Instructor: We accepted you as per the ‘SPDM Listen-in Student Regulations,’ giving you the opportunity to study alongside top scoring students.
Her eyes are as sharp as an eagle's.
Instructor: Otherwise, under the existing school rules, a student your age would be turned away.
Instructor: A lack of formal Arcanist education is only one factor...
Instructor: After all, instilling technical and theoretical knowledge is of no difficulty to us.
Instructor: But noble character, respect for order, and the pursuit of dedicating oneself to the peace of mankind—these require an extensive educational period for our students to fully understand.
Instructor: I believe the St. Pavlov Foundation put much thought into the decision that has allowed you to stand here.
Instructor: You should feel honored.
Erick: …
Instructor: Two distinguished graduates vouched for you and signed the ‘Guardian Responsibility Treaty.’
Instructor: They didn't have to do this. It means that any rule violation on your part will directly impact their personal reputation.
Instructor: So... think carefully about every word you're about to say. You're not just defending yourself...
Erick: "Don't be selfish," "Think of others"... You grown-ups just love to bring others into everything; shift responsibility for everyone else onto our shoulders! I don't plan on defending anyone.
Erick: ...I'm willing to accept all the consequences.
Erick grabs the massive stone table. It begins to tremble, as if caught in an earthquake.
Instructor: What are you doing?! Put the table down now!
Erick: ...I need to talk to Vertin.
Instructor: You took off the arm ring—?
Instructor: But they had already—
She glances at the girl's arm. The band mark is coiling around it like a red python.
"Bang!"
She hurls the stone table into the corner, and it shatters with a deafening crash.
Erick: I need to ask her something important... I don't want to hurt you.
Instructor: No, Erick... I'm afraid you need to calm down first.
Instructor: Security!
COMBAT
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
One by one, the staff members are hurled out of the office.
Guard I: Good heavens... This is far beyond our regular dealings. She's akin to a little lion!
Guard II: We need to bring out the restraining equipment... Tell the logistics department to open the storage room!
Erick: I'm sorry... I really don't want to hurt you.
Erick: Please, instructor, I just want to talk to her. After that... I'll accept any punishment.
Instructor: …
Meanwhile, rapid footsteps sound from afar.
Before any message is relayed, two Foundation staff members arrive. It’s as if they had foreseen the event.
Foundation Staff: Excuse me, instructor. You can leave now.
Foundation Staff: We’ll take it from here.
Instructor: It appears you anticipated correctly.
Instructor: Well, there's not much more I can do.
She heaves a sigh and leaves.
Erick: …
The corridor is silent again. All the students have returned to their dormitories.
Erick waits in her chair, trying to make out the muffled conversation taking place outside the office. A tall hat appears in the door frame.
Vertin: We can talk now.
Erick: Phew... Thank you for coming. Now I don't have to climb over the wall to find you.
Vertin: Erick, this isn't what you promised us.
Erick: No, no, you need to answer me first.
She cuts her off with the sharpness of a knife.
Erick: Are you a smooth-talking liar like all the other grown-ups? Don't lie to me; I can see into your eyes...
Vertin: …
Vertin: I don't think so.
Erick: Good. Then please tell me—
She takes a deep breath before speaking.
Erick: What happened outside? Harald and the others... what really happened?
A familiar question, brought up yet again.
But times have changed, and nothing is as it once was.
What's important is that a promise was made. And the truth needs to remain hidden now more than ever.
Harald sits, carving a rough piece of wood with a hand knife.
Despite his burly arms, his hands are incredibly gentle. The blade caresses the wood, carefully shaving off the excess.
Only he knows that this body is fast losing its strength.
Harald: Okay... now her little wooden sword has a home to return to.
He extends a bloodied hand, presenting a wooden sheath and a letter.
Vertin: What’s this?
Harald: Some things I must say.
In the distance, rugged figures have begun gathering.
Manus Monster I: roars
Manus Monster II: roars
They are like a tide, like a swarm of bees.
Harald: One, two, three...
He starts counting, but quickly gives up, shaking his head. Their number is far beyond that of the fingers on both hands.
He shifts his gaze back.
Harald: You must do one last thing for me.
Harald: Please... don't tell my dear child the truth about all this.
His hand clutches the small wooden sheath, not yet ready to let it go.
Vertin: I can't stop this.
Harald: No, you must.
This is not a plea.
In a flash, the bloodied tip of his knife is at Vertin’s throat.
Harald: I don't want to hurt you.
Vertin: You can’t stop her from growing up.
Harald: ...Child, trust me.
Harald: When you reach my age, you'll understand that "growing up" is just a nice way of saying that people have to change—That we are forced to move forward.
Harald: She will make those steps on her own; I believe that more than anyone. But before that...
Harald: Before that, I want her to wander a bit longer, see the sights, go where she pleases.
Harald: To experience all that's bitter, sour, foul-smelling. To try everything with an open mind.
Harald: In the end, she'll come to understand on her own.
Harald: ...Promise me that you'll find a good place for her.
Vertin: Mm-hmm.
Harald: You promise?
He retracts the knife from her neck and pulls off his bloodstained beast-cloak, revealing his arm ring. He removes it.
His hand trembles as he hands it over.
Vertin: …
Vertin: I promise.
Vertin: I promise, what's happening outside is an anomaly that you can't yet understand. Everyone has been afflicted with a serious illness.
Vertin: But we will eventually find a way to resolve this disaster.
Erick finally deflates her puffed chest.
Erick: ...A serious illness?
Erick: But what about those letters? There wasn’t a word about that in any of them.
Erick: Those replies... and the gifts... no, it doesn't make sense.
She recalls what she saw last night.
Erick: You're not telling the truth... What else are you hiding from me? You never tell the truth, always covering one hole with another—
Her vision begins to blur.
Something warm trickles from her nose. It smells ... metallic.
Erick: Is this... blood?
She gives a puzzled look at the drops of dark red liquid on her palm.
…
Vertin: Erick!