Rosa tries to take another breath. Fresh air of the mountain flows into her lung.
For a brief moment. Before her nostrils are blocked by a lump of flesh.
Twitch! THROB!
She can't help but pop another vein.
"LiiiliiAAAAAAA!"
"Hwa!? Hahahaha! R-Rosie! S-stop it!"
"I am trying to walk here! And breathe! You can stop hugging me tight as if I'm a slippery eel or something!"
Rosa digs her fingers deeper into Lilia's skin.
"Okay! Alright! Truce! Truuuuce!"
As soon as Lilia unwraps her arms from her, Rosa pulls her hands off.
Her chest expands as her lungs thank her.
Lilia pants for a completely different reason.
"Haaah… Haah… Seriously, what's wrong with you?"
"Don't what's wrong with you me! That's what you get for making me worried sick!"
Lilia leans closer and grabs something from Rosa's forehead.
A dead leaf.
"You ran off, disappeared for a while, and now you're in..."
She gestures at Rosa, as Rosa looks at herself.
The itchiness on her neck, her now smudged clothes, and dead leaves still clinging to her.
"Tell me, what happened?"
Rosa doesn't answer. She resumes her footsteps. Lilia follows beside her.
"Rosa… Is it about her again?"
Something pulls her eyes to the ground. Her steps slow down.
Then, she softly bobs her head down.
"Figures…"
"That obvious?"
"Like dark cloud before rain."
The fence posts pass one by one. The question she asked wasn't even necessary.
"...Wanna talk about it?"
"..."
So she can avoid specifically talking about it.
"What is there to tell? Same story…"
"I know. I want to hear it anyway…"
Rosa's pace drops further, her hand dragging along the fence surface.
"I… failed."
"We don't know ab-"
Rosa snaps her gaze at Lilia.
"I failed!"
Lilia's eyes meet her. Soft yet unsurprised, as she should be.
"Right… Tell me about it then."
"How it'll change anything anyway?"
Silence. Lilia doesn't respond. Not yet.
They keep walking as Rosa accelerates.
"Because you've been wrong about it… failing, I mean."
Lilia is wrong. Rosa absolutely failed multiple times. Again and again.
She keeps track of them. Her first potion commission. Her super fertilizer. The plants she tried to grow.
Reflector flower, her shortcut turned out to be time wasted. She almost got Lilia and herself killed.
Then her shop. It doesn't bring her closer to the university. The debt. She is still choking at it.
The still… she can do nothing without it. Callista… Rosa is still way below her.
Worst one was Eisenvalt… she needed people to lift her.
She wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for Lilia and the survivors. Lilia paid the heaviest price.
Before Rosa can refute, the dorm gate stands open before them.
"We've arrived…"
"Rosa…"
"I know… later…"
Rosa pulls the door, entering the dorm with Lilia.
In the guest room, same one where they had their talk last night, Erika perches on one of the chairs.
She doesn't know what Erika wants. Or what to expect. Especially after her explicit refusal.
"I've… been waiting for you…"
Erika softly says. Rosa sits across from her. Lilia takes the chair facing both.
"So…"
Rosa's and Erika's voices mix in sync. Then both avert their gaze.
Silence. Rosa tries to form her words, yet nothing comes to her mind.
Seconds stretch into minutes.
Tap tap tap tap tap
Lilia's foot against the wooden floor.
Her face grows more sour every second.
Rosa opens her mouth as she faces Erika. And closes it once more.
"AAAAAARGH! I can't take it anymore!"
Lilia groans as she pulls her hair down.
"Erika! I know you want to ask something! Also, Rosa! Say something, anything!"
"I am trying! Alright!?"
Another throb on Rosa's temple as she snaps to Lilia, then it disappears right after she sees Erika's face.
What can she say to her? Hey, um wanna help us after all?
Rosa wants to slap her own brain for forming that.
Erika's voice reaches her first.
"So... can I hear how exactly do you plan to save the creature?"
The creature. Of course. We can't be certain it is Reiko yet.
Something tightens in her chest. Then she remembers the leaf blanket. The same creature that almost killed her.
A shiver runs down Rosa's spine as she recalls how it cornered her.
And how close she came to death. The only difference. She was asleep.
None of it makes sense. The same creature that cornered her, wrapping her in leaves.
Her exhale is the answer to Erika's question.
"I... had an idea... We trap it in one place..."
Not now. Think of her. Even if things were difficult, she must've been strong.
"From what Akira showed us, it's clear that the blood release needs mana. We need to trap the creature in one place."
She reaches for the mana stone contraption, the one blowing warm air at her face.
"If it moves around or goes to mana dense area, our chance would be slim. But..."
She pulls the mana stone out of the contraption. The glyphs stop working.
"We keep it in one place, eventually, the ambient mana will run dry. Its form should revert... at least that's what Akira told me."
The room settles again.
Erika's eyes dart around, yet never truly land on Rosa's or Lilia's.
"Rosie…"
"Lilia."
"...Rosa. Should we let her know?"
She nods, before filling her lungs with air.
"Erika… I… There's something strange we noticed about the creature…"
Erika's eyes twitch, a small breath escaping her.
"...I'm listening…"
"I passed out in the forest earlier… and I was wrapped in a leaf blanket when I woke up. We found the creature's tracks near where I sleep."
This time the gasp is audible enough, Lilia must have heard it too.
Lilia moves, immediately taking a seat beside Erika. She wraps her arm around Erika.
"Does it ring anything?"
Lilia asks.
Erika lowers her gaze, her hat shields her expression from being seen.
"Hey…"
Her voice trembles. A tone Rosa knows too well.
"Do you think it's truly her?"
Erika's hands pull the rim of her hat further down.
No matter how hard she tries, she can't form an answer.
"Say, Erika… Do you want it to be her?"
Do you want to be with her?
"I… don't know…"
Same answer as Rosa's when Lilia asked the question.
She knows it's way more complicated than that.
"Then… do you want to find out? Not if it's her or not… but whether you want it or not."
Erika goes silent once again. Her eyes drift to a glass bottle with a rose in it.
"Say... if you know someone so fondly... and they secretly don't want you... or they chose something else over you..."
Erika tightens her grip on her fabric.
"Do you still want to know the truth?"
A twist. Rosa takes a breath as she realizes she's been holding it.
"Won't that be... infinitely more painful?"
Erika's gaze falls down as she asks.
A question she can't answer. Not when someone slips into her mind.
"You know, I thought about it for a long time... When someone I cherish suddenly disappears from my life... If they chose something else over me..."
Lilia's face softens, yet she still smiles. Even as her lips tremble.
Rosa knows the exact person she is thinking about.
"I am sure it would be difficult... but I think... I deserve the truth... Even a raw and painful one..."
Lilia sniffles, exactly once.
"I can't tell you what to do. I shouldn't. But I can only tell you this... Not knowing it will haunt you for the rest of your life..."
Erika's hand twitches. The room goes quiet.
Rosa's eyes widen as Erika raises her head and faces Lilia.
"I think… I want to find out. No, I want to find out if I truly want her…"
"Then, it should be enough."
Erika turns to Rosa, her eyes focused.
"Rosa… Please tell me if the plan can work… I will help!"
"It's…"
"I saw your face earlier... when we bumped. Is it... impossible after all?"
Rosa freezes. She's the bearer of bad news.
Her incompetence. The plan won't work.
"Rosa…"
Her eyes dart towards Lilia.
"I said you were wrong right? About you failing… I was talking about Eisenvalt"
"Eisenvalt? Wait, have you guys been there? A lot of people-"
"We did… And Lilia was wrong. I failed to account for a lot of things… and we almost died…"
"Yet we survived… Because of us working together."
"I told you I failed!"
Rosa raises her voice, far more than she intended.
"I brought faulty preparation! I made you come with me! We almost died! Many times!"
"But we did survive! Because we weren't alone! Because we rely on each other! We made it out! How was that a failure to you!?"
"Precisely because I couldn't do it alone! I had to rely on you! On everyone!"
The door suddenly opens, an orange-haired kemomimi walks in.
"Aaaah… What a noisy bunch. What were ya arguing bout?"
"Akira!? Where were you this entire time!? I thought you were behind us!"
"I was. Told ya I'm checking things first."
Something lands on the table. Flowers. Not just any, the kind with mana concentration in their nectars.
The perfect ingredients for the mana potions Rosa desperately needed.
"Gathered bunch of these…"
The words don't register for a moment.
"How did you…"
"Heh, I figured when ya mumbled about potions. I thought ya brewed a lot by now."
Akira sits beside Rosa.
"Also, asked the granddaughter, said ya could use the still in the shed."
Rosa's gaze drops.
"Even if there are tools and ingredients… The time until evening is short… I also have to brief-"
"Then leave those to me!"
Erika stands up, she presses her palm to her chest.
"I'll handle the briefing! Tell me the plan! As for brewing, I'll ask Werner to help! He should know how to brew potions!"
"But I…"
"Please! I've said this before… I want to find out!"
Her voice softens.
"I need to know if I want the creature to be her… Please help me… Help me know if it's her…"
"I've said it and I'll say it again…"
Lilia stands up as she offers her hand to Rosa with a smile.
"Rely on me… us. As I would rely on you. Didn't we agree on that?"
Wouldn't that mean I can never be as good as my sister?
Doesn't that mean I can never do anything by myself?
Does that mean… I can never earn the right to stand side by side with her? Ever?
"Sorry…"
Something warm flows from her eyes.
Rosa's hands fly to her face.
Sob
"Sorry… I'm sorry… I can never be…"
Hic
"Rosa…"
"Callista… Mom… I'm sorry…"
Again and again. She's always known. But hearing it spoken aloud is the last straw.
"I wasn't enough… I was never enough… Sorry…"
Tears and sobs continue to escape from Rosa's mouth. Even if she tries her best to swallow the lumps.
They force their way out even harder. Now they're too intense to push down.
Arms wrap around Rosa. She feels soft rubs on her shoulder.
"I'm here… I'm always here…"
"Lilia…"
Akira calls. Short. Almost uncaring.
"I'll fill 'er the detail… You take care of the squeak."
"I'm not… sob a squeak… hic"
"Sure… calm yourself down, squeak. We'll talk later. Meet ya both in the shed."
"I'll… wait for you in the shed. I still mean it… I'll need you…"
Erika's voice.
Footsteps start to fade from the room. Leaving Rosa and Lilia in the guest room.
Lilia gently pulls Rosa's head forward. Rosa retracts her hands and buries her face in Lilia's neck.
The back rub makes it harder to control the tears.
She continues to cry. She doesn't know how long she has been crying for.
But eventually, the dam is empty and her breathing begins to steady. Yet she doesn't want to pull away. Not yet.
"Lilia…"
"Yes?"
Lilia's palm keeps stroking Rosa's back.
"You saw it… Everyone saw it…"
"I know…"
"I was pathetic…"
"I know…"
"That was an ugly cry…"
"I know…"
"Your hand feels nice…"
"I know…"
"I hate it feels nice…"
Lilia chuckles.
"I know… and you were at your truest… You should've done this more often…"
"No way…"
"Wanna straddle? I can pat you easier and you can lean on me more"
Something flutters in Rosa. She swallows it down.
"You want some zap? Also, let me go already…"
"Hm? No way. Your soaked eyes feel… actually quite gross but it's fine."
She hates how Lilia can casually tease her unscathed.
Every time she tries to tease back, Lilia reverses it.
"Armpits…"
Rosa feels Lilia's arms pull away.
"Geez! Fine! Truce! You don't have to threaten me every time!"
Light begins to flood Rosa's eyes. The brightness of the room almost hurts.
Then she looks at the window. It's already dark.
"Lilia… How long did I cry?"
"Hmm, quite long actually. One or two hours?"
"No way! That long!?"
Rosa shoots up from her chair.
"We're going to the shed!"
"Roger!"
They sprint the moment they're outside.
"Rosa?"
"What is it?"
Rosa glances at Lilia and finds she is smiling at her.
"Welcome back…"
She reflexively looks away as she tries her best not to pay attention to her own face.
At the shed, the logging system chains echo as both of them rush in.
Erika, Werner, and Akira are already brewing the potions.
Then at the table, several batches of store-quality mana potions.
"Squeak, perfect timing! Come! Help the two figure out how to make a proper mana potion!"
Lilia leans to the bag.
"Did you guys make this?"
"Ursula brought those back from town. Some other potions as well."
Erika replies as she keeps an eye on the still.
"Hitzesaich…"
Rosa's vision instantly changes. All details now coated in blue, green, yellow, orange, red.
The still is red. Too red.
"Erika! You heat it too much!"
She grabs the glass where the alcohol gathers and takes a sniff.
The smell confirms it. A head. The part that absolutely must not be included as a potion base.
She swirls the glass. Runny. Bubbly. Water mixture.
"This is unusable…"
"How so?"
"Long explanation. Redo the stilling and switch container when I tell you to!"
Rosa then glances in Werner's direction. The herbs are ground properly and the nectar is properly separated.
The problem is in the alcohol base.
"Erika, what kind of alcohol are you distilling?"
"Liquor ones, we don't have high purity alcohol here."
Rosa nods.
"No problem, as long as we can distill it pure enough, it should work."
Suddenly the door slams open. An armored man walks in.
"This is bad! Werner, Erika! The beast just attacked the chicken coops!"
Rosa's stomach sinks. The mana potion supply might not be ready yet.
The potions need to be distributed around. If the attack comes now, she needs to pass them around in chaos.
"Tell them to form the planned formation!"
Erika exclaims. Seems like she already briefed the plan.
"Lilia, ya come with me, we're holding that beast off. Make sure each mage gets their potions"
"Then, I'll-"
Akira cuts off before Rosa can finish.
"Yer needed here. Me and Lilia should be enough. Also, ya two, follow 'er instructions. She knows her stuff."
"Akira's right. We'll join you when the potions are ready."
Erika fidgets, eyes on the still. The color shifts.
"Erika, switch"
"On it!"
She replaces the glass.
"I'll also be here to help the two. I'll make sure the potions finish fast."
Werner says as he grinds the herbs and separates the nectar.
Lilia grabs the bag of potions from the table.
"Then, I'll be off! I'll make sure to hold the creature!"
She runs off with Akira. The three of them. The still. And not enough time.