Heading to Ys

Phew, this place doesn't get any less weird the more we see of it! We're waaay underground, but we still got forests and big, open grassy fields!

Nooot that I'm complaining! This is much better than pitch-black darkness! Or lava!

Speaking of pitch-black darkness, that reminds me: is there any sense of day and night here?

Yes. The ceiling is carpeted in luminescent moss, and its glow changes according to the time, so we have a twenty-four hour day just like the surface.

Hmm. So that too is almost like it's been designed with humans in mind, eh.

While I'm asking questions, here's another one:

I know we're heading towards a camp that you built to help facilitate the attack on the water city...

...but why did the Resistance choose this city for its first point of attack to begin with?

That gets back to topography.

Agartha has a number of rivers, and each one flows into the great eastern lake where the water city is.

Simply put, you can sail upriver from that lake and get pretty much anywhere you want to go.

And that is exactly what the people of Ys are doing: using those rivers as a means of travel with which to attack their enemies and plunder supplies.

If we don't do something about them, there's no telling when or where they'll strike next. And so they're our highest-priority target.

Oooh, so they're like tropical river pirates of the high seas!

Urk! Everything about that was wrong! And to make matters worse, he doesn't even care!

So, if we can capture Ys and take their boats for ourselves, we'll be the ones in control of the rivers.

That makes sense. No wonder you chose this for your first point of attack.

Right. If we pull this off, it'll give us a significant advantage in the rest of our campaign.

The other three powers might have us hopelessly outnumbered, but that doesn't mean we give up.

Giving up is never the answer. That's why we keep moving forward, even if only a little bit at a time.

...All right, we should reach the camp soon.

There it is.

...?

Is it just me, or does somethin' seem a little hinky here?

Ah... Please be careful, everyone! I'm picking up some sort of sound!

Haha, there you are! I knew we'd find you somewhere around here!

One's got good posture, and another's got good arms! Not a lot of them, but what's there is pretty good!

Go on, try and escape if you want. It's not like it'll make any difference!

Dammit! Don't let them scare you, men! Remember, if we lose here, we go back to being slaves!

Yeah! We already decided we weren't going to give up without a fight!

What an idiot. Whether you run away or not, you were going back to being a slave...

But you're no use as a slave if you attack us. Shame. That one could've been a decent workhorse.

Oh well, I guess it's all right, since there's plenty of others to take his place!

Y-youhrrng!!!

They're slaughtering them! This is horrible!

...Master!

？！

Slaves!?

You curs!

You dare murder my comrades before my very eyes!?

You will pay dearly for that!

Huh? Who're you lot? Resistance reinforcements? Haha, yeh sure took yer sweet time!

Hey, check out those two! Whaddya think? They men, or women?

If they're women, we'll just kill 'em off like usual, but if they're men... Check out those tight abs!

I bet we could have a lotta fun with these two! I love making pretty boys like that squirm!

I-I think I just remembered something... Something from one of the other times I was summoned...

Gyah, never mind! Not gonna think about it!

Whether I am a man or a woman...

...this will not end as you hope. On that, you have my word.

There's only so much pleasure and plunder to go around, y'know! A girl's gotta get what she wants while the gettin's good!

So have at it, girls! If you wanna have yer way with 'em, go for it! If you wanna kill 'em, knock yerselves out! This is our world, and we do what we want!

"Take whatever you want, whenever you want it!" That's the only rule we live by!

That's the law of the great Pirate Princess, ruler of Ys!

Here they come! Everyone, prepare for battle!

Don't have to tell me twice. It may not be worth much, but these cretins stole my allies' dignity.

Their crimes are past forgiveness, but they can pay with their lives...for a start!

Looks like they ambushed us from a waterway we hadn't discovered. Guess our scouting wasn't sufficient.

Rider...

？！

...Good question.

The survivors here and the relief group on the way can take care of this place. The rest of us will keep heading for Ys.

Now that we've reduced their numbers, they'll be spread that much thinner at their home base.

So we'll take advantage of that to sneak in and eliminate their leader.

It's the least I can do to avenge the men who gave their lives here.

？！

...Fou.

Okay, so our destination is still the same. Just no rest stop on the way now.

That means we'll have to be even more careful!

If you plan on infiltrating the city stealthily, my skills should be of some use.

We must stay sharp, Master.

You know, there's something they said that's still nagging at me.

Didn't they refer to the ruler of Ys as the Pirate Princess?

？！

I agree. Her name keeps coming to my mind as well.

However, I can't imagine her ruling over a band of horrid pirates like this...

Okay, that's enough. There's no point in speculating. We'll find out who this Pirate Princess is when we meet face-to-face.

For now, I think it'd be best if we keep moving forward.

Perhaps it's just my own naivete that I can't imagine a country ruled by a Pirate Princess.

Still, that doesn't mean I should just ignore it. I have to see what it's like for myself.

If I'm ever going to become king myself one day, I should know how other countries are run. It's like another kind of training.

That's all well and good, but you know, you're only going to end up

(S-stop that, Da Vinci! Don't go dashing his dreams while he's still young and hopeful!)

Ahem. Um, I think that's a very admirable, forward-thinking attitude, Fergus.

Are you sure you're okay? You're not holding yourself back too much, are you?

If you just GOTTA say, "I bet the lady pirates like to dock on the port side, if ya know what I mean," or something else terrible like that...

We'll understand!

I-I'm perfectly okay not saying anything like that! And no, I DON'T know what "dock on the port side" means!