Say, do you smell something...? It's pretty faint...
Abbot
A strange smell?
Jori
No, a pleasant one. It's fresh. I sense in it... vitality.
Jori
It's hard to put into words. It's like standard downwind. I don't know where it comes from, but I feel like I'd get somewhere if I followed it.
Abbot
......
Abbot
I think it's the smell of flowers, Jori.
Abbot
We don't have enough flour, so flower powder was added to the sacramental bread.
Abbot
The few remaining bottles of wine in the cellar have started to go sour, so I also added some flower powder to those too.
Abbot
Clément harvested some flowers a couple of years ago, grinding them into powder and storing it in the cellar...
Abbot
He loves the flowers, just as he loves us.
Jori
Mm...
Abbot
This will be the final communion we take before the abbey departs. We are short on food, however, so we must reduce each share of sacramental bread, even mixing in... other grains.
Jori
Please don't say that. I'm very much looking forward to today's communion...
Abbot
Then go and wash your face. Come back with the others when it's time for Matins.
Abbot
I'll do the rest myself.
Jori
Yes, Father.
Jori
Will we be saved after today, Father?
Jori
All of us, Sankta and Sarkaz... will we all be saved?
Jori
Even though Gerald is already...
Abbot
......
Abbot
Go, Jori.
Jori
O-Okay, see you later, Father.
Abbot
......
The old man closes the door.
He climbs the chancel slowly.
Stefano Torregrossa, the aging abbot of Sanctilaminium Ambrosii, carefully divides the sacramental bread and wine.
His head is bowed. It is still early. The dim morning light shines through the windows behind the holy statue. The face of the statue is hidden in darkness, as is the abbot's own.
I will command them to block every path in and out. You stay here and coordinate with the assault.
Serpilia
Mm...
Oren
What is it?
Serpilia
Are you sure you want to do this, Oren?
Oren
Did you go over to Lemuen's side the moment you saw her? I don't think I need to waste my time explaining this again.
???
But I'll stop you, Oren.
Serpilia
Lemuen?
Oren
Ugh. She caught up.
Oren
Buy time while I rendezvous with the troops.
Serpilia
No way. Do you see the expression on her face?
Serpilia
I'm not getting on her bad side. I still remember when she dragged me out of school and confiscated my drone. I never saw it again.
Lemuen
Gratias, Serpilia.
Oren
......
Lemuen
You never thought to convince the abbot to bring the monastery back to Laterano.
Oren
That's your job.
Lemuen
You never intended to let any of the Sarkaz leave, you've even got commandos deployed to carry out your plan.
Oren
Fifty men... the limit of what I can muster.
Lemuen
What are the Lateran laws to you, Oren?
Oren
I will submit myself to His Holiness's judgment when we get back... though I don't think I've done anything that should be punished.
Lemuen
You know the consequences of an assault on the abbey.
Lemuen
The people here, both Sankta and Sarkaz, are like travelers who lost their way in the wilderness, who found warmth by a campfire.
Lemuen
The campfire guides their kin to rescue them, and other poor wandering souls.
Lemuen
They have no one to count on. They are weak and frightened. But they still hold on to their precious kindness.
Lemuen
That's why Gerald gave his life to plead with us, and ordered the Sarkaz under his leadership to keep the peace between the two sides.
Lemuen
But what if the campfire has attracted some beasts?
Oren
......
Oren
I wish I could say pretty words and do the kind of work everyone admires, Cardinal Aide Lemuen.
Oren
But I can't. You've never traveled the war-torn wastes with thousands upon thousands of refugees, seen the dark cloud that blankets the skies over Londinium.
Oren
But I thought you would at least have a tacit understanding with me, give some thought to the danger in letting those Sarkaz go.
Oren
The atrocities the Sarkaz committed in Victoria are well-known. They continue to spread their terror across the lands.
Oren
If you truly believe in His Holiness's plan, believe in the value of the Legati, then you should understand why Laterano can't be merciful here.
Oren
The friendship that Laterano built at the Summit of Nations is more fragile than the paper windows of this corridor.
Oren
The Sarkaz in the abbey are resentful, and affected by Arturia's Arts. There's no telling what lengths they will go to in order to get revenge after they leave.
Oren
Plus, what would happen if word got out that a Lateran nomadic abbey has been colluding with the Sarkaz for decades?
Oren
How will Laterano uphold its sanctity among the nations of Terra? How will she maintain her already-fragile diplomatic ties?
Oren
What will the Holy City look like when the fires of war burn?
Oren
Fifty men. That's all will take to resolve the situation here, and bury it all in darkness.
Lemuen
......
Lemuen
These Sarkaz are hunters, farmers... the only mercenary is dead. We saw proof with our own eyes.
Lemuen
You're planning a massacre.
Lemuen
You talk about upholding Laterano's sanctity, when you're the one defiling it. Don't you see the hypocrisy in that?
Oren
You're the hypocrite here, Lemuen.
Oren
The 'Lemuen the Silent' I know wouldn't have blinked at something like this.
Oren
Did five years asleep change you?
Oren
Or was it the so-called 'Martyr'—
Oren never managed to say the name.
The wheelchair closes the distance in the blink of an eye, and his midsection meets the barrel of a sniper rifle. Leaning against the wall, he barely manages to stay on his feet, and it takes all his effort to keep his voice level.
