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"And if he isn't, you have my most sincere apologies. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go look for him."
Erica heads off to take a look around, confirm what Ilke had claimed; body parts, identifying features, anything that might corroborate or dismantle the notion of Joachim's death.

She was also used to this part, too. Having to tell the loved ones of her deceased charges that they had died; granted, Erica didn't quite know that Joachim was dead yet, but the balance of probabilities told her that if he wasn't dead yet, he was likely going to be if they didn't head off soon. Still.....it didn't get any easier. Erica was fine with handling the anger of people like this. Anger and grief were a part of the job, as was death.

The princess, however, didn't deserve this. She was too young for something like this. Far too young.

Erica adjusts her glasses, un-ruffling her collar and pulling herself to her feet; that axe to the shoulder wasn't something she'd have liked to take on the best of days. The threat was neutralised, affairs were sorted. Now for the formalities.

A long time ago, Joachim's demise would have been sad and horrifying to Erica, but the truth of the matter was, she was used to her principals dying. After all, if they lived lives that were safe from such dangers, they wouldn't need Erica's services. As it was back home, so it was here. At least he didn't die horrifically from the likes of the poisons and toxins she'd seen; a quick death by the sword was far better than a slow, lingering one.

Still, a small part of her had hoped that maybe this charge would have been....easier.
"....dispose of the bodies of the intruders. We need to locate Joachim's remains, if possible.

13-4, tome the damn javelineer

As Keilee turns the paper, she realises it's a drawing of a girl, in that odd Kaiseian style that the Revivians claimed to have brought over to Generia.
When Keilee looks up from the paper, Serena taps her on the shoulder.
"Ahhh.....people? We....uh, that guy's been staring at us an awfully long time...."
Indeed, two or three of the guards have looked up from their card game, eyes affixed on Asuna. One of the goblin guards hurriedly puts away another, wooden image of the girl on the drawing, his eyes very intently glaring at Asuna.

The brothers, if they noticed, don't let on, instead continuing their squabble over Guildenstern's debts.

"Well, he's the older one. He got all the looks, I got the smarts, man. As for why we need ya, well...you know how it is with gate guards. They'll think we're a bunch of thieves if we-"
"You know what, Guildenstern, we can stop with the act. These guys seem pretty smart. Well, not entirely an act."
"Rosencrantz-"
"He WAS going to try to sell some of the crap we're carrying in addition to asking you to help us lift our stuff."
"Now, now, ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you, we only carry the finest-"
"He dug some old gear out of the dumps in Balamb and we're trying to resell them. Crappy, I know, but we're trying to make up some old debts my brother here decided to get into. You mind helping us out a little bit?"
"It was an investment in a dream brothel and casino, Ross! How was I to know they were going to get shut down by the coppers?"
"Gil, that was a scam and you know it! That was our savings you tossed down the drain for that investment, you know?"

"Hm, yes, Keith has a point. A goddess like myself doesn't have to do EVERYTHING a mortal asks her for free. Yes-"
"Osborne? What? Anyway, yes, yes, we'll discuss whatever you want for payment when we get our stuff inside. Can't be paying people before delivery, you know how it is, right? Just follow me."

Alright.

That was a terrible idea.

Charging headlong at a bunch of people in a schoolyard brawl or even outside, works; untrained people- delinquents harassing the weak outside, the clique of mean girls pestering the shy bookworm- preferred to target the weak, the vulnerable and those who weren't going to fight back. They didn't like targets who could fight back; Minato learned this lesson early, when they tried to smack him around as a young kid and he fought right back, showing them he wasn't a pushover, some weakling to be stepped on by the strong. An untrained fighter preferred an opponent who really couldn't fight back at all.

But a trained enemy knew how to take advantage of anyone's vulnerabilities, and these robots were plenty trained.

Minato groans, pulling himself off the ground. The shooting pain through his body told him he wasn't in any condition to use his usual tactics; no charging in like a madman. A Dai-Henshin in his current condition was going to risk genuine bodily injury. Luin Celtchair wasn't going to cut it either; it would take him too close, too quick, and Minato needed to stay away from them. Rho Aias could work, but how? He needed some way of keeping these things off him, some way of fighting back without getting too close. Gleipnir could hold the crowd back but he didn't have enough chain to hold the entire group back or lash them back. His finishing technique could do it, but he'd need them grouped up for the impact to get ALL of them.

The next few seconds passed like an eternity for Minato.

>How, dammit? I gotta think.<

Noriko. How did Noriko do it? She was dancing around the battlefield with her spears and her wind; Minato was an immovable object, but she, she was like the wind. She had a way of fighting that was alien to Minato. How did she do it? He racked his brains. Maybe she could give him some pointers. What would she do if she were here? How would she handle this?

Manavastra.

That word rang in his ears. Where did he hear it before? It wasn't one of his Regalia, no. Nothing he'd used-

Noriko. It was one of Noriko's techniques. One of her powers. He figured her abilities had to do with Hindu astras, but he'd never tried to summon them before, not like that. He didn't need a nuclear bomb, he needed a scalpel. Most astras were too powerful, too broad in range for Minato to use. Most of the big ones, anyway. Maybe he could take pointers from her. But using one of her abilities wouldn't work; again it wasn't suited to his powers.

Something reached out to his mind, like warm, grasping tendrils, reaching out to Minato's mind. It was something he was familiar with; the feeling he got whenever he searched for familiar weapons to use in combat, the feeling he got when he reached into the Gaia Memory. It had begun when he had first Awakened, when he drew Durandal that night when the Aramitama had broken into his house to try to kill him and he summoned a sword out of thin air to fight it off.  The Gaia Memory knew Minato now, and Minato knew it like a familiar book, and it knew what Minato was looking for.

The golden outline of an ornate bow formed in Minato's outstretched hand, a string already drawn in his other hand. He knew its name like he'd said it many times before. He could feel his armor changing to accomodate the new weapon; it did this every time he had a new Regalia, changing in subtle ways and subtle forms to enhance Minato's use of weapons. He already knew; he'd be using THIS one a lot.

Regalia Unlocked: Gandiva.

Perfected False Regalia: Celestial Arc of the Inferno [3]: Gandiva, the bow of Agni, the Hindu god of fire. Minato may summon Gandiva to fire flaming projectiles from the bow that explode on contact, or load the bow with summoned False Regalia (either other hypers or Requiem-summoned fakes) and fire them to impale them into objects and explode on contact, as well as projecting their effects at range (Rho Aias projects a shield at range, Luin Celtchair becomes a enemy-seeking projectile, etc.). He may also sacrifice stockpiled Regalia to increase the amount of arrows fired from Gandiva. As with other false Regalia, he can destroy it to protect himself from attack or to damage an enemy heavily.

And after that, everything fell right into place. He could turn Gungnir into a finishing move of his own, imbuing his foot with it to ensure his attack would be powerful enough and accurate enough to take down the target. Why not everything else?

New Stat Block.New Skill Unlocked: False Regalia Fortification.

False Regalia Fortification [5]: Minato can sacrifice a Regalia to imbue it into something or a small area. That object is now imbued with the power of that Regalia, and be used to lay traps in an area for Minato to catch an opponent out with it. If Minato imbues another Regalia with Fortification, the effects are now combined, i.e. Luin Celtchair and Gleipnir combined now leaves a trail of chains to entrap anyone struck by Luin Celtchair.

Action: Minato summons Gandiva and loads Luin Celtchair and Gleipnir into it. Move away from 02's landing spot and fire the imbued arrow into 02 to throw it away from Minato, lining up the trajectory to nail 05 with the combined Gleipnir/Celtchair arrow as well. Load two more stockpiled weapons into Gandiva and sink exploding arrows into 09 and 10 to knock them away from Minato, all the while moving back to keep space between Minato and the Pugilists. Use the remaining weapons to ward off incoming attacks, sacrificing them if necessary.

[[3] [6] 1 2 5 5 2 2 1 5]

".....did I WHAT my sister?"
As the party continues conversing, the Begnin Gate within sight, the sounds of conversation can be heard not too far away, in the brush surrounding the gate and road.

"Dammit, man. This isn't a good idea, I can feel it go pear-shaped. Practically see it."
"Oh, come on, man. You came along."
"I came along to watch your back, not do this!"
"Come on, I'm your brother. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?"
"Yeah, like the last time you pulled one of your-"
"I hear footsteps! Come on, get into position, man!"
"Alright, but I'm telling you, this is a stupid idea."

The squabbling stops for a moment. After a few minutes, a tall, young-looking goblin steps into the path of the party.
"Uh....you guys adventurers? Do you guys have a moment?"
"Our....wagon.....broke down. Me and my brother's wagon."
"We kinda need a few extra hands to bring everything into the gate. If you guys don't mind, can you give us a hand?"