Man in the Ark: Revitalizing Kazdel

After giving Amiya the violin as a gift, Roy took Amiya to a remote neighborhood in New Kazdale City.

At the end of the street, the dilapidated building is the Lateran Basilica that Arturo wants to renovate.

Roy left a spell on Arturo that sealed her abilities, and was also able to roughly determine her location.

With Theresa's permission and funding, renovation of the church has begun.

Construction workers carrying materials and tools came in and out of the church. The sound of hammers, saws, and workers chatting with each other brought a bit of liveliness to this quiet neighborhood.

The elegant and dignified black-haired Sakota sat quietly on a bench in the square outside the church, with the case containing the cello leaning against her.

The dark and deep eyes passed through the church hall and fell on the statue of Sakota holding a protective gun, but it was impossible to make out the emotions contained in them.

Remembrance, longing, guilt, confusion, pain...too many emotions surged in and drowned out the most real and important emotions for oneself.

Ever since she met Federico that day and talked with him on the grass, Arturo had an idea in her mind that one day she would leave Kazdel and continue her journey.

After rediscovering himself, Arturo wants to rediscover this land, and finally returns to the cemetery where his mother is buried in Laterano to play a belated requiem for her.

After completing all this, I might return to this city again, or I might stay in Lateran. Who can foresee everything that will happen in the future?

While Arturo was lost in thought, Roy took Amiya to an empty bench and greeted her.

"Hello again, Miss Arturo. How have you been lately?"

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Roy, and thank you very much for your willingness to fund the renovation of this church."

"I wonder if you, who have just returned to Kazdel and are supposed to be very busy, have anything to do with me, a musician?"

"It's like this. This lovely little Carters next to me wants to learn the violin. I thought of you first, so I brought her here to be your apprentice."

"Come, Amiya. This is Miss Arturo, an excellent cello player." Roy introduced Arturo's identity to Amiya.

"Hello, Miss Arturo, my name is Amiya." Amiya extended her short little hand to Arturo very formally, looking like a little adult.

"Hello, Amiya."

Arturo was completely unable to resist little Amiya's adorable face with a little baby fat, her soft and tender voice, and her distinctive long rabbit ears. He reached out and gently held Amiya's little hand.

A gentle smile that Roy had never seen before appeared on her delicate face. As expected, no woman could resist a lovely and sensible girl like Amiya.

"Amiya, you want to learn the violin, right? I can teach you, but I will only teach you the basic playing techniques. If you want to play beautiful music, it depends on what you think in your heart."

"My teacher Leitania once told me that music is the order found in chaos. My words... I would tell you that music is the flowing will and the language of self-expression."

"So the sound produced by the piano can reflect the mood of the musician at that time."

"Can Amiya play the violin now? Can you play a piece for us?"

Arturo cast his eyes towards the leather instrument case on Amiya's lap, on which was printed the logo of a famous instrument store in Leitania.

With just one glance, she determined that there was a violin inside.

"Teacher Arturo, I only know a short piece. Please don't laugh at me if I don't play it well." Amiya stood up and gently took out the violin from the instrument case.

The bow touched the taut strings, producing a very light vibrato, and then the soft and melodious sound of the piano drifted to the ears of the two people with the evening breeze.

Amiya played very slowly. I don’t know if it was because she was not skilled enough or if that was just the melody of the song.

Just as Roy was listening with fascination, the piano music suddenly stopped. Amiya stopped playing with an apologetic look on her face.

She only plays this part...

"Clap, clap, clap..." A dull sound of applause came from my ears, coming from Arturo's hands wrapped in leather gloves.

Roy, who had come to his senses, also quickly clapped his hands. The sound was so loud and clear that it completely drowned out Arturo's applause, but it made his hands hurt a little.

"Amiya's piano playing is better than that of most other musicians. It is as clear as a transparent lake, without a trace of distractions." Arturo stopped applauding and gave his opinion.

"Thank you, Mr. Arturo. I'll ask you to teach me in the future." Amiya took back the violin and bowed to Arturo to express her gratitude.

......

"Why did you suddenly think of using your own money to renovate the church? Were you inspired by something?" The afterglow of the setting sun lingered on the dim streets. Roy took Amiya's hand and sent her home.

Arturo happened to be on the way, so Roy took the opportunity to ask her the question.

"I simply wanted to repent for some of the things I had done, and I happened to find this dilapidated church, so I thought about donating money to repair it so that I could pray inside." Arturo raised his hand to push aside a few strands of black hair that were fluttering in the wind and blocking the view ahead.

"So you plan to never use your Originium skills on others again?"

Roy looked at Arturo in surprise. He didn't expect that during the time he was away, Arturo's mentality had changed so much.

"Of course not. Even if you ban my ability now, I will not stop playing. Repentance is one thing, freedom is another. My life is like other lives. Once it stagnates, it will go straight to the end."

"But in the following performances, I will respect the will of the audience. I will fulfill my obligation to inform them of the possible consequences of the performance, which I will regard as my insignificant act of atonement."

"That's fine..." Roy paused and sighed.

......

It was late at night, and the cold moonlight covered the entire land. Roy's body had already fallen asleep, but his consciousness had come to the top of a misty mountain.

Roy noticed something unusual and quickly looked around. He found himself in a pavilion on the top of the mountain with a round stone table in front of him.

Sitting opposite the stone table was a dissolute blue-haired dragon woman, the wine glass in her hand had already overflowed with liquid.

She herself didn't care about it at all. Instead, she smiled heartily and handed the wine glass to Roy.

"I'll trouble you to take care of my worrying sister. Maybe you'll be able to meet our other brothers and sisters soon, and then I'll probably have to trouble you to take good care of them."

"This is a glass of exquisite wine that even I am reluctant to drink. Consider it a gift to you."

"I'm sorry, Miss Ling, I can't drink much..." Roy quickly figured out the situation. It was Sister Ling who used her free-spirited ability to invade his dream.

"Haha... It's okay if you can't drink much. You're just in a dream after you get drunk. Just think of it as a dream." Your sister flashed and appeared behind Roy.

She picked up the wine glass with her bare hands, and the wine spilled out, soaking Roy's thin pajamas.

As the mellow and rich liquid entered his throat, his stomach instantly felt like it was on fire. Before Roy could even cough, his consciousness went blank.

When Roy woke up from his dream, a painting with ink that had not yet dried appeared on his body, and a faint scent of ink lingered at his nose.

"Ling, you really know how to cause trouble for me..."