Misconceptions (before battle)
We spent a long while rifling through the photo studio with the LCD team, but no one found any decisive evidence.
<There sure are a lot of photos around... but almost all of them are just pictures of buildings, nothing much to tell from that.>
Aside from the canister containing the film roll Sinclair picked up... There are no remaining items here that can count as a proper clue, Executive Manager. I've confirmed that the rest are all empty plastic containers.
<Then it's probably best to check the contents of the film roll directly.>
Yes, Executive Manager. I will find a way to develop the film.
Did you guys find any sort of photo development room or equipment nearby...? Let's search a little more before we see what's in that film roll.
Mentor, what do you make of this object?
For the eighth time, Aeng-du, I have no idea.
If I had wits bright enough to understand all that lies before me with a single glance like that Team Leader, I would have passed the Royal Examinations long ago and secured myself a lucrative position as a court official.
... But Mentor, hadn't you already passed the Royal -
Once swung, a sword does not retrace its arc, Aeng-du. So it is with life. There is no undoing what has already been cut.
Thus, it is unnecessary to dwell on what can no longer be undone. There is no "after" for what has been slashed away.
... Not for you, Mentor. Ought you not dwell on what can no longer be undone?
.......
I misspoke... I did not mean it that way, Aeng-du.
I merely meant to say that I do not wish to recall my past...
... I am aware. You have told me as much since long ago, whenever you were placed in a position to retrace the past.
Mostly at the eateries where you filled your belly on unpaid tabs... and each time you brought down the stone wall before our house by your own erring hand.
<Those are exactly the kinds of things you should never forget...>
Hrrk...?! Oww...! My belly, I feel a stabbing pain in my belly!
This spot... Oh, the very wound you once gave me afflicts me yet! The one from when you thought you were only poking me with a scabbard, yet by some cruel turn, it was your sword that ran me through!
Mentor... You said it was completely healed and that I need not concern myself with it. Those very same words have been repeated at least 80 times.
But it still aches every now and then... Chiefly when I hear your sharp, cutting words that I really don't wanna hear!
... Ah. Is that so?
... Aeng-du suddenly pulled out a sheet of paper and began furiously writing something down.
What's this...?
I have written down the words that I have just said.
If hearing my sharp, cutting words afflicts you so, perhaps reading them instead would cause no suffering.
.......
Kim's face began to contort like a wet dishtowel being wrung dry.
I really can't believe this is the same Mentor Aeng-du follows so devotedly. Where's all that dignity and forbearance Aeng-du said he had?
Um... Young Aeng-du...
There is a matter I would ask thee...
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who felt that way about him.
Pray, speak freely.
This... may perhaps be a discourteous inquiry, but... ahem...
Um, uh.. er, I, too, when speaking to the others of those whom I serve, often ornament my words with a laudation of an acceptable degree, and yet...
Ah. I understand your concern, Lady Don Quixote.
I suppose this is your first time seeing Mentor with his shoulders so unbraced and his bearing so loose... In truth, when I first beheld him, I also wondered whether such a man could truly be a leader worth placing my faith in.
However, upon my honor I assure you that I have never once uttered a falsehood when I spoke of him to you.
My respect toward the blades of my own and foes alike, my determination to safeguard what must be protected, even should my arms be torn apart - all of these are, undoubtedly, the teachings that my mentor has imparted unto me.
Truly...?
Why, if fortune should grant the opportunity, you may witness Mentor's true self yourselves someday.
That is to say, if we let ourselves be carried by the currents of the river... to arrive at such a chance.
Aeng-du gave her prosthetic arm a casual sweep, smiling sincerely as though she truly believed every word she said.
Then, leaning closer to Don Quixote, she whispered:
... Besides, unless I speak with this feigned, stern ignorance, there will be no end to his digging in his heels. I would ask for your trust, for all is aimed at his benefit.
F-forsooth, thou too hast been burdened with the trials of serving your superior!
... So that's what it was. I get it now.
*slam*
Just as I witnessed the budding of this peculiar bond of commiseration and camaraderie between our chivalric friends, the door leading outside was flung open with a loud slam.
... We have arrived at the target location. It appears that the advance party has already been defeated.
Wait, who are these people?
Didn't they say there was only a single violator?
Oh, crap...
Looks like it's too late to talk our way out of this, whatever excuses we come up with.
*sigh* Oh boy, this is not gonna go well...
The same thing happened last time. When I saw the N Corp. employees, I thought we had the wrong intel! And all of a sudden -
*POP!*
A sudden flash blinded my vision white,
as though I had stared straight into a burst of searing light - so intense and bright that it made my head swim.
Yeah, there was this same pop, and... Ah.
With my vision blinded, the only thing I could make out was Ezra's soft murmur...
... until even that came to a stop as her breathing hushed.
<Oh...>
It didn't take long for me to realize what was happening.
... Seeing it again doesn't exactly warm the heart, wouldn't you say, Aeng-du?
Though S Corp. may indeed be passing through hard times... this alley was not quite so wretched in form, was it, Mentor?
Hm... Is that right? Looks much the same to me.
... Ah. This place...
<... Did we just get teleported to S Corp.?>
No, Dante. Though it generates a considerable sense of verisimilitude, this is...
<I think... I know what this is.>
This is a presence. I haven't been able to detect it until just now - but somehow, it was now surrounding us, saturating every corner of the space where we stood.
The dreary stone walls, trees bent and coiled in grotesque forms, the sheen of the light, and even the air we breathe... all of them point toward a single phenomenon.
This...
<This... is the depth of the Fathoms. Fathoms made entirely out of Distortion.>
There are completely different Distortions where the N Corp. employees were just a moment ago, Executive Manager. It's...
This is exactly it! This is what I was tryna explain!
.......
Where Ezra pointed, the people in smart, neat suits had vanished, and in their place, figures clad in blood-stained dopo robes were approaching us with dragging, uneasy steps.
Right... Let's fight first and talk later. Ready, Aeng-du?
My blade is poised to strike, Lady Ezra.
And... Wait, where's the Bamboo-hatted Dude?
... I am afraid he has already taken his leave. He said he had no desire to cross blades with the Ch'unokkuns of S Corp. twice.
C'mon, man...! Not again!
... He's a repeat offender, that's for certain.
... Executive Manager.
Wherever Kim's gone off to, this definitely isn't the time to be asking trivial questions.
<... Right. Let's do what Ezra says and get ready for battle.>
On your orders, Executive Manager. Men! Prepare for battle!