Part 43: It would not unbend a single blade of grass

So, let's find out just how much everyone hates Ryudo.



Villagers: YEAH! That's right! Beat it!!



I wish I could welcome you home, Ryudo. But the scars of the past are still too fresh and have yet to heal.

Ryudo. You are no longer welcome here.

We desire to forget what happened here - we desire to forget you and your brother. Now, leave. Leave this village.

... Melfice is here. I can feel it.

Old Man: Me- Melfice... Where?


(I include this only because it is the only voice acting in this update)



Don't bother. I'm leaving as soon as I've finished my business here.

Very well. Then leave the village in peace. But I must beseech you - bring no more misery upon us.

Step one inch out of line and you'll pay! You and your good-for-nothing brother!

How horrible! None of this could be Ryudo's fault! It was Melfice who caused all the trouble here... right?

Save it, Elena. We do what we came here to do, and we leave.





Beats me.

But this is your home! What could have possibly happened here that would make everyone treat you like an outcast?!

Not worth repeating. Stop prying.

Have you any suspicions as to where your brother may be? Ryudo?

My old house. We begin there.

Of course, since that advances the plot, we actually begin by going everywhere except there.



Grampa... Remember your stress level...

Grampa: My STRESS LEVEL!? I've a mind to... If you're worried about my health then pack up and get off this island, you...

Ryudo's attitude here is, as you may have noticed, drastically different to his usual irreverence. At this point, he's just trying to avoid conflict as much as possible. Indeed, it's a little out of character for him to go around visiting everyone like this. Unfortunately, I'm controlling his every move.



I question the orthography of this man's dialogue.

Nouman. Still fishing?

Nouman: What's it to you? Listen, Dodo, for everyone's sake, leave before you curse our catches.

Why would Ryudo's presence affect the amount of fish you catch? I do not understand.

Nouman: We barely catch enough to survive. Your being here is the last thing we need.

Nouman. Don't worry... I'll be gone before you know it. I have some unfinished business I must attend to.



So... you've given up the sword... Remember when Gatta, you and I used to brag about who had the most calloused hands?

Villager: I wasn't talking about THEN! I... I just wanted to show you that our lives are different from yours now...



I will... after I defeat Melfice.

You WILL, will you? Ha! Who could believe you OR your stinking brother!?

You're right. Look. I'll leave this place as soon as my work is done. I promise.

NOTHING you say can be trusted. Leave! Leave us NOW!!



Don't pour salt in an old wound. There is nothing you can do but leave, Ryudo. Let us forget.

I understand, Chief. But I'm sorry, I can't just walk away. I've been running from my past for too long now.

There is nothing left in this village. No spirit to resist, not even to live. Ever since that day... we lost everything.

We just want to be left alone. That's all we ask. So leave us, Ryudo. Please.

All right. I'll leave, and I'll never come back. But before I go, I must face Melfice. I must fight him.



Villager: It's not that I'm not happy to see you. But if you're here, something terrible might happen again. I can't welcome you.

Work brings me into town. After it is settled and done with, I promise I'll bother you no longer.

Quick aside: See that sword in the upper left corner?



Totally falls down if you go near it. I'm glad they're still putting that sort of thing in.



Now, now... you do not understand. Ryudo is not a bad man...

Elena. Let it be. His mother probably told him...

Child: My mommy didn't tell me. She died. She got sick and died...

That's almost sad enough to make me not point out that that's almost definitely a girl and the translator probably got shafted on context again.



Old Woman: The air was ALIVE back then! In the days before the Tourney, everyone would--! Agh! Never mind... we can't relive the past.

Why does this village reek of despair?

The villagers have all lost spirit since that day when Melfice... Never mind.



Villager: And their despair is all the doing of that BROTHER of yours!! You've got a lot of NERVE showing that face of yours around HERE!

I do not understand. Why do they blame one brother for the actions of the other? Ryudo and Melfice are separate beings, no?

There's a bunch more NPCs around to talk to, but they don't say anything we haven't already heard and this is getting tiresome. Instead, let's pay our respects to the dead.



Ryudo, he too was a victim of Melfice?

Yes. He cut him down without hesitation... once possessed, no one could stop Melfice back then.

Melfice and Gallius trained together... crafting and honing their skills. And still, Melfice slaughtered him.

Ryudo. Melfice must be stopped. Many people have fallen by his hand... This must stop now.



Do you know the person buried here, Ryudo?

Yes. He was this old guy... Another of Melfice's victims... Bart always fenced with his kids... He'd still be fencing, if only...



Ryudo, is this your grandfather's place of rest?

Not my real grandfather. He's the old man that taught me about true swordsmanship.

Ah. The grandfather you tell all the stories about. The one who taught you the way of the sword.

Old man Rayjack taught me everything... from how to properly grip a sword, to how to clear your mind before battle.

He died when I was still little. I had so many things I wanted to ask him...



She was still a child when she died... She refused to believe Melfice would do anything wrong... she trusted him until the end.

The trust of a child is so innocent... Melfice betrayed that trust. Damn him!



It's been like that ever since I was a kid. No one knows whose grave it is.

But everyone who is born in the village comes to rest here. It must be someone from ages ago...



Sister? Ryudo... I didn't know...

She wasn't really my sister. She was Melfice's first victim... and his fiancee.

Reena always treated me like her family... her little brother. In that sense, she was a sister to me.

But... in a few more months, I'll be older than she was when she died.

... Ryudo...



Ryudo...

There are other places to take the hunt. Meet with us at the inn. Come, Tio.

Mareg and Tio leave.

My brother was always better with the blade than anyone else... He would ahve been a great sword master...

How did he come, then, to be possessed by Valmar...?

You don't understand... Melfice did it to himself! Everything! He- He- Aagh!

To the inn... Mareg waits, and Melfice will be found soon enough.

RYUDO!!





I have no brother. Melfice is a demon. And I will kill him.

You ran before - how do you expect to deal with him now, especially if he's a "demon?" No - I'll do it! I'll kill him myself!













Perhaps... But this is the now. And you have no hope of defeating Melfice. And...

...even if you could, it would not unbend a single blade of grass in this cursed town.



Sir...

He's right, you know. This village has been beaten, shamed... Just the mention of Melfice's name is enough to make us cower in defeat.

When the village's greatest swordsman became possessed, we lost not only our Sword of Justice, but the ideals it stood for...

"Village of Swordsmen," bah!!

...Justice is something that cannot be stolen. It exists in your heart. Ideals can never be lost if you believe in them.

Bah! What the hell do you know?