Like the Spring Sunshine (End)

Ahem, testing, testing. Can you hear me? I think these adjustments should help us stay connected.

Yes, it worked! We can hear you fine, Da Vinci!

Bene, bene! We can hear you loud and clear, too! Now, we've got an emergency on our hands, so I'll be quick!

？！

Morning! So you're the ones making all this racket so early!

Well now, you're a cute one! If only you were about ten years older...

Oh, are you the new guy? My, what an overbearing Spirit Origin you have...

Never mind that. We really do have an emergency on our hands!

The Shadow Border's currently under attack. We're being chased by a bunch of flying humanoids!

That sounds like envoys... Mass-produced Valkyries...!

Aha, I THOUGHT that might be the case! Since we're in Norse lands and all, the Valkyries were the first thing toDid you say "mass-produced"!?

Ooh, I like the sound of that! I'd love to have my own squad of mini Borders at theEr, never mind that!

We just got the Border's controls back up and running this morning. So of course, the first thing our fearless leader here decides to do is take the Border outside my Bounded Field.

D-don't you blame me for this! I was just trying to find a spot with a better signal!

Besides, how could I know a little drive would give our position away!? You could have camouflaged us once we were mobile!

Anyway, that is why we've been able to call you again, so it isn't all bad news. So

Gah! Driving on these snow plains is terrible! It's like one big sheet of ice!

Director!

Fo fou!

Yep! We're pretty much at our limit here!

I'll send you our current coordinates now! I don't wanna rush you, but if you can get here soon, we'd reeeally appreciate it!

At the moment...we're about fifty kilometers west of Norrköping!

Here are our coordinates!

？！

We just lost our connection... Master!

？！

Got it!

Is something wrong? Breakfast is almost ready...

Lady Mash, Lord Fujimaru... What's the matter? Did you catch a cold?

Well now...

Fou, fo fo fou!

No, we're fine. But I'm afraid we have some urgent business to attend to outside the village. I'm sorry, Gerda.

We'll be glad to have breakfast once we get back. Won't we, Fujimaru?

？！

I see...

Okay, see you later then!

Please be careful! Promise me you'll come back safe!

Engaging the Ollerus Boards' second gear...

Our speed is holding steady. We may have lost contact again, but I have a good idea where the Border is right now.

It should be about twenty kilometers away from our location!

If we keep accelerating, we should be there in no time! Although...

Yes. There are several giants roaming about up ahead. We could go around them, but

We don't have time! We'll have to go through them!

We don't need to kill them all! Once we've cleared a path, we can get moving again!

？！

Yes, Master!

Reducing Ollerus Boards' speed...and stopped.

Fou fou! Kyaaau!

Ooh la la, here they come! Let's do this!

Good! We've opened a hole in their ranks! Let's blast through and keep on moving!

Re-equipping the Ortinax Ollerus Board attachments now. Hold on tight, Master!

Switching from thruster mode's second gear to emergency gear. Ollerus Boards, standing by. Three, two, one...

Reignition!

I can barely see a thing! Still, we should be able to spot what we're looking for!

You two! That big chunk of armor plating up ahead...that must be it!

Magnifique! It's not so much a vehicle as it is a wondrous armored transport!

We've got a visual on all of you too! Awesome job getting here so quickly! But we can't slow down yet!

Those Valkyries are chasing us with their spears even as we speak!

Then we shall jump on board.

Great idea!

Wha

Don't move, you two! I'll help you up! ...Hraaaaaah!

...And he sticks the landing!

Damn, it's windy up here! Make sure you two don't fall off!

R-right. Master, stay behind me. I'll do my best to block the wind!

You too, Fou!

Fou, fooou!!!

...I see them. They're impossible to miss. There's a huge throng of mass-produced Valkyries right above us!

Mass-produced...

Yes, you did mention them. I...knew about them...

I thought I understood... But seeing them here, like this, I can't help but feel an ache in my heart.

So these are my soulless sisters...Valkyries made to be automata and nothing more.

...They are fully equipped with systems and functionality that allow them to carry out their orders. In fact, that's ALL they have.

They do not have the uncertainty that comes with even the limited emotions we Valkyries were given.

They may be highly functional and efficient...

...but I cannot see them as anything but tragic.

Can you hear me, my sisters? My poor, soulless sisters?

My True Name is Brynhild. I am the eldest of you. I am the one upon whom you were most likely based.

I am asking you all to stand down. No matter what the circumstances of your births...

...I have no wish to do any of you harm. Please, leave.

...Sister.

Sister. Sister Brynhild. Sister. The elite commander who stands above us all. So she really does exist...

Inexplicable. Inexplicable. We were only ordered to destroy this impure slab of metal...

Inexplicable. Inexplicable. Commander units, we request additional orders regarding this situation.

Sister. Sister Brynhild...means to fight us!

Ridiculous. Impossible. Ridiculous. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible!

It is not impossible at all, my young sisters.

So please, leave now. If you refuse...

...I will have no choice but to destroy you!

...Now do you see the difference in our power?

Know the grief of one of your sisters' destruction. Any further loss would be meaningless.

I am sure another will be manufactured, but that is not the same as returning from death.

It only means a new one will have been created in her place. Individually, your lives are so very finite.

Now leave, my sisters. Please, don't make me destroy any more of you.

...I'm sorry, Sister. But we cannot leave.

That voice... I've heard it before...

You mentioned a difference in power? True, these mass-produced units are no match for you individually.

But we do have numbers on our side! I wonder...

How long can you last against a hundred mass-produced Valkyries, Sister!? How about you, Chaldean dregs!?

Oh, you bet we'll hang in there! We haven't even gotten started!

Especially now that you guys have bought us enough time to regroup...!

The emergency brake! Hold on, Master!

Fo fo fou! Kyaaau!

Hahaha! Nice, very nice! Looks like your Shadow Border is back in action!

How deviously clever of you. Not bad at all!

？！

You got it, monsieur! You'll see what your friends were up to very soon!

Giants! Those are from the group we broke through earlier...!

I haven't just been fixing the Border up all this time! I also figured the giants out!

They're basically biological heat-seeking missiles. If something's warm, they go after it! Humans, animals, Heroic Spirits... They'll go after any of them!

Including the Valkyries, too. They've got artificial hearts, and their bodies are just as warm as a human's!

Which meeeans...

Fo... Fo, fooou!?

The giants are throwing massive chunks of ice at them! Incoming! Moving to defend!

Haha, look at 'em drop! I guess even Valkyries don't like getting smacked by giant ice blocks!

Woohoo, our strategy worked! Serves them right, after all the times they tried to snipe us!

Heh. There was nothing to it.

My handpicked technical advisor's calculations merely happened to be excellent.

Keep it up! Make the giants do the dirty work for us! It's in their nature!

Why have a fair fight with a hundred Valkyries! We're travelers, not fighters!

All this ruckus ought to draw more giants' attention. So while we make a clean getaway

Look for their commander! I know Thrúd is here; I heard her voice.

Makes sense. They wouldn't bring a hundred of them all this way without someone to control them!

She's got to be up there somewhere! If we can find her, and take her out...

...victory will be ours!

Gah, that was a direct hit! Dammit, man, I thought I told you to drift like you're taking an S curve!

How'm I supposed to do that on all this snow!? Are you trying to roll the Border over!?

Dammit, I knew I should have put on the snow chains...! What were you thinking, Goredolf!?

What's the latest on the Valkyries!? How many of them are left!?

Looks to be about seventy! Wait, didn't you just say not to engage them!?

That doesn't mean I'm not worried! H-hmm, this is bad. The Border's armor can't take much more of this!

Our multilayered Bounded Fields can handle falling rocks, but the ice boulders the giants are throwing are another story thanks to all the Mystics in them!

I have to agree. The sooner we wrap this up, the better!

Well, what's the word, beautiful Valkyrie? Have you found your sister yet?

... ...

...Almost.

I'll keep you safe, Brynhild! Don't worry about anything except your search!

Thank you, young shield-maiden. Your determination is wonderful to behold.

Though I hesitate to call it daring, your resolve shines bright nonetheless.

It reminds me of nothing so much as the night sky, glittering with stars.

Perhaps that is why I am free to cast my gaze far and wide.

...There she is.

Is it Thrúd!?

No, she is not alone. It is all three of them.

I can tell you their names as well. Thrúd, Hildr, and Ortlinde...

... ...

It seems my beloved younger sisters have survived in this Lostbelt for a long, long time.

That's right. These sisters managed to survive Ragnarök, and have been living in this world devoid of deities since the Age of Gods.

They're the originals. The commanders. Scáthach-Skadi's aides-de-camp.

They were the models for all the other replica Valkyries, and they're the ones who lead them.

...

Thrúd, Hildr, Ortlinde! Can you hear me, sisters?

Come down here at once.

I am willing to cast my spear at you from a distance if I must, but I would rather fight face-to-face.

Is that not true for you, Thrúd? Hildr? Ortlinde?

...Do you not wish to see my face?

...Why, Sister? Why do you side with the humans?

Fou...!

There's been a change in the Valkyries' behavior... Over half of them have begun attacking the giants!

There are only a few left in the sky now...

No, wait! They're coming down here!

Thrúd...

Hildr...

Ortlinde...

It's been ages for me since I last saw your faces. What about for you?

On that day...

...you were so preoccupied with sealing me away that you couldn't even talk to me.

...That's right.

As far as we are concerned, you are not our sister.

You are from Proper Human History. You didn't experience the last Ragnarökthe last broken Ragnarök and its scorching flames...

(Broken...Ragnarök...?)

Once he was freed, Loki was supposed to have put a plot into motion that would pit the gods and giants against each other...

Once they were all gone, the earth would belong to the humans. That was how Ragnarök was supposed to happen.

But it didn't. The gods and giants didn't die in the ordained order. That led to fate itself changing.

Ragnarök took a different path than the prophecy laid out, and the world has been mad ever since.

...So when we first saw you, we were overjoyed.

You were our sister from Proper Human History, from a world without the madness of our Ragnarök.

We thought...you would join us...

No, my sisters from another sky. That will never happen.

I am a Heroic Spirit of humanity. I manifested here only to restore it.

I would be very happy to speak with you and share our thoughts and feelings on this matter.

But...I can never join your side.

And that...

That's why we put you to sleep! As long as you were asleep, we wouldn't have to fight!

That's right. If only you'd stayed asleep, we could have avoided all this...

We never wanted to fight you!

Your face, your voice...everything about you is just like our sister from this Lostbelt.

Is that not the case for you too!? Do you consider us strangers who merely look like your sisters!?

Is that why you have no problem killing us!?

...!

？！

Wait. You don't have to say anything more, Valkyrie.

In fact, don't. Don't say another word. I'll take it from here.

Move aside, Heroic Spirit! You know nothing of what we've felt all these thousands of years!

You have no idea what it feels like to see the sister we once thought dead after all this time...! To have an eons-long dream come true!

...Gotcha. Hearing you talk about minds and souls and whatnot, it sounds like you've got feelings to spare.

So in that case, you ought to be able to understand what I'm about to say.

You say she doesn't have a problem killing you?

Of course she does!

She doesn't want to kill anyone!

...!

Look, there are exceptions to every rule. I wouldn't hesitate to kill any scumbag I came across...

...but that doesn't mean I don't carry the burden of that death with me. That's not how it works.

Don't you get it, mademoiselles? This isn't the kind of thing you're supposed to put into words.

We shoulder the responsibility of every life we take. For everything we take...

My Grande Armée was no different. In the end, they paid the price for every murder, every pillage.

That's how we warriors carry on. We don't stop until we collapse, buried under that weight.

Yes. That is exactly how a warrior...how a hero, should conduct herself.

But I see that after all these years in this Lostbelt, devoid of heroes as it is, you have forgotten that.

One cannot be a true hero without battle, for it is there that one risks her life as a final resort.

If you have forgotten that...

...you are not fit to even call yourselves Valkyries, for you are no longer capable of guiding the souls of brave heroes.

...!

We ARE the Valkyries! We have defended this Lostbelt and the humans who live in it for thousands of years!

We're the last Valkyries left! How dare you...!

...This is how we have lived our lives. You may be our sister, but you have no right to say that to us.

...Come on! We will prove to you that we're true Valkyries, using these pseudo-Gungnirs that Odin himself bestowed upon us!

Khh!

Sister Brynhild, how can there be so much difference between our

Performance? Output? Equipment? No, it can't just be that. There's something else going on...

You fight well, sistersbetter, even, than your specifications should allow.

But one of the things I gained in meeting Sigurd was a human heart.

It is something uncontrollable, something wholly different from our natural state. At times, the feelings it inspires can drive one to madness.

Drastic mood swings. Wavering. Faulty functionality. Excessive heat.

...Now that you three have been alive for so long, I see you all have human hearts as well.

You all have intense emotions, and your spearmanship reflects it. I'm so glad to see that.

What...?

Huh...?

Love. Hate. Joy. Grief. They all flicker like flames in the wind.

Sometimes they shrink to embers. But other times, they explode into all-consuming blazes.

But even the tiniest embers show that there is something lurking within your circuits

Th-that's not true!

Don't be ridiculous, Sister. We are autonomous machines.

We may now belong to the queen rather than Odin, but that doesn't mean we've gained emotions...

You're wrong...! We don't have emotions! Do you take us for human!?

We would never allow something so unstable within ourselves!

... ...

...

Oh, Sister... Our sister from Proper Human History! Why did it come to this...!?

First you preach at us, then you tell us we're not even Valkyries!

I knew it, you have gone mad! Your mixed feelings for Sigurd have tainted and twisted you!

Once you were our proud, unwavering, fearless sister... You gathered the souls of fallen heroes tirelessly... No more! Your affections have corrupted your mind!

Thrúd! Your magical energy is leaking... You need to calm down!

This can't stand...! It can't, it can't, it can't!

How dare you!?

Siiiiiister! Aaaaaaaaah!

Thrúd! Hildr...!

Wh-why... It's like...you're both... This can't be right...

Like a human heart...

We're not like you... We're not...

This fire that burns inside us...

...is so very, very ugly...

We could never hope...to be like you...Sister...

Still... Hehe... I should have known...

Even if you are from Proper Human History, you're still our sister... You saw right though us, as you always did...

Even back when you played with us in our childhood...

...all we could manage was to follow you, poorly...

...Yeah. You finally said it, Thrúd.

I feel the same way, of course. I... This is so sad...

I thought we could hold our own at least a little better...but I guess this is our limit.

We can't beat you, Sister. Even if our performance, output, and equipment surpass yours...

...there's no way we could ever kill you.

Even so...I'd say we did pretty well...

I think so, too...

Let's go out together, Thrúd.

Yes, of course. I would be happy to go with you.

Ortlinde... I'm so sorry for dragging you into our self-destruction.

But...once Sister awoke, this was inevitable...

I'm sorry... I can't bring you along.

I know...you're shocked by this, because you're not as broken as we are.

That's why this heart...this envy...this death...is ours alone.

I'm sorry, Ortlinde...our beloved little sister.

We want you to follow your own heart as well, Ortlinde. I'm sure you have one, too...

So follow it, wherever it takes you...

...The two Valkyrie commanders have disappeared.

Fooou...

... ...

This can't be... Thrúd? Hildr?

Ah... Ah... ...Sister...Brynhild...

Why did... I-I don't...understand...

...I don't understand! Wh-why did they...

...It was like...they chose to...!

Ortlinde.