Light in the Darkness Spoilers  

Offer and Acceptance

Gentle Tiger: No unauthorized personnel will be permitted entrance to the Metalworks.

Gentle Tiger: Especially not after the beating my pay took last time...hm?

Adelheid: We have an assailant's unknown method of entry, and a victim slain in the dark...

Adelheid: Perhaps the Chief Engineer could construct a machine to calculate the possible vectors and points of--

Adelheid: Oh I'm awfully sorry! I've been so focused on the mystery behind Senator Werner's assassination...

Adelheid: You see, I happened to be eavesdro--er, I happened to overhear a conversation between two Mythril Musketeers...

???: Progress report.

Volker: Nothing new. I've discovered no recalcitrant witnesses, no conflicting evidence on the senator's movements...

Zeid: You spoke again with the guard who discovered the body?

Volker: The details of his report remain unchanged.

Volker: He insists that this room had been locked since this morning, and was empty when he checked inside during his patrol--the moment before the senator entered.

Five Moons: The guard you speak of is honest to a fault. We have no reason to doubt his testimony.

Zeid: Then we can assume that the crime scene was unviolated at the time the body was discovered?

Zeid: How in Altana's name did the murderous wraith slip in and out unnoticed...?

Nicolaus: There's one other thing that seems to be out of place here.

Volker: Out with it, Nicolaus.

Nicolaus: It goes back to the report from the first guard...

Nicolaus: He stated the following:

Nicolaus: "I heard the senator's cry, and ran to investigate. I was obliged to break the door open to enter the room."

Nicolaus: He went on to mention "pitch blackness" when he described the situation within.

Nicolaus: Why didn't the senator light the lantern?

Zeid: ...!

Volker: Is it possible he was attacked before he had the chance?

Nicolaus: If that were true, then the body would have been found over here, where the tools for lighting the lantern are located.

Nicolaus: However, it appears that the senator walked into the center of the room, without touching those tools at all.

Nicolaus: Why would he have gone so far into the room without a light by which to see?

Volker: That is unusual. There are no signs that the body was moved, either. We can only assume that he blundered through the darkness of his own accord.

Nicolaus: Perhaps Senator Werner was fleeing from his attacker before he was stabbed...although the guard reported only a single cry.

Nicolaus: One assumes he cried out the moment his assailant plunged home the dagger.

Zeid: A murderous wraith, and a victim slain in the dark...

Zeid: What do you make of this, Nicolaus?

Nicolaus: I honestly couldn't say. I have several theories, but I need more information to make a final judgment...

Adelheid: I used to study in the same classes as Mythril Musketeer Nicolaus.

Adelheid: Even back then, he was famous among the students as the sleuth who solved mysteries like the "Case of the Vanishing Grimoire" and the "Case of the Missing Professor."

Adelheid: And yet this case has even Nicolaus stumped...I guess that's why I've become obsessed with it.

Adelheid: Now, where was I...? Ah yes, we must consider the surface area of the floor, and the potential speed of the fleeing assassin...

Klara: ...? Who goes there!?

Klara: A child? This is no place for games, little one.

Pagdako: C-C-Captain K-K-Klara...!

Pagdako: I, um, you see...I'm not here to play...

Klara: Then why are you here?

Pagdako: I-I-I...Oh boy...

Pagdako: (I can't believe Mythril Musketeer Captain Klara is talking to me...!)

Klara: Not going to break under interrogation, are we?

Klara: Well, just see that you don't come sneaking in here again, okay?

Pagdako: Y-y-yes ma'am...

Gentle Tiger: Is something amiss, Captain?

Klara: That child was poking around in Chief Engineer Cid's laboratory--the room where Senator Werner was assassinated.

Gentle Tiger: He what!? That's not possible...

Klara: Yes, no one here is to blame. Not the sentries. Not the guards. No one is at fault...

Gentle Tiger: I've been alert the entire time. How did he get in there...?

Scene 2

Pagdako: You want to know how I snuck into the Metalworks?

Pagdako: There was a guard at the entrance, so I crawled in through the ventilation shaft.

Dunbaff: What were you thinking, Pagdako?

Biggorf: Your recklessness could have gotten you hurt.

Pagdako: But...

Pagdako: But I've heard so many Humes saying that maybe Elder Werei and Gumbah were responsible for the Senator's death!

Pagdako: I thought if I could find the real culprit, their names would be cleared.

Garlbrei: Is that what they're saying? Those Humes will take any opportunity to drag us down...!

Dunbaff: I'll admit, there are a few individuals among the Galka community that didn't shed a tear at the senator's death. But that doesn't mean we'd stoop to murder.

Volker: And I'm ashamed as a fellow Bastokan that any would accuse your elders of such.

Pagdako: Elder Werei!

Pagdako: Gumbah!

Pagdako: And Mythril Musketeer Volker!

Volker: The charge for inciting civil unrest has been dropped. There's no need for you to continue your...investigations.

Pagdako: That's great news!

Werei: Did you keep up your sword practice while I was gone?

Pagdako: Things are back to normal, I guess...

Garlbrei: President's dog! You think you can just waltz in here after accusing our elders of such foul deeds...!?

Gumbah: Calm yourself. This man is not one of the troops who arrested us. And he was gracious enough to escort us this far, knowing full well the reception he would receive.

Volker: Though it hardly begins to address this injustice, I apologize for the affront against your elders.

Garlbrei: Hmph. I defer to Gumbah's wishes. This time.

Werei: Let us be on our way.

Werei: Don't fall behind in your training, Pagdako.

Werei: (This Volker is a man to be watched. He may one day be a leader that both Hume and Galka can follow...so unlike his uncle Ulrich.)

Volker: Hm? Ah, the informant.

Volker: It appears the weapons found in Grauberg were so old as to be completely unuseable.

Volker: Have you ever heard of a race called the Antica?

Volker: They are antlike beastmen that nest in the Kuzotz region--the former homeland of the Galka.

Volker: Those weapons belonged to Galka slain by the Antica, many moons past. Werei and Gumbah kept them in that cave as a tribute to the fallen.

Volker: Losing a companion to war is always painful, no matter how many times you experience it. After losing an entire homeland, not to mention countless friends, I can only imagine how deep the well of Galka sadness runs...

Five Moons: Volker!

Volker: What is it? What happened?

Five Moons: The envoy escorting the San d'Orian ambassador, on his way to fill the diplomatic post here in Bastok, has fallen prey to Quadav attack!

Volker: Baronet Dieuler!?

Five Moons: I'm afraid so. According to the squire who managed to break free, the ambassador was taken into a mine shaft that has an entrance in Pashhow Marshlands.

Volker: A mine shaft? Then we must set out before they have a chance to flee too deep into the tunnels.

Five Moons: There's a Goblin here in town by the name of Blatherix who has knowledge of the mining complex. I've sent Nicolaus to speak with him.

Five Moons: The captain has ordered you and Zeid to launch a rescue mission at once.

Volker: Understood. We leave immediately!

Scene 3

Blatherix: I'm a trader. You got anythin' to trade?

Blatherix: Hm? You want information about the Quadav mine in Pashhow Marshlands?

Blatherix: You bring me 30 chunks of Goblin chocolate, and we'll talk. Or maybe I'll loosen my tongue for 5000 gil.

Blatherix: Now you're talkin'! Well, now I'm talkin', to be more accurate.

Blatherix: There's an entrance to a mine shaft in Pashhow Marshlands. You'll need a mine shaft key to open the door.

Blatherix: It just so happens I have a key you can have. It'll break when you use it, so make sure you know what you're doin'.

Scene 4

Volker: Let's split up and find this Quadav mine shaft.

Zeid: We don't know how many enemies we face. Dividing our forces may be unwise.

Volker: Have you lost your courage, Zeid!?

Zeid: You miss my meaning. The squire spoke of a well-planned ambush.

Zeid: I'm suggesting that the Quadav scum may be prepared to deal with a rescue effort.

Volker: And if they are? We are Mythril Musketeers. They could have a hundred soldiers lying in wait, for all the good it would do them.

Zeid: Your pride will lead to your destruction, Volker.

Volker: You doubt my ability!?

Zeid: We waste precious time. I will search the far side of the marsh.

Scene 5

Volker: Ambassador Dieuler!

Volker: Where did you come from...?

Volker: Explanations will have to wait. To arms!

Scene 6

Volker: There's no end to these turtlebacks! Maybe I should have listened to Zeid...

Volker: Captain!

Klara: Ambassador Dieuler! I apologize for the delay in your rescue.

Elbiont N Dieuler: If you fine soldiers had not appeared when you did, I imagine I would currently be enjoying the "hospitality" of Di'Dha's torturers.

Elbiont N Dieuler: My escort was slaughtered to a man...

Zeid: Di'Dha Adamantfist. Younger brother of Za'Dha Adamantking, and commander of the Quadav elite...

Volker: What were the minions of the Quadav monarch's brother doing in this mine shaft...?

Klara: Now is not the time for questions with no answers. We must see the ambassador safely to Bastokan lands.

Klara: Stop by the Metalworks upon your return. I would speak further to you.

Marquis Amon: So, he has escaped...A missed opportunity to infiltrate the security of the Republic...

Marquis Amon: No matter. My next plan already approaches fruition.

Marquis Amon: We have the secrets gleaned from San d'Oria's own reconnaissance...

Marquis Amon: These fools of Altana have an alliance in name only. So many ways to bring it crumbling down...

Conclusion

Gentle Tiger: I hear you assisted in the rescue of a San d'Orian ambassador! Captain Klara will see you now.

Adelheid: !!!

Adelheid: I, er, I was just examining the architecture here!

Adelheid: Yes, most fascinating. Well, I mustn't dawdle--there's work to be done!

Five Moons: A Tonberry!?

Nicolaus: And similar assassinations have plagued San d'Oria in recent months?

Klara: So Ambassador Dieuler tells me. The string of murders in the Elvaan capital has been attributed to Tonberry agents.

Klara: The ambassador was kind enough to examine the senator's body for us...

Klara: It appears the stab wounds were practically identical to the ones suffered by the San d'Orian victims.

Klara: And the Tonberries' targets were all knights that have been warned of the true danger posed by the beastmen armies since before the war began. Much as President Prien and Senator Werner have attempted to do.

Zeid: It seems we have our culprit, then. But there are still two mysteries left to solve.

Volker: The method of entry, and the location of the body...

Klara: Ah, the ambassador's savior. If you could just wait over there until--

Klara: Hm? You can explain what happened to the senator? Well, we'd love to here your theory.

Klara: Zeid.

Zeid: Let's start with the first mystery.

Zeid: How did the assassin enter a locked room?

Zeid: The ventilation shaft...?

Klara: That's how the Galkan child was able to enter the laboratory undetected?

Klara: That makes sense. A tonberry would be small enough to make use of the same route.

Klara: It appears that entering the room was the least of the assassin's concerns...

Zeid: On to the second mystery.

Zeid: How do you explain the location of the body, and the darkness in which it was found?

Zeid: You say the senator chose not to light the lantern? Why would he walk around in the dark?

Volker: He was distracted? What would consume his attention that he wouldn't light the lantern first?

Nicolaus: I think I understand.

Nicolaus: I once read a book of lore that described how a Tonberry would place a lantern on the floor to distract his victim, while the assassin positioned himself for the kill...

Volker: ...!

Nicolaus: The Tonberry likely placed his lantern at the far end of the room, then simply waited somewhere out of sight.

Nicolaus: When the senator entered and approached the mysterious light, he was attacked from behind!

Nicolaus: The door was probably locked by the assassin to buy time for his escape.

Nicolaus: While the guard was occupied with a locked door, the Tonberry sheathed his knife, picked up his lantern, and disappeared through the ventilation shaft before the alarm was raised.

Nicolaus: It's also possible that the assassin merely hid in the shaft until the lockdown on the Metalworks was lifted...

Nicolaus: Even with such planning, the lack of blood stains anywhere but near the victim speaks highly of the assailant's skill.

Volker: So, that's how it happened...

Klara: An assassin sent by our enemies seems like the most likely theory...However, it is said that Tonberries seldom forge alliances.

Klara: Has the Beastman Confederate's influence spread so far? Or perhaps...?

Klara: There are still details left to uncover.

Klara: Zeid. Volker. Continue the investigation.

Zeid: Understood.

Klara: What is your name?

Klara: --Insert Name Here--, is it? You have performed a valuable duty here today. First and foremost, you are to be rewarded for your courage in assisting the ambassador.

Klara: Secondly, your insight has shed light on what seemed an impossible investigation. The Republic thanks you.