Dead-End Town
That's the town of Kyrie down there.
What a great church they have.
And with a big bell.
I bet you can hear it all the way over the bridge in Yuusari.
Over that direction is Bifrost, the bridge that connects Yodoka and Yuusari.
But, why?
Aren't you also a Bee, Moc?
Take this letter to Jiggy!
It's an important letter written by my little brother!
"Yuusari, The Bee-Hive"
"To Jiggy Pepper"
You think I'd deliver it just with that?
I can't afford those crazy expensive stamps!
In that case, bring Jiggy here!
Jiggy Pepper travels around from town to town.
He's a Bee who specializes in express deliveries.
If he has a delivery, then he'll be coming here.
Until then, wait.
Wait here in Dead-End.
Waiting's all anyone does here...
Damn it...
I have apples... Apples...
Freshly grown, sweet apples...
Buy some, would ya?
Um, excuse me...
I'm a traveler, so could you please tell me what day it is?
It's the 15th bell on the 30th.
Thank goodness!
Thank you very much!
Let's go, Niche!
If we get up early tomorrow and cross the bridge, we should actually make it there for the day of the interview!
Okay, let's treat ourselves today and stay at an inn.
An inn?
An inn.
Wait, did you guys just say you were crossing the bridge?
Yes...
You have a crossing pass to get into Yuusari?
Uh... Um... Yes.
A crossing pass! A crossing pass?!
An actual...
You've actually got...
Yeah, right.
You probably got it on the black market, right?
Just give it up.
I hear you'll be sent to the lowest levels of the amber mines if they discover it's a forgery.
It's real!
Although it's just temporary.
A temporary crossing pass, you said?
My name is Lag Seeing.
I'm on my way to Yuusari to take the examination to become a Bee.
This girl is my friend Niche, and that's Steak.
Say "Niche, my dingo!"
Niche, my dingo?
But I'm not a Letter Bee yet, so...
A Bee...
I'm Nelli.
And there's only one inn in Kyrie.
Follow me, I'll show you to it.
Thanks, Nelli.
The town is really quiet.
It's the town right in front of Bifrost, so I thought it'd be a bit more lively.
It's 'cause there's hardly anyone who can cross the bridge.
Without a crossing pass, this is the end of the road.
Kyrie is also known as Dead-End.
The town at the end of the road.
By the way, you got money?
Um, not that much...
Everything's insanely expensive in this town.
Inns are 7000 rin a person.
Welcome to Cold Case Hotel.
7000 rin a person. Cash up front.
Even a dog in the room is gonna count as another person.
It's really just the two of you, right?
Yes. Two... Just the two of us.
Nice hat, missy.
See? He didn't notice a thing.
Hand me your bag. I'll carry it up for you.
Hey boy, your key.
Right.
Wait, Nelli!
Young man.
Where are you from?
Coza Bel.
Although I was raised in the port town of Cambel.
Oh, the one in the far South.
You know of it?
Never been there, however.
This is your first time traveling, isn't it?
Yes.
Your bird looks really tough.
A good friend of mine let me borrow him to keep me safe while traveling alone.
He's Harry, a bird of prey.
I'm returning from a trip to see Love Someone Down in Rent town to the west.
But it was a complete waste of time.
The rare-animal exhibition was shut down for some reason.
And I would have paid anything to have been able to buy it, too...
That "Child of Maka."
Pardon me!
Whoa, that was a shock.
Why are we running?
Why? That man is trying to buy you, Niche!
I don't know what he'd do if he found out you were the Child of Maka.
I was worried!
Worried of what?
You made me wear underwear, and you let me lick places that hurt.
I'm completely your dingo, Lag.
Niche...
Thanks.
But about this dingo thing, Niche...
I was thinking that if I become a Letter Bee, you should go to Cambel and let my Aunt Sabrina take care of you.
Lag?
No matter what you are, it's just too dangerous for a small girl to be my dingo.
I'm sure you'll be happy living in Cambel, Niche.
You said that saying goodbye is sad, Lag!
It is!
It is, but dingos act as lures to help defeat Gaichuu, and they even get hurt...
I can't let a girl do something that dangerous!
It is not dangerous!
Wait, Niche!
Huh? Where's Nelli?
Lag, you dummy!
Wait a sec!
Excuse me!
Do you know where that person I was with before, Nelli, went?
Nelli left a second ago.
Took your bag, too.
If you saw, why didn't you try and stop them?
When in a new town, you need to use your heart to check things out, or...
Some people here never had what you might take for granted.
Best not to judge everything only on the measure of your own experience, boy.
Niche! Where's Niche?
Bag! It was inside my bag!
That Nelli person operates out of the church.
You should be able to catch up if you run.
Thank you very much!
Yes, yes...
Quite the polite one, he is.
Well, it's about time I get ready to go back.
Listen, Steak.
I get hungry when I'm angry.
I'm going to eat you, Steak.
Will you do your best to cook nicely?
What the heck?
I thought it'd be something fancy, but it's just a piece of paper.
It won't be long now, Nello...
Give it back!
That's something really important of mine!
You're a lot faster than you look.
And I didn't even end up taking your money.
My bag... What do you plan on doing with my crossing pass, Nelli?
Don't call me Nelli.
Because starting today, I'm Lag Seeing.
Nelli!
Even if I work in this town my whole life, I'll never get a chance to cross the bridge into Yuusari.
You'll never get this crossing pass from me!
It's your fault for setting foot in a town like this as just a naive kid.
I'm gonna use this to cross Bifrost and go to Yuusari!
Go back home to your mommy!
I can't go back.
I'm going to go to Yuusari and become a Letter Bee!
Do you even know what kind of job Bees do?
Take a look at this, Lag.
This is a letter my little brother struggled through pain and suffering to write to a certain man.
This letter, filled with my brother's heart,
has sat here for two years while I can't even come close to being able to afford those insanely expensive stamps.
Don't you get it?
Those Bees are people who've sold their souls to the government!
Hey, listen up everyone!
This guy says he's going to Yuusari to become a Bee!
He had a real crossing pass, but I took it from him!
He said he wants to become one!
He wants to become a damn Bee, just like that bastard Jiggy!
A Bee, you say?
Just like Jiggy...
Jiggy?
A man who abandoned his friends and town and became a Bee.
The traitor, Jiggy Pepper.
He was the leader of Kyrie's Pepper Swandom, and my brother looked up to him.
He idolized Jiggy.
My sickly brother lost his reason to live when Jiggy disappeared.
My brother Nello was killed by that traitor Jiggy.
Lag, thanks to you, I can finally deliver his letter.
My hand will deliver this letter Nello wrote in pain, weeping on his sickbed to Jiggy!
I want to make him read it!
I've wanted to make him regret Nello's death!
To make him regret abandoning us...
And if the words of my brother don't bring at least a tear to his eye...
I'll kill him.
Nelli, you're...
...a girl?
Nelli!
What I remembered most was Jiggy's back.
Even a desolate town like this seemed to sparkle when looking over Jiggy's back.
The day a single star fell, we lost sight of that back.
That Jiggy guy crossed over into Yuusari, I hear.
It seems that man from the government with the glasses found him suitable, and he crossed the bridge.
No way!
I heard it from Moc.
It's the truth.
Jiggy became a Bee.
He abandoned this town, and you.
And there we were, in Dead-End Town without Jiggy.
Nelli, Nelli!
This is mine!
Mine!
Nelli, wake up!
Nelli!
What a place...
So this is Dead-End, the city at the end of the road.
She seems to be deciding something.
In front of those underwear.
She jumped?
But she's got nothing on underneath!
Wait, maybe...
Those are the golden swords!
The Child of Maka?
Article: Child of Maka.
Request Express Delivery Pickup, Kyrie 4400.
Largo Lloyd.
Okay, Harry.
Bring this memo to your master, Jiggy Pepper.
Stop it!
Stop it, everyone!
Niche?
I've got the crossing pass!
Give it back!
In your dreams!
With this thing, I'll finally be a citizen of Yuusari!
Niche!
Don't Niche!
No hurting people, right, Niche?
Hurting humans is not allowed!
Calm... down... this instant...
Niche...
Give it back! I picked it up!
Wait, Nelli!
N-Niche, what are you...
Wrong!
Say "N-Niche, my dingo, what are you..."!
Wha... Huh, Niche?
Say "Wha... Huh, Niche, my dingo?"!
Let's talk about this later, Niche.
We have to get the crossing pass back from Nelli!
If I can't do the interview in Yuusari, I can't become a Letter Bee.
And you can't become a dingo either, Niche!
Letter Bee...
Crossing pass...
Dingo...
And he's even tamed the Child of Maka.
Who in the world is this boy?
Let's go, Niche!
I'm sure Nelli is heading for the bri-
And put on some underwear!
Steak, when did you get here?
Doesn't look like I'll have a chance to discuss buying the Child of Maka.
Sorry, this is my bag.
Nothin' in there worth anythin' anyway.
Take it.
Thank you very much!
Why is he thanking him?
Anyway, the gatekeeper shouldn't let someone pass with just a crossing pass.
It's that Nelli child who's the one in real danger.
What are you writing, Nello?
You've got to get plenty of sleep.
It's a letter, Sis.
I'm writing to Jiggy.
It won't make a difference if you write something like that.
That guy abandoned everything!
Just hurry up and forget about him already!
Okay...
Sorry, Sis...
I'm heading out now.
To that job building the church again?
Yeah, it'll be finished soon.
You won't have any work again?
Yeah... But the pay is decent, so we should be okay for a while.
It's so big that we can use it for shelter when it's done.
Just between us, but I made a secret space for us to sleep in!
Don't worry.
You just concentrate on getting better.
I'll protect you.
I'll always be together with you, Nello.
Yeah...
I splurged and bought muffins with loads of honey!
I bet Nello's gonna be so happy!
It pains me...
It pains me so, Jiggy!
Jiggy!
"To Jiggy Pepper in Yuusari's Bee-Hive"
A mere seven days later, Nello was dead.
I'll deliver Nello's suffering heart to the traitor who abandoned him, Jiggy Pepper!
Next: The Letter To Jiggy Pepper