Trails in the Sky the 3rd Part #30

Part 30: Here comes trouble.

-The Hermit's Garden-

It's the prince formerly known as artist, and the beast from the east.

Olivier has changed only on the outside. If love is war, and war is art, and art is...I dunno, that metaphor kind of got away from me there but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Thunder God Kick has been fixed.

True Distend still makes Zin an unstoppable killdozer so it's all good.

Don't forget the Crimson Eye and Tiger Heart if you're heading out with Zemuria's deadliest drinking buddies.

...so I can certainly believe the idea that it may be connected to that ghost.

Heehee. And I don't mind that one bit. It feels reassuring to know she's watching over us.

Then again, our enemies are capable of making a replica of an entire city. I suppose summoning mirrors and tanks is child's play to them.

Having listened to the archbishop's sermons often, I am fairly familiar with the Testaments...

I never thought I would one day find myself face to face with some of the monstrosities within them, however.

...Which is a relief in some ways. If that pitiful THING had been left in the outside world without me to watch it, I shudder to think what would have happened.

I'd come to his defense but...no, I can't blame you.

Truly, I am offended.

At the very worst, I would have thrown a luxurious banquet for all to enjoy.

...

Another bookshelf has been stocked, in what shall be temporarily designated The Deep Deep Trouble Zone.

If that's what makes you happy, I won't stop you.

But...

...as long as you keep doing so, I don't want to talk to you.

...

... Leave me alone.

(Damn. She's really mad this time...)
Just like she said, Ries is sitting this chapter out. She won't be available for joining the party or remote support.

I can go and get you some medicine if it would help...

You big dummy. She's not sick--she's angry!

...Huh?

Come on! Read between the lines. That phony priest obviously said something to make her mad, and this is the result.

You're better off leaving her alone for now.

Umm... B-But...

Ries had a fight with you, Kevin? So that's why she looks so down...

Isn't there anything we can do to make her feel better?

(Aww, gimme a break, Aidios. As if I don't feel guilty enough already.)

(You're just going to make things worse by hanging around here.)

(Y-Yeah, you're right. My bad.)

(Honestly...I have no idea what you said to her, but you're obviously the one in the wrong here.)

(I hope you have a good long think about what you did wrong while you're out there.)

(...My bad.)

You've been to Erebonia and Crossbell now, right? Why not make your way over to Calvard?

Oh, it's something I'd like to do eventually.

Estelle and I are currently looking for someone, though.

Hmm... Fair enough.

Incidentally, I heard from Schera in one of her letters that Kilika returned to the Republic?

She mentioned something about her retiring from the guild after being scouted by the Calvardian government.

What? That lady who used to look after the Zeiss branch?

For real? Never would've seen that coming.

Yeah, it's all true. I hear she's up to her eyes in work these days.

And you know how she is--taking it easy isn't an option for her. She gives her all to everything she does. She's doing a hell of a job, though. Her coworkers and subordinates are all terrified of her already.

Haha... I wouldn't have Kilika any other way.

Still, who could've pictured anything like this happening? Or that I'd find myself smack dab in the middle of it!

On the plus side, at least you guys have been doing a fine job with your investigating, so we've got some idea what we're doing. We'll just have to keep using that as a guide to try and press on.

The Hermit's Garden is starting to get pretty lively. Party members' dialogue will sometimes change depending on who else is present.

Word of your popularity in Erebonian high society has been reaching us over in Liberl, too.

Well, I'm doing a good enough job of convincing them I'm little more than an elegant-yet-harmless prince at the moment.

Still, spending so much of my time pretending to be someone I'm not can be terribly exhausting.

So I'm biding my time and waiting for the perfect chance to cast it all aside and reveal my true form to the world...

Then all shall know Olivier, the Gospeler of Love!

You moron...

'Gospeler of Love'? THAT'S what you're going with?

Who else thinks he's going to be even more of a menace to society than the black orbment Gospels ever were?

Heehee. It's reassuring to see how little he's changed at heart, though.

Still, the thought of that ghost has yet to leave my mind since I first heard about her. Just imagine the spirit of a beautiful woman, left all alone in this empty realm...

Hahaha! Doesn't the thought just get your imagination racing?
No matter the situation, Olivier's first thought is 'can we turn this mother up y/n.'

...

I wonder if this garden's appearance is a reflection of her interests?

If so, I have to commend her for her tastes.

-Golden Road, Silver Road-

And here's the entrance to the next plane.

I doubt the pattern'll change up now, so yeah.

We won't know what kind of place that's going to be until we step inside, though.

Heh. Or what utterly bizarre fiends will be waiting for us there.

I'm tingling with excitement.

Let's make sure we're good to go before we keep going.

-Parallel Universe-

Hmm... Nowhere I've ever been before, judging from where I'm standing.

Oh, my...

Heh. Now that's what I call a fine view.

Wow... Well, this is a lot prettier than the last plane, at least.

This must be another real place that's been replicated here in Phantasma, much like the capital was.

Most likely, yeah.

Just where is it, though? Somewhere in Liberl?

I doubt it. It's not familiar to me at all.

My best guess would be somewhere along the Krone mountains, but the air suggests otherwise.

Oh...

...Hmm?

Huh? What's the Bracer Guild's emblem doing here?

It looks like this really isn't a place that exists in Liberl.

As far as I'm aware, there aren't any guild facilities like this anywhere in the country.

I'm not familiar with any, either.

Nor am I aware of there being any buildings like this in Calvard.

It was?

I know that name...

Wasn't it the training camp Estelle went to a while back? You know, last year with Anelace.

That's the one. It's a guild-owned facility located in Leman State.

I've never been there myself, though... I've only heard about it from Estelle.

So this is Le Locle, huh? I've never trained here, personally, but it's famous among bracers.

That leaves us with yet another problem to solve. To my knowledge, Leman State is quite the distance away from Liberl.

Yeah, it is. It's farther away than both Erebonia and Calvard.

But you know? I may not have a clue how a place in Leman ended up being created here or why...

...but if our enemies did it, they must have had a reason for doing so.

Right?

Heh. I knew you'd catch on.

*peepeep* *GRRRGH*

-Fighting Right On-

That sounded like...!

We've got company, guys!

Huh...

Here comes trouble.

I suppose 'beastmen' would be the best term for these things. This is probably what 'Your next destination is the path of beasts' was referring to.

Another mystery solved.

Watch out! There's a lot of them, and this could get ugly!

teehee

Take that!

-This Is Our Real Power!

Heh! They messed with the wrong guy.

-Parallel Universe-

*panicked peepeep* *ALARMED GRRRGH*

They're smart little devils.

Devils DO seem a lot more intelligent than your average monster.

Enough to make me wonder whether these are another kind of 'impossible fiend' like the rest.

I'm with you. I can't pretend to be an expert on the monsters of Leman, but I'm preeetty sure they're not this smart.

It looks like this plane stands to be a real ball.

*SSHHEEEEEE*

Here she comes!

...You have done well...to come this far...

On this plane there are...three ordeals to overcome...

If you overcome them all...the next path will open...

...Take...this...

The ghost handed them a Map of Le Locle.

...Be...forewarned...

The Lord of Phantasma's goal...is...your...

...Well, she sure didn't stick around long.

She's probably got so little power left now, it's difficult for her to show herself to us.

So it seems. It must be a frustrating thing for her to deal with.

Still, she left us with a useful gift.

Yeah...

Kevin opened the map of Le Locle.

Then there's this 'Balstar Channel' place to the left of it. Maybe that's the ordeal she mentioned? Or one of them, at least.

She mentioned there being three of them, but there's only one place that could fit that description marked on the map.

I wonder where the other two could be.
No man can say.

From what I can see, these two roads lead to them--the ones that seem to just stop all of a sudden.
I SAID NO MAN CAN SAY

But this plane most likely has its own rules we need to follow. If we followed those roads now, there's a big chance we'd find nothing at the end of them.

Unfortunately...

Well, those are the cards we've been dealt. Let's just try heading over to the Balstar Channel and see what comes of it.