Coppelia’s casket
The flowing tears have already dried up
Solitude starved for blood
Death dances, smelling of angel down
In a town where the black sun never sets
Everyone works silently with an air of deception
I cannot meet you
I cannot meet you here
God, our savior
Coppelia’s casket
People are dolls tired of dancing
The lamb on the altar
Where is the mechanical dream headed?
Coppelia’s casket
O light awakened from the darkness
The lamb on the altar
Where is the dream with the broken spring headed?
Noir…
It is the name of an ancient fate.
Two maidens who govern death.
The peace of the newly born,
their black hands protect.
It’s no use after all.
The Alexander Trading Company lead is hopeless.
There’s no trace of anything left.
A sinner, once passed away, will never return,
but the sins will never vanish
and the love will never die.
The hermit also spoke thus.
The blood of the Soldats will seep throughout the wilderness
– Kirika, I didn’t know you were home. – The blood of the Soldats will seep throughout the wilderness
– Kirika, I didn’t know you were home. – and flow into the great river.
and flow into the great river.
The two hands of the Soldats…
The two hands of the Soldats?
Hey, Kirika?
This guy says he has information regarding that book!
Kirika?
What’s the matter?
Nothing. It’s nothing.
[The Two Hands of The Soldats]
It was so hard!
There we go.
Professor Chatel’s field of research is historical documents.
I’d requested information on that photocopy a while ago,
and now I have a response.
Though it may be another dead end.
There’s no mistake about it.
This is a part of the Langonel Manuscript.
Langonel Manuscript?
Yes…
Please look here.
This is a reference book of ancient documents from the Middle Ages
and one of the passages is directly quoted here.
The man within the man.
The love within the love.
The sin within the sin.
That’s it!
The mythical manuscript that was transcribed in secret
at the Monastery of Langonel in the 13th century.
And much later,
the French version has come to be called the Langonel Manuscript.
But absolutely nothing is known about the original or its contents.
Though it’s only a photocopy,
to have laid my eyes on a portion of the Langonel Manuscript…
Really, I was very surprised.
Where can we find this book?
One in Paris, one in Berlin.
Unfortunately, both were lost in fires during the war.
Lost in fires?
But this photocopy points to the possibility
that the Manuscript still exists somewhere.
This photocopy was probably made from that one.
I found it!
Casper Edlinger, a multimillionaire of Austria!
This is it!
Thanks.
You were awake.
We’ve finally gotten this far.
The Langonel Manuscript…
The source of our photocopy is in Vienna.
We’ll be opening the door to the past soon.
The two of us.
Kirika…
We had a promise.
I remember.
When everything becomes clear, I will kill you.
We will take care of those two.
Not a trial, but certain death!
So that is the only choice left to us in the end.
Were it possible, I would have liked to draw those two into our fold.
It cannot be helped.
Altena continues to increase her influence
far beyond our expectations.
We will dispatch our best knights,
strictly under the pretext that it is a trial.
The orders to sanction them have been approved as a trial.
There will be no problem.
That should apply to Chloe as well, should it not?
Of course.
It was two years ago
that the Edlinger family library
burned to the ground along with the entire collection.
Naturally, the Langonel Manuscript was lost as well.
The burnt remains have been left as is.
If you’d like, you may go take a look at them.
Oh, and now,
not a single copy of the Langonel Manuscript exists on this Earth.
Were there one, it would be in a place forgotten by time.
In the end, all we found out
was that someone set fire to this place.
The book no longer exists.
Does that mean those photocopies were made before the fire?
A sinner, once passed away, will never return,
but the sins will never vanish
and the love will never die.
Chloe…
The hermit also spoke thus.
The blood of the Soldats will seep throughout the wilderness
and flow into the great river.
Chloe!
I believe that much you know.
The rest goes as follows.
The two hands of the Soldats are two maidens.
Blacker than black hands, burdened by sin, reaching out with mercy.
Noir…
Yes, the origins of Noir lie with the Soldats.
Two make a whole, supreme blades that serve the Soldats.
The two hands of the Soldats.
That is Noir.
The ritual of accession to Noir was lost in the passage of time.
Only the terror elicited by that name remained in the underworld.
And countless outlaws claimed themselves to be Noir,
not even knowing its true meaning.
I chose the name Noir as a codename for Kirika and myself.
But you’re saying Noir was a name for a group of two to begin with.
Yes…
It seems that the thread that binds us together isn’t just black.
A twisted thread of fate
is tangled around us.
Why is it that you’re telling us this?
“Constantly provide water and light to the saplings.”
But desire only when Altena so desires.
Altena…
I hear she’s your superior.
Altena is strict, but kind.
She has been anxiously waiting for you two to overcome the trials.
Trials?
Yes, because that is the fate of those who are to become Noir.
The fate of those who are to become Noir…
Yes!
It looks like you’re being targeted too.
Battles against able-bodied knights…
Safe returns from traps, set like a spider’s web…
And the execution of tasks…
They are all trials in accordance
with the ancient ritual of selecting Noir.
What does that…
Kirika…
Could it be that Kirika is…
Kirika’s past is…
You kill people.
You kill them without any hesitation.
You and I are the true Noir.
We were both born and raised in the nest of the Soldats
and we showed the greatest aptitude as assassins.
The Soldats are not your enemy.
The Soldats are your true home.
You lost your memories.
That must be why you look at me so.
Stop…
But don’t worry.
You do remember everything.
As a Noir and as an assassin.
Stop…
You can accomplish your tasks more admirably than anyone else.
Please, stop.
Because ever since you were a child…
Stop it!
Noir…
It is the name of an ancient fate.
Two maidens who govern death.
To the depths of Hell’s fire,
their black souls lure the lost children.
It is the name of an ancient fate.
Two maidens who govern death.
The peace of the newly born,
their black hands protect.
It is the name of an ancient fate.
Two maidens who govern death.
The peace of the newly born,
their black hands protect.
– Kirika, you… – their black hands protect.
Kirika, you…
I… I am…
I will come again.
In the near future, just once more.
That will be when I come to lead you to the Manor.
The hermit also spoke thus.
The blood of the Soldats will seep throughout the wilderness
and flow into the great river.
The two hands of the Soldats are two maidens.
Blacker than black hands, burdened by sin, reaching out with mercy.
Noir…
I knew.
That’s right, I should have known, but I just…
…wanted to believe that a normal me existed somewhere.
That was all.
I didn’t want to know.
But now I know.
And I can no longer…
Please, Mireille.
Don’t look at me like that.
The soft touch
Finally made me realize how cold my cheek was
Like waking up in the morning
And noticing the birds chirping for the first time
Suddenly
I don’t know anything yet
What my heart is seeking
I don’t know
I was always looking up at the sky
Like this, since who knows when
I would send my thoughts to right below that cloud
[Preview] [The thunderous guidance]
[The merciful rain] [falls on the wilderness]
[Thus the Soldats took root]
[The Sin Within the Sin]