>>5300829Still licking your wounds from the encounter with the faceless entity, now revealed to have the silver eyed occultist residing and leading the mass off souls conglomerated into a single person, you decide to take the rest of the day off to check on your party and recuperate any losses you might have had while visiting the Hill of Swords.
Despite the initial shock coming from Hyde having his memories forcefully taken from him, the hunter seemed to be recovering swiftly, only misremembering when he departed from Ilos and beyond.
"You'd think I'd forget a partner in crime like ya this easy? I know my faith is strong, but I would mind if you had some in me" Hyde says as Violet the harpy nuzzles her head on his hands.
His aim took a turn for the worse, given how his pinpoint accuracy in long distance combat seemed to fail when he took several tries to hit a marble on his target with his slingshot, but combat experience and fuzzy memories aside, he's pretty much intact.
The reason why the entity did not remove his ability to think or just straight up kill him is still something you'll have to ponder on later.
At the following day, Rickert and Erica (the real one) were there to have a final talk with your group before departing.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? Your abilities would be a valuable asset to our team."
"I appreciate the gesture, but I'll have to pass for now. The cannon I fired botched some of the swords I placed on the hills, and even if it was a necessity, I would feel ashamed in leaving my comrades' graves in such a shoddy state."
The gesture doesn't come from Rickert's need to improve on forging weapons, but out of genuine respect for the Falcons.
"I see, and after that's done...?"
"...Frankly, fighting that enemy made me ponder on how easy it is to place Erica in harm's way, so I would like to stay out of trouble."
"Not an easy wish to grant, given our state of affairs. Plenty of people have been evacuating towards Vritannis in hopes of being housed by the rich, rumor says it that they're forming armies on the docks to fight the Kushan that way."
"...It's not the Kushan I'm worried about. I want to go the opposite way. Have a meeting with Griffith, to clarify what he really did."
"Aren't you afraid of being caught in the crossfire?"
"It's not something I plan to do right now, maybe I'll wait for things to settle before departing, or for it to get worse. Besides, Griffith knows me. As soon as I show my badge from the old Band, they will surely see that I'm on their side."
Given how Griffith treated you in the past, it's hard to know if he'll care in the slightest about Rickert's visit.
>There's no need. You've heard Guts' side of the story, he's as bad as you think he is.>I understand the need for closure, just make sure you stay safe.>I'm sorry for taking part on the vandalism of their graves.>How much for that portable cannon? Hyde might have some use for it.>Write-in. 