Another Eden story · Side stories, Wanderer in the Vortex
Guardian of Kelkale
One of the palace cleaners asks Aldo if he could take the man's place for a day.
6 scenes, 67 lines
1. Scene 1
16 linesWithout Nona, you can't advance "Guardian of Kelkale."
Excuse me, good people. Could I have a moment?
Sure. What's going on?
I heard talk of visitors who will help anyone in need with any problem. Is that you all?
Well, I guess it's not WRONG, but... Oh well. Yeah, that's us.
You see, I'm part of the palace janitorial staff. A sudden matter's come up, and I can't work today.
So, what I wanted to ask... Could you possibly sub in for me? Just for a little while!
I would never turn down a request from one of Kelkale's children. And I'm rather skilled at cleaning.
Really? That's...actually not that surprising. You seem like you're good at just about everything.
In the student hostel, we must manage all our personal effects and hygiene ourselves. And anything worth doing is worth taking the time to learn to do it well.
So you'll do it? Thank you! I'll hurry back as soon as I can. Just handle this sector, please!
You got a massive broom!
Whoa, it's heavy!
Do you suppose he was taking the chance to get in some daily strength training alongside his work?
I doubt it... This thing weighs as much as a decently heavy war ax.
And he manages to clean with this? Who even is that guy?
2. Scene 2
9 linesWithout Nona, you can't advance "Guardian of Kelkale."
And... Trash secured.
You know, I was expecting it to just be regular dust and grime. But it's all sparkly, like tiny jewels.
Hey, you there! Don't touch that! It may look pretty, but it's actually deadly toxic!
Toxic? Why would there be toxic material inside the royal palace?
It falls down from above. The palace has a magical barrier that protects it from pollutants and monster attacks... But sometimes the pollution binds to magic residue and precipitates down as this sparkling dust.
It's real pretty, so we have to make sure the children know it's bad. It used to make a lot of kids sick.
I-I see. Thanks for telling us.
Hmm. Now that we know that, we ought to redouble our efforts.
3. Scene 3
13 linesWithout Nona, you can't advance "Guardian of Kelkale."
All clean over here!
Your broom is really unusual, Aldo. It's super heavy, right? And the shape is all weird, too.
It kind of feels like a broom head was just haphazardly stuck onto the end of some other tool. Strange.
Hm? What're you doing running around with Boss's broom?
He said he had something to do, so he asked me to fill in for him for a little while today.
You called him "Boss," right? Do you know him well?
He was our instructor! He's super strong. Enough medals to make a whole suit of armor with. He was even given a legendary spear from the royal treasury as proof of his heroism! Yeah!
Wow, that's really impressive!
(It can't be... There's no way this broom could be... Right? No way.)
Ohp! I'd better get back to my post, or my partner'll give me a real earful.
Say hi to Boss for me!
We will!
4. Scene 4
10 linesWithout Nona, you can't advance "Guardian of Kelkale."
Okay, almost done here...
Huh? I heard the cleaners were here, but I don't see the old guy anywhere.
If you mean the older janitor, he had an errand to run.
Hmph. And here I was hoping to chat with him a little.
Are you two friends?
Of course! He saved my life!
You see all the sparkly dust there? It's dangerous, bad stuff. But when I was little, I thought it was stardust, so I played with it... And a piece stuck into my hand.
It was really close. I almost died before he found me.
Really? Wow... He's a real hero, huh?
5. Scene 5
5 linesAll set over here! It's practically sparkling!
Indeed, not a mote of dust left. We've done some fine work here, if I do say so myself.
You're really particular when it comes to cleaning...
Anything worth doing is worth learning to do well, I say.
Now, let us return to the janitor and make our report.
6. Scene 6
14 linesWithout Nona, you can't advance "Guardian of Kelkale."
Oh, there you are. Thanks again for helping me.
It was a scant few hours. No need to thank us.
We ran into several people who told us some surprising things about you. You used to be a famous knight, right? What made you want to become a palace janitor?
There was an incident where a little girl was seriously hurt by the pollution fallout, you see. She had been playing with the dust, and when she clapped, a shard stuck into her palm.
Given how toxic it is, she was in really bad shape... Thankfully, the doctors were able to make sure the worst didn't happen. But it was a big shock to me, even so.
Yeah. I would be really scared to learn something that's all over the place was so dangerous.
So when my last cohort of trainees finished up, I quit, made myself a broom, and got to cleaning up.
So that weird broom was handmade, after all.
A lot of people said that it's thanks to you that they feel safe here in the palace.
You truly are the guardian of this palace...nay, of Kelkale itself.
Oh, please. I'm just a humble janitor.
But I'll do my best to keep on protecting this place, with everything I have in me.
Good man. Please do.