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Since the next three battles go by rather quickly, I'm going to cover them all in one update.

Video link



Store clerk: Welcome!
Brian: Things sure have changed since I was last here--there wasn't like a store like this in the past.
Store clerk: You used to live in this castle?
Brian: That was 15 years ago...nevermind, what's for sale?
Store clerk: We've got plenty in stock, please take your time!



From now on, you'll have a chance to visit the store between certain stages, restocking on items and upgrading your gear.

In this store, the top three items are your restoratives: an item that heals 20 HP, an item that heals 40 HP and 10 MP, and an item that revives downed allies.

For the rest of the gear, the game will show you what your current party has equipped, so you don't have to remember what they were wearing. It also doesn't really matter who buys what, but it does help inventory management to have everyone only buy gear that they can equip: in this case, since upgrades were available for all of my characters, I had Leon pick up a sword, Ralph new fists, Brian a spear, and Fam a staff.

As soon as you finish shopping, another cutscene loads in.

Brian: I should get going. They're probably bored out of their minds by now.
Store clerk: Thanks for your patronage!

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Leon: I can't seem to settle down at all.
Ralph: Me neither. Wonder where Pops went? He hasn't come back yet.
Leon: I guess he's still visiting all the people he knew back then.
Ralph: Man, I used to look up to Pops before, but if being a knight means I have to put up with people like this, no thanks.
Leon: Still not a fan of the nobility, huh.
Ralph: Of course. Most of these high class brats only care about fattening their own wallets.
Avi (walking up from behind): Not all of them.
Leon and Ralph (at the same time): !
Avi: At least, the king of this realm still puts his people first, so it's not as bad as you think.
Ralph: M-my bad! I didn't mean to imply that you were like that.
Avi: No need to apologize. There are many who are only [in politics] for themselves, but so long as the people they rule don't mind, what can you do about it?
Ralph: O-oh...
Leon: If you don't mind me asking, are you looking for someone?
Avi: I was hoping to talk to the courageous young men who saved the princess; I hope I'm not interrupting something.
Leon and Ralph (at the same time): N-no, not at all!

(Fade to black, implying that a conversation ensued.)

Avi: I see, so Brian has raised the two of you...
Leon: Uh-huh.
Avi: Has it ever been lonely, being without your parents?
Leon: I've always had Brian to call 'Dad', and Ralph's always been around, so...
Ralph: As kids, whenever I got bullied to tears, Leon would be the one who stood up for me.
Leon: You don't have to bring that part up.
Avi: I see, so you could say that you've been blessed, huh.

(Remember this conversation. It will be important later.)



Baruk: Excuse me, Sir Avi, but we must be off...
Avi: Already? Alright, I'll join you shortly. (turns his attention back to Leon and Ralph) Looks like I have to keep going. Can I hear more of your story some other time?
Leon and Ralph (at the same time): S-sure!



Ralph: Wow! What a guy!
Leon: Indeed he is.
Fam: Truly, an admirable personage no matter how one looks at him...
Ralph: W-w-what are you doing here?!
Fam: How rude. This is my castle, is it not?
Leon: You've given us quite the surprise...seriously, what are you doing in this place, Your Highness?
Fam: First of all, please don't address me as "Your Highness" outside of formal occasions. Just "Fam" is fine.
Leon: S-sure...
Ralph: What's with the sudden shift from being all serious and everything to this?
Fam: None of your business! It was for Sir Avi's sake, that's all!
Ralph: Aha! So that was all and act, huh?
Fam: How rude! A barbarian dares to lecture me on manners, and with such a strange accent on top of that!
Ralph: What did you say, ya hag? This is a sacred accent passed down from generation to generation! Don't try to act high and mighty with me when you don't know anything!
Fam: H-hag?!? How dare you speak to the princess of a nation this way?
Ralph: Oh, so now that it's convenient for you, you're back to being a princess again?
Leon: C'mon, let's not fight...
Fam and Ralph (at the same time): Shut up!
Fam: Oh, forget it. But, really, isn't Sir Avi amazing? Not just him, but all Turuk are full of heroic characters of that stripe.
Leon: Then the other person who came to help must be quite strong as well!
Ralph: Uh-huh! I haven't seen that sort of magic before.
Fam: That's Kaiser. It's because of him that Turuk's army, though few in number, is peerless when it comes to bravery and repelling invasions. I've heard that his elite commanders are even more amazing!
Leon: Oh? I see...
Fam: There's also a person named Sir Helios who currently lives in the nation of Youku to the north. I've heard that he's the wisest in all of Endorichy, and quite handsome besides!
Ralph (whispering): Don't tell me, she's the type to judge a book by its cover?
Fam: You'd better not be thinking about anything weird over there!
Ralph: Wha-a-a-t?
Leon: A-n-y-w-a-y, who was that other person?
Fam: That's Baruk, one of [Kaiser's] elites and the advisor for Turuk's army. He's quite skilled and shrewd.
Ralph: Now that you mention it, he does have a sinister and cunning air about him, but pretends he's not up to anything.
(Baruk enters the scene while Ralph is still talking.)
Baruk: Pardon the repeated interruption...your Highness, Sir Avi has something he wishes to discuss with you. I humbly ask that you go see him in his office.
Fam: He does? I see. Please let him know I'll be there right away.
(Baruk leaves.)
Ralph: I-I-I almost had a heart attack!
Fam: I wonder what could be the matter? Pardon me, I'll be right back.
Leon: Everybody's so busy...
Ralph: Yeah...

Dot's Footnote About Moon Runes


Video link

Fam: Sir Avi? It's Fam.



Fam: What?



( Fam! You can heal at distance! You didn't need to touch Avi to help him! Now you've got blood all over your hands and you're standing over the dead body of a foreign envoy!)



(I have no idea why the palette ends up like this. It could be a bug due to me playing the game on VirtualBox, or an intentional decision to emphasize the emotional shock of the scene.)

Soldier: S-sir Avi!?
Fam: This...this can't be...I...
Soldier: YOU! What did you do to Sir Avi!
Fam: No! It wasn't me!

Dot's Footnote About Moon Runes
The Japanese language doesn't have a lot of direct swearing, but convey rudeness by using inappropriate pronouns or verb structures. Here we see an insult that gets thrown around in a lot of emotionally-charged dialogue and pre-fight banter, "kisama". It can mean anything from "you scumbag" to "you [bleepty bleepy bleep]".



Soldier: How dare you murder Sir Avi!
Fam: You've got it all wrong! He was already dead when I...
Soldier: Here and now, we'll take our vengeance!
Fam: STOP!
Brian: What are you lot doing with the princess?
Soldier: You must be one of the co-conspirators!
Brian: Let go of Her Highness!
(Sound of fighting ensues.)



Leon: Dad sure is taking his sweet time.
Ralph: Yup.
Leon: Let's go look for him!
Ralph: Yeah.



Brian: The middle courtyard, huh...if I remember correctly, there should be an escape tunnel here.
Fam: What are you thinking? If we kill these Turuk troops, we'll have a war on our hands!
Brian: Right now, your safety is of the uptmost priority.



Brian (makes a noise of frustration): We're outnumbered!



Leon: Huh? This isn't the right direction...
Ralph: Move it already, Leon!
Leon: Where are we?
Ralph: How should I know? It's been a ruckus ever since we made it over here.
Leon: Let's hurry up and find dad already!
Brian: Leon! Ralph!
Leon: Dad!
Ralph: What the heck's going on, pops?
Brian: There's no time to explain! Just get over here and protect the Princess!
Ralph: Dang, sounds like something serious is going down!
Leon: What are we waiting for, then?



Marcia: Princess Fam? Princess Fam!
Fam: Marcia! Over here!
Marcia: Oh, thank goodness! I'll be right there!

Stage 3: Negotiation Breakdown

Link to full battle



The only unit you actually have to defeat is this blue guard ("A soldier who wears heavy armor. Though his attack and defense are both high, he's quite slow.") in the lower right hand corner of the map, but since the game doesn't actually keep track of your gameplay decisions I'm going to murder all of these poor saps for exp and drops.



Battle #3 is where Marcia (element: wind) joins the party. Her wings aren't just for show--they allow her to ignore tile height, which makes her my go-to unit for picking up field treasure. In addition to being handy with a spear (the game calls it a "trident" to distinguish her weapons from Brians'), she'll learn an eclectic collection of attack magic, healing magic, and support magic.



For my party members, being dead is effectively just another status ailment and they'll be where they fell until revived, so sometimes I'll leave somebody knocked out if I don't think I need the extra action economy.



Something I've been forgetting to mention: leveling up instantly fills your HP and MP, so if you have a weakened unit who's about to gain a level and no healing available, you can use the level up to go back to full health.



The enemy commander (who'll say: "I won't let you get away with this!" once we get close enough) falls in a couple of hits.



Heavy Infantry: *death scream*
Brian: Quick, get into the tunnel!

Video link



Baruk: Are the king, the queen and [other] people of imporance in custody?
Kaiser: Kill them all.
Baruk: ...are you sure?
Kaiser: From here on out, it's war on the entire human race. Go, reduce them all to ashes!
Baruk: Yes, my lord...



Fam: How did things end up this way...father...mother...
Leon: Dad...what do we do now?
Brian: The only thing I can think of for now is to return to Kasim's village and discuss a plan from there...



Brian: W-what's going on!? Is anyone there?...Kasim?...Nora?...Karen! What on earth has happened here...
Leon: ! Dad!
Brian: You bastards! What did you do with the villagers?
???: Hehehehehehe...
Brian: No, it can't be...you didn't!

Stage 4: Aftermath of Hatred

Link to full battle

(There's a slight jump in the video because the game crashed and I had to stitch two recordings together.)



This battle looks intimidating--the archer will start raining arrows down on us and three soldiers start to approach even if nobody moves--but I keep my units grouped closely together and approach slowly, preventing the party from being swarmed and able to whittle down the enemy one or two at a time, picking up their drops as I do.



The archer, who dies in one hit and drops a Recovery Medicine (heals all status ailments when used), was also "guarding" a a Brandy (restores 50 HP and heals the "Frozen" status when used) that Marcia flies up to grab on her turn, while my landbound units circle around the bottom left building.



Ralph picks up the next closest on field treasure, an upgrade to his fists that I immediately have him equip.



The top right corner contains gold and an upgrade in armor that I put on Marcia right away since she's usually first into enemy territory; her old armor goes to Fam.



(Description: A high level officer also known as "the Colonel". Possesses strong attack power and healing magic.)

Once the enemy commander is in range, Brian will say: "You must be the leader!" and the music changes to the boss fight theme. Because he's so much stronger than his minions, just attacking him gives a pile of experience.



The Colonel: *death scream*
Brian: That looks like all of them. Let's take a look at Kasim's--my son's house.

Video link



Ralph: There ain't nobody in sight!
Leon: Huh? Where'd Marcia go?
Fam: She says she's going to be our eyes in the sky, in case anyone else shows up.
Leon: I see...
(A thump is heard.)
Leon: Huh? Did you hear something?
Ralph (kneels down): Under here!



Brian: If I remember correctly, that's the food cellar.
Ralph: Alright, let's open it.
Leon: Be careful, Ralph.



Brian: Karen!?



Karen: *sobs*
Brian: Everyting's all right now, Karen. Please, tell grampa, what happened here?
Karen (between sobs): Some weird-looking people showed up...then mama and papa...



Kasim: It's no good! We're completely surrounded!
Nora: Dearest...
Kasim: Hurry, take Karen to the cellar!
Nora: Karin, be a good girl and listen to what Mama has to say, alright? Go hide in the cellar, and no matter what happens, don't come out, and don't make any sound, either.
Karen: What about papa? And mama?
Nora: Karen...
Karen: No! I don't want papa and mama to go away!
Nora: We'll be right there, I promise, okay?
Karen: ...okay...
(Sound of cellar door closing, which is closely followed by the generic "being attacked" sound effect.)

Dot's Footnote About Moon Runes
More fun with pronouns! Nora addresses Kasim as "anata", which would literally translate into "you", but when used between spouses it has the connotation of "honey", "dear", "sweetheart", and so on.

(Back in the present)

Brian: So what's what happened. Kasim...Nora...
Karen: So...where's papa? And mama?
Fam: Karen...your parents...they...
Karen: No! Mama! Papa!
Fam: Forgive me...it's all my fault!
Ralph: Says who? You were totally framed!
Leon: Th-that's right. It's the ones who murdered Sir Avi who...
Fam: No! If I hadn't escaped from there...
Ralph: Lady, you would've died!
Fam: That's fine! Even if I were wrongly accused, if my life were enough of a sacrifice, then my parents might not have needed to die, nor the people of this village!
Brian: Princess...
Karen: *sobs even louder*
Fam: Forgive me...forgive me...

(Fade to black and back to the scene, implying some time had passed.)

Ralph: So, pops...what do we do now?
Brian: We've got no choice but to go to Youku. Waiting around here is nothing short of a death sentence.
Leon: What about the Princess...what about Fam?
Fam: I believe I should go as well. Even if the Barth royal house were to perish, I must let them know of the impending crisis.
Ralph: Isn't Youku on really bad terms with you guys?
Fam: It's not just a matter of Barth or Youku. We're about to have all out war between humans and monsters.
Brian: If you're set on going, you can only choose between a land route or a sea route.
Leon: Getting to the sea is easier said than done.
Ralph: Then we have no choice but to go through the mountains?
Fam: There is another way...but I've heard that it's become a lot more dangerous due to an increase in wild creatures.
Leon: But there really isn't any other way, is there...

Dot's Footnote About Moon Runes
In the original dialogue, the kingdom of Turuk is referred to as the "mazoku" kingdom. Given that "ma" can mean either "magic" or "demonic", I went with the Slayers official dub translation of "monsters".



Ralph: Here they come...
Leon: There're even creatures I've never seen before.
Brian: Be careful.

Stage 5: Days on the run

Link to full battle

Though the mechanics of this game don't support random encounters, this battle is flavored like one, with the party facing a mishmash of slightly stronger creatures.



And now that Karen (element: fire) has joined the party, we've got literal firepower in our hands. Given that Karen is also a literal little girl, she has the arm strength of a wet noodle and should therefore be kept out of the front lines as much as possible (advice that I don't take in the video, to my detriment).



Marcia picks up another nice piece of armor, a weapon upgrade for Karin, and a revive while on expedition.



Leon: Finally, got them all.
Fam: I've heard that extremely dangerous creatures live near the peaks. One of the factors in Youku's inability to conquer Barth despite several invasion attempts was because they ran into such creatures and suffered a loss in combat power.
Ralph: Sounds like it's gonna be a pain for us, too.

Next time: Brace yourself for severe mood whiplash.