Law & Order: Special Support Section - Zero no Kiseki/Trails to Zero

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CmdrKing: Oct 14, 2012; Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

Besides, if my calculations are correct, this will move us to a new page.

# ? Feb 2, 2019 01:53

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# ? Jun 9, 2024 10:51

Danann: Aug 4, 2013

Gatling gun sunflowers are uh sure a thing in Kiseki.

# ? Feb 2, 2019 07:55

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Part 21: �As Mr. Orlando would put it: �Don�t leave us hanging like that�.�

Armorica Village

Here we are: Armorica Village. Population: ten and some change. We need to head north and pay the mayor a little visit to hear about the incident straight from his mouth.

I will be skipping a lot of the dialogue here. It�s not like I�ll be skipping town to talk to everyone her on a daily basis, unlike Crossbell. The commute isn�t worth it. Plus� there really isn�t anything interesting to talk about in the first place. Most of the people here will just remark on how fresh the air and scenery is compared to Crossbell, and how good the food is, etc. Yeah, no thanks. I�m not gonna parse all of that.

...Okay, except for this lil� munchkin�s text, who much like everyone else, will dunk on the police with extreme prejudice. Man, no respect. My self-esteem would be in the gutter right now if I was in Lloyd�s shoes.

That�s not to say that Armorica is completely interesting, however. If we take a peek in the Ash Tree Inn�s back wall located in the rightmost part of town, we can pick up the Country-Style Omelet Rice recipe. Yoink!

As you can see, it heals HP 20%, grants CP+10, and cures [Confuse]. I will probably never use it, unless if I make a couple in order to unlock higher variants of the recipe. But hey, that�s an option if you want to mess around with cooking.

The other area of interest in Armorica is the general store that�s across from the inn. Here we can purchase� healing items that Crossbell City already has.

If we wanted to, we could purchase a Hot Wheels toy for Lloyd to sit in his room forever. The key highlights of Armorica�s general store include ingredients in every flavor, as well as a Straw Hat accessory that buffs someone�s Speed by 5. I went ahead and bought one to stick on Elie, since I�d rather have a speedy healer than a speedy brawler. Plus a straw hat wouldn�t mesh with Lloyd, Randy, or Tio�s outfits. We need to have our priorities in the right place, you know�?

Other than that, though? There isn�t much to say about Armorica. It�s a tiny village on the outskirts of Crossbell. That�s it.

The village chief�s house is located at the north end of town right next to the farm fields. It�s also the only regular-sized house in the entire place. Most of these people only have enough room for a bed, a table, and a sink. I suppose that says something about their standards of living here� but then I remember that they get the same treatment over in Crossbell. So it all evens out, I suppose.

Hm? You look� kinda familiar. Have we met somewhere before?

...No, we haven�t? Not once, you say? Huh� I guess it was just my imagination. It�s probably nothing, carry on.

Till next time. But, ah, hm� be that as it may, are you all right with giving us this amount? It IS 20% more than what the other traders are offering us.

Don�t sweat it. The goods you�ve produced in this village have received raving reviews, so people are more willing to pay for it. It�ll be enough to make a profit.

Very well� Again, thank you for your generous cooperation in this matter. Feel free to bring your wife and son next time - I�m sure they�d have a fun time in our village!

Ha ha� thanks, I will. Take care, mayor. Until next time.

So long for now.

Ah, guests? Well, if you�ll excuse me�

The mysteriously familiar purple-haired man leaves. Probably swishing that duster of his on the way out. I mean, I can relate to that. Duster solidarity, bro. He�s got his priorities in the right place. No hats, though� you can�t have a hat with a duster.

He looked like a trader of sorts�

More importantly, it looks like this is the head guy�s digs.

And who might all of you be?

Are you the mayor of Armorica, by chance?

Yes, that�s me� my name�s Tolta. Are you folks here to tour around by any chance?

...I�m afraid not. We are here to investigate the monster attack that occurred recently.

Ohhhh, you�re finally here! Those whippersnappers from the CGF combed the village a few times, but they weren�t able to find anything. Hopefully, now that you Bracer younglings are here, we can get to the bottom of this!

(Yeeep, the same ol� bum rap as usual.)

(*sigh* I suppose we needed to reach our quota today in any case.)

...My apologies, sir. I�m afraid that you�re under a misunderstanding.

Lloyd flashes his badge.

We�re from the Special Support Section division of the Crossbell State Police Department, as per requested by the CGF.

Well, that was awkward. Unfortunately, I don�t think the mayor had a comeback for that. Hmph... any bets on when we�ll get labeled as Bracers next time, guys? Because for real now, Lloyd and the others are OVER this bullshit�

I am really sorry about the mix-up. The police rarely go out of their way to visit our humble populace, after all� On the other hand, ever since Mr. MacLaine helped us out, there has been a never ending flow of Bracers.

O-Oh� (Come on!)

Geez, popular AND hardworking? Even I want him!

...Mr. Tolta. As Lloyd explained, the reason why we�re here is because of the recent monster attacks that have been occurring as of late.

If you don�t mind, can you share the details with us?

Hmmm, alright. If I remember, it was� yes, three weeks ago on a night where the moon didn�t shine. A pack of monsters snuck into our village and ruined all of our crops. Everything was damaged to some degree - fruit, wheat, and even the live stock.

...So we�ve heard. There were no witnesses, right?

That�s right, Mr. Bannings. Unlike you folks in the city, we hit the hay early around these parts. We need to get up early to do our bit of farm work in the mornings, so most of us were fast asleep. When we got up the next morning, all we saw were a few footprints and the farm all balled up.

Were you able to deduce that this was the cause of the wolf monsters from the footprints?

Hmph, I�m telling you that�s the case. The footprints belonged to some canine species. In any case, after we spotted the damages, the CGF arrived not too long afterward and searched the surrounding perimeter just as a precaution.

...But they couldn�t find the monsters that caused all of this. So the investigation report was completely accurate�

I don�t know about any report, but I can tell you our side of the story, at least. Three weeks have passed, and we haven�t had an issue yet. T-To be honest, I thought that would be the end of it, but as it turned out, some other places were damaged instead.

...Hey, to absolutely change the subject, it�s pretty cool how nice and chill you guys are after this whole thing. Ain�t the losses pretty significant?

It wasn�t that bad, actually. The loss of our crops per household was fairly small. The total loss was around 100,000 mira. But no matter how optimistic I might be, a loss is still a loss. It was a stressful time for everyone involved. Thankfully, we had successfully completed a good deal for our crops before the attack happened. So most of our losses have been recovered already.

A good business deal with that guest of yours just now?

That�s right. He�s a trader from Crossbell City that has maintained good relations with us over the last couple of years or so. He raised his purchasing price after hearing about the damages we suffered. Dear me, we�re very grateful for his assistance.

Man, it�s no wonder he was dressed all fancy like that. He was a trader after all.

...Hmph, our losses are probably negligible compared to the city. We�re a small farming village at the end of the day�

*cough* Don�t worry about it. Just an old man�s ramblings� forget about what I just said.

Hey, c�mon, chief. We�re friends, aren�t we? It�s fine if you spill the beans.

As Mr. Orlando would put it: �Don�t leave us hanging like that�.

Ha ha ha, well� as I said, it�s just ramblings by a senile old man. You folks still interested?

Go ahead. We wouldn�t mind hearing you out. In our current situation, any clues would be a big help to our investigation.

I wouldn�t say it has anything to do with the incident, but� have you folks heard of the �Divine Wolf�?

The Way of the Tree Spirit

...I don�t believe I�ve come across that term before.

Looks like I was right� the legend�s long lost in the city, eh? It�s a shame.

So what is this �Divine Wolf� all about?

It�s an ancient beast that resides in Crossbell. People who have spotted it say that it had a beautiful wolf of white.

We can actually check the whole folktale out in the library. Not that I think it�ll be relevant in any way. The SSS are just a bunch of random blue collar workers who just want to get their pay this week and be done with everything. There�s no way they could ever meet this mythological Divine Wolf, right?

�

Of course we�re gonna bump into it sooner or later. Who the hell do you think we are?

There�s no evidence supporting the fact that it�s the culprit, but if they were, I wouldn�t find it all that surprising. Legend has it that it wasn�t your average wolf� it was a wolf sent down by the Goddess Aidios herself. A long time ago, Crossbell was bathed in a bloody conflict� and while watching over mankind�s foolish battles with each other, the Divine Wolf occasionally helped the weak whenever it could.

There was a legend like that�?

...Now that you mention it, I do recall reading a fairy tale about a white wolf a long time ago. If I remember, it�s in the city library right now.

The legend that I told you probably provided the basis for the fairy tale. Back to what we were talking about though, part of the reason why the wolf may be attacking is because of Crossbell. Because of our expansive inclinations, and our relations with the Empire and the Republic. And due to that, the �Divine Wolf� slowly left the pages of history.

So you�re sayin� that the Divine Wolf just got fed up of mankind and went �I�m out�.

My thoughts exactly. Anyway, that�s my story on the �Divine Wolf�. If it came back now� perhaps it�s an omen of things to come.

An� omen?

It�s not my place to judge� but I feel as if Crossbell City is expanding far too quickly. As a simple man in the countryside, I was astounded by the number of changes that it had gone through recently. No one takes the time to appreciate what they used to have, losing themselves in the present. Or at least, that�s how I feel.

...I�m speechless.

Now, now, I�m not trying to preach or anything like that. I can only think that the Divine Wolf�s attack served as some sort of a warning message� it makes a little sense if you interpret it that way.

...

...I warned you not to take me too seriously. Just ignore what I said. It�s nothing but a bunch of rambling by an old man.

I�m inclined to disagree. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about the Divine Wolf. I may have a new angle to tackle this case from.

I see, that�s good� good. Is there anything else I could do for you folks, since you�ve been kindly investigating this incident?

Hm� well, let�s see. Are we allowed to ask the residents about the incident?

As long as you don�t kick up a big fuss about it, I don�t see why not. Lessee here� it�s right around noon now, so most of them should be back from the fields.

The Special Support Section leaves the mayor�s home.

...Welp, that was a bust. What�s your genius master plan now, Lloyd? Unless if you can pull a Detective Conan moment out of your rear end, I think we�re stumped here. I don�t think Crossbell works on Knox�s Ten Commandments or anything like that. Actually, come to think of it, Crossbell probably works more on hardboiled detective rules more than anything else. I dunno, what do you think thread?

Not gonna lie, I thought that was pretty interestin�.

Yeah, but whether or not they exist is up for debate� but at the very least we�ll count them in as a potential culprit.

*giggle* That�s our Lloyd.

In all seriousness though, the footprints at the scene do confirm the existence of wolf-like monsters. And then after that, they disappeared without a trace�

It�s odd. If they left footprints, you�d normally be able to track them down.

You�re right. That�s another mystery that�s been left unsolved. To think that they would be able to throw off the Guardian Force�s attempts to track them down�

I�m not one to make up ideas since I�m just the guy that hits things hard here, but maybe they lost �em by headin� through a river or they had their own path or somethin�. Ahhh, there�s a reason why I don�t sweat the details too much. We�ll need to gather more information before makin� any conclusions.

Yeah, let�s start by gathering any intel we can. Plus, it�s already noon. Let�s grab lunch at the inn while we�re at it.

*giggle* Well, I at the very least, am hungry after the long trek we went through.

...Same.

Alrighty, let�s grab some chow at the inn and gather whatever info we can along the way!

So right now, our objective is to walk around town and ask every single man, woman, and child about the monster attack. And there�s one thing in common between all of them: they all know jack poo poo!

No, really. Around 95% of the NPCs here will scratch their heads and plead ignorance about the attacks. As the mayor said� everyone went to bed early. There�s a very low chance that anyone saw anything.

I�m not gonna go through any of it. There are two points of interest during our walkabout, and none of them are from Camille here. The first person who has something interesting to talk about is purple-haired trader. The other guy is a rando fisherman who spawned out of existence on the bridge in the middle of town.

We can find Mr. Trader on the second floor of the inn. He�s just chilling up here and packing away his belongings. Or at least he was until the SSS barged their way in, flashed their badges at him, and scared the living daylights out of the poor guy. Hey, he has a portrait, guys. It would be rude of us NOT to introduce ourselves.

Oh! You�re� that man from before.

The merchant from Crossbell, correct?

Ha ha� I guess you heard all about me from the mayor, huh?

...I run a small trading business in Crossbell. Are you here to buy something from Armorica too?

...Wait. Ah. No. We�re�

The Special Support Section introduced themselves and explained the reason why they came to Armorica Village.

Special Support Section� hm� I remember seeing it somewhere before.

Oh, that�s right! You were in the Crossbell Times!

O-Oh, you� _{read that article}

...This is a little embarassing.

Ha ha� I don�t think so. You guys are working hard for a division that was just formed. Sure, that article was a little condescending, but I think it supported your efforts at the end.

...If you read the article and completely ignored the words, I�m sure you could say that�

Heh, it�s not like we�re unbiased, either. I mean, we know the she-devil who wrote it, so of course we�re against it!

Anyway, you said that you wanted to talk about the monsters? I�ve heard that a similar incident took place at St. Ursula�s Medical College. I confess that I�m a little worried�

Mr. Hayworth, are you acquainted with the hospital as well?

Something like that. I supply� well, medical supplies to them.

Rumor has it that someone was injured during the attack there. Not only that, people from the Mining Village of Mainz also sustained serious injuries.

That�s right. The Crossbell Guardian Force is conducting a search there right now.

I see� I should probably pay them a visit as well.

By the way� I heard that when you conducted your deal with the village mayor that you were willing to buy up their stock at a much higher price.

The village mayor again? Geez, now I�M getting embarrassed. It�s not like I was doing it for charity or anything like that. The local specialties, especially Armorica�s honey, received glowing reviews in the past few months. I just wanted to take the opportunity to leave a good impression on the people here. You could say that it�s a little marketing strategy.

Not bad� not bad.

Building trust between you and your clients is the most important thing in any business� I think. I�ve never run a business before.

*giggle* Your business must be running smoothly, then.

No, I�ve still got a lot to learn. I�m hardly suited for this, I admit.

...But I�m really sorry. I wish there was more information I could give you.

No, no. Hey, uh� don�t let it bother you. Honestly, we�re sorry for taking up so much of your time.

Not at all. Good luck with your investigation, Special Support Section.

Nice guy. At least he isn�t price gouging people in need like a big prick. Man, people in the Trails universe are a lot nicer than people in 2018. Okay, people in general, I guess. The masses aren�t helping my steadily growing misanthropy, I admit.

Welp, in any case, let�s hit up the second point of interest in our walkabout here, which is the next wannabe Ernest Hemingway over here. Fun fact: First time I played Zero, I spent a half hour talking to everyone and trying to figure out who I missed, only to find out that this jerk was blended into the bridge like some sort of silent chameleon. Suffice to say, I was kind of pissed off at the end.

Same, honestly.

U-Uh, no. We�re, uh, from the CSPD. We�re here to gather information on the monster attack that occurred three weeks ago? You don�t look like you�re from Armorica Village, but are there any clues or leads or even information that you can give us?

That, huh? If I remember correctly, I was too busy catching a Snake Eel at the time, so I wouldn�t have been in the village. I have heard stories about the attack, though� Sorry I couldn�t be much help to y�all.

Cops have it rough too, huh? I can�t imagine commuting all around the state for work� Oh yeah, you guys fish? It�s rare to come across such a beautiful day as this, so why don�t you take a load off and enjoy it for a bit?

And with that, we receive our very own fishing rod! :toot:

Coppen is nice enough to hand us some free bait as well. That�s nice of him!

And not only that, he also give us� the Fishing Notebook. Oh. It just records the fish we�ve caught, and that�s pretty much it. I guess it�ll make good kindling if we somehow find ourselves lost in the wilderness and Elie and Tio have collapsed from the dark depths of hiking.

Hey, it�s fine. The �Fisherman�s Guild� wants us to promote the art of fishing among the younger crowd. It�s practically habit at this point for us to carry around an extra set to give to those who express an interest.

(We�ve been to the Fisherman�s Guild before. I guess the Fisherman�s Guild really is made up of fishermen!)

Hey, that�s pretty cool, man! Maybe we can just chill out in-between the job and go fish sometime.

...I think that�s a great idea, Mr. Bannings. We should rest more often. Preferably in very short intervals.

Yes, Tio is absolutely correct! If we don�t rest enough, our bodies won�t be able to stay healthy!

You guys aren�t fooling anyone. You�re still tired, aren�t you?

(...I think the last time I went fishing was when Guy was teaching me the ropes. I don�t think I ever had the opportunity to try it out again. After he joined the police, we never got another chance to fish, but� maybe it�s time to pick it back up again.)

If you�re gonna fish, there�s a pretty good spot over there.

See those ripples over there? That�s a clear indicator that there�s a large gathering of fish there.

Over there, huh? Well, thanks.

As the fisherman pointed out, we can only fish at spots where there are ripples across the water.

Once we pick the spot we want, we have to pick the rod that we want to use. I believe that different rods allow you to use different bait and catch different fish, but I�m not quite certain. Fishing is one of those things that I never really got into in the Trails franchise.

Finally, we need to select the type of bait we want to use. Again, the type of bait we use affects what fish we end up catching.

After we complete our selections, Lloyd will cast the line into the water. And if we wait a few seconds�

...An exclamation point will pop over Lloyd�s head, indicating that he got a bite. If we press the confirm button here quick enough, Lloyd will reel it in automatically with none of the typical fishing minigame stuff. It�s a little like Pok�mon fishing in that sense. At least it isn�t real life fishing where you have to wait an hour before you get a bite.

In any case, Lloyd will reel out a fish based on the bait you used. In turn, the fish will spit out a number of Sepith. In this case, the Rockeater spat out ten Earth Sepith, which sounds more like a kidney stone to me. But I�m not a fish in Zemuria, so what do I know?

In any case, let�s just go grab some grub and progress the plot already. We haven�t even seen the food yet, and I�M hungry right now�

Ha ha, glad to see my efforts didn�t go to waste.

Excuse me�

Oh, sorry, I didn�t see you there. Can I help you with something?

We�re here from the CSPD. We�d like to know if you have any information regarding the monster attack from three weeks ago?

The attack from three weeks ago�? Hm� Well, it was a little bit of a coincidence, since everyone went to sleep early so we could rise and shine to work on the fields. And then after that, the monsters showed up, as if they were waiting for the right time to strike� Anyway, we were unlucky. That�s all I can really say.

Apologies, sirs, madams, but that�s about the same amount of information I can provide as well. The guests here also said that they didn�t see anything.

Guess we don�t got that decisive evidence, then�

Well, that�s why you investigate. Answers will only show up through determination and persistence with gathering information.

...Anyway, can we take a break here? I�m hungry�

Oh, you haven�t eaten yet? Well, this is a good opportunity to try out our special omelet rice. It�s on the house today.

Woah, woah, we can�t let you do that! We can�t just eat for free like that!

Aw, it�s fine. Just treat it like you�re making friends with me. Or if you can�t accept that, just treat it as a marketing strategy. Next time you�re in the area, drop by for lunch and I�ll charge you then.

Lloyd, let�s just accept his offer.

Well� but I� alright, fine.

We�ll accept your treat.

Excellent choice! In that case, feel free to find an empty table to sit at while I prepare your meals.

The �rest at an inn� jingle plays here. Personally, I think it would�ve been funnier if it just healed the SSS for the amount that the recipe usually gave out. A missed opportunity there, Falcom.

Anyway, we�ve interrogated all of the locals, and the SSS has filled their stomachs up. All that�s left is to bail, since no one gave us any useful information. Oh well?

Yeah, I guess so.

Man, that did NOT meet expectations at all. Aside from that eyewitness testimony, I expected someone to hear the wolves� howling at least.

Hm� anyway, we�ve covered everything we wanted to know in this village. We should pay a visit to the medical college next. Let�s head back to Crossbell for now�

I�m fine with that� but I have no desire to walk back on foot again.

Me neither� I don�t think I could take that walk again.

Well, I guess it can�t be helped.

# ? Feb 3, 2019 05:45

Rabbi Raccoon: Mar 31, 2009; I stabbed you dude!

OK I know it said wolf and not dog but now I'm picturing my old dog running around the countryside helping everyone who needs her and it is The Best Thing

# ? Feb 3, 2019 14:50

CmdrKing: Oct 14, 2012; Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

Huh. I'm a little surprised they were willing to end this leg of the quest with "we got nothin'."
Granted I suppose that means our trip back will be rudely interrupted.

# ? Feb 3, 2019 16:38

Commander Keene: Dec 21, 2016; Faster than the others

CmdrKing posted:

Huh. I'm a little surprised they were willing to end this leg of the quest with "we got nothin'."
Granted I suppose that means our trip back will be rudely interrupted.

I dunno, "nobody here knows anything, let's see if investigating the other two similar attacks yields something" seems fine to me.

# ? Feb 3, 2019 18:12

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

Gotta say that this "Divine Wolf" theory seems flawed. Even starting with the premise that it's true and the motivation is that Crossbell is expanding too much, why are the strikes happening at isolated rural parts instead of the edges of the city? But putting that aside, assuming that the premise is true, I don't see how the situation could be resolved. If the message is supposed to be "Don't expand the city", that's not very quantifiable, and I don't see it getting accepted by the city council.

Commander Keene posted:

I dunno, "nobody here knows anything, let's see if investigating the other two similar attacks yields something" seems fine to me.

They could have at least looked around the area where the tracks were found, and where they ended. Granted, the Guardian Force no doubt did that, but taking a look at the area for themselves would give more context than just reading the accounts.

# ? Feb 3, 2019 21:33

Rabbi Raccoon: Mar 31, 2009; I stabbed you dude!

Orrrrrrrrrrrrr it could be the long awaited Legends of Heroes/Suikoden crossover

# ? Feb 3, 2019 21:44

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

A bit of a late notice, but there won't be an update this week. I have a family commitment to get to in the form of a belated Chinese New Year party this weekend.

# ? Feb 9, 2019 20:09

Mraagvpeine: Nov 4, 2014; I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.

Have fun, and don't forget to say "Gong hey fat choi!"

# ? Feb 9, 2019 21:43

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Part 22: �You and your posse want some bread or something?�

Armorica Village

Oh, come on. Not another wait where we could hike the distance in the time it took for the bus to come back. And it ain�t like there�s enough time for me to tip back a couple of cold ones in the inn and have enough time to sober up when we get back.

Even if there WAS enough time, drinking on duty is highly unprofessional in any case�

Tio hears something odd, before looking around in confusion.

What�s the matter?

...No, it�s nothing. I thought I heard something faint in the distance.

Hm? What are you talkin� about?

Give me a moment. I am going to try and maximize my sensor�s range. Stay quiet.

...Maybe it was just me after all.

No, it�s alright. More importantly, what did it sound like?

I...I heard something howling in the distance.

The monsters�!?

N-No, it was probably my imagination. Or maybe it�s a defect in my sensor.

...What should we do, Lloyd? Should we attempt to track it down?

Let�s see here� Tio, what�s the range on that sensor of yours?

It�s somewhere around 50 serges. Depending on where the wind is blowing, the range can be boosted tenfold.

*whistle* That far? Geez.

In that case, it would probably be difficult to determine the sound�s origin.

Yeah, we�ll just have to be careful for the time being.

...

...Do you� think that I�m lying...?

...What are you talking about?

You did hear it, right?

...Yes, I did. But it isn�t something that normal humans could hear� you could say that it�s inhumane. Normally, you�d think that I was either lying or it was part of my imagination.

I mean, when you put it that way, I guess so�

...But we all know you�re the best thing since sliced bread, Petiote.

...

Plus, there�s no reason for you to lie, is there?

Even though we�ve only just met a short while ago, you�ve been really helpful to us in so many different ways. You�re a part of us, Tio. There isn�t even a shadow of a doubt in my mind that you might be lying.

...Sorry, that was weird, wasn�t it? Forget that I brought this up.

I-I mean, if that�s what you want�

Are you heading back to Crossbell City too?

We are, but it looks like the bus is going to take a while to arrive. What about you, Mr. Hayworth?

I just picked up some souvenirs for my wife and son, so I�m about to leave. So when does the bus arrive here anyway?

Based on the schedule, it will take another half hour.

Wanna join the queue and swap stories?

Hm, no� hold on a minute here� five people. That�ll barely fit.

Oh, hell yeah! Free ride. I call shotgun! Randy, Elie, and Tio can squeeze in the back for all I care. And Lloyd can get stuffed into the trunk like he did with lockers in elementary school. Between that and his lunch money getting stolen every other day, it was a harsh childhood�

Fade to black.

Probability of Precipitation 10%

Beautiful scenery, chill music� what more could you want? Besides speed limit signs or road markings� and I know I say that everything is beautiful and chill, but if I was in Harold�s place right now, I�d be freaking the gently caress out that I was driving in a car with a cop. Not that I�ve ever done that, but I�m sure it�s a pretty disconcerting experience the first time through. I�m sure you know the feeling.

But hey, Harold is nice enough to do us a solid and give us a lift back to the city. Waiting at the bus stop for thirty minutes in game time is no laughing feat, you know?

Also, I totally called it when I was going through this that Tio would be the middle-seat child. :v:

~~I was always the goddamn middle-seat child during family outings.~~

Ha ha, my pleasure. I was just heading back in the same direction.

Maaaaaan~, must be nice havin� your own car! I hear they�re still pretty pricey on today�s market.

A vehicle like this costs somewhere around 800,000 mira.

Well, for a salesman, if you can�t commute, you can�t eat. I could take the bus, but the wait eats up way too much time� So in the end, I had to bite the bullet and make the purchase. But geez, the salespeople and the buyer�s remorse�

*giggle* But there were other ulterior motives for the purchase, weren�t there? Like being able to get home sooner to see the lovely visages of your family?

You even brought �em gifts too. That�s, like, double the points.

I see that we have a �perfect husband� here.

Ha� as if. I�m always on business trips and leaving my wife and son to fend for themselves.

How old is your son?

He�s five. Not quite old enough for Sunday School, but he�s still a handful. He keeps asking �what�s this� and �what�s that�, which probably drives my wife crazy sometimes.

*giggle* It�s nice to see that you�re a happy family.

Ha ha, that goes without saying!

Plus� we� we gotta.. be happy�

Huh?

...Ah, don�t mind me. I was just thinking about something that happened a long time ago�

Hang on to something, because this is a pretty sharp right turn.

Well, back to Crossbell we go. I�m sure Harold will never elucidate on the moment where he trailed off ever again. At least, for a couple of chapters maybe. Not taking any bets on that at least, no sir. Anyway, it�s been a pretty relaxing day so far. I don�t think anything could ruin this mo-

A white wolf!? How can this be!?

Fade to black.

Afternoon in Crossbell

Five minutes later, the Special Support Section arrive back at the Central Square healthy and hearty. Or at least 3/5 of them, at least. I�d like to think that Elie and Tio have melded into the leather after having been able to rest for so long

Ha� hey come on, you don�t need to thank me this much. I just happened to be heading back at the same time you guys were.

Really though, I hope you find out something during your investigation. You have my support.

Thank you.

...If you insist. Feel free to call the Special Support Section if you�re ever in need of assistance.

Preferably BEFORE contacting the Bracer�s Guild! ...Please don�t contact them. Ever. They suck.

...Hey, Randy! We can�t just slander the Bracer�s Guild like that! Do you WANT a lawsuit on our hands?

...Even for you, that was going too far.

Slander, schmander. Competition, Lloyd. Competition! You call it slander, I call it free advertising!

Business is� Serious Business.

Hey, I get it, I get it. Don�t worry - if I ever run into trouble, I�ll give you guys a call.

And then the Special Support Section was sued for defamation one month later after that line was uploaded by some random jerk on Orbal YouTube.

You might not need this since you�re the police and all, but here�

Harold forks over a map of Crossbell for our perusing pleasure. Thanks�?

What this actually unlocks is fast travel for Zero and Azure� at least within the confines of Crossbell City. By pressing start, we can bring up this menu and immediately travel to another section of the city instantly. Pretty handy!

There are certain times where we won�t be able to access it (*cough*plot*cough*), but for the most part, we�ll be able to get around the city easier.

It should be useful when we�re doing our rounds in the city, at least. We�ll make good use of this, Mr. Hayworth.

Ha� it�s nothing, really. Well, this is goodbye for now. I�m sure we�ll bump into each other again in the future.

Harold hops into the Limemobile.

And that was Harold Hayworth. A pretty amicable guy, wouldn�t you agree? But all that said and done� despite the fact that he said his farewells to us, we�ll be seeing more of him in a moment. So don�t quite push him toward the back of your Trails NPC Encyclopedia just yet.

In any case, we could just progress the plot right now and head toward St. Ursula�s Hospital, located past Crossbell City�s South Exit� buuuuuuuut I have other things in mind. Now that we�ve finished our business in Armorica, a hidden sidequest not on the SSS Request list has been made available in West Street. And hell, we might as well start that Support Request with Oscar while we�re at it, since we�re approaching the section of this chapter where we�ll be able to complete it.

But before that, let�s tune up our quartz and orbment slots, how does that sound? I managed to get in a few rounds of the Tiger Charge-Sepith trick on the Old Path to Armorica, so I�m fairly rich in sepith right now to the tune of 300-400 pieces each in all categories.

I went ahead and opened up four slots on everyone�s devices, with the exception of Randy, since he doesn�t quite need the EP gains from it as much. While it�s nice that he has more quartz slots to slot stuff in and buff his stats with, my build for him is going to be very simple, frankly. No need to go overboard just yet.

It�s worth noting that the price to unlock a slot increases as you key in more slots along a certain line. That means that it�s easier to have Randy just grab his blue and green slots first, before starting on his orange line� and I just realized that this explanation just made my reasoning in the previous screenshot sorta defunct, but I stand by my life decisions. :colbert:

However, with great power comes great responsibility� in the sense that we need to do something with the power in the first place. We unlocked those slots, but we don�t have anything to slot them in with. So let�s go shopping. Right now, the orbment shop is stocking quartz that gives the equipped party member a 10% chance to inflict [insert status effect here]. So yes, you could totally just load someone up with all status inflicting quartz and just have them be a big debilitator in combat.

But that�s for the future. For now, I actually want to get a basic build down for everyone.

Lloyd here is the evasion tank, or the start of one, at least. He might be only slightly more durable than a leaf in the wind now, but that�s fine. He hits slightly harder, and he can dodge slightly more now. He�ll also be able to counter poo poo at a semi-regular rate once we get higher quality Evade quartz, so I�m alright with this. He can also throw his tonfas and hit an empty can from twenty feet away with his Hit quartz. More importantly though, his Action quartz gives him a 10% boost to speed, which might give us an edge for a boss battle coming up.

Elie, on the other hand, is more of the �move fast, heal everyone� variety that I had in mind for her from the beginning. She can also dodge stuff, and shoot jerks in the larynx now.

Tio�s just going to be straight up a magical tank. A beefy magical tank, hopefully. Her HP/Shield/Defense quartz means that she�ll have a good pool of HP, in addition to having a good amount of defense/artes defense. Eventually. Again, I�m not expecting too much from Tier 1 quartz.

Finally, Randy, uh� well, he�s just gonna hit things hard. That�s it. He�s gonna hit things hard and he�s gonna hit them gooder. I didn�t want to give him Defense since that has a penalty to power, and vice-versa, so I compensated by giving him more HP. He also has a 10% chance to interrupt an enemy and cancel their spell, so there�s that too.

To summarize, this is everyone�s builds right now:

Lloyd: Evasion Tank
Elie: Heal fast.
Tio: Magical Powerhouse Tank (or at the very least, less fragile.)
Randy: I Hit Things Gooder

Anyway, do you remember that old wives� tale that that jerk mayor told us about? And how Lloyd mentioned that a fairy tale of it was in the library? Well, if we check the back-corner shelf on the first floor�

One day, the lord summoned a knight of his guard and ordered him:

�Go kill that annoying girl!� Finally, the lord sent the knight after her.

The girl lived alone in a house overlooking a steep cliff on the outskirts of town. The knight waited and waited until it was dark to carry out his lord�s orders. After all, if he could push her off the cliff from behind, no one would ever suspect a thing. The knight hid in the forest near her home and waited as night fell. That evening, the girl left her home to draw well water. And just as suddenly as the knight left the forest, something howled a mighty �Arooooooo!�, before a white wolf appeared in front of him, silent as the wind. The white wolf penetrated the knight with its crimson eyes� it seemed as if the wolf was protecting the girl.

When the knight desperately stumbled away in a panic, he lost his footing and ended up tumbling down the cliff. He woke up on a simple bed, in what looked like a very simple house. Weakly checking his surroundings, he noticed that the girl whom he was sent to assassinate was cooking in the kitchen.

Upon raising his bandaged body, he realized that the girl had saved him.

�Thank goodness, you�re awake!�

After being fed a very warm soup, the knight apologized to the girl with all of his heart. He confessed that he had come to kill her by his lord�s orders. The girl, who had been listening to his story, became startled. But then she smiled radiantly, as if his story didn�t matter to her.

�Even then, I cannot stand by idly and watch a life graced by the Goddess be lost to the darkness.�

The knight was moved by the girl�s words. Only a daughter of the Goddess herself could be so selfless and kind toward someone who attempted to assassinate her, he thought. Had that white wolf not appeared, he would surely have killed her. When he thought about that, a chill ran down his spine. A sudden epiphany hit him: the white wolf was a servant of the Goddess, sent down to protect her.

Several days later, the knight thanked the girl for her kindness, and decided to return to his lord. As he walked back the way he came, he decided to make the utmost effort to change his lord�s mind regarding the girl.

The girl decided to walk to town with him, since her patients needed her. As they accompanied each other, the knight thought about how to persuade his lord. He asked the girl for her opinion, but to his surprise, she declared that she did not care about being hated by someone as long as she could help the people around her. But when they came closer and closer to the town, they began noticing that the town had been dyed red, as if it was close to sunset. However, it was still morning� the girl and the knight both thought that it was strange, before straining their eyes to take in the situation.

Then, they realized something that shook both of them to the core.

The town was dyed red, not by the sunset, but by the flames of war.

Alright, let�s finally talk to Oscar and start his quest. We�ve left him hanging the whole day, and I�m pretty sure the quest expires tomorrow. That�s no way to treat your bro, Lloyd. You can�t just leave him hanging like that. What did he want anyway�?

I Need New Ingredients! posted:

Client: Oscar
Salary: 1500 Mira

I�m trying to find ingredients to use in a new recipe. Hey Lloyd, help a pal out, why don�t you?

For more details, please see me at <Morges>, the bakery on West Street.

Oh� right. Something about new ingredients? Well, we�re here at the Morges Bakery on West Street, so we may as well take the quest, I suppose.

You and your posse want some bread or something?

...H-Hey, did you forget already, Oscar? We aren�t here for bread. Didn�t you send a request to the SSS?

...I did?

...Yes. You did.

Come on, Oscar. We�re here on business, not pleasure.

Oh. Oh, right! Riiiiiight! I remember now! I just needed you guys to go grab some ingredients so I can bake a new type of bread. The place I usually order from got delayed, so I�m short on ingredients.

Ah, okie dokie. So that�s why you called us for help.

You can�t cook without the proper ingredients, after all. Especially if you need specific amounts for baking.

Yuppers. So how �bout it, guys? You up for this 10/10 difficult task?

If we�re just gathering materials, then you can leave it to us. So� what are the ingredients you are looking for?

Well, I�ve got enough flour and butter to last me�

�

Well, I guess we know why the bakery is called �Morges�, now. It�s a morgue for all the monsters that bought the farm, and got cooked into a meat pie. That�s some nightmarish Todd Sweeney material right there. Except with monsters instead of people.

On a different note, we actually have the Monster Eggs already. All the monsters between Crossbell City and the Armorica-Tangram intersection drop them like confetti. In fact, you�re more hard pressed not getting them, since most enemies on that road will drop at least one.

Monster Fish Fillets, on the other hand, are a bit trickier to find. You�re likely to talk to Oscar at the beginning of the day, so you�ll be scrambling everywhere in order to try and find them� and fail. That�s because Monster Fish Fillets drop on the road to the hospital, hence why I�m starting the quest right now.

Alright, we�ll go gather the ingredients once we�ve finished our other requests.

And so begins our quest to get ripped and destroy some monsters. In hindsight, maybe monster bread is like chicken pot pie in this universe. Except, you know, with monster meat instead of chicken. It�s just a different ingredient, that�s all.

Alright, while we�re at it, let�s start the other quest for this update. And it�s a� hidden quest, as well!? Hidden quests don�t pop up on the SSS�s list, so you have to constantly scour the city to find �em at every given opportunity. Frankly, I have no idea how people find them while playing without a guide, since you�d have to constantly talk to every ding dong and muppet within the city limits at every interval of the story. I� don�t have the patience for that either way, so I�m just using an FAQ of the Vita version.

And if you can consider it proof, I found out that I ended up missing a hidden quest from Michel back in the Prologue, so take that as you will. I�ll get that one during New Game +.

H-Hello!

Yeah, it�s been about a week. So what�s up with you two? What�s with the kitten�?

She�s small� probably six months old, I�d say� Are you her owner?

N-No, we, u-uh, just found her w-wandering around West Street. S-She looked like she was lost.

She was looking weak, so we gave her a lotta food! She became healthy! I�m amazing, right!?

Say, Ry�, why don�t we ask the Special Support Section if they can�

You�re still talking about that? Ugghhhhh, fiiiiiine.

Hey, whatchu talkin� about, kiddos?

U-Um� can you listen to our request?

Lloyd and the party listened as Ry� and Henry talked about how they found the kitten.

W-When we found her, there was a choker a-around her neck. We took it off, b-because she looked really weak, but we were t-thinking that she had a-an owner.

She just keeps meowing and looking around, and even pawing at the door.

Hm� if she does have an owner, he or she would be worried by now. For the kitten�s sake, we�ll return her.

Do you know of any clues that might aid us in our search?

Yeah, about that... Henry was wondering if it was someone around our age.

The c-choker she had was handmade. I-It looked like something someone our age would make.

Hm, guess we�ll have to start by focusing on households with children, and then make our way up from there. Looks like it�ll take a bit. It�s up to you, Lloyd.

Accept.

Alright, we�ll be a little late in getting to the hospital, but let�s begin the search! First of all, we�ll need to take the kitten with us.

...Mr. Bannings, she still looks too weak.

I think it�s a little too much to expect her to walk alongside us.

...Oh! Okay!

Ryu moves aside so Lloyd can move in.

D�awwwww, that�s adorable. I�m just imagining a tiny kitten head poking out of one of the six pockets that Lloyd�s outfit has, and that�s just heartwarming. The feels�

We can move safely, now.

Nice! Good job, Lloyd!

Alright, it looks like everything�s fine. Shall we start by inquiring any households with children?

Um� that�s r-right. W-We found her by the Residential District, so m-maybe she�s from around t-there?

Sounds good. Either way, we have a plan now.

Our goal now is to point at the kitten and ask every single child within the city limits whether or not it belongs to them. But really, we just need to ask every single child in West Street and the Residential District� starting with Pinset, whom we retrieved a library book from earlier.

Long story short, their responses vary from family issues, to �I want to take it home with me!� to �Ian-sensei ain�t nothin� to gently caress with�. I�m sure we could go to Oscar with this too, but he�d probably think that it was an ingredient he had laying around and would try to bake it in the oven.

So no, none of the kids in West Street are useful for this quest. Where we really want to go to is the Residential District, where all the wealthy people live. And� hey, that car looks familiar, don�t it? The Limemobile is safely in its lush abode where it can blend into the grass, waiting for its next prey.

And� oh, huh. We saw each other during the Prologue, didn�t we? So you�re� married to� huh.

Is Colin doing alright?

He�s having fun with his drawing book again. He says that he wants another one, though�

Ha ha� well, he�s as energetic as I was at his age.

Alright, that�s great. It was nice seeing you again Harold, but we�re on business here. We�ve interrogated you once, so you�re free to go, but our job right now is to interrogate each and every child in our vicinity. Including your child.

*pulls out badge* �IS THIS YOUR KITTEN!? IS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!?�

Oh, it�s this one.

Lloyd point at the cat that was peering out from his jacket.

Hmmm, looks like those kiddos were right. She WAS from this neighborhood.

And that means the probability of someone in the Residential District being her owner is high. Let�s continue our search.

Welp, that was a bust. Still� good to know that the cat belongs in this area somewhere. Hey, remember that this was the mansion that Elie was all jittery about back in the Prologue. Why don�t we poke around here again, just for funsies?

...Yeah, I do. The kitten�s owner might be here, right?

There may be another child around here, as well.

No, there isn�t� I-I MEAN I don�t think so?

W-Well, someone�s probably cleaning the house, so we should ring the doorbell first.

Yeah, I guess so.

Yo, what�s wrong, Princess? You�re actin� VEEEERY strangely�

Fade to black.

Lloyd rings the doorbell, which... rings. It�s a doorbell. It rings. What more do you want from me? Actually, while writing this bit up, I forgot whether or not you could hear a doorbell from the outside, and I went to check if I could.

We�d like to speak to you for a bit. Is that alright?

_{Yes, yes, I�m coming, I�m coming!}

The police, correct?

We are. But we just have a simple question to ask you: does this household keep a cat as a pet?

A� cat, sir? No, we do not keep any cats in this home. While I, myself, am a cat person, the master and young missus are dog people.

A-Ah, is that so?

A swing and a miss.

Fade to black.

Maybe three time�s the charm. That was just an interesting tidbit I felt like including before we completed this quest. Where we ACTUALLY need to go is the house right next door. All white decor, huh?

On the second floor, we need to talk to Mr. Bond and his daughter that he had with someone in an anime-style James Bond movie set in Japan. Wait, no�

Excuse me, do you have a moment to spare?

Oh, hello! Do you need something?

We�re from the CSPD. We just want to ask whether or not you�re currently keeping a cat.

No, sorry� Sunita, do you know anything?

N-No, I don�t k-know anything. H-Hmph, I�m reading a book with father right now! Hush and leave us!

...Let�s search the neighborhood for a bit longer.

We may have missed something. Maybe it would be better if we combed through the neighborhood again.

Welp, that�s another bust. Guess we have no choice but to give it up to Oscar now. Hell, maybe we can complete two quests with one ca-

Where have you run off to this time!? Come out, Mary!

Sunita runs up the stairs.

She was acting strange, though�

Alright, let�s just get this over with. You know as well as I do that she�s probably going to be the owner of Ms. Mittens. Contradictions are at hand.

Are you looking for something?

...Yes, I am.

Are you looking for a kitten, by chance?

Lloyd pulled out the kitten from his jacket.

Where did you go!? Geez, I was worried�!

It was like what I thought, then. You were the one keeping her.

...N-No, that�s not right. Mary is still a stray!

A stray? But she has a collar, doesn�t she?

S-She�s a stray, but she�s still my property. That�s why I gave her the collar!

...When did this get so out of hand?

I� I wanted to keep her at home, but daddy would never allow it. After all, Mary� Mary was the one who destroyed all of daddy�s paperwork!

_{*hic* I saw her do it. It was terrible� Mary came in through the window in daddy�s study, and took a nap there. And� and after that, she tore the documents up when she stood up to leave� *hic* I�m sorry, daddy!}

...Well, I think you should have just explained what happened to your father, but� after that, Mary disappeared?

*nod*

So you were looking for her because you were worried, right?

...*nod*

Well, that�s one mystery solved.

That was a fine deduction, Mr. Bannings.

Don�t get too worked up about it, miss. Cats own humans, not the other way around. It�s impossible to get them to behave.

...It might be difficult to keep her at your home, but why don�t you explain the circumstances of this to your dad?

Don�t worry, we�ll come with you. Shall we go to your father, together?

*nod*

Fade to black.

I see, so that�s what it was�

...Huh?

I was a little worried because you were acting strange lately. Like going out alone sometimes. It tore up the paperwork I was doing� but they weren�t very important anyway.

So you aren�t angry about Mary, daddy? Can we keep her? Please, pulease, pretty please?

Ha ha, I don�t mind! I�m actually happy that we have a new addition to our family. But Sunita� you are the one that will have to take care of her.

O-Of course! Thank you, father!

Case closed, as they say.

It always makes me happy to see a tightly knit family.

Ms. Kitty will be happy too� Mr. Lloyd, there was no need for us to go to this length though, right? I thought we WERE bracers for a moment there.

Hey, come on. It�s fine to act out of character once in a while, right? We are the �Special Support Section�, after all.

Anyway, this is a family moment. Let�s leave quietly.

And another one bites the dust. We rescued a kitten, took adorable photos of it poking out of Lloyd�s jacket pocket, and then reunited a family with the cat at its core. A happy ending for a newly adopted cat.

More importantly, we have the rewards for our efforts in this excursion. Despite not being listed in the Support Request section, we can still report in to Fran to reap our rewards. 500 DP, 5 BP, and a promotion. Not bad at all for an hour�s work. So this is where all of Crossbell City�s tax money is going to, huh?

In any case, our adventures in Crossbell City have ended for now, and it�s time to go on a field trip to St. Ursula�s Medical College. Next time, we enter the monster infested road to the hospital, as our inevitable struggle to get over the barrier continues.

# ? Feb 18, 2019 03:13

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Update tomorrow. Thanks for waiting. It's been a never ending loop of school and procrastination on my end. I'll get the next update out tomorrow, scout's honor.

# ? Feb 24, 2019 03:04

mcclay: Jul 8, 2013; Oh dear oh gosh oh darn; Soiled Meat

Awesome, this game is great and I've been really enjoying this LP, good to see that its still kicking!

# ? Feb 24, 2019 03:10

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

I'm super excited for the next update.

# ? Feb 24, 2019 03:34

Amidiri: Apr 26, 2010

Lloyd running around town with a kitten gently tucked into his jacket is the cutest mental image.

# ? Feb 24, 2019 08:29

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

I wasn't really expecting there to actually be a white wolf. I'm not sure where this is going, but at the moment (since the wolf has a character portrait), it seems like someplace stupid.

Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Feb 24, 2019

# ? Feb 24, 2019 14:14

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Thanks for the patience and support. Here's the next update:

Part 23: �...On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hottest, how hot is she?�

Afternoon in Crossbell

Our business in Crossbell has concluded for now. We�re ready to rock �n roll� with quartz at least. There�s a bit more we could do with equipment if I so desired, but we�ll hold that off until Chapter Three. For now, we should continue with the main plot, don�t you think?

Let�s wait, since it will be here soon.

St. Ursula�s Medical College� it has been a long time since I paid them a visit.

Yeah, same here� I would have liked to visit the hospital sooner, but we�ve been so busy.

...Hey, does that mean you�ve been feelin� under the weather recently, Lloyd? We can�t go on if our fearless leader collapses from bein� overworked, you know.

Heh, it�s nothing like that. It�s just that a friend of mine works there. She�s someone I�ve known since a ways back. I wanted to drop by and say hi, since I�m back in Crossbell now, but� we were both busy, so we put our reunion off until now.

Ah, so that�s why you wanted to go so badly.

You said the person was a �she�, so� a woman, huh? Is she a doctor or�?

No, she�s a nurse. She tends to take care of the patients every day, so we haven�t been able to meet up...

...Wait, wait, wait. By nurse� do you mean THE nurse? Like, the one who dresses up in THAT uniform, holds up an injection, and says �Time for your shot, master♪�!?

...Huh? I mean, I guess so. But I�m pretty sure they wear it because it�s hospital policy, or something�

Now, Lloyd. This is a very important question. How old is she?

Well, she�s five years old than me� so that makes her� 23, I think?

She lived next door to us when I was a kid, so she was like a sister to me.

...On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hottest, how hot is she?

...I-I think she�s attractive, at least?

A woman two years older than me� a nurse�s outfit� and a solid �10� from Lloyd�

OKAY, I�M INTO ALL OF THIS RIGHT NOW! RANDY�S HEADIN� FOR FIRST BASE!

Five months later�

Randy Orlando never reached first base. He never even hit the ball. Randy fell into a slump five months later, after being rejected countless times in the aftermath of what would be known as the �French Restaurant� Incident. Sorry pal, but that�s just the way Trails From Zero�s script is. You can�t change its ~~programming~~ predetermined events. It�s all in the will of Aidios, you see. :v:

Hey Lloyd. I�m cashing in that �best bud� coupon we got between us. Do a true buddy a favor and introduce me to her☆!

...Randy, you and I are having WORDS.

*sigh* ...Men.

More importantly, don�t shame my pal Randy�s fetishes, okay!? He saw those pics on the Orbal Network, and he�s a healthy male - don�t be so judgmental. Just let a guy dream� since he won�t find anyone into that kind of poo poo.

Only in the dating sim visual novels you play, Randy� only there. :smuggo:

Hm? What�s wrong, Tio? You�ve been deep in thought ever since Armorica�

A-Ah, no it�s nothing. I just don�t like places like the hospital. I can�t stand injections or the smell of antiseptic solutions�

...Are you alright with going to the hospital then? If you�d like, you could stay behi-

It isn�t an issue. I just dislike the place a little. I don�t hate them.

...Mr. Bannings, if you finish that sentence, I�m going to hurt you.

Uh� um. No. Not at all. Nope.

(Dear Aidios, this is dangerous. Guy never taught me anything like this!)

Plus, I want to meet this friend of yours too, Mr. Bannings. She was the one you were happily talking to on our first night as the Special Support Section, correct?

W-Woah, how did you know�

*giggle*, So she�s like a sister to Lloyd? I�m looking forward to meeting her as well.

Awwwww yeah, time to raise that flag!

H-Hey, no! Hands off! The investigation is our number one priority, do you understand!?

I feel like Lloyd�s going to� I dunno, file/forge a restraining order on Cecile�s behalf if anything happens. Or break Randy�s kneecaps. If the genre was a little different, I fear that Mr. Bannings would be the main villain of a Japanese dating sim game. Probably in one involving politics and police brutality.

Ten minutes later, and no sign of the bus. Lianna Purplehair in the back can�t believe she missed her soap opera program for this bullshit check-up at the doctor�s. She hasn�t gotten the flu in four years, so she doesn�t need a vaccine, right? Duh, no she doesn�t. Obviously not. That�s ridiculous. Nope...

...On another note, I realized belatedly that I actually never got MY flu vaccine at the CVS near me this year. Thankfully, I never got hit with it and the season is almost over, but uh� hindsight and all of that, huh? Idiots don�t get colds and all that. :v:

30 minutes have passed�

...Hey, Lloyd. The bus was supposed to swing around in ten minutes, wasn�t it?

You tell me. But really, this is odd� the bus is way too late at this point.

Hm, they didn�t pick up when I contacted them. _{What on earth could be taking them so long?}

If I may, what happened to the bus?

It�s quite late�

Ah� *cough*. We are very sorry for the delay, but the bus seems to have run into some sort of issue. We were contacted by the driver immediately when it happened, but in the middle of our transmission, the connection was cut.

...This smells like trouble.

What division are you from, anyway?

I�m from Crossbell City�s Traffic Division. For the time being, we mainly manage the bus services in Crossbell. We tried to contact the CGF about this issue, but, well� let�s just say that it looks like we have no choice but to rely on the Bracer�s Guild�

(...Are you okay with this, guys?)

(If it�s something like this, then I�m always okay with it.)

(*sigh* I guess so.)

(This is all by the will of Aidios.)

And you are�?

The CSPD. We are the Special Support Section. And in any case, we needed to visit the hospital for our investigation, anyway.

Police officers�? Oh, that�s right! I remember reading about your ragtag band of misfits in a magazine! You function along the same lines as the Guild, right?

...You could say that, but we�re nowhere near as strict as them. The fact of the matter is that we can check up on the bus for you if you�d like. Does that suit you?

Hmmm� In that case, I�m counting on you. Should I also contact the Bracer�s for backup?

N-No, that�s not necessary!

...Alright, let�s go, Special Support Section!

Let�s go!

Time to rock!

...Understood.

You didn�t think we�d just be able to hop on a bus and ride the rest of the way, did you? Come on, this is an RPG. Of course we�re going to hike the way first and ride the bus later. And if the bus didn�t break down, there would be some other contrived occurence that would force us to make the trip the long way.

Water, Plants and the Blue Sky

Let�s talk about the St. Ursula Byroad for a bit. Much like the East Road we took earlier, the St. Ursula Byroad is a straight shot with a few nooks that lead to treasure. Unlike the Road to the East, which could lead to either Tangram Gate or Armorica Village, this road is just a direct path to the hospital. There�s also a detour that leads to a dungeon, but Lloyd won�t let us wander into there.

The first half of the St. Ursula Byroad is a little uninteresting since it mostly copy-and-pastes the layout of the first two screenshots over and over again. Since we exited east for Armorica and we kept going east, and we exited south for the road we�re on right now� well, take a wild guess as to which direction we�re gonna keep going down.

That said, I decided to take screenshots of the more exotic (?) parts of the byroad, so bask in the view while you can. Maybe we can put together a picture album of all the wonderful sights around Crossbell State by the end of Azure.

The one interesting thing to note in the first half of our field trip is the Coral Ring, which prevents [Seal] from being inflicted on the equipped character. We can find nearby a small lake on the west side of the second area. Now, if we go further west�

...We can find the detour I was talking about earlier. But Lloyd is a big party pooper and is just the biggest Mr. No Fun that won�t let me grind levels like an power-drunk, insane man. Which is good, since enemies in that area will IMMEDIATELY kick our poo poo in. You aren�t supposed to get in there until Chapter 2.

And speaking of grinding, we have a new onslaught of enemies to fend off, now that we�ve entered a new area. Unfortunately, we can�t complete Oscar�s request with the current enemies� but give it until the next update.

Get Over the Barrier!

The first mob on our bucket list is this gigantic, purple snail. The translation calls it a �Deathcargot� when scanned by Tio�s Analyzer Craft, which I admit is a pretty metal name. Whatever taxidermist named it probably had a bad time, since, well�

...The Deathcargot is a delightful spinning snail that has a good time thwacking everyone in an area. I�m not quite sure about its range, but I feel like it works along the same lines as Lloyd�s Accel Rush. The taxidermist who named this thing was probably REALLY peeved that it gave them a concussion, and they gave it an over exaggerated name in the process. Jokes on him, because that�s actually a pretty awesome title.

Anyway, that�s it for the Deathcargot. It just has that one attack and nothing else. Just let a snail spin in peace, eh?

Next up, we have the� �Kerasen�? The Kerasen are ~~flying~~ floating that will loving mob any tourists that even TRY to reach the hospital. This is THEIR territory, you fools.

So it strikes me that St. Ursula�s Medical College is in a terrible location. Not only is it a couple of miles outside of Crossbell, it�s also past monster-infested roads. I mean, what if any emergency vehicles get stopped by monsters or raided or something else? Hell, we kind of already have that with the orbal bus already. I could be overthinking this a lot, but hell� Tiny Tim got a heart attack and couldn�t be saved because the EMTs couldn�t get to him in time! Oh well! Better luck next time, I guess.

But enough of that. Kerasen just kind of dart over and headbutt people really hard. That�s it, really. They�re also resistant to water artes, as shown previously.

We also have the Ocean Drome, cousin to the Grass and Fire Dromes. They really are just making a Drome for every element, aren�t they�? I�m not going to go over them, since they�re exactly like the other Dromes, except that they use water artes instead.

Then we have the Long-Eared Monkeys�? They look more like sheep to me. So I�m going to call them Orange Sheep for the sake of appearances. They don�t do anything other than pouncing on people for very minimal damage. Snore. Let�s gloss over them, since I don�t feel like wasting any more screenshots on these sheep folk.

Finally, we have bargain bin Pikachus that just use Thundershock on us 24/7. Yup, that�s it. A bit lackluster compared to the road we were on before, huh? I mean it�s definitely a toss up between gatling gun sunflowers or the Deathcargot as to which one is the better enemy, but I�ll let you decide for yourself.

For now, that�s the end of our St. Ursula Byroad enemy showcase. The rest of the journey is a long winding path down to the southwest until we hit this point here.

So, there is a problem here, and it�s a bit of a dick move on the game�s part, especially for first-time players. I knew that there was a cutscene here if you were unprepared. But if you were playing Zero for the first time yourself�?

Over there!

Just like we thought!

Peril

...Good luck. I hope you were prepared for one of the worst boss fights in this game. Partly because of the boss fight itself, and the fact that the game throws you into it without any prior warning. Part of the reason why I decided to upgrade my orbment slots/quartz was because I knew this was coming. Hope you brought a lot of items that restore [Faint]!

Goddess Aidios, protect me!

Are you alright!?

The Special Support Section rushes over.

CSPD, Special Support Section!

We�ll handle this! Get inside for now!

Arrest the Criminal!

Welp, here we go. It�s time to face off against Mr. and Mrs. Chops. This� is not an easy fight. Probably one of the only fights I ever had trouble with in the game. I distinctly remember getting a game over several times because I didn�t save, and I didn�t want to do everything from the middle of Armorica over again.

Immediately, we have problem # 1 in this fight: the bus. The bus is considered to be an NPC, despite not being able to take any actions or having the ability to move. I mean, it would be really funny if the bus driver just decided to ram it into the boss for an easy win, but things are never that simple. Since the bus is considered to be an NPC for the fight, that means if the bosses decide to trash it like the Hulk in any given Marvel movie, it�ll explode along with everyone inside of it.

The very first thing you should do is debuff/buff the Chops/the party. Randy here has Chrono Down, which will slow them down for a bit. Or at least enough to get us set up. Remember how we installed new quartz into our orbment slots? Everyone has new spells now, since they have new elements to work with. Randy here learned La Forte (buffs ATK 25% in a wide area) from the Attack 2 quartz we snagged on the Road to Armorica. Chrono Down, on the other hand, we gained from installing Impede 1 on Randy, which has a 10% chance to interrupt enemy casting whenever he attacks them.

I didn�t get around to using La Forte in this battle. Chrono Down was alright, because it allowed me to group up everyone and set up a little. The reason why I didn�t use La Forte is because this is a battle of attrition for reasons� look, I�ll explain, okay?

Here is problem #2: the Chops are loving BEEFY. They are basically damage sponges, in addition to being able to hit as hard as Wald Wales did back in the Prologue. And there are two of them, so if they both decide to target the same character, say goodbye to half of their HP in one go.

This IS helpful for building up CP, though. CP is really important in this fight for reasons.

Especially since S-Craft are the only way we�re going to be doing any damage to them in this battle. Tio and Randy should unleash their S-Crafts as soon as they can. And if you want to risk it, Lloyd and Elie can do the same with their respective Crafts too, but it�s a much better idea to save all of that CP for what I dub phase two of the fight.

Problem #3: Part of the reason why this is a battle of attrition is that the Chops can summon an unlimited amount of reinforcements. Well, there�s probably a limit, but the problem is that the limit stops at somewhere around seven enemies summoned. So in addition to dealing with a ton of beefy jerks, we have to put up with a bunch of ankle biters too. And speaking from prior knowledge, the damage build up quick.

A few turns into the fight, Mrs. Chop will point at one of the SSS, say some lines in Japanese, and start charging a powerful attack. I can�t actually stress this enough, but we want to avoid this. It�s a little faint, but see that red circle? The attack will hit everything in there.

And if it does hit? Good loving luck, because it takes away half of our health and has a ridiculously high chance to inflict [Faint] on the target. And given the Chops ludicrously high speed, you may as well count them out for this battle. In fact, if you don�t have any [Faint] restoring items, it�s much easier to let the Chops attack them until they�re dead, and then revive them.

Stand Up Battle Formation Again!

In fact, I made it a point to myself to equip Elie with an accessory that prevented faint in the eventuality that this occurred, and I couldn�t get everyone out of the blast zone in time. Elie and her S-Craft should be used as your one �get out of jail free� card in a sense, since in addition to healing the entire party, Aura Rain will also cure their status effects.

Nice try, Mr. Chops. You almost got me there. In fact you probably would have gotten me there my first time through.

Our other alternative to deal with that attack is to stop it before it ever happens. If you think a couple of updates back, Lloyd ended up picking up the Stun Break Craft. And if you recall�

Stun Break allows us to cancel any casting of Crafts or Artes. Which is HIGHLY useful for this battle. Elie learns a similar move in a few levels, I believe, but I didn�t get it unlocked by the time I did this battle. Either way, the reason why you don�t want Lloyd or Elie spamming their S-Crafts is because Lloyd needs the CP to use Stun Break and stop Mr. or Mrs. Chops from pushing everyone�s poo poo in. And Elie needs it expressly just in case for emergencies like the one you saw before. Emptying out their CP is very counterproductive for this fight.

And hell, boosting everyone�s CP/HP with Holy Bullet is a pretty good use of her time between attacks, and it helps Tio and Randy get out their S-Crafts sooner. Using her S-Craft until the right moment is just a waste of time.

There are four ways to deal with this attack:

1) Stun Break
2) Move the targeted character away from everyone else.
3) Move everyone else away from the targeted character.
4) Emergency button. Use Elie�s S-Craft.

Basically, there is a LOT of stuff you have to keep track of in this battle. If one of the Chops starts charging an attack, Lloyd needs to get right on that immediately. If there are too many reinforcements, Lloyd and Randy need to start going on crowd control. Tio�s just there to get off her S-Craft as soon as possible, since her spells do jack in this battle. And Elie is there to hasten CP gains with Holy Bullet, and to act as an emergency button in case Lloyd can�t get Stun Break off fast enough and everyone gets screwed over.

But hey, I managed to get through all that without too much trouble. I�m actually a little surprised myself, since I had a really rough time going through this battle the first time around. I guess it shows that police will always be greater than beast. Also� I think I got more sepith by doing the whole Tiger Charge-Sepith trick back in Armorica. Really? That�s all you�re giving me for beating the stuffing out of you, Mr. and Mrs. Chops?

Water, Plants and the Blue Sky

Whew, that was pretty tough.

That was a fairly big monster� I wonder where it came from?

It may be a species indigenous to the forest near us, but for some reason, it emerged onto the highway�

Yeah, that�s a pretty rare occurence.

The Orbal Bus�s doors slide open.

Oh, man! Being alive feels so good right now! For a moment there, I didn�t know what I was gonna do!

Well, I�m glad you�re safe. Did the bus breakdown because of that monster?

Not exactly, no. Before that, the orbal engine died on me. I couldn�t do anything about THAT, so I pulled over and tried checking out what was wrong, but�

Those monsters from before snuck up on you, huh?

The phone may be malfunctioning. That may be what is causing the engine issues.

You may be right. The phone does draw its energy from the engine� Wait, I can�t just waste time chatting here. I�ve gotta check if I can fix it somehow.

The driver walks over to the side of the bus and cracks open the front.

...If we consider the situation, it may take a while before the engine gets repaired.

...For now, let�s head back and report to the Traffic Division officer.

*sigh* I can�t believe this happened to us�

No point in complainin�. We might have no cho-

Peril

Oh. Uh� _{gently caress.} Best two out of three? I, uh, don�t suppose you�ll let me head back and hit up an inn real quick? No? Well� aw geez.

No way�

There were others!?

This is bad� Hey, Lloyd! Even I can�t take all of �em on! I�ve got a limit, dude!

But it�s not like we can retreat either! If we leave, the bus will be destroyed!

Tch� you got a point there.

Woah, woah, woah, no! Double no! Look, we can settle this some other way, alright!? Uh� Tennis? Golf? Go-karting? It worked for Bowser, so I don�t see why it can�t work for us.

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Formidable Enemy

...Huh?

Now, Joshua!

I�m on it!

Wait, what? No! I couldn�t do that with you guys in Trails in the Sky. I call shenanigans!

The Wind From Liberl
The Wind From Liberl (ver. Evolution)

Not sure if this track ever really pops up again. Or if it does, it�ll probably be a while until we hear it again, so I might as well link the Evolution remix right now. It�s actually pretty good!

Estelle, are you alright?

Pfffft, c�mon, Joshua! A little something like that!? Not even a scratch! We finally got the timing for that down!

That aside�

Are you from the CSPD? We heard all about you from that Traffic guy down by the south exit!

Y-Yeah� and you are�?

How do you do! I�m Estelle! Estelle Bright!

Joshua. We�ve just been officially assigned to the Bracer Guild in Crossbell.

(...Of course they were Bracers.)

Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 00:17 on May 7, 2019

# ? Feb 25, 2019 02:00

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Estelle and Joshua are back and have a dual S-Craft! They're so cool!

# ? Feb 25, 2019 04:33

CmdrKing: Oct 14, 2012; Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

Gosh, this seems so early to have Estelle show up. There's not even any angsty backstories revealed for her to beat someone out of yet!

# ? Mar 1, 2019 23:47

Commander Keene: Dec 21, 2016; Faster than the others

CmdrKing posted:

Gosh, this seems so early to have Estelle show up. There's not even any angsty backstories revealed for her to beat someone out of yet!

She's just waiting for Elie to reveal her parental issues, then she'll pounce.

# ? Mar 2, 2019 07:00

Rabbi Raccoon: Mar 31, 2009; I stabbed you dude!

CmdrKing posted:

Gosh, this seems so early to have Estelle show up. There's not even any angsty backstories revealed for her to beat someone out of yet!

There's at least 1 I know we've encountered. Not sure if she'd recognize the person if she sees them though

# ? Mar 2, 2019 10:44

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Part 24: �If you�re checking in as a patient, please go through the gate and enter the building right in front of you.�

The Wind From Liberl
The Wind From Liberl (ver. Evolution)

You guys were all �BOOM� and �WOOSH�! I even thought you guys had this all taken care of!

I wish I could agree with you, but that was pretty dangerous, honestly.

...

...Oh, we never introduced ourselves, have we? My name is Lloyd Bannings.

Elie MacDowell. How do you do?

Randy Orlando�s the name. Pickin� up chicks my game.

...Tio Plato�

Alrighty! Um� Lloyd, Elie, Randy, and Tio�

...Huh. Your names are Lloyd and Tio?

Hah, what a small world.

Is there something funny about our names?

Estelle is referring to a couple of NPCs she was acquainted with back in Trails in the Sky. I�d find screenshots, except� well, I�m drawing a blank as to where they appear. And I can�t be arsed to go through both games again just to find a couple of NPCs. So just imagine two blurry blobs in your head, and that�ll have to be good enough.

O-Oh. Uh, okay.

...That reminds me. How is the orbal bus? It looks like some sort of engine trouble.

Uh� yeah, that�s right. It looks like the source of the issue is because of a poor connection between the quartz and the engine� Man, if I knew I was going to be stranded here, I wouldn�t have slept through maintenance training!

If it�s alright with you, could I take a look? It�s possible that I might be able to repair it.

<!> R-Really!?

Hey, now that you mention it, you could pilot an airship as well! If it�s simple maintenance you want, we�ve got our man here!

Oh, man. Bracers are the BOMB! When it comes down to it, you�ve got our backs!

Heh, no. You were just lucky that you got us.

...loving Bracers. :argh:

(...No. My specialty is in Orbal Network-related equipment, not grease monkey business.)

Hey, come to think of it� why are you guys here? Were you hunting down a monster or something?

...No, not really.

We are currently on duty. Our investigation lead us to the hospital right past here. We ended up encountering this incident when we were waiting for the bus.

The hospital past here� are you talking about <St. Ursula Medical College>?

...Huh. Neat. Alrighty, we�ll take over for you guys here, then. If you�re busy, you just gotta rush on forward!

B-But we can�t just�

...Gotcha. Since you�re here, we�ll take you up on your offer.

The Brights, was it?

Oh, come on, I hate all that formal bullcrap! The way I see it, we�re the same age, after all!

Yeah, I�d like to be friends, if possible.

Then� it�s Estelle and Joshua, right? If you could take care of things here, that would be really helpful.

Take care.

Water, Plants and the Blue Sky

...I guess that meets our �getting clowned on by Bracers� quota for the week. Really, I feel like this happens every other day or so. The police too busy to stop a mugging because they were out getting donuts? The bracers got your back, fam! Anime truck driver not being able to stop in front of a flighty idiot a mile in front of them because anime trucks don�t come packing with brakes? Bracers will swing a ride as it�s rushing past and install brakes on it. Detective Raymond clogged the only toilet in the precinct because he ate a bunch of burritos and took a REALLY nasty poo poo and flooded the entire place? ~~Hell no, they wouldn�t touch that nasty poo water. There�s a limit to everything.~~ Bracers are on the job, of course!

Alternatively: How many policemen does it take to screw a lightbulb? None, because the bracers did it for them. :v:

Anyway, the bus driver is kind enough to thank us for defeating the Chops and lets us rest in the bus, which is nice if you handled that last fight worse than I did. No CP gain though - that�s reserved only for hotels and inns.

But Liberl is still no. 1 when it comes to orbal technology in any respect! Period!

Liberl IS technologically impressive if you look at it from a certain point of view, but it places more of a heavy emphasis on tradition and culture. And that�s not even mentioning that the Orbal Network here is being worked on by the Epstein Foundation.

So if we look at all that� the most technologically advanced nation in the world might be Crossbell right now.

Huh, when you put it that way, I guess that�s true�

Aww, if only Tita could see this right now, she�d be jumping for joy.

That�s one thing you�re right about� Wait, Estelle, are you going through Tita withdrawal?

H-Hey, c�mon it hasn�t been that long�

But� it�s been three months, hasn�t it? I hope everyone�s doing fine back home�

I�m sure everything is alright.

(...What are they talking about?)

Well, there you have it. A concrete establishment of the timeline so far. The Crossbell arc takes place three months after Trails in the Sky. As for how much time elapses within the Crossbell arc itself� well, I�ve got no clue. It�s honestly a little hard to judge, since they don�t really give estimates. So we�ll just have to eyeball it for now.

Estelle and Joshua Bright, huh�?

It�s just one thing after another, isn�t it? Even though they�re around our age, it looked like they were pretty high up in the Guild.

Yeah, no doubt about that. From the way they carried themselves, it�s pretty obvious that they�ve been through their fair share of battles.

...That�s right. They even took care of those monsters without batting an eyelash. So they are going to be our rivals from now on�

Hm�

Hey, cheer up. There�s no point in being depressed by any of this. We just need to do the best that we can.

Besides, I�d rather think of them as healthy competition rather than rivals we need to beat. It�ll be easier for us to stay motivated if we think positive, right?

Yeah, no one�s fooled. I�m pretty sure if this game had 3D models instead of the sprite work we have here, everyone would be melting Lloyd�s face off with a smoldering glare Combination Craft.

Hey, on the bright side, it�s not like we�ve got another Arios Maclaine to deal with.

That�s true�

Well, that was just one way of thinking about it. Right now, they�re doing us a big favor by telling us to go to the hospital.

...We�re still on foot, though. But I guess it can�t be helped.

Let�s keep at it. At the very least, it will be good for a little exercise.

Eh, if you say so. I feel like you shouldn�t be saying that given the display you showed earlier, but I�m not the expert on cross-country monster slaying investigations here.

Anyway, our trek to the hospital continues. In a deviation from� well, everything we�ve seen so far, we have a beach! That�s probably 50� C too cold to actually swim in. Not to mention the killer fish floating in midair on the shore. But hey, there�s a bus stop right there if you want to visit the scenic local Crossbell beaches.

Speaking of which, a wild angler fish appears! There isn�t much to talk about when it comes to the beach besides a goody or two. On the other hand, the game tosses at us a whole slew of new enemies for us to police into submission. So let�s get to it�

Get Over the Barrier!

First up, we have angler fish. Flying angler fish will bite someone for a very minimal amount of damage. I�m sure the same can�t be said of any unattended children happening to be wandering around near a beach. But for adult-sized teens and other assorted people, I guess they have no choice but to take small bites.

Kind of sad, really. It�s like shooting fish in a barrel. Now, flying Betta Fish on the other hand� hoo boy. It�s a loving massacre when they just float up on shore and decide to take their anger out on any tourists sunbathing nearby. Warning: this is canon. Or at least with the Crossbell Times.

Next up, we have uh� these furry blob abominations? Frankly, I�m not sure what they are, other than the fact that they are gross. Using Tio�s Analyzer Craft reveals that their name is �Marimarmo�. I did a quick Google Search here, and a bunch of social media accounts showed up, so, uh, welp?

The Marimarmo, as documentary videos on Orbal YouTube show, hunt their prey by jumping on someone�s head (with a cartoon sound effect, much to my delight). It also has the distinct effect of having a chance to delay someone for a couple of turns. Sorta like getting hit with a basketball out of nowhere during recess in elementary school and devolving into tears, because gently caress that thing hurt back then.

Floating Angel Fish inhabit the seas of the air here as well. They can use Water Gun on someone, and not much else. A bit more fearsome than the Angler Fish by day? Yeah, sure. But at the same time, I don�t think they can summon up enough water pressure to punch a hole in someone. What a shame.

There are a few more enemies to cover in this leg of the highway, like the pink land flounders here, but� eh, they�re all kinda boring if we�re being honest here. There will be plenty of more enemies we�ll be covering during the rest of our journey to the hospital. Don�t you worry�

Other than that though, there�s a Reviving Balm somewhere around here that we can snag. But more importantly, we have a monster chest here...

Psych! Yeah, I�m just skipping over that. I don�t think there�s a point in showing off Monster Chest battles, since we�re just fighting ten of the same monsters that I�ve already shown off earlier. Send Tio�s S-Craft in their direction and be off on your merry way. What�s that, you want me to show off every single battle with lengthy commentary from yours truly? Boo hoo, get over it.

Anyway, the monster chest drops a Rune Cloth, which is pretty much a direct upgrade to our current equipment. I decided to give it to Tio, since with the build I�m going with her, she needs all the defense she can get.

All that said, our other prize for venturing down into monster fish infested beaches are a bunch of Fish Fillets. If you remember, this was the last item we needed to fulfill Oscar�s request all the way before we left for the hospital. So let�s take it back and hoof it down to the bakery since we can report to him and all.

Ergh, hey, uh, Oscar�? You sure this is safe and all? Not that I doubt your culinary prowess or anything, but devouring monster flesh seems a little suspect. No? Devouring (breaded) monster flesh is completely safe as long as it's cooked to a safe temperature? Huh, alright. Whatever you say, pal.

It takes me back to the good ol� days. Remember, Lloyd? Whenever I needed you to chase off a dog or to help me in the kitchen, you were always there to help a pal out.

Ha! So what you�re sayin� is that Lloyd hasn�t changed one bit!

From what we have seen of Mr. Bannings� character so far, you could naturally make that assumption.

Now, now, don�t make fun of him. That�s just how he is and we should support him no matter what.

Oh, ha ha. When did this turn into a game of �poke fun at the detective�?

They�re just saying you�re a good guy, Lloyd. You don�t need to get all huffy and puffy about it.

Oh, hey, while you�re here, have some bread I just baked. It�s on the house today!

Yeah, yeah, we�ll pick it out later. See ya, Oscar. Good luck with the job!

And with that, we�ve completed our last Support Request for the day. Just gotta murder some monsters and loot their corpses for a few eggs and fillets. All in a day�s work for the Special Support Section division of the Crosbell State Police Department� Man, we really are just walking copyright infringements of the Bracer Guild, aren�t we?

Our reward this time is 3 DP and 1500 Mira. It�s a little more of a step up than the other requests on the list. Slowly but surely we�ll make our way up in the world.

If I remember correctly, Oscar does give you some food if you go back and talk to him, which I neglected to do this time around. And really, I�d probably forget about it until the end of the game where the food would be rotting after months of neglect and the final boss immediately keels over from non-tangible food poisoning. We�ll just head onward to the hospital for now. I�m just surprised that the sun hasn�t set yet.

Heading down the path leads us into a forest with some very nice, low polygonal trees. To be fair, they do look very nice as long as you don�t Enhance the image at 400%. I actually do like this area a bit. It�s a nice change of pace from the other overworld areas we�ve seen so far, if only a bit.

There�s even a very nice lake to picnic nearby if you so wished. And then realized that the nearest jelly ate the food you brought with you when you weren�t looking. They�re like pigeons in New York in these parts.

And if you don�t feel like going picnicking, you can always follow the stone path to an outcropping overlooking a dungeon in the near future. See the sights! That�s what you came to Crossbell for, wasn�t it? The four pillars here have an intrinsic history within Crossbell�s timeline for starters.

And if all of that wasn�t enough for some odd reason, you can always fall back on making it a fishing trip. Sure, you could wrangle some odd fellas on the beach with your bare hands for some fillets, but that isn�t sporting. A pole and a hook on the other hand� now that�s manly if I ever seen it.

Putting our tour of the forest aside though, it�s worth noting that it�s rather difficult to get a catch with our current rod and bait on hand right now. But if we go at it long enough, we can eventually catch�

...Honestly, same. It spits out a Battle Scope, which acts like Tio�s Analyzer Craft. Except without the defense/artes defense debuff.

Unfortunately, that�s it for our fishing voyage for now. This update is already smelling fishy enough as it is. I tried catching fish with the Novice Rod and the dumplings, but I couldn�t get anything at all. You guys can correct me if I�m wrong, because� well, I took one look at fishing in my initial playthrough and never looked back.

That�s pretty much it for the forest area, barring random battles, of course. But there are two things I�d like to note here.

The first are the Tinkle Earrings, that we can open a chest for near the lake area. They block [Sleep]. Snore. Man, I�m trying to think of an RPG where Sleep was a serious strategy that a boss employed, but I�m drawing a blank. Maybe a MegaTen game?

The other thing worth noting is that toward the end of the area, there�s a chest that contains sixty of each kind of Sepith. Well, that�s nice of the game to give us. I�ve probably gained more by doing the Sepith + Tiger Charge trick at this point, but every bit counts.

Let�s talk about random battles while we�re at it. Like the beach, we have an assortment of baddies here, some odder than others. So let�s get to it�

Get Over the Barrier!

Our first contestant for tonight is� a beetle around Tio�s height. But don�t worry! This red beetle is a very fearsome sort of bug.

Fearsome in the sense that it can light someone on fire, of course. Randy here has second-degree burns right now just because he got lit the gently caress on fire. And since he is, you know, on fire, he�ll take damage every turn until the flames die down. Presumably because he stopped, dropped, and rolled at that point.

To be honest, this sounds more like a cause for a forest fire, but I�m no entomologist. Considering that the forest still looks hale and hearty, I�m gonna go out on a limb and say that either Crossbell has the greatest firefighters in the history of ever, or fire beetles only target policemen because they hate the color blue. Either way, Crossbell still has a better track record than California in terms of wildfires.

Next, we have a� sentient chestnut? It may be a distant relative to the gatling gun sunflower. Behold, its power!

The mighty chestnut launches a machine gun of spines in an area for a bit of damage. Maybe there�s a whole family of sentient plants out there that have a criminal posse on a land of turf in this world. Like sunflowers, chestnuts are not to be hosed with in this world unless if you want to get messed up like a fool.

Finally, we have the gigantic fantasy moths that infest these sort of fantasy lands.

We also have the red variant if you don�t like that bluish-pink color palette up there. They are both the same in the sense that they use the same attack. The only notable difference is that the blue moth�s attack inflicts paralysis, while the red moth inflicts sleep instead. Otherwise, they�re easy, since none of them do anywhere near enough damage to be a threat.

Anyway, this is where our road ends! It�s even easier, since it�s literally one way barring that area that Lloyd wouldn�t let us through. And unlike Armorica, there aren�t two separate ways leading to different areas of the overworld. We�ve finally reached the hospital just in time to treat Randy�s paralysis and second-degree burns. :toot:

St. Ursula Medical College

If you�re checking in as a patient, please go through the gate and enter the building right in front of you.

Go through the gate, you said? Alright, I guess I�ll take your word on it. Which bui�

�Oh. That building.

As the leading medical hospital on this continent, St. Ursula�s Medical College is famous for its advancements in medical theory and technology.

Really? It was that famous? I mean, there are definitely a ton of bus trips back and forth, and it has many visitors, but I didn�t think it was that famous.

I recall that it was originally founded after the Principality of Remiferia assisted it with their medical advancements. Apparently, this hospital accepts patients from other countries as well.

(in love) Hey, then that means there�s lots of hawt nurses here, right!? That�ll be a sight for sore eyes, heh heh.

(sweatdrop) ...Ha ha�

I�ve visited St. Ursula�s by car many times, but I never expected it to be this long of a walk.

...

Tio? Are you alright?

You must be tired after that walk.

No, I�m fine. It was a much shorter distance compared to Armorica Village.

If you say so. Just don�t push yourself, okay?

There is no need to worry.

More importantly, wasn�t there someone you wanted to meet up here, Mr. Bannings?

Oh, yeah! There�s that too!

Hey, Lloyd! Hurry up! Let�s go and hook u- I mean, meet up with her!

Let�s calm down, now. The more you get worked up about it, the harder the fall will be when Cecile rejects you.

Anyway, let�s ask for her at the reception desk.

Ha, alright. Let�s head inside the main building, then.

Well, that�s a wrap, We�ve finally reached our original destination today. Almost halfway through the chapter. Anyway, next time we meet Cecile, investigate the crime scene, and hitch a ride back on the bus! And here I was afraid that this would turn into a walking simulator...

# ? May 7, 2019 01:47

Rabbi Raccoon: Mar 31, 2009; I stabbed you dude!

Royce in Lunar Silver Star Story Complete has the most complete dickish use of Sleep in JRPG history.

# ? May 7, 2019 02:22

MayOrMayNotBeACat: Jul 22, 2017

And to think that I had thought all the Trails LPs had been abandoned.

Yaaaaay.

# ? May 7, 2019 03:42

OddObserver: Apr 3, 2009

Rabbi Raccoon posted:

Royce in Lunar Silver Star Story Complete has the most complete dickish use of Sleep in JRPG history.

Megaten's Eternal Sleep says hi.

# ? May 7, 2019 04:04

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

MayOrMayNotBeACat posted:

And to think that I had thought all the Trails LPs had been abandoned.

Yaaaaay.

I'm not planning on abandoning Zero or Azure anytime soon. I've just been busy with schoolwork and finals, pretty much. I actually wanted to get this out last week, but well... last week was finals for me.

# ? May 7, 2019 07:43

CmdrKing: Oct 14, 2012; Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

Lloyd comes across as the savviest character here really. He knows he's never going to outdo the heroine of the previous game in a direct rivalry, so his best option is to use her as inspiration. Smart boy.

# ? May 7, 2019 21:59

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Part 25: �No, we�ll stick to the original plan and talk to the victim first.�

St. Ursula Medical College

Well, we�ve got time to kill haven�t we? It�s not like the sun has started to set or anything. Let�s go around and talk to some people. Only the ones that I find interesting or amusing, though. Patients with dementia talking about the weather over and over again can go take a hike. I don�t got time for those guys right now.

Niiiice! That outfit fits just right! A fine angel in that is something else entirely.

�Something else entirely�? What are you even talking about?

Try not to think about it, Tio. Or shame him too much.

Um, I�m still right here, you know.

Ignore him. He�s crazy.

You know, on a second thought, let�s NOT have Randy talk to anyone outside of the party during this segment. I feel like this is a sexual harrassment lawsuit waiting to happen. Or, you know, anything else that Randy actually says. God forbid if he shitposts on the Orbal Network.

If you�re looking for the main building, it�s in the back.

There are two buildings in St. Ursula Medical College. If we go to the left here, we�ll arrive at the dorms and the cafeteria. It is a pseudo college campus, even if it doesn�t feel like one in-game. Heading right leads us to the river bank where we talked to the janitor.

Going straight leads us to the hospital ward itself. Yeah� that�s probably the main building, if you couldn�t tell. The sign probably tipped you off if the architecture didn�t.

I�ve seen St. Ursula when it�s full before. When it�s crowded, there�s nowhere to sit down. Should we ask for that friend of yours at the reception desk?

Yeah, let�s have them call her down.

Cue a five second walk. I guess the game wanted to give you the opportunity to talk to the lurkers loitering about in the lobby, but let�s just cut to the chase. All they talk about is how they got a fever that morning, or how they fell down and couldn�t get back up in the bathtub anyway.

Are you a patient, or are you here for a visit?

Um, neither, actually.

Lloyd flashes his badge.

We�re visiting today because of an ongoing investigation we are currently conducting.

(recognition) Oh, so you�re the police! And by... �investigation�, do you mean the monster attack?

That�s right. We came here on our own accord, but we were requested by the CGF to perform an investigation and supplant their findings with our own. We would like to speak to any witnesses or victims who may have been involved with the incident.

Hm... alright. The hospital�s director is currently not on the premises, but we could call the head nurse down if you�d like?

(sweating) Uh, actually, there�s a friend of mine that works here. If she isn�t busy, I�d like it if she could show us around the place.

(He�s so nervous about this.)

(Hey, what about me! A beauty�s comin� down to see us, like, in five minutes!)

(Ignore him.)

...

...Oh, um, hey.

Holy cr�!

She�s� wow.

...Beautiful.

Oh, Cecile! You have good timing. These people from the police decided to pay us a visit!

Lloyd approaches Cecile.

Sorry for visiting so suddenly like this? Maybe I should have called you first.

...

Woah! Geez, Cecile!

It�s been a long time, Lloyd. Welcome back to Crossbell� it�s been so long.

...Yeah. Sorry that I haven�t visited since I�ve come back. I�ve been pretty busy with work and all.

Um, more importantly, can you not hug me like this in front of all my co-workers?

Don�t worry about them! Come on, Lloyd! Just give your old next door neighbor a hug, like this!

*giggle* You�ve gotten tall, haven�t you! When you left, you were around the same height as I was!

Um, w-well, it�s not like I was doing nothing for the past three years, you know?

(Ha� she�s overwhelming.)

(She�s a lot nicer than I thought she�d be.)

(Dammit, Lloyd! Bros before hoes, dude!)

Fade to black. Well, I guess Receptionist Sara has some new gossip to spread around the water cooler come break time. Pretty sure there are water coolers somewhere in this place. I�ve been in restricted sections of a hospital on a project before. There�s probably some cubicles for accounting people on the third floor. Probably.

*giggle* I don�t know any of you, but am I right that you are Lloyd�s co-workers?

Um, yes, that�s correct. My name is Elie MacDowell.

Tio Plato.

The name�s Randy! Pleased to be in the company of a lovely woman such as yourself!

*giggle* No, no, the pleasure is all mine.

*sigh* And here I got my hopes up too! This was supposed to be a tearful reunion with Lloyd! ...And the girl he hooked up with.

(sweating) Wait, WHAT!?

It HAS been three years, after all. I wouldn�t mind if you wanted to introduce a girlfriend or two to me!

Oh, wait, don�t say anything, let me guess! Is it that you�re actually out on a date under a co-worker cover story?
[img]https://lpix.org/3447735/Cecile_sad.png[img]...Oh no! I didn�t get you in trouble, did I!?

Cecile� look�

So, which one of them are you dating? Elie? Tio? Or both of them at once?

NONE OF THE ABOVE!

*sigh* W-Wait, don�t tell me that you�re dating� Randy? Don�t worry, Lloyd, I�m a very open-minded person! I don�t judge! If you like guys instead of girls, I�ll support you with everything I have!

Hey, I don�t swing that way!

Ha ha�

She�s� unique, to put it lightly.

You�re tellin� me. She�s broken a new high score for airheads.

(annoyed) Ahem. Getting back on track, we�re here because of the monster attacks that have been going on recently.

Yes, I thought so. I got permission from the head nurse to explain the situation, so I�ll go over it quickly.

Points and Lines

One of our interns was attacked around then. But there was something strange about it.

According to the report, the CGF concluded that it was caused by an accident rather than an attack.

That�s right. Even though they found him on the roof, they weren�t convinced that it was a deliberate act.

What do you mean?

The rooftop is an enclosed area. Even if monsters were somehow able to climb the walls, there aren�t many areas where they could do so. The research building even encloses the entirety of the east wing, so that no monsters could get in.

I gotcha. So that�s why the CGF dismissed the victim�s claims. You wouldn�t expect monsters to appear on the roof.

That was what they concluded, yes. But I - no, we, can�t accept that. So we, as in the hospital, would like you to investigate this incident.

Alright� I mean, I guess? To be honest, I wouldn�t expect much from us if I were you, but�

*giggle* Aw, don�t put yourself down! I read that article in the Crossbell Times! You�ve been working hard to prove yourselves, haven�t you?

Oh, are you talking about the Downtown case?

But it�s not like there were articles that stated we solved the incident.

Weren�t you trying your best, though? Even I could see that.

A while back, there were some delinquents that became hospitalized them. I heard about what happened when their friends visited. They said that they owed you a huge debt.

Hm�

*giggle* What a coincidence.

C�mon, don�t embarrass us like that! I don�t think my heart could take it�

...Mr. Orlando, you just went around and flirted to everything on two legs. I wouldn�t be talking�

Well then, would you like to question the victim first?

Yeah, we can start by asking him about what happened.

I�d also like to take a closer look at the crime scene.

Heh heh, alright! Just follow my lead!

Are you sure you have time for this, Cecile?

I�m on break right now. If they need me, they�ll call for me. Let�s head to the second floor of the hospital! Come on, follow me!

Okay!

...Roger that!

Aye aye!

St. Ursula Medical College

Not gonna lie, that whole conversation was a gigantic pain in the rear end to actually transcribe and edit through. Forgive me if I took some liberties there, since I had no idea what they were saying half of the time, until like� the next sentence.

In any case, our objective is to go question the poor intern who had the bad luck of getting attacked by monsters in an RPG. Poor fool� but before we do that, we have something more important to attend to.

Namely, Beef Stew! That the party can somehow make in six seconds instead of six hours with a slow cooker. Look, don�t ask questions� maybe they�re carrying a really good pressure cooker around in one of Lloyd�s many pockets. Orbal science stuff, you know.

Special Beef Stew heals 30% HP, grants a 25% buff to defense, and cures [Freeze], just for kicks. You know, because it�s SPECIAL Beef Stew. Not that murky garbage you see in diners. University food is clearly better than diner food� at least in this universe.

It�s a little contagious how passionate you are about perusing our archives, Flora� All that said, you�ve been late to lectures before because of that, so make sure to be on time.

*sigh* You sounded way too much like my mom there, Cecile.

Cecile�s following us around now, even though she isn�t an NPC that we need to escort. We could actually try leaving the hospital with her in tow, but Lloyd stops us. It�d be a bad idea to toss her into a group of monsters, as morbidly amusing it may be.

We can reach the third floor of the hospital by going up the dorms and across this bridge here. Also, actual railings! That�s always a plus to any safety inspectors that may or may not be lurking around jagged textures here.

That is correct. Our intern was attacked on the roof of our hospital.

So what�s the plan, Lloyd? Are you going to take a look at the roof first?

No, we�ll stick to the original plan and talk to the victim first. If you could, can you continue guiding us there?

Hm, alright� our intern is on the second floor of the hospital. Let�s go this way.

Alright.

Cecile opens the door on the left and enters it. The rest of the party follows suit.

There are other patients in here. Please keep quiet if you can.

Yeah, that�s fine. We�re just here to listen to his story.

Heh, heh� alright, alright.

At the rate you�ve been healing, you�re all set to be discharged tomorrow.

Really!?

Really now, would I lie? Heh heh� just make sure you prepare yourself. There�s a mountain of paperwork with your name on it.

(!) H-Hey, come on professor! You can�t do that to a guy!

Hmph, don�t be pathetic. There were only a few lacerations and a sprain.

On the other hand, if you�ve been resting for this long, you should be able to get back to work immediately, correct? Oh, no need to worry! I�ll make you work until you collapse again! Don�t. You. Worry.

_{Out of all the professors, I got assigned to the sadist�}

I heard that. And I�d rather if you considered me a masochist instead.

The door slides open.

Oh, you know. Masochism and sadism and paperwork and all that good stuff.

[...Your blood pressure just went up.]

H-Hey, save me, Cecile!

Honestly� there are other patients occupying this ward. Have you ever considered that they may be uncomfortable with that topic? What if any children overheard this conversation?

Oh, yeah� sorry.

You have me there.

They�re from the CSPD. They came here to hear about the attack straight from Mr. Lytton.

Ah, yes, yes, I see� then it seems that I must bid you adieu here, Mr. Lytton. I look� forward to our next meeting.

I�ll be making my rounds.

Thank you. But I don�t want to hear anything about you skimping out on work, okay? This isn�t the time to go fishing, doctor.

No, no! Completely out of the question. A-Absolutely not... If you�ll excuse me�

Blue-Haired Doctor leaves.

(And then he went fishing.)

His name is Dr. Joachim Guenter, one of our associate professors.

He�s an excellent doctor, if a little eccentric when it comes to his hobbies.

I don�t mind, but I�m kinda wondering why the police are here? Isn�t the CGF already on the case?

The CGF�s investigation was� inconclusive. We were called on to help bring new facts to light, if there are any.

Geez, then I wonder why they thought I was dreaming. Maybe they thought I was sleepwalking or something? *sigh* I don�t know�

We�d like to hear your story from the beginning. What happened on that night?

...

Right, I remember now. I was working on a thesis that night�

Points and Lines

It was a paper for Professor Ragot. You know the type of professors that give you fifteen page papers every other day? He�s one of those.

I had pulled an all-nighter in order to write the paper. Frankly, I was in a daze at that point.

A monster growls. We know what�s coming at this point.

�That�s vir-� God, this translation gets worse as we get deeper into the game. It�s not quite as bad when you�re playing it yourself� but as someone that�s screenshotting all of this and going through each piece of dialogue, this is starting to physically hurt.

At least the Geofront patch is coming out sometime this summer, huh?

The doctors� well, they hospitalized me, and here we are.

(...) Alright. I�ve got the picture now.

Did you get a good look at the monsters that attacked you?

*cough* No, I didn�t. _{I passed out from shock.} Eyes the color of blood, fangs glinting in the moonlight, and fur of the darkest night was all I could remember.

And your wounds?

There was a mark caused by fangs on my right shoulder. I also suffered a blow to the head and a sprained ankle. The CGF thought that I was tackled down to the ground after being bitten, but�

The question here is why they didn�t continue attacking you after all that?

Yeah, that�s what I was thinking too! But because of that, the CGF didn�t take me seriously! The fact that I was attacked on the roof where monsters weren�t likely to attack only hurt my case even more. They eventually concluded that I was attacked by monsters after taking a walk on the highway.

Weren�t you found on the roof, though?

They thought I panicked before running back to the roof and passing out there. I� can�t really say that the probability of that happening is zero, though.

No offense, but I think ANYONE would have remembered what happened if they were in your shoes. The CGF�s conclusions are highly unlikely, I think.

Look, Mr. Lytton. You saw everything, right? Just have a little confidence in your memories, that�s all we ask.

It�s easy to say that, but it�s not like I remember how I was attacked. My memories are vague enough as it is� A-And monsters on the roof!? That was way too traumatizing to NOT forget!

*sigh* Alright. In that case, we�ll need to take some countermeasures to ensure that this doesn�t happen again in the future. Okay?

...Thank you for your cooperation in this investigation, Mr. Lytton. We�ll make sure to investigate the rooftop for any clues on this incident.

And on that Engrishy note, we�ll stop there. The hospital section is kind of a lengthy part with a few characters here and there, so I�m just gonna split the update. Next time, we�ll wrap up the investigation here and hopefully find out whether or not the monsters now have a power jump or the ability to climb ladders as Trails From Zero continues.

# ? Jul 12, 2019 23:28

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

So, back to the "Anger of Nature" theory... That's basically that the wolf spirits are punishing humans for encroaching too much on nature, right? But the attacks were at Amorica village and the hospital - both places have clearly been here for a while. Why attack there?

The hospital and Amorica don't seem to be expanding outwards to encroach, and in fact they're so small that they couldn't meaningfully expand. The city would be what is moving outwards towards the hospital and Amorica. There's large stretches of wilderness between Crossbell City and these places. If the problem was the city expanding, why not attack on the edges of Crossbell itself?

So the "Anger of Nature" thing still doesn't make sense. I also don't know how wolves could get to the top of a hospital roof without being noticed. This setting's commonly-used airships aren't that quiet either.

# ? Jul 13, 2019 03:29

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Pyre of Word Salsa posted:

At least the Geofront patch is coming out sometime this summer, huh?

We can only hope, they've been at 80% for something like 6 months now?

# ? Jul 13, 2019 03:47

Edvarius: Aug 23, 2013

Stabbey_the_Clown posted:

I also don't know how wolves could get to the top of a hospital roof without being noticed. This setting's commonly-used airships aren't that quiet either.

Yeah, that part's really weird. Even if the beasts were good at climbing, why climb the hospital rather than try and sniff around inside? I've got three running theories at this point. Either there's a monster tamer out to cause a ruckus without anybody getting seriously hurt, the beasts have some kind of connection to to Space-element stuff and teleport to random places at seemly random times, or there's a few cases of lycanthropy going around. Well, Lytton got bitten, so I guess they could wait for the next full moon and see what happens.

# ? Jul 13, 2019 04:45

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Some Numbers posted:

We can only hope, they've been at 80% for something like 6 months now?

Since late January. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, though.

Edvarius posted:

Yeah, that part's really weird. Even if the beasts were good at climbing, why climb the hospital rather than try and sniff around inside? I've got three running theories at this point. Either there's a monster tamer out to cause a ruckus without anybody getting seriously hurt, the beasts have some kind of connection to to Space-element stuff and teleport to random places at seemly random times, or there's a few cases of lycanthropy going around. Well, Lytton got bitten, so I guess they could wait for the next full moon and see what happens.

They used a stepladder. Just propped it and climbed up there. BOOM! Done deal.

On a less jokey note though, I've finished most of the next update. It should be up sometime tonight, so look forward to that.

# ? Jul 15, 2019 00:13

CmdrKing: Oct 14, 2012; Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

... huh. Wait, did Lloyd not tell the rest of the team she's his sister?
*glances*
Yeah he only thinks it. Game why are drawing that out, no good comes of this dark path.

# ? Jul 15, 2019 02:08

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Part 26: �Hey, Lloyd? Tag out.�

St. Ursula Medical College

What do you think, Lloyd? Onto the roof?

Yeah, first we need to take a look at the site of the attack. Are you still on break, Cecile?

My break�s almost over� but the least I could do is show you where Mr. Lytton was found.

Alright, thanks.

We could just rush up to the roof and progress the plot. But we might as well poke around while we�re here, right? It�s not every day that you get unrestricted access to the hospital, after all� Might as well abuse our police rights!

...Starting with the nurses. *snaps fingers* Hey there, I�ll show you why they call him Orlando. _{Christ, that�s the last time I�ll make that joke_{what am I even doing with my life.}}

Your break will be over soon. Did you need something?

I�m helping the police. I might be a little late, so could you take over for a bit?

Oh, no, no! It�s fine by�m-me? (W-Who is this handsome hunk!?)

Sorry �bout all this. The name�s Randy, by the way. What�s yours?

F-Fillia� (Squee!!!!! B-Be still, my beating heart!)

Come on, Randy. Give me a break.

*cough* Ignore him. I�m Lloyd Bannings from the Special Support Section. We�re here to investigate Mr. Lytton�s assault that took place a few nights ago.

Oh, that? (Is this that guy Cecile is always going on and on about?). Heh, heh, well do your best.

(W-What did she just say�?)

Eh, it�s probably nothing. I�m sure Cecile hasn�t been spreading gossip about you or anything like that, Detective Bannings. They will ALL gush at Lloyd whenever he swings by in the future. Cecile�s childhood stories about him are a dangerous weapon indeed.

Actually�

Cecile explained why the Special Support Section was here.

Hm, I get it now. Go ahead and give them the tour, then. The Special Support Section, hmm�? Good luck with your investigation�

Um, er, thanks. (She feels� a little scary.)

...

Yeah, I-I did. My heart almost stopped! I thought I was going to be fired! The doctor doing his rounds thought it was a major hemorrhage and blacked out on the spot!

Geez, I can�t believe this�

At l-least I cleaned the sheets, okay!? ...Maybe?

...You�re not getting me with that one again! Bring a bundle of clean sheets to Mr. Geval and apologize!

B-Buuuut - I - don�t - like - him - at - all!

No excuses! Chop, chop!

In any case, now that we have the freedom to move around again, let�s poke around the hospital layout properly before heading off toward investigation. Each floor of the hospital, with the exception of the ground floor is pretty much laid out the same. Of course, we have stairs leading up and down the building on each floor as ____ story tall buildings are wont to do. And situated in the rooms around us are patients of St. Ursula�s that I probably forgot as soon as I talked to most of them. In the middle of each floor though, we have this room to the north�

...Which leads to an elevator with a terminal nicely labeled with the floor numbers and a bunch of moon runes. It must be on a bilingual setting right now or something.

Anyway, let�s jam that touchpad and hoof it to the roof.

The area that we want is all the way on the other side of the map, near a door that we can�t quite enter just yet. Hmph� so much for that unparalleled police subway pass.

That�s right. It looks like they found our intern on the bench over there.

Hm�

Correct, that�s where our offices are located. The doctors and medical interns are usually the ones who work there.

Are there monsters they keep there for experimentations?

*giggle* Of course not. There is a greenhouse where a few dangerous plants are stored, though�

(...) Thanks for showing us around, Cecile. For now, I just want to look around for any clues that may have been left behind.

Alrighty! In that case, I wish all of you luck in your investigation!

Look forward to the good news!

Cecile leaves to do her rounds.

C.S.P.D. −Crossbell State Police Department−

If the monsters really did appear on the roof, then there must be some sort of entry point somewhere.

Understood!

�Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth�. Isn�t that right, Mr. Bannings?

Alright, alright! Let�s get crackin�!

We are now given free reign to investigate as we see fit. As Lloyd mentioned, our goal right now is to locate a way that the puppers could�ve gotten on the rooftop. It isn�t immediately obvious what we have to do, but if we have the party go near the railing�

...An exclamation mark will pop up eventually, indicating that there�s a spot we can investigate. Of course, there are multiple spots we can search, so it isn�t THAT easy to narrow the entryway to one spot.

Even if you say that the structure extends up to Floor 1F, that�s still a couple of stories they�d have to leap up to. It would be incredibly difficult for the monsters to get in from here.

Let�s cut straight to the end, though. The spot that we want to investigate is the spot here by the dorms. I remember playing this the first time and investigating everywhere EXCEPT for this spot, so� not immediately obvious, I guess is the word. Or maybe I investigated this spot, didn�t see the exclamation mark pop up, and ended up glossing over it. It has been a while for me.

Say, do you think the monsters could have entered from here?

You could definitely climb to the rooftop from here. In that case�

In that case, we have to go downstairs to the cafeteria, go through the other door, and then loop around to the other side. Unfortunately, we must ignore the beckonings of Special Beef Stew for now.

Give me a hand, Randy.

I got you.

Lloyd and Randy hop onto the boxes to take a closer look.

They appear to be monster tracks.

...Well, gently caress. The monsters know how to bend cardboard box technology to their whims now. I swear, nowhere is safe these days! Can�t trust cardboard anymore.

(!) I see� so that�s what happened.

Then that means�

You�re probably right.

It doesn�t look all that high up. We should probably come up with some sorta plan in case they come here again.

...But is it really alright if we end our investigation here, though?

You have a point. Why DID they attack the hospital? And why did they leave Mr. Lytton relatively unscathed? There�s still a lot we have to answer.

It�s best to be as thorough as possible, right?

Hey, if we can round out the CGF�s report, we might as well.

For now, we should report to Cecile before we head back.

Alright, time to hit up the nurses!

St. Ursula Medical College

In a moment, maybe. Before we head back out and wrap up the day, I just wanted to visit this room on the third floor for a moment here. It�s not particularly important, but� well, the patient in this room does appear a few times later on, and I wanted to point him out.

Hmph. WHAT!? Did you come here to apologize or something!?

U-Um� I�m really soooorrryyy! I-I-I-I-I�ve washed your sheets! They�re still stained, though!

Awkward. Alright, let�s just get this outta the way with. We were JUST here five minutes ago. This is becoming a backtracking bonanza at this point. Let�s just gab to Cecile and get outta here.

How is your investigation coming along?

We�re just about finished. We were thinking about reporting to Cecile� I mean, Ms. Neues.

Hmmm� okay!

D�aaaw, it�s just like Cecile said.

Um� huh?

I�ve heard SO many stories about you, Lloyd! Cecile has been going on and on about you since you returned to Crossbell, you know? And now I know why! You are SO ADORABLE!

A-Adorable!?

(Mr. Bannings� now is not the time to flirt while on duty.)

(Good grief� you�re despicable.)

(Lies and slander! Does it LOOK like I�m flirting with her�!?)

(Nah, Lloyd ain�t enough of a smooth talker. Mind if I get in a bit?)

(Um� sure?)

...Huh?

Hey, you�re not the only one that thinks Lloyd�s adorable. It�s like watching a toddler play with building blocks for the first time.

...So, how �bout it? You wanna party together with us this weekend? �Course, I�ll be draggin� this guy along as well. And if you want, you can invite some other friends too! C�mon, it�ll be great!

W-Wait a second. (Where�s my say in this!?)

Hm, that DOES sound fun� and I should take a break every now and then� i-if it�s really okay with you, can I invite some of my friends?

Heck, yeah! You mind if I pick the place? Crossbell Bar has always been one of my haunts!

(He�s� really smooth.)

(I was hoping he was just joking about being a ladies man, but�)

(We�ve gone so far off topic, now.)

...No, no, it would be MY honor to be able to talk to a pure angel like yourself.

Oh, but, um� our uniforms aren�t white, though�?

Not a problem. You look cute in that outfit. Anyone would, really. But it looks ESPECIALLY cute on someone like you.

O-Oh, Randy�!

The door behind the counter slides open.

Um�

Ah ha ha� hey, Martha.

Don�t �ah ha ha� me, young lady! Have you measured everyone�s temperatures yet? You were in charge of that, if I remember correctly.

(!) Ah�

And don�t forget that we have a major surgery coming up this weekend!

Ha ha, I forgot about that too... I�m sorry, Randy, but it looks like I won�t be able to make it. Maybe next time? See you next time!

Nurse Fillia escapes through the back door.

Oh? Would you like to party with me instead next weekend? Even if I�m not the �pure angel� you wanted.

N-No, no! You�re just as much of an angel as she was!

(Hey, Lloyd? Tag out.)

Nailed it!

Hmph, I see how it is. How is your investigation going? You were looking for Cecile?

We�re pretty much finished. We found some proof, so we just wanted to report in to Cecile.

Hm� at this time, Cecile should be tending to one of the patients. I�ll go ahead and call her over.

(lightbulb) Actually� if you want to pay her a visit, she should be in the hospital unit closest to the rooftop on the third floor.

She�s tending to a� patient, you said?

Is it really okay if we just walk right in?

It�s fine. A child with special needs has been hospitalized there for a while now. I�d like it if you could pay her a visit as well.

Oh, I get it�

Thanks for the help.

Martha leaves through the door as well.

As the Head Nurse said, we can find Cecile on the third floor. Specifically, in Room 304. Also, it�s really noticeable that they used the same sprite for all the hospital plants in this screenshot.

Hey, Cecile.

My, my, Lloyd?

I�m not interrupting anything, am I?

*giggle* No, you weren�t.

Shizuka, they�re the ones I was telling you about. You know, the righteous police officers from Crossbell?

...R-Righteous?

I don�t think that quite describes us.

*chuckle*

Um� thank you for keeping everyone safe.

Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jul 15, 2019

# ? Jul 15, 2019 03:01

Stabbey_the_Clown: Sep 21, 2002; Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?; Taco Defender

- Wait, Cecil is Lloyd's sister? I must have missed where Lloyd even THOUGHT that.
- I do like that the investigation starts off logically, by trying to identify any possible entry point. (And that Tio did ask about monsters in the research lab.)
- I also like that the monsters can jump, but that there are limits to how they can jump. Unlike "humans".
- Hmmm... The daughter of the Divine Blade of Wind?

# ? Jul 15, 2019 04:59

Commander Keene: Dec 21, 2016; Faster than the others

Stabbey_the_Clown posted:

- Wait, Cecil is Lloyd's sister? I must have missed where Lloyd even THOUGHT that.
- I do like that the investigation starts off logically, by trying to identify any possible entry point. (And that Tio did ask about monsters in the research lab.)
- I also like that the monsters can jump, but that there are limits to how they can jump. Unlike "humans".
- Hmmm... The daughter of the Divine Blade of Wind?

I thought they were either cousins or their families were close friends, so they grew up "just like siblings".

I like how she's Shizuku MacLaine. Typical Japanese given name, but her surname is Scottish, and they totally clash. It's like that old Skittles commercial. Maybe they'll explain it by saying she's adopted or something?

# ? Jul 15, 2019 08:29

The Lone Badger: Sep 24, 2007

Commander Keene posted:

I like how she's Shizuku MacLaine. Typical Japanese given name, but her surname is Scottish, and they totally clash. It's like that old Skittles commercial. Maybe they'll explain it by saying she's adopted or something?

You've never been to Japanifornia, Scotland?

# ? Jul 15, 2019 11:35

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

I�m pretty sure it�s been stated already that she was his neighbor and an older sister figure. They�re not blood related; but consider each other siblings.

# ? Jul 15, 2019 16:43

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Some Numbers is right. Cecile was Lloyd's neighbor/big sister figure and occasionally came over to his place to hang out or cook meals for him and his brother. She also had the hots for Lloyd's older brother since she was his ~Childhood Friend~ or something. I don't think they made it clear when Lloyd and his brother lived in the Bellheim Apartments.

Alternatively, instead of reading this info dump, just read the next update below this post. It clears everything up. :v:

Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 00:26 on Jul 16, 2019

# ? Jul 16, 2019 00:14

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 9, 2024 10:51

Pyre of Word Salsa: Apr 25, 2017; I pray for a color palette that will not come.

Part 27: �That old man has a daughter!?�

Resonating Heart

Wait, hold on�

Did you just say� �MacLaine�?

Hey, I know I�ve heard that name somewhere before.

*giggle* It sounds like that man�s an acquaintance of yours. Does �Arios MacLaine� ring any bells? He�s Shizuku�s father.

What!?

The <Divine Blade of Wind>...

That old man has a daughter!?

Um� do you know my dad?

...Something like that. He helped us when we were in a pinch a while back.

*giggle* Oh� so that�s it. Sorry about my dad. He isn�t the best people person around�

No, no, it wasn�t anything like that! We were just amazed at his incredible deftness with his blade, that�s all.

He was pretty strict with us, but at the same time, he was also considerate of our situation. *giggle* He�s a great father, isn�t he?

Heh heh, yeah! My dad�s the best!

Ah ha ha, you�re always daddy�s little princess, Shizuku! ...Even if you do act all shy and reserved whenever he comes to visit.

Wouldn�t it be better if you went all �I wuv you, daddy!� and gave him a great, big hug?

M-Ms. Neues�

Ha ha�

(Am I the only one imagining that old man gettin� doted on by his kid all the time?)

(I admit that I can�t imagine that�)

Shizuku said that she noticed something.

Er� Um, it was on the night Mr. Lytton was attacked. I couldn�t sleep, so I was reading my braille books. And then� then I suddenly heard something like a scream.

Really�!?

And... what happened next?

U-Um� I got a little worried about it, so I opened the window over there and tried to listen for anything else. I didn�t hear anyone scream after that, but I did hear some panting noises. A-And then after that, I heard a thump, as if someone was jumping. I-I couldn�t get anything else other than that.

Hm, okay. Did you tell the CGF about it?

I-I thought it was a dream. When I heard what Ms. Neues was talking about earlier, I realized that it was real. I�m s-sorry� if I�d spoken up earlier�

No, it�s fine!

Thank you for telling us this.

In any case, doesn�t this support what we found on the roof?

Yeah, that first scream was when that intern guy was attacked. The sounds you heard after that must�ve been from those wolves escapin�.

Um� I t-think I might have heard this wrong�

Don�t worry about it. Any information will be helpful in building a case.

O...Okay� When I was listening for any more sounds, I thought I heard a faint whistling noise.

(?) A faint whistling noise?

Hm, you think it�s somethin� related to those monsters?

Do you hear that sound normally?

No, I only heard it that night� I guess I thought I was hearing things�

...No, it was really helpful. Thank you for your statement.

...Cecile, we�re finished with our investigation on the rooftop, and we�ve found� a lot.

Alright.

...Okay. See you at dinner. And, um, good luck with your investigation, Special Support Section!

Thanks, we�ll do our best.

We�ll come visit again sometime.

The Special Support Section and Cecile head out into the hallway.

...She lost her sight in an accident several years ago.

But there�s still hope of recovery for her. Since she�s still getting treatment, she�s practically living here now.

I see�

It must be tough�

She�s a brave girl� Her father is a busy man, so I�m sure she always feels lonely. Even then, she pretends to be happy in front of him when he visits.

If it�s okay with all of you, could you be friends with Shizuku from now on?

Yeah� I wouldn�t mind.

I�d be happy to. She�s a good child.

*nod*

Hey, don�t worry! She�ll be laughing in no time.

*giggle* Thank you.

Now, then� you said that you had something to show me?

Fade to black. Well, I mean it could be a lot worse. She could be blind, deaf, and crippled in some way. Gotta think on the bright side. In any case, I�m pretty sure it�s alluded that one of the reasons why Arios MacLaine is pretty much a workaholic bracer is because he needs the money to support his daughter�s treatment. So he�s not a complete absent dad when it comes down to it.

I don�t think it�s ever referred to directly in the duology, but the implication is there. Or maybe it�s all in my head. You have one of two options!

St. Ursula Medical College

I see, so those monsters entered through this way?

We still don�t know why the monsters attacked, but I think the hospital should be taking precautionary measures at least.

I agree with you, but I think we�d need to improvise� We might be able to build a fence to keep monsters away here.

Yeah, even doin� that would make a huge difference in security.

You�d need a large and sturdy fence, though� Do you have something like that here?

Yes, we do, if I recall. I�ll consult with the manager and have it installed.

Three hours later�

You know, I do have to question why they didn�t have the fence installed at all times if they already had it collecting dust in some storage unit in the basement. But it�s probably best not to think too hard about it. I�m sure there�s some good explanation for it. Maybe they knew that monsters can do power jumps in this world and installing a fence would�ve been pointless?

Well, the point is that unless they're attacked by a roving gang of gatling gun sunflowers, they should be fine. I can�t see the Deathcargot trying to beyblade their way into there, if I�m being honest.

Everyone can breathe a little more easily now. And it�s all thanks to you guys!

Aw, shucks, ya don�t say?♪

Heh, it wasn�t a big deal. All we did was find proof that the monsters did attack the hospital.

Hey, that�s not true. If you didn�t do any of that, we wouldn�t have installed the fence in the first place. Have a little confidence in yourself, Lloyd. Keep up the good work and you guys will catch up to Mr. MacLaine in no time!

Your big sis guarantees it! ♡

Cecile�

(♡) O-Oh Aidios, this is moving me to tears!

Thank you very much for your words of encouragement.

...We�ll do our best.

*giggle* Lloyd, let�s get together again once I have a day off, okay? ...I want to go to his grave together.

...Yeah.

Oh, one more thing!

Tell me if you�re dating Elie or Tio, �kay? I want to be the first one to hear about this! ♡

(sweatdrop) No� I, buh...Why did you have to put it like that!?

...I mean, I guess I wouldn�t mind it if you hooked up with Randy either� give me a heads up, okay? I�ve gotten into that genre before!

What kind of books have you been reading, anyway...?

*giggle* I�m heading back to the hospital now. Be careful on the way back.

Don�t worry, we will.

Thank you for your help.

And with that, Cecile leaves the plot for a healthy chunk of the game. I don�t think we see her again for the next two chapters, if I remember correctly. Don�t worry, Cecile� we�ll indulge your fantasies in New Game +, you sweet ~~yaoi~~ healthy literature fangirl, you�

~~Giorgio A. Tsoukalos: �Relationship Points.�~~

*giggle* She was warm, open-minded, and reliable� What an amazing person.

Ha ha� I�m glad to hear you say that. She�s someone who supported me more than a big sister would.

I�m curious, Mr. Bannings� What�s your relationship with her?

Wha-

I�m curious too. I mean, it looked like she treated you a little more than �just� like a younger brother.

W-Why do you want to know�?

Lloyd, you bastard�! So you�re in a relationship with her�!? I�m so jealous! Come �ere, let�s switch bodies RIGHT NOW!

What are you even talking about�? Come on, let�s head back to Crossbell. It�s already sunset� once we get back, we need to start writing our report.

(...Nice dodge.)

(He wasn�t even being subtle about it...)

(You�ll rue this day, Bannings! She was my type, too!)

HEY, STOP WHISPERING!

We�re done with St. Ursula for now. Much like Armorica, we can just hitch a ride on a bus to get back now. Geez, this day has been taking forever to finish! I mean, let�s see here� we�ve done four Support Requests, hiked all over Crossbell in the span of a day, fought off the Chops, and investigated a hospital attack, not to mention the fact that they still have to write a report for tomorrow.

The point I�m trying to make is that Elie and Tio should be keeling over and faceplanting into the stone pavement at this point.

According to the schedule, there�s a bus that arrives every fifteen minutes or so.

Pretty convenient. And it runs until 11 PM too, huh?

The fare is also quite reasonable. I�ve heard that the bus service is managed by the city� does that mean they don�t gain any profit?

Even in the city, St. Ursula�s is held in high regard. The last thing I heard, there was enough of a budget to allocate to this service.

I see�

Well, being able to visit the hospital so freely in the first place is something to be grateful for, I think.

Fade to black. Fifteen minutes later�

W-Wait, no! I�m not doing another hike. We still have another place to travel to tomorrow. I�m not doing it! Get some other poor shmuck to bail the bus people out this time. Why do I feel like this is a regular occu-

...Oh, huh. Maybe we lifted that jinx after all. Man, that was a wild time today, huh bus driver?

Anyway, we get a fairly pretty montage of bus driving back to Crossbell. No monsters, no kaiju, no bus explosions. Yup. Just a nice trip back�

We even get a nice interior shot of the bu- Lloyd� I know you�re the leader of the SSS and everything, but just sit down. That CAN�T be easy to keep your balance like that. Hell, you aren�t even holding anything! You can�t even reach that handrail at the top unless if you have some sick mad hops power up you�re hiding from us.

�

Yeah, I know I should probably let this conversation take its course, but uh� that might be because you�re looking into the sun, Tio. You probably shouldn�t be doing that. Just a little tip.

It would be great if we could get a car of our own one of these days�

It might be impossible for the Special Support Section, but I do hear that the other departments use them.

...If I recall correctly, all detectives in the 1st Crime Division have a car prepared for them.

_{_{Let�s jack a car.}}

I guess it�s to be expected, but even then� I think that�s too much, don�t you think?

Geez, it sucks to be the black sheep in the group, sometimes�

...Well, there�s no point in wanting something that we can�t have. Plus, didn�t you guys think that walking on the highway was good training?

I don�t want to admit it, but� you�re right.

Just to make sure: We WON�T be walking anymore today, right?

Y-Yeah, we won�t be doing any more walking today. All that�s left is the mining town of Mainz, and that�s a long walk.

Like I said, tonight we�ll piece together our report. Tomorrow, we�ll go visit Mainz.

*sigh* Okay.

*giggle* Today� was really exhausting, wasn�t it?

(♡) Ah, but what a sight for sore eyes Cecile was. Next time, I�ll invite her to a party with the others, and we�ll get nice and acquainted then!

(sweatdrop) You�re way too full of energy, Randy�

The White Wolf dashes back into the wilderness.

That night, Lloyd and the others returned to the Special Support Section and began to piece together their report. While it was easy to investigate and find all the clues during the day, the date had changed while they put the finishing touches on the report, and they retreated back to their rooms for some well-deserved rest.

Tender Heart

I mean, where are you going anyway!?

Oh, just a little trip to the Principality of Remiferia. And, well� I know I said it was �a little� trip, but in actuality, it�ll probably take two months. Okay, depending on the situation, I could be back in a little less than half a month.

Okay, but� aren�t you a detective?

You ARE a cop, right? Not like some kind of� super spy, or something? I mean, if you�re going to Remiferia...

...You�ve been reading too much fiction lately, Lloyd. And it�s police officer, not cop. How many times do I need to tell you?

Hey, come on. What�s with the nagging? Are you really gonna be THAT lonely without me around? Geez, Lloyd� I keep telling you that you need to get used to it eventually.

...Hey, why don�t you go away for two years instead of two months? I�ll be fine by myself!

Joking, I was just joking! The truth is� there�s a really good reason behind it. It�s a little something we call �top secret�.

That sounds� fishy. What kind of a secret is it anyway?

Thought you�d never ask. Truth is� I�m heading out there to escort a super cute little girl.

Uh� huh�

I�ll be taking her to Remiferia in the north. Heh, you jealous or something?

...

Jokes aside, I asked our neighbor to make dinner for you while I�m gone. You can take care of breakfast yourself, right?

I�ll manage somehow�

...No, that�s not what I was gonna say! �Super cute little girl�!? What are you even thinking!? What are you going to do if Cecile hears about it!?

...Wait, why are you talking about Cecile all of a sudden?

(Geez, Cecile, what do you see in this thick headed oaf I call a brother!?)

Uh� Lloyd? I�ve talked to Cecile about his, but�

...!? (...Did he finally notice?)

Even if I said it was a �trip�, this is still police business, you know?

Pyre of Word Salsa fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Jul 16, 2019

# ? Jul 16, 2019 00:14

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Law & Order: Special Support Section - Zero no Kiseki/Trails to Zero

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