Part 40: Iron Chef Sharance

Iron Chef Sharance

Music: Fall


Welcome to Fall 3, where...wait, a typhoon? This is bullshit, I have plot flowers and golden crops growing.


Fun RF3 fact: Although the weather can change over time during a day, you can savescum for favorable weather. I'm not sure if the entire day's weather is set at the start of the day or not, but avoiding fall typhoons is simple enough.


With my weather problems magicked away and my usual watering/brushing chores taken care of, it's Collette time.


But not before brief Sofia time.

Poppycock! Evelyn's fashions are impeccable! But she's so indifferent! She should really have her own fashion week!
You don't need to cover for Evelyn like that, Sofia.
Ahem! What are you accusing me of?!

>They're not bad.

That's correct! I need to question your tastes now...




What? Um, sure?


I think a mistake has been made.


...I guess I have two of these now.

So what I think happened is that the game looks in your inventory, and if it doesn't see the Brooch when you're talking to Gaius(or the Ribbon, if you're talking to Evelyn), it worries that you might have lost it and offers you another. This is because I'm pretty sure it expects you to give the Brooch/Ribbon to Shara immediately, for reasons you'll see later.

Unfortunately, as plot-centric objects they're not worth anything if sold, so getting extras is just for shits and giggles.


We'll see in a minute, Rusk!



Ummm...What is this?
Collette, didn't you tell Link anything?
I sure did! I said eat my food!
That's not enough. I'm sorry, Link. Today is Collette's exam.
Exam?
Yes. I'll see if she's ready or not.
What?!
The topic is, food for the person who is most important to you. Link, you'll be eating this meal.
Da...Dad! (That's why I didn't mention that part in the letter!)
...Huh? Why is Sherman here?

That's what you're focusing on, Link?

That's a secret.
I-I see...
I called him. He's just watching. Now then, Collette.
Okay.
Let's begin.



Okay then, Link. If you would.
Alright, here I go. ...It's great! It's really good.
Really?!
...Sherman.
Slurp, slurp. No need for me then! I haven't been waiting at all! Not waiting!
Sherman will be eating my dish. Try this.
...?
Oh, wow. It's my hated high orc omelet rice! I hate this!! Up the hatch!
Collette, there's still something that you are missing. Watch Sherman.
Huh...?



Yum yum yum yum...
That's some pace...
...
Slurrrrrp. Chef! I'm totally full! More! More!
...

Music: Sadness

Collette. Do you see?
The way he enjoyed it was totally different...Why? Why is it so different?! Do I need to grow up to become a great chef?
I think you've been misunderstanding me, Collette.
Huh?
I wasn't talking about your height. I meant your character must be large.
Character...?
My teacher used to wear a long, tall hat to make sure people knew his location. Because he was short, just as you are. It doesn't affect your cooking skills.
...!

Collette: Not the sharpest crayon in the box.

You haven't tried to understand Link's heart at all.
Blaise...
I'm sorry, Link.



Collette...
Thank you for coming, Link.
Blaise...Collette is...
Collette will be fine. It's something that she must overcome herself. I'm sure I'll rely on you again, Link. Thank you in advance.
Blaise...


The prize is crushing Collette's hopes and dreams.



But my sister's room is off limits. Got it? Bro'.
Ha ha ha...
I'm always here if you need to talk. But our walls are thin. Ha ha ha!

Carlos: Still...Carlos.


One annoying thing about the request system is that as you get into the later stages of people's quest chains, they all start showing up in your mailbox instead of on the bulletin board. Which makes sense for immersion, but means the bulletin board eventually becomes a barren wasteland of random daily requests(which are boring and give mediocre rewards) and that one Carlos request that needs two goddamned lover snappers to finish.



Someone left a comment wanting the bathwater to be rainbow colors. Could it be a bath fairy?
Th-That must've been it...

Daria and Pia seems like a dangerous combination. Also a hilarious one. Too bad Daria's a loner that basically never interacts with anyone else.


Also, Pia date. I think the only girl who hasn't gotten a date now is Shara.


Pia's giant fish sword will never not be hilarious to me.


It's a side effect of her mysterious ninja past, duh.

Maybe I'll ask her. I'm curious as an artist.
As an artist?


Daria being weird, or mislabeled text box? You decide!

N-No...sorry.

Music: Love



Do you like waterfalls, Pia?
...I think my reaction should've made that obvious, buddy.
Well, should we take a break here?
Abso-duh-TUTELY! Hey, Link! You can usually see a rainbow in the afternoon here! Rainbows are so PURRRDY!


Fucking rainbows, how do they work?

They're a natural phenomenon that occurs when light reflects against water particles! Basically, you can only see them when the sun's behind you, which happens in the afternoon here!
How...do you know about rainbows in that detail?
Who DOESN'T?!
Uh...you'd be surprised.

And because her response is interesting:
>You sure like fish.

Yeppers! The fishies played with me when I was alone at sea! They were my only friends!
I can see why you'd be attached to them.

And by interesting I mean .



Not exactly.



It was like that. I didn't hate the sea, but I felt like it wasn't a place for me anymore. And when I arrived in town, I met Sakuya and Shino! And...you.
Sounds like the right move.
But there's one thing I'm not sure about.
What's that?
Is it okay to stay like this and deny my mermaid heritage?



What?! You can turn into a mermaid?! Er...merman.
Uh, not exactly.
Then I can transform into YOU! What should I DO?!
I don't think there's anything TO do!
Oh. Too bad! Well, we should head home!

Never change, Pia.


"Oh whew, we have a reason to be officially not-racist now."


Also, the first time you talk to Shara on any given day, she'll list all the things she hasn't gotten for the Bouquet yet. With one textbox each. I'll spare you that.


I do give her the Toyherb, Brooch, and Ribbon to get them out of my hair(and to stop Gaius and Evelyn from asking if I need spares every time I talk to them).


Punctuation's are difficult, aren't they?


I spend the rest of the day fishing in the dim hope I can finally catch a second lover snapper. They can appear in most bodies of water in any season, but they're really rare. There's actually a better way of catching them than leaving it to chance, which I didn't cotton on to until much later.


And catching regular Snappers will toy with your heart.



What do you think? Do I smell nice?
Oh, I'm sure it must have worn off by now.
Oh, you! Forget it! (He could've come a little close...)


I'm losing track of how many of these I've fished up.


No Lover Snappers. Fuck this, I'm going home and making a shitload of sushi and fried fish.


At least this quest is a good excuse to grind Fishing and Cooking skills.


Mixing is a much slower skill grind, but at least recovery potions are good to stock up on.

The next day...


Potatoes! Way too many potatoes!


And Salisb getting in the way of me planting more seeds!


On that note, here's how all the barn monsters are doing. I should probably fill up these empty spaces with something, but I don't remember what makes useful products other than the farm animal monsters, and .


There's nothing interesting going on at the settlement until I can advance the plot. But at least Zaid said something new for once!


Wells time.

Music: Home


Oh, right, festival tomorrow.

She said that she'd get fat if she ate too much.
She should just not eat that much if she feels that way.



I mean...I'll get fat if I eat too much...

Why are you even participating if you're worried about that?!




Music: Love

Shara's been talking about you a lot.
...
And I always see you two together. What exactly is your relationship with my granddaughter?

Define "always," because I don't think you know what that word means. Not even in the hyperbole sense.

Our relationship...? We're good friends.
Really?


Vague noncommital answer, go!

I-I see...
Is there something wrong?
N-No, that's alright...I was able to find out that you weren't a normal guy is all...
W-What?!
You can go now...
W-Wait!
*sigh*...I'm worried for Shara.





I'm sensing a trend here.



I have recipes for weapons clear in my brain, but not the dates for festivals.

I mean, the only reason I remember festivals is because everyone talks about them the day before, so fair enough.


Collette loves this contest as much as you'd expect.


And so does Sherman.


As well as...Hazel?



Yes...wait?




If I was smart, I'd pour Formula A/B/C on these plot flowers so they'd grow faster. But I'm not.


Another day of trying(and failing) to catch that goddamned lover snapper.



?





I'll take some daikon radishes or aquamarine. Now, down to business!

Hot Yue gifting tips for RF2 players.


Not as good as my axe, but a good excuse to train Dual Blades.


But this sword will be better than my axe once I've upgraded it to level 10. Yoink!


And this is an upgrade to the wood chopping axe. I'm rolling in cash, so might as well skip the forging.


A fully-charged Mountain Axe chops in a logical 3x3 square, unlike the 1x3 horizontal(relative to Link) line my old axe did.


Thanks to all that Cooking skill grinding, Link finally knows how to make some of the most difficult dishes known to mankind: Stews. That doesn't mean he's actually able to make them, mind you.

Next time: A festival! Drama! Detective work! Me test driving this shiny new sword!