Terran Calendar 31, the Empire of Hippogryph was officially renamed the Empire of Ursus. We have already spent two lectures talking about and analyzing this piece of history.
Historians believe that the cause of the Hippogryphs' fall from power was primarily its ruling class's corruption and incompetence, as well as the rise of Ursus and the forces of production that it represents.
This war is often referred to as Ursus's uprising, representing the Ancients' standing up against the Elders' authority. From this point onward, the legitimacy of the Elders' rulership across Terra gradually waned.
Yet if we look back on this war from a different perspective, we'll find a set of questions that naturally follow.
Suppose it was another Ursus race that had been ruling the country instead of the Hippogryphs. Would the revolution still have taken place?
If, as the rulers, the Hippogryphs had not insisted on a policy of racial discrimination, if they stopped taking Ursus wealth as their own and gave the Ursus equal opportunity...
Would the Hippogryph Empire's downfall have been averted, or would it have come sooner?
What if... the Khagan's cavalry never set foot on these lands?'
Talulah
......
Young Ursus Student
Hello, are you here to listen in on Miss Koshelna's lecture?
Talulah
Miss... Koshelna?
Young Ursus Student
That's right. Her lectures on imperial history are very popular.
Young Ursus Student
I've been noticing young men and women such as yourself listening in from the hallway. You aren't one of our students, are you? You don't look like a college student.
Young Ursus Student
You can actually go inside if you'd like. She's not going to mind if you stand in the back of the classroom. You'll be able to hear her more clearly.
Talulah
No need. Her voice is pretty clear as is.
Young Ursus Student
Okay, then. This lecture is almost over anyway. I still have other lectures to attend, so please excuse me.
Talulah
By all means, please.
'You may not be able to find the answers to these questions in any textbooks.
But I hope you will give them some thought. Let them occupy your brain as you eat, as you bathe, and even as you sleep...
And when an idea has lingered in your brain long enough, write it down. I'm very interested in your opinions.
Okay, let's wrap it up here. Enjoy your brief freedom until the next bell.'
Nine, you said it yourself. We can't get anywhere close to the nomadic cities while we're in Ursus.
Nine
—
Nine
We want to pass judgment on her, don't we? Before she talks, she needs an answer still.
Nine
Without this answer, she won't even believe half a word she says herself, and neither will we.
Reunion Warrior
We shouldn't be believing her to begin with!
Reunion Warrior
She went into the city herself. What if she makes a run for it? All the efforts and sacrifices that went into rescuing her and all our plans about her going forward will all go to waste!
Nine
They won't.
Nine
She knows very well that she has nowhere to go.
Nine
Besides, as long as you still trust me, I can guarantee you this. No matter where she goes, I will take her in again.
Reunion Warrior
I trust you... but that's based on everything you've done for us in the past year.
Reunion Warrior
You're not like her. You don't talk big. This is something that all of us like about you. It's a good thing, and you should make sure you don't start picking up that habit.
Nine
Are you worried I'll be influenced by her?
Nine
I don't think that'll happen so easily.
Reunion Caster
Nine, a patrol unit is approaching—
Nine
Stay hidden.
Nine
Just as we predicted. In half an hour, this route won't be so safe anymore.
Koshelna... Couldn't have picked a more obvious name, could you, Kashchey?
Koshelna
Ah... Names. Names are just a way to refer to people. If the sound of this name reminds you of certain unpleasant memories, you can call me Fiolet.
Talulah
Never mind. Your name is of little importance to me. Just like your appearance, your name is not worth remembering.
Koshelna
Why have you come then, Talulah?
Koshelna
Because you want a definite answer from me? Because you want me to tell you that, yes, Kashchey has left your body, and you're just Talulah and no one else?
Koshelna
In that case, you will get what you want. I can tell you exactly what you want to hear right now.
Koshelna
The question then is... are you willing to believe me?
Talulah
You want me to believe a Black Snake?
Talulah
Is this a new trick you're playing, Kashchey?
Talulah
You gave me more than enough information to find you in the shortest amount of time. I can only assume that you were luring me here.
Koshelna
Have you gone back to our home, then? Our home, both yours and mine?
Talulah
That's not my home. It's nothing more than ground zero of a conspiracy, a nest beloved of venomous snakes.
Koshelna
That's an awfully hurtful way to describe it.
Koshelna
But you read my letter nonetheless, didn't you? You remembered the channels through which Duke Kashchey received the Scales' correspondence. Not even the Secret Police who took over the dukedom could figure it out.
Talulah
A letter sent ten years ago, and its sender is tenured here at this college.
Talulah
I don't know if I should be gasping in admiration of how well prepared you are, or if I should be grateful that this channel stayed hidden for ten years while your Scales have long been reduced to nothing?
Koshelna
Does it make you happy that the territory has fallen into such neglect? Talulah, under your rule, they could have lived a much better life. They shouldn't have been torn to shreds by the Fourth Army.
Talulah
Stop pretending you care about them more than I do.
Talulah
Tell me. What is there in this small northern town for you to willingly stay here?
Talulah
Kashchey, if I remember correctly, you preferred cities further south.
Talulah
Not only because the air there is more humid, but also because lands where you cultivated generations of authority are more suitable for your scheming.
Talulah
But not the tundra. The folk here lead a hard life. They have plenty to worry about sorting out issues with their food and harvest.
Talulah
To them, the speeches you pride yourself on are like the artificial flower you wear. No purpose beyond aesthetics.
Koshelna
Talulah... Talulah.
Koshelna
What if I told you I'm here because your footsteps can be found in the tundra?
Talulah
I'd say you're feeding me nonsense.
Koshelna
'The history of humanity is a history of struggle.'
Koshelna
You remember, don't you?
Koshelna
You applied everything that I taught you through the years to your struggle.
Koshelna
If you remember all of that, then shouldn't Talulah, the Fighter of the Tundra, and Talulah, the woman who succeeded the title of duke, be one and the same to me?
Talulah
Yet you destroyed everything that I built in the tundra.
Koshelna
Did I?
Koshelna
Who do you truly blame for this series of fatal mistakes in your heart?
Koshelna
If you actually thought yourself innocent, you wouldn't have needed a year and a half to ponder how you should die.
Koshelna
The very moment your head turns, you will throw yourself into the next struggle.
Talulah
......
Koshelna
Talulah, I know why you came to me.
Koshelna
You want to use your judgment on me to judge yourself. You want to hear me repent, so that you can start repenting yourself.
Koshelna
What you want is a tiny, pitiable bit of mental comfort.
Talulah
Go on.
Koshelna
You want me to go on? I thought—
Talulah
You thought I would let you witness my fury? No, Kashchey. You don't deserve it.
Talulah
I've rehearsed everything you've said up to this very moment in my head, down to the very last word. A year and a half isn't that short, and I had nothing to do while I was imprisoned at Rhodes Island.
Talulah
If you want to survive this meeting, you'll need to say something more original.
Koshelna
Very well. I can tell you've gotten more patient, thanks to that period of self-imprisonment.
Koshelna
But I brought up the tundra not because I wanted to provoke you.
Koshelna
Take a look at this school. Look at the students' faces.
Koshelna
They believe that the sunlight of may will melt the tundra's snow. They also believe that Ursus, colder and harder than even the tundra, will change beneath their feet.
Talulah
So you're sullying their innocence with your despicable ideas?
Koshelna
You think I'm trying to find the next successor among them?
Koshelna
No, my dear. I'm just a normal university lecturer. The only things that I impart here are knowledge and ideas. I hold no authority or wealth.
Koshelna
If they want authority, they can fight for it themselves. If they seek a conspiracy, they are free to find the most suitable techniques in my lessons.
Talulah
You want me to believe that the failure you experienced through me devastated you so much that you washed your hands of it all?
Koshelna
Failure? I never thought of that as failure.
Koshelna
Reunion was not destroyed in the Chernobog core city, and neither was Kashchey's plan.
Koshelna
Right, you managed to stop Kashchey. The war he sought, the war that could've changed Ursus history in an instant never came to be.
Koshelna
But Ursus still went on the trajectory that Kashchey had set for her.
Koshelna
War is happening. The conflict between the Council and the Army intensified, and the will of the people is sparking new flames through each and every conflict.
Koshelna
And I will stand atop the most fertile soil, sowing seeds to the best of my abilities.
Koshelna
I will guide... or perhaps I should say spur these revolutions to take root.
Talulah
I remember you once refuted the education of the masses as meaningless.
Koshelna
If a ruler is so inflexible that she does not adapt to the changing tides, then she is undoubtedly following a path of destruction.
Talulah
You still see yourself as a ruler. I see. You actually haven't changed at all.
Koshelna
I almost forgot you hated that word as much as you hated Kashchey's control. I told you long ago that I didn't care who was in charge.
Koshelna
How many times has power changed hands since the Ursus took these lands from the Hippogryphs?
Koshelna
Talulah, you are me, and I am you.
Koshelna
What we want... is an Ursus that can yet spark fires from our hands.
Koshelna
These fires... will sooner or later engulf all of Ursus. No, not just Ursus. Victoria... and all the other countries will be caught in the flames too.
Koshelna
When the fire is over, will these lands become more prosperous? Or will they be dealt destruction?
Koshelna
Ursus has walked its first millennium. I will guide it down its second and third. This is the meaning behind the Black Snake's existence.
Koshelna
The Black Snake is immortal not because I want to live, but because Ursus must live.
Smack me right now. Otherwise, I might think I'm dreamin'!
Ch'en
There's a wall over there. Knock yourself out. Try not to ram it so hard you knock it down, though. Otherwise, you'll have some explaining to do to the county's mounted police.
Bagpipe
I... I'm not sure what to say...
Ch'en
Are you really so shocked? You were the one who's been going 'Leader's got to be alive' day in and day out.
Bagpipe
But I thought... I could...
Ch'en
You thought she'd be waiting for you to rescue her somewhere?
Bagpipe
Uh-huh.
Bagpipe
But it's more of a surprise, knowin' she made it out!
Bagpipe
Thanks, Chenchen. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have met Rhodes Island. If I hadn't joined Rhodes Island, they wouldn't've helped get her out. I'm so happy, waaaaahhhhh...
Ch'en
No hugging!
Bagpipe
Waaaahhh! But I'm so glad!
Ch'en
At the very least... a little less of a squeeze... Urgh...
Bagpipe
Wait, Chenchen, does that mean... you're gonna leave then? You promised to help me rescue her, but she doesn't need me to rescue her anymore.
Ch'en
Times like these, you think pretty fast, don't you?
Ch'en
To tell you the truth, I've thought about it. Ever since I found out she'd escaped, I've been thinkin' of lookin' for her.
Bagpipe
Actually, I can kinda tell...
Ch'en
Ch'en Hui-chieh never gives up halfway.
Ch'en
We've come so far, and finally found ourselves some clues.
Ch'en
Bagpipe, I'll get to the bottom of this with you. 'Until the day the spectre force is exposed for all to see again.' Only then will I do what I should've done long ago.
Think, Talulah. Think with all the techniques that you learned from Kashchey whether everything that I say comes from the bottom of my heart.
Talulah
No need.
Koshelna
Will you kill me here, then? You had to avoid the Royal Guard's watchful eyes, so you don't have a sword.
Koshelna
And so you must kill me with your flames. Will you commit such a horrifying crime in front of all my students, who have nothing but admiration for me?
Talulah
If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't pick a method that would startle anyone.
Talulah
Don't forget. You taught me all of this.
Koshelna
Will killing me satisfy you?
Koshelna
If that doesn't give you the satisfaction you need, I could give you a second, if not third name.
Talulah
You're telling me that, aside from you, there is more than one Black Snake within Ursus's borders.
Koshelna
You could also think that I'm trying to deceive you to live longer.
Talulah
Your new body is... fragile.
Talulah
It wouldn't take any more work to kill you than it took to kill that old Phidia.
Koshelna
What are you waiting for, then? Quick, turn my body to ash, and scatter it all across this dark hallway!
Talulah
'Terrifying Infected Murderer Reemerges in College Campus' —That's the headline that will don the front pages tomorrow.
Koshelna
You wouldn't mind having that on your reputation.
Talulah
I should point out that I'm not afraid of the patrol unit who will be here in three minutes, either.
Koshelna
But... your new old friends who are waiting outside the city... They don't stand a chance against the Royal Guards.
Koshelna
Even if they begrudgingly allowed you to return to Ursus because of those in control... They wouldn't tolerate murdering anyone on Ursus land.
Talulah
Kashchey.
Talulah
If the Royal Guards found out that the immortal monster—the mastermind behind the Chernobog incident was right here, do you think they would try to take me in or turn their attention and blades to you?
