Part 49: Showdown with Dedecchi and Repede's rival

Skipping Ehmead since there's nothing interesting happening there, we quickly arrive at Capua Nor.



Walking towards Ragou's mansion (who does that belong to now, anyway?), we can find Sicily again.






...Apparently we're his friends now.
Urgh, it's him again...
This is... This is the guy we met back in Halure.
What are you doing here, sir?
Sicily: Oh? Ehhh, I was just watching the sun set over the sea!
Just watching the sun set... Really...?
Sicily: Si, signorina! Perhaps all of us can watch it together? Especially Signor Raven! For him, I am sure something like this is perfetto!
He's calling you out, old man.
H-hey! How'd I get brought inta all this again...!
Well, we'll be waiting for you back at the inn.





Sicily: You do nothing. That's it. Just look ouuuut at the sea!
Look ouuuut...at the sea...



Sicily: Oh! Raven, mio amico... Is that a bodhi blastia?
Huh? Oh yeah. I can use this ta learn weapon skills.
Sicily: Hmmm... You know, I hear bodhi blastia, can be used to learn artes even without the weapons equipped!
Really? Ya don't say...
Sicily: In effetti, they say that weapon skills are buried deep under a person's skin. And the weapons are nothing more than a key to bring them out! Or so I hear...
Hmmm... Ya sure know a lot about these things.
Sicily: Well, they are just rumors. I cannot say for certain, but...
I see...



...I don't really get that guy... Huh? Wh-what's this...?

Learned Skill: Vacance!

How in the...? I get the feelin' there's more than meets the eye with that weirdo...



Vacance is an... interesting Skill I guess, but not really worth it. I mean if you really feel like grinding Max HP you could do that I guess, but eh.


If we go further into town, we can find this booth:



Technically this was available the last time we were here, but I kind of forgot about it.




Huh? You mean me?
Dice Master: Yes, yes indeed! You think you might want to play a little stone-taking game with me? To make it interesting, I'll give you a nice present if you can beat me! What do you say?
Hmmm... Well, why not? But...are you sure? I'm pretty good at that kind of game!
Dice Master: Ho ho! Excellent! I've been looking for an opponent to give me a challenge. They call me the Master! I won't go down without a fight.
*Sigh* Do we really have time to be sitting and playing games?
Don't worry. I'll make short work of this geezer. Just wait and see.
Dice Master: Ho ho! Well then, shall we begin?



Fuck this minigame. It's completely random and you don't even get anything useful out of it, just a few consumables and a non-costume title for Rita.

The idea here is that you roll two (Even/Odd) or three (High/Low) dice and guess if the sum of the numbers will be even/odd or high (over 10) / low (below or exactly 10). To win, you have to guess correctly three times in a row.



More often than not, you'll lose one of the three times.

Frankly, after all that big talk, I was expecting a more impressive showing...
Wha! No, no, you've got it all wrong! I'm just feeling a little under the weather, is all!
Dice Master: Ho ho! Feel free to come back for a rematch when you're feeling better!

The first three times you lose, Yuri gives a comment about how bad you are at the game. Which is of course BS since it's random.



Heh heh heh. What happened, genius mage?
Sh-shut up, you!!
Dice Master: Ho ho! All that anger isn't going to help you win!



I'm telling you, give up now! You're just going to keep losing!
I can't stand it, I can't stand it, I can't staaaand it!!
Dice Master: Hmmm... Perhaps I was wrong about you...

After the third time it'll just repeat the last one.

Eventually, if you keep trying, you'll win, probably.






Dice Master: Hmpf, yes... I've lost.
I guess even someone with no skill can win eventually.
Sh-shut up, Yuri!
Dice Master: Now, for your prize, a delicious kiss from yours truly... ...Haha, fooled you! No, I'm going to give you the title of New Master! As news of my defeat travels, new challengers will appear, hoping to steal your glory! Stay strong and don't lose, Rita! That is, the New Stone-Taking Master Rita! To be continued next time, in "A New Assassin Lurks!"
To be continued?
...That's not likely.
Dice Master: Ho ho! Ho ho! Well, if you ever feel like it, you're welcome to join me in my hobbies.


On to more interesting things, you can check out the alley you first met Flynn in to find someone we've been searching for. (but only in the PS3 version)





What is it, Repede?



Man B: It's the world's smallest blastia! If you don't buy it now you'll never get another chance!
Man A: O-ho! So, where is it?
Man B: It's in that office over there. Whoa there, I'll need the payment of 50,000 Gald in advance!
Man A: F-fifty thousand Gald?!
Man B: You don't need to worry about the quality of this fine item. I can guarantee it, as Mordio, Aspio's number one genius mage!
A man with a cape stealing my name? Where have I heard this story before?
Now that we've found the guy, I guess we can't just turn a blind eye, huh?
Woof!



His name was Dedecchi, wasn't it?



What luck running into you here, huh, core thief?
Dedecchi: Y-you're that guy from...!
If you remember me, I trust you remember what you did. You really messed up everyone's life down in the lower quarter, you know.
Dedecchi: Uh, sorry! Someone asked me to take on that job, so take your problem up with him.
I don't care if it was your idea or not. You still did it.
Dedecchi: Eep! I'm begging you. Please forgive me!
Come on. Do you really think I'm going to let you off that easy? You'll have to take the heat for what you did.
Dedecchi: Damn it! I never even wanted to get involved in the sort of stuff Barbos and the others did! I didn't want to use that freak mage's name, either! I just put up with it because he said things would run more smoothly if I did! The biggest genius mage in Aspio? Who cares about that! That just means this Mordio is some sort of blastia freak!



Hey now...
Dedecchi: If I had known things were going to turn out this way, I would never have taken on such an oddball freak's name in the first place!





First you use my name without my consent, then you sell fake blastia like that... And on top of all that, you call me a freak?



Stone Blast!



Aah, much better.
Rita, I think you went a little overboard...
It's his own fault for talking that way in front of the person he was impersonating...
...Man, I lost my chance to take the stage.
Man: Thanks. You saved me there. I never suspected he was that sort of person.
Be careful of anyone trying to sell you something suspicious from now on.
Man: Yes, I will. Just leave him to me. I'll inform the knights, so he can never do this again.



A bastard like that should just spend his whole life there.
The case of the core thief is really over now, huh?
Yuri, are you okay with not getting to smack him yourself?
Rita really went above and beyond whatever I would've done. I'm gonna call it good. Isn't that right, Repede?
Woof!



In the 360 version you never really get closure on the whole Dedecchi thing, so it's kinda nice they added this scene.


Moving on, if we talk to the woman in front of the inn, we can score a recipe.





Woman: You should definitely stay at our inn and experience our delicious seafood ricebowl!
Oo, that sounds mighty tasty!
Woman: Do you like seafood ricebowls, young man?
Sure, I guess.
Woman: Well then, this is for you.



A recipe?
It's a recipe for seafood ricebowl.



Woman: He's right around the same age as you, young man. I wish I could give my grandson a taste of his grandma's home cooking, which I'm sure he's missing... Oh, I'm sorry... I must sound so selfish. But please take it, if you'd like.
A knight around the same age as Yuri...
He said his family lived in Capua Nor, didn't he?
Is your grandson's name Hachette?
Woman: H-how did you know that?
I used to be a knight, myself. I trained with Hachette.
Woman: Well, well...!



Woman: Yes, I'm sure he's working hard for the Knights... I'm glad. Thank you for telling me that. I must give you something for your thoughtfulness...
No, you've given us enough already.





Wonder Chef: Don't be hasty! The recipe for my Transcendent Seafood Ricebowl, the holy grail of cooking, is right here! And now, it is yours!!



Good call...




Who needs the Wonder Chef, anyway?


If we rest at the inn here we can get another scene.







Captain Karol! You rock!



No wonder they say you'll be the next Don in ten years... Wow!
I'm impressed, Karol!
I'm no match fer you!
No, no, don't be so modest! I wouldn't have been able to do it without all of your support!



Karol!
Karol, brother!



Karol, brother, no one else can take the Chief's place but you! The Hunting Blades need you!
Really? Wh-what should I do... I already left the guild once...



Yeah! Didn't you promise to start a guild with us?
D-did I?
Karol, please!
Karol, brother!
Karol!
Ummm...I, I... I don't know...!






Wha...it was a dream...? What a nice dream...
...We could all be having nice dreams if you'd be quiet...


A nice insight into Karol's thoughts.




That's it for Nor, next stop is Torim! But our ship is parked near Zaphias, do we really have to walk all the way back there?



Nope! Vesperia allows you to depart from any port, no matter where your boat actually is. Pretty useful. The same works in Abyss, by the way.




Entering Torim, we immediately run into a cutscene.




Woof!



...That's your...former nemesis!
Say again?
That's the dog Yuri was talking about, who used to rule over all of the dogs and cats in the capital...
Yeah, it's the Little Wolf.



(Don't think I've forgotten how you drove me out of the capital like a common stray.)
(We settled everything fair and square in battle. You have no right to still hold a grudge.)
(You had to go and take pity on me... Why didn't you just kill me when you had the chance?)
(I haven't sunk so low as to raise a paw against a defeated loser.)
(Me, a loser? You filthy mutt. I've still never lost to you in person.)



(You catch on quick.)



(It has to be a marking battle.)
(What do you mean?)



(A battle spanning the whole globe!)

Estelle gets an idea and runs off.

(Hmmm, sounds pretty interesting... You sure you'll be able to keep up?)
(That's my line. Sit around on your haunches and I'm gonna leave you in the dust.)





Yeah, I hope so.
...How long are they going to be doing it?
Huh? Oh, Repede, you're finished.
Woof!



Where'd you go off to, Estelle?
Here you go, Karol.



Wh-what's this...?
You can use this to make notes of all of the places where Repede's marked his territory.
Huh? Y-you want me to do it...?
This sort of thing is what Captain Karol does best!
Woof!
We're counting on you!

...Just roll with it.



From now on, we can access the Dog Map from the World map. Blue colored areas are Repede's turf, while red colored ones are Little Wolf's. To change an area from colorless or red to blue, you have to rest in the area using a Tent (or equivalent). What this really means is that you need to search on the world map for areas you have not yet slept in and rest there, until more or less the entire map is blue. There's a bit of leeway, but not much. We won't be doing that until we have access to aerial travel, as some areas can only be reached by air and your blue areas diminish over time.


While we're in Torim, there's another warehouse that needs cleaning here:





Huh? Yes, we are...
Man: I have a bit of a favor to ask of you. Would you mind helping me tidy up this warehouse? We're a bit short on help at the moment and it would mean a lot if you could lend us a hand. We will pay you for your work of course.
No problem! Leave it up to us!
Man: Thank you very much! Let's get started.



More of the same, except there's a new gimmick:




Elevators and multiple floors! It's really easy to screw up here by dropping down boxes from the wrong locations, I recommend just using a guide.

Items in here:
Power Light x1 (synth material)
Golden Horn x1 (synth material)
Lottery Gel x3 (usable in battle, restores random amount of HP and/or TP)




2000 Gald!

Thank you! Brave Vesperia is at your service!


Skit: Three in One
The two barrier blastia of this city and Nor harbor were originally a single blastia.
Did you read that in one of your books back in the castle?
Yes. Actually, there were three pieces. The last piece sunk in the sea between the two cities.
I wonder if you could raise that blastia. And if you sold it, you could live like a king forever!
The Empire would've already done it if they could. Any idiot could come up with that idea.
...You don't have to be mean about it.



One more thing to do before we go back to the main story, and it's back in Zaphias.



To be specific, this dog:





Dog: Bark!
Woof woowoof!
Dog: Bark, woof!
I wonder what they're talking about.
Yeah, me too.
You too... Yuri, I thought you understood what Repede means when he's barking?
When did I ever say that?



But don't you interpret what Repede says sometimes?
Nah, I've just been saying whatever I think he might be thinking at the time.
Really? I'm not so sure.
Do I really look like a dog whisperer to you?
Ah, he came back!





What is it?
Looks like the Little Wolf's fur.
Ah, I see what's goin' on. The pups are having a territory markin' competition.
Right, and with that fur, Repede will be able to use his sense of smell to figure out where the Little Wolf is.
Oh, I see! That dog went and brought back some fur that had been left in town.
With this, not even yer rival's a match fer you! Right, pup?
Woof!

Honestly, I'm not sure what this item does, because I'm pretty sure you can see red areas on the map even without this item. Maybe it reduces the rate you lose or Little Wolf gains territory?

Forums user Materant thinks that you can't see Little Wolf's territory on the World Map without that item, but we couldn't really prove it one way or the other.


Anyway, that's it for today. Next time: Nordopolica!