Marie's Story

Ah... I wanna clock out.

I wanna clock ouuuuut! I wanna clock OUT!! I wanna CLOCK OUT!!!

I know, but it's only natural to want to go home the moment you clock in.

I wish something would happen so that I have an excuse to skip work. Like someone detonating a bomb or someth—

??!! That was not me!!!

Oh, n-nothing... What's with the sudden explosion, though? Was it some kind of terrorist attack?

A bomb? Umm...

Marie?

That's too bad—Wait, hold on. I'll have a look into that!

Yes! As the Master, I can't just turn a blind eye here. I'll leave no stone unturned!

So leave that to me, and please take care of everything else here.

She might not have come home, so have a look around outside. I'll have another look here before I leave.

Hmm. The house seems fine, but...

The house is full of unidentifiable junk, but there is nothing of particular note.

Let's go up.

I go up and see Marie with her head poking through the roof.

I just had a feeling you'd be here for some reason.

How did you get stuck there this time?

Oh... and then?

An incident report.

Uh... Here, have some of these mallows. I stole them from Erpin.

Not happening.

No, it's not that...

If I catch you, I have to go back and work.

That means if I don't catch you, I don't have to go back.

And no one has found you but me until now.

So what I'm saying is, if I leave you here, I can continue to skip work and do whatever I want around the village.

With the excuse of "looking for" you, Marie! Ahahaha!

Here, I'll put some more mallows in your mouth, just eat them and have them slowly melt in your mouth.

And I'll put a hat on your head to block the stinging sun. Oh! Now others might mistake you for some kind of rooftop decoration.

Goodbye, Marie. See you next time! If you're still in one piece, that is.

Marie wasn't found until the next day. She was half unconscious and mumbling, "The Master is the no-good..."

Rejected.

Denied.

Nope!

Marie whines, lowering her three pride-filled creations.

Needless to say, they're all bombs.

And right now, I'm...

Please don't kill me.

Tied to a chair in the basement of Marie's house.

But you kidnapped me while I was asleep.

Uh, okay, yeah, sure. You had no choice.

...You really thought I'd say that?!

How in the world did you figure out the palace's layout and sneak into my room?

Erpin, again?!

Sigh... Let me calm myself.

How did you open my door? It had triple locks on it to keep Mayo out.

.........

First, I'd like to apologize. Please forgive me.

I, uh... I'm sorry for leaving you hanging last time. I was going to free you soon, but then things...

Only because I didn't know your "experiment" meant using me to see which bomb would cause the hottest explosion.

.........

Give in.

Tell Ner I'm sorry for slacking off. Tell Ashur I'm sorry for buying baked goods and secretly putting it on Erpin's tab. Tell Mayo I'm sorry for giving her Ner's hair instead of mine.

And tell Erpin, um... You know what, just bury her with me.

Put up a fight.

Lady Marie! Your lowly servant beseeches you on bended knee! Please spare me! I swear my undying loyalty to you!

Why did you tie me up then?

I see... Um...

So I'll be in trouble if I move, er...

...Please forgive me! I'll get down and grovel!

M-Marie? Marie?? Lady Marie???

N-Noooo!!!

Fortunately, the explosions aren't too big. I recoil my head to avoid the blasts, which end up getting a natural perm.

But I was so startled that I fainted. Apparently, when I was carried to the palace, I mumbled something like, "Marie is the no-good..."

Nope.

Wait! I just meant that I'd hate to do it alone. Of course I'd love to go!

Absolutely! Let's go!

The underground dungeon was dark and quite mysterious. Marie skillfully started exploring it.

Oh...

I was just taking in the fact that you're actually exploring the place.

Yeah, yeah. I believe you, sure.

Was it something dangerous?

That's all...?

I'd better stay close to Marie.

This looks like a dead end.

Marie examines the wall closely while muttering to herself. She then pulls out a bomb and attaches it to the wall.

That bomb looks familiar.

Ah, yes. That wonderful bomb that gave me a free hair singeing.

Impressive.

You had it all planned out, huh?

Sure...

As I continue to explore the dungeon with Marie, a question comes to mind.

Why did you have me tag along, though? I'm not doing anything other than holding the light.

If Erpin were here, she could've at least been useful as bait if a monster popped up, no?

Smart, huh...?

No one's complimented me in a while, so that's nice to hear, even if it's Erpin she's comparing me to.

...Why do I have a feeling that she just jinxed us?

Wait! If you blow that up here, this whole place will collap—

Run!

The dungeon collapses very quickly in the wake of the explosion.

We run as fast as we can, but as the dungeon caves in, we are buried alive.

.........

.........

.........

Actually, I didn't lose consciousness.

I was already on my back, so I thought I'd just take a rest anyway, but then I fell asleep and couldn't wake up in time.

Urgh!

Yes, my head is as clear as day all of a sudden!

I had a dream where a friend I trusted completely abandoned me.

What? No wonder it felt so cramped.

Looking around, I see that we've been trapped by a wall of rocks.

What do we do now... any ideas?

Hmm...

What if we move the stones one by one?

Hmm...

I feel like we're missing something... Normally, we'd have figured something out by now...

Let's use a bomb!

Yikes...

Hey...

Marie...

Listen to me carefully.

Explosions are an art!

Art is an explosion!

Your bombs are works of art. The explosions they create are as beautiful as any visual masterpiece.

You are the only one in Sprite Village who can do this. No other sprite! Only you.

In other words, you are a master of explosions.

To have confidence in yourself.

I know that you can create a masterpiece of a bomb designed solely to take down that wall.

Marie pulls out her bombs, carefully mixes a little from each to make a new one, and fits it into a gap in the rock wall.

After she sets a few more of these in a few more places, she calmly lights the fuse.

The sound of air being sucked out can be heard, and then slowly, the rock wall begins to crumble.

We're saaaaaved!!

We make it safely out of the underground dungeon. I ask Marie if the adventure didn't live up to her expectations, but she smiles and says we can always return another time.

And thus, our dungeon exploration ends on a good note.

That is until I found out that Marie made everything up about Ner offering a special wage for the exploration.

You have the right to remain silent.

You have the right to talk to a lawyer—do they even have lawyers here? Oh, whatever!

Go ahead, let's hear what you have to say.

Just the facts, ma'am... lying is a sin, you know!

So, you're saying you didn't bomb Ashur's Magic School— Bakery, I mean?

And the fact that we found traces of your bomb there is because Mayo sold them for you?

Eh, I can't be bothered.

Besides, I don't need to.

Because I already know Erpin did it. She blew up the ledger to wipe out her tab.

I just came here as an excuse to skip out on work for a bit.

I was bored.

No way!!!

That's going way too far!!! How in the world...?! Seriously, how dare you?!

It felt like someone had a very insulting thought!

Anyway... Were you making bombs again?

Take it easy... Otherwise, you'll find yourself becoming a crazed bomber, saying things like, "When Sprite Kingdom is in... ashes... Then you have my permission to go to the Weekend Farm!"

Right, right.

How did you get so good with bombs anyway? Did someone teach you?

...What?

.........

I apologize if I ever got on your bad side, Marie! Please don't hurt me!

.........

Marie spends a long time convincing me that she is completely done with her criminal past.

I eventually decide to take her word for it, but that is the day I finally realize just how dangerous that little bomber sprite is.

I'm hands-deep in work, while your hands hold a marshmallow.

Time to act your age and make use of those idle hands!

Just seeing you made my blood boil and gave me a headache.

No, I have not. Thanks to a certain someone, Ner and I have been swamped with work.

What?

That doesn't sound too good...

Did you hear anything about when she's planning to launch it?

.........

She definitely was in the middle of making a lot of bombs the last time I visited...

Let's go, Erpin!

MARIEEEEE!!!!

Huff, huff! I finally found you, Marie!

It's over, Marie! I know everything about your plans!

Exactly that!

I knew someday you'd maniacally say, "This is the way the world ends, not with a whisper but a bang!"

Just relax and put the bomb down. It's not too late.

If you give up now, we can pretend this never happened.

I see we're going to have to do this the hard way, then!

Erpin! I choose you! One-Million Volts!

Erpin!!!! What are you doing?!!!

The bomb launches from the cannon and soars high into the sky above Sprite Kingdom.

Gah! Is this really the end?!

How could you do something like this?!

Fireworks decorate the sky.

The sky behind Marie is filled with bursting fireworks as she spreads her arms wide and smiles.

So pretty...

We stand mesmerized, captivated by the fireworks spreading across the night sky.

Huh? Yeah... I'm sorry for doubting you.

Marie smiles.

It shines brighter than all the fireworks in the sky.