Part 4: Cress and Euclid

Skit: No Time To Waste



: Yeah, I've a bad feeling about this.

Toltus (you might want to watch this one).



: I'm gonna go check out my house!

Whoever did this was... pretty thorough... I'm not sure going to Chester's house is such a great idea.



I really don't want to compliment whoever did this, but leaving no survivors at all is pretty impressive...

Anyway, sad music time;



: Hang in there, Mom!
: Cress, you must flee. Flee to your uncle's place in Euclid to the north. They're after your pendant...
: Who!? Who's after it!? Who the heck did this! Mom, Mom!!!
: Don't die, Mom...



Maybe... maybe Chester had better luck?



: Chester, it's too dangerous here. Let's go to my uncle's place for now.
: What about Ami and the villagers? Are you planning to just leave them like this? I can't do that! Go alone if you must!
: I'm gonna give them a proper burial, even if I have to do it alone.
: If whoever attacked the village returns, they're liable to kill you, too!
: Sorry, Cress...
: It's what I need to do!
: Chester...
: You go on ahead. It's too risky for us both to stay here. I'll meet up with you later, I promise.
: I'll hold you to that!
: You can count on me. We'll get our revenge together!

I guess that counts as ending on a high note? Given the circumstances I mean... At least now we have a reason to go to Euclid other than "be able to destroy the first boss in seconds."



: (I wonder if she meant this one that my father gave me...?)
: (I better leave quick!)
: (Chester will be safer here without me...)

Well, there's still one thing to do while we're in town.



Loot what little we can from Cress' house of course. Upstairs in the... well...? there's a sword just lying there. We'll be taking this!

: Maybe it belongs to whoever attacked the village!?



The Knight's Saber is quite a useful upgrade for Cress, especially re Slashing, and it's free too!

...Just kidding. We aren't taking this just yet and there's a reason for that which we'll see later.

Skit: Family



Fortunately, Euclid isn't that far and there's just one area we have to cross first.



I ignored this guy earlier because he sells stuff we don't need, don't want and couldn't afford right now anyway. Panacaea Bottles are items that cure paralysis, poison or stone. Pretty useful... if anything for the next few hours could inflict any of those. He doesn't sell the one item I'd like to buy unfortunately, and neither do the shops in Euclid.



We went the short way last time, so this time we'll take the scenic route. It's not that interesting; just a long, winding road that has no treasure and no possible detours. It also has lots of Bugbears, Bees and Owls if they're your kind of thing.



On the plus side, after the tedious journey here we do get two free things! Another Life Bottle we have no use for, and couldn't use if he had one, and an Orange Gel. If we were spamming Artes at this point, rather than using them sparingly, we'd have a use for the Gel. Orange Gels restore 30% of someone's max TP. Quite nice if we had a mage or something but Cress just has the ability to throw shockwaves with his sword.

Skit: Euclid



Fortunately, getting to Euclid is nice and easy and we've even done it before at a lower level albeit with a second character. Unfortunately, the trip is entirely uneventful and the one interesting thing is "free items we've seen already."



I didn't show it when we were last here, but we could go to that house before. We couldn't have gone in since it was locked and apparently the people living there weren't in.

Also, with his parents now dead Cress has a new-found curiosity in the knights his dad used to be a member of.



: About the knights...
Guard: You want to know about the Independent Order of Knights? As far as I know, Captain Mars succeeded Captain Miguel as leader of the Knights. He was a master swordsman comparable to Captain Miguel. But...he hasn't been seen lately. They say he's in his sickbed, so I think he's at home...
: Where is it?
Guard: In the northeastern part of the town.

I think we should pay this Mars fellow a visit. It could be beneficial to get on the good side of these knights after all.



Mars's Wife: That's right. Mars is my husband. Wait, do you know where he is!?
: Um, no...
: I came here because I heard from a soldier at Euclid Castle.
: My father Miguel used to be Captain of the Independent Order of Knights... The soldier told me that Mars succeeded him, so I came here.
Mars's Wife: Well, thank you for your visit, but... Mars is... He's... He's missing.
: Missing?
Mars's Wife: It happened three months ago. He left in the night with his armor on and never returned. I thought it was for work, but... He hasn't been back to the castle either... He's just gone.
: I'm sorry to hear that...
Mars's Wife: I wonder where he's gone...

Well, that didn't go quite as expected. I want to know why the heck she never bothered to let anyone else know that he's been missing for three months but I guess we can be glad that she didn't since it let us pretend to investigate for ourselves.



Here's where we're supposed to go now. The two doors both lead to the same place but there's a room upstairs we can go through first!



Unfortunately, this room has nothing in it so we'll take the stairs down to see if there's anything there instead.



: Uncle, Aunt, it's been so long...
Olson: Cress... You look well. You know, I heard a horrible rumor. Is it true that the village of Toltus was attacked?
: It's true... Mom and Dad were both...
Olson: So...the rumor was true...
: Yes...
Cress's Aunt - Joanne: Cress... Don't be so glum... Why don't you stay with us for a while.
: Thank you...

Before we take her up on that offer for real, though, there is a whole one thing to do in this house!



Other seemingly dumb things Cress was never taught: don't run with scissors, don't put your finger in the light socket, don't walk into a giant hole in the floor.



Before continuing it might help to take a quick trip to the grocer's and buy some food items. I don't do it because I am an idiot, but that's beside the point.



Olson: Why don't you take a rest.
: No, I'm fine.
Olson: Don't say that, just rest already!
: Okay, I will!



Olson: I'm sorry... We had no choice... If we refused, our city would suffer the same fate as Toltus. Please forgive me...
???: Enough talk. Shut up and do as you're told.

???: Walk!!!