Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Julio chuckled, and it seemed that this topic brought back some memories for him.

"So, what's the situation?"

"You can just ask the operator about this kind of thing. Yesterday was a routine communication day. Even if it was news about the Selden Great Wall, it should have been passed on by now."

"Oh! That's where you're wrong." Francesco shrugged. "If that's all, why did you go north? While we were making preparations in Muirand, you went to the Selden Wall and saw everything there. In this matter, you can be said to be our representative - of course, it's up to you to decide whether to say so or not, but the situation there will eventually be discussed at the internal meeting."

“It is indeed something that needs to be discussed.”

"Although my intention is very clear, if there is no clear enough explanation, the Stuart family will have no choice but to vote against it - this does not conflict with our ideas, and we are willing to change the plan."

"What has happened so far?"

“It’s come to this.

It's not impossible to change the plan now, there is always room for discussion."

"Indeed, this is not information that can be traded. So listen carefully."

Clearing his throat and suppressing the hoarseness in his voice, Giulio de Howard lowered the corners of his mouth and put away his indifferent social smile, and Francesco Stuart also straightened his body.

"As for the situation in the East, you and I can just look at the intelligence sent to us. As for Xia Xis and Liat, I have come to the conclusion that this is just a waste of time after going there."

"The situation in these places cannot be concealed, and it is no different from what we have received here in Muirand."

"It makes no difference. The east is getting colder, but as you and I know, this is not even a problem in the current situation. Even if we completely ignore them, or even cut off our support for them and completely shift our focus, it won't be a big problem. They are not facing difficulties beyond their limit."

"So the problem is..."

"North. The Selden Wall, the Galano Wall, those places."

"The entire northern front."

"That's about it. The cold and the strong winds, the continuous heavy snow, these problems have not been alleviated."

"And it's getting worse. I don't think you meant to say that."

Giulio did not answer immediately, but remained silent and looked deeply at Francesco.

This is also an answer.

"Observation report... well... the observer is very dedicated."

"Observing in a snowstorm?"

"You can still see something. You don't know enough about the workers in the North."

The action of taking something out of his pocket did not ease Giulio's stern expression. He took out a few photos from his pocket and spread them out on the table one by one.

"……What's this?"

"Have you confirmed?"

"Sure. Very sure."

Nodding, Julio quickly turned the photos over on the table one by one, then stacked them together one by one and stuffed them back into his pocket, as if he was afraid that these things would be exposed for even a second longer.

The scene in the photo did not look much different from the kind of snowstorm that Francesco Stuart understood. The dark gray sky was covered with white snowflakes that seemed to cover the entire sky. But apart from this, apart from these ordinary blizzard scenes, there was something else.

What was that? The eldest son of the Stuart family could not explain it. Even with just a brief glance, he could not be sure whether he saw anything other than the snow in the photo. This was based on his visual judgment, and his inspiration, his sense that was higher than the naked eye, told him, his brain told him that behind the snowstorm, behind the dark gray background, those hazy and not obvious, but because of the color difference, the darker dark colors that made people feel their existence were not errors caused by shooting problems. If those things were spliced ​​together, they would definitely, definitely produce a specific image, an image that he could understand and shake his brain.

what is that?

The brain asks questions on its own, but cannot give answers. It seems that it cannot be recorded by such ordinary equipment. Even if it is recorded, the brain cannot understand it. The equipment is protecting itself, and the brain is also protecting itself, protecting itself from irreversible problems caused by that thing.

"So...what is that...?"

His voice was a little trembling, just like Julio de Howard's ugly expression.

"Do you know about the Northern War?"

This answer seems to be irrelevant to the question.

Chapter 20: The Girl's Journey

“There aren’t as many people today as before!”

"Because today is the first day of rest, everyone is at home sleeping... We overdrew our energy when we took the day off, etc... Anyway, tomorrow is the day when the holiday starts."

"Adjustment?" Rose's tail swung behind her. "What is that?"

"The National Day holiday lasts for a week. In theory, it means seven days of rest, but we have to work overtime one day before the holiday and one day after the holiday..."

"Hmm~ Rose, I understand! Adjust the order of holidays and workdays?"

"more or less."

"uh-huh?"

Rose's tail was still wagging, and her eyes were once again on Colette. She only needed a few words to understand that Colette was absent-minded. She knew this person so well that they could communicate with each other just by looking at each other and moving their fingertips.

Colette was holding a small box that Rose had never seen before.

The black cardboard box had no obvious decorations, except for the blue cross-shaped ribbon on the surface that made it attract attention. Colette was staring at the small box in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Today's potatoes are pretty good~?"

"Really? They're just ordinary potatoes, right...?"

"It's softer than last time."

“That’s right…”

It doesn't look like you should start being distracted while eating.

"So, Colette, what is this?"

She stretched out her finger and poked the black paper box. For Rose, beating around the bush was too troublesome. It was far more in line with her personality and hobbies to ask directly. Her energetic and happy expression was indeed hard to refuse. So Colette just smiled slightly and reached out to untie the ribbon wrapped around the box.

"Well... when I checked out, the store manager said I was the 100th customer to pay today."

"So you gave me a small gift?"

"That's it."

"what is it then?"

"Starry sky...lollipop."

For once, a smile appeared on Colette's lips.

It wasn't like the kind of smile that you could tell at a glance was forced. Just by looking at it, you could tell that she was genuinely happy.

On the black velvet, two lollipops with starry sky patterns lay quietly. They are just candy balls made of coral sugar with glutinous rice paper printed with patterns. They are simple snacks that can be made at home. Maybe the taste is nothing special, but against the black velvet, they are as bright and beautiful as the real starry sky.

Obviously, no one has ever seen the starry sky, and Colette is no exception. When she looks up at night, all she sees is dark clouds. What exactly are stars? Do those things that are said to appear at night and twinkle really exist? Those things only exist in distant records, some words, some pictures, and some images, which are blurred by the passage of time. People can only use their imagination to fill in the worn parts and turn them into the "reality" that can be seen now.

It was this kind of thing that made Colette smile.

"This store is very smart~? People will like things like this."

"Yes."

"Colette likes it, too."

"Very much."

"Compared to music?"

"Like it all the same."

"Compared to the heroic stories?"

“I like them all.”

Both questions and answers were very smooth without any pause.

“They are all very beautiful.”

"Indeed. Which one would you like Rose?"

One is printed with a purple river of stars, and the other is printed with a blue sea of ​​stars. Can stars really have such a variety of shining colors? Only those who have actually seen it can answer this question, but no one will question these patterns that rely on people's imagination, as if such doubts will only make everything in front of us even more sad.

"Then I want purple!"

"Then I'll have the blue one."

Purple is closer to Rose's impression color, and blue doesn't seem to match Colette very well - her amber and golden pupils, long black hair, black coat with white lining, and red collar clip, all of which have nothing to do with blue, but she still happily accepted the lollipop that belonged to her.

He tore open the transparent candy wrapper, thought about it, and finally stuffed it into his mouth.

There was no other taste except sweetness, but even so, Colette seemed very satisfied.

Why do you like the starry sky? Rose didn't ask this question, simply because there was no need. She knew what the girl named Colette Caroline liked, what she hated because she loved order and justice, and she also knew what attracted her to the starry sky.

"Colette, do you want to see it?"

"Ok?"

"Sky."

"…That's definitely what I was thinking."

Her smile was a little embarrassed. Even though she would not hide the answer, she was too ashamed to say it out loud.

The melted lollipop turned into sweet sugar liquid, and the starry sky seemed to melt in the mouth as well, bringing a little warmth.

In fact, I asked a similar question a long time ago. I locked myself in the room, watching the stories about heroes over and over again, the twenty-minute videos, picture books and novels recorded in the projector, the masked heroes defeated evil, saved the world, and sang praises to justice, friendship, love and hope. Maybe not everyone's story is so perfect, maybe not everyone's story is so bright, but they will all end in the end.

Everyone will get their own ending.

Rose's feelings towards these works were average. She didn't hate them, but she didn't particularly like them either. If Colette wanted to watch them with her, she wouldn't object...or rather, she would happily sit aside and watch them with her tail wagging, even if she couldn't really get into them or understand them.

Occasionally, she would ask Colette a question.

“Why do you like this kind of work?”

At first, even she herself didn't understand why.

However, as time went by and they lived together for longer, both Rose and Colette finally understood the reason.

This time was no different—at least it should have been.

"Sitzberg..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Wagging her tail, Rose turned her head and looked at Colette, who was staring at the sky in a daze.

"Have you seen the original script of Schitzberg, Rose?"

"Nope."

Rose tilted her head, not understanding why Colette would ask that.

She was very familiar with "Schitzberg". As an opera she had performed over and over again, she could almost memorize all the actors' lines. This was the same for Colette. She knew that "Schitzberg" was adapted from a legend of the same name, but she had not read the story from the depths of the Anda-Brun Mountains. The hero Schitzberg, the witch Rosalin, and the sage Bayer Hess, their stories are now well-known, but only a few know what their initial journey was like. Others only know the script adapted by Colette.

“How is it different from the current version?”

"The part where Schitzberg brought Rosalin's body and Godona's gold, hoping to use the gold as a sacrifice to get back Rosalin's soul... It originally happened on the top of a mountain. After the battle, the top of the mountain was covered in snow and there were no clouds in the sky. Looking up, you could see the night sky and the stars. The hero shouted under this sky and told the stars an ancient oath."

This was different from the current script that Rose knew, so she listened quietly.

"No matter how you use other scenes, you can't recreate that feeling. But I have never seen the starry sky, and no one I know has seen such a thing. There is a sky dome in Mariai that is said to be lifelike, but after it was built, people can only see a sun that doesn't look like the sun, and a moon that doesn't look like the moon. What color do the stars have? What shape do the stars have? How bright are the stars? How are they different from the sun and the moon? What does the sky made up of stars look like? I don't know any of this, just like I have never seen the masked hero."

Over and over again, she rubbed the candy stick in her hand with her fingertips, and the sweetness remained in her mouth, but it was only sweetness. Her tongue wanted to taste the flavor of the stars but failed, leaving her with an indescribable feeling of emptiness.

“I revised the script, combed through the revised story over and over again, and it finally became what it is now.”

"It's the same thing Rose and Colette played together."

“Sometimes I am in charge of playing, right?”

"During those times, the audience's enthusiasm didn't seem as high as at other times."

"is it?"

Colette smiled faintly.

"Sitzberg can be a hero, but I can't be Schitzberg, because haven't I seen the sky? The audience is satisfied, so they pay for tickets, so they talk in low voices during the performance, so they give thunderous applause at the end, they must like this story very much. I will never be satisfied, it was not originally like this, it became like this, just because I can't do it."

The existence of the starry sky itself represents the unknown and romance - what you can see when you look up is the sky, clouds and the blue sky, and above this sky there are many more and broader things. At night, they will show their small corners and attract attention with their colorful brilliance. People connect the stars into constellations, giving them meaning, stories and imagination. Even if they cannot reach or touch them, the soul can still go there.

Yearning and regret coexist. Those who cannot fly yearn for the sky, and those who are dark and dark naturally yearn for the sea of ​​stars. They are all the same.

"Rose understands."