Conviction Lklein Manni: Dr. Tauran. Tauran Tiaca: What is it? Consultation hours don’t start for a while yet... Lklein Manni: Please teach me how to fight with a battle axe. Tauran Tiaca: What on earth are you talking about? Lklein Manni: Vice-Captain Suncia told me about you. He said you used to be a master of the blade, Dr. Tauran. Tauran Tiaca: That was a long time ago. Stop chatting nonsense and get ready to head back to the hospital. Lklein Manni: Sigh... [Lklein walks away.] Tauran Tiaca: What's gotten into him... Airio Sis: He's been like that with me too. Tauran Tiaca: Airio! Airio Sis: He’s been bugging me to teach him how to fight. I wonder what's going on with him... Tauran Tiaca: What about you? How's your body holding up? Airio Sis: Really great! I can move a lot better than before! Tauran Tiaca: I’m glad to hear it. Airio Sis: Where did you learn to perform Echo Fusion, Dr. Tauran? Maybe my dad wouldn't have died if you conducted it. Tauran Tiaca: ...My homeland, Sepharo, had developed Echo Fusion technology extensively. Tauran Tiaca: Whoever operated on your father was likely one of Nuxma's Echo researchers. Airio Sis: An Echo researcher... Tauran Tiaca: Yes... Tauran Tiaca: They weren't saving lives with Echo Fusion. They were deliberately triggering the fusion as experiments. Tauran Tiaca: There was one intelligence agent whose case was almost unbearable to look at. Modified everywhere, in every conceivable way... Airio Sis: That sounds rough...Poor guy... Tauran Tiaca: Though the area of your fusion is actually far larger than his was. Tauran Tiaca: Don't push yourself too hard. If anything feels off, tell me right away. Airio Sis: Got it. Airio Sis: Was the method for Echo Fusion passed down through generations in your country, Dr. Tauran? Tauran Tiaca: Yeah. That's how the legend goes. Tauran Tiaca: They say that deep within a sanctuary sacred to the Sepharo royal family, there was a quiet, ageless spirit named Isana. Airio Sis: Isana... Tauran Tiaca: Yeah. It was supposedly a divine incarnation that drifted in from across the sea. Tauran Tiaca: On the night of a lunar eclipse, the high priest would venture deep into the sanctuary to meet Isana, and the spirit would whisper strange, mysterious wisdom. Airio Sis: Did Isana invent Echo Fusion too? Tauran Tiaca: That's the myth, anyways. Airio Sis: That's fascinating. Tell me more. Tauran Tiaca: Isana was a gentle, child-like god. But no one could contain his wrath once angered. Tauran Tiaca: Though it's said he only ever listened to the commands of the royal family. Airio Sis: Guess everyone was safe as long as the royals stopped his tantrums. Where's the royal family now? Tauran Tiaca: ........... Airio Sis: Sorry... Tauran Tiaca: It’s alright... Tauran Tiaca: I hope they're still alive somewhere. Tauran Tiaca: "Survive and protect the prince." That was my father's dying wish. And yet here I am, nothing more than an ordinary doctor. Airio Sis: You're an excellent doctor, Dr. Tauran. You saved my life. Airio Sis: ...Though I guess Thecto might actually be mad at you for it. Tauran Tiaca: Thecto…? Ah, your twin brother. Airio Sis: That's right. Thecto begged me not to go through Echo Fusion. Airio Sis: Because he wanted me to stay the exact same person I've always been. Tauran Tiaca: That is a heavy burden to ask of someone. I never underwent Echo Fusion myself and I often wonder if I’m still the same man I used to be. Tauran Tiaca: I meant to share my homeland's fate. I meant to honor my father's dying wish. Tauran Tiaca: But having failed at both... Tauran Tiaca: Here I am, standing in this place. Am I still myself, or have I lost who I was entirely...? Airio Sis: If someone who knew you back then saw you right now, what do you think they'd say...? Tauran Tiaca: I couldn’t tell you. Maybe they'd be disappointed. Or maybe they'd laugh and say I'm still stubbornly hanging in there. Airio Sis: So the Dr. Tauran I like is different from the one they knew back then... Airio Sis: Then what does being "myself" even mean? How are you supposed to "stay the same"? Airio Sis: I want to grant Thecto's wish, but that's not who I am either. Tauran Tiaca: We're all waiting for the final judgment. Perhaps who you truly are is something you only understand after a lifetime. [Inside the Federation dungeons…] U Lutri: ........... U Lutri: (...! I feel an Echo. A bug fused with an Echo... That has to be Xin.) U Lutri: (He finally showed up... I wonder what method he's using to help me...) U Lutri: Bleh...! U Lutri: (The bug's melted into a puddle of liquid... This is...Oh...) U Lutri: Is that guy serious... U Lutri: He looks like a kid, but he's a demon on the inside. Guard: Hey! Quiet down! U Lutri: ...Sigh...Guess I've got no choice? There I go... U Lutri: *Swallows*........... U Lutri: NGH ...........! To be continued...