#seabed mining

[thepastisalreadywritten]

PARIS - Scientists warned on Tuesday (February 14) that controversial seabed mining could significantly threaten ocean ecosystems and especially affect blue whales and other cetaceans already stressed by shipping, pollution and climate change.

A study in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science found that commercial-scale extraction of valuable minerals from the ocean floor, which could begin for the first time later this year, would damage habitats and interfere with the way cetaceans communicate.

Earlier research has detailed the likely destructive impact of deep-sea mining on the ocean floor.

The new analysis by the University of Exeter and Greenpeace Research Laboratories shifts the spotlight to marine megafauna and noise pollution.

"Cetaceans rely on sound for every aspect of their behaviour, such as foraging, breeding and navigation," Kirsten Thompson, the lead author of the study and a lecturer in marine mammal biology at the University of Exeter, told AFP.

"That's why noise pollution from deep seabed mining is a particular concern."

The report points to overlap between the frequencies at which cetaceans communicate and the sound that would be generated by drilling, dredging and the acoustic telemetry needed to remotely operate vehicles mining the seabed.

This phenomenon, called "auditory masking," has been previously shown to interfere with the communications of marine mammals and to alter their behaviour.

Underwater noise generated by industrial or military operations can induce foraging whales to surface more quickly than normal, increasing the risk of gas bubbles forming in the bloodstream, which can in turn lead to stranding and death.

Other research has found that man-made noise increased the risk of separation between humpback whales and their calves, which communicate via quiet vocalisations.

"TWO-YEAR RULE"

The new findings come with some caveats.

Because seabed mining has yet to be authorised anywhere in the oceans, Thompson and her team did not have real-world data to draw from.

They thus used proxies from other industries to estimate the expected sound from industrial seabed mining operations.

Thompson also pointed to knowledge gaps in the distribution of marine mammal species, mainly due to the high cost of biological surveys across vast expanses of ocean.

The impact of deep-sea mining on cetaceans is predicted to be particularly acute in the Pacific Ocean's Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a habitat for about two dozen cetacean species, including baleen whales, beaked whales, sperm whales, and Risso's dolphins.

The region is poised to become home to the world's largest extraction of manganese nodules - deposits which contain metals used in electric car batteries.

The tiny island nation of Nauru, in particular, sees deep-sea mining as a potentially lucrative income stream for climate adaptation in the face of sea level rise and increasingly powerful storms.

In June 2021, the Nauru government triggered a rule requiring the International Seabed Authority (ISA) - the United Nations body governing deep-sea exploration and exploitation in areas beyond national jurisdiction - to finalise regulations for high-seas mining worldwide within two years.

According to this so-called "two-year rule," mining could go ahead in July this year with whatever regulations the ISA has formulated by that time.

"Given the imminent threat that the two-year rule presents to ocean conservation, we suggest there is no time to waste," said Thompson.

Source: AFP/kg

[lenrosen]

New Discovery: Polymetallic Nodules on the Seabed Generate Dark Oxygen Putting Seabed Mining Plans Into Question

[nrspeculator]

Mining the seabed floor. Truth or fiction?

(TMC) the metals company Inc. It appears as if some newsletter publishers are pumping this company as the solution to the global deficit in electrification metals. Due diligence and common sense are key to avoiding pump and dump schemes. Maybe this company is the real deal, but I would ultimately wait for it to generate some revenues before taking it too seriously at this point. Stories do not…

[dark-falz]

What's your favorite zone in PSO?

CAVES 2 MY BELOVED!!! Because between ultimate and non ultimate looks I love it just the same :3

and Jungle gets an honorable mention because not only is it so pretty the map is fun >:3

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s Carvalho to lead seabed-mining authority following predecessor’s controversial term

Brazilian oceanographer Leticia Carvalho will be the next secretary-general of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-mandated organization that oversees deep-sea mining activities in international waters.

She won the election with 79 votes, while her predecessor, 64-year-old Michael Lodge, who served as the ISA’s secretary-general for two terms, received only 34 votes.

Lodge has previously been accused of siding with mining companies, which went against the duty of the ISA secretariat to remain neutral and may have influenced the direction of the prospective deep-sea mining industry.

Carvalho previously told Mongabay that she would work to make the ISA more transparent and rebuild trust within the organization.

Continue reading.

[hellsgate-roadhouse]

Gunkanjima Island - Nagasaki, Japan .

Once the most densely populated place in the world, this island is now a ghost town.

FEW PLACES IN THE WORLD have a history as odd, or as poignant as Gunkanjima’s.

The tiny, fortress-like island lies just off the coast of Nagasaki. The island is ringed by a seawall, covered in tightly packed buildings, and entirely abandoned - a ghost town that has been completely uninhabited for more than forty years. In the early 1900s, Gunkanjima was developed by the Mitsubishi Corporation, which believed - correctly - that the island was sitting on a rich submarine coal deposit.

For almost the next hundred years, the mine grew deeper and longer, stretching out under the seabed to harvest the coal that was powering Japan’s industrial expansion.

By 1941, the island, less than one square kilometer in area, was producing 400,000 tonnes of coal per year.

And many of those working slavishly in the undersea mine were forced laborers from Korea.

Even more remarkable than the mine was the city that had grown up around it.

To accommodate the miners, ten-story apartment complexes were built up on the tiny rock - a high-rise maze linked together by courtyards, corridors, and stairs. There were schools, restaurants, and gaming houses, all encircled by the protective seawall.

The island became known as “Midori nashi Shima,” the island without green.

Amazingly, by the mid-1950s, it housed almost six thousand people, giving it the highest population density the world has ever known. And then the coal ran out.

Mitsubishi closed the mine, everyone left, and this island city was abandoned, left to revert back to nature.

The apartments began to crumble, and for the first time, in the barren courtyards, green things started to grow. Broken glass and old newspapers blew over the streets. The sea-breeze whistled through the windows.

Now, fifty years later, the island is exactly as it was just after Mitsubishi left. A ghost town in the middle of the sea.

[dailyoverview]

Hashima is a small abandoned island about 9.3 miles (15 km) off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan. The island was continuously inhabited from 1887 to 1974 as a seabed coal mining facility, with a peak population of 5,259 in 1959. However, as petroleum began replacing coal in Japan in the 1960s, the mine was closed and cleared of inhabitants. Its abandoned concrete buildings, undisturbed except by nature, and surrounding seawall make the island an eerie, yet popular, tourist destination.

32.627778°, 129.738333°

Source imagery: Maxar

[iamthekaijuking]

What are your thoughts on the Cloverfield kaiju? Aswell as its parasites?

Cloverfield and his parasites are extremely cool and the lore around them is interesting; being creatures that eat seabed nectar being disturbed because a slushy company was mining for their food on an oil rig.

What they are depends on the adaptation, and I think the manga makes them aliens.

At the time the movie came out they were incredibly unique designs, but most modern Hollywood original monsters try to mimic the vibes of it and the Future Predator from Primeval. If they came out today the design would be a dime a dozen and I’m kinda sad that there isn’t as much wild variety in creature design as there used to. The only monster I can think of that really benefits from this archetype of design are the MUTOS.

[mbari-blog]

Sit back and enjoy 10 relaxing minutes at the Octopus Garden

Deep below the ocean’s surface, just off the Central California coast, thousands of pearl octopus (Muusoctopus robustus) gather near an extinct underwater volcano. MBARI and a team of collaborators used high-tech tools to monitor the Octopus Garden and learn exactly why this site is so attractive to these animals. After three years of study, researchers confirmed that Muusoctopus gather at the Octopus Garden to mate and nest in cracks and crevices bathed by deep-sea thermal springs.

This site is the largest known aggregation of octopus anywhere in the world, with more than 20,000 octopus nests. The abundance of other marine life that thrives there underscores the need to understand and protect hotspots of life on the deep seafloor from threats like climate change and seabed mining.

[unwhitewashthebadbatch]

Filming on a television series, believed to be the first mainstream prime-time production to have 30 percent of its dialogue in te reo Māori, has just wrapped in Taranaki.

The Warner Brothers Discovery-backed drama Tangata Pai is being made in partnership with Te Atiawa iwi and Ngāti Te Whiti hapū.

It tells the story of five people whose worlds collide when a bomb is detonated at a peaceful Māori protest against a licence to mine a sacred site.

Writer-director Kiel McNaughton, who has whakapapa to Taranaki iwi and Parihaka, said the show had parallels with past struggles and contemporary issues such as seabed mining.

"In terms of Māori needing to stand up. Stand up for their rights, stand up for their land, stand up for what we believe in.

"And we are having to do that now and we were having to do that 140 years ago, so for me it's about looking at what's changed. Has anything changed?"

McNaughton, who is still on his reo journey, said it was important to normalise the use of the language.

"What's exciting about this is that it is being embraced by a broader network which has a much larger audience.

"And being able to get this 30 percent reo content, which shouldn't be intimidating for a non-Māori speaking audience, so for us to have that on Three and for Warner Brothers Discovery to support this is really exciting."

Former journalist Mereana Hond, who is from Taranaki and Ngāti Ruanui iwi, is overseeing the use of te reo and tikanga.

She said Tangata Pai would include subtitles to make it accessible to as many people as possible.

"The fact that it is 30 percent te reo Māori is what sold it to iwi that have chosen to be a part of this.

"This is a collaboration, it is a partnership, there is a memorandum of agreement between iwi and the producers to create something which tells our stories in a different way."

Theres heaps of background talent here in Ngāmotu, so that's been terrific to engage the local community and have them come and be a part of the series and the filming.

"And then we have lots of crew that we've brought from different parts of the country. The majority I would say from Auckland."

Warkia - who has Scottish and Papua New Guinea heritage - agreed with Hond that one of Tangata Pai's strengths was its illustration of how disputes could be dealt with.

"The idea of maungaarongo which is very much about creating space for people to speak even if they have very different opinions.

"Creating a space where they can specifically discuss all of those differences, and that is healthy and important and shouldn't be avoided."

Filming of Tangata Pai, which has Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air funding, has now moved to Auckland.

It will screen on Three and Three Now next year.

[greypetrel]

I'll be the figurehead On your ship's bow I'll be the last glimpse of a topsail As we go down I'll be waiting on the seabed Repeating the words Don't forget (you said), ships were not built to be safe.

On Board - Alana Henderson, Joshua Burnside

Some Hawkebela content for you all, there are sea wolves and also sea raccoons, now. (In case you can't decipher my writing: "You should get on board / With someone whose course is steadier than mine" "Tie up those lines / 'Cause I shot the albatross / And I will swim across")

(thank you @shivunin for the hint to the indeed perfect song for this ship and @ndostairlyrium for a meaningful hint and listening me whining about it)

[sadclowncentral]

How does one get into international regulation of new technologies, it sounds niche and interesting

its easy to get into quite honestly - pick a type of regulation (law/policy/diplomacy) and an emerging technology (AI/autonomous weapons/drones/space/Deep seabed mining) and find universities or Institutions with people researching the same combination. given that these fields are often small, they are really tight knit communities of mostly young people welcoming you with open arms!!

for me it's that i studied space law, worked for my national space agency in the diplomatic department and for the united nations, and now i am part of a research group trying to answer the headache of a question of what law applies when international satellite-based navigation systems provide wrong information on accident.

it's the coolest job in the world and i think everyone should come join me in the wonderful and anxiety inducing playground that is trying to get states to agree to solve future problems BEFORE someone needs to make an app monitoring waterways for the titanic. for example

[mariacallous]

A new report by environmental groups lays out a case for banning deep sea mining—and explains why the real solution to humanity’s energy crisis might just be sitting in the trash.

Deep sea mining is the pursuit of rare, valuable minerals that lie undisturbed upon the ocean floor—metals like nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements. These so-called critical minerals are instrumental in the manufacture of everything from electric vehicle batteries and MRI machines to laptops and disposable vape cartridges—including, crucially, much of what’s needed to transition away from fossil fuels. Political leaders and the companies eager to dredge up critical minerals from the seafloor tend to focus on the feel-good, climate-friendly uses of the minerals, like EV batteries and solar panels. They’ll proclaim that the metals on the deep seafloor are an abundant resource that could help usher in a new golden age of renewable energy technology.

But deep sea mining has also been roundly criticized by environmentalists and scientists, who caution that the practice (which has not yet kicked off in earnest) could create a uniquely terrible environmental travesty and annihilate one of the most remote and least understood ecosystems on the planet.

There has been a wave of backlash from environmentalists, scientists, and even comedians like John Oliver, who devoted a recent segment of Last Week Tonight to lambasting deep sea mining. Some companies that use these materials in their products—Volvo, Volkswagen, BMW, and Rivian among them—have come out against deep sea mining and pledged not to use any metals that come from those abyssal operations. (Some prominent companies have done the exact opposite; last week, Tesla shareholders voted against a moratorium on using minerals sourced from deep sea mining.)

Even if you can wave away that ecological threat, mining the sea might simply be wholly unnecessary if the goal is to bring about a new era of global renewable energy. A new report, aptly titled “We Don’t Need Deep-Sea Mining,” aims to lay out why.

The report is a collaboration between the advocacy group US PIRG, Environment America Policy Center, and the nonprofit think tank Frontier Group. Nathan Proctor, senior director of the Campaign for the Right to Repair at PIRG and one of the authors of the new report, says the solution to sourcing these materials should be blindingly obvious. There are critical minerals all around us that don’t require diving deep into the sea. You’re probably holding some right now—they’re in nearly all our devices, including the billions of pounds of them sitting in the dump.

The secret to saving the deep sea, Proctor says, is to prioritize systems that focus on the materials we already have—establishing right to repair laws, improving recycling capabilities, and rethinking how we use tech after the end of its useful life cycle. These are all systems we have in place now that don’t require tearing up new lands thousands of feet below the ocean.

“We don't need to mine the deep sea,” Proctor reiterates. “It's about the dumbest way to get these materials. There's way better ways to address the needs for those metals like cobalt, nickel, copper, and the rest.”

Into the Abyss

Schemes for delving into the deep ocean have been on the boards for years. While the practice is not currently underway, mining companies are getting ready to dive in as soon as they can.

In January 2024, the Norwegian Parliament opened up its waters to companies looking to mine resources. The Metals Company is a Canadian mining operation that has been at the forefront of attempts to mine in the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ)—an area of seabed that spans 3,100 miles between Mexico and Hawaii.

The proposed mining in the CCZ has gotten the most attention lately because the Metals Company secured rights to access key areas of the CCZ for mining in 2022, and its efforts are ramping up. The process involves gathering critical minerals from small rock-like formations called polymetallic nodules. Billions of these nodules rest along the seabed, seemingly sitting there ripe for the taking (if you can get down to them). The plan—one put forth by several mining companies, anyway—is to scrape the ocean floor with deep sea trawling systems and bring these nodules to the surface, where they can be broken down to extract the shiny special metals inside. Environmentalists say this poses a host of ecological problems for everything that lives in the vicinity.

Gerard Barron, the CEO of the Metals Company, contends that his efforts are misunderstood by activists and the media (especially, say, John Oliver).

“We're committed to circularity,” Barron says. “We have to drive towards circularity. We have to stop extracting from our planet. But the question is, how can you recycle what you don’t have?”

Both Barron and the authors of the activist report acknowledge that there aren’t perfect means of resource extraction anywhere—and there’s always going to be some environmental toll. Barron argues that it is better for this toll to play out in one of the most remote parts of the ocean.

“No matter what, you will be disrupting an ecosystem,” says Kelsey Lamp, ocean campaign director with the Environment America Research and Policy Center and an author of the report. “This is an ecosystem that evolved over millions of years without light, without human noise, and with incredibly clear water. If you disrupt it, the likelihood of it coming back is pretty low.”

For many of the life-forms down in the great deep, the nodules are the ecosystem. Removing the nodules from the seabed would remove all the life attached to them.

“This is a very disruptive process with ecosystems that may never recover,” says Tony Dutzik, associate director and senior policy analyst at the nonprofit think tank Frontier Group and another author of the report. “This is a great wilderness that is linked to the health of the ocean at large and that has wonders that we’re barely even beginning to recognize what they are.”

Barron counters that the life in the abyssal zone is less abundant than in an ecosystem like rainforests in Indonesia, where a great deal of nickel mines operate—although scientists discovered 5,000 new species in the CCZ in 2023 alone. He considers that the lesser of two evils.

“At the end of the day, it's not that easy,” You can't just say no to something. If you say no to this, you're saying yes to something else.”

The Circular Economy

Barron and others make the case that this ecosystem disruption is the only way to access the minerals needed to fuel the clean-tech revolution, and is therefore worth the cost in the long run. But Proctor and the others behind the report aren't convinced. They say that without fully investing in a circular economy that thinks more carefully about the resources we use, we will continue to burn through the minerals needed for renewable tech the same way we've burned through fossil fuels.

“I just had this initial reaction when I heard about deep sea mining,” Proctor says. “Like, ‘Oh, really? You want to strip mine the ocean floor to build electronic devices that manufacturers say we should all throw away?’”

While mining companies may wax poetic about using critical minerals for building clean tech, there's no guarantee that's where the minerals will actually wind up. They are also commonly used in much more consumer-facing devices, like phones, laptops, headphones, and those aforementioned disposable vape cartridges. Many of these devices are not designed to be long lasting, or repairable. In many cases, big companies like Apple and Microsoft have actively lobbied to make repairing their devices more difficult, all but guaranteeing more of them will end up in the landfill.

“I spend every day throwing my hands up in frustration by just how much disposable, unfixable, ridiculous electronics are being shoveled on people with active measures to prevent them from being able to reuse them,” Proctor says. “If these are really critical materials, why are they ending up in stuff that we're told is instantly trash?”

The report aims to position critical minerals in products and e-waste as an “abundant domestic resource.” The way to tap into that is to recommit to the old mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle—with a couple of additions. The report adds the concept of repairing and reimagining products to the list, calling them the five Rs. It calls for making active efforts to extend product lifetimes and invest in “second life” opportunities for tech like solar panels and battery recycling that have reached the end of their useful lifespan. (EV batteries used to be difficult to recycle, but more cutting-edge battery materials can often work just as well as new ones, if you recycle them right.)

Treasures in the Trash

The problem is thinking of these deep sea rocks in the same framework of fossil fuels. What may seem like an abundant resource now is going to feel much more finite later.

“There is a little bit of the irony, right, that we think it's easier to go out and mine and potentially destroy one of the most mysterious remote wildernesses left on this planet just to get more of the metals we're throwing in the trash every day,” Lamp says.

And in the trash is where the resources remain. Electronics manufacturing is growing five times faster than e-waste recycling, so without investment to disassemble those products for their critical bits, all the metals will go to waste. Like deep sea mining, the infrastructure needed to make this a worthwhile path forward will be tremendous, but committing to it means sourcing critical minerals from places nearby, and reducing some waste in the process.

Barron says he isn't convinced these efforts will be enough. “We need to do all of that,” Barron says, “You know, it's not one or the other. We have to do all of that, but what we have to do is slow down destroying those tropical rainforests.” He adds, “If you take a vote against ocean metals, it is a vote for something else. And that something else is what we’ve got right now.”

Proctor argues that commonsense measures, implemented broadly and forcefully across society to further the goal of creating a circular economy, including energy transition minerals, will ultimately reduce the need for all forms of extraction, including land and deep-sea mining.

“We built this system that knows how to do one thing, which is take stuff out of the earth, put it into products and sell them, and then plug our ears and forget that they exist,” Proctor says. “That’s not the reality we live in. The sooner that we can disentangle that kind of paradigm from the way we think about consumption and industrial policy the better, because we're going to kill everybody with that kind of thinking.”

Just like mining the deep sea, investing in a circular economy is not going to be an easy task. There is an allure of deep sea mining when it is presented as a one-stop shop for all the materials needed for the great energy transition. But as the authors of the report contend, the idea of exploiting a vast deposit of resources is the same relationship society has had with fossil fuels—they’re seemingly abundant resources ripe for the picking, but also they are ultimately finite.

“If we treat these things as disposable, as we have, we’re going to need to continually refill that bucket,” Dutzik says. “If we can build an economy in which we’re getting the most out of every bit of what we mine, reusing things when we can, and then recycling the material at the end of their lives, we can get off of that infinite extraction treadmill that we’ve been on for a really long time.”

[animeyanderelover]

Out of curiosity for everyone who has watched Black Clover, who is your favorite character in the show/manga? I’m currently in the Seabed Temple Arc and I still haven’t pinpointed who mine is. I enjoy the show, especially this and the last arc have been really good and all the characters are really growing storm me (even if Gauge is my Sanji dilemma all over again) but I still haven’t determined who my favorite is. With me it’s honestly always one of two scenarios. Either I need to watch a good chunk of episodes and consider it carefully before I finally pick a favorite or the phenomenon “instant favorite” occurs where I see a character on screen for only a few seconds and know in my heart that this is the one.

[violetsandshrikes]

Parliament’s Environment Committee must delay reporting back on the Fast-track Approvals Bill until it has time to properly consider the proposed projects, says Forest & Bird.

The list of projects for automatic fast tracking through Schedule 2 of the bill was only released today, months after public consultation closed.

“It’s a dark day for New Zealand democracy when the select committee tasked with assessing a law doesn’t actually get to see the whole law,” says Richard Capie General Manager of Advocacy for Forest & Bird.

Forest & Bird is sending an open letter to the Environment Committee asking that it not report back to Parliament until it has had the opportunity to receive and consider public submissions on the proposal additions to the bill.

“The missing schedule includes developments with serious and complex environmental consequences – coal mining in pristine kiwi habitat, getting rid of forest with high conservation values, and damaging ocean that is home to critically endangered blue whales and Māui dolphins,” says Mr Capie.

Some on the list are developments that Forest & Bird has spent years successfully opposing in court, essentially ‘zombie projects’. This includes the Ruataniwha dam in Hawke’s Bay and Trans-Tasman Resources’ proposal for seabed mining off the Taranaki coast. More information as well as pictures and video footage of these and other areas are available below.

Kiwis, I recommend you:

1. Check in with Forest & Bird, who usually have action you can take against specific projects and proposals

2. Email, write to or phone your local MP and/or the responsible minister(s). They hear very little from the public in general about environmental issues.

People abroad: Forest and Bird is also worth following if you want to help out, and if you can share your thoughts from overseas, they will usually make a method available to do so.

[aishangotome]

Elbert Greetia: Blind Love Ending Chapter 21

Chapter 20

♡———♡

Victor: Now then, please enjoy your stay at Crown Castle after so long!

After finishing sharing various information, Victor spread his arms cheerfully.

Elbert: Thank you....But, there's something I want to talk to Will and Victor about.

Victor: El wants to talk to us? Of course, I don't mind!

William: I don't mind either.

Elbert: ...Thank you.

Kate: Can I listen in too?

Elbert: You––

Lord Elbert fell silent as if hesitating for a moment, then smiled faintly.

Elbert: ...I'll talk to you after I've sorted things out a bit.

(After sorting things out..........)

When Elbert tries to keep me away from something, it's usually when there's a sad event waiting.

(I want to be by his side at such times, but......)

*flashback*

Elbert: ...I feel like I'm taking everything away from you.

Elbert: The warm happiness, the untroubled future... everything you were supposed to have.

Elbert: The thought of hurting you again... and making you sad... makes me feel like I'm going crazy, but...

Elbert: I...

Elbert: I would rather drown with you than let you go back to the shore.

Elbert: I was happy that you wouldn't leave me and would sink to the bottom of the sea with me.

Elbert: I was so scared of myself for thinking that.

*flashback over*

(Surely Elbert would feel more at ease if I were the one being protected.)

(...I have a feeling that's the case.)

Kate: Thank you. Well then, I'll be waiting outside.

Elbert: ...Thank you.

Elbert: But...you must be tired, so you should return to your room and rest a bit.

Elbert gently stroked my hair with his delicate hands.

(...Ah...)

My face flushed warm at his gaze and gestures, which did not hide his affection.

Kate: ...I understand. Please don't push yourself too hard either, Lord Elbert.

Elbert: ...Mm.

Victor: Yes, yes, what a beautiful sight.

Alfons: Yawn...I should probably go to sleep soon, or I won't be able to go out tonight.

Alfons: Let's get going, Kate.

Kate: Yes. Well then, excuse me.

Roger: Are you sure about this, El? Your childhood friend is going to end up being the escort for the young lady you care so much about.

Roger's words made me blink, as I was about to obediently follow Alfons.

Kate: Alfons would never do such a thing, Roger.

(He told me a long time ago too...that he "doesn't feel that way.")

(And just the other day, he told Elbert that he "wouldn't take" me.)

Roger: Oh really? Seems like Al is pretty trusted, huh?

Alfons: Isn't that right, Kate?

Alfons: It's not like I, of all people, would do something barbaric like being an escort.

Jude: What's a walkin' violation of public morals sayin'?

Ellis: Shhh...

Roger: You agree, El?

Elbert: ...Al...

Elbert: ...wouldn't take...what's mine.

Elbert repeated what Alfons had said before, like an innocent child.

(I think so too...)

When I nodded silently, Alfons sighed in exasperation and shrugged.

Alfons: ...Oh dear, you trust people so easily.

Alfons: You two are a perfect match.

Roger: Tch...haha! I was wondering why Al of all people wouldn't make a move on the young lady.

Roger: I see, so even you couldn't make a move on two such cute bunnies...huh...

Alfons: ...They're the type of bunnies who would refuse help even if they were torn to shreds, so I simply didn't have a chance.

-

Leaving the conversation room, I headed to my room as Elbert instructed, but my mind was filled with thoughts of him.

(The dream Elbert told me about... being crucified at the bottom of the sea, drowning with me.)

(I've been thinking about its meaning ever since that day...)

I felt that what was crucifying him in the cold seabed was a heavy sense of guilt, like he shouldn't and couldn't be happy.

(If I could only lighten the guilt within Elbert.)

(I wonder if his nightmares would lessen, even a little...)

Since he's finally able to wish for happiness, I want him to savor it more and more, without any worries.

I want him to embrace me in his dreams without feeling the fear or anxiety of drowning me.

(But then again... how can I erase what Elbert couldn't in all these years?)

Kate: ...No...

Alfons: Is something troubling you?

Kate: Wah!?

Startled by the sudden voice behind me, my shoulders trembled.

I saw Alfons and Roger standing in the hallway, watching me, even though the other Crowns had already dispersed.

Kate: What's wrong, you two?

Roger: You stopped and spaced out not five steps from the door, so we were observing you.

Alfons: I was thinking if Roger were to eat you, I might as well join in.

Kate: Eat...?

Roger: Yeah, while El isn't looking... right?

(Right...? What...?)

Remembering something Elbert had said before, I took three steps away from Roger.

Roger: Tch... Hahaha! Don't be so wary, lil lady. I was just joking.

Roger: Alfons aside, El would probably kill me for real if I laid a hand on you.

Roger: I'd rather not die that way.

Kate: ...I see, that's good.

Alfons: So, why were you spacing out?

Kate: I was thinking. I was wondering if there's any way for Elbert to stop having bad dreams...

As we walked towards my room, sandwiched between the two of them, I lightly confided my worries.

Alfons: I see, it must be tough having your bed partner tormented by nightmares every night.

Alfons: Why don't you get some sleeping pills from that former doctor and slip him a dose? It'll make him sleep deeply.

Kate: Medicine... you mean make him sleep so deeply that he doesn't dream...?

(I've never thought of that...)

Kate: But... we can't keep giving it to him every day, can we?

Roger: Well, it's not impossible... but it's not healthy. Continuous use can also decrease its effectiveness. Besides,

Roger: Doesn't Kate want a more fundamental solution?

Kate: ...Yes.

Roger: I've known El for a while, though not as long as Al,

Roger: But you understand what's in his heart better than anyone.

Roger: If you do something with all your heart, it'll surely resonate with him, even if just a little.

Kate: ...Thank you. I'll think about it.

Alfons: Saying that feelings will work... That's not very professional advice for a doctor.

Roger: It's not like I'm saying love is a cure-all. So don't get discouraged if the nightmares don't go away, lil lady.

Roger: There are plenty of ways to treat the symptoms. Like the sleeping pills Al mentioned.

Roger: El has always refused to take them... but if Kate recommends them, he'll probably listen and take it.

Roger: There's also... the option of you seducing him and tiring him out so much that he doesn't even dream.

Kate: S-seduce him...?

Roger's fearless smile made me understand the meaning, and my face flushed instantly.

Alfons: If you don't know how to do it, I can teach you. In practice.

Kate: No need...!

While we were talking, we had arrived in front of my room.

Kate: Um... thank you both for the advice?

Alfons: Ah ha! Asking it as a question is quite hurtful.

Roger: If you need help, call us anytime. We'll charge you, but we'll lend a hand.

Alfons: Well, be careful not to get dragged down together in the nightmare.

-

After parting with the two, I closed the door to my room, filled with the pleasant scent of linen.

(It feels like I've come back after a long time...)

(Even if it's just a temporary lodging for a month... it's reassuring to think of it as my own room.)

I sat down on the bed and suddenly remembered Elbert's room.

(Seeing that room filled with beautiful things... what does Elbert think now?)

That room is a symbol of the days he spent giving up happiness and dedicating himself to atonement.

(I wonder if he feels like his wish to "be happy with me" was a mistake.)

My chest tightened.

(I'll wait for Elbert in front of that room again.)

(If he ever feels that way, I want to be by his side at that time.)

Suddenly, the rabbit plush toy Elbert gave me caught my eye.

(...That's right... maybe)

(The clue to fading his nightmares might be in that room.)

-

Victor: Now, shall we talk about the matter you didn't want Kate to hear?

Elbert: ...Yes.

Elbert: You said you obtained the Bernard Trading Company's client list...

Elbert: If you'll allow it, could I see that list?

Elbert: ...There's something I want to confirm.

William: The list is confidential, but Crown members are allowed to view it.

William seemed to have understood what would be requested from the beginning and took out a document from his pocket.

Elbert: ...Thank you.

William: The person you're looking for is on page 19.

Elbert: ...!

Elbert's blue eyes scanned over the numerous names listed in the document...

Elbert: ...........

They stopped on a certain name.

William: That's the name of the person who requested Kate's kidnapping.

Elbert: ...Jeffrey.

His voice was so faint, like a single raindrop falling in the dark night, that Victor's smile deepened.

Victor: ...Yes, your butler.

William: Among the clients listed,

William: Those who have repeatedly made malicious requests—especially those in positions to influence the judiciary—

William: As I said earlier, we plan to condemn them as Crowns in the future.

William: But as for him, a first-time offender with an attempted crime and not much power, we'll leave it to you to decide what to do.

William: ...What do you say?

Elbert: ...Yes.

Elbert: Thank you... Leave it to me.

-

In the end, I quickly left my room and stood in front of Elbert's door.

I had something in mind, holding the rabbit stuffed animal Elbert had given me before.

(Ah... he's coming!)

Kate: Lord Elbert.

Elbert: Kate...? Why are you here?

(Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've waited in front of his room... it's usually the other way around.)

I'm happy that I don't have to hide my feelings anymore, and my cheeks loosen up.

Kate: I wanted to be near you, so I was waiting for you.

Elbert: ...!

Kate: ...It's the opposite of before, isn't it?

Elbert: ...Ah.

Elbert: ...I'm... so happy.

The expression on his face is a mix of confusion and happiness, and it makes me feel affectionate.

(If he makes that face... I want to wait in front of his room every morning to see him wake up.)

Elbert: ...Please, come in.

Elbert opens the door to his room.

(This is the first time I've been in this room since... that day I was locked in)

Elbert: Are you scared to come in...?

Kate: Huh...?

Elbert: It's okay. ...From now on, I won't tie you up or lock you in... I'll be careful...

Elbert mutters so hesitantly that I can't help but laugh.

(That day... I was certainly hurt badly.)

(But it wasn't because I was locked up.)

At that time, I was sad and pained because I was overwhelmed by my powerlessness to save Elbert from his guilt.

(But I won't be crushed like that again.)

(Because Elbert wished to be happy together.)

Kate: I'm not scared. Besides...

(Now, it's rather...)

*Flashback*

Elbert: I don't want to let you go.

Elbert: Stay here.

*Flashback over*

Remembering the marks of his possessiveness etched into my skin and the feeling of his arms tightly wrapped around me, I found myself muttering.

Kate: If it's what you want to be happy... I don't mind being locked up again.

Elbert: ...

Kate: Ah... um, so, please don't worry- mmph!

I was robbed of my words by a sudden kiss.

Elbert pulled away with a reluctant sound, and muttered with a troubled look.

Elbert: ...Don't tempt me too much, Kate.

(...!?)

Kate: ...Y-Yes...

Feeling the heat rise to my neck, I hurriedly stepped into Elbert's room.

Elbert's room was still as quiet as the deep sea.

Kate: ...When I went back to my room earlier, I felt relieved even though it's just a temporary place to stay.

Kate: How about you, Lord Elbert?

Elbert: ...I don't really understand that feeling.

Elbert: But... compared to when I locked you up...

Elbert: Now that you've come in here of your own free will... I feel more at ease, I guess.

(...That's good.)

Elbert doesn't seem to be as guilt-ridden as I was worried about, and I feel relieved.

Kate: This is where you gave me this rabbit stuffed animal, wasn't it?

Elbert: Yes. I thought you were strange... wanting something like that.

The ribbon wrapped around the rabbit is still tied crookedly, just like when we first met, but that shape is more endearing than anything, enveloping it in a warm light.

Kate: If you don't mind... could you tell me about the things in this room, like you did with this rabbit?

Elbert: ...Why?

Kate: I want to know the feelings you've poured into them.

There's nothing for him among the things he's collected.

But I feel like his feelings for the collection are hidden everywhere.

Kate: Things that have feelings put into them have meaning.

Kate: And things that have meaning... I think they sometimes even have the power to change reality.

Kate: Like how you treasured the white seashell I gave you...

Kate: It made me not give up on being happy with you...

Elbert: ...Kate.

Kate: That's why I thought that if we could find something like that, maybe...

Kate: You could forgive yourself just a little bit.

Kate: And maybe there will come a night when the nightmares aren't nightmares anymore.

Elbert: ...

Elbert: ...You're still too kind.

Elbert looked around the room.

Elbert: I've forgotten why most of these things are here, or why I got them...

Elbert: ...But if I look at them with you, I might remember something.

Kate: Hehe, then let's explore together.

We continued our exploration, poking at fist-sized jewels and tilting our heads at mysterious sculptures.

(This reminds me of when we were looking for the blue poppy... hm?)

Kate: The contents of this shelf seem a little older than the others.

Elbert: It's in a secluded place, so... maybe Al was too lazy to sell them and left some old things behind...

(Ah... there were frames on the wall, but there's also a butterfly specimen here.)

In the back of the shelf, a slightly old specimen box was stored away as if forgotten.

Kate: This one feels a little... unfinished compared to the others.

Elbert: Ah, that's...

Elbert: Probably... the first specimen I made... I think...

Elbert stared at the box in my hand with a distant look in his eyes.

(...He's remembering something.)

Kate: That was... when?

Elbert: ...I don't know. It was when my mother was alive, so I must have been younger than six.

Kate: Why did you want to make it?

Elbert: ...It was strange.

Elbert: It's just a creature with legs and wings, like a caterpillar...

Elbert: But my mother, who hated caterpillars... didn't hate butterflies.

(I see...)

Elbert gently brushed the dust off the specimen.

The blue and white butterfly wings, reminiscent of a beautiful sea, became more vivid, and Elbert opened his mouth as if his memories had come back to life.

Elbert: Ah... I remember one more thing--

.

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Blind Love Chapter 22

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