Marigold

It would be my greatest honor.

Excuse me, Mr. McKee.

I'll leave the wine you requested right here.

Thank you. Send my regards to the other staff.

Let's take a moment to celebrate, Madam Droste.

I would be dearly happy to.

A toast!

A toast.

*sigh* Truly, a fine wine. It's a coveted Gaulish bottling, and its value would boggle any mind. A worthy tipple for a day such as today...

And for a knight such as you.

You flatter me. I've simply been of good fortune.

This poetry anthology...

Authored by a poet of little name from my hometown. I very much adore the verses he pens.

Ah, a Leithanian anthology... the title means 'Twin Moons and Marigold'?

Your Leithanian is superb as ever.

Haha, it was simply necessary to learn for diplomacy. I'm guessing you like marigolds? We've very few Kazimierzians nowadays who know how to appreciate poetry.

In the end, the letter can't break free of our mind's eye. These are all but marks for imaginations.

To the contemporary man, poetry is no more than warrens of words lacking aesthetics, too self-assuming, too pretentious.

Perhaps Kazimierzians are accustomed to a different sort of consumption now, a kind poetry could never match. It's a very typical course of things.

Might you be... insinuating?

I'm merely discussing poetry, Mr. McKee.

Don't you have something else you'd like to talk to us about, Madam?

Oh... I wonder what.

Ah. Your new glasses suit you very well.

Haha... w-well, it's sharp of you to notice such things. What a surprise, haha...

*ahem* However, that's not quite relevant to you. No, there's been some prior rumors going around the intercity net and print presses...

Ah... The red wine baths?

Yes, it's been slandering your reputation...

Do people really bathe in red wine? Wouldn't it stick to them so?

Excuse me? I assume... I'm not sure.

*sigh*... And who would believe such news?

Some would, Madam Droste... many would believe it. Sure as they know it may not be the truth, they'll still let the information color them.

Could we not clear the air?

Ah, you always do take non-knightly matters too lightly...

I've gotten in touch with the Rose Paper Union HQ; it turned out to be some entertainment editor's doing.

It seems it had already drawn considerable attention by the time it was noticed, and with all the factors at play, no retraction came...

This is the way they work. I give them no mind.

You're very forgiving, but that strengthens my feeling you've been wronged.

You've donated practically all your income to the poor of Leithanien, to build schools back home, to set up nomadic platforms.

But even if you deny the rumors now, the masses know the taste of delirium already, and they won't care what the truth is.

Hurting and slandering are simple things. They'll grab hold of the rumors and spread the news.

And how many times have you seen, after the truth came out, those who'd worked against you turned to help you wash away the lies, to make the facts clear?

Gossip can be fresh and exciting to people, while the truth is an all too boring thing. By all rights, this is how it is.

*sigh* How are you so unconcerned?!

Others should see an example in an upstanding, honorable knight like you! This ought to be better for your reputation, and besides—

McKee.

Erk...

I'm touched.

You're all too thoughtful a person... and all too tender.

......

As a Chamber spokesman, ensuring no external factors are of disturbance to any knight is part of my duty.

That said, I'd like you to care more, please, about what happens to you.

Oh, I have a question for you.

When will we have the competition schedule?

*sigh*... How can not even your own matches concern you?

Provided nothing happens, your next opponent will be Graybeard Knight, followed by... the Radiant Knight.

......

Are you that shocked, Madam?

Of course. The Radiant Knight, Margaret Nearl... I've heard this name many, many times. Such beauty, firmness, and grace too.

The Chamber wishes you victory.

Mm... and yet...

A 'Candle' to the 'Radiant.' What chance do I have of winning?

Don't be like that. Knight titles nowadays are more for catchiness than anything else. They've got nothing to do with true power, Madam Droste.

You're very strong.

Oh—I've won!

Dammit! You cheater!

Ahahah, ol' V's still top of his game~♪ You're the big fat loser tonight, Kowal~♪

You belched on purpose calling 'start,' didn't you?!

Put the stool down, Kowal, that one's not built good. Get another one.

I win, Kowal~♪ You big fat loser~♪

What did I walk in on?

Arm wrestling. What are you carrying there?

Some medicine I just picked up...

Oh, for Młynar?

But he'll turn me the other cheek, I know that. Besides, I don't even think he'll start taking it on time...

They couldn't be more different, personality-wise. But there are some areas where he and the sisters are very much alike.

I heard him and Margaret had a real, proper duel once. Margaret won.

Who knows, maybe that's how you wake Młynar up some.

Pfeh, I don't reckon that boy's got anything to wake up to. He's awake as can be. Too awake, he is. That's what turned him so funny these days.

Oh, Młynar...

...No, never mind.

Hi, everyone! Oh, Zofia's here too.

Maria? What are you doing here alone?

Someone came looking for Margaret just now, so I came over ahead of her.

There aren't a lot of cases where someone's been exiled and then allowed to return as a full citizen. They need to check over so many legal documents...

Funny, that. Their bunch went to hell and back to catch Margaret out, and now they welcome her back with open arms?

Plotting something, aren't they?

That's what was haunting me before. Can't you two talk something nice for once?

We're just worried, you know...

If things really do go belly-up, we'll pack our bags and leave Kazimierz, head to that... Drohes Island whatsit to take a looksee.

...Rhodes. Rhodes Island.

Maria, how's your uncle?

Ah... I think Uncle Młynar's still at work. His shift might be over soon?

The Radiant Knight gave that boy a harsh talking-to, didn't she?

Hah, been a long time coming. If Old Man Nearl was still around, he wouldn't have stood for Młynar letting himself go like this—

......

Maria?

My sister could only make her return to the field because Młynar lost that duel. He's not going to have much more to say now.

Oho. So Młynar knows when to admit defeat, then?

But—But when they dueled, he didn't even use the slightest bit of Arts until the end...

What? Was he throwing that one?

Scared to go all out, gave himself an excuse for losing? That's my sad reckoning.

Of course not. Admitting defeat, throwing? What makes you think he'd do something like that?

He... he just can't stand Margaret. He can't stand the Radiant Knight.

He didn't deem her worthy of using his full Arts, pure and simple. Nothing else.

'Ashlock' Greynuty, have you seen Sona?

She's right over there... Why is my name the only one you put the title on?

...I can stop.

If you don't like it... I just felt—it's the impression you gave me.

...Whatever.

Sona!

Whaaat—?

Come on! Everyone's here!

Hup—

Alright, alright. Are you all better now?

My wounds won't get in the way... What's that? A figurine?

Ahaha, I'm a girl of my own, right? Is it so wrong to like cute things?

Sona...

Okay, I get it. No leeway for jokes right now.

'Industrial accidents' are on the rise. They're herding the Infected about, terrorizing them and the slums alike.

Seeing as the Armorless Union's dropped all pretenses, hiding away's not an option anymore.

Szewczyk gave us some very interesting information. We need to hurry and—

—Sona?

Huh?

You seem kind of distracted.

If one day... we win our freedom...

...what would you like to do then?

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We'll think about it together.

What's with you today...? Why so melancholy all of a sudden?

Ahaha, nothing. C'mon, hop to it.

Let's go meet Pinus Sylvestris Knightclub's new members.

Seems it's nearly all Infected here.

The National Council could be watching, right?

The Council don't hide when they're watching, and in the worst case, we just throw some money around. Money's the key to getting the law on your side.

But if this keeps up... will the Armorless Union stand by and let it happen?

The Armorless Union? Do they even really exist?

Best not doubt them. You'll be wiser for it.

Oh, look over there, the ones coming over. They must be the Pinus Sylvestris knights.

Huh. They look like a bunch of kids, at a glance.

But... maybe some things, only the young can do.

'Flametail' Sona.

'Ashlock' Greynuty.

'Fartooth' Justyna.

(Loud beeping noises)

Huh. I thought they had another one, a Kuranta...?

Are we going to even make it through alive, if we jump on board with these kids' plans? And if we do, what then? What about next month? Next year?

There's something Infected often say, my friend. It all depends on you.

We've got Oripathy. Plenty choose to resign themselves to that... our lives will be short, and they could end at any moment.

But at the same time, my thinking is that's no guarantee we'll die tomorrow. As long as we've got so many 'tomorrows' lined up in front of us, we should damn well be taking them, fangs out.

Our numbers are dropping.

We won't be able to save the Infected like this, Sona.

I know. That's why we need to find an opening, ASAP.

Hmph... Where's a couple of Infected-turned-knights' wealth and privilege going to get you in this city?

All the money you spend on charity for these Infected, all the meaningless work to conceal them, dragging out their miserable lives in shacks and gutters.

The city itself let you have all of this. You've got nothing close to an opening.

Ahaha, that's real hurtful to hear, Plastic Knight, sir.

What about your family, then, Szewczyk? Didn't the knight nobles win all those entrepreneurs over for you, heart and soul?

With the General Chamber of Commerce targeting you, you're no different from us. Take a long, hard look at yourself.

...Keh... fair enough, we're all trash smashed down to the dirt here. No real difference at all.

Your name was Greynuty? The knight nobility have been doomed since the moment all those years ago when the Affinity was established.

Don't tell me you hold onto any delusions about your old clan, little squirrel.

......

(Did you think he'd go for an argument with you?)

You're calmer than I expected.

Keh. You know what, I'm dying to get out of this place. Heaven knows when you're going to pass that Oripathy around—

But seeing how you're not going to die for the next while, let's focus our attention on other matters—

The Armorless Union.

The Chamber's scumbag lackeys. I'll give them something to regret.

On that note, you're all so willing to face off with the Armorless... so you must have some ace up your sleeve, right?

...Area 0.

Or in other words, the Grand Knight Territory's Infected assembly and treatment section. A place for Infected healthcare, formed by an alliance of several companies.

Aren't you Infected knights regulars in those parts? So you tell me. What secrets are the Armorless Union hiding there?

—Slow down, Szewczyk.

Of course we've got methods... but that doesn't mean we'll tell you about them just like that.

If that's what you really thought, Infected, you would've left me in that wretched hospital and waited for the Armorless to come torture me for answers—you wouldn't have busted me out of there.

Don't you talk at me like this. We're only here now because we all did what we had to. Would your status alone give you the standing to address me, Ashlock?

Or do you think your busting me out means I should be weeping over you with gratitude?

You arrogant noble—

Uh—alright, alright, I'm not against you two fighting it out here and now. Better right this moment than a stab in the back after the Armorless Union shows up, anyway—

—We've been doing this for a few years now, for better or worse... we have ins with some government channels.

There's the impoverished and Infected who can't even get by day-to-day, but do you know who else in Kazimierz hates the General Chamber of Commerce?

...Keh.

Either I've gone mad, or Kazimierz has. You couldn't be telling me a ragtag group of Infected are in deals with the Adeptus Sprawiedliwi to take down the K.G.C.C.?

Ahaha...

Look at where you are in life. Look at the knights, Szewczyk.

—They went mad forever ago.