“Ah! There she is… Charlotte!”

After the most arduous ride of her life, Tamaki bursted out of the armored vehicle the moment they arrived at the beginning of Fallway’s green pastures. Running across the green field, she caught a glimpse of Charlotte who stood motionless in front of her garden house. Oluka kept up with her by, yet again, floating just a little behind her.

“Charlotte are you ok?!” Tamaki asked, catching her breath, “What happened just now? Did he hurt you anywhere? What about Riki?”

Charlotte looked over her shoulder towards the direction of the chatter to find two people before her without any warning. She held up her hand as if to stop the bombardment of questions.

“ーI don’t know anything about what you’re asking about miss.”

Not expecting her to feign ignorance, Tamaki stared blankly at her, who was also doing the same. What jumped out to her first was what term Charlotte had used to refer to her. Normally the maid wouldn’t refer to her as miss, as she would either use an honorific or just her name by itself. Nevertheless, Tamaki figured she was just blurting out questions too fast.

“That man just now didn’t harm you in any way, shape, or form?”

“A strange question. I’ve never been harmed in my entire life, miss. So it should be no surprise that I shouldn’t have any injuries right now. Even if I was however, I’m able to create any type of medicine using plants from my Aoi.”

Hearing her talk without strain in her words reassured Tamaki. It seemed that her suspicions were disproven by her mention of ‘Aoi’. After all, Charlotte hasn’t batted an eye to Oluka who was floating in midair: an apparent visual example of an ability.

“Then that man you encountered just now, was that one of our targets? The one Asimov had a photo of in his file?”

Tamaki’s words came out feeling scratched. She was well aware of the fact that what she said could be true. Even though it was an incredible coincidence, who else would have approached the two specifically in a place like this? There can only be so many people in the world to have caused Riki to escape out of the city, especially though such a steep slope. That was why she had to be as calm as possible in the event that it was true—

.

.

.

“Asimov? ...Who’s Asimov?”

.

.

.

“Ah, huh…?”

At first, Tamaki didn’t understand at first what the once-maid had said to her. Her instinct was to state the obvious, or should have been common knowledge between the two.

“Asimov… a physicist who publishes papers in the science journal. And you were employed to be his maid…” Her words only grew more distant as she realized the consequence of asking such a simple question. But seeing the troubled girl lost in doubt, Charlotte cocked her head and explained her situation.

“I’ve only ever taken care of my little garden here. Nothing more nothing less. Never once was I an assistant to a physicist named Asimov. And never once have I encountered such a man.”

Her face hadn’t even shown a twitch at the mention of her once-master’s name.

“Charlotte… are you… are you serious?” All this time, she had been denying it in her head. But the truth was far too strong to maintain the deceit. Yet, she still kept asking questions in hope at least something would reach her.

“That’s enough Tamaki, I think the both of us know—”

“How’s this even possible... If Asimov didn’t exist, then how do you explain the event from the day of the Science Conference?!” she shouted, cutting off Oluka.

“...Science Conference…? I don’t ever recall going to such an event. I’m apologizing in advance for asking, but who are you two ladies speaking as if you are familiar with me? I know nothing of what you're speaking of. It’s very likely you two got the wrong person.”

This exchange was getting nowhere. Even through her dismay, Tamaki knew that. It was only then when she accepted the truth that the girl in front of her no longer held her memories that she felt her blood run cold. It was a feeling of guilt she hadn’t experienced in quite a long time.

“What would I say to Kaori now…” she muttered under her breath and clenched her fist.

How did I let this happen… For someone to be rid of their moments in life like that, that is just cruel. I should be proud of her for sacrificing herself to save Riki.

“I’m sorry if I disappointed you two.” Charlotte said, seeing the girl’s sullen eyes.

“No, it’s alright. I’m sorry for bothering you like this.” Tamaki turned around, “We should get going now. It was nice meeting you with what little time we had.”

“Ah...I wished you two good luck on your adventures.”

“...Thanks.” Sorrow gripped Tamaki’s heart as she made her way back to the armored vehicle without looking back, leaving Oluka to remain where she sat.

“Do you have anything more to say?” Charlotte asked her who kept mostly quiet.

“...No.” Oluka said, beginning to part as well. But before she went too far, she turned her air bubble around. “Oh, know what? Try to brew some coffee yourself if you haven't already. The caffeine oughta perk you up and get rid of those bags under your eyes somehow.”

After receiving the tip, everything felt strange. As Charlotte watched the two disappear into the horizon, she felt like something was off. Why did it seem like she was missing something, something important? Charlotte extended a hand toward their direction, but found nothing but air.

・・・・・

「Keep going.」

“...!”

Jolting his eyes open, Riki first took in the flowing water of the river being shaded by the stone bridge. It was a lot warmer than he remembered; giving power to the scent of dew that overwhelmed his sense of smell.

Did I fall asleep?

The mild and pleasant light surrounding him meant the storm had passed without his knowledge. It seemed to him that he dozed off for over a couple of hours. Getting up on his feet, he was surprised just how refreshed he felt after that one nap. He hopped up and down to test his energy and sure enough, all of his vigor came back. In spite of this however, his body was a little sore from the two plunges he had to endure.

Oh yeah, what the heck actually happened exactly?

He pressed his hand on his face in an attempt to recall the last time he was conscious. In spite of his effort and the nap, though, his head was still hazy. Running and plunging only came up in his mind. The only other thing that cropped up was that he still remembered failing to save somebody. The thought made him bite his lip.

“Goddammit… What’s with this shitty feeling...”

This was his second time having his memories stolen, but he couldn’t have possibly known that himself.

Riki cupped his hands and drank some of the water from the stream. After being hydrated, he finally stepped out into the daylight with his first instinct to check where the sun resided in the sky. It was apparent that he had spent the night sleeping, as the sun touched the horizon and casted an orange hue in the sky.

Just where am I exactly?

According to what he can see, the dirt path, which was full of water puddles from the rain, followed parallel to the stream. Remembering he ran in the direction of said stream, he figured his objective was whatever lay ahead at the end of the path. Though, it was hunch that he would have an objective to begin with. Either way, there was no other choice but to follow that hunch and pick up his feet.

After a couple of minutes had passed, his run slowed to a crawl on the dirt path. Outside of Fallway, the sun beat down on his head. Even though the rain had stopped a while ago, the heat was still very much apparent. Riki groaned in frustration. The air around him shifted and skewed from the heat distortion. Initially, he thought he was seeing things, such as the figure slowly approaching his direction, but remembered that it was July: one of the hottest months of the calendar.

Hold on, wait what…? A figure…? I’m not going that crazy and the heat distortion isn’t that insane. No, it’s not. That is... a real person.

Although he couldn’t put it into words well, an uncomfortable sensation was overflowing within Riki’s mind. Long white hair and a bright cyan cloak were the first things that caught his eye as he lifted his head up. His eyes widened at the sight as if they were being stolen by her. Her appearance was striking: a girl with flowing white hair. Pretty. She was pretty in his eyes.

He’d be blushing, if it weren’t for the fact that she too, looked like she was about to die. She was leaning forward, her bangs blocking the view of her face as she struggled to take each of her steps.

...Who is she…? Her arms… they’re covered in burn marks…!

Her own pace crawled to a halt as one of her feet was caught by the other. The girl lost her footing. As she was just about to collapse, Riki ran forth and caught her in his arms before she could fall into the puddle beneath them.

“...H-Hey! Are you ok?!”

The first thing Riki did was wait for a response but this decision proved to only scare him. Not only did she not move at all, her eyes were closed and remained shut. Lowering his hand next to her face, relief swept through him. The girl was still breathing.

The only thing keeping him from being fully relaxed was the nasty burn scars extending from her arms to parts of her face. They appeared to have been inflicted recently by how inflamed they looked.

She’s unconscious… Her skin is burned badly… Just what happened exactly…? Her body also looks way too thin, and her lips look really dry. Is she sick? No… It doesn’t seem that way… Urgh that’s not the problem here! She’s hurt really badly!

“I have to get help…!” Riki said, turning his body to the direction where he came from instinctively.

「Don’t go back to the capital.」

“Wha…”

At first, he was taken back by the sudden voice within his head. That voice was not his own. It was strange, but even more so was the fact that he had turned his body around without even realizing. Capital? There was a capital there? It should have been the obvious choice to rush to said place, but something told him the opposite.

He wasn’t sure whether or not to trust that voice. The most logical reason was that it was his own subconscious, but he rather let his own delusions get the better of him: feeling as though the Universe itself was guiding him. Carrying the injured girl in his arms, Riki ran in the opposite direction towards the unknown.

If I could at least save this one person! Please!

As if to answer his call, Riki heard the sound of a whistle reminiscent of that of a train’s just when he burned through his last bit of stamina. A large mass of grayish-blue caught the corner of Riki’s eye after an exceptionally long 15 minutes of trekking through packed wet dirt. After squinting, he knew he was staring at a mechanical carriage making its way through the path.

The carriage wasn’t pulled by any horses. Rather, what allowed it to accelerate was the steam that was letting off through a singular pipe sticking up at the back. It was very open-ended, as the driver seat was presented in front.

“Sir?! Are you alright?! What happened?!” the man operating the carriage said. He, himself, wore a long brown trench coat over a black vest; his hair curly brown and unkempt. Riki stretched his neck to see him looking down at the two with the most worried expression as his forehead puckered and his jaw clenched.

A… carriage…? And a person…!

“Please… I need help… I don’t think this girl can survive any longer…”

With no more explanation needed, the driver flung his legs to the ground and carried the wounded lady into the carriage’s interior. He laid her gingerly onto the leather seats of the cabinet. She did indeed need medical assistance, but he figured she should be able to survive a few more hours of a trip to town.

“You also look a bit roughed up yourself there mate…” the man said, eyeing Riki’s roughed-up clothing and face as he returned to the driver seat.

“You should hop on yourself if you want to see your girlfriend again. I’m from Chordia, sir. Name’s Kirk, a traveler of sorts.”