CHAPTER 7
TALES OF TIMES PAST: THE BLACK BIRD AND THE GOLDEN FOX
“I—I am called Haruhime…I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance!”
The words sheltered princess must have been invented to describe her, or so the young Mikoto thought as she studied the girl before her.
This was ten years before Mikoto and Haruhime would arrive in the Labyrinth City.
They were in the Far East.
The renart girl had arrived incognito at a shrine dedicated to Takemikazuchi and various other deities that took in children with no other relatives to depend on.
Her snow-pale skin seemed so fine it was as though it had never encountered dirt before, and her long golden hair looked woven from sunlight. Her green eyes glittered like a pair of emeralds. The beauty she possessed made her seem somehow divinely blessed and held the promise that she would grow into a woman of truly rare beauty. And to top that off, her pointed fox ears and furry tail were unbearably charming.
This was not the first time Mikoto had laid eyes on Haruhime the renart girl.
She had seen the lonely-looking girl in a mansion at the foot of the mountains and had even occasionally sneaked her out to play.
But seeing here again, here, now, she was struck anew by how different the worlds they lived in truly were.
It was Takemikazuchi who answered her brightly. “Ah, welcome, Haruhime! We made it through a tough winter thanks to you, so I’ll gladly thank you for that.”
Haruhime had been brought that day to meet Takemikazuchi and the others who lived at the shrine.
Haruhime was of noble birth and lived a life of ease, and when she had learned of the difficult circumstances of the shrine, had pleaded with her powerful father to spare them funds for food. This was an opportunity for Mikoto and the others to get to know the kind girl, but the main reason for her visit was so they could properly thank her.
Once the young Haruhime had introduced herself, the shrine’s gods each took the chance to welcome her, but the reaction from the children there was muted.
This was not out of coldness. In fact, all of them were completely taken with the renart girl—such was Haruhime’s beauty. It was true that she was of high birth, but she also exuded a natural elegance and concern for others. In the shabby self-contained world of the shrine, Haruhime was a single beautiful blossom.
The girls weren’t immune, but the enchanted reactions of the boys were especially noticeable.
Haruhime’s cheeks reddened; she seemed unused to attention from children her own age.
This awkwardness only made her more charming, and there was a murmur of “Hot damn…! ” from among the assembled deities—although that reaction earned the speaker an elbow to the ribs from a goddess whose smiling face otherwise betrayed no trace of irritation.
“H-Haruhime is so cute…!” murmured Mikoto.
“She is. She’s like a character out of a picture scroll come to life,” said Chigusa.
Chigusa was also dazzled, even though she herself was helplessly enamored with Ouka, at whom she stole an uneasy glance.
Ouka, meanwhile, behaved exactly the same as usual. “Haruhime, what’s wrong? Your face is red. Are you sick?” Even back then, he was as ignorant as Takemikazuchi when it came to understanding how girls felt.
“Haruhime, thanks for the food!”
“Wanna play?”
“M-me too!”
Haruhime was quickly surrounded by children, boys and girls alike pulling her along.
Mikoto didn’t immediately join in, though, instead watching Haruhime’s face intently. She tilted her head in concern, then went to find a certain goddess.
“Lady Tsukuyomi, Lady Tsukuyomi!” She patted at the side of a goddess she trusted.
“Hmm? What is it, Mikoto?” asked the goddess, whose blue hair was carefully put up.
“Why is it that Miss Haruhime seems so down? Her tail is all droopy, too.”
It was true—Haruhime’s tail hung with noticeable dejection.
That would have been fine by itself, but she was also seemingly finding it hard to meet any of the other children’s gazes.
“Well, she may be feeling a pang of conscience for being so fortunate and blessed.”
“A pang of consh…?”
“Have you noticed how shabby and poor our little shrine is? Our clothes, too. Of course that’s not Haruhime’s fault at all, but she may be feeling rather awkward at being the only one with such fine belongings.”
Mikoto’s clothes had been patched and mended many times, and Tsukuyomi’s robes, too, were hardly befitting a goddess.
Haruhime’s clothing, meanwhile, was entirely worthy of being called “finery.” And the expression on her face did indeed reveal the unease of someone who wasn’t sure if they belonged.
Mikoto’s face fell in shock. “Does that mean…that Miss Haruhime finds it troublesome to visit us? That she’s come here because she thinks it’s the right thing to do, even though it distresses her?” asked Mikoto, worried.
The goddess reached out her hand to gently caress the jet-black hair on Mikoto’s head. “That’s her way of showing kindness. But it’s also a kind of weakness. So you and all the other children should stay close to her and protect her, all right?”
Mikoto did not understand what Tsukuyomi meant.
The goddess grinned. “That means playing with her so much she forgets all about anybody owing anything.” Her face looked very much like Takemikazuchi’s in that moment. Specifically, it resembled his vicious grin when he’d given the order—“Get that girl out of there!”—that had freed Haruhime from her mansion once and for all.
Mikoto’s face brightened.
“For now, your job is to protect her from any man who looks like he’s up to no good, okay?”
“Understood!” Mikoto vanished like a ninja as she sprinted toward the group of children.
She promptly began to visit her unpolished martial arts upon the boys clamoring for Haruhime’s attention.
“Hey! What’re you doing! Knock it off! Mikoto, again?! ” came the cries.
Having lost the chance to stop her, Ouka and Chigusa shared a wry smile.
And Haruhime herself, who’d looked so apologetic up until that very moment, blinked rapidly as she delightedly took in the scene of children being thrown left and right.
“Do not worry, Miss Haruhime! This shrine is not the sort of place you’re worried it is!” said Mikoto, whirling around and taking Haruhime’s hand. “We’re poor. That much is true, but we’ve got lots and lots of things your mansion doesn’t have! So please make yourself at home!”
Hearing Mikoto, Takemikazuchi and the other gods’ eyes went wide, and a moment later, they burst out laughing: Ah, of course!
Mikoto turned her head left and right, confused at why her words had had the effect they did—then she, too, giggled.
The girl in front of her smiled like a flower. “Thank you, Mikoto.”
Upon seeing her smile, Mikoto beamed.
At the time, seeing Haruhime’s smile that day was the happiest moment in Mikoto’s life—because she had received Takemikazuchi’s Falna to bring happiness to the face of the girl in the mansion who’d looked up at the sky with such lonely eyes.
After that day, thanks to Mikoto and the others in her familia, Haruhime had been able to visit the shrine frequently. She’d been able to play with the other children to her heart’s content; to help with the shrine chores; and to well up with tears every time she failed, which was nearly always.
She was a naive, pure, and terribly kindhearted person.
That was Mikoto’s impression of the girl.
She adored Haruhime and would always look out for her. The more time they spent together, the more strongly Mikoto felt this sense of purpose as though she were a warrior and Haruhime her liege. Mikoto made up her mind.
She would stay by Haruhime’s side and would always, always protect her.
“I, H-Haruhime…will be a maid!”
Mikoto’s eyes shot open.
The noble girl she had resolved to protect ten years ago was now donning the dress of a maid.
In the days following the end of hostilities with Ishtar Familia , Haruhime joined Hestia Familia as its newest member. Mikoto was only just beginning to celebrate her chance to make up for all the years they had spent apart when Haruhime made her shocking declaration.
“L-Lady Haruhime, please don’t force yourself…If we all divide household tasks equally, then…”
“No, Lady Mikoto. Whether it was when I lived in my family’s mansion or during my time with Lady Ishtar, I was always looked after by other people.”
Mikoto wanted to protest that at least in the latter case she had still been terribly mistreated, but Haruhime’s emerald eyes announced her unyielding resolve.
After the successful War Game, Hestia Familia ’s home had become far larger, a development that had pushed Lilly and the others to debate on whether to hire a maid to manage the household—only for Haruhime to interrupt with a raised hand.
“I must use this opportunity to finally stand on my own two feet. I very much wish to be of use to Master Bell, Lady Mikoto, and the Hestia Familia that rescued me!”
Once Haruhime bared her feelings so openly, Mikoto could do nothing to stop her.
She was undeniably sincere about her intentions. As the daughter of a wealthy and powerful family, Haruhime had wanted for nothing, nor had she ever been allowed to make a single choice for herself. This time, she was determined to tackle a challenge herself.
She had come to Orario ahead of Takemikazuchi Familia and had been forced to work at a brothel. She had suffered hardship beyond Mikoto’s imagining. But she had overcome her past and was trying to become more than the person she was born as.
No—she had decided to become more.
After a certain boy had saved her.
“…Very well. In that case, Lady Haruhime, I support your decision!” said Mikoto.
Haruhime smiled happily.
In the Far East, Haruhime had been taught the arts of noble court ladies, such as dance and flower arrangement, and was very deft with her hands. Perhaps she would make a surprisingly good maid, Mikoto thought at first.
“—Ah?!”
“Wha—?! Miss Haruhime, did you break another plate?!”
However, that notion was immediately shattered into pieces.
The sounds of Haruhime’s constant blunders were never scarce in Hestia Familia ’s home.
Even to Mikoto’s eye, she was making no progress at all.
The problem was her nerves. While carrying plates, pouring tea, or tidying up, her overwhelming desire to be useful would cause her to drop the plate, spill the tea, or topple the basket.
Mikoto could no longer count on both hands the number of times she’d looked awkwardly away as Haruhime tearfully rubbed her ample backside and fluffy tail after being not figuratively but literally kicked out of the kitchen by Lilly.
It was as though she’d switched careers from “sheltered princess” to “absentminded maid.” It was, frankly, a change for the worse, but the hands of time could not be turned back.
“You’re honestly more useless than even I expected,” said the always-candid Welf one day, after more failures than there’s time to enumerate.
“I am very sorry, Master Crozzo!”
“Didn’t I tell you it’s fine to just call me Welf instead of using my family name?…Seriously, though, do you have any skills that you could use around the house?”
“W-well, I suppose…I do have the skills I was taught at my former place of employment…so i-if you wish it, Master Welf, I could attend to you at nighttime…” said Haruhime.
““Bwuh?!”” Welf and a red-faced Mikoto exploded simultaneously, but neither could stop Haruhime’s rampage.
“H-however, if you would permit me a bit of selfishness, might I be permitted to spend a night with Master Bell first? Please, I only beg this one favor of you…”
“You are disgusting, Mr. Welf!! To suggest Miss Haruhime do such a filthy thing! I’ll remember this!” said Lilly.
“The hell I did!! I got eyes for nobody but Lady Hephaistos!!”
“What’re you all doing in my sweet, innocent little familia?!” demanded Hestia as the damage from the disaster began to spread.
Mikoto was fairly certain she had never heard Welf bellow quite so loudly before.
Haruhime also still mistakenly believed she was no longer a virgin, but Mikoto had been too embarrassed to tell her otherwise. Or rather, Mikoto had wanted Bell to tell her. But Bell hadn’t found the courage to have that conversation yet.
One thing led to another until Haruhime’s very presence was considered potentially obscene.
“I forbid it! Haruhime, you are forbidden from even getting close to Bell!!”
“What?! B-but why?”
““Ask yourself and figure it out!!”” thundered Lilly and Hestia. Bell was nowhere nearby.
It was around this time that Hestia found herself unable to take her eyes off Haruhime without becoming very uneasy.
Mikoto had grown quite accustomed to fixing situations behind the scenes—like prostrating herself before Lilly in a desperate effort to keep the prum girl from making good on her threat to nickname Haruhime “That Far East Sex Maid”—and as such, Welf had commiserated with her on several occasions, having performed a similar role in the familia himself many times before. Ouka’s reluctant companion Welf had ended up being her closest friend in Hestia Familia .
Mikoto was apprehensive that the latest series of mishaps would break Haruhime’s heart enough to put her off the maid idea entirely, but surprisingly, Haruhime refused to give up.
She certainly lamented her failures, but she also ran herself ragged, and little by little, she began to overcome her clumsiness with a maid’s work of maintaining the household.
And as Mikoto watched, she noticed a strength in Haruhime she’d never seen before.
Perhaps she’d developed that strength while she’d been forced into prostitution, or perhaps the boy who’d saved her had been the trigger. In either case, Mikoto couldn’t take her eyes off her.
Time and time again, when Haruhime was in trouble, Mikoto found herself tempted to intervene and help. But each time, she resisted.
Modesty aside, Mikoto was confident in her own domestic skills. Back at the shrine, with all the chores and housekeeping she had done with Chigusa, she’d gotten good not just at cooking, but cleaning, laundry, and anything else that needed doing around a home. When it was Mikoto’s turn to cook, Hestia and the rest were only too happy to let her work.
But she decided quite earnestly that it wouldn’t be at all in Haruhime’s interests for Mikoto to talk down to her, or to steal the work out from under her.
But how can I help Miss Haruhime…? Oh!
Then it came to her.
To execute the idea, she decided to call in reinforcements.
“Sir Bell, would you be willing to instruct Lady Haruhime in what it means to be a maid?” Mikoto asked Bell, with Haruhime present.
“Wha—?!” Haruhime cried in dismay.
“I mean, I’m not sure, Mikoto…” said Bell to her entreaty. “I don’t know all that much about being a maid…”
But in the end, Bell agreed to the request. Indeed, even without Mikoto’s asking, he would have wanted to help Haruhime. This wasn’t just because he was the familia’s captain, either. The boy was a genuinely good-natured person. If his experience of growing up in the countryside with his grandfather might help Haruhime with anything, then he was more than willing to share.
Haruhime, despite her embarrassment, was shyly happy to accept Bell’s help with her work—although Lilly and Hestia did occasionally intrude.
Mikoto was unsophisticated in matters of romance, but even to her eye, Haruhime’s heart was clearly fixed on Bell.
Having someone work alongside their love interest could have surprising effects. Concern about not seeming weird could drive all their focus to instead only showing their appealing or beautiful sides. This had been Mikoto’s experience with Takemikazuchi.
Becoming too nervous and self-conscious was another way to fail, though.
“…And it’s not as though I am Lady Haruhime’s hero anymore,” said Mikoto.
During the operation to liberate her from Ishtar Familia , Haruhime had seen Bell fight for her. He had rescued her.
He was what hero meant to Haruhime, now. It was his presence that supported her.
As Mikoto lived with Hestia Familia , these thoughts became stronger—and of course, she felt some sadness when she had this realization.
When they’d been children, Haruhime’s heroes had been Ouka and the others, and Mikoto.
She didn’t think Bell had stolen Haruhime away or anything of the sort. But she did sometimes wonder whether she could regain her place as Haruhime’s hero if she became strong enough.
Mikoto had the premonition that in a year, when she was scheduled to return to Takemikazuchi Familia , Haruhime would stay with Bell and Hestia Familia .
And yet—
“Mikoto, wanna help?” Haruhime flashed her friend a smile, forgetting her usual formality and addressing Mikoto the way she had when they were children.
“…Certainly, Lady Haruhime!”
To Haruhime, Mikoto was an irreplaceable friend as well as one of the heroes who’d come to rescue her. As Mikoto gradually came to understand this, she felt both self-conscious and terribly happy. The kindhearted girl who’d been kept caged in the Pleasure Quarter was still the same kindhearted girl she had always been.
And this made Mikoto very, very happy.
Another month passed.
Haruhime had changed even more.
For one thing, she had gained a powerful maternal aura. Even Hestia, goddess of warm affection, had occasionally covered her eyes with her arm while muttering, “Whoa…she’s so powerful…”
She had also improved considerably as a maid. She still made mistakes, and often agonized over them, but she also never failed to pick herself up and keep at it.
She still occasionally looked wistfully up at the sky, but now there was a smile on her face instead of tears in her eyes.
This was all after meeting Wiene.
After parting ways with the dragon girl and the other Xenos, she seemed to apply herself to every task with newfound energy.
Most notable were her preparations to join ventures into the Dungeon. First, she started having detailed meetings with Lilly, the party’s other supporter. They went over the management of magic stones and how to read maps, as well as item classification and memorization beginning with identifying various potions and antidotes. Mikoto frequently saw Haruhime heading into Lilly’s room carrying bottles filled with red or blue liquid to compare.
“Now listen, Miss Haruhime. Fundamentally, the job of a supporter is to manipulate the battlefield for your adventurers. That means creating an environment that makes it easy for them to fight. It’s not just about picking up the magic stones and drop items that fall.”
“Understood!”
“Some adventurers—not many, but a few—even call supporters ‘the final rear guard.’ We give and take equipment, ration out items…and must always be thinking of ways to ease the stress our party experiences while exploring the Dungeon.”
Lilly was sharing her own knowledge and experience with Haruhime—a clear sign that she, too, had accepted her into their familia.
Before Hestia Familia ’s first expedition, when Lilly had to dedicate time and resources to studying command and control, she proved her trust in Haruhime by unhesitatingly delegating critical tasks to her. And given how much Lilly dragged Haruhime around with her even after the expedition ended, it seemed likely that she was thinking of having the fox girl take over her own duties if something were to happen to her.
The sight of Haruhime traipsing happily behind the petite Lilly here and there inescapably summoned the image of a squirrel and a fox that were somehow friends. Mikoto couldn’t help but smile.
In addition to that, Mikoto knew that Haruhime had also practiced her sorcery with Aisha in preparation for the expedition. Flashes of golden light would sometimes filter through the drawn curtains of the library, and occasionally the explosive sound of an Ignis Fatuus would ring out. It would be loud enough to make even Hestia jump, from which Mikoto could guess at the extreme difficulty of mastering the use and control of new magic. She lost count of how many times she’d become frantic at the sight of a coughing Haruhime emerging from the library, her clothing scorched, trailing behind a sighing Aisha.
“Do you want to learn martial arts?”
“I do.”
Even as she threw herself into her magical training, Haruhime asked for instruction in how to physically handle her body in combat, carefully timing her request to Takemikazuchi—who was visiting Hearthstone Manor regularly in order to give Mikoto, Chigusa, and Ouka special training—so that it wouldn’t interfere with his other duties.
It would just be during the short amount of time that remained before the start of the expedition.
“Miss Aisha told me not to expect to improve much, but…I’ve thought it over quite a lot, and I don’t think deciding on my own that I can’t do it is the right path.”
“…”
“I, too…wish to be strong,” said Haruhime to Takemikazuchi there in the corridor facing the moonlit garden.
“…Very well. I will teach you,” agreed the god of combat, smiling at the girl’s wish.
Beginning the next day, after an exhausted Haruhime was mentally depleted from her sorcery training, she would go and practice with Takemikazuchi while Mikoto and the others were resting from their own lessons.
“First, you must understand that your foundation is completely different compared to Mikoto’s and the others’.”
“Yes, Lord Takemikazuchi.”
“Superficial understanding will do you no good. You will drill only self-defense techniques.”
“‘Self-defense techniques’?”
“Correct. I’ve heard that you have quite sturdy armor. You must learn how to use it, mastering it to the point where you can handle enemy attacks not by actively reacting but with your reflexes.”
What Takemikazuchi drilled into her in the short time available was, in a word, tactics.
“The martial arts are not only about flashy moves. You must also train your wits. Quick thinking can prevent a fatal strike from landing.”
“I understand!”
And, in fact, that lesson saved her life.
In defiance of Aisha’s argument that she would be better off focusing solely on magic, Haruhime’s actions saved her own life and, moreover, spared the party great suffering during the perilous battle with the floor boss.
She was always ready to struggle for her goals. To carefully consider her options and decisively take action. And on top of that, she constantly sought out instruction.
It was a simple thing but unspeakably important. Like Bell ahead of her, that alone would lead to a step of self-improvement, and then ten steps. She made it possible to achieve something that wasn’t attainable by simply doing as she had been told and only practicing what she had been taught.
And even now, Haruhime was in this state of constant self-improvement.
This naive, pure, and terribly kindhearted person.
This princess raised in a gilded cage had opened the door and, of her own will, stepped out into the world to become a traveler.
“Lady Haruhime…is something the matter?” Mikoto asked, sensing that something was indeed amiss. She looked at Haruhime from the side as the renart gazed up into the clear blue sky contemplatively.
“We…made a promise,” said Haruhime, raising her little finger. “To see each other again…to live together again…That is part of why I’m working so hard.”
She held the finger she’d made that promise with to her chest as though it were very dear. Her smiling face was unspeakably beautiful—just as it had been the first time they’d met, but now she was so much stronger.
Mikoto smiled, feeling as though she’d just witnessed something dazzling and precious.
She’d changed. The weak little girl and the once despairing prostitute both. Through each experience, she grew.
Haruhime didn’t need her protection anymore, Mikoto suddenly realized.
Which was why—
So that Haruhime could one day save another, Mikoto would continue to support her, always…
It was the middle of the night, and everyone was asleep.
Bell woke up with a start. “—!!”
He heard a faint creaking coming from the wall. Throwing off his blanket, he reached down to his waist to draw a knife that wasn’t there.
Pale-blue light streamed in through the window. There was nothing threatening there.
After confirming that there was indeed no threat, he shakily exhaled the breath he’d been holding. His body was terribly sweaty.
He let his arms go slack, then, sitting back down on the bed, covered his mouth with his hand.
Deep sleep eluded him.
It was far preferable to his harrowing time in the deep levels, where he’d never slept more than five minutes at a time, but the stress was clearly still weighing on him. He was a Level 4 upper-class adventurer, and there was nothing happening in his daily life that ought to be affecting his sleep. Nobody suspected it, but he was constantly fatigued, waking every morning with the foul aftertaste of a nightmare lingering in his head.
And no doubt they were indeed nightmares.
The sound of the Juggernaut’s massacre; the screams of the adventurers; the terrifying howls of the monsters on the thirty- seventh floor. They all echoed in the depths of his sleep, tormenting him.
Bell felt an unaccountable terror that the Dungeon’s darkness in his dreams would drag him in and down, and he would never wake up again.
“…I’m fine. I’m fine. It’ll be fine.”
This was temporary. If he could endure it, he’d soon get re-accustomed to the air aboveground, and it would pass.
Bell was confident of this, so he told no one of his trouble sleeping nor asked for anything. He was sure there was no medicine for it but time itself, which was all the more reason not to worry anyone.
He was suddenly envious of his younger self, who despite wanting so badly to become a great fighter would go crying to his grandfather whenever he had a nightmare. Bell heaved a heavy sigh.
There was a hesitant knock, knock at the door.
“…?”
Bell, slightly surprised, was about to stand up, but before he could, the door opened and a pair of bright-green eyes peered into the room.
Dim blue light reflected off of beautiful golden hair.
“Haruhime…?”
“Yes, it’s me.” The renart girl stepped quietly into the room and stood in front of Bell with a gentle and reassuring smile.
Before Bell could speak again, Haruhime lifted something up and held it to her chest. “Master Bell, would you like to hear a story from a book? It’s a story of some very kind heroes.”
She held a single volume that sported a binding that seemed very old.
Bell blinked. “Hear? Not…read?”
“That’s right. I am very much in the mood to read a story aloud right now, as it happens,” said Haruhime, gently supporting Bell’s weight as she laid him down in his bed—like a kindly prostitute would, or an older sister.
It was then that Bell realized Haruhime’s real aim. She must have figured out that he hadn’t been sleeping well and was here to soothe him with a bedtime story.
Bell smiled faintly.
“…It’s like The Thousand and One Nights .”
Haruhime giggled. “That’s quite right. Perhaps just once, I wanted to be the princess of a ruined nation, yearning for the king.”
Bell lay on his back, looking up. He saw the girl smile, illuminated from behind by the moonlight coming through the window.
“Now then, Master, would you indulge my selfishness and listen to a tale?”
Bell’s eyes narrowed in a smile. “With pleasure,” he murmured.
“Thank you very much,” she whispered.
The slender fingers of her hand as she held his were very warm.
As her beautiful, ringing voice began to spin a tale, his eyes grew heavier and heavier.
Tonight he would be able to sleep. He would have no frightening dreams.
“…”
Emanating from within the room was the faint sound of someone telling a story.
With her back leaning against the door, Mikoto listened to the gentle lullaby and smiled.
When Haruhime had quietly awoken and left the room they shared and headed toward where Bell slept, Mikoto, deducing her kind intentions, had stealthily followed her.
Hestia appeared with a yawn. “Hmm? Is that you, Mikoto?”
“Ah, is something the matter, Lady Hestia?”
“I got the feeling Bell was scared of something, so, y’know…I figured I’d check in on him, maybe go to sleep with him…”
“Sir Bell’s room is over there. Come, let us go together, shall we?”
“Hwha?” Hestia yawned again. “Is that where it is?”
Mikoto led Hestia, who rubbed her sleepy eyes and held her pillow under her arm, back into her own room. The pajama-clad goddess smacked her lips sleepily and went obediently along.
Nudging Hestia from behind, Mikoto stuck her tongue out in the darkness and silently apologized. She was ever the faithful retainer, and like a ninja, she struck from the shadows.
As she escorted the goddess away, Mikoto mused that so long as she could continue to support Haruhime like this, that was plenty.
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