Operation story: R8-6

Operation

Story

Previous M8-4	Next M8-5
Characters
Talulah Alina FrostNova Patriot Sasha Timid Child Local Ursus Troop
Backgrounds
1 2 3 4

Before operation

“

Talulah paints a picture of the future that may impress FrostNova, but it doesn't seem to convince Patriot. In an encounter with the Ursus garrison, Talulah finally witnesses Patriot in a fight.

”

<Background 1>
Hui-chieh: Back when I first became Infected, my mind wasn't clear on anything. I knew Kashchey wanted to use me to do so much, but I was always afraid. What was it he wanted me to do? Had he planned some kind of trick, one to destroy in a blink of an eye the network of Infected I'd spent so much time setting up? Or had he planned to let me divide the Infected? Let them drift into two camps, the urbanites and the settlers? Or the even more frightening scenario—perhaps he'd planned for the Infected to become a new army, and for Ursus to be plunged into war once more? I could only speculate. He hung over my head like a murky specter, impossible to chase off. But I could only move onward. One of the Yetis, apparently called Petrova, used cystymilk yesterday to stir-fry oilseeds. A strange recipe, for sure. The taste was pretty interesting.
<Background 2>
Alina	Oh, that... I remember that. The time's gone so fast. It's been two whole years. Are the stories the fighters passed around true, then? You really fought with her? From the sound of it, you both blew the entire city ruins into oblivion.
Talulah	It wasn't that dramatic. Rumors always get more outlandish as time goes on... all I did was melt her Originium ice crystals.
[Two child are running around past Talulah and Alina.]
Alina	Sashenka, no running around! You'll slip!
Talulah	Look at them, just free to live. It's so nice.
Alina	It's a duty of mine.
Talulah	I never imagined you'd volunteer to teach the children.
Alina	I get along a lot better with the children than I do with Ursus. What was that about melting, just now?
Talulah	FrostNova's Originium ice crystals. A sort of Arts device her squad used, by my guess.
Alina	That's something... I'm sure FrostNova didn't like it.
Talulah	*chuckle*. Nope. I took a single breath, and she froze half my body. And when I finally snapped out of it, she was already charging me, going for the neck with an ice blade. I blocked it, took in the hissing sound, and this sword tasted frost for the first time in all its years. It was probably a first for her, too, meeting someone who could chip her blade...
Alina	Ah, you're pretty happy to talk about this. Are you proud of it, maybe?
Talulah	Not really... yeah maybe you are right... uh. That child. The one hiding behind the wood fence. What's her name?
Alina	Lyubov. That's enough spying on us, Liuba! I'll read a story for you all next period. That's right, a story all about an old ghost in the gray forest... a scary story! Could you help bring me some wood shavings? Put them in a basket. Thank you. So then?
Talulah	FrostNova... Alina, you know it's FrostNova we're talking about. Her name spread among the Casters of the Northwestern Tundra long before mine ever did.
Alina	I thought you didn't like it when people spoke your name.
Talulah	If anyone ever uses it to threaten, then of course I won't be happy. But if hearing my name makes them want to challenge me, then that's not too shabby.
Alina	Nothing like you. I don't think FrostNova ever gives challenges the time of day. Thinking about it that way, you really stoked her fire, didn't you?
Talulah	She's the top of the Infected Casters, the top squad commander, and the strongest of the Infected's warriors to boot. ...Don't misunderstand. It's not like that's what I aim for.
Alina	Plenty of people think you resemble each other in places, though. Some of the children say they want to be like FrostNova, and some of them say they want to be a hero like you.
Talulah	Time out, time out. Now that's a word I'm not happy with. How about you, Alina? What do you think?
Alina	No two people are alike, in my eyes.
Talulah	Figured you'd say something like that. Truth be told, I don't really know what FrostNova's life was like as a child. She's been brought up well. It was probably alright. But don't let any child experience the things I did.
Alina	You've been brought up well, too.
Talulah	I don't want to talk about it.
Alina	...Talulah, none of us know the bitter things the world has in store for them, nor whether those things will be even more absurd than what we've already seen.
Talulah	Well, that's depressing.
Alina	It's also the reason I wanted to be a teacher.
Talulah	My "teacher" wasn't anything like you, for sure. ...I get what you mean, now. You're saying maybe FrostNova also had, well...
Alina	Who knows. No two Infected live identical lives.
Talulah	Well, to wrap up, I never slacked on practicing technique again after my dispute with FrostNova. Not just Arts, my swordsmanship too. Like hell she'll ever best me again in either.
Alina	I know you and her fought. What about after that?
Talulah	It took until her anger abated before she told me she wasn't the one responsible.
Alina	Then that only leaves one person who could've been.
Talulah	You're right on the mark, yes. It wasn't too long after our scuffle finished... ...that out from another end of the city, came a... ...person.
Alina	Is remembering it that much effort?
Talulah	I should say, that first impression was too shocking. I'm scrambling to find the words for you. The broad midday light spilled over his body, but couldn't melt away the black, black as tar. I was in the middle of telling FrostNova about my project. I'd gotten up to where I was in contact with Infected in other cities. I wanted to assemble the funds to construct or seek out a small-scale nomadic city, and invited them to join the project... I saw his shadow. I couldn't keep speaking.
Alina	What stopped you?
Talulah	I'm not THAT confident in myself.
Alina	Not that confident? I've never seen you short of confidence before.
Talulah	I mean, this was... Patriot.
Alina	You couldn't talk him over.
Talulah	I still haven't to this day. You already know all the rest. After FrostNova and I had our "friendly discussion," our group successfully joined up with the guerrillas.
Alina	Good for us. All else aside, after hearing we could go with the guerrillas, plenty of our Infected here were happy beyond belief. These last two years have been better to us than before. You made a good choice. You're finally in the right, Talulah.
Talulah	I mean... the way I see it, the guerrillas definitely didn't care about me or the other Infected fighters, they just... couldn't ignore the rest of the Infected, traveling with us.
Alina	Then that's even less reason to be down about it. You thought the same way, after all.
Talulah	But it's been two years. The situation hasn't made any headway at all.
Alina	Think about it this way, Talulah. From what moment did you start feeling Patriot didn't approve of you?
Talulah	Over a year ago... not long after we joined up with the guerrillas. All the way up until now.
<Background 3>
FrostNova	Not happening. We don't even know how many more Infected are out on the tundra under Ursus's wretched rule. It's too early yet to be talking with the guerrillas about the Infected in the cities.
Talulah	We're not intending to abandon the tundra's Infected. Why would I have brought them with me, otherwise? Sooner or later will come the day we return. Our objective is to have Ursus's, no, the entire world's Infected come together... We may be in differing places, but our lack of resignation to our circumstances is one and the same, indistinguishable. A friend of mine in a certain city calls that kind of behavior "reunion." He calls on the Infected to come together, naming it the "Reunion Movement," revolving around one identical belief, protesting against Ursus's cruel rule over the Infected.
FrostNova	And we should get the chance to protest the Ursus soldiers on the tundra about the exploitation in the mines, but I can't say it'd make them turn over a new leaf. Talulah, forget the common people for a moment. Talk about the soldiers. The Ursus Army wouldn't let a single one of us go. If you want to go south to "protest," we could just save ourselves the trouble and find a division to kill us.
Talulah	Ursus is not a single-minded entity. This is our chance. What the Reunion Movement aims to do is pass on the belief, but I see even more opportunities in it. We have our own signal to send.
FrostNova	What signal?
Talulah	"You are not alone."
FrostNova	——
Talulah	You know better than I do that staying on the tundra is a life of attrition, eating away at our strength. We need to go beyond it.
FrostNova	I don't decide this stuff.
Talulah	You're still not willing to decide it.
FrostNova	If the price of leaving is death, then my life never had much use outside of taking down an Ursus soldier or two. But what about the people around us? Talulah, you haven't got brothers and sisters by your side. I'm not going to let mine throw away their lives. But I think the other part's right.
Talulah	Which part?
FrostNova	Telling the Infected they're not alone. We've spent too much time on one thing, here on the tundra. Seeking friends. But linking up with the city Infected? Guess people from the big city really do like to dream a little bigger.
Talulah	I don't need you mocking me yet, FrostNova.
FrostNova	I'm not mocking you. You're so strong. You've taken all of them a long, long way, just like us. But it's a dream, going south, trust me. The guerrilla force grows, but we're Infected. We don't have many years left... and your alliance would need plenty of years, at least...
Talulah	And that's precisely why—
FrostNova	Dad?
[Patriot joins Talulah and FrostNova.]
Talulah	Ah... Mr. Patriot?
Patriot sits down by the bonfire. Like Talulah simulated over and over in her mind, Patriot simply sits down, wordless, and gazes into the fire.
FrostNova	...... You're good. Keep going.
Talulah	It's precisely because we don't have many years left. The south has fields of bumper crops, suitable temperatures, four seasons to tell apart, and all sorts of fresh food. Resources, education, prospects... And a future.
FrostNova	—Future?
Talulah	FrostNova, there's every likelihood I know what you're thinking.
FrostNova	What I'm thinking is written on my face. I don't know anything you'd call a "future."
Talulah	We may not have much time left at all. There's only so many places it'd let us set foot. But the Infected should have a future. For the future Infected, for those who come after us. FrostNova... we'll find those Infected a home. Somewhere Ursus and the Infected Patrol Unit won't disturb. Somewhere the Ursus armies can't surround.
FrostNova	And you know for sure, taking the Infected with us would get in the way of the guerrillas' operations. But we won't abandon them. It'll be a seriously difficult path.
<Background 3>
Talulah	At the very least, what hopes we bring about before we die can be left to others. And, if we overthrow Ursus's present system over the Infected... Everything will change.
FrostNova	We're thin on the ground. If you weren't an Infected, would you shake my hand?
Talulah	We'd start from a handshake, in that case.
FrostNova	...What you're saying is probably... Dad? Where are you going?
Patriot	I've had enough.
[Patriot leaves.]
Talulah	Sir...
FrostNova	Hey. Don't mind it too much.
<Background 2>
Alina	He was probably just thinking it over.
Talulah	He's been thinking it over for ages, if so. It's been two years, and the only conversations we've ever had have been about team composition and following plans. He's never asked me once about anything to do with any project.
Alina	Talulah, no matter if he's ridiculing you or opposing you—ah, not that I think he's the type to really ridicule other people—you're still going to wait forever. Am I right, or not?
Talulah	If we want to leave the tundra, we need the power of the guerrillas. I'll keep at it.
Alina	Because he's the hope of the tundra's Infected?
Talulah	I thought you didn't say things like that. I mean, you never... you don't say things like that, right?
Alina	I just want to know what your thought process is like.
Talulah	...I think—it's because he's the symbol the tundra's Infected unite behind. A symbol with no way of passing on to the next generation.
<Background 1>
FrostNova	Get up! How long are you planning to stay there?
Talulah	You gave me a chill, you goddamned white rabbit...!
FrostNova	I don't care how stick thin you are, don't tell me this cold front's too much for you!
Talulah	You sure weren't saying that when you iced these Ursus weapons.
FrostNova	Brothers and sisters, withdraw! Let them follow! Draw out the mine guards!
Talulah	Just hold on until the Shieldguards can support us! Don't lose hope!
<Background fades out and in>
FrostNova	—Pace. Pick it up. Faster. The guerrillas are in place to get the mine guards double-teamed.
Talulah	How do you figure—wait. Those strange Originium ornaments. Did the guerrillas arrange those?
FrostNova	Those were set up for my father.
Talulah	The Ursus army isn't pursuing us anymore. Seems like they're really not a fan of what those entail. Wait, are... are these some kind of Sarkaz thing?
FrostNova	His Sarkaz ceremony. These two are the best we could make with what we had on hand.
Talulah	Patriot... is Patriot here?
FrostNova	You said it yourself. You were expecting our team to be surprise-attacked. And if we wanted to annihilate their whole company, of course we'd come up short if we only relied on our squad. ...They're already beginning to rout. Have you ever seen my father in battle before, Talulah...?
<Background fades out and in>
Local Ursus Troop	The... him... It's him... Why did none of you s—say... say he was here?! Retreat! Retreat! Just forget them, forget them! Wait, hold on! He's coming from the rear? Then what's all this in front of us? Hello? Hello? ! Say something! Say something!
Patriot	......
Until those local troops let loose their violence upon him, the Sarkaz who towered over all others makes no move, nor does he make a sound. Yet Talulah hears, laced through the north wind of the tundra, something not unlike cries. The shudders of the world itself, its wickedness cowering back, step after step, before the Wendigo. Patriot stands fast, and casts toward the tundra a long halberd. And in the gloom of a sky that knows only to devour all life, suddenly, a chasm is cut.

During operation

FrostNova	The Originium materials I asked you to prepare in advance? Do you have them on you? If not, fall back! My father's witchcraft does not separate enemy from ally. Anyone's life can be sucked away. If they didn't prepare properly, Patriot would be the only living thing in the battlefield!
Talulah	I have the materials on me. I've also applied the paints to myself just like you told me. Anything else to worry about?
FrostNova	No, you're good. We were short on resources this time, so we just put up a simple installation...
[The Patriot's Originium Altar is highlighted.]
FrostNova	Thanks to our secret protective measure, the Originium Altar will have next to no effect on us. But if it was a properly constructed altar, then no matter what tricks you tried, you wouldn't escape the witchcraft's effects... nobody'd lived to tell the tale. Get ready! Talulah, count yourself lucky. Lucky my father's standing with us tundra Infected, on our side...

After operation

“

Patriot expresses his thoughts to Talulah for the first time, denouncing her as an empty idealist. Talulah picks up the children Sasha and Eno, and Alina reminds her not to forget the persistence she started with.

”

<Background 1>
Talulah	Thank you for your assistance, Mr...
Patriot	—Talulah. You want to leave the tundra? You will be crushed under the armor of Ursus.
FrostNova	Dad? Why right now? Didn't we alread—
Patriot	The Shieldguards have already gone to collect resources. Take the squad. Order them all to move.
FrostNova	...Alright.
Patriot	You and your project will get everyone killed.
Talulah realizes. This is the first time the giant before her has personally issued his opinion. Even if that opinion is no shock, it still shakes her to the bone.
Talulah	And the Northwestern Tundra can't keep us alive forever. The larger our group grows, the more food and energy supplies we need, and the villages that revile us far outnumber the ones that support us. One season of mossoats, each year... even if we all pitch in for the tilling, how much would we harvest in the end? Will our fields be destroyed by the Patrol Unit? The guerrillas can easily dispose of them, but the other Infected can't.
Patriot	You are hastening their deaths.
Talulah	Our only choice is to leave the tundra. Not for Sami, and not for the barrens... we'll head east, head south, head for warmer places.
Patriot	How will you survive? How will you allow us all, so numerous, to survive? The guerrillas save people. The guerrillas sacrifice none but ourselves. Only warriors sacrifice themselves.
Talulah	But there are Infected in every city and their surroundings, so many more than there are on the tundra. You permanently protect the north, detesting all that the Infected of the north endure... so you've had little chance to understand the kind of life the Infected of the south have.
Patriot	Do they live well?
Talulah	They live miserably.
Patriot	You want to absorb them.
Talulah	I intend to unite with them.
Patriot	When the Empire turns its gaze to the Infected, you will bear the brunt.
Talulah	I don't want them to unite by my side. No. I want them to unite under one encompassing philosophy.
Patriot	Philosophy? The Infected are taken as sawdust on the tundra, as slag in the mines, as warnings in the villages, as unknown fuel in the cities. The tundra Infected are certainly not ignorant nor foolish. We do not cradle fantasy. All philosophies are fantasy before they are put into practice. On the tundra, there are still mines, patrol forces, foolish and lackadaisical guards. We have places to obtain our resources.
Talulah	The resources throughout this icy tundra will sooner or later be exhausted, because we have no method of extracting our own. We have no enduringly mobile nomadic city, no specially qualified Catastrophe Messengers...
Patriot	Go to the city and we have nothing at all.
Talulah	We will earn new friends.
Patriot	Who are your friends? I recognize your project has merit to it. But at the same time, it is also nothing special. How many strategists have died frustrated on the tundra? You speak of it, and I see no reason it could be done, nor on what it would be realized. Why could the last Emperor make the land tremble? Because he held fast to it, never talking of any wild, far-flung vision. He only walked in steps. Which you cannot do.
Talulah	...... Sir! You say I may be crushed by the armor of Ursus, and I concede that. They will sooner or later turn their attention to us here. There will always come a day when they catch us. None of us can escape it. "Let them come?" Is that how you approach it, sir? That the tundra would prepare you better for a battle?
Patriot	You are seeking a new battlefield?
Talulah	I'm looking for a chance to win. As far as so many more Infected are concerned, that's hope. But to fighters like you and me, that's a crossroads. The only crossroads where we can break from our intrinsic strategy. To wander the tundra, in the end, is still nothing more than a slow death... much like the little life we have left as Infected. I need to repeat this point, over and over, because we're all fully aware of it.
Patriot	—— Perhaps my daughter is convinced by you. But I will not be convinced by someone who has never lost hope in the truest sense, who has only ever spouted an empty miscellany of armchair strategies.
Talulah	......
FrostNova	Talulah? Where are you going?
Talulah	I'm fine. Just going to check if there are any survivors in the mines.
FrostNova	The guerrillas have already set out, and the village is starting the move too. The army isn't following our tracks, either... Dad? What's up with you?
Patriot	*cough*... Just a normal cough.
A rustling sound.
Talulah	—— Is somebody there? ...I know you're all here. You're not with the army. You haven't even broken a twig with your steps. I mean you no harm. If you're not Infected, I'll leave you be, unless you need assistance...
???	D—don't come any closer! Don't move! If you do, I'll shoot!
Talulah	Ah.
Timid Child	She's—she's Infected! Sasha, my Arts can drive Infected away...!
Sasha	You can't use your Arts!
Timid Child	Sasha...
Sasha	G—get out of here already! We were just getting things from the mines... we don't want to kill anyone! I'll shoot! You'll die!
Timid Child	Sasha... you—when you say that...
Talulah	...... How long have you gone without eating?
Sasha	Why do you care?!
Talulah	We're in the vicinity of a militarized mine. You wouldn't dare light a fire. ...The way you shake makes me think of wheat being sifted.
Timid Child	*whine*...
Sasha	Hmph.
Talulah	Don't be scared.
Talulah grasps a branch with one hand. Softly, gently, she hands this branch to the two children, and within it, small sparks dance out.
Timid Child	Ah...
Sasha	You...
Talulah	It's warmer, now, isn't it. That's right, I really am Infected.
<Background 3>
Alina	So that's how it happened. That's how you found Sasha and Eno... they were never willing to talk about the past.
Talulah	If we never found them, they would've certainly passed away. Perhaps, ever since Patriot refuted me, it was the one bit of good I'd done.
Alina	So what's happened today, then?
Talulah	...I was careless with my Arts during training, FrostNova's cloak was hung up nearby, and they spread to it. Now she's out for my life.
Alina	And you promised you'd help sew it back up?
Talulah	To tell the truth, Alina...
Alina	Oh, whatever. Give it to me. Knowing you, I'm scared you'd sew yourself to it.
Talulah	Don't you want to join our group? If we have your gift with words, there's a decently better chance I'll talk Patriot over.
Alina	I've told you before, Talulah... My Arts would be useless with the guerrillas. I can stand the blood, but I don't want the initiative to harm people myself. You'll be facing much more than just the Infected Patrol Unit, soon enough.
Talulah	I suppose if I had dragged you along... I'd have been bothering you too much.
Alina	Ah, you put it that way on purpose, didn't you?
Talulah	No, I...
Alina	Don't remember wrong, now. It was I who wanted to go with you. And up to now, it's been for one reason. It's because... Talulah, I feel like there's every chance you'd forget.
Talulah	Forget what?
Alina	Forget just what it is you want to do.
Talulah	I've been striving all this time for the future of the Infected.
Alina	That's not what you said, back at the very start.
Talulah	......
Alina	Talulah, we all know people can change. If bit by bit, we shake ourselves clean of all the things we've persevered with, or if we replace them with something new, then there's a certain point where we realize we just haven't persevered in anything, right?
Talulah	In a constant battle and with things changing all the time, it's only natural I'd alter my policy. If rigor sets into our thinking, it could very well make us weaker.
Alina	And where'd that stubborn part of you go?
Talulah	——
Alina	Do you want to prove that the Infected are just like normal people? Or do you want to prove that normal people are just like the Infected?
Talulah	What's the difference?
Alina	If there's only Infected, then who's even a normal person? Would we want all people to catch Oripathy? Or to cut ourselves off completely from the normal people? But if there were only normal people, no Infected... then the people who caught Oripathy would be normal people underneath, normal like the people who haven't. Elders are just normal people, Ancients are just normal people, villagers who all know each other are normal people, and whoever's living in the cities should be normal people all the same. Talulah, do you want to return to your family?
Talulah	You're all my family.
Alina	No, we aren't. If we cleared all this Oripathy off our skin... would we be able to go back home?
Talulah	You and I are of a mind on this. We couldn't. The tundra, and our lives, have completely changed us. The Infected already have no way of returning to their former lives.
<Background 4>
Alina	Talulah, do you feel proud of yourself for being Infected now?
Talulah	Why would you ask?
Alina	Because you can cast Arts without a staff? Because our lives are so fleetingly short? Because even though we've gone through so much hardship, we can still persevere and live on? what reason would you choose?
Talulah	I don't need to choose any, Alina. I'm proud just to be an Infected. Because this world still hasn't killed me yet. And for that matter, we don't need anything to cause us to pursue fairness. We should've been pursuing fairness in the first place, that's why. And if the world won't give it, we'll just have to take it from it.
Alina	Then you really are brave.
Talulah	You're not laughing at me, are you?
Alina	Of course not. How could I?
Talulah	Mn, well... I feel they're all brave, too. All the people struggling against the fate that's been forced on us.
Alina	Then I'm sure you feel— Hm.
Talulah	Feel what?
Alina	That our fates are just rotten.
Talulah	Well, obviously.
Alina	I don't feel that way, Talulah.
Talulah	...That's another of your ironic remarks, Alina.
Alina	No... what I mean is, the fact I can sit here, talking with you, knowing we have our guards outside the village protecting us—fate has already been very kind to me.
Talulah	Don't say that. Fate's a jealous one. Talking about those things is just tempting it to take them away.
Alina	But I don't believe in fate, Talulah.
Talulah	Because you can change it?
Alina	Because I can't see it.
Alina	Talulah, what you can see, what you can touch, those are things you can rely on. I can see the cloak I'm holding in my left hand. I can see the candlelight, and I can see the needle I'm holding in my right. I can see the Infected children's smiles, and I can see the white smoke of vegetables, roasting fragrantly, wafting through the air. I can see the snow melting, and I can see the two moons dancing spry in the clear night sky. And then there's people who can't see even these. Talulah, if there came a day when we all left you, would you still be able to fight on?
Talulah	What do you mean?
Alina	It could always happen. If that time came, would you still feel it was worth it to stand against fate? Would you possibly think, this is just too much? I just can't do anything anymore?
Talulah	If Patriot's taught me anything, then one lesson comes to mind, from long ago at that. I wouldn't bow my head. It sneers at me, and I'll be certain to burn it to ash.
Alina	You're a blockhead, Talulah. That, or you're getting old.
Talulah	Hey!
Alina	Only old people get to say that stuff without coming off as naive. Because if someone's gotten old as old gets and still keeps that outlook all the way, it just means they've gone through far, far too much, to the point the world's left its bitter vestiges on their body, allows them no rest in passing the remainder of their life. ...And they're living in the desert of the past. If it were me, I wouldn't even have the courage to take the first step. If I were that old and had that much arrogance, I'd be taking the events of the past and stabbing myself with them, every single step I took. I can't even imagine it. Stuck in the sands of memory, of all the past, how does a person even know they're still moving forwards? And what kind of resilient spirit does it take to let them make a new first step, unlike any they've made before?
Talulah	I feel like you've been hinting at someone this entire time.
Alina	I've said I know a lot of what he's done, but I still truthfully don't know Mr. Patriot at all. I've never spoken a single word to him. If you say that's him, well, why not. Let it be him. If Mr. Patriot...
Talulah	You're fast to substitute.
Alina	Ahem. Unlike all the old, aged warriors, young people can much more easily forget things, give up on things, forgive themselves.
Talulah	So you feel like I'm only fighting for all the things I can see? Or, maybe, you're telling me that might not be right?
Alina	Compared to the things you'd told me back when we left the village, it's just too shallow. In just these few short years, you've already become an outstanding leader. But it's not entirely a good thing for you. You can't let yourself stop here, can you? "If righteousness can only be upheld by greater and greater violence, can it even be called righteous, still? " Those words have rolled around in my head for years and years, now. For so many years, I've been constantly thinking it over. I probably haven't gotten it straight yet, but I've been thinking it over and over.
Talulah	Alright, then. Let's throw fate and making stands and all those other words we were talking about out the window. What is it you want to teach us today, Professor Alina?
Alina	Hey. Are you that flippant with FrostNova, too?
Talulah	Don't joke about that. FrostNova'd freeze both our mouths shut.
Alina	Taking you for example, Talulah, you wouldn't fight just to defeat what enemies you see, right? The Patrol Unit, the mine overseers, the drafted soldiers following our trail, the Ursus Minister of Medicine... if you defeated all of these, would we be victorious? Since all of these are awful things, and so we need to defeat them?
Talulah	Professor Alina wants me to do battle with things I can't see. How would I defeat them, then?
Alina	With things you can promise. Warmth, food, bedding, these are all things you'll be able to touch on some day or other. Think things unlike those. This battle of ours probably won't bear results. It's likely we have no way to win.
Talulah	I'm already not that fond of making promises. Things too far away are near as good as me playing tricks. If we can never win, then should we still fight?
Alina	Haven't I asked you before? When that time comes, would you still feel this fate is worth you making a stand against it? Once this is all over, you won't even be able to so much as see your enemies. You'll share those enemies with all those people who can't see a future. ...And then, that's when the true battle's really just begun.
Talulah	—— You mention that spirit, those enemies, and those things that carve into ours and the Ursus people's bones. —The Emperor?
Alina	The Emperor's just one form of it. As long as people won't lay down their blades, this conflict will never end.
Talulah	I don't quite agree. People taking up their blades to fend off what causes them strife is the just thing to do.
Alina	You're not wrong. Honestly, this conflict is the sort that'll never end, in my eyes. Thanks to Mr. Patriot's blessing, I've read no small amount of Leithanien and Victoria's books. I very much liked what this one person said... "Our war is a war against the ego. " It's true, Talulah. As you'll never lay down the swords in your grips—
Talulah	...So you'll never lay down the needle in your grasp.
<Background 4>
Alina	And that wraps up our lesson today! There's almost nothing left I can really teach you. The children should be studying right now. There's some knowledge they should have by tomorrow. Talulah... Kashchey wanted you to be a sage, but people all make mistakes. When you fall over, you climb back up. But if he won't let you fall over... Then all you can do is be a little careful about things. Same as when you're confronting Patriot. In all honesty, I don't see him and you as two different kinds of people. You both already believe too strongly in your own ways. I can't let those any of those lively little creatures go around saying things like you're right, and he's wrong.
Talulah	No, Alina. I can't go and do something I don't even believe in myself.
Alina	That's true. It's another one of the tricks with which Kashchey bound you, exploited you.
Talulah	You're just saying there's no way I can wipe him out, right?
Alina	It's a sort of idea, after all. We probably don't have much chance of wiping out an idea... But I'm still just that bit confident.
Talulah	Confident in what?
Alina	If we're still by your side when that time comes, we'll definitely be able to pull you back. It doesn't matter what kind of Arts Kashchey had, we'll definitely have a way of breaking them down. There's always something we can do. In this battle, we'll start from words and language, start from the next moment, start from a facial expression. We'll start from now. They'll know what mushrooms are safe to eat, how to raise livestock, how to get better a little sooner if you catch a cold. We'll try and try not to lose.
Talulah	*chuckle*.
Alina	And I believe in you. You will have the chance to talk Patriot over.
Talulah	I'll just force myself to take that as encouragement.
Alina	Mm, I'm done sewing. You can give it to her. I can tell she really cherishes this cloak. It looks like one the army made. And it's three layers inside, three layers outside. It makes it seem really big.
Talulah	It probably is an army cloak. That, or it's...
Alina	Ah.
Talulah	......
Alina	...Out of all the reasons Mr. Patriot keeps fighting, we just might have found one of them.
Talulah	Thank you, Alina. ...Wait!
Alina	What is it? I'm about to prepare tomorrow's lesson. It's a drawing lesson, so they're all looking forward to it.
Talulah	I'll bring back two brushes for you, next time. I mean, what I want to say... what I want to ask is, do you really... not want to get to know FrostNova and the others? The fighters all know we have a good few Infected teachers, it's just that you've been keeping yourself tucked away, all...
Alina	Not right now, Talulah. Once that Infected common ideal of yours becomes reality, we'll naturally come to know each other then. And besides, we're all fighters, just on different battlefields. We'll know all about each other sooner or later, won't we?
Talulah	You're right, Alina. Infected Fighter, Alina.