Sora no Kiseki FC Storyguide
By Mutian Zhang (coldkgon at hot mail dot com)


Table of Contents
1 - Legal Disclaimer
2 - Version history
3 - Introduction
4 - Characters
5 - Legend
6 - Storyguide
   6.1 - Prologue - Father, setting out
   6.2 - Chapter 1 - The disappearing airship
   6.3 - Chapter 2 - Mandrigal of White flower
   6.4 - Chapter 3 - The black orbment
   6.5 - Chapter 4 - Capital in chaos
7. Acknowledgement and thanks


---------------------------
1 - Legal Disclaimer
---------------------------
This document is Copyright 2009 Mutian Zhang and is the intellectual 
property
of the author. It may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except 
for
personal, private use as long as it remains in its unaltered, unedited form.
It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly 
without
advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a
part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of
copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their 
respective trademark and copyright holders.

Allowed Web Sites:
www.gamefaqs.com

---------------------------
2 - Version History
---------------------------
Version 0.20  (96.4kb)
- Storyguide started, completed table of contents, FAQ layout 
-Completed list of characters 
- completed prologue translations



---------------------------
3 - Introduction
---------------------------
For those uninitiated, Sora no Kiseki is a traditional turn-based RPG game 
originally made for PC by the Japanese company Nihon Falcom, the company 
that brought us other RPG jewels such as the YS franchise, Gurumin, Zweii 
and many other PC RPG titles. Sora no Kiseki also has a PSP port. 

Sora no Kiseki is actually the 6th instalment of the Legend of Heroes 
franchise, and is split into three parts, First Chapter (FC), Second Chapter 
(SC), and the Third. This guide deals only with the FC chapter. 

This guide is NOT a FAQ or a walkthrough. This is a translation guide, in 
hopes of allowing more players in the Western world to fully appreciate the 
greatness of this often unknown game. I will attempt a translation guide one 
step (and a half) removed from a pure line for line translation relating to 
main story based elements only. I will also be keeping the "strategies" to a 
minimum, as games are best enjoyed by exploring everything and figuring out 
what works for each different player. There are already FAQs out there that 
deals with the sidequests and gaming systems as well, so consult with them 
if you have any problems. 

In case you have not realised, let me phrase again that this is a STORY 
GUIDE. In other words, there are many spoilers, or I should say that this 
guide is made of nothing BUT spoilers, told as completely as I am capable of. 
If you dislike spoilers, do not read ahead or utilise this guide. 

Well, without further ado, please enjoy my translation guide for this 
outstanding game in the RPG world. 





---------------------------
4 - Characters
---------------------------
Sora no Kiseki has a large cast of characters. While some are playable, 
there are many who will assist and hinder in the adventure that stands 
before Estelle and Joshua. 



Player Characters 


Estelle Bright 
The heroine of this game. She is an apprentice of the Bracer's Guild. She is 
an energetic young girl who, once her heart is set on a goal, will back down 
to nothing and keep going. 5 years ago, her father brought Joshua into the 
family after he had been abandoned. She has been trained in martial arts and 
in using a staff in combat. Affinity: none

Joshua Bright 
5 years ago, Joshua was brought into Bright Family after being abandoned. 
His jet black hair and amber colored eyes give this boy a very unique 
appearance. Calm, composed, and level headed, he always seems to be able to 
keep up with Estelle's energy. Just like his sister, he is an apprentice 
Bracer and his weapon of choice are two, sharpened swords (twin edge). 
Affinity: 2x time

Olivier Lenheim 
Hailing from the large, Erebonia Empire, to the north, Olivier is a 
travelling musician visiting Liberl. Not only does he possess a great talent 
when playing piano and lute, he also has an 'intoxicating' personality. He 
has a great tendency to surround those around him with his wild, exhorbitant 
words. Affinity: 1x illusion

Scherazard Harvey 
A former student of Estelle and Joshua's father Cassius, and a bracer 
working mainly in Rolent. She used to be a dancer in a roaming circus, but 
decided to stay in Liberl and Rolent 8 years ago. Nicknamed the "Silver 
Flash", Schera uses a whip as a fearsome weapon. Likes to tease others and 
play the matchmaker, treating Estelle as a younger sister. Affinity: 2x wind

Tita Russell 
Granddaughter of the man said to be the Father of Orbmental Technology, 
professor Russel. Tita is sweet, cute, lovable, adorable and carries around 
a giant area effect Orbmental cannon. While she cries easily, there is steel 
within Tita's spirit and she loves Estelle and Joshua as older sister and 
brother. Affinity: 2x sky

Agate Crosner 
Another former student of Cassius, Agate used to be a delinquent and the 
head of the gang in Ruan. His title is the "Heavy Blade", and true to that 
title, Agate lugs around a blade that would do Cloud from FF7 proud. While 
he is very rude and constantly bad-mouthes others, he has a caring heart and 
takes good care of others. Affinity: 2x fire

Zin Vathek 
An A rank bracer that hails from the neighboring Democracy of Kravat (???). 
Zin is BIG, and trains in a style of eastern martial arts. While he is 
serious most of the time, he seems to have zero immunity towards pretty 
women. Zin fights with his fists and body, augmenting his already powerful 
strength with special gloves. Affinity: 2x earth

Klose Rinz 
A student from the Jenis Royal school, Klose is beautiful, studious, smart 
and sophisticated, with an air of royal elegance. She is very kind and 
gentle, yet becomes stronger when faced with someone she must protect, as is 
shown by quote "a sword, should only be used when protecting someone." She 
fights as Julia does, with a thin foil/rapier. Affinity: 3x water


Non-Player Characters 
Cassius Bright 
The father of Estelle and foster father of Joshua. He is also a bracer who 
used to teach Scherazard and Agate. We find out later in the story that 
Cassius is in truth one of the strongest bracers of the land, who formerly 
held the title "Sword Saint", the strongest swordsman of the land. He also 
used to be a colonel in the order and was instrumental in the defeat of the 
Erbonia invasion 10 years ago. Richard used to serve in the army under 
Cassius. 

Nial Barns 
One of the reporters of the magazine Daily Liberl. He smokes, swears and has 
a gruff exterior, but looks after those in his care. No matter the place, 
who would rush anywhere to find exclusive news and coverage. A man who does 
his job whole-heartedly, striving to make Daily Liberl the best magazine 
around. 

Dorothy Hyatt 
The star photographer of the Daily Liberl, Dorothy works with Nial most of 
the times. When not working, she is sort of ditzy and airheaded, though kind 
and funny. When she does work, she would start acting like a model 
photographer no matter the subject of the picture, be they people, 
structures or scenery. However, in terms of photographical prowess, Dorothy 
is a genius...truly genius and idiocy is separated by a thin line. 

Dr. Russell 
Called the Father of Orbmental technology, Dr Russel is one of the key 
player that researches orbments in the world. His inventions range from the 
practical to the suicidal, and everything in between, and is a genius who 
would forget any and everything when he works. 

Col. Richard 
Colonel Alan Richard used to serve below Cassius during the 100 day war. He 
is now the head of the Intel Division. Richard absolutely loves his nation 
and is willing to do anything to protect the nation, and thus he is very 
popular even among the people.  


Capt. Kanone 
Kanone is the sub-officer serving under Richard. She adores and admires 
Richard and tries to do any and everything for Richard. You could even say 
hat Kanone idolizes Richard. Kanone also went to cadet school with Julia

Professor Alba 
An archaeologist Estelle and co met while on the Tower of Emerald in Rolent. 
Professor Alba travels through the lands looking and studying the four 
towers in Liberl, which he believes may hold the key to some great secret. 
Alba is very stingy, always trying to save money, but he helps the heroes 
quite a few times during their travels. 

Josette Capua 
The youngest sibling of the Capua family, Jossette ran into Joshua and 
Estelle while trying to make off with the Queen's present in Rolent. She is 
noisy, straightforward and proud. 

Keer Capua 
The middle brother, Keer is usually the mediator. He's an alright guy, 
always on the lookout for his brother and sister. 

Doln Capua 
Big, loud and easygoing, Doln is the head of the Capua family. 

1st Lt. Julia Schwaltz
Captain of the royal elite guards, Julia is the idol of soldiers and royal 
guards alike. She also has some special relationship with Klose. Julia is 
honourable and serious, and holds the safety of the Queen and Klose above 
her own. 

Gen. Morgan 
Former commander of Cassius, General Morgan is a stern and strict man with a 
particular dislike for bracers. He is currently the main commander for 
Liberl's military. 

Muller Vander
Childhood friend of Olivier, Muller is the resident warrior serving at the 
Erebonia embassy in Grancell. Serious all the time, Muller constantly gets 
angry at the troubles Olivier gets himself into. 

Duke Dunan 
The niece of the current queen of Liberl, Dunan is loud, slow, stupid, 
arrogant and foolish. He constantly puts his own selfish needs above others 
and commonsense, causing a lot of trouble for his caretaker, butler Philip. 

Queen Alicia 
The current Monarch of Liberl, Alicia is a woman of her own. Strong yet 
gentle, caring and loving, she attempts to guide Liberl and the neighbouring 
countries towards a peaceful future. 

Masked Lieutenant Laurence
The enigmatic captain of the black-clothed men who hides his features behind 
a giant mask. His past is a mystery, his motive unknown, yet he seems to 
realise everything going on around him, even if he does nothing against them 
sometimes. Unrivalled strength and speed makes him a deadly enemy, and even 
worse, Joshua seems to recognize him.



---------------------------
5 - Legend
---------------------------
This game, being Japanese, uses a lot of Japanese specific ways of 
communication including honorifics, suffixes and a lot of 
expressions/emoticons not very often seen in the West, and unless you are a 
fan of Japanese pop culture, more specifically Japanese games, manga (comics) 
or anime (cartoons), some terms and symbols I use may seem unfamiliar. Below 
are the explanations of they mean. If you find a term I used in the main 
walkthrough that I have not explained, just email me and I will credit you 
and fix the problem. 

-_-' => Sweat. This action does not happen because the character in question 
is hot or needing to cool down. Instead, this usually happens when the 
character is sort of embarrassed or doesn't quite now how to respond to an 
awkward situation. For example, you're going out when a friend, but in 
public they suddenly do something like shout at the top of their voice, and 
you get embarrassed and don't quite know what to do. In Japanese pop culture 
terminology, you'd (sweat) at this time. It's quite context sensitive and 
differs from case to case. If I put more apostrophes, it just means they are 
sweating more. 

-_-|| => Not to be confused with (sweat) above, these lines, usually dark 
blue/black in games and anime, means (dread). It can be used to show someone 
being very sad and down such as in depression, or when they realise that 
they are walking straight into doom and can't stop themselves, in which case 
they (dread) the end they'll meet. 

-sama => Japanese suffix/honorific, usually deferential and meaning that you 
respect the person being addressed as so. Used usually for those of a higher 
social position. 

Onee/nee-san/sama => Onee or simply nee means older sister. -san is an 
honorific equivalent of Miss/Ms/Mrs in English, which -sama confers more 
respect. Schera is referred to as Schera-nee because most of the time 
Estelle and Joshua refers to her so, as she has been like a big sister to 
them. Schera may refer to herself as "onee-sama", usually when saying 
something along the lines of "allow me (onee-sama) to shower my whips of 
love upon you". 

Sensei => Sensei means "teacher", although it can also be used as an 
honorific for certain professionals such as doctors, dentists and such. In 
the context of the game, Schera refers to Cassius as Sensei most of the time 
since she was his disciple. In attempting to keep the integrity of the flow 
of conversation, I've tried to incorporate "sensei" whenever Schera talks 
about Cassius. 

Ossan => A term that literally means "uncle", however here it is used for 
males who are about your parent's age group. Ossan also carries with it 
certain derogatory implications of being old and past prime, which is why 
when called Ossan Nial defends himself as he's only 20, and Kin is later 
shocked when Estelle calls him that. 







---------------------------
6.1 - Prologue - Father, setting out
---------------------------

*** Bright Household - 5 Years Ago ***

A young girl named Estelle is restlessly waiting for her father to come home 
to have dinner with her. Apparently bored, she wonders what's taking father 
so long, especially since work has already called and told her that he'd be 
coming home today. Estelle also notes that Schera-nee is still on her 
training trip around the kingdom for the year. Finally boredom won, and she 
was just about to start some staff exercises when a man's voice announces 
that he is home. 

The man Cassius enters the house carrying a bundle asking if Estelle's been 
a good girl at home. Estelle bounds over to ask about how work was, and if 
he's been hurt by monsters. The man, grinning, laughs it off, and asks if 
Estelle has been a good girl at home. Upon her affirmative, Cassius lets off 
that he's brought a present for Estelle. Excited, she tries to guess what it 
was, either new fishing rod, or running shoes, or perhaps a brand new 
fighting staff. Cassius makes a face, wondering if he really DID make some 
sort of mistake raising his daughter, and why she can't be like normal girls 
who want pretty dress or accessories or such.  Estelle responds that dresses 
get dirty and accessories breaks when she goes out and plays [so rough XD], 
and then asks if the present is in the blanket bundle. 

Cassius nods and opens up the corner of the blanket to show...a boy, covered 
in bandages and currently still sleeping. Since Estelle was silent, Cassius 
asks if she thinks the boy handsome, to which she yells why he brought a 
random boy home. Cassius tells her to quiet down, as she'll wake the boy. 
Estelle was surprised that he was only sleeping, as he looked so weak and 
exhausted. Seems like Cassius has already bound his wounds, so his life was 
not in danger, however he still needs rest. Instructing Estelle to boil some 
water, Cassius takes the mystery boy to a bedroom. 

After bringing the water, Estelle wonders at how raven black the boy's hair 
was, and that sleeping so peacefully, she seems to be around the same age as 
her. Her dad tells her that not just the hair is unusual, even his eyes are 
a beautiful amber colour. Estelle then changes the subject and starts 
interrogating her father about who this boy was, why he was injured, why he 
was brought back home, if he was a lovechild and if Cassius has already 
betrayed "mum". Cassius wonders where she picks up words like "lovechild", 
and wonders just exactly what Scherazard has been teaching his precious 
little daughter. He then tells Estelle that he met this boy during the 
course of his work as a bracer, and still does not know his name yet. 

At this point, the boy slowly wakes up. Estelle marvels that indeed, the 
eyes were amber. Groggily, the boy wonders where he was. At Cassius's answer 
that it was his house and that he was safe here, the boy suddenly clears his 
head and acts defensive, wondering what Cassius was thinking, why didn't 
Cassius abandon him back there, thinking his actions unbelievable and asking 
if Cassius really knows what the hell he was doing.  Before the discussion 
can go any further however, Estelle jumps on the bed, reprimanding the boy 
not to yell when he was hurt, introducing herself as Cassius's daughter. 
Cassius tries to steer the conversation that way, but the boy yells that 
that's not the point, getting another[x2] jump from Estelle for his troubles. 
He yells that her jumping on him worsens his injuries much more than yelling. 
Estelle s-l-o-w-l-y asks, with the biggest innocent smile just "What did you 
say?" The boy [obviously realising what thin ice he was treading] gets the 
point and quiets down. The right thing to do by Cassius, as even he doesn't 
know how to handle his daughter angry. Estelle then asks the boy for his 
name. The boy was a little reluctant at first, however at Cassius's 
insistence that there was no point in hiding anymore, he agrees. "my...my name 
is...."

*roll intro movie*




***Present, Morning, Estelle's room***


The sunlight shining into Estelle's room gently awakens her from slumber. 
BIG yawn after a nice sleep, Estelle then remembers it's her dad's turn to 
cook breakfast, which means Joshua must still be asleep. Just then, a 
melancholically nostalgic harmonica tune sounds, heralding Joshua's already 
up. 

Outside on the balcony/veranda, Estelle waits until after Joshua finishes 
his harmonica piece, and applauds. Morning greetings are exchanged, with 
Estelle noting how Joshua was so hardworking, practising so seriously in the 
morning, and how it was so beautiful that she, the older sister feels her 
soul was soaring. This gets a sigh from Joshua, who says that they're both 
the same age. Even though that was true, Estelle has been in this house 
longer than him, so as the senpai, is the older sibling by default. Changing 
the topic, Estelle comments on the beauty of that piece, how it was very 
nice, a bouncy and jolly feel, but with a melancholic side. Although she 
likes all of Joshua's pieces, this was her favourite, although she couldn't 
remember its name. Joshua explains that the piece was called "Hoshi no 
Arika" [Whereabouts of the Stars]. Estelle wonders if she can ever play the 
harmonica so well, although Joshua thinks harmonica is much easier than the 
staffwork Estelle is so good at, and that the key to it was concentration. 
Estelle of course is the typical active sort who falls asleep if she sits at 
one place and doesn't move around, such as playing the harmonica. But of 
course, she also thinks Joshua should be a bit more open and carefree like 
other kids, and have some other normal hobbies besides reading, harmonica 
and fixing weapons. If he keeps that up, no girl will fall for him. Retort 
from Joshua that Estelle's hobbies are too special, since she likes fishing, 
catching bugs and collecting sports shoe models. Estelle defends herself 
that it's HER hobbies and she's free to like whatever, and makes a face 
saying that she hasn't caught bugs since she was a kid. A call from below 
rouses them from the sibling quarrel, with Cassius calling them down to 
breakfast. 

After breakfast (in which Estelle at a lot), saying that you need to eat 
everything in order to grow up healthy. Cassius asks if they need to go to 
town today to finish off their final training in the guild, which is a 
revision of everything they've learnt so far, the final obstacle before 
becoming "Bracers". Although Cassius tells them if they pass they're only 
probationary bracers, not the full deal yet. Estelle isn't willing to admit 
defeat, vowing to become a bracer that'll surpass her old man. Joshua 
reminds Estelle not to underestimate today's examination, to which she goes 
"huh......what...was that about an exam?" True to the ditzy airheaded girl 
stereotype, she totally forgot about the test that followed all the revision. 
Poor Joshua [-_-'] gives her the bad news, that if they fail the test 
they'll have to redo all the revision. Estelle, whose way of life is 
"there'll always be a way by the time we get there" isn't worried at all, 
though Joshua wonders if that's due to her inherent optimism, or her 
simplicity of thought processes. Even Cassius wonders where all that 
optimism comes from. This sparks another father daughter argument, and 
Joshua notes that they're practically two beans in a pod. The situation was 
defused with a "we should go into town", since Schera-nee is still waiting 
for them. Estelle suddenly remembers it's her turn on the cooking tonight, 
and wonders if there are any special requests from Cassius. Cassius would 
"like" Ruan cuisine such as Honey baked fish, although Joshua reckons that 
"might" be a little above Estelle in her current state. Cassius thinks 
likewise, and says that the usual fried egg/fried fish combination, as long 
as we don't puke it out again that will be fine. Estelle [=_=||] grumbles 
why can't they shut their trap for once and praise her cooking. Cassius then 
remembers that there was an errand her wanted them to do, to buy a copy of 
the "Liberl Express" from the newsagent in the city, since the new batch 
comes out today. Estelle gets some money to play with, and aside from the 
magazine, she's free to spend the rest. With a goodbye Estelle and Joshua 
leaves the Bright household. 



*At Rolent*

Seems like the pair made it in good time to town, not too early or too late. 
Estelle on the other hand laments that she just graduated from the Church-
run day school, why did she have to go study again to become a bracer. 
Joshua reminds her that today is the last day, and that to chase after one's 
dreams, this amount of hardwork is expected. Gathering up her courage, 
Estelle urges Joshua to get pumped for their harsh exam. 


*Bracer's Guild, Rolent*

As the two enters, they are greeted by the receptionist Anna, who informs 
them that Scherazard is waiting for them upstairs. With a cheer of good luck, 
Anna bids them fare well as they ascend the stairs to level 2. 

Upstairs, a very sexily dressed and mature woman is reading tarot cards. The 
cards she picked up were the Stars and the Fool, the Hermit and the Magician, 
and finally the reversed positions of the Wheels of Fate, which was very 
difficult to read [unless you're a tarot master OR you know the story, in 
which case EVERY card suddenly makes sense]. Just then our heroes ascend the 
stairs and give their greetings to a Schera who was surprised they got here 
so early. Since they were so pumped up, Schera states that today's exam will 
be extra tough [doh!]. Seems usually anything taught to Estelle enters the 
left ear and immediately exits the right, so Schera needs to do this so that 
Estelle will definitely remember. Estelle cries to Joshua that she's getting 
bullied, but Joshua reassures Schera that such was not the case. Estelle may 
dislike studying, never revise or go over what was learnt, does not think 
before she acts, tries to butt into other people's business and help even if 
it wasn't wanted, however her sixth sense was outstanding, and her usage of 
orbal gear was honed in real battle environments. Schera lets the point 
slide, although Estelle wasn't completely sure that Joshua was "helping" her 
with that speech just then. Joshua reassures her that she was being too 
sensitive, that he merely bluntly stated her good points. The subject was 
then changed onto what tarot reading Schera was doing, but Schera tells the 
two that she doesn't know how to read the cards she got. Apparently tarot 
cards are very accurate, however the deeper the meanings are hidden, the 
more difficult it is to accurately pinpoint what it is telling you. Anyway, 
enough of that, time to get to the revision. 

First up was revision of Bracer's minimum level of required knowledge, which 
is basically an overview of the current world, history, and the orbment 
system they use in this game. 

[What is orbment]
Orbments are units of machines created to utilise the power source "Orb". 
Inside orbments are quartz, made using septim shards. Different shards will 
yield different quartz, which in turn allows the orbments to utilise a 
different effect. It has however only been around 50 years since the 
discovery of Orbments and Orb, however everything in the Liberl Kingdom, 
from lighting, heaters to weapons, magic, high tech flying vessels are now 
powered using orbments. It was brought about via the Orbal revolution. 

[What are Bracers]
Bracers are a type of investigator/combat specialist dedicated towards 
protecting the peace and prosperity of common civilians. From duties such as 
defeating monsters, capturing criminals, to escorting packages, searching 
for lost items, many things that help with the stability to surrounding 
regions are all part of Bracers' responsibility. The system to control, 
manage and coordinate Bracers around the land, are the bracer guilds. 

[About Liberl Kingdom]
The country we inhabit right now, Liberl, is on the west side of the Zimlya 
continent, and is a country filled with both natural resources and long 
cultural history. As one of the very few places where septim can be mined on 
the entire continent, Liberl is able to use that to its advantage and commit 
itself to many areas of high level technological advances, therefore orbal 
technology in Liberl is one of the best around, known all over the continent. 
To the small Liberl Kingdom, the orbal technology is one of the key pillars 
that allow such a small nation to stand on equal footing and retain 
independence against its much larger neighbours. 10 years ago, during the 
invasion from the Erebonia Empire, the counter attack plan using orbment 
powered flying vessels was key to the kingdom's survival. Although 
relationships between the empire and the kingdom are still not the best, 
thanks to the Queen Alicia's excellent political skills, Liberl is mostly 
enjoying peace and prosperity. 


After all the revision, Schera tells the two to get ready for live revision, 
which Estelle wonders how it was different to the normal revision. Live 
revision means they need to, instead of studying up about what they did, go 
out and actually do them. That saved Estelle, who is worried about written 
tests but  has no problem with real-life tests. 

The first task is accurate confirmation of job details. Our heroes are given 
the Bracer's book by Anna. This is used by Bracers to note down the 
specifics of any job they take, as well as progress. Every tiny detail could 
become a clue or a link to solving a case, so no matter how small, the 
details to jobs must be recorded. The two are then directed to the 
noticeboards, where current jobs will be posted. Go take a look at the (!) 
at the posts and return to Schera. As Bracers, one key duty is regularly 
check the boards for new jobs, as well as how urgent they are. Next up is 
the Orbment factory in town to learn more about orbments and quartz. The old 
man (Merdis) first of all gives a lecture like previously, on orbments this 
time. 

[Orbments]
Orbments use different quartz to achieve many different effects such as 
flying, lighting and such, however the orbments they are talking about right 
now are combat orbments, used to increase the user's physical abilities 
(stats) and grant them the ability to use Arts (magic). Combat orbments need 
to be tuned for each different person, so with different people, the combat 
orbment will also be setup differently. Specifically, the slots and grooves 
will run different, as well as some minute quartz restrictions. To set a 
quartz, one must first open up the closed slot, which will require septim to 
do. EP (MP) will also increase with the amount of slots you open up on your 
orbment. 

[Orbal arts]
Used to allow the use of magic in battle. It gathers "Orb" powers to achieve 
many different effects. Since the word "orbal art" is a mouthful, most just 
calls it arts. There are many types of arts to use, although you need to set 
quartz to use them. Real practise would explain it easier, so I'll let the 
theory at that. 

[Quartz]
Quartz are gems created from reworking septim shards. Besides increasing 
user's stats, their greatest attribute is their magic-like abilities. Quartz 
only works when placed inside a slot, but due to people's differences, some 
slots can only put one type of quartz, so think about where you'll put it 
before you make that quartz. 

[septim shards]
Septim shards are found on monsters, and are colour coded to their elements, 
such as earth (brown), water [blue], fire(red), wind (green), time (black), 
sky (gold) and illusion (grey). You can also exchange septim for gold at 
stores [ZOMG, an RPG where monsters DON'T conveniently carry gold? 
UNBELIEVABLE]. You also use septim shards at the orbment factories in each 
city to open slots and create quartz. 

After all the theory is done, Schera gives you some septim shards, and tells 
you to play around a bit with what you just learnt. 

Make a HP1 and Spd1, equip them and return to Schera. She tells you that you 
can go to your Bracer book for more specific details, such as what quartz 
values you need to get certain magic and such. Of course, always have a 
balance between offensive spells and restorative. She then tells you to open 
some more new slots in your brand new orbments. Do so and Schera tells you 
the revision in the factory is ending, and now the REAL test begins. 
Estelle's already forgotten about it, and before she can "mentally prepare 
herself" she gets dragged off by Schera, screaming "Joshua, save me!!!!!" 
Joshua at least has the presence of mind to thank the two workers at the 
factory, despite Estelle's "Remember this Joshua ><!"


*Sewer entrance, Rolent*

Schera tells the two that this is where their final exam takes place, and to 
use everything they've learnt so far. Estelle is surprised, wasn't this a 
written exam? Schera tells them that the job they saw on the notice board 
WAS the final exam, and prompts you to look back at your Bracer's book for 
details. Estelle is so relieved she thanks the goddess for creating the 
thing called sewers. No wonder she made such a fuss, as Estelle fears 
written tests like the plagues. Estelle is still in her prayers, thinking 
back on the nostalgic memories of revision (a few minutes ago). Joshua is 
getting more and more afraid about them passing. Before they can talk any 
further, Schera asks them to start the exam, and to do it properly or "Bad 
kids will have to be punished"....via more harsh revisions. The mission was to 
search the sewers for some documents or such in a chest. There's real 
monsters down there, so be prepared for a fight. 

The dungeon is very linear with a few tutorial battles. Finally reach a 
chest with a monster guarding it. Defeat the monster and open the chest to 
gain 2x small boxes. 

Estelle wonders why inside the big treasure chest is still smaller boxes and 
starts to get curious. Joshua reminds her that this mission is to "seek and 
retrieve", and does not include "investigation" duties. Estelle mentions 
that it's no longer work, but mere curiosity for what it was, and feels that 
since there's no one here, a look wouldn't hurt, stopping only when Joshua 
told her of the possibility of failing due to this action, citing that in a 
REAL job, the contents of the smaller boxes are privy to the clients only, 
and as long as it was not illegal items, they do not have any authority to 
delve into other's items. He finally comforts her with "if you really want 
to know, why not ask Schera-nee afterwards." With that, the two returns to 
the surface. 

Schera thanks the two for their hardwork, and proceeds to confirm their 
retrieved item. Seems like it's the real thing, and there were no signs of 
tampering or opening the boxes evident (sigh of relief by Estelle and an "I 
thought so" from Joshua). Schera then proceeds to congratulate the two for 
having passed the examination. Estelle thinks the exam too easy, but wonders 
what IS in the box, for which Schera replies that it'll be secret until they 
get back to the guild. There's one last thing to do, and that was the report 
for the completion of the mission. 

Back at the guild, Schera explains that for missions to be successful, no 
matter what sort of mission, one must report to the bracers guild after 
completing the mission. That of course includes the triggering event, 
anything that happened in between, and the resolution. Only after reporting 
do the bracers actually get their rewards. Report to Anna, who congratulates 
them and reminds them that depending on how well you complete your missions, 
your ratings and rewards may also change. BP affects your ratings which 
affects the special prizes you get. With that out of the way, Schera asks 
the two to come upstairs. 

Upstairs, Schera formally congratulates the two on completing their exam, 
and opens the small boxes. Within are the probationary bracer badges, 
signifying that the wearer is already a certified probationary bracer. 
Happiness abound, Estelle is in a totally festive mood and wonders how 
Joshua can stay calm at a time like this. Schera had to leave early due to a 
lot of work demanding her attention, so the kids give her thanks for 
organising to test them even though her schedule is tight. It was alright, 
as teaching the new generation are part of bracers' duties, and Schera 
mentions that when she was a probationary member, her teacher, who was 
Cassius, also gave her a lot of care. That's also the reason why Schera 
continues to call Cassius her "Sensei". Schera then wishes them to become 
mature and be able to lead future generations, for that will be the first 
step towards becoming a great Bracer like Cassius. She then bids them 
farewell and goes off, leaving Estelle to ponder on why Scherazard the 
Silver Flash, one of the best bracers of the kingdom, hold her old man in 
such high regard. From the viewpoint of the daughter, Cassius was merely 
some mid aged delinquent. Joshua reserves comment, but does state that from 
Estelle's viewpoint it's not...too hard to understand why. Joshua then asks 
her to go home, as they need to tell old man the good news. Exit the bracer 
guild.

Along the street, two boys, Luke and Peter were playing around and bumps 
into Estelle and Joshua. Luke seems a bit flustered to bump into them, and 
when asked not to run too wildly about tells Estelle to put a sock in it, 
since she was only a girl and not even a bracer yet. Then Estelle puffs up 
her feathers and brandishes her new badge, much to the boys' awe. Luke gets 
angry and runs off saying "just you wait, after I go through the special 
training at the secret base he'll become a bracer too. Estelle wonders why 
Luke always tries to fight with her, although Joshua knows that it's merely 
the boy's awkward way of showing her respect and admiration. Joshua is a bit 
mindful about the "secret base" they mentioned, but Estelle thinks it's a 
resonance born of Joshua's childish boyish spirit, to which he gets 
speechless and loses that train of thought. 

Go into the general shop and talk to the owner. Upon hearing the good news, 
the owner congratulates them. Seems the Liberl Express already came as well 
so Estelle buys one, wondering why her dad likes reading it so much. The 
owner tells her that the Liberl Express usually has a lot of exclusive 
material, and hires out excellent photographers and journalists. Recently 
they have been doing the coverage of the Queen's birthday celebrations. He 
then remembers to give our heroes something to celebrate their new status, 
the cooking book. Use it to record recipes, and make both large eat now 
dishes and smaller, eat as you go dishes. The two thanks the owner and goes 
on their way. 

As you try to leave Rolent, Anna calls you from behind and catches up to you. 
She wonders if Cassius is home today. When asked what's wrong, she tells 
them that she got tipped off that Luke and Peter went to the Tower of 
Emerald outside the north of town. The place is infested with monsters, so 
Anna was thinking of getting Cassius to bring the boys back. Estelle 
realises that there's no time to go home and ask dad, and volunteers her and 
Joshua for the task. After a little thought, Anna agrees and says she'll 
take all responsibility, and charges Estelle and Joshua to bring the kids 
back. 

When the heroes get to the Tower of Emerald, they notice that although the 
path there was linear, they have yet to encounter the boys, meaning the 
possibility of them having gotten inside was high. Once you enter the actual 
tower, you vaguely hear the boys' voices, Peter saying it's dark and scary, 
and Luke trying to act tough, seeing as it's only the first floor. Taking a 
deep breath, Estelle yells out for Luke and Peter to respond, but there were 
no replies. Although it might be to spite Estelle, Joshua thinks it's 
because the kids went onto another floor. 

On level 2, the heroes are met with a cry of fear from Luke, and Peter's cry 
for help. You are given a choice, charge in by yourself or with Joshua. 
Charge in and defeat the monsters. 

With the monsters finished, Estelle lets out a sigh of relief. Joshua also 
comments on the battle (depends on what choice you made). Luke is really 
awed by your display, but Estelle strongly reprimands him. Not only did he 
foolishly come out this way, he even dragged his docile brother along into 
danger. Luke was going to run but gets caught by Estelle. As Luke yells for 
Estelle to let him go (with some childish profanities like baka-estelle, 
man-woman etc), and Estelle busy wondering how to punish him, no one except 
Joshua notices a monster sneaking up on them, and he was too far from 
Estelle to help. As the monster rushes towards an Estelle too entangled with 
Luke to defend herself or jump out of the way, a shadow dashes out and 
defeats the monster in one blow. And the mysterious saviour, was good old 
Cassius. 

With a serious face, Cassius tells Estelle that she was still too immature, 
that as a bracer, one must always keep the senses outwards to be ready for 
any unforeseen danger. Seems like Anna contacted Cassius afterall. He 
commends the two on their decision making and speed in getting here, however 
their guard was down in the last instant. Joshua apologizes to Cassius, 
saying that even though he was here such a thing still happened. Big grin 
back on his face, Cassius says Joshua is still a long way from being able to 
truly protect someone, but a little hardwork is all that's needed. Since the 
business was all finished, Cassius offers for everyone to go home. Of course 
the kids were much awed by Cassius, who was cooler than Estelle by 100 times. 
They leave, with Estelle stewing on how all the cool moments were stolen by 
her delinquent old man. 

Back at the guild, Anna thanks them for their hardwork. Seems Cassius 
doesn't like reporting and protocols, and with an "I'll leave it to you 
kids" ran off after delivering Luke and Peter. Anyhow, you report on this 
mission and get your reward. As you are going to leave, Anna remembers a 
letter that came for Cassius from a Bracer guild in another country, and 
asks you to deliver it to him. 

As you leave Rolent, Estelle has a troubled face on, being a bit doubtful if 
she CAN succeed as a bracer. Joshua feels that her martial arts potential 
inherited from her father is definitely enough, and has the tendency to 
never let anyone in trouble go before her eyes. Seems like Estelle feels 
responsible for what happened at the Tower, which would've ended badly if 
her father didn't come to the rescue. Smiling, Joshua says that it's not 
like her to say such things. "Today's failure should just be corrected come 
tomorrow", this is the job of her dreams, so what's a little setback. 
Estelle ponders a moment, then gets back to her old self. Joshua thinks 
silently of how optimistic (read tennen) she is, and they resume the trip 
home. 

Cassius thanks them for their work, and tells them that choices made during 
missions can affect ratings as well. Estelle hands over the Liberl Express 
she bought, and the letter Anna asked her to deliver. With that, she leaves 
to cook dinner, but before leaving, she thanks Cassius for saving them in 
the pinch. Cassius is noticeably surprised at this docile attitude, and is 
touched that his daughter finally understands a father's greatness, ending 
with the line "come daughter, no need to be reserved, fly into daddy's arms 
and let me spoil you to your heart's content." Estelle gets pissed at all 
the self-loving talkative guys in the house and leaves to cook. After she 
leaves, Cassius [serious face back on] notes that she didn't seem as down as 
he expected, and asks if Joshua was the reason. Joshua responds that he 
didn't do anything besides give her a little encouragement, since she was 
strong to begin with. The career path of Bracers carries with it a large 
share of self-doubt, and to become successful you must be able to overcome 
that. A crash from the outside, followed by Estelle's words "no way, I have 
to start again? Could this menu really be beyond me? No, cooking is all 
about your GUTS, no matter how many times I lose I'll keep on fighting, I 
won't lose to a mere dish" announces that the father son time is over, and 
Joshua rushes out to make sure they have something to eat for dinner tonight. 
Alone in the room, Cassius opens the letter from the guild, and notes that 
it's from the Empire branch, though his face visibly darkens as he continues 
reading. 

Dinner is served, and Cassius is surprised at the menu, being Estelle brand 
Chicken Egg rice. Even Joshua likes it and commends her cooking. Although it 
was a long day, she got her bracer's badge and first mission, it has been 
really fulfilling. Cassius remarks that it's so rare that the first mouthful 
stayed down, even though he'd already prepared his heart for the worst. 
Obviously very shy at heart, unwilling to say "it's delicious" straight out. 
Cassius then says that, he didn't expect to eat something so nice before he 
leaves, and commends Estelle. Seems like Cassius got an emergency mission 
and needs to leave the house for a while, leaving tomorrow. When asked about 
what happened, he replies that it's just some investigations [that requires 
a mid aged delinquent from another country XD], however due to the amount of 
places he needs to go, it'll probably take around a month. Estelle is a 
little cross that he's dumping everything at home to her and Joshua again. 
The missions in Rolent also need to be taken over, so Cassius asks the 
children to take a few of them, resolving to give the harder ones to Schera. 
There is a choice of how to answer, no real impact on story. 

Joshua feels it's a good chance to test themselves as well, and Estelle is 
pumped to show everyone she can do her dad's job very well. Cassius is 
touched once again, and prays to Estelle's mother in heaven, that their 
daughter has become so dutiful and nice a child. That leads to another 
playful father daughter banter. Since the flight is tomorrow morning at 10, 
Estelle notes to set her alarm, and goes off to bed. 

As Estelle sleeps, Joshua comes out onto the porch, to Cassius who was 
sitting there enjoying the moonlight. Joshua notes that Cassius shouldn't 
drink so much or Estelle'll get mad again. Cassius shrugs it off, and offers 
Joshua a cup as well [true delinquent, promotes underage drinking]. Joshua 
resists since he's a good boy, and not like Schera-nee, who can drink much 
more than even Cassius. A brief silence ensures, and Joshua asks straight 
out if this mission was very difficult. Although there's no conclusive 
evidence, but it seems that the Empire's side is moving. The fact that there 
are no overtly visible movements is even more suspicious. That's why 
Cassius's first stop will be the Erebonian embassy. Joshua understood, and 
asks Cassius to let him take care of Estelle, although Joshua's not that 
worried, for Estelle might be a bit rough and miss things, she has excellent 
natural feelings and her martial skills are on par with that of a genius, 
and would definitely become a first class bracer. Although Cassius notes 
that she's still just a brat right now. One day she'll have to choose her 
own path to walk with her own will,  although the exact same phrase seems to 
be directed to Joshua as well. It's already been five years, time truly 
flies. Cassius asks if Joshua still has no intention of taking back the 
words he uttered then. Joshua thinks awhile, and replies that that is his 
final line, that if he cannot even protect at least that, he would never be 
able to forgive himself. Joshua apologizes to Cassius once again, for not 
being able to take back what he said. Cassius doesn't mind, but wants him to 
remember, no matter what road he decides to choose, nothing will change the 
truth of the five years he was here as their family, and that him, Cassius 
and Estelle were a family. 


*next morning
At Rolent Airport, Cassius is bidding the children and Schera goodbye. 
Apologies were given to Schera who needed to heave Cassius's weight during 
his absence, and asks her to take care of the two children, teaching them 
with "pain and whip" if needs be. As the bell rings for a final warning 
before takeoff, they exchange farewells and Cassius's airship leaves. 
Estelle makes a face after he leaves, but insists that she's not lonely 
without Cassius around. Time to start the work that Cassius left, and Schera 
invites them to come to her for any help if needed, and leaves first. The 
kids also decide to go to Anna at the guild to see what job they have in 
store. 

At the guild, Estelle and Joshua inform Anna of Cassius's departure, and 
asks about the jobs left for them. There are a total of 3 jobs for the kids, 
and the first one requires them to make a visit to the small farm to the 
west, home of one of Estelle's friends Tio. The mission involves defeating 
the monsters at the farm, which surprises Estelle that there were monsters 
on the farm. So far there have been no victims of bodily injury, but the 
damage to farm and property was substantial. Anna also gives them a 
reference letter to let the owners of the farm know they were here on Bracer 
business. 

The farm is very serene and peaceful, and Estelle comments how it's always 
so quiet and relaxing every time she visits. Joshua notes that there was no 
feeling of monsters being nearby as well, and suggests they talk with the 
owners. Find Tio (the older girl) and our heroes greets her. Tio initially 
thinks they were here to hang out, and Estelle explained how they were here 
on Bracer mission. Seems like the monsters only comes out at night, and 
makes sleeping very difficult. Tio then directs you to her parents who just 
returned from the city for details. 

Go inside the house and our heroes automatically greet Tio's parents. The 
parents Hannah and Franz are both quite surprised that our protagonists are 
bracers already, and expresses a little concern considering they were 
dealing with monsters here. Estelle assures them they were fully capable, so 
they end up leaving it to our two kids. Estelle asks for the description of 
the monsters, though Franz never saw them clearly as it's nocturnal and very 
swift, but it seems like a fat cat. The monsters usually comes in packs of 
three to four and attacks the vegetable gardens. Seems like to find the 
monster, our heroes need to wait until after dark. Hannah offers for them to 
stay here and rest until night, and Estelle expresses great interest at 
trying out "Aunt Hannah's wonderful home cooking" once again. 

At night, after an apparently satisfactory dinner at the farmhouse, Joshua 
is playing with the two smaller boys of the house while Estelle and Tio 
engage in some girl talk. Tio feels bad for making Joshua take care of the 
twin boys, but Estelle says it's alright since, despite his quiet 
personality, Joshua gets along very well with the kids. Tio disagrees, 
saying how he's always so polite and formal on the point of actively keeping 
others at arm's length in the beginning, yet once he becomes more friendly 
with someone, shows them such care and gentleness that it moves everyone's 
hearts. That, plus the chiselled good looks, the mysterious amber eyes, jet 
black hair, it's obvious that fangirls swoon would screech in his presence. 
Estelle was flabbergasted, for she never realised how popular with the girls 
Joshua was. Seems like many girls have even asked him out, although he 
rejected all of them. Estelle gets a bit pissed that Joshua hasn't been 
telling her these things, and wonders if he's just trying to be mysterious 
or just totally cold-blooded. Tio laughs and says that that was of course, 
Joshua couldn't possibly talk about such things with a girl, much less 
Estelle, which confuses her. Before the conversation continues, Joshua 
knocks on the door and tells Estelle it's about time to start the patrol. 
Estelle bids her goodbye to Tio with a "we'll talk more about this next 
time" and leaves the room. Tio is silent for a few moments, then wonders 
aloud if she was just slow, or if she really didn't realise, and how it must 
be very hard for Joshua. 

In the corridor, Joshua explains how the monsters should be coming around 
now. Estelle (affected by the conversation earlier), stares at Joshua with 
the =_= eyes, and then asks if Joshua has been hiding anything from her. 
Joshua wonders why the sudden question. Estelle, noticeably uncomfortable, 
says how since Joshua came to their house, they've always been together, and 
although they fight many times, also share many wonderful memories, and how 
she's always thought of Joshua as family. Therefore if there's anything 
going on, Joshua has to tell Estelle instead of hiding things from her, and 
mutters problems of youth and girls and stuff like that. Joshua goes 
"huh???" and she quickly changes the subject, saying it's time to patrol, 
and runs outside. Joshua wonders what she and Tio were talking about, but 
then, for just a second, shows a very sad expression, and repeats the phrase 
"hiding things from her...huh..."

Outside, Estelle marvels at how dark it already was, and asks Joshua the 
best way to patrol. Best to take a look around the house, the gardens, the 
livestock pens and the greenhouses so the whole farm is covered. Take a look 
at these places, and once you come out of the greenhouse you'll see the 
monster come. It notices you then runs away towards the gardens. Catch the 
monster by approaching from behind to trigger a battle against 3x mice 
monsters. The big one casts magic. Defeat the monsters and you bring their 
beaten asses in front of Tio's family, who marvel at their skills. There is 
a choice on what to do with them now. Choose the first one and Estelle feels 
they've probably learnt their lesson, to which Joshua reprimands her on 
using her feelings to alter her judgement. Choose number two and Estelle 
feels they have to kill the monsters. No matter what choice you make, Tio 
and the family asks you not to kill the monsters as they've only been eating 
the garden veggies, since they've already been punished enough by the fight. 
After all, they all lived on the same land, so might as well be friendly 
neighbours, which means each side (farmers and monsters) compromises a 
little bit. With even the clients saying so, Joshua agrees that he has no 
further reason to push for capital punishment. Estelle tells the monsters 
that that's the decision, swings her stick and tells them to scram, and the 
monsters run off on cue. With the job done, Franz tells everyone to rest, 
and of course invites our two heroes to rest there for the night as well. 

In their room, Estelle complains of how tired she is. Joshua was a bit 
silent and when asked, apologises to Estelle for making the atmosphere bad 
just then. Estelle wonders why Joshua is so mindful, and reminds him that in 
normal circumstances his decision is the correct one. Joshua (emo mode), 
says it's not about being correct, but being cruel and cold, for even now he 
feels the correct course of action was to mercilessly kill the monsters, 
without any thought of letting them off such as Tio's and Estelle's, as well 
as how, at times like this, he begins to hate himself for being this way, 
and wonders if it's because he was failure as a person, or perhaps somewhere 
his heart was broken. Estelle gets pissed at this point and yells "Joshua 
you IDIOT ><" and reprimands him for making such a conclusion of himself. 
Joshua was taken aback by her response and she pushes more, saying how in 
the five years, she's been looking at everything Joshua does, and knows him 
(good and bad) better than anyone else, possibly even himself. She then 
tells him not to ignore her presence and say a load of crap like "I'm 
broken", or she'll never forgive him. Joshua apologizes for bringing up a 
stupid conversation, and she agrees. Estelle then tells Joshua that she was, 
just a little bit, happy today, because it was the first time Joshua really 
confided with her about his troubles instead of keeping it inside by himself. 
That in itself, must mean that he trusts her a little more, which was why 
she's happy. Well, it was getting late, so she goes to sleep, telling Joshua 
to do the same. 

In the morning, the entire family sees Joshua and Estelle off. They (the 
family) were a bit sorry they couldn't really finish the mission in the end, 
but Joshua says it's alright as they've learnt plenty from this experience 
already, and if there's any need again, just call the bracers' guild. After 
leaving, Joshua reminds you to return to the guild to report this mission. 

Talk to Anna and you report what happened during the mission. Although the 
fact that the monsters were let free afterwards, the guild doesn't mind. For 
one thing, the Bracers' mission is to protect civilians and uphold justice, 
however the method of protection are numerous, and justice differs with your 
own perspective, so each Bracer must maintain a balance instead of work 
absolutely, abiding by extreme views. This is because not only do bracers 
deal with monsters, sometimes they even have to stop wars and aid complex 
negotiations, which is why high level bracers not only possess outstanding 
combat capabilities, they need the ability to think about the larger picture 
and to problem solve on their feet. Seems the road to becoming a bracer is 
still a long way off. The next mission is to do with transporting an item, 
and the client is the mayor of Rolent. Your guys are surprised at taking 
such an important mission, but Anna assures them it's an easy job and refers 
them to the mayor for instructions. 

Go to the mayor's house and Estelle wonders if the mayor is home. Joshua 
mentions how someone like him might be very busy, but the Mayor hears them 
and comes down the stairs. The mayor already knew them to be taking this 
mission for Cassius, and asks them to come to the study. The job is simple, 
go to the Septian mines in the north and bring back the septian crystal the 
miners have excavated. Septianis the larger versions of the septim shards. 
Recently there was a bit septian crystal found there, and the mayor would 
like them to bring it back. Mayor also gives them a letter of introduction 
to show the miners. 

At the entrance, miner Lang stops you since only authorised personnel can 
enter. Estelle shows them the letter of introduction from the mayor and Lang 
lets them in, telling them to find Big Bro, which is what they call the boss 
here. He likes to dig holes even more than eating and sleeping and is sure 
to be found at the lower levels. Find the big bro in the deepest areas of 
the quarry. 

You explain your mission and intent to Big Bro and he takes out the septian 
crystal from inside a pocket, and indeed it was huge and beautiful, glowing 
a light green colour from within its depth. For such a large crystal, its 
value was very high, comparable with other precious stones such as emeralds. 
The crystal switches hands and Estelle marvels a little more at the crystal, 
even going so far as to do a little dance until Joshua tells her to keep it 
safe lest they dirty it. They promise to the big bro that they'll deliver it 
safely to the mayor, however big bro seems slightly distracted. Apparently 
the airflow of the quarry mines suddenly changed. This is followed by a 
violent shaking, and Joshua seems to notice something. It was not an 
earthquake as Estelle thought, but a collapse of a section of the mines. Big 
bro wants to go check out the collapsed area immediately, but Joshua yells 
for Estelle to ready her weapons as monsters swarm in. 

The monsters surprise Big Bro, who admits it's the first time he saw 
monsters at this depth. However he also notes that monsters are very 
sensitive to septians, so it is no wonder if there are monsters in the 
vicinity, although usually monsters got stopped at the entrance. Joshua 
conjectures that perhaps the collapsed section connected the mines to a 
monster nest, and big bro concedes that they could not rule out that 
possibility. That means they must warn the other miners, and of course our 
heroes goes with Big bro (since he is an NPC and therefore WEAK). There are 
four miners on this level, find and save all of their asses. Actually, there 
are FIVE miners here including one who was a trainee who just transferred 
yesterday. Once all the miners are saved, take the lift back up to the 
ground level. Big bro asks if there were anyone missing but seems everyone 
who was down there were accounted for. The trainee ran out of the mines 
awhile back though, seems she was really frightened of monsters though no 
one blames him. As there were still monsters below, the bottom level was 
declared off limits. 

Outside, the trainee miner stops and comments on what a surprise that 
monsters and even bracers turned up, and that he has to go back and report, 
and runs off again. 

Back inside the mines, Big Bro thanks Estelle and Joshua for their hard work, 
and tells them that they'll handle the rest themselves, such as using 
explosives to collapse the section that's connected with the monster nest, 
and that if they have any problems they'll contact the guild once more. In 
the meantime, Estelle will be transporting the septian crystal back to the 
mayor. Joshua reminds Estelle to make sure she hasn't lost it, and she 
replies "Joshua, how unreliable do you think I am? It's right 
here. . . . . . . . " Both Joshua and Big Bro goes =_=|| but she was just 
kidding you, although Big Bro almost got a heart attack at thinking it lost 
on the bottom level. 

Go back to the mayor's house and enter his study, and you'll see him talking 
with a girl in school uniform who exclaims at the history associated with 
the Rolent clock tower, of the story it tells of strength, silent and 
unbowing even amidst the pain and hardship of war, and the ability everyone 
has to seek peace and to rebuild, turning their pain of loss into power. The 
mayor then notices that you are back and welcomes you in. Estelle reports 
that they've brought the item back, but wonders if she and Joshua was 
intruding. Laughing it off, the mayor introduces the girl as Jossette, a 
student from the Jenis Academy (a posh school for posh kids...just look at 
that school uniform). Introductions were made and the mayor mentions that 
the two were actually bracers on a mission for him. This surprises Jossette, 
to see the "legendary knights of freedom who seeks after peace and honour 
who never bows toward any one party/authority." Estelle actually gets 
embarrassed at how moved Jossette was, and wonders if she can call her Jo-
chan, and if she knew the mayor from before. Apparently, Jossette is seeing 
the mayor for the first time as she came to Rolent as part of a free studies 
assignment in which she chose to investigate the cultural relics in the 
different areas of the kingdom. Estelle hopes she didn't interrupt her 
studies, although Jossette assures her that she's already investigated what 
she needed, and wonders if she (Jossette) was intruding. Mayor says not at 
all, and asks Estelle to show Jossette the "item", since it was a once in a 
lifetime chance. Estelle brings out the septian crystal and awes Jossette, 
and the mayor notes how the size is perfect, a suitable present to display 
the gratitude of the citizen of Rolent. Upon hearing that, Joshua then 
realises that this was going to be Rolent's present for the Queen on her 
upcoming birthday. Mayor compliments Joshua's quick thinking, and confirms 
that indeed, he wishes to make this into an orbmental work of art to give to 
her majesty as a sign of Rolent's people's gratitude on her sixtieth 
birthday, since the citizens of Rolent, and all of Liberl, owes the queen a 
great deal, such as how easy air transportation is these days. Even the 
bracers guild gains a lot from the protocols and strategies the Queen puts 
into place, and on the whole people are happy. Estelle gets pretty excited 
that they were carrying the Queen's birthday gift, and then formally returns 
it to the mayor, who places it in the safe in the room. Afterwards, all 
that's left is for the mayor to ask the orbment factory to work on the 
crystal and anticipates that the finished work will be a fine work of art. 
Estelle asks if they can get a look at it once it is completed, and Jossette 
laments that she won't be getting such a chance as she needs to return to 
Jenis Academy soon. However she was still thankful that today, not longer 
did she learn so much, she even got to see such a beautiful item. After 
thanking the mayor, she decides to leave and Estelle/Joshua offers to leave 
with her, bidding goodbye to the mayor. 

Outside the mayor's house, the three talk a bit more, and we find out that 
Jossette's airship leaves tomorrow as the school term was beginning. Estelle 
was a little sad as they just became friends, and wonders if there'll be 
chances to meet in the future. Jossette also expresses a wish to see them 
again, and bids them farewell. After Jossette leave, Estelle wonders aloud 
what a good girl she seemed, how although she seems to be from a rich family, 
there was no sign of arrogance or haughtiness at all. Joshua is strangely 
silent, looking after Jossette's receding back, and Estelle wonders...if 
Jossette was the type Joshua preferred. Joshua then gets a bit flustered, 
which only adds to Estelle's fuel, leading to further teasing about how his 
face was red. So Joshua liked the "ojou-san" type, and tells him to prepare 
a heart-throbbing confession for their next meeting. Joshua tells her to 
stop dreaming AND acting out her own play in her head, and mutters how she 
totally doesn't understand how others (referring to himself) feels. He then 
tells Estelle to head back to the guild to report, as there was only one 
more mission left. 

Go back to the guild and talk to Anna who already heard about the big 
commotion down at the quarry. She commends them on a job well done, and 
reminds them that bracers must be ready t all times to deal with unexpected 
crisis. Estelle replies leave it to her, and Joshua notes that she'll most 
likely do it even if no one asks her to, since she was too good hearted, too 
much curiosity and she had a totally straightforward personality. Estelle 
complains that Joshua was being mean, but Joshua smiles and replies she's 
being too sensitive. Anna stops them with information on the last mission, 
which is to support the journalists from the Liberl Express in looking for 
new material, which basically requires the two to escort the journalists to 
dangerous places that they need to go. For details they'll need to meet the 
client in person, who are currently staying over at the hotel. Anna then 
gives them a letter of introduction for the reporters and they leave. 

Go to the hotel and talk to the attendant to find that the two reporters 
have gone out for the day. Seems the journalist is out at the restaurant, so 
you should go there to check it out. Find the reporter (unshaven looking man) 
at the counter and initiate a conversation. When introducing themselves as 
the bracers as his escort, unshaven man excitedly looks around wondering 
where Cassius Bright is, until he then hears about the kids taking over his 
jobs for the time being. There goes the plan to interview the legendary 
bracer >.< but Estelle promises to get the job done well. Unshaven man just 
then realises that these two KIDS were his bracer escorts, confirmed by the 
letter of introduction Estelle hands him. Estelle gets pissed at his 
attitude and asks him how he can say things like "wet behind the ear brats" 
to a growing and healthy girl, to which unshaven man responds "what girl? 
Such a boring outlook...you should at least wear a dress." Estelle defends her 
outfit saying that she WAS wearing a dress (she actually is...) and it was an 
outfit made to allow her freedom of movement during staffwork, muttering 
about what a rude ossan this was. Unshaven man gets on the defensive, hotly 
saying that he's only 20 and not to be called "ossan". At this point Joshua 
breaks up the argument, confirming that they indeed are his bracer escorts, 
and diplomatically asking him to bear with this shortage of human resources 
that the guild is trying every possible revenue to keep up with. Unshaven 
man agrees that the draft deadline was soon and he couldn't push it any 
further, grudgingly saying a "nice to meet you/I'll be in your care" to our 
heroes. Introductions are finally made, with the unshaven man's name being 
Nial Barns, the self-proclaimed best journalist in the Liberl Express. Onto 
the details of the job at hand, Nial wants you two to take him and his 
photographer to the Tower of Emerald, or to be exact the top of the tower, 
as they needed to take some photos from that vantage point. The photographer 
in question has just gone to the Orbment factory as her orbmental camera was 
playing up. Since she was taking so long, you may as well go there to pick 
her up. 

As soon as you enter the factory, you see a pink-haired glasses girl begging 
the attendants to return her camera, as it's more important to her than her 
life. The young attendant asks his dad what he should do, but get's a "you 
took the job, you finish it" for his troubles. Nial walks up and asks the 
girl (named Dorothy) how long she was planning on taking. She quickly 
transfers her target of begging to Nial, asking him to save her. Somehow 
Nial seems used to this sort of situation already, and asks if she spent too 
much money and didn't have enough for the camera repairs. Dorothy was 
surprised at how Nial knew, wondering if he had esper abilities, to which he 
retorts it's because the same thing always happens, even an idiot would see 
the pattern now. The attendant asks if he can pay the balance of the charges, 
which comes to 2000 Mira. Nial wonders why he mentioned the camera AND some 
sort of clock repair. Dorothy cheerfully explains (since now that Nial is 
paying she has not a care left) that as the camera was being repaired, she 
was touring the shop, saw this beautiful watch, picked it up and broke it. 
Although it was alright now that Nial was here so they can put it on the 
budget. Nial snaps how the heck they can put the watch's repair cost onto 
the budget, and sighs that he'll have to pull it from his own purses for the 
time being. Meanwhile, Estelle and Joshua quietly discuss what an 
interesting pair this was, how although the male seems very rough and gruff, 
he's good at taking care of people. Nial and Dorothy finished paying and 
comes back, introductions takes place with Dorothy Hyatt very surprised at 
their age and their reliable look. She has only recently joined the Liberl 
Express and is currently working under the supervision of Nial (whom she 
calls senpai). Nial sighs at the gods, wondering what he did to deserve 
taking care of this airhead. Anyway, now that the members are fully gathered, 
it's time to get going. 

Once you reach the Tower of Emerald, Dorothy wonders at the tower and 
wonders how many levels there were. Joshua informs the party that books at 
home indicate that the Towers consist of five levels. A long time ago there 
were research done in regards to the Towers, but as there were no 
breakthroughs, it was soon left alone. Aside from the Tower of Emerald here, 
there were other similar towers scattered across the kingdom areas of Bose, 
Ruan and Zeiss. Nial remarks how they were meant to be made at the creation 
of the kingdom, so there's a lot of historical value here, the reason for 
them to be here today. Nial then asks Dorothy to take a few pictures from 
the low angle. Everyone else steps back, and Dorothy goes "I'm going to take 
it now." Suddenly, her entire persona changes, holding the camera up, she 
seems to turn from mere airhead to someone with a palpable air of 
concentration and pressure. As Joshua and Estelle marvel, the silence grows 
longer and longer...only punctuated by Dorothy's eventual snores. Nial smacks 
her and tells her stop trying to act cool and take it "as she always does". 
And she starts, this time saying things like "oh this pose is good, my so 
sexy, waaaa KAWAII, I'm going to take it, say cheese etc." At the sidelines, 
Joshua and Estelle marvel (with a =_=') at her preferred style of taking 
pictures. Nial explains that she can see the "Expressions" of landscapes, 
and uses this exact idiot like way to take many breathtaking pictures. As 
they say, there are many kinds of geniuses. Dorothy finishes taking pictures 
at this point, and Nial asks our heroes to escort them to the top of the 
tower. Estelle tells them they won't let monsters touch them, and Joshua 
reminds them once inside not to leave their side. 

Once at the top of the tower, both Dorothy and Nial exclaims at the beauty 
of the view, and Nial also mentions that they've found what they were 
looking for, as his gaze drifted towards a weird device. Estelle asks what 
it was, and Dorothy says it's probably an orbment, although it looks like a 
BIG frying pan. Nial mentions that according to available data, they were 
orbmental relics from the old age, and people still do not know exactly what 
they were used for. Estelle asks Joshua about it but he seemed preoccupied. 
Showing a very cold, tense and serious look, he tells someone that "it's no 
use hiding, for your safety it's better if you come out." A timid voice 
comes from behind the pillar, telling them "I'll come out, I'll come out 
right away" and out pops someone in scholarly uniform. Everyone seems 
surprised at this new person getting here ahead of them while the glasses 
man grovels and tells them he'll give them all his money, please spare only 
his life. Somehow this person must've mistaken your party for bandits, and 
Estelle clears up the misunderstanding by showing him the badge. 
Introductions follow, and the glasses man introduces himself as Professor 
Alba. He then asks them not to scare him like that, since coming all the way 
to the top of the tower seems very suspicious, which of course Joshua 
replies with "doesn't that make you very suspicious as well?" 

Professor Alba is an archaeologist/scholar, and researches the historical 
items of significance such as this tower. Dorothy marvels how he managed to 
stay safe, and Alba responds that playing around in ruins does test his 
abilities, and he's confidant in his running skills. Estelle marvels at what 
a hardworking scholar Alba was. Nial tries to ask Alba more about the tower, 
however Alba replies that as he has not started researching this tower for 
very long yet, while his knowledge is more than the common folk, it is 
nowhere near comprehensive. Nial presses for something, anything, to write a 
report about, and Alba asks them if they were aware of the work "Septuant". 
Joshua answers that it was seven treasures of ultimate power that the 
goddess granted the people of ancient times. Alba further tells the crew 
that using those powers, the people were able to rule the land, seas and 
skies, and was even rumoured to unravel the secrets of life and time itself. 
However approximately 1200 years ago, a great and mysterious catastrophe 
befell the ancient civilization and the "Septuant" was lost. Nial pipes in 
that the Septim Church bible also seemed to record similar stories, and asks 
what that has to do with this tower. Alba answers that according to legend, 
one of the Septuant may be sleeping here in Liberl, and it's name was the 
"Aureole". If the legends are true, he figures the Towers of ancient 
civilizations must hold some sort of clue, which is why he came to 
investigate. Joshua asks if any clues have been found yet, and Alba replies 
negative. Alba thinks he may find something if he can unravel the problem 
with that mechanism. Nial comments that while it sounds very interesting, it 
was still at the level of speculation and therefore a professional, could 
not write a report using such unreliable sources. Estelle is surprised at 
how seriously Nial treats his work, and Nial says it's his maxim, how it's 
better to knowingly choose small news instead of unknowingly writing false 
news, that is the principle of the Liberl Express. Nial then asks Dorothy to 
take some pictures both of the tower and the surrounding region, and she 
rushes off. Nial then extends a welcome for Alba to come with them back to 
the city as it was dangerous to stay up here or make the trip alone, which 
Alba graciously accepts. They decide to take a little break while Dorothy 
takes her pictures. 

As everyone did their own stuff, Estelle marvels once again at the scenery 
and wonders if it can become a tourist attraction, being able to see the 
entire Rolent area. Joshua is preoccupied and murmurs some sort of "yeah". 
Estelle asks him what's the problem and if he's feeling unwell, and Joshua 
admits ever since coming onto the tower top he's been feeling a little bit 
off, though he assures Estelle he should get better in a while. He then 
tells Estelle to look around, as expanding one's horizons is also one of 
bracers' duties, and reminds her to tell him anything interesting she finds 
out. Estelle grudgingly agrees, but reminds him to call her if his feelings 
worsen. 

Alba is also a little worried about Estelle's companion, and congratulates 
them on becoming a bracer so young, just at the passable age of 16. "It's so 
nice to be young, youth surely encompasses the infinite possibilities," and 
how if he was 10 years younger, he would surely go around solving the 
mysterious of the entire continent's ancient relics. Estelle wonders if Alba 
was from Liberl, and Alba replies that no, he is born in the north, although 
not from Liberl's direct neighbour Erebonia. Estelle tells him not to worry, 
for although she does hate war, that does not mean she hates the people of 
the Erebonian Empire, showing an uncharacteristic sad look. Alba wonders if 
someone important to her was lost in the war, and Estelle replies her mother. 
Alba apologizes for asking talking about something he shouldn't have, but 
Estelle says it's alright as it was already story from 10 years ago. After 
that, her dad and she have found new family, her current companion, who's 
like a younger brother although Joshua probably thinks him as the older 
brother. She then gets embarrassed telling a stranger about her family but 
Alba says it's alright, or even nice to see them so close. 

Talk to Alba again and Estelle asks if he's figured out the mechanism. Alba 
declines, as it's impossible to analyse without comparing it with the other 
towers of the kingdom, Amber in Bose, Jade in Ruan and Carnelia in Zeiss. 
Each one of those as well as this tower of emerald was made in the same age. 
Estelle commends him on researching, but tells him not to overdo it, and how 
it's better to use some money to hire bracer escorts. "But I'm but a poor 
scholar." 

Nial is smoking, and upon seeing Estelle, tells her that when he just picked 
up the assignment to go to a backwater place like Rolent he wasn't very 
motivated, however it seems a trip here once in awhile is good as well. 
Estelle gets a little defensive and tells him if he doesn't want to come 
then don't come, while Nial continues to complain about his superior's 
orders and needing to drag around the airhead partner of his. If he wasn't 
stuck here doing this, he'd be looking for super exclusive news and running 
throughout the entire kingdom. Estelle asks about the exclusive news, and 
Nial tells her that some are indeed small news no one else reports about, 
however the majority are legit major news, and that right now, the most 
interesting place seems Bose. Recently there has been a series of major 
robbery incidents, and the criminals have still not been identified, though 
they probably have some sort of custom transport (i.e. airship), which makes 
them a high likelihood of being air pirates. Nial agrees however mentions 
that it could also be a coverup for some plan of Erebonia's, which surprises 
Estelle as they've just signed the Peace Treaty. Nial explains that while 
indeed, the Empire lost in their war 10 years ago, and that currently under 
the watchful eye of every other nation on the continent right now they can't 
move freely, they can still cause trouble in the dark. The truth is still 
hidden in darkness right now, and to find the truth and connect the lines is 
the work of pen fighters like him (Nial). 

Talk to Nial again and he mentions that aside from what he just told you, 
the Liberl army seems to show a lot of movements recently as well, and it's 
a pity he can't split his body because he seriously needs it. Of the new 
commissioned officers in the army, someone of exceptional talent has 
appeared, who's said to bring the fresh blood of vitality back to an old and 
weakening army, and wishes to interview this talented officer. 

Dorothy exclaims that this place is the best and keeps taking photos, though 
she's worried if she has enough light-sensitive quartz (read: film/memory 
card). Estelle asks about it and gets an explanation of how film works in 
this world, using the super thin light-sensitive quartz sheets. Dorothy then 
asks about Joshua, and remarked "the lone dark haired youth standing tall in 
the swaying winds...<3" and wants to take a picture of that, although Estelle 
tells her not to as Joshua seems to dislike such things. 

Talk to Dorothy again and Dorothy wonders if Estelle will have a picture 
taken instead, as she's so cute with a vibrant sense of vitality, she might 
even make a cover model. Estelle gets embarrassed and declines, as it 
doesn't fit her image. 

Return to Joshua and ask how he's feeling, and he says it's much better and 
he should be able to move as normal now. Estelle wonders what could've 
caused it as it can't be lack of oxygen otherwise they'd be affected too, 
and perhaps it was spontaneous fear of heights. Dorothy and the others then 
comes to them, telling them that they've finished their jobs here, and asks 
you to escort them back. 

Back in the city, Alba is very glad to make it back without having to run 
away from monsters this time, and thanks the two bracers. Estelle reminds 
him to hire a bracer next time, and Alba says he'll have a chat with his 
purse about it, and excuses himself, departing with a wish to meet again in 
the future. Nial and Dorothy decide to excuse themselves as well, with Nial 
commending them for their performance despite the initial outlook. Before 
Estelle can get cocky though, Nial informs them that compared to some 
bracers he knows, the pair still have a long way to go, and must keep 
working hard. When asked what their plans were, Nial says he'll need to 
start the draft for the news, and Dorothy will be at the orbment factory 
developing the film, I mean light sensitive quartz. With that, the two 
leaves as well. Estelle notes that all the missions for father is over as 
well, and was pretty successful all considered. Indeed, Joshua agrees that 
bracer jobs are not only limited to fighting. The road ahead was still long, 
but first, time to go back to the guild and report. Estelle asks again if 
Joshua is still feeling unwell, though he replies that he doesn't feel it at 
all anymore. 

Return to the guild and you'll find Schera at the front desk as well, which 
is unusual since she's always busy outside. Schera has finished all of her 
missions given by Cassius and was here to report, same as you. Schera tells 
them she's been hearing about their performances and how tough they've had 
on some missions, and that to learn something, they have to put the hard 
work in. Estelle blushes a bit and tells Schera-nee not to keep bringing up 
how they were still immature and reports. 

After reporting, Anna asks if Schera thinks they've matured a bit. Schera 
concedes that as newbies they did well, but should not be satisfied at this 
mere level, especially Estelle who has a habit of getting her head up in the 
clouds after doing something right. Anna compliments the three bracers for 
finishing Cassius's jobs so quickly, and that now they can relax for the 
time being. Might be a bit boring, but there'll still be random sidequests 
and monsters to kill, so it's nice to be able to take it easy for a while. 
Schera then says she'll have to drink and party to celebrate tonight and 
wants Estelle and Joshua to accompany her. The two goes =_=' at the thought 
of being with a drunk Schera-nee, as Estelle flat out refuses, saying that 
Schera-nee gets totally wild when drunk, making a ruckus, tabletop dancing, 
strip teases etc. Anna sighs and wonders just what Schera has been doing to 
these young (and underage XD) people. Schera defends herself about how it's 
just drinking games, and says that if Estelle is so unwilling, she can let 
Estelle off...but in exchange she'll put it onto Joshua <3, the handsome boy 
who's always so serious and don't think about "those" sort of things, even 
going as far as saying "no matter if it's drinking, or a myriad of other 
things, onee-san will teach you a lot of different things <3." Joshua 
wonders what the "a lot of things" mean, and Estelle snaps at him for 
getting seduced (like any real boy would having sexy Schera coming onto you). 
At this time, a cry "OH NO" accompanies a panting mayor as he runs into the 
guild. Everyone's surprised at his appearance (although Joshua also sighs in 
relief that "reinforcements have arrived"), and asks him what is wrong to 
have him running here all flustered. Mayor is panting heavily and couldn't 
tell the story properly though the team gets him to calm down. Mayor then 
tells the team that while he was out talking with the head of the Septian 
church here at Rolent, burglars came and raided the house. Estelle wonders 
what about the maids and servants, but they were OK, only locked up into the 
attic. It's useless staying here, so Schera asks the mayor to take her to 
the scene of crime. Estelle and Joshua volunteers to join in the 
investigation. 

In the study of the mayor, you can see the whole place being a mess. What's 
more, the safe was open, and the Septian crystal gone. Mayor laments how, 
after all their hardwork getting it here, he let it be stolen. It wasn't the 
mayor's fault in anycase, and Joshua asks about the other rooms, which 
surprisingly seems to have been spared any rummaging. The only room with 
anomalies were the attic where everyone was shoved. Schera thinks a bit, 
then asks Estelle and Joshua to investigate the scene of crime while she 
interviews the mayor. She and the mayor leaves after that, land Estelle 
starts to get nervous getting crime scene investigation so early. Joshua 
tells her to start with this room, and also to get some info from the 
servants who were around at the time. 

Investigate the safe and it seems to have been opened using normal methods 
of password inputting. Estelle is surprised, but Joshua assures her that 
while difficult and relies on some technical knowledge, it was not 
impossible, however he suspects the burglar used an even easier method. The 
method would entail spreading a powder that has highly adhesive and 
invisible to the naked eye, but shows up under blue light, on the buttons, 
and then get the mayor to input the code. That way, it can show what buttons 
the mayor pressed. As more powder gets on the mayor's finger, less are stuck, 
so the general sequence of buttons can be found. After checking the buttons, 
it seems that it was exactly the method the culprit used. 

Check the other places inside the room. There were some very valuable 
collector's books that were left, the lock on a chest was melted off, books 
were all over the desk, and the cabinet has books relating to government 
administration and protocols of Rolent which seems to be untouched. Out on 
the balcony there is a mark made by something metallic such as a grappler. 
Ask the servants and it seems that the culprit was a group of 3-4 people 
wearing black, and at least one was female, and at the time of robbery the 
front doors were locked. The front doors are also working perfectly. There 
is also a strange leaf in the attic that wasn't from trees around here and 
could be from the culprit. Check all of these things and return to Schera. 
She asks how the investigation was going, pick the second choice "We've 
found many things already."

Schera then asks what the objective of the culprits are, pick 2, the septian 
crystal. The size of the culprit group, pick 2, 3-4 people. How did the 
culprits enter, pick 3, climbed through the balcony. Who's the primary 
suspects, pick 4, people who've recently visited. If you picked the above 
Schera commends you on doing a good investigation, if you didn't she'll say 
you may need some more thinking. THE ANSWERS AFFECT YOUR BP AT THE END OF 
THE MISSION. 

After questioning you, Schera asks who has entered his study in the last few 
days. The reporters from Liberl Express came, however they had an alibi, 
being with Joshua and Estelle in the Tower of Emerald at the time, so are 
taken off the list of suspects. Other than that, there was really 
only...Jossette, but he laughs it off as being impossible as does Estelle. 
Schera reprimands her, saying that not all criminals can be seen from the 
first glance, and making duplicate uniforms are not that difficult. Estelle 
still defends Jossette. Saying how she seemed so nice and polite and like a 
upper-class lady, and asks Joshua for support. Unfortunately Joshua thinks 
along with Schera-nee, for noticed when the mayor was putting the crystal 
into the safe, Jossette's eyes were fixated as an eagle staring at its 
target. There was no evidence at the time so he couldn't bring it up, 
however it's clear she's not just some student. Seems now you'll have to 
find Jossette and bring her in for questioning. She should be in the hotels 
right now although she mentioned she leaves Rolent today, so off you go, but 
this time with Schera. 

Talk to the owner at the hotel and it seems Jossette already left in the 
morning. Joshua tells Estelle to head for the airport. Go to the airport and 
Joshua asks the attendant if there was a girl in Jenis Academy school 
uniform who went past. The attendant obviously has a school uniform crush as 
he describes how pristine and cute their uniforms were, but no, he would 
have noticed if someone like that walked past him, and have not seen any 
Jenis Academy uniforms (and by right students) in a month. That means 
Jossette didn't come here via airship, but from one of the land routes which 
suddenly widens the search radius. At this point Estelle remembers that 
strange leaf and shows Schera. Schera recognizes this leaf as being from the 
Mysterious Forest to the south. Looks like that's the next destination, GO 
TELEPORT. 

As you leave the airport, you see Nial and Dorothy running, with Dorothy 
telling senpai to go slower and Nial replying if they don't hurry they won't 
make it. Nial is noticeably struggling and wonders if he'll have to smoke 
less. The team asks what the problem was, and Nial informs them that they 
have to go to Bose right away. The airship wasn't here yet, which was why 
they were planning on taking the land route. Estelle wonders if it's the 
exclusive news and he says yes, it was super special, but there's no time to 
spare, they MUST get to Bose by today, and runs off. Dorothy wonders if 
senpai will really be ok, and excuses herself as well. 

Enter the mysterious forest and Schera confirms that this is indeed the 
place, as there are fresh tracks for several people here. Seems tracking 
down escaping criminal is one of the bracers' jobs as well. Anyhow, time to 
check out the forest. 

Deep inside the forest, and suddenly the party stops. Ahead is a small 
clearing, a small base, and voila, Jossette with the septian crystal. 
Jossette was telling her underlings about how easy it was, using only such a 
simple trick and succeeding in obtaining the prize. Now she can finally show 
off in front of her brothers. The underlings praise her acting skills, but 
she says it's the others who were dumb, especially the goody old mayor and 
the dumbass female bracer, and thus easy to fool. Estelle gets 
understandably pissed at this, but Joshua tells her to calm down and keep 
listening. One of the underlings say how the brats (Estelle and Joshua) were 
pretty strong, fixing up the monsters in the mines good. Jossette reprimands 
him on failing the quarry mine mission which is why she had to act this way, 
but all was good in the end. Although, to be able to become a bracer with 
only this level, it's so funny she's almost in pain from laughing, 
hahahahahaha. Especially the dumbass woman, no caution or guard at all, and 
even said something along the lines of "even though we'd just become 
friends", ahahahahahahaha. Underlings echoes with a manly wahahahahahaha. 

Estelle yells out if it really was THAT laughable, surprising them as the 
three runs out. Estelle is beyond pissed, seeing how her patience only lead 
to more dumbass, stupid, no brains woman and other name calling, and tells 
them to "prepare to die". Schera notes that they were indeed very good with 
the trick to steal the crystal, however they messed up at the last moment. 
Joshua (serious as ever) says that they will represent the guild and detain 
them for suspects on breaking and entering, damage of property and robbery, 
and asks them to put down their weapons and not do any unwise resistance. 
Underlings ask Jossette what to do, and they rallies them to battle seeing 
as their opponent was only woman and children, and let them know the power 
of the "Capua family", and changes into her battle gear (magical girl rule: 
spin = change clothes). 

After handing them their asses on a platter, Estelle tells a disbelieving 
Jossette that for Bracers that was a small job, and tells her to return what 
she stole, grabbing the crystal off her. Schera comes forward smiling, 
asking that now that the crystal has been returned, isn't this about time 
they started answering questions, such as who the "Capua family" was. 
Jossette goes =_=' and tries to weasel out by saying she doesn't know what 
Schera's talking about, and Schera says she loves kids who are stubborn, and 
smiling, starts toying with her whip, saying how if she can't get the answer 
from her mind, she'll just have to start with Jossette's body (ZOMG I just 
realised, S for Schera), and tells Jossette "Don't worry, onee-sama will be 
VERY GENTLE". <3" Jossette is understandably pissing her pants at this time, 
and yells for Schera not to come any closer. Estelle thinks that Schera was 
definitely savouring the moment, and Joshua notes that it's their own fault 
for summoning the goddess of calamity, but then suddenly realises something 
and yells to Schera about danger. Schera jumps back and then, a line of 
orbmental canon shots raze the spot she was just at. Up above, an airship 
slowly touches down and Jossette laughs how the situation has turned. She 
and her cronies runs to the ship, and her brother Keer pops out asking if 
she's alright. Jossette tells her brother he was too slow, and help her 
teach the bracers a lesson, but Keer tells Jossette they need to pull out of 
Rolent straight away as some things happened in Bose during her absence. 
They run into the ship and Estelle yells for them to stop. In typical 
villain stereotype, Jossette yells back to remember this, and "don't think 
you've won!! One day we'll settle this." Following that, the airship fly off, 
leaving our heroes behind. 

Schera is reprimanding herself for letting her guard down which resulted in 
their escape. Joshua tells them it's alright as they've managed to recover 
the crystal. Seems like Jossette's group belonged to the air pirates that 
were operating in Bose right now. Estelle says that it doesn't matter if 
they are air pirates or land pirates, she'll take them down good, and the 
next time she meets that arrogant tomboy she'll beat her into a pulp. 

You automatically return to the guild where even Anna couldn't believe that 
the air pirates of Bose came to Rolent as well, and that they couldn't have 
done anything to change the outcome. Schera maintains that it's her miss 
this time, and that she's still a long way from sensei's level. Estelle and 
Joshua reflect on their mistakes too, though Schera tells them it was a very 
good job already, with the crime scene investigation and everything, and 
asks Anna if they pass for the reference. The reference was a letter 
commending exemplary work each different bracer guild branches can give out. 
To go from a probationary bracer to a real bracer, they'll need references 
from all 5 guild branches in Liberl. It's usually given only to outstanding 
performers, but Anna reiterates that their work on the three missions and 
this latest incident definitely qualifies them. Estelle gets very happy and 
tells Joshua that now they'll have to go to the other areas of the kingdom. 
Although Joshua knew she would say that, they cannot make the decision by 
themselves, and resolves to wait until their father returns to discuss with 
him. 

Just then, the phone rings and Anna picks it up, and through the course of 
the conversation goes from "hello, is that true, that's really bad, yes it 
was a few days ago...WHAT?!?!" She the apologizes to the person on the phone, 
for she could just not believe it, and agrees to contact the familial 
relatives, and assures them not to worry as the relatives were bracers as 
well, and to inform her if any new information comes through. Anna then 
comes before the 3 bracers and tells them that was from the Bose Bracer's 
guild, and something terrible has happened. Contact with the airship Lindeln 
was lost over the Bose area, and the details are still mostly unknown 
although a large scale searching operation has been commenced by the army. 
Due to this, all airlines have been stopped until further notice, which 
explains why there were no many people at the airport just before. There is 
more, and Anna tells Estelle and Joshua to please remain calm, but the 
missing airship...seems to be the one on which Cassius was aboard. The three 
couldn't believe their ears, but the name was on the passenger list: Rolent 
Bracer guild, full bracer, Cassius Bright. 



~Prologue End~



















---------------------------
7 - Acknowledgements and thanks
---------------------------
Thanks for
- Falcom: for creating this awesome game and sequels. 

- omgfloof: For never giving up on the translation project of hers, 
providing inspiration for this guide.  

- the ed6 translation team: for their hard work, toiling behind the shadows 
to bring this wonderful game into western society in English. They're still 
not finished, but then, I'm a long way off as well. 

- Mark Neidengard (MNeidenGard): For the original idea of the "one-and-a-
half-step-removed" translation guide, and all his wonderful translation 
guides.