level_act13d0_st03

中秋 极境

We spend our entire lives flying. Has anyone ever stopped to wonder where we will end up?

The humid breeze from back home, and the saline taste it leaves in the mouth.

The scorching sun, the unbearably high temperatures, the marks the hustle and bustle leave behind on the skin, and the air currents that gather in the open, spacious city.

I've experienced it. I've experienced it all.

Maybe someday I will make it back to that place.

10:10 A.M. \ Clear

Rhodes Island Landship, Cabin No. 2, Operator Rest Area

Okay, it's up to you to let everybody else know, Mr. Elysium!

I've already talked to the Logistics Department about the ingredients we need, and I'll figure out the menu with FEater.

We should be able to make most homemade fare ourselves, but we'll need help with the more complicated dishes...

Oh, right! Leizi said she could help us write the invitations. Her handwriting is pretty, and her stroke movements are so beautiful and swift. Just watching her write makes me want to learn calligraphy!

Well, you certainly have everything in order. I didn't expect Miss Leizi to offer her help.

We need to contact the Yan and Lungmen operators on this list who are currently out in the field, correct? Just leave it to me. I'll get every last one of them!

I'm so glad you're helping us, Mr. Elysium.

I didn't expect there to be so many people from the old country here at Rhodes Island. Hehe, I really love that feeling of everyone coming together. It makes everything so lively, having so many people in one place.

I wonder if the people out there right now will make it back on time, though... I really hope they do... Hm, I guess it's probably going to be difficult, but there's always a chance!

Oh, of course, we welcome everyone! Would you like to join us, Mr. Elysium? You can bring your friends with you, too. The more the merrier!

Really? That's wonderful. I'll bring as many as I can. This is an opportunity not to be missed.

The more the merrier, right? That's what we're good at!

Ahaha... of course, we welcome all of you, but please don't go overboard, either. Dr. Kal'tsit would probably yell at us.

Don't worry. I know our limits.

If you're afraid of getting yelled at, you'd better not invite this guy.

If courting disaster a talent, then he is the most talented person I've ever seen.

Oh, Mr. Thorns, good morning!

Morning.

Oh, come now. We both know you aren't much better than me when it comes to courting disaster.

Do remember who it was that wrecked the steel plates in the connect area last time! Why did I have to bear the brunt of Miss Closure's tirade?

How would I know?

Wasn't it because you brought her little robot up to the deck and it shattered to pieces?

...Uh.

Th-That wasn't my fault! Andreana was shooting her inkballs there. She caught me off guard, and that's how the thing slipped out of my hand!

Eh? Wait a minute, why would Miss Andreana do something like that on the deck? She doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do that...

She was trying out her crossbow. I added something to emulate the feeling of shooting a Laterano gun.

So it was your fault after all! No wonder that gun nut was so excited!

Hm?

What's wrong... Huh? Who's there?

Oh! Sinthe!

Why are you hiding over there? Come here!

Oh, are you afraid of these two? It's okay, don't be shy! They aren't scary. Besides, I'm here!

Um, Purestream, don't pull on my sleeve... I'm coming.

...Sorry, am I interrupting? There's something I wanted to talk to Mr. Thorns about. If it isn't a good time right now, I can come back later...

Not at all. We're all coworkers. There is no need to be so formal.

She's here for you.

I certainly didn't expect a girl to willingly talk to you, with that poker face of yours. This really puts my mind at ease.

...It's none of your business.

What is it that you need?

Right. I'm sorry to bother you right now, Mr. Thorns.

There's something I wanted to ask you about maintaining my weapon...

Hm, interesting. Is this guy known for maintaining his weapons?

Now that you mention it, it's about time I get my communicator fixed.

Tell me, do you think Miss Closure will forgive me and make some enhancements to my communicator if I bring her a present after my next mission?

If you bring her something garlic flavored, I can guarantee you she won't.

Did you bring your weapon? Let me take a look.

Thank you! It's right here.

My weapon's Arts Unit is a little different compared to what other casters use. It's a little more complicated to maintain the parts inside... Oh, please be careful. The trigger is kind of loose.

It's old.

Is this the kind of Arts Unit they use in Ursus?

...Yes. It belonged to my father.

I asked Old Mr. Hellagur about it, and he told me to take good care of the staff, otherwise it could affect its performance in the future.

He also told me you can mix good reagents for weapon maintenance.

And, um... I'm very sorry to ask you this out of the blue, but if it's okay with you, could you—

Very well.

Could you please help me... huh?

Yes, I will help you.

I've actually just come up with a new idea. If you can trust me with your weapon, I can give it a try.

Eh, um, y-yes. T-Thank you.

Isn't that great, Sinthe?

You'd better not test anything weird on her weapon. I'm not doubting the effectiveness of your reagents, but every time you make something new, they always turn out pretty weird.

It'll be fine this time.

How can you be so sure?

I've already tested it on your weapon.

Huh? Ahhhh!

I'm just kidding.

Are they always like this...? They seem to get along really well.

Yeah, they're both from Iberia. Iberian operators are pretty much all really good friends.

It's a wonderful feeling to meet people from back home when you are so far away.

I was very happy when Miss FEater, the famous movie star, gave me her autograph! She's a huge celebrity where I'm from, and all of my friends and neighbors love her!

And now we're so close that we go shopping together!

Oh, right, and Miss Leizi too. She may look scary, but she's actually a really nice person.

Have you seen what she does to broken video monitors? She just whacks them like this. I thought that'd break them, but that's how she fixes them!

Isn't that how you fix electronics? You just need to hit them when they aren't working well.

That's true. Everyone back home does that. It works like a charm.

Yep. If it doesn't work, whack it a few more times.

Yep, exactly!

I see, so they are old friends back home.

Oh, cheer up. Don't look like that!

I know, you're thinking about Zima, Leto, and the others, right?

I'll come with you next time. I'm friends with Leto. You two will hit it off right away! Once you get to know each other, it'll be much easier to talk to them.

...Yeah. I hope so too. I'll have to talk to them sooner or later...

Thanks, Purestream.

Oh... You don't have to thank me. It makes me embarrassed.

Ah, what a wonderful display of friendship. Dazzling, don't you agree? I love seeing these situations play out before my eyes.

This reminds me of how shy I used to be when I first got here...

Are you sure you were ever shy?

Of course I was! Stop ruining my moment!

Even I need time to ease into things. Besides, Rhodes Island used to be a very different place. We didn't have that many people on board, and everyone was a lot more serious than they are now.

Eh, really? I can see Dr. Kal'tsit being strict. She still is. But how about everyone else? How was Miss Closure? And what about Amiya?

Well, you know how Dr. Kal'tsit is. As for Miss Closure, since she was always busy, we rarely ever got a glimpse of her. She only slowed down a little after she got everything on the ship in order, before getting busy again with her robots.

Hm... Let's see. It was about two years ago when I first got here.

Amiya was still a kid back then. She was a bit shorter, like a sprout.

Haha, I have to say. She still isn't quite an adult, even though her expression is a lot different now.

What was the Doctor like two years ago?

Eh, was the Doctor here too?

I believe the Doctor joined shortly before we did.

Really? But I thought the Doctor was one of the founders of Rhodes Island?

Well... that's a tough question to answer.

To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure what happened myself. I think something happened to the Doctor before I got here, and not many people know about it. The captain wouldn't tell me about it, either.

Anyway, I never met the Doctor until everything that went down in Lungmen. Ace certainly did raise the topic from time to time, though.

In any case, I'd say the way things are now isn't too bad. Amiya, Dr. Kal'tsit, and the Doctor all get along with each other, and we're bringing in more and more operators. Things are going to get even busier here.

From that point of view, I think I made the right decision when I decided to stay. I've had my fill of gloomy, boring places.

I may not be a Messenger, but I still get the chance to travel to different places, see different sights, and have a place to call home. That's more than enough for me.

Speaking of which, have you been back since you left?

Where?

Iberia.

Not even once!

Even if we wanted to go back... it's not quite possible, is it?

Both of you are from Iberia, right?

I haven't heard much about that place. What is it like? If you can't go back, don't you miss home?

Nope.

Uh, well, I guess I do miss Iberia a little.

Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I shouldn't have asked.

No, it's not really a big deal. It's just, how should I say this? Yeah, there's not really much worthy of mention there, now that I think about it.

Oh, don't look like that. It's not as if I have any painful memories of the place, but... yeah, Iberia was pretty boring for me.

Even though it's your homeland...?

Yeah, it's boring. It's depressing to no end.

I couldn't live there, and so I left. That's all there is to it. Aside from that, I guess it wasn't so bad.

That's what you think.

To us Ægirians, Iberia isn't a very friendly place.

Oh... I've heard a little about that, but I don't know much about it. There weren't a lot of Ægirians where I lived, after all.

Most Ægirians lived on the streets in the city outskirts or stuck it out near the blockade line until the Inquisition went after them. Very few of us were lucky enough to live a peaceful life.

The Inquisition rounded up a lot of people. People that they deemed threats, and rightfully so.

Um, are you sure?

That sounds kinda scary. If I remember correctly, you're an Ægirian too, aren't you, Purestream?

Yeah, but there are people of all races in Yan, so no one seemed to mind. I haven't heard of Ægirians being barred from any official positions, either. Everyone's equal.

Now that I think about it, Rhodes Island doesn't care much about races, either. When I first got here, everyone really took good care of me. Just like Mr. Elysium! He helped me out on my first field mission!

Me too. On my last mission, some enemies got the drop on me. It's all thanks to Mr. Elysium that I'm still here... Thank you very much.

Oh, no need to thank me. I get reassigned to different teams pretty often. We're all teammates, so we should help each other out.

Even so, I must still thank you for your kindness.

Absinthe, you're always so stubborn when it comes to these things. I have way too many people around me like that...

Such as that captain of yours?

Yes, she's one of those people, but have you ever noticed you're very stubborn yourself?

The captain doesn't talk much, but she looks so cool... and I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I'm actually a little scared of her.

I get it, I get it. She does look very scary.

But, you know, she just looks scary and doesn't try to talk to others much. She's actually very easy to talk to.

The next time you see her, maybe you should try saying hi to her. She may not look it, but it'll make her really happy. I guarantee it.

It sounds like you two really get along.

Well, I guess we kind of do... After all, she was the one who saved my life.

Besides, she can't get by without my help. If it wasn't for that, I would've been a Messenger, traveling all around the world right now.

Haha, being popular has its own set of problems.

I seem to remember she's on a solo mission right now?

And you're saying she can't get by without your help?

...This mission's different! Only she alone could handle such an infiltration mission. I'd just blow her cover.

I don't think she has ever teamed up with anyone before me, right? It was pretty terrible at first. She even used to beat me up just because she thought I was annoying. Don't you think that's cruel?

Her Arts are really something else. I took a single blow and it knocked me out of my senses so terribly that I didn't even know how to get home. It took me a while until I remembered who I was!

It affected your consciousness... and memories? I didn't know Arts could be so dangerous.

And that someone here at Rhodes Island has Arts like that...

Uh, yeah, it's not something we talk about often. It's technically classified information, so don't tell anyone else, okay?

Anyway, you should try to be more casual. We all get along with each other here. If there's anything you don't understand, come find me. I'll be happy to help you.

More or less what he just said.

You don't need to force yourself, though. Just go on at your own pace. Anyone will be happy to help you should you run into any problems.

...Thanks.

Yep, that's right. Don't push yourself too hard!

Oh, perfect! Sinthe, why don't you come to our party? You two as well, Mr. Elysium, Mr. Thorns. I'll be making lots of food from back home!

The festival only happens once a year. Be sure to eat your fill!

Well! That certainly gives me something to look forward to!

Hehe, and do look forward to it. I promise you won't be disappointed~!

A city in gray, drab colors. Depressing. Boring. Is that all?

Is that how you see that place?

Well... my situation isn't quite like yours.

I really don't have much to say about that place. It was a simple and boring place to me, and that really is it for me.

Besides, I couldn't possibly have gone into the details. One of them is still a child.

Don't tell me you've forgotten.

The girl is still a student, and she's in a pretty cheerful mood because of the festival coming up. Let's not dampen her spirits.

Home... huh? I wonder what it's like now.

I wonder if it's still packed with buildings, and the wind is still so humid, with that salty scent to it? Are the streets there still empty, and everyone there's as quiet as they've always been?

Who are you asking? How would I know?

Haha, you're right.

Tell me, brother, do you think we'll ever have a chance to go back, having run away from that place?

I don't think I want to go back.

But I can't help but think that, perhaps one day... I'll go back.