Ortus harbours darkness...
Who exactly are you?
The one who made that fox mask.
Huh?!
You made this?
Don't do that!
They'll notice what you are!
At any rate, the living should coop up in their inns and leave this city as soon as possible!
Please, my God. Tell me, what should I do?
dareka ga sashinobeta te o furihodoite susumu
誰かが差し伸べた手を 振りほどいて進む
I break free of the hand someone reached out to me with.
"jiyuu na fujiyuu" habikoru basho de
『自由な不自由』 蔓延る場所で
"freely restrained" in an infested place.
nani ga ni owareru you ni ikiisogu mainichi
何がに追われるように 生き急ぐ毎日
I live every day as if I'm chased by something.
shinjitsuzuke ta shinjitsu mo wakara naku naru
信じ続けた真実も わからなくなる
I become even unable to believe the truth I kept believing.
nani ga hontou no shiawase nandarou
何が本当の幸せなんだろう
What is true happiness?
sono kotae o shiru mono nado koko ni wa inai
その答えを知る者など 此処には居ない
There isn't a single person here who knows the answer.
Where is my God?
arehate ta yume ga nemuru daichi de
荒れ果てた夢が 眠る大地で
My shattered dreams lie in the sleeping ground.
shinda you ni ikirunte boku ni wa dekinakute
死んだように生きるんて 僕には出来なくて
Living as if I'm dead is something I just can't do.
umarekaware ima hikari o hime shi
生まれ変われ 今 光を秘めし
I shall trust the light to the new truth, being reborn.
saigo no kibou soshite kiseki
最後の希望 そして奇跡
My final hope, and then a miracle,
mou ichido sekai ni kagayaki o hanate
もう一度世界に 輝きを放て
release once again radiance to this world.
I swear, I can't lose my place.
Now, it's time to birth.
Ortus II
It's Kiriko-san!
Are you Ai by any chance?
It most certainly is me!
Hey!
What are you doing out here?!
I was checking out the various sights in town...
I also met a mysterious Lion-san!
What?
Anyway, we're heading back.
Uh, okay...
You certainly are a weird one.
W-Where did that come from?
That was rude!
You truly are a weird member of the living.
You wanted to enter the Capital of the Dead,
and you're even enjoying yourself.
It's just so much fun here!
Most living look at the deceased with a bit more disgust than you do.
Well, you see, I was raised by a bunch of deceased.
Where is this village?
It has already been destroyed.
Kiriko-san, I am a gravekeeper.
What?!
To be precise, I'm half gravekeeper, half human.
And I'm actually only 12 years old.
W-Wait a second!
Are you serious?
I'm serious!
Why are you telling all of this to me?
Because you have a good smile.
Huh?
Princess...
The deceased here are nothing like everyone from my village.
How so?
Um, how to put it?
It's kind of like they're more vibrant, and having fun more.
It took considerable work to reach this point.
From establishing the government and justice systems,
to developing ways to keep their bodies dry.
Things could have been different, huh?
If my village had managed to do all of those things...
Um, Kiriko-san?
Why are you the only person alive in the Land of the Deceased?
Why is that?
I am one of the deceased.
Ai!
I've been worried sick!
I-I get it!
I'm sorry!
After rushing to get my work done, I come back only to find...
I'm sorry!
Ai is gone!
Scar is sick in bed!
Do you realise how worried I was?
Do you have any idea?
You don't, do you?
You still don't feel well, do you?
You are truly unbelievable!
If I had known, I would have returned a bit sooner.
Running around with a fox mask on doesn't make everything okay!
No.
Remember how I said you would only bother me?
This isn't a normal city!
You still feel that way?
She blew me off...
If you like, I could have a doctor I know come see her tomorrow.
It's okay.
This doctor doesn't discriminate against anyone,
regardless of whether you're a gravekeeper, living or deceased.
Furthermore, she is sure to keep your secret.
Long ago in a land far away, there was a group of five people.
Their genders, ages, and even their backgrounds varied,
but they greatly enjoyed living together.
They were looking forward to the day when one would eventually marry another and then start to have children.
But they never had any children.
Because God abandoned our world, right?
They desperately wanted a child,
so the story goes that they visited a witch.
A witch?
The witch told them,
"If you truly wanted a child with all of your hearts,
God would have already granted that wish."
God didn't grant it?
Yeah.
And then the witch said,
"I can make your wish come true."
"However... only in a horribly twisted fashion."
The witch tore the parts she would need to create a new person from each of the five people.
Thus the sixth was created.
That is me.
Then Pox-san and Wreck-san, who I met yesterday, were...
They were two of the five.
There is also Diva, Orias, and Veruela.
Together, the six of us are called Lapstar,
the Lacking Pentagram Star.
Lapstar...
Perhaps the way she used nothing but living parts has something to do with it,
but as you can see,
it's as if I am alive even though I'm dead.
Um, but in that case,
wouldn't that mean you were born as one of the living?
No, it doesn't.
I was created 13 years ago.
At that time, I looked like I was about 14 years old.
If I was alive, wouldn't I be in my late 20's?
That's right.
Since then, I have only aged a year or two.
Yeah, yeah.
Kiriko-kun, get out of my way!
Coming!
Hey, Ai-kun!
Thanks again for yesterday.
Pox-san, are you the doctor?
That can't be right, can it?
Actually, weren't you paired with someone else yesterday?
Gosh, you must be Ai-chan!
You're so cute!
And smooth!
And soft!
P-Please let go of me!
I could eat you up!
Really now, Diva!
Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?
I'm sorry, Ai-chan!
It's nice to meet you!
I'm Diva, Ortus Castle's physician.
N-Nice to meet you!
Well, now that I'm here, any illness is as good as gone!
This is the person we'd like you to see.
Hi!
Thank you for seeing me.
As you can imagine,
this is my first time treating a gravekeeper!
Um, Diva-san, you're a doctor for the deceased, right?
Don't worry!
I'm an advocate of good health!
And health doesn't draw lines between the living, the deceased or gravekeepers.
Huh?
But is there such a thing as a healthy or unhealthy deceased?
You bet there is!
Just think!
If left completely on their own,
the deceased will begin to decay,
or they might start to become horribly selfish, right?
There you have it!
It's my job to prevent those problems through neurosurgeries, pharmacology and psychology.
That makes sense...
Ortus really is amazing, isn't it?
Hey, Diva!
Hurry and get the exam underway!
Oh, right!
You're absolutely right!
Okay, guys, everyone out for now.
Shoo!
This really doesn't sit well with me,
but only one diagnosis comes to mind:
pseudocyesis.
What is that?
Even though the lady isn't actually pregnant,
she suffers from a set of symptoms where the body reacts as if she were.
The number of cases have skyrocketed since no more children were born after God abandoned the world.
It manifests when the woman desperately yearns to have a child.
"Yearns to have a child," huh?
It's an indication of how that wish crops up here and there.
I know...
But I-
Right.
You have never once wished to have a child.
That's why this doesn't sit well with me.
Didn't you say that you can hear a voice?
Oh, the one that's calling to her.
Even now, I hear it from time to time.
I think that voice may be related to this somehow.
Well, let me know if anything happens.
Will do!
Thank you for coming!
You're so cute!
Now, now.
While I'm at it, thank you for becoming friends with Kiri-chan.
Friends?
What are you talking about?!
You're friends!
Why? Because I said so!
I've never had a friend before...
Too cute!
Hey!
So, like, Ai-chan?
Would you be interested in becoming friends with the princess in the castle?
Make sure to mind your manners at all times!
The mistress of Ortus Castle, Princess Ulla Eulesse Hecmatika,
will hereby grant you with an audience.
Princess, I have brou-
Nice to meet you!
I'm Ai Astin!
Wha-?!
Such insolence!
How dare you speak directly to the princess!
"Ulla Eulesse Hecmatika."
That is my name.
It's nice to meet you!
The pleasure is all mine!
"Where did you come from?"
Huh?
I was speaking on behalf of the princess.
Uh, well...
I came from a mountain village,
just beyond the mountain range to the east.
"Were you raised in that village?"
Yep!
"Why are you travelling?"
M-My village isn't there anymore, so...
Oh, that's right.
I won't push any further.
Um, is the princess unable to speak?
And what about her eyes...
Are you trying to make fun of the princess?
There is no way that a lowly commoner is worthy of being looked upon by the princess or hearing her voice!
Furthermore, you should work on your manners some.
For starters,
the entire way you run your life is far too reckless!
Kiriko can be somewhat strict.
You should think hard on that and mend your ways.
I am always telling him to call me Ulla,
but he only does that when we're alone.
I see... He's surprisingly bashful, isn't he?
As you go throughout life,
proper manners and common sense will be valuable assets!
May I call you Ai?
Yes!
Please feel free to call me Ulla.
At any rate-
Ulla!
Why didn't you include her title?!
Princess!
You finally noticed, huh?
Kiriko-san, what is your relationship with Ulla?
I am her fellow classmate,
while also serving as her instructor.
You can be both at the same time?
I can temporarily link with Pox and the others and access all of their knowledge.
Teaching with borrowed knowledge?
That's cheating!
Right!
It's not fair.
Come to think of it, the first time I met Kiriko-san,
he confused me with you, Ulla!
He even called me Princess.
Why did he confuse us?
He was still half asleep!
When he said Princess,
he gave the cutest smile you ever did see!
S-Stop right there!
W-What are you talking about?!
"Kiriko rarely smiles, but he's cute when he does."
Or so she says!
I see, so you're friends.
Right!
I think I may have made two friends in one day!
But the van's repairs should be finished soon...
I know that...
Then we'll have to leave this city, won't we?
You can still write!
It won't be all that different from how it is with Ulla now.
I wonder why Ortus is a country that only welcomes the deceased.
Can't the people here coexist with the living?
They can't handle it emotionally.
Emotionally?
This was originally a dreamland that the deceased reached upon drifting through the wastelands after suffering...
...discrimination and oppression under the hands of the living.
They worked diligently for this city to be recognised as an independent nation.
There is no place for the living here.
But...
Well, there is one way, isn't there?
A way for the living to move into Ortus...
I see.
So you figured it out.
Yes...
Today Ulla told me, "I wish you could live in Ortus, Ai."
"But I have to continue my journey", I responded.
That's when it hit...
You just have to die, right?
Yeah...
A long time ago...
Back when I was fleeing from place to place with my daughter and belated wife, we gave this place a try.
But in the end, we couldn't live here.
I couldn't force my daughter, my living daughter, to give up her life.
W-What's going on?
Don't be so hasty!
I came to tell you that the city has been placed under martial law.
Martial law?
All of Ortus' gates are hereby closed.
The trade district in the South Gate has been blocked.
All foreign visitors are under house arrest.
Um...
Are you holding the Admission of the Living Ceremony?
That's right.
A group of 105 living who have lost the means to support themselves have decided to immigrate to Ortus.
Tonight we will bequeath peaceful deaths unto them.
That is all.
Does that mean you're killing them?
That's right.
Kiriko-san put it so nicely, but...
I don't know... I just don't know...
I met my father.
He told me so many things and I told him so much...
Then I buried my father...
That's when I decided that I wanted to save the world.
I wanted to bring a blissful end to all of the deceased.
I thought that was my dream...
But the deceased here are already perfectly happy.
None of them actually need a blissful end.
But... But is this right?
Is it right to take the lives of over a hundred living?
That is a choice that they must make for themselves...
Ulla...
Does Ulla know about any of this?
I'm sure she doesn't!
Ulla doesn't know!
What makes you so sure of that?
Because... Ulla is still amongst the living.
No, wait!
The Land of the Deceased's princess is alive?!
I have to tell her...
I have to let Ulla know!
Hey, wait!
Damn it!
Wait, Ai!
owaranai merodii o utaidashimashita.
終わらないメロディーを歌いだしました。
I started singing a neverending melody.
totemo daisuki de sukoshi setsunaku te
とても大好きで 少し切なくて
I liked it very much, yet it was a little lonely.
demo
でも
Still,
tomaru koto ga dekinakute kirai ni narimashita
止まることができなくて嫌いになりました
there was nothing I could do to stop it, and I came to hate it.
tatoe taisetsu na kimi no soba demo
たとえ大切な君のそばでも
Even if it was my precious place by your side.
Life on the planet
mieru keshiki wa
見える景色は
The scenery I can see,
onaji ni wa dekinai no desu
同じにはできないのです
shall never look the same again.
kokoro mo mirai mo egao mo
心も 未来も 笑顔も
Nor our hearts, future, or smiles.
sou mada mimu ai mo
そう まだ見む愛も
Yes, even this unseen love.
Sweet love in love world
You know what you wanna be
wakattenda
わかってんだ
I understand.
I can believe you tonight
You see what I want tonight
eien to hakanasato
永遠と 儚さと
Although eternal, it is still fleeting.
furueru yoru mo aru keredo
震える夜もあるけれど
But there are still nights I tremble at.
I am the king of mankind.
That is the darkness Ortus harbours.
We were friends, and I had so much fun...
Ai, pull yourself together! Ai!
It was you, wasn't it?
No... It can't be!
Ortus III