Inside us all, heart lies foremost.
Heart is thy Lord,
and thou art created from heart.
From Verse 1 of The Amberground Scriptures
Your shindanjuu, Nocturne Op. 20.
Thanks.
And don't forget this!
It's the original gross-out soup!
T-Thanks...
Be careful, Lag.
It's a short trip suitable for a trainee, but that doesn't change the fact that it's dangerous.
And...
Thanks, Sylvette.
But, I'll be fine.
I'm living under this roof, so I won't break my promise.
No matter what happens, I'll come back to this house.
So don't worry while you're waiting, Sylvette...
Lag...
I'm off!
Letter of Lies
N-Niche?
W-What's with that underwear?
What happened to my baggy ones?
That Sylvette lady washed them!
Washed them?
If I wore these instead, she said she wouldn't make that awful soup for three days, so I did.
Does that make you happy, Lag?
Thank you! Thank you so much!
But these feel strange!
They get caught in my butt and are tight around my crotch!
O-Oh?
So, don't you forget, Lag!
You are the only one who can make me wear underwear!
It's as your dingo that I feel this tightness!
T-Thanks?
I haven't really met many other Bees yet since they're always out on deliveries.
The ones I know are Connor and Zazie.
And then there's the express delivery Bee, Jiggy-san, but I've never met him.
Are you going on a delivery, too?
Yup.
Today we'll be picking up a letter in Black Milk Hood and delivering it to the northeast of Yuusari.
The address for pickup should be up ahead...
Look! That's a Letter Bee uniform, right?
Um... Sorry to bother you during a delivery!
You're a Bee, right?
Yeah.
I'm Lag Seeing, and I've just become a Bee!
Lag?
Yes!
It's a pleasure to meet you!
This girl is my dingo, Niche and-
Steak. If you grill him he's tasty-
That looks like some bad-tasting bait.
Really?
I know about you. The country boy from out in Yodaka.
The newbie with the spirit-amber eye that's the talk of the Bee-Hive.
Your shindan is able to perceive the heart contained within objects, yes?
Uh... Yes!
I question whether someone like you should become a Bee.
Why is that?
Why?
Does a Bee need the power to look at the contents of people's letters?
That's "Letters Through Door," country boy.
As long as the letter passes beyond the door of its address,
concerning yourself with anything more is a mistake.
For a Bee, letters are only something to be delivered.
Letters are the same as people's hearts for me!
That's what Gauche Suede taught me!
Gauche? Who's that?
I'm Moc Sullivan.
Lang, was it?
Lob, perhaps?
Good luck then.
Not like I care, really.
My name is Lag Seeing!
Moc Sullivan...
Good day! Mr. Vincent Alcott?
I'm the Bee, Lag Seeing.
I've come to pick up your letter.
Come in!
Oh, you're early.
I haven't finished writing it yet.
Will you hang over there and wait for a bit?
Sure.
And don't touch those books over there, got it?!
I'll lose track of where everything is.
R-Right!
That's it!
Hey, you...
Can you think of something to brag about?
A brag?
It doesn't matter what.
Anything, like you ate something really good, or went and hung out somewhere, or had fun doing something...
I'm begging you! Lag, was it?
I've totally run out of fun sounding lies to write in these letters...
What am I to do?
Lies?
Why are you writing lies?
Are you dense?
Look at me! Look!
And this room, it's covered in dust and the roof leaks!
There're bugs...
I can't sell my stories, and half of what I eat is rotten beans.
There's no way I could worry my mother out in the country by sending a letter with what's really happening.
Lying... to your mother?
You mustn't!!
Pipe down!
Lying is bad!
Letters are the heart of the people who write them, Mr. Alcott!
I can write whatever I damn well please!
Just shut up and deliver it.
It's none of your business.
But...
Letters are only something to be delivered.
If you're going to keep on about it, then wait outside.
Let's see...
The book I wrote was such a sensation, at a cafe... No.
I was made Bee-Hive Master for a day!
Hmm, maybe that's too much.
Oh, whatever...
And then...
Pickup, complete!
The letter is addressed to a small village in the far north-east of Yuusari, Breath Mint Gelato.
The Gaichuu territory around there is quite large, so it's a matter of timing whether we get in a battle.
But we should be able to get there and back in a day!
Okay, let's...
I can't believe I'm delivering a letter filled with bragging lies.
I feel like I'm doing a bad thing to his mother...
Even a single word will do.
To those people who live apart from one another, a letter contains the heart of the person that wrote it.
Gauche...
I wonder...
I wonder if even a letter of lies holds heart?
Sure. If you're looking for Mrs. Alcott's house, it's across Gale Bridge.
There's only one house beyond the rope bridge, so you can't miss it.
Rope bridge?
I have to cross... this?
Niche, stop that! Please, stop that!
You can do it, Lag!
It's so far down, you can't see the bottom!
Niche, you're not helping...
Just please, stop that already!
Good day!
Huh?
Hello...
Hello.
You're a Letter Bee, right?
There's only one house across this bridge, so could you be, perhaps, looking for me?
Are you Mrs. Louisa Alcott?
Yes.
L-L-Letter for you, Ma'am!
Um, here. This is a letter from your son, Mr. Vincent Alcott.
From my son?
Lag, above you!
The Gaichuu, Duvel?!
Oh no! The bridge is about to collapse!
Niche, carry Mrs. Alcott off the bridge!
But my crotch feels tight!
Just do it! And hurry!
The Gaichuu leaped from the bottom of the gorge.
It'll come again.
Oh, no!
Vincent-san's letter!
Am I really going to go out on a collapsing rope bridge?
I don't know whether it contains any heart...
Will I risk my life for a letter of lies?
I wonder what kind of letter I was like for Gauche?
I will risk my life in order to deliver you to Cambel.
Because that is the job of a Letter Bee.
I have to risk it.
Because that's...
...the job of a Letter Bee!
The letter!
Niche?
Niche, watch out! Behind you!
Niche...
Gaps...
The bullet I shoot is a fragment of my heart.
Shindan loaded.
Red Needle!
Resound within you, my heart!
Are you folks all right?
Yes! Somehow or another!
How about you, Mrs. Alcott?
Don't worry about me and climb up, hurry!
Again... Again!
No matter how many I submit, they won't even read them!
A fantasy novel written from the perspective of a young boy?
And this one is a flight-of-fancy adventure?
These type of things are no good!
There ain't nobody that's gonna read these tales!
And in the first place, we're a newspaper!
This is Vincent-san's heart?
I guess my shindan must have hit the letter.
W-Wait, then these are his real memories?!
Don't look!
Here, this!
What's written in the letter is what your son really...
Damn it!
Vincent!
Does a Bee need the power to look at the contents of people's letters?
It's just as he said...
What that Moc person said was exactly right...
I'm sorry, Mrs. Alcott!
I-
Thank goodness.
He's trying his best! He hasn't given up!
Mrs. Alcott?
Ever since my son left home saying, "I'll become an author!" he's never wanted to worry me.
So he's only ever sent letters putting on a good face.
Even though his letters have only made me worry all the more...
So, Vincent-san always writes lies in his letters?
Yes.
He has a very good imagination but is a terrible liar.
Ironic, yes?
But what's important isn't what is written inside.
It brings me happiness just knowing that he would make the effort to write such letters.
These obvious lies about how well he's doing...
It's almost like these letters are my son himself.
I'm sorry, Mother.
Even though you went so far as to sell your home to put me through school...
For me to leave you alone like this...
I...
Damn it!
It doesn't matter how many I tear up and throw away...
I'm never going to give up, never!
I'm going to write an amazing masterpiece, just you wait!
A tale that will resonate with anyone's heart...
I'll write it, for sure!
I promise, Mother!
I'm sure my boy will come back one day.
He'll change all those lies into reality, and come home with pride!
Yes, that's what I believe.
The letter you delivered to me is special, you cute little Letter Bee.
You delivered my son's heart...
And the hope I need to live on for tomorrow...
Thank you!
So, Niche... What kind of book do you think Vincent-san will write?
I bet it'll be a kind story.
I hope I can read it.
Like this?
What's that?
I picked it up in that guy's house!
Picked up?
A letter? But there're no stamps.
It's addressed to... Mrs. Alcott's house!
But, why is it so beat up?
There's no way I could worry my mother out in the country by sending a letter with what's really happening.
I have to give this back.
I have to give this back to Vincent-san!
Now look here, you can't just go around taking-
N-N-Niche! W-What happened to your underwear?
S-Steak?
Lag, I've had enough of Sylvette's weird, tight underwear!
But... Those are Sylvette's, right?
And they are kind of distracting to me, too...
That's it!
When I get my first paycheck, let's buy you some baggy underwear, Niche!
The same kind as you, Lag?
If that's what you want.
But, until then...
Put on your underwear!
Next: Red and Green Ribbons