Part 14: Part XII: Hear the Voice of a Girl

Part XII: Hear the Voice of a Girl



No whining. You technically are an alchemist, right? Is there a particular part you don't understand?

I can just barely understand the introduction. Everything from Chapter 1 on is beyond me.

The introduction is just the prologue! So you basically can't understand any of it!? Well, it is a magic book, so I guess that's only natural... Okay! I'll teach you step by step... So, the first this part is...

Bell taught me from the book. I guess she can be a teacher, too, even though she's so young. Her knowledge of magic is really incredible.

And that's roughly it. Got it?

Yeah, more or less... By the way... This is your task, right? Is it okay for me to be doing it?

It's fiiine. We get to choose our tasks, so we're free to do anything!

R-Really?

Really. Besides, I think it's pretty arrogant to try to solve everything all by yourself! Isn't it impossible for one person to have full knowledge of all the innumerable truths of the world? Even if she is the world's greatest witch... So, asking people for help is an excellent means of accomplishing things.



Anyways, as long as this task is completed, the process of making it won't come into question. I think...

I-Is that so...?

As long as she doesn't find ou- ...I mean, nothing! Whatever the case, this is my first step to becoming the greatest and best witch in the world. So let's work hard together! Okay? Then, your name will go down in history... As the best friend of Wilbell, the Great Witch!

I-In history? That'll just make me bashful and embarrassed...

There's no reason to be bashful. Let's proceed with our heads held high!

Hahaha, o-okay.

Well, let's stop here for today. We still have a long way to go! Let's continue this next time!

(Hmm, I hope this is okay. I hope Bell doesn't get scolded for it later. But the contents of this book are really interesting. I think I'd like to study it a bit more.)

If it's for Bell, I'd gladly do it... But I still think she should do her tasks herself. Anyway, this book is really interesting. I can probably learn a lot about alchemy from it. I hope... I should probably go to Mr. Fred's. I'm getting pretty hungry after studying with Bell for so long.



Hmhm, freshly baked bread is the best. Although, the bread you sell here is always delicious.

Hahaha, that's a great compliment for a baker. It took me a long time to be able to open my own shop, but I'm so glad I kept working hard...! *sniff*

Huh? Mr. Fred! Wh-What's wrong?

Someone else likes what I like. I couldn't ask for more...

I see. You really do like bread.



And the history of bread is the history of humanity!

H-Huh...?

By the time humans developed civilization, people were already eating bread! That's right! For thousands of years, humans have experienced many difficulties and hardships! And bread has always existed alongside those humans. Bread was the foundation that allowed them to stay alive! As a way to eat grains deliciously... As an easy way to provide a long-lasting, portable food... It is almighty! No other food is superior to this! And I shall continue to devote my life to baking bread! ...I got a little too passionate there. Thank you for listening to my entire story.

A-Amazing... I've never thought about bread to that extent before. It makes me feel weird to think that people in the past ate the same kind of bread as this.

Isn't it!? I think about that all the time.

I'm so lucky to be able to eat the bread that you bake, Mr. Fred.

No. Having you and the other people of this town eat my bread is my greatest pleasure. I know! To thank you for all the happiness, let me throw in a bonus for you...!

No, that's okay. You've given me plenty of free bread before, so I'll pay for it myself!

Wow...I knew Mr. Fred was passionate about bread, but we even think the same about bread. Amazing...

Just as a note, there's a number of scenes with Fred in them, but there's nothing special to making new scenes trigger. Every time you get back to Vierzeberg, just stop by the bakery to see if something new comes up. There's no real reward to getting all the Fred scenes other than a CG (and a trophy if you don't have it), but hey, I'm trying to do a completionist run.





Speaking of contests, we have the second one, obviously. Second contest. Not much to say in this contest, except I ended up absolutely smoking Harry, 527.2 to 705.7 (Wilbell and Linca weren't even on the radar. Harry will be the runner-up in nearly every contest, unless he gets really unlucky. That 5000 Cole will really come in handy for getting recipe books.) It's a bit surprising to me because I thought it was going to be super close, and I was even prepared to lose.

After I won the contest, Bell wanted to keep teaching me from the book. I'm starting to get the hang of it, but it's still pretty tough.



Yeah. Thanks to you, I'm finally starting to understand this! Bell, you're so good at teaching. You're like a real teacher.

Hehe, really? You can praise me all you want!

Umm, well...Bell, you're so good! Bravo.

Hehe, really? ...Wait, that's not it! That makes it sound like I was the one being taught... Well, you're able to understand most of the things in this book now, right?

Yup, so all that's left is to make the Madder Holy Iron!

Try to do it soon, please. Do you think you can do it by tomorrow?

T-Tomorrow? I don't know... But I'll try my best to do it as fast as I can.

Hehe, thanks! I'll be waiting!

(Madder Iron... I wonder if I can really make it...? I guess I better give it a try...)

Hm...it probably wouldn't be too much of a problem to do it after I go back to Riesengang. I'm sure Bell is worried about other things at the moment. A working man?



Wh-What's wrong? Are you hungry again?

Has your image of me solidified as a starving young man? That's cruel, too, in its own way. I am certainly hungry, but... That's not the problem. Right now, I'm grieving over my misfortune for, being abandoned by the goddess of music. She's not blowing a wind with a new melody to me...

But, I'm sure you've been working hard, so it'll come to you some day...

But when will that day come? As I continue to wait, the seasons continue to come and go... O, Ayesha, I beg of you! Please take me to a place where the wind blows...

(A place where the wind blows...? I-I wonder if he wants me to take him to a cliff...)



Oh, hey, Ayesha. How've you been? Huh? Who's this person...?

Who, me? I'm Ranun. I'm a seeker of sounds.

(Huh? That was a very simple introduction compared to mine...)

Uh, sounds...?

And, who are you? Won't you introduce yourself after asking for my name?

I'm Ernie! I do trading for a living. I've also known Ayesha for a long time.

Oh, what a coincidence. I've been in Ayesha's care multiple times, as well.

C-Care!?

There is no need for a useless obstacle to come between us. Right, Ayesha?

Um, I'm not really sure...

Ayesha, can I have a word with you? That person is no good. I'm getting a seriously bad vibe from him.

Huh? Really?

Yeah, there's no doubt about it. My intuition is rarely wrong.

That can't be true. Sure, he's a little different, but... He doesn't work so that he can put all his effort into music.

That's weird! In short, he doesn't work, and he's always just wandering around, right?

I think it's more of...he's always trying to come up with new music.

A life without contributing to society is meaningless! Is it possible that he doesn't even have a house?

(I've never seen Ernie react to anyone like this...)



Ranun, I understand your situation. You must be in a lot of trouble, right?

What? You're right. I'm in trouble because there weren't any sounds of the wind, but... There's a part of me that thinks my agony might make me look cool...

Hm...Ranun is kind of strange. How can agony make you look cool?

I don't know about sounds or the wind, but other than that... I believe I can help you instead of Ayesha.

Huh? You? Hmhmhm, I'll pass. I'm getting a bad feeling about this. Yes, something about the compatibility of our wavelengths, and that is something I cherish the most.

I don't admire how you use such a childish system for the basis of your social relationships. I believe that what connects people to each other is a well-grounded relationship based on mutual trust.

Hmhmhm, I wonder on what grounds he determines what is well-grounded...

(Oh, I get it! Ernie and Ranun have a totally opposite way of life! Now that I think about it, they're like oil and water. Hmm...what should I do?)



By my senses, I'm perfectly fine. I've already got full control of them.

There's no reason to hesitate. Come on, let's go.

(Ohhh, I hope this ends up okay...)

I wonder if I should do anything...this might be a good experience for Ranun, but maybe their ways of life are just incompatible...I guess I'll just have to see.



Actually, I forgot I got Power Pour at alchemy level 25. This is an interesting skill. What that description means for you is that if you activate Power Pour, then select an item, you obtain the effects (but not the Effects. That's different) of the item, but the item is still selectable on the ingredients list. So, let's say you want to bump up an item's Wind gauge a lot, to get a specific Effect, at the expense of any other ingredient. Just use Power Pour to select the item with a high Wind value, and choose that ingredient over and over again.

It can also be used in reverse. Let's say, for whatever reason, you do not want to add a specific ingredient. Just use Power Pour over and over on other ingredients so the cost of the item is too high, and you simply can't obtain the effects of that specific ingredient. To obtain good items, it's necessary to experiment with all sorts of ways of creating items, and you can highly customize something depending on what ingredients you use, what skills you use, and the order you add ingredients.

This particular synthesis put me over the top for level 30, meaning I can now make the Nimbus Stone and get two more alchemy skills, Score Bonus and Unleashing. The former increases the power of the item depending on how high the score is (which seems to be related to the quality of ingredients chosen), and Unleashing upps the properties number from three to five, the maximum. At least one good thing with having to level up to make items is that Ayesha will never, ever fail a synthesis. You never have to worry about that.




I should get going to Riesengang. If this Nimbus Stone works, I'll be able to make the rainflower bloom. According to the book I got from the Zweiteturm, that's another of the special flowers that might lead me to Nio.



This ruin is amazing... We don't even have a structure this big back home. It seems like it's been completely abolished, but I wonder if this area used to be a center for alchemy...

Marion, shall we get going?

Going? But we just got here. The real investigation starts now.

However, I mean...

Oh, sorry. You don't like heights.

I can eat any food, and I can fight anyone or anything, but... I still do not like high places.

If you want, you can just go over there and take a rest.

No, I will not leave your side. I am your bodyguard.

Even so, you're looking pretty pale. I'll just take a closer look and... Huh?

Someone is coming.



Oh, it's you. You surprised me...

I am relieved...

Huh? Did I scare you two?

Don't worry. Linca won't be of much use today, so I was just on high alert. This place doesn't have anything out of the ordinary, but it's very interesting. I wonder how they were able to make such a big structure...

People from the past were amazing. If this place didn't exist... Riesengang and my workshop would've been cutoff from the outside world.

That's right... A structure as big as this is being treated like it's just a road... Riesengang is just a stone quarry right now, and they don't seem to care about the relics of the past. If you can put things from the past to good use, the quality of life around here would increase dramatically.

Hmm, I've never thought about that before. I think everyone is satisfied with their lives now. It's not the easiest, but as long as you don't try to live in luxury, you'll be fine.

To live modestly with what you have now... I guess that's one way to go. I guess there's no limit if you keep looking up.

Just like success for an official.

Yup. A gofer will always be a gofer, no matter how hard I work! Oh, darn it! I don't feel like working now! It's not like my salary is increasing, either!

Umm, so why are you investigating the ruins?

Hmm, it's kinda like an investigation for an investigation. First, I have to investigate which ruins have what. I'm investigating worthwhile ruins and reporting them to the experts who'll come in the future.

I see. So you're doing all the backstage preparations...

Seriously. Even I think I'm doing a tedious job, but someone has to do it.

I know perfectly well that you are a brilliant person, Marion.

Hmhm, thanks. I guess I can't pout after hearing that... Well, let's do a bit more work then.

Understand. Ayesha, we will see you later.



(Being an official is a hard job. I need to at least try not to get in their way.)

Even if they're helping me, I guess all my friends really are doing things that don't involve me. But I'm so thankful they all can help me...I have to do everything I can to help them, too.



Now, where in my bag did I put it...? Ah, here it is. Yah!



I don't know where in the valley it'll bloom, so I better start looking.

I haven't seen it rain in Dry Valley for a really long time. I better not use the Nimbus Stone anywhere else, but is there anything alchemy can't do? I wonder if there are any limits... Falling rain and rising hope.



Huh? I smell alcohol... Does that mean the flower bloomed? *sniff* *sniff* I think it's coming from over here. I better go check it out. Oh... Nio! Nio!

Oh, Sis, what are you doing here?

Nio! So you know who I am!? I wonder how many years it's been since I've heard your voice! I'm so glad I believed everything Mr. Keith told me... Nio, I've been looking for you! What are you doing here?

Well, these flowers bloomed in Dry Valley, so I came to take a look. Hrmm...Sis, those flowers are so pretty...

You knew the flowers bloomed? You can see this side from over there?

Hmm, I don't really know... Besides...Sis...I'm sleepy...

Have you not been sleeping well...?

Hrm...it's just so warm and fluffy here...hrm... It just feels so nice and warm, like sunshine... Oh, no...I'm getting...very...sleepy...

Wait! I still wanna talk to you! Nio, don't go!



She disappeared... Nio, where in the world could you be...? Oh, that's right! I should collect a glowing flower before I forget...

*sniff* It might be the rain, but it's been so long since I heard her voice, I can't help but cry a little. I really hope I can find her soon... As long as I keep gathering flowers, I'm bound to see her more. But I still need to find where she is. I don't know how far away she is, but it seems whenever she goes back to sleep, she disappears from where the blooming flowers are. I hope she can stay awake longer next time.

Actually, I should back to Riesengang for a new dress. Walking in the lake bed has made it all dirty.



Hmm, to be able to meet you here, fate truly does reward me generously at times.

Hello, Ranun. I have a workshop here, too, so I come here from time to time.

Oh, what a coincidence. My workplace is actually here, too.

I see. I didn't know that. What do you usually do for work?

Have I not told you before? I play songs about the stars and the sky, and I wander about.

Th-That's right...but can you tell me more about that?



As a poet, I am like a floating weed. So in a sense, this whole land is my workplace. However, that's only one side of my job. I admire the flower and grass, and appreciate the dirt and rocks...

So your job is to admire and appreciate things?

You could say that, yes. On this barren and splendid land, I perform my music and poetry with all my love. I consider it my duty to deliver them for future generations to enjoy.

Traditional music? That's a lovely idea.

Hmhmhm, thank you. Now I guess I'll get to work. Would you like to stay and listen?

Wow, yes. Your music is very lovely.

Hmhmhm, this is all I have. Now then...