Riko

"Riko"

- I want to become a White Whistle soon, so I can catch up to my mother... and explore the places she went.

Riko is a 12-year-old orphan from the town at the edge of The Abyss, Orth, and the main protagonist of Made in Abyss. She is the only child of the White Whistle Lyza, the Annihilator. When she was two, her mother began her last dive to the bottom of the Abyss, and since her father, Torka, had died before she was even born, she was left under the care of the Belchero Orphanage.

Her dream is to become a White Whistle, a legendary type of Delver, and explore the depths of the Abyss with her group in order to learn its many secrets and to find her mother.

Appearance
Riko is a short girl with a plain face, green eyes, and long blonde hair styled in two ponytails. She is frequently depicted without pupils. She gained a prominent scar on her left arm after Reg tried to amputate her arm in order to save her from the effects of Orb Piercer poison in the 4th Layer. She also has a smaller scar across her right cheek that she received from falling down a flight of stairs at Ido Front, a result of being struck by the curse of the 5th Layer.

While delving in the Abyss, she wears a delver jacket over a leotard, stockings, rock-climbing harness, a delver's helmet, and (rarely) a pair of protective goggles. After recovering from a botched amputation of her left arm, she began wearing a wrist and hand support. In the 5th Layer, she supplemented her standard delving outfit with a drab green overcoat and earmuffs. In The Village of Iruburu, she cuts her hair short in exchange for Value.

For casual wear, in Orth, she would often don a white dress re-enforced with a leather seat and a pair of grey, blue, and turquoise colored boots. At the Seeker Camp, Riko can be seen wearing an outfit that consists of a loose, light green sleeveless shirt and a pair of baggy, brown colored capri-like pants. Riko is rarely seen without her glasses, lenses made from crystals that offer no optical benefit but mysteriously prevent her from experiencing headaches.

Personality
Riko is a good-natured, joyful, and energetic child with a kind and gentle heart who deeply cares for her friends. She has a quick and inquisitive mind, gathering and properly organizing all the information available on subjects that interest her. For the team, she is the unbreakable force of enthusiasm in the midst of their constant hardships.

The Abyss excites her to no end. Growing up, she diligently studied to become a Delver like her mother was, enchanted by its mysteries and secrets. By the age of twelve, she had become an Apprentice Delver with the right to explore 1st Layer of The Abyss on her own.

Compared to Reg, she is fragile and lacking in physical prowess. However, her ability to keep a cool head under pressure to make rational decisions allows her to tackle the Abyss, even without assistance from the team.

She prioritizes her own desires, so she has made and suffered from rash actions. She can also make a delicious meal out of anything, is willing to eat food that others would find repelling, and has no sense of personal space.

Unheard Bell Flashback Arc
When her mother, Lyza, had just become pregnant with her, she was ordered to lead an expedition squad to retrieve a Special Grade Artifact from the 4th Layer, the Unheard Bell. The expedition was long and bloody, with many confrontations with Delvers from other nations which resulted in the deaths of many members of the platoon, including Lyza's husband, Torka.

Eventually, Riko was born in the depths of the Abyss near the end of the mission after the decimated group had obtained the Relic. It all took a turn for the worst when Riko was stillborn, throwing Lyza into a severe depression. Lyza's mentor Ozen was so annoyed at the dead child for having sent Lyza into such a state and delaying their mission to retrieve the Unheard Bell that she shoved Riko's corpse into the Curse-Warding Box so that she wouldn't have to deal with it. However, much to everybody's surprise, sounds started coming from within the box, and when it was opened, Riko was revealed to be alive.

Having confirmed her newborn's resurrection, Lyza helped Ozen carry the extremely heavy Curse-Warding Box from the 4th Layer up to the Seeker Camp. Riko was brought to the surface, where she lived a healthy childhood in Lyza's care and in the care of Jiruo when Lyza was not around.

Riko's identity as the daughter of Lyza the Annihilator was kept secret to avoid making her a target of her mother's enemies. When she was 2 years old, her mother descended on her "Last Dive" towards the bottom of the Abyss, and Riko was taken in by the Belchero Orphanage under the continued care of Lyza's apprentice, Jiruo.

Orth Arc
While delving in the 1st Layer, Riko came into contact with a Crimson Splitjaw. Only managing to survive after the beast was driven away by a destructive beam of light. Wondering what may have saved her, Riko traces the source of the beam, where she finds a Blue Pendant and an unconscious Reg. Upon further inspection, Riko realizes he is not human. With the help of her friend Nat, she brings Reg back to Belchero Orphanage. She studies the boy extensively. Riko and her friends manage to re-awaken the boy with a jolt of electricity. She informs him of the name she has given him, "Reg", and helps him settle in at the orphanage. and tells him about Orth and the Abyss.

During the Resurrection Festival, a celebration in honor of the death of a White Whistle Delver in the Abyss, Hablog returns from the Abyss with the white whistle that belonged to Riko's mother, Lyza, along with notes from her delving experiences. While looking through the notes, Riko and Reg take notice of a sketch of a Human-looking silhouette similar to Reg, along with a cryptic note that reads "At the Netherworld's bottom, I'll be waiting.". After discussing it with Nat and Shiggy, Riko and Reg decide to leave Orth and go to the bottom of the Abyss on their own. The two take a few days to prepare and then leave the orphanage in the middle of the night. When they reach the Wharf district, a part of Orth that dips into the Abyss, Riko and Reg say their final goodbyes to Nat and Shiggy, and begin their descent towards the bottom.

Descent to the Abyss Arc
After the sad goodbyes from Riko and Reg to Nat and Shiggy, they finally descend and land somewhere in the 1st layer of the Abyss, with a depth of 820 meters. While they are eating their breakfast, Riko notices Jiruo stuck a red slip with the contents of Lyza's sealed letter and the message, "I'll depart at dawn to capture you", into their belongings: Riko rushes and packs their things with Reg's help, and they leave the premises post-haste. Immediately afterwards, they land in a Silkfang's territory and are ambushed by it; however, they escape while defending themselves.

They witness the 2nd layer for the first time. Reg suddenly hears his own voice—something about his past–and later, he accompanies Riko for a short break. While they are having a conversation, Reg sees a Delver above some boulders who chases them while they rush to escape and hide—Reg defends Riko. Not very much later, the Delver catches up—and is revealed to be the Black Whistle Delver Hablog, who was impressed by the group's fast pace. Hablog's main objective was to meet and inspect Reg because Nat and Shiggy told him about Reg's true nature. Instead of taking them back to Orth, he offers to escort them to the Seeker Camp, which Riko declines. He then gives Riko a warning about Ozen, some medicine, and other supplies and lets them go.

Shortly after they arrive on the 2nd layer, Riko and Reg hear a cry for help, but it's one of a Corpse-Weeper, which mimics its victim's cries of pain and fear: they follow it. While observing the Corpse-Weeper, they are ambushed by a colony of them, and one of them snatches Riko. She struggles initially, but she loses consciousness due to the strain of ascension. Reg, unsure of what to do, recalls his memory of using the Incinerator to save Riko from the Crimson Splitjaw in the 1st layer. Instinctively, he raises his arm and fires his Incinerator, obliterating the colony of Corpse-Weepers and saving Riko from being fed to the Corpse-Weeper's young.

Seeker Camp Arc
After a short climb down the top of the 2nd layer, Reg and Riko find themselves in the company of the Immovable Lord, Ozen, at the Seeker Camp; the job she has taken on is to supervise descent past the 2nd layer. While in the presence of Ozen; Riko and Reg make friends with Marulk, Ozen's pupil and servant. During their stay, Ozen lends them blue whistles in return for Lyza's white whistle. Later on, Riko learns from Ozen about her birth in the Abyss and that she was a stillborn that only survived due to the Curse-Warding Box.

Ozen says that beings put into the Curse-Warding Box aren't protected against death, that they indeed die but are resurrected, now longing to venture into the Abyss. She confirmed this by putting a piece of meat they had for dinner into it, which began moving and then, after a while, stopped. Ozen continues to agonize Riko by assuming she probably also will stop moving at some point. Hearing that, Reg steps in and tells Ozen that she has gone too far, and a fight erupts between them, one-sidedly in Ozen's favor. Riko tries to deescalate the fight but is promptly knocked out with a flick of Ozen's hand. Reg arrives at the conclusion that only a shot from his Incinerator will be able to beat Ozen. Then he tries to use it; however, as Reg is charging it, Ozen nonchalantly grabs his hand and points it at Riko. Reg immediately wrestles his hand free, and Incinerator is discharged, blowing a hole in the wall. Ozen then stomps him until he fells unconscious as Riko can do nothing but helplessly watch.

At some point in the fight, Marulk panics and goes to get the other Subterranean Bandits. Afterwards, it's revealed that Ozen was trying to provoke Reg and Riko into a fight in order to test if they are ready to make their way further down the Abyss. She tells them that in their current state, sooner or later they'll die. As such, she instructs both of them to stay ten days in the forest behind the Seeker Camp as survival training.

During their survival training, Riko and Reg learn to be more adept and aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Reg and Riko return to the Seeker Camp after ten days, and Marulk congratulates them on passing, as he cried on his first day of training. Ozen also tells them about Abyssal time dilation, implying that because time moves more slowly the lower one is, Lyza might be alive. Ozen also tells them about the secrets transmitted from the Last Dives of generations of White Whistle Delvers, which are only passed down via word of mouth by none but themselves, and teaches them how to use Blaze Reap as a replacement for the Incinerator. Afterwards, Riko and Reg leave the Seeker Camp to advance down to the 3rd layer.

The Great Fault Arc
Riko and Reg descend into the 3rd layer, the Great Fault, which features a long, vertical shaft. The trip is made more dangerous by Madokajacks constantly seeking prey. Fortunately, there are plenty of Neritantan who make nests in the holes along the shaft. Riko uses them as a distraction to draw the predators away. Riko and Reg run into the very same Crimson Splitjaw that Reg saved Riko from previously. Reg recalls Ozen's warning: using the Incinerator causes Reg to fall asleep within ten minutes, and for two hours afterward, it is impossible to wake him up. This would leave Riko completely unprotected, so if Reg uses the Incinerator, he must make absolutely sure that he defeats the threat before him. Riko recalls that the Crimson Splitjaw eats Relics, so she throws one to distract it, allowing Reg to attack from below. He knocks the Crimson Splitjaw into the shaft, where it is attacked by several Madokajacks.

Poison and Soul Liberation Arc
During Riko's and Reg's descent to the 4th layer, they are attacked by an Orb Piercer. In the battle, Riko's hand gets stabbed by one of the Orb Piercer's venomous needles. Reg prepares a makeshift tourniquet out of some rope to restrict the poison spreading to other parts of her body. Having no way to retaliate, they decide to flee by ascending with Reg's arms. The thus-incurred strains of ascending from the 4th layer and, because of the proximity to crossing into the 3th layer, causes Riko to bleed out of every orifice in her body and hallucinate. Riko instructs Reg to cut off her arm to stop the venom from spreading, but because of Reg's hesitation, he makes a crude cut, causing more harm than good. Shortly afterward, Riko loses consciousness, leaving Reg in despair.

Nanachi reveals themself to Reg, due to seeing him crying over Riko's body. Because the two's relationship reminds Nanachi of their relationship with Mitty, Nanachi decides to aid them, gives Reg instructions to resuscitate Riko, and takes them to Nanachi's hideout. During their stay, Riko is in an unconscious state and only recovers after she receives the medicine Nanachi made for her.

As part of convalescing, Nanachi brings the duo to a hot spring with healing properties, where Riko and, due to Nanachi's insistence, Reg take a bath. Riko requests Reg's help with undressing because she can't do it herself with only one working arm—Reg's quite embarrassed about the idea. They enter the spring, and after a while, Riko asks Reg, "What's up with your penis?" Nanachi points why should Reg be so fickle about this when he had already kissed Riko, referencing the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and after that, finally leaves them alone.

In the recovery process, Nanachi has to fix Riko's arm injury caused by Reg's unseemly cut. This process is painful and leaves Riko's arm debilitated and with a scar. Reg's ashamed and very sorry for it, but Riko replies that the scar is a testament to Reg's devotion to her, that even though Reg cried and agonized about what to do, he protected her.

Ido Front Arc
After preparations, the group embarks from Nanachi's Hideout, reaching the field of Eternal Fortunes. There they encounter one of Bondrewd's Umbra Hands, Gallice. A brief exchange follows, in which the Umbra Hand tells them that the field is to be burned down due to an Amaranthine-Deceptor infestation and that Bondrewd is expecting them. As the burning commences, the Deceptors swarm and attack the group; however, Riko is unscathed. Then the three of them reach Bondrewd's base, Ido Front. A girl, Prushka, approaches them and asks if they are her father's guests.

A few moments later, Bondrewd arrives, greets the trio, and informs them that entrance into the 6th layer is only possible with a personalized white whistle. He invites them to stay a night and Prushka gives them a tour of the base. During the night, Riko searches for a bathroom and is inflicted with the curse while trying to go up a staircase and is found by Prushka. The two of them spend time afterwards, become friends, and Prushka introduces Riko to her pet: Meinya.

Later on, both of them find the room Reg is in. Nanachi has already arrived before them, and they are shocked as the Umbra Hands experiment on Reg, having already cut off his arm. Prushka orders the Umbra Hands to stop treating her father's guests that way, only to be informed by them that this area is off limits for her.

The trio, together with Prushka, flees outside Ido Front and escapes on a boat. Only Prushka stays back, because she wants to convince Bondrewd to return Reg's arm.

Riko is visibly distraught and cries about the suffering put upon Reg by the Umbra Hands. Reg, lying injured, mentions he can smell the burnt parts of Netherworld Stew. Riko extrapolates from this and other signs (including her mother's notes) that they are located near a Stingerhead nest; the trio uses this to create a trap for Bondrewd.

Reg, Nanachi, and Riko are confronted by Bondrewd and his Umbra Hands again; however, they have been led into the trap by the trio and thus are attacked by a colony of Stingerheads.

Only Bondrewd survives the attack with his Sparagmos, but is taken care of by a clever strategy of Nanachi and Reg resulting in him being shot by an arrow containing Amaranthine-Deceptor larvae fired by Riko, exposed to the curse, as well crushed by Reg with a boulder. Moments later Prushka and an Umbra Hand arrive. Prushka bursts out in tears over the state Bondrewd is in. The Umbra Hand quickly takes Bondrewd's whistle, as well as removes his helmet and replaces it with his own, leading him to turn into Bondrewd in the process.

Bondrewd makes the relieved Prushka pass out and reveals to the trio that all Umbra Hands are copies of him he can transfer his consciousness into.

After a quick beatdown, he leaves them and invites them back to the Ido Front whenever they are ready. Riko notes that Bondrewd maybe uses the artifact, Zoaholic, to transfer parts of his consciousness. Together with Reg the both make a strategy in order to destroy it.

As they sneak back into Idofront, Nanachi and Riko make their way into what Nanachi calls the processing room. They explain to Riko that Bondrewd's cartridges are made from living humans removing anything but the organs needed to sustain life. Moments later Bondrewd shows up and invites Nanachi again to join him, due to being interested in her Blessing.

He is quickly interrupted by Reg, who has absorbed the power plant's reserves, and thus went out of control. A fight between Reg and Bondrewd breaks out. Only due to Nanachi's interruption, due to not wanting to see Reg in such a state and begging him to stop with a hug, the fight comes to a momentarily halt; with Reg turning back to his usual self.

During the second stage of the fight, Bondrewd reveals that he turned Prushka into a cartridge. This revelation causes Riko to be shaken up to tears because Prushka was a good friend to her. After Bondrewd's defeat, resulting him to be cut in half, Riko holds Prushka's cartridge close to her and cries. At that moment, a stone, like one needed to craft a personal White Whistle, comes out of the cartridge.

Nanachi tells Riko that Prushka most likely assumed the form of the stone to be able to travel along with Riko, which relieves Riko a bit. Nanachi makes a harness so Riko can wear Prushka's stone around her neck.

As the group gets ready to traverse into the 6th layer, it is shown that Bondrewd's consciousness still lives on within his Umbra Hands as they come to see Riko's group off.

Iruburu Arc
Riko's group uses the altar connecting the 5th and 6th layers. On their way down, they see various creatures. Later, after leaving the elevator, decide to make camp for the night. Nanachi awakens and notices something invaded the camp after they had fallen asleep and stole Prushka's stone. With the help of Meinya, they track it down to a village.

Upon entering the village, a Narehate greets them and introduces themself as Majikaja. Majikaja leads them to jeweler, who is working Prushka's stone to make it into its finalized form. While they are waiting, Majikaja explains a few things about The Village of Iruburu and brings them to a market.

Due to an accident, Meinya is injured by a very curious Narehate and the group witnesses the village's ritual to balance value. In the ritual, the Narehate at fault for Meinya being hurt gets stripped off their belongings and even parts of their skin.

They manage to stay at a hotel, but shortly afterwards, an impact causes a shockwave to travel through the village. Majikaja explains it was caused by Faputa; a Narehate praised as embodiment of value. Reg wants to investigate, while Nanachi and Riko stay behind.

Nanachi decides to go and try to buy water and some fruit. Riko stays back alone at the inn, but after a while decides to go search for Nanachi and Reg.

While doing so she slowly draws attention from the villagers to her, until they start to swarm her out of curiosity. Just before Riko is overwhelmed, by the sheer amount of villagers; the Narehate from the value ritual, Maaa, pulls her to safety. A brief exchange follows that clears up Maaa is kind, can only communicate with gestures, and feels very bad about hurting Meinya.

Maaa tags along with Riko and shows her to a restaurant. Riko tries the restaurant's food and is very pleased with the taste. As she wonders about the dish she just had, the chef of the restaurant, Moogie, informs her about it. Riko is very surprised that Moogie speaks the human language because the Narehate of the village have their own and the only other villager capable of it, so far, was Majikaja. Moogie informs her that some individuals in the village are still able to speak the human tongue; like The Three Sages, the founders of the village. Moogie also informs her that one, Wazukyan, is sitting right next to Riko.

Riko hastily introduces herself to him, with a big bow, thinking she had been very rude due to not knowing that he was someone so important. Wazukyan responses very laid back and even gives Riko a high five before leaving. Afterwards Moogie teaches Riko some basics of the Narehate language. During that, Riko asks Moogie if they had an idea where her friends could have wandered off to. Moogie tells her they could have gone to the edge of a village, since there is a deep cave to explore.

Riko makes her way to the cave and descents into it. She finds a bound person there. Riko asks her who she is and why she is imprisoned in this cave. The person introduces herself, timidly, as Vueko and she was imprisoned by the sages for being against the founding of the village.

After a short chat, in which Vueko reveals that she supposes it isn't so bad a place now, Riko releases her since she doesn't seem to be a bad person. Afterward Vueko, in disguise, travels back to the village with Riko. Vueko is also able to figure out where Nanachi might be and sends Riko to the house of Belaf, another sage.

Riko visits the sage and finds Nanachi and Mitty with him. Belaf tells her that the Mitty he has is a clone created from the original brought by Bondrewd to the village whom he wanted to use as a nutrition source—because he couldn't afford to buy Mitty directly from him, he sacrificed half of his body to have the village replicate her. In a short flashback, it's shown how Nanachi is moved to tears out of happiness to be reunited with Mitty, and how they are shocked moments later as they watch how Belaf extends his feelers to drink from Mitty.

Belaf tells Riko, Nanachi offered themself up to him in exchange for ownership of Mitty so that Belaf couldn't drink from her anymore, and that he is willing to sell Nanachi back to Riko if she can give him something of similar value. He suggests to Riko to trade both her eyes, both her legs or her complete digestive system to him.

Before Riko can answer him Majikaja closes up her mouth and tells her not to be hasty. Riko gives, dejected, up for the moment and returns to Vueko. Before she can think about what to do any further the village is suddenly attacked by a Fuzosheppu.

A short fight between Juroimoh of the sages and the creature occurs, which Juroimoh loses due to misjudging his surroundings. As Riko watches other villagers try to stop the Fuzosheppu she makes up her mind to stop the creature and comes up with a strategy. She lures the creature into the middle of the village, surprises it with a mirror image of itself, has the villagers capture it with a net and attack it from all sides. The Fuzosheppu, however, manages to burst out of the net and Riko is saved again by Maaa, who pushes her to the side and is grabbed by the creature instead of her. As Riko desperately thinks of a way to save everyone she sees an image of Prushka telling her to blow her whistle.

Shortly after she does, Reg arrives at the scene ready to fight the Fuzosheppu. As he lunges at the creature, it collapses and Wazukyan shows up telling Riko and Reg that the Fuzosheppu is already dead. He also explains the nature of it. Riko asks him if he knows of a way to get enough value to buy back Nanachi from Belaf. Wazukayn tells them that if they had a body part of Faputa, it might be possible, and Reg decides to go ask her because he met her before when he was investigating the loud sound. Meanwhile Vueko tells Riko and a few villagers about her backstory.

After Vueko has finished telling her story, all of the listeners look truly surprised. Vueko tells them Faputa has inherited the three Cradles from Irumyuui, and thus Irumyuui lost the power to maintain the village, but is kept alive by the new value brought in by visitors of the village.

Faputa is trying to free her mother, Irumyuui, which would mean the destruction of the village. She also tells them it is not easy to leave the village after having entered it once. Riko asks her if it is possible to convince Faputa from abandoning her wish to destroy the village, but Vueko tells her she most likely wouldn’t listen. Riko also asks what Vueko is going to do now and Vueko responds that all she wants to do for now is not forget Irumyuui.

Riko, alarmed by Meinya, quickly peeks outside Iruburu's barrier to greet Reg, who returns with parts of Faputa. In doing so, she catches a short glimpse of Faputa, and Faputa notices Prushka's new embellished form. Immediately after Reg steps inside the barrier with Faputa's body parts, the village reacts similar to the Iruburu Balancing, but far stronger and more uncontrolled.

Reg panics and contemplates to bring the parts to Belaf right away, but is stopped by Vueko because she assumes seeing them could drive Belaf insane. When Vueko asks Reg how he acquired the parts, Reg tells her Faputa gave them to him so that he would fulfill his promise.

Wazukyan, who had eavesdropped the conversation between Reg and Vueko, concludes Reg must have been "The Prince" and is surprised Reg managed to secure parts of "The Princess". He also casually greets Vueko, expresses his joy of her finally being able to leave her pit, and asks her if she already told them about "The Princess". Vueko reluctantly confirms she has, but notes she told the story from her point of view.

Wazukyan shifts his attention to Riko and asks her if she has come to hate him now, knowing the past occurrences. Riko states she doesn't really know Wazukyan well enough to come to hate him, but likes the village as it has many inhabitants who she can relate to.

Wazukyan elaborates that she most likely feels that way because she is one of the few Delvers diving past the point of no return, and the villagers were once the same, with the village being a place for the ones with nowhere else to go.

Riko, addressing Wazukyan again, says while she doesn't know him too well, he doesn't seem like a person whose deepest wish was a place for  the ones who have nowhere else to go. An adventurous person like him who set out to find the Golden City would never stop at the entrance to it, which is the 6th layer, and Riko asks him why he is pretending to have given up on his quest.

Wazukyan expresses his joy for her observation skills and notes in the last 150 years she is the first to notice. Riko takes some time to think and when asks Wazukyan if he perhaps hopes for her to use the power of the Cradle to allow the people of the village to set out for an adventure once more. Wazukyan, speechless, asks how she came to that conclusion, to which Riko says she was in a similar situation before and Wazukyan once more praises her observational skills.

Moogie, addressing Wazukyan, tells him while they would like to venture in the Abyss again, Moogie feels it would be unfair to force Riko to make such a wish, to which Wazukyan replies that nobody is forcing Riko and it is a decision only the ones challenging the Abyss can make; namely Riko's group.

Before anyone else can say something, Juroimoh shows up and starts attacking. During the fight, Juroimoh uses a membrane attack that covers a large area, and Riko gets caught in it. This leads to Reg using his incinerator to blow the membrane away but also opens a hole in the village. Afterwards, he starts panicking because soon Faputa will arrive and the situation will likely turn into a worst case scenario. Reg asks Moogie, Majikaja and Maaa to protect Riko while he is unconscious, and gives them the part of Faputa as payment.

Shortly afterwards, Faputa arrives, tells the onlooking villagers she will not forgive their sins, and the time for their "extermination" has come.

Riko, glad after Reg finally woke up, tells him Gaburoon has protected them while Reg was unconscious. Riko pulls Reg up and asks him to do something about the current situation. As Reg sees the aftermath from the battle between Faputa and the villagers, he is stunned.

All villagers fighting Faputa seem to have been torn apart and lie in piles to her feet, with Faputa still busy tearing the corpses apart.

As Moogie, Riko and Reg watch the destruction unfold, Riko is conflicted and doesn't want the things the villagers hold dear to be destroyed. Reg decides to try to confront Faputa.

In the resulting battle between Reg and Faputa, and after an exchange of blows, Reg instructs Riko to blow her whistle. As she does, it triggers an activation in Reg resulting in him emitting a white glow with enhanced speed. Faputa curses at Riko for using Prushka against her and reveals it was her who instructed Gaburoon to bring the stone into the village.

After Faputa knocks out Reg, she blames Riko for Reg having forgotten her and tries to attack her. However, before it connects Gaburoon blocks Faputa's attack causing their body to be destroyed. In shock, Faputa questions why he protected Riko and Gaburoon informs her that she would have lost Reg forever if she were to hurt Riko; hence he protected Faputa's future and becomes dysfunctional.

After Belaf and Nanachi show up, a short exchange between Nanachi and Faputa follows in which Nanachi also asks Riko to leave it to them to deal with Faputa, and Belaf advances towards Faputa.

While Faputa is in conflict due to Belaf's memories, Nanachi instructs the villagers to take Riko and escape underground, due to the village barrier being broken, while they will try to wake up Reg.

When the creatures make their way inside the village, Moogie, seeing how their fellow villagers are decimated and shaken by the events unfolding, says that it is over for them and all will come to an end now. She is pulled out of her shock by Maaa who carries the unconscious Riko and gives her new purpose to at least save Riko.

Riko regains consciousness to the relief of the people watching over her; Maaa, Moogie and Mepopohon. Moogie points out the same has happened during the Fuzosheppu and upon Riko asking why it seems that they are shaking Moogie tells her that they are on top of a large ship-like container of Majikaja.

Majikaja states that the Narehate that helped them with this massive body is gone now and Riko thanks them for helping them. Riko then remembers about Nanachi and Reg, and slightly panics thinking they left them behind, but Moogie points out to her that both are also with them. The trio apologizes to each other since they all think they made huge mistakes. Riko also feels guilty for involving Moogie and the others, but Moogie soothes her by telling her that they don't feel like the three inconvenienced them.

Now that they learned the truth about the village, Moogie suggests that the three should talk to the one that also brought them into this, namely Wazukyan as they just spotted him. Wazukyan, those body is barely still holding up, greets them and also addresses that it is a rather crude way of Moogie saying he was the one who brought them into this since it was their actions they took of their own free will that lead to this.

He then addressed Riko and asks her if it was worth coming so far in her adventure. Riko thinks for a brief moment and tells him that it was totally worth it because if she had stayed on the surface she would have never even been able to imagine the places she saw so far and the people she met.

She also tells him that she had the Star Compass a little while ago and though she lost it is sure the next one to find it will also go on their own adventure. To her, if that person also feels their journey was worthwhile, it is worth it to her.

Wazukyan, though not quite sharing the same outlook anymore, admits that is a nice outlook to have on it. Nanachi then interjects and questions Wazukyan what ultimately his goal was. He tells them that they wanted to become something more than human as they felt this was needed with steady buildup. Thus they find themselves at the logical conclusion with Faputa seeking to find her own path to move forward.

There is only one thing he wishes to do now, and that is to tell them to watch after Faputa. Reg tells him, at this point, this goes without saying. As Wazukyan begins to fade, he recites about how they are homesick children on a journey through the Abyss and something more frightful than unfulfilled dreams will await them on the end of the golden path they follow. His hopes are that they try to make their dreams a reality and abandon hope.

Riko also thinks things will not all go to plan as he says, but displays a positive outlook regardless. Taking note of that, Wazukyan fades away completely.

After Wazukyan faded away, they are interrupted by sounds in the distance and Majikaja and the other villagers inform them that it is Faputa, calling to them for the first time. As such, they think they will regret it if they don't follow it as it feels like they would get destroyed if they don't obey it.

But as they feel like they are the same as Riko, they let her make the final decision on where to head to. Seeing how it is dangerous everywhere, the group decides to go with the villagers. One of the villagers also notes that Vueko should have been with Wazukyan but is nowhere in sight. Reg also questions alarmed if they might have missed her along the way, but Riko says they should be able to catch up to her if she is around because she is not that fast.

As Riko climbs back onto Majikaja, Moogie hands her the part of the letter that was sold at Iruburu's Market of Value and tells her that it is a present from her and Majikaja they obtained by trading in a part of Faputa Reg gave them.

Riko thanks them and, after having a heartfelt moment with Maaa, the group moves onward.

After the group had found Vueko and made their way back to Faputa, Reg signals Riko to give him a boost by blowing her whistle. As Riko does so, she passes out again after using it.

When the village collapsed, Riko, still weakened from the use of her whistle, hands Maaa a doll which bears similarity to the one taken from Maaa during the Balancing and apologizes to Maaa that the replacement doll she made for her is not finished yet. Maaa takes the crude doll and holds Meinya and Riko close with a hint of satisfaction in her expression.

After the group had taken refuge in cave-like ruins due to the village having collapsed, Nanachi asks Riko if she is doing alright which Riko affirms while holding the doll she had made for Maaa. Even though they have all disintegrated, she will never forget the villagers for saving them to which Nanachi agrees they will remember, too.

Then Faputa turns her attention to Riko, after her conversation with Reg, she tells her that Prushka is saying Riko's role was caring about the people she met. Riko is shocked that she can hear the voices of White Whistles.

Capital of the Unreturned
The trio of Reg, Nanachi and Riko make their way further into the depths of the 6th layer. Riko notes that they haven't documented all the locations they had been to so far and thus starts naming them. Reg points out, because she named two similar clocktowers with "last" in their description, it could become a problem in naming pattern if they encounter more similar locations. Riko brushes that thought aside and upon seeing a field of Eternal Fortunes the group is reminded of the Amaranthine-Deceptors which ultimately leads into Nanachi pointing out that they could encounter the other two White Whistle Delvers besides Lyza sooner or later.

As their conversation shifts onto Faputa again, Nanachi notices that Faputa is following them. Riko calls out to her and asks her if she would like to join them for dinner.

Faputa slowly approaches them, climbs onto Reg's head and wraps his cape around her. After a brief exchange, Riko asks Faputa if she can understand Lyza's White Whistle as she had shown to be able to communicate with Prushka, too.

As Riko holds up the whistle to Faputa, Faputa suddenly rises up in shock. Riko, surprised by that, asks her what's wrong and Faputa seems surprised by what the Whistle is trying to communicate. She then tells them the name of the Whistle is Doni and relays their message of someone waiting at the Pivotal Ring. Riko asks if it could be her mother, but Doni clarifies it is not Lyza but someone related to Reg before stating they won't say more on the matter and going silent.

After concluding the Pivotal Ring must be the ring of light Ozen had mentioned, Riko praises Faputa which ultimately leads into her being interested in Faputa's anatomy and Faputa allowing her to sniff her rear and Riko expressing how it smells like the sun and baked sweet potatoes.

The group continues onward, collects materials, and also tries to make sense of the Lyza note Moogie had given to Riko during the village incident. Afterwards, Reg and Faputa are tasked with trying to hunt a creature, the Sicklehorn. They manage to get a leg of the creature and make a stew with it. Faputa is at first skeptical of the dish but happily eats it after having a first taste. Riko asks if the food is good and Faputa happily smiles telling her she is not sure yet and wants another bowl.

The Curse Fleet Arc
While the group is asleep during their travels, Riko is able to communicate with Prushka in what appears to be a realm of subconsciousness. Prushka tries to establish communication with Doni but informs Riko she is unable to do so. The two change topic and talk about Reg, Faputa and Wazukyan's goals. Then, Prushka notices someone is trying to wake Riko and both say their goodbyes to meet again another time.

As Riko wakes up, she sees it was Reg who woke her to tell her something. Reg tells Riko about the name tags he witnessed falling down and how it most likely relates to something going on in Orth. As Nanachi awakes too, they state it most likely has to do with the time difference to the surface and hence why so many tags fell at once and explain again how the time-flow is different in the lower layers.

Reg notes he hopes the others in the upper layers are alright and Riko gives the rest of the group a motivating speech that most likely White Whistles and ranks close to White Whistle level are aware of the ongoings and will do something about it.

Nanachi praises Riko for her leadership skills and the group begins to travel further into the 6th layer. During their further travel, Faputa questions Nanachi about the curse itself and Nanachi gives Faputa explanations to it. Then, suddenly Meinya reacts to something and looks for it. As the group follows Meinya they come upon the corpse of a Black Whistle Delver.

Reg initially panics but Nanachi quickly informs him that the Delver is already dead. As the group wonders about his cause of death, and which group he could have belonged to, Nanachi searches him for useful common Artifacts Delvers often carry and they collect an all-purpose lock-pick, Gentle Knock, and an air dumpling, Mermaid Burp from the corpse.

As the group continues their travel, they come upon a herd of Emperorshells and Nanachi, amazed by it, recites lyrics of a folk song based on the White Whistles they used to read to Mitty. As Nanachi gets sentimental, Faputa reassures them in their bond to Mitty.

Riko's group travels further into the 6th layer with Reg now having one of the Artifacts they recovered from Cravagli's corpse attached to his cut-off arm. Nanachi notes it to be Gentle Knock and Artifact one can control with one's mind. After a short exchange between the group of how Reg's arm in Riko's possession can be used to remotely touch Nanachi, notices that the force field has calmed down greatly in the area they are approaching since there appear to be no more small creatures at all ahead.

As such, they conclude somebody might have set up a trap ahead which excites Riko of the possibility of someone besides them being out there.

As the group tries to trigger a potential trap by throwing stones in its possible general placement, Nanachi arrives at the conclusion that it would be easier for Reg to just check it out as his ridicules toughness and stamina most likely would keep him safe. As Reg tries to set off a trap, it is triggered and causes the release of a gas that smells like boar excrement and is used for tracking by marking the target; Ibeho scent.

A short exchange follows leading Faputa to notice of two presences stacked on top of each other approaching. Shortly after, Nishagora and Tepaste emerge from a section. In a brief moment of all characters taking note of each other, Nishagora notices Riko's whistle and gets enraged by assuming Riko's group must be underlings of The Priestess.

Tepasté tries to disarm the situation by clarifying she has no idea who these children are but by Riko stating she is Lyza's daughter Nishagora becomes angry again as she knows Lyza's daughter was stillborn. Only with further explanation, and mention of the Curse-Warding Box she calms down, begins to note names of people she is reminded of by Riko's circumstances, before becoming lost in thought.

After becoming active again, she decides to take Riko's group to her boss if they want to follow her and Tepasté. Upon the reveal her boss is a White Whistle Delver, Riko immediately wants to tag along and the rest of the group follows. Before they start following Nishagora, Nanachi thinks of what possibly led to the reaction Nishagora had after seeing Riko's white whistle. After some thinking, involving how all revealed White Whistles apart from Riko are relatively known in shape to an extent, only Riko's whistle has an origin of taking its form that Nanachi assumes only Riko's group, and possibly Bondrewd by peering into Nanachi's vision, knows about.

As such, she theorizes they are possibly looking for a White Whistle with an unknown shape and name. As the group travels, Riko and Co. theorize about the Priestess as it is something mentioned in Orth's fairy tales and in Hariyomari's Song. During their further travel, Nishagora also asks them if they believe in souls to which Nanachi states she wants to believe in the existence of souls. Faputa however flat out confirms the existence of souls and states even layered creatures like Nishagora and Tepasté have them.

Soon after, the group arrives at the outpost of Hail Hex in the 6th layer. As they enter it, they are greeted by a member of Hail Hex who welcomes them. Inside the outpost, Nanachi marvels at the amount of equipment and shortly afterwards they are addressed by the boss of Hail Hex who is cooking food in a big pot. As the conversation progresses this boss tells them that the goal of Hail Hex is to reach the deepest depths of the Abyss and asks what Riko's goal is.

As Riko counts in her mind the many goals she and her group still has she says there's quite a lot. After hearing that, the boss of Hail Hex introduces the Curse Fleet Delver Troupe, Hail Hex, and afterwards herself as Captain of it, Srajo. She praises Riko and shows recognition as White Whistle. However, she also notes that they will have to but Riko through her paces first.

Srajo presents the team the spiky place in which the testing will take place and reveals the testing is about whether they're the Priestess's scattered bait or not. Srajo explains they win by bringing Nishagora down into the ground, independent of how many people it takes them, and if they win they'll get to exchange information. Reg volunteers himself alone but Riko and Prushka will accompany him with a blow of the whistle. As they get into position, Srajo signals the start of the battle and the rest of the team stand as spectators.

While Nishagora becomes excited as it is clear that Reg is extremely durable during the fight, Riko blows on Prushka and activates Reg, letting him get away at high speed and leaving herself with a nosebleed.

While Reg is taken for a bath, Riko and Nanachi ask the members of Hail Hex about their items used for bathing, like Rigid Washer and Crumple Pot.

As Srajo introduces the members of Hail Hex, "Combatant" Yataramaru, "Charger" Nishagora, "Snipers" Sherumi and Menae, prisioner Tepasté and "Store-House" Frapam, Riko takes the opportunity and asks what a Juusou is. Srajo for the sake of brevity states that Juusou are "those born as Narehate" among "those born within the abyss", Riko is astonished as she has never heard of this but Srajo points out that this information is withheld among only a small portion of individuals, even including White Whistles, since the disposing of narehate with their humanity intact is part of the "disgrace of delver history" as she puts it.

Srajo in turn, asks the members of Team Riko to introduce themselves. Riko is the only one to introduce herself as they're wary about revealing information to a White Whistle given their previous encounter with Bondrewd. Srajo finds this reasonable and after revealing more information, such as her goal of finding the rest of the Hariyomari Collection, the rest of the team are introduced by Nanachi, leaving out Faputa's origins. After Reg is taken for assistance, Nanachi overhears Yataramaru whispering to Srajo about a "Girl-type" so they feel compelled to reveal their suspicions that Reg might've been one. Srajo infers from Bondrewd's usage of the Sparagmos and sightings of this Girl-type around Ido Front that Reg also possesses this "light". Riko cannot hide her surprise and Srajo is satisfied with that.

General Knowledge
Riko's obsession with the Abyss lead her to read about it extensively. She has a lot of general knowledge about each layer and its creatures and plants. She has memorized almost all known Artifacts and their functions. She is a quick learner and experienced Delver who knows many survival tips.

Cooking
She can cook food with a great taste, even with unfamiliar ingredients found deep within the Abyss.

Approachability
Riko's joyful attitude and curiosity make it easy for her to quickly make new connections with people, as seen with Moogie, but can also be considered naive.

Trivia

 * The first panel in the series features Riko holding her Star Compass.
 * Riko wears glasses with crystal lenses, because otherwise she suffers from headaches, due to being born in the Abyss and the effects from the strain of ascending as an infant.
 * Riko is the only known person to be in possession of two White Whistles (Prushka and her mother's).
 * She is the only known White Whistle who is not officially recognized by Orth or the Delver Guild HQ, due to the fact that she was only a Red Whistle Delver when she started her journey and thus her gaining a White Whistle is not officially catalogued.
 * She is the only known White Whistle Delver to skip every other stage of progression in Delver advancement and is likely the only person to ever receive this rank while still a child, outstripping Lyza, who received it while being a young adult.
 * She is the only known living being who was resurrected by the Curse-Warding Box and hasn't died shortly thereafter; however, her lifespan may be limited.
 * Her desire to explore the Abyss may be partially from the Curse-Warding Box, as all life resurrected by it instinctively seek the center of the Abyss.
 * She has experienced every curse up to 5thLayer's.
 * Riko is a name of Japanese origin, it means "child of white jasmine". Curiously, the Resilience Flower has many similarities to the jasmine flower.
 * Prushka has jokingly suggested Riko's title after becoming a White Whistle Delver should be "Sovereign of Children" or "Sovereign of big Foreheads and Glasses". She also continues to call Riko the "Sovereign of Children" after having become her whistle.
 * A common reaction of people is being surprised at Riko's wits due to her usual demeanor. Among the people who've told her this or thought about it are Reg, Prushka, Bondrewd, Mio and Moogie.