1705 The Ironic Light Orchestra/Epilogue: The Tale's Beginning

Synopsis
At the crack of dawn, Begg Garott gazes down at the smoking ship-cum-drug workshop from the aristocrat's district and complains about what he has learned transgressed in Lotto Valentino: not only did the people take the unfinished product of his drug and degrade it, they sold it all around the city without so much as a "by-your-leave."

Aile, disgusted, asks if Begg understands what exactly he has done to the city—but Begg casts the main blame on Aile's father, who ordered Begg compound the drug in the first place and then had the city's doctors mass-produce it. However, Begg acknowledges that Aile's father had not expected the results would be of "inferior quality, or that the townsfolk would mass-produce the stuff."

Aile questions whether the drug was really that inferior given how much people seemed to enjoy being on it, but Begg explains that the drug eats away at its consumer too much; when one overuses the drug, one ultimately 'destroys' oneself and one's surroundings. He insists he never set out to make a drug with such unpleasant results.

With that, Begg says he must take his leave; his teacher's family died the other day with the teacher's grandson Czeslaw the sole survivor, and Begg thinks the new fellow Fermet is too kind for child-rearing and so he must hurry back and look after them both.

Not long after Begg leaves, Gretto Avaro arrives and addresses Aile as his big brother Maiza. Maiza snaps at Gretto for using his hated name, but Gretto hurriedly informs him that Lord Esperanza C. Boroñal had his private army quell a riot the night before. Aile expresses his hope that Lotto Valentino will become a better place.

In alchemy class several days later, Huey Laforet mulls over the aftermath of the summer incident: his counterfeit gold has remained safe while the drug circulating the city has been thoroughly eradicated.

Uneasy at the possibility he himself has been manipulated, he falls back into thinking the world should be destroyed until Elmer C. Albatross directs his attention to Monica Campanella—who turns red when she sees Huey looking at her. Huey wonders at how this girl can really be the The Mask Maker and how much Elmer really knew all along. While everyone else he knows is still an enemy, Elmer and Monica have now been relabeled deferred.

A few days prior, Niki sees Begg trundling down a road with his horses-and-cart and signals him to pull over. Once he does, she explains she is looking for a place to die and asks if she can ride with him to the next town. Begg invites her to climb aboard the cart.

As the cart continues on its way, Niki sings the street song about the Mask Maker and, for a fleeting moment, is happy.

Cultural References

 * To Arnaud and his methods of distillation.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Begg Garott
 * Aile (Maiza Avaro)
 * Gretto Avaro
 * Renee Parmedes Branvillier
 * Huey Laforet
 * Elmer C. Albatross
 * Monica Campanella
 * Niki