liskam

This isn't Blacksteel. You don't need to try to be so polite around me.

We are friends, aren't we?

Liskarm...

I see... So you don't trust me...

O-Of course I trust you. O-Okay...!

Ha.

You haven't changed at all, Jessica.

I'm trying my best...

There's a tough side to you, and unlike before, you know how to bring that part of you out now.

But well...

You freak out whenever you're scared. That hasn't changed.

*Whimpers*... You make fun of me just like Franka does now.

Oh, no, I'm not as much of a meanie as her.

Right... No, I mean... That's not what I meant!

Franka isn't really that much of a meanie, but she always pranks the rest of us all of a sudden—

—And her jokes are terrible.

Ahem... Okay, I'll try not to badmouth her. You wouldn't know how to respond otherwise.

So, was there something on my shelf that caught your eye just now?

Well, I guess it wasn't a book that I was interested in... It's more like Vouivre itself that I'm trying to know more about.

Vouivre?

After I finished the novel, I wanted to know more about the story's setting.

You've been looking into Vouivre and the organizations there, right?

Hm? How'd you know?

Sorry, I... I saw the report on your desk just now.

And I also heard...

Well... These reports aren't really anything that special.

It's just... a habit of mine.

I was born in Vouivre, after all.

It wasn't until I'd left that I started to understand what a difficult situation my homeland is in... and what that actually meant for people outside.

But there is nothing I can do about the status quo.

All I can do is to understand what is going on there to the best of my ability and to think about what I might do about it.

I remember now. You told me before at Blacksteel.

That Vouivre needs a PMC that's different than the other ones.

Thinking back... I must've been so rash and naive for even coming up with that idea.

I-I think it's great to be ambitious!

I mean, it was you who plucked me out of the Equipment Department and asked me to join your team.

It was only because of your advice that I came here to Rhodes Island. I wouldn't have changed so much otherwise.

Back there, I didn't have any friends I could open up to, not to mention dreams.

I've always been very thankful of you, Liskarm. J-Just like How Franka found Vanilla—

Franka actually looked at all the recruits to find Vanilla.

All I did was run a few searches on the Blacksteel roster. That's all it took to find you.

You have such amazing potential. It was a waste for you to work in Equipment Testing.

*Sigh*...

*Sigh*...

All those days gone by... They're all some really great memories... Yeah.

Looking back, I was just far too naive.

I thought I could start my own PMC as soon as I figured out the way Blacksteel operates.

For the past few years, all I've ever paid attention to was Blacksteel's expansion.

If that was your goal all along, why did you go to the Biochemistry Department?

I had a few bottlenecks...

It's all pretty clear to me in hindsight, but everything was just a haze to me back then.

The things that Blacksteel asked of me just didn't seem to be anything like the 'peace' I had in mind. I was always hesitating during my missions.

That contradiction tormented me. If Dr. Longfellow hadn't assigned me to Biochemistry, I probably would still be tormenting myself.

Jessica... We've been working in Rhodes Island for a while now. What do you think of this place?

I-I feel honored to be here!

I get to keep working with you and Franka, and I've changed a lot ever since I got here.

Back at Blacksteel, I just didn't have any friends I could open up to.

But I have a lot of friends here who will hear me out... and I've gotten a lot of help from everyone.

I think coming to Rhodes Island has got to be one of the most important things that ever happened to me!

Yeah... That's good.

What about you, Liskarm? That reminds me. You and Franka were the first two Blacksteel employees who came to Rhodes Island, right?

A-Ahem.

Right. Back then...

You two just left without saying a word. I was so nervous.

I was so worried you were abandoning us.

It wasn't until later that I heard you were transferred to Rhodes Island with Franka.

Well, what else could I have done? She was my one and only partner...

Besides, I just didn't understand how Blacksteel did things back then. I was perhaps even more confused than you.

And I'd shelved my goals for a good while too.

You don't mean... that Blacksteel has some dark secrets...!

I think Blacksteel is a good company.

It's just... I guess I started seeing things differently at some point.

I thought Blacksteel had a different philosophy than the other mercenary groups out there, and I thought that was the best way to unite all the disorganized mercenaries in Vouivre, to fix the way they live.

Yet reality and my beliefs are two separate matters. My principles and actions don't always line up with each other either.

I... I think so too...

Blacksteel's operations help maintain the peace where it operates, but that peace is on the surface only.

It wasn't until I came to Rhodes Island that I understood things can actually be far grimmer.

That's also why I never talk about those ideas I had anymore. They're way too foolish.

Rather than a security company that focuses only on opportunities, I think it's far more important to focus on your personal mission and responsibility.

Jessica, have you heard that, though deadlocked, Vouivre is still at war, and how it is completely disorganized?

I heard some stories about it before, but now that I've finished this book...

I want to learn more about Vouivre.

I used to think that perhaps the people out there just didn't know how to help Vouivre out of the hole it's found itself in.

It wasn't until I'd left and joined Blacksteel that I realized hardly anyone even knew how hard life was in Vouivre, or should I say... no one cared.

But I still wanted to make my homeland a safe place to life.

I want to make it a place where people from Vouivre would want to go back. I want to bring everyone together, to turn it into a place that can defend itself even without the PMCs outside.

I heard you babble about how Vouivre needs a security company to bring it peace while you were drunk one time. Is this what that was all about...?

That was just drunk talk!

I just started putting together these data on Vouivre not too long ago...

G-Gathering intel is just a habit of mine. It's got nothing to do with ambitions or whatever!

So don't make fun of me...

I wouldn't! I am sure you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

From the moment I first met you, I've never seen you slack off, whether it was back in Blacksteel or here in Rhodes Island.

Although you've been drinking with Franka a lot more ever since you came here.

That's all her fault.

She said she was going to fix how deadpan I was, and this was the way she went about it...!

But I think you live a much more fulfilling life now.

You smile a lot more too.

I think... Franka changed you for the better...

She may have become infected, but she's still trying to make her life more delightful.