3 3 301 DialogEnable It is the afternoon of the following day when Bella enters Base South-3.
4 4 301 Noan is looking down at the manga in his hands, reading silently. The only thing different from before is that he is using a pear blossom as the bookmark.
5 5 201 1 500262 -400
6 6 201 2 500003 400
7 7 301 1 Bella I thought you were taking a walk. You went to pick flowers? 2
8 8 301 Shrek ...Kind of. 1
9 9 301 Bella Hard to find a pear tree these days. 2
10 10 301 Shrek Any news? 1
11 11 301 Bella Yeah. 2
12 12 301 She sits across Noan with a solemn expression.
13 13 301 Bella She died... three years ago. She got ill. Didn't even live to see the rebellion. 2
14 14 301 Bella She left this journal before she died and gave her possessions to a friend. 2
15 15 301 Bella waves the thin booklet in her hand.
16 16 301 Bella She kept believing that... things would get better after the rebellion won. There would be schools on the lower level; people wouldn't have to fight for food or the bathroom. Then she would be brave enough to find me. 2
17 17 301 Shrek ... 1
18 18 301 Bella What do you think? Has her dream come true... or has everything gone to shit? 2
19 19 301 She struggles to hold back her tears.
20 20 301 Bella Don't you cry. Tears are useless. They can't save anyone. 2
21 21 301 Shrek ...Don't repeat what my mom would say. And aren't you the one crying? 1
22 22 301 He is sobbing too.
23 23 301 Bella So what if I repeat her words? That just proves that it's a universal truth passed down from generation to generation. 2
24 24 301 Shrek Just because it's passed down from our elders doesn't mean it's true. A lot of their ideas are outdated. 1
25 25 301 Bella It's still better than those fantasies you won't stop reading. Ordinary folks will never become the all-powerful heroes in your Cardman Rider books. 2
26 26 301 Shrek Cardman Riders aren't all-power. Their stories are captivating only because they struggle too. 1
27 27 301 They both look up and frown, their grief suppressed again.
28 28 301 Bella The real world isn't like your story. We don't always stand back up after we fall. 2
29 29 301 Shrek So you do realize that? I thought you were all "adversity builds character," like your books. 1
30 30 301 Bella Adversity is always destructive. I'm just willing to believe that it can make me a better person. 2
31 31 301 Shrek That's just wishful thinking you use to make yourself feel better. 1
32 32 301 Bella Nothing wrong with making yourself feel better. People aren't supposed to stay stuck. 2
33 33 301 Bella You smiled so freely when I first met you, but look at your face now. Stuck, see? 2
34 34 301 Shrek Surely someone who never smiles doesn't get to say that about me. 1
35 35 301 Bella sneers.
36 36 301 Bella What happened on the train that day that made you this way? 2
37 37 301 Shrek Haven't you been listening to what people were saying? 1
38 38 301 Bella Those were their stories, not yours. Shrek isn't your real name, is it? 2
39 39 301 Shrek Does it matter? 1
40 40 301 Bella Obviously. A name represents a person's past and present. 2
41 41 301 Shrek Some past is just trouble. I don't want to explain and justify myself wherever I go. 1
42 42 301 Bella If that still bothers you, then you haven't made peace with your past. 2
43 43 301 Shrek ... 1
44 44 301 Shrek I couldn't bring them back even if I made peace. Haven't you also hidden many things from me? 1
45 45 301 Bella You never asked. 2
46 46 301 Shrek Will you answer if I ask now? 1
47 47 301 Bella No. 2
48 48 301 Shrek Me neither. 1
49 49 301 Bella ... 2
50 50 301 Bella Doesn't it bother you when partners don't communicate with each other? 2
51 51 301 Shrek What's wrong with the way we were? We could talk about our books. 1
52 52 301 Bella Would that have gotten anything through your thick skull? You have to learn to move past your regrets. 2
53 53 301 Shrek The same goes for you, I reckon. 1
54 54 301 Bella I need time. 2
55 55 301 Shrek Sure, but so do I. 1
56 56 301 As their conversation comes to an impasse, Bella changes the subject, her brows furrowed.
57 57 301 Bella Will you go back to Asslam? 2
58 58 301 Shrek And do what? 1
59 59 301 Bella Fair. As long as Ashlar and his people are there, there's no way you can return... Do you want to keep going with me, then? 2
60 60 301 Shrek Where will you go? 1
61 61 301 Bella I'm planning to stay here for a while before deciding where to go next. There can't be anything worse out there, after all. 2
62 62 301 Shrek Can I offer you a new, blessed name in this trying time? 1
63 63 202 1 1
64 64 203 2 0.25
65 65 301 Bella That won't be necessary. 2
66 66 301 Bella I've seen the worst life has to offer. This is as bad as it gets; things can only go up from here. 2
72 72 301 Shrek Who could have known how bad things could get?
73 73 301 Shrek It didn't take a disaster, just some other Scavengers like us that we didn't watch out for. Then you were gone.
74 74 301 Shrek ...
75 75 301 Shrek Thank you, Bella.
76 76 301 Shrek I should have said that sooner.
77 77 301 Shrek You found me when I was most lost, and you helped me along the way...
78 78 301 Shrek You could be quite annoying sometimes—but I suppose there's blame to share. Had I not met you, I won't be standing here, safe and sound.
79 79 301 Shrek So, thank you... and I'm sorry... I never told you my story.
80 80 301 Shrek "Spring will return... Your favorite flowers will bloom again..." Only when you told me that did I realize...
81 81 301 Shrek ...I never got to tell you how I got the pear blossoms in my books.
82 82 301 Shrek We were always hiding our past, so we could only talk about the books we loved.
83 83 301 Shrek You might have become a merchant for the Forsaken like I did if you had survived. Who knows? Maybe eventually we could be honest with each other... and become real friends.
84 84 301 Shrek ...It's too late for any of that, isn't it?
85 85 301 Shrek Mom, Captain Rachel, Field, Shauna, Niino, Weyland, Ed, Aunt Hill... Everyone I cared for on the train is gone...
86 86 301 Red Tide Projection ...Will you go back to Asslam?
87 87 301 The phantom keeps repeating Bella's words at random. The young man is not bothered and instead starts chatting with the familiar voice.
88 88 301 Shrek There's no reason to return anymore.
89 89 301 Shrek I ran into Mike at a Forsaken base a few months ago. He told me Niino had passed too.
97 97 301 1 Captain Mike Niino's old injuries had long-lasting complications in the first place. He was eating less and less in the last few years, and last month he fell asleep one night and never woke up. 1
98 98 301 Captain Mike He knew that you survived, and he heard I was preparing to leave Akdilek, so he asked me to give you back your things. 1
99 99 301 Captain Mike He said no one on the train was going to keep an eye on your things after he was gone. 1
100 100 301 Mike took out a familiar backpack filled with things Noan left behind.
101 101 301 The short sword Noan used, the weapon designs Rachel gave him, Field's journal, and a manga with a bookmark resting between the pages.
102 102 301 Captain Mike I was going to bring you a piece of candy, but I lost it on my way here. Sigh. 1
103 103 203 1 0.25 -400
104 104 201 2 500262 400
105 105 301 1 Noan Candy? 2
106 106 301 Captain Mike You gave my niece your candy on your eleventh birthday, didn't you? 1
115 115 301 1 Shrek I asked him about Asslam, and that was when I found out Ashlar was gone for good. 1
116 116 301 Shrek A lot of things are getting better there. Perhaps a school will show up on the lower level in a few years like your mother wished. 1
117 117 301 Shrek He said our sacrifices weren't in vain... 1
118 118 301 He turns around, patting the border collie by his side, deep in thought.
119 119 301 Shrek So he decided to leave Akdilek and started a new journey. 1
120 120 301 Shrek So have I... After you were gone, I started to teach myself how to perform surgery. There are still a lot I don't understand... 1
121 121 301 Shrek But whatever I can do, I want to give it my all. I want to stay with other people and contribute like I did. 1
122 122 301 Shrek Eventually, I had an arrangement with the Forsaken and became one of their merchants. 1
123 123 301 Shrek But the Red Tide flooded the cities again after the disaster at the Pulia Forest Park Ruins... And it took so many lives. 1
124 124 301 He stared at the projected phantom in the Red Tide and pauses.
125 125 301 Shrek They never stopped fighting, no matter how hopeless it was, even if it cost their lives. The way they fought reminded me of the people on the train. 1
134 134 301 Shrek I was still confused about what came out of my choices and our rebellion after I left Asslam. 1
135 135 301 Shrek What is the point of it when none of you are here anymore, even if our dream has come true? 1
136 136 301 Shrek Only when I saw those who would die defending the people from this calamity did I realize... I was right not to give Ashlar the terminal that day. 1
137 137 301 Shrek I would have betrayed them if I had compromised. Their sacrifices would have been in vain. 1
138 138 301 Shrek Spring will come like you said... 1
139 139 301 Shrek ...Winter does not take, for some would light fires with their souls. 1
140 140 301 Noan looks up and chuckles wryly.
141 141 301 Shrek Someone dies defending against this disaster every second... They build a dam with their lives to keep the flood out. 1
142 142 301 Shrek I would have made the same choices I did if I was in the same situation, wouldn't I? 1
143 143 301 Shrek Not because I've decided to give up the possibility they gave me... I'm just making the same choice they did. I'm passing this ticket to the future to someone else. 1
144 144 301 Shrek Goodbye, Bella. I have to take Matches to the Forsaken base. They're still waiting for these serums. 1
145 145 301 Shrek I'm glad I got to hear your voice again, but I hope this is the last time I run into the Red Tide. 1
163 163 301 DialogEnable I don't regret anything...
164 164 301 —I've received many gifts from many people in my life. Therefore, I'm willing to sacrifice everything I have in exchange for other people's futures.
165 165 301 —I am loved, and I love them.
166 166 301 —Our deaths and decays are not meaningless. They are the cinders that light up the night.
167 167 301 —They may only be as bright as fireflies, but small and frail as their flames may be, they are enough to light a fuse. All possibilities stem from a big bang, after all.
171 171 301 Noan slowly opens his eyes, having found his answer during his slumber.
172 172 301 1 AniZhuanchangBegin Despite the scars all over his body and the constraint that makes him hard to move, all his memories are back, and he is no longer lost.
