Scenario:Lobelia - Sincere, Singular, Sinister
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Sincere, Singular, Sinister
The crew is unable to find anything fishy about Lobelia's fortune-telling, until (Captain) notices a flicker of magic during one of his sessions. Upon taking a closer look at the client's belongings, the captain finds one of the shells that Lobelia uses to collect sounds. (Captain) and company begin searching for more shells around town.
Suspicious of Lobelia's recent fortune-telling activities, (Captain) begins investigating.
Even after several days of observation, however, nothing seems out of the ordinary.
Lobelia: This card will tell us the measures we need to take.
Ah yes, The Tower card. And the card symbolizing the anticipated results is also The Tower.
Ah yes, The Tower card. And the card symbolizing the anticipated results is also The Tower.
Lobelia: I see. It appears your current partner has been quite cruel. He must think of you as his personal wallet.
Fatigued Lady: Yes... that's exactly it. It's been so awful... but I can't get away from him. Do you think finding true love is hopeless for me?
Lobelia: Nothing to fret about. This last Tower with his hands up in the air may indeed be seen as a sign of surrender, but it can also mean a positive turn of events.
Lobelia: You must press on and continue down the path toward happiness. Everyone has the right to find happiness.
Vyrn: Hrm. He's still using those handmade Tower cards to do his fortune tellin', but nothing else seems too weird.
Lyria: Maybe we really are doubting him too much. He was right about this client too, after all.
Lyria: And all the people he's seen so far seem really happy to have moved on with their lives!
Vyrn: Not to mention they all come back to tip him as thanks.
Choose: His divinations are too accurate...
Lyria: Um... isn't that what you'd expect from a good fortune teller?
Vyrn: I guess... But now that you mention it, his success rate has been 100% as far as we know.
Vyrn: Thinkin' about it, bein' able to tell everything about someone's life just from cards isn't normal.
Vyrn: It's kinda funny how (Captain)'s gettin' increasingly suspicious even though we haven't found anything.
Lyria: Hngh... I know Lobelia's not exactly a good person, but I feel a little sorry for him.
Lyria: At least from what we've seen, there's no reason to suspect what he's doing. I feel bad for doubting him this much...
Touched by Lyria's tender heart, (Captain) gives her a pat on the head. Suddenly, something occurs to the captain.
Choose: What if it's something we can't see?
Vyrn: Whaddya mean? How would he be able to...
Lobelia: Were you feeling lonely without me by your side?
The somewhat irritating phrasing and manner of speaking are immediately recognizable as Lobelia's voice echoes—seemingly from the captain's pocket.
Vyrn: Speaking of which, we can't see Lobelia's audiomancy, right? Or am I thinkin' too much into it?
(Captain) looks over at Lobelia once more.
Eyes peeled, the captain tries to pay attention to whether anything seems different than usual.
Eventually, (Captain) notices Lobelia's magic flickering ever so slightly as he is doing his fortune-telling.
A fragment of the Evoker's power appears to make itself into the folds of the client's clothing.
Vyrn: Is that magic? Does that mean he's doing something under the table with his audiomancy?
Lyria: No way... We should make sure!
(Captain) nods. Once the client is finished with her session and has walked away from Lobelia's shop, the captain approaches her.
With the client's permission, (Captain) checks her belongings and finds an object worthy of suspicion.
Vyrn: A shell... This conque must be channeling Lobelia's audiomancy. Is that what he's been doin' this whole time?
Lyria: He uses this conque for message, doesn't he?
Vyrn: Message is that magic he uses to communicate with someone far away, right? Wait, then could he...
Choose: Gather sounds through it too? Yeah.
Vyrn: In that case, the reason he's able to know so much about everyone is...
Choose: Let's take a look around the town.
Vyrn: Urk... I really hope we're wrong. Here I was thinkin' he wasn't such a bad guy after all!
(Captain) sighs, and together with Lyria and Vyrn, they scour the town for shells that might be playing a part in Lobelia's magic.
Sincere, Singular, Sinister: Scene 2
The crew realizes that Lobelia has been listening in on people around town to boost the precision of his readings; however, the magician insists that he has done nothing to harm others. Sensing the lingering suspicion, Lobelia promises to tell only (Captain) everything and asks the captain to move to another location.
Vyrn: Lobeliaaa! I can't believe you!
Lobelia: What's the matter? You're being rather loud. Speak with more élégance—it's improper to forget your manners.
Lobelia: But I jest. I've been listening to the three of you diligently gathering my conques.
Lobelia: Must've been quite the task to find all of them.
Vyrn: Yeah, no thanks to you! You've been eavesdroppin' on everyone in town, haven't ya?
Lobelia: Haha, I was hoping to keep that to myself. I guess I underestimated you three!
Lobelia: But don't worry. It's true I've been doing a little eavesdropping, but nothing really caught my interest.
Lobelia: The only interesting thing to me will always be the sound of happiness.
Lyria: We're not worrying about that... Why are you doing this, Lobelia? It's not nice...
Vyrn: Yeah! Sneakin' around for your fortune telling fraud!
Lobelia: Hm? Fraud?
Vyrn: Don't play dumb with us. You know way too much about every single one of your clients!
Lobelia: Hm. And you think that's all from eavesdropping?
Lyria: Huh? It's not?
Lobelia: Tell me, Lyria. Do you go talking about yourself when you're alone?
Lyria: Um, no...
Lobelia: Haha, exactly. No one goes around exposing their personal information for no reason.
Vyrn: Okay... I guess you're right in that there's only so much you can know from listenin' in on people.
Lobelia: It's a thump, tap tap, squeeze.
Lyria: Wh-what?
Lobelia: Hmm... It's really hard for me to explain. What I'm trying to say is...
Lobelia: Lyria, what do you want to have for dinner tonight? Just think of something without saying it out loud.
Lyria: Huh? Um, all right, let's see... Yesterday we had some meat, so...
Lobelia: Haha, a true gourmande. Yet you want to have steak again, hm? A huge plate that everyone can share.
Lyria: Ehehe. I just couldn't forget the delicious taste of that restaurant you took us to the other day...
Lyria: Huh! Wait, how did you know?
Lobelia: Well, part of it is because I know your personality so well, of course. But I could tell from the réel sounds.
Lobelia: The real sounds a person makes tell much more than words, you know.
Lobelia: How big of a breath one takes. How many times they breathe, and how shrill their breaths are. Or the speed at which their blood or magic runs. How their muscles move, their heartbeats...
Lobelia: In the end, what kind of sounds the person is making tells me most things I need to know.
Lobelia: Together with the information I gather from the sounds through my conques, I'm able to increase the precision of my guesses. That's all there is to it.
Vyrn: Whaddya mean "that's all"? There's no way you can know everything just from the sounds you hear.
Lobelia: Non, non. Anyone can do it if they train themselves. Even the average fortune teller does it.
Lobelia: I believe they call it "cold reading."
Lyria: Really... Still, I don't think eavesdropping on others is good!
Lobelia: I suppose you're right. But did I hurt anyone in the process?
Vyrn: Well... I guess what you're doing is helpin' people.
Lobelia: Oui! I am merely aiding others in finding their happiness through fortune-telling!
Lobelia: In reality, countless people have been able to steer their lives in a better direction after seeing me.
Lobelia: Oh, come now. How could you, (Captain)? There's no need to be so suspicious!
Lobelia: You just can't put your trust in me, can you?
Lyria: Just don't listen in on other people without their permission, okay? If you say you haven't been doing anything else that's bad, I believe you!
When they see Lobelia looking dramatically upset, Lyria and Vyrn immediately reassure him. (Captain) is not so quick to trust, however.
Unbeknownst to the other two, Lobelia's voice is ringing loudly inside the captain's head, dripping with delight.
Lobelia: Goodness, that makes me so happy. They have complete faith in me. Don't they, (Captain)?
Lobelia: I don't mind telling you everything. You're bound to get to the bottom of it at some point anyway.
Lobelia: But this conversation is only for the two of us. It's not something Vyrn and Lyria should see.
Lobelia: Especially Lyria—I can tell from her sounds that she's trying really hard to put her trust in me. Hahaha! Kind of terrifying, isn't it?
Lobelia: Find some way to leave these two behind and go to the place I'm about to tell you. There, you'll find what you're looking for.
Wary, (Captain) asks Lyria and Vyrn to watch over Lobelia before slipping away.
Sincere, Singular, Sinister: Scene 3
Arriving at the specified location, (Captain) finds a copy of Lobelia speaking with a shady-looking man. As it turns out, the man is the cause for one of Lobelia's clients' troubles; threatened by the magician, the man promises to fix his ways. This is how Lobelia has been personally resolving all of his clients' problems. The Tower comes in to explain that the fortune-telling has actually been for (Captain)'s sake.
(Captain) arrives at the designated location to find Lobelia, whom Vyrn and Lyria are supposed to be keeping an eye on, and a shady-looking man.
Assuming from the flickering of magic that Lobelia has used audiomancy to create a copy of himself, the captain watches quietly from a distance.
Lobelia: I'll keep it simple. Do as I say if you know what's good for you and stay away from her.
Shady Person: Ha, you tryin' to scare me? She makes a good cash cow...
Shady Person: I-I mean, she's my girlfriend, so I'll do what I want.
Lobelia: Is that right? You leave me with no choice then.
When Lobelia snaps his fingers, the shady man's bag splits open.
The ground around the man begins to shake so violently that fissures form.
Shady Person: Huh! The hell is this? Some kinda bomb? An earthquake? Wh-what's happening...
Lobelia: Just struck a carnage chord. And if I go like this... your skull's going to go pop.
Lobelia: Ah, wait. The skull would be rather uninspiring. I should go for the eyeballs first! Now that's a satisfying sound.
Shady Person: Eek... Aah... Aaah!
Lobelia's unsettling words and the looming shadow of a large tower that has slowly creeped up behind him causes the man's knees to buckle in fear.
Tower: My partner's bad at explaining things, so I'll do it properly on his behalf. Basically, if you don't do as he says...
Tower: You're going to be crushed to pieces.
Shady Person: Ack... O-okay! I'll never see that woman again! Eeeek!
Lobelia: Well then... I suppose that's a wrap. Well done, partner.
Lobelia: Exactly what it looks like. I'm clearing out my client's misfortunes with a bit of physical force.
Lobelia: I figure out the situation from the intel I secretly gather, as well as from the sounds of my client.
Lobelia: Then I create a copy of myself—like so—and go around severing my clients' unwanted ties.
Tower: It's pretty boring. We can't do anything but make a few threats. Roundabout and frustrating, really.
Tower: Threatening the president of the company that had unjustly dismissed the client, driving away toxic family members...
Tower: Sigh... It would be so much faster if we just pulverized them.
Lobelia: Sorry, partner. I did make a promise with (Captain).
Lobelia: In any case, the reason my readings have been so accurate is because I've been forcing them to come true.
Choose: So the whole thing's a charade.
Lobelia: Hey, don't say it like that. It's true I'm using a bit of force, but all of my clients have turned their lives around on their own.
Lobelia: Everyone has the right to find happiness. Or to be more precise, everyone is trying to find their own happiness.
Lobelia: Once the unfortunate ties in their lives are severed, they can reach that place of happiness themselves, if they wish for it.
Tower: Shameless, aren't you? You guided the people to the right places with your magic so they'd make the correct changes.
Tower: You've been whispering into their ears with your audiomancy so they'll do as you want... It's basically brainwashing.
Lobelia: Come on, no need to put it that way! It's a form of aftercare, that's all! Gwahahaha!
Tower: I do have a question. You may have forcefully removed the misfortunes of one person, but would that not be cutting away fortune from the people who were removed?
Lobelia: Hm? So what? Of course those considered as bad influences also have the right to find happiness themselves.
Lobelia: But does that mean I have to help them too, despite them not being my customers? I'm hardly that benevolent.
Lobelia: Nothing but the happiness of myself, Tower, and (Captain) matters to me. That's how I truly feel.
Having confirmed that Lobelia has, indeed, not been acting purely in good faith, (Captain) lets out a sigh.
Choose: What's the point of all of this?
Lobelia: Hmm? Just a hobby... Well, I guess I can't exactly say I'm just helping people now. Let's see... How about...
Tower: You're exasperating. It's time we confessed to everything, partner.
Tower: You know it's impossible to hide it from (Captain). The captain's a clever one.
Lobelia: Yes, it's too bad. At the same time, it's not like me to explain everything.
Tower: Then I'll do it for you. You let it slip earlier anyway.
Tower: (Captain). The truth is that this entire farce is for the sake of your happiness.
Sincere, Singular, Sinister: Scene 4
Figuring (Captain) would not accept a Valentine's gift bought with unclean money, Lobelia had decided to buy one using tips earned by helping people. Mystery solved, (Captain) breathes a sigh of relief right before Lobelia's chest explodes—The Tower's hand bursting from his heart to offer a gift of flowers. (Captain) accepts the blood-soaked bouquet and vows never to relax around Lobelia ever again.
The Tower recounts what had happened a few days before Lobelia began his fortune telling.
Using the power of simulation acquired from the World, Lobelia had created a virtual world.
In this world he destroyed people for his own amusement. After he and The Tower had thoroughly broken each other, the two spent a leisurely time reflecting on the events.
Lobelia: Just as I thought. Crushing things while in your previous form—with your own will—is rather entertaining, wouldn't you say?
Lobelia: That broken World is surprisingly tasteful for having created such a form. The rustic look goes quite nicely.
Lobelia: It's good that I decided to recreate it. How about I make it so you can change up your appearance whenever you like, frère?
Tower: ...
Lobelia: Are you perhaps angry that I'm treating you like a child? Hmm, no... that's not the sound you're making. What are you sulking about?
Tower: A trivial matter... but I feel my arms are thinner than they were before in this recreation.
Tower: There's one extra ornament on my torso, not to mention the number of cracks in me is different.
Lobelia: Haha... You're pretty particular about some things, aren't you?
Tower: Well, I don't actually care. It was merely a joke.
Lobelia: Joking? You? How moving.
Tower: Cease the mocking. I do have one thing I'm dissatisfied with—that being how you never talk about the troubles on your mind.
Lobelia: Saw right through me, did you? It's such a minor yet sensitive matter that I hesitate to share.
Tower: It's about (Captain), isn't it?
Tower: Ah, come to think of it, Valentine's Day is approaching.
Lobelia: I owe a lot to (Captain), Vyrn, Lyria, and everyone in the crew. I wish I could do something to thank them.
Tower: Do you need to think that hard about it? Just buy something. You can even send them flowers.
Lobelia: The fact that you suggested sending flowers is making me even more emotional.
Tower: I told you to stop with the mockery.
In any case, I've given you a solution.
In any case, I've given you a solution.
Lobelia: No, it's not that simple. I don't have money, you see.
Tower: Huh? What kind of joke is that? If my memory serves me correctly, you still have some assets.
Lobelia: That money's dirty in the eyes of (Captain) and the others.
Lobelia: I've got money I received from working normally, of course. But that won't do.
Lobelia: I need to use money a lot cleaner than that if I want to get that crew something. Otherwise, it won't make them happy at all.
Tower: You're rather conscientious yourself, despite teasing me about being particular to details.
Lobelia: I was raised by rather wonderful parents.
Tower: Heh.
So you need clean money, huh? Distinguishing what's clean or not still proves difficult for me...
So you need clean money, huh? Distinguishing what's clean or not still proves difficult for me...
Tower: But can't you simply imitate what (Captain) does and make money by helping people? You can use me for that.
Lobelia: Another peculiar idea. Helping others through destruction?
Tower: I wouldn't be averse to destroying if the need arises, but that's not what I meant.
Tower: Think about the island you obilterated—the one in the western corner of the skies.
Lobelia: Ah, yes... The country where fortune-telling culture through tarot cards had flourished.
Lobelia: The way they handled cards and fortune-telling was truly mystical... and the sound they made when I annihilated them.
Lobelia: I remember crushing their best fortune teller until he was as flat as a card—as a way to show my respect, of course.
Lobelia: Aah... I'll never forget the sound of his voice. The sound his body made when it broke, together with his beautiful screams... It was heavenly.
Lobelia: Oh, wait. I see... You're telling me I should try my hand at fortune-telling and help people.
Lobelia: It's true that this is the perfect season to offer services in making life choices. It's time to destroy unfortunate ties and make people's lives better.
Tower: I'll leave judging between what's clean and unclean to you, but I assume helping people is considered to be on the cleaner side.
Lobelia: Très bien. An excellent idea, partner. Let's imitate the ways of that island then, shall we?
When The Tower finishes his story, (Captain) can't help but look exasperated.
The captain can hardly believe that the man standing in front of them had actually worked to earn money for the sake of the crew.
Lobelia: Simply taking a fee from my clients would've been the fastest way, but that wouldn't make the money the cleanest.
Lobelia: I don't mean to downplay the efforts of regular people who receive compensation for their work, of course.
Lobelia: How should I put it? I just felt like it needed to be something different.
Lobelia: I wanted to collect tips or tokens of gratitude from people out of purely good intentions.
Tower: That really took some time... Sigh. I still can't tell the difference at all.
Lobelia: I can't either. But somehow, I felt that this was what I needed to do.
Lobelia: And you know, that "somehow" is sometimes necessary to find happiness.
Lobelia snaps his fingers. A chocolate-coated apple, a mechanical toy, feathered quills, and a stack of papers appear in front of him.
Lobelia: This is my present to Vyrn. I went around the skies and gathered some chocolate apples.
Lobelia: They should still be fresh, since I used my audiomancy to do some crackly-crack before tossing them in.
Tower: The toy is from me. I once heard the little dragon going on about heroics and what not from behind my card.
Lobelia: This stack of tickets includes unlimited viewings of orchestral performances and other concerts, as well as invitations to luxury restaurants.
Lobelia: I also put in a set of fresh quills. Changing to a new one once in a while keeps things fun, wouldn't you say?
Lobelia: To show my appreciation, I've bought a variety of other things that I believe each of the crew members will like.
Lobelia proceeds to take out a ridiculously large amount of items that should not be able to fit into his pocket.
(Captain)'s annoyance slowly dissipates as Lobelia continues explaining the items one by one, his eyes sparkling.
Lobelia: This is quite the haul, if I may say so myself! And with that, all the tips I received are gone.
Lobelia: Assist me with handing these out, will you? I'm sure to arouse unnecessary suspicion if I were to go around on my own, after all.
Lobelia: Haha, don't be so peevish. I'm the type to eat the chocolate name plate on the cake last.
Lobelia: Of course I have a present for my beloved (Captain)... and a very special one at that.
Lobelia: Close your eyes, (Captain).
(Captain)'s eyes close without a second thought, shutting out the whimsical, child-like look on Lobelia's face.
But that is a mistake.
Lobelia's Voice: Aah... Aaah! You've finally let your guard down, (Captain)!
(Captain)'s eyes snap open, but it's too late. The captain is met with the sound of flesh ripping and the squish of something wet.
A small form of The Tower has pierced his arm through Lobelia. Intestines accompanied by a torrent of blood spew out from the Evoker.
Clutched in the hand protruding from Lobelia's chest is a bouquet of red roses.
Lobelia: Gwahaha... Guh... Hahaha! Happy... Valentine's!
Lobelia: Accept these feelings, literally from the bottom of my heart!
Lobelia: Gwaha... Cough... Did I surprise you? That was a spectacular sound we don't get to hear very often!
Tower: You may be able to regenerate immediately thanks to your pact with me, but getting yourself pierced through the heart is a wild idea.
Lobelia: If only I can hear the sound of (Captain)'s sword piercing through me someday! Gwahaha, hahaha!
It could be that everything Lobelia has done was for this very moment with the captain.
(Captain) heaves a sigh and, albeit reluctantly, accepts the bouquet.
And with that, the captain swears to never trust this man ever again.