Bahamut Lagoon Part #19 - Byuu's Journal: Entry Nine

Part 19: Byuu's Journal: Entry Nine

23rd day, 4th month, 2 years since the fall of Kahna

After we defeated the enemy forces on the floodplain, Taicho took a moment to visit his wife's grave before we entered the town proper.

It's hard to tell, but I think that defeating Lestat did some good for his heart.

If you think about it, it's very puzzling that someone like Taicho came from a place like Mahal. How do you reconcile such a place with a knight like Taicho?

I suppose it could be a reflection of his sincerity and dedication, a reflection of the characteristic personality of people from Mahal directed toward a martial aim.

Off in the distance we could see the Rainbow Bridge... it's legendary for granting wishes under certain conditions, and for those conditions never actually appearing. When you think about it, it's really not much good.

When we entered the town it was a ghost town. Matelite said that it was because of the empire's attack, but something seems sinister about this. Could the people have abandoned Mahal afterward?

Sendak and Matelite left me and Lukia to look around while they went to go look after Taicho. Lukia seems curiously affected by this place..

I suppose the emptiness is just getting to her.

Something is definitely off. Who leaves town and leaves their wine stash? And how do soldiers attack a town and leave alcohol alone?

As soon as I tried to look inside a house I was practically run over by someone who appears to know Lukia.

I can't help but think that there's some kind of history here, although Lukia is definitely keeping her distance.

Lukia's expression was absolutely priceless as he started to speculate on her motives for coming back to Mahal. I hadn't really thought about Lukia being from this area.

This Donfan speaks like he's been reading far too many centuries old romances.

There was even a spotlight as he started reciting poetry.. if you want to call it that.

Lukia didn't take it well.

I let him stew out on the banister for a while. There was an unexpected bounty inside the house.

He must have a pretty good grip to have hung on to a slippery rail like that.

I decided to take him along. At the very least it should provide plenty of opportunities to needle Lukia and he appears to be a lancer.

I'm beginning to think that Donfan has a fetish for light armor knights or something.

Mind you, they tend to blow him off more or less instantly. Jeanne's right, however... we have bigger things to worry about.

I can't help but think that if he'd just learn that there's a time and a place he'd do a lot better with the ladies.

Jeanne reacted about as well as Lukia did. It seems that he also needs a better repertoire of lines if he's being caught out using the same one again.

The houses around Mahal had a few more noteworthy items left behind, including an excellent rapier and a Nimbus robe.

Rushing to the Palace we found that the enemy had occupied the inside and was waiting for us. Indoor fighting is always messy, but in this case the enemy made a serious mistake.

The enemy's greatest strengths are in their numbers and their ability to envelop our forces and spread out their casualties. In the narrow corridors of the palace facing dragons they're too concentrated to defend themselves effectively.

Jeanne has come along with us and is lending some much needed speed to Matelite's group. Against that kind of force the enemy troops don't stand a chance.

Their mages fare even more poorly. For the most part they're incinerated or struck down before anyone can get close to them.

I'd feel bad about looting the castle if it weren't for the occupation and the fact that nobody from Mahal remains behind. I think that the former inhabitants would want us to use these things to fight the Empire.

Matelite, being Matelite, managed to blunder into a trap.

Approaching Lestat, who had melodramatically placed himself on the throne, the narrow stairway choked everyone together. Unfortunately for the enemy, they lost more than we did by moving in to attack.

As we pressed forward it actually became necessary to choke back our advance in order to make certain that we wouldn't miss any useful equipment.

Much to our surprise the statues around the throne had actually been replaced by beam generators. The amazing thing is how long it took before somebody stumbled in front of one.

The time spent looting turned out to be well worth it. We haven't come across any weapons of this quality in shops and very few otherwise.

With those distractions out of the way, Taicho and Matelite turned their attention to Lestat... who by that point was practically stamping his foot in impatience. Nothing angers an enemy general like ignoring him.

Most of the generals can't seem to wrap their minds around the idea that they can be beaten. I don't know why... if I was outnumbered 20 to 1 by people who had already kicked my ass once I'd be expecting it to happen again.