Pilgrimage of Compassion

Year: 985 - 02

Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3 - Episode 4 - Episode 5 - Episode 6 - Episode 7 - Episode 8 - Episode 9 - Episode 10 - Episode 11 - Episode 12 - Episode 13 - Episode 14 - Episode 15 - Episode 16 - Episode 17 - Episode 18 - Episode 19

Episode: 1
Location: ???
Dante	<I was... >
Dante	<Exploring a Lobotomy Corporation branch when…>
My consciousness sinks into the depths.
The sense of cognition, itself a concept without form, floats into the shadow of an ever-widening river, swept up in its currents to nowhere.
Dante	<... when we ran into an Abnormality.>
Dante	<But... but Saude told us that Hongyuan's Lobotomy Corp. branch...>
Dante	<... should be free of any... Abnormalities... >
The Abnormality, which had appeared out of nowhere, was more otherworldly than any we'd encountered so far in our journey, and...
... deep blue.
It was fathomlessly blue, and seemed to have a pull that endlessly drew us into itself.
Just as I was about to recall this Abnormality...
Dante	<…!>
... a myriad of sceneries and a flood of incalculable thoughts crash into my mind like wild waves before ebbing away from its shores.
I was already lost and adrift somewhere within my own consciousness when I realized this.
Dante	<Just how long am I going to be adrift...?>
The sensation of my own consciousness floating away is quite the unfamiliar one.
I floated about in that strange state for a while...
???	... te?
An unfamiliar voice seizes my aimlessly drifting consciousness.
???	Are you… Dante?
Dante	<…?>
The fog of my vision clears as the voice breaks through the waves...
... and a concerned expression comes into view.
Dante	<Yes… I am.>
???	Ah...! What a relief...
???	Gregor! I think Dante has come to!
Dante	<So who are—>
<I was about to ask further questions to this stranger with particularly long, animal-like ears, but...
Dante	<Agh... nngh...>
... I felt the drowsiness coursing back with the terrifying memories of the dream, rendering me unable to speak.
I... I have to get a hold of myself...
After an indeterminate amount of time had passed...
Location: A Certain Coast
I barely managed to wake myself from slumber to get a grasp of my surroundings, only to find myself surrounded by more unfamiliarities.
There was that stranger from earlier, sitting atop a rock and silently taking in the sights... A young girl who probably saved my life.
Wait, so... were those animal ears, after all?
... Okay, that's not important right now. I have to prioritize figuring out just where in the world I ended up in.
Dante	<... So where...?>
Location: Iberian Coastline
???	We’re standing by the Iberian coastline. How are you feeling?
Dante	<A little out of it, but I'm okay otherwise. Iberia, huh?>
???	Yes. We're in Iberia.
Well, given that we're next to an ocean... maybe I drifted all the way to U Corp's Great Lake?
Iberia was an unfamiliar name, but... that was all I had to go on, given that the City was still full of more unknowns than knowns to me.
???	I radioed your colleagues when you briefly woke up earlier. They'll be here any minute.
Dante	<I see… >
Dante	<…….>
Dante	<Wait, my colleagues?! You must’ve run into the Sinners, then?>
The fog of my mind immediately cleared as soon as I realized that the Sinners were all nowhere to be seen.
???	Sinners…?
???	... I think so. I ran into them earlier—they were looking all over the place for someone with a clock for their head.
???	It was a pretty unique description, so... I could tell right away that you were the person they were looking for.
Dante	<So this clock head does come in handy…>
Gregor	Guhh, huhh, gasp... ah! Manager Bud!
Hong Lu	Dante~!
I’d woken up in an unfamiliar place to an unfamiliar face—and in the midst of this all-around sense of displacement, the faces that appeared before me were certainly a sight for sore eyes.
Dante	<Gregor! Hong Lu!>
Gregor	Miss rabbit here told me she found you unconscious by the ocean, and, phew... I came as fast as I could, and I, oh boy... I was worried that something bad might've happened... Glad to see you're doing fine.
Hong Lu	Were you lost at sea?
Dante	<I... don't know...>
Dante	<Well, I do think I'm fine, though. I guess not having any way to drink water's finally come in handy.>
Gregor	You should go get that checked out just in case. Wait, your head's... waterproof, right?
Gregor takes a moment to steady his breathing, then mutters a casual quip as he lights a cigarette.
Well, he doesn't seem that concerned... maybe we're not actually in that much danger...
Dante	<So... what happened? Where are we...?>
Hong Lu	Do you remember entering that Lobotomy Corp. branch Xichun told us about?
Dante	<Ah... yeah.>
Dante	<Yeah, we ran into a new Abnormality, and...>
Hong Lu	And got sucked into it before we even had the chance to do anything.
Gregor	Puff... Man, I really thought that was it for us. Especially with you getting sucked in there too, Manager Bud.
Gregor	But when we came to, despite waking up with our faces down in some ditch, we were all fine without a scratch. Though there was quite the mess when we realized that you'd gone missing.
Dante	<…….>
Hong Lu	We wanted to search for you immediately, but... it took a while before we got a better bearing of where we were.
Dante	<Uh... so we're not at U Corp.'s Great Lake?>
Hong Lu	Hm... some of us considered that to be a distinct possibility, but it's unlikely. Ishmael was really certain that we were not in District 21.
Gregor	She did concede that we might be in an unknown area within the Great Lake of the Outskirts, but... that doesn't seem likely either, given what the rabbit-eared lady there said.
???	The Outskirts region of the Great Lake… I’ve met all kinds of people from all over Terra, but I’ve never met anyone who referred to the Iberian sea that way.
Dante	<Terra? Iberia?>
As I found myself puzzled by these unfamiliar terms, a very obvious question suddenly struck me.
Dante	<S-speaking of which, who are you?>
Gregor	Huh? Really? You fellas haven’t introduced yourselves to each other yet?
Dante	<It's just that—It's all just a lot to take in...>
Hong Lu	Fuhu, it's understandable. You did just wake up from a pretty harrowing experience. She is—ah, actually... would you like to do the honors yourself?
Amiya	I’m Amiya, the leader of Rhodes Island. Please, just call me Amiya.
Dante	<I’m Dante, Manager at Limbus Company. I know I'm late, but... thanks for saving my bacon.>
Gregor	It seems that this Rodeo Island is a pretty big corporation. But...
Gregor trails off ominously and scratches his head before continuing with some mild trepidation.
Gregor	... This young lady with the rabbit-ears doesn't know what the Head is, at all.
Amiya	As far as I know, there aren't any organizations in Terra with the same characteristics as the one Mister Gregor explained... at least not with a name like "The Head".
Amiya	Also... Sorry, it's... "Rhodes" Island, not "Rodeo".
Dante	<Sorry, Gregor's kind of bad with names.>
Dante	<So... what you're saying is that we're not in the City anymore?>
Hong Lu	It'd be weird for any higher-up at these huge corporations to know less about the Head than we do, let alone be completely clueless about it.
Gregor	Well, maybe we've tumbled into a previously-undiscovered zone of the Outskirts or the Ruins. Probably.
Hong Lu	Or... maybe we've really found ourselves in a completely different world.
Dante	<…….>
If their conjecture is correct, we're in way bigger trouble than I thought…
This wasn't like the time we accidentally stranded ourselves in the Outskirts via a door in the corridor.
Amiya stared at me with some concern as though she felt my distress.
Amiya	I think I can draw a connection to something else that’s happening here.
Dante	<Rea-really!?>
Amiya	Yes. Recently, anomalous signs and events have been occurring in Iberia, ever since a mysterious dimensional door appeared at sea.
Amiya	And it's been said that this dimensional door is connected to something very, very distant, to something that we’ve never observed before. So…
Dante	<Seems reasonable to theorize that the dimensional door is how we managed to cross over to this world.>
I really would've appreciated Faust's input...
... Where’d all the other Sinners go, anyway?
Gregor	A bit late on the uptake to be gawking around for the other Sinners now, don't you think?
Hong Lu	They're at a settlement near here, where they're all helping out with various odds and ends of the village. While taking turns searching for Dante, of course~
Gregor	You know, I never thought about how difficult it would be to search for someone when we're like fish out of water, too. Man... barely got even a wink of sleep since yesterday.
Dante	<Everyone's got to be really tired, then... So, it's just you two out here for now?>
Gregor	No, Ishmael and Yi Sang are the other half of the search party, and we just happened to be the last group in the rotation. They must be searching elsewhere to find you, Manager Bud.
Hong Lu	Fuhu... We got the news early thanks to Amiya's comms gear, but the other team didn't.
Gregor	Yeah, we got lucky. The other team, well... we don't have any way to get in touch with them, so they'll probably continue their search until their shift is done.
Amiya	Oh, are we talking about that village you mentioned earlier?
Gregor	Uh-huh. Right, you've not been there yet, huh? I guess it's a bit off the beaten path.
Dante	<Well, we're going to have to rendezvous with the other Sinners anyway, so... let's head to the village for now.>
Amiya	…….
Something seemed to pique Amiya's interest, as she fell into a contemplative silence… before carefully speaking up.
Amiya	I would like to accompany you there.
Gregor	Sure, I don’t see why not. You helped us find Manager Bud, and… more importantly, you seem to know a lot more about this place than we do.
Amiya	Ha ha… I don’t actually know Iberia that well either, but I should be able to be of some help.
Amiya	They’ve closed their borders and have practically locked out any foreign influences from affecting them, but... I did get a briefing before the mission.
Gregor	Closed borders, huh... Then how did you get in, Miss Amiya?
Amiya	We followed Dr. Kal’tsit’s directions and illegally crossed the country border—
Dante	<I-illegally!?>
Hong Lu	Oh? Does that mean you crossed the border without obtaining any permission, Amiya?
Amiya	We had to cross the border somehow in order to investigate how and why the dimensional door came to be.
Dante	<Huh, is it normal for pharmaceutical companies to be doing that?>
Gregor	Large pharmaceutical companies often dispatch their agents for missions.
Amiya	Yes. Rhodes Island is, in its essence, a pharmaceutical company researching treatments for people infected with Oripathy—but we also work to prevent and assist in the management of various situations that can occur in high-risk areas.
Dante	<High-risk areas, huh…>
Gregor	Hm? Wait, what about your companions? I doubt you came all the way here on your own.
Amiya	That’s, uh… we were forced to split up due to certain forces that were in pursuit— Wait, stop!
Amiya’s ears twitched as she came to a stop and began scanning the surrounding area.
Then...
Amiya	... There!
As we stood about confused, Amiya, noticing something, pointed toward the seashore hidden behind large and cragged rock formations.
Dante	<What are we supposed to... Huh?>
There, we saw someone wielding a lengthy greatsword...
... bickering with two familiar faces.
???	Again, move. You’re in the way.
Yi Sang	You needn't worry as you do.
Yi Sang	We have had ample experience battling monsters who are much like them...
???	…….
???	Listen, I’m not worried. It’s…
Ishmael	C’mon, better to have three fighters than one, right?
Ishmael	Besides, you’re the first person we ran into out here, so… we’ve got a lot of questions to ask.
Dante	<Yi Sang! Ishmael!>
Yi Sang	Dante...! You are unharmed.
Ishmael	And here I was, getting ready for a three-days-long search...
Ishmael	What a relief... We were all really worried that we might never be able to find you.
Hong Lu	Fuhu, we managed to find them thanks to help from Miss Amiya here.
???	Amiya?
Yi Sang	Hm? Are you two acquainted?
???	... Not a good time for a reunion. It can wait... until after we take out the sea monsters.
Amiya	Skadi, are those organisms… the ‘Seaborns’ Dr. Kal'tsit mentioned?
Skadi	They're 'Sea Terrors', to be specific. The less sophisticated ones among them.
Skadi	And they’re probably here for me.
Dante	<Sea Terrors?>
I hear the sticky noise of something viscous slithering against the rocks.
Dante	<…….>
When I turn to face the origin of the unsettling noise, I smell the heavy, wet scent of brine.
At the end of my gaze awaits... strange monsters, unlike Distortions, unlike Abnormalities, unlike anything I'd ever seen.
It is as though the sea... the sea itself is encroaching on the land...
Ishmael	I was almost certain we weren't at the Great Lake, but... I'm not so sure anymore.
Her experiences with the thick scent of brine at the Great Lake must've put her in a wary mood,
as Ishmael seemed to be a lot more apprehensive about these monsters than anyone else.
Dante	<Do you think those creatures could be Whales or... Mermaids?>
Ishmael	I don't know. The Great Lake and the Outskirts are full of unexplored mysteries, after all.
Yi Sang	Hm... Dante, what do your senses say?
Dante	<It's unclear. I'd say the closest comparison I could make is with the Whales, but... even that's not conclusive.>
Gregor	Huh...
Amiya	More enemies on the horizon! We should prepare for battle…!
Dante	<Doesn’t seem like we can talk things out with them, though.>
Dante	<So… let’s take them out!>

Episode: 2
Location: Iberian Coastline
Amiya	All remaining enemies have retreated to the sea. Good work, everyone.
Ishmael	Phew… didn’t think I’d have to deal with anything remotely like this outside the Great Lake.
Gregor	You can say that again. It would’ve taken us the whole day if that Skadi character didn’t occupy the other half while Miss rabbit helped us from a distance.
As we were catching our breath after the battle…
... I heard a brief hum. When I turned to look at its source, I saw Skadi glaring at me with palpable alarm.
Skadi	… Strange people… who transform.
Skadi	And a head of clock?
Gregor	… I guess they’re both technically true.
Amiya	While it’s nothing more than a theory at this point… I think they have a lot to do with the dimensional door we’re supposed to be investigating.
Dante	<N-nice to meet you, I guess?>
Skadi	… I only hear a ticking clock.
Hong Lu	Ooh~ That’s because only us Sinners can hear Dante’s voice—
Hong Lu	Huh?
Gregor	Mm? What's up?
Hong Lu	Ah, no, I’m just wondering how Miss Amiya can seemingly understand Dante.
Ishmael	Uh... yeah. What’s going on here?
Dante	<Huh... Yeah, it completely flew over my head that I didn't even question how weird this is.>
Amiya	Their voice sounds like a ticking clock to me, too. But… I don’t know, it’s almost like I can sense what they’re trying to say, what kind of emotion they’re trying to convey…
Her explanation reminded me of the blue boy in Sinclair’s past, but… I didn’t quite feel the uncanny sensation from Amiya that I felt from them.
So she can read me kinda like how... Vergilius can, I guess?
Dante	<Well… I don’t think it’s a bad thing.>
Ishmael	That’s true. It's been a bit of a hassle to always need Faust or Hong Lu to translate for you, Dante.
Ishmael	I'd like to know exactly how she can understand Dante, but... I don't think we've got the luxury of time to sit down and figure this out.
Ishmael	So, are we heading back?
Gregor	Sounds like a plan. It’s not like we know anywhere else to go, right? Oh, and Miss rabbit here’ll be tagging along, too.
Dante	<She said she’d help us find our way back.>
Amiya	I’m glad to be working with you two also, Miss Ishmael. Mister Hong Lu.
Ishmael	Took the words right out of my mouth. You've already helped us plenty, and you clearly know a lot more about this place than we do.
Yi Sang	Mm, the journey is long—perhaps embarking on it ere the sun's fall would be wise.
Skadi	How long's the journey?
Gregor	No idea, it’s not like we have a clock with us… I do know that it’s not very far, though. We just need to walk along the coastline for a bit.
Skadi	…….
... Skadi quietly points in my direction.
Hong Lu	Oh, Dante can’t tell us the time because they’re not on time~
Skadi	… Then why the clock head?
Dante	<I didn't exactly choose to get myself a clock-shaped head...>
I looked away from Skadi’s inquisitive eyes, which were quite solidly fixed on my head.
Skadi	The coasts of Iberia are… hardly good places for people to live.
Skadi	Those things can go anywhere in this world, but… they thrive at places that meet the ocean.
Skadi	So how did people manage to build a village... at a place like this?
Yi Sang	The monsters are called Seaborns... or Sea Terrors, yes? While it is true that they posed certain difficulties, they were hardly the kind of monsters with the strength to bring scourge and drive out the local populace...
Skadi	Don't judge them based on that brief skirmish.
Gregor	She’s just telling us to be on our guard… right?
Amiya	... Skadi can be a bit curt, but she’s not a bad person.
Ishmael	I don’t think she said anything wrong. Nothing rules out the existence of stronger variants of these creatures being out there.
Skadi	…….
Skadi’s concern only served to fan my curiosity, but…
… something about her expression communicated that I probably shouldn’t pry, so I quietly quickened my pace as we walked to the village.

Episode: 3
Location: Iberian Village?
Dante	<This hardly looks like a village… It’s more like the ruins of one, isn’t it?>
Amiya	It doesn’t seem like they’ve done any proper upkeep to the place… not in a while, at least.
Skadi	... They're really here, living together.
The strange buildings tell the stories of former prosperity from a bygone era.
Location: Faro Muerto, Entrance
Our steps leave no footprints on the wet, muddy ground; on it, I see a rotting sign marked with the name <i>Faro Muerto</i>.
Everywhere I look in this village, I see evidence of long, silent abandonment.
Ishmael	We don’t see these kinds of abandoned-looking ruins often in the City, either.
Gregor	Well, yeah. There's always someone or something out there waiting to capitalize on that free real estate, be it a Syndicate or a corporation, and fix it up. Better than this, at least.
Dante	<So, where are the Sinners?>
Hong Lu	Ahh~ There’s a clearing down there, where—
???	We were entrapped betwixt a twain of great ships, narrowing, winds against our sail...!
Townsfolk	Ooooh...!
???	And that is when young Ishmael boomed, her command most resonant!
Dante	<... Say no more.>
I didn't even have to try to search for them. That unmistakably sonorous and familiar voice, echoing triumphantly between the empty buildings...
Location: Faro Muerto, Clearing
That's Don Quixote's voice when she's sharing her adventurous tales.
There she was, standing atop a low podium like an actor on stage, regaling a group of people in rags with tales of our adventures like a traveling thespian.
Don Quixote	ANSWERS, YE DOGS!! OARSMEN!!! ‘Tis the moment I, Ishmael, the first mate of vessel Mephistopheles, shall navi—aaaugh!
Ishmael	Stop! Hold—hold on! Just what do you think you’re doing!?
Don Quixote	Mmphh! Young Ishmael! Unhand my mouth, for I was just about to regale them with the most fantastic tale of adventures at the Great La—gasp! Manager Esquire!!
Don Quixote	Verily, thou hast return’d with Manager Esquire safely in tow!
Heathcliff	Wha!? They found Clockhead?
Villager	A burning c-clock for a head…?!
Villager	When I was a child, I heard a story about a legendary Sarkaz with a flaming head...
Villager	Why would someone like that visit our humble village...?
Meursault	Mm. While their exterior may carry elements that inspire fear in some, there is no cause for alarm.
Sinclair	Y-yeah. They might look like that, but they’re Dante, our manager. And the rest are…
Skadi	…….
Amiya	Oh, hello.
Sinclair	I-I’m sorry, who are you two!?
Hong Lu	They're two very nice people who helped us find Dante. This is Miss Amiya, leader of Rhodes Island,
Hong Lu	and this is Miss Skadi, their Operator. They’ll be coming along with us for a little while~
Heathcliff	Eh? With us?
Amiya	We believe that the dimensional door, which we at Rhodes Island are investigating, has something to do with why you suddenly woke up here in Iberia…
As Amiya was bringing the Sinners up to speed...
Villager	Ahh...
... the villagers, who were staring at us curiously, approached us.
Did our conversation manage to convince them that we’re not a threat? I sure hope so.
Villager	Ah… you are friends of our saviors.
Skadi	Saviors?
Don Quixote	Verily, ‘tis quite the grand title; yet that is indeed the word by which we addressed!
Meursault	To be more precise, by ‘saviors’, they are referring only to Faust and Outis.
Faust gave me a light nod when we made eye contact, but… I could tell that her lips were drawing a very, very subtle smiling arc.
Dante	<So… I’m guessing something did happen.>
Yi Sang	They were quite mistrustful upon our initial arrival.
Location: Faro Muerto, Yesterday
???	What business do outsiders have here?
Villager	W-what if they’re from the Inquisition?
Villager	Oh, oh no, what do we do? After all we went through to get here…
???	Calm yourselves, everyone. None of them are carrying what appears to be their scriptures or lamps... let's first try to see who they are.
Gregor	Man, I don’t think they’re gonna trust us anytime soon.
Ryoshu	They're all old curmudgeons. Let's S.T.N.C. Then P.T.S.D.
Sinclair	You can’t do that, Ryōshū! We can’t pillage their storage depots… it looks like they already have it hard enough as it is…
Hong Lu	I don’t think S.T.N.C is a good way to get started, either.
Rodion	Should we just find help elsewhere? Just look at how thin their arms are.
Rodion	I don’t think they’re in any shape to help us out.
Yi Sang	Perhaps we could inquire as to our whereabouts ere we are to decide our lodging.
Yi Sang	While the landscape is certainly reminiscent of U Corp.’s…
Ishmael	But I don’t recall seeing or learning about any place that looks like this, though I can’t say I’ve been to every corner of U Corp.
???	I ask again. What business do outsiders have here?
Meursault	Their fingers are tightening around the grips of their weapons. Prolonged silence will most likely turn this into a hostile encounter.
Sinclair	We can’t have that! H-hi, we’re from Limbus Company. We’re—
Don Quixote	FIXERS OF JUSTICE!!!
Heathcliff	Yeah, that. Fixers of Ju— Oi, don’t you know when to keep it down?!
???	Fixers…?
Outis	…….
Outis	That over there—it's a ship blueprint, isn't it? Are you looking to repair a vessel, by any chance? All these construction materials seem to suggest so.
Villager	Chief...!
Village Chief	… This does not concern you. It’s not something a mere outsider can understand—
Outis	Curious, I've never seen an energy source like this before. Have you run the tests to rule out any stability issues?
Yi Sang	It seems to power the heat exchanger via some method comparable to the utilization of fusion energy. Have you any thoughts on this, Miss Faust?
Faust	The general design structure is somewhat old-fashioned, but there certainly are inspired parts to this design, particularly with the usage of the core energy source. While its stability would need to be further studied... this technology seems to be incredibly energy-efficient.
Village Chief	…!
Village Chief	Y-you identified all that merely by glancing at this blueprint?
Outis	… You must be the village chief, then?
Outis	If so, I have a proposition for you.
Location: Faro Muerto Clearing
Yi Sang	In return for assisting in their ship repair, we were promised a ride on their vessel. Miss Faust has theorized that perhaps, by going out to sea, we may be able to find a way to return to whence we came.
Dante	<...! Does that mean we can find a way back somewhere out there in the sea?>
Faust	Nothing is certain yet, Dante.
Faust	At this moment, we are working based on... a hunch.
Dante	<A hunch?>
Sensing the implicit omen in her choice of words, I slowly turned around to look at Faust... who nodded solemnly in response.
... If we're really in a different world, even her Gesellschaft has to be...
Faust	... No issues were encountered in the repair process.
Faust smiles faintly as she looks around, then she pulls me in by my hems. She whispers in a low voice.
Faust	My connection to Gesellschaft is currently operating at a suboptimal level, Dante.
Dante	<So, it's still... connected, at least?>
Faust	Indeed, it is. However, even exchanges of simple information are taking up to dozens of hours by current calculation.
Dante	<Is this a WARP train situation? Because we're in a different dimension?>
Faust	The cause should be identical. We have been connected to an unidentified, unpredictable dimension.
Faust	However, Faust is aware that the pathway to our original dimension is yet to close this time, unlike the situation back aboard the WARP train.
Dante	<So, to get back to where we came from…>
Faust	Indeed. Traveling through the ‘pathway’ is the most feasible solution.
Dante	<And from that, you came up with the whole plan to repair the ship and sail out to the sea?>
Faust	Yes, well. I am also a genius, after all.
Dante	<Amiya conjectured that we probably came through a dimensional door of sorts… Looks like that dimensional door might be what Faust is looking for.>
Faust	With high likelihood, yes.
... At least there’s a way back. I find myself calming down a little.
Dante	<Oh! Speaking of which, when do you think you can wrap up the repair job?>
Outis	As fortune should have it, a majority of the most time-consuming parts of the repair have already been completed by the locals.
Outis	It shouldn’t take us more than a day or two to get its core parts shipshape again, Executive Manager.
Dante	<We’ll be staying here a few more days, then… How did you manage last night?>
Gregor	Well... like I said earlier, we've been keeping ourselves busy looking for you this whole time. We took turns helping with the repairs and resting, but... I doubt any of us got a proper night's rest.
Sinclair	Still... we weren't cold, thanks to the villagers who kept the fire going for us all night.
Rodion	Not to mention how they helped us a ton with that local map they drew us. Oh, also—chief handed us this earlier, what's it for?
Ishmael	Ah... looks like a sack to collect water. Give it here, I know how to get that installed.
Yi Sang	It must be to repay Miss Faust and Miss Outis's efforts at repairing their ship, yet... the service they provide us is certainly quite generous, even when taking the transactional nature into account.
Dante	<They're really giving us the best treatment they can, huh...>
Sinclair	As for food, we managed to fill ourselves with some cookies and bread Rodya keeps in her pockets. Didn’t want to eat into their food supply when they’re already pretty tight, you know…?
... She carries enough cookies and bread for twelve people?
Heathcliff	They did offer us some nosh, those dried fish-things, but... we refused. I ain't about takin' food from the needy.
Skadi	…….
Village Chief	No need to concern yourselves so much with our hospitality.
Village Chief	You have done more than enough to earn your keep.
I turned around to look at the source of that low, rumbling voice, and saw an old man in an outfit that seemed to distinguish itself amongst the other villagers.
Outis	There you are, chief. Is there a place for us to stay the night?
Village Chief	Mm… we do have places to shelter from the misty humidity, at the very least.
Village Chief	There is an empty building there, so feel free to occupy it for the night.
Gregor	Ooh… are you sure? I mean, I don’t mind sleeping in the streets myself.
Rodion	Hey, speak for yourself! I’ve been looking forward to sleeping with a roof over my head since like, yesterday.
Outis	You’ll catch cold sleeping in the elements in this environment. Which is fine by me for the rest of you, but we cannot afford to have the Executive Manager or our honored guests suffer that fate.
Amiya	H-honored guests!?
Outis	Heh. I heard what happened from the four who left in search of the Executive Manager.
Outis	First, I would like to begin by imparting my infinite gratitude to you for finding and rescuing the Executive Manager.
Outis	I hear that you are a leader at a pharmaceutical company—this acquaintance shall certainly come in handy, in case our stay becomes significantly prolonged, ha ha!
Ishmael	I'm just surprised by her boldness to say something so materialistic when they're standing right there...
Amiya	…….
Amiya	Can I stay in your village too, chief?
The village chief took a brief glance at the hems by her right wrist, then nodded.
Village Chief	... Welcome to Faro Muerto. You are welcome to stay for as long as you want.
Village Chief	And please, do let me know if you find yourselves without food. Our food supply may be tight indeed, but we have enough to share with those who helped repair the vessel.
Rodion	Ooh... ya better not go back on your word later! Heh heh... I wonder what kind of local delicacies await... Dried fish like they were eating earlier, maybe?
Skadi	Hey, chief.
Village Chief	What is it?
Skadi	Just how are you surviving out here, <i>by the sea</i>?
Village Chief	Mm… perhaps the question of 'how' we are surviving may be somewhat misdirected.
Village Chief	For we are only pursuing every possible avenue 'because' we must survive.
Skadi	…….
The chief responds to Skadi's perceived hostility with a hearty smile. After leaving some firewood for the night, he left.
Skadi	I’m going. Can’t learn much more from here.
Gregor	Huh? You going somewhere at this hour?
Skadi	…….
Dante	<Skadi, does this have something to do with the coast…?>
Dante	<I remember what you said before we got to the village. Something about how coasts are hardly good places to live in.>
Amiya	Dante wants to know if… this has something to do with the coast?
Skadi	… You.
Skadi	Do you understand the Ægir language?
Dante	<Ægir language…? Uh… no…?>
Amiya	Dante. Skadi just spoke in Ægirian.
Amiya	I couldn’t understand a word of Skadi and the chief's conversation because I don’t speak Ægirian.
Faust	... It may only be that there were enough lexical similarity between one of the City's languages and the language Skadi spoke in for them to comprehend the meaning.
Skadi	… Weird coincidence.
Skadi	Anyway, I have some things to look into. Something you’re all too slow to see.
Amiya	... You still have to tell us about it later.
Amiya	Please remember you’re not on a solo mission, Skadi. This is a team effort from Rhodes Island.
Skadi	… Will do.
Skadi nodded lightly before leaping off into the night, out of our sights.
Dante	<I’m kinda worried…>
Amiya	She’s not the best with people, but… she’s also pretty thoughtful. She’ll be okay.
Amiya	Ah! Should we head inside? The sun's starting to set already.
Dante	<O-oh, yeah. We can probably just pick an unlit building and stay the night there, right?>
Trying our best to ignore the mood that was starting to turn awkward, we made our way into a nearby unoccupied building.

Episode: 4
Location: Faro Muerto, Unoccupied Building
We walked past a few narrow buildings and remnants of narrow buildings before we came across a hall large enough to house all fifteen or so of us.
Amiya	Okay... now we're ready. With the curtains on the window removed, the smoke has an exit.
Rodion	Woah! I thought we were doomed to shudder ourselves to sleep with the soaking wet firewood and all... I had no idea that'd work.
Amiya	We just have to get a small fire going underneath it until the wood dries up and catches fire. The downside being all this smoke...
Outis	It's clear that she has some field experience. Unlike some... fools I know.
Don Quixote	I shan't sit here and let her carry the burden of labor alone! Bequeath upon me thine ingredients, young Rodion! For I shall conjure thee a pot of special Fixer Soup!
Amiya	You’re… making soup with cookies and jelly…?
Sinclair	Noooo! No! No! You are not getting anywhere near the kitchen again, not after what you cooked up last time!
Yi Sang	While I must admit to a certain level of interest...
Yi Sang	... as many of our fellows' viscera are oft wracked with intense agony upon ingesting dishes of your making, perhaps it would be wiser that we save the occasion for a safer environment...
Rodion	R-right~ Don'tcha remember? We agreed to leave cooking to Meur or Outi if we're ever in a situation like this, remember?
Dante	<Did we?>
Gregor	See, I think it's become sort of an unspoken rule after... everything that happened.
Gregor	Remember? Back during last year's cooking contest at K Corp., they were the only two people who managed to get remotely positive reviews.
Sinclair	Ooh... Does that mean we’ll get to try Outis’s cooking once agai—
Outis	Denied. We still have plenty of high-calorie foods like cookies and jellies here; I find no reason to do something so inefficient.
Amiya	I’m glad to see that everyone’s still energetic, given the circumstances. It can’t be easy to suddenly wake up in an unfamiliar environment.
Dante	<Well, we’re all quite used to getting thrown into unfamiliar places.>
Dante	<Speaking of which, did you manage to reach your colleagues, Amiya?>
She shook her head, concerned.
Amiya	They might’ve lost their comms devices... or maybe they ran into some other trouble...
Dante	<Could they be in danger?>
Amiya	I don’t know, but… I’m sure they’re okay. The Doctor… Dr. Kal’tsit… they’re both more than capable enough to look after themselves.
Yi Sang	Mm... long have this curiosity lingered within me; thus, allow me to inquire.
Yi Sang	Corporations are, by their nature, organizations in pursuit of profit.
Yi Sang	Yet, the activities of your 'corporation' resemble those of charity organizations, as opposed to a pharmaceutical company. Is there aught that might explicate this blurred distinction?
Hong Lu	Aha! I wanted to know, too.
Hong Lu	How come a pharmaceutical company like Rhodes Island's helping people?
Something about what Hong Lu said brings back unpleasant memories.
The horrible experiments seen through the cascade of flowing tears in the face of suffering, the embodiment of greed that left a terrible wound in Hong Lu's fathoms.
The pharmaceutical companies I’ve seen in my journey were corporations that, despite possessing the capacity to heal, chose to obsess over the profit it can provide.
Amiya	There are many in Terra... who are suffering from a disease.
Amiya	The disease crystallizes you; it spreads deeper and deeper into the Infected's internal organs, eventually culminating in their death.
Amiya	It’s called Oripathy.
Amiya showed me the back of her right hand, dotted by what appeared to be obsidian crystallizations.
Its appearance reminded me of the bio-treatments from the Backstreets… but there was something more to it. Something more restless, more sinister.
Amiya	It’s a terrible, painful disease, but… there haven't been any recorded cases of full recovery.
Amiya	But… there’s an even worse problem.
Don Quixote	Pray tell, what could possibly be worse than an incurable, deadly disease?
Amiya	While it varies region by region… discrimination against the Infected is widespread across Terra.
Yi Sang	Those who suffer from it must face unfair treatment.
Yi Sang began with a dark expression.
Amiya	Some are quarantined in places with terrible, inhumane conditions… and there have been massacres, too.
Outis	… I don’t mean to be callous, but is this ‘Oripathy’ highly contagious?
Amiya	No. There have not been any recorded cases of infection by contact, as long as the subjects are alive.
Amiya	But... when the infected dies, the crystal growths on their body decay and turn to dust, scattering... which is what spreads the plague.
Outis	Then, barring environments like active battlefields where casualties are to be expected, staying within close proximity of the Infected in daily life seems to pose hardly any risk.
Sinclair	Uh… so what's the problem, then?
Gregor	… They're already past the point of caring about what the "problem" is.
Gregor	Once people start feeling iffy... all logic goes out the window.
Dante	<Then Rhodes Island’s goal has to be…>
Amiya	Yes, it is important to develop a cure for Oripathy. But…
Amiya	… I think what really matters is that we change the circumstances for the better for the Infected.
Hong Lu	That's not going to be an easy endeavor. Though... that is what gives your effort more meaning.
Hong Lu	... I hope you can achieve that goal, Amiya. I really do.
Don Quixote	Sob, sob... for truth...
Gregor	... The City... this world... we both live in worlds full of surprises, don't we?
Amiya	What kind of world did you come from… This ‘City’?
What kind of place is the City anyway…?
The kind of place with too many pointless rules…
The kind of place where, the moment you think ‘isn’t this too much?’, you see something even worse…
Try as I might, I couldn’t think of a single positive thing about the City.
The Sinners seemed to be in agreement, as most of what came after was quite scathing.
Ishmael	The kind of place where good deeds rarely ever go unpunished. Where sympathy’s a good attitude to have if you like getting stabbed in the back. Nothing good ever works out there.
Heathcliff	It’s a shitehole.
Sinclair	… It’s an irrational place, full of absurdities.
Meursault	Absurdity is an omnipresence.
Meursault	Therefore, it is not a subject by which one should be aggrieved.
Rodion	We can at least grouse about them, though. I mean, it's the only thing we can do.
Meursault	It would be more correct to experience more and acclimatize oneself to it instead of complaining.
Sinclair	You did say something like that last time...
Meursault	Mm.
Just as the mood was starting to turn rather sour, Don Quixote's shout shattered through the awkwardness.
Don Quixote	Verily, nary a day goeth by untarnished by villains and their fell deeds.
Don Quixote	Yet worry thee not! For, where evil riseth, so doth Fixers of Justice to—!
Don Quixote jumped from her seat and passionately shook her fist…
… which was followed by a heavy crack and the sound of small pebbles tumbling down…
Amiya	Don Quixote, watch out!
Don Quixote	W-wohah!
???	…?
And from behind the wall she accidentally broke down, an unfamiliar visage of a villager appeared and stared back at Don Quixote. It appeared that she was eating something out of a can while reading a book.
Don Quixote	…….
???	…….
Don Quixote	H-how farest thou?
Rodion	Farest thy foot! Ya gotta apologize first!
Heathcliff	Sigh… lass seemed a tad too hyper today.
Don Quixote	Nngh! A-apologies, for I hardly expected the wall to crumble with such ease—
Don Quixote	Art thou unhurt? Any injuries…?
???	…….
???	To?
Don Quixote	T-to? Pray tell, to what?
???	Forget the apology. I just wanna know what happens next. The Fixers of justice rose up to... do what?
Don Quixote	Ooh...
Don Quixote	Oooooo!!! Hast! Hast thou come to me to hear the tale of Fixers!?
Amiya	I-I don't know about coming to us, given how Miss Don Quixote was the one who punched the wall down...?
Don Quixote	... Ahem.
???	Oh, is it too late an hour? I don’t mind waiting ‘til morning if you wanna sleep—
Don Quixote	NAY! Not at all! ‘Tis quite early an hour for tales, in fact! Prithee, seat thyself here!
Outis	You ungovernable fool… calm down! We don’t even know who she is.
Outis	And don’t you forget to share those Fixer tales over there in the corner to not disturb our sleep.
Don Quixote	Thou makest a request most untenable… these tales deserve to be announced to the world with great gusto, from the center…
???	Yeah, that’s the best way to hear those kinds of stories. But we should probably introduce ourselves to each other first.
Mayors	Name’s Mayors. I’m… hm… how should I put this…
Mayors	Ah! Did you meet the village chief earlier during the day? He’s my gramps.
Gregor	Oh, that nice guy? So he had a granddaughter.
Yi Sang	Yet… I have not seen you once, Miss Mayors, under the sun.
Rodion	Oh my, you’re right. I thought the village was completely dried of any young blood~
Like Rodya said, while we didn’t see Mayors out there, there wasn't anyone else in the village we could comfortably call ‘young’.
Mayors	You’re telling me. Gramps was worrying over nothing and told me to stay put inside.
Mayors	Going on and on about the dangers that the outsiders pose and everything.
Faust	It seems that they do not give full faith to their ‘saviors’.
Outis	There are things you cannot share even with whom you trust with your life. Though… I would like to know why.
Rodion	My, my. So there are a bunch of other kids who are stuck indoors in this village?
Mayors	... No. There isn't anyone around my age in the village, at all.
Sinclair	If that's the case... I guess I can understand why he'd be overprotective.
Rodion	Anyways, it’s our turn! We are—
Mayors	Ah, I’m good. I heard enough to get an idea.
Heathcliff	You… did…?
Don Quixote	Hoh? Pray, how didst thou hear us? Via a listening device most secret upon our chamber?!
Mayors tapped a side of the wall(the part of it that was still standing, anyway) and smiled ironically.
Mayors	Bad soundproofing. I could hear pretty much everything uh… Don Quixote, right? Everything Don Quixote practically sang during the day.
Don Quixote	Eheh, heh heh... v-verily, I see!
Gregor	I think you could really do with some sense of embarrassment for once...
Mayors	Well, I guess that’s good enough for self-introductions, so…
Mayors	Care to regale me with the tale of Fixers who bring justice to the evils of the City?
Don Quixote	Heh heh heh... Indubitably! Then… aha, this shall do! I shall regale thee with the tale in which the legendary Fixer, the archmagnificence herself, the Red Mist, hath—
Heathcliff	Tsk… I ‘spose that killed any hope for a good night's kip.
Sinclair	But… uh, don’t you usually pass out within a minute of your back hitting the hay no matter how noisy things are?
Heathcliff	What...? Do you take me for some kind of hibernatin' bear or something? Look, even I have trouble sleepin’ when there’s noise all over—
Heathcliff	Snnnrk…
Ishmael	Sigh… I'd say "bear in hibernation" is a pretty apt descriptor.
Sinclair	For all that grumbling and moaning… he dozed off before any of us did.
Aside from Heathcliff, who began snoring the moment his head touched the ground, some other Sinners were fast asleep as well.
Meursault had entered sleep in his usual steadfast adherence to the routine, while Faust laid claim to one of the few available cloth sheets as soon as the close of business for the day was confirmed.
The Sinners, who had spent the entire last night searching for me in this unfamiliar land, slowly began to fall asleep as well.
Don Quixote	Meanwhile! The Fixer of the Zwei Association's first Section—
... Though the night was no longer young, Don Quixote was still vigorously sharing the tales of adventures without even a single sign of fatigue.
She's not determined to do this until sunrise, is she?
Mayors	Ooh...
I guess it’s okay, since Mayors seems to be having fun…
As I continued to watch the pair with some mild concern, Amiya, not yet asleep, approached me.
Amiya	This ‘City’ Miss Don Quixote speaks of… seems to be teeming with Fixers of justice and exhilarating tales of adventures.
Amiya	Did you actually experience all of them yourselves?
Ishmael	No, of course not. Don Quixote’s stories are usually those of other famous people.
Amiya	But she's telling it with such vigor that it almost sounds like she was there herself...
Ishmael	… Well, I guess… if you really want to get into it, some of them might be retellings of Don Quixote's personal experiences.
Ishmael replied uncertainly, thinking back to the plays we were made to watch back in La Manchaland.
Gregor	Well...
Gregor	I think all those stories, even though they’re only partially true, just go to show what a ridiculous place it can be.
Gregor	We wouldn’t need “Fixers of justice” to begin with if we really lived in a just world, right? A really good place to live would be quiet and peaceful without someone having to force it.
Amiya	Ha ha, that’s true.
Amiya	I hope… there’ll come a day when Rhodes Island can be a normal pharmaceutical company in the future.
Mayors	…….
Gregor	Hm?
Dante	<Something wrong?>
Gregor	No, I… just thought Miss Mayors and I made eye contact.
Did she overhear our conversation?
I looked to her direction as well, but all I saw was Mayors excitedly reacting to Don Quixote’s tales.
Mayors	Whoa... What happened then?
Don Quixote	Thus spake Lady Outis, boldly before the soldiers who stood in our path!
Don Quixote	“Thou presumest to stand in our path, servants of a master most unworthy?! I, Outis, shall educate ye on how manner maketh—”
Don Quixote was now retelling the stories of Limbus Company’s adventures in Hongyuan, and…
Outis, who could no longer stand Don Quixote’s unintentional alterations of the story, jumped to her feet and shouted.
Outis	Dammit, what kind of nonsense are you feeding her…? I never said anything like that!
Don Quixote	Ahem... verily, certain aspects of this retelling may have been exaggerated...
Mayors	Ahaha, that’s tales of adventures for you. Things are bound to get a bit dry when a story is told too realistically and as-is, right?
Mayors	You know, nothing… not even anything resembling a proper record or a book remained once The Profound Silence swept through this village.
Mayors	So I’ve always had a craving for these kinds of stories.
Amiya	But Iberia doesn’t stop Iberians from emigrating, contrary to their tight immigration control.
Amiya	Have you ever… thought about leaving this place…?
Mayors	It’s still a challenge to cross the border… Especially since we’re going to have to pass through larger cities that are managed by the Inquisition.
Outis	You don’t seem particularly fond of this ‘Inquisition’. Why is that?
Mayors	That’s because this village was… formed by people who grew tired of living under the Inquisition’s rule and fled.
Sinclair	Sorry, but what kind of organization is this... Inquisition?
Sinclair asked, face turning cold upon hearing the word "Inquisition", and that people fled from it.
Yeah, the Nagel und Hammer we saw back at Calw aren't the kind of memories that are so easily forgotten...
Amiya	According to Dr. Kal’tsit, the Inquisition is what filled the power vacuum once Iberia fell into chaos.
Amiya	That its Inquisitors are the rapier and lamp-wielding protectors of Iberia’s cities from lawlessness.
Sinclair	Uhm… that alone kinda makes them sound like good people, though.
Mayors	Yeah, they are. But...
Mayors	There's the Church of the Deep.
Mayors	The Inquisition will go to whatever lengths to deal with incidents related to the Church that worships Seaborns.
Don Quixote	Fie! An organization that worships those monsters!?
Outis	It seems that cultish fanaticism is a plague wherever we go.
Sinclair	I feel like people with all kinds of wrong faiths and beliefs are... so common.
Mayors	See, the Seaborns are the ones that messed Iberia up. So, following their logic, apparently it's okay for them to arrest anyone who seems even remotely connected to them.
Amiya	Are you saying that Iberia is like this because of the… Seaborns?
Gregor	Those things from earlier…? I guess they were kinda troublesome to deal with, but… they didn’t seem that strong.
Mayors	… Anyways, it's just what I heard from gramps, but… the Inquisition executed many innocent people too in their crusade against the Church of the Deep.
Don Quixote	For those who proclaim to be on the side of justice, they seem quite fond of committing such villainy…!
Outis	It seems like a reasonable policy decision to me.
Outis	But… it must pose a clear danger to the daily lives of civilians.
Mayors	Yeah. I heard I was the only survivor. Everyone in my family died.
Sinclair	You must've had to endure such a long period of pain...
Sinclair	... to be able to say something like that with such composure.
Mayors	…….
Mayors	For Iberia, they are… heroes who will bring the land back to its glory days. But to gramps, they were just oppressors making his life difficult.
Mayors	That’s why we’ve all come here. Fleeing from the Inquisition’s gaze.
Don Quixote	… Y-yet, wherefore hast thou decided to settle at a… place that is so… um…
Mayors	Run-down?
Don Quixote	Indeed…
Mayors	Yeah, I know. But it’s not so bad once you get used to it. Besides, we managed to find a new path thanks to you guys.
Dante	<A new path…?>
Mayors	... Well, it’s getting late. Will you be repairing the ship tomorrow, too?
Dante	<This place really has no soundproofing at all, huh…>
Mayors	Good talk, everyone. Hope we’ll get another chance to do this tomorrow, too!
After seeing Mayors to her own room, the other Sinners—those who were still up, anyway—and I laid ourselves on the hard stone floor with only a thin layer of cloth between it and our backs.
A mysterious world that is neither the City nor the Outskirts…
But it seemed that the lives its people led were just as difficult as they were anywhere else.

Episode: 5
Location: Faro Muerto, Coast
Dante	<It's so... big!>
Amiya	Amazing… I didn’t know there were remaining vessels of this class in Iberia.
Don Quixote	Aha, I espy her name here! ‘Tis called by the name Rebelión de las Masas.
Yi Sang	Rebelión de las Masas… “Revolt of the Masses”, is it? A name very much mired in peculiarity, indeed.
Hong Lu chimed in, that he was rather fond of it with its size being about the same as the boat from his home, while Ishmael quickly jumped in to correct us that its size alone wasn’t anything special at the Great Lake, but…
... It was still pretty big compared to Mephi or the Indigo Elder’s skiff.
Dante	<I thought it was going to be somewhere around Mephi’s size, at most… Are you sure you can get this ship fixed in a day or two?>
Outis	As I briefed you yesterday, the great majority of the time-consuming repairs had already been completed by the villagers.
Outis	The extent of our repair efforts only concerns a few components within the vessel that the villagers could not repair, which shouldn’t take us much time.
Faust	Unless parts that are unfamiliar to Faust are also malfunctioning, such as the core engine, remaining repairs should be sufficiently managed by Faust.
Despite Outis’s confident declaration, I could not help but feel oddly unsettled as I looked at the ship.
I don’t know why, but… something tells me that we don’t want to linger here for too long…
Dante	<Still, please be thorough about it, just in case.>
Dante	<I’d rather not sit on a sinking ship again… the experience at the Great Lake was enough.>
Faust	Do not worry, Dante.
Faust	Unlike Mephistopheles, most functions of this vessel—buoyancy gear, propellers, steering gear—are all in operational capacity. This repair should be much easier than the case with Mephistopheles.
Gregor	They seem confident enough... it should be safe this time around, right?
Amiya	Are we taking that rope to climb up to the ship?
Ishmael	No, there’s a lift-like apparatus down here. It should take us up to the ship.
Faust	Its stability was verified yesterday. Let us board the lift.
Dante	<You're one-hundred-per-cent certain, right...?>
Amiya	The boat is afloat right now, Dante. I don't think it'll be sinking anytime soon.
Dante	<Wouldn't that be nice.>
Heathcliff	Oi, are you two just going to faff about down here? We’re headin’ up now.
Dante	<N-no, we’re going with you.>
As I made my way into the vessel's bridge...
Location: Vessel Masas Bridge Interior
... I was greeted by the extravagant interior that was as gaudy as its exterior.
Rodion	T-this isn’t real gold, is it? Sure is shiny as heck in here… I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.
Ryoshu	Hm… A.S.
Sinclair	“Aesthetically Satisfying,” she says…
Ryoshu	But too ostentatious. Not quite my style.
Don Quixote	Our young Mephi is also quite the excellent vessel, yet… Imagine the adventures we could embark on aboard this vessel most lavishly decorated...!
As Faust and Outis were working on one of the control panels, Ishmael walked up to another and interfaced with it before giving a knowing nod.
Ishmael	This must’ve been an investigative or research vessel of sorts… but it does seem a bit extravagant for one of those, though.
Ishmael	Look, coordinates. Updating in real-time, it seems…
Outis	The coordinates seem to have been set to somewhere out in the middle of the ocean. Maybe it points to a small islet?
Mayors	Nope, no islet there.
Heathcliff	Waagh!
Heathcliff	B-blimey, lass. You sure know how to sneak up on people.
Dante	<Mayors!?>
Mayors	Ha ha, what? Did I actually surprise you? I did ask if you guys were gonna come fix the boat today.
Sinclair	Still, I didn’t know you’d be here…
Outis	Hmm… Why are the coordinates set to this location?
Mayors	There are several undersea cities beneath those coordinates. Collectively known as Ægir.
Mayors	Gramps’ home.
Faust	… I see. Understood.
Yi Sang	Hm? What was understood, if I may ask?
Faust	It is now understood why the promise to repair this ship was sufficient to earn their trust and the title of 'saviors'.
Heathcliff	What’s she on about? Someone get translatin’.
Faust	… Consolidating and cross-referencing the observed particular circumstances of the village and the statements from the village chief, alongside information garnered from the exchange with Mayors, it is possible to gauge the significance this ship’s repair has to the local populace.
Faust	Of course, while this may constitute a sequence of logical connections that poses a certain challenge for Heathcliff to comprehend,
Faust	to employ any degree of effort to attempt to explain it in more digestible language would constitute a pursuit of inefficiency.
Heathcliff	…….
Yi Sang	L-lower the baton, I implore you! I shall explain it in full.
Heathcliff	Haah… I was wondering when Miss smartarse would start gabbing like that again. So, what’s she on about?
Heathcliff’s shoulders were relaxed; it didn’t seem like he was actually going to swing the bat. He placed it lightly over his shoulder with a sigh.
Yi Sang	A brief observation of the village seemed to suggest that their subsistence situation was quite dire; much of their daily sustenance consisted of dried food, most of them made for long-term storage purposes.
Ishmael	Considering what Skadi said about how the coastal areas are full of danger… maybe those dried seafood aren’t from around here, either.
Amiya	Maybe it's food they packed when they first came to Faro Muerto?
Dante	<Some villagers were armed, yeah, and those "Sea Terrors" weren't exactly that formidable, but...>
Dante	<... given the state the villagers are in, I doubt they'd have an easy time repelling those monsters.>
Yi Sang	Indeed. And that brings us to the question of sustenance...
Heathcliff	Right, I get what’s goin’ on here.
Heathcliff	The lass and her granddad are ‘bout to visit their hometown, and they’re tryin’ to get some food supplies from there to feed the villagers, and to convince 'em, they're planning to use the fact they’re from the same neck ‘o the woods. Or sea, I guess.
Amiya	Ohh, so we’re not just repairing their ship, we’re repairing their food supply plan, too!
Amiya	Huh? What’s wrong?
Dante	<It’s uh…>
While the expressions were rather crude, Heathcliff’s summary of the situation was clear, to the point, and easily understood. The Sinners stared at him with mild surprise.
And I did, too…
Heathcliff	… What’s with them annoyin’ looks? Wait. Oh, you sods…!
Heathcliff	You don’t think I’m <i>that</i> dimwitted, do you?
Ryoshu	Heh. Top-notch intuition.
Dante	<It’s just that… It’s been a while since you’ve shown this side of yourself.>
Thinking back, Heathcliff's intuition's always been excellent, and he'd often put together surprisingly accurate conclusions with impressive speed.
Sinclair	Y-you know, when you really think about it, it's kind of your fault for—aah!?
Heathcliff	I've been too soft on you lately, haven't I? Oi! Get back here!
Outis	Ahem... Now, with those fools out of the conversation… Was he correct?
Outis looks away from the usual chaos and asks Mayors.
Mayors	Honestly, I’m surprised. He was on point.
Mayors	Yeah. Food’s been running low in the village. At this rate, we won't last another year...
Mayors	But the Ægir will… I’m sure they’ll welcome us with open arms.
Amiya	… I don’t want to come off like I’m overly worried, but… do you think they’ll welcome the others, too?
Amiya	Unlike Mayors or chief, they’re… not Ægir.
Mayors	I believe they will.
Mayors	Iberia suspects and hates the Ægir for no other reason than that we’re from the sea, but…
Mayors	Our home cannot have fallen so low as to abandon a group of starving land-dwellers.
Don Quixote	…….
Don Quixote	P-prithee, might thou explain to us who… the Ægir are…?
Yi Sang	... I had initially thought it to be a reference to a region, yet it also seems to refer to an affiliation of sorts.
Sinclair	Maybe they’re something like Nest dwellers? Though I don’t think I’ve heard of a Nest that accepts Backstreets people with open arms.
Rodion	Or maybe… they used to be some rich folk?
Heathcliff	If they call them Nest toffs Ægir here, then does that make the rabbit-eared lass Ægir, too?
Amiya	…….
Amiya	Wait, in the world you came from… do they not distinguish between races?
Faust	That is not entirely true. Delineation between races is a concept that does exist.
Though I only saw them in the fathoms... there were those terrifying things called the Cuckoospawns.
Faust	However, as a general rule, it can be said that humans are—excuse me, humans should be the only intelligent lifeforms in the City.
Amiya	The people of Terra... have slightly varying appearances depending on their race. Like my... Cautus ears.
Mayors	And I’ve got pointed ears, because I’m an Ægir. Though it’s not a characteristic every Ægir shares…
Don Quixote	The closest idea to what they are discussing appeareth to be… umm, uhm...
Don Quixote seemed to be struggling to finish her sentence.
Meursault stepped in to continue.
Meursault	By context clues and the manner of word usage, including the means of classification, the closest example in our world would be Bloodfiends. Similar external appearances to humans, different natures, comparable sapience.
Don Quixote	'Tis of my belief that Bloodfiends are ostracized due to their nature that maketh coexistence with humans difficult. It may be that the Ægir are also…
Amiya	I’m sure some of them do possess qualities that make coexistence with others difficult, but… they’re probably rare.
Don Quixote	Then wherefore are they made subjects of suspicion and hatred…?
Amiya	That's...
Gregor	Well... the language is new, but the idea itself is pretty familiar to the City folks like us.
Gregor	Think of feathers of fallen Wings. Kids born in the Backstreets. People who replaced their body parts with prosthetics.
Yi Sang	The form differs, yet in its essence we find the thread.
Don Quixote	…….
Something about how we keep finding these similarities in the ways of our lives, despite finding ourselves in a distant world with different rules, races, and humans...
... felt oddly discomforting.
Mayors	Ahem. The point is, you guys are doing us a real solid by fixing up the ship.
Mayors	Let’s move on from these gloomy conversations, okay? I wanna show you the cooler parts of this ship. This way—
Faust	… The ship tour may have to wait.
Faust	The repairs are almost completed, but an issue has arisen.
Mayors	Issue...?
Sinclair	W-wow, that’s not reassuring at all…
Amiya	…!
Amiya	Multiple lifeforms identified ahead! Assumed to be a Sea Terror horde!
Faust	The ship’s radar system seems to suggest that the vessel is surrounded.
Dante	<They’re the same monsters from yesterday!>
Outis	Executive Manager! Please order us to prepare for battle!
Outis	Dammit... Are they the ‘Sea Terrors’ you encountered?
Gregor	They look a bit different, but… yeah, probably.
Ishmael	There’s a lot of them, but… if our last experience tells us anything, we should be able to handle this.
Dante	<Amiya, please support us in battle like you did yesterday!>
Don Quixote	Canst thou fight, young Mayors?
Mayors	I... feel like I’m just gonna get in your way…
Dante	<Then... Guys, find a place to keep Mayors as far as possible from the battle.>
Dante	<Then let’s hurry down there. We don’t want them damaging the ship any further.>

Episode: 6
Location: Faro Muerto, Coast
Amiya	The remaining entities have all returned to sea. Is everyone okay?
It was just like our last skirmish.
Sea Terrors that had surrounded the ship returned to sea even before the battle came to an end.
And their retreat felt too orderly and deliberate to be just... running away.
It's almost like they're making a tactical retreat...
Rodion	We're doing peachy, but... what about the ship? Fau, is the ship okay?
Faust	Minor damages to the hull, but nothing that will impede the ship's operational capabilities.
Dante	<Phew...>
Sinclair	So... I noticed during the battle—I might be wrong, of course, but...
Sinclair	I think I noticed how, around the end of the battle, those monsters were starting to go after the manager...?
Ishmael	You're probably... right, actually.
Ishmael	I noticed, too. At some point during our battle, those monsters realized that it's the manager who's commanding the rest of us.
Yi Sang	I sensed the very same. Their movements were fluid and adaptive, as though they were learning our behavior.
Sinclair	Why does the Church of the Deep worship… monsters like them?
Heathcliff	That ain't much of a question, innit? They must've all gone mental.
Mayors	I’m sure they have many reasons, but…
Mayors	Seaborns are beings of infinite potential. So much so that there’s no superlative big enough to properly convey the scale.
Mayors	As organisms, they can endlessly evolve and adapt. Every time they encounter a new environment or a new element, they transform themselves and other Seaborns.
Mayors	Maybe... maybe that's their draw.
Yi Sang	That fascination may be an attitude most befitting a researcher—yet, the transformation of fascination into idolatry is... If I may be frank, not entirely positive.
Ishmael	I find them pretty uncomfortable. They just remind me of Whales.
Hong Lu	Hmm~ Then, can they adapt to learn a language to communicate with us?
Dante	<Wh-what?>
Hong Lu	Going by everything we heard, I think they sound really smart.
Mayors’s eyes went round at Hong Lu’s suggestion. She brought her hands to her mouth, surprised.
It… sure was something.
Mayors	I heard that there was a Seaborn who could… talk.
Outis	If non-humans speak the language of humans, regardless of its testament to their intelligence, I can only think of two possibilities as to why they would.
Outis	One, to communicate with humans. The other… to deceive humans.
Ishmael	More often than not, it’s the latter.
Dante	<What about Distortions? Some of them already know how to speak.>
Faust	Distortions are phenomena in which ‘humans’ transform into monstrous forms, first observed after the White Nights and Dark Days incident.
Faust	Therefore, that example is irrelevant to Outis’s supposition.
Mayors	White Nights… and Dark Days…
She whispered quietly, but as we were standing rather close to her, we all caught on to the hint of joy in her voice.
Mayors	The pillar of light in the City, did it really…
Yi Sang	… How have you come across this knowledge, Miss Mayors?
Mayors	Oh, that’s…
Heathcliff	Ain’t it obvious? We’ve got the culprit right ‘ere, the storyteller lass who’s been gabbin’ on with no end.
Rodion	Yeah… she’s been talking non-stop all morning about all kinds of stories, hasn’t she?
Don Quixote	Hoh? Yet I have not gotten that fa—
Outis	You again?! You didn’t get so lost in your own stories that you blabbed all about our company secrets, have you?
Don Quixote	N-nay! Fie, I would simply not!
As Don Quixote was subject to yet another round of scolding, Amiya stared out toward the sea, wary that Sea Terrors might start crawling to the surface once again, before turning toward us.
Amiya	I wonder which of the two the… Seaborns are?
Mayors	Their sense of self is really, really faint, so I don’t think they’d be in either category.
Mayors	I think it’s possible that… they learned human language out of instinct that the power of speech might help them survive.
Yi Sang	It appears that you, Miss Mayors, are quite the expert on the subject of Seaborns.
Yi Sang	Your knowledge of them goes beyond what fear for one's survival may yield, thereby suggesting a different means of acquisition. Do you, by chance, worship the Seaborns?
Mayors	I don’t worship Seaborns.
Mayors	Seaborns… don’t have any hopes or wishes. Just… desire for survival.
Sinclair	Miss Mayors, does that mean… if Seaborns were somehow able to hope…
Mayors	Maybe so.
Yi Sang	… Is that so?
Faust	The repairs are complete.
As we were conversing, Faust descended from the ship with a neatly organized set of tools borrowed from the village, repairs completed.
Dante	<I’m guessing repairs are done done?>
Faust	Yes. The ship is ready to set sail.
Outis	Did you have a departure time and date in mind? I would prefer if we could depart as soon as possible...
Mayors	We don't have a set time or anything, but... I think we should be able to set sail this late afternoon at the earliest.
Sinclair	That soon?
Mayors	As you've seen... we don't have a lot to bring with us. Ha ha...
Mayors	By the way, how far out to sea do you guys need to go?
Dante	<We need to find this... dimensional door of sorts...>
Amiya	I could see the dimensional door's light from the beach at night.
Amiya	It was faint, but given how the light's strong enough to break through the sea fog... we should be able to determine its location somewhere around the coastal waters.
Heathcliff	So... we can go back tonight?
Faust	The first order of business is to relay this news to the villagers.
Dante	<Yeah. Back to the village for now...>

Episode: 7
Location: Faro Muerto, Clearing
Amiya	There’s something going on in the village.
Sinclair	Yeah, I hear it too. I’m hearing people shouting and hollering…
When we returned to the village, ship repairs completed, we were welcomed by a rather hostile standoff.
A quick count told me there were approximately twenty people assembled at the village square…
Considering its population, that was pretty much the whole village.
Dante	<Who… who’s that over there?>
Mayors	… Inquisitor.
Mayors	I think... we’ve been found.
The Inquisitor, dressed in a well-kept uniform, was about the same height as Don Quixote. The sword and the lamp hanging from her waist sits in stark contrast with the more run-down, ramshackle village.
She almost looked like… a Fixer from the City.
Fabius	… So, the Inquisition has discovered our village.
Inquisitor	Did you really think that you could forever stay out of the Inquisition’s gaze, citizen? That's a naive dream.
Inquisitor	Fabius. Disappeared from the Inquisition mid-interrogation under charges of suspicion of membership within the Church of the Deep.
Fabius	…….
Inquisitor	Last known location: Salt Flat. The other Inquisitors have informed me that you have been identified next to pirates in its fringes.
Inquisitor	From a criminal to an outlaw… What a dramatic evolution of your career.
Inquisitor	But it ends here, now.
Inquisitor	Every citizen here, including you, will be accompanying me to the Inquisition.
Fabius	... They have never broken a single law, nor are they outlaws of any kind. They are not like me.
Inquisitor	They’ve disregarded the Inquisition’s authority, evaded the gaze of Iberia, and found this sodden coast to lurk in.
Inquisitor	Tell me I’m not supposed to find that suspicious.
Sinclair	What are you talking about?
Sinclair	You can't just start arresting people left and right with a tenuous suspicion like that! ... You shouldn't!
Villager	W-we only wish to live a quiet life, ma’am!
Inquisitor	Is that so? Then you might find yourself returning to this village one day, as long as you’re telling the truth.
Inquisitor	Which is not an option for you, Fabius.
Sinclair	... Mayors, was chief really... a pirate?
Mayors	Well... yeah, but as far as I know, he's been out of the game for a while.
Mayors	A-and even when he ran with the pirates, all he ever did was share finbeast jerky to villages...
Mayors	or carry Ægirians between them.
Amiya	Even if you're telling the truth, Mayors, I doubt the Inquisition will be lenient.
Dante	<... Well, what now?>
Outis	I have but one question to ask.
Outis	That ‘Inquisitor’... is she following the proper legal procedures?
Amiya	I don’t know much about the laws of Iberia, but… Dr. Kal'tsit told us that the words of Inquisitors were pretty much the law here.
Faust	It is likely that she is following the proper legal procedures. The ‘procedures’ are precisely what the villagers have fled from, after all.
Outis	... Then it is decided.
Outis quietly dragged me to the side and whispered outside Mayors’ earshot.
The Sinners who were right next to me seemed to have picked it up, though…
Outis	Executive Manager. We best immediately return to the ship, take command of it, and sail out on our own. It is unwise to involve ourselves in this conflict.
Heathcliff	What!? Are you seriously suggestin’ that we just let ‘em arrest the villagers?
Outis	Didn’t you hear what the Inquisitor said? It seems quite cut-and-dry to me—if this is just standard procedure with no local laws broken, we are in no place to involve ourselves. Our best hope is to take the ship before they impound that, too.
Sinclair	W-we can't do that. Even if it is standard procedure, even if they're working within the law, it's not— You stayed up to hear Mayors' story too, didn't you?
Sinclair	…….
Sinclair	You know, the N Corp. Inquisitors were working within the law too, when they came for the village. That was standard procedure, too.
Sinclair	If someone, anyone had stepped in then—
Outis	... I know what you went through, but I'd still rather not take a risk in an unfamiliar environment like this.
Outis	I will try my best to figure out how to sail that ship. If I cannot, then I have faith in Ishmael to quickly learn its controls.
Ishmael	I can’t say you’re wrong, but… I don’t know. Neither you nor I know anything about the ocean currents here, Outis.
Ishmael	We can get the ship going, but I can't guarantee that we'll reach the dimensional door without any trouble.
Mayors	…….
Outis	... You. Do you know anything about the sea currents in this region?
Mayors	Not much, but... I know the coastal sea somewhat.
Mayors	And... you can't fight the Inquisitors directly here in Iberia. Fleeing with the ship might be the better option.
Ishmael	Hm... what should we do, Dante?
Dante	<Yeah, I guess it's kinda awkward for us to just take the ship and go, huh...>
Hong Lu	How about we try to talk to the Inquisitor, then?
Hong Lu	I think we should at least try to hear them out first. Them being the Inquisitor and the chief both.
Amiya	... If the discussion goes well, we might even be able to get the Inquisition's support...
Amiya	Like Mister Hong Lu said, we should hear them out first... then try to convince them.
I agreed with them both. First, let's at least see what that Inquisitor has to say...
Ryoshu	R.R.
Sinclair	“Rabbit’s right”... she says…?
Yi Sang	Are you certain that translation was accurate, Sinclair?
Rodion	Right? There’s no way Ryōshū would choose anything other than violence, right?
Ryoshu	Tsk… Idiots, it’s because the other options are pointless.
Ryoshu	Inquisitor’s seen us. We're already under suspicion.
Ryoshu	She will doubtless try to stop us if we flee now.
Ryoshu	So talk first, lower her guard, then attack.
Dante	<Pretty sure that’s not what Amiya meant…>
Dante	<Well, if she’s already onto us, then we shouldn't give her any excuse to attack us by running away.>
Inquisitor	…….
Inquisitor	I was wondering what you were doing there, lurking in the background…
Inquisitor	A clock-shaped head...? Are you from the Columbian Union?
Amiya	They're wearing a clock for a head due to... reasons, but they have nothing to do with the Columbian Union.
Dante	<... What's the Columbian Union?>
Inquisitor	Tick-tock... what? Which language are they speaking?
Inquisitor	Regardless of whether you're from Columbia or not... you're clearly not from Iberia, let alone this village.
Sinclair	Y-you’re not wrong, but… I think there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding.
Inquisitor	I’m quite certain you don’t know enough about these villagers to stand between them and an Inquisitor. How long have you been staying here?
Sinclair	…….
Sinclair	Two… days?
Gregor	Buddy, don't just tell her that—
Inquisitor	<i>Two days</i>? Alright, enough of this chicanery. Get out of my way, outsider.
Yi Sang	… The attempt appears to have been made on quite the… unstable ground.
Amiya	Please lend us your ear for a minute, Inquisitor.
Amiya	I am Amiya, leader of Rhodes Island. Yes, I am aware of Iberia’s closed border situation—
I felt hope swelling within me as Amiya began with confidence, unlike Sinclair. Alas, it was short-lived…
… thanks to the Inquisitor’s quick retort. I couldn’t help but place my palm against my forehead at the exchange that followed.
Inquisitor	Oh, so not only are we dealing with outsiders of dubious origin, we have illegal entry as well?
Amiya	That’s… We had to, because the issue demands urgency, and…
Inquisitor	I’ve been briefed. Brazenly crossed the border, didn’t you?
Inquisitor	I don’t know how urgent that issue could be, but I doubt it’s anything more significant than the situation at hand for Iberia and its Inquisition.
Inquisitor	The High Inquisitor is handling the Rhodes Island issue. Stay put and await the consequences while he and that chatty med doctor of yours talk it out. Do know that your treatment may depend on her negotiation skills.
Amiya	As for the village chief… I understand that you have the right to arrest him,
Amiya	as he is a fugitive who has fled in the middle of an interrogation, and has been sailing with the pirates.
Amiya	However, it is an inhumane treatment to arrest the rest of the villagers as well.
Inquisitor	Inhumane? This decision is well within the rights bestowed upon the Inquisition.
Inquisitor	They’ve lived for years right next to that highly suspicious Ægir. The Inquisition must investigate the rest of them as well to verify whether they have committed any acts of treason against our laws.
Gregor	… This isn’t going anywhere, is it…
Inquisitor	Listen. They’ve been surviving for years upon years by the coast without the protection of the Inquisition. And that simply cannot make sense.
Heathcliff	Oi, I think I've heard enough from you.
Heathcliff	Ain't it funny how you're blamin' them for what is essentially a failure of your responsibilities?
Heathcliff	And now you roll up in here, only to go "they shouldn't be alive", "I'm arresting them all"?
Heathcliff	What, are you sayin’ these people should all be dead or something?
Inquisitor	... I am. There’s no other way to cut it—people simply shouldn't be able to survive in a place like this, not for this long.
The Inquisitor's reply only seemed to fan Heathcliff's wrath, as he lifted his bat and began striding forward...
Heathcliff	Haah... that's it.
Heathcliff	Lass, if you ever so much as touch the tip of a single villager's hair—
Hong Lu	Please calm yourself, Heathcliff.
But Hong Lu stepped in between them.
Heathcliff	Get your bloody hands off me! I've had enough of her!
Hong Lu	Continuing to threaten her will cause something irrevocably bad to happen. I... believe you know that yourself, Heathcliff.
Heathcliff	... What do you suggest, then? We're clearly not making any progress by trying to talk this out.
Hong Lu	…….
Hong Lu	Excuse me, Miss Inquisitor. What do you mean that people shouldn't be able to survive in a place like this?
Inquisitor	I mean it literally.
Inquisitor	Even by some miracle that they actually do survive, they should at least be suffering from endless hunger, struggling to their wits’ end at the inevitability of the calamity.
Inquisitor	But they look... too healthy.
Rodion	The heck? Then shouldn't you be applauding them for managing to survive through so much hardship?
Inquisitor	I'm an Inquisitor.
Inquisitor	I'm not some crazy person on a power high who goes around accosting and arresting civilians of Iberia straight to the gallows, okay?
Inquisitor	I have more than enough probable cause to take them in for interrogation—it's just that I don't have the time or the energy to explain every single one of them to you outsiders. I promise them a fair judgment, whichever way that may be, after a proper investigation.
Inquisitor	So, stop it with this obstruction of justice.
The Inquisitor brandished her rapier threateningly, her voice shaking with frustration.
Faust	…Dante.
Faust	Without the full picture of the circumstances, Faust advises against further antagonization of a local political authority.
Hong Lu	I agree with Faust.
Hong Lu	I get the feeling that she isn't the kind of heartless Inquisitor that goes around indiscriminately executing innocents, like Miss Mayors told us about earlier.
Hong Lu	I don't think she's anything like the Inquisitors of N Corp. we saw back at Calw.
They were right... we didn't have the full picture of the circumstances. Getting in the way of an Inquisitor, who was clearly a rather significant political entity in the area, was most likely a bad idea.
Inquisitor	It isn’t the Inquisitor’s job to answer your questions.
Inquisitor	Continue to obstruct me, then—
As the standoff was showing no signs of ending...
Amiya	Miss Mayors?
Mayors	… I can answer your questions. So, for now, let’s do as the Inquisitor says.
Mayors, who had been hiding behind us ever since we returned to the village, suddenly stepped forward.
Don Quixote	Y-yet… what of thy grandfather, and the villagers…?
Mayors	It’s alright. I’m sure this is happening only because the Inquisitor doesn’t know.
Outis	What do you mean you’ll answer the questions?
Mayors	…….
Mayors	About the "Profound Silence."
Mayors’s response to Outis was but a single concept.
I didn’t quite grasp its significance, but it seemed to surprise the Inquisitor.
Mayors	That’s what they call the calamity that destroyed Iberia.

Episode: 8
Location: Faro Muerto, Clearing
Inquisitor	You…
Mayors	Decades ago... a great wave ravaged through Iberia.
Mayors	It wasn’t long before the Seaborns carried by the waves diminished Iberia’s brilliant civilization to this.
Faust	The waves... the Profound Silence then must have reduced the village to its current state as well.
Ishmael	Is there any reason it's called the Profound "Silence"? It doesn’t seem to be the most appropriate moniker for a calamity like that.
Mayors	It's because the sea went dead silent before the waves came.
Mayors	The Silence then claimed ships out at sea, then the cities of Iberia, then… the Iberians…
Mayors	No one could say a word in face of the ineffable calamity.
Inquisitor	What… just what are you?
Inquisitor	No average Iberian citizen should be privy to any of the information you’re sharing.
Mayors	And the Church of the Deep is really capitalizing on the pandemonium that followed the Profound Silence.
Mayors	They pretend to be Ægir from the sea, delude the citizenry of Iberia, and are sowing chaos in her lands.
Gregor	So that’s why they’re arresting the Ægir left and right. I can see the thought process, but… huh.
Mayors	So... it's understandable why the Inquisitor would want to arrest us.
Inquisitor	…….
Amiya	Dante.
Dante	<This isn't good. Sharing that seems to have been some kind of a... taboo-like thing for the Inquisition.>
The Inquisitor wordlessly stared at Mayors.
Her eyes were filled with traces of anger and confusion, but…
Amiya	She’s afraid.
… there was fear in the face of a threat.
Not the fear of the terrified, no—it’s the fear of someone who's suddenly confronted with something they must destroy.
Inquisitor	The High Inquisitor once told me that, should I come across an Ægir who ‘knows too much’, there is a sliver of a chance that they may be of assistance to Iberia.
Don Quixote	C-cease! Thou’rt threatening the innocent with thy brandishing of the firearm!
Inquisitor	But most are seduced by the allure of the sea.
Inquisitor	Thus, they are, with little doubt, our foes.
Dante	<... I've got a bad feeling about this.>
Inquisitor	Get out of my way, outsider. Final warning.
Dante	<… Run!>
Quick on the uptake as always, Rodya slung Mayors over her shoulder and ran past the villagers...
… while the Sinners scattered in all directions to distract the Inquisitor.
The Inquisitor draws her firearm...
And, in the midst of all that action, Don Quixote rushed toward the Inquisitor without a moment's hesitation.
Dante	<D-Don Quixote!?>
Don Quixote	Thou shalt go no further! I, a Fixer of Justice, shan’t abide by as thou persecute them!
Don Quixote	Forsooth, 'tis a battle delayed, not avoided! This clash is inevitable!
Inquisitor	…….
In that moment of crisis, seconds before this could irrevocably make us a new enemy—
???	Mon3tr.
Mon3tr	…!
A large obsidian crystallization in the shape of a monster burst forth between the two of them.
Inquisitor	Gah! Who is it this time?!
Kal’tsit	That’s enough meaningless bickering.
Amiya	Dr. Kal’tsit!
Dante	<Do you know her?>
Amiya	Yes, she’s Dr. Kal’tsit—Rhodes Island Medical Department’s...
Amiya	Ah, Dr. Kal’tsit, behind you!
Mon3tr	Grrrr…
Inquisitor	…….
Kal’tsit	Shoot first, talk later, is it?
Kal’tsit	The negotiations are over. From this moment onward, Rhodes Island is now operating within legal capacity on Iberian territory under the Inquisition’s authorization.
The Inquisitor fired a blast of that firearm-looking weapon, but the monster summoned by Kal’tsit managed to deflect it...
... and the cannonball thrown from the weapon punched clean through the wall of the building we stayed the night in, before punching through several other buildings behind it.
That was enough to instantly freeze the Sinners and the villagers on the spot.
Yi Sang	… That... penetrated a building.
Yi Sang	Though their walls may be weaker than the Head's standard for what counts as a building's exterior wall, to punch through so many is...
Ryoshu	Puff... What a precise point it makes.
Sinclair	N-now's not the time to stand around impressed!
Yi Sang	It is a violation of a taboo to have that much penetrative power in a firearm.
Outis	... We're not in the City. Don't lose your heads over this. Taboos... don't apply here.
Yi Sang	My head knows that to be true, yet my heart finds it difficult to be still.
Faust	That is enough of that discussion for now.
Faust	It is advisable that we carefully observe and grasp the situation at hand instead of deliberating on a taboo the jurisdiction of which does not reach this far.
Gregor	Yeah, so... the situation's gotten slightly better, right?
Rodion	If she’s Amiya’s friend, she’s our ally. Besides, she’s got some super powerful looking prosthetic...? Prosthetic gear-looking thing, too.
Mon3tr	…?
Kal’tsit	Is that what you think?
Kal’tsit	I apologize for the disappointment, but I am not on anyone’s side. In other words, your particular denomination ‘ally’ might not be entirely correct.
Kal’tsit	However, if I must define my allegiance, then… let me inform you that the closest label would be that I am "Inquisitor Irene’s ally”.
Amiya	Dr. Kal’tsit…
Kal’tsit	Amiya. Outsiders.
Kal’tsit	As much as you would like to deny it, the Inquisitor’s suspicions are true.
Kal’tsit	While it can be said that the process by which she reached that conclusion was unfair, the conclusion itself is, without a doubt, correct.
Amiya	So they’re… actually connected to the Church of the Deep?
Kal’tsit	That is one way to put it. To be more precise, they aren’t connected to the Church of the Deep—they <i>are</i> the Church of the Deep. Perhaps the village itself is a dilapidated church of their congregation.
Mayors	Our village, a church? Just look at our buildings, where would we even congregate...?
Dante	< ... Your thoughts, Faust?>
Faust	There are not many resources by which we may analyze the decision.
Faust	However, the fact that Amiya’s colleague has made the same argument as the Inquisitor brings...
Faust	... the accused’s defense into question.
Don Quixote	Y-yet, I can hardly believe that young Mayors is lying to us…
Heathcliff	Hold on, you’ve been chattin’ plenty with that Inquisition or whatever. How do we know you weren’t aligned with them the whole time?
Kal’tsit	I see, you really are all… entirely in the dark. An expected outcome, given that all of you may be from a place far beyond the dimensional door.
Kal’tsit	As fortune should have it, there is no need for you to know it anyway; truth is truth unchanging, without the acceptance from an errant group of outsiders.
Kal’tsit	Besides, soon—
Fabius	I’m sorry. It seems that we’ve mired you in this trouble.
Don Quixote	Ah, say no such thing! We shall not abide by as one such injustice is perpetrated before our eyes!
Fabius	The village has already been identified by the Inquisition… and the Inquisition has even brought an ally. It seems quite unlikely that words shall resolve this conflict.
Fabius	But we promise you, we will take responsibility for what is done. We have benefited far too much from your warmth and kindness not to do so.
The village chief, with a benevolent look, pulls a dagger from his cloth…
… and I immediately knew what Kal’tsit was about to say.
Sinclair	Take responsibility? You don’t have to go that f— gah…!
Heathcliff	Blimey…!
Fabius	We are now departing for the sea. Yet, as we cannot bring ourselves to leave you here… I must ask you to join us for this journey, become our bloodkin.
Mayors	What is—What are you doing?! Stop!
The unanticipated—or, perhaps, I was simply in denial of this rising dread—ambush did not end there.
Ishmael	Hngh…!
Outis	Dammit, the Inquisitor was right…!?
Meursault	…….
The villagers suddenly began shanking the Sinners with weapons they had concealed in their clothes,
and it seemed that they were coming for me as well.
Amiya	Agh!
Dante	<Amiya, on your left!>
Amiya materialized a black ribbon-like apparition, parrying away the dagger flying in my direction,
but another villager rushed in, taking advantage of the opening.
Krrrrk.
The charging villager's back made a visceral, crunchy noise.
Dante	<S-someone flung them away.>
Skadi	Didn’t mean to be this late.
Amiya	Skadi… Let me catch you up to speed—
Skadi	I know the situation. This fishy smell was what I went to investigate earlier.
Dante	<W…what about the Sinners?>
Unlike Amiya and I, who managed to survive the initial ambush, the Sinners weren’t doing so well.
At least we had a silver lining in that the Inquisitor and Kal’tsit’s quick understanding of the situation and the subsequent retaliation led the villagers away from the Sinners.
Rodion	How...? I didn't notice any... hostility or... aggression...
Fabius	What an odd thing to say. Why would we hold any animosity against you? Why would we intend to kill you?
Fabius	We are not trying to hurt you. We are simply trying to give you a form better suited for the sea.
Fabius	Until… we were obstructed.
Yi Sang	I apologize, for our unfamiliarity has caused you trouble, Inquisitor.
Irene	… I won’t make a big stink about what happened. What’s truly unforgivable is that the heretics tried to take advantage of the ignorance of outsiders to flee the Inquisition.
Irene	… And… Even if you are outsiders, any lives lost on Iberian soil are my responsibility. It's my fault. I'm... sorry it came to this.
Yi Sang	…?
Ishmael	Wait, lives lost? We're still alive, you know. We can shake off a stab wound like—
Kal’tsit	This is most unfortunate, outsider.
Dante	<Huh? What?>
Kal’tsit	Your friends are either going to die or turn into Seaborns.
Kal’tsit	The daggers that stabbed them were laced with the flesh of Sea Terrors.
Kal’tsit	Once that happens, most die. And the survivors… become overwritten by their cells, becoming nothing more than another sea monster.
Dante	<W-what!? That’s…>
Dante	<... not… a very big deal?>
Everyone was acting like this was it for the Sinners, but…
Hey, I should be able to deal with this by turning the clock. It’s not that bad.
My only concern was that I didn’t know what would happen if I tried to bring them back after they're fully transformed into Seaborns…
The Golden Bough helped deal with the Whale’s Pallidification effects, but I had no idea how it would interact with Seaborn transformations.
Dante	<We should just kill them before they turn.>
Amiya	I know this must be very hard for you, but fir— <i>What?</i>
Dante	<Sorry to bother you with this, but can you kill my friends? Ah, and... preferably in the least painful way you know?>
Amiya	…….
Dante	<Oh, sorry. Was the last part kinda too much to ask?>
Amiya	W-wait, don’t give up already! If we bring them back to Rhodes Island, we should be able to do something to help them.
Dante	<Uhh... how should I explain this…? Guys, can you—>
Rodion	Dante… I know what ya mean, but... ha ha, I just can’t right now.
Meursault	Mm. My strength has rapidly deteriorated since the ambush.
Hong Lu	It’s kinda tingly too, so maybe they used some kind of paralytic cocktail?
Dante	<…….>
Dante	<J-just trust me this one time. I can assure you that I’m not just giving up on them.>
Amiya	But—
Kal’tsit	Amiya. Can you understand the outsider’s speech?
Amiya	Yes, yes… It’s just that… they’re making a pretty difficult request…
Amiya	They want me to kill all of their friends before they transform into Seaborns…
Skadi	Okay.
And before we even knew it, Skadi had already decapitated the Sinners, none of whom resisted.
Amiya seemed to have been taken aback by how fast Skadi jumped into action.
Irene	Wh-what are you doing?!
Amiya	Skadi!?
Dante	<Don’t let this spook you. This is just how we roll.>
The clock turns.
The decapitated heads creep toward the headless torsos, connecting with the threads of blood…
The sensation is that of reversal; it feels as though the Sinners and I are severed from the rest of the world, rewinding in isolation.
Is this rewinding us going back in time, or are we defying the concept itself?
This pain is multifold worse than the sensation of a straightforward decapitation; the pain is in the heart.
As the current of death reverses, I sense…
… a deep, crushing isolation.
Dante	<…….>
Amiya	Their wounds are… disappearing.
Kal’tsit	Resurrection, metempsychosis, or time reversal…?
Kal’tsit	Puzzling. I have no knowledge with which to interpret this technology. The cost… seems to be that the pain is transferred to one who rewinds.
Kal’tsit	... But that seems too small a price for such great power, though the discussion of whether this can be categorized as 'power' should be explored later.
Dante	<…….>
I couldn’t stop shaking—all of my limbs were trembling from the icy solitude. Still, I took a moment to collect myself and ordered the Sinners.
Dante	<I don’t know just what they were thinking, but…>
Dante	<... we should be able to find out once we take them down.>
Outis	You dare deceive the Executive Manager, and try to take their life…?
Don Quixote	Prepare thyself! For thou shalt now pay the price for making a mockery of justice!
Rodion	Yeah, we can’t just let this slide, ya know?
Fabius	How unfortunate.
Fabius	I had high hopes that all of you would become fine bloodkins.

Episode: 9
Location: Faro Muerto, Clearing
Dante	<W-wait, I think they’re heading to—>
Kal’tsit	… He’s running himself into a dead end. Are they seeking refuge at sea?
Ishmael	Wait, that's where the ship is—that's where they're headed. They’re trying to board the vessel Masas.
Ishmael	Wait, but we never told them that the ship was repaired, so how…?
Heathcliff	Tsk, ain’t it obvious? The whole village is in on it. It ain’t a surprise that they’d send someone to spy on us, or they know a way to get the ship floating even in its broken state.
Irene	Vessel... Masas?
Yi Sang	Vessel Rebelión de las Masas. That ship is moored at a port in that direction.
Irene	Wait, it can’t be…!
Location: Faro Muerto, Coast
Irene, who was preoccupied with battling the rest of the followers of the Church of the Deep who were in hiding, quickly gave chase…
… but Fabius and the villagers were already aboard the repaired ship, slowly departing the harbor with a horde of Sea Terrors between us and them.
Outis	How can a vessel of that size become operational this fast...?
Irene	The exterior, the name… it must’ve been constructed during the golden age of Iberia!
Irene	But... how are we supposed to chase that...?
Hong Lu	What if we built a raft and rowed after them?
Heathcliff	Mate, come on...
Skadi	Sea’s full of Sea Terrors. It won’t get very far before it sinks.
Amiya	…….
Dante	<Do you see something, Amiya? You keep looking in that direction—>
Dante	<Oh.>
The vessel Masas soon disappeared into the mist, and…
Location: Faro Muerto, Clearing
… the village was left empty with nary a sign of people ever having been there, as though this getaway had all been premeditated.
Mayors	…….
... Leaving only Mayors.

Episode: 10
Location: Faro Muerto, Clearing
Heathcliff	Dammit, can’t we just take any ship to go after it?
Ishmael	It’s a research vessel. It can’t possibly be very fast…
Irene	This’ll be difficult.
Irene	Even if it is a research vessel, I’m sure it was constructed during the golden age of Iberia. No average ship can keep up with it.
Irene	Haah… which is a problem, because I doubt we have any ship that can travel at the same speed. We only have a few small vessels left… which are all anchored too far from this location to be feasible options.
Amiya	Do we have any recourse?
Kal’tsit	No, not unless we can identify the exact location of the vessel.
Irene	Which is the real problem. We can find ourselves a ship to go after them, yes… but most Eyes of Iberia, the lighthouses, were lost during The Profound Silence.
Ishmael	Wait, when you say most, do you mean that there’s some left?
Irene	Just one, as far as I know. The one in Gran Faro, but…
Kal’tsit	That lighthouse cannot be used at this moment.
Mayors	… There’s another.
Mayors	There’s a lighthouse you can use.
Dante	<…!>
Amiya	Really?
Irene	Haah... Are you really going to give one of the villagers the benefit of the doubt?
Don Quixote	Y-yet young Skadi hath already confirmed her to be safe.
Skadi	All I confirmed is whether she’s a Seaborn or not. Can’t know if she’s a cultist.
Don Quixote	‘Tis… true. Yet…
Once we saw that Mayors was left all on her own, we decided to have her accompany us at all times and keep her within Irene’s eyeshot.
We couldn’t possibly blame her for what happened, given Skadi’s confirmation that she doesn’t have anything to do with those sea monsters. Besides, they'd all left her behind.
But Irene still seemed to harbor a bit of suspicion.
Irene	The problem with the Ægir is that she simply knows too much. Where could she possibly have gained access to all that information?
Mayors	…….
Irene	See? She can’t even answer that question.
Dante	<… But let’s think about it this way. What if we were to ask her what we don’t know?>
Dante	<The location of that lighthouse, for example.>
Kal’tsit	They’re ticking rapidly... what did they say?
Amiya	Dante says that… we should approach it differently and ask her what we don’t know, like the location of the lighthouse…
Kal’tsit	That seems like a reasonable suggestion to me. Or… does the Inquisitor have an alternate solution to this conundrum?
Irene	Ngh, no, but…
Irene	Fine, let’s hear it. I won’t interrogate you about how you have access to things that even us Inquisitors don't know. At least not right now.
Mayors	Faro Muerto, ‘dead lighthouse’. That’s our village name.
Mayors	Somewhere a little ways off from the coastline, there’s an intact Eye of Iberia on the sea—though it was almost destroyed when the Profound Silence swept through.
Ishmael	Off the coastline…? Is it not connected to the land?
Mayors	I think it used to be, until it sank.
Kal’tsit	We should be able to procure ourselves enough wooden material from the village to build a raft.
Kal’tsit	Is it near enough for a raft to be the means of access?
Mayors	… The weather’s not great today, but it should do. It’s not very far from the coast.
Irene	Even you? You’re going to trust the Ægir?
Kal’tsit	I don’t see why I shouldn’t. I understand that Iberian mistrust of the Ægir is quite profound, yet such sentiment is hollow to the rest of us.
Kal’tsit	Inquisitor Irene. What did you feel when you saw the Rhodes Island Operator?
Irene	If you’re talking about the Cautus, nothing in particular. Other than slight annoyance when she accused me of being inhumane.
Kal’tsit	So you didn't harbor any hostility nor disgust. Not that you would have felt any sense of sympathy or empathy, either.
Irene	I thought...
Kal’tsit	I have no history of feelings for or against the Ægir. Such must be the same for the outsiders.
Heathcliff	… What’s she on about?
Faust	She is conveying that, in matters in regards to Mayors, our opinions are more objective than Irene’s.
Kal’tsit	Finding the vessel Fabius commandeered will be of benefit to all.
Kal’tsit	Limbus Company will gain an opportunity to return to the City via the dimensional door, while Rhodes Island will have the chance to study it at a closer proximity.
Kal’tsit	And the Inquisition will gain possession of the vessel in which the technology from the Iberian golden age is contained.
Irene	… What? You’re going to just hand that over to the Inquisition?
Kal’tsit	Why should we covet what was once Iberia’s?
Faust	... While there certainly are aspects to that vessel that draw interest, I already have a state-of-the-art masterpiece known as Mephistopheles.
Irene	... As long as that can be guaranteed, I see no reason to refuse.
Irene eventually agreed to put her trust in Mayors.
Outis	We are in luck, Executive Manager. It is quite fortunate that our interests aligned exactly with that of the first strangers we encountered in a strange land.
Dante	<Lucky is right. Imagine if we were back in the City, it would've taken them like... three, four free Distortion hunts for us to come to this agreement.>
Amiya	Sorry about having to saddle you with this, Mayors. Please, lead us to the lighthouse.
Mayors	Ok, happily.
Rodion	So when you said ‘almost destroyed’... how ‘almost destroyed’ is it?
Mayors	I heard that the light faded from the lighthouse a long time ago, but the shape still stands. At least it was, when I saw it a few months ago.
Irene	If the lighthouse is in an inoperable state… we’re going to need an expert technician to get it back in working order.
Irene	The technology it's based on is completely divorced from the popular application of Originium technology, so I doubt there’s anyone out there who can work it anymore. Then…
Outis	You needn’t worry about that.
Outis	Here, we have an engineer and a researcher who are geniuses even among those in the City, so we should be able to manage most mechanical failures.
Irene	… Today is just revelation after revelation, huh.
Amiya	I can vouch for Limbus Company’s skills.
Mayors	I can… also work on the simpler tasks. I’ve learned a thing or two helping out gramps. Stuff about the lighthouse or various tech stuff.
Sinclair	W-well, then should we all head to the lighthouse together?
Kal’tsit	No. I’ll be leaving the group for a moment. Amiya will accompany you instead.
Irene	What!? After all that, you’re just going off on your own?
Kal’tsit	Yes, to join the Doctor. It is imperative for the successful execution of this mission.
Kal’tsit	Of course, that hinges on Amiya and Skadi remaining behind here to assist the rest of you.
Kal’tsit	Thus, I will leave it to the rest of you to take the Eye of Iberia—the lighthouse—back.
Dante	<… Wait, what do you mean <i>take back</i> the lighthouse?>
Dante	<Is there someone or something out there that’s taken over the lighthouse called the Eye of Iberia?>
Faust	A likely supposition.
Kal’tsit	Amiya. What did the manager of Limbus Company say?
Amiya	They’re asking if the lighthouse has been taken over by something.
Kal’tsit	Not a bad intuition.
Kal’tsit	Yes, there is a high likelihood that the structure has already been overrun by Sea Terrors.
Mayors	I don’t know about ‘overrun’, but… I’ve encountered them a few times when we approached it too closely.
Kal’tsit	Normally, this is hardly enough personnel to attempt a raid on the lighthouse, but…
Kal’tsit	Answer me this. Are there any limitations to their revival?
Faust	There are no restrictions as long as Dante, the manager, survives. However, do note that battle efficiency depreciates with prolonged battle due to mounting mental stress on the manager.
Kal’tsit	No need to change the plan, then.
Kal’tsit	Amiya. Use this communicator to alert me as soon as you are able to identify the coordinates of the vessel from the lighthouse.
Kal’tsit	If luck would have it, we should be able to reduce the time it takes to complete the retrieval mission.
Irene	… Okay, as long as you’re not taking everyone with you. If it’s just her who’s leaving, then go ahead.
Dante	<I think we should be fine, too.>
Amiya	Then… let us commence mission ‘Vessel Masas retrieval’.
Heathcliff	Right-o. Step one of the plan's the raft, right? Let’s get on with it.
Skadi	It’s done. Let’s go.
Outis	Hmm…
Sinclair	What? Why are you looking at us like that? Is there something bothering you?
Outis	Must you ask? Just look at how proactive and quick she is to jump to action. Certainly lives up to the image of an employee working for a large corporation.
Amiya	T-thanks, Outis, for that charitable view, I guess.
Thanks to Skadi, who had already finished the first step of the plan, we were able to move on to step two immediately.

Episode: 11
Location: Eye of Iberia, Entrance
After a while of carefully sailing on Skadi’s raft along the coastal cliffs, a gargantuan, shrouded lighthouse emerged from the thick mist.
Amiya	… Eye of Iberia.
Yi Sang	Even in its dilapidated, ruined state, touches that are at once monumental and sensitive are apparent on the exterior construction of the lighthouse.
Mayors	Some even called these lighthouses guardians of Iberia. It retains the grandeur of the era, as it was built during its golden age.
Irene	You really know everything, don't you…
Irene	It is as she said. But now… these lighthouses are nothing but graveyards of countless Inquisitors and soldiers of the Penal Battalion.
Irene	No one who’s attempted to retrieve a lighthouse has ever survived the expedition.
Sinclair	C-can you please not say scary stuff like that, Miss Irene? We are literally about to walk into one!
Irene	Ugh, don't you ever quit chirping?! What are you, a fowlbeast? Stop yapping in my ear! Why’s this one such a coward unlike the rest of you outsiders?
Sinclair	I'm not a coward, I'm just voicing my—
Dante	<… She did just say some pretty concerning stuff.>
Dante	<How long do you think the repairs will take?>
Yi Sang	Its exterior is rather heavily damaged. However… from what is visible from the outside, its interior is still quite intact.
Yi Sang	With Miss Faust’s expertise… it should not take very long.
Faust	…….
Yi Sang suggested with a smile, but Faust maintained her silence for the entire journey to the lighthouse...
… then said something pretty concerning in response.
Faust	Of course. My wit remains unmarred even in such uncertainties.
Ishmael	The currents are pretty wild… Someone’s going to have to stay behind and keep an eye on the raft. We can’t just leave it here unattended, but… I don’t know if we can carry it either…
Skadi	I’ll stay here and protect the ship.
Gregor	Uh… you sure you can handle this alone? I know you’re strong, but maybe one or two more people should stay behind just in case.
Skadi	No, don't need them.
Skadi	Sea Terrors will swarm the islet if I go with you anyway.
Skadi	So, this has nothing to do with you.
Amiya	So what she’s trying to say is that… she’s worried about you not having enough people to take on the lighthouse when she can handle this area alone, which is why she is okay with staying behind alone.
Gregor	Huh... Thanks for explaining. Some people just can't help but hop through an extra hoop, I guess.
Dante	<Well, then… let’s trust her.>
Amiya	We’ll be back, Skadi.
Luckily, we didn’t run into any Sea Terrors on our way to the lighthouse gates.
The problem… was that the gates were bound shut by strange, blue tissues.
Sinclair	Reminds me of that L Corp. branch back at U Corp... though that one was white...
I don’t think I can do anything to force it open myself, so…
Dante	<Guys, can you pry open this door?>
Heathcliff	Oi, move over. I’ll pull from the right side, you grab the left. And…
Outis	We’ll all pull together at one, two, three!
Ishmael	One... two...
Sinclair	Three...! H-huh?
Heathcliff	... Somethin's off here.
Irene	What are you doing?
Meursault	The door is firmly secured in place.
Ryoshu	This flesh tissue regenerates almost as soon as it is torn.
Ryoshu	Perhaps you'll need to tap into a wilder form of art to get this opened.
Dante	<... Well, what now?>
Irene	This strange flesh tissue growing on the gates is Sea Terror. It reacts to the lamp, but… it’s grown too much to be affected by it in any meaningful capacity.
Amiya	Skadi might be able to open this door with her incredible strength, but…
Sinclair	S-should I go fetch her? But uh… I think she’s already fighting off the Sea Terrors from sinking the raft…
So... we're all on our own...
Hmm… maybe there's an Identity Card or E.G.O I could use to get through this.
So which one...?
Dante	<... Huh?>
Location: -1
Just as I was pondering a familiar question, a faint, black glow came into view, then devoured my sight.
It’s no intuition, or inspiration... It’s different from those sudden flashes of realization.
And… it’s not the star of that day, that I think of from time to time.
It’s not the horrible door that I see every time I turn the clock, either.
The formless and black space in which I am not permitted to see. A faint noise—a whisper—cuts through it.
And through that opening, I see light.
I reach out to the opening, and see…
… Skadi, born from a very, very warm gaze.
Dante	<Skadi…?>
Powerful imagery crashes unto me like the waves.
Skadi, the staggering dancer wielding a blade.
Skadi, who flaunts her flowing locks.
And Skadi, the singer, humming in a low voice.
Beyond the fringes of cognition, Skadi’s existence has become engraved.
The Sinner who can wrestle and control this oceanic, tidal power is...
Location: Eye of Iberia, Entrance
Amiya	Dante, are you alright?
Dante	<… I’m good. And I don’t think we’ll need to send for Skadi.>
Amiya	Huh? What...?
Dante	<Hey, Ishmael. I’ve never used this E.G.O before, but… I need you to trust me and accept it.>
Ishmael	What? An E.G.O?
I nod quietly.
Ishmael	Well... it's not like we ever get to have a practice run with those E.G.O. Whatever it is... seems to me our manager's found a solution.
Her confusion is short-lived.
She lets out a carefree laughter before stepping forward, boldly twirling her mace once.
Ishmael	I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? Get Corroded?
//Skadi 인게임 SD 연출//
Sinclair	Uhh, uhhh!? C-cracks on the lighthouse are growing!
Irene	I think she destroyed the door, instead of opening it…
Dante	<S-sorry, didn’t think it’d be this strong.>
Ishmael	Well, the door’s open. What are we waiting for?
Irene	No, I mean, what… just what was—the part where you—
Ishmael	What, the part where I suddenly changed into a different outfit and equipped a different personality?
Irene	Yes, that!
Don Quixote	Ahem, that is…!
Yi Sang	This is… most fascinating. That an E.G.O could be drawn here, in lieu of the mirror of Mephistopheles…
Dante	<I think I connected to... Amiya's subconscious mind.>
Dante	<There was this... strange, unfamiliar light, and I saw Amiya's emotions attached to her memories and experiences. So... I just reached out to them.
Amiya	My… subconscious mind?
Dante	<I just had this feeling that it would work… sorry, about peering in without asking first.>
Dante	<But I didn’t see anything other than things about Skadi. All I needed were memories and emotions that can be used to understand the being that is Skadi.>
Amiya	It's okay. I also have experience with gaining power from others' memories and emotions to overcome difficult situations.
Amiya	Maybe that’s… how you were able to draw something from me as well, Dante?
Faust	That is the most appropriate assumption, especially in a situation in which delving into its principles is impossible.
Mayors	…….
Mayors	So that’s called ‘E.G.O’?
Don Quixote	Verily! Of course, Limbus Company’s E.G.O is quite distinguished from the other kind of E.G.O which are bloomed from within oneself—
Faust	That is enough. No further information is to be divulged to outsiders.
Don Quixote	Y-yet it matters not whether young Mayors and young Amiya learn of this…
Outis	I agree with that fool this time. The Inquisitor used an artillery projectile that penetrates the outer wall—several of them, in fact—of a building, and the Head did not pursue her following that breach of taboo. This is clearly… not the City.
Heathcliff	Ain’t it better to let her talk her heart out than to hear her moan and whine about not being able to say anything?
Faust	... I am convinced.
Faust	Do as you will, then.
Faust’s reply sounded almost sulking, but Don Quixote immediately began to expound upon E.G.O to Irene and Mayors anyway…
... But everyone was too busy to pay attention to her, as the wet, slithering noise from a distance had put everyone on edge.
Irene	Can we do that later? We’ve got some cleaning up to do.
Mayors	So there were more Sea Terrors… past the door.
Dante	<I think any Sea Terrors from the sea are all converging around Skadi.>
Dante	<Which means our only roadblocks are Sea Terrors still lingering around the lighthouse.>
Dante	<Let’s go. Let’s take this lighthouse back.>

Episode: 12
Location: Eye of Iberia, Entrance
There were more Sea Terrors than we expected near the lighthouse, but…
… thanks to Irene’s lamp, the light of which paralyzed their nervous systems, paired with the rather narrow passageways, we were able to handle them without much trouble.
Location: Eye of Iberia, Control Room
Also, as the control room was, unlike the exterior wall, mostly undamaged.
Faust shared the good news that the repairs most likely won't take very long.
Amiya	Yi Sang was right. Fortunately, the inside is barely damaged.
Yi Sang	How are you progressing, Miss Faust?
Faust	It is almost complete. We best prepare to leave.
Amiya	Then I’ll radio the Doctor! Let’s s—ah!
A tremor shakes the building with a loud boom, and debris begins to fall from the ceiling.
The lighthouse's precarious floor suddenly collapses from the shock...
Sinclair	AAAAAAAH! The floor, the floor’s giving way!
Dante	<W-what’s going on out there?>
Irene	Something… something rammed against the Eye of Iberia…
Yi Sang	... I see aught shattering through the ocean surface, the sheer explosive force turning water into mist…
Yi Sang	And... it is charging at us once again.
As Yi Sang noted, I saw the shadow of a dark figure through the ruptured outer wall of the lighthouse, charging ferociously at the ruined structure.
The figure looked a lot like one of those ‘knights’ of the City's western region Don Quixote would talk at length about.
Amiya	The lighthouse might crumble at this rate.
Dante	<… Then we have no choice. We have to stop whatever's out there.>
Dante	<Faust, stay here. The rest of us will descend the lighthouse and—>
Mayors	The lighthouse is almost fully functional. It’ll only take some finishing touches to have its light shine again.
Mayors	… Which I can handle, so I’ll stay behind.
Outis	Seems entirely unnecessary to leave the rest to you. I would much rather leave it to Faust, who is an expert—
Mayors	I've read about that Seaborn before.
Mayors	The fables and legends say that he is ‘The Last Knight’. And if those stories have any grain of truth in them… you’re going to need all hands on deck to even have a chance at stalling it.
Irene	You… You better prepare for a few days of interrogations once I bring you into the Inquisition.
Outis	… Your decision, Executive Manager?
Dante	<All hands on deck. Leave the lighthouse to Mayors. We have to put a stop to that knight somehow.>
Waves crest high and violent behind the spear-wielding knight.
We have to protect the already precarious lighthouse against the knight…
The knight begins to charge at us, his steed splitting the very sea—and I instinctively know that this isn't going to be easy.

Episode: 13
Location: Eye of Iberia, Entrance
Irene	I’m out of rounds. The lamp’s almost out, too…
Ishmael	We’re holding him back for now, but… we won’t last much longer.
Ryoshu	No B.S. I can last. The lighthouse, not so much.
Sinclair	Nngh… What difference does that make?!
Sinners were reeling from the battle against this enemy, who is more like a force of nature than human…
Without giving us much time to breathe, the knight fixes the spear and begins charging at us again.
It didn't take very long for the severity of the situation to dawn as I quickly began to wrack my head with a desperate wish—what can I do? What can I do here...?
That’s when, through the mist, the black space begins to envelop my vision once again.
Dante	<Wait, this is just like…>
Location: -1
And from the dark, light shines again.
I reach out toward it, and see... Unlike in the earlier phenomenon, which focused entirely and powerfully on Skadi, a single individual, what I saw this time was… an unfamiliar place called Kazimierz.
This place was filled to the brim with things that Don Quixote would lose her mind over, like knights and their countless fans, an arena in which to test one’s mettle…
… but the one in Amiya’s thoughts sits far from all of that glory, in a very mundane-looking office.
He wears a well-kempt set of clothing, while his eyes are, with a slight squint, focused on reading the newspaper.
The man looked more like an office worker than a knight, but… the most radiant part of that scene was a banner hanging on the wall, and a sword.
Don Quixote was the first Sinner who came to mind. Can she, our ardent admirer of knights and pursuer of glory, spin that energy from his sword as her own?
Dante	<Wait, no... he's different. He's...>
I need someone who doesn't pursue glory—someone who can handle their own tarnished glory.
The Sinner who can detachedly wield the entirety of their bygone honor is...
... Yes, there's just one.
Location: Eye of Iberia, Entrance
Dante	<I’ll trust you, Gregor.>
Dante	<Use this E.G.O to hew into the knight's charge. Split the waves.>
Gregor	... Use the light to split the waves, huh.
Gregor	I hear you, Manager Bud. Let’s do this.
The incandescent, golden blades of light surge forth, cleaving through the darkness of the sea.
The knight withstands and parries each of those lights away, but he comes to a stop when the last of the golden radiance cuts across the sea, and looks in our direction as if to admire it.
And finally…
… the lighthouse makes a low, resonant creaking noise before firing a bright light toward the ocean horizon.
Faust	Mayors has completed the repairs.
Don Quixote	Ooohh! The light returneth to its house once more!
Outis	Silence, all! Mayors is saying something.
Like Outis said, Mayors was peeking out of the window and shouting something at us.
Mayors	Vessel Masas is still near the shores, somewhere in the coastal sea! It moored somewhere by the beach, somewhere quite a bit of distance away from the village coast!
Amiya	Confirmed! I’ll radio Dr. Kal’tsit immediately.
Gregor	Phew… that’s all well and good, but… what about that monster?
Sinclair	Y-yeah. What if it charges at the lighthouse again and destroys it…?
Outis	I heard it talk during our battle, but... I don't think that creature is capable of actually communicating with them. Tsk, this'll be a problem...
Don Quixote	…….
Sinclair	Don Quixote? Wait, don’t get too close to it! It’s too dangerous!
But before we could stop her, Don Quixote had already approached as close as she could to the Seaborn, her eyes twinkling.
She takes a brief moment to admire the knight and his steed… before asking in an energetic tone.
Don Quixote	O mighty knight! What is the name of thy noble steed?
The Last Knight	…….
The Last Knight	Roci… nante…
Dante	<Wait, she can communicate with him…?>
Don Quixote	Ooooo!!! ‘Tis quite the coincidence, then! Mine noble steed is also named Rocinante!
The Last Knight	One… who is not a comrade… They are… a steed, you say…?
Don Quixote	Forsooth, a steed most fine indeed! It hath served me well over countless adventures of mine, despite its appearance!
Don Quixote	Yet I must inquire thee, noble knight; wherefore dost thou strike this lighthouse so?
The Last Knight	Ishar… mla…
The Last Knight	… It was not the waves… The waves are… darker… more raucous…
Don Quixote	Hm hm, perchance there was a tad inconvenient misunderstanding here, then!
Don Quixote	Good Knight, I, and mine compatriots are now embarking upon an adventure most important; yet, with thy obstruction, we are unable to do so.
Don Quixote	Prithee, wilt thou return to whence thou came?
Don Quixote regarded the knight with a stance that was at once courteous and brave...
And the knight and his steed Rocinante… stared wordlessly back at Don Quixote.
I wasn’t sure if she managed to get through to the knight, or if the knight just lost interest, but…
… they both departed the lighthouse, looking out to the far distance.
Mayors	… So they really exist. Seaborns who hope for something other than just survival.
Irene	Such powerful Seaborns lurk at sea…
Rodion	A-are ya alright, Donqui?
Outis	You should be thankful that it somehow yielded a positive outcome. When are you going to fix that habit of rushing forward without thinking it through…?
Don Quixote	Ahem, mine apologies…
While Don Quixote returned the knight with that bizarre conversation, Amiya raised her voice happily as though she just received good news.
Amiya	What!? Dr. Kal’tsit, is that true?
Dante	<What’s going on?>
Amiya	The Doctor’s managed to infiltrate the vessel Masas. They’re already done cleaning up the decks, and are now waiting for the rest of us to arrive.
Outis	… But it’s been hardly ten minutes since the lighthouse came on.
Amiya	The Doctor's an excellent strategist. And based on what Dr. Kal'tsit told us... I think they already had some plans in motion before we activated the lighthouse.
Dante	<Great. Let’s return to Skadi and join them.>
We returned to the raft and explained what had transpired.
Skadi listened to us quietly before replying in the exact same manner as she did before.
Skadi	Someone’s going to have to stay behind.
Skadi	I’ll stay. Go find the vessel Masas.
Irene	You’re going to refuse again if we offer help, aren't you?
Skadi	... Yes.
Amiya	Then I’ll see you after we retrieve the vessel Masas. I’ll let the Doctor know what happened here.
Rodion	What an oddball.

Episode: 14
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Amiya	This is the Doctor, researcher at Rhodes Island.
Dante	<N-nice to meet you.>
When I, after everything we went through, finally had the chance to meet the Doctor of Rhodes Island, I realized that I had been building a vastly different image of them in my mind based on the name alone.
I was thinking they were going to be someone like Yi Sang, Faust, or… Hohenheim from LCE.
But… the first impression of them was similar to what I felt when I met a K Corp. employee.
Doctor	The clock just… ticked…
Amiya	And this is Dante, a manager at Limbus Company. That ticking just now was “nice to meet you”.
Doctor	O...kay.
Doctor	Thanks for accompanying Amiya. Honestly, I was pretty worried when we were separated at the border.
Dante	<I should thank you and Amiya, actually. We would’ve been in a real pickle without her, so...>
Doctor	…….
Amiya	I-it’s a bit embarrassing to repeat that myself.
Hong Lu	Dante says that we would’ve been in a real pickle without Miss Amiya~
Gregor	Sorry, Manager Bud can’t talk human, so… don’t worry about it. We’ll take over the translation.
Meursault	It is incorrect to state that the manager cannot ‘talk human’. A more accurate assessment would state that the manager is incapable of accessing sonic means of communication, which includes verbal communication; however, they are able to produce repetition of multiple sounds that may register on a similar scale to the ticking of multiple hands—second hands, minute hands—of a clock.
Dante	<I dunno, something about the way Meursault put it sounds… worse…>
Kal’tsit	Don't worry. It is not a difficult task when only a single individual has to be translated.
Kal’tsit	Doctor, let us move on to the next steps of the plan.
Dante	<Next steps?>
Doctor	Thanks to Limbus Company’s efforts, we obtained the exact coordinates of the vessel Masas, and managed to capture the decks with ease.
Doctor	However, Fabius, who is suspected to be a Bishop of the Deep, and his followers, have barricaded themselves inside the bridge’s control room.
Doctor	While it may seem as though they’re hiding, I believe they’re trying to bait us.
Outis	As in, they are waiting for us to enter the bridge before summoning reinforcements from elsewhere to trap us in a pincer attack?
Doctor	Something like that. The ‘elsewhere’ is most likely to be the sea, as their reinforcements are probably more Sea Terrors.
Irene	Fabius is a Seaborn. And the ocean will answer to the call of their kind.
Doctor	Limbus Company and Irene will head to the bridge and neutralize Fabius. Amiya and I will accompany you to provide support and identify the situation within the bridge.
Doctor	In the meantime, Kal’tsit and the other operators will remain on standby on the ship’s exterior at the pre-designated locations. I’d like to avoid getting surrounded by Sea Terrors before we manage to take down the Church of the Deep within the bridge.
Outis	I observed several entry points leading straight to the bridge while we were working on repairing the vessel.
Outis	Your force doesn't seem numerous enough to close off all of them.
Doctor	It’s true that there are many entry points here, but we don’t need forces guarding every single one of them. Especially here—the hallway is narrow, long, and straight, so…
Outis	… Makes sense to me. How about here? Are you sure you’re not overly focusing your forces to a single checkpoint?
Doctor	Ah, let’s see. But on closer look…
Gregor	Looks like commanding officer Outis is finally in her environment.
Gregor	Got any questions, Manager Bud?
Dante	<I have no idea what they’re talking about, if I’m being honest…>
Amiya	Really? I saw you commanding the Sinners earlier. You seemed pretty adept at giving orders and making strategic decisions…
Kal’tsit	Indeed, they seem quite adept at making on-the-spot strategic commands and identifying exploitable weaknesses and patterns in their enemies.
Kal’tsit	However, the Doctor and the outsider are operating on fundamentally different fields. No further elaboration is necessary.
Faust	Agreed. That particular aspect of strategizing is not one of manager Dante's obligations; and even if there is a chance for them to engage in such elements, it may be too early to do so.
Kal’tsit	... Is that so.
Faust	It is. At least that is what Faust has judged.
Heathcliff	… What are they on about?
Irene	I was about to ask that myself.
Dante	<I don’t know… I have no idea.>
Having finished her discussion with the Doctor over the plan, Outis returned wearing a grim look.
Dante	<Huh? Is there something wrong with the plan?>
Outis	… No. There wasn’t anything wrong with the plan.
Outis	I expected a certain degree of competency, but they were impressive, far beyond my expectations.
Rodion	Really? That good, huh?
Outis	Even when I think back to my days in the line of duty… I can’t think of too many like them.
Heathcliff	Right, so they’re dependable. Good enough for me. If your strategizin’s done, let’s get crackin'.
Yi Sang	What of you, Miss Mayors? If it is too much to face what awaits, then you need not follow us.
Mayors	I decided to stay here anyway.
Amiya	The Doctor's going to update you in real-time on where the safe zones are. So... please keep that communicator close to you.
Mayors	I will.
Mayors	Hey, if Gramps—
Hong Lu	Is there something you would like for us to do?
Mayors	It's... no, it's nothing.
Doctor	... If there's something you want to tell him, contact us through the communicator at any time.
Doctor	We're going to find a way to resolve this as peacefully as we can, but if the negotiations break down...
Mayors	Yeah. I know what you mean, Doctor.
Mayors	Be safe, everyone.
Dante	<…….>
Leaving Mayors behind with her unfinished sentence...
... we followed the Rhodes Island team into the bridge.
Location: Vessel Masas Bridge Interior
The bridge was as gaudily decorated as ever.
Fabius, flanked by hooded followers and Sea Terrors, greeted us with a kindly smile.
Fabius	Welcome.
Don Quixote	I truly did appreciate thy kindness… Wherefore didst thou seek to harm us?!
Fabius	Your suspicions are certainly justified. But I implore you to think back.
Fabius	If you truly believe that we had sought to harm you then... how would you explain that one peaceful night you had spent in Faro Muerto?
Fabius	I—we—have never wished you any harm; we did not then, and we do not now.
Gregor	Huh. Not even a day after you folks stabbed us in the back like cowards, and you want us to believe that?
Fabius	Our wish has always been the same. We only wished to extend the freedom to roam the seas to those with capable, kindhearted souls.
Heathcliff	Mate, we know you were just tryin’ to turn us into sea monsters of some kind!
Fabius	"Monster" is only a name. The essence of its being changes not regardless of the label given to it.
Fabius	Become one with the sea, become one with the endless cycle of life... and one day, your misunderstandings will end, and you will come to understand us.
Doctor	…….
Doctor	Looks like... this fight between us... is going to be unavoidable.
I pulled out the Identity Cards the moment I saw Fabius raising his hand.
The Doctor seemed to have finished their preparations as well, as they and Amiya stood opposite Fabius.
Amiya	Incoming! Get ready, everyone!
Doctor	... Let's stop them here for good, no matter how long it takes.
Their strategic formation prioritized reducing sacrifices to the absolute minimum…
... Their commands sought to protect, sought to defend, and their forces were quick to follow them.
Rhodes Island's operation was certainly impressive, but... that's not exactly our style.
All I can do is put my faith in the Sinners, and push them onward.
Our style is...
Dante	<... Trust me to bring you back, no matter how many times they cut you down.>
Dante	<Let's wipe them out.>

Episode: 15
Location: Vessel Masas Bridge Interior
Irene	They’re pretty persistent…!
Fabius flees again, using Sea Terrors and his followers as meatshields.
Wait, no. I see it now.
It's not Fabius who's putting them in harm's way to save himself...
The Sea Terrors and the cultists are throwing themselves in our way, entirely willing to sacrifice their lives to ensure that Fabius gets away.
But for all that, the only place left for him to flee on the ship, wounded and cornered by the Sinners and Irene’s lamplight… was the decks.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Doctor	Nowhere left to run, Fabius.
Gregor	… I understand you can’t help but continue to thrash and struggle to live, even knowing that there’s no hope.
Gregor	But running’ll only make your pain worse.
???	That’s different.
???	Fabi didn’t run to live.
A voice echoes from under the dark sky…
Amiya	Mayors…?
… Mayors, appearing quite different from how she did a moment ago.
She approaches Fabius slowly, her expression solemn and mournful. She looks down at him wordlessly.
Mayors	I told you that your methods won't win their understanding, Fabi.
Fabius	Ha ha... what a shame. I thought those with such wisdom and aptitude... would.
Mayors	... I hoped you would still be able to realize your ideal here, even after I'd left.
Fabius	It will be realized... Fabius may die here... but we... will remain.
Fabius	Now, it is time. Devour... me...
What Fabius blurted out threw us off once again, even before we regained our footing from the shock of realizing Mayors's true allegiance.
Eat... people...?
Ryoshu	Oho. Looks like they're about to give us a live demonstration of some gourmet art.
Rodion	I heard it's a pretty common thing in the District 23 Backstreets... but I'd... I'd rather not see it in person... H-hey, I think I'm just gonna look away, that's okay, right?
Doctor	Just what...?
Kal’tsit	... Doctor, weaker Seaborns willingly let themselves be devoured by stronger ones, thereby sharing their experiences and nutrients with them. This is a commonly accepted practice among them.
Kal’tsit	It is but a behavior that prioritizes survival over all else; this isn't done in any sense of sacrifice.
Irene	…….
Fabius	The time is here… Devour me… set sail… toward your ideal…
Mayors	Sorry, Fabi.
Mayors	I've still got some canned food left for me on this ship, and... I think I'll delay becoming a Seaborn for a little while.
Fabius	… Why…?
Mayors	I’ve found a new destination.
Mayors	I’ll gain a new power from there… and then become a Seaborn. So now is not yet the time.
Fabius	… If… that is your will, O Bishop…
Mayors	Don’t worry. Your flesh… will fatten the bloodkin of the sea.
Mayors waves her hand, and Sea Terrors climb up to the vessel from the ship and begin tearing Fabius to pieces.
Despite the way it looked, Fabius looked... exhilarted, nary a look of suffering or pain wrinkling his face as they ripped his flesh apart.
We turned away from this scene that could not be described as anything else other than cannibalism to look at Mayors.
Doctor	Kal’tsit, is she…
Kal’tsit	Don't need to ask questions when the answer lies plainly before you, Doctor.
Don Quixote	W-what is happening? Wherefore did young Mayors…?
Dante	<It wasn’t Fabius.>
Dante	<Mayors… was the Bishop of the Deep.>

Episode: 16
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Outis	... They've played us.
Doctor	Don't despair, we still have the upper hand.
Doctor	We defeated Fabius and his cultists already, and even if they were to summon more Sea Terrors, we should be able to handle them without much trouble.
Irene	Hey, Ægir. Just what were you thinking the entire time as you deceived us?
Mayors	…….
I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say to that.
She was either going to say that it was for our sake, that it wasn’t a deception at all…
… or maybe she’ll give us one final gloating.
But her reply, the words of which were carefully selected after gazing out at the far ocean, was… not what any of us could have expected.
Mayors	I’m sorry.
Mayors	I thought this would be the better way to approach you. But I see how it can come across as nothing more than deception.
Dante	<…….>
Dante	<You’re… sorry? Why?>
Hong Lu	Dante wants to know why you’re sorry.
Mayors	Huh? Well, that’s because I… did something wrong.
Ishmael	Wait, wait. Hold on.
Ishmael	You’ve been deceiving us all along, Mayors. And now you’re gonna—?
Doctor	…….
Heathcliff	Oi... what exactly are you after?
Heathcliff	You're after the same thing that the geezer was, ain't that right? Turn us into your "bloodkins", that it was "all for our sake", givin' all kinds of ridiculous excuses to turn us into one of those monsters—!
Mayors	I do hope that you would all one day accept becoming Seaborns.
Mayors	But... I'm not about to demand that you let yourselves be transformed today, right here and now. I understand that we all need some time to mentally prepare ourselves.
Yi Sang	May I understand your statement to be implying that you will not be forcing this upon us, should we refuse?
Mayors	That's correct. It'd be against manners to do what Fabius did, shoving Sea Terror cells inside your body out of nowhere.
Gregor	Manners, huh.
While I was taken aback by the fact that Mayors was a Bishop of the Deep...
... it was also true that Mayors had never tried to bring us harm, unlike Fabius who attacked the Sinners directly.
While she did almost get us in big trouble with Irene while explaining things to us...
... it's also true that Mayors has been extremely helpful so far—it was her who led us to the lighthouse, and it was her who stayed in that crumbling lighthouse until the repairs were done as that terrifying knight continued to assail its walls.
Dante	<What was your actual relationship to Fabius, anyway?>
Mayors	Just someone who also once strove to realize the visions of our ideal worlds. Our goals once converged, but... not now.
Mayors	I was pretty taken aback too, when they attacked you back at the village. Maybe he got... greedy when he saw Faust and Outis repairing the ship.
Irene	He got... greedy?
Mayors	Fabius believed that welcoming capable people as bloodkin would expedite Seaborns' evolution.
Rodion	Cool, cool. So you're like some cult leader, but you don't necessarily want to antagonize us... You still haven't told us what you're after, though?
Mayors	I’m going to the City that lies beyond the dimensional door.
Irene	... So, you're trying to flee to a different world where the Inquisition won't be able to chase you?
Mayors	This isn’t running away.
Mayors	I just want to help the people of the City, that’s all.
Mayors	So… I’m bringing the Seaborns with me to the City.
Outis	Don't tell me... You're going to invade the City alongside those monsters, then...?
Then, the foghorn suddenly blared, and the ship shook as it began to move.
Ishmael	…!?
Ishmael	Vessel Masas has begun to move…
Doctor	Is this… an automated sailing program?
Mayors	The vessel Masas will now sail toward the dimensional door.
Mayors	I’ll let Rhodes Island and Irene go right in front of the door, so don’t worry.
Irene	... Did you seriously just tell us to not worry?
Dante	<Faust...!>
Faust	Please calm yourself, Dante. It has not yet been determined if that is indeed the dimensional door connecting directly back to the City.
Mayors	No, it has to be.
Mayors	The warm, shining light… and the voice from within… is getting clearer and clearer.
Faust	…….
Outis	... Why don’t we just let them into the City?
Outis	The battles thus far have done well enough to demonstrate the level of danger Seaborns pose. However, I doubt they'll get very far even if they were to enter the City, don't you agree?
Outis	In Hongyuan, we've all seen what happens when sapient, sentient nonhuman entities enter the City. The Head will take action the moment they realize their presence.
Outis	Of course, we must prepare ourselves for repercussions in case they decide to hold Limbus Company responsible once the dust settles. Yet, it is also very likely that we will fully escape any culpability... as we saw in the memories of the Kong massacre.
Dante	< ... Your thoughts, Faust?>
Faust	Urban Nightmare… However, considering their specific attributes, it will not take long for them to rise to become a Star of the City level threat.
Faust	There is a reasonable possibility that they may be issued the Impuritas Civitatis classification.
Outis	Is that not… an acceptable risk? If not the Head, they should be manageable by a Wing. This isn’t that terrible of a calamity—
But Kal'tsit shook her head resolutely.
Kal’tsit	No.
Kal’tsit	Your technology seems to be based on something else, which is neither Originium Arts nor any of its derived technology.
Kal’tsit	And that is precisely what could make your world vulnerable against Seaborns.
Doctor	Is it because they learn fast?
Kal’tsit	Yes. Those on the frontlines of the war against Seaborns stubbornly stick to using traditional, low-tech weapons.
Kal’tsit	Deploying high-technology weapons against them is only going to make you an enticing meal.
Heathcliff	Then can't we just let whichever unfortunate Wing that ends up fighting these—
Faust	... Do take into account that it may take a significant amount of time to earn their trust. Even if they were to be convinced, there would be other parties with alternative... perspectives on the matter, complicating issues.
Outis	The situation will rapidly grow out of control if Backstreets Syndicates or Fixers get involved, unless the Head designates a taboo to prevent it... Even then, considering what she has been saying...
Faust	Yes, we must consider the possibility that they may be capable of absorbing the Head's technology as well, before they are expelled from the City.
Hong Lu	…….
Hong Lu	How do you plan on helping the people of the City, Mayors?
Mayors	By giving them a chance to become Seaborns.
Irene	W-what are you on about? Become... Seaborns?
Dante	<…….>
Heathcliff	She ain't all there either, eh...? What kind of "help" is that?!
Amiya	Mayors, you know that's no different from what the Church of the Deep is doing here.
Mayors	No, it is different.
Mayors	Because someone... showered the City with the 'light'.
Dante	<The light...?>
Faust	The beam of light from the White Nights and Dark Days incident. How do you—
Faust	Could it be...?
Mayors	Becoming a Seaborn... is to become a part of a great will called <i>We Many</i>.
Mayors	By doing so, one can be reborn as an altruistic lifeform... but at the cost of ego, the sense of self.
Mayors	And that’s always been my issue with it.
Mayors	Everyone has beliefs of their own… dreams of their own. It feels too empty to lose all of that when they inevitably lose their sense of selves as they become Seaborns.
Mayors	Look, I want each ‘Seaborn’ to have their own wishes.
Mayors	But the light shining through the dimensional door to our world is too… faint to push them toward that evolution.
Mayors	If only the light of the City could become more tangible… it just might be able to give every Seaborn an identity of their own, to remain uniquely themselves.
Yi Sang	Then why is it that you advocate toward those of the City to join the Seaborns, when one could simply learn more of the light afore returning here?
Mayors	At first, I thought all I needed was the clue to a better evolution. But… Don Quixote’s tales of adventures changed my mind.
Don Quixote	Mine… adventures?
Mayors	You don’t understand just how precarious you all are.
Mayors	And how would you? When you were born into that kind of world from the very start?
Mayors	A place where life has become a commodity and gold one of its few religions?
Mayors	The City has abandoned its yesterdays to survive today, and by doing so, has given up on its tomorrows.
Mayors	Just as I needed the light, the City needs Seaborns.
Mayors	It needs their tenacious hold to life, and their absolute, unconditional selflessness.
Sinclair	But at the end of the day, it still means that everyone has to turn into monsters.
Mayors	People ostracize ‘the other’.
Mayors	Something that isn't like me, something that feels alien to me, something I don't know or understand...
Mayors	So that fear is natural. Because Seaborns are... not human.
Mayors	But you just have to cross that threshold once.
Hong Lu	Miss Mayors, do you believe the nature of humanity to be... evil?
Mayors	Humans are... selfish, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Good things can come from selfishness, that’s for sure.
Mayors	But... the side effects have become simply unsustainable.
Mayors	Doctor, you’ve been to countless battlefields where Rhodes Island has fought tooth and nail for the rights of the Infected. But what came of it? Peace?
Don Quixote	…….
Doctor	… No. It’s the same.
Doctor	But still… we’re all still getting better, little by little.
Mayors	… I’m not trying to deride those small, incremental steps and call them meaningless. Change takes time, and should it continue, I believe your efforts can be a beacon of light that will lead humanity toward a brighter future.
Mayors	But what about everyone who is sacrificed while you're taking your time, taking those incremental steps?
Mayors	Every single day of that incremental change is marred by unjust deaths. Some are enslaved for no other reason than their differences. People live on in that despair that seems to have no end.
Rodion	…….
Mayors	I agree with what the light told me.
Mayors	People are diseased. They're so sick that, even in the far-flung future, even on the day the world ends, they will continue to fail to look forward, obsessed with scrutinizing each other in search of those differences.
Mayors	Even when every Ægir returns to sea, they’re still going to bully and hate anyone with pointed ears, labeling them Ægirs.
Mayors	Even when Oripathy is truly eradicated, people are still going to suspect and persecute someone as the Infected.
Mayors	People are imperfect beings.
Mayors	You’re right. There probably isn’t anyone out there who can… really sacrifice themselves for the sake of others with nothing but perfect selflessness.
Mayors	But not when it comes to Seaborns.
Mayors	They don't suffer from all this absurdity, nor are they coerced to sacrifice against their will. They have the power to progress toward a better future built from mutual understanding.
Mayors	Because they're the kind of lifeform that seeks common ground instead of scrutinizing for differences.
Hong Lu	The bells...
A strange-shaped form shimmers and materializes before Mayors.
I couldn't quite tell what it was, but it was round, and it looked like... a 'tool'.
Faust	... It is possible that she had already met the conditions to effloresce.
Faust	A possible explanation would be the absence of the particular 'pull' required to draw it out of her—or the insufficiency of it.
Amiya	This isn't anything like... the Arts. What... what is happening in front of Miss Mayors...?
Doctor	... Is our proximity to the dimensional door increasing the potency of influences coming over from "The City"?
Faust	... Precisely.
Faust	The connection to Faust returning to... normal levels seems to indicate that.
Dante	<W-wait, can people in other worlds—I mean, Mayors... also manifest E.G.O?>
Faust	Internal conflict and anguish is a commonality among every intelligent entity, regardless of whether they are from the City or not, therefore... Yes, Faust is quite positive on this possibility as well.
Faust	... However.
Mayors	What? What… what does that mean…?
Faust	... The potential to effloresce an E.G.O...
Faust	... implies the potential to Distort as well.
Location: -1
You've been dreaming for a long time, Mayors. Drawing your own picture of an idealized world.
And you have chosen the ocean as the means to building a path toward that vision.
Yet... why have you failed to take the leap of faith yourself?
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Mayors	... I had to make preparations.
Mayors	Seaborns are beautiful, there’s no doubt about it. It's just that… a key piece was missing to really achieve what I want.
You're not being honest with yourself.
Location: -1
I know it very well that you were afraid of becoming one of them.
The fear that your own creed might crumble, that you might lose your own sense of self, your ego.
The fear that you might end up becoming nothing more than just another thing swept up by the ineffably overwhelming will.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Mayors	... Isn’t it terrifying? That this hope can just… disappear in a blink?
Amiya	Who is she talking to?
Doctor	... Is this something Limbus Company has experience with? If so, I'd appreciate an explanation.
Heathcliff	…….
Heathcliff	... She's hearing that voice.
Faust	When that singular faith that one had absolute confidence in... breaks in one fell swoop, and their ironclad will is shattered...
Faust	... people of the City have the potential to Distort into a monstrous form at any time.
Faust	It is said that these phenomena are... often accompanied by the Distorting individual hearing a disembodied voice.
Yi Sang	Indeed, those who Distort would oft behave as though they were engaged in a conversation. Of course, the same could be said for those who awaken E.G.O...
Heathcliff	... At first, I thought it was Cathy. But it wasn't her.
Heathcliff	The voice was beautiful, comforting, and even... cosy. The kind of voice that puts all deep contemplation to sleep, so calm and... so warm...
Meursault	…….
Meursault	It—no. There is more to the sunshine than its warmth.
Dante	<The sunshine...?>
Location: -1
You don't share your interest with the other devotees—"survival" isn't what you care about.
What you really care about is giving everyone a chance to experience what it feels like to live in a world of warmth... ephemeral it may be.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Mayors	Right, we have to be about more than just prolonging our existences.
Mayors	What really matters isn't survival... it's what we leave behind for posterity, our legacy.
Mayors	As long as there’s a guarantee that the light can indeed protect the sense of self… it’ll be more than enough to convince people to become Seaborns.
Location: -1
Please, you don’t have to concern yourself with what other people might think, Mayors.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Mayors	… But everyone has their own wishes.
Mayors	I can’t just bulldoze over theirs to force mine upon them.
Location: -1
But that’s not what you really believe, is it? You know that better than anyone.
While you hesitate, countless people who are bound to the inescapable bridle will continue to suffer.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Mayors	…….
Mayors	That-that might be true, but…
Location: -1
It's okay. You don’t have to hide the shape of your heart, its colors.
The only thing you have to concern yourself with is… how you can lead the people of the City… and then Terra.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Doctor	Okay, we can't just sit here and let this happen. Operators, to positions—
Amiya	Operators unable to approach! She's surrounded by a strange field, Doctor!
Whenever someone would Distort due to reasons other than the Monolith... a strange pressure would prevent our approach, as though to stop us from interfering.
Looks like that applies here, too. All the way over in another world...
Location: -1
Love is our collective destination, after all…
So please, let go of this tool that might break your heart.
Don’t force yourself to walk the path of thorns. Your pilgrimage needn't be that of suffering.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Mayors	No, I… I…
Location: -1
You don’t believe in any recourse, do you? Other than this, anyway.
Mayors	…!
Don’t you think we should find a better, faster path with less suffering? Before more people inevitably hurt each other with their ill-intent?
Mayors	You’re… you’re right.
Mayors	If there is no recourse… it has to happen faster. I can’t waste any more time while people suffer.
Follow your wishes, follow your desires…
... and paint. Let's show them the painting of your world reflected in your eyes.
Mayors	Before the compassion they believe in… becomes completely worthless.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	…….
Dante	<... I understand the shape of your heart, and what makes you want to enter the City. >
Dante	<But we still know so little about the Seaborns, about Terra, about Iberia.>
Dante	<Whatever may have lit the fire under your feet...>
Dante	<... I can't bring you with us to the City as you are now.>
Even before the Sinners had the chance to translate my words, Mayors slowly turned in my direction as though she clearly understood my words.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	But I must, Dante.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	Your adventures were full of exhilarating tales, and I saw kindness in the every word and action of you and your friends, but...
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	That's not enough.
Amiya	You don't think they'll... change?
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	No, they will.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	In the far, far future.
An incandescent brilliance burst forth from before Mayors.
Location: Mayors's Dungeon of the Fathoms
Past that light, I saw the ocean.
The calm sound of gently lapping, crashing waves; the immense, golden brilliance.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Doctor	A portal...? Where did it come from?
Dante	<... Dungeon of the Fathoms.>
Kal’tsit	... A gate that leads into one's heart.
Faust	This periphery... is where LCB department's speciality begins.
Faust	... While what lies beyond this periphery does not necessarily warrant Rhodes Island's presence...
Dante	<Can you guys help? I don't know what kind of fathoms I'm walking into, but... I have a feeling that we're going to need your assistance.>
Amiya	Doctor. Dr. Kal'tsit.
Doctor	... We're only here to investigate the dimensional door, but... I don't want us to turn our backs on people we can help.
Amiya	Rhodes Island... accepts Limbus Company's cooperation request.
Irene	I'll go, too.
Irene	You're still in Iberia. I can't let Iberian business be handled solely by outsiders, let alone an incident connected to the Church of the Deep.
Ishmael	Don't worry, it's not like this is the first time we're letting someone not in our group into a Dungeon of the Fathoms. We'll be fine.
Kal’tsit	... More Sea Terrors.
Kal’tsit	Given the circumstances, it seems very likely that Sea Terrors that were swarming the lighthouse are coming this way as well. I'll call Skadi here.
Doctor	You'll be staying behind, then?
Kal’tsit	Amiya will go with you, Doctor.
Following Mayors, who had already disappeared into the portal...
... we take our steps into the utopian world beyond.

Episode: 17
Location: Ægir, Mayors's House
Mayors	News of the war’s getting grimmer by the day.
Mayors	The Sea Terrors are coming, swarming.
Mayors	This is the day when the oceanborn calamity broke and sunk Ægir’s seemingly infinite, starward growth.
Fellow Researcher	Aren’t you going to the surface, Mayors? More and more people have been getting too anxious to stay in Ægir.
Mayors	I’m not. If Ægir falls, it only means that the surface is soon to follow.
Mayors	Why? Think you’ll head to the surface, too?
Fellow Researcher	I’m thinking about it.
Mayors	While there weren’t that many, people around me began to leave for the surface.
Mayors	I considered some of them to be close acquaintances; they all tried to convince me to leave with them,
Mayors	but fleeing my home in favor of the land didn’t feel right.
Mayors	The foretold calamity descended.
Mayors	It dealt a heavy blow to Ægir, but the surface suffered much worse.
Mayors	I had to help them. How could I not, after hearing that such a terrible thing has happened?
Mayors	I think I’ll head to the surface.
Fellow Researcher	Seriously, the surface? Think hard about it before you go. If you leave now, coming back might no longer be an option!
Every day must be a struggle for them. At least I don’t have to fear for the immediate tomorrow…
So it’s my responsibility to provide help, as someone who is better off than them, even by a little.
Mayors	I know. But if I don’t go there to help… things'll only get much more dangerous for the land-dwellers.
Fellow Researcher	… Maybe that danger is the very thing that’ll hurt you.
Mayors	I still think I have to help them.
Mayors	I procured myself an Ægirian research vessel at a cheap price to bring me to the land.
Mayors	Unable to even submerge itself while moving, this wasn’t exactly the best ship out there, and I normally wouldn’t have even given it a second look…
Mayors	… But I thought it would at least help me navigate the coastal sea.
Mayors	I… didn’t expect this.
Location: -1
Mayors	The very first thing I witnessed on the surface…
Mayors	... was the bottomless hostility against the Ægir.
Mayors	They denied my—an Ægir's—offer for help, for the sole reason that I came from the sea.
Mayors	They denied my compassion. My research.
Townsfolk	Get lost!
Townsfolk	We don’t need your stupid research… You’re from the same place as that calamity, aren’t you? Do you really think we’re so stupid that we’d trust you?
Mayors	They confiscated my catalysts and tore my research apart.
Mayors	My wish to stand with them against the calamity was devoured by the hatred born of the same calamity.
Mayors	Any kindness, any compassion I gave them was repaid twofold in hatred and suspicion.
Did the terrible conditions of this land transform them into monsters, or was this always their nature?
It wasn’t long before the research vessel I brought from Ægir was confiscated out of suspicion…
Mayors	… A few weeks later, when I finally came across that vessel by the beach, there was an uncanny name inscribed on its side… Rebelión de las Masas.
Mayors	But none of that was enough to stop me… from continuing my research for the sake of the land-dwellers.
Mayors	I went through so, so many trials and errors to somehow impede the Sea Terrors’ rapid evolution, to revive the Iberian soil contaminated by the nethersea brand.
Mayors	But my work bore barely any fruit...
Mayors	... and I let the days float by as I watched the ‘Inquisition’ arrest the Ægir one by one…
... when my Sea Terror samples and research notes came into view.
They all looked completely different from one another–some of them with fundamentally different physiologies. Even still, nothing stopped them from being “us” instead of “I.”
And for the first time, I became doubtful of my efforts to interrupt their evolution.
Location: Mayors's Dungeon of the Fathoms
Don Quixote	Her tales were... not entirely fabrications.
Irene	Mayors is a Bishop of the Church of the Deep, so that automatically makes her a sinner in the eyes of the Inquisition—regardless of her reasons.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	The more I studied them, the more I found them to be such compassionate, altruistic creatures.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	All they cared about was their survival, without even a hint of selfishness.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	They're not some evil monsters from the sea.
Irene	…….
Irene	Mayors, I concede that Seaborns may not be "evil."
Irene	But it doesn’t matter "what" they are, whether they are kindly lifeforms, or whether they are simply a different form of civilization… it doesn't matter.
Irene	… Because Iberia and her Inquisition does not define Seaborns as evil.
Irene	Seaborns are our enemy.
Irene	Threats to human existence.
Irene	I have but one thing to say as an Inquisitor.
Irene	You, all of you, are my enemy.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	…….
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	But... it would be a good thing for the Inquisition if I were to leave for the City, wouldn’t it?
Irene	Why would you say that it's a "good thing" for us to toss our problem into another world?
Irene	That'll be like... abandoning our pride.
Irene	Unless they... the people of the City give you permission, as an Inquisitor, I can't let you do that.
Ishmael	Yeah, and don’t get your hopes up about that, either.
Ishmael	You can wrap it in a box that says "compassion" for all you want, but... Mayors, your course isn't exactly the direction I'd like to sail in.
As the rest of the Sinners prepare for battle in silent agreement with Ishmael's stand, Mayors mutters with genuine disappointment.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	... I didn't want to have to do this.
Waves.
I had no better word to describe the horde of Sea Terrors crashing into us.
Doctor	But this is the only way it could've ended.
Doctor	Your words are... composed entirely of your own color, and no one else's.
Doctor	Manager Dante... right?
Faust	Do speak.
Doctor	We will hold the line and defend this place against the Sea Terrors rushing in from the rear.
Doctor	So, in the meantime... can you take down Mayors and deal with the remaining Sea Terrors?
Dante	<Absolutely.>
Faust	The manager has responded affirmatively.
Doctor	All Operators, we'll be drawing the Sea Terrors to us.
Doctor	We don't need to take them all down—we just need to act as a wall between the wave and the people of Limbus Company.
Doctor	Irene, I would like to ask for your help as well. As for Amiya...
Doctor	... please assist Limbus Company, just in case.
Amiya	... Okay! Then... let the mission begin.

Episode: 18
Location: Vessel Masas Control Room, Past
Mayors	You've aged a lot since the last time we met, Fabi.
Fabius	... Is this a characteristic of your sub-race? You haven't aged a day.
Mayors	So... what brings you to the Church of the Deep?
Fabius	... Seaborns are indispensable in our preparation for the impending doom.
Fabius	Nothing... I mean nothing else can ensure the survival of humanity...
Fabius	Thus, it would only be right for me to join hands with those who are able and willing to become Seaborns... to search for a way to prolong our existences.
Mayors	You're looking to use the knowledge of the wise and the talented as nourishment for Seaborns.
Mayors	But that won’t do anything more than prolong our existences.
Fabius	Hm…? But is survival alone not enough?
Fabius	I thought a Bishop of the Church would share a majority of that belief with me.
Mayors	Fabi. You and I both have put our faith in the Seaborns. But… the word "faith" might mean something different for you than it does for me.
Mayors	Seaborns shouldn’t be our object of worship.
Mayors	We have to stand on equal ground as them, and set our eyes on their natures.
Location: Mayors's Dungeon of the Fathoms
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	Please, step aside.
Desperation, sadness, sympathy…
Mayors’s emotions gush upward, carried by bubbles.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	Terra, a land in which the hatred for the different has entrenched itself…
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	The City, a place in which people, crushed by the trials of life, have surrendered to its absurdities…
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	They both need the Seaborns, perfected beneath the light.
Faust	That is but your wish, Miss Mayors. Faust does not believe them to be necessary elements for the City.
Sinclair	… Even in the City, there are people who are searching for reasons to live on, dreaming of a better world.
Sinclair	We all know that it can’t possibly be easy to change. But there has to be some kind of worth, value, in that process alone… in the lives we lead within the City.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	What worth could there be to a life of the unkind?
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	The kind of life humanity is doomed to exist in, where all we ever do is hurt and hate one another?
Doctor	Listen. Efficient order, natural altruism...
Doctor	They're both virtues humanity should never lose sight of.
Doctor	But...
Doctor	There's no such thing as absolutes when it comes to the value of life.
Doctor	Survival is the right of all civilization.
Doctor	Which means that... it should never be up to others to define the worth of life, to argue for it.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	But… what if there’s no other way?
Location: Faro Muerto, Past
Sea Terror	…….
Mayors	Can you… even understand what I’m saying…?
Some time had passed since I made Faro Muerto my home.
Unlike my prediction, the Seaborns’ evolution seemed to have lost its explosive progress, and Fabius seemed to be content just observing their slow development.
Mayors	Maybe it’s because they're directionless, without a specific wish.
Even still, Seaborns were the key to changing Terra, the land.
To stand against the incoming calamity, we needed their survivability and adaptability.
And the humanity that has turned exhaustion into ill-intent needed the Seaborns’ blind, selfless altruism toward their own.
So, while I never stopped my studies…
… something small but sharp continued to stab at my frustrated heart…
… stultified and unable to be resolved.
Mayors	If we were to lose even our sense of selves and creed, assimilated into this stagnated great will…
For the sake of survival, civilization had to be no more; for the sake of "us," "I" had to be no more.
The realization of that paradox made the first crack in my confidence that Seaborns were the answer to the problem Iberia, the land, and humanity faced, and through the cracks the seeds of doubt were sown.
But I’d already come too far to find a path more beautiful than the Seaborns.
Mayors	… No more wasting time with these stupid ruminations.
Mayors	There has to be a way. Some kind of condition Seaborns need to fulfill to retain their sense of selves, to retain their individual hopes and wishes…
I stood adrift atop the inundation of years I dedicated to this purpose, holding onto this precious hope, and steeled my shaking heart.
And that was the easy part.
There are no better solutions. Don’t look away from the answer that lies right in front of me; all I need to do is to find a way for Seaborns to hope and wish, to have them each carry a sense of self.
I just had to repeat that to myself like a mantra, again and again.
But my drifting days came to an end when I found a new path, illuminated by the strange light from across the sea.
On that day, yes—the day when that faint blue light shone,
A whisper visited me.
Mayors	…!?
Mayors	Who’s there? Whose voice… is…
Mayors	What…
The answer, sought through the eons by people I didn’t recognize, played over and over in my ears.
The voice that spoke it was muffled but warm and beautiful…
Mayors	The light of the City...?
Mayors	The hearts that were lost, the emotions that were forgotten… the sense of self that…
Mayors	No, that’s enough of that. But… I’d like to hear more about "the light."
Mayors	The light that has sprouted… from the ten virtues…
And the image those words drew in my mind was… clearer and more beautiful than ever.
Location: Mayors's Dungeon of the Fathoms
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	Terra, the City... they've both failed to find a way out of this bridle.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	If they’re going to be satisfied with living on as they are, then…
Amiya	You can't change what you see by standing still.
Amiya	If you want to bring about a better world, then... even if you may be lost in the ideals...
Amiya	... you have to keep walking.
Dante	<…….>
Survival... worth of life... As I've never been too certain about either of those complicated ideas, I had no unflinching creed with which to convince her.
That's not to say that the City has no need of the altruistic nature Mayors wants to bring there.
That's not to say that I have a better answer than the combination of Seaborns and the light.
Even still, the emotions, the regrets, the conversations I found and collected over this journey alongside the Sinners... become my answer, and I tick on.
Dante	<Honestly, I don't really... know the City all that well, either.>
Dante	<My memory only goes back a year. And for what is practically my entire existence, I've been surrounded by the Sinners and our adventure.>
Dante	<Still, I... we want to keep trying.>
Dante	<You're right, the City is an absurd, vicious place. Something new and horrible surprises me every other day. But...>
Dante	<Mayors, that light you spoke of... I don't think that's what protects the ego, the sense of self.>
Dante	<To protect it, you have to first look unflinchingly both ways—the path that lies ahead and the one that you've walked. Then, you confront them both.>
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	That can’t be right. The light, it has to…
Heathcliff	You… you’re just workin’ based on what you <i>heard </i>about the City and the light, ain’t that right?
Heathcliff	How can you be so confident that the light’ll be able to protect the Seaborns’ sense of selves?
Heathcliff	Ain’t that just what you want to believe?
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	I think it’s… a distinct possibility.
Dante	<Even if the light can do what you hope it does, Mayors, it won’t change anything.>
Dante	<... Turning our natures kind by transforming us into Seaborns...? A convenient method like that isn't... our path.>
Dante	<Because the sense of self protected like that, the kind nature attained like that, wouldn't be our own... it'd be yours, Mayors.>
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	…….
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	Protecting your own sense of self while being compassionate and kind, it’s…
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	It’s a path of unbearable suffering.
Dante	<We might fail some days, despite our best efforts. Some days, we'll be forced to confront the sins of our past and suffer.>
Don Quixote	Verily, not one of us as we are now may see the culmination of that path.
Don Quixote	Yet... I can hardly find it within myself to simply leave it all in thy hands without so much as trying.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	You’re saying that Seaborns can’t be… the answer I’ve always sought.
Irene	It doesn’t make much sense if you think about it, Mayors.
Irene	Those sea monsters don’t even know what "self" means. That’s why they show no hesitation before sacrifice.
Irene	If you were to introduce the sense of self to those sea monsters… that selflessness you want… will be no more.
She’s a Seaborn-shaped Distortion who is not a Seaborn. An endlessly anguished, contemplating Distortion.
If Mayors’s wish is to achieve an altruistic world, then…
… then her desire has to be that she doesn’t want her efforts to become meaningless.
Hong Lu	Seaborns may be the perfect answer for some people.
Outis	A recent example: Fabius. It seems clear to me that that was precisely his wish.
Hong Lu	But… that doesn’t seem to align with yours.
Hong Lu	Find a new answer, Miss Mayors.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	You're telling me I have to go back to wandering for so, so much time again... in search of that new answer?
Hong Lu	You won’t be alone on that path. Walk it together, relying on one another… and it won’t feel as long.
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	…….
Hong Lu	Trying to carry such a heavy burden all by yourself, Miss Mayors, it's…
Hong Lu	… such a prideful thing to do.

Episode: 19
Location: Mayors's Dungeon of the Fathoms
Hong Lu	It's true that people scrutinize others for differences, to find something they can hate.
Hong Lu	But it's also true that it is often those very differences that people look up to.
Doctor	... And admiration usually goes hand-in-hand with overestimation.
Hong Lu	Yes. And Miss Mayors admired these two unknowns—Seaborns and the light. She thought they would be the solution to everything.
Dante	<Mayors.>
Dante	<Do you... still want to go to the City?>
Mayors, the Yearning Floatsam	... No.
Mayors	I'll remain here in Terra... I'll broaden my studies... and I'll talk more...
Mayors	to find a new path toward… realizing my wish.
Amiya	As for what will happen now, Miss Mayors... we're going to need to have a long talk with the Inquisition, but...
Amiya	... we'll help, too. We'll help you in your search for that path, if we can.
The great ark built from the City crumbles.
Light fades and gives way to shadows...
... and we found ourselves back aboard the vessel Masas.
Location: Vessel Masas Decks
Amiya	Battle complete. Vessel Masas… it’s slowing down.
Amiya	How's Miss Mayors...?
Yi Sang	Here, unconscious. The mental strain seems to have taken its toll.
Dante	<It all happened inside the Dungeon of the Fathoms, but... it can't have been too easy on her mind to send so many waves after us.>
Sinclair	... What'll happen to Miss Mayors now?
Doctor	First... we'll wait for the Inquisition's ruling, then... bring her to Rhodes Island.
Doctor	Her efforts were misguided, but she also had Terra's best interests at heart. Together, I'm sure we can discuss a better way forward.
Irene	What if she's sentenced to death?
Doctor	…….
Kal’tsit	Then we will need to offer a different proposal. We can consider it when we get to it, Doctor.
It's finally over. All we have left to do is go back.
As we were preparing to leave with our hearts much lighter than they were earlier...
Amiya	... Hold on, everyone.
Amiya	Something's... rapidly approaching us.
A low, thrumming roar vibrates the air, as a strange shadow looms over the ship.
Irene	Where'd this... shade come from?
Ishmael	…!
Ishmael	Wait, is that—
Almost as if driven by instinct, Ishmael takes the radio from Gregor and runs into the control room.
Something must've clicked in Outis's head, as she also turned and ran after Ishmael.
Dante	<If those two are running into the bridge...>
Dante	<...! Brace! Grab onto something!>
Heathcliff	Oh bollocks, muckin' it up right before the finish line...
Amiya	Doctor! Dante has advised that we grab onto something...
Doctor	... I see, they're preparing to turn the ship around.
Doctor	Everyone, brace for impact! Stay alert, something's coming!
The ship leaned heavily as it hurriedly turned portside, and I caught a glimpse of a massive shadow gliding just beneath the water's surface, right where the ship was a second ago.
It's a Seaborn—about the size of... no, slightly larger than the vessel Masas.
Amiya's communicator buzzes with Ishmael's voice.
Ishmael	The currents are going wild—wait, no, something's causing these currents to go wild.
Outis	We'll try our best to maintain evasive maneuvers for as long as possible, but... we can't do this forever.
Outis	If the situation does not improve, we may have to take the vessel Masas to cross the dimensional door...
Outis	Does Rhodes Island have a way out of this quandary?
Doctor	Not at this moment, but we have to come up with one now, and fast.
Ishmael	... Dante, does anything come to mind?
Dante	<... We should first figure out why that Seaborn's coming after us.>
Ishmael	Copy that. I'll focus on steering the ship, so keep us updated.
With that, the ship immediately begins a sharp turn, narrowly dodging the ponderous body of the Seaborn as it swims by.
We can't just take the whole ship across the dimensional door—we're not the only ones on it.
But the sea is too wild to simply turn around to let the others leave.
Kal’tsit	It's almost like it's obsessed with this ship.
Dante	<Just why could it possibly be coming after the ship, all of a sudden? Could it be that Fabius's order—>
Skadi	... It's coming after me.
Doctor	Skadi... you?
Skadi	Yes. I'm their enemy, an Abyssal Hunter.
As though to prove it, the giant beast began to charge against the bow of the ship the moment Skadi repositioned herself there.
Rodion	Just what are the Abyssal Hunters? Why are they so gung-ho about trying to kill you!?
Kal’tsit	... Abyssal Hunters are those who hunt Sea Terrors and Seaborns.
Kal’tsit	Of course, this isn't based on any emotion, such as vengeance or resentment; it's Skadi's—
Kal’tsit	... well, that's not important right now. What matters is that they're solely targeting Skadi.
Faust	Operators of Rhodes Island are heavily fatigued at this moment from their long defense against the waves in the Dungeon of the Fathoms.
Faust	The same could be said of us and Miss Amiya, who battled Mayors in the meantime.
Faust	To engage that Seaborn in this particular circumstance is—
Don Quixote	Hohh!?
Something shakes the vessel Masas once again.
Heathcliff	What's this now!? There's more?
Meursault	There are indeed multiple entities surrounding our ship. However...
A violent, destructive sound crashes through the waves, toward vessel Masas.
Past the sudden wall of mist, there was...
Kal’tsit	... We're lucky.
Kal’tsit	Or, was this simply how it was supposed to go?
Faust	…….
The Last Knight	Ishar-mla...!
Don Quixote	Sir Knight!?
Irene	Two Seaborns...
Hong Lu	It's going to be fine, Miss Inquisitor.
Hong Lu	If he's the same knight we fought earlier...
Hong Lu	... I doubt he'll be able to stop himself from charging at that giant of a sea monster.
Like Hong Lu said, the knight charged straight at the giant, rough wave... at the great Seaborn, as though he hardly noticed our presence.
Doctor	If we can help the knight repel that Seaborn...
Doctor	... we just might have a shot at sending Limbus Company back through the dimensional door and escaping aboard the vessel Masas ourselves.
Doctor	... Can everyone still move?
Irene	I'm almost at my limit, but... I can still move.
Doctor	I've got a plan, and I'd like for everyone to trust me on this.
Skadi	Things weren't so bad outside after you'd entered the portal.
Skadi	Now's the time for the Hunter to get to work.
The bright ray of light from Irene's lamp shines upon those atop the deck, while Skadi leaps tall into the air using the ship's bow as her launching pad.
Doctor	…….
The Operators each scatter to their appropriate positions as commanded by the Doctor.
Ishmael and Outis both exited to the decks as well, presumably having found someone to steer the ship.
Rodion	Is it okay to have ya two out here?
Outis	... This Kal'tsit... seemed to know enough about seafaring to take over.
Outis	While this crisis is far from over, she was good enough that it was reasonable for us to leave the ship's steering to her and descend to the decks for our return.
Amiya	It doesn't seem like... we'll all be able to bid you goodbye.
Ishmael	... Are you sure you're all going to be okay? We can stay a little longer and help.
Amiya	I appreciate the sentiment. I really do, but...
Amiya pointed toward the dimensional door, which had shrunk significantly smaller since the first time we saw it.
Amiya	You don't have much time.
I wonder if it was only supposed to open for a set period of time, or... what if it's closing now, because our work here is done?
There was precious little we could learn about it now, but it was obvious that our time here was coming to an end.
Dante	<Thanks, Amiya.>
Dante	<We would've been lost for a while in this world if it weren't for Rhodes Island's help.>
Amiya	Well, thanks to you, we should be able to sufficiently study the dimensional door before we return.
Gregor	Time to say goodbye to the Iberian sea breeze, I guess.
Irene	Do you have any idea how big the pile of paperwork is going to be at the Inquisition...?! Merda, try not to drop into Iberia next time, you got that...?
Ishmael	Ha ha... sure, let's all stay nicely put in our own worlds.
As the great Seaborn briefly falters at the combined might of Skadi and the knight,
the ship's bow managed to stop inches from the dimensional door.
Doctor	Manager! Now's your chance, get to the dimensional door...!
Amiya	Someday... I hope we can meet again!
Yi Sang	... We shall take our leave.
Dante	<Let's return to the City.>
The sea had turned into a brutal battlefield, terrible roars contending with one another.
Location: -1
After taking one final look at Rhodes Island defending the vessel Masas, we leaped into the pitch-black darkness at the center of the dimensional door.
…….
I'm swept away by the tides of consciousness.
The river draws out my memories and consciousness, sublimating them away.
Then…
Location: Daguanyuan - Yihongyuan Yard
Dante	<Where is...? Is this Yihongyuan?>
I look around and see the Sinners strewn about the room, dozing off.
Heathcliff	Snrk...
I see Heathcliff crash like that all the time, but... how did everyone crash at the same time, sleeping against the walls...?
A bizarre sensation that something was truly amiss crawls up my spine.
Xiren	You have come to.
Xiren	Now that you have come to, I request that you continue your rest in your chamber. Your presence here makes it difficult to conduct cleaning activities in areas adjacent to your body.
Dante	<H-huh? What? We just came through the dimensional door after Rhodes Island—>
Dante	<Ro... Roads...?>
Xiren	You were transferred here after the "LCCA" discovered your company unconscious at the entrance of a Lobotomy Corp. branch.
I... I feel like I just went through a memorable experience but... I can't recall what.
There was a hole in my memory... and this strange, emotional tug at my heart... and E.G.O I don't ever recall extracting.
Don Quixote	Omnom... Rocinante... prithee, avail me but five more minutes of...
Xiren	Scheduling wooden training dummies to wake you in five minutes.
But the bizarre sensation naturally settles.
What was that Abnormality? What just happened?
I don’t have any answers to either of those questions, but…
Dante	<Wait, where's Saude?>
Dante	<She said something about how there's been a delay or something...>
I couldn't find Saude, who's been bringing us odd jobs here and there during our stay, anywhere in Yihongyuan.
But on the desk I did find a note filled with various requests and a letter, both presumably left behind by Saude.
Location: -1
Saude	We've got a Distortion contract.
Saude	Come on, time to earn your keep. You weren't going to lounge around until we got a message from HQ, right?
Dante	<... Are they allergic to giving us time off or something?>
In that moment, a certain voice briefly surfaces from the abyss of my memories... before sinking again.
???	There's no such thing as absolutes when it comes to the value of life.
???	Which means that... it should never be up to others to define the worth of life, to argue for it.
Dante	<The worth of life...>
I don’t quite recall who said that, or even where I heard it from…
Honestly, I don’t even understand what it means.
???	You can't change what you see by standing still.
???	If you want to bring about a better world, then... even if you may be lost in the ideals...
Even still, some of those words left a lingering impression on my heart.
???	... you have to keep walking.
Location: Daguanyuan - Yihongyuan Yard
Dante	<…….>
Unable to sit still, I got up from my seat and began waking up the Sinners one by one.
Dante	<Yeah, it's not like we're getting anything done here.>
Dante	<On your feet, guys. Time to get to work.>
The Sinners each begin waking up, some of them looking around to get their bearings.
Like they were just pulled out of a long dream.
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