[Lord of the Ivory Throne: What's going on? Is there a stream?]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: Let me figure out how to start this thing first..]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End has started a stream]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne has joined the stream]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit has joined the stream]
[Demon King's Strictest Father has joined the stream]
[...]
Nearly everyone in the group poured into the stream in an instant. Everyone, that is, except for David, who was still out there fishing. You could say it was basically all of them.
Meanwhile, Anthony was burning Soul Flame to extend the length of David's fishing net, while simultaneously clicking into the stream — genuinely curious to see what all the fuss was about.
But very quickly, he realized he'd gotten the wrong idea.
Inside Himmel's stream, there was nothing but darkness. The screen was pitch black. You couldn't see a thing.
Anthony stared at the screen for a good long while — and then, slowly but surely, his expression twisted into the universal look of an old man squinting at his phone on the subway.
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Okay but what exactly is the streamer streaming? Where's the picture? Where's the director?]
[AAA City Ghost: Seriously, there's nothing here at all]
[AAA City Ghost: I was actually looking forward to seeing what you were going to do next]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: Don't get impatient, the streamer doesn't want this either]
Facing the group's barrage of complaints, Himmel was silent for a moment, then typed:
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: The streamer hasn't stopped streaming, the streamer just can't stream from inside the box...]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: ?]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: So. Mr. Himmel is currently inside a box?]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Wait, how did you even get in there?]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: Crawled in]
[Let Night City Burn: ?]
The moment David joined the stream, he was greeted by an increasingly baffling flood of comments. After absorbing the shock for a second, he quietly chose to exit the stream and returned to fishing with his newly upgraded net.
Honestly, he could feel it — he was almost about to get something.
It had been nearly a full day and night of fishing. There was no way he was going home empty-handed, right?
Gazing out at the vast expanse of the Primordial River before him, a thought drifted through David's mind — and as for what he'd do if he came up empty again? Simple. He'd just keep fishing.
[Let Night City Burn has left the stream]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: Your situation does seem a little peculiar. But — what box is this, exactly?]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Frieren's treasure chest, probably?]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: Yeah, that's the one. Hey — wait, I think I can hear something]
Along with Himmel's message in the chat, voices began to drift in through the stream — audible from Himmel's perspective:
"Just a moment..."
Then, with a slow creak, the lid of the treasure chest swung open. On screen, a white-haired elf wearing a scarf peered down into the box from above.
She then leaned forward as if she were about to climb in herself, craning her head into the chest, clearly searching for something. At last she retrieved a small potion bottle — and after considerable effort, finally hauled herself back upright. She didn't notice, however, that the Himmel-brand radio had spent its very last reserves of accumulated points to scrape together just enough energy to inch itself out of the chest and onto the floor.
And just like that, the whole world opened up.
The warm interior of a small wooden cabin came into view on the stream. Anthony glanced at Fern and Frieren in the frame and immediately understood.
Ah, so it's this part of the story…
Which meant the next bit of dialogue would be, as expected —
"You know, men — they'll be happy as long as you give them something like this..."
Freiren held up the potion bottle and said this to Fern. Fern looked at her for a long moment, then couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh.
For a moment, she wasn't quite sure what to say.
But at the same time, her gaze caught the radio lying on the floor — she hadn't noticed it fall — and she blinked, visibly surprised.
"Lady Frieren… what's this?"
She turned around and asked Frieren in her usual composed tone.
Frieren paused. She set down the potion, turned her head, and spotted the radio on the floor. She thought about it carefully for a while.
"I forget." "I'm not sure when I put it in there… How strange, why don't I remember? Is it something not particularly important?"
Anthony lost it watching the stream.
[AAA City Ghost: pfft]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Sorry, but that's genuinely a little funny]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: Hey, what are you laughing at!]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: Not quite the gentlemanly response, but… it is admittedly a bit dramatic]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: @Lord of the Ivory Throne, show some decency!]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Why aren't you saying that to Carmen?]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: I simply feel that you are the singular root of all the group's moral decay]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Ahem, ahem — back to the stream, back to the stream]
With two small coughs, Anthony refocused his attention on the stream and watched Frieren's next move.
He watched as Frieren picked up the Himmel-brand radio, turned it over and examined it from every angle, and then seemed to sink into thought.
She was trying to figure out what kind of contraption this was.
And it was at that moment that from inside the radio, a voice suddenly spoke — a voice that made Frieren feel strangely hazy and oddly familiar:
"Long time no see, Frieren!"
It was Himmel's voice.
Frieren blinked. The slow-witted elf lowered her head and gazed curiously at the radio in her hands.
The voice was coming from inside this thing?
She tapped the radio with the tip of her staff, but sensed no fluctuation of magical energy whatsoever. After a long, long moment of deliberation —
Freiren finally raised her head and spoke to Fern:
"Ah… it's probably some kind of human trinket. From what I remember, they were always making all sorts of strange little gadgets… some of them were quite interesting. This one looks like it can preserve sound."
She said it casually, turning the radio over in her hands as she mused to herself.
Something tugged at her heart, lightly, without warning — and was gone just as quickly.
"So the voice just now was… coming from inside it?"
Fern crouched down beside Frieren and studied the radio together with her. After a moment, she asked:
"Mm, that's Himmel."
Freiren nodded and said as much — then tilted her head and pondered a little more:
"Come to think of it, was this something he gave me? If it has his voice in it… But when exactly? I keep trying to remember and I just can't..."
I never gave you anything! I'm Himmel! I'm right here!
Watching Frieren stand up, the Himmel-brand radio went quiet for a beat — and then felt a strange, pins-and-needles kind of feeling wash over it.
Then it called out quickly:
"Frieren! Frieren!"
"Oh, it's calling to me. So there's more recorded in here too?"
Frieren gave a mild nod, eyes drifting downward — as though she were thinking, or perhaps reaching back into some distant memory.
A moment later, she stuffed the still-shouting radio back into the chest. She lowered the lid.
Then she turned back to Fern and continued:
"Right, I went a bit off track there… Let's get back to the topic of gifts."
And with that, the stream went dark again — only the sound of Fern and Frieren's conversation audible now, the picture gone entirely. The chat was silent for a long stretch, until Himmel came back into the room and sent a single message.
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: ...]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Sorry, I really couldn't hold it together that time]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: ...]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: …Fine. Whatever.]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: Isn't this kind of nice, though? The way things are now.]
[AAA City Ghost: Is that… acceptance?]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: Ah… I suppose so. It can't be helped, right? Still, the kind of moment I'm hoping for — there'll be a chance for that someday, won't there…]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: And the way things are now isn't bad either. Once I'm properly resurrected later, she'll definitely recognize me. Right?]
[Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End: For now, at least my voice can stay by her side. If it makes even a slightly deeper impression on her — honestly, that's not so bad.]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: I'm glad you can look at it that way, Mr. Himmel… Speaking of which — Miss Carmen is also on the Reanimation Jutsu list, isn't she?]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: You've been watching the stream this whole time over here — is that all right?]
[AAA City Ghost: Ah, it's fine]
[AAA City Ghost: The person I'm looking for is still busy right now, after all]
[AAA City Ghost: I'm going to wait a little… Oh, it looks like he's almost done. Goodness, time really does fly. I should probably start paying more attention — there are at least a few things I want to try and nudge a little, if I can]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Hm? Things on your end are starting that fast?]
Anthony stared at Carmen's message, momentarily caught off guard — and then typed:
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: One chapter wraps up and another one starts… I've got Soul helping with Jie's side of things, but that's not sorted yet. How far along is your situation?]
[AAA City Ghost: Ein… is in the middle of creating a non-human intellect with Benjamin]
[AAA City Ghost: Mm. Which is to say — Angela.]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: Holy shit, that fast?]
[Lord of the Ivory Throne: So what are you planning to do?]
What am I planning to do?
Carmen glanced at Anthony's words in the stream chat and smiled softly, then turned her attention back to the scene unfolding before her.
Her formless soul drifted through the entire laboratory. By now, she had gradually expanded the range she could move within. With her nervous system as the anchor point, she could appear anywhere within the whole lab, peer into any corner she chose — though she still couldn't manifest a physical form. Simple back-and-forth conversation, however, she could now manage in fits and starts.
Even if it was just a few words here and there — at least it was something.
It had been so long since she'd had a proper conversation with Ein…
In the end, she hadn't only pushed herself to the limit — she had, in a roundabout way, pushed Ein too. Otherwise, a man as cold and wooden as him would never have done so much, would he?
Ah, she owed him so much…
A selfish person like her — it was a walking contradiction, wasn't it?
But then — make it up to him, little by little. Whichever side it was, she didn't want to abandon either. Because selfishness was just another word for wanting too much.
She thought all of this with a quiet, self-deprecating amusement — and then opened the group chat again.
[AAA City Ghost has applied to inherit the stream host position]
[Original Host · Frieren's Warrior of the Journey's End has approved the request]
In an instant, the stream transitioned without a cut. The picture in front of Anthony shifted abruptly — to whatever Carmen could see.
On screen: a laboratory. Shadowless surgical lights blazed all around. In the center stood a massive container filled with enkephalin, and inside it, the beautiful shape of a blue-haired woman was beginning, slowly, to take form.
On either side of the container, two young men were hard at work. The one with black hair and golden eyes looked thoroughly exhausted — he typed data into the terminal in front of him while dictating to his assistant Benjamin:
"…Note — twenty-fourth iteration of the cognition model simulation. Based on Carmen's memories, the modules being simulated in this run are…"
The dictation went on for a long time.
Benjamin dutifully recorded everything Ein said, and when it was finally done, he sat in silence for a moment — then lifted his head and turned to look at this teacher of his, someone he knew well and yet who somehow felt like a stranger now.
"Teacher… do you really think, if we keep going like this, we'll end up with what we're hoping for?"
Ein paused. Silence. He didn't answer.
"Keep recording."
"Teacher, you should know — you can't bring her back..."
Benjamin couldn't help but furrow his brow. Even with all the admiration he held for Ein, he couldn't stop himself from saying it:
"All we're doing is creating a monster..."
...A monster?
Ein maintained his silence — then slowly raised his head and looked at the machine before him.
A machine.
A machine built in Carmen's image.
Ein didn't yet know what this machine should be called. Machines, perhaps, shouldn't have names. And yet he had already, long ago, settled on the name he hoped to give it.
Carmen…
He paused his work for a moment, leaning back — and his mind drifted, unbidden, to the traces he had found not long ago.
Cogito and enkephalin, consumed for no apparent reason in the environment around the tank. Cause unknown.
Could that really have been you? Carmen?
Ein asked himself the question again, silently. But he couldn't arrive at an answer.
Because after that, he had never found even the faintest trace of Carmen again.
The hope had risen — and vanished.
"It's fine. Keep going."
After a moment, he sat back up and spoke in a voice of uncompromising severity that most people couldn't imagine sustaining.
But right then, at Ein's ear, there came the sound of a soft, quiet sigh.
It made his entire body go rigid all at once — enough that goosebumps rose across his skin.
Because that sigh — it was far, far too familiar.
"You… really haven't changed at all, have you."
A voice murmured at his ear, helpless and a little exasperated. Ein's expression froze completely.
And Carmen's soul settled into the empty chair beside him, and said it softly, just like that.
____
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