BP-4 Price and Sacrifice

What brings you here?

I came to see you.

You've just undergone embryo separation surgery. The Institute of Facility Management should have allowed you to take time off to rest.

The surgery is as non-invasive as it gets, you know. There's no need to rest that long.

I can't tell whether you care more about me or the little fellow in the incubation chamber, Magister Avitus.

Of course I care about you, but any newborn in Ægir as it is now deserves attention as well.

After he's born, will you choose to raise him personally, or give him to the Institute of Incubation?

I don't think about that sort of thing. It's too far away, too distant.

I went to the hospital before I came here.

The hospital? Why?

You're aware of the battle yesterday, yes? Surely you've seen the news?

Two fleets and over a thousand legionnaires went into battle, but only twenty-six returned.

The Waterway Program is at a turning point, and Milliarium has endured its greatest sacrifice since its departure. There have also been quite a few abnormalities in the city as of late.

What is it you're trying to say?

The Sea Patrol are already looking for you, aren't they, Cassia?

About that missing data scientist.

Magister Avitus.

......

You know, of all the documents in your collection, the one I like the most is 'The Death of Life.' Despite its lack of scholarly value.

I only ever found that diary by accident.

More than three hundred years ago, four great researchers studying the prehistoric civilization made incredible discoveries in the mantle ruins, bringing back countless precious technologies and data to Ægir.

Compared to all those blueprints and theoretical papers, a transcript of voice-recorded diary is hardly worth anything.

And so it gathered dust in the Academy of Science's databases. Until, thanks to your curiosity, it was deciphered and turned into a popular reading material.

Merely the musings of an ordinary Predecessor on his endless journey.

But I loved the story of that Predecessor.

I enjoyed seeing reality through his eyes.

How the connections between countless stars collapsed, how the trust between myriad races crumbled away. Goods were in short supply, technology was lost, philosophy and art fell silent...

No matter how much hope and vision went into their great undertakings, they ultimately faded into silence... Just like those nanomachines interred within the beacon tower.

Did you empathize with his despair, Cassia?

You've never shown a trace of that emotion, though. You even chose to have a child born into a world that could face ruin at any moment.

That isn't the choice of someone who's lost all hope.

I don't feel a shred of despair. Really.

That old-fashioned, dispirited, middle-aged man... It's hard to imagine how I could empathize with him at all.

I simply appreciated how, by borrowing from his past experiences, you ingeniously tore apart the magnificent facade covering the eyes of today's Ægir.

'We must accept that the things and qualities we were once so proud of have no use now. Perhaps they have always been flawed, and this calamity merely exposed them.'

Once free of worry over survival, people will begin to consider 'value.' We pray that our thoughts, our deeds, even our very existence will have value.

Every one of Ægir's systems is designed around unearthing that value within people.

However, value is fragile. You need only look at it from another angle, and the mighty will become the tiny. The hideous, the beautiful.

It's a pity that, whether through apathy or inertia, people tend to not change viewpoints they are familiar with.

And so, people live on their immutable value. Were those values to crumble away, they would crumble alongside them.

Exactly.

When did despair begin to blossom in you? Was it when Milliarium left the home territories? Or even earlier, after the passing of your Familiar?

...Cassia?

I'm merely grateful that you came to see me today.

You reminded me that I still have things to do, and time runs short.

I'm surprised you allowed such pessimism to spread in your city, Clementia.

'The Death of Life,' a prehistoric diary collated and published by Avitus. The year it was released, it proved to be incredibly popular among the citizens.

They wanted a peek into an unfamiliar life. A thirst born from boredom and idiocy.

What you just said would be enough to trigger controversy in any nation on the land, Gladiia.

A tiny piece that implies exhaustion and despair with every line. It tells the story of how a once glorious civilization hit a dead end far more vividly than any raw data.

And in today's Ægir, can it really be considered an 'unfamiliar life'?

Ægir may be the prehistoric civilization's heir, but that does not require its subservience. We need not condone the rise of... 'exhaustion and despair.'

Ægir stands unwavering due to its unbreakable rationality.

It is our rationality that allows us to be aware of our possible destruction, perhaps even one of all humanity.

Even those who have fallen, detestable as they are, at times make choices based on long-term examination and cautious reflection.

You have personally executed no small number of cultists in your days in the Legions.

Just as you had to personally execute any Hunters who ran wild. You and I are both burdened with heavy duties that we cannot rely on sentimentality.

Was it this rationality that led you to hastily throw the Hunters into the battle for the Waterway Program, despite their recent return?

Kal'tsit...

I invite the two of you to look at the beacon tower behind us. It was once an important component of the interstellar expedition our ancestors planned for.

Within the tower lie countless nanomachines. The first Ægir city to break through the electron cloud would have seeded them throughout the sea of stars.

They would self-proliferate, self-repair, and connect together into an ever bright road network. With this, our fleets would have been able to jump freely between the stars.

After the outbreak of the Seaborn crisis, Ægir turned its eyes from the stars, and the bio-energy system requiring support from a dozen or so cities was cut off.

The nanomachines were incompatible with other energy sources, so after losing their specialized source, they all 'died' within that tower.

But our colleagues from the Academy of Technology have helped alter this tower to serve us in a different manner, by lighting our paths.

Since Milliarium left the home territories, it has been continuously marking Seaborn nests. Huge volumes of data are now compiled within that tower's control center.

With the precise locations of these Seaborn nests, our Class IV weapons can destroy the primary nest in any targeted area of ocean, driving away the occupying Seaborn.

This will clear a path of pure water leading back to the home territories. One that can support a Waterway our main forces can pass through.

Perhaps the Seaborn will eventually regroup, but at the very least, their accumulated nutrients will rot away in their absence, and any re-established nests will bear no fruit.

You are lecturing us on the core concept of the 'Waterway Program,' Madame Consul.

Yes I am, Doctor.

The Abyssal Hunters only managed to save twenty-six lives in yesterday's battle. The Seaborn were clearly forewarned.

Between the oceanic interior and the continental shelf, this city has been fighting them for far too long. They are now adapting to Class III weapons at a much faster rate.

Nest 37's position is of particular import. It strangles the throat of the Waterway. Abandoning it would mean stumbling at the final hurdle.

This is our final battle before the Waterway can be opened. We must gather all the force we can bear as part of the program. The Abyssal Hunters are no exception.

Even if they have only just arrived home.

Can Ægir ensure their safe return?

New combat teams are being formed as we speak. They will confront the Seaborn directly, and create an opportunity for the Hunters to enter the nest and deploy the beacon.

But, as you know, these are merely routine tactics. I am... unable to offer a guarantee.

In that case...

I know what you are worried about. Be at ease.

The Hunters are responsible for their own safety, as well as the risks they face.

As this is a joint decision by you two Chief Designers of Warfare, I am unopposed, but I will not withdraw my objections.

Gladiia...

Gladiia.

Advisor Blandus has made preparations for your organic regeneration surgery. You should make your own before the procedure.

Doña Irene!

Jordi.

You were gone for a whole day...

I was investigating a few things with the Sea Patrol. I also went on a trip into the ocean. I didn't enjoy it very much, so don't ask.

Alright then.

What about you? What have you been up to?

I...

It's not unusual to feel some discomfort. Cheer up, Jordi, this is your homeland.

(Chuckles wryly)

Judging by your expression, you've already studied Breogan's data?

I'm not 100% sure, but there seems to be no real relation between me and that great naval architect.

What does that matter?

Uncle Thiago hoped I'd leave Gran Faro, leave Iberia, but he never told me where to go...

I'm Ægir, so Ægir is where I should be.

But people need some sort of concrete connection, even just a name or some notes, to truly trace their family history.

Avitus said that even though the Seaborn crisis has been raging for over two hundred years, Ægir still has a hundred or more cities comparable in size to Milliarium.

If I'm not Breogan's descendant, then which city did my grandparents live in before they became Islanders? Or was it one of the ones that's gone now?

What kind of work did they do? How did they live? In the end, who were they?

......

Sorry, you don't need to hear all this. You've just arrived here yourself, but you're already assisting the Sea Patrol with their investigation. While I'm just...

You've got nerves of steel.

I'm just an Iberian who can't do a thing here.

Dr. Kal'tsit is in charge of negotiations with the leader of this city, and the Hunters have dived right back into their familiar battle. While my lantern and handcannon aren't especially helpful right now.

Ægir will permit a Liberi to look around its warships and ports, but will not allow her to join the Legions and help fight against the Seaborn. I can't understand that sort of war.

Down here in the depths, all I can do is investigate any abnormal activity within the city. In case it could jeopardize the cooperation between Iberia and Ægir.

Why are you telling me all this?

My hometown was destroyed in a Catastrophe, Jordi. I don't have many memories of it.

The scripture I carry is the only connection with it I have left. It saved my life, and in doing became my guide, my faith.

But when I saw the Inquisition's dungeons, climbed aboard the Stultifera Navis, witnessed my mentor's sacrifice... Only then did I understand what faith was. Accepted its weaknesses. Found its meaning.

You mean...

I don't have nerves of steel, Jordi. I get lost and confused, too.

It's just that, more often than not, that confusion becomes a specific issue you have to resolve. One after another, as quickly as you can.

Arresting the cultists. Taking back the lighthouse invaded by the tides. Finding a lost warship out at sea. Aiding an ally in investigating a missing data scientist.

The 'connection' you're looking for can be anything, whether it's a hometown or faith. Keep looking. You'll find it. It may not be quick or easy, but you'll find it.

Can I really do it?

Can you not?

You helped Iberia relight its final lighthouse, and saved three Abyssal Hunters. Didn't Laurentina tell you that that's enough to get a commendation from the consul herself?

Whether it's as an Ægir or an Inquisition clerk, there are a lot of things you can do.

......

Praefecta!

You're back to the city. But... From the look on your face, I take it the investigation didn't go so well, did it?

Lucilla?

Forgive me, I need to report on my progress to Consul Clementia. I'm not at liberty to divulge any details.

A-Actually, I was looking for you.

There's something I should've remembered back when you were explaining the situation to us. Nothing major, honestly, and it might not even help.

But I felt like I had to tell you!

...Go on.

......

You're the last researcher left.

I'm really, really sorry; can you give me one more hour?

Caulerpa archaeosphaeridium, Hypnea fenestralis, Halymenia fimbriatus, Palmaria purpureus, Sargassum pennata... There's not too many left. I'll finish cataloging them real quick!

No need to rush, Tullia. I'm just here for a routine inspection.

You know who I am?

Mhm. We were in the same batch before the transfer assessment by the Institute of Development Planning. You might not remember me, though.

Are you preparing to transport these seaweeds?

Th-This doesn't violate any protocols, does it?!

Calm down. This building's handover procedures are already complete. If you leave the samples and cultivation equipment behind, you'll end up having to pack them away in bulk.

Thanks for the warning.

But with all these seaweeds, how could you possibly take them all away at once?

Now that it's close to land, Milliarium will be undergoing targeted reformation. The city won't have the space or the resources to breed seaweeds.

Yeah, I know.

I'll take as much as I can. I'll think of something, some way that won't inconvenience anyone.

But the base by the volcano is already...

That was once Ægir's biggest endangered plants reserve. I saw it get swallowed up by the Seaborn.

These primitive seaweeds are some of the simplest, yet most tenacious lifeforms in the entire ocean.

Whether in bright shallow seas, the dark abyss, the flat sea floor, or cracks in the cliffs, they stretch out as best they can.

And they're as old as the ocean itself, pretty much this planet's living fossils.

I'm no legionnaire, and I can't go fight the Seaborn. These remaining seaweeds won't help us solve the Seaborn problem, either.

But I can't just let them wither away in here.

...You really love your work, huh Tullia?

Um, don't you?

......

Ah, my Little Handy sent over a loading module. Sorry, but I can't stay and chat.

Do you need any help?

No thanks, I'm fine.

When did that happen?

The day before the Institute of Ecological Art relocated.

I don't know what happened to her after that, and I don't know if she thinks Milliarium abandoned the volcanic power station and the plants reserve...

But I can't imagine her doing anything bad because of it... because she's never abandoned anything herself.

Tullia's residence had quite a few hydroponic tanks, but they'd been empty for a while...

What you just told me might actually be significant, Lucilla.

But if I may be so bold, why do you care so much about her affairs?

From what I've heard, you could hardly be considered friends.

She...

She has something I don't.

Okay, I've said what I had to say. I'll be getting back to work now, Praefecta.

There's just been more and more happening lately. The maintenance required for the city unit framework has multiplied several-fold, and I'm running out of ink as it is.

Little Handy.

Praefecta Secunda.

Obtain data on the city of Milliarium from the Institute of Facility Management, right away. Retrieve all locations suitable for enclosed hydroponics.

Also, contact Irene.

Tullia may have left other clues within the city. Ask her to meet me as soon as possible.

Reassessing. Biological safety of operating theater now at permitted levels.

Surgery may begin at any time.

Hunters, just as before, you will be kept in a deep sleep during the automated surgery.

I will also be manually repairing your outdated internal auto-adaptive junctions.

This room filled to the brim with specimens, and these lab tables are all rather familiar. How long has it been since we last laid down in such an environment?

Five years, Laurentina.

I should really be waiting for your medulla replacement surgery to finish and your cell-Originium assimilation rate to stabilize before I handle any of your Hunter-related issues.

But time is short, and I have no choice but to restore you to stable condition to the best of my abilities.

My apologies, Laurentina.

Sentimental as always.

Ah, right, as usual...

A candle will be lit by your side, so our little mermaid won't look so pale while she sleeps. I've asked my staff to prepare it for you.

I knew you'd remember.

Please maintain a comfortable position and stay still while the regen gel fills.

This isn't so different from back then. Except there's a lot less Hunters now.

Clear a trench of scum, close your eyes, listen to some advisor prattle on, then sink into the regen gel and take a nap.

And once you wake up, all the nauseating smells left on your body will be gone without a trace.

While you were in the adverse, fickle environments of the land for long periods without care, your bodies became extremely unstable.

The auto-adaptive junction can monitor your Seaborn genes, but five years of wear can render even the most precise instruments dull.

Moreover, your immune systems have also fallen into disorder thanks to their long struggle against the Seaborn genes.

I will do my best to restore you all to peak condition, but anything lost during those five years is out of my hands.

Okay.

Gladiia, our reunion at the tribunal was less than cordial, so I would have liked for us to consider this our first meeting since your return.

But you haven't said a word since we started.

Is there anything else you need to tell us in regards to the surgery, Blandus?

If not, then save it for after the procedure. We can discuss the changes we've felt over the past five years, as well as the changes you've felt.

......

Please stay still. Anesthetic procedures will begin in ten seconds.

Well then. Sweet dreams, Hunters.

Advisor Blandus, some things have come up that need your reconfirmation.

Did I not say that once the operating theater doors have closed, I would be mending the Hunters' auto-adaptive junctions and must not be disturbed?

Central Control has discovered some abnormalities. You should personally check them over, just to be safe.

...Hold on then. I'll get the door.

The monitoring units in the dome were performing an emergency scan. We noticed a concentration of algal bio-signatures here.

Thanks for informing me.

Not a problem.

Since you're already participating in Tullia's case, there was no reason to cut you out partway.

A place where the dome and the ground meet... This former experimental field for road-side coral.

Though it can't compare to the specialized setups at the Institute of Ecological Art, it's much better for seaweed breeding than small-scale hydroponic tanks in a room.

Whether it be in her nature, or out of an ulterior motive, Tullia did not apply for authorization to use this space. She found it on her own, without telling anyone.

Tullia...

We can't say for sure if there is a Church hideout here, or if Tullia is still within... In short, stay alert.

Team 1 has already formed a defensive perimeter around the neighborhood, and will monitor the roads. Irene, go with Team 2. Enter via surface roads.

As for the roads connecting the dome and the mezzanine, leave them to me.

Got it.

Move out.

Who's there?

Have you found something, Praefecta Secunda? Do you need reinforcements?

...Stick to the plan.

......

...It's been a while, 'Magister.'

Blandus, the weapons technology advisor for the Waterway Program, and an expert in Class IV weapon R&D, correct?

...You're not from the lab.

No sudden moves. If the bristles of this longbeard combtooth grass pierce your skin, you'll quickly fall into a tormented dream, where you'll sense your consciousness being slowly torn apart.

The variety used for euthanasia has been bred to be milder, but wild ones are still plenty cruel.

You may look half-dead, but I know for a fact that you're the sort who really cares how they die.

Church of the Deep?

Don't you dare touch the anesthetized Hunters!

What an odd fellow. Even as your life is threatened, you think of them first?

You may care for the Hunters, but you've never trusted the Abyssal Hunter project itself. You question its rationale, its damage to the nature of humanity, and all the sacrifice it requires.

You took part in it, but only so you could personally control all the risks entailed.

You experienced its demise firsthand; saw the extensive project, interlinked with so many others, come to a hasty end after an uncertain failure.

So I doubt you'd want to send these survivors, freshly returned to Ægir, back onto the battlefield.

No, you don't understand. What I do is only to protect them from further harm.

So why not halt the procedure? Stop them from joining the battle for the Waterway Program?

The surgery is fully automated, I can't just stop it.

Sever the oxygen pipeline below the operating table, and it'll cut the procedure short. Don't think we don't know that.

If you won't do it, we can do it for you.

After you finish 'handling' the Hunters, Advisor, come take a walk with us. Explain the principles behind the Class IV weapons, as well as how to shut them down.

Stop! If the operation is forcibly terminated, the Hunters will be irreversibly harmed—

Scum.

—!

If you do not wish me to ram this straight through your chest, let go of your hand.

What are you doing here?

Don't ask pointless questions, Secunda.

......

You're investigating Tullia, too. Did you find anything?

She is simply an ordinary data scientist who got caught up in this. She discovered something she shouldn't have. Attempted to warn the authorities, but failed.

You were too slow. What she encountered has nothing to do with her past.

The battle outside the city, the abnormalities within, the Sea Patrol staying uninvolved with the Waterway Program. You've noticed many oddities, yet at the same time, your attention was so easily diverted.

You mean... Cassia?

Precisely.

You were once so focused, and keen as well.

So the day you decided to leave the Abyssal Hunter Lab to join the Sea Patrol, I believed you had reflected upon yourself and chosen a more suitable path.

It seems that was not the only time you have allowed emotion to cloud your decisions.

...Aside from your clothes, you haven't changed a bit in five years. Especially not how you talk.

Whether as a researcher or a Hunter, you'd never refuse to hear a student's questions, but would refuse to answer if you thought the question itself was wrong.

There are no worthless answers. Their worth lies in the questions.

Questions are the most effective means of tempering your thoughts, and your questions were always most pointed, Secunda.

Then there should be no fault with my original question. What are you doing here, Ulpianus?

This is the scene of a Sea Patrol investigation. A fugitive Abyssal Hunter like you should be laying down his anchor and making clear his position.

Gladiia and the others have proven an effective force in the battle for the Waterway Program, while despite also surviving, you chose to return to Milliarium like this.

...That's more than enough grounds to attack you.

Their return will only make the situation more volatile. Even through Tullia's case, it's clear that the so-called 'Waterway Program' is riddled with issues.

Ægir has learned nothing from the failure of the Abyssal Hunter project.

What are you going to do?

Prevent this nation from sliding into the abyss.

I'd say you're looking awfully like our enemy now, though.

Doubt me as you will, Secunda.

(Shrill crying)

What's happening in there?

A ordinary Ægir, doing all she can.

But Ægir will no longer show her any respect.

Who're you—?

Irene...

Ulpianus?

What the—?! Why aren't you asleep?!

I'm not the only one.

......

......

Hello. I suggest moving the hand carrying that whatever-grass away from the advisor's neck.

You—

Arghhh—!

I told you to move it away.

The real researchers are in the instrument recycling room, probably injected with paralytics. They won't wake up for a while.

I also took care of the goons in the corridor.

Did you leave any alive for questioning?

They won't die before the Sea Patrol takes them away, at least.

Gladiia, Laurentina, Skadi...

Not going to explain the trick you played with the regen gel, advisor?

......

*sigh* My dearest Blandus, just to be clear, we are no fortune tellers.

Swordfish thought something was off from the start.

We've undergone hundreds of surgeries. We've probably spent more time sleeping in gels than in our beds.

You should know that even if the operation failed to restore us to our full potential, we would still have returned to the battlefield.

......

As I told Ulpianus when he came to me, all I wanted was for the participants of this program to live like normal people again someday.

I wished for my fellow people, who'd come from all walks of life, to have the chance to finally return to their former lives.

Skadi could continue her life of wandering, hammering away at complex lighting arrays while taking pictures of the seabed nobody else would understand.

......

Laurentina's skills could let her become the next shining star of the Institute of Physical Art.

We could watch the graceful stars projected across the dome, while she dances alongside the meteors in the Sophontheatrum.

Or perhaps we would find her works on the street corners of each and every city.

......

Flavius, the seaweed breeding technician. Nona, the songwriter. Lunia, the exotic organism researcher. And Celsus, the youngest ever scientific exploration fleet commander.

We both still remember the names of all these Hunters, Gladiia. We've both had our fill of sacrifice.

This is far from the first time I've heard this little cliché of yours.

Your feebleness and stupidity are already enough to earn you a death by my lance.

Luckily for you, those Church scum arrived at just the right time to save your hide.

Are you saying their actions have coincidentally proven my innocence?

That's not what I wanted, Gladiia.

What I must do will not change.

Your innocence is of little relevance.

My point was that by choosing to expose themselves now, risking everything to stop us Hunters from rejoining the battle, and even holding an advisor hostage...

All it shows is how effective the deployment of the Waterway Program has been.

Blandus, weapons technology advisor of the Waterway Program. Abandon your little tricks, complete our surgery, then return to your original post.

Clementia's orders are that once Nest 37 has been successfully marked, the Class IV weapons are to immediately strike against all nests by the Waterway.

The Church is grasping at straws. As one can surmise from what those dregs were talking about earlier, they will not stop.

......

The Abyssal Hunter project no longer exists, Blandus. If sentimentality clouds your mind and renders you feeble, tear it out. Forget it.

Gladiia.

You're the same as ever. No, even stricter with yourself.

What I ask of myself has no bearing here.

Just yesterday, out of two entire fleets, we were only able to save twenty-six people from the Seaborn encirclement.

Before we entered this old lab, I had just learned that those twenty-six legionnaires had already applied for positions in the newly-drawn army.

War is never-ending, and no soldier can tear themselves away from the battlefield. That's all it is. Nothing more.

...Seaborn.

(Muffled cry)

(This clumsy posture...)

(As though it's unaccustomed to its body...)

Are you...

Tullia?

Tu—lli—a...

You can still speak. You still have your humanity. Tell me, what happened to you?

Left... and returned...

Data. Someone used... Waterway, signal...

I told, her. But she...

Told who?

Ocean... Fall into—ocean.

City left. You. They're still... here...

*whimper* So far...

......

Give her some space, Irene. The Seaborn cells have completely transformed her body. Her mind is near the point of no return.

We've handled similar transformations. This stage in Seaborn degeneration is extremely unstable. It's far beyond the point where we can provide palliative care.

You sure took your time.

I ran into something.

We've been misled.

Someone deliberately engendered suspicions regarding the scientist's past and her motives for joining the Waterway Program. It's led the investigation astray.

You mean that woman from the Institute of Facility Management.

That's right. Cassia. Once we're finished here, the Sea Patrol will inform the Institute of Facility Management and arrest her.

Tullia noticed occasional abnormalities in the signaling system and told a friend, possibly Cassia. She exposed herself to the Church.

She'd have been chased towards the fringes of the city, where she fell into a drain and was carried out to sea by the city's circulatory system.

Do you remember how we found pieces of biological tissue on our excursion outside? Crossing between two anchorage points without equipment is far beyond the limits of the human form.

So in her desperation to return to the city...

She ate that strange flesh.

......

(Muffled, indistinct murmuring)

What's that she's holding?

Plant nutrient fluid.

Her consciousness should be gone by now. Don't tell me she returned to the city just for these... seaweeds?

'These primitive seaweeds are some of the simplest, yet most tenacious lifeforms in the entire ocean.'

'Whether in bright shallow seas, the dark abyss, the flat sea floor, or cracks in the cliffs, they stretch out as best they can.'

'And they're as old as the ocean itself, pretty much this planet's living fossils.'

(Violent shudder)

(Pained wail)

Bio-monitor readings increasing rapidly! Her transformation is accelerating!

Why did she suddenly stop? Did something happen?

—

Yes. I believe... she saw what she had become.

...A data scientist, yet also a woman as simple as the seaweeds she cultivates.

She chose to stay, or perhaps knew that following the Institute of Ecological Art to another city would not truly have helped these seaweeds as they gradually lose their place out in the wild ocean.

But now... she has become one of the pollutants threatening them herself.

I believe she can no longer answer our questions.

It seems you're familiar with this sort of thing.

I once heard a Seaborn play a broken song aboard a ship.

I apologize for underestimating you earlier, Irene.

The land and the sea are connected. You may not have experienced the frontlines of the Seaborn conflict, but you've witnessed both what has changed and what has not, equal in their weight and cruelty.

But for now, let me handle this.

She is an Ægir.

(Wails)

Her journey ended♪

Her home close at hand♪

This song...

She chose this place to sleep.