Five minutes after leaving the city hall, we have found the Lord-Mayor’s palace. He should be here now, but is it going to be that simple to disturb him at 10:30 pm? I chose to do this second option, but now I am rightfully getting nervous about it. The receptionist warned me against choosing the second option in meeting the Lord-Mayor. He said only to choose it if the situation was dire, so that means something like a life-or-death situation? Well, I don’t think Amulet Pond is ever going to fully die any time soon. But maybe the villagers might be in a life-or-death situation? Maybe? I hope they aren’t but let’s be honest, I doubt they are. They’re just trying to be precautious, which is fair of them. If they really needed guards to guard their village than they wouldn’t have relied on me “maybe” accomplishing their goals. Realistically, I wouldn’t be doing this if I were Amulet Pond, at least I would have waited a couple of days before seeing if my request for meeting the Lord-Mayor was accepted or declined. But, because I am playing as Amulet Pond, a Divine Spirit who the Lord-Mayor seems to dislike, I do not have to worry about life-or-death. Since I’m practically half immortal or whatever!

There are indeed tall black iron gates surrounding the property. And there is a little gatehouse which is definitely the entrance. There looks to be a tall man standing by, and he’s looking directly at us. I guess he is expecting us.

Tall Lumen Man: “Who goes here at this hour? A fool?”

MC: “My name is Amulet Pond. With me is Eseli. We are here to meet the Lord-Mayor, the city hall confirmed our appointment with him is valid. The second option.”

Tall Lumen Man: “So it’s a fool. Two fools to be precise. Come.”

Well, that was easy enough, I thought he’d give us more trouble. Looks like he’s opening a chained gate, hold on isn’t this like a smaller version of a castle gate? He’s pulling the wooden mechanism which is inside a mini room. It’s like a patrol booth that is part of a semi-pointless castle entrance, when this place isn’t even a castle. Looks like he’s done, he’s leading us up a stone tiled pathway to the palace’s entrance.

Tall Lumen Man: “That is as far as I go. You may open the door yourself.”

So, it is as he says. He’s now walking back to his little toy gateway. Now that I see this palace in front of me, it’s actually not that big. It’s three stories tall. It is a bit wide, but not like a mansion. However, there is a lot of nice detail added to the building. Architecture stuff that I don’t know much about! I guess you could say this building is like a small chateau.

Oh, Eseli started a conversation.

Eseli: “My intuition as a practitioner of magic tells me that tonight is going to be a long night. I do not know how it is like for a Divine Spirit, but I believe later on in the near future I shall lose my stamina and suddenly drop down in need for relaxation. So, please do be wary of that.”

MC: “Sure thing, but I don’t think you’ll need to be worried about that.”

Eseli: “If you say so.”

I don’t know why I picked that response option because I am worried about that! So, is she alluding that this quest is actually going to take a long time? A long enough time for her to become physically or emotionally tired so that she’ll revert back to her lazy “mood” state? This is definitely a point in foreshadowing that the game is trying to tell me…

Wait hold on! Why am I doing this quest now. I completely forgot about May and Krafty. I’m doing single player content again!!! Let’s see my Friends List…it looks like May is offline, but Krafty is online. I’ll message Krafty…

“whatsup”

I want to see if I can play with them later after I finish this quest… that will also probably work because Eseli will be sleeping since she said she’ll be tired. Hopefully, this quest won’t take a long time.

*Ding*

Ah he quickly replied back… let’s see what he said

“Hey Amulet I’m waiting on May to get on I’m just looking around the shops here at Susana. WBY?”

I’ll tell him that I want to play with them today and-

*DUN DUN DUN*

*BANG OPEN*

AH! That scared me! Who is that? There’s an elf with colorful clothing and a bit of makeup on! Why did he just suddenly open the palace’s door and now intensely staring at us?!

Honief: “I AM THE LORD-MAYOR CALLED HONIEF, AND YOU TWO SURE SEEM TO LIKE KEEPING YOUR HOST WAITING!”

Oh, crap he’s angry! I should respond with som-

Honief: “ISN’T IT A BIT RUDE? I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR 10 MINUTES, OH SO EXCITED I WAS (and still am!) TO MEET MY NEW FRIENDS! WHAT DO YOU TWO HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?”

I’m glad that Eseli’s face is just as concerned as mine. I doubt she expected this!

MC: “We were admiring the exterior of your house, Lord-Mayor Honief!”

Wait, “Lord-Mayor Honief” …what??? I didn’t catch that but is this guy actually the Lord-Mayor?!

Honief: “OH SO YOU WERE ADMIRING THE FINE ARCHITECTURE OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PALACE? Well, why didn’t you say so right away? Come my darlings, let us admire the interior as well!”

And so, he quickly walks off just as he quickly jumped scared us with his sudden appearance. I did not expect the Lord-Mayor to come to us! I could enter into conversation mode with Eseli again, but I’d rather not provoke this Honief guy again.

Walking into this palace, the entrance way is large. It seems to split off the building directly into three parts. There is the entrance way, and what looks to be the living room up ahead. But then, there are two sides of this house which both have a first floor and a second floor (stairs alongside the entrance). The floor is made out of marbly looking black and white tiles. There are tall candle sticks scattered around everywhere, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think this guy was part of some evil faction. Wait he might actually be. A crazy person. Yeah… no doubt about that, he’s definitely crazy. That explains the rumors of why he’s such an “eccentric” character. Just look at him, he is hopping and skipping around towards the living room. Eseli seems to have calmed down after the shocking reveal, now she’s just gently smiling as we’re heading along to have a meeting with the Lord-Mayor.

Honief: “So, YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT THE CENTER OF THIS HOUSE, welcome! Haha, do not worry my friends. I am not unreasonable nor insane as I might appear to be! Unfortunately, people have told me that, especially in the context of “not being fit for a Lord-Mayor’s behavior”, but once I proved my worth as a successful man of the coin, then we’ve had a compromise reached ever since then! Now, tell me, do you know what you’ve come here for?”

MC: “My name is Amulet Pond, and this is Eseli. We’ve come her-“

Honief: “Yes yes yes! I already know, I already KNOW! How could I not know the names of my friends? No need for the formaaaaalities…tell meeeeee directly!”

This is a rare moment when an NPC interrupted me while Amulet Pond was still in the middle of giving out his dialogue. Oh, this guy is trouble! The Elf is sitting on a large couch, he’s got long pajama patterned pants on and what looks like a mish mash of clothing of different colors. His face is powdered, and he’s drawn some markings it looks like. Isn’t this guy more like a jester than a mayor?

MC: “Hey there, I know that we’ve come here asking for a request…but I do know that we chose the second option which means that we will do something else as well…”

Honief: “Correct! Correct response! Tell you what, Amulet and Eseli. I am feeling very generous tonight. And since you’ve answered correctly. I shall offer you two options, two options worthies of the “second choice” you’ve picked. You pick a second choice, then it’s only reasonable that you expect two choices in a second choice as well, a duality yes or no? See?”

No, no I don’t see at all! I’ll just simply ask what they are. It feels like one wrong dialogue choice and it’s over.

MC: “What are the two options?”

Honief: “Straight to the point hmm? Well, I did tell you to tell me, direeectly! But, it will not be fun if I tell you everything directly myself…. would it?”

MC: “Yup, sure thing Honief!”

Honief: “Exactly! So, the first option…perhaps my favorite option or perhaps not…is for you two to join me in a tea party! Yes, tea! Have you heard of this delicious (NOT REALLY) substance?! It is a fairy fancy and delightful delicacy enjoyed by the southerners. Over here, even in the Hooooly Laaaands, there is no such “tea culture”, but me! And in Graypine…BUT WORRY NOT. This tea party can be very very very very very very FUN! Hmmm…let’s see….two hours? No, too short. TEN hours! No? Too long? Hmm…Six hours it is! Six hours of fun. Six hours of tea. We shall enjoy it here in this grand room. Lovely pink wallpaper is it not?”

MC: “I do like the color of the wallpaper and the patterns on it! Very lovely!”

Honief: “Yes, it is, it really is! Ahhh…but wait. My friend Amulet, who are you really? Who are you really to enjoy the color pink in the house of the Lord-MAYOR? And sweet Eseli. How you smell of apples! I understand you, yes apples, pink is a lighter red. So, no question for you Eseli. But you, “Amulet Pond”, tell me, who are you really? I do not smell apples on you, nor Susana, nor the Visiwends, Nor the Graypines, nor the Free Counties, nor the Lunar perfume, not even the monsters of the creamy High Peaks or the greeny Hinterlands, oh and nor do I smell the berries of Sonder! Who. Are. You?”

He’s on to me! I have many options, but they are all either very different responses or very similar responses. Such as:

[I am a Divine Spirit!]

[I am a Divine Spirit who has come here for work]

[A spirit from the beyond, seeking to explore this world]

[My name is Amulet Pond, a Divine Spirit]

[Have you ever been to the Holy Temple? Perhaps you might have seen me there]

Or there are more obscure options I could choose from

[A warrior of ages long past]

[A simple traveler]

[Someone who seeks to learn the magical arts]

[A nobody]

[I simply am searching for work]

[I come from a village south of here]

[I lurk in the shadows; my business is not yours]

[Talk normally or else I won’t tell you anything

[You don’t need to worry about that]

There are so many options! This is just as crazy as this character…and I am pretty much timed! There isn’t any official timer, but I am definitely sure this NPC won’t hesitate to interrupt me any second now because I could be taking too long to answer. I’ll just choose a simple answer because that’s all I have been doing so far, playing it safe.

MC: “A simple traveler”

Honief: “Oh, is that so? Is that really true? Tell me my Friend, Amulet Pond, who is a simple traveler. Tell me of the tales you have learned or things you saw.”

Crap there are even more options. This is ridiculous, I really need to scroll down to each option to see them. Umm. But wait, isn’t he asking me to answer some lore questions? He said… “Tell me of the tales you have learned”. So, I’m pretty sure if I will propose a topic, he’ll then ask me something lore related, and then I could answer it. But what should I choose…I don’t know much about Visiwend, Free Counties, but I did learn a bit about the Holy Lands from that monk from before. Oh! I also read some in-game books on the internet which were about the early history of Graypine! I’ll pick something like that…

MC: “It is true, I am a simple traveler. I travel around to learn more about the regions and their history. I’ve particularly ventured into the Kingdom of Graypine and saw their sites, both natural and historical.”

Honief: “REALLY? Is that really so. Oh, this should be good. I happen to also know much about Graypine, actually, about anything I could get my hands on! It’s important to keep an open mind as a mayor of a growing town, you understand?! So…tell me something factual that you learned while traveling in Graypine. It is hard to believe, because I do not smell Graypine on you.”

MC: “Well, most of the gray pine trees in Graypine only grow in the north, so most of Graypine doesn’t have many-“

Honief: “STOP! Too easy, too easy toooo easy! My fault. It was a mere manner of speech, do not take this world all too literally my friend!

Dammit and here I thought that I could have answered his question easily. Besides that, my choices range from a all sorts of subjects. From geography to biology to the history of Graypine. But I assume half or most of these answers aren’t true. Such as how Graypine has a jungle in its southern territories. That answer is obviously incorrect. AH! I found something that I actually know is true! A coincidental fact that sounds like it’s completely made-up historical fiction but seems to have actually been a true historical event. I wouldn’t have every known this fact if I didn’t read a book called something like “a short history of the Kingdom of Graypine” on the Divine Library website. Thanks to that, I know this random fact.

MC: “Well, Lord-Mayor Honief, do you know who Gelgar is?”

Honief: “Gelgar…GELGAR…Ah, Gelgar Narin! Why? Why bring up such an OBSCURE historical figure?”

MC: “Yes, Gelgar Narin! A duke of the former Dutchy of Graypine. Do you know that there is a connection between him and the Lunar Empire?”

Honief: “Pfff, what are you on about? Connection? None other than that he died around the time the Lunar Empire was born. What else is there? Are you going to mention that he bought Lunar perfumes before the Lunar Empire was founded? What are you, crazy?!”

Ho ho ho… it seems, my friend “Honief”, that you have fallen into my trap card. Kinda. Anyways, this answer better work because I definitely know this but maybe Honief won’t believe it since he doesn’t know about it. Oh! Look, one of my response options allows me to respond in a bit of a crazy way as well. So, it will be like “fighting fire with fire” against Honief. This is a risky choice, but I can’t help it but choose this choice since I think it's too interesting to pass up.

MC: “That is where…YOU ARE WRONG HONIEF! Gelgar Narin is more important than you’ll ever realize! Don’t you know? Oh, it seems you do not know. It seems like the Lord-Mayor of Susana hasn’t been to the University of Leancia, a royal academy in the capital of Graypine called Leancia. I am simply spelling out the basics for you, because it seems that you, HONIEF, do not know about one of the greatest connections in history concerning Gelgar Narin and the Lunar Empire!”

Honief: “H-HOW DARE YOU! You dare mock me, your honored host?! You call me a liar in questioning your credibility as a simple traveler? Why-WHY YOU! Tell me first before I send you away. Are you really a friend?! If you are, you better not lie to me and speak so hideously like an INSANE person in front of me!”

MC: “HAH, very well then. Listen to me well, Elf, for your ears shall be curved once you hear this great fact. Gelgar Narin, before he was a Duke he was a questionable heir who cared naught for the title. One day, Gelgar Narin left the Dutchy of Graypine to travel elsewhere in the world. He met various people. But one of them was a mercenary which he partnered up with, and because of this partnership, the history of the world was changed! Does the name “Somadwin Honsuma” ring a bell?”

Honief was already standing up when he heard me call him out, but now, he is slowly trembling backwards. His arms are wide open, and his legs are shrinking as they are now dropping slowly on the floor. It looks like reading this random book I found in the Divine Library paid off. This “Lore Attack” seems to be super effective on Honief!

Honief: “Wha-how, how. How do you know this? IS IT TRUE? No, you must be lying to me?! Such an excellent fact. Tell me more-wait no, I understand. I suddenly understand! IT ALL MAKES SENSE. The Graypines and the Lunars. Somadwin Honsuma, there is only one man with that name in history. Are you tell me that…Gelgar Narin had partnered up with Somadwin Honsuma before the Lunar Empire was established…when Somadwin Honsuma was a mere mercenary…WHAT A MAGNIFICIENT COINCIDENCE. OH, JOYOUS OCCASION, I HAVE NOT READ ANY BOOK THAT TELLS SUCH INFORMATION…tell me…. TELL ME…how do you know this Amulet Pond?”

MC: “Hehe… it is reasonable for even you Honief, to not know about this fact. For it may not have travelled far from the territory of Graypine because only the people of that Kingdom seem to adore this fact. And it is true, that the Lunar Empire acknowledged that fact but kept it quiet. So, outside of the academia of the Kingdom of Graypine, such a fact is not widespread. But it is true. I hear that there are recently published books from the University of Leancia which cover this topic.”

Okay, I didn’t actually know about that myself either. But it seems that Amulet Pond somehow knows because I chose that option and the game assumed that I knew more about it.

Right now, Honief is laying on the floor, defeated. Eseli is grinning while standing next to me quietly as usual. I think I’m succeeding in this quest so far. But something tells me this quest is going to take a lot longer than I expected.