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Crazy for you くれいじーふぉーゆー （歌, 91）TMNの曲。アルバム「EXPO」に収録されている。伊集院の笑い声が全編にわたって入っている。 htmlプラグインエラー このプラグインを使うにはこのページの編集権限を「管理者のみ」に設定してください。 アルバム「EXPO／TMN」91年9月5日発売 ESCB1220
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Format Title Artist Label Model Number Release Press 12 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT(promo)(white) S-WORD DEF JAM JAPAN,UNIVERSAL B042 2003/--/-- - Side Track Title Produce A 1 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT BEASTIE BOYS 2 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT(TV Track) BEASTIE BOYS 3 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT(Inst) BEASTIE BOYS 4 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT(Acap) BEASTIE BOYS B 5 DEVIL MAY KRY feat.HI-D DJ YAS 6 DEVIL MAY KRY(TV Track) DJ YAS 7 DEVIL MAY KRY(Inst) DJ YAS 8 DEVIL MAY KRY(Acap) DJ YAS PERTAIN CD FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT STAR ILL WARZ
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概要 Miss Fortuneは高い基本性能と汎用性の高い戦闘能力を持った、レーンでの戦闘で活躍できるAD Carryだ。 ゲーム序盤での強さは別として、Ultでもその強さは際立っている。 AoEは信じられないほど強力で、AoEチームに欠かせない存在でもある。 AmumuとMiss Fortuneのコンビは"Curse of the Sad Bullet Time"という渾名が付くほど。 ミニオンの排除能力の高さに加えて移動速度上昇のパッシブを持ち、前線を押し上げるのも容易だ。 EzrealとCorkiのnerfに恩恵を預かったMiss Fortuneは同じレーンに赴く組むサポートやパッシブを選ぶ必要はない。 敵のAD Carryを早々にゲームから脱落させ、後半に思い切り楽しむことが出来るだろう。 マスタリー - Masteries Meditationから得られるマナリジェネはAD Carryが必要とする膨大な量のマナを、マナリジェネルーンを用いることなく容易に供給する。 CleanseとSummoner s Resolveの有用性についても話しておこう。 Defenseに1ポイント使うことで、Utilityに9ポイント振ることが出来なくなる。 加えて、多くのAD CarryがDoran s Blade購入からはじめることが多い現在では、Veteran s Scarsから得られる追加HPは以前ほど便利なものでは無くなった。 Meditationが必要ないと感じるのであれば、Defenseツリーに9ポイント振ってみるのも良いだろう。 私見として、Miss Fortuneはマナ不足に陥ることが多いので、私は21/5/4というビルドを採用しているに過ぎない。 ルーン - Runes Greater Quintessence of Life Stealと開幕購入するDoran s Bladeの相性は抜群。 開幕にHealPotを購入する気が無いのであれば、 You need some kind of innate sustain if you aren t going to start Health Potions. Life steal quints have been popular lately since they scale better than flat AD quints. If you have trouble last hitting or are being extra aggresive early, feel free to use Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage. Very early on, Miss Fortune relies Double Up to harass. Armor pen compliments skill damage, so Greater Mark of Armor Penetration is preferred over Greater Mark of Attack Damage. You have Impure Shots for some extra last hit damage anyway. You can also add a crit rune. () Read more Greater Seal of Armor helps you trade damage better with the enemy AD carry. Greater Glyph of Magic Resist are useful versus laners who rely on magic damage skills early game such as Sona, Zyra, Corki, or Leona. You could use scaling magic res too, but the flat versions are more convenient if you are playing blind pick and don t know who you re laning against. Summoner Spells Flash is a must-have on Miss Fortune. She has no gap closer but every other assassin character in the game has one. For your 2nd summoner aside from Flash, Barrier, Cleanse and Ignite are all good candidates. Cleanse is great for a heavy crowd control team, or even just for cleansing the enemy s Exhaust during laning phase. I find the higher elo you get, the more attractive Cleanse becomes. Alternatively you can choose Ignite damage to compliment Miss Fortune s strong laning phase to help secure kills. Barrier is also an option versus, say, Karthus, or burst like from Evelynn. It s also pretty useful for dueling since it s like temporarily having an extra Ruby Crystal or Elixir of Fortitude to help you out. In my opinion there are 2 very basic core builds for Miss Fortune A generic AD DPS build, and a very manly AD caster-ish build. Generic AD DPS Build This is a fairly standard AD carry build. Start off with a The Bloodthirster since it can stack to have the most AD. Having higher AD is very useful early game with Double Up since it doesn t crit. After, work on your Phantom Dancer to gain some autoattack DPS with crits, then a Last Whisper to deal with tanks in team fights. AD carries often need to hit whatever is closest, and that will 9 out of 10 times be a tank. You can also change it up a bit and go Zeal then Last Whisper then Phantom Dancer. After, you can buy a component for a defensive item (such as Phage if you want Frozen Mallet or Warden s Mail if you want Randuin s Omen). Next, buy an Infinity Edge for even further increased autoattack DPS, then finish off your defensive item. If you aren t in very much danger, you can start building your Infinity Edge earlier. Manly AD Caster Build When playing Manly Fortune, you basically want a bunch of The Bloodthirsters because they give the most AD on any item, then a Last Whisper for piercing tank armor. This combo of items will make your Double Up and Bullet Time do something like 8 gazillion damage to everyone on the enemy team. You can use Berserker s Greaves early on, but you should sell them later and replace them with a Zephyr for cooldown reduction and because frankly shoe shopping is a girl thing -- keep in mind that you re playing Manly Fortune. The obvious flaws to this kind of build are that having Bullet Time interrupted decreases your damage significantly, and that while you will be able to autoattack with Impure Shots s ASPD buff, you will do literally 0 crit damage since you have no items giving you above 0% crit. Guardian Angel is a pretty good survival item for this build because you won t die even if they kill you. Disclaimer The Guardian Angel in this build is a joke. The build itself is basically what Genja of Gambit Gaming builds on Miss Fortune. His team plays very aggressively and dives through enemy lines often leaving him to die. Thus, he builds stuff like Guardian Angel and Boots of Swiftness. Guardian Angel does fit the "every man for himself" type of team, and it also helps when you know you can close out a game immediately / after the next big team fight and you need to live through it somehow. This is especially true on an AD carry because they re often the best member on their team for taking down towers and inhibs to close a game out. Otherwise, Guardian Angel is fairly outdated. Other Offensive Items If you re really ahead early game, grab Statikk Shiv instead of Phantom Dancer. Statikk Shiv s magic damage proc is stronger earlier in the game, whereas Phantom Dancer scales as time goes on and you get more AD items. Blade of the Ruined King can be bought if you re having a terrible time in lane and coming back to town with very low amounts of gold (translation you re having trouble saving up for a B. F. Sword but you still need to come back to lane stronger). The Black Cleaver gets applied with each wave from Bullet Time. It s most useful when you have a lot of AD on your team, like a mid Kha Zix. Other Defense Items These are some other options for defensive items aside from Frozen Mallet and Guardian Angel. Warmog s Armor makes you incredibly tanky vs both magic and physical damage, and it actually gives you more theoretical defense versus both types of damage than Guardian Angel s armor and magic resist does. Guardian s Angel on the other hand is specifically built for the resurrection. Randuin s Omen is useful versus a lot of AD - tons of armor, tons of HP, and a way to kite melee. Banshee s Veil is useful for not getting caught out by stuff like Blitzcrank s hook, Malphite s ult, or poked down by Nidalee s spears. This applies pre-30, after 30, and at all levels of ranked gameplay. Mercurial Scimitar is specifically useful versus suppression champs since it s the only thing in the game that removes suppression. It s also useful versus lots of stuns and crowd control. Enchants When to enchant your boots is highly situational. I tend to upgrade them quite a bit later in the game, but if you find yourself at base without enough gold to purchase a specific item but enough to enchant your boots, feel free. I tend to choose Enchantment Furor. Enchantment Homeguard also works for base defense, and the movespeed is hilarious with Strut. To be realistic, 7 out of 10 times you will probably get Enchantment Homeguard because they save you time. Avoid Going back to lane with Tear of the Goddess will make your laning pretty weak unless you re versus very unskilled opponents or bots. Muramana also doesn t do anything for her skill damage, only her autoattacks. The damage active only affects single target spells, and all of Miss Fortune s hit multiple targets. Runaan s Hurricane might sound good because of Impure Shots, except Impure Shots doesn t scale very well since you don t build AP. Compared to Statikk Shiv and Phantom Dancer, it doesn t give movespeed either. Skill Info P Strut allows Miss Fortune a movement speed increase that ramps up over several seconds. Use this to roam the map, push objectives, chase opponents and position yourself in team fights. You can easily Bullet Time to push a wave then rejoin your team and push an objective or force a fight once the enemy team has sent someone to defend the lane you pushed. Q Double Up is your basic harassing skill that can deal significant damage early to mid game, and also applies on-hit effects such as Blessing of the Lizard Elder and life steal. However, it can t crit. W Impure Shots is a strong ability that does many things for Miss Fortune. It s an Attack Speed buff, on-hit damage that scales to B. F. Sword damage after 4 hits, and even a healing debuff. This is incredibly strong versus self-healers and sustain champions like Soraka and Yorick, and more importantly other AD carries with life steal. E Make it Rain is an AoE slow and damage spell. Because it scales with Ability Power and deals magic damage, the damage for AD Miss Fortune is quite low. It does, however, give vision into bushes. Used primarily for the slow and vision. R Bullet Time is an excellent ultimate that deals a significant amount of damage, thanks to the recent buffs to it. It can be used to farm minion waves quickly, but be sure it s available, especially for early and mid game team fights. Late in the game, Miss Fortune s auto attacks will deal more DPS than Bullet Time on a single target, but if Bullet Time hits many targets then it s better than auto attacking. You should take into account how bunched up the enemy team is and how long they would be in the AoE to determine whether to continue auto attacking or using Bullet Time. Skill Order Double UpはLv1においては良いダメージソースになる。もしくは、敵のミニオンの裏側に敵Champが見えたときに攻撃的に撃つだけでも良い。 LV1でのレーンでのダメージの与え合いにおいて、優位に立てる。 Impure Shotsでも同様のことが出来るが、こちらはNerfされてしまった。 However, taking Make it Rain first severely decreases your ability to be an aggressive laner. With lack of escape skill, Miss Fortune really needs to shine early game before team fights with bruisers start. You ll also want to max Double Up first. The harass damage you do with it is very strong. After, start maxing Impure Shots for the ASPD active and bonus damage. The healing reduction is also useful versus bot laners with sustain, like Soraka. Once you ve gotten Berserker s Greaves, your autoattack harass from Impure Shots s passive will be quite strong. Max both Double Up and Impure Shots by level 13, and remember to level your ult, Bullet Time, at 6/11/16. Max Make it Rain last. The cooldown is quite long and it doesn t go down with levels. Not a high priority skill. (If you are feeling very Korean, you could not put a single point in Make it Rain until level 13.) Laning Miss Fortune is one of the stronger early game AD carries in the game. If played correctly, this early game power can snowball you into the mid and late game as a strong carry. Harassing Because of Miss Fortune s strong laning, you want to force trades often with your Impure Shots and Double Up to force the enemy AD carry to miss minions or to take trades in your advantage. You can also use your Double Up to harass the enemy lane if they re standing behind the enemy creep wave by using Double Up on the minion when the enemy player is the closest target behind it. Also note that Double Up is an autoattack reset, so you can do autoattack - Double Up - autoattack harass very quickly. This will also apply 3 stacks of Impure Shots. Last Hitting As with most characters in the game, last hitting and farm is essential for Miss Fortune. Work on your last hitting and always compare how your farm is compared to the enemy AD carry. If you re a beginner, try focusing on only last hitting and once you feel comfortable with it you start incorporating harassment and trading between last hits in. Using Greater Mark of Attack Damage instead of Greater Mark of Armor Penetration also helps your last hitting. Utilizing Bullet Time Miss Fortune s ultimate, Bullet Time, was buffed in a season 2 patch, giving her significantly more threat once she reaches 6. Bullet Time is a long range AoE damage spell that can deal a significant amount of damage. Try to save it for when the enemy AD or support are in a position to stay in the AoE cone as long as possible to maximize damage. But don t be afraid to use it to clear the minion wave faster so you can roam or go back to town. Blue Team Double Golems If you happen to be on the blue side, you should also be aware of the double golems. When you have some kind of life restore ( Vampiric Scepter, Doran s Blade s passive, or Greater Quintessence of Life Steal), you can alternate hitting each of the golems while running in and out of the bush in front of them. The golems will constantly reset, you won t take any damage, and you ll be able to leave the golems up for your jungler to kill later. You can do this with any AD carry, but Strut makes the running bit easier for Miss Fortune. You can use this to your advantage and trick the enemy bot laners into thinking you ve gone back to town when they freeze the minion wave at their tower. Usually, not seeing you in lane will encourage them to push the minion wave toward your tower. Using Blade of the Ruined King Right now Blade of the Ruined King is a very strong item with several uses. Its active makes you a very strong duelist by giving you extra burst damage (15% of the target s maximum HP), healing you (heals for 15% of the target s maximum HP), and stealing 30% of the target s movespeed. As such, you should always remember to use its active; whether you use for the heal, burst or movement speed is dependent on the situation. Volibear running at you? Use the active to steal his movespeed to escape easier. Fighting an enemy in a 1v1? Use the active as extra damage and a heal. Be wary if they have ignite or a heal reduction and use the active before or after the effect for maximum effectiveness. Supports There s no particular high synergy support for Miss Fortune. She can do well with any support whether they re a poke support, kill support, or a sustaining support. Even Soraka, who is considered very passive, can do a great deal for Miss Fortune by continuing to pump her mana through Infuse for more Double Ups. Sona is a fairly common support these days. Her and Miss Fortune have great pokes, and her Crescendo creates perfect positioning for Bullet Time. Nunu can t heal, but he gives you more autoattacks and movement speed, and he can protect you very well with Absolute Zero. If you have some spare gold after a town trip, it s a good practice to help your support out and buy a couple Sight Wards. They re fairly strapped for cash early game. Hopefully, they will eventually buy items that help you out as well, like Shurelya s Reverie or Mikael s Crucible. Team Fighting Hopefully you took advantage of Miss Fortune s laning phase and are now a strong threat to the enemy team! But to be successful in team fights, you need to do three things. Communicate... One of the biggest weaknesses of Miss Fortune is her lack of escape. It s absolutely crucial that you take advantage of Strut to position yourself in team fights to do the maximum amount of damage possible. Because of Miss Fortune s lack of escape, always inform your team when your Flash, Quicksilver Sash/ Mercurial Scimitar, or Guardian Angel is up or down to aid your initiator s decision on whether to engage a fight or not. ...be patient... One of your biggest assets in team fights is your Bullet Time, but there s many ways to interrupt it. If you are running an AoE composition and you have a strong initiator who can crowd control people for you, such as Malphite or Amumu, be patient and wait for them to start something so you can try to get in as much damage with Bullet Time as possible. Once your ult is on cooldown, you re reliant on your autoattacks, Double Up s autoattack reset, and your items to do serious damage. ...and have good positioning This is an example of poor positioning for an AD carry. I had no vision of that bush with three people in it and got killed almost immediately. Had I waited for our team to gain vision on the rest of their team, I could have positioned myself behind our front line of tanks. As Chaox says, "Team fights are where truly good players shine, because there are far too many numbers to crunch." A lot of newer or inexperienced players have the idea that they must kill the enemy carries even when they are playing a carry themselves. Unless the enemy AD or AP carry is out of position, as an AD carry you need to hit whoever is closest to you. Walking into the enemy team to try and kill their carry will often get you killed since you build pure damage and no tanky items. In most cases, the closest champions will be enemy bruisers or tanks like Irelia or Amumu. Despite what ragers on your team might say, if the tank is all that s there, then there s no harm in focusing on the tank. While not a Miss Fortune clip, this replay clip from Marn vs CLG at MLG Dallas shows an extreme example of AD carry positioning as well as a team working to protect their carry. At the beginning of the fight, each team jumps on the other team s carry. Elise eliminates Tristana while the rest of Tristana s team leaves her for dead and bum rushes Vayne. This strategy actually makes sense for Marn s team All 5 champions on Marn have a gap closer. They really want to jump in and blow someone up in seconds flat. By constantly repositioning and relying on her team for support, Vayne survives the fight. She doesn t stand in one place the whole time, she constantly positions herself using Tumble and animation canceling. She doesn t dive into the enemy team to focus Tristana either. Not only that, but Vayne s team reacts to her getting jumped on by 4 enemy champions and they support her. (Of course, teams in solo queue won t be so kind.) Vayne s build is also noteworthy. She devoted 2 slots to survivability and has both Quicksilver Sash and Warmog s Armor. Improving Your Gameplay Learn how to cancel your animations. Generally remembering to "move while attacking" instead of just standing there like a big derp while you autoattack will improve your AD carry gameplay. Get better at last hitting. The Creep Score Calculator illustrates just how much gold you re missing by not last hitting very well. You can walk around to dodge enemy skills, or you can hit "S" to hold your position while waiting for a minion to get low health before you last hit it. That concludes the guide. Thanks to my friends and guinea pigs for their assistance in taking screenshots and such. If you d like to check out my other guide, I also have guides for Quinn and Ashe.
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← 紙越空魚の脳内は、奇妙なほどに冷静だった。 要するに自分は、心の芯から人でなしだったのだろうと再認識する。 鳥子を、共犯者を取り戻すための戦い。 それに敗れ、二度と伸ばした手が届かないと分かった瞬間に心のすべてが静かになった。 ――ああ。 ――終わったのか。 散り散りになって消えたアビゲイルの姿を見送るなり、逃げるように戦場を去った。 本当なら怒り狂ってその場で銃をぶっ放していても不思議ではなかったろう。 けれど空魚は冷静だったから、アビゲイルを葬った剣鬼がじきに消えるだろうことにも気付いていた。 であれば、残る可能性保持者（マスター）はあとひとり。優勝者が自動的に決まることになる。 抱いた願いは、叶わない。 なにひとつ、取り戻せるものはない。 だからこそこの瞬間、女は真の意味で"鬼"になった。 鬼（おに）とは、隠（おぬ）の転じたもの。 形なきもの、この世ならざるもの――そうなったもの。 強い怨みを抱き命を落としたものの成れの果て。 そう語る文献や怪談は枚挙に暇がない。 命を賭して望んだ戦いに敗れ、最後の希望には手が届かず。 戴冠の権利を失い、じきに滅び去る存在となった今。 女は、主役から舞台袖の隠者に成り下がった。 形なきもの、目には見えないものとなったのだ。 だからこそ、女は鬼を名乗る資格を真に手に入れた。 始祖の鬼から連なった、人食いの鬼などではない。 より広義の、口伝で語られ畏れられ、現代の怪談にすらしばしば姿を見せる――怪異としての、鬼。 「見つけた。それとも、そっちが待っててくれてたのかな」 人を呪い、怨み、取り殺す。 そういう存在に、空魚はなった。 自分の願いを足蹴に勝ち上がり、玉座へと座った憎き童。 それを取り殺すべく、祟りの担い手として彼女は銃を構えるのだ。 銃口の先にいるのは、小さな少女。 王冠を勝ち取った、世界樹の頂／地平線の彼方へ辿り着いた者。 神戸しおという名の少女が、世界最後の可能性としてそこにいる。 「うん、待ってたよ。……お姉さんは、私に会いに来ると思ってたから」 「そっか。じゃあ、私がこれからやろうとしてることもお見通しってわけだ」 「そうだね」 今、界聖杯に残っている命は救いの対象となった。 されどアシュレイ・ホライゾンは、界聖杯との交渉に際し紙越空魚の名前を挙げはしなかった。 その理由は、何も彼が空魚の存在を見落としていたからではない。 界聖杯へ潜行しすべてを知ったアシュレイは、理解していたからだ。 紙越空魚はそれを望まないこと。 そして彼女は、まだ戦いを終えていないことも。 生きて帰ることなど、空魚には何の救いにもならない。 そうして帰り着いた先は、共犯者のいない孤独な世界だ。 〈裏世界〉は変わらずあり続けるだろう。 〈かれら〉も、変わらず現れ続けるだろう。 だがそれでも、そこにあの透明な手の女だけは存在しない。 その時点で、空魚にとっては世界の一切が意味を持たないのだ。 命尽きるまで退屈が果てしなく続く、ひどく迂遠で無味乾燥とした生き地獄。 そんな世界に、誰が好き好んで帰りたいと願う。 地獄行きの方舟になど、空魚は興味がなかった。 生きて、退屈に身を浸すくらいなら。 あいつのいない世界で、何十年も無駄に生きるくらいなら。 それなら、今ここでこの命を使い切った方がどう考えても得だ。 最後の最後に、少なくとも自分にとっては有意義な八つ当たりをして。 「あんたのせいで、私の願いは叶わなかった」 マカロフを、向ける。 死柄木の遺品はもう、効果を発揮していない。 天使を守護する崩壊の龍は、いない。 「だから――あんたも堕ちろ、神戸しお。この怨み、その願いの散華で晴らしてやる」 この怨み、晴らさでおくべきか。 やろうとしているのは、要するにそれだ。 神話など認めない。神を撃ち抜く凶弾が、この手にはある。 それを突き付けられていながら、しおの表情に怯えはなかった。 考えるまでもなく当然のことだ。今更苛立ちさえしない。 そんな空魚に、しおは静かに口を開いた。 そして問いかけるのだ、願いのかたちを。 「お姉さんも、大好きなひとに会いたかったの？」 「そうだよ。ずっと一緒にいたかったんだ」 仁科鳥子。 孤独で構わないと思っていた自分の世界に、ある日突然不法侵入してきた女。 自信作だった心の壁を壊されたことが、何故か奇妙に嬉しかった。 鳥子のいない世界なんて、もう考えられない。 そんな世界に、価値はない。 だから空魚は、願いを叶えようとした。 今度こそ二度と脅かされることのない、永遠の冒険（ピクニック）ができる世界を祷ろうとしていた。 「じゃあ、私とおんなじだったんだね」 「勝手に決めないでほしいな」 「ううん、おんなじだよ。私も……愛する人と、ずっといっしょにいたくて戦ってきたんだから」 少女の中に、小さな小瓶が見えた。 そんな気がした。 「だから私ね、今とっても幸せ」 彼女の願いは、もうすぐ叶う。 その愛は成就し、理想の世界がやってくるだろう。 心底幸せそうな微笑みが、空魚の神経を逆撫でする。 引き金に指をかけた。子どもを撃ち殺す場面だというのに、指に震えはない。 「もうすぐ、さとちゃんに……私の大好きなひとに会えるんだもん。 そしたらもう何もなくさないよ。二度と、手放したりなんてするもんか」 「会えないよ。あんた達の"愛"も、ここで私と一緒に打ち止めだ」 結婚式に、銃弾を撃ち込むように。 空魚は、確かな手付きでマカロフを握る。 しおは動かない。逃げもしない、隠れもしない。 必要がないからだ。空魚も、それは分かっている。分かった上で、それでもこうするのだ。 きっとしおも、空魚の気持ちが分かっているのだろう。 とんだ茶番だな、と空魚は心の中で失笑した。 「堕ちろ、クソガキ」 もう生意気な年下はこりごりだ。 どいつもこいつも、地獄に堕ちてしまえばいい。 そんな辟易と共に引き金を引けば、銃弾は速やかに吐き出された。 向かう先は、神戸しおの眉間。 見たところ、地獄への回数券の薬効は既に切れている。 故にこそ、当たれば確実に即死させることができる筈だ。 律儀にもそんなことを考える空魚の前で、事はどこまでも予定調和のままに進行する。 そう、当たれば、しおは確実に死ぬ。 だが、優勝者である彼女には当然侍っている。 彼女を玉座まで送り届けた、彼女の相棒たるサーヴァントが。 空魚としお、銃弾と天使の間に割って入るように、チェンソーを携えた悪魔が現れた。 がきん、という軽い音で銃弾が弾き飛ばされる。 空魚はそれを確認して、ふう、と嘆息した。 だよね、とでも言いたげな所作だった。 次の瞬間、振るわれたチェンソーの刃が。 マカロフを握る空魚の右腕を、身も蓋もなく切り飛ばしていた。 （…………、ま。こうなるよね） 元より、結果の見えていた戦いだった。 いや、そもそも戦いにすらなっていない。 峰津院大和のように、生身でもサーヴァントと張り合える実力を有しているのならいざ知らず。 たかだか麻薬のブーストと、拳銃と小手先の〈目〉だけで英霊を連れているマスターを討ち取るなんて無茶にも程がある。 ましてや、神戸しおのサーヴァントは不死身の悪魔憑き。 どの要素を見たって、空魚の八つ当たりが成功する見込みはなかった。 だからこれは、ただただ順当な無謀の帰結でしかない。 最初から最後までそう分かっていたのに、それでもこうして神風特攻じみた無茶に出たのはつまりそういうことなんだろうな、と空魚は腕を切り落とされた激痛と失血で霞む意識の中で考えた。 ――死にたかったんだな、私。 鳥子を救えなかった、取り戻せなかったこと。 その時点で、紙越空魚の人生からすべての値打ちが消えた。 この先の世界、この先の人生にだって夢や希望はひょっとしたら残っているかもしれない。 だけどそこには、仁科鳥子の姿はないのだ。 その一点だけで、空魚にとって世界とは生きるに値しない牢獄に意味を変える。 だから、死にたかったのだと思う。 せめて最後は、鳥子が死んだのと同じ世界で。 鳥子が死んだのと同じように、殺されて幕を閉じたかった。 （……悪いね、アサシン。アビー） 託された呪いの言葉は、結局果たしきれなかった。 だが、つまるところ自分はこういう人間なのだ。 カルトに家をめちゃくちゃにされた時からずっと、こう。 普通の人間が持ってる感情を、持ちきれない。 鳥子という灯火があったからなんとか人らしくできていただけで、灯りが消えたらそこには、昔通りの紙越空魚が戻ってくるだけだ。 地面に転がったマカロフを、しおが拾い上げる。 そして切断された腕の断面を抑えながら片膝を突いた空魚に、天使が銃を向けた。 白い、白い大地の中で。 滅び去った、終わりゆく世界の中で。 天使が、怪異に銃を向ける。 そんな、まるで宗教画の一枚のような光景。 それが空魚に用意された"終わり"で。 それが、空魚の望んだ"終わり"だった。 「最後に、なにかある？」 まさか年端もいかない子どもにこんな台詞を吐かれる日が来るとは思わなかったな。 そう苦笑しながら、女は空を見上げた。 空は、青い。 アビゲイルが死んで水銀の雲は晴れ、今は果てしない青空だけが広がっている。 あの〈裏世界〉みたいだな、と思った。 「お幸せに」 「ありがとう」 最後に、そんなとびきりの皮肉をひとつ吐いて。 タン！ と、人生の終わりにしてはやけに軽い音を聞いた。 それが、紙越空魚がこの世界で耳にした最後の音響だった。 【紙越空魚＠裏世界ピクニック 死亡】 ◆◆ ――、目を開ける。 死後とは、人間にとって最も根源的な恐怖のひとつだ。 死ねば無になるというのは簡単だが、では今ここにあるこの意識はその後どこへ向かうのか。 視覚も聴覚も触覚もない暗闇の中で、時間の概念すら存在しないが故の永遠を味わい続けるのか。 それとも生前の行いに応じた行き先が、人間の魂とやらには割り当てられるのか。 だとしたらきっと地獄だろうな。 そう思って女が目を開けた時、そこには。 「あ。やっと起きた」 「……へ？」 あまりにも見慣れた、金髪の女が笑っていた。 まるで本物の純金を梳いて糸にしたみたいな、艷やかでさらさらの金髪。 シミはおろか傷跡のひとつも見当たらない、すべすべの白い肌。 外国人の血が入っている、碧眼。 そして共犯者の証たる、透明な片手。 どこからどう見てもケチのつけようのない、疑う余地もない、記憶のまんまの…… 「……、おまえ――なんで、ここに」 ――仁科鳥子が、そこにいた。 慌てて辺りを見回して、更にぎょっとする。 そこは、どこまでも青が広がる〈裏世界〉ですらなかった。 一面の黒と、光の粒。銀河が渦巻き星屑が行き交う、宇宙だ。 生前、怪談好きの延長線で時折空想した死後の世界のどれとも違う超常的光景が広がっている。 絶句するしかない空魚に、目の前の鳥子は苦笑して。 「びっくりするよね。私もびっくりしたもん」 「いや……え。ていうか、おまえ本物か？」 「たぶんね。少なくとも、私はそう思ってる」 空魚の問いに、こくん、と首を縦に振った。 思わず拍子抜けして、全身の力が抜ける。 なんだよこれ。なんだ、この展開は。 こんなことがあるのか、現実によ。 「……じゃあこれどこ。これ何。界聖杯の中ってこと？」 「ううん、たぶん外だと思う。そうなんだよね、アビーちゃん？」 「えっ」 鳥子の視線を追って見れば、そこにはばつの悪そうな顔で佇む見慣れた少女の姿があった。 「――あんたの仕業か……！」 「そう、なると思う。ごめんなさい、空魚さんも鳥子さんも。巻き込んでしまったみたいで……」 フォーリナー……、……今はその呼び名も適当ではないのだろうか。 定かではないが、そこにいたのは確かにアビゲイル・ウィリアムズだった。 ただし肌や髪の色、あと服装も最初に会った時のそれに戻っている。 雰囲気もあの狂気的なものは鳴りを潜め、より少女らしさを強く感じさせる歳相応のものに帰っていた。 しかし、アビゲイル。 彼女が出てきたとなると、この事態の真相もなんとなく読めてきた。 何故なら彼女は邪神の巫女。 遥か彼方外宇宙におわす外なる神に魅入られた、銀の鍵の担い手である。 そして空魚は彼女に、より邪神（かなた）へ近付くことを望み。 アビゲイルもまた、鳥子を取り戻すためにその求めへ応えた。 その結果、アビゲイル・ウィリアムズはサーヴァントの枠組みを超えかけるほど邪神の性質に近付き。 敗れはしたものの、もしもあの場で黒死牟ら残存サーヴァントに勝利していたなら、界聖杯さえ掌握できる力を手にしていた可能性もある。 そこまで狂気の深度を深めてしまったこと、深淵に近付いてしまったことがまずかったのだろう。 彼女の死は、単なるサーヴァントとしての消滅だけでは済まない事態を、すべて終わった先の"死後"に引き起こしてしまったらしい。 「私達は今、宇宙の遠いどこかを揺蕩っているわ」 「ビビるよね。宇宙だよ宇宙。私、アビーちゃんの"そういうところ"はあえて考えないようにしてたんだけど――」 「……で。これ、いつ帰れんの。ていうか帰るとかできるの？」 ジト目の空魚の問いに対し、アビゲイルは困ったような顔をした。 どうやら、此処が外宇宙の彼方であるという以外に分かっていることは何もないらしい。 鳥子と空魚は知る由もないことだが、とある時空にて覚醒（めざ）めたアビゲイルもまた、さる旅人に連れられて宇宙の果てへと旅立っている。 "この"アビゲイルの場合、それが本人の意思決定とは無関係に引き起こされた。 言うなれば、窮極の門――時空と空間を超越するそれを開きかけたことが仇となり、魂ごと漂流してしまったというわけだ。 元の地球に帰れるのかも。 そもそも今が、一体過去なのか未来なのかも。 分かっていることは、現状なにもない。 裸一貫で宇宙の外側に放り出されたのと変わらない。 それが、彼女達の今置かれている状況の端的なすべてだった。 「まあまあ、そんな申し訳なさそうな顔しないでよ。どうせほら、私も空魚も死んじゃったんだし。あのまま消えるよりはよかったんじゃない？」 「よかったんじゃない？ って、おまえなあ……」 楽観的な鳥子の台詞に空魚は嘆息するが、しかし本心ではそこそこ同意見なのがなんとも癪だ。 「――それと、もう一個……ごめんなさい」 アビゲイルが、そう言って唇を噛む。 次に出てくる言葉は、二人とも予想がついた。 「私……鳥子さんのことも、空魚さんのことも守れなかった。 私、何もできなかったわ。二人の、サーヴァントだったのに……」 「あーあー、今更そういうのいいから」 「……よくはないと思うのだけど……」 「だからいいって。宇宙の彼方にブッ飛ばされた衝撃がでかすぎて、そんな話今されてもぜんぜん頭に入ってこないのこっちは」 とはいえ、今そんな話をされたって仕方がない。 何せ今、ここはどことも分からない外宇宙の只中なのだ。 界聖杯でさえスケールが小さく思えるような、未知と超常のひしめく大海である。 それに――願いなら、紆余曲折あったけどもう叶っている。 空魚は隣の鳥子を見つめながら、そう思った。 生とか死とか、場所とか時空とか正直に言ってしまえばどうでもよかった。 自分がいて、隣に鳥子がいること。 共犯者が終わらず、続いていること。 それさえ満たされているのなら、たとえどこだろうとそれは空魚にとって生きるに値する世界だ。 怪異が蠢き、グリッチが敷き詰められた明日の命もおぼつかない〈裏世界〉でさえ喜々として旅した共犯者にとっては、そうなのだ。 ……いやそれにしても、さすがに宇宙編が始まるとは思わなかったようだが。 「まあ、ずっとここでこうしてるわけにも行かないだろうけど――アビー、あんたならちょっとは勝手も分かる？」 「ええ。……ちょっとなら」 「ならもうそれでいいよ。ナビ役は任せたから、今度は私らを死なせないように」 「空魚さん――、――……ありがとう」 「はいはい」 そんなやり取りを交わす空魚とアビゲイルを、鳥子はにこにこ微笑みながら見つめていた。 目潰しでもしてやろうと思って指を突き出す空魚の攻撃をひょいと躱す光景は、宇宙の果てとは思えないほど牧歌的だ。 何も変わらない。同行者がひとり増えたこと以外は、ぜんぶ同じだ。 辺り一面には未知の世界が広がっていて、それは果てしなく続いている。 青から蒼へ。人間の常識なんかじゃ想像も説明もつかない、怪異と脅威が蠢く深海。 裏世界ならぬ外世界。それが、共犯者たちに与えられた新たなる白紙の地図。 「……どこまで行く？」 「どこまでも」 「いつまでやる？」 「いつまでも」 「……だよね。いつも通りだ」 「うん、いつも通り。何も変わらないよ」 笑う鳥子に、空魚も笑った。 この先は、きっと実話怪談本で培った知識も何ら用をなさないだろう。 正真正銘、本物の未知がどこまでも広がっている。 そういう世界に旅立つのだ、これから。 ――不思議と、心はわくわくしていた。 この見果てぬ宇宙を舞台に、鳥子と共犯者ができることに心が躍っていた。 「ねえ、鳥子」 「うん」 「これってさ、やっぱり夢？」 そんな問いかけに。 鳥子は、また笑って。 「空魚は、どっちだと思う？」 そう、言った。 ふ、と空魚もまた笑った。 「どっちでもいいけどさ」 世界は、大いなる誰かの夢なのだと聞いたことがある。 無限の宇宙のその中心で、いつ終わるとも知れない眠りに微睡む誰かの夢。 考えさせられる話だが、でも結局、やっぱりどちらでもいい。 鳥子がいるなら。 「もし夢なら……今度はなるべく覚めないことを祈るよ」 ――さあ、冒険の始まりだ。 【裏世界ピクニック――――Sky Blue Sky】 ◆◆ 目を覚ました時、アシュレイの言葉通り死ぬほどのたうち回ることになった。 ただでさえ片腕が吹き飛んでるのに、もう片方までぽっきりへし折られてしまったのだ。 痛いなんてもんじゃなく、慣れるまでは顔を哀しみとは別な意味の涙でぐちゃぐちゃにしなければならなかった。 だけど幸い、霧子は"こんなこともあろうかと"医療道具のあるだろう建物を事前に見繕っていてくれたらしく。 痛む身体に鞭打って、霧子に励まされながらどうにか"崩壊"の及んでいなかった地区まで歩いていき――骨折の手当てと、切断された方の腕の包帯の取り替えをしてもらうと、まあだいぶマシにはなってくれた。 落ち着いた頃、にちかは霧子にすべてを話した。 夢の中で再会したアシュレイ。彼が自分に伝えてくれた、そのすべてを話して聞かせた。 聖杯戦争は終わったこと。 優勝者は、"あの子"で決まったらしいこと。 そして、自分達は死んだり消えたりしなくてもよくなったこと――。 ……喜ぶ気には、不思議となれなかった。 無邪気に喜ぶには、あまりに多くの人が死にすぎた。 誰も彼もが死んでいった。みんなみんな、死んでしまった。 だから霧子は、にちかに「そっか」とだけ応えた。 にちかも、それ以上は何も言わなかった。 何も言わずに、ふたりでただ空を見上げて。 しばらく何をするでもなく、そうやって過ごして。 それでも新たな敵が現れることも、身体が薄れ始めるとかそんなこともないのを確認して―― そこでようやく、ああ、本当に終わったんだ、と理解した。 空がオレンジ色に染まり始めた頃、ふたりで歩き出した。 向かった先は、過ごし慣れたあの事務所だ。 道中のコンビニから食べ物と飲み物を拝借して、お財布の中身と相談をしない、ちょっと贅沢でいけない夕飯に舌鼓を打った。 「……あの子、どうしてるんですかね。今頃」 「しおちゃん？」 カップラーメンの残り汁をずずず、と啜りながら、にちかは頷いた。 結局、この聖杯戦争は方舟の対立者である敵連合に掻っ攫われてしまった形になる。 死柄木という魔王をも破って熾天に至ったのは、連合の天使・神戸しお。 彼女が今どこで何をしているのかも、にちか達には分からない。 「わからない、けど………でも、それでいいんじゃないかな…………」 「……いい、って？」 「…………あっちも……そろそろ、お別れだろうから…………」 「……、あー。確かにそうですね。勝とうが負けようが、結局そうなるんですもんね」 にちかと霧子は、敗者として一足先にそれを終えている。 元々魔王に敗れて散っていた星辰奏者の青年はもちろん、霧子の傍に侍っていた人相の怖い鬼剣士も今や影も形もない。 霧子の腕にも、令呪は一画も残っていない。 聖杯戦争という儀式があって、彼女達がその主要人物だった事実そのものが、蜃気楼のようにことごとく消えていた。 今じゃ、あれほど辛く苦しかった聖杯戦争も思い出の中に残っているだけだ。 死んでいった、助けられなかった、手を取り合えなかった者達の記憶と共に。 「あーあ。それにしても、できればもう一回"表層"に戻りたかったです」 「……うん……。私も、戻りたかったな……」 「ですよね。霧子さんは恋鐘さんに会いたかったでしょうし、私も――お姉ちゃんに、ひと目でいいからまた会いたかった」 はあ、とにちかはため息を吐き出す。 視線の向かう先は、虚空だった。 手の届かない、帰れないどこかを眺める目だ。 「必ず帰るって、約束したのにな……」 嘘だったら怒るって釘まで刺されたのに、結局帰れそうにはない。 元がこの世界の住人であるにちかにとって、"あの"七草はづきは紛れもない実姉なのだ。 そしてにちかはこれからこの世界を去り、はづきはNPCとして聖杯の起動と共に抹消される。 比喩でもなんでもなく、今生の別れだ。 せめて最後にひと目でも会いたかった。 声を届けて、にちかは大丈夫だよって、そう伝えたかった。 ……霧子も、同じ哀しみを背負っている。 「私も……"またね"って、言っちゃった……」 そう言って目を伏せる。 皆で手を叩き、宇宙一だとそう叫んだあの時がもうずいぶん遠い昔のように感じられた。 「世界って、どうやって滅ぶんでしょうね」 「わかんない………けど………」 「……せめて、少しでも幸せな終わりだったらいいんですけどね。無理でしょうね、界聖杯にそんなデリカシーとか期待するの」 そもそも、世界の真実とこの先の行く末が明かされた表層が今どうなっているのかも定かでないのだ。 社会はサーヴァントの振り撒く暴威抜きにしたって崩壊しているだろうし、世紀末みたいな地獄絵図が広がっていても不思議ではない。 そんな地獄の中で為す術もなく消えていく、最後の約束も果たしてもらえずに消えていく、大切な人のことを想って。 小さな筏に乗り込むことを許されたふたりのアイドルは、また沈黙した。 窓の向こうに見える空には、こんな状況だというのに星が瞬いている。 「霧子さんは」 「うん……」 「新しい世界に行ったら、どうします？」 「……、……あんまり、変わらないかも……。にちかちゃんは………？」 「まずはとにかく病院ですかね。正直今もけっこう痛いんですよこれ」 もう片方も切断とかなったら、いよいよ洒落になりませんし。 そう言ってにちかは肩を竦め、更に続けた。 「片腕のアイドルとか聞いたことないですよね。 とりあえず半袖の衣装は着れないでしょうし、水着とかそういうのも無理。 ただでさえ私みたいなどんぐりには高いハードルだってのに、この身体で飛び越えるなんて無理ゲーですよ無理ゲー」 「にちかちゃん…………」 「まあ、でも」 ただでさえ、元が凡人な上に。 隻腕という、アイドルをやるには重いハンディキャップまで背負ってしまった。 夢を叶える難易度は強くてニューゲームどころか、前より遥かに上がっていると言って差し支えないだろう。 まさに絶望的。頭を抱えたくなるような暗雲が先行きには立ち込めているが、しかし。 「やりますよ。ぶきっちょでも、拙くても、がんばって飛びます。 言われちゃったし、背負っちゃいましたからね。いろんなものを」 にちかは、残った片手で握り拳を作った。 骨が折れているからこれだけでも激痛が走るが、今だけは我慢する。 そして言うのだ。もういない彼ら、彼女らに伝える言葉を。 「にちかは、幸せになるんです」 ――これから、うんと幸せになってやるぞって。 窓の向こうの星空を見つめながら、にちかは言った。 「うん…………きっとなれるよ、にちかちゃんなら………。にちかちゃんも、とっても素敵で……きらきらした、女の子だもん…………！」 「ま、そういうわけで。霧子さんも新生活であんまりぼやぼやしてたら、アンティーカごと抜き去っちゃうんでよろしくです」 「ふふ………負けてられないね…………私達も…………」 新しい世界とやらがどんな場所かは、未だに分からないままだ。 もしかしたら、そこには283プロすら存在していないかもしれない。 けれどそれでも、ふたりのアイドルは疑うことなく確信していた。 自分達が、自分達のまま、目指す道をひた走るアイドルであり続けることを。 聖杯戦争は、終わった。 物語は、本来のジャンルに戻ろうとしている。 悲愴な覚悟と流血で満たされた架空戦記から、歌と踊りで人々を楽しませるアイドルステージへ。 ――彼女達の最後の夜は、そんな風にして過ぎていった。 彼女達は敗者だから、失うものはあっても手に入れたものはない。 大切な人と最後に交わした約束さえ、守れはしないままこの世界を去る。 だとしても、その視線は明日へ。地平線ならぬ水平線の向こうからのぞく、希望の太陽を見据えていた。 彼女達は、幸せになれる。 ◆◆ 最後の敵を射殺して、あとは戴冠を待つだけになった。 しおは、デンジと共にマンションの一室にいた。 この深層では、初めて訪れる部屋。 だけど彼女にとっても彼にとっても、とてもよく見慣れた部屋だ。 「なんだかなつかしいねえ」 「そうだな……うお、買い揃えたゲームソフトもお菓子も全部そのままだぜ」 そう――ここは、ふたりが本戦までの一ヶ月を共に過ごした部屋だった。 シュガーライフと呼ぶには品がなくて、別に閉ざされてもいなかったけれど。 それでもこの狭くて散らかった一室が、天使と悪魔の絆の象徴だったことに違いはない。 表層ではもはや現存しているかどうかも怪しいが、そこは深層に落ちてくるという想定外の功名だったと言えよう。 「ていうかよ。マジで最後、ここで過ごすのか？」 「らいだーくんはいや？」 「イヤじゃねえけどよ。深層（ここ）、食い物とかは普通に残ってんだしよ。 どうせなら祝勝会がてら、イイ飯屋にでも行って豪遊した方が――」 「ううん」 靴を脱いで。 とてとて、と部屋に上がり。 それから、くるりと回って振り向く。 「ここがいいの」 そう言って微笑む顔に、デンジも何も言えなくなってしまう。 否が応でも実感してしまったからだ。 もう、これが最後なのだと。 恐らく自分達ふたりが、揃ってこの部屋を出ることはない。 "その時"は、すぐそばにまで迫っている。 聖杯戦争は終わり、少女の願いは叶うだろう。 そうすれば、それで終わりだ。 物語の頁は閉じられて、二度と開かれることはないのだから。 「ありゃりゃ。テレビ点くけど、番組は映らないねえ」 「そりゃな。電波は飛んでるかもしれないが、肝心の演者がいないんだもんよ」 「あ、そっか」 「まあでも、ゲームなら普通に動くんじゃねえか？ 見たとこ電気は通ってるみてえだし」 どっかりと腰を下ろして、テーブルの上にレジ袋の中身を広げる。 深層では全部の商品も、レジ袋だって無料だ。 最後の晩餐と呼ぶには質素だが、案外このくらいがいいのかもしれない。 「何食う？」 「かっぷらーめん。カレー味！」 「あいよ」 "さとちゃん"が見たらすげえ嫌な顔すんだろうな――。 そんなことを思いながら、やかんにお湯を入れて火にかける。 自分の分も沸かしたいから、お湯は気持ち多めに。 お湯が沸いたらふたりぶん、並んだカップラーメンに注いで後は三分待つだけだ。 ちなみにデンジはチリトマト味。 どちらも、あの一ヶ月の中で事あるごとに食べていた"お決まり"だ。 ぴりりりり。 キッチンタイマーがけたたましく鳴き声をあげて。 蓋を剥がせば、食欲をそそる香りが鼻を突き抜ける。 そういえば朝から何も食べていない。 しおは空腹だったし、一応サーヴァントの筈のデンジもなぜか当たり前に腹が減っていた。 「そういえばよ」 「どしたの」 「ドラクエ。まだ終わらせてなかったんだよな」 「あ。そういえばポケモンも、途中でやめたまんまだよ」 「マジかよ。……間に合うかな」 「えへへ。たたかい、まだ残ってたねえ」 「だな。魔王ブッ殺して、殿堂入りして、それでフィナーレにすっか」 ずるるる、ずるるる。 麺を啜りながら交わされる、最後の夜の計画談義。 対戦ゲームも悪くはないが、やり残しのRPGを放置して去るのもなんだか具合が悪い。 ソフトを起動してゲームを始めれば、魔王の城を目前に立ち往生している主人公一行の姿がディスプレイに表示された。 「バトル一回でこーたいだよ」 「おう。いつものやつな」 そうして彼らは、日常に戻ってきたみたいに冒険を始める。 別に何か、実況動画みたいなにぎやかな会話があるわけじゃない。 律儀に一回戦うごとに操作を交代して、たまに口を挟んだり、どうでもいいことを話したりする。 いつしかカップラーメンは空になって、机の上にはポテトチップスが広げられた。 しおは割り箸でチップを挟んで口に運んでいる。 コントローラーがべとべとになるのは嫌なのだそうだ。 この辺は、さとちゃんの教育の賜物なのかね――とデンジは思ったり思わなかったりする。 時計なんて、わざわざ見ることもない。 夜空の星なんて、眺めるようなガラでもない。 ふたりはひたすら、画面の向こうの冒険に集中していた。 彼らにとってはこれこそが、この世界で果たすべき最後の戦いだったからだ。 どうせ世界を去るのなら、後で悔やむような心残りは排しておきたい。 冒険の末に魔王を倒し、エンドロールを見届けても、彼らの戦いはまだ続く。 次のソフトを起動すると、主人の帰りを待っていた六匹の手持ちキャラたちが出迎えてくれた。 時々新しい仲間を加えて、レベルの追いつけてないやつを放逐して、旅を進める。 最近この手のゲームは"野生のモンスター"のレベルが高いので、途中加入のキャラも即戦力になってくれる。 いつしか彼らの手持ちは、見知った名前をつけられた仲間たちで満たされた。 ――トムラ。 ――アイ。 ――ゴクドー。 ――タナカ。 ――エム。 ――おばさん。 連合じゃねえかよ、というデンジのツッコミは「えへへ」という照れくさそうな笑い声で流された。 そして、出会ったばかりの高レベル軍団で埋め尽くされた手持ちは破竹の快進撃を続けていく。 長い旅の中で培った絆なんて、彼らにはない。 ついさっき出会って、数時間一緒に過ごしただけ。 それでも仲間みたいな顔をして、突き進んで、ちゃんと勝つのだ。 今度は、最後までみんな一緒に。 チャンピオンの称号を勝ち取って、連合はゲームの中でも勝ちきった。 「…………、はーーーー」 「つかれたねぇ……お尻がいたいや」 「俺は目が疲れた。しぱしぱするぜ」 「らいだーくんって一応サーヴァントなんだよね？」 そうして、積みゲー二本をどうにかこうにかスピード攻略したふたりは。 デンジが近所のゴミ捨て場から拾ってきた、比較的綺麗だったソファに並んで座り、疲れ果てていた。 「今何時だよ」 「んー……十二時くらいだね」 「え。まだそんな時間なのかよ、俺ぁてっきり朝方くらいだと思ってたぜ」 「始めたの、なんだかんだで夕方くらいだったじゃん」 「あー……そういえばそうだっけか。ゲームばっかりやってると脳ミソ馬鹿になっちまうなあ」 買ってきたお菓子はまだ微妙に残っているが、もうふたりともお腹いっぱいだった。 血糖値の上昇と、二本連続で積みゲーを片付けた達成感とで眠気が襲ってきている。 時間もけっこういい時間だ。そりゃ眠くもなるわな、とデンジは大あくびをして。 そして―― 「らいだーくん」 「おう」 「もしかして、そろそろ？」 「……そうだな」 自分の身体が少しずつ、霧のように溶け始めていることに気付いた。 今まで何度か見てきた、サーヴァントが消滅する時特有の"アレ"だ。 身体が金色の粒子に変わって、溶けていく。解けていく。 聖杯戦争を終えたばかりとは思えないぐーたら時間を過ごしていたふたりだったが。 それでも平等に、終わりはやってくるらしい。 「ま、そこそこ楽しかったぜ。何せ現世は久しぶりだったからなあ――バケモン共にずっとボコボコにされてた気もするけどよ。 次があるなら、今度こそはもっと欲望全開で過ごすことにするわ」 「えー。えっちなのはだめだよ、らいだーくんも子どもなんだから」 「一緒にすんな。つーか俺に言わせれば、お前らのラブラブの方がよっぽどいかがわしく見えんだよ」 「むっ。失礼しちゃう、純愛だよ」 「お前は帰ったら言動にまず気をつけろよな。見てて思ったけど、お前って相当"たらし"だぜ」 「からし？」 「再会したら"さとちゃん"にでも聞いてみな」 思えば、当初描いていた現世満喫プランはまるで遂行できていなかった。 あの手この手で現世を楽しもうにも、マスターが無力な幼女なのでおちおち外出もできない。 予選の時間はほぼほぼ全部子守りに使わされ、本戦は怪獣大決戦の画面端でヒーヒー言いながら走り回っていた思い出ばかりだ。 最後に勝ち切れたのだけは気分がいいが、よくよく考えるとずいぶん運の悪い現界だった感は拭えない。 「ねえねえ。らいだーくん」 「なんだよ。ますたーくん」 「らいだーくんはさー。たのしかった？」 しおは、変わらず微笑みながらそう聞いた。 それにデンジは一瞬、考えて。 さて、どう答えてやろうかと思って。 「そうだな……」 そこで不服ながら、自分はどうも、何のかんの言いながらそこそこ楽しんでいたらしいぞ――と気がついた。 狭い部屋で、ずっとだらだら過ごしていた時も。 いつかみたいに、対戦ゲームに明け暮れた夜も。 無垢で純粋な子どもに、ジャンクフードの味を教えてやった日も。 ゲーム中に寝落ちした相方に、しぶしぶ毛布をかけてやった時も。 そいつの相棒として、地獄みたいな思いをして戦って。そして、ちゃんと最後まで届けてやれた時も―― 「……ま。楽しかったんじゃねえの、そこそこ」 少なくとも、悪くはなかった。 そう、悪くはなかったのだ。 だからデンジは、ちょっと視線を逸らしながらそう伝えた。 誤魔化してやろうとも思ったが、これが最後なのだしそれもばつが悪い。 初めて通った学校で、初めて過ごした夏休みみたいな日々だったと思った。 本戦の忙しさだって、必死こいて宿題と向き合っていた時のそれと思えば案外いい思い出だったかもしれない。 それにしたって、二度とは御免だが。 それでも、まあ。 腐すほど悪くはなかったと、思ったのだ。 「私もね、たのしかったよ。 私ね、友達できたのってはじめてだったの」 神戸しおにしたって、それは同じだ。 彼女はデンジより直接的に、それを表現する。 「ほんとなら、もうちょっとここにいたかったくらい」 この世界は、彼女にとって"はじめて"の事で溢れていた。 母のもとにいたときも、愛する人のそばにいたときも、しおはずっとお城のお姫様だったから。 外の世界の粗暴も、愛していない人との友情も、全部が新鮮な初体験であった。 その上最後まで勝ち残って、願いまで叶えられるというのだから文句なんて何ひとつない。 神戸しおは笑って、最後まで笑って、幸せにこの世界を去れる。 「だから――さいごにらいだーくんと遊べて、とっても嬉しかった」 「……別に大したことしてねえだろ。ただメシ食って、ダラダラ一緒にゲームしてただけだ」 「いいの。昨日ごはん食べてる時、にちかちゃんが言ってたよ。友達って、そういうものなんでしょ？」 「まあ……間違っちゃねえかもな」 天使だった少女は、きっと大きく変わってしまった。 その瞳に"悪魔"を宿して、天使のつばさはちぎれて堕ちた。 そして堕落した天使は、お城の中では知れないものを知った。 本当に、ほんとうにたくさんのものを見た。 その目で世界を見て、その足で世界を踏みしめたのだ。 それはもしかすると、彼女を愛した女の望んでいた成長ではなかったかもしれない。 だけどその望まざる成長が、こうして彼女達にとって最善の未来を掴ませた。 「……さとうと再会できたら言っとけ。あんまり箱入り娘させないで、ゲームくらい買ってやれってよ」 根負けしたように言うデンジの言葉に。 伝えとくね、と頷いてみせるしお。 話したかったこと、伝えたかったことは全部伝えたらしい。 ぽふん、と改めてソファのふわふわした背もたれに身を預ける。 そして隣の彼を見るしおの目は、どこかとろんとしていた。 「らいだーくん、あのね……」 「今度はなんだよ。まだ何かあんのか」 「私、もうねむい……」 「ねむっ……、……いやまあ確かにそういう時間だけどよ～……最後だぞお前。そこは踏ん張って起きとけよ」 「でも、ねむいんだもん……」 それもその筈、現在時刻は十二時／午前零時になる少し前。 二桁にもならない歳の子どもは、もうとっくに布団ですやすや寝息を立ててる時刻である。 神戸しおは確かに類稀なるメンタリティを持つ娘だが、それでもこの辺りはちゃんと子どもだった。 目を指で擦って、ぱたぱた……と力なく足をばたつかせて。 「だから、ね……最後に、一個だけ……いい？」 「ったく、締まらねえ奴だなあお前も…………言えよ」 「もう、すっごくねむたいの。起きたららいだーくん、たぶんもういないだろうから。だから――」 ぴと。 隣の彼にもたれかかって、最後の"お願い"を。 マスターとしての"命令"を、した。 「らいだーくん、いなくなるまで、それまで…………手、にぎってて…………」 それが、最後の言葉になった。 こてん、と力が抜けて。 すうすう、すやすや。 寝息を立て始める、小さな少女。 なんだそりゃ。 デンジが思わずため息をついてしまったのも、きっと責められないことだろう。 まさか消滅間際、最後の仕事が眠るマスターの子守りだなんて思わなかったに違いない。 「……"友達"っつーか、"保護者"だろ。それは」 ぽりぽりと頭を掻いて小さくぼやく、デンジ。 それから、眠る少女の小さな手を言われた通り握ってやった。 子ども特有の高い体温が、消えかけの身体に伝わってくる。 これも感じ収めだと思うと、ああ、本当に終わるんだな――と感じ入るものがあった。 「ま、なんだ……」 サーヴァントの身で言うことではないだろうが。 聖杯戦争のことなんて、結局最後までよくわからないままだった。 なのにこうして勝ち切れたのは、"愛の勝利"というやつなのだろう。 であれば最後に。 最後まで、この小さい身体で歩み抜いた"相棒"に。 ちょっとくらいは祝福を添えてやってもいいかと、デンジは思った。 「仲良くやれよ」 ――ぽーん、ぽーん、ぽーん。 午前零時を告げる電子音が間抜けに鳴り響いて。 聖杯戦争の、最後の夜が終わりを迎える。 マンションの小さな、だらしなく散らかった部屋。 お城だなんてとても呼べない、友達同士の暮らしたカラフルな角砂糖。 戦いの結果になんて、きっと何の関係もない。 小さな、小さな、彼らの世界。 鐘の音が鳴り止んだその時。 もうそこに、悪魔憑きの少年はいなかった。 幸せそうに、安心したように寝息を立てているのは、王様になった少女。 彼女の隣に、ぶっきらぼうで少し下品な友達はもういないけれど。 それでもその手は――まるで誰かの手を握りしめているみたいな、そんな形を保ち続けていた。 【ライダー（デンジ）＠チェンソーマン 消滅】 ◆◆ 帰ってくると言ったのに、夜が明けても帰ってこない。 スマホに連絡を入れても、返事はおろか既読すらつかない。 居ても立っても居られなくて、危険を承知で歩き出した。 大丈夫、きっと生きてる。 生きて、この街のどこかにいる。 やるべきことを、やり続けている。 それが何かは、ついぞ教えてくれなかったけど――いや。 今となっては、想像もつくけれど。 それでも七草はづきは、妹を探して一日中街を駆けずり回った。 だけど結果として。 にちかとは会えずじまいのまま、今日が終わろうとしていた。 「ほんと、どこにおるとかねー……霧子も、にちかも……」 隣の恋鐘が漏らした言葉に、はづきは力なく頷くしかできなかった。 この一日で得られた成果はほぼほぼなかったが、唯一の収穫はこの月岡恋鐘と会えたことだ。 どうやら彼女も、アンティーカのふたり……田中摩美々と幽谷霧子と"約束"をしていたらしい。 なのに連絡しても返事がないし、いつまで経っても顔を見せないから、堪らず寮室を飛び出したのだそうだ。 いま、東京は街中大混乱だ。 暴徒化した市民があちこちで物資の奪い合いをしているし、インフラも政府も自衛隊もさっぱり機能していない。 あちこちで起こっているテロやら災害やらのせいもあるが、そこに放り込まれた"世界の真実"なる流説がそれに拍車をかけていた。 曰く、聖杯戦争。曰く、この世界はもうすぐ終わる。 はづきは正直それに関しては半信半疑だったが、にちかの意味深な言動と、あの状況でどこかへ出かけて行った事実に対する根拠になってしまいそうなのがとても嫌だった。 更に恋鐘の話によれば、霧子達も聖杯戦争の単語を出し、あれこれと説明をしてくれたらしい。 ――つまりは、そういうことなのだろうか。 恋鐘は幸か不幸か未だにいまいち理解できていないようだったが、はづきは既にいくつもの嫌な可能性を脳裏に思い描いてしまっている。 「……大丈夫ですよ、恋鐘さん。霧子さんも摩美々さんも強い子だし――にちかも、あれで結構したたかですから」 「――ん、そうやね……。うちらが落ち込んどっても仕方なか……！」 この元気が、今のはづきにはありがたかった。 何しろ暇さえあれば嫌な想像ばかりしてしまうのだ。 恋鐘の言葉を聞いていると、自分まで前向きになってくる気がする。 「うちらはアンティーカ。宇宙一のアイドルばい」 「……霧子さん達と、そういう話したんですか？」 「ん！ うちらは宇宙一ばーい！ って、みんなで再確認したんよ。霧子も摩美々もよか顔しとったけん、どうせちょっと連絡忘れとるだけたいね！」 ああ、そうか。 そうか――であれば。 であれば、生きているんだろうな。 霧子さん達も、……にちかも。 何の根拠もないのに、これまで重ねてきたどの想像よりも強い信憑性を、はづきは恋鐘の言葉に感じてしまっていた。 「……そうですね。みんな強いですもんね。でもね、うちの妹だって負けてないんですよ？ 姉妹喧嘩とかしたら、もう大変だったんですから」 そう言って、空を見上げる。 今日は、やけに星が綺麗だった。 にちかも……霧子達も、この空を見上げているんだろうか。 「今日は、ずいぶん星が綺麗やねえ……」 ふたりで見上げていると。 ちょうどその時、星空が変化を始めた。 都会の夜空とは思えないような、星々の絨毯。 煌めくそれらが、無数の流れ星に姿を変えたのだ。 「わ……！ はづき、あれ……！」 「ほ――ほんとに、すっごく綺麗ですね……！」 いわゆる、流星群だ。 それも、この規模のものなんて見たこともない。 指差す恋鐘に頷いて、ふたり揃って全部の不安を忘れて見惚れてしまう。 彼女達だけではない。 東京中の誰もが、今だけは空を見上げていた。 そしてこの美しい流星群にその目を釘付けにされ、あらゆる不安を忘れ見入っていた。 「……にちか達も、見てるんでしょうね。これを」 「もち！ きっと見とるばい、だってこがんすごかもん、霧子もにちかも釘付けになるに決まっとるよ！」 ――それは。 終わりゆく世界が見せる、最後の輝き。 無数の可能性が織りなす、終わりの色彩。 世界は終わる。 今ここで、この世界のすべてが幕を閉じる。 であればこれは、せめてもの慈悲だったのかもしれない。 息を引き取る世界に取り残された、消えるしかない命たち。 その最後が、せめて絶望で終わらないように。 世界が、界聖杯が、あるいは彼女に力を添えたある男が。 最後に見せた、この上ないほどに美しい奇蹟の星々。 「――にちか」 はづきが、呟いた。 「――霧子」 恋鐘も、呟いた。 待ち人は、もう二度と来ない。 彼女達が、大切な人に会うことは決してない。 だけど。けれど。 それでも彼女達は最後の一瞬まで、その幸福を祈っていた。 いってらっしゃいの言葉はなくても。 幸せになって、とそう祈る感情は、確かにそこにあって。 これから新たな世界に旅立つ少女たちへの、ちいさなちいさな花束になる。 そして、星空の下で。 ぱたん、と、本を閉じるように。 何の苦しみもなく、絶望もなく。 自分達にその時が来たのだと、知ることもなく。 このちいさな世界は、音もなく、安らかに。 眠るように、その役割を終えた。 ◆◆ 【神戸しお＠ハッピーシュガーライフ 優勝】 【幽谷霧子＠アイドルマスターシャイニーカラーズ 生還】 【七草にちか（騎）＠アイドルマスターシャイニーカラーズ 生還】 【Fate/Over The Horizon 完】 時系列順 Back 宇宙からの色（前編） Next ネバーエンディングシュガーライフ
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It s a long story. Jericho s investigating a story, and he s gone subterranean. His mobile s off. All right, I believe you. He may be in danger. I need to find him. I really didn t want to get mixed up in anything. I have a business to run, and my customers don t like publicity. Listen, I know Jericho. He d ask you to keep things quiet, and he wouldn t want to make life difficult for you. But something has happened, something big, and I really do need to find him. (Sighs) Okay, yeah, he came by last night. We talked a few days ago, but Jericho... He wanted to meet up. He said that some conversations shouldn t cross the Wire. He wanted to ask me some questions about a place I used to live in ten years ago. The Border House? It was a boarding house for students, run by an English lady. Fiona. That s where Jericho got my name from. The place s been turned into a hotel now. The Victory Hotel. Shady place. Jericho wanted to know everything about the building. Entrances, exits, floor plans...the works. He didn t tell me, and I didn t ask, but my guess is he was planning to break into the place. There are stories. They say the place isn t really a hotel, but some kind of front for...I don t know, and I don t want to know. Like I said, there are stories. What kind of stories? Look, I get all sorts in here. I hear things. But if I start shooting my mouth off, I get burned. I lose my customers, I lose my business. Hell, with some of the people that come in here to party, I could lose a lot more than that. I understand. So Jericho was interested in the layout of that place...what did you call it? The Border House...Victory Hotel. Yeah. I told him there are canals running underneath the building, and that there s a backyard. Since they drained the water, you can use the canals to get around. There might be a way into the building from the back. And Jericho, he went there last night? I honestly couldn t tell you, girl. We spoke, he left, haven t heard from him since. Do you own this place? I d like to know more about The Fringe Charlie? Nah, I just run it. I used to own it, though. Bought it cheaply right after the Collapse, hoping business would pick up again. Funny thing is, ten years ago, this was a popular student hangout. The Fringe Café . I worked here as a bartender. I managed to sell it eventually, and the new owners hired me back to manage it. With the new capital, we turned the business around. We re one of the hottest places to go in Newport right now. We get VIPs from around the world. They scram in, party, leave the next morning. Thanks, Charlie. I appreciate all your help. Thanks again, Charlie. You re welcome, girl. Let me know if you find your friend, all right? Have you lived in Venice all your life? Venice I wonder if Charlie s spent his whole life in this neighbourhood Feels like that sometimes...but no. I came here for school when I was nineteen. Place s gone to hell the past decade, even more so than the rest of Newport. I don t live here. No one lives here, not if they have a choice. Surprised? You looked like you could take care of yourself...so no, not really. Did you find your friend Jericho? His name s Reza. And no, not yet. But I have a lead. Good. I hope you find him. He seemed like a nice guy. Could you tell me anything about this picture? That s you, isn t it? Jesus Christ, where did you find this? At the hotel. Room 201. I found it in a closet, and I figured you d know. I mean, that is you, right? Ten years and a lifetime ago...yeah. April? April Ryan. The girl in the middle. 201, that was her room, ten years ago. Did...did you say April Ryan? Yeah. Why? That name sounds...very familiar. You probably got her mixed up with someone else. Emma on the other hand, she never lost faith. She still thinks April s alive, and...out there. Somewhere. Emma s the other girl in the picture? Yeah. They were the two best friends I ve ever had. But I haven t heard from Emma in years, and April... How did April disappear? Look, I m not comfortable talking about this. It s private stuff. This is gonna sound crazy. I can t even believe I m telling you this, but... I ve been...seeing things. On screens. Back in Casablanca, at the hotel... Strange, creepy things. At first, I figured it had something to do with the Static. That might still be the case, but I think there s more to it than that. There s this snowy landscape, a strange, black house, a girl... I know it sounds completely insane, but the girl...she speaks to me. Directly to me. Through the screen. "Find her, save her." At first, that was all she said. And then... "Find April Ryan. Find April. Save April." Jesus. If you re right, if this isn t some kind of sick joke, I need to contact Emma. She still believes April was telling the truth. The truth? About what? Can you stick around, Zoë? I m sure Emma will hop on the first Vactrax or scramjet out of Europolis, and she ll want to hear this from you. Once she gets here, we ll tell you the whole story. I promise. Charlie, the April Ryan I ve heard of might not be your April. I don t want you to get your hopes up. April disappeared under some very strange circumstances, Zoë. If there s even a tiny chance that this has anything to do with her, we need to pursue it. Okay. I have to wait here for this guy to contact me anyway. Marcus. I met him at the hotel. Marcus? This is starting to sound like a damn family reunion. Haven t seen him in years either, but I heard he got a job at the, uh, the hotel . Yeah. He s some kind of caretaker. And you re right, it s not a hotel. Anyway, Marcus said he d help me find out what s happened to Reza, for a price. I told him to meet me here later. I hope that s okay. No problem. This is the safest place in Newport. Nothing gets in or out without me knowing about it. I ll make sure his name s put on the guest list. I m gonna go call Emma, and then I need to take care of some business, but you can just hang out here. I ll have the kitchen make you something to eat. That would be nice. I m starving. I haven t eaten since the train. It is. It has to be. I don t believe in coincidences. And this would be one enormous coincidence. Yeah. Yeah, I did. (Deep breath) She disappeared under some...very strange circumstances. She could be trying to get in touch with us, Charlie. Maybe she needs our help. Maybe― The day she vanished, corporates were after her. I still don t know why. They stormed the house, and― Emma got shot. She almost didn t make it. As for April... She made it out. And that was the last we heard from her. But we know she got away. She was identified on security cameras uptown, and we found out later that she boarded a shuttle to one of the orbiting stations. That s where the cookie crumb trail ends, however. Right after that, the Collapse happened, and everything...changed. This is where it gets complicated. She spoke about another world. A sort of...parallel magical dimension. We didn t believe― Fine. I didn t believe her. I m still not sure I do, despite the things I saw during the Collapse. It seems improbable, I know, but...Reza is the link. I m so sorry. I don t have any money. Ah, well. I ll let ye in on a secret, rose petal. Blind Bob s happy he don t have na home na hearth. Had those, hated em, left to begin a career in beggaring. Now a pauper s life is a king s life! Freedom! Fresh air! No strings, no stress. No bleedin taxes. Aren t you cold? Ye d think! But no. Had a bit of an accident with a fyre charm when I was a wee lad. Left me permanently temperate. It s actually quite pleasant. But what about that whole being blind thing? That can t be good. Oh, that? It s theoretical. But it didn t. No, no, not at all. Missed Blind Bob s face by a mile. Could have burned me eyes out, mind you. Could very well have. So I m theoretically blind. Theoretical? I could ve been blind. Had an accident with a chymical spell when I was a wee lad. Near burned me eyes out. Of course, Theoretically Blind Bob is no proper name for a beggar. So I just use Blind Bob nowadays. That s me, that is. Uh. Okay. Hello. Do you know where I can find Minstrum Magda? Blind Bob promised he d help me find Magda Oh, he knows her, Blind Bob does. He knows her well. Nice lady. Best saltnut soup south of Lame Bastard Hill. Do you know where she is today? Uh, she moves around, Magda does. Ain t seen her round here in a while. Ye might try asking someone other than Blind Bob. Like who? I don t know anyone in this city. Well, ye might have more luck asking Crazy Clara. Lives up Crab Bend, Clara does, on Hangman s Span. In view of Friar s Keep. Where can I find this Crazy Clara again? You can usually find her on Hangman s Span. That s up Crab Bend, east of South Gate, towards Friar s Keep, the prison. Thank you, Mr...Bob. Oh, just call me Theoretically. We re friends now, ye and I. Thanks again. Come back anytime, rose petal. Theoretically Blind Bob. Examine Blind Bob Hi there. Alms fer a poor― Oh, hah, it s ye! What tidings of joy do ye bring me this time? Ah, rose petal, we meet again. What can I help ye with? My name is Zoë Castillo. That s my father, Gabriel. I wish I could ve talked to him one last time, let him know that everything will be okay. I’m not sure anyone can hear me, but I ve had some experience with voices from the grave recently, so I’m giving it a shot. I m all he s got in this world. My mother died fifteen years ago, and I don t have any siblings. Bad things are happening, and everyone who knows the truth is either dead or has vanished off the face of the Earth. If I can get through to someone, anyone, maybe something can be done. So if you can hear me, please listen. This is very, very important. You ll have to forgive me for using the oldest cliché in the book It all began when... Since I m lying in that bed, but I m talking to you from out here, I guess this is what they call an out of body experience. They say that every story has a beginning and an end. What things? Your friend, the journalist... You still don t know where he is? No, but with any luck I might find out later tonight. You didn t believe her, Charlie. I never doubted her. Actually, Charlie, is there somewhere private where I can make a call? No problem, girl. Sure. You can use one of the private lounges upstairs. The last one on your left is empty. Can I ask you a question? I need Blind Bob s help finding Magda Ye can ask. I might answer, I might not. Fair enough. I m looking for someone. The innkeeper said you might know. Her name is― Hold it right there, rose petal. Tit for tat. Them s the rules. What do you mean? If ye want Blind Bob to do ye a favour, ye do him one first. Fair enough. What do you want? Just so you know, I don t have any money. Do I have a choice? Look, I m only asking for information, nothing else. I m not in the mood for this Well, rose petal, you seem to be cozy with old Benrime in there. Hah! Now, she makes a robust mulled wine, just the thing for a cold winter s morning. But Benrime, she don t take well to Blind Bob sitting on her doorstep, and she don t willingly part with her wares without recompense of sorts. You want mulled wine? A bottle would do nicely, rose petal. Mind it s the good stuff now, made with Mrs Mullins Mixed Spices ! What was it you wanted again? A bottle of mulled wine, rose petal. Hot as sin, spicy as a Southlander maiden, long as a Northlander s manh― Mulled wine, right, got it. If I get you a bottle of mulled wine, will you help me? Theoretically Blind Bob has never broken a promise, rose petal. Mulled wine made with Mrs Mullins Mixed Spices ? Fine. I ll see what I can do. Well, see, information s all Blind Bob s got, rose petal. It s his only, wossname, commode. Oh. Well, I don t have anything to trade for. No money, no information, nothing. A sweet rose like you, got nuffin to trade for? Hah! I beg to differ, petal. I just met her. Even so, you might be able to pry her cold, miserly fingers off a boiling hot bottle of mulled wine. Blind Bob would be mighty grateful for that, he would. Hah! Mulled wine? That s what you want? Oh, nothing would taste sweeter right now. Get Blind Bob a bottle of mulled wine, petal, and he ll open his mouth right wide, you ll see. Here, mulled wine, made with Mrs Mullins Mixed Spices . Ah, the sweet scent of Mrs Mullins and Riverwood red! Give it here, petal, let me take a swig. Aaah. By the Balance, that hit the spot, it did! Glad you liked it. It wasn t easy getting it. "Without the journey, the reward is na half as sweet." Green? Had an accident with a chroma charm when I was a wee lad. Every morning Blind Bob wakes up, the sky s a different colour. "You ve been a bad girl, Clara. You ll have to be punished." What happened to your baby? Baby? I wonder what the deal is with her baby Are you a spook? Do you dangle? I m...I m pretty sure I m not a spook. But you do dangle. I do? I honestly don t know. I m looking for Minstrum Magda. Magda She s the only one who can tell me where Magda is "The Minstrum are evil, Clara. They cloud your mind with their spiritual claptrap." "Dangle from their necks, the murderers do. Mind you stay good, Clara, or you dangle, too." Oh! No, I don t dangle. I m alive. See? Aaah! Nooo! God, I m― I m so sorry! I didn t mean to... Are you okay? My baby, my beautiful baby, all gone, all gone. Um, you wouldn t happen to know where Magda is, would you? I m a friend of Blind Bob s - you know, Theoretically . She must know Blind Bob "Near burned me eyes out. Wee lad. Where s me bag?" My baby. Blind Bob s your baby? "Pretty thing, so pretty, my flower, but she has to be punished." I think Bob s still up by the Journeyman...but you re not talking about him, are you? Right. There s no chance you ll turn uncrazy for a moment and answer my question, is there? Gone... Gone... I didn t think so, no. I didn t mean to hurt you, Clara. Baby, my baby, my baby... So you lost something...or someone? My baby. Yes, that part I got. Your baby...is it a child? A pet? Westerlings caught him in a net, just like a butterfly. "That s illegal, that is! Can t have that now, can we?" So it is your pet. A dog? Cat? I m guessing there are stranger pets in this world. No stranger. Best friend. You said the westerlings took him. Who are the westerlings ? "The ghetto s closed, stand back! What s that you got there, eh? Give us that thing, right now!" The soldiers took him? What did they do with him? "We ll take care of him, we will." Gone, but close, so close. I still hear him, my baby. I still hear him crying. Do you want me to help you find your baby? Find baby? Yes, if I can. I ll try. Do you know where he is? Hello again, Clara. My baby? Not yet. But I ll try my best, okay? "I don t want you to try your best, Clara. I want you to do your best." Caged up, like the twinkles in a diamond. He was coming home to mommy. Home, never again, never, never... Don t say that. We ll find him, okay? No, thank you. Are you Minstrum Magda? Shh, not so loud! There are ears everywhere! I m just looking for Minstrum Magda― I don t know any Minstrum Magda . There are no Minstrum in this city. Not anymore. The innkeeper at the Journeyman. Innkeeper Well, the innkeeper was the one who told me about Magda That might be true in most cases. Sometimes, however, the two are one and the same. Shit! Wait, I don t know you. Who the hell are you? Yes! Yes, I m a friend of Vinnie s. I m sorry, I didn t know anyone was using this room. Go with the flow Where the hell is he? Vinnie! Who the fuck do you think I m talking about? Oh, uh, I don t know. Maybe he left? Jesus, if he did, I ll fire his fucking ass. He s no good to me, no good. Christ. I don t know any Vinnie. Tell the plain truth So what the fuck are you doing here? I don t give a shit if his Mama misses her baby boy, or if he got you pregnant. His ass is mine. I know that he was here last night, but I don t know what he was doing. There s no point telling this guy everything Aw, fuck! Fuck! You punched me! Well, you attacked me. Jesus! I wasn t gonna do nothin ! You punched me in the nose! It fucking hurts! Aw, shit. Shit! My face! Yeah, well, you re lucky it s just your face. I m black belt. So what the fuck do you want from me? Aw, fuck, it fucking hurts. I m looking for a friend of mine. He was here last night, looking for information. Maybe he talked to some people, I don t know. Point is, I need to find him. If he s been here, maybe you know where he went. I don t know. You come in here, punch me in the face, I should fucking... What s his name? Reza. Reza Temiz. Yeah, so what s in it for me? I won t punch you again. Okay, I ll pay you. Five hundred, if you can get me any information about what s happened to him. Another five hundred if you help me find him. One thousand Y s? If you help me find him. I m good for it. Mm, looks like it. So this guy must be real important to you. You screwing him? I don t need another excuse to kick your ass. Jesus! All right, can t a guy ask? Christ. You re touchy. Okay. I could use a thousand just about now. So what was the guy s name again? Rez what? Reza Temiz. He s about your height, black hair, tanned. Probably well dressed. He was here last night. I ll see what... A thousand, right? Give me five hundred up front. No. You get your money when I get the information. If you don t want to do business, I ll― Fine! So how do I contact you? Do you know The Fringe? Who doesn t? I ll be there tonight. Sure you will. You know how difficult it is to get an invite? There s a two year waiting list. Just come back here later, and we ll― No. The Fringe. I ve got connections. I ll make sure you re on the list. No fucking way! That s awesome. If you d told me that right away, sweetheart, I d have found your friend for free. Okay, so I ll see what I can dig up. The Fringe? Fuck. Awesome. All right, so we ve got a deal. Come on, I ll let you out the front. DNA lock. Unbreakable shit. Right. He just happened to stop by for a social visit? You know, maybe he did. I don t care, and it doesn t matter. All I know is, he was here, and now he s not. I need to find him. I m not the fucking...whatever it s called. Corporate Bureau of...something. Anyway, no! Listen, I need to find him. I ll even pay you if you help me out. I m listening. Five hundred for information about what s happened to him. Another five hundred if you help me find him. So I can score one thousand Y s if I help you out? Sounds like a sweet deal. So who s this guy? What s his name? If you help me, maybe you won t have to. Help me find Reza, and tell him everything you know about what s going on here. He always protects his sources, and he s got powerful connections. You ll be okay. I don t know. I don t know. If anyone finds out I ve talked to... I ll even throw in a bonus. Help me find him, and I ll pay you a thousand. Cash. One thousand Y s? Honest? Okay, yeah. Jesus! I m gonna regret this. Fine, I ll help you. What s your friend s name? Reza Temiz. He s about your height, black hair, tanned. Probably well dressed. Temiz. Got it. I ll ask around, check the feeds, see if there s anything I can dig up. How do I get in touch with you? I ll be at The Fringe tonight. Yeah, right. No, really, where do we meet? You should come back here around ten. I ll order a pizza, get a bottle of wine... I told you, The Fringe. Look, sweetheart, there s a two year waiting list over there. And to get on that waiting list, you need to be either very famous or very rich. And you, sweetheart - no offense - are neither. No, but I got connections. Trust me, I ll be at The Fringe. And I ll make sure your name is on the list. You re fucking kidding me, right? Right? The Fringe? The fucking Fringe? All right. Jesus! I m there. Jesus Christ. If you d told me earlier, I d have helped you for free. Fuck! Excellent. Yeah, this place is an impenetrable fortress... Look, Vinnie was going to help me out with some information about this guy. Reza Temiz. Temiz? Who the fuck s that? Another of Vinnie s deadbeat friends? Something like that. Anyway, Vinnie was going to help me out, but maybe you can help me instead? Why the fuck would I do that? Well, I was going to pay him. But if you re not interested― How much? Five hundred if you get me information about my friend. Another five hundred if you find him. One thousand Y s, huh? Are you good for it? I ve been burned by Vinnie s friends before. Does it look like I m good for it? I don t judge a fucking...by its, you know, front. Something like that. Shit, yeah, fine. So what s this asshole s name? I m very serious. This friend of mine, he means a lot to me. Whatever. As long as I m on that list and you ve got the cash. Wait, what was your name again? Zoë. What s yours? Marcus. You don t have a last name? Okay, Marcus. Thanks. I ll see you later. (Laughs) You re a player, Zoë. I ll give you that. No. Do you? Safe now. We are happy. So, so happy. I m glad. Look, I m trying to find Minstrum Magda. Do you know where she is? Magda? Where is Magda? That s what I need to know. Please, could you try and focus for a second? I really need to find Minstrum Magda. "Cup of soup, Clara?" says the soup lady. "Oh, yes, please!" "Right you are, then." What do you mean― Oh, soup lady as in soup kitchen? She runs a soup kitchen? "Soup! Soup for the poor and homeless! Warm and thick, with peas and carrots in it!" I m sorry, where did you say I could find Minstrum Magda again? And not only peas and carrots, but dubious lumps, too. Where is Magda s soup kitchen? I go down there every morning to have my soup, I do. She s nice, she is. The soup lady. Down where? The market? "We re just down the street, Clara, at the South Gate Market, from sunrise till midday, every day. You come by anytime, you hear?" That s right, the soup kitchen! I passed right by it! Thanks, Clara. Wave goodbye, now. Wave goodbye, little one. "We re here every day, Clara, from morning till midday, right down the street at the South Gate Market." That s it! Thanks again, Clara. Boxed him right up. "We ll take care of him, put him to sleep for you." Pretty thing, poor thing. My baby. What do you want? I hear you re looking for a way into the ghetto. Who told you― Wait, weren t you at the inn this morning? Not here. There are soldiers around. Follow me. I m not following you anywhere. But I can show you a way into the ghetto! Just hold on a minute. Who are you? My name is... It s Worm. Worm ? That doesn t exactly inspire trust. What are you talking about? How do I know I can trust you? Back at the inn, I heard you say the name...April Ryan. You know her? I may know how to get in touch with her. You do? How? You ll just have to trust me. If you overheard me talking to the innkeeper, you know I m not from...from around here. I can t just follow any stranger I meet on the street. I mean, how do I know you won t lead me into a dark alley, knock me out, tie me up, and drag me into a basement somewhere? I...promise I won t drag you into a basement. Besides, what choice do you have? You re stuck here, aren t you? I m the only one who can take you to Ra― to April. She s the one you re looking for, right? I m sure you can. I promise, no basements. Come on! Come on, hurry up! We don t want anyone following us. This is it, we re almost there. Hello again, dear. Did you change your mind? Would you like a cup of soup? Magda? This must be Minstrum Magda No, thank you. I m not hungry. I don t feel like eating anything No, thank you. ...asking about you. There s no question about it. She s a spy. She does not look Azadi. Like that matters? You can t tell, and you can t trust anyone. Let s get rid of her. All I m saying is, let s not take any chances! She might have a tracking spell on her for all we know. I would have detected it. There is something peculiar about her, but no magic. Peculiar ? What did I tell you? She s a spy, all right! Come on, let s get rid of her. Quiet. I ll speak with her. Brynn, don t make me lose my patience with you. You need to trust me. Brynn. Come. Now. Fine. Fine! But don t say I didn t warn you. (Gasps for air) So why are you asking questions about me? Where am I? Who are you? I m asking the questions here. Wait, you re April, aren t you? I recognise you from the picture. What... What picture? A picture of you and your friends. Charlie and Emma. Charlie told me about you, that you d disappeared, and that― Whoa, slow down, slow down! You know Charlie and Emma? How s that even... I only just met them. At The Fringe. Back in...back in my world. Stark. I m guessing you re not a spy. I don t even know how I got here. When I woke up, I was in this strange place, a subterranean city. And there were these...these creatures. I had to fight them, and all the time I was saying to myself, "it s just a dream, Zoë, just a dream". Except... Fought em I had to sneak by them. All the time I was repeating to myself, "they can t harm you, it s just a dream". Except... Left em alone Except it s no dream. I know the feeling. A Shifter? That s what Benrime and Minstrum Magda told me. What s a Shifter? But you learn to accept the truth. You have to. You re a Shifter. You ve travelled through the Divide between worlds. It ll take too long to explain. You re special, how s that? You can travel between worlds. Travel... So how do I get back to our world? Your world, not mine. You just...do it. Once you ve learned how, it s like blinking. With your mind. But I can t even remember how I got here in the first place. First couple of times, it s hard. It s easier when you re asleep. I wasn t sleeping. At least, I don t think I was. It s...fuzzy. I m sure you ll figure it out... What s your name? We ll have to put you somewhere. Safe. Until you can find your way back to Stark. No. No! I m here now, and I need your help. Something s happening back in the real world - in my world - and I think you re connected to it somehow. I ve been...receiving this strange message. Like a, I don t know, a vision broadcast through the Wire. Receiving? How? Through dreams? No. No, on screens. It s like...like some kind of static interference. What does it mean? Don t ask me. I don t need saving. You ve got the wrong woman. I don t think so. This girl, she led me to your room where I found the picture. It can t be a coincidence. It can t? You re sure about that? Look, Stark s not my world anymore. I m done with the saving of the world. Ask someone else. But I― I ll help you get back. It s either that or we lock you up somewhere until you figure out how to use your powers. And what do I tell your friends? Tell them whatever you want. The April Ryan they knew is dead. I m not part of their world anymore. So you re not going to help me? You re not curious to find out why I keep getting these messages about you? Like I said. Not my problem. I ve played my part. Just leave me alone. Now, do you want to go back or not? (Sighs) I do. Of course I do. Good. Like I said, if this doesn t work, we ll have to make other arrangements. We re going to put you under hypnosis, and unlock the part of your subconscious that controls your Shifting powers. Lie down on that bed, and I ll be right back. What are you going to do? There is a part of you that knows how to Travel. I will help you remember what you have not yet learned. And I ll end up back in Newport? Can t guarantee you that. You might end up somewhere else. Just try and focus on a familiar place, a safe place. So you re not going to help me? You don t need my help. Lie still. What s she talking about? Something s going on back in our world. A good friend of mine s disappeared, and― And you need to not talk. Or would you rather have me lock you up? ―and I think April can help me find out what s happened to him, and why. So why won t you? Because I have enough trouble in my life already. Because I m fighting a war. And because I m done with your world. Now, this is your final chance. Close your eyes. Breathe slowly. Don t speak. Listen to Na ane s voice. Ne a, ama m, ean an... Listen to my voice, let it carry you into yourself, into the secret places in your mind. Ane an, ean an, a ean an... I don t feel a thing. What s this supposed to― What― What just happened? I...do not know, April-an. She did not open a Shift. And her clothes... They re still here. Where did she go? I do not know. I have never seen anything like it. It is almost as though she was smoke, blown away by a wind. Is she dead? I cannot say. I do not feel her here, in this world. But I will say this. I do not think this girl is a Shifter. Then what is she? And where did she go? Yes, Child Ena? The Six require your presence, Apostle. When? My apologies, Apostle. They said to bring you immediately. Follow me, Apostle. Follow Apostle. Our apologies for calling you away while you were training. We know that you are busy with the Initiates, but this could not wait. We have just had word from our armies in the East, and it worries us deeply. Our dearest Apostle, we have a very important task for you. Yes, Mistress. Apostle, you know how some Eastlanders still resist our noble efforts at uniting their fractured nations and bringing the Word to their Goddessless lives. The Mission continues unabated, of course. Nothing shall stand between the Glory of the Goddess and those lost ones who have strayed from her light. But still there are a few who have chosen to oppose us. Those misguided pagans have become a dangerous obstacle in the Path. Apostle Kian, we need you to travel East to those heathen lands to bring the Word to the heretics. There is a man who leads these rebellious few, these insurgents. A man whose hands are soiled with the blood of many Trueborn. A Daemon. You must travel tonight to the havens, Apostle, and board a cloudship bound for the city of Marcuria. When you reach your destination, you will seek out this man, this...this butcher. They call him the Scorpion . You must seek him out, and you must convert him. By the letting of his blood, he shall be reborn into the next life, where he may find forgiveness in the Glory of the Goddess. Find this rebel leader, this Scorpion , and let your blade kiss his throat. This is your mission, Kian Alvane. As you please, Mistress. Your word is my path. You will leave now, with haste. May the Goddess be with you, Apostle. I shall be vigilant, Mistress. Do you know anyone by the name of April Ryan? It s a long shot, but maybe she s heard of April Theoretically Blind Bob, the beggar. Blind Bob was really the one who led me to Magda Crazy― I mean, Clara, the lady who lives up on the bridge. Crazy Clara To be absolutely fair, Crazy Clara was the one who told me where to find Magda Oh? And who would that be? Her name is Miriam Belmin. Miriam Belmin I think that was her name Her name is Sally Minren. Sally Minren That was her name, right? Her name is Benrime Salmin. Benrime Salmin I m pretty sure that was her name Her name is Benmin Salrime. Benmin Salrime I believe that s her name If you decide to tell a lie, you had better make it a good one. That is not the innkeeper s name. Please, I m not lying! I met her just this morning! She told me I had to talk to Magda. I see. Blind Bob told you to speak with Magda? Sort of. He told me where to find you...find her. Well, actually, he just told me who to see in order to find Magda. Ah. The mystery deepens. And who would that be? Crazy Clara. I mean, Clara... I don t know her full name. She lives up on the bridge. Hmm. I see. You appear to know quite a few people in the city. The innkeeper at the Journeyman. She said I needed to speak with her, with Magda. The innkeeper. And who, pray tell, would that be? Clara said you should speak with me? Interesting. Yes. No! She just told me where to find you...I mean, Magda. I see. So Blind Bob told you to speak with me? Yes. No. No, he just told me to ask Crazy Clara. The plot thickens. The innkeeper. Hmm. And who, pray tell, would that be? I m Zoë Castillo. I ll just tell him my name - that s usually a good starting point Okay. I hate to be rude, but I m sort of busy. Is there anything you need? I ve been cleared for work today. I m looking for Damien Cavanaugh. Damien I ll tell him I m looking for Damien Speaking. What do you need? I have clearance to work today.
https://w.atwiki.jp/nicoutaite/pages/83.html
作詞：samfree 作曲：samfree 編曲：samfree 歌：ピコ 翻譯：風翊寒 Crazy for you 在虛空中徬徨的 指 我就在這裡 請聽我的聲音吧 好嗎？ 讓我看看你的所有 將寂靜撕裂 在無月的暗夜裡 渴求你 Crazy for you, Crazy for you 在你的眼眸中墮落 Crazy night, Crazy night 沒有退路無法回頭 Crazy for you, Crazy for you 沉溺在原色的愛中 若已下定決心 就一起到能到的盡頭吧 每當互相觸碰時 啊啊 心就會變得熾熱 脫去所有 現在 因為想要了解你 將時間凍結 兩個人一起進入 永久的沉眠 Crazy for you, Crazy for you 你眼眸中的漣漪 Crazy night, Crazy night 尋求著答案 Crazy for you, Crazy for you 激烈燃燒的靈魂 在思念的盡頭 能去的地方是哪呢？ 不需要假裝 將所有奉獻給 真實無偽裝的你 Crazy for you, Crazy for you 在你的眼眸中墮落 Crazy night, Crazy night 沒有退路無法回頭 Crazy for you, Crazy for you 沉溺在原色的愛中 若已下定決心 就一起到能到的盡頭吧
https://w.atwiki.jp/penumbrajp/pages/181.html
CATEGORY Name="Journal" Entry Name="Note_L01_MarotNote_Name" A New Plan /Entry Entry Name="Note_L01_MarotNote_Text" Le 22 avril 1858[br][br]Salutation, Inspector Marot of the Sûreté Nationale,[br][br]As you very well know, the chief of police in Calais has turned down my request to pursue Justine Florbelle for stealing my son away. Ever since their affair started, Aloïs, my son, has forsaken his duties to his family and failed to pursue his career. Since the law seems unable to find a crime within the realm of Mademoiselle Justine s actions, I will ask you to receive Dr. Victor Fournier later this week. He is a respectable aliéniste, an expert in the human psyche, and he believes he may have found a legal way to incarcerate her. If he is able to diagnose her as an hysteric, it would provide you an ample excuse to have her locked up.[br]I trust you and your agency will not turn us down.[br][br]Cordialement, Lucien Racine. /Entry Entry Name="Note_L01_AloisNote_Name" Billet Doux /Entry Entry Name="Note_L01_AloisNote_Text" Justine, my love. I know I am not as talented as Malo or as strong as Basile, but I am certain my love is truer. Do not my scars tell you so? I will continue to cut myself as long as it pleases you. I would even kill Basile if you wish. I know you say you like it, but he is hurting you. I will trick him to consume the Bromide. Poor Justine. I will help, just ask me to help.[br][br]-Aloïs /Entry Entry Name="Note_L01_ArticleNote_Name" Newspaper Article - 19 March, 1858 /Entry Entry Name="Note_L01_ArticleNote_Text" Travesty at the Conservatory[br][br]Many Parisians had gathered last night to enjoy the performance of violin virtuoso, Malo de Vigny. It was to be the grand premiere of several new arrangements of songs by fellow composer George Bizet, but the evening took an unexpected turn. [br][br]Young Malo de Vigny turned up visibly intoxicated. His violin cried as the bow was jerked across the strings. The audience seemed forgiving at first, but started to boo the man off stage as he defaced the beloved song, La rose et l abeille. The stress apparently got the best of the young musician as he threw his bow into the audience and finally collapsed. [br][br]Mademoiselle Justine Florbelle, who is according to rumors romantically involved with Monsieur de Vigny, looked quite amused by the event and had two of her friends, Basile Giroux and Aloïs Racien, carry him off the stage. [br][br]The evening was saved by other musicians at the conservatory who was able to a perform a most delightful impromptu concerto in Malo de Vigny s absence. The audience showered their saviors with praise and calls for encore were awarded with spectacular pieces by both Offenbach and Chopin. /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_SoulNote1_Name" Soul Journal Entries /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_SoulNote1_Text" Justine, age 8[br]Today I played outside with Clarice. We saw a bird pick at a snail. It carried it off and landed on the lawn fence. The snail had a shell and it cracked. Clarice cried and I comforted her. The new maid heard us and came out and scolded Clarice for playing with me, the bird took off into the air.[br][br]Today I was the one with open arms.[br][br][new_page][br][br]Justine, age 9[br]Today I played with the slides from father s Light Box. Above all I like the man standing to the right. Father asked why. I said, he see things he likes.[br][br]Today I was the right one.[br][br][new_page][br][br]Justine, age 10[br]Father said I picked the wrong slide yesterday when I made the chambermaid cry. He wanted me to pick the one with the sword, while I picked the man on the right. I never pick the one with the sword.[br][br]Today I was the one kneeling.[br][br][new_page][br][br]Justine, age 11[br]Today father came for me in my room. I still couldn t look him in the eyes. He said I shouldn t feel ashamed and that I only tried to fill the void left by mother. When he wasn t looking I took the star stone from his collection.[br][br]Today I was the one with the sword. /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_SoulNote2_Name" Results /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_SoulNote2_Text" The tests have been going well. The most long term, and in a sense the most promising one, is the Light Box. Having Justine choose a slide, essentially a mood, for every day is a great way to see the larger overall development of her mind. She definitely reads things into the slides I had not foreseen. Her remarkable imagination turns the characters into just about anything and she is able to effortlessly reduce all her experiences into one of the four character slides.[br][br]Using the Puzzle Lock has proven more difficult as she tends to always choose two slides with characters facing the same way. I have asked her why this is, but she doesn t seem to fully understand what I am asking. /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_OldLetter_Name" Herbert s Letter /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_OldLetter_Text" 12 January 1839[br][br]Dear Monsieur Florbelle,[br][br]I am sorry to hear about your daughter Justine s unruly behavior. Rest assure that this does not diminish your work, nor does it make your idea of the natural developing mind less appropriate as a field of study. I have met plenty of scholars here in London enthralled by your hypothesizes and stated that it could be one of the most important ideas of the modern era.[br][br]It has been suggested that the mind is not only molded by experience, but could also be stricken with disease without physiological sign. Perhaps this line of thinking could be applied to your child.[br][br]I wish I could devote my letter to consolidation, however I write to you with a request. I require passage into Algeria and I need Frenchmen of great standing to vouch for my person. I am certain the name of Florbelle would greatly speed the process and grant me the permits I require. It pains me to ask this of you in your time of distress, but if you could suffer my inconvenience, I would be greatly in your debt.[br][br]Yours sincerely,[br][br]Herbert /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_Shipment_Name" SHIPMENT SLIP /Entry Entry Name="Note_L02_Shipment_Text" Congratulations on your fine purchase![br][br]The Lumina Projection Box with accompanying Puzzle Lock is the pride of our company and our greatest seller. Having earned your patronage, we would like to share with you privileged insight on our newest workings the Span-space Device! This new machine is unlike anything you have ever witnessed. Come and visit our testing facilities and try our state of the art inventions in a safe environment.[br][br]Please write your name and address on the back of the slip and mail it back to us at [br]A.S. Inc, Boston, Massachusetts. /Entry Entry Name="Note_L03_SealedLetter_Name" Unopened Letter /Entry Entry Name="Note_L03_SealedLetter_Text" 7 July 1839[br][br]Monsieur Florbelle,[br][br]My name is Daniel, a friend and a colleague of Professor Herbert. As I have come to understand, you are among his most trusted friends and confidantes, therefor I shall reveal my predicament in hope that you can shed some light on the matter.[br][br]Earlier this year Herbert and I set out on an expedition to the deserts of Algeria. While looking for the legendary tomb of Tin Hinan we happened upon a cavern temple buried deep beneath the sand. In its inner sanctum I retrieved a stone orb which cracked and spilt into several pieces. Due to exhaustion, I was sent back to Britain and waited for his return.[br][br]I have since lost all contact with Herbert and I find myself deeply troubled by the whole affair. I believe Herbert knew more than he was telling and that he sent me back to protect me from whatever ancient horror we may have stirred.[br][br]If you can share any insight on the matter I would be most grateful.[br][br]Forever in your debt,[br][br]Daniel /Entry Entry Name="Note_L04_UnfinishedLetter_Name" Unfinished Letter /Entry Entry Name="Note_L04_UnfinishedLetter_Text" Le 2 février 1839[br][br]Herbert,[br][br]I have contacted the consulate and they said they will send you the permits you need for visiting Algeria. I wish you good luck on your search and that your findings will come at a lower price than mine.[br][br]I am at a loss with my studies. My daughter has become distraught and distant. I did little to control her behavior, yet I believe the very notion of my observation has made her this way. My scientific indifference to our tests has not left her with an indifferent opinion. She finds my lack of reaction disappointing. She judges me, and most importantly herself, by the results of the tests.[br][br]The reason I have had trouble finding any consistency within her character, is because she tries different approaches to provoke me and her actions only becomes more and more disturbing. Yesterday I lost myself and scolded her, she was terrified and humiliated.[br][br]It saddens me greatly to bring my studies to a close without seeing it to the end, but I can no longer justify my research, I have to mend my relationship with my daughter... /Entry /CATEGORY
https://w.atwiki.jp/tljtrans/pages/138.html
It s a mer...person. God knows what sex it is, but I m sure it s not the one that kidnapped me. That one had smaller, uh, wings. It s a mermaid, in the most abstract of terms. Ariel, she s not. It s some kind of merperson, or what the book called the Maerum. It s a mermaid. It s Maerian female. It s the Queen of the Maerum. It s a spear...a harpoon, I guess it s called in maritime terminology. It s a harpoon. It s a glowing green substance that s spread evenly across the walls, providing light and heat. It s the precious substance called Tanyenn. Great view. It s a pretty blue crystal. I didn t get much out of our first conversation, so...no point, really. I need to find some other way to communicate with her. I need to find some other way to communicate with her. (strange bubbling sounds) Why did you bring me here? Who are you? Nice tail. (strange bubbling sounds) (strange bubbling sounds) Lucky me. I m stuck at the bottom of the sea with Bubbles the Mermaid. There has got to be a way to communicate with these creatures. (bubbling sounds) Do you understand what I m saying? Yes. We understand. You have passed the two tests of the Gatherer, landwalker. Breathing water and speaking the tongue of the Maerum. You can serve us now. Can we talk for a minute? Yes, Gatherer. We may. Weird. I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I shouldn t be able to understand what you re saying...but I do. Serve you? You have been brought here to serve us as the Gatherer of Tanyenn. Are your people called the Maerum? We are the Maerum. Most landwalkers call us mermen, or merpeople, but the Maerum is our name in truth. Who are you, ma am? We are the Queen of the Third City of the Maerum, Enlightened Keeper of the Tanyenn, Protector of the Light. I m sorry, your...your majesty. I really had no idea you were a queen. We are just a Queen. Our function is to serve the people, to light our cities, provide food for our men and children, and to protect them from the Snapjaw that hunt us in the dark. Thanks for your time. We will call on you soon, to begin your service. Until then, you should stay inside the landwalker s bubble, and away from the dark waters where the Snapjaw lurk. Thanks for your time. My time is yours, Gatherer. Who or what is the Waterstiller? The Waterstiller is in our prophecies. She is the landwalker who will make us a people united, and end all strife. So you re at war with other Maerum? No, and so the time for the Waterstiller is still to come. We are at peace with other Maerum. What else can you tell me about the Waterstiller? She will come among us by providence, and she will take something from us that we have kept hidden for many generations. What is it the Waterstiller will come to take from you? We do not know. But she will open up the ancient shrine, and bring light to darkness. She will destroy a Snapjaw with her spear, give witness of her mission, and then she will reunite us. She sounds like a swell person. She is the Waterstiller. She is prophecy. I d like to learn more about Tanyenn. Certainly. What do you wish to learn? Why was the cave with the altar and the wall paintings just outside the city abandoned? What? Show us this cave, immediately! Do you know where my ship went down? The vessel you foolishly travel in above the water? It rests not far from the city, just past and beyond the landwalker s bubble where you were first brought. Where did you say I could find the shipwreck? Just past and beyond the landwalker s bubble. Do you know the island of Alais? Yes, we know the island of Alais. Our Gatherers find Tanyenn there, and the Maerum once had a city in the shallow waters below it. Can you bring me there? Until your training is complete, you cannot go gathering. We can not risk losing you to the Snapjaw, or to have you desert your duties to our people. How long will my training take? Six cold oceans. Six years? Sure, that makes sense. Everything in this world takes ages. I ve been told that you worship an old god who lives in the deep. How did you come by this forbidden knowledge? I...picked it up on my way here. Could you take me to him? You? No, we can not. Unless you are Maerum, you are not even allowed to speak of our sleeping god. I think it is dead. What s Tanyenn? I m nobody s servant. I m not supposed to be here. Tanyenn is life. Tanyenn brings light to darkness, and sustenance to our caves. Tanyenn keeps the Snapjaw from our children, and heats us when it is cold. Tanyenn is life. You are mistaken, landwalker. Your life is ours, now. You serve us. We took you from your death into our life. I was perfectly capable of saving myself, thank you very much. Landwalkers do not survive long in the heat of the yellow fire without their unsalted water. You would have been dead by the next darkness. You are supposed to be here. You are now a Gatherer, and your service will ensure the survival of our people. Where does Tanyenn come from? How does Tanyenn do all those things you said? Tanyenn provides warmth, and light. It draws the harvest close-- Harvest? The creatures of the sea that we eat. The goldentail, and the weedeye, and the sandeater... Fish. You re talking about fish. The harvest, yes, that is what we said. The harvest is drawn to the light, and to the heat. But the Snapjaw are clever, they stay away, they know the light allows us better aim with our spears. Why can t you gather Tanyenn yourself? Our Gatherers collect it from the caves and shores of the islands, but there is less Tanyenn to be found each season, and we need help. We do, but we cannot move far from our cities, or the Snapjaw will hunt us, and eat us. If we travel in force, we leave our men and children without guard. And we cannot travel too close to the islands, or the Wingdemons may catch eye of us. They leave our Gatherers alone, though, so you have nothing to fear. Who are the Wingdemons? Ugly, leathery creatures who defy nature to fly up there, in the sky. They are evil, and live to destroy our people. Don t the Snapjaw kill the Gatherers? Rarely. Your meat is bitter and tough, not soft and tender like ours. I won t ask how you know that. I think I ve learned enough about Tanyenn for now. You have learned nothing. But your training will teach you what you need to know. Thanks, I don t have any more questions about Tanyenn. (angry high-pitched noise) Leave the spear be. It belongs to the Waterstiller. Sorry. Do you need this? No, we do not. You may take it. (soft bubbling sounds) Here s proof of my mission -- a magical talisman with the sign of the Balance. It means that I m the Thirteenth Guardian of the Balance. You have fulfilled that part of the prophecy. If you fulfill the rest, we will acknowledge you as the Waterstiller. I ve taken from you the object you ve kept hidden for generations. It s part of the disc that will restore the Balance, and save the twin worlds from Chaos. Here s a tooth from the dreaded Snapjaw that guarded the shipwreck, proof of my strength and courage. We will hold on to the piece of the disc you found in the temple. If the Wingdemons -- the Alatiens -- agree to meet us, we will bring the stone. Who is the Waterstiller? She is of the prophecies. She will bring an end to strife and unite our people. How can I prove that I m the Waterstiller? You have uncovered the ancient shrine and brought light to the darkness. But this could be just chance. You must show us the witness you carry of your mission to the Balance. The talisman! Damn. I lost it when the storm hit us. You must also kill a Snapjaw with a spear, and then you will have proven yourself to us. Once you have done this, we will aid you in your quest to make us one people. Where do I begin? Take this spear and slaughter a Snapjaw. This must be done to prove your strength, and to prove you are of the Maerum. Where do I find the Snapjaw? If you are the Waterstiller, you will find a way. You have indeed fulfilled all but one of the prophecies. You might yet be the Waterstiller. We would not have thought she would come in our lifetime. There is but one more prophecy you must fulfill. There s more? Sure, there s always more. That s the fun part about prophecies. You must unite our people once again. But you said you were united, that there s no strife between Maerum. The Waterstiller will come to bring our people together again, to unite us and save us. This has still not come to pass. Until you do so, the prophecies of the Waterstiller have not fully come to pass. Good. Then you ll take me to your sleeping god? Where did you find it? It looks very old. I believe one of the children found it just outside the city, not far from the landwalker s bubble, among the seaweed by the rocks. We have used it for decoration in our hall, but you are welcome to it. Consider it a gift, Gatherer. Where did you find the crystal again? Among the seaweed by the rocks not far from the landwalker s bubble. No, it is of no value to us. I think I know now what the prophecies mean when they say your people will be reunited. The Maerum are at peace with each other, yes? But you re not at peace with the Alatien, the Wingdemons. They are our enemies. Right now, they might be. But it wasn t always like that. Not according to the carvings in the temple cave. What do you mean? Once upon a time, long ago, the Maerum and the Alatien were one people. What? This is heresy! I m just telling you what I saw in your temple. This was a very long time ago, mind, and the one species soon divided in two. One sought refuge in the sea, the other on the winds. But both the Maerum and the Alatien were dependent on the other for various reasons, amongst them Tanyenn, which was abundant where the two people lived in close proximity to each other. Apparently, there was peace between your two people for a very long time, but then something happened, something that caused a war to break out. Both the Alatien and the Maerum moved far away from each other, and ever since then, your people have had a tough time finding Tanyenn. I think the only way to save the Maerum from a slow death -- and the Alatien as well, probably -- is to reconcile you with your, uh, common ancestry. How can we believe you, Waterstiller? Your words are too outrageous, and the consequences, were you to be speaking the truth, are...grave. If you don t believe me, check out the temple walls. The whole story has been recorded there, probably when you first came to this place. But what will our people say? What will they think when we tell them they are brothers and sisters to the Wingdemons? You re their queen, and so you ll have to make them understand and accept their heritage. As must the Alatien, I expect. And I don t think it ll be any easier for them to come to terms with their history. You must go to them, then, to find if our temple speaks the truth, and if they are willing to speak with us like civilized people. I guess I must, Waterstiller or not. If you don t reunite with them, you will die, eventually. We will bring you to the shores of their closest island, and we will await word from you on their answer. Does this mean you believe me? You are the Waterstiller. You are prophecy. We will follow your directions and fulfill our destiny. One of our people will bring you to Alais, a night s journey from here. Once there, you will find the Alatien and speak with their leaders. If they agree to meet, then we will do so in a place of your choosing. I promise I ll do my best. Goodbye. Safe journey, Waterstiller.
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Quotes I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened. - Mark Twain Everyone has his burden;what counts is how you carry it.- Joe and David Brown The trick is not how much pain you feel - but how much joy you feel. Any idiot can feel pain. Life is full of excuses to feel pain, excuses not to live, excuses, excuses, excuses. - Erica Jong It was on my 5th birthday that papa put his hand on my shoulder and said,"Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you ll find one at the end of your arm. - Sam Levenson Even on the most exalted throne in the world, we are only sitting on our own bottom. -Michel Eyquem de Montaigne. The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want neither fine clothes, fine houses, nor fine furniture. - Ben Franklin I have ever deemed it more honorable and more profitable, too, to set a good example than to follow a bad one. - Thomas Jefferson The distance doesn t matter;it is only the first step that is difficult. - Marquise du Deffand When we cannot find contentment in ourselves it is useless to seek it elsewhere. - La Fochefoucauld We are rich only through what we give; and poor only through what we refuse and keep. - Annie Sophie Swetchine I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can t be done. - Henry Ford The quality of a person s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless, of the chosen field of endeavor. - Vince Lombardi You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you. - Ruth Smelter Nature hath bestowed upon un two ears, and two eyes, yet but one tongue, which is an emblem unto us that though we hear and see much, yet ought to speak but very little. - Mary Tattlewell Endurance is the corwning quality, and patience all the passion of great hearts. - James Russell Lowell A problem well stated is a problem half solved - Charles F. Kettering Do not wait for ideal circumstances;they never come. Janet Erskine Stuart Circumstance has no power over you. Your inner weather is always and forever at your command. - Olga Rosmanith Not in rewards, but in the strength to strive, the blessing lies. - JT Trowbridge For myself I am an Optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else. - Winston Churchill.
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CHAPTER VI UP CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER VII Anne Says Her Prayers When Marilla took Anne up to bed that night she said stiffly "Now, Anne, I noticed last night that you threw your clothes all about the floor when you took them off. That is a very untidy habit, and I can t allow it at all. As soon as you take off any article of clothing fold it neatly and place it on the chair. I haven t any use at all for little girls who aren t neat." "I was so harrowed up in my mind last night that I didn t think about my clothes at all," said Anne. "I ll fold them nicely tonight. They always made us do that at the asylum. Half the time, though, I d forget, I d be in such a hurry to get into bed nice and quiet and imagine things." "You ll have to remember a little better if you stay here," admonished Marilla. "There, that looks something like. Say your prayers now and get into bed." "I never say any prayers," announced Anne. Marilla looked horrified astonishment. "Why, Anne, what do you mean? Were you never taught to say your prayers? God always wants little girls to say their prayers. Don t you know who God is, Anne?" "`God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, " responded Anne promptly and glibly. Marilla looked rather relieved. "So you do know something then, thank goodness! You re not quite a heathen. Where did you learn that?" "Oh, at the asylum Sunday-school. They made us learn the whole catechism. I liked it pretty well. There s something splendid about some of the words. `Infinite, eternal and unchangeable. Isn t that grand? It has such a roll to it--just like a big organ playing. You couldn t quite call it poetry, I suppose, but it sounds a lot like it, doesn t it?" "We re not talking about poetry, Anne--we are talking about saying your prayers. Don t you know it s a terrible wicked thing not to say your prayers every night? I m afraid you are a very bad little girl." "You d find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair," said Anne reproachfully. "People who haven t red hair don t know what trouble is. Mrs. Thomas told me that God made my hair red ON PURPOSE, and I ve never cared about Him since. And anyhow I d always be too tired at night to bother saying prayers. People who have to look after twins can t be expected to say their prayers. Now, do you honestly think they can?" Marilla decided that Anne s religious training must be begun at once. Plainly there was no time to be lost. "You must say your prayers while you are under my roof, Anne." "Why, of course, if you want me to," assented Anne cheerfully. "I d do anything to oblige you. But you ll have to tell me what to say for this once. After I get into bed I ll imagine out a real nice prayer to say always. I believe that it will be quite interesting, now that I come to think of it." "You must kneel down," said Marilla in embarrassment. Anne knelt at Marilla s knee and looked up gravely. "Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I ll tell you what I d do. I d go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep, woods, and I d look up into the sky--up--up--up--into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I d just FEEL a prayer. Well, I m ready. What am I to say?" Marilla felt more embarrassed than ever. She had intended to teach Anne the childish classic, "Now I lay me down to sleep." But she had, as I have told you, the glimmerings of a sense of humor--which is simply another name for a sense of fitness of things; and it suddenly occurred to her that that simple little prayer, sacred to white-robed childhood lisping at motherly knees, was entirely unsuited to this freckled witch of a girl who knew and cared nothing bout God s love, since she had never had it translated to her through the medium of human love. "You re old enough to pray for yourself, Anne," she said finally. "Just thank God for your blessings and ask Him humbly for the things you want." "Well, I ll do my best," promised Anne, burying her face in Marilla s lap. "Gracious heavenly Father--that s the way the ministers say it in church, so I suppose it s all right in private prayer, isn t it?" she interjected, lifting her head for a moment. "Gracious heavenly Father, I thank Thee for the White Way of Delight and the Lake of Shining Waters and Bonny and the Snow Queen. I m really extremely grateful for them. And that s all the blessings I can think of just now to thank Thee for. As for the things I want, they re so numerous that it would take a great deal of time to name them all so I will only mention the two most important. Please let me stay at Green Gables; and please let me be good-looking when I grow up. I remain, "Yours respectfully, Anne Shirley. "There, did I do all right?" she asked eagerly, getting up. "I could have made it much more flowery if I d had a little more time to think it over." Poor Marilla was only preserved from complete collapse by remembering that it was not irreverence, but simply spiritual ignorance on the part of Anne that was responsible for this extraordinary petition. She tucked the child up in bed, mentally vowing that she should be taught a prayer the very next day, and was leaving the room with the light when Anne called her back. "I ve just thought of it now. I should have said, `Amen in place of `yours respectfully, shouldn t I?--the way the ministers do. I d forgotten it, but I felt a prayer should be finished off in some way, so I put in the other. Do you suppose it will make any difference?" "I--I don t suppose it will," said Marilla. "Go to sleep now like a good child. Good night." "I can only say good night tonight with a clear conscience," said Anne, cuddling luxuriously down among her pillows. Marilla retreated to the kitchen, set the candle firmly on the table, and glared at Matthew. "Matthew Cuthbert, it s about time somebody adopted that child and taught her something. She s next door to a perfect heathen. Will you believe that she never said a prayer in her life till tonight? I ll send her to the manse tomorrow and borrow the Peep of the Day series, that s what I ll do. And she shall go to Sunday-school just as soon as I can get some suitable clothes made for her. I foresee that I shall have my hands full. Well, well, we can t get through this world without our share of trouble. I ve had a pretty easy life of it so far, but my time has come at last and I suppose I ll just have to make the best of it." CHAPTER VI UP CHAPTER VIII 今日 - | 昨日 - | Total - since 05 June 2007 last update 2007-06-05 01 30 24 (Tue)