Part 96: Aaaand so we show up at just the right time.

-Commercial City of Bose-



You're Ms. Mirano, right?
Mirano: Yes, that's right. You all must be bracers?
That's right, ma'am. We understand you want to be escorted to Ravennue Village?
Mirano: That's right. I'd like to head to that lovely little town and have a look at their orchards. Though, if I may, you look a little young for a bracer. Are you quite sure you can do this?



Excuse me, ma'am. I AM a certified senior bracer. I'm totally capable of doing this.
I bet Ragnard would be willing to provide a good reference. Let's have him visit.
I assure you that Estelle is qualified. If that does not satisfy, you'll have to wait for another bracer to become available.
Mirano: Oh, my! I suppose you really can't judge by a cover. I always liked putting my own covers on my books, anyway. I'll trust you, young lady. How about it? Shall we be off?
Sure. We're ready when you are.
Mirano: Very good! Let's be off, then.
So we're going to Ravennue, right? In that case, we'll want to head out the west gate of the city.
Yes, that's right, and then up the mountain road.
Mirano: I'll meet you by the west gate. I imagine you have a few things to prepare before we go!
Yeah, a little prep time would be great. Thanks! We'll be right there.
Mirano: Very good. Don't keep me waiting long, now.



Right!



Mirano: Shall we proceed, then?
Whenever you're ready, ma'am. Our goal is Ravennue Village, right?
Indeed. We know the road, but don't forget that we are escorting someone. We should avoid monsters when we can.
Mirano: Yes, quite so! What a waste of time a fight would be, too. Why, keep me out of danger, and I may just give you all a nice little bonus.
We'll do our best, ma'am!
Let's be off, then!

You heard the lady. Don't get in any battles if you want the bonus for this job. Sometimes the game will pull a hilarious dick move like making dun-colored monsters sit right in the middle of a narrow, dun-colored path...



...but you've still got Heaven's Eye and Haze or Yin-Yang, so avoiding trouble should be child's play.



-A Cat Relaxing in the Sun-









Mirano: They've already started to rebuild their orchards, little by little.
Yeah, looks like it. It'll be a hard road for them, but the journey of a thousand selge begins with a single step.
Yeah, they're getting all kinds of help from all over, too. I'm sure they'll be just fine.
Mirano: Yes, I believe in them. I wish we merchants could be of some aid to them...
Huh? Mirano, are you thinking of trying to save Ravennue?
Mirano: Oh, my, no. I have no intention of setting myself up as some kind of savior to these people. I'm ultimately just here for business. I'm going to look at the orchards and get a feel for how bad the situation is. Of course, if things are looking up, I can always invest! Well, then! I should be getting to work.
Okay! That means this is goodbye, then.
Mirano: It is, indeed. I must declare, I sorely misjudged you earlier! I'll contact Lugran and arrange a bonus for you.
Huh? Really?!
Mirano: Why would I lie about a thing like that? You've earned it. Be careful on your way back.
We will. Good luck with your work!

Ravennue Village has a few secrets for you.



Lewey: And Agate's here too!! Agate's back, Agate's back!
Heeey, Lewey!
'Sup, squirt? You seem like you're doin' good.
Lewey: Yeah, I'm okay! Especially since the scary dragon is gone now, right?
Yeah, don't worry. That kind of thing'll never happen again.
So you play outside as much as you want, okay?
Lewey: Okay! Oh, but. Now that we can play outside, I'll give you this book!


Lewey: See you later! Today we get to play a lot since we were inside for so long! Miss, you should play with us too!
Vince: We're gonna plant new saplings in the orchards, like they said! I'm gonna help out too so they give us fruit soon!
Fran: Vince is talking like THAT again. He was like this the last time some saplings were being planted, too. He'll be sick of it again in three days, at most. Just watch.



Apple: The orchard's been cleaned up, and life is getting a little back to normal. The day will come when those new saplings bear fruit. And until then, we'll just keep at it!



Limon: I hear Elder Reisen took donations of some kind for the village. Maybe we really will be able to restore the orchards now! Yeah, we're gonna be okay!



Figaro: There's a contingent of soldiers still guarding the old mine, too. I think it will be a long time before we can really put all this behind us.



Mirano: These people will need funding to rebuild their orchards. I must have words with Father and have our family prepare our own restoration fund. Blast all to 'business.' These people shouldn't have to rely on handouts to rebuild their lives.



Elder Reisen: We have elected to accept Ragnard's goldia crystal as his apology. We will use every single mira it brings us to restore the village. It still staggers me, in honesty. He can create great crystals of septium at will? Dragons truly defy all logic, at least as we men know it.



-Rock on the Road-



Royal Army Soldier: We've got to contact headquarters for reinforcements!
Royal Army Officer: They're that strong...?
Royal Army Soldier: Yes, sir! I've never seen monsters like these before! Gehenna, I wonder if they're even monsters, really...
Hey, what's up?
Royal Army Officer: Uwaah! Who're you?!
Hmm, thought you'd be able to tell by the emblem. We're bracers, sir.
Royal Army Officer: Bracers? Hm...!
You seem to have some kind of problem. What is it?
Royal Army Officer: Yes...you could say that. Something completely unexpected has occurred here.
Completely unexpected? What happened?
Royal Army Officer: Well...you see...Monsters have appeared in this abandoned mine.
Uh. Maybe I'm just an ignorant man of the cloth, but what's unexpected about that? Monster infestations occur all the time.
Royal Army Officer: That's true, but...You see, the monsters in here are...not normal monsters.
Are you guys sure you're not just, like, overreacting or something?
Royal Army Soldier: It's true, I say! They're goddamn insects made of metal! They sprang up out of nowhere all throughout the mine.
I see...I've never heard of a monster like that.
Royal Army Officer: My squad's mission is to ensure local security. Unfortunately, we don't have the kind of firepower necessary to deal with unknown monsters. This is all a stone's throw from Ravennue Village, however. We can't just ignore an infestation of unknown creatures near an inhabited area, either.
Aaaand so we show up at just the right time.
I kinda think I see where this is going...
Royal Army Officer: I guess I'm pretty easy to read at this point, huh? Still, this is becoming fairly common, isn't it? The guild and army helping one another, I mean. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you help us?
Sure! It's our duty to investigate stuff like this, after all.
Royal Army Officer: Thank you! We'll owe you after this.
Don't worry about it, really. It's an emergency.
So, let me make sure I understand everything right...You basically want us to go in there and exterminate the weird monsters?
Royal Army Officer: That's right. We want you to exterminate every one of those unknown monsters dwelling in the mine. They're VERY distinct. You shouldn't have any trouble telling them apart from the others.
All right.
Can you tell us anything else about these monsters?
Royal Army Soldier: Let's see...One on one, they're not all that strong. It's the ones that show up every now and then with different colors that you need to watch out for.
Different colors?
Royal Army Soldier: Yeah! They use somethin' LIKE arts, but...Man...Gehenna take me if they're like any arts I've ever seen, though!
Unknown arts? You're kidding, right?
Mmm...That does sound particularly dangerous. We should pay close attention to the monsters as we track them down.
Absolutely.
Royal Army Officer: That should be everything. Allow us to open the gate for you, then.
Yeah, uh, thanks.



Royal Army Officer: Well, then...take care, bracers. Come back here if you need a break. We've got an orbment charging station here.
Thanks! That'll help for sure. Once we've exterminated all the target monsters, we'll come back to report.
Royal Army Officer: Please do. Aidios' blessing be on you all.
Let's get to it, then.
Yeah, let's go.

-Wandering in the Darkness-



Aww it's kinda cute!



lookidem wobby lil antenna wibble wobble



















Alright never mind, shred 'em.





There are five groups of Vogel archaisms to hunt down in the mine. Most of them have four of the red 235s, and one of the stronger blue 570s.





The last group is all blues.











The game is nice enough to let you know when you're done, but don't leave without hitting this alcove in the southwest corner of the open quarry.







Another lovely arts boost to go with the Buzzer.

-Rock on the Road-



Your 'insects' are all stomped!
The mine shouldn't give you much more trouble now. We'll leave the rest to you.
Royal Army Officer: You really did it?! Talk about a relief.
It is sort of a relief, I guess...
Still, those 'monsters'...They were obviously machines. Could this be the society's doing?
Gambling's one thing I DON'T do...but if I were a bettin' man, I'd put good money on it. Still got no idea why they'd send those things to a random place like this, though...
Royal Army Officer: The society...? You mean the Society of Ouroboros, the criminal organization we were briefed on? I see...So it's possible they were behind this...
Yeah, I think so. We've fought them a number of times, but they don't play by normal rules. You guys should be extra careful, okay?
The Bracer Guild is also investigating Ouroboros. If we discover anything new, we'll be sure to pass it along to the army.
Royal Army Officer: Yes, please do. I will be sure and make a detailed report to the border garrison regarding this case. I'll also make sure just compensation for your help is transferred to your guild branch.
Great! Thanks!
Royal Army Officer: Well, then, bracers. Take care out there. Let us all make sure we don't drop our watch. That's the only way to fight a foe who stays in the shadows.
You too, sir. Good luck with the rest.
Royal Army Officer: Aidios guide your steps, friends.



-Engaged People in Secret Maneuvers-





Enhanced Jaeger 1: Looks like our little guys put up the best fight they could, but it wasn't enough.
Enhanced Jaeger 2: Damned bra--Why do they ALWAYS get in my way?!
Enhanced Jaeger 1: Huh? You know those fools?
Enhanced Jaeger 2: Nah, forget it. I don't want to talk about it. Let's just hurry and gather up the remains.
Enhanced Jaeger 1: Yeah, let's get out of here. That was a fine test for our little archaisms.



Enhanced Jaeger 2: Hmm. Still, they seemed to have their hands full taking on a simple patrol unit. I doubt they'll last long.

Who was that jaeger?

And why do I feel this overpowering urge to stick his head in a toilet?



-Border Patrol Isn't Easy-



Lyndon: As unpopular as I know our dragon 'friend' is right now, as a researcher of ancient life, I have to admit I'm relieved it got away. I can make quite a bit of progress with just the photos we took...if I can keep them. How much I'll be able to publish will be up to my negotiating skills now, not my scientific ones. I still wish I knew why this dragon was acting so...so wildly! It contradicts everything we know about dragons. Such a mystery...



I can guess from your faces what you're here to ask, but...
I can say nothing more regarding that matter. Please understand.



Carlos: Oh, yeah, to mark the occasion, let me give you guys this.


Carlos: That book was my secret pleasure during the more boring parts of base life. Still, though, looking back on it, it wasn't for all that long, but life in the army was more fun than I expected. All right, time to finish my discharge. It's been quite the run-around getting here, but it's finally time for my trip to the Empire! Yeah, from traveling, to the army, and back to the road...This is the life.



-Commercial City of Bose-

While I'm doing CRAZY WACKY things like making sure Father Kevin is as battle-ready as he can be, I'll also buy a few quartz.



Cornelius: Did you see the market building? It's back to how it used to be. It's such a good thing. That place is the symbol of Bose. The whole city lit up the moment it re-opened.

Bose's Lucir Orbal Factory is the first place where you can synthesize tier 4 quartz. I'll pick up an EP Cut 4, and an EP 4.





I haven't needed to buy quartz since Le Locle and I'd really like to save up as much sepith as I can, but I have high hopes for this investment.



Just head out via the south gate and go along the New Ansel Path.
I've already called ahead for you, so they know to expect you. Try to clear your heads and take a load off while you're there.

Good work! Always nice to see some progress. If you complete any more jobs, be sure to come back and report.



-A Cat Relaxing in the Sun-



Finally done with your work?



Excellent!
Let's go check in, then.