Made in Abyss Side Story Chapter 004

'''How Are You? Somewhere 4 - Cravagli' is the fourth side-story chapter of the Made in Abyss'' manga series.

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

Tepaste also asks him if he would like to have a quickie with her after having finished eating, but Cravagli declines stating it would be bad for his mojo, which leads to Tepaste also ordering a bowl. Shortly afterwards, Tepaste notes the presence of Umbra Hands in the pub to Cravagli.

As Cravagli takes a glance, the presence of the Umbra Hands, the Subterranean Bandits, and Hablog are shown. Cravagli wonders if "Shroud" are also among them, to which Tepaste points out Gallice is sitting at the leftmost chair. Gallice notices Cravagli and Tepaste observing them, which prompts Cravagli to greet them with his personal greeting, "Dyaho-de", to disarm the situation.

Cravagli is impressed that Tepaste was able to recognize them without their masks, to which she replies that the way they walk and their voices are all distinct. Tepaste then shifts the conversation to the mess on their hands left behind in the 2nd Layer. Cravagli replies that there is no way it could have been hidden, and from the looks of it, several First Grade Artifacts were visible. Cravagli fears that they will most likely be found out on their next delve.

Tepaste wonders in turn if The Priestess is okay, to which Cravagli replies that they will try to get more information later. Cravagli asks about "the others", to which he is informed that all they have to go off of are the contents of a letter. Tepaste also asks 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, Tepaste wonders if any of the White Whistles will take part in the big delve. Cravagli 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 appears to be drunk. He then tells Tepaste this tavern is no place for Non-Delvers. He remarks that she doesn't seem to be from around here, and notes that the abyssal twists in her hair can only come from diving deep in the abyss. As such, he asks if she's merely hiding her whistle and if she could show it to him.

Tepaste teasingly replies she shouldn't do that here, not that she minds doing it in public. As she leans in, she threatens Yelme, who currently has four prior criminal offenses. She teasingly states how it would be a shame if he were to get banned from delving, or even get demoted to a lower whistle rank again. She also highlights to be aware of his group affiliation as a Subterranean Bandit. Tepaste attempts to stab Yelme's hand with a metallic claw on her hand, which he avoids, but is hit by a chin jab of hers and stomped on the foot while avoiding the claw.

As he staggers over, Cravagli catches him and places him on his lap. He tells Yelme a proper greeting is important as it is the basis for communication. The Hamoroge Bowl ordered by Tepaste arrives and Cravagli feeds it to Yelme while elaborating on the dish and noting it works well against drunkenness from drinking too much on an empty stomach.

As Cravagli feeds Yelme, Yelme asks for Tepaste's name, to which she energetically answers back, though she doesn't think they will meet again.

While making their way through Orth, after they left the pub, Cravagli and Tepaste note that the people they saw will be part of the big delving expedition. Cravagli wishes to depart before things get complicated. They agree to 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. Tepaste mocks him for letting someone related to a white whistle to take a nap on his lap.

The scene shifts back to the pub, where Yelme notes that Tepaste had a really keen eye and Cravagli also didn't give him much room to work with, which caused him to only be able to steal a few scraps. Zapo notes Cravagli to be a genius solo delver. He picks up a note Yelme managed to steal. Neither Simred, nor Yelme can make sense of the note reading, "Faraway Nest." Zapo is surprised they have never heard of the place before.

The scene shifts again to Hablog returning to Jiruo after greeting patrons of the pub. He then asks Jiruo if he ever heard of the Priestess or the "Nest". Jiruo replies that he only knows of them from children's games, since "the abyssal Priestess" and the "faraway nest" are mentioned in The Song of Hariyomari. Upon hearing that, Hablog seems to have a kind of epiphany and asks what Jiruo can remember from the song.

The scene skips forward 14 days later in surface time, to the lowest point of the 2nd Layer, the Inverted Forest, the destination of the joint delving project, where the Forward Expedition Party have arrived. Hablog is the Delve General Leader of the project. Simred is the Forward Expedition Party Leader, and Gallice is the Lead Strategist.

They find themselves before a large, seemingly ripped away section of the forest, which looks like something opened a hole into it. Simred asks rhetorically if this couldn't have been caused by natural causes. Hablog notes that nobody has ever tried this place before, and that even the scholars are excited. Gallice states that whoever opened this hole must have known of the Artifacts existing in that opened section.

As Hablog shines his headlamp into it, he remarks of the many Storage Vessels on display, 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. They guess that it will be at least several weeks of work to recover everything, along with the time it takes to dig routes for the Blue Whistles. Gallice factors this to at least three months in surface time.

Hablog questions Simred about the situation of the lookouts. Simred tells him they have one of the Seeker Camp's big Telescopes set on their location. Hablog further notes that he can see no Special Grade Relics, as far as he can tell. Gallice notes that whoever made this hole most likely took them, if there had been any at all.

Gallice notices fresh vestiges, calling it a parting gift, and directs the groups' attention to something that isn't quite visible for the readers but causes shock to the group. This obscured object for the reader causes Hablog to instruct Simred to tell the Seeker Camp to activate a high Glowstone signal for better visibility. They will also need to determine whether this area is prohibited, as well as inform Ozen that they will need her help as soon as she returns.

Hablog then remembers the dialogue he overheard from Cravagli. Astonished as to what he may have found, Hablog examines a Funeral Ticket and speculates Cravagli may be trying to bring the fairy tale of the The Song of Hariyomari to life.

The scene shifts again and shows a badly hurt Cravagli in the 6th Layer. He takes note of having no more feeling in his hand, his left leg being broken, not being able to feel his toes, and his rib cage being busted. He is then contacted by Tepaste 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. She asks if he will be able to make it to her location. Cravagli tells her that he busted his leg. Tepaste tells him that his rope is still with her. Cravagli tells her to go on ahead, as their "pursuer" is most likely still coming after her.

Tepaste remarks that in spite of Cravagli praying so hard for their success, luck was not on their side. To this, Cravagli 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 doesn't keep a light-hearted mood, the mind gets stiff and brittle and for her to remember this. He tells her to save that hard-headed, brittle attitude for when things get tough.

Teary-eyed, Tepaste replies she will do just that. As their communicators get out of range, Cravagli tells her they will meet up in the "nest". Cravagli notices that his right arm and everything up from his right ankle still works. He begins to climb down from his location as he sings The Song of Hariyomari. Once he arrives in the location Riko's group would later find him in, he slowly passes away from the exhaustion, his wounds, and dehydration.

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

A short exchange between the two follows, in which Tepaste tries to attack Nishagora with a Kunai-like relic, which is blocked. Tepaste begins charging up a gun-like relic while informing Nishagora that she won't be able to talk if the torture 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. Tepaste notes that Nishagora's barbaric nature is an act.

Character Appearances

 * Cravagli
 * Hablog
 * Jiruo
 * Gallice
 * Minor Characters
 * Nishagora
 * Ozen
 * The Priestess
 * Simred
 * Tepaste
 * Yelme
 * Zapo

Bestiary Indexing

 * Unknown Creatures

Referbacks

 * Hablog instructs Peijin to bring Professor Irabam to them. Peijin was previously mentioned by Gallice in Chapter 27 as one of the Moon Whistles who were given the task of planting the burning agents in place, who he says weren't able to return in time.