Talking About

"Besides, Amsia fell thirty whole years ago."

"Thirty years, was it..."

Which would mean this woman had been living as a spider for thirty long years.

"That's just what I heard, but yes, that's what they say."

A kingdom already lost to ruin. So then... what was he supposed to do with this woman?

At a glance, the Queen's face, eyes gently closed in sleep, looked perfectly serene, as if utterly oblivious to the situation at hand. What in the world was he to do?

"What should we do about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this."

It was then that Jake, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, spoke up.

"If it's just a little... I know some things."

So that's who flinched hardest earlier. Well, compared to Clara shooting straight up into the air, it hadn't been much of a reaction. But that reaction must have come from knowing about Amsia.

"Jake?"

Judging by Clara's response, she clearly hadn't known Jake had information about Amsia. Why would he bring up something he'd kept hidden, or never bothered to mention, until now?

"My father was from Amsia."

"Really?"

Clara reacted with wide, round eyes, turning to Jake and asking,

"Why would I lie about something like this?"

Jake answered with his usual easy manner.

"I mean, still... Amsia was a genuinely mysterious kingdom, they say. An unknown kingdom, full of secrets!"

Secret-filled kingdom or not, reacting as if you'd just been told the secret of someone's birth, simply because it's their father's homeland, is a bit rude, no?

"And now that the kingdom's fallen, it really has become a secret, once and for all!"

"True. If it's a story like that, I'm interested too."

Johanna, faithfully playing the role of bystander, and the ever-stoic Khan both seemed drawn in by Jake's story as well.

"Hmm... I apologize if I've made you bring up something you didn't care to talk about."

He hoped he hadn't just forced an unwanted conversation on him.

"Nah, it's fine. This isn't the first time I've gotten that reaction. And it's not like I kept quiet because I hated talking about it or had some reason not to."

The expression on Jake's face as he scratched his cheek was far from troubled or flustered. It was closer to embarrassment? A shy sort of feeling.

"Then I'm glad."

"So, where should I start? Hmm. One thing's for sure — my father missed Amsia. Missed it terribly. Whenever he got drunk, he'd grab hold of me and talk about Amsia for hours."

'Honestly, I never really listened.' It was a small mutter, but there wasn't a soul in this place who couldn't have heard it.

"I could never understand him. Life in the Sanctuary really wasn't all that bad, you know."

Crackle. The campfire flared, spitting sparks. In the brief pause that followed, Clara piped up.

"The Sanctuary is wonderful! It's so clean, and quiet, and... um, it's just nice!"

Clara tacked on her own explanation of the Sanctuary in response to Jake's words. Right. Clean, quiet, and — yes — nice.

Jake gave a small laugh at Clara's addition and continued.

"That's right. In an era like this, the Sanctuary is practically heaven... But for my father, apparently it wasn't."

"That can't be..."

Clara gaped, covering her open mouth with both hands. The expression screaming 'How could anyone NOT love the Sanctuary?!' was written all over her face.

"My father used ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to say things like, 'What Amsia has, nowhere else in the world does,' or 'The royal family of Amsia was blessed by God'... that sort of thing. To me, Amsia was just... a place I figured must have been a big, powerful, wealthy country, back before it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fell."

Hmm... the more he listened, the harder it became to get a feel for the place. Just what kind of land was Amsia?

"It's impossible to imagine... A fallen kingdom of secrets...!"

Clara, somehow managing to misread the entire point of the conversation; Johanna, who seemed to have remembered something; and Khan, still wearing his helmet as ever.

Clara, dear — we are not here to dig into the kingdom's mysteries...

"Actually, I think I have a rough idea why."

"Johanna? What do you mean?"

"I heard talk about Amsia once before. Or rather — not talk, exactly. It was a song."

"Ooh, a song! Was it like a hymn?"

"Hymn... yeah, you could call it that. Some old codger sang it for me. At first I figured it was just some song that happened to exist. Turned out it was a song of Amsia."

The lyrics Johanna recited were, truly, closer to a hymn than anything else — it cast the royal house of Amsia as the descendants of God Himself.

"'The immortal children of God'... Immortal, it says, yet here she lies dead."

No kidding. Seriously — wasn't this the Queen of some grand, exalted place? Why is she sprawled out like this, then?

"Johanna, don't read too much into a hymn."

"I can't help but care. That old man who sang it for me? He died while he was singing."

"I'm... sorry, what?"

"WHAT?!"

He died while singing?

"I just thought... wow, he's really putting his heart into it. Then he turned up dead."

"He sang... while he was already dead...?"

"Is that actually true?"

"Honestly, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd have told him to quit spouting nonsense and kicked his teeth in."

"Ahahaha... Yeah, you definitely would have."

"Don't worry, Jake. I don't think anyone's going to kick your butt."

"Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is that a question..."

Jake slumped, hanging his head and staring at the campfire. Now he understood why Clara had called him the leader-ish one. The way he carried himself... it was just like their own Aso. Well, granted, that's how he usually looked, but when it mattered, he was presumably someone you could trust and rely on.

Looking at that sheepish grin, the old saying came to mind — better to interpret the dream than the dream itself. Or was that reading too much into it?

"And there was something else that bothered me, besides all that. What was it again... 'The final Amsia, reborn from the ash-gray'...?"

Johanna frowned, pressing at her temple with her fingers, struggling to recall — when an unfamiliar voice reached their ears.

"The last descendant, reborn from the Abyss. May Amsia be eternal."

"Oh, right! That's it! Khan! How do you know that?"

Johanna whipped around to stare at Khan, her face lit up like she was about to shout eureka — as if the memory had only now come back to her.

"I had a friend. Ten years older than me."

"I'm guessing that friend told you."

And with that, Khan simply stared at the campfire without answering, while Johanna nodded along. Watching the two of them, a stray question began to nag at him — was he missing something here? It was right around then that—

"Ah."

The chat window had been ringing out like a lion's roar this whole time. Or was that the donation alert?

So caught up in the campfire and the conversation that he'd completely forgotten these people existed. Though... who in the world was Cheontaesik?

"Something the matter?"

"Nothing much. I just heard the sound of money falling."

"The sound of... money falling?"

"That was muttering to myself. Well, then. We've chatted plenty for one night, so let's get some sleep for tomorrow."

"Okayyy."

"What about the night watch? Did you forget where we are?"

"Johanna's right. Clara laid down a blessing, but we need to be prepared for the unexpected."

Jake, having recovered his spirits at some point, was weighing in on the matter. But there was one small question.

"Any watch is fine with me. Arrange it as you see fit."

"Hmm... sorry to say this, but I don't think it'd be a great idea to put you on night watch."

So... he was still not trusted, then.

That last one stung a little... no, stung a lot, actually.

"N-no, it's not that I don't trust you or anything!"

"It's fine. It's fine, so go ahead and set the watch."

"He does NOT look fine. Jake, did you just get roasted?"

So he could crack jokes too, huh. And here he'd thought the man only ever sulked in silence. Ah — his train of thought had derailed.

"I-it's fine! Jake just doesn't really think much of it. Don't worry about it too much, okay?"

"Right..."

"N-no, it's not that he doesn't think! I mean — it's not anything weird he's thinking!"

She was clearly trying her hand at comforting him, but somewhere along the way the words had tangled, and now she was flailing about as if steam might start pouring out of her head at any moment.

Clumsy to the end, wasn't she.

"I really am fine. I suppose I didn't make the most trustworthy impression, back when we first met."

"That's not it at all..."

"Don't worry. I mean it. I'm fine."

"Then... I'll believe you!"

Really now — what kind of person, capable of distinguishing truth from lies, says 'I'll believe you'? Still... it wasn't bad. Not bad at all.

"Get some sleep, all of you. We must prepare for tomorrow."

"I call first watch!"

"Right... thank you for your efforts."

He already knew there was no chance whatsoever of the spiders finding their way here.

He was the one who had diced the Queen's upper body and the better part of their number into pieces, after all. How could they possibly come looking for this place?

"Then let's call it a night."

Leaving behind the viewers' disappointed messages, he ended the stream. He'd be back at it again tomorrow, so there was really no need for them to be so wistful about it.

"Okayyy, good night..."

That last remark hadn't been directed at you, you know. Although — if you're taking first watch, shouldn't you open your eyes first? Just how does one stand guard with both eyes shut like that?