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The Lavender Flowers of Sympathy and Sleep - Episode 3
⭠ last episode | Episode 3 | next episode ⭢
Heathcliff: No, it seems like the 'tears' part of her epithet came from how she 'shed neither tears nor blood'… because she was someone who was incredibly logical.
Perhaps the Maiden had a logical reason behind not harming the Great Raven. Such as, she didn't wish for harm or misfortune to befall her people — or herself.
Chloe: S-So that's why. Here I was, thinking it was such a romantic epithet too…
Heathcliff: Oh… Umm, it's just a hypothetical! The Maiden didn’t leave much behind in the way of letters or diaries or anything that’d give us an idea of what she was thinking.
Figaro: Some say she's cold, some say she's cruel — there’s all sorts of theories about her. In the end, the only thing we know for sure is that she put the Great Raven to sleep.
And ever since, it’s been one wizard and seven humans who conduct the ritual to put it back to sleep whenever it wakes…
This time around, it’s a little different because it's only been twenty years since the ritual was last performed, and it's already showing signs of waking up.
Arthur: Even the castle itself is swirling with rumours, such as huge flocks of ravens taking flight from where the noblewoman’s land used to be.
Faust: That's just one of the signs that the Great Raven is about to wake. It must have been influenced by the Calamity.
Just in case anything goes wrong, I've asked Owen and Mithra to come with us. Owen is able to speak to animals, and Mithra is a specialist in indigenous curses. We'll be able to rely on them then.
Rutile: Owen san, Mithra san, we'll be counting on you.
Mithra: Thank you. Please absolutely count on me.
Owen: Well, you can't count on me.
I just happened to be in the same room. Why do I have to be a part of this troublesome ritual?
Faust: I asked you to come along because we need your expertise, not because you happened to be in the same room…
Owen: Moreover, isn't Mithra strangely eager? You’ve gone and fed his ego calling him a specialist, and that's why he's in a good m— gweh!
[ Mithra jerks Owen away from Faust. ]
Mithra: Stop complaining about this and that, and let's get a move on.
Mithra: « arsim »
[ Door sfx ]
[ Castle of Maiden's Tears ]
With the aid of Mithra's magic, we arrived at the Castle of Maiden's Tears.
Akira: If I remember correctly, we were informed that one of the ritual’s previous participants would come fill us in on the details… But it seems like she’s not here yet.
Rutile: Maybe we arrived too early? Shall we wait for her?
This place though… It feels mysterious. The lavender smells wonderful, but for some reason, it's making me feel a little bit uneasy…
Akira: Huh?
Heathcliff: Yeah… … For some reason, I feel my head getting heavier…
Faust: « satilliqunart mullcreed »
Faust: Are you alright, Heath?
Heathcliff: Oh… I feel much better now. Thank you so much, Faust sensei.
Faust: It may be the side effects of the Great Raven's awakening. The state of natural order in and around the castle grounds has been thrown into disarray.
You’re quite sensitive, so it’s not surprising that your heart is overwhelmed in places like this. In situations like these, you should try to numb your senses.
Heathcliff: Right… You've taught us about numbing our senses before. I'll try that.
Figaro: If it takes too much of a toll on you, don't forget you can always come to me. I can give you some medicine to make things better.
Rutile, Chloe — you two as well. Arthur, I know you can handle it by yourself, but don't try to power through when it's too much for you.
Rutile & Chloe: Got it!
Arthur: I appreciate your concern, Figaro sama.
Mithra: That said, it's all rather troublesome. All this disorder is going to make it hard to pursue the Great Raven if it decides to escape.
Owen: Then why don't you kill it first?
Akira: Guys, I'm sorry, but we're here to conduct a ritual, not to subjugate a fiend…
Elderly Woman: Phew, heave-ho… I’m so sorry I’m late, I was just told by my lord that the ritual must be held, its story told, and all that…
Rutile: Oh, she's here! We’re the ones sent to help with the ritual.
[ Time passes… ]
Rutile: … I see…Thank you for telling us all of that. Shall we see you home?
Elderly Woman: My son came all the way here with me, so I'll be just fine. Thank you kindly, dear Sage's Wizard.
[ The castle door creaks shut. ]
Faust: … That was a rehash of what we already knew. She seems to treat the ritual like just another local custom, where you nod along to what the wizard says and go home.
Arthur: She also mentioned that the previous wizard who did this ritual went on a journey and never returned…
Figaro: That's rather common for central wizards, though. By nature, they're the sort who tend to leave their original home behind.
Faust: Right…
Arthur: Maybe so…
Mithra: There's no need for us to meet the previous wizard who performed this ritual. We already have me, the specialist.
Let's go to the sleeping chambers right now to take a look at the Great Raven.
[ Castle of Maiden's Tears - Bedchamber ]
Rutile & Chloe & Akira: Wow…!
Arthur: This room's filled with lavender… This is stunning…
The Great Raven slept in a very beautifully decorated room.
There was a four-poster bed with gauzy curtains descending from the ceiling above. A sea of lavender flowers filled the room with an elegant but subdued fragrance.
Heathcliff: This was either a guest room or the master bedroom. Considering how the monster that cursed the Maiden slumbers here, I'd have thought that things would be messier…
Mithra: More importantly, let's take a look at the Great Raven itself. Shall I rip its covers off?
Chloe: That sounds like a bad idea?!
Faust: Let's take a peek at its face. That’ll be enough for us to tell how deeply asleep it is.
[ No BGM ]
We quietly approached the bed.
When we got close enough, we could hear a faint, raspy moaning that sounded like a creature in pain.
[ BGM starts ]
Rutile: …! So that's the Great Raven … who used to be a witch?
Arthur: … It pains me to see it suffer…
Slumbering upon the four-poster bed with an elegant canopy was a freakish monster that looked like it was a mash-up of raven and man.
It had a head as black as raven feathers, with crooked feet like that of a bird's. Its arms were wings.
But no matter how I looked at it, its pale and bony shoulders, and its hands that were tipped with talons — though monstrous, its form was still human.
Saccie, who was sitting by my feet, pulled its ears backwards slightly. It seemed to be wary of the Great Raven.
Akira: (… Did the witch hate the Maiden so much? That the grudge she bore turned her into a monster?)
(The legend didn't say anything about why the witch betrayed the Maiden though…)
The Great Raven: ᴀʜ… ɢʜ… ʜʜʜ. ᴀ-ᴀᴀᴀ…
The Great Raven cried out in a warped warble.
Looking down upon it was Owen, who shrugged.
Owen: … There’s nothing.
Faust: Nothing at all?
Owen: It can't talk. It's already forgotten what words are.
Chloe: Whuh…
Owen: It's spent far too many centuries stuck in this unnatural monstrous state. Its soul must have become twisted and warped over time.
It's probably forgotten it ever was a witch.
Rutile: No… Then there's…
Arthur: … Then in the worst case scenario that we fail to put it to sleep because of the effects of the < Great Calamity >, we won’t be able to communicate with it. We’ll have to put it down.
Chloe: B-But didn’t the Maiden forbid anyone from slaying the Great Raven?
Figaro: Let's do our best to prevent that from happening. We've got eight wizards here today. No matter what might happen, we'll be fine if we come together to find a way forward.
Figaro: … That said, something's off.
Figaro observed the Great Raven with a keen eye, like he might a patient. He stroked his chin while he paid close attention to it.
Figaro: The thing is, we're not supposed to kill it or seal it away. I'd been under the impression that it would be a dangerous magical creature that we’d have to avoid angering, but…
Mithra: It's weak. It's not what I expected it to be. It doesn't strike me as a creature that'd be troublesome even when angered.
Faust: You're right. Even though the ritual’s power over it has weakened, it continues to sleep docilely. I don't mean to say we should relax, but…
Heathcliff: … If that's the case, I wonder why the Maiden left orders to keep performing the ritual.
If she cared about the feelings of the people, not to mention the cost of the ritual, it's far more reasonable to have it put down or sealed away…
The Wizards: ………
Heathcliff's unspoken 'why' went unanswered. No one had the answer.
It would’ve been silent but for the constant groaning of the Great Raven.
—— Just then, a blue shadow moved past the door to the bedroom.
It belonged to that of a beautiful lady.
She had blue-grey hair, swept up in a high bun. She wore a brilliantly blue dress, and she looked regal in it. She had beautiful eyes, but they held a steel-sharp gaze.
The young noblewoman’s aura was ice-cold, and she was staring right at us.
Akira: (W-Who's that?)
I blinked in surprise. But by the time I opened my eyes again, she was gone.
Akira: (Huh? Were my eyes playing tricks on me?)
(Oh, but Rutile's looking the same way too…)
Rutile: ………
I wondered if he had also seen the young lady.
While I wondered if I should ask him about it, Faust swept his gaze over to the two of us.
Faust: It doesn't matter what the Maiden was thinking. We still have a job to do.
Tomorrow's the day of the ritual. Before the ritual takes place, we have to give thanks and fill this castle with well-wishes and blessings.
Today, we start preparations for the ritual.
next episode ⭢
Heathcliff: No, it seems like the 'tears' part of her epithet came from how she 'shed neither tears nor blood'… because she was someone who was incredibly logical.
Perhaps the Maiden had a logical reason behind not harming the Great Raven. Such as, she didn't wish for harm or misfortune to befall her people — or herself.
Chloe: S-So that's why. Here I was, thinking it was such a romantic epithet too…
Heathcliff: Oh… Umm, it's just a hypothetical! The Maiden didn’t leave much behind in the way of letters or diaries or anything that’d give us an idea of what she was thinking.
Figaro: Some say she's cold, some say she's cruel — there’s all sorts of theories about her. In the end, the only thing we know for sure is that she put the Great Raven to sleep.
And ever since, it’s been one wizard and seven humans who conduct the ritual to put it back to sleep whenever it wakes…
This time around, it’s a little different because it's only been twenty years since the ritual was last performed, and it's already showing signs of waking up.
Arthur: Even the castle itself is swirling with rumours, such as huge flocks of ravens taking flight from where the noblewoman’s land used to be.
Faust: That's just one of the signs that the Great Raven is about to wake. It must have been influenced by the Calamity.
Just in case anything goes wrong, I've asked Owen and Mithra to come with us. Owen is able to speak to animals, and Mithra is a specialist in indigenous curses. We'll be able to rely on them then.
Rutile: Owen san, Mithra san, we'll be counting on you.
Mithra: Thank you. Please absolutely count on me.
Owen: Well, you can't count on me.
I just happened to be in the same room. Why do I have to be a part of this troublesome ritual?
Faust: I asked you to come along because we need your expertise, not because you happened to be in the same room…
Owen: Moreover, isn't Mithra strangely eager? You’ve gone and fed his ego calling him a specialist, and that's why he's in a good m— gweh!
[ Mithra jerks Owen away from Faust. ]
Mithra: Stop complaining about this and that, and let's get a move on.
Mithra: « arsim »
[ Door sfx ]
[ Castle of Maiden's Tears ]
With the aid of Mithra's magic, we arrived at the Castle of Maiden's Tears.
Akira: If I remember correctly, we were informed that one of the ritual’s previous participants would come fill us in on the details… But it seems like she’s not here yet.
Rutile: Maybe we arrived too early? Shall we wait for her?
This place though… It feels mysterious. The lavender smells wonderful, but for some reason, it's making me feel a little bit uneasy…
Akira: Huh?
Heathcliff: Yeah… … For some reason, I feel my head getting heavier…
Faust: « satilliqunart mullcreed »
Faust: Are you alright, Heath?
Heathcliff: Oh… I feel much better now. Thank you so much, Faust sensei.
Faust: It may be the side effects of the Great Raven's awakening. The state of natural order in and around the castle grounds has been thrown into disarray.
You’re quite sensitive, so it’s not surprising that your heart is overwhelmed in places like this. In situations like these, you should try to numb your senses.
Heathcliff: Right… You've taught us about numbing our senses before. I'll try that.
Figaro: If it takes too much of a toll on you, don't forget you can always come to me. I can give you some medicine to make things better.
Rutile, Chloe — you two as well. Arthur, I know you can handle it by yourself, but don't try to power through when it's too much for you.
Rutile & Chloe: Got it!
Arthur: I appreciate your concern, Figaro sama.
Mithra: That said, it's all rather troublesome. All this disorder is going to make it hard to pursue the Great Raven if it decides to escape.
Owen: Then why don't you kill it first?
Akira: Guys, I'm sorry, but we're here to conduct a ritual, not to subjugate a fiend…
Elderly Woman: Phew, heave-ho… I’m so sorry I’m late, I was just told by my lord that the ritual must be held, its story told, and all that…
Rutile: Oh, she's here! We’re the ones sent to help with the ritual.
[ Time passes… ]
Rutile: … I see…Thank you for telling us all of that. Shall we see you home?
Elderly Woman: My son came all the way here with me, so I'll be just fine. Thank you kindly, dear Sage's Wizard.
[ The castle door creaks shut. ]
Faust: … That was a rehash of what we already knew. She seems to treat the ritual like just another local custom, where you nod along to what the wizard says and go home.
Arthur: She also mentioned that the previous wizard who did this ritual went on a journey and never returned…
Figaro: That's rather common for central wizards, though. By nature, they're the sort who tend to leave their original home behind.
Faust: Right…
Arthur: Maybe so…
Mithra: There's no need for us to meet the previous wizard who performed this ritual. We already have me, the specialist.
Let's go to the sleeping chambers right now to take a look at the Great Raven.
[ Castle of Maiden's Tears - Bedchamber ]
Rutile & Chloe & Akira: Wow…!
Arthur: This room's filled with lavender… This is stunning…
The Great Raven slept in a very beautifully decorated room.
There was a four-poster bed with gauzy curtains descending from the ceiling above. A sea of lavender flowers filled the room with an elegant but subdued fragrance.
Heathcliff: This was either a guest room or the master bedroom. Considering how the monster that cursed the Maiden slumbers here, I'd have thought that things would be messier…
Mithra: More importantly, let's take a look at the Great Raven itself. Shall I rip its covers off?
Chloe: That sounds like a bad idea?!
Faust: Let's take a peek at its face. That’ll be enough for us to tell how deeply asleep it is.
[ No BGM ]
We quietly approached the bed.
When we got close enough, we could hear a faint, raspy moaning that sounded like a creature in pain.
[ BGM starts ]
Rutile: …! So that's the Great Raven … who used to be a witch?
Arthur: … It pains me to see it suffer…
Slumbering upon the four-poster bed with an elegant canopy was a freakish monster that looked like it was a mash-up of raven and man.
It had a head as black as raven feathers, with crooked feet like that of a bird's. Its arms were wings.
But no matter how I looked at it, its pale and bony shoulders, and its hands that were tipped with talons — though monstrous, its form was still human.
Saccie, who was sitting by my feet, pulled its ears backwards slightly. It seemed to be wary of the Great Raven.
Akira: (… Did the witch hate the Maiden so much? That the grudge she bore turned her into a monster?)
(The legend didn't say anything about why the witch betrayed the Maiden though…)
The Great Raven: ᴀʜ… ɢʜ… ʜʜʜ. ᴀ-ᴀᴀᴀ…
The Great Raven cried out in a warped warble.
Looking down upon it was Owen, who shrugged.
Owen: … There’s nothing.
Faust: Nothing at all?
Owen: It can't talk. It's already forgotten what words are.
Chloe: Whuh…
Owen: It's spent far too many centuries stuck in this unnatural monstrous state. Its soul must have become twisted and warped over time.
It's probably forgotten it ever was a witch.
Rutile: No… Then there's…
Arthur: … Then in the worst case scenario that we fail to put it to sleep because of the effects of the < Great Calamity >, we won’t be able to communicate with it. We’ll have to put it down.
Chloe: B-But didn’t the Maiden forbid anyone from slaying the Great Raven?
Figaro: Let's do our best to prevent that from happening. We've got eight wizards here today. No matter what might happen, we'll be fine if we come together to find a way forward.
Figaro: … That said, something's off.
Figaro observed the Great Raven with a keen eye, like he might a patient. He stroked his chin while he paid close attention to it.
Figaro: The thing is, we're not supposed to kill it or seal it away. I'd been under the impression that it would be a dangerous magical creature that we’d have to avoid angering, but…
Mithra: It's weak. It's not what I expected it to be. It doesn't strike me as a creature that'd be troublesome even when angered.
Faust: You're right. Even though the ritual’s power over it has weakened, it continues to sleep docilely. I don't mean to say we should relax, but…
Heathcliff: … If that's the case, I wonder why the Maiden left orders to keep performing the ritual.
If she cared about the feelings of the people, not to mention the cost of the ritual, it's far more reasonable to have it put down or sealed away…
The Wizards: ………
Heathcliff's unspoken 'why' went unanswered. No one had the answer.
It would’ve been silent but for the constant groaning of the Great Raven.
—— Just then, a blue shadow moved past the door to the bedroom.
It belonged to that of a beautiful lady.
She had blue-grey hair, swept up in a high bun. She wore a brilliantly blue dress, and she looked regal in it. She had beautiful eyes, but they held a steel-sharp gaze.
The young noblewoman’s aura was ice-cold, and she was staring right at us.
Akira: (W-Who's that?)
I blinked in surprise. But by the time I opened my eyes again, she was gone.
Akira: (Huh? Were my eyes playing tricks on me?)
(Oh, but Rutile's looking the same way too…)
Rutile: ………
I wondered if he had also seen the young lady.
While I wondered if I should ask him about it, Faust swept his gaze over to the two of us.
Faust: It doesn't matter what the Maiden was thinking. We still have a job to do.
Tomorrow's the day of the ritual. Before the ritual takes place, we have to give thanks and fill this castle with well-wishes and blessings.
Today, we start preparations for the ritual.
next episode ⭢