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...*Sigh*.
Looks like it's house arrest for both of us?
It's not like I never thought about it. And hey, it's better than I was expecting...
But we were a little too naive.
Which part was naive? The part where you thought you'd die, or the part where you thought the Regent didn't know?
Both. He's been pulling the strings from the start.
Not that I'm surprised... he's Theresis. We've all heard the stories about him and Theresa, the invincible forces of nature...
But I guess in the course of the war, I forgot those stories... weren't just stories.
So how do we warn W? What's going on with Reunion?
We wasted so much time on the road. She might've already split with Talulah.
The other possibility is the show ends in Lungmen.
Wouldn't that be a bit too quick?
It fits with the way W works. If Talulah's gonna destroy the Infected, W'll destroy Talulah first.
Sarkaz style. With extreme prejudice.
She's pretty upset over the death of a certain merc, after all.
She knows the score.
She's out of room to hesitate any longer. Now she just needs to get into the right headspace to make a move.
And that means we're left waiting.
We've got ways to fool the Regent's eyes. It'd be a crazy risky play, but...
I've still got my own squad I can keep on 'standby.'
Victoria's all over the place right now. They probably wouldn't catch the code.
Yeah, and it would have to pass by some real tricky spots controlled by the Regent... and on to Kazdel.
Kazdel?
The battlefield ruins there haven't been touched in a long time.
But we eked out a living there for a good long time.
There was a communications station in an old bunker buried under those ruins. The tower made it look like it was destroyed, but everything down there still works.
Hold on, that was a long time ago...
How long have you been preparing this?
All done way back at the very beginning. Cost me a pretty penny too.
Heh heh.
Oh man... if they saw the look on your face right now, boy would they be surprised.
For a while now, every time you came back from a battle, you were always deep in thought, like a kid who did something bad.
I figured you'd just lost your will to fight.
Nah, it was the opposite, actually. I finally realized what it was I had to do.
How?
Because I had no choice. It's kind of liberating, in a way?
W must've said something to you before you left Chernobog.
Does that sound like her? Laying all the cards on the table?
No. She'd be a lot less of a pain if she did though.
You're right that she came looking for me before I left the core city. She knew what we were going to do.
She...
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Can you put a price on the life of a merc?
Sure. Always have. Why even ask? You knew the answer.
But who set the price?
The war itself.
Sure... you got your battlefield honors, your victories, the glory you pull out of a hand-to-hand fight, all the things that raise your profile, that let everybody know what a useful tool you are.
So boring.
But that's all in the past. At least for us it is.
...What do you mean?
Every Sarkaz merc should have a nice, clean price tag.
But we don't need anybody to slap it on. No oversight. They write their own price in the blood of the enemies of Sarkaz.
You... are you saying we should get everyone to leave Kazdel...?
You look surprised. But like, they could choose for themselves.
Does this sound weird?
......
Not weird, right?
Just give it some thought... think about what you could be doing in Kazdel.
You're talking about doing that right in front of Theresis, in broad daylight.
You make it sound so bad. As if you don't have your own plans.
.......
Chill... you were my boss, Hoederer.
You'd better do it, or we'll have trouble.
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That's a pretty good joke. The old hands at the Scar Market would laugh themselves into a coma.
It certainly wouldn't make the committee happy. They'd be out a lotta money, and a lotta wasted brainpower.
Not to mention all the people they killed.
Sure enough... and the old hands there too... some of them are almost friends of ours...
So what are you gonna do now? It's up to you.
Well... I can't leave Londinium. Hell, I can't even leave this mansion.
I think it's up to you.
You can do a lot as a 'Messenger.'
'Keep following Talulah's orders. Hoederer isn't coming back yet.' Should be good?
As long as that comms station still works, we'll hear back. And they'll get word to W.
Hmph...
I know how to do this.
Don't give me orders.
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......
*Sigh*... What a pain in the ass...
Just when I decide to go after the dragon lady... What a time you picked.
Get out here.
The ruins of Chernobog weren't like those of Kazdel.
There were still traces of life out on the streets, ravaged as they were. They gave you some idea of what had been.
Unlike the total annihilation back there.
Like, for example...
Those two kids. Kids painstakingly raising their weapons.
Devil! What are you doing here?!
N-no, don't provoke her...
S-sorry... we were just leaving...
Hey—
That's an army sword you're holding, isn't it?
Yes, it is. Sarkaz steel... You can't even lift it. Why are you hauling that thing around?
You gonna fight back? You gonna kill me?
Eeep——
G-get back——agh!
Rublev... your leg!
Oh, you're hurt.
You're gonna get infected. This city got hit with a Catastrophe. It's not safe here.
I won't turn into a thing like you!
Aww. What a tough kid.
Let me ask you——
——Do you know what it means to take up the blade of a fallen Sarkaz?
