Part 25: Wanted

Music: A whole lot of Purging Light of the Sun





Yeah, good idea. The whole reason we're here is to meet with this Rodolfo person.

Well, let's go find Rodolfo, then, and see what he has to say.


Sounds easy enough, I suppose. Let's hope that he's easier to meet with than Ladekahn was.

The group proceeds forward a little bit, and approaches the main subject of today's segment...









This is going to be a fantastic update.


Wha-!!

Aha ha ha ha! The masked maneater, huh? Guillo, you're a wanted criminal!

What sort of decree is this?! First of all, I do NOT have a beak!

It looks like the Empire just made stuff up. Look on the bright side – with a portrait like that, nobody will recognize you right away.

Hey, what do you say we take this down and bring it along with us?





Yeah, let's take it with us.

Sagi! Meemai! Not you, too!

It's not like that. We may have some use for it later. And would you rather we just leave it up here like this for everyone to see?

I don't care! Do what you want.


That was fun! We really do get the poster as a quest magnus, by the way. It damages Guillo's HP maximum HP. The ones for Sagi and Milly (spoilers there are ones for Sagi and Milly) have the same effect on them.

Oh, I think the shop is just north of me, I really should-





Yeah...I get the feeling we ought to keep our distance.


Ah, I see.

The idea with Pherkad is that there are groups of people standing around blocking our path to some areas. If we try to approach them, they'll turn and stare and star gossiping about how much we look like those wanted criminals. By taking the various wanted posters down, the people will start to forget about us and we can get through to new areas without drawing attention to ourselves.





What, right now?

Yeah...sorry. I'll catch up. Go on ahead without me!


She's barely even trying to hide it anymore.

Meanwhile, on the next screen...





That might be the crankiest face I've ever seen. I love it!


It serves her right. Sagi, leave that one right where it is until the wench gets back.





Wow, that was fast.


It's OK. Are you all set?

Yeah. We can go.





Who are you people?! I can't see a thing.


Imperial soldiers still aren't the brightest folks around.

There's a group of people blocking our way north to Rodolfo's estate. I guess we'll have to take some posters down. Oh, and there's one right here.





BAHAHAHA!


Sagi...This talk about marriage fraud...

Is made up, of course! Come on, have a little faith!

I don't know...Sagi, something about you just cries out to be mothered. I'm sure you'd be a big hit with rich, older madame-types looking to get married.

He's still just a soft little kid in some ways.

… …


Geez, way to gang up on him. Actually, I think this might be the first time Milly and Guillo have joined forces outside of battle. So of course it's against Sagi.


Oh, dear. I think we hurt his feelings!

Let's take the poster down.

You're right...Let's tear this stupid poster down.





Thanks.








Father: You don't want to be taken away to the dank, dark depths beneath the Taintclouds, do you?

I-It's gotten to be a pretty colorful rumor, huh?

Kid: Ahh! Guillo the Masked Maneater! Scary!

Other Kid: But wait...If that's Guillo, where are all the spikes like in the pictures?

Silence, brats! Those pictures aren't me!!

Kid: Ahh! It's angry!

Other Kid: Are you really, really Guillo the Masked Maneater?!

Guillo, let's GO!




What were you thinking, dingbat! You almost caused a huge scene.

I'll see this town destroyed.

...Look. Let's just stay away from that circle of kids for now.


This was just too good not to transcribe. Oh, I almost forgot about that poster of Milly!





First off, this face! What are they, BLIND?!

I'd say they have a keen eye for detail.

Quiet, can opener! Sagi, you have to take this horrible, libelous poster down at once! Take it down, then throw it out IMMEDIATELY. Are we clear?! Meemai, do you hear me?


We take it down, but Milly's not done.


You'd better throw that away, pronto! Do you hear me, Sagi? Meemai??





Laughing Man: Y-You've got to stop! You're killing me here.

What the heck are they talking about, I wonder?

Whatever it is, I'm sure it's something EXTREMELY stupid.


I can't talk to the other guy to find out just what the topic is yet. Meanwhile, there's a wanted poster a bit farther to the right.





I come from noble stock! I've never done anything of the sort, not once in my whole life!!

...Says the crazed wench who appeared out of nowhere, thrashed half a dozen imperial soldiers, and THEN proceeded to stalk us.

Excuse me?! Who asked you, “Masked Maneater”?

Now, now, calm down, guys...

Quiet, Sagi!

Let's get this poster down, fast...


Meanwhile, those two laughing guys have moved, so I can hear what's so funny!





...

I told you.


I love this game.


I went back to the front area of town, where a group has dispersed from blocking the tavern – and a new wanted poster of Guillo.





There's no way anything as savage as all that could really be roaming the streets.

You think so? The way Guillo lights up and goes on those rampages, I'd say it's pretty close. ESPECIALLY the bit about the Masked Maneater.

Sagi, I feel like I could do more damage than a machina arma right now. Would you mind if I reduced the soldiers, the wench, and this whole blasted city to a pile of ashes?

Y-Yes, I would mind!

…...

Guillo...You weren't kidding, were you? Let's take this thing down before Guillo really does explode.


All right, I think that's all of the posters. Let's check out the tavern while we're here.





Barkeep: Heh, it's so hopping I can't keep up. I've been workin' nonstop...Hmm? Say, are them things you got there some of those blank magnus? I heard about 'em from a customer from Alfard. Is it true you can use 'em to extract anything?

Well, pretty much. They can be filled with almost anything.

Barkeep: If that's the case, can you try to take away some of this exhaustion with 'em?

I don't know...can you really store fatigue in a magnus? Want to try, Meemai?





It worked?! Ugh, but what is this? All of a sudden, I'm exhausted...

Barkeep: Hey! My body doesn't feel so heavy anymore. That stuff really does the trick. I still feel kinda tired, though. Sorry, but you think you could take some more?

Well, Meemai? It looks like any chronic fatigue we take from him weighs us down instead...


We take one more dose...


Ugh...I can feel it bearing down on me now...

Barkeep: Could I ask you to go just one more round? I just know that'll get me back to 100 percent.

All right. But this is absolutely the last time I'm doing this...


And yet one more...


Huff...pant....This is...even worse than...the walk from Mintaka...to Azha...

Sagi, are you all right?!

Barkeep: Wow, I feel totally better! I could lift a pow right off the ground in this condition!







The rewards are nifty (that fruit bolsters physical defense 100%)...





...But they come at a price. Not only do the chronic fatigues eat up three of my quest magnus slots, but they also each decrease everyone's max HP by 5%. Yikes. I have a plan for dealing with them, though. More on that in a minute.

I head back outside and see that the father and little kids are no longer blocking access to a house. Let's see what the dad has to say.





Father: How 'bout it – want to hear about Guillo the Maneater before headin' on?

…...


...Er, let's just...go. I bet the way to Rodolfo's mansion is open by now.





He can't take a hint.

Well, at least we know now...This is the way to Rodolfo's estate.





I wonder if we can sneak in the same way Kalas did – er, will – in BKEWLO? The screen with the well in it looks different now, but the passage might still be there.


Yeah, from the look of it, there must be quite a few soldiers inside. We know where to find Rodolfo, so for now let's head back and -

Rodolfo's still not back?

Nah, he'll be in Cebalrai for a while. Here we are guarding a lordless mansion – talk about bottom of the barrel.

...Sagi! He did this to me! If I was just a little stronger...

Quit your bellyaching, Giacomo. You'll get another chance.

Hear that? It sounds like Rodolfo's out.

Cebalrai, huh?

I remember learning that it's just a tiny hamlet...What business could he have there?

I don't know, but we may as well go find out.


Sounds like a plan! That's it for main plot stuff, but I have some more wandering around I'd like to do before we wrap this up. First of all, let's go check out the house that belongs to Quzman in BKEWLO. Maybe we can find out who that fellow in the sewers with the bracelet was.





This is in that house. It's a special variant of a strong attack exclusively for Milly. I recall these being pretty cool and added it to my deck, but I might take it back out if it ends up being clutter more often than it is useful.





Taymiya: If he's off with some other woman, I'll slam him with a divorce so fast, his head will spin!...Hm? A visitor? Quzman isn't in right now. But what else is new?


Okay, so Quzman lives here but is gone, meaning the guy in the sewers may well be Quzman himself. Let's go back to Alfard and investigate.







Quzman: Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Any excuse not to go home to the missus...My new wife, I mean. The bride from hell. Tell you the truth, she scares me.

Are you Quzman?

Quzman: How do you know my name?

Your wife asked me to find you and send you back home.

Quzman: Taymiya did? Hrm...I guess that's that, then. And I actually kind of liked this place. I'll head back shortly. Come by my house later. I'll introduce you to a friend.


Hey, while I'm here, I should check up on the Heartflask, see if it needs updating.





Snow used to cost 400 gold a pop. Now it costs one thousand. At first I was all “Hah! Forget that! I'll just go get some water!” But...





Remember all that crap I accumulated this update? Well, I didn't want to toss the posters, and I can't toss the fatigue, and I don't want to/can't get rid of the other stuff, either. So I only have room for one snow or water, and one water won't get me through here.

So I ended up buying one snow, using it immediately, and then buying another. That's 2000 G I'll never see again.











Back in Sadal Suud, Taymiya hands over a Magnus Pack Coupon, which is great and all, but Quzman has a much more interesting reward.





Quzman: That's right, let me introduce you. This is Pac. At least that's what I named him when I found him in that cell. Thanks to him, I wasn't lonely down there, but now he's a bit of a nuisance. Leaving why aside for a moment, will you help raise Pac in my stead?

Sure. I'll raise him for you.

Quzman: So you really don't mind raising him? Pac may cause you trouble!

I don't mind. Pets are cuter when they require a little extra attention.

Quzman: You really, really mean it? There's no giving him back later! You'll really raise him?!

That's fine. I'll take responsibility for properly raising him.

Quzman: I see. Well said. I knew I could count on you! Well, Pac, here's your new owner.





...Sure.


Quzman: I know it's a little late, but...You can't throw him away, sorry. Oh, and he eats any magnus next to him, so sorry about that, too. I do feel bad, so if he's a real bother, come tell me, and I'll give you something for your trouble.


Oooh, boy.

So this starts up a game long sidequest to feed Pac-Man. We need to feed him quest magnus we find throughout the world. Flame Ice? He'll eat that. Cottencap gauze? He'll eat it.







Chronic Fatigue? He'll eat it.

I don't know if the designers intentionally made this quest start right when you can also have three hard-to-remove negative quest magnus, but it's at least a happy coincidence.



Anyway, there are some key quest magnus that Pac-Man will not eat, such as the cellphone or the Travel Log. He will only eat magnus he's adjacent to, so you can sort of “trap” him with key magnus to prevent him from eating things you want to keep, and then rearrange your magnus to fit a magnus you do want him to eat next door.

Be careful, though! It's all too easy to let him eat a quest magnus that you need.

I won't be doing this sidequest because fuck that, but it's an interesting spin on the “collect 'em all” thing, and he can be useful for getting rid of stuff like the chronic fatigue that you don't want but can't drop.


One last thing. It's time to bring this update full circle and go into the house the father and kids were blocking before...







Ohhh dear...





So, did you draw ALL the portraits on the wanted posters hanging around the city?

Artist: Huh? What? Who...I-I'm sorry Forgive me! The imperial soldiers told me you were all vicious monsters when they asked me to draw those. It may take me a while, but I promise you that I'll redraw those posters. Please don't hurt me...Umm...Please take this as an apology.


He forks over some Purple Beans (status resistance, whee)


Don't think for a minute something like this will get you off the hook.

Draw any more portraits like the ones on those posters, and I'll earn that “Masked Maneater” title.

All right, that's enough. He's said he'll redraw the portraits. Isn't that good enough? Now that you've had your chance to vent, let's get moving.






-


Decision Time!


Nobody listens to me!


> Stop trying so hard.

> Try harder!



And for another important question. I held on to one wanted poster for each character. Should I keep those wanted posters or throw them away?