So that flowers may bloom with innumerable deaths providing their nourishment,
Riko! So that flowers may bloom with innumerable deaths providing their nourishment,
Riko! there are countless tragedies buried at the bottom of this beautiful world.
But unless you are one of those directly concerned, this is not something you can know.
You should simply be captivated by the utterly dazzling beauty and push on,
Hold on... You should simply be captivated by the utterly dazzling beauty and push on,
Riko... You should simply be captivated by the utterly dazzling beauty and push on,
treading firmly on the ground below.
Don't leave me behind, Riko! treading firmly on the ground below.
For your tragedy, too, is sure to become sustenance and give birth to the blooming of new flowers...
Riko!
Open your eyes!
Please open your eyes!
Riko!
You're so noisy...
That girl...
Her heart is still beating...
It's likely to stop any moment now, though.
Wh-what are you?!
I'm just a fluffy stuffed doll.
I've come here to comfort you two...
Wh-what?!
Just who the heck are you?!
I'm happy to properly introduce myself...
but first wouldn't it be best to hear about how to save her?
Riko...
This's quite bad...
What should I do...?
Please tell me! I want to save Riko!
What can I do to get her breathing again?!
Just blow a breath directly into her.
Like a kiss, you know, a kiss.
Do you know how?
She's breathing again.
I'm so glad!
Thank you!
I can't begin to express my gratitude...
It's still too early to relax.
Huh?!
Well, it seems she's not regaining consciousness.
Th-that can't be!
What should I do?!
Calm down!
You, come on and carry the girl back to my hideout.
Huh?!
I'll find a way to do something for her...
Really?!
Even though you don't know anything about us?!
Well...
Just keep a little distance between us, okay?
What is this place...?
Cave-raiding equipment...?
Besides that...
Are those... whistles?
H-hey... who exactly are you?
Ah! I suppose I never told you my name...
I'm Nanachi.
I'm what you cave raiders would call...
a Hollow.
Everyone, unable to resist, goes down in
Make those eyes shine brighter than a torch
The destination we are aiming for is deep
We squarely lose our way
The trap of the open-mouthed netherworld
Let's chase the traces of truth
If an answer can be found now, we don't mind losing it all
The echo is still reverberating
So that we do not part with that voice
The compass is always
Pointed to the darkness
Where there is no escape
In that direction
Even if that is a curse
The pulse is the real thing
Never again will the yearning stop
A "Hollow"...?
A small... child...?
Oh...
So you don't know about us, after all.
Well, I suppose you don't exactly look like a cave raider.
Hey, lay her down over here.
Nanachi, I don't mean to be rude,
but aren't you about the same age as us?
Feeling anxious?
In that case, you wanna try finding someone else?
I beg you!
Please save Riko!
Ah...
that's a good boy.
Among cave raiders, handling it like this is apparently common practice...
But that's just because they don't know the proper way to do it.
Wh-what are you...?!
The poison will...!
Come on, just calm down.
We'll allow the poison to flow through her body and then get rid of it once it does.
This is medicine made from a friend of mine that I then hardened with wax.
When it's not possible to administer it orally,
you need to insert it in the butthole...
Now, on to her arm.
I'm gonna remove the smashed bone fragments and stitch up the blood vessels and flesh.
Look, this white thing is a nerve.
A number of them were damaged...
I'm not good at stitching these, you know.
Still, the way you cut her is pretty gruesome...
It's a good thing she passed out...
Alright, I think that should do for the time being.
Ah, that's a relief.
But, now comes the hard part.
I'm going to need you to go out and fetch a bunch of stuff.
Wha...?!
Just tell me what I need to do!
Don't get so close!
Sorry for doubting you earlier!
I'm begging you, Nanachi! Please save Riko!
Anyway...
why didn't you cut her at the elbow joint?
You could've taken her arm off from the joint without breaking the bone first...
Uh, well...
Were you perhaps just following her directions?
Y-yeah...
I see...
She's an extraordinary girl.
Y-yeah...?
If the part past the elbow is left intact,
then it totally changes the things it's possible to do when out cave raiding.
She was still determined to press on.
Even finding herself in that situation, she still didn't give up on her adventure.
R-Riko...
Oh, th-that's right!
I still haven't told you our names!
I'm Reg! And that's Riko!
I know...
It's the first time anyone like you two has come here.
Ever since you entered my hunting grounds, I've been listening to everything you've said.
Th-then...
the presence I sensed right after we entered the fourth layer...
It was you!
Yeah, that's right.
I was watching the entire time.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to treat the orbed-piercer's poison, would I?
Wait a minute...
So, even when that thing attacked us, you were...
Yeah, I was watching... and I heard it all, too.
The look on your face says, "Then why didn't you help us?"
I was simply interested in what the deal was with you guys, you see.
From the very beginning, I had no intention of showing myself.
S-so then, why did you save us?
Because I started to pity you.
"Riko, don't leave me!"
You were sobbing like some lost little kid.
I couldn't bear to watch.
What was that?
Is there someone else here?
Just somebody I live with.
I'll introduce you.
This is my cute little Mitty.
Wh-what is that...?
This girl is also a Hollow.
Wha...?
Have you heard about the strain of ascending in the sixth layer?
I'm quite sure it was, "the loss of your humanity or even death."
Right, if someone survives the Curse of the depths' sixth layer, this's what becomes of them.
Their personality and intellect vanish.
As the name implies, they become a hollow husk of the person who once was.
No matter what anyone tries, they can never go back to the way they were.
That trick you used where you extended your arm...
Just thinking about what would happen if you did that on the sixth layer is pretty thrilling, huh?
B-but, Nanachi!
You...
You're not like that!
Well, there's a reason, you see, that I'm an exception among exceptions.
Don't get your hopes up.
There, there...
Mitty, you're special, too.
That reminds me.
If a cave raider becomes a Hollow,
their fellow cave raiders will put them to death and collect their belongings before moving on.
Given the alternative, I suppose it's far better to simply tell people they died.
In that environment, imagine putting yourself out in the open looking like I do.
I am living proof that it's possible to return from the sixth layer while retaining your humanity.
Naturally, people will come and try to capture me however they can, right?
Revealing myself is a big risk.
Even if it was only out of pity, getting saved is still a good thing, right?
I see...
So that's your situation...
I'm sorry.
He's a pushover...
Well, I'm done sketching it now.
What's this?
The materials necessary for healing Riko and the places to find them.
My awesome signature is on there, too.
She still has internal bleeding and her arm will rot off at this rate.
Listen, all I've done so far is delay her death.
Wha...?!
She'll manage to hold on for another 12 hours.
If it starts seeming like it'll take longer than that, you better think of a tactful way to say goodbye.
D-don't joke around!
I guess you can't see it then, after all.
Later... I need to ask what that means exactly.
There's so much to keep up with that my mind is churning...
But, for now...
think only of saving Riko!
Hmm...
So, my eyes didn't deceive me, after all.
Nanachi...
This new Cartridge is just great.
Please look happier...
It's all thanks to you, after all.
Come on, smile...
Let us celebrate the success of the experiment.
You can gather most of the stuff on the western side.
Stay out of the central region. Orby is in there.
"Orby"?
Does Nanachi mean the orbed-piercer?
A demonfish, the bigger the better.
Choose one that displays clear color differentiation between its back and belly.
Giant-hammerbeak eggs.
Take just one per nest.
The freshly-laid ones are best.
This here...?
Sto-!
Cut it out!
Yellow-shining grass.
Find a spot with lots of it growing and pick the stuff that smells somewhat better.
A shroombear infected with water-shrooms.
Alright, I've collected it all now!
Please... Make it in time!
Riko!
Riko?!
Wha...?!
Wh-wh-what are you...?!
Nanachi, what are you doing?!
Hey, you sure are noisy.
If we just leave her soaked in bloody pee, she'll get a rash, right?
Look.
She really peed a lot.
Make sure to wash it later.
Uh...
is Riko alright?!
Also... I misunderstood and... well...
Is she okay?!
Just calm down, you piece of junk.
Oh, this one's great!
You're pretty good.
Well, let's get started right away.
We're going to save Riko.
Ah, okay!
These water-mushrooms are parasitic, you see.
When it looks like their host, which has left the den by this point, is about to kick the bucket,
they share their stored-up nutrients and get their host going again.
If the number of shroombears in a new den increases, there'll be more water-shrooms, too.
It's what's known as a symbiotic relationship.
While Riko's still unconscious, we're going to plant them on her and put 'em to good use.
She's got a good vein there anyway, so we'll plant 'em right on her wound.
That should help the bone's healing process a bit, too.
They also help prevent the rotting of the flesh.
Well, they do hurt like crazy when you pull 'em off, though.
Nanachi, what are you going to use the fish and the rest of the stuff for?
That should be obvious.
For my dinner, of course.
Wha...?!
I can't believe you!
I gathered all this! What would we do if I'd been too late?!
Hey, you sure get noisy about every little thing...
What's all this business about being noisy?!
With the state Riko's in...
I've been watching over her this whole time, so it's not like I can go and find food myself, right?
If I collapse from hunger, who's going to treat her then?
I suppose that's true...
I'm sorry.
As long as you understand now.
He's really a pushover...
Don't look so sad.
I know it doesn't look pretty, but at least this will save her life.
Really?!
Her life is truly saved this time?!
That's right.
Thank you!
Thank you, Nanachi!
Jeez, you're so irritating!
You really are fluffy...
Hey now!
Go wash Riko's pee-stained clothes.
There's a riverbed out back.
Understood...
"Flowers of Fortitude"...
Eternal Fortunes, huh?
Are these...
gravestones?
I'll be going now, Lyza...
Th-that's...
the Blaze Reap?!
But why is it here...?
I was sure it was kicked away somewhere by the orbed-piercer...
Wait...
Where...
am I?
Riko!
N-Nanachi!
What...?
This thing... Somewhere or other, I...
Whatcha doin'?
N-Nanachi?!
Huh...?
You alright?
You were staring intently at a girl's pee-stained clothes...
H-huh?!
It's not like that!
Huh?
I mean...
the Blaze Reap's right over there!
Hmm...
So, have you seriously become a piece of junk or what?
Well, you have been through a lot...
Cheer up!
And while you're at it, wash this, too.
Wh-what was that just now?
It wasn't this place...
Was it the scenery of somewhere similar?
Also, that voice...
If I'm not mistaken...
that was one of my own...
my own memories...
wasn't it?
In that case, the one who was mourning for Lyza was...
Did I bury her?
No, Ozen said, "No one was buried there."
What does it all mean...?
The glittering waves that float in the sky
Let's bundle them and build a rainbow bridge
A dangerous foothold, a slope we slide on
A signpost of the past and future
Your left hand, with my right hand
Join it, connect us, and let's begin
I am always beside you
In the past, the present, and also the future
So let's walk along without hesitating
Pile up multicolored dreams
Where will we head toward tomorrow?
If I can be together with you, the world will begin to shine
Let's search for flowers that bloom at the ends of the earth