Part 29: Heliord

Watch the cutscene.



Please do.
Is it true that you threw a knight sent to collect the taxes into the river?
Wow, I'd forgotten about that. Was that you, Tweedle A?
That's right! I was in bed with a cold for three whole days thanks to you.
...How many more of these are there? This is getting pretty boring.
...I wonder what'll happen to me.
So, I'll write you have "no signs of remorse" in the report then...
Where's that do-nothing captain of yours, anyway? What was his name? Schwann?
Playing hooky because he's the big shot.
You dare mock our captain? Sir Schwann is a legendary hero and a veteran of the Great War ten years ago.
So basically, his eminence would never stoop so low as to deal with nobodies like us.
Quiet, I say! Quiet! Getting on to your next offense...





Alexei... What...?
All your crimes are hereby pardoned by the good graces of their Highnesses Estellise and Ioder.



The Imperial Knights thank you for rescuing Prince Ioder and protecting Princess Estellise.



The krytian woman hands Yuri a bag of money.

We've got no need for this. It's not like we did those things for the sake of the Knights.
I see.



She has just given her consent to be returned to the imperial capital.
What? ...Well, I guess she is a princess, after all.
The Princess is waiting at the inn. We would be pleased if you made an appearance.


Skit: Estelle, the Princess
I was so surprised to find out that Estelle was a princess!
I had a feeling. She knew Flynn, and she was obviously brought up as a noble...
Shut up. You knew, already.
Maybe...
Oh man...
I wonder if I was rude to her without realizing it?
(imitating a noble) Your language has been unpardonable.
Captain Karol, the sentence for insulting royalty is...
decapitation.
Been nice knowing you.
What about you?! You're way more rude than I am!
Guess it's off with both our heads, then.
What?! Th-that's...
Idiots...


This is easily one of my favorite skits in the game.



That thing in the background is another Wonder Chef, giving us a recipe for Fish with Miso Sauce.



That's all we can do in here right no, so let's head outside.




You don't have a problem with this, Yuri?
It's not my decision to make.
Well...I guess that's true, but...
More importantly, where are we?



It was only just recently built. It's still a very new town. If you follow this road to the east you'll hit Caer Bocram, where we were earlier. Cut through the west and go to the northwest to reach Dahngrest.
I see...well, maybe I'll have a look around the town a bit.
...I've got my own business to attend to.
Hmmm, what to do...




Heliord is split into two sections: The upper part you see here, and a lower part below. We can't go there right now, since a Knight prevents us from entering the only lift that goes there.



Generally, the situation here seems weird.


Get enough points and you too can become nobility!

By talking to the NPCs, we can learn that common people work around here to become nobles, but something seems shady about it.




However, there's nothing we can do about that right now. In front of the Inn we can find Flynn and Ioder.




Yuri, please watch your speech in front of His Royal Highness. You could at least show due courtesy to the gracious pardoner of your crimes.
It's okay, Flynn. Miss Estellise and I acted of our own volition.
You've already heard about Princess Estellise then, I see.
Yeah, I heard.
Yuri, I thought that traveling with you would be to Her Highness' own benefit, but...



That's not very convincing, coming from you.
Haha, I apologize. But now especially, it's undesirable for the royal family's concerns to be brought into the public eye.
Concerns? You mean whether you or the Princess is next in line for the imperial throne?



Your Highness!
There's no use hiding any details from him when he already knows so much. The Imperial Knights are backing my own ascension to the throne. Meanwhile, Miss Estellise has the support of the Council.
She's a princess, after all.
Yes, her relation may be a distant one, but she's unmistakably of royal blood.
That's gotta be tough for the Knights, too. Even if she's the rival of their candidate for the throne, it's not like they can just stop protecting the Princess, is it?
Yuri, this matter is...
I don't know anyone odd enough to be interested in information like this.
Well, I'm going to go drop by Estelle's place, and then I'm gonna take a load off at the inn. Thanks for the chat.


Intriguing. But before we can enter the inn, we're stopped by our two favorite goofballs.

Watch the (unvoiced) cutscene/battle!




Don't call us that!
Something I can help you two with?
Even if you have a direct pardon from His Highness Ioder, I say, that does not change the fact that you committed crimes against the empire!
As members of the Imperial Knights, our honor will not allow us to simply let that slide!



If you beat us, we'll recognize you as innocent of your crimes!
Don't make claims you can't back up. Since when did you two have the authority to forgive people their crimes?
Regardless, we must battle!
Battle!
...If that's what it takes to make you happy, I guess I can humor you.
Excellent! Come with us!



Kiss your freedom goodbye, for it ends today!
I say, prepare to face the Imperial Knights' ultimate fighting technique: the burst arte!
Again, you're claiming regular techniques as your own... That doesn't belong to the Knights!
I say, be quiet!
The Burst Arte, huh... I've heard of it before, but...
You don't know how it's done? You fool!
I say, we shall show you! But before that happens, you'll be reduced to no more than a worthless caterpillar crawling on the ground!



Maybe it has something to do with Over Limit...
Go! Show him how it's done, Adecor!



The arcane arte of the Imperial Knights!



It didn't hit him! What are you doing?!
Huh. Burst artes can be linked from an arcane arte. I wonder if I could imitate that...
Ha, there's no way an amateur could do something like that, I say!
...And now, Over Limit...!



Wah, be careful! Yuri Lowell's going to attack!
Arcane arte...!









Ngaaah! Burst arte!
I say, what a terrible turn of events!!

Burst Artes! Burst Artes are a new mechanic that can more-or-less be explained as a "mini Mystic Arte". To activate it, you need to be in Over Limit, use an Arcane arte (or high level spell), then keep the Arte button held until the Burst Arte activates. They're decently powerful attacks that are certainly worth using if you find yourself in Over Limit. If time allows, you can even do multiple Burst Artes in a single Over Limit!

With this, we have basically unlocked the whole battle system to us, except of course for changes/improvements induced by Skills or Items.

Fun fact, if Yuri doesn't have any Arcane Arte at this point, he apparently learns Crushing Eagle; I found this in the text dump below the above scene, at least.
Now, let's move on to the actual battle at hand.




This battle is actually surprisingly tough! Believe it or not, I got several Game Overs here the first time I played this game.

Their basic attack repertoire remains the same as in previous battles, with the addition of them being able to use their own Burst Artes during Over Limit:






Apart from that, they're the same as ever, just stronger and thus more annoying, especially since you're alone. Nothing some skill or some items can't solve, though.





I guess I'll hurry back to the inn...




The same building as the inn also houses an item shop, although I don't get much there right now because my party is lacking people (and thus references to compare stats/skills to). I do synthesize some Glasses for Estelle though; guess I'll put those on sometime soon:



Estelle, however, is currently not available for talking.



Guess we'll rest ourselves then. We meet Karol and Rita at the inn counter.



She seems to be asleep already. She must have been exhausted today. I didn't want to wake her up. We can still talk tomorrow.
Right. Why don't we all return to our rooms then.

And that's it for now. Next time, we'll see some exciting stuff happening in Heliord!