level_act30side_06_end

It was more than twenty years ago.

I remember that winter was so much colder than in previous years. The snow never stopped, and the wind was almost strong enough to blow you away.

The weather was so bad no one would willingly go outdoors.

Everyone stayed inside with their furnaces lit from day to night. There was always tea heating atop the stove for convenient pick-me-ups.

The burdenbeast sheds were specially reinforced before winter came, and the beasts huddled together, hibernating in groups.

Time seemed to slow down in Kjerag that year. Every passing day felt like a slog to go through, and yet the subsequent days would bring the same wind and snow.

I was still young then, and I just couldn't bear to live that way anymore. I snuck out with a few men in tow that day, with a plan to hunt in the mountains.

But the snow overwhelmed us, and there wasn't a single target to be found. I got separated from the others halfway, and could only continue ascending the mountain with all the effort I could barely muster.

And then, it was here...

I met Tatyana on this very spot.

Gah, what lousy weather today!

Don't even have a single strand of meatbeast hair on my hands, Dad's going to call me a...

Huh?

What's that noise...?

Huh! Who's there?!

Enough with your tricks! Come out and face me if you have the guts to—

Yowch!

As if responding to Arctosz's words, a snowball falls from a tree branch up high and hits his head.

A clear female voice rings from above.

Hahaha, right on target.

Hey, I'm over here.

Why didn't you hide, you big dummy?

Y-You..!

Me? What about me?

You're a funny guy. Did you think you'd be able to hunt in weather this bad?

Young man, I'll give you some advice on account of your handsome face.

You should hurry home.

Arctosz raises his head.

The snow and wind gradually subside, and bright rays pierce through the entwined branches of the trees before him, casting fragmented shadows on his face.

A vaguely female figure seems to pop up from a patch of soft snow.

Snowflakes scatter all around as she moves. The young Tatyana smiles as she looks down to meet the young man's gaze below.

Arctosz suddenly feels his eyes go dry.

The snowy white he is so used to is suddenly so dazzling.

The sunlight was so, so bright that day.

Saintess, please have a look!

The main body of Kjeragandr's statue was built by us Browntails. It stands about thirty meters tall, and the adamant materials we used ensure no risk of damage for the next century at the very least.

Hundreds of devotees volunteered to work together with professional craftsmen to carve out the statue's form you see today, so it's surely the most accurate reconstruction of Kjeragandr there is!

Although everyone was arguing about whether Kjeragandr should be humanoid or not... that boorish Arctosz even nearly got into a fight over it...

But I guarantee you, from today onwards, this statue will be the most eye-catching attraction in Kjerag!

Mhm. Thank you for all the hard work.

*cough* This statue... is the best symbol Kjerag can show to the outside world, and it couldn't have happened without everyone's efforts.

Kjeragandr will certainly be pleased as well.

Especially with you and your sister, Madam Sciurus.

I've heard the both of you spent a lot of effort on the construction, and practically stayed on-site until it was completed. It must have been difficult.

Hmm, hm-hmm...

It wasn't much. Just doing our jobs.

Besides, it's much easier than being forced to study...

Study?

No, no, nothing.

*cough* Well then, Great Saintess. Allow me to give you a tour?

Please follow me!

Saintess, preparations for tomorrow are complete. You should return to Mount Karlan.

You're nagging me again, Kjarr.

It's rare I get to leave the mountain, so let me stay for a bit longer.

Or are you trying to advise the Saintess on how she should act, just as the Elders do, Kjarr?

I won't ramble away like they do.

Your gravitas only continues to increase, and there is no one to stop you from descending Karlan anymore.

Yesterday you came down to meet Enciodes personally. If this happened in the past, the Elders would have already raised a swift objection.

They merely fear that I, the Saintess, will have my personal inclinations.

But it is precisely because there is no one controlling me that I cannot hold any bias... and I won't have any personal biases either.

Whether the people here or in the eyes of others, I must represent the whole of Kjerag as Saintess, and not any specific faction or clan.

Saintess...

Even though Enciodes and I don't actually have conflicting opinions on many matters and can agree on many issues regarding Kjerag...

It doesn't mean we can be as close as we were, let alone treat each other as siblings.

I can't do that, and neither can he.

It also... includes my own emotions, but it is not just about that.

So I thank you for preparing our meal yesterday, Kjarr.

But you need not do that again.

Enya...

Is it really alright to continue like this, Enya?

Even though you're representing Kjerag now, there are still many who only know of Karlan Trade. Clan Silverash has already started to dip their fingers in every facet of the country, and will only grow stronger in the future.

I have some thoughts on that.

What's important right now is to develop Kjerag as fast as we can. Some matters are just unavoidable, or things I let slide.

We still need entities like Karlan Trade after all.

Besides, I'm fine with Enciodes keeping himself there for the time being...

But won't it be dangerous to continue like that?

That's why I have my own plans.

Oh, you mean the new school you've been in charge of the past few years? And the reforms over at the Vine-Bead Court?

Hehe.

It's fortunate I realized we have so many wise people here.

Compared to a Kjerag with the voice of a sole Saintess or a single Clan Silverash, wouldn't it be better to have a Kjerag with a myriad of voices of Kjeragandr's people?

It's the same as prayer. Didn't you say that making your wishes out loud instead of keeping them in your heart would let Kjeragandr hear them in earnest?

I hope more people will get the chance to voice their hopes for Kjerag.

This is what I wish for, my prayer to Kjeragandr.

Well... that's a good wish indeed.

It will certainly reach Kjeragandr.

That's great to hear.

Will you help me, Kjarr?

Of course. Didn't we agree as much already?

I'm your maid after all.

Thank you, Kjarr.

If you really want to thank me, why not...

...Huh?

Oh dear, they're headed this way.

Kjarr?

Is someone headed our way?

Yes, with an aggressive aura to boot.

They're fast... they're heading straight here, hm... it feels like a fight is about to erupt.

Will there be any issues if that happens near the statue?

Who knows.

Anyway, you should return, Great Saintess. We also need to send someone to inform Madam Sciurus as well.

It'll be bad if you or someone else gets hurt.

I see.

What about you?

I will stay.

If something happens... oh, it would be terrible if something happened to damage Kjeragandr's statue.

So let me stay here to keep an eye on things, and I'll make sure 'nothing big' happens to the statue!

Kjarr...

...Hold on, you can't be...

Oh, they're here! I'll say no more, Saintess, I have to go watch them!

Hey, Kjarr!

She's gone.

She can't possibly be... looking for an opportunity to do a little something to the statue?

Is she <i>that</i> unsatisfied with the statue's face...?

This part's easier to walk in, without as many trees around.

Careful, the snow ahead is pretty deep.

Uh, you... are you really my papa?

I-I mean, Mamochka said...

Tatyana mentioned me?!

Wh-What did she say?

Not much, I didn't even know I still had a papa until I was grown, I thought he might have died long ago.

I thought that was the reason she never mentioned a father, and she never really brought up Kjerag before either.

We've been just the two of us for all these years, I never thought...

Really...?

Maybe, she... she still resented me.

As she should have! After all, I was the one who let the both of you down back then. I deserve her resentment.

It seems Tatyana lived a good life, even without me...

Before I came here, she told me how the snow feels different in Kjerag. The snow you find on the mountain summits is different from the snow down here.

She told me...

Kjerag is my home too, that even though I grew up in Ursus, I was born here.

Tatyana...

That sure is something she would say. She liked the summit snows so much... and always told me how different it was.

It's a pity a thug like me didn't get it, back then.

Hah, I don't get it either.

But I remember what she told me, I might have forgotten what happened when I was small, but those experiences don't just disappear.

She always said, everything you've been through will always be shaping you as a person.

Even if you forget it, its influence remains.

She said the Rosalind of today has every stage of her life to thank, and even the little insignificant things that happened in-between have also greatly contributed to who I am today.

And that's why even if she couldn't make it here, she hoped that I could at least know a part of me came from Kjerag.

That's what she said, and that's why I'm here.

Tatyana...

When your mother and I first met here, we... you could say it was a mutual attraction. It didn't take long for us to fall in love.

I'd hoped to marry Tatyana and spend the rest of our lives together. I was really looking forward to it—I've never wanted anything as much as I did to be with her.

But that was no easy feat in Kjerag, back then.

But why?

If you liked each other, then just stay together. It can't get any simpler than that, right?

Yes... it should have been the simplest thing to do.

But Rosalind, you don't understand Kjerag, or at least the way Kjerag was two decades ago.

We were still secluding ourselves in our little corner of the land, and basically had no contact with outsiders.

You don't get Catastrophes in Kjerag, and everyone thought it was thanks to Kjeragandr protecting Her people. We believed the place was sacred, unlike the outside world, where Catastrophes are commonplace.

I've always believed Kjerag back then was quiet and peaceful.

But the way things are now, I have to admit, we were closed-off, and... blind.

Our lives were just farming, herding, and praying to Kjeragandr.

Outsiders were rare to see, and we weren't exactly friendly to them either.

So Mamochka...

You know her best, I'm sure.

Tatyana was so passionate, frank, ostentatious, and didn't bother to fit in.

She captivated me completely.

But at the same time, she was too strange and too different for Kjerag then...

Hmph.

So? Are you trying to tell me you held back because of that? You didn't dare to marry a foreigner?

Wait, where'd I come into the picture then? You had me without marrying her?!

I'm serious, beardy. You better not be joking.

Rosalind, wait! Don't be hasty... it's not what you think!

It didn't happen like that! Easy now!

Then what happened?

I *cough*, *cough* of course I married your mother!

Many objected to it, but it ultimately wasn't an impossible task. After all, the head of Clan Silverash married a foreigner too.

My marriage would have been an embarrassment for the Paleroche clan, but I still managed to convince my father, our patriarch at the time, to go through with it.

You met him already, Rosalind. It was him who brought you back home yesterday, even though I was so drunk I didn't recognize you at all.

You mean... That old man...?

Is my grandfather?!

Yes.

I appreciate that he ultimately let us marry, and kept it a secret from the others too.

One of my biggest regrets is not inviting more guests to our wedding.

But Tatyana told me it was fine, that she didn't care about the formalities as long as we loved each other. Nothing else mattered, as long as we could be together for good.

And then, we had you.

The days I spent together with you two were the best I could have ever imagined.

But our good times didn't last long. The Silverash couple got into an accident soon after you were born.

Kjerag was already in a state of turmoil due to the Silverash reforms, and there were many who regarded them as a thorn in their side.

Most didn't dare to challenge the Tri-Clan Leaders directly, but attacking a foreigner in private was much easier to do.

They said it was an accident, but truth be told... it was far from that simple.

I don't know much about it, but I remember the Doctor telling me that the Paleroches are conservative.

So Clan Paleroche must have been against the reforms too.

...Yes.

I'm not trying to lecture you now, Rosalind, but there are some things you have a right to know.

It was beneficial for the Paleroches to suppress the Silverashes then, and I alone could not have changed our decision to do so.

So... we Paleroches are the most devout believers and guardians of Kjeragandr, while the Browntails are the astute followers who make sensible decisions.

While the Silverashes had gone astray and tried to destroy our faith in vain, putting Kjerag in danger.

This was how our three clans were seen back then, and also the way the situation really was in Kjerag.

And I, as the next head of the Paleroche clan, could not harm the family's interests.

There was not much I could do.

And so you abandoned me and Mamochka.

I did not!

I never abandoned you, and there's no way I would've abandoned Tatyana!

But those people, would they be satisfied with a mere 'accident'?

The Silverashes were dead, and I... married an Ursine woman.

They didn't know how great Tatyana was, and didn't care for her affection towards Kjerag.

She was just an Ursine woman in the eyes of many, an outsider representing Kjerag's doom.

Rosalind, I am a warrior. I've shed so much blood, and have never feared anything.

But back then, all I had were sleepless nights.

Because I finally came to know fear.

I was afraid...

The best choice I could make at the time was to have you leave, to go far away from Kjerag.

Even if we couldn't see each other again, even if I couldn't be by your side anymore.

For I knew the two of you could live a normal and peaceful life somewhere at least...

Instead of running into any strange accidents somewhere I couldn't see—or even right under my nose.

So I wouldn't be left with just an 'accident'...

...You...

That's the story of me and Tatyana.

Rosalind, I owe you and your mother too much. I, Arctosz, will never deny this.

The warrior's weapon falls onto the snow with a muffled sound.

Arctosz takes out his poleaxe, and throws it at his daughter's feet.

Under the sun, it reflects both faces of father and daughter on its blade like a mirror.

Resent me, blame me, I deserve it all.

Berate me, or even strike me with this axe. I won't dodge.

But, then... can you give me another chance, Rosalind?

I... don't mean to make this difficult for you!

I just wanted you to know I still love you both. I did then and I always will.

My feelings towards you and your mother have never changed.

So...

If you're willing, Rosalind—

Could you... call me father, just once?

Call you... father?

I...

Rosalind...

Go to hell! In your dreams!!

R-Rosalind?!

So you talked yourself in circles for a whole day, just for that?!

HUH?!

Didn't want to make things difficult for me? You even threw down your rotten axe, because you're so sure I wouldn't use it to cut you open, huh?

No, that's not what I...!

I don't care what you meant!

It sounds so neat, convincing your family to let you marry, being forced to make us leave.

Hah. You think I'm dumb?

All I can think of hearing your story is how Mamochka dealt with it all.

You left her all alone in a hostile environment for so many years, and she even raised a kid for you.

She willingly put herself in danger, even with her life on the line! But you're telling me in the end all she could do was leave??

Have you ever considered why she, an Ursine, had to endure being treated like that in your Kjerag?!

I...

My mamochka loved to go on adventures, she liked to try new things, she liked to explore anywhere she could. She could never stay in one place for too long.

She loved making friends, loved shopping, loved to eat all sorts of food.

Could your Kjerag from twenty years ago even satisfy any of that?

Do you care about any of those things at all?!

Why does it sound like you're the only character in your story, with nothing else?!

You said she's passionate, that she's frank, but I couldn't tell you were talking about Tatyana Yevgenyevna Larina at all!

You're happy as long as you have your wife and daughter by your side?

Hah...

I'm blown away that you actually had the guts to say that!

Tatyana...

It was me, it was my...

It's too late for tears.

Do you know what life in Ursus was like for us?

Living peaceful lives somewhere? That's enough for you?

Bullshit!

Do you know just how many people were talking behind our backs when Mamochka was raising me on her own?

You couldn't.

I grew up without a papa. Do you know how 'popular' fatherless kids are at school?

You were bullied?! They dared—?!

Save it.

No one dared bully me.

But listen, it had nothing to do with you. It was thanks to my fists. Even General Zima helped me more than you ever did.

Ever since I was small, I knew I had to rely on myself because I didn't have a papa. I knew I had to count on my fists to shut up those cowards who only knew how to use their mouths.

Do you know how many fights I got into growing up? Haha, how could you even?!

Rosalind...! I—

You don't have to speak. It's pointless anyway.

I just wanted to tell you, I don't care whether you were compelled by circumstance, or were trying to bear whatever burdens you had.

Since you were missing from our lives for over a decade, there's no need for you to step up now.

My papa failed to show up back when I still wanted one.

And now, I don't need one anymore.

You're still hoping I'll forgive you?

Still hoping to use me as a bridge to reconnect with my mamochka, and have her forgive you too?

Dream on!

No! I wouldn't dare make such an unreasonable demand!

But I, I just want to do something for you...

...No, hold on.

Rosalind, what did you just say? Have your mother forgive me?

But isn't she... isn't your mother dead?!

You're cursing her too?!

Who told you she was dead? HUH?!

But didn't you say, you brought her remains back here, and you've been using past tense...?

Right, 'remains'...

...'Remains'?

Uh, hold up, let me check.

...Uh, I mean, what was it, I brought back a <i>token</i> of hers.

Man, the Kjerag language is hard as hell. I know my pronunciation's a little off, and the tenses might be hard, but is it <i>that</i> bad...?

Tatyana is still alive? I-Is she doing well?

Super well. She just broke her leg in a fall right before our trip. That's why I'm here on my own.

But what happened in Chernobog a few years ago... Hmph, forget it. You wouldn't understand, even if I told you.

I'll keep it short. I ran into some trouble a few years ago, and Mamochka ran straight into a Catastrophe to find me... I was pretty lucky to get rescued by Rhodes Island, but she contracted Oripathy.

How could that...?

So, where do you live now? Rhodes Island...? Right, they can treat Oripathy! So are you two staying with them now? Are they treating you well?

I know the Doctor there! Right, right, I'll get in contact right away!

Give me a break. You can't possibly know the Doctor better than I do.

Whatever, we'll pick this back up later. Another word and I'll lose my temper again.

What's important now is to find our way out of here, and it's no good to let that Victorian run around either, right?

Actually, I came up with an idea and was going to tell you about it, but you interrupted me.

What? How do we get out?

Over there.

You stand on that spot.

But Rosalind, that's just a cliff—

Huh? Of course I know that.

Leto stands behind the man claiming to be her father. She raises her leg again and kicks him in the back without a shred of hesitation.

Arctosz, completely unaware, only has a split second to look at her with a startled expression before his figure slips and falls down the cliff.

AHHH—!!

Rosalind, careful—it's—oof!

Damn, you're pretty loud.

Stop yelling, you sound like I was going to end you...

I took a look earlier, and the short drop wouldn't do much with all that snow below.

What's wrong with you Kjerags? Do you guys not do any snowjumping here?

Ah.

Right—

Hey, totally unhandsome beardy—

Don't forget to settle your child support for the past decade or so, I'll send the bill to your clan later—

Hah... that felt great.

And now, hmm...

I'd better tell the Doctor and the rest what happened here, just to be safe.

Sigh. I was supposed to be a tourist here, though, what the hell am I doing?

Oh, I got through.

Doctor?

Are you here yet?

Yeah, I'm fine. But there's something I need to tell you...