Part 29: Sidetracked (VII) - Eat-and-Run Bandit

While the thread gets its vote on, Kyril has a few things to take care of that don't involve reader participation. A couple of new quests are available, so let's do the easy one first.


Objective: Send someone to patrol the town.

For a given definition of "easy," at least. This requires 20 STR - which is not a problem - and 150 HP, which is actually somewhat of a tall order at this point. Still, we hand him a bunch of medallions, and...

Got it!

...Dario is off, eager to prove just how gorgeous he really is.

Let's pretend we went on the world map and did nothing for 20 days.

Errr...

Yes? Yeees?



I knew you could do it.

This quest is only worth 4000 Potch and 100 (yes, one hundred) Skill Points, but...



...it also comes with a unique bonus reward. The armoured kangacorn trades the +10% speed boost of the regular one for a +30% defence boost. Probably good for Eugene.



Now then, for the main, uh, course.



Anyone who followed the S4 thread has probably already figured out what this is about. I find it somewhat funny that they're paying us more than the guy owes them. Either way, they're losing money! That's no way to run a business.



Taking on the quest opens the port of Merseto again.



Ah, isn't it good to be back? I've missed the canals full of radioactive milk.



The objective is to catch the guy, not bury an axe in his head.



On our side, we have an entirely inefficient Rachel...



...and on the enemy side, this guy.

You'll never catch me!



Suffice to say, Rachel has no hope whatsoever of catching him. Nor do we unless we take advantage of the terrain.



But first!



Yes. I'm ready.

All right, let's go!

Lazlo and Kyril finally learn Double Leader Attack, which is basically True Friends Attack but with a little more power to it (150 as opposed to 130).



That done, our double leaders head towards the boats.



Cedric parks himself on a bridge and won't move from this position for a couple of turns, until Rachel is closer. He's definitely leading her on. One of these days, he'll get stabbed for real.



If all you have is a terrible fleet-burning death laser, every problem starts to look like an armada. Sadly Lazlo can't reach the third crate, but the first two yield a medicine and a thunder force bead, respectively.



We do a lot of waiting around. Rachel finally "catches up" with Cedric.



He runs away again. Repeat.



Finally, the boats line up enough for Kyril to get across. There's no need to do anything drastic here; all you have to do is attack him...



...even if you don't deal damage.

I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I promise; I won't!

And that's a wrap.



The rank for this fight depends on how hard you hit Cedric. To S-rank it, you have to bring him down to 5% health or less. I'm actually happy with that miss, because bronze medals are better than silver or gold, and I already have the Merchant's Cap from the first time we were here.



You're in big trouble now, little man.

All right! Now you're gonna fork over all the money you owe those restaurants!

H-Help, help!

Kyril...

"Let's leave him to his fate. I'm sure he deserves it."

Hmmm... I don't know.

I'll do anything, please!

Okay then, how about coming with us?

Kyril!

Well, you saw it, Andarc. This kid's a speed demon. He could be pretty useful.

Will you save me if I agree to help?

You got it. It's a deal.



Oh, Rachel...

Can I just pay you what he owes?

Fine. That'll do. But make it snappy.
On second thought... pay me later. You look like you're going places, and I'm going to come along.

You can't be serious...

Got a problem with that?

Uh, we don't mind...

Then that's that! And I'll keep an eye on him for you, too, to make sure he doesn't eat and run again!

I'm... uhh... looking forward to working with you guys. If I survive, that is.

And with that we're joined by both Rachel and Cedric. Rachel, as you probably saw in the battle, is a spear user; she's pretty fast, but lacks Extra Move. She's really only a bonus. Cedric is the real prize.



He is a support character, and his special talent is to buff evasion. That's not something I really tend to use, but he is very useful for a different reason...



...namely True Godspeed. It differs from the regular version in that it comes with ranks like most other skills...



...and as such, can increase his MOV by multiple points. Cedric is a great character to use when you want to precision bomb something before it can make a nuisance of itself - just have him run up, switch in a nuker of your choice, and say goodbye to that pesky bat or whatever. He's also one of the fastest characters in the game, so you can be sure that you'll move before the enemy...



...but Wendel is still faster.



I didn't remember to check if this actually means handing over those 5000 Potch, but completing the quest does pay the promised 8000 bucks and 400 SP, in addition to the cash we got from the battle itself - so we're running a profit either way. And that is how you run a business.

Still taking votes.