Part 12: None of your Beeswax!

Update 11 - None of your Beeswax!

BGM: School 1



: How about going to see the Star Festival? It's an old festival that takes place in Uchina Village, to the north of the island.
: It's kind of like Tanabata. They're doing preparations today, but the real event's tomorrow.





: Right - once you're all ready to go, we'll meet up here at Frapper's again! I want to make it to Uchina tonight, so don't be late!





There's a few things to take care of before heading out on our excursion, starting with seeing what the word around town is.





: Sigh... Maybe I should join the Twilight Penguins.

Since I'm heading to the main school building, let's see what's going on at the Assembly Hall.







Well, I can't exactly argue with that.



The movie in the projector room has changed, this time showcasing a different school organization.



Patrol Squad vs Musketeers: The Ultimate Battle









There's two new phone numbers to grab, with the first one in the boys' dorm.





The second one is in Newtown.



: From now on, I'm going to work hard to sell the students quality goods at low prices. No, honest! Please, believe me!





Newtown also has a new club we can join.





The second skill cures Meh for the whole party while the last skill makes the user immune to Meh.



One quick stop to make some phone calls...

: Good news! Good news! I finally did it! I'm president of the student council! Thank you for everything!
: I'm busy with Public Safety work! I can't just hang around with you whenever you like!

And let's check out our new party members.



Isaac's Friend Skill causes him to take all damage for one turn, so he's effectively the tank of the party. He starts out in the Baseball club (naturally), so I threw him in the Cheerleading and Soccer club to boost his HP and GP.



Julia's Friend Skill heals all HP and cures all status effects, but drops her HP to zero. She starts the game in the Nursing Club, which is exclusive to her and can heal HP, cure all status effects, and revive fallen party members.



Last but certainly not least, Misato's Friend Skill seals all skills for both sides in combat. She starts off in the Maths Club, which might explain her gloomy demeanor.



With all that out of the way, it's back to Frappers for us.



















: Whaaaat?! How are they even going to enforce that?!
: Search me!
: I bet the place is going to be swarming with Public Safety goons.



: We're going there tonight no matter what it takes! Got it?!
: Wow... You're on a mission.
: I'm sorry, did you just say something?
: Uh... Er... No... I just said, "Wow, I love fishin'."



: Great! Star Festival, here we come!



: Yeah. Let's go and check it out.



The garden in question is through these trees. The first time I played this game, I didn't realize that you had to press the A button to enter and so I spent a good five minutes running around trying to find the entrance.







A few seconds later...





: ...Looks like he's gone.
: Good. Let's bust through here so that they don't find us.
: Their patterns are actually pretty simple. We can make it through when their backs are turned. Everyone, stay together!



Hooray for more forced stealth sections! Well, if you're playing the girl's side then it's the first one.



Still pretty simple even if there's quite a number of Public Safety goons roaming about.



: Whew... Thank goodness that's over. C'mon, let's hurry westwards to Uchina!



The area near Uchina is teeming with new enemies, including some boring recolors.



The Dire Dragonflies are by far the most dangerous. Not only are they strong, but they always appear in groups of three or five. I got my first KO of the game from them.



The less dangerous of the dragonflies are the Utsuho Dragonflies, which aren't as strong and appear in lesser numbers. Also appearing in lesser numbers are the Burly Bovines, who can hit hard and cause Pheromone.



Killer Bees are more of an annoyance than anything. They can cause your party members to become dopey and less likely to attack, leading to a situation where you're unable to do anything.



Though they aren't exclusive to this area, this is the first time I ran into a Ghost Train. Ghost Trains appear when you walk on the railways and can only be damaged by club skills. Hinako sent out her Jar Spirit to attack it.



To the north is another point of interest - the Hachirou Shrine (literally "Beeswax Shrine").



First, there's a club to be joined. The second skill cures Sick for the whole party while the last skill makes the user immune to Sick.



Combining it with Cooking also gets Haru a combo technique and his first offensive skill.



The second thing to see here is much more annoying. There's a rumor that offering 100G to the shrine will get you something special...so you must put 1G into the offering box at a time, walk down to the gate, and then walk back up to the offering box to put in another 1G. One hundred times.



50 trips up and down the stairs later...







: You've successfully completed the Hundred Offerings. Truly did I never expect anyone would actually waste their time on such a stupid thing.
: I mean, come on, guys. Do you think that makes me happy? Really? It makes me dizzy if anything.
: Look, how about this -- I'll give you a reward if you go away and never bother me again.







Cardboard's never let me down, so let's go with cardboard!



> Got Cat Doll!
> Got Bunny Shoes!

The lacquer box gets you the weapon Crab Claw instead of the three pieces of armor the cardboard box gets you.







Well that was exceedingly fun. Let's finally head over to Uchina.

BGM: Newtown (Day)







: It'll be her job to go to Yumi Island in the northwest and make an offering at the shrine there.



Probably some mess that Hospo will have to clean up.



: It hasn't been observed for a while, but it was restarted last year.



Don't mess with chickens, man.



This house looks sufficiently "village chief," so this is probably the place we want.









: Without the prayer book, I'm afraid there'll be no Star Festival this year. Who would do such a thing?
: Don't worry, sir. We'll get that prayer book back for you!
: What? Truly? Oh, you really are Hourai students! I'm counting on you!
: However, it's too late to go tonight... Please rest at the Uchina Arms before you continue. I'll have the tunnel to Sute Village opened for you by tomorrow morning.

I'll take you up on that. See you tomorrow, village chief!