Part 14: 4/20: Heh, Just Noticed What Day It Is

Part 14: 4/20: Heh, Just Noticed What Day It Is

Music: King, Queen, and Slaves



We’re still exploring this damn castle.



Entering this library, we find a rather conspicuous book.



Are you curious about that book, Joker? Hmmm… I guess we can always take it with us if you want!



The Slave Book, huh…? That sounds kind of important...



Something I neglected to point out is that Ryuji does this absurd faceplant every single time he uses his finisher. It’s pretty great.



Ann also learns Dormina around this point, which has high odds of causing an enemy to fall asleep. It’s not useful very often, but we’ll find some applications for it.



See that barred door at the end of the hall? We need some sort of circular key to activate the switch that opens it, which means we’re going to have to scour this floor looking for it.



In another library, we find another book.



Did that catch your attention, Joker? We should take it with us!



The Queen Book? Is this some kinda special book?



And again in the third library.



Then let’s bring it along!



The King Book? What is this?



Here’s a locked chest we can’t open because we wasted our only Lockpick. I have no idea what’s inside it.



This is the only room left in this area to check.



A library, huh? This definitely seems fishy.
Whaddya mean?
Come on, it’s a library in a castle. There has to be some kind of secret mechanism in here. Let’s look around, Joker.

Music: Suspicion



Looks like we’ve got a puzzle to solve.



“Tracing Kamoshida’s Steps”… “Kamoshida’s Heroisms”… “Kamoshida’s Law”…? What the hell!? All these goddamn books’re about Kamoshida!
That reminds me, we found a book earlier, didn’t we?



Yeah, something might happen if we put a book in here...



We insert The King Book. Now, to move over to one of the other slots...



There are all sorts of books here… The titles don’t have any rhyme or reason to them. Huh? This book… has Shiho’s name in the title… Wait… It’s not just this one! All of the books here are about female students…!
“Ann Takamaki: The Charming Doll.” Holy shit...
What the heck is this…!?
>Insert “The Queen Book”



And now for the third shelf.

Hm… Wait a second. The books on this shelf seem familiar.
These’re the names of the volleyball team members! Wait, what the hell!? All of the titles are boys from our school!
“Ryuji Sakamoto: The Vulgar Ape.” There’s one here for Skull.

Way to just spill his name, Mona. Weren’t code names your idea?

That bastard! Who the hell does he think he is!?
>Insert “The Slave Book”




The bookshelf slides out of place, revealing a hidden room.



You got it, Joker! Let’s take a look inside!

Music: Desire



Wait… It’s all pics of her…?
…...



Yeah… Thanks. If anything… I feel even more motivated to do this now.
I’m sure it’ll feel awful, but we should search this room. There has to be something in here if he was hiding it with such an elaborate trick.



I spy a shiny object over in the corner.




Is this… a medal?
Well, it has to be important. He went through all the trouble to hide it here, after all.
Guess we’ll take it then.
Wait, there’s something under the medal too.




So is it gonna tell us where the treasure is?



That’s a weird-shaped building… Could it be a tower or something?
Considering our current position… I’d say we’re about halfway there.
All right! Let’s hurry over there!4
No. Now that we know how much we have left, we can calculate the best way to pace ourselves. Let’s keep exploring, but take breaks when you need to, Joker.

We’re halfway through, eh? Well, we’ve got a little under half of our SP left, so that’s good. We might make it through in one day yet.

For now, let’s just head back to that door we couldn’t open.

Music: King, Queen, and Slaves





Insert the medal and pull the switch, and…



The bars lower.

Sweet! Looks like it worked.
Now we can keep going!
This must lead somewhere important. Let’s go!1



Over here we find a safe room.



...and a Devil Fruit. If Kamoshida turns out to be some weird giraffe man I’m done with this game.



Let’s pop out using the safe room and go fuse some Personas.



First up, a Genbu using Incubus and Agathion.



I shall become a mask and make use of my wisdom to create a profitable future for you.

This thing is some weird CatDog-style amalgamation of a tortoise and a dragon, which is actually pretty blasé as far as SMT goes. It’s actually one of the four symbols of the Chinese Constellation, representing the north and the color black.



Next, a Saki Mitama using Jack-o’-Lantern and Bicorn.



Love and sympathy are all you need in life. I shall become your mask and guide you to intense passion...



This weird teardrop with a face is one of the four great aspects of Shinto thought, aiding in love, profit, and growth. Speaking of growth, Growth 1, which we get from having started Ann’s Confidant, lets it gain 25% experience even when inactive. It’s handy but we won’t be using this one all that much. I fused it primarily to consolidate my damage skills onto as few Personas as possible. Now, let’s head back into the Palace.




But the Treasure’s up ahead, right? We don’t got a choice but to keep goin’.
I guess that’s true… but we need to make sure we’re ready for whatever might be ahead. What do you think, Joker? Should we continue onward?




The building distorts, revealing the image of a gymnasium.

Wait, was that… the gym…?



I can’t believe he can think like that… especially after what he did to Shiho…
God, that bastard makes me so freakin’ sick! Just you wait, Kamoshida…!





It is preposterous for miscreants like yourselves to come waltzing in like this.



You will pay for foolishly defying King Kamoshida… with your lives!
I knew this would happen! Well, we don’t have a choice! Let’s take it down!

Music: Keeper of Lust




Uh-oh. This guy means business. Charge increases the damage of the next attack by 2.5x. We’re in trouble.

Look! He’s trying to do something! It’s important to guard if you think you’re in danger!






That took more than half of Ann’s health even blocked, which means that strike is more than enough to decimate any of our party members from full health.




And he uses his next turn to charge up again. We’re forced to spend half our turns guarding and the other half frantically trying to do damage. It’s a rough situation. Complicating matters is the fact that it resists fire, meaning Ann is ineffective.



Yeah… It looks like he’s making a concerted effort to stop us now. Joker, I’ve helped you learn a few different things so far, but there’s no more time for lessons. I’ll compile some info you’ll need to know for battle, so be sure to take a look later.



We’ll review the information in here another time. For now, let’s just keep moving.



...Or not, because a ton of enemies suddenly spawn, surrounding us.



What should we do? Head back?
No, the Treasure is definitely up ahead, and there has to be a path to it somewhere. Let’s look around, Joker!

Easier said than done, Morgana.



He gets taken out pretty much instantly at the start of this fight. And since he can’t navigate while unconscious, the game does something interesting.



Morgana jumps away and takes cover nearby, continuing to give us information. It’s neat if kind of pointless because he never actually says anything useful, but whatever.



Eventually we can manage to avoid the rest of the enemies and climb up above.



Hey… That stuff is disgusting. You should get it cleaned somewhere… Anywhere… Wait, wasn’t there a coin laundry near Leblanc?

You can find useless, stained gear in Palaces and use the coin laundry to clean it up. I’ve never actually bothered to do this because it fucking spends time, so I have no idea if any of the gear is worth it. Scratch that, I will say that it’s unilaterally not worth it because, again, it fucking spends time, holy shit, and you can easily make do without bothering.



We continue to make our way across the room.




Uh-oh, the enemy’s captured Ryuji!



If the hostage negotiation fails, the captured party member will be instantly KO’d.







We could call the Thieves’ Guild for help, but I’m feeling bold. Let’s let him drain our health.





And so the fight resumes. Whew, barely got out of that one. Time to heal!



YO HO HO HE TOOK A BITE OF GUM GUM

...I’m sorry.



Down just leads to an enemy and yet another treasure chest we can’t open. Instead, let’s go up.



Music: Tension



Oh! That matches up with the map. There’s no doubt that’s the tower we’re headed for.
So the Treasure’s up there!
Hell yeah, we did it! So… where’s the entrance?




And right on cue, a ton of Shadows so strong they’re visibly growing red appear.

Ugh, not again...
It’s no surprise that security would be tight around here. But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Let’s go, Joker!



In this case, “strong Shadow” means “double Berith,” which ends up being quite the drain on Joker’s SP. We don’t end up having to fight all four because enemies tend to despawn between successful fights and won’t reappear until you move away, but multiple nearby enemies means you’re going to end up with at least one linked encounter, where defeating one set of enemies causes a new set to spawn immediately.

Also, the door’s locked, because it’s never easy.



Instead, we have to climb up above and run along the walls.



See that itty-bitty hole in the tower near those banners? That’s our goal.





Music: King, Queen, and Slaves (Another Version)



And we’re finally inside.



The distortion is getting stronger… The Treasure has got to be nearby!



Over in a side room, we find something interesting. It seems to be a rather strange-looking elevator.




Music: King, Queen, and Slaves



Why, we seem to be in some secret area of the castle! Let’s check this place out a bit.



If we walk over to where another elevator seems like it should be, Ann pipes up.



Oh dear.



These Succubuses (Succubi, I guess) are weak to Gun and Bless just like their friend Incubus. They also like casting Fire, as well as using Marin Karin to Brainwash the party.



This Bead is a full HP restore for one party member, which is great… but not yet. We’ll be saving this for way down the road.



Turning around, we see… a portrait of Kamoshida?



Either way… it’s kind of strange that this would be our dead end.

Let’s examine it, then.




It’s the entrance hall! Have you already forgotten!?
I didn’t realize we would end up here...
Hey, look! There used to be tons of soldiers wanderin’ around, but I don’t see any of ‘em now...

Well, we finally made our way back to the entrance hall. While we’re down here, we also unlock some of the paths so we can head back to a nearby safe room before returning to the tower. This is good, because...





There’s a righteous asskicking waiting for us up there.