Part 5: Part B

Update 4: Part B





Estelle, don't do anything I wouldn't do myself and try not to be a handful for Joshua either.
For the umpteenth time, I heard you already.
How about you try not to go overboard yourself with your own work? You're not getting any younger, you know?
Say what you will, but I'm not about to be overtaken by any youngsters.
Scherazard, I'm really sorry about placing all this work on your shoulders at the last minute.
Please, don't be. I am slightly concerned, however, about whether or not I can do a decent job in your place.
There's no need to be humble, Silver Streak. And I don't mean to make your life any more difficult, but please keep an eye on these two.
You just leave that to me. Is tightening up the reins and not spoiling these two fine with you?

... Do we get a say in this?

You definitely understand the way I think.
What's this all about...?
Ha ha, it looks to me like a mutual understanding between master and pupil.
Woman's Voice: The Grancel-bound airliner, Linde, will be departing shortly. All passengers, please board the airship now.

Uh-oh, I'd better take my seat.





I'm not sure everywhere you'll be going, but don't forget to bring me back a souvenir!
A little fancy something would be nice...
Hey now! This trip is for business, not pleasure.
If I have any money left over, I'll certainly think about it though. All right, you two, be good while I'm gone.



Cassius, no. Don’t leave me like this.



---



Yeah...
Come on, you two. There's no need to look so down. Your father will be back in no time. I don't know what kind of investigation he's been asked to do this time, but when it comes to your father, he'll have it done before you know it.
I-I'm not sad that he's gone! He's always been away more than he's been at home.

...That’s actually kinda sad

All right, all right, if you say so.
Anyway, I'm going to get to work on those jobs your father left for me... But if you run into any trouble, give me a holler.
Will do. But first, I'd like to try and finish a few jobs with Joshua. I want to see what we're capable of doing as junior bracers.

Turns out: A surprising amount.

Hmmm-hmmm-hmmm. If you insist. I imagine that with Joshua tagging along, there's probably not much to be worried about. Good luck, you two.
Thanks!
We'll do our best.



Shall we go stop by the guild?
Yeah, we should probably talk to Aina and find out what jobs are waiting for us.
Let's GOOO!

And they were never heard from again...

---





Alan: For now, I’d probably rate that girl an 83.

???

An 83? Do you really need that much precision? Here’s what I rate your life Alan: 0.

---



No.

---



No... he almost never talks about anything before he became a bracer.
How about you, Joshua? Have you heard anything from Dad?
No, that goes for me as well. Even if I ask, he always finds some way to evade the subject.
Yeah, he does that, doesn’t he?

Fate: I see... At any rate, Liberl is at peace. I really want Yuni to be able to live in an era of peace...

---



Elger: So Cassius is going to be out for a while, huh?

Yes. We just saw him off at the landing port. You sure managed to hear about it rather quickly though.

Elger: Ha ha, well... Cassius used to leave Estelle with us when she was young while he was away. And after you came here, he started having you watch the house.

I didn't know that...

Elger: Estelle gets surprisingly lonely when no one is around. When we had her over she was as quiet as a cat among unfamiliar people.

Apparently Elger’s never met my cat. I’ve already fed you, what the hell do you want

Ahh! Don't say stuff like that! I am not!

Elger: After about two or three days here, she'd eat, sleep, and play without any trouble.

Ha ha, I can imagine that.
...

I like this scene, because it provides some small background details that make the setting seem more realistic. I also like the idea that Estelle was shy at times when she was younger, it’s not exactly what you’d expect, but it makes sense too.

---



Has your father already left?
Yep, just barely. That's why we came here to find out about the jobs he left for us.
Sure. There are a total of three jobs I have lined up for you. For the first one, I'd like you to head out to the farm west of here.
The farm west of here? Isn't that where Tio lives?
Tio? I seem to have heard that name somewhere before...
Tio Perzel. She was one of our classmates at Sunday school. She's also the Perzel Farm owner's daughter.

We’ve actually heard off all these things before! Once in Estelle’s not very good burn last update, and once when talking to a random person in the restaurant.

Oh, really? It's actually the Perzel Farm that put in a request to have someone exterminate some monsters.



Are they really having problems like that?
Fortunately nobody has been hurt, but the owner and his family are upset over their fields being destroyed by the creatures. Therefore, the guild received an extermination request.
I never would have expected something like that to happen... Okay! We'll head out there, right now!
Here. Take this with you.

Received Guild Referral.

This document certifies that you were dispatched by the guild. Please give it to the owner of the farm.
We already know Tio's father pretty well, so I don't think this is necessary... But, we'll take it just in case.

---



We can finally start doing sidequests with the Bracer guild. For every sidequest, we get all the information shown, although some sidequests have extra rewards not mentioned. Like this one, I don’t even get out of bed for 30 Mira.



You get a lot of these Bounty sidequests over the game. They’re generally pretty fun, because the enemies are fairly challenging, although they can be a pain in the ass to find without a walkthrough.

Now, the one thing I don’t like about this, is that every sidequest in the game has an expiry date, and they can be fairly arbitrary. Sometimes the expiry date is the end of chapter, which is pretty reasonable, but sometimes it’s just chosen seemingly at random. Which is why you should do pretty much every sidequest as soon as it opens.

So let’s get started on the first one.

---



Charles: Where could it have gone... Oh... Excuse me, but can I ask you something? You didn't see a shiny rock around here anywhere, did you?

Huh? A shiny rock?

Charles: Yeah, that's right. One that sparkles. You didn't see a rock like that lying around anywhere, did you?

Are you saying you lost something?
Um, I don't recall seeing anything like that. Do you know where you might have dropped it?

Charles: My mom was calling for me, so I ran over to the general goods store where she was. I know I had it in my hand at the time, but when I came back here, it was gone.

When you say [general goods store], you mean Mr. Rinon's store, right? Did you look in front of his store?

Charles: Obviously that's the first place I looked. You don't need to treat me like a kid, you know.

You are a kid, and we’re bracers, so we’ll treat you however we want

My...aren't you a charmer.

Charles: Well, I already asked the Bracer Guild to help find it, so I'm sure it'll show up sooner or later. If you do happen to come across it, give me a holler straight away. I'll probably be around.

Examining a grate near the general store...



What’s the matter?
I wonder what that is.. There’s something shining down here through the sewer grate.
...You’re right. It looks like something must have fallen through.
The sewers?
Don’t tell me you forget about the sewers already... You know... that smelly, monster-infested place we were in not that long ago...
Oh, right! Those sewers.
The entrance to the sewers should be just behind the chapel.



While exploring the sewers, we level up, and Estelle learns Taunt. Taunt does what it does pretty much anywhere (makes enemies more likely to attack the user), although it only affects enemies in a given radius. It’s pretty fitting that Estelle’s the one who learns Taunt first.



Hmm, I see now. The thing we saw shining through the sewer grate was this.
Seems like it. A Quartz Fragment, huh...? Now we know why it was shining so much.
The way it sparkles is so beautiful. This is made of septium too, right?
Loosely speaking, yes... But let’s talk about it later. This isn’t really the place to have a leisurely chat.
No normal person would want to stay here any longer than they had to.

And so Estelle parties in the sewer for a little longer.



Charles: Is that rock...

Could it be that...this is the rock you've been looking for?

Handed over Quartz Fragment.

Charles: Yep, this is the one. My shiny rock...Why is it all dirty like this?

Because you dropped it in a sewer.

Hey! Don't you have something else to say before you complain?

Charles: You guys are bracers, right? I've already paid your money to the guild. Therefore, I think I have the right to complain.

Nice kid.

That's not the problem here!
Calm down, Estelle. He's just a kid.
I know that, but...
This quartz is what you were looking for, right?

Charles: Yeah, that's the one...This rock is really quartz? You mean the same kind of quartz that's in an orbment?

Yep, it's the same kind of quartz made of sepith. It's chipped, so it doesn't function anymore.

Charles: I see... So this rock belonged to an orbment...

??? What's wrong? You seem a bit out of it.

Charles: ...Who? Me? Oh, it's nothing. Anyway, I'm glad you found it. I guess that's about it then.



Charles: Oh, that reminds me. I almost forgot. Here, take these.

Received Drill Meatball x5.

Charles: My mom gives these to me and tells me they're healthy, but... They're kind of bitter, so I can't stand them. Anyway, I appreciate what you did for me today.

Seriously, what a cheeky little kid.
I'm sure it's a difficult age for him. But... I wonder why he was searching for that quartz.
What do you mean? Now that you mention it, it does seem a little strange.
But, oh well. Everyone has something they think is important.
Truer words couldn't be spoken. Perhaps, that kid has an interest in orbments.
I, for one, don't see what's so interesting about those overly complex gadgets. My brain goes numb just thinking about them.
Except for the fact that you'll have to get used to them sooner or later. You won't be able to fulfill your job as a bracer if you can't use one.
All right, all right, I'll try and learn.

With that done, we can head to the bar to find a new face:



Radmira: I can’t find any buyers and the chops are bigger cheapskates than I thought they’d be... I guess it's safe to say that backwater places will always be backwater places.

(This lady is really making me angry.)

Radmira: Huh? And who are you supposed to be? Then again, I really don't care who you are. I'll give you a deal, so how about you buy something?

What...?

Radmira: Will one of these wood carvings work for you? You won't find fine workmanship like this outside the Calvard Republic.

Calvard? Sounds familiar... Is that some famous store or something?
The Calvard Republic is the country to the east of the Liberl Kingdom.
I-I knew that.
So Calvard-made folk craft items are what you're selling, huh? I'm sure you'd find a lot more people willing to take them off your hands if you went to the Royal City.

Radmira: *sigh* ...You think so? I really thought some place in the boonies like this one would be a taker on these, but maybe I was wrong.

(Danger. Danger. Anger meter riiiiising...)

We should probably leave before Estelle assault a civilian and the game takes a dark turn.

Radmira: Oh well, I guess I'll try heading to Grancel sooner rather than later. Then again, what is my son, Charles, up to? Just when I thought I could get some help out of him, he ups and wanders off.



Charles: That said, I can’t believe my mom is trying to sell folk crafts in a city that has ships that can fly. I am just amazed at how brazen she is when she comes to business.

Normally I’d end the update now, with some pithy remark, but I promised you a farm and so mark my words, you’ll get a farm.







It’s a quick, scenic detour to the farm. Enemies tend to stay away from the main road, but thar’ be treasure for those who venture off the toad.





I don’t get it, disembodied voice that is almost surely the symptom of some serious illness.









Finally, we make it to the farm.







*sigh* No matter when we come here, this place is always so tranquil. It's hard to imagine monsters running amok here...
I certainly don't sense anything out of the ordinary either... Anyway, let's go ask someone here to fill us in on the details.
I wonder if Tio is home today...

Alright, we’re at the farm, so now I can end on a pithy remark.

Uh...

Uhhh...

Fuck.

Next Time: And then things got awkward at the farm.