Fódlan Alternative II

{Part Two} Upstanding Heart (Luciana x Ryoko)

 You are walking through the monastery when You overhear a conversation near the front gate. You pause and decide to investigate.

Seraphine: I wonder who that could be...

You look out and see Luciana and Ryoko speaking with one another. Luciana is reading through a small stack of papers, a frown on her face. Ryoko, on the other hand, wears a determined smile.

Ryoko: So... When are we going to leave?

Luciana: As much as I would like to leave and investigate this... I do not know if we will be able to do that just yet. There's a lot going on right now, and we need to be ready for it.

Ryoko: You say that, but we're not going to make any progress as long as we're just shuffling around here. All the time we spend here talking is just going to hold us off from helping the people who need it.

Luciana: I suppose you're right. Still, we need to get confirmation from the other members of the army before we do anything. It wouldn't be wise for us to run off without telling at least someone where we're going to go.

Ryoko: But that's just going to burn daylight too! Can't we leave a note or something and just head out? It'll save a lot of time for us and–

You step out and ask them what they are talking about.

Ryoko: Ah, Professor! Perfect! You can be our little messenger to make sure everyone hears what we're going to do.

Luciana: I think it would be better if we told the people leading this army that we were leaving for ourselves. Leaving the professor behind to do it for us feels a bit improper.

Ryoko: Who cares about manners when people are in danger? It's better to just go and take care of things!

You ask what is happening once again.

Luciana: Ah, yes... I suppose we got a bit caught up in our own thoughts and forgot to explain.

Ryoko: We received a report about bandits running around in a few Kingdom territories. We were planning to go out and meet them in combat so they couldn't hurt anyone else.

Luciana: There are many bandit groups that want to take advantage of the war so they can hurt the people who are suffering most... They believe they can find security in stealing from others, and in doing so...

Ryoko: They're just making more victims of the war, and there are more than enough of those as it is. That means it falls to us to help them and make sure everything is fine.

Luciana: I didn't know if we should leave without explaining ourselves first, especially since something could happen to us after we left...

Ryoko: We know how to handle ourselves in a fight. We've fought through a lot scarier people than just a group of bandits trying to prey on the innocent victims of war. I don't think they're going to give us any trouble.

Luciana: I know that, and I understand where you are coming from, but it would be in our best interests to be safe rather than sorry...

You offer to go with them.

Luciana: You don't need to do that, Professor... If you would rather stay here, then–

You shake your head and say that if they need someone to come with them, then You would be happy to come along.

Ryoko: Perfect! In that case, we can get a small force, say that we're going to take care of the bandits, and leave. That will save us as much time as we can save right now, and we'll be right on our merry way before the bandits can make anyone else into their victims.