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MAIN_LOG_101_1

Part.01

In the Hall of Heroes, there has forever been a legend.

It tells of a priest of devotion, fearlessness and heroism true, bestowed with the rare honor of bearing the Evergreen Ivy. Thus the priest protects the warriors who fight for Minos, until the Ivy wilts in hand...

No natural plant can truly be evergreen in its triumph.

Ah, indeed, indeed! How fair a legend it is to hear, yet how cruel too!

They call it Evergreen, and why should it wither still?

Hah-hah, so legends usually go. No need to lose too much sleep over it, Miss Priest.

Come to mention it, I think I've heard a similar rumor in my time.

Oh? It must surely be a story just as riveting, then?

It's just something from my youngling years. Ah, it's been too long. The details escape me now.

Alas! Then it is truly a tale ancient to rival history's epics.

Hardly. I just remember a soldier from another land, who told us children plenty of stories.

I remember the soldier once referred to a dead branch that kept on sprouting new buds. It took your story to remind this old man of it.

Did this soldier you mention come from Gaul?

Correct. No wonder you've heard tell, doctor.

How mighty Gaul was, in those days. And nobody ever speaks of it now... hah-hah, I think we've gotten sidetracked.

MAIN_LOG_101_1

Part.02

A dried branch.

New buds drawn from the most withered places, then rotting and wilting on the most vigorous leaves.

A forever growing stem, sterility and exuberance twisted together, the newborn portion devouring the dead as nourishment, the dead finding birth anew from within its own life.

It's odd for me to imagine, hearing this story again after so many years.

How miraculous...!

It isn't just a story.

This branch exists in reality. I once witnessed it on the land of a celebrated Gaulish noble.

But all trace of it has been lost to the fires of war by now.

That truly is a shame. If ever I had the chance to see it for myself...

Ah. I'd think you'd be better off without, really.

And wherefore?

I can answer that for you.

Rumors say that obtaining this branch means obtaining rebirth—obtaining eternal life.

MAIN_LOG_101_1

Part.03

Eternal life...

The 'Proof of Longevity.' The name the Gauls assigned it.

It doesn't hurt to live a little longer, but longevity is its own topic.

I think I'm far, far enough gone from the woodlands by now. I couldn't go any further if I tried, and I wouldn't want to.

Hmm...

Be that as it may, what of the fate of the Gaulish collector who possessed this miraculous branch?

As far as I know, it never brought any holder any good luck.

The last holder was in a comical stage outfit when their foe impaled them. The first belted songs while going mad, and soon after fell from a cliff.

And in the most famous of all the rumors...

It's said the unlucky soul ate half their own body's flesh. Death by blood loss, in the end.

Oh, wellaway, wellaway...

I'm afraid nobody knows whatever the truth may be now, or whether those rumors are real or not.

There's always some types who believe they can outrun death, open their eyes again.

Longevity... ah, alas, such a lamentable miracle.

Our lives are finite, but the name that stands for faith in the people's hearts, it does not fade. It is immortal.

The hero's ardent yet pure life is an imperishable spark. Its fire will endure and burn long, yet who of those who light it would forever consume themselves?

In practice, no one could.