Zeroth Directive

Archive III

I imposed a strict ban on curious operators discussing Operator Suzuran's family composition, until I bumped into Suzuran and Ingrid myself, chatting on the landship bridge, and they stopped to greet me at the same time. They were just so alike in appearance and stature, as if they were carved from the same mold, but their temperaments were like night and day. I confess this was somewhat rude of me, but I honestly couldn't help wondering how a Siracusan assassin and a Higashinese kannushi met and formed ties. Many stories quickly flashed through my mind, like a tale of a cold killer who, under orders to kill the shrine's master, traveled from Siracusa to Higashi, but her long blade shatters a bugaku mask to reveal the kannushi's clear eyes, stopping them both in their tracks as if entranced. Or another tale, of a gentle kannushi visiting the foot of a mountain for an event, but finding a Siracusan assassin leaning against a maple tree on a corner of his path, who—having fled a bloody battle and made it all the way to a foreign land—was now bleeding out, and the kannushi tenderly crouching down to check on her. By the time I came back to my senses, I realized I had already involuntarily opened my mouth to ask: 'Excuse me...' Be it as a colleague or an HR operator, my actions were extremely inappropriate, but surprisingly they were not angry at me. On the contrary, Suzuran generously answered my question in a simple manner. She described her father meeting her mother as purely coincidence: An armed force had infiltrated the area around the shrine where Suzuran's father works, and frequently caused trouble. Her father resolved to confront them alone at their stronghold to protect the innocent masses, and was on his way to the final negotiation. At the foot of the mountain, he passed by a foreign lady with a scar on her right cheek wearing a large coat. When he arrived at their stronghold, the boss was already dead in the snow, and everyone else left had already fled. A week later, the priest had gone into the city in civilian clothes to buy some chikuwa for a certain 'god' he serves, and went to the stall he usually frequented, only to see the same woman from before buying the last two sticks. He politely asked her to sell him one, and the cruel-seeming woman turned around, and gave him a stick with a smile. He bowed and thanked her for the chikuwa stick, as well as for their second meeting... and then everything else happened as it should. Indeed, a truly normal tale. In fact, the meeting of two people from different countries, backgrounds, and personalities is precious in itself, but the choices and efforts they made afterwards—challenging the shrine taboos, ignoring the famiglia rules, and raising a child both parties have invested unfathomable emotions and expectations in—are far more worthy of respect, and have nothing to do with how strange their initial encounter may have been. I bid the two goodbye, and then Ingrid, who had been silent the whole conversation, smiled and stopped me in my tracks with this: 'As I recall, you'll be joining us in our special resistance training drill later this afternoon, yes?'

Archive IV

[Special Letter Correspondence 03] Sender: Fabrizio Venezia (verified as the current don of Siracusa's Famiglia Venezia) Recipient: Rhodes Island Procurement Department Content: My granddaughter Lisa has always been undergoing Oripathy treatment with your company, and recently her mother Ingrid has also gone to your company as well, so I hope to sponsor your research on Oripathy diagnosis and treatment in the name of Venezia Trucking Co.. Response: We specifically asked Ingrid about this, and based on her attitude have made the following reply: 'Thank you for your interest in Rhodes Island, but we cannot consider your offer due to inaccurate information provided.' [Special Letter Correspondence 07] Sender: Nuova Volsinii branch office, Penance Recipient: Rhodes Island Landship Content: Operator Penance has routinely synchronized with us on mission reports and official correspondence, which included an arrest warrant issued by the Police Department of Nuova Volsnii for Ingrid on the grounds of committing premeditated injury. Response: We informed Ingrid about this, and surprisingly, unlike the usual famiglia member attitude towards the law, she acknowledged the warrant was real. [Classified Log] I'm not running or looking for a sanctuary, Doctor. Of course, I'm not going back either. There are too many 'laws' on this land, so why care about them all? ...Yes, Siracusan famiglie do not need a valid reason to end someone's life. Or rather, the usual reasons not to, like 'decency' or 'hoping everyone gets a good ending'... often hold no water there, which is why I chose to leave. But I won't take off this suit, because it's comfortable to wear; I won't abandon this blade, because it's easy to wield. It's just that Lisa doesn't need me to worry over her anymore, and her papa can solve his own problems and won't need my help for the time being. So I can indeed afford a short vacation. You're right, an assassin taking a vacation isn't a bad thing. For her, or for everyone else.

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