Part 16: Baa Humbug

Baa Humbug

Music: Spring


I start the day by using up yesterday's milk. Ice cream has immense water elemental powers somehow, and butter can be used for further cooking assuming you don't just eat the stick like the goddamned animal you are.


I also have an escape attempt! OK, not really - monsters at low affection will try to run away from you, and this is what happened when I tried to catch up for its morning brushing.

Link really needs to buy a lock for the barn door.



Is it really okay to hit the wooly?
I know it's not supposed to hurt. But it still looks like it can't be much fun for the wooly. Let's go give it some candy afterwards.
Okay!

Oh, right, Wooly festival.


Would Woolies taste like mutton, or something else?



The festival wooly is small, too. That's why it's shaved in a different way.
How about just casting a spell to shave them? (Maybe that's going too far.)
No.



Like for boiled spinach.
What?!

...let's just go do the festival.



The wooly must be hot and miserable in this heat! That's why you should do it a favor, and trim its wool! We'll provide the trimming tools to you. They're all safe and won't hurt the wooly, so don't worry.


You do get your choice of weapon, and each one is a joke version of its category. Slower weapons give more points than faster ones. I wouldn't recommend using weapons you're not skilled in, since combos can help, but...


...after trying with the Safety Lance, Toy Hammer, and Spoon, the joke dual blades are what got me a win. The safety lance attacks quickly but doesn't give quite enough points per hit, the hammer was too slow, and the spoon wasn't quite good enough.


The pro strategy is to trap the wooly against a wall and stunlock it. Actual wooly furballs drop during this, but if you care about winning you don't really have time to pick them up.


After a while small woolies will start appearing on the stage. They give no points, so they're just there as a nuisance.


Sakuya came in second with 6000 points, for the record. The prize is a pile of Cooking Bread, as usual.


Speaking of, there's an NPC wandering around today selling some. It's a lot more expensive than Blaise, but you're not limited in how many you can buy per day. Handy now that we need to use Blaise's bread allotment for medicine/weapon/accessory breads too.




So were you just waiting there for us to take the request out of our mailbox, or

Oh no. Not this "assistant" business again.
You're turning out to be a pretty good assistant!
Uh, you don't really listen much to what other people say, do you?
What? There's no time for that! This is a crisis!
...
My shelf broke!
Umm...so you need it fixed?
No! That's my job! I need you to bring me materials! I need 1 piece each of Iron and Wood.
Okay. 1 piece each of Iron and Wood.
Alright! Now go!

One quick jog to the storage chest later...



Here's a token of my appreciation. I knew I could count on you! You're a super-duper assistant!
Um, I know I said this before, but I don't recall becoming your assistant.
Heh heh heh. You don't need to act modest. You do an amazing job! You should be proud!
...
I hope I can count on you next time!
*sigh* I guess I'm not going to win this one.


She might be insane, but the rewards are good.


I never showed off what happens if you walk into the Univir camp as a human, so why not now?

Why are you here...?! Please leave!


Welp. Back to town!





I see. You would be a big help. I'd like you to get a message to Shino.
To Shino? What did you want to tell her?
"The Eastern tableware you ordered has arrived." is the message.
Okay.
I would appreciate it if you could tell her soon. Thank you.

She was a minute's walk away, you lazy bum!



Yes, what was it?


Hey kids, can you remember what the message was?

Oh, that's good. Thank you for the message.
You're welcome. Excuse me, then. Alright, back to Blaise.



This isn't much, but it's to show my appreciation. Please take it. I hope that you would do this for me again sometime.

No pic of the reward, but I think you've figured out the trends by now.


Let's talk pharmacy. I don't actually know any recipes yet, but that doesn't mean I can't make stuff! I believe there's a penalty to the success chance this way, but it doesn't matter since I'm making one of the simplest potions. Smash together two medicinal herbs, and...


...you get a recovery potion. This unlocks the recipe, and also reveals that there are two ways to make these. Using Toyherbs to make them is kind of useless except for grinding skill, since medicinal herbs are insanely common.


New day, new bad idea with Pia.



Wait. I never said I would join. Actually, what would I even be joining?
A stand-up troupe.
Stand-up?
I thought we could start doing stand-up routines to attract customers. But to be honest, we could use some help, so I thought we'd look for another member. So!
Welcome, Link!
Welcome!
Is this going to work?



Wait, I never even agreed to do this...
Just try to hit the right punch line! Oh, and I know it's called a punch line, but don't really punch us.
Why would you even...?
Pia didn't get it at first and tried to punch me in the face.
She did?!
I thought it'd be more of an impact.
It would've. Anyway, just try to get your timing right.
For the punch.
No, the slap.
You mean the punch line.
Yeah, that's good! Well, let's give it a try.





Hi, thanks for waiting. I'm Sakuya.
I'm Pia!


There's only one real option here.

Oh, really?!
Of course not. Hey, you're the straight man!
Sorry...I missed the cue.
Well, thank you for coming out to see us. You must all have a lot of free time.



10 points.
What?! What's that?!
But having free time isn't all that bad.


Guess I should have rinsed and repeated?

I'm still doing introductions!
Oh, sorry...
That's right. It's the squid's fault!
What is?
Learn from the tuna!



I guess you can have too much free time. You end up wasting it on who knows what.
Like stand-up!
...yeah...



How was it, Mom? Oops! I mean Ms. Innkeeper?
...
Very funny.



Um, sure.
I guess three is just too many. Mom seemed to like it, but she is my mom.
See, Sakuya had fun, too! It's all thanks to you, Link. So thanks!
Umm...you're welcome.
It might've been best if we all decided what part we were each going to play beforehand.
It's really fun to do it with everyone! Well, see ya!
...


Our reward is squid. What else were you expecting?

Time for something slightly different. You've probably noticed the L-R INVITE showing up during dialog screenshots.


Once a villager gets a few hearts, you can invite them with you. Some are a lot more useful in combat than others, but I'm going to drag Pia around for a different reason.


That reason isn't the gigantic fish she uses as a weapon.

Drag her outside, remove her from the party so we can talk to her normally, and...


...we finally get her in mermaid mode. We would have eventually caught her like this without forcing it, but it's a bit silly how long this has dragged on.

Was this the first time you've seen me transformed?
Yes...
Oh. Well, I'm a mermaid, okay?! I want to eat some Squid.
Why?!




There's plenty of those in the forest. This shouldn't be hard.


Might as well grab cologne while I'm here. Men like this scent, like Shara just said.



Okay, so...you've seen a lot of monsters, right?
I sure have.
Um...
?
I'm looking for a particular.monster.
Which one?
It's a wooly.
Oh, sure. Those things are all.over Privera Forest.
No! It's not just a regular wooly. I'm looking for a special wooly that wandered into town a while ago. It was on the day you came to town. It collapsed right in front of our flower shop. I brought it inside and tended to its wounds. But when I took my eyes off of it for a second, it disappeared. I looked around everywhere, but I couldn't find any trace of it. I'm worried that it's still out there somewhere, injured.
It's probably fine by now. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Uh, was there something special about that wooly? Something unique-looking?
Yes! It was a very strange wooly. It had golden wool, a blue scarf, and a funny hat that looked like the top of an acorn.
?!
What is it?
Uh, um, ah, it's nothing!.N-N-N-Nothing at all!!

Link: Master of the poker face.

Have you seen it?!
No! Definitely not! I've never seen it in my entire life!
Are you ABSOLUTELY sure?! Never?
No, never! In fact, I haven't seen any woolies lately. I can hardly even remember what they look like!
I see...What a shame. I just want to know that it's okay.
I-I'll tell you what. Let me go take a look. Maybe I can find your wandering wooly.
Huh? But I thought you hadn't seen any woolies lately.
Uh, I think I'll be able to find this one. Trust me. I've got a good feeling.
Okay. Thank you.
(Okay, let me think...that wooly she's desribing...that has to be me. I see. So that was Shara's house that I woke up in. What should I do? She's so worried about that Wooly. I've got to let her know it's okay. I'll transform and talk to her.)


She'll never suspect a thing.



Are you okay?!
Baaah!
Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried about you after you disappeared like that!
Bah.
Are you getting enough to eat? Do you have a warm, comfy place to sleep?



Bah, bah.
That's great!
Bah.
Oh, that's right.



Bah, bah!
Tee-hee.
Bah, bah bah! Bah! Bah!
Oh, are you going already?
Bah!
I see. That's too bad.
Bah, bah.
Come by and see me again sometime. I'll have some delicious cakes waiting for you.
Bah!
Take care!
Baaaaaaaaaah. (Whew. Maybe I'll transform back and talk to her.)


See? A flawless plan.



Listen! That golden wooly just came to see me!
Really?!
Yes! I was so surprised! It was so cute! So soft and fluffy. I just wanted to hug it!
I-Is that right?
What is it?
N-No, it's nothing.
Really? I feel like there's something you aren't telling me...anyway, I saw my wooly, so I owe you a Formula A.
Oh, that's okay. I didn't do anything.
Please, I insist. I have a feeling you did a little more than you're letting on.
But...
No arguing! It's yours.
Well, thank you very much.
I'm the one who should thank you.


Okay, maybe she suspects a little.


Back to the crafting grind. Yarn is a slight value improvement over raw wool, but is also needed for other recipes.


And the most important part of crafting, shoving a bunch of shit onto your weapons and armor so they're better. Each material has different bonuses it can add, along with different difficulty. Difficulty also rises as a given piece of equipment increases in level(ie. has more shit stapled to it).


At the end of my session, the shield looks like this. Much better!

Music: Monster Village


It is the symbol of the region.
Is it an old tree?
Yes, according to legend, people here gathered around it. It might have been here since the beginning. It would be nice to get it to bloom.
What was that?
N-No, it's nothing. I'm sorry, I just remembered I had to do something.
???

Definitely Not A Plot Hook.


Let's try taking a request over here for a change.



Uh, sure. You know me! For the settlement!
Excellent. So, we're running out of fish in the settlement.
Well, we ARE in the middle of a desert. Not exactly an ample supply of ponds!
Indeed. Summer fish are about the only option.
Makes sense. But you'd like a more diverse selection than that?
We univir once had access to entire rivers and oceans.of fish. I need to recapture that proud history. I want fish from seasons other than summer. Spring Masu Trout, fall Pike, and winter Pond Smelt. Could I ask for these 3?
That's...quite a haul! But I think I can manage it. I won't disappoint you.
I wish you luck, comrade. Our proud settlement awaits news of your success.

...yeah, not happening.


In a small mercy, the winter area(which is also the hardest area) lets you fish from the monster-free initial screen. The fall area also has a monster-free path to fishing. But I really don't want to wait until I catch all those fish to take more requests, so I'm just cancelling this for now. They'll be caught when I have time.