Kallen looked at the Golden Retriever, who was taking a "hostile" stance toward the sea, then raised his head to look at the Kevin Puppet standing beside him and asked:
"Kevin, can't your Puppet talk?"
The Puer Puppet spoke. "His can't."
"Was that function left out?" Kallen asked in puzzlement. "Yours can talk."
Puer answered, "There's nothing wrong with the Puppet, but he just can't speak."
"Can't speak?"
"You could think of it as a restriction, or perhaps a curse."
Kallen shook his head. "But I've heard Kevin speak. That one time."
That time, Raniedal had tried to seize the opportunity to reclaim his body, only to be caught at Kallen's chest by the contingency his grandfather had prepared in advance, then sealed inside a dog's body by Mr. Hoffen.
"Maybe his state was different. Stupid Dog has a physical body now. When we got the Puppets to try out, he couldn't speak through his."
"Is that so? Was it a curse imposed by some god?"
Kevin turned his head to look at Kallen. He had been baring his teeth a moment earlier, but now wore an honest, simple smile. He even ran over to Kallen and rubbed against his leg.
"What does 'fundamentalist Sea God Church believers' mean?" Kallen brought the conversation back on topic.
"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!"
"Kevin says it's the oldest and purest method of advancement for Sea God Church believers. In the Sea God Church's mythology, the Sea God's original form was a sea beast, so his believers would transform their bodies to follow in his footsteps.
"They believed that only this way could they draw closer to the sea's emotions, sense its might, become more attuned to it, and comprehend the true meaning of the sea advocated by the Sea God.
"From