level_act46side_09_beg

The rumblings of some distant commotion disturb the scant snow atop the trees. What should be a silent street is filled with an ominous warmth.

This used to be a road at the foot of Mount Karlan that led to the Vine-Bead Court, but now, Victorian soldiers bar the path as the treads of their tanks crush its surface. A blatant, impassable barrier.

The loudspeakers atop the tanks play a message in clear Kjeragi—

'People of Kjerag, do not panic. In accordance with Victoria's policy regarding the current situation, we will ensure everyone's safety.'

'This operation will not disturb the everyday lives of residents. We simply suggest everyone stays at home in this weather.'

'We also have a warning for the criminals who have abducted Victorian citizens, and for those who associate with them: release the hostages <i>immediately</i>, or we <i>will</i> take immediate action!'

Say, mister, mind if I cross the road?

I need to head home to get the fire going. It's about dinnertime, and my wife's waiting for me...

This area's off-limits. You either take a detour, or you wait.

But... I'm just trying to get to the other side of the road.

If safety's your issue, go ahead and search me. I've just got food on me, nothing else.

Are you with the Vine-Bead Court?

No, I'm just a smith.

Then take a detour or wait.

I've crossed this road for decades now...

Don't cause trouble for them, mister, nothing good'll come of it!

Just listen to them and get out of there already!

I will not be repeating myself a third time.

The old man totters away. He turns his head to look back. Through the window of his workshop, his wife looks back at him.

He waves his hand, telling his wife to leave.

Kjeragandr above... I wish to hear of your wroth...

Invaders! How dare you! Get out, you hear me?! GET OUT!

'Victorians' this, 'Victorians' that... It's the word I hate hearing most these days.

...Didn't think there'd still be anyone brave enough to kidnap one at a time like this.

Don't you get it? It's obviously just some worthless excuse. Now that the Victorians are here, Kjerag is about to change...

<i>Vollpfosten!</i> You're all just sitting back to watch while going on with your pessimistic talk! You're more spineless than a starving burdenbeast! I'm going to show them the real Kjerag!

If you're going to make a ruckus, do it somewhere further away! Don't drag me into this!

Right, right, go to Karlan Trade. They've got guards, don't they?

You're all a bunch of cowards...

Cowards? I get it, you've got guts, and you don't mind getting your hands dirty, but do you have a family?

If this is the outcome of the negotiations, if the three clans, the Vine-Bead Court, Karlan Trade... if none of them are going to do anything, what can we do?

Kjeragandr above... Forgive me for my fear, my cowardice...

Anger, fear, unease... All sorts of emotions roil across the unarmed crowd, but they have no effect on the armed soldiers across from them.

Their voices are drowned by the roar of the engines.

<p=2>Deck of the Gloriana</>

Your Grace, our fleet has encircled the passes into Kjerag's mountains.

The vanguard force in Kjerag has also surrounded the Vine-Bead Court. Kjerag's own warriors are powerless to resist us.

The whereabouts of Kjerag's Saintess are currently unknown, but we shall ensure that the moment she appears, we will locate her.

The situation is still under control... so forgive me for speaking bluntly.

There is no need for Your Grace to attend the battle in person.

Do not be hasty, Phillipa.

Choose your words wisely. If I may correct you, Kjerag is not our enemy, but a valuable partner in cooperation.

But Karlan Trade still has not given an official response to our invitation to negotiate.

Haha... I can imagine.

Enciodes is a prideful man. One assumes that having to process this failure must be of inconceivable difficulty for him.

You must have heard some of the tales about him, Phillipa. By all calculations, he is your kin as well.

If he really is the talented genius the rumors paint him as, then why did he abandon the chance to stand by your side, deciding to bury himself in the mountains instead? I simply don't understand.

Like I said, he really is the prideful sort.

I shall give him a little more time... Six hours should do it.

If the government of Kjerag continues to refuse to accept our agreement, then things can only end in a rather regretful manner.

Understood.

There is still one trifling matter I am unsure is worth Your Grace's consideration.

The matriarch of Clan Browntail, who by all rights should be dead. We have discovered further traces of activity from her.

She is currently hidden within the Vine-Bead Court, under the protection of the Black Knight.

Hmm... Enciodes would not go to great lengths to hide someone unimportant at a time like this.

It is not worth mentioning... but I am not fond of variables.

Find her, and find what she is hiding.

As you command, Your Grace.

Understood. I shall carry out this assignment to a limited extent, then await further instructions.

All hands take note. Team 1, guard the front. Team 2, head to the north gate to lock it down. Teams 3 and 4, find high vantage points to watch the Court.

Be on guard. If you allow even a single soul out, you shall have to answer to Her Grace in person.

I have not received any orders to allow Victorians in, sir.

I understand. We shall wait here for a reply.

The chairman has informed me not to accept any invitations. If you—

No matter, I am happy to wait here patiently, just like how every child of Kjerag waits for bitter winter to pass.

Speaking of, how <i>do</i> you people prepare for winter? I am rather curious.

I fear you may not have the opportunity to learn for yourself.

I am not here representing myself. My own experiences are not important, Mr. Edelweiss.

I believe these terrible conditions call for giving everyone an equal chance to express themselves, don't you agree?

...Why are you here?

Rest easy, Chairman Edelweiss of Karlan Trade.

I have come here for one very simple task: to invite Mr. Silverash to the negotiating table on behalf of Her Grace.

A simple, peaceful conversation, all for protecting the bond between our two nations.

You have brazenly sent an army to surround Kjerag, aimed your cannons at civilians, and dispatched your troops to blockade our markets.

Are these actions meant to be part of this 'peaceful conversation'?

Mr. Edelweiss...

Her Grace simply wishes to let the true master of Kjerag know that a speeding warship cares not where the people atop its deck run. For most, their best choice is to hold the handrail tight.

Profound understanding can come over the passage of eons, or it can come in the blink of an eye... It all depends on the 'commands' you have received, sir.

Get to the point, Victorian. You shouldn't need me to teach you how to say what you're here to say.

I would much rather call it 'sending a request', Mr. Edelweiss. A <i>request</i> from Victoria is a rather rare sight these days.

We cordially invite Mr. Silverash to a spirited discussion with Her Grace about the future of Kjerag.

We shall ensure the meeting goes smoothly. Her Grace has also commanded that none be harmed.

Then we too have our own request: Victoria is to immediately cease this military invasion.

I regret to inform you that such a thing hinges on the results of Mr. Silverash and Her Grace's talks. I am unqualified to make such a promise in Her Grace's stead.

Right now, my only hope is that there shall be a place warm enough for me to spend the winter... A fleeting hope that it shall be Kjerag.

How should you present yourself when you face Her

I have asked myself that countless times, until tears of remorse flowed down my face, for I could not find the answer

Just like how, as I waver in the cold wind, I cannot find anything

The Heart of Karlan is mere mystic rhetoric

A painting within a dream, a mire amidst the mountains

The Vine-Bead Court says that, when you are on the brink of death, you shall see Her face

I believe this is my last chance

Yet I am unable to prove anything to you

I see only my mother by the bonfire, my wife underneath the curtains

The life I should have

You have come to the end of this faithless follower's epitaph, one written by him, for him

His last request to you

Is to wipe away the snow upon this tomb

A lonely grave stands by the road. Enya and Adso stop in front of it.

All I did was bury him.

He only had time to carve himself a marker before he died.

So the bones we saw along the way are all...

The bones of humans.

Only human beings would use value and meaning to paralyze themselves... To climb Karlan, to walk to Her side, to witness Her existence, they are willing to give their lives.

The Saintess's right hand brushes against the worn wooden marker, completing its master's last wish.

Cold wind sweeps past her fingertips, as if urging her to grab hold of something. She lifts her head towards the snow-capped peaks, as her ears catch the sound of a young woman laughing...

Elder, did you hear—

She swallows down her unfinished question. The laughter echoes between the mountains, then fades, until it becomes nothing more than memory.

I didn't hear anything.

Please proceed, Saintess.

Enya hesitates for a moment before nodding, continuing onwards towards the darkening horizon, towards the peaks laden with thick snow.

The wind picks up, tangling itself in the Saintess's clothes. It leaves behind snow stuck to her brow, like how it sticks to the withered trees she walks past.

You need to try harder, we can't keep up with Enya if I have to keep pulling you—

Hah... Hah... We're only... two steps behind... No need to stand so close...

...Oh, right.

Just now... they were talking to something... right?

Hmm... I think I saw it too.

But there's nothing here except snow and rocks... Whatever, doesn't matter.

Elena forces herself forward a few more steps. Behind her, the snow where she stepped is suffused with a deep blue glow.

At the same time, she has the faint sensation of someone watching her, though the only one by her side is Joanna, gritting her teeth as she pulls at Elena's arm.

The billowing wind has numbed her brain. It must have been her imagination. As the thought runs through her mind, Elena hears a sigh.

...You took it upon yourself to enter a gamble you are fated to lose.

Saintess.

This is...

Indeed.

The depths of the mountains... The location of the Heart of Karlan.

I did as you asked, Enya! I dragged her all the way here!

(Quietly) We're here, don't just stand there.

Huh...?

...Wait, this, no, it can't be!

Elena puts all her strength into shaking her head and patting her cheeks before taking out a bevy of instruments, waving them against the cave wall.

It is an ordinary cave, one that can be seen anywhere in Kjerag. Its only unusual property is its proximity to Mount Karlan's peak. Enya heads deeper within, her breathing picking up pace as she does.

The deepest part of the cave is only a hundred meters from the entrance, barely wide enough to fit five or six men. The rocks are covered in a thin layer of moss and lichen, and the air is permeated with the humid scent of fungi and soil.

You are not the first who wished to find Her, and neither was I.

My greatest wish during my youth was to witness Her true form, to prostrate myself before Her. And so, I checked every book in the Hall of Writings, read every line of every poem, all to find proof of Her existence.

Many before me have left behind records and analyses. One mentioned this place, the only cave atop Mount Karlan.

I followed the endless, rugged mountain trails before finally finding myself here.

The records say that the clerics of the Court once sought refuge in the depths of Karlan.

Just so.

Perhaps you still recall the story of the Saintess who roused Kjeragandr.

According to legend, when Kjeragandr sent divine punishment, the Vine-Bead Court chose a hundred girls in succession to ascend the mountain and pray. The last of the girls was the one who quelled Her fury.

But in truth, that final girl was the daughter of a clan leader, which incited the great clans to ally and lay siege to the Court.

During the massacre, the surviving clerics fled here, after which came the so-called 'miracle'. Peace returned to Kjerag.

And how would you explain this 'miracle'?

Look at Kjerag as it is now, and the answer shall be clear. Who has ever heard of a war that came to an end for no reason?

If even the murder of a girl can transform into a sublime 'miracle', so too can political compromise become the stuff of legend.

Murder... So that is how you see the actions of the Court of old.

Indeed. To use murder to seek comfort, to allow ignorance to spur on the heart. This is the bloody debt the Court has borne in the name of 'Kjeragandr'.

With no god to promise us eternity, our every step is on thin ice, with no room for inattention.

I have brought you here to learn the truth behind Kjeragandr, Saintess.

And now... I shall wait for you, no matter how long you struggle to process it.

Enya! Come over here, quick!

This pile of rocks at the deepest part of the cave doesn't seem natural. It's more like a door that someone built.

...The clerics of old made this place into a sanctuary. Finding things here is hardly strange.

In other words... Behind this 'door' is most likely the hiding place of the ancient clerics, and a place where countless secrets of Kjerag are hidden...

What is more likely is that behind that door, you will find absolutely nothing.

Then let us bear witness, Elder Adso.

Enya half-shuts her eyes as she walks past the old man droning on about history, slowly approaching the end of the cave.

She takes a deep breath, then presses her body against the cave wall, like a reunion hug after a long time away.

Soil sticks to her hands and cheeks, moss pokes out from under her hair. It is as if she were fast asleep atop the earth.

I... can feel it.

According to my readings, Enya, behind this super-thin rock wall, there seems to be a giant cavern.

But there's no other way in... I can blow this door open, if we have to.

Wait, this is holy ground—

Do it.

Wha—Enya?!

O Kjeragandr above...

Pardon the intrusion, it's all in the name of truth!