Part 25: Chapter 5-3: Plants and Puppets

Part 5-3: Plants and Puppets

Hey, girls! I’ve thought of another wonderful new idea.


Roger’s Money Tree

You’ll do it! Great, thank you! I knew you would!

Ugh!

How many bullets do I have left? I guess I’ll only need one, anyway…

I’m sorry, I got carried away again! But this time it really is a great idea!

Huh. I guess we can at least hear you out…

Thank you! Now, then. Have you ever heard of a tree that grows golden fruit? It’s just an idiom, normally, but alchemy can make it real! What I’ve come up with is a tree that blooms with Coll every day!



Hahahaha! My daughters, true to their greedy desires! I like it!

Hmm. That sounds a bit too good to be true… I can see this going really wrong!

Here we go, then! Get ready for your next test from me!



If this works out, we’ll all be rich! For our bright, gold-filled future, go get to work!

Lydie! Dad just needs lots and lots of wood, right? We’ve got plenty of that in storage from beating wood golems in the Great Woods, so we can just fork it over!

Alright, Sue… let’s see how this works out.


Roger Inspiration Condition: give Roger 18 Kifa.

That was incredible, girls! Hahaha! You’ve stirred up my creative soul!



We just have to sit back and wait for Dad to do his thing, then.

Bah… I can’t wait when it comes to his money tree! I gotta hand it to him, being able to make something like that!

Later on…



It’s divine! This is the Gold Tree, that blooms with Coll? Mmmmmm… Haha, something’s wrong with my mouth!

Sue, you’re slobbering everywhere!

Hah! Sorry. I just lost every sensibility, faced with this marvel.

Ah! Look! It’s starting to bloom!

What! Look at all that! Incredible. We’ll be rich in no time, like this!

Uwah! You’re right, this is a fantastic invention!

What did I say? My idea was perfect!

3000 Coll received.

Wait! Tell me. Do you need to water this tree?

Nope, no water needed. It uses a very special fertilizer. Gold.

Excuse me?



What! 100,000 Coll? That puts us completely in the red, no matter how you think about it!

Hmmm, that’s a good point. Huh, another screw up!

Hah! I can’t even get angry. Dad, go and dump this tree somewhere. …Don’t give me that look! I mean, come on! A tree that will drink all our cash? This is literally the last thing we need around here!

What?! You can’t throw it away! This is a tree, struggling for life… huh? Is something burning?



Burn it with fire! If you have to hate someone over this, tree, then hate our dad!

Lydie! Hey! What are you doing? Stop it! Hey, stop it! Hey!

Whew! Crisis averted! Finances salvaged! But the house reeks of smoke now, though… let’s go and take a nice, long stroll, Sue!

Sure thing! Hmm, how about to Fritz and Drossel’s?


Their First Puppet Show

Hey, girls. Great timing.

Hehehe. We didn’t get to show you yet, did we? But now we’re ready! Time to put on a show!

Really? Yes, we want to see it! Go ahead!

Good, good! Hahaha! Time to raise the curtain, Drossel!

You said it! Time to prove what we can do, Dad!

Fritz and Drossel walk over to some boxes with puppets in them.

What about you, little Plachta? Ah, your eyes are sparkling again today!

What about you, Fritz? Ah, you’re looking just dandy! Can I get a kiss?



It’s like they’ve become different people!

No, we haven’t! That’s not what’s happening here!

That’s right! Nothing odd here!

Now, open your eyes wide and watch closely!

This is our heartfelt puppet show!

One puppet show later…

And they all lived happily ever after! That’s the end of our show!

Phew. What did the two of you think?

It was great fun! I’m still so excited!

Me too! That was much more thrilling than I expected!

Good, good. Haha, they liked it, Dad!

Yeah. We’ll put on another show anytime you want to see one! Come again any time!

We will! Thank you so much!

The twins leave.

Hahaha, that was fun, wasn’t it, Sue? The two of them are a bit odd though, aren’t they?

That’s a “yes” on both counts! Nice people, though. Hehe! Let’s go and see another show soon!

For now, the smoke should have cleared from our atelier. Let’s go home.

The next morning…


The Church Social

Ah! I know what that means!

That’s right! It’s time for the church gathering!

The twins depart immediately.



Hey, it’s Sister Grace. I think it’s about to start! This is exciting!

All of you good little boys and girls! Hello!

Hello!

…Eh? Who is this woman and what did she do with Sister Grace?

You seem really happy! I’m happy too, kids! What have I got to show you today? This!



S-Sister? W-W-What’s going on here?

Let’s do this! “Carefree Palul and Easygoing Polul”!

Another puppet show later…

Hahaha! The puppets were so funny!

Yeah! I want to see it again!

Uwah! Palul! I’m so happy Polul finally saw your point of view!



Hehe. It looks like you enjoyed yourselves?

Sister Grace! That was amazing! Palul is my new hero! I can’t stop crying!

Like I told you. My puppet shows are something special.

You’re right. It was totally different from anything I’ve seen before… The show, and you too…

Did you get a personality transplant or something? You were charged with energy!

Ah… That reminds me, I need to go and tidy up.

You can’t run from this line of questioning! We will get to the bottom of this!

V-Very well. I actually love puppets and puppet shows. I have loads of them in my room that I’ve made. I was just so happy to put on that show…

That your emotions got the best of you. I see.

Now I’m all embarrassed about it… It feels like my face is on fire!

Hahaha, don’t worry about it! You were lovely, Sister Grace!

That’s right. The show was a big success, too. I’m looking forward to the next one already.

Hehe, I’ll give it some thought. Thank you for coming today, anyway!

The twins leave.

Hey, Lydie! Wanna go to Soleil Street? I got the feeling we’ll find something great there!

Sure thing! Let’s go!

There, the twins chance upon…


The Puppetmaster’s Passion

Huh? Sue, did you hear anything?

Nope, not a thing…

Hahaaha!

There! What was that sound? The wind?

No, it can’t be the wind. It sounds more like a ghost!

Ah, I’ve been doing so well not thinking about ghosts! Not here in the city, surely!



Ah, Mr. Fritz! A ghost! There’s a ghost somewhere around here!

A ghost? Oh dear, have I done it again?

Excuse me?

Come in.

But the ghost I heard was from your house! …But I don’t see any ghosts…

That’s because…

What! You’re the ghost, Mr. Fritz?

Yes. Well, I’m not actually a ghost, but the voice you heard was definitely me.



Huh. You look so cool when you stay silent, Mr. Fritz, but then you start talking about dolls…

I know, right? Drossel changes in the same way…

That’s right! We simply love dolls, that’s all!

Oh no! Looks like we switched him on again!

We travel around, because we want to make puppets and perform the ultimate puppet show! Our dream is to move the hearts of all, and spread wide the wonder of puppet theater!



W-Wow… I hope your dream will come true. Hahaha…

Ah! Sorry, I’m doing it again!

D-Don’t worry about us! We’re getting used to it now…

Ah! I’m being given the cold shoulder already? I need to do something about this habit!

Yeah, well… see you later, Mr. Fritz!

Anyway, we should probably take on some more requests.

Right! It’ll prove our worth, and put some more dough and rare materials in our pockets.

The twins go to the Castle Plaza, where they find…


The Playwright’s Autograph

Ah, I have a copy of your book, “Created Eyes”… Could you please sign it for me?

Yes, of course. Like this?

That’s lovely! I’ll treasure this forever! Thank you so much, Drossel!



Lucia seemed really excited! What was that all about?

Oh, you saw that?

Yes, we did. You signed something for her?

Have you published a book, Drossel? You did say that you write things, right?

Sorry, girls, can you give me some room? I’m still not used to all this attention…

Ah! Sorry…

Haha! Lydie can’t help but get like this around authors.

No worries! But yes, I did have a book published a while back. It’s called “Created Eyes”. It was pretty well-received, so sometimes I get fans coming up to me like that.

Wow, really? What kind of book is it?

Ready for this? A romance about puppets in a puppet shop! Forbidden love between puppets from rival shops is the best part, I think.

Hahaha, you certainly have a theme, don’t you! Right, Lydie?



Really? Of course, I’ll give you a copy!

Great! Thank you! I’ll read it as soon as I get home!

It’s no good… She’s got the bug already. These bookworks, I don’t know what to do with them! Although I’m wondering about it myself now… I’ll just have Lydie tell me what it’s about later. After we choose our requests from the Notice Board!

Meanwhile, at the Garden of Merk…

Wow! The ultimate beauty! Hey, hello there!

You mean me?


Mathias picks up Liane

Oh, my! How lovely! I’m sorry, but I already have someone whom I love very much.

You do? Then what cursed trick of fate is this! If only we had met just a little bit sooner! Who is it, then? Tell me the name of the fiend who stole your heart!

No problem. It’s my sister!

Oh. Great. I’m real happy for… wait.



Hold on. Your sister?

Yes! She’s as cute as can be! She feels so good to hug and she smells so nice! She’s so naive and innocent, but recently she’s been trying to look more mature! Ah, which is even cuter, you know, I just want to protect her from the entire world! Ah! Just talking about her has made me want to see her again! Firis! Firis, I’m coming!



Ah, I finally understand. That’s the sister of Firis who I’ve heard so much about. She’s just as passionate! Like big sister, like little sister, I guess. Hahaha! …I can’t even feel sad over this anymore!