The group, each harboring their own thoughts, returns toward the small town. Vila and Avgust humming out a sing-song tune.
And anxious Windsong remains silent for the journey.
Vila wheels around just as they arrive at the outskirts, keeping up the cadence of the song.
Vila: We're here.
Vila: Thank you for taking care of our little Comrade Avgust, miss.
Windsong: ...?
Windsong: You mean I'm not here to be questioned? Or arrested?
Vila: chuckles Of course not.
Vila: Perhaps we are a little too optimistic, but when we meet a stranger, we prefer to welcome them.
Vila looks over the awkward figure, reading the expression on her face. The researcher breaks the silence with a stumble.
Windsong: Oh, well, I'm Windsong.
Vila: That's a very unique name. And where is it you come from?
Windsong: From the east side of the Dniester River.
Vila's scales are hit with a sea breeze. It halts her and their conversation.
Vila: sniffs
Windsong: ...?!
The teacher breaks out from her pause.
Vila: No offense, Ms. But you have a complicated and unfamiliar scent about you.
Vila: The smell of hard rocks, a lighthouse by the sea, rainwater in a humid summer. Mm. Nothing hostile, though.
Windsong: chuckles I think most rootless travelers like me smell like that.
Vila: Welcome to Rayashki, Ms. Windsong.
Vila motions inward to the town.
Windsong: Thank you.
Windsong: I understand your caution. But ...
Windsong is seized by her own suspicion, spying the unusual scales on her host's neck.
Vila catches the glance. She subtly tugs at her sleeve and shrinks her neck into her coat, taking a few cautious steps backward.
Vila: You have nothing to worry about; it's not a disease.
Vila: Anyway, let's talk about you. I heard that you're a researcher.
Vila: Not long ago, many of your peers visited here. They wandered around and looked under every rock and floorboard in the town, like you do. I thought perhaps they were attracted here by the town itself.
Vila: But regrettably, not long after, they left one after another in disappointment.
Vila: I was disappointed, too.
There is a curiousness in her tone.
Vila: Will you be like them?
Windsong: Haha.
Windsong: Those people are famous scholars; of course, they won't spend too much time on a project with unclear prospects. But I, I'm used to those.
She spreads her hands out to the town, with nothing more to say.
Vila: I salute you for your courage and spirit of exploration.
Windsong: I thought you ... I thought you might be more hostile to me. Shouting things like "Who do you think you are to prowl about on our private property!"
Vila: ...?
Windsong: Many see the study of ley lines like finding a needle in the grass of a Siberian field—wasted effort with negligible results.
Vila: There's no such thing as meaningless work.
Vila: It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or what you do. You will find your purpose here.
Vila shifts her gaze over to Avgust, who has been found and surrounded by the other children not far away.
Windsong: Is that so? No wonder how you have such an unusual student like Avgust.
Vila: All that childhood wonder, innocence—somehow you've preserved it in him, haven't you?
The children seem unconcerned with the new adult; they have their own world and their own rules to be addressed.
Avgust: Is the show finished?
Nina: We cancelled our rehearsal, Avgust. Mr. Evgeni just left red-faced.
Pyotr: Yes! And he canceled the "Friendship" cheese on the food menu, all thanks to you.
Avgust: But I was welcoming our new friend!
Pyotr: And we have lost our cheese because of you. This is all your fault!
Pyotr: You're the most bothersome kid in Rayashki!
Avgust: I know that word! "Most" means the best! So thank you, Pyotr.
Pyotr: You!
The other children gather close.
Pasono: Avgust, we don't see anyone new here. You're not lying again, are you?
Avgust: She's with Vila! They greet each other, share footprints, and even sing together.
Avgust: Windsong is also the "best"! She can draw many lines on the snow, and even on a seagull.
Pyotr: ...
Pyotr: We're not having another freak in town, right?
Nina: Do you mean drawing on the blackboard? Like Ms. Vila did?
Avgust playfully shakes his head, feigning an air of mystery.
Avgust: She made the earth turn into a tall tall wall, and she blew her breath at it, and made a building appear.
Avgust: If we had enough ley hunters like her working together, we would be able to send sunflowers high into the sky!
Pyotr: Ah, that's not so tough! All the men in town know how to build stuff like that!
Pyotr: When we grow up, we will work like them, with hoes and shovels.
Pasono: But that will take ages.
Nina: If we can learn how to build like the ley hunters, then we could help the adults right now!
Pyotr: Don't listen to Avgust!
The children discuss the notion animatedly. Pyotr finds himself squeezed out of their huddle.
He puffs his cheeks and hurries over to the adults.
Pyotr: Greetings, Ms. Windsong.
Windsong: Mm?
Pyotr: Is it true? Can you really shape the earth into different things and build things from it?
Windsong: Not exactly. The things I build with my arcane skill have only a momentary effect. I can't use it that way. I learned it as a part of my research while studying ley lines.
The other children join in.
Nina: Ms. Windsong, those things Avgust told us, are they true?
Nina: The sun that closes its eyes, the dark clouds that spit on people, and the lines that can reveal everything.
Pasono: Ms. Windsong, will you be our teacher, like Ms. Vila?
Pyotr: Can you prove anything?
Vila: Kids. One question at a time.
The children surround Windsong, catching her off guard.
She looks apologetically at Vila.
Windsong: Sorry, Ms. Vila. I should explain it to them.
Windsong: Mine is not a ... formal discipline. Many people believe that it "relies too much on the observations of arcanists" and "the conclusions aren't useful for the public."
Windsong: So it is best that you kids do not study it.
She shrugs her shoulders.
Windsong: A pursuit of passion, fit for only a very stubborn fool like me.
Vila: I see.
Vila nods in understanding.
Vila: Then, you must show us all about it. Shouldn't she, kids?
Vila: I'm sure Ms. Windsong would be very happy to give us a special lesson about her studies.
Windsong: Huh?!
Avgust: Yay!
Escaping this unasked-for obligation may prove more difficult than expected.
Windsong: Ms. Vila! I thought I made myself clear!
Vila: You have worked hard in this "pursuit of passion," haven't you?
Windsong: Regardless, the study of ley lines is ... Well, it's useless.
Windsong lightly taps her yellowed notebook filled with cryptic scribbles and notes.
Vila: Useless?
Windsong: These kids should learn something like geography. It's a much more thorough and important field.
Windsong: As far as the general public and academic institutions are concerned, the study of ley lines is just a niche aspect of geography, worse still, one that is solely accessible to arcanists.
Windsong: To devote any real time to its investigation would take up valuable research funds and equally valuable researchers.
Vila: At least that was how they felt about it.
Vila furrows her brow.
Windsong: Who can say for certain?
Vila: What about you? Do you also think that the study of ley lines is a waste of funds and manpower?
Windsong: I, of course, I don't. Through ley lines, we can detect arcanum-related events in the area, learn about local arcane creatures, and find the secrets hidden both above and below the earth's surface.
Windsong: But, I can't yet prove this to people.
Vila places her hand on Windsong's shoulder.
Vila: Well, you don't have to prove it alone.
Vila: It doesn't matter what others think of your work. The only important thing is finding its uses.
Windsong: ...
Vila: At first, Rayashki was just a remote village far north in the Arctic Circle. People came here to share a dream of a better future. It was only by luck that we found the runium.
Vila: Then Zeno approached us and became our business partner.
Vila: For over 60 years, people here have worked together to make it what it is now.
Vila: We built the school, the swimming pool, and the cinema ... For everyone.
Vila: Rayashki embraces and takes in every newcomer. You and your studies are no exception.
Vila: This is where our paths meet.
Vila smiles warmly. It hits like a warm sea breeze.
Windsong: ...
A pair of hands, concealing sharp scales, extends toward Windsong.
Vila: Please know that ...
Vila: I'm not just doing this for you. I'm doing this for a better future.
Vila glances at the children not far away. Some of them seem to be solemnly saluting a sunflower, as if it were a security team guard.
Vila: A well-rounded education is vital in bringing up the next generation of scientists and workers.
Vila: Our children should learn more about this world, even from those perspectives and types of knowledge that aren't widely accepted.
Windsong looks out to them and meets the face of her unexpected friend. He waves back excitedly.
Windsong: Thank you, Ms. Vila.
She clasps her hand; it is colder than expected, but welcoming.
