[ At that snort, Ardbert's eyes snap open as he reaches up to pull the half-eaten strawberry from his mouth by the leaves. In truth, he hadn't realized what sort of sounds he was making or how they might come across until Aria says something. And then she keeps going. ]

Why don't you try to eat something after tasting naught for a hundred years?

[ Don't actually do that. That would be terrible.

He heaves out a sigh and lets his arm drop to his side, but his exasperation is at least fond. ]

— That aside, we still need to sort out why this is all happening. [ This expression hardens into something more somber as he fixes Aria with a wary stare. ] We stopped Emet-Selch, but there are other Asicans from whence he came.

[ And while this is an unorthodox way of toying with them, Emet-Selch's methods had been out of the ordinary as well. ]