Cosette

Tasting various drinks, no matter how strange the flavor is. I would even go out of my way to find those peculiar flavors, like cilantro juice.

Because she never learned the magic of hiding her horns, Cosette sawed them off herself. But Bayans' horns, whether shed or broken, grow back like fingernails. To keep herself horn-less, Cosette has to regularly use a file to grind the new growth smooth.

1. Always Keep your Soul Stone with you. All your personal information is stored in it.
2. The Grace Imperium Office opens from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. If you encounter difficulties, feel free to seek assistance there.
3. Avoid being seen by the Imperial Guard. They are ████████.

3 days ago: counted 17 bottles, 4 orange flavors, 7 sodas, 2 cartons of yogurt, and 4 discounted mixed juices from the convenience store. The day before yesterday: picked one before heading out in the morning and drank another at night. Yesterday: picked one in the morning, brought back two in the evening. Today: forgot to take one when going out, drank a soda after coming back. There should be 15 bottles left in the fridge now... But why are there 18 bottles?! When did two malt drinks get in there?!

Today I was tailing Boss, but I got too caught up watching and walked straight into a utility pole, blowing my cover... Today I planned to kidnap Boss with a rope and fashioned a lasso for that purpose. But before I could even throw it, I tripped over the rope myself and fell flat... Today I planned to lure Boss into the Monolith, but then I passed by the supermarket and saw their soda was half off, so the mission's on hold for now. Please don't be mad, Lady Aeloria... Today I successfully broke into New Star Guild's RV, but they were in the middle of eating... And had drinks I've never seen before...

I don't understand, every time we meet, she keeps staring at me. I can tell there's no malice in it, but still... —Amber

But has ██████ really run out of people? To send such an innocent, naïve child to be a "fixer?" Or was the kid just tricked into believing she was actually carrying out a mission...? —Willow

I recently got a cilantro-flavored yogurt by chance. Does anyone know where I can buy it? I've checked every mall, but no luck!

Each morning, before heading out, Cosette opens the fridge and picks her "reward" for the day from the neatly stacked bottles inside. Yesterday, she had coconut flavor fruit milk. Today, a bitter tea to balance things out. Tomorrow? By tomorrow, the fridge will be one-third empty—Time to restock!

Where there are "rewards," there are also "punishments." Once, when she didn't execute her mission perfectly, Cosette reflected on the failure at bedtime and "punished" herself by not having any "reward" drinks for a whole week. In the following days, the fridge remained untouched. One week later, she opened the fridge and discovered that last week's fresh milk had turned sour. Cosette took a sip, then added sugar to make it taste just the way she liked it. That night, Cosette almost vomited her guts out. That's when she learned from the doctor that fridge couldn't keep things fresh indefinitely; when milk turned sour, it didn't magically become yogurt. Cosette watched tearfully as the doctor threw away all the expired drinks that she cherished too much to drink."You can't get those cilantro-flavored yogurt anymore... And that's my last case...""It expired two months ago; it should've been in the waste bin long ago."

The fridge was almost empty, time to replenish her stock. Cosette picked up a pen and wrote a memo on the board:"Yogurt and milk only last a week, don't buy too much."

The atmosphere within Nocturn Eterna has been restive lately. Everyone seems on edge. The other girls told Cosette that there was a big plan in the works and it could change the future for all Bayans. —A chance to bring a better life to everyone. What would a better life look like? The girls chatter excitedly about their dreams for the future: proper homes, a warm and cozy room with hearty meals in the cold winter. They've heard of something called cake—soft, sweet, and fragrant—and they wonder what it would be like to taste even a single bite... Cosette trails in the line behind Aeloria, glancing curiously around. She isn't really interested in what the others are talking about. She doesn't feel much sense of belonging to Nocturn Eterna. What she cares about is Aeloria's mission, and whether there's something she can do to help.

To Cosette, the people of Nocturn Eterna aren't much different from those of her old village. Under the guise of taking in orphans, they brought Cosette and a dozen other children away, promising food, shelter, even education. In reality, they shut the children in a cramped room, giving them just enough to stay alive, with no freedom of movement, let alone "education." Cosette spent an entire winter in that tiny room. After that, people began to show up, taking away children one by one. In the end, only Cosette remained. The guards didn't bother to hide their chatter: children deemed useless would be sent back to their villages. Cosette overheard them but thought going back didn't sound so bad. At least there, she could still rummage freely through the trash piles.

And it was on that very day that Aeloria appeared. She took Cosette in, gave her food and clothing, a place to stay, meals that filled her belly. She even taught her to read and how to use magic. Thus when Aeloria received a new mission, Cosette looked up at her, full with expectation. "Is there anything I can do to help? No matter what it is, I'll give it my all!" Aeloria's expression grew complicated, and in the end she sighed. "Then come with me to the continent of Nova. As a Sleeper, you'll blend into Novian society and remain hidden until I summon you." "But before that, you must learn the magic that conceals your horns." Cosette's eyes gleamed with confidence. "I'll succeed for sure, Lady Aeloria!"

The journey from Baya to Nova is a blur in Cosette's memory—perhaps from excitement, perhaps from nervousness. By the time she comes to her senses, her group of Sleepers has already scaled a cliffside waterfall and reached a dense forest. Standing on this land, Cosette sees green stretching in every direction, all of it brimming with life. The breeze stirs, insects and birds sing together—a sight and sound unknown in Baya. She turns back to glance at the waterfall behind her, its torrents leaping into the unseen depths below. So this is what Nova's world is like. Cosette lingers quietly for a while, then she shoulders her backpack. With a map in hand and her mission ahead, she steps forward into an entirely new adventure.

"Hey, are you hungry?" A lively voice came from behind her. Cosette quickly lifted her head to find another dirty, scruffy girl perched on a half-broken wall, staring down at her. "Your stomach's growling so loud. If you're that hungry... Here, take this." The girl rummaged through her equally filthy pack and pulls out two flatbreads, handing them to Cosette. They were dry and hard, no telling how long they've been kept. Cosette froze for a second. Then instinct took over because survival came first. She devoured one of the flatbreads in just a few bites, nearly choking on the rock-hard crust. The girl laughed at the sight of her scarfing everything down, then handed her a water bag. Seeing how young Cosette was, she eventually gave her two more small bread rolls. "Keep them. This village is almost deserted. Before you go hungry again, you'd better move on." "If I take your food... What about you?" "I'll meet up with my partner before dawn, so don't worry about me... Don't look at me like that. I can't take you with me. We're about to do something dangerous. Might even die." "Eh?" The girl pointed up at the sky. The moonlight bathed her in a shimmering glow. "They say in the sky there's a paradise, with clean water and endless food. If we can find it, maybe we'll never have to starve again." "But how could people ever reach the sky?" The girl didn't answer. When she left, she told Cosette that she hoped someday Cosette could leave this wretched place behind.

The encounter with the girl was but a brief interlude in Cosette's life. Cosette's good fortune did not last. She didn't manage to leave the decaying village before the next hunger struck. And the next day, her bread rolls were taken by other hungry kids in the village. In a place like this, there were all too many orphans like her.

"If... if I couldn't even hold onto the kindness that others showed me, then how could I ever repay them...?" The setting sun stretched her shadow long and crooked across the trash piles. At that moment, she spotted a metal object half-buried under garbage bags. She stared at it for a long time before finally dragging it out with effort. —It was a steel claw. Too large and too heavy for the girl as she was then. Yet, as if guided by fate, she wiped the grime away. In the last light of sunset, she dragged it with both hands and walked out of the dump. If she had a weapon—if she had strength—then one day...