vvana

Wake up, Mr. Navigator!

Didn't I say the route is fine...?

We just detected an unknown nomadic plate, when there shouldn't be any on our route.

We hailed them, and they're calling themselves Ognisko.

Ognisko... Isn't that a stationary city?

Did you check their call sign? Is it legal?

It is. The registered owner is...

Mr. McKee, of the Rose Paper Union.

Back for more of the same, Viviana? Soft bread and marjoram sausage?

Wow, you still remember? I haven't stopped by in quite a while.

Thanks. I'll be back next time I'm in Ognisko.

Well...

Sorry, but I'm about to close this shop down, maybe as early as next week. You'll have to go elsewhere next time.

What? Why, if you don't mind telling me?

Found a new job, that's all. I'll still be a shopkeep, but I'll be selling weird trinkets instead. And I'll be getting paid for it instead of putting my own money in.

I've got <i>you</i> to thank for it, actually. We've had more jobs opening up around here ever since those reporters came looking for you with their cameras.

Not that there's much I can do to thank you... how about we say this one's on me?

You're too kind. You don't owe me anything. In fact, there's something I want to ask you.

Do you know of any other shop on this street with food as good as yours? My master likes it the way you make them.

If you really want, you can come to my house and I'll make you some.

But I think you've got other things to worry about when it comes to your master...

Take good care of her, Viviana. She may have caused a bit of trouble, but nobody's really holding it against her.

She's the one who built a lot of our furnaces, after all.

Trouble?

Nothing serious. Guess it's just hard to accept change at that age, stubborn as she is.

...Huh?!

Viviana?

Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw someone I knew.

Do a lot of people wear suits in Ognisko these days?

I'm back, master. I put your food on the table.

I told you, just call me Obina.

What about the iron? The food I can live without, but not the iron.

Yes, but you can only have it after you've eaten.

If I let you light your furnace first, you'll forget to eat all day.

Hah! I'm tough, I can take it.

'Everyone breaks. The only thing that doesn't is iron.' You said that yourself.

I say a lot of things!

I also said, 'The first smith on the great plains caught the fire that fell from the sky, lifted the metal that grew from the ground, and hammered it for nine days and nights without rest.'

By comparison, I'm downright lazy. And that won't do. The fire in the furnace goes out quick if you're lazy.

Now where are the tongs? Fetch 'em for me.

You can't fool me that easily.

But you do seem like you're in good spirits today. I haven't heard you talk so much in a long time. I was worrying about you on the way back.

...Am I talking a lot today?

Normally, you'd just say 'Give me the tongs.'

Alright, I...

I just wanted to ask when you're leaving.

Tomorrow morning, at first light. You didn't have to be so roundabout about it.

You won't stay?

Huh?

Just another half a month... or even a few days?

I can put this workshop under your name. We can keep hammering iron together. I made the ceiling higher, so you won't keep hitting your antlers on it.

I... didn't expect you to want me to stay.

I'll be going, master.

It's your life. Just don't forget anything.

I'm saying goodbye now because the ride's really early tomorrow, and I don't want to wake you.

What am I, your mother? You don't my permission to leave. No need for goodbyes, either. Just go where you want—it's none of my business.

You don't need to tell me even if you become Grand Knight.

I know, you've never been concerned about those things.

Just like you've never cared who I am, or where I'm from.

Hah! You're you. Who else could you be?

Thank you. That means more to me than any words of praise.

How would you know? I haven't praised you before.

But you <i>did</i> do good work when you were hammering iron with me. You're got nimble hands and a calm heart. You've got potential.

As for whatever you do elsewhere, I'm not gonna poke my nose into that. Just don't get yourself killed.

I won't, master.

I'll be back to see you someday.

Candle Knight! Why have you chosen to leave Ognisko? Where are you going next?

What do you think about Moonlight Knight's performance this spring, after she replaced you in the Nova Knightclub?

Sorry, folks, but I have a ride to catch... It leaves in ten minutes.

You're avoiding the question, Madam Droste...

Candle Knight! One moment—

What are you taking all those photos for?

You never seen a human before?!

You like to talk, right? How about you tell me what makes Viviana different from anyone else?

How is where she's going any of your business?! Get lost.

...Thank you.

I... didn't expect you to want me to stay.

Tsk. Forget I said anything.

I must still be half-asleep... I'm heading out now.

Where to? I already bought everything.

Don't worry about it, Viviana.

And don't follow me.

Get the furnace lit. You can forge anything you want today. Then you can go wherever you want tomorrow.

Mr. McKee.

What are you doing here?

I just watched that blacksmith leave. Hard to imagine that I'd see an old woman with the same kind of aura I see in knights going to war.

She reminds me of a certain other stubborn person... someone who had a great influence on you.

Obina is just an ordinary blacksmith. She has nothing to do with anyone you know, and there's nothing worth digging into there.

Madam Droste... the last time I saw you take such a firm stance was when you refused to use extraordinary methods to defeat the Radiant Knight at the Major.

I had thought the Radiant Knight would look after you after you were 'reassigned' to Ognisko, but she has her own path to walk, and it's been hard for her to come see you.

So I was relieved to learn that you met someone in Ognisko who could take care of you... even if she's just an ordinary blacksmith.

Obina has nothing in common with the Radiant Knight, and the care she shows for me has nothing to do with her either.

She did, however, help me experience a sort of... peace, which I had never felt before.

I can only imagine how precious that peace is to you.

That's why I wanted to let you know that, whether it be that blacksmith or Ognisko itself, there is, in fact, something worth digging into here. Even if you'd rather not think so.

...How much do you know about the recent changes in Ognisko?

I know that the nomadic platforms parked outside the city belong to Glorious Shield Industries, and that they're being used to rebuild the city.

Those colorful ribbons on the houses, those plastic flowers on the branches, even the model weapons and knight emblems on the streets... they all came from Glorious Shield?

And those people pretending to hammer iron behind glass windows... they're on Glorious Shield's payroll, aren't they?

And Glorious Shield's partners.