Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

Part 42

Chapter 35

Our next tale features Edward. I can promise you right now that he's no Porom.

This tale begins at Damcyan Castle, which is covered in flowers now. Edward's lute plays in the background for this part.

If you would lower your voice, sir...

The king is currently occupied with matters of utmost importance.

There is no time for this. I have vital kingdom financial issues to discuss with him at once.

If you would kindly return at a later time...

This is an insult! I have come to conduct official business!

I don't know how, but this game has a real knack for making increasingly obnoxious chancellors. Seriously, this guy does nothing but whine and fuss. Even as far as chancellors are concerned, this guy is painful to be around.

Luckily, this random woman is here to save us from this guy's screeching.

What is the problem?

Our ledgers have yet again fallen into the red this month. Damcyan is facing a severe financial crisis!

Allow me to consult with him personally about this.

But His Highness explicitly requested no visitors.

Not even me?

Er...

Well, then. Thank you very much for intervening on my behalf, Harley.

Not at all.

Meet Harley. She is Edward's secretary and mainly exists as someone so weak in battle that Edward looks like Yang in comparison. But we'll talk about her battle prowess later.

I like her solely because she's so out of place. Rydia travels with a Dwarven Princess. Yang travels with his pupil and daughter. Palom travels with an Epopt. Edge has four disciples following him around. Meanwhile, Edward goes on an adventure with his secretary.

There's Edward, playing the same one song seventeen years later.

Even your own royal secretary, Your Highness?

Is this an urgent matter?

Doubtful, my lord. I trust it is the chancellor worrying himself over trivial matters yet again.

This is about our support pledge, I suppose. I thought I had left you in charge of that matter.

I fear we can no longer keep it under wraps, Your Highness. Perhaps some reconsideration is in order.

The recovery of Damcyan cannot be complete without Fabul and Mist back on their feet.

Hold up here. It's been seventeen years. I mean, I'm sure even now there's still repairs to be done, but surely Damcyan's essentially recovered by now. I don't know about Fabul's economy, but they sell nothing but claws and potions to a nation of people who punch stuff, so I imagine they have a pretty good self-contained market. They certainly don't offer much in the way of trade, I'd imagine. Plus, what the hell is Mist's value to anybody? Not only is it a podunk town in the middle of nowhere, you can't even reach it from the Damcyan side.

Not only that, but now Edward's throwing his money toward ninjas. Now I'm starting to see why the Chancellor's freaking out so much.

...It is a great honor to hear such compliments, Your Highness.

The affair is in your hands.

Yes, Your Highness.

While Edward's still weak in battle, he's certainly improved in his manner of speaking. He may not seem it, but Edward is definitely not the sniveling coward he was seventeen years ago.

Yes?

I believe there are times when the head of a kingdom must act with a firm, calculated hand.

True enough.

Still, Harley gets in one last potshot at his ineffectual leadership skills before leaving.

So we cut to a meteor shooting in the sky. We've already visited this thing twice. Guess where our first dungeon is going to be.

Yes. It appears to have landed in the vicinity of Fabul.

That would explain last night's earthquake.

Indeed. The shockwave from the impact, no doubt.

Perhaps it has something to do with the moon.

Perhaps...

Are all chancellors required to overreact to every single event?

Calm yourself, Chancellor. It is too early to make such conclusions.

I would like to inform Baron about this first. Cecil's viewpoint would be very helpful to us right now.

I will summon a messenger immediately!

Are you sure, Harley?

I believe I have the requisite knowledge and experience for the position, my lord.

Wait. Being a royal secretary gives you the knowledge and experience to investigate a meteor crash site?

It will be dangerous.

Then allow me to bring several members of your guard along for emergencies.

Wow, a character who actually doesn't say, "Nah, I don't need help. I'll go this alone." Granted, this is Edward's secretary we're talking about, but still.

Who will guide our kingdom should something happen in your absence?

Still...

Please, my lord. You have nothing to worry about.

My lord!

Not yet, I'm afraid.

Is there any word from the messenger we sent to Baron?

Unfortunately, there is not, Your Highness.

Too much time has passed. Something has happened.

We could deploy a search party upon daybreak, my lord.

A wise idea. We will wait until sunrise.

Yes, Your Highness. I take my leave, then.

Of course, one last thing before he leaves.

I suppose you did not get a great deal of sleep last night, either. Please, try to get some rest.

I will. Thank you, Chancellor.

Goodnight, Your Highness.

And with that, we gain control.

This Tale, well, it's kind of gimmicky. You know that money the chancellor's freaking out about? It turns out Edward's been embezzling the kingdom's finances. Even freaking Yang and Edge start out with pocket change, and they're also kings. Edward here starts the tale off with 5000 gil.

I'll explain Bard Song later. Escape is Hide, which lets Edward hide from battle, avoiding attacks but not being able to attack. Salve lets Edward use items on all allies, though it uses one for each member. So if you decide to use Salve with Potions on a five-person party, you'll use five Potions. It's situationally useful, and somewhat expensive, but it's not a bad ability, and soon we'll get something that'll make it even better. Plus, there's a little something that'll help offset the cost.

Edward comes with a Gil Band, an accessory that increases gil gained by 50%. Man, I really wish I had this for Palom's Tale and that stupid King's Pub thing.

This is Harley's room. This woman leaves, allowing us to snoop through her possessions.

Even a king isn't above reading somebody's diary.

Are those terrifying days of war about to stage a return? The peace we enjoy today is wholly a product of Edward and his companions.

I believe this so fervently that I traveled to Troia and devoted my younger days to study. This, and nothing else, allowed me to attain the position of royal secretary that I enjoy today.

If I could have it so, I would want this life for myself forever--a life free of war and strife.

The soothing, reassuring notes from King Edward's harp have taken on a timbre of deep sadness.

Wow, that was so not worth it. Well, besides a bit of backstory for Harley.

I'm pretty sure the chancellor is always depressed.

Way to rub salt in the wounds, jerk.

It's been a day. You pretty much have to trek through the Underground Waterway to Kaipo, and from there take the ferry to Baron. It's a pretty long and roundabout trek. Maybe he decided to stay the night there to rest?

Screw this, let's get some sleep.

Time for a dream sequence.

What is it, Anna?

(...)

Why must you look so sad?

(...)

(...)

Well, that's just swell.

Anyway, time to bust out of here.

(...The meteor likely landed in the area around Mount Hobs. Something must have happened to Harley!)

I just thought I'd get some fresh air outside.

Your Highness, we can hardly have the ruler of Damcyan strolling outside by himself!

All right...

I love how the guards aren't treated like people. Hell, Edward's trying to hide the fact that he's going to the meteor crash site, but he takes the guards there anyway without even telling them to be quiet. I guess the guards are total bros.

I know.

Edward's as sick of this guy as I am.

Let's name these guys, I don't know, the Analyst, the Barbarian, and the Crapper. They're generic mooks with no special abilities, but they'll be hitting harder than Edward and will take hits better, so they're pretty useful in that regard.

(But I had best track down Harley's whereabouts before anything else.)

Of course, we're railroaded from going through the Underground Waterway, but don't worry, we'll be going back later.

Oh, will we be back.

Bardsong is similar to the doll's Dance and Jive moves, in that it inflicts random effects on enemies or allies. In Edward's case, he can actually choose whether to affect allies or enemies, or even choose one individual friend/foe.

Alluring Air inflicts confuse, which is always awesome.

There's nothing like making enemies kill themselves.

Of course, sometimes it just plain doesn't work.

Hastemarch sets Haste on your entire party. Yeah, it's pretty damn awesome.

Hilariously, you can visit the Antlion's Den right now. There's nothing to do, of course, but you can grind a bit and loot the treasure here.

The enemies are pretty much the same as they were in the original.

Edward's harps inflict status effects when he attacks. His first harp sets enemies to sleep. At this point, there's no reason to use Edward's physical attacks, but as soon as he gains an attack multiplier and can hang with his guards in damage it's a nice bonus.

There's a couple of healing songs, too, which is always nice.

Don't know why they have flans here. Nobody in this tale can cast magic.

Hey, a good reason to come here! The Lamia Harp is not only a nice damage boost, but it inflicts Confuse. While in my experience physical attacks don't actually wake people up in this game, I still prefer Confuse, which lets the enemies attack themselves.