Made in Abyss Side Story Chapter 004

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'''How are you? Somewhere - Cravali''' is an extra chapter before the sixty-third chapter of the Made in Abyss manga series.

Synopsis
The chapter begins with an introduction to the Delver Tavern, the Plummet Pub and two new characters: Cravali and Tepasté. While Cravali is shown to eat many bowls of the same dish, Hamorage Bowls, Tepasté asks him if he doesn't get tired of it to which Cravali states he has a soft spot for this dish.

Tepasté also asks him if he would like a quickie with her after having finished eating but Cravali reclines stating it would be bad for his mojo which leads to Tepasté also ordering a bowl and shortly afterwards noting the presence of Umbra Hands in the pub to Cravali.

As Cravali takes a glance, the presence of the Umbra Hands, the Subterranean Bandits, and Hablog are shown. As Tepasté notes Gyarike among them she wonders if "Shroud" is also among them. Gyarike notices their observing of them which prompts Cravali to greet them with his personal greeting, "Dyaho-de", to disarm the situation.

Then, he notes being impressed that Tepasté was able to noticed them without their masks to which she replies that the way they walk and their voices are all distinct. Tepasté then shifts the conversation to them now having quite the mess on their hands with the one left behind in the 2nd layer. Cravali replies to it that there is no way it could have been hidden and from the looks of it several First Grade Artifacts were visible; plus fearing they most likely will be found out on their next delve.

Tepasté wonders in return if the "Shrine Maiden" is alright to which Cravali replies that they will try to get more information later. Cravali also asks on any words of the others to which he is informed all they have to go on are the contents of a letter and is also asked if he thinks it might be a "Nest."

Hablog overhears this conversation and wonders if they are talking about the big joint delving project that is coming up. As the conversation progresses, Tepasté wonders if any of the White Whistles will take part in the big delve to which Cravali tells her that no mention of Special Grade Artifacts were made and Hablog will be in charge of this delve as he has a knack for it due to being broad-minded and on these big delves even sworn enemies work together.

The conversation is interrupted by Yelme who came over and tells Tepasté this tavern is no place for Non-Delvers but the abyssial twist in her hair suggesting her having dived pretty deep into the Abyss as this is a sign of having been affected by the curse. As such, he questions her, in a a manner suggesting he is suspicious of her, wether or not she is just hiding her whistle and if she could just show it. Tepasté teasingly replies she shouldn't just show it here but not minding even if it's in front of many people. as she leans in, she also notes that Yelme to have had four prior criminal offenses and teasingly states how it would be a shame if he would get banned from delving for another or even demoted to a lower whistle rank again. She also highlights to be aware of his group affiliation as a Subterranean Bandit. This then leads to her trying to stab Yelme's hand with a metalic claw on her hand, which he avoids but is hit by a chin jab of her and stomped on the foot while avoiding the claw.

As he staggers over, Cravali catches him and places him on his lap. He tells Yelme a proper gretting is important as it is the basis for communication and as the Hamorage Bowl ordered by Tepasté arrives Cravali feeds it to Yelme while elaborating on the dish and noting it works well against tipsyness from drinking to much as it is clear Yelme had been drinking.

As he feeds it to Yelme, Yelme asks for Tepasté's name to which she energetically replies but also notes she doesn't think they will meet again.

As Cravali and Tepasté make their way through Orth after having left the Pub, they note that the people they saw at it will be part of the big delving expedition and Cravali notes his desire to depart before things get complicated and thus they would leave via the abandoned factory route into the Abyss by sunrise for their illegal last dive.

He then notices that a few things are missing from his pockets and it is revealed Yelme picked his pocket while Cravali fed him. As the scene shifts back into the pub, Yelme notes that Tepasté had a really keen eye and Cravali also didn't give him much room to work with which caused him to only be able to steal a few scraps. Zapo notes Cravali to be a genius solo delver and as he picks up a note Yelme managed to steal. Neither Simred nor Yelme can make sense of the note reading "Faraway Nest" to which Zapo is surprised they never heard of that.

The scene shifts again to Hablog returning to Jiruo after having greeted patreons of the pub. He then asks Jiruo if he ever heard of the "Shrine Maiden" or the "Nest" to which Jiruo replies he only knows this from children's games as "The abyssal shrine maiden" and the "faraway nest" are mentioned in Hariyomari's song. Upon hearing that, Hablog seems to have a kind of epiphany and asks what Jiruo can all remember from this song.

The scene skips forward 14 days later in surface time, to the lowest point of the Inverted Forest, the destination of the joint delving project with the forward expedition party having arrived: Hablog as Delve General Leader of the project, Simred as Forward Expedition Party Leader and as Lead Strategist.

They find themselves before a large, seemingly ripped away section in the forest which looks like something opened a hole into it. Yelme notes that his couldn't have been caused by natural causes, Hablog notes nobody ever having tried for this place before and even the scholars to be excited, and Gyarike notes that whoever opened this hole must have known of Artifacts existing in that opened section.

As Hablog shines his headlamp into it, he notes the many Storage Vessels, which would be classed as Second Grade Artifacts. He further notes that something of this scale will surely make it into Delver history and they will need a lot of man power with it at least taking several weeks to recover everything and also time to dig routes for the Blue Whistles. Gyarike factors this as at least three months in surface time.

Hablog questions Simred about the situation about the lookouts whith Simred telling him they have one of the Seeker Camps Telescopes set on this location. Hablog further notes he can see no Special Garde Relics as far as he can judge and Gyarike notes that whoever made this hole most likely took them if any had been there.

Gyarike then notes that whoever it was left them are parting gift and directs the groups attention to something that isn't quite visible for the readers but causes shock to the group. This not quite visible view for the reader causes Hablog to instruct Simred to tell the the Seeker Camp to activate a high Glowstone signal for better visibility and they will need a determination of wether or not this area is prohibited, as well as informing Ozen they will need their help as soon as she returns.

Hablog then also remembers the dialouge of Cravali he overheard and questions what he may found and if he is trying to bring the fairy tale of the song to life.

The scene shifts again and shows a badly hurt Cravali in the 6th layer. He takes note of having no more feeling in his hand, his left leg being broken and him not being able to feel his toes, and his rib cage to be busted. He is then contacted by Tepasté via a Communication Device and, upon asking if she is alright, she tells him she made it out without any serious injuries thanks to him plus if he will be able to make to her location.

Cravali tells her he busted his leg and as she notes his rope still being with her and, thus him most likey not being able to make it back from his high location, Cravali tells her to go on ahead as their "persuer" is most likely still coming after her.

Tepasté expresses her sadness that Cravali prayed so hard for their succsess yet they had no luck. To this Cravali responds he doesn't really rely on luck and his prayer is just a mental ritual to get prepared as a little game of his. He further tells her that if one don't keep a light-hearted mood the mind gets stiff and brittle and for her to remember this plus to save the hard-headed brittle attitude for when things get tough.

Tepasté teary-eyed replies she will do just that, knowing that she most likely won't see Cravali again. As their communicators get out of range, Cravali tells her they will meet up in the "nest." As Cravali notes to himself his right arm and everything up from his right ankle still to work he begins to try to climb down from his location as he sings Hariyomari's song of sparkling gold petals awaiting in the distant nest and a gentle voice calling. As he arrived in the location Riko's group would later find him in he slowly passes away from the exhaustion, his wounds, and dyhdration.

The scene shifts back to Tepasté who is running through the 6th layer while worrying about Cravali. But this is quickly interrupted by their persuer, a member of Hail Hex, Nishagora, catching up with her and threatening to torture her for information as she suspects Tepasté to be one of the "shrine maiden's underlings".

A short exchange between the two follows in which Tepasté tries to attack Nishagora with a Kunai-like relic, which is blocked, and begins charging up a gun-like relic while informing Nishagora that she won't be able to talk if the toture includes breaking her jaw to which Nishagora simply replies after a short moment of thinking that she will just have her write it down then.

Character Appearances

 * Cravali
 * Hablog
 * Jiruo
 * Gyarike
 * Minor Characters
 * Nishagora
 * Simred
 * Tepasté
 * Yelme
 * Zapo

Bestiary Indexing

 * Unknown Creatures