[After viewing Altria's winter memories, you continue onward together with her.]
[Then you arrive at the second checkpoint, and Altria disappears again.]
[Do you wish to view her autumn memories?]
"...Yes."
With a heavy heart, Guinevere once more chooses "Yes."
The wheel of memory turns again, and the images on the light-screen flow anew.
In the year when the girl was twelve, the Tintagel village chief, as always, sent Altria on an errand: to run to the cape's edge and deliver something to a member of the Earth Clan fairies.
At the edge of a certain seacoast stood a solitary house facing the ocean.
—
When Guinevere sees this, his eyes widen slightly. He recognizes this place: in the third simulation, when he and Altria came here to set up a forge and look for blacksmith tools, they found it already dusty and cluttered. But now, at age twelve, Altria arrives with reverence for the legendary forge. At that time, an old man lived here—hard of hearing, with a savage face and a foul temper, harboring deep loathing for all fairies. Yet on seeing Altria, he hesitates briefly and instantly recognizes her as the Child of Prophecy.
"It's been twelve years since Ainsel's prophecy?" he murmurs, then snarls and drives her away:
"Listen well: do not come here again! I have no time to be involved with any 'Child of Prophecy'!"
He shouts fiercely, even hurling his hammer as he chases Altria away.
Yet there is no choice: the villagers still need his craftsmanship and often request help from this Earth Clan fairy. So Altria continues making errands. Perhaps it is not purely coercion—Altria's curiosity and longing for the mysterious forge described by Merlin spur her on. Meanwhile, she gradually learns the old man's name: Ekt.
"I told you not to come again—why return? Do you think all fairies with faces like yours are boars or bears?"
"Don't touch that carelessly—this iron is treated; if fairies touch it, they get poisoned... Ah."
Upon seeing that Altria suffers no ill effect from touching the iron, Ekt changes his tone:
"I see. You look like Wind Clan, but Paradise fairies truly are like warthogs, aren't they?"
"There is no such clan!" Altria protests.
After visiting several times, one day Ekt says:
"You come more often now. Since villagers avoid me anyway, your clothes are rough in many places; many pockets are fine, but the stitching and trim are crude... Hmph. Fine: tell the chief to send me an assistant. I'll charge him less in the future."
Thus, though begrudgingly, Ekt accepts Altria as his apprentice. Altria gains one more practice necessary before setting out as the Child of Prophecy. Later she learns that although Ekt always looks fierce, he is a renowned master craftsman throughout the region: not only Tintagel but Salisbury, Oxford, even distant Manchester place special orders. It is then that Altria first meets Bagster.
At that time Bagster still appears as a distinguished fairy knight: courteous, robust, famed in Gloucester's social circles, wealthy enough to purchase a suit of silver armor that took Ekt four years to forge. Thinking of that enrages Altria for some reason. When Bagster tries to recruit Ekt, the twelve-year-old Altria, eavesdropping, rushes out to glare and demand Bagster get lost.
"Oh, so you're Ekt's apprentice? I can understand your feelings; farewells with a good teacher are sorrowful."
"On that account, I'll pretend I didn't hear your wild words just now."
"But in any case, wait until you're older before speaking to me."
"I'm tall; talking to a little one strains my neck."
—
Thus the twelve-year-old Altria clenches her teeth as she notes Bagster's name on the order. Yet this remains a minor episode. Time flows on.
"One trick you've mastered well; in less than four years I have little more to teach. How are villagers reacting—still believing you are the Child of Prophecy?" one day Ekt suddenly asks.
"The same as always... half believe, half don't. But in any case, sending the Child of Prophecy off has become consensus... Grandfather, do you truly believe I'm the Child of Prophecy?" a slightly older Altria asks.
Ekt merely scowls:
"Nonsense. I don't care about Tintagel's petty affairs. More urgent: go gather some sandstones from the shore. From tomorrow we must make many jewelry pieces; the celebration in Kathis Forest has many orders."
Later, seeing Altria stare at the table piled with jewelry, her eyes full of longing, Ekt falls silent for two seconds and then says:
"If you want something, take one as a sample. Just one—it's within acceptable margin; in production there will inevitably be defects, so one extra is fine."
Though in truth Ekt never produces failures. Altria shakes her head gently:
"No need—if I have something precious, it will be confiscated."
Here Guinevere hears the girl's inner voice:
"I actually would be so happy to have it, my vision blurs at the thought. But like the Chosen Staff, I must never possess something I cherish."
Thus, on the morning she turns sixteen, the gathered villagers say:
"Prove it to us, prove it. Show us you are the Child of Prophecy. The smith on the cliff was once the Queen's guard; he alone won't be wary of you. He will open his heart to you."
"If you truly can save Britain's fairies, kill that smith for us and prove it."
Then the scene cuts off.
[Autumn memories end here.]
"—"
"Everyone, I'm back."
When Altria returns from the checkpoint, the air feels suddenly heavier.
"What happened just now? Why does Guinevere look so grim?"
"Altria, I—"
For a moment, Guinevere nearly says, "Let's go back." Rage courses through him; after several deep breaths, he suppresses it.
—Monsters. These Britain fairies are utter monsters. I can't understand or justify saving them. Let them die; Britain isn't worth saving. Altria's childhood alone has made me... hate the whole race.
He instinctively resists viewing more memories. Though he does not know Ekt personally, he recognizes Ekt's workshop. He recalls the jewelry display from the simulation: that same display table, minus one hair ornament and now dusty, otherwise unchanged. Meaning after that day, Ekt never moved those pieces—they never delivered.
So...
—No. That thought arises but Guinevere crushes it immediately. Altria would never betray a friend. He should know that more than anyone.
To confirm this, he breathes deeply and softly to Altria:
"No, it's nothing. Let's keep moving forward."
[After passing the second checkpoint, you proceed.]
[Then you arrive at the third checkpoint; Altria disappears again.]
[Do you wish to view her summer memories?]
"...Yes."
Though disgust wells at the thought of more memories, Guinevere chooses to confirm, to verify his suspicions. Then the girl's memories unfold again:
"I heard the Earth Clan at the cape long ago were the Queen Morgan's guard."
"The villagers' unease was genuine; they believed killing Ekt would benefit the village. Every fairy was earnest, urgent—"
Then the voice shifts to those hateful villagers:
"Kill him; prove it to us."
"If you're truly the Child of Prophecy, slay the Queen's henchman."
Then Altria's inner voice:
"They begged me to come closer, and I, as always, was too tired to refuse, so—"
"All right, I understand."
"At that moment I agreed, because I am the Child of Prophecy."
"To meet expectations, respond to expectations, I decided to kill a friend."
"See? I said I must never possess what I cherish."
The scene shifts again to that familiar cape.
"...I must kill;"
"...I must kill."
"If I don't kill, they'll call me a fraud and kill me."
Murmuring so, the girl holds the rusted iron dagger given by villagers and sneaks behind the unsuspecting smith.
Even now Guinevere hears her inner voice:
"Saying I'm too tired to refuse is a lie."
"I was afraid."
"Afraid of being scolded, called a fake."
"Afraid of being beaten, called worthless."
"Afraid all my years so far would be meaningless."
"So, so—"
—
Guinevere holds his breath. Then, at the instant the girl throws the dagger aside, he exhales deeply. Guilt wells up:
"How damnable... Even doubting Altria for a moment makes me feel ashamed."
Altria would never betray a friend. Even raised by those beasts of fairies, her kind nature would prevent such an act.
The story continues:
"Ah, never mind; things will sort themselves out."
With anxiety, Altria picks up the dagger and returns to the village. But just as she concocts a lie and clutches the chipped dagger, she is betrayed. A fairy who claimed to be her friend shouts to others:
"I saw clearly—she only struck the helmet, did not attack the smith."
"And I know the magic she used was a fake relying on gunpowder—she's no Child of Prophecy but a grand lie."
This outburst enrages the villagers. They seize Altria, lock her in the underground jail awaiting the execution squad from the Queen's army. During the three days she waits for execution, Altria still hears those fairies' ugly inner thoughts; the Queen's troops mock her, while Prophecy believers scheme to hand her over after her drifted treasures are used up for more reward.
—
Viewing these memories, Guinevere is nearly speechless with fury. The villagers' depravity rivals what he saw in Manchester when the true faces of fairies emerged. Yet Altria never gives up hope; she steels herself to find an escape opportunity between imprisonment and the execution squad's arrival.
"Of course—training for the pilgrimage journey is why I endured this. To end before the journey even begins is too cruel."
Hearing her mutter this, Guinevere even thinks, "Even resilience has its limit."
Then, when she hears commotion outside thinking it's Woodworth's squad, she instead sees a bloodied old face—Ekt himself.
"You're still alive? Hmph, seems the villagers aren't that stupid."
Even then he wears a foul expression. When Altria asks about his wounds, he brushes it off: "Just beat up some fairies." Then he hurriedly gives her a helmet:
"Take this—it's a hat replacing a helmet, helps cover your face."
"Ekt? You came to help me escape?!"
More than that, Ekt brings the Chosen Staff that the fairies had taken from her, then immediately flees with Altria. As they escape the jail, they see the village engulfed in flames.
"What happened? Did the execution squad set the fire?"
Both the past Altria and present Guinevere first think so. But the truth seems different:
"...How could it be? They thought reducing population would help winter survival, but their method was mutual slaughter? Ridiculous and tragic..."
When Guinevere hears Ekt say this, he doubts if it's true, then recognizes a familiar voice from afar:
"What's happening? I came at the Prophecy Child's report, only to find residents killing each other? Who is the chief? Where is the Prophecy Child? Bring her at once!"
Guinevere knows that voice must be Woodworth. Yet villagers had rioted so bloodthirstily that even Woodworth cannot stand it; soon Guinevere hears Woodworth's roar in the distance:
"Damn! A bunch of lunatics! At this point, no choice—suppress the riot first. After that, deal with the fire!"
—
What is this? Guinevere thinks. All along he believed the rumor that Woodworth's troops destroyed all of Tintagel and only the Prophecy Child escaped. He never doubted its truth. Yet the reality was mutual slaughter, wiping out the village? Woodworth only took the blame? Ludicrously absurd.
And still, Altria wants to save them.
"Although these sixteen years are full of lies, though they intended to sell me, we lived together. No matter what, I cannot abandon them."
"...You fool. Enough talk—come with me. Their target is the Prophecy Child; once you leave, the execution squad leaves too!"
Thus Ekt grabs Altria's hand and runs. After reaching the forest, Ekt suddenly stops:
—"Hah, alright. From here you go alone."
"...Grandfather? Can't you... come with me?"
"No. I have unfinished work. Once I confirm your escape, I'll return to the forge at the cape and bid farewell. Don't appear before me again, causing trouble."
"—But, but, Ekt..."
At this moment, the girl's inner voice again reaches Guinevere:
"Because I saw it: behind Grandfather's kind lies, the hidden weapon wound on his flank beneath clothing, the countless stabbing wounds on his battered back... That fragile pulse might stop once I look away. I saw it all."
"...I see. Paradise fairies are truly hard to deal with."
Understanding she could not be deceived, Ekt sighs at last.
"...The village is finished; the execution squad has arrived."
"Lift your head, grip your staff—time to depart, Altria."
"No matter what others say, even if you doubt yourself, you undeniably are the Child of Prophecy."
"That night you did not kill me—that is you, your true nature."
"No matter how Britain rejects you, however the fairies ostracize you,"
"No matter how much weaker you are than others, you are more suited than anyone to be the savior."
"You seem unaware: you are someone who cannot bear anger for yourself from the bone."
"And—"
Here Ekt smiles gently:
"You are exactly like that great person."
"Stubborn and unwilling to give up, no matter how many setbacks, you recover again. So you surely can follow your own path."
"I don't want to... I want to return to the forge, live at the cape—there I would be happier!"
Grasping Ekt's rough hand, Altria cries out:
"And when I reach seventeen, when the prophecy becomes a lie, I won't trouble Ekt anymore—"
But she cannot continue, because Ekt hears nothing further.
Looking at the smith who will never again show a fierce expression, Altria wipes her tears, stows away her grief, then in as calm a tone as possible says:
"Yes, you're right. No matter how many setbacks or how many times I sink, I can recover at once—that is my strength."
"Farewell, everyone; thank you for raising me to sixteen."
"I am a Paradise fairy, fated to bring true redemption to Britain."
"Now, as you wish, I begin the pilgrimage journey."
Then the girl grips her staff, pulls her hat low, and turns to leave her homeland's remnants.
Only after she departs does Guinevere's gaze remain. He sees the hair ornament that fell from the smith's arms. Guinevere recognizes that ornament: by fate, in the last simulation at Gloucester, he bought it as a gift for Altria on the confession night. Now it makes sense why it was the sole orphaned piece among Ekt's final works: it was brought out that very night Altria departed—but it never found its chance to be sent.