12: Start of Summer 3/3

Are these really your chapter titles? Awful. Color balance: third-rate. Graphic design: third-rate. Font: third-rate.

Really, the whole book's coloring has a long way to go. Were you trying to make it look like fine art or something?

Shut up. I didn't ask you to come in and take charge of design.

You just barged in and started taking up space like the whole damn world was your nest.

So you DO get it. Grow a few brain cells while I wasn't looking, Baobhan Sith?

Seriously, who invited her here!? Speak up so I can throw you both into the nearest volcano!

Calm down. I'm serious about this. I swear on my honor as the strongest being in the world that I'm going to make this into the best book it can be.

I'm not going to compromise on a single aspect of production. It's a collaboration with my lovey, after all!

Huh? What the hell did I just hear? Who do you think you're fooling!?

No one in their right mind would want a little runt like you for a lover!

If they're real, I'd LOVE to meet them! Go on, who is it? Lancelot, 'cause of the shared name thing?

There! I did it! After a hundred and twenty-nine attempts, I finally drew something that looks good!

Indeed. This drawing truly reflects your innate diligence and integrity, Lady Red Elder.

Oh! L-Lord Gawain. How long have you been standing there!?

N-no, never mind that. Just please forget what you heard here.

I'm only doing this because my lord commanded it, so...

Don't be so modest. You may never have drawn this if not for your job, but you were still glowing with joy while you worked on it.

To tell the truth, I didn't feel as though a knight as coarse and boorish as myself had any right to contribute to this mural, but seeing you draw has inspired me.

Coarse and boorish though I may be, I will still enjoy taking on this challenge. And I intend to do just as well as you, if not better.

Hey, I know! Let's put Habetrot in here, too! She's cute, if nothing else!

Wait! I wholeheartedly agree that Habetrot is adorable, but that's only scratching the surface! She's also kind, considerate, graceful, and brave enough to stand up to even the most fearsome opponent despite her small stature! That's what makes her Habetrot! So if we're going to include her, we have to do her justice!

Mash...!

Uh, okay. If you're that set on it, then sure. (Also, why is she shaking hands so vigorously with Lady Aesc?)

...So, tomorrow is the day.

The day Fujimaru said the city will burn, even without the enshrined deity's help.

They do say the UDK has been diligent about putting out fires whenever they pop up, but...

...What am I doing here?

I formed the UDK explicitly to prevent another Calamity of the Beast from ever coming about...

...but I've been so scared that I might transform upon seeing flames that I've been hiding away in the forest.

I could not agree more. You were once known as the wonder child of the Fang clan, and now look at you.

What happened? Did Chaldea defang you?

Your Majesty!? What if someone sees you dressed like that!?

Worry not. They are all inside, sleeping the sleep of the exhausted in preparation for the battle tomorrow.

You are the only one with energy to spare after days on end of backbreaking labor.

And yet, despite your hardiness, you still fear your own mind's potential instability more than you do any foe.

...Hmph. I thought you would be better able to relax here, among people enthused for the festival...

...than you would at Bristin, far from the din of the festival, but apparently not.

Well, you will have no more opportunities from me. Only you can solve that problem for yourself now.

Baobhan Sith found a deity facing unjust persecution here in these woods, and decided to become its priestess.

She chose to take the path of repelling curses, rather than adding her own to the mix.

Granted, there is a difference in suffering between Baobhan Sith, who was merely swallowed up by calamity...

...and you, who once was a calamity herself. But, that is exactly why you have your own possibilities.

You can still learn to accept your calamitous nature, and to tame it.

Barghest, the Black Dog Duchess. I knew what you were when I named you a Tam Lin.

I regret that decision now. In retrospect, I should not have done it.

I see... Then, I suppose a wretched beast like myself was never meant to be a knight after all...

Hold your tongue. You are the finest knight I have ever known.

I meant only that you never had need of Gawain's name.

That is all. Do not make me repeat myself. Now, I will be returning to Bristin.

I have nothing more to say to you, or entrust to you, as you are now. Go wherever you wish.

...

...No need for the name "Tam Lin," huh.

Her Majesty doesn't mince words. But she's also right about Barghest.

Personally, I use the name "Lancelot" because I like it.

Aw, I guess this means they've both grown a little.

Well, I'd probably better get more serious too! Especially after my complete failure at the race!

Yeah. Even Baobhan Sith added one just a little while ago.

But there's still someone missing. Someone who spent a lot of this summer adventuring with us.

...Fujimaru.

I knew Cnoc na Riabh was the one resetting everything.

I'd figured it out by the second reset.

But...I felt like if I dug deeper, she'd remember who she really was and disappear.

That's why I didn't say anything. ...I'm sorry. I'm a terrible detective, aren't I?

Yeah. It's also why I was investigating pretty much everything except the committee.

...I was really hoping it would turn out that someone or something else was behind them.

Oh, wow, it's true! I didn't know you'd caught on about the resets, too. You've got incredible intuition!

...But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You always were good about spotting the things that really matter.

？！

Anyway, tomorrow's the seventh day. There won't be any more resets.

If we fail to prove that we're all getting along again...

...all the grief Wandjina felt will come to end things.

If that happens, Hawaltria will disappear, and Wandjinathe air, along with it.

You see, she can only survive in the skies over Australia, since that's where she settled down.

And even if the air disappearing is only limited to Australia, with that much of the atmosphere missing

？！

Yeah. Wandjina's been watching humans from the starry sky all this time, but they've never looked up at her.

We can't let her be written out as if she never existed.

So we need to defeat the calamities, make sure ServantFes succeeds, and let Wandjina know we see her.

We're the detectives and this is our case, so it's our responsibility.

？！

Of course! We're also going to kick Ceasunnos's butt and get Cnoc na Riabh back!

And this time, I'm going to hit it with everything I've got! There's still so much I want to tell her!