Part 115: Priorities

So, the final dungeon is up.


Lucky for us, there's a teleport glyph to get inside it.

Warp to the vessel?




Beam me up, Scotty.


...Or detour to the Graveyard first, whatever.

Yeah.
Do you think you'll find it? The answer?



And soon too.
That's good. So will you tell me next time I see you?
You got it.
Good.


And then Jeanne disappears. Yuri won't be seeing her again for a while.


With that out of the way, we get taken back to our regularly scheduled adventure, already in progress.


You've got to admit, this series does its final dungeons with style.

Jeez, it's huge!
It's like being inside a star...
It's so beautiful...

Yuri ruining the moment in 3...2...1...





So, all we've gotta do is find our way through the maze, kill Kato and go home.


But first...


It's sidequest time! I'm sure we'll get back in plenty of time. What could go wrong?


Our first stop is in Yokohama, near the inn where Naniwa was staying. For the most part, the sidequests can be done in any order. I'll note the ones that have requirements other than "final dungeon is up and you stepped inside for good measure".

Uzawa: Give my quiz a try! If you get all the questions right, I'll give you a prize. Not much chance of that though! He he!


There are very few monsters that Yuri hasn't skinned and worn as a hat by now, and none of those are in this guy's quiz.


As usual we're given ten questions randomly chosen from a list of about 50 or so. Answer:  Pollux 


A:  A skull 


A:  A piece of red cloth 


A:  A girl 


A:  Master Cylinder 


A:  Flying Drone 


A:  A dog 


A:  Andre 


A:  Pera-pera 


A:  Liquor 



You got Steel Egg

Steel Egg is Anastasia's second-best weapon.


And now, let's go ahead and finish the Trading quest. There are two people who will take the rice; the first is the starving guy in Le Havre.

Food? Not really, only this moldy old rice. Maybe that's what you can smell.

Mahone: Moldy rice?! That's my favorite! Let me have it, pleeeease!


No way. That's disgusting,

Mahone: Then I won't show you what I was gonna show you! I'm so hungry, though!

It was just a Fifth Key, anyway.


The other guy that will take the rice is in the inn in Southampton.

Fleming: Huh? What's that moldy smell?

Oh, sorry! It's me. I mean, I'm carrying this around with me.

Fleming: Rice-grown mold, huh? That takes me back... I was doing research into that up until a few months ago... ...Will you let me have that? I'll swap it for this Research Paper.

That's weird; no one's ever told us what they'll give us in return before.



Fleming: Just one thing. Please don't give that paper to anybody except someone you really trust, okay? If the wrong person gets ahold of it, it could destroy the world. I'm not exaggerating, okay? I'm serious...

You got Research Paper

So now we just have to figure out what to do with this paper.


We can get rid of it right here in Southampton by talking to the guy who started the Trading quest.



Nah, it hasn't been going well. Somehow, all I ended up with is this Research Paper.

Himovic: Research paper? Do you mind if I take a look? What is this all about, then...? Oh, my god! W-what are you doing with this?! Where did you get it?!

Some guy gave it to me. He's doing research into mold or something.

Himovic: I see... I thought it was just rumors, but it really did exist after all. Would you consider letting me have this? I'll buy it from you. Just name the price.

Really? Okay then, 100,000 Cash for you!

Himovic: Very well. 100,000 it is!

What?! You're gonna pay up?! I was just joking, you know...


The money is nice, but it's not like cash is exactly hard to come by in this game.

Himovic: If it's not enough, just name your price! How about 200,000? Or 300, if you want!

Yeah, this guy seems a little too desperate. Let's check out the area around the Cathedral in Paris.


Huh, I don't remember this woman being here before...


It's Margarete!











Shhh! Don't call me by that name! I'm undercover!
Do you...know this person, Yuri?



Huh? No, no! No, we just met a couple of times in the past. I can't believe it, bumping into you here!
That's my line! I never heard anything from you. I was worried something happened to you.



Yeah, well, you know. What about you, Sonny Boy, with all these friends? Don't tell me...?
He he! Yeah, that's right.
You haven't changed either! If only I wasn't working, I'd say let's go get coffee or something, but...
I know, you're busy. We'll bump into each other again.
Guess so... Glad to see you looking so well. We'll talk next time, okay?


Yuri and Karin start to walk away when Margarete notices something.

Huh?! W-wait a minute! What's that document you've got?!
What, this? Some guy who likes mold gave it to me.
He gave it to you?! That's a British Intelligence Services envelope, isn't it? Let me see!



Um... Not exactly.


It's nice to see that some things never change.

Why? What's the matter?
This is a report about a unique bacteria that's harmful to humans! It's not about saving the world, you know!
You're kidding! That sounds pretty serious!
It is serious! How do you always end up in the middle of a mess?! Okay, look, I'd better take this off your hands. Okay?!


We better do what she says. Margarete is scary when she doesn't get her way.

Okay, leave it with me! I'll dispose of it properly. Oh, yeah! I guess you could use this if you're still getting yourself into trouble.

You got Nemesis Fan

What is it?
Apparently, it's called a battle fan. I "borrowed" it from the boss of this secret organization a little while ago. She was one hell of a big shot. Really full of herself. So I thought I'd cut her down to size. I couldn't figure it out, but it's got quite a story behind it, I think.
Okay. Thanks.
Don't worry about it. Let's call it a loan. Okay, I'd better be getting back. And, Yuri! Don't do anything stupid, okay?!
He he! I hear ya! Okay...see you, then!


And now we have Lucia's ultimate weapon as a reward for completing the Trading quest. You can also buy this from the Junk Shop here if you screw up the quest, but it's very expensive. If that happens you also miss out on meeting Margarete and on getting a "special" item for Karin later.


Speaking of Karin, now that the final dungeon is open and we have more than 10,000 steps on the Pedometer, it's time to go back to Florence.

You got Microskirt


And we now have Karin's ultimate armor. The best part is, Rooney gives it to you without taking any of your points so you can still spend them. I bought an Ultra Belt.


While we're here, fatty actually has something new to say.

Nero: I know of this treasure. You could steal it and sell it off. It's a sure thing! It's got a lot of history. Look, if I tell you any more, I might get a ghostly curse put on me. What d'you wanna do?



Nero: Nerves of steel! Great! Things would be pretty dull otherwise, right?! So... It's this huge mirror that vibrates with the voice of a ghost. They say an evil demon'll come out if you look in. Apparently, it's hidden away in some old fort in Bretagne in France. Well, wanna test your nerves?!

Hmm...