Part 66: Debbie Does Doraat

As far as Frey knows, it's just another pleasant day in Salzburg without any threat whatsoever of little sisters bearing down on him with the entire army of Falena in tow. He's going to read his mail.


Please stop making our agency investigate that woman in black. They always stick ME with the job! No matter how sneaky I try to be, she always catches on and gives me dirty looks! I've had it!

Have you considered the possibility that you may not be a very good ninja?


If she appears again, summon me at once. Am I understood?

I dunno. You may have to dumb it down a little.


Why did she call me "Lelcar Number 2"? What does that even mean? Please tell her to come explain.

I don't think anyone will be able to dumb that down sufficiently, though.


Why would Georg...? This has got to be some kind of mistake...

There are a few people around who'll mention the little... incident... yesterday, but most of them are like eh, what now?


Hmm, but I don't know anybody who reminds me of her. Maybe I saw a painting of her somewhere...

This guy isn't one of them, but I've been meaning to show him off for some time.

I won't write up anything about Georg yet. There's no way to verify those claims. I have to know the whole story. I'd have to be a wet-behind-the-ears rookie to believe everything people told me. An intrepid reporter writes the truth, not malicious lies and allegations!

You are so much better at this than the guy we had in IV.

My father really took to Georg in Nirva Island. And that tells me a lot about Georg's character. Say what you will about my father, but he never picked an ally you couldn't trust with your life. That's why I'm sure Georg couldn't have betrayed you, Your Highness.

But I think Bernadette's reaction to it is my favourite.


Are you sure the Godwins aren't spreading false rumors again?

They could have hypnotized Miakis without her noticing.

She may also be carrying FOXDIE.



Yes, yes, very nice, now let's get the hell out of here before you people depress me to death.



Doraat is big and angular and not very nice even when it's not overrun by random enemies.



For one thing, there are these huge ass walls everywhere. (Also new music if you're into that kind of thing.)



There's plenty of loot we ignored last time, though. This is a four person formation. This means you're missing a third of the party, and nothing it does can make up for that.


Er, don't get the wrong idea! I'm not going soft or anything! I think...

You're all right, soldier boy.


But, thanks to you, I can finally show my face and walk with my head held high! Thank you so much, Your Highness!

I don't think you have a face.


But there is so much bribery and corruption here, too! Are there no honest politicians...?

Nope! Not a single one.


When he heard that your army was on its way, he left in a flash! He's probably gone to Stormfist or Hershville.

I'm never going to get to meet Lord De Beers.



I like the way you think! Would you like a promotion?


Ah! Er, Your Highness! How are you, sir? Yes, just thinking about how great it is that you'll fix all the corruption!

You can start with this guy.



And then the guy who built this place. Fuck that guy.



Brave soldiers of Falena.


Some people say that you were behind the smoke. Your Highness! Is it true? Wait, don't tell me! It makes a good mystery! Without the smoke, the fighting would've been much worse! Lots of people would have died!

Now we're starting to get into the part we passed by on the first visit.



These guys...

Soldier (2): Cheers to the Prince's victory!

...seem to...

Soldier (3): Cheers to the Princess!

...have the right idea.

Merchant: Damn those rebels, trying to clean everything up and--
...Ah, if it isn't Your Royal Highness the Prince! A pleasure like none other! Anything I can do for you?

Jump in the river.

And sink.

Thanks.

Townsman: Aw, man! My girl ran off! I said I'd protect her and everything! But she just laughed at me and left...

Don't take it the wrong way, but you are an NPC.

Merchant (2): I wish the Godwins were still in town! If you had money, they'd cut you a sweet--
...Your Highness! Oh, I was just... badmouthing the Godwins! My favorite pastime! Damn the Godwins!

With friends like you, I'm not sure they need us.


Huh?! Oh! Y-Your H-Highness! Didn't see you there! Thank you for liberating Doraat, Prince! We're so grateful! You'll break up all the monopolies in this town, won't you?

Do you own the armour store in town? Because it sucks. Some competition would be good for the place.


It was a lot easier than we could have possibly imagined!

Yes, things tend to turn out that way once I get involved. It's a gift.



goddammit doraat stop that shit right this instant



I should try to remember to show this off at some point, I guess.


We're all your willing servants now! We're going to support you from the bottom of our hearts!

I'm not sure you have hearts.

Soldier: Most of the soldiers in Miakis' unit surrendered without a fight. They're even saying it's a relief to surrender! Being forced to fight against your will would do that, I guess!

No shit?



All that's left is the fortress. Triple Harmony is Strength, Agility, and Vitality, so basically all the good physical skills.


Oh, I wish I could have seen them in battle! I bet they're spectacular! ...Miakis' moves, I mean!

Sure you do.



We heard about this earlier but Doraat is west of Lelcar. Now that we've taken over the place, the bridge has been fixed so we can walk between them if we care. We probably shouldn't.



Normally this is where you'd get the orange Hurfadurf Elf. I spent like 30 minutes trying to find the little fucker before I remembered that I already had it. Call me an idiot. Then enjoy this picture of Frey very narrowly avoiding being mauled by a giant killer tiger.



This guy is the miniboss for the area. He's not quite as dangerous as he looks; blast him with Circle in the first round and a unite in the second and he goes down without getting a hit in.



Alternately you can do a unite and then cast a spell, and it'll accomplish the same thing. Magical Pieces are quite magical. I want all the magical pieces.



The questionable statue was an "angel statue." It's questionable indeed. I think I liked the old one better.



Since I wanted to grind some drops in the area, I picked up some more party members. With Byakuren recruited, we also get a couple more large character formations.



This one is actually somewhat useful.



Oh, and then there's this. It's the Power Rune, except for magic!



This is a second level spell.



This is a first level one. Not bad against a tanky miniboss.



Pine bonsai. It's one of the drops from the area.



Oh, and apparently the problem was I hadn't actually harvested the vegetables yet OOPS I am not having a clever day.

Now Retso will be able to cook up something absolutely marvelous!

And apparently so he can.



That actually looks like a menu! Colour me surprised.



Enough with the faffing about. Next up, we're going to nab our optional recruits.



Are these the same skeletons we fought last time? I neither remember nor care.



This guy's new, though. And fast. He got a hit in before Lyon and Frey turned him into a stew and a hat.



Here's what we're looking for.

By the way, I sensed a strong magical signal to the west... Could it be...
...The Twilight Rune... and the Star Rune perhaps? Have you some connection to those Runes, as well?

He certainly seems well informed.

Wait, you need not answer. Hmph... This calls for immediate action.
Bergen! Stop your damn digging already!

Huh?! But why, Master?! What about the magic? I wanna see more magic!

Quit your whining! It's embarrassing! If we follow this young man, there will be much greater magic to see!

Y-You're kiddin'! Will it be as craaazy as your magic?! I'm there! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!


I'll give you the honor of being called my friend. It's a very generous gesture, I think!

Double star combo, Levi and some dude no one cares about.

Now, please. Lead the way!



Four words describe Levi perfectly: "too little, too late." I suppose it's nice that he gets A ranks, but there's very little reason to ever use him at this point. He's mostly useful for the runes he comes with...



...and the fact that we now fucking finally have a proper tutor. No more swapping characters in and out of the party to get everyone up to scratch!

This castle seems to have some connection to your Rune... Ah, no matter! My specialty is Rune magic, not ruins!

Holding Levi back so long is a Bad Design Decision. And he's more or less a worse Zerase anyway, so there's really no excuse. Though, they could very easily have solved most of the problem by making Zerase a proper tutor, at least up until the big rock appears.

Speaking of runes though, Levi does come with a rare-ish one.

Pale Gate
1: Open Gate - 100 damage; 30% Instant Death / cluster
2: Royal Passage - 350 damage / one enemy
3: Pale Palace - 600 damage / all enemies
4: Empty World - 900 non elemental damage / all enemies AND 90 non elemental damage / all allies

Some swear by the Pale (previously Blue) Gate. I've never seen the appeal, personally. Elemental diversity is nice in theory, but you only have so many equipment slots. Boosting three elements just for one rune takes space and effort, and of course there's the old "power with a cost requires you to have power" thing I may have gone on about a few times before. A 900 damage attack that hurts my entire party at a point where I can be casting Final Flames (1.3 times the power of Empty World with no drawbacks!) is just plain Not Worth It.

That said if you do want to use the Pale Gate, Levi's multiple A ranks make him a pretty good candidate for it.


(You can make out a few words here and there, but don't know what they mean.)

All that running around has given people a chance to write more letters!


I would like to ask your permission to exact final retribution on Gavaya and cast his loathsome corpse into the lake. That lowborn thug dared insult the great Lady Isabel! He deserves no less than immediate death.

Request denied, because A, I'm using him right now and you should wait your turn, and B, do you want to explain to the giant snake why we're polluting her lake?

(Speaking of whom, Levi is the second character who can recruit Byakuren. She'll show up once every 20 recruits until you recruit her, but of course there are limited recruits so if you beat her up the last time without having Levi or Genoh, she's gone for good.)


Thanks to Your Highness, that girl is really excited about being able to help everybody out here in the castle. I haven't seen Shun Min this happy since before my wife passed away. Your Highness has my thanks.




Those two start fighting the moment they see each other. Shigure always seems listless, but he sure flares up when he sees Nakula. I'd really like them to get along while they're here.

How about we just keep them as far apart as possible? I don't get spares if my stars start killing each other.


Your Highness didn't even try on that last costume I thought up! How insulting! But this one is my best work yet!! Your Highness won't be a fashion fiasco after wearing THIS!
Ready? Ta-dah!



...no, no, no...