

(Oh dear...)

Obviously it's because...

Er...

Seeing the fire in the couple's eyes, Jessica nervously clenches her fist and readies herself for the coming storm.

Because...

Because I'd miss you every second I'm away!

Huh?

Well, well, now ain't that touching.

But while we're all being honest, there's another score that needs settling: the damages to the camp.

What do you think, Jessica?

I... I just want to cry right now.

Jessica?

They were only fighting because they didn't want to be apart... What am I supposed to do about that?

I just... I just...

Wah...

Hey now, girl, no need to cry... What do we do, honey?

Look, we're not fighting anymore. Wipe those tears, okay?

See? We're holding hands!

S-Seeing you two make up just makes me want to cry even more...

*Sob*...

Here, a towel... Wipe your face.

Sorry, Woody... All I could do was cry...

Just take it nice and easy. There's still plenty you got left to learn.

I come in, and the first thing I see is Jessica crying. Go easy on the kid, no need to use harsh language.

I'm okay, Miles... That's not why... I-It's because...