No need to be so tense, Sir Arctosz. I don't eat people.
Arctosz
This is the first time you are participating in the Holy Hunt yourself, Saintess. I am not the only one. Take a look at the warriors around us. With you gracing our presence, we are all tense, eager to put on our best show!
Enya
As the Saintess, I believe participating in the Holy Hunt with the warriors of Kjeragandr my rightful duty.
Arctosz
You make a fine point!
Enya
Let's not talk about me. It seems something has been on your mind since the hunt began. If there is anything you would like to ask, please don't hesitate.
Arctosz
Haha... I guess I wasn't going to fool the Saintess.
Enya
If you don't mind, you can think of me as a friend.
Enya
And I, too, will think of you as a friend.
Arctosz
Great Saintess...
Arctosz
In my heart, I see you as a friend, Great Saintess.
Enya
In that case, let us talk as friends.
Arctosz
......
Arctosz
Very well. Then, if I may speak my mind.
Arctosz
I want to know your thoughts on the whole transfer of powers affair?
Enya
How straightforward.
Arctosz
We are friends, after all.
Arctosz
When it comes to battle, the Paleroches are no less impressive than the Browntails and Silverashes. In subterfuge, though? We're no match for them.
Arctosz
Hiding machinations and manipulating others? It's not my style.
Enya
You are right...
Enya
However, my friend, you will have to forgive me.
Enya
Before I answer your question, I must first make sure of something.
Arctosz
Please, go on.
Enya
Sir Arctosz, you are a brave, loyal warrior.
Enya
I know you as a frank, straightforward individual, but I also know you nonetheless give your matters due consideration.
Enya
You say friends should not hide anything from one another. Let me be honest and get to the point.
Enya
—I would like to know why you have been so staunchly against Enciodes's plans to open up to the outside world?
Arctosz
I'm a ruffian, Saintess.
Arctosz
It doesn't matter how much Enciodes boasts about his so-called opening up and how attractive it all is. I don't care about windbaggery and lip service.
Arctosz
All I care is what he brings.
Arctosz
And I see him bringing waves of unfaithful foreigners gushing into our homes, the destruction of our lands and mountains in the name of expansion, and the children of Kjeragandr losing their faith after working in his territory.
Enya
......
Arctosz
The things he brings to Kjerag are convenient. He rakes in lots of money and has built many big houses on the back of it. I know all that.
Arctosz
But if everyone takes after him and casts aside faith in the name of prosperity, what will become of our lands?
Arctosz
Kjeragandr ordered the Paleroches to protect Kjerag. As such, I, Arctosz, will not allow anyone to bring it to ruin, however they try!
Enya
Now I understand how you feel, Sir Arctosz...
Enya
In that case, it's time for me to answer your question too.
Enya
Sir Enciodes proposed to turn over all his core lands to me. It was so sudden that it caught me by surprise.
Arctosz
So you didn't know beforehand?
Enya
Indeed, I never expected him to make such a suggestion.
Enya
But––
Enya
......
Enya
I don't claim to know understand Sir Enciodes's thought process and how he arrived at the idea of turning all powers over to me. However, if we look at the outcome, I don't think this is a bad turn of events.
Arctosz
You mean...
Enya
At the Vine-Bead Court, I watch the masses pray to Kjeragandr day in and day out.
Enya
There is one thing that I understand better than Sir Enciodes, and that's the fact that Kjerag has not yet lost its faith.
Enya
I suppose, now that this decision has been made, whatever happens from here won't be so easily influenced by any one person.
Enya
The unexpected always comes to pass, no?
Enya
If Sir Enciodes hasn't thought of this before, then I must've thought too highly of him.
Arctosz
Fine... whatever the case for everything else, I trust your word on this.
Arctosz
......
Arctosz
To tell you the truth, Great Saintess, up until you just spoke, this conversation made me feel as though I had been talking to someone entirely other than the Saintess.
Arctosz
I guess I must be overthinking it.
Enya
......
Enya
I'm saddened to hear how you feel about our conversation.
Enya
But I will never deny that Silverash is my name too.
Arctosz
......
Enya
However, when I became the Saintess, I separated from the secular world. It was the same Sir Enciodes who stripped my name of meaning.
The symbol of the Kjerag faith! What are you waiting for? Bring Kjeragandr's blessings home with you!
What a huge crowd.........I wonder how things are going with Sharp.
Kjarr
Hey!
(Indescribable shrieking)
Kjarr
Whoa... that gave me a jump...
Your hand's so cold!
Kjarr
Woke you up, huh?
(Attacks reflexively)
Kjarr
Whoa, your hands are like ice...
Kjarr
What are you spacing out for? You've been standing there, not moving an inch.
Kjarr
Oh, did that scare you?
I'm fine.......Scared me shitless!
Kjarr
Haha, you seem fine to me!
Kjarr
What are you looking at? Did you catch the Holy Hunt ceremony? Even the Saintess is joining the hunt this time. Everyone here's been looking forward to it!
How did this ceremony come about?
Kjarr
From what I heard, the Vine-Bead Court found in the scripts a couple centuries ago that this was the day Kjeragandr first appeared to us, and so they made this Kjerag's biggest festival.
Kjarr
As for what to do during the Ceremony...
Kjarr
You see how most people are just enjoying the festivities.
Kjarr
The Saintess has one other thing to do, though. She has to cleanse the Tschäggättä loot obtained during the Holy Hunt.
Kjarr
And the specifics of that process... You'll find out later.
You don't seem all that excited to me.
Kjarr
Hmm, has anyone ever told you you're pretty sharp...?
Kjarr
It's true that I get to leave all my work behind at the Court and enjoy the festivities out here.
Kjarr
But I feel bad whenever I think about how much work the Saintess has, none of which I can help with, in any way.
Kjarr
Besides...
Kjarr
Oh, whatever. It's a festival. Let's not talk about that.
Anything fun you recommend?
Kjarr
Oh, you're asking just the right person.
Kjarr
There's probably not a lot of fun things to do... Aside from the markets, nearly everything has to do with Kjeragandr.
Kjarr
If you want to take this chance to learn more about Kjeragandr, though, there is no better time.
Kjarr
Come, let me show you around~
Kjarr
This season every year, the devotees who teach and study at the academy come back to the Vine-Bead Court to preach or to give lessons about Kjeragandr.
Kjarr
Let's have a listen.
Devotee
A millennium ago, our forebears angered Kjeragandr. She vowed to never again protect Kjerag, and a harsh winter befell our lands.
Devotee
Every year, to calm Her fury, the Vine-Bead Court picked the girl with the purest soul to head skyward toward the mountaintop, carrying a bell that represents Her, until the young maiden sacrificed her soul to Her.
Devotee
When She heard the cries of the one hundredth girl, Kjeragandr at long last forgave the people of Kjerag, and the cruel winters came to an end.
Devotee
That was how Kjerag's first Saintess came to be.
Kjarr
This again, huh...? Right, I read a different version of this story in the Vine-Bead Court's texts.
A different version?
Every year, to calm Kjeragandr's fury, Kjerag chose a girl to be its Saintess, who was to sit atop Mount Karlan and pray until her death.
Kjeragandr is said to have appeared before the masses as a young girl, and so everyone believed that a maiden's pure soul could reach Her and beckon Her back to us.
This ritual continued for almost a hundred years. Over time, the people gradually turned against these unreciprocated rituals.
There was a rebellion against the Vine-Bead Court led by a small clan leader whose daughter was chosen to be the Saintess.
Many of the Vine-Bead Court's buildings were leveled, and many of its texts, kept since ancient times, were destroyed. Ever since, the Vine-Bead Court's understanding of its past has been wildly off the mark.
And the most dramatic thing about this turn of events is that the Saintess still climbed to the top of Mount Karlan that year, and Kjeragandr regained Her strength after a centuries-long slumber. Hearing the prayers of the Saintess, She awakened.
The signs of Her awakening were so obvious that the people immediately noticed. Their resistance against the Vine-Bead Court came to a close, just like that.
Sounds a lot more realistic.
Kjarr
Right? At the same time, it's also a lot more cruel.
Sounds like something you saw with your own eyes.
Kjarr
No, no, not at all. I only found the scripture at the Court by chance. It might be a record left behind by someone who was actually there. It could also be nothing more than pure nonsense.
Kjarr
After all, Kjerag's snowy mounts are known to swallow men whole.
Sir! A large group of beasts has been spotted up ahead!
Valais
These beasts are unusually brutal. They're attacking our soldiers at the front right now!
Arctosz
They're just beasts! There's nothing to be afraid of!
Arctosz
All of you, stay here and protect the Saintess. Keep your formation and do not panic. Valais, you stay here too.
Arctosz
Everyone else, come with me. We'll back up our brothers up ahead!
Enya
Sir Arctosz, wait!
Arctosz
Great Saintess?
Enya
I will come with you.
Valais
But, Great Saintess, your safety...
Arctosz
Valais is right. Your safety is what's important here. Please wait for us here. The Paleroche warriors will protect you!
Enya
I...
Ratatos
Wait up, Arctosz!
Arctosz
Ratatos...? What are you doing here? I thought the Browntails and the Silverashes were supposed to take their hunts elsewhere?
Ratatos
The Silverashes have left already, but something doesn't seem right about all this. I was going to come give you a heads up before we split... but it looks like there's no need for that anymore.
Arctosz
What do you mean by that?
Enya
You mean the unusual pack of beasts up ahead, Madame Ratatos?
Ratatos
Fine observation, Great Saintess.
Ratatos
I don't know the specifics... but I have a bad feeling about this. I only hope that no one is trying to pull anything funny during an occasion as dignified as the Holy Hunt, let alone putting on a show.
Sciurus
......
Ratatos
Anyway, we should be more careful. For the first time ever, the Saintess is personally gracing us with her presence during a hunt.
Enya
......
Enya
You're exaggerating things, Madame Ratatos.
Enya
You do have a point, though. Since I am here, I must stand alongside our brave warriors, instead of cowering in the face of danger.
Enya
Please, the situation is urgent. Let us talk on the way.
Arctosz
Well then!
Arctosz
How fortunate is Kjerag that you feel this way, Great Saintess! I won't stop you! Valais, lead the way!
Valais
Yessir!
Sciurus
......
Sciurus
(Why aren't you here yet, Monch?! The Saintess doesn't personally join the Holy Hunt every day! We have to seize the opportunity to take care of as many beasts in front of her as we can!)
Sciurus
(But... what if we hurt the Saintess by accident...?)
Sciurus
(Argh, whatever! It's not like that bitch Ratatos would do anything! Worst case, I'll own up to it!)
Here I thought the beasts in the mountains would be scared stiff with the Saintess joining us.
Young Kjerag Warrior
Looks like things aren't that simple. Guess the Saintess isn't really all that.
Old Kjerag Warrior
Watch your mouth! The Saintess isn't for you to discuss so nonchalantly!
Old Kjerag Warrior
Think about what will happen if Sir Arctosz catches you complaining!
Young Kjerag Warrior
Fine, fine. I get it! He'd chew me out if he heard...
Old Kjerag Warrior
As long as you know... Wait, watch out behind—
Young Kjerag Warrior
—!
???
Get down!
A silver arc of light pierces the raging snowstorm before the beast is able to let out its chilling cry.
With the beast's icy fangs mere inches away, its warm, stinking blood is splattered all over the warrior's face.
Slowly, the Kjerag Saintess sets her hand down from her bowstring as she walks toward the source of the commotion. Just as the texts described, she is accompanied by both Browntail and Paleroche fighters.
'She is the Kjeragandr's vicar on Terra. She is Kjeragandr's supreme emissary on the mountaintop.'
The girl walks forward.
Even the snowfall comes to a halt in her presence.
Enya
Are you hurt?
Young Kjerag Warrior
The... The Saintess...
Enya
The danger is yet to pass. Stand up, young warrior.
Enya
Warriors of Kjeragandr, raise your weapons! Join me in fending off these beasts and completing the challenge posed to us by Kjeragandr!
