"So, have you managed to contact the control tower?" Kiritsugu asked.
"Yeah, I got through."
Natalia smiled.
"At first, they thought I was pulling a prank. Eventually, they believed me and said they'd guide me through the landing."
"I see."
Kiritsugu expressionlessly glanced at the large suitcase beside him before asking,
"And the bad news?"
"...Ha."
Natalia let out a weary sigh.
"The bad news is... in the end, I'm the only person on this plane who wasn't stung."
"All three hundred crew members and passengers have been turned into Ghouls."
"On the other side of the cockpit door... it's become a flying city of death."
"Honestly, it's unbearable."
"People like Wozak... evil magi who harbor malice toward the world... they're never particularly powerful, yet they're unbelievably good at causing disasters."
"I really... really wish people like that would just disappear."
"Would it kill the world to let the good people live a little more peacefully?"
Natalia's complaints only made Kiritsugu's heart ache even more.
At that moment, he understood more deeply than ever the tragedy of possessing a sense of justice without the power to uphold it.
How desperately he wished...
...that it had been him aboard that airplane instead of Natalia.
If only he could fly like a bird.
If only he could rescue Natalia...
...and then destroy that aircraft carrying a cargo of unspeakable horror.
If only...
Fighting to keep the emotion from breaking his voice, Kiritsugu asked,
"With things this bad... can you really make it back alive?"
"So far, so good."
Natalia's tone remained surprisingly light.
"The cockpit door is solid. Those Ghouls have been clawing at it nonstop, but I don't think they're getting through anytime soon."
"What worries me more is the landing."
"This thing's enormous..."
"Can I really fly it?"
"If it's you, Natalia... I know you can."
Kiritsugu answered without hesitation.
Natalia couldn't help laughing.
"Haha... Are you actually encouraging me?"
"That makes me happier than you'd think."
After her laughter subsided, she spoke seriously again.
"I'll do everything I can to land the plane safely."
"But... what about the monsters waiting behind this door?"
"You don't need to worry about that."
"I've already figured out a solution, Natalia."
Kiritsugu stood up on the jet ski.
Beyond the thick sea fog, he could just barely make out the silhouette of the approaching aircraft—
an aircraft carrying both hope...
and despair.
Silently, he rested one hand on the enormous suitcase beside him.
"Aww... Daddy Kiritsugu is so dependable~"
Natalia teased.
The cockpit windows were streaked with dried blood.
"But don't relax just yet."
"We've still got a little over fifty minutes before reaching the airport."
"And praying only gets you so far."
"Hey, kid..."
"Keep me company for a while."
More than ten thousand meters above the ocean, the airplane continued its flight.
Inside the cabin, the Ghouls had gradually become motionless.
The countless man-eating bees, however, remained very much alive.
They waited patiently.
At any moment, they could unleash another storm of slaughter capable of driving humanity to extinction.
"...Okay."
Kiritsugu answered, his voice thick with restrained emotion.
Natalia continued,
"When you first told me you wanted to become a bounty hunter like me, I spent a long time worrying."
"No matter how much I tried to talk you out of it, you never seemed willing to give up."
"So, in your eyes..."
"Was I really that hopeless of a student?"
Kiritsugu asked.
"No."
"Quite the opposite."
"You were too talented."
"What do you mean?"
"The ability to separate your hands from your heart..."
"To pull the trigger while suppressing your emotions..."
"Most assassins spend years cultivating that resolve."
"You had it from the very beginning."
"Come to think of it..."
"When you lied to distract me so you could go assassinate your own father..."
"You genuinely shocked me."
"It sounds like the setup for an awful joke."
"But that kind of talent is terrifying."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"The thing is..."
"Choosing a profession based solely on what you're good at... doesn't necessarily make you happy."
"If you stop asking yourself what you want to do..."
"And only ask yourself what you ought to do..."
"Then you're no longer living as a person."
"You become a machine."
"A phenomenon."
"But not... a human being."
"..."
Kiritsugu lowered his head after a long silence.
"I always thought you were a much colder person."
Natalia laughed.
"You're still saying things like that?"
"Haven't you already experienced firsthand just how passionate I can be?"
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