Part 64: Nothing Gained

Entry 61: Nothing Gained



So, what's in the north section of Starkfort?




First, the Swordbearer's treasury.



More floors mean more treasure. No new mobs or scenery, so we can cut to the cutscenes.

As the party makes their way upstairs, our view switches to another section of the fort...



We staged an uprising because you said we could win. Four years later, what have we got to show for it!?

It was a harebrained scheme from the start! You lot were behind this, so you can clean up the mess.



You'd leave your compatriots behind?

Well look, it can't be helped, can it!? The Swordbearers need their commander alive, so we can make a comeback!

It can't be helped, you say? Yes, you may be right...

I'll have to use your airship, of course. Well, good luck!



The man jogs away. Impressive what fear can do for a guy wearing full plate armor.

......

That was Yewmire Astrae, by the way: leader of the Swordbearers and otherwise so far only mentioned in D's Journal. Kamiizumi is not having a good day.



Up another floor...




We come to the penultimate floor and the Adventurer, who of course has been hanging out here with no issues from the Swordbearers.



At the top floor, we find Kamiizumi, still brooding.

Did he not hear us come in? Maybe we can get the jump on him.



Is he... talking to himself?

A great battle against a powerful nation, outnumbered one hundred-to-one. Such a thrilling opportunity.

But I was not able to keep my subordinates in check, leading to the scourge of the toxic mist, and the death of the fire vestal...

The toxic mist decimated the main forces of the Shieldbearers, but the Black Blades did not escape unscathed.

The death of the fire vestal caused Mount Karka to erupt, sealing the way into the temple. And then...you arrived...



No, not talking to himself. Talking to us. Dramatically.



About values, standards, and good and evil... It's fair to say you had a great influence on me.

My father was always concerned about his work and his ideals. He found little time to spend with me...

Tell me, Master. Were the things you told me about righteousness, strength, and bravery all lies...? That we should help the helpless, and face strong foes without flinching...

I cannot fathom why you have lit the fires of war in this realm, causing strife to so many innocents...

I still find it hard to believe.

This is not the man I know. He would never do this!

You let sentiment cloud your mind, Edea. You are still as earnest as you were when you were a youth.

You never waver in your disgust for recreant behavior. You condemn all that runs counter to your beliefs without fail... In a way, you remind me of your father.



Yes, very much so. But you are still a child...unsullied by the world. There are no certainties in life. Righteousness and truth have a different meaning to each and every one of us.

If you try to see the world as merely black or white, you'll lose sight of its true nature.

Many are quick to treat us as children...

But they simply use that as an excuse for their own corruption!

A warrior's pride is not always compatible with the responsibilities of a commander, Edea.



Kamiizumi's at least admitted to the party he's unhappy with having done terrible things. Though it's not the exact angle they're going for here, his attitude has a parallel with a samurai's traditional duties, where if the samurai's lord tells him to act, his honor dictates he do so, no matter what his personal opinion may be.

The same goes for your father. And someday, for the wind vestal you accompany.

......

Of course, there's a difference between being forced into morally grey decisions and leading a terribly managed war that kills at least hundreds of thousands essentially due to incompetence and cruelty.



Which Edea, for all her faults, picks up on. This conversation is the true Master vs Student fight.

She fights to carry out her mission, no? Blood and tears are shed in its name... It is no different for your father or me.

Mission!? No different!? You and your soldiers plunged the world into turmoil... You started a war, and took the lives of so many... How can you say Agnès is like you!?

If you cannot see beyond the surface, then perhaps you will never understand. Do not be so blind! You must not lose sight of what is most important! I thought I had taught you that.

Enough sophistry! It is underhanded! That does it! I shall go to help Agnès awaken the Earth Crystal!

......

If that is your decision, I hope you are prepared to live with it.

I am. I'm ready to fight any who get in our way, even you or my father!

Very well, then. I see you have made up your mind.



This fight is a bit different.



Kamiizumi's gimmick is that at first, he spends very little time outright attacking.



Instead, he spends his turn setting up one of various types of powerful counterattacks. One will counter physical attacks, another counters magic attacks, and the third counters attacks from a randomly selected opponent.



Using this method, Kamiizumi can decimate an overly aggressive party in short order without ever striking first.

So, what's the trick?

You can just whale away on him in big strikes, reviving anyone who gets hit by his counter. High Jump is a good choice, as he can't select a midair opponent for the specified target counter. Or...



You beat him at his own game.

Despite his preaching about keeping a level head, Kamiizumi will eventually get impatient and Brave into negative BP -- long enough to leave himself completely open for one or two turns.



Take advantage of his openings, keep striking with big attacks, and the Master becomes helpless as a newborn babe.

As Kamiizumi's health wears down, his actions grow more desperate, going from defensive counters to constantly attacking and putting himself into negative BP.



It may make for a slightly longer battle, but it's a more satisfying win, in my opinion. This fight does a great job of showing Kamiizumi's true character.



*flop*



Edea runs over to Kamiizumi's side, lifting up his head.



Will you hear your master out one last time, Edea...?

Of course...

Take the time...to speak...with your father...properly.... If you do not, I see nothing but tragedy for you both... End this petty dissent between father and child...

Master...

You two were always...so difficult...



......*sob*

Is this a sad death? Yes. But at this point it's also frustrating.

RIP, yet another chance to get a straight answer from an Eternian. The strategy of calling Edea a child over and over while dodging questions continues to be strangely ineffective.



Oh well, new job. Edea will take up her teacher's mantle.



Agnès also nabbed this during the battle. It will come in handy immediately.



cont: attack, and Know Thy Enemy, a powerful counter to an attack from the foe he selects.

There's an error on Kamiizumi's bestiary page: the magic counterattack used by Kamiizumi in battle and Swordmasters is called "Before Swine", not "Cold Shoulder".




Now the party's pretty much single-handedly decimated the Black Blades, so go team!

Before moving on, however, let's take a look at some alternate paths for the Black Blades' deaths.

First, rewind to Barbarossa.



If Kamiizumi is killed before confronting Barbarossa, there is a single changed line of dialogue during the chat before battle.

Welcome to our pirate ship, the SS Funky Francisca! I am Captain Barbarossa, leader of the Black Blades' naval force!

The Black Blades!?

You must be the wind vestal and her companions. A pleasure to meet you!

What!?

How do you know of us?



This alteration doesn't show up in the Event Viewer, and doesn't otherwise change Barbarossa's banter with the party. He's an easygoing guy, after all.

If Kamiizumi is killed before confronting Qada, however...



This is the dialogue the party stumbles upon when approaching Qada in Starkfort.

He puts me out to pasture here, and gets himself killed by the wind vestal. Hah! Serves him right!

Hmph. "Show respect for the enemy"!? "The goal is not simply to kill"!? Bah!

They say there's no salve to cure the foolish, and right that is. He'll have plenty of time to regret his actions in the afterlife.

Now then, there's no rest for the wicked. I must create as much toxic ammunition as I can to rain down upon the Shieldbearers and slaughter them all.

Then I can kiss this place goodbye.



After this, the party confronts Qada, and the battle continues as before. Without Kamiizumi alive, however, what happens to Qada afterwards?

That mystery may be solved eventually, but for now, let's return to our normal party.



Before leaving Starkfort, there are a few final items to purchase from the traveling merchant.



Nothing like depriving valuable weapons from our opponents!



Not that the party hasn't already completely debilitated the Black Blades.



This merchant's got a lot of guts selling shields in these parts.



This is probably a standard witch's hat, same as the women have with the black mage asterisk equipped.

How do they equip their hat slot along with the hats from their asterisk outfits? Do they stack hats on top of each other?



The Shieldbearers are waiting for word about the fire crystal. Let's go bring them the good news.



Yes. We have awakened the Fire Crystal. That should quell Mount Karka's fury.

That is excellent news. Thank you, Wind Vestal. We owe you and your companions our thanks.

One thing... After we awakened the Fire Crystal, all the veins of ore in the mine disappeared.

Mythril must have many great uses outside of wartime. Stronger materials for craftsmanship and building, an export to help rebuild the local economy--



Oh.

After all, the mythril warheads the Swordbearers fired upon us were a source of great concern. This should change the course of the war. If we are lucky, it may end soon.

Once the eruption of Mount Karka subsides, we will also work to restore the Temple of Fire as quickly as we can.

I would appreciate that. The fire vestal should be given a proper funeral without delay.

After all, we were only able to awaken the Fire Crystal through the help of Egil here and the fire vestal.

Is that so? Fine work, Egil. You have my thanks, too.

Heh heh.

All right, but now that this is over, I've got a few questions.

Did mythril only appear once the fire crystal was out of control? It's been used as an export from Eisenberg long enough to gain an international reputation. Speaking of, the mythril in the mine disappeared, but not our mythril weapons. What was the range on the crystal's 'destroy all mythril' thing? We're lucky the mine tunnels didn't collapse on us with the composition change. Come to think, how did Egil know all the mythril was gone just by staring at a pile of rocks for a second? Maybe he saw mythril there earlier, but who's to say stuff didn't just move out of sight in that earlier earthquake? And to get back to Goodman, he may be patient, but this is one underreaction. Could you imagine if, without warning, we were no longer able to mine any platinum? 'Sorry, we know you've just gotten used to having this material available, but the only stuff left is what's already been mined, most of which got exported.'

...

Plot holes and handwaviness is the standard in video games, but there's no reason the writers couldn't have slipped in dialogue somewhere explaining things. As with Kamiizumi, there's a difference between a couple unexplained plot threads and a consistent inattention to detail.

Not even getting into the way Yewmire exits the war in the first scene where we see him. The story's focus may have been on the Black Blades, but as it was, the Swordbearers end up coming across as nothing more than not very smart pawns motivated by petty jealousy and simultaneously death-seeking and cowardly. It makes for good comic relief, but it also makes the whole thing feel like a joke. Which isn't necessarily unrealistic, but it's debateable whether it's intentional.



They were all without homes to go back to, so we will harbor them here in Hartschild. The townspeople will see that they are cared for.

I'm glad to hear that. You'll be seeing your friends again soon, Egil.

Yeah...

Well, you are all tired, I dare say. Please get some rest while you sojourn in Hartschild.

With the turnabout in the war, Goodman's got a new field report to give us.



->How is the war going?



The threat of toxic mist has been removed, so we no longer need worry about its unseen evils.

The enemy will soon run out of mythril arms as well. We are more than able to weather their attacks.

Now we just need to end this war as soon as we can. I know we can accomplish this.

->The nation's future



Once the war is over, we must focus on restoring the livelihoods of our citizens.

It is our duty to build a nation that will bring a smile to the faces of the canary boys you rescued.

I pledge to do just that by the time they are old enough to have families of their own!

->Why did they come here?



One thing I realized recently, is that those serving in the upper echelons of the Swordbearers were hardly the pious kind.

And the Black Blades are scoundrels who did not hesitate to use deadly force against the fire vestal...

Perhaps their alliance is through a shared devotion to Anticrystalism.

......

A lot of bad things happened over the course of the war, but it's basically finished!



Time for the party to take a well-deserved rest. They head back to the town of Hartschild...



What's the matter, Egil?

I don't want to live in this town.

What? Why not!?

I want to go with you!

Huh!?

That's simply not...

So you wish to fight by our side, hm?

Oh, I can't do that. I don't know how to fight. But I still want to go with you.

Please take me with you! I'll do anything you ask!

That just won't work...

Even if you say no, I'm still going!

Then we have a problem... Let's go to Commander Goodman's residence.


Next: Not enough room in this party for two tiny sidekicks!

--

Event Viewer
Main Scenario:
Commander Goodman's Praise
Egil's Tantrum

Sub-Scenario:
Flight of the Swordbearers
Kamiizumi's Soliloquy
Swordmaster Kamiizumi - A
The Swordmaster's Fate - A
Qada's Displeasure - B
Ending the Civil War