Liberi Reader

The child approaches the merchant's stall and timidly peruses the wares.

The merchant tries to put out the fire to no avail, and is soon surrounded by flames himself.

The exploding fireworks draws a gawking crowd.

The 'practical joker' has long fled the scene with the child.

'But... wasn't it supposed to be a joke...'

'Serves him right for marrying a devil woman, the bastard.'

The piledriver spear rips the flames apart. The sounds of explosions and crackling fire sing joyfully in cacophony.

A Vouivre emerges from the flames, spear in one hand, the merchant in the other. She puts the merchant down in a safe place, then sits beside him, wiping the soot off her face.

She points towards the raging fire, with fireworks still leaping out from time to time.

The gawking crowd continues to grow. A drunkard, seemingly oblivious to what is going on, pulls over an unsuspecting passerby and starts dancing.

Under the setting sun is pandemonium, drunken singing mixed with angry yelling mixed with the cackle of fireworks.

This street has not been so lively since the Sarkaz took over.

It is the very picture of chaos, but the merchant, who has already calmed down, begins to laugh.

Once she is satisfied that there is no danger, she lies down on a crate by the roadside, stretches, and lets the beams of the setting sun fall upon her face.

The Sarkaz covers the child's mouth and holds her tightly, gazing up nervously at the woman looking quietly down at her.

The aged Sarkaz soothes the sobbing child and sighs.

Allerdale. A name that should have been laid to rest in the Mausoleum of Kings.

In the darkness where even the passage of time became blurred, she had sought to die in the ruins of history, to be forgotten by all those whom she disappointed, yet she was afraid to die, afraid to be forgotten.

But when muddy water dripped from the hole that the Steam Knight left behind and fell upon her palm, she opened her eyes and saw light.

What lay at the end of the light was life, and submission again.

Her hesitation may have lasted three days, or three minutes... in the end, she made the same choice as she once did.

Through the window, Eliseo sees Vina Victoria for the first time.

He has done his homework, and heard the legends of the young Speaker during the war.

He thought the Speaker would be more impressive.

When he sees the well-dressed Aslan speaking at the podium, he feels nothing but disappointment—

Vina Victoria is not nearly as splendid as he imagined.

Inside the hall, Vina is muttering something with a sad expression on her face, but they cannot hear what she is saying.

Delphine meets Diane's gaze, then quickly averts her eyes.

The bell of mourning tolls. Fowlbeasts glide close to the ground, a sign of impeding rain.

Right now, though, nobody pays any heed. Their heads are bowed.

No tears are shed. War has already spent the city of its last drop.

The sound of bells echoes in the sky above the city. As if everything has gone quiet for a moment.