IN WHICH IS DISCUSSED THE MERRY OATH OF THE BUS DRIVER AND THE MANAGER CONCERNING AMUSEMENT PARKS (before battle)
We have about thirty minutes until La Manchaland manifests...
We each decided to use this opportunity to gather ourselves.
Meanwhile, I...
... had something I wanted to ask Vergilius before we left.
But for that, I need...
<Anybody seen Faust around?>
Not in a while. What is it, Dante? I'm sure I can help.
<Hm...>
I wanted to ask Faust to relay my words to Vergilius, but I wasn't sure where she was…
Fortunately, Hong Lu was still here with me and noticed me looking around. I decided to ask for his help.
Thirty minutes, Dante.
... I always have so many questions floating around in my head, but whenever I stand in front of this man, my brain seems to decide to forget them all.
<…….>
<Why didn't you stop her earlier, Vergilius? Earlier, when Don Quixote challenged Camille to a duel...>
…….
<…….>
Aha, you needed a translator.
Dante asks why you didn't stop the fight earlier.
Ah, so that's your look of reproach. ... I see.
As you must be well aware by now, the Cinq Association often chooses duels as a means of resolving conflicts.
But they are also well-known for letting bygones be bygones once that conflict in question has been resolved through a duel. Perhaps a lasting memory of some ancient chivalric virtues has been pounded into their bones.
<I see... So picking a fight with a Fixer from any other Association or Office might've caused a real problem for us, but the nature of the Cinq made this a pretty safe altercation, huh...>
Stopping Don Quixote from challenging that Fixer to a duel would have only exacerbated the situation. Besides...
Vergilius gave a long pause.
... It is about time our third Sinner woke up.
Weird...
Isn't Don Quixote the most lucid one out of all of us?
Hong Lu's interjection was so sudden and random, that I wondered for a moment if he thought we were talking about someone else...
<What do you mean...?>
... but Hong Lu did not correct himself. He pointed to his eye and continued.
Her eyes, Dante. Always twinkling like two bright stars. They're so fascinating.
<Eyes, huh...>
I noticed that the light in Hong Lu's left eye was growing dimmer, like light fading away as it sinks into the depths of the dark waters...
…….
<W-wait, I have something else I wanted to ask you about...>
What I really wanted to ask Vergilius about was what happened on that train...
... but I wasn't sure if I could bring that subject up in front of Hong Lu, especially when Faust wasn't here.
What's wrong, Dante? You look flustered for some reason.
<Uh...>
No need to shiver your clock hands so nervously, Dante.
You don't actually believe I wasn't let in on what happened aboard that train, do you?
... Sounds like Faust kept him updated.
<Well, then tell me. What was going on with Don Quixote back there?>
<No, I mean... what is she?>
Uhh... they're asking what... Don Quixote is?
Dante, it is not a wise use of your time to ask a question to which you can find your own answers.
Besides, there are more pressing questions you should be asking.
What shall happen with our third Sinner? ... For example.
<…….>
<I get it. It's Don Quixote's turn, now.>
<But you're not going to answer that question, either. Because I'll get to the answer anyway, as long as I keep riding the flow to wherever it takes me.>
... Your hands have stopped trembling. I'll take that as a sign that we have an understanding.
Should you ever find yourself growing anxious in La Manchaland, when things start to go awry...
Remember these words.
Henceforth, whatever happens...
... Don Quixote will remember the promise, Dante.
The promise.
I have no idea how that word is supposed to assuage any of my fears.
Vergilius isn't the type to waffle on meaninglessly, so...
... I suppose there isn't anything else I can gather from him at the moment.
Some time later, back among the Sinners at the empty lot.
<Don Quixote, about what happened earlier...>
Verily, 'tis a marvelous day! Wouldst thou not agree, Manager Esquire?
<It... is...?>
Tis, 'tis! Today alone I had the joy of espying a Hana Association Fixer with mine own eyes, the honor of clashing my steel against Sir Camille of Cinq, and... Ah, indeed. Sir Camille was a Fixer most righteous and becoming in his livestreams. I have not even an ounce of doubt in my mind that the kerfuffle was naught but an issue of miscommunication!
<How did you even access his streams on the bus...?>
Manager Esquire! Forsooth, I am finally beginning to feel as though we are tackling contracts worthy of true Fixers.
To slay the wicked and liberate the innocent from suffering! 'Twas mine dream of a lifetime, indeed!
Sir Vergilius will once again insist that our primary quest is to lay our claim upon the Golden Bough. Yet...
... I shall eradicate La Manchaland, even if it costs us our quest!
And mark mine words, for I shall rescue its victims as well. Every last one of them.
<…….>
I stare in silence as Don Quixote boasts.
... I think I saw stars twinkling in her eyes, like Hong Lu said.
Ooh. Tick-tock.
... Dante.
<I've been looking for you, Faust.>
Because you had business to discuss with Vergilius, it seems.
<Uh...>
I felt like she was accusing me that there wasn't any other reason I'd be looking for her, so I couldn't help but stammer.
... Now that I think about it, I don't see her alone with Charon very often.
<What were you two doing here?>
Performing certain routine procedures with Charon.
There is a certain examination procedure we must perform at an interval.
<What examination procedure?>
... It mainly consists of gray matter bio-fusion normalcy trend test and gray matter response activity level test to electrical stimuli. It also includes several other tests, including external brain pressure variance test, the bloodstream distribution test to verify that the numbers are within the expected range, and -
<Uhh...>
... I will stop here.
I'm certainly not one to talk, but I'm once again reminded that Faust isn't very good at talking to people either.
Heard passengers are going to an amusement park.
Amusement park. More fun than the bus?
<I've never been to one myself, but probably?>
It is said that individuals partaking in activities within amusement parks have, on average, an increased heart rate of 1.5 times their typical range.
Why?
Because they board vehicles that are meant to raise their heart rate, and, in turn, their level of excitement.
It is known that one of the rides most emblematic of the amusement park experience consists of the following procedure: binding the passenger to the chair and dropping the vehicle, which often takes the form of a train, from a one-hundred meter height to ground level within three seconds.
Sounds like reckless driving.
Must be a terrible driver. Worse than Charon.
Perhaps.
She's one to talk... Especially when it comes to reckless driving...
<I'm sure there are other more... fun rides, right? Probably?
... Perhaps.
<We should go there someday. A real amusement park...>
<Make a list of stuff you want to do when you get there.>
Charon, Dante wants to know what you want to do.
When, where?
They are asking you, should a day come in which you are allowed to travel with us to locations other than the bus itself, what you would like to do at an amusement park.
There was a long pause. Charon's eyes glimmered momentarily as they began to wander elsewhere.
Charon... wants...
... wants to eat a candy there.
Looks like today's one of those days when everyone gets a twinkle in their eyes.