The activation key was in Kai's hand. The metal felt slick with sweat against his palm. Shattered ribs burned with every breath, and the taste of blood still lingered in his mouth. Still, Kai didn't let go. Dolg didn't move. Three levels underground in the stone cavern—the executive's office. Soot from half-burned documents drifted through the air. Every time the lantern flame flickered, Dolg's cold gray eyes gleamed. Thinning silver hair, black scars running across his shoulders. His lean 183cm frame stood motionless, like stone. "[cold]Impressive work, indeed" His voice held no emotion. He was merely confirming facts. "[cold]You've taken the activation key. I'll grant you that. However——" Dolg's gaze shifted to the figure beside Kai. Sain was there. Expressionless, both hands hanging at his sides. His eyes looked at Kai, but saw nothing. The same face as that night in the ruins. The same face that hadn't changed since the moment his hood was torn away in Peregrina. Dolg opened his mouth slowly. "[cold]Every time you attempt to approach the device, that man steps between you. I have commanded him to do so" As if testing, Kai stepped forward half a pace. ——In that instant, Sain moved. Silently. As if a wall had simply materialized, he stood between Kai and the Neugestalt control panel. Kai's feet stopped. Dolg reached into his coat. A small blade slid from its leather sheath. A thin blade, perhaps twenty centimeters long. Holding it, Dolg quietly circled to Kai's flank. The movement of a man who had once been a military advisor. Efficient. No wasted motion. The moment Kai tried to dodge, Sain cut him off. Blocking his escape route. Dolg's blade sank into Kai's ribs. "ぁ——" The leather coat tore. Skin split. Not deep. But near the shattered ribs. His entire body screamed. Kai was slammed against the wall, yet still didn't release the key in his hand. "[cold]How naive, Kai" He pressed forward. Another strike came at Kai's shoulder. Kai rolled away. His forehead struck the stone floor. His vision warped. "[cold]A person who holds something dear is fragile precisely because of it. That is your greatest weakness" As Kai tried to rise, Dolg's knee drove into his ribs. The shattered bone shifted. A soundless cry escaped his lips. Still. Kai pushed against the floor with his hands. He had to stand. There was no other choice. Sain was at the edge of his vision. Motionless as stone. Waiting for Dolg's command. Kai set his back against the wall and steadied his ragged breathing. Blood pooled in his mouth. He didn't have the strength to spit it out. "[serious]……Sain" His voice came out. Hoarse, but it came. Sain didn't move. "[serious]The night in Lamka——do you remember? The Narva River flooded, and we were trapped in that ruin for three days" Dolg's eyebrow twitched. He held the blade's point steady, pausing for just a moment. "[cold]Pointless. An appeal to memory——" "[serious]You said it" He cut off Dolg's words. "[serious]When the mist clears, let's eat again, you said. In that ruin, while we waited for the rain to stop. We only had one loaf of bread left, and you broke it in half and gave it to me" Sain's eyes—— moved slightly. Just for an instant. Like dropping a pebble into still water, the faintest ripple. Dolg noticed. "[cold]Kill him now" The command flew out. Sain stepped forward. Drew back his fist. Toward Kai's face—— He stopped. Three centimeters from Kai's face, Sain's fist stopped. Less than a second. But it definitely stopped. In that moment, Kai gathered all his strength into his arms. His ribs screamed. Still, he moved his body. The hand holding the key reached toward the control panel behind him. The key slid into the Neugestalt's socket. The seal-release program that Kai had decoded before Gil arrived at the stone cavern——following the sequence carved into the control panel, he pulled the lever. A deafening roar shook the entire cavern. The device began to move. A low vibration——Vuuuun——transmitted through the floor. The metal helmet swayed from the chains above. Countless needles began to deploy from their storage compartments. The program to release the sealed emotional core memories began to run. Sain collapsed. Both hands clutching his head, he fell to his knees. Then he screamed. His voice echoed off the cavern ceiling, layering upon itself. A long, long cry that didn't sound human. Dolg moved. He ran toward the control panel. Kai stood in his way. Covered in blood, cradling shattered bones, but directly in front. "[cold]……Step aside" "[serious]I won't" Dolg raised his blade. Not just a bureaucrat. A former military advisor——the movements of a man trained in actual combat became apparent. His footwork was fast. The first strike grazed Kai's shoulder. The second drove into his abdomen. Kai retreated, but didn't step back from the control panel. He took the third strike with his body. The blade pierced his coat and bit into his ribs. His vision began to white out. The pain felt distant. Instead, only a memory from ten years ago remained. The ruin in Lamka, the mist over the Narva River, the feel of Sain's hands as he broke the bread in half. The voice saying they'd drink together when it was over. "[serious]Do you have anything to protect?" Dolg stopped for an instant. In that moment——Kai stepped forward. He gathered all his strength into his right palm. Gooonn!! The full-force strike hit Dolg's chest. Not the bone——the lungs. His entire body weight behind it. His final blow. Dolg's body was slammed against the stone wall. His back struck stone with a dull thud. He slid down and collapsed to the floor. "[cold]……Impossible" His hand pressed against the floor as he lifted his face. For the first time, emotion mixed in Dolg's eyes. Not anger, not fear——the eyes of someone witnessing something incomprehensible. "[cold]Mere……emotion……defeating my technique……" Then consciousness faded. Kai collapsed as well. He fell to his knees, hands pressing against the floor. The shattered ribs compressed his lungs, making his breathing shallow. He watched distantly as blood dripped from his mouth and spread across the stone floor. The device's vibration gradually diminished. —— Silence returned. Sain lay on the floor, still clutching his head. His shoulders moved slowly. His face lifted. In his eyes——there was light. The same eyes as ten years ago. Exhausted, scarred, but with someone definitely present behind them. Eyes that hadn't been seen in the Peregrina ruins, in Dolg's hideout, in the stone cavern's experimental section——not once. "[crying]……Kai" His voice trembled. "[crying]I'm sorry……it's been so long" Kai remained on his hands on the floor, laughing. Covered in blood, bones broken, barely able to breathe——yet still laughing. No words came to return. There was no need for them. A long silence fell between the two. The weight of ten years of time existed in that stillness. —— Footsteps echoed sometime later. Multiple people descending the tunnel. Kai didn't have the strength to lift his face, but he recognized the voice. "[serious]……You alive?" Reddish-brown short hair caught the torchlight. A small scar at the corner of his mouth, bright green eyes——but the usual light smile was gone. The moment he saw Kai's condition, those eyes hardened. Gil knelt and began examining Kai's wounds. He pulled out bandages with practiced efficiency. His voice was emotionless, but his fingers moved quickly. The cooperators dispersed deeper into the cavern——to suppress the remaining members. Dolg was restrained shortly after. When consciousness returned, Dolg was bound with rope, yet he still lifted his face. Disheveled silver hair, black scars scraped against the stone floor. But the light in his gray eyes hadn't dimmed. A thin, defiant smile played at his lips. "[cold]I am……but one of five fingers" No one said anything. "[cold]The remaining four continue to move somewhere. What you have crushed is——merely the little finger of Veil Hand" Then he fell silent. The sound of Gil writing Dolg's words in his notebook. Kai looked at Sain. Sain sat on the floor with an exhausted face. As if his memories were slowly reconnecting, he occasionally stared blankly into empty space. But the light in his eyes hadn't gone out. Kai lowered his gaze to the floor. It wasn't over yet. He quietly accepted that reality. —— Several days later. Halbern. Afternoon light streamed through the windows of the Crossroad Trading Company. Inside the stone building, the air smelled of weapon oil and old paper. Kai sat in a wooden chair, rewrapping his bandages. His ribs still ached. Deep breathing made his right ribs protest. Gil had said it would take another two weeks. Across the room, Sain gazed out the window. The aftereffects of brainwashing meant his memories came in fragments that didn't always connect. He'd be talking one moment, then fall silent the next, suddenly unable to remember where Lamka was. Complete recovery would take time——that much was clear without the doctor saying it. Gil entered carrying a stack of documents. He spread them across the desk as he spoke. "[serious]I've analyzed the documents seized from Dolg. We've confirmed activity records for at least two of the remaining four fingers" Kai listened while tying off his bandage. "[serious]Veil Hand's true purpose is still unclear. Dolg won't talk, and the documents don't contain the core information" "I see" He replied curtly. Gil pulled out a chair and sat. He looked up from the documents at Kai. "[sarcastic]……This is turning into something not worth laughing about" "[serious]It was always going to be like this" Gil smiled slightly. Just barely, only at the corners of his mouth. —— The morning after his wounds closed, Kai packed his things. Only the essentials. A short blade, a copy of a map, fragments of the four fingers' activity records that Gil had given him. And one change of clothes. Sain still sat in his chair. He said nothing as Kai shouldered his pack. Perhaps another moment of disconnection had come. But his eyes followed Kai. "[gentle]Wait for me" He said it shortly. Sain nodded. When Kai descended the stairs, Gil was standing at the entrance. Arms crossed, leaning against the wall in his usual casual manner. But his green eyes were serious. "[gentle]Come back" Kai nodded briefly. He pushed open the door, and morning air touched his face. The Halbern east gate market was already bustling, merchants' voices drifting from afar. The stone pavement was wet with morning dew. The sky was clear. Kai remembered, just a little, the morning he'd left Forena five years ago. He'd been running then. Back then, he could only bury everything deep in Milgrove Forest and pretend to be a farmer. This was different now. Only the weight of facing things rested on his shoulders. Kai began walking toward the east gate. The remaining four fingers. Veil Hand's true purpose. Neither had answers yet. But beyond them lay clues——the next traces that Dolg's documents pointed to. His footsteps struck the stone pavement. Morning air filled his lungs. The wounds still protested, but his feet didn't stop.