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Since our scrap with UlΕ‘ulah, they've tightened defenses around that cave. W and her bombs helped us get out once, but that may not work a second time.
We haven't been able to get close again. But I'm sure the 'drifting bones' haven't returned yet.
That is, I was sure until we all had the same dream.
The ash-bleached city engulfed in flames, the shattered walls, the charred corpses piled in every corner.
The city did not leave with the dream until we opened our eyes.
Siege and her Exemplars will be responsible for the perimeter. Us, the Rhodes rabbit and the Banshee have to get deep into that waystation.
W
Where's that old bitch Kal'tsit? She's sending us off on this suicide mission without making so much as a cameo appearance?
Hoederer
Her injuries have not yet healed. Ascalon will look after her and the Doctor. They will stay behind.
Hoederer
Rhodes Island recently came under Confessarius attack, they were trying to take the bunny's crown.
W
......
W
Hmph, the crown.
Ines
Hoederer... you didn't tell the Victorians the truth.
Ines
If your plan works, and we go back to Kazdel, what are you gonna do?
Ines
Even your new Victorian friends are probably not gonna be okay with you bundling 'war criminals' in with 'Sarkaz caught up in the war'.
Ines
Don't tell me you vowed to bring the Sarkaz home but never thought through this little problem?
Ines
Like, are you gonna head off to teach a class on 'historical reflections' to this bunch of grunts dragged off the battlefield? In that Kazdel basement university?
Hoederer
......
Hoederer
No.
Hoederer
Maybe I'll start a literacy class there. Make sure future Sarkaz have fewer illiterates like W here.
W
Huh?
W
Do my ears deceive me? Did Hoederer actually make a joke out of Ines's words? On such a serious topic?
W
What happened? Did sucking up to General Manfred teach you a little emotional intelligence?
Ines
Hmph...
Ines
'War's over, back to Kazdel.' Real funny, we're actually fantasizing about this stuff here.
Ines
We're mercs, and that's all we're ever gonna be.
W
You're such a lovely Caprinae, Ines, maybe you could run off to Leithanien and become a governess for some hoity toity nobles in a big, tall tower.
W
You could teach... Let me think... how to keep your hair nice and silky in a war zone? How's that sound?
Ines
Not interested.
Hoederer
......
Ines
What are you daydreaming about? The battle's about to start.
Hoederer
No, I just...
Ines's gaze shifts down to my feet ever so slightly.
She's looking at my shadow again. What is it showing?
I don't know myself. I'm rarely so... calm before an op.
Calm gives me a chance to think about all sorts of things.
A few trivial things.
Hoederer
I remember you said you wanted to open a shop in Kazdel.
Ines
Because I didn't have a place to fence stolen goods at the time.
Hoederer
...Oh yeah.
Hoederer
......
Hoederer
How about we use the first round of tuition from my literacy class for your startup capital?
Ines
I doubt that class is gonna earn you much.
W
On the other hand, kidnapping a Leithanian governess could fetch a decent ransom. Gotta be at least as much as ten merc heads.
Ines
Let's talk about it when we make it home for real.
Hoederer
Yeah.
Ines
Your mental state has me worrying if you can really handle this mission.
Ines
Did those illusions or the Arts Circles drive you mad?
Maybe they did.
In this moment of extreme calm, some tendrils of unease irritate my heart, causing hesitation.
Amidst my own surprising thoughts, I find the reason for my anxiety.
I'm worried they won't accept me. Because of my...
Some of my ideas.
But I have to speak. The arrow is nocked.
W
Pay no attention to this mopey idiot.
W
Time waits for no man. Once we stake the Vampire and behead Theresis, then you two can head on back to Kazdel and talk over all the interior decorating plans for your love nest.
Hoederer
...Theresis.
Hoederer
I've been thinking about this for a while, W. You may not like what I'm about to say, but I still have to say it.
W
Hah, throwing cold water on me before the fight?
Hoederer
Pretty much.
Hoederer
We can't kill Theresis, at least not right here or now, it can't be the Sarkaz executing him.
W
β
W
Ines was right, those illusions did scramble your brains.
Hoederer
Killing him means no Kazdel.
Hoederer
Whether now or for a good long while after the war, he has to be recorded as the Regent... and even be praised by some.
W
Are you out of your mind?
W
I really don't feel like joking about this.
Hoederer
We still need to stop the war, and I haven't changed my mind.
Hoederer
But Theresis has taken his place as a cornerstone of the Sarkaz future.
Hoederer
Kazdel won't survive another split, and this war... it can't end with another Sarkaz betrayal, with another Sarkaz civil war.
Hoederer
Remember the plan I was talking about before? We need the Sarkaz here to pull out of Victoria before everyone hears about his death.
Ines
......
Hoederer
Once everyone knows the Sarkaz have failed, and the threat of Theresis is gone, what happens then?
Hoederer
The dukes will slaughter every last Sarkaz in Victoria without mercy. The revenge killings will spread to other countries in centrum, and all civilization will have a justifiable excuse... to exterminate the Sarkaz.
Hoederer
They'll put together a coalition, just and reasonable, swift and decisive... to divide up all of Theresa's and Theresis's legacies.
Hoederer
Can't you picture that?
W
To be honest, I don't give a shit about any consequences of Theresis dying. All I'm here for is the part where he dies.
W
Coalitions? Slaughtering Sarkaz? Weren't they doing that already?
W
Does Theresis dying mean all the devils are just gonna lose their will to fight back?
W
Hah, no way. I don't buy that.
W
He sent the assassins to kill Theresa, declared himself king, and dragged all of us into the mess we're in today.
W
We don't need to sacrifice ourselves for his Kazdel, for hisβ
Hoederer
Don't think you can keep yourself out of it, W.
I thought I was gonna really let her have it, really tear into W, this... sad woman.
Hoederer
Do you think of yourself as nothing more than a merc?
Hoederer
How many people have you brought? From Reunion to where we stand now, how many Sarkaz have you gathered?
Hoederer
You're carrying their lives on your shoulders.
W
I don't fucking care!
But W is wavering.
I know her too well. It's not like she hasn't thought about it, she isn't an uncaring leader at all.
Looking at it objectively, a whole lot of mercs have stepped up to follow this madwoman.
Hoederer
You have to care.
Hoederer
You think you can just keep on killing people, keep on burying bombs in the dirt?
Hoederer
You're leading those Sarkaz now. You have to think about how to deal with their hopes and dreams.
Hoederer
You have to think through what their lives mean to you.
So, from all perspectives we're... all we can be is their successors, the inheritors of their ideals.
Hoederer
The two of them, they're the reason the Sarkaz could come together in the first place.
W
......
W
That's not the real Theresa.
W
That's a fake Theresis has cooked up. He can't fool me.
Hoederer
W.
Hoederer
Look at yourself.
W
Who do you think you areβ
Hoederer
You couldn't accept Theresa's death, you're stuck in the shadow of Babel.
Hoederer
Like...
W
Shut up.
Hoederer
You think Amiya's walking ahead of you. You think she's Theresa's handpicked successor, that the King of Sarkaz should be thinking about this stuff.
Hoederer
You look at her and see another Theresa, you think all you need to do is follow the King.
W
Shut up! Are you trying to gross me out?!
Hoederer
You think you don't deserve to inherit anything.
W
What kind of joke is this? You think you get me? You're my mentor now, you're gonna raise me, teach me, huh Hoederer?
W
You're just a merc, not much higher on the ladder than me. But you're so deluded you can stand up and call yourself a successor or whatever of whatever?
W
Ugh, it's so gross! The little bunny? I'm gonna follow her?
W
She was in the right place at the right time to be chosenβ
Hoederer
βChosen by Theresa, to become the leader of Rhodes Island who stopped Reunion and Talulah, who broke her way into Londinium today.
Hoederer
So what about you, W?
Hoederer
What exactly does Theresa mean to you?
Hoederer
Some distant ethereal symbol who once gave you a place to stay, one specific flesh-and-blood royal, orβthe path she stood for?
W
...I...
W
'For this land to... fall into peaceful slumber.'
W
...Ugh.
W
So... that's why I say she's a fake.
W
......
Hoederer
......
Ines
......
W
Ines... how have you managed to hold back from killing him this long?
Ines
Because I'm not deluding myself, most of the time.
W
Ugh. Spare me.
W
Whatever, Hoederer.
W
I know what I have to do. And I'm not going to kill you to shake up morale this time, you should be kissing my feet.
W
Polish that sword of yours good, we've got a war tomorrow.
Hoederer
Sigh... she ran off again.
Ines
Do you really think she could be a decent leader?
Hoederer
She's organized a whole lot of mercs.
Ines
Heh, are they really 'mercs' though?
Ines
How much money does W have to hire them? And how much does she earn for them with the things she does?
Hoederer
Alright then, why are they following her?
Hoederer
No matter what she says, whether it's revenge for Theresa, hunting down the assassins, or just randomly bombing her way across the landβ
Hoederer
She's definitely... walked her path.
Ines
The ones who follow her really are sad.
Ines
But people forget how young she is. She's got lots of... room for improvement.
Hoederer
We can hope.
Hoederer
Also, the startup capital for your shop, not a joke.
Some of the Londinium Self-Salvation Corps volunteered to join our team.
Shearer
Yes, tallying up the remnants of the various ducal forces we've gathered, refugees who want to join the fight, and these militiamen from the Self-Salvation Corps, we have the strength of roughly six or seven platoons.
Shearer
Siege, we'd best formally establish the military structure of the Exemplars. Appointing officers such that our chain of command can...
Siege
Lieutenant Shearer, this team is not a true military unit. It is not the Victorian Army.
Siege
True, we have some soldiers...
Siege
But aside from you and the remnants of Duke Windermere's forces led by Delphine, the rest are ordinary folk who want to fight. Workers, farmers, merchants, and of course, street ruffians.
Siege
Should we forcibly incorporate them into one or two combat units, arm them, and subordinate them to officers, then what is the difference between us and the dukes?
Siege
The Exemplars is a fine name, but I believe it should bring the people nothing but hope.
Siege
Or to speak less grandly, it should bring the people something intangible, the likes of which the dukes' high-speed battleships can't bring.
Siege
Which is to say...
Siege
The Exemplars should not be a heroic force captained by the heir to the throne wielding the Realmblade. I'm rather repulsed by such titles.
Shearer
But then, how are we to organize our combat operations?
Delphine
Speaking of combat operations, a considerable portion of our team has not undergone any regular military training.
Delphine
When in Londinium, do as the Londiniers do, eh?
Delphine
Just as we did in Chetleigh, just as the Self-Salvation Corps did in Londinium.
Delphine
We're killing the Sarkaz in our familiar way, with our familiar friends.
Delphine
...No offense, Sarkaz.
Hoederer
......
Logos
None taken. No harm done.
Logos
The ritual has been terminated, but the blessing bestowed on the Sarkaz blood has not completely gone with it.
Logos
Over Londinium way... ancient witchcraft stirs.
Logos
Our mortal enemy operates with unknown purpose, but the urgency they reveal presents an opportunity for a breakthrough.
