15. Collar

I don't care. I'll go after her myself!

Useless grown-ups!

Hey! Wait! After her, Awakener!

On it!

Hey... Sova...

You could have made that shot, right?

Yeah.

Nanook is loyal to a fault. She would never divulge Yulia's secrets.

I know. That's why I'd rather follow her. If we grab her, the trail will go cold.

I couldn't really explain it to the kid. She's too young to understand.

Yeah. And with Deena to guide us, we have Nanook on a leash.

Hey Deena, what was life like here, before?

Huh? Why do you want to know?

You just seem to have a strong attachment to this city.

No... not that strong...

See that bench over there? 6 o'clock every day two old men play chess there. They're terrible at it.

There's a market further up that way. It gets so noisy in the morning, with all the hawkers and the haggling.

I like to roam the city when I'm bored. You get to know things, after a while.

Don't you go to school?

Why would anyone go there? It's just full of idiots and bullies.

Anyway... it sounds like life in the city isn't so different from the village where I come from.

I was thinking if I saved up some money, I could move to the city...

You still can... I think you're okay. When you do, I can take you under my wing.

Hahaha... Maybe when this is all over.

Look. Those marchers are all wearing the same uniform. Are they Yulia's private army, or something?

Actually they were guards... sent here to keep the peace.

Guards that were sent here during the first uprising. They didn't know what they were doing and were brainwashed.

That's a pain. Regular citizens are easy enough to handle, but guards are a whole another matter.

Why don't we pretend to be brainwashed and try to blend in?

You think they won't notice your big headphones?

And can you speak like they do? Do you know Yulia's talking points?

Yeah, sure I do! You know... Chaos! Anarchy! Rarara...

Wow, some Lord of Chaos you are...

Let's just fight.

The next loudspeaker is 20 minutes from here.

Try not to be so impulsive this time, Deena.

Huh? You can't order me around.

I'm not ordering you around. I'm just giving you some advice. We need to work together to take down Nanook.

Hm... This sucks...

Whatever. FINE.

That's the spirit, Teammate!

Teammate?... In your dreams...

Deena, how much further to the loudspeaker?

Less than a kilometer.

If I know Nanook, the next 1000 meters will be swarming with enemies.

We need to keep a low profile and not get into any fights, unless we really have to.

I know a good place, not far from the loudspeaker, that gives a good view of the area.

Sounds perfect. Set that place as our destination.

Phew... Finally...

Everyone be careful. If they find us, all that effort will be wasted.

Look! There's Nanook!

Not just Nanook. There's someone else. The mob is all around them.

The city is huge. It's not logical to think one person could be controlling all the rioters.

They're saying something... and seem to be pointing...

...at us?

CRAP!!! They know we're here!

Nanook was right. This place is crawling with cockroaches.

Battle stations!

Haha... Don't waste your time.

You will all die here today, at the hands of Lord Gura!

We won...

It was bit too easy, wasn't it...?

Stop! Don't do anything rash!

Please don't kill me! Nanook forced me to join her, on pain of death!

I'll turn witness! I can tell you all their secrets!

I don't trust her... She's too eager to betray her friends...

HEY!!! She's one of the bad guys! Why are you sparing her?

We need her intel.

Yes! Yes! I know a lot of things.

Get up. No one wants to watch you grovel.

So tell us then, where is Yulia?

Come with me. I'll take you to her.