chapter 3 and 4 summary
So, after the events following Mayor Dalmore's arrest, Joshua and Estelle waited a time for things to calm down, but eventually it was time to head on to the next major city in their journey to become full-fledged bracers, and that was Zeiss. It was an especially logical location for them since Zeiss is the center of Liberl's industry and technology and the events surrounding the mayor had left Estelle and Joshua very curious about that black orbment their father had been sent. One could hardly blame them, it had saved their lives, after all.
So they went ahead and said their goodbyes to Kloe, who went ahead and saw them off as far as the Kaldia Tunnel that led to Zeiss. The group of them promised to see each other again in Grancel, Liberl's capital. And with that, Joshua and Estelle took off into the Kaldia Tunnel to make their way towards Zeiss.
The trip itself was mostly uneventful. Definitely far more so than their trip to Ruan had been. The only event of note was meeting an odd little girl as they got closer to Zeiss who seemed to be in a major hurry to fix a broken light. They couldn't blame her, broken lights did attract monsters, after all. But the idea of a girl of twelve being off to someplace likely infested with monsters worried both Joshua and Estelle, so they took off after the girl.
A good thing too, because when they arrived they found her being attacked by the monsters. Thankfully, both of them arrived in time to prevent the little girl from being made into monster food. They found out the girl's name was Tita and she was an apprentice at Zeiss' Central Factory, which is the biggest orbment factory in Zeiss, and quite possibly the whole continent. Definitely a good meeting, because Tita sure knows a lot about orbments, definitely far more than Estelle and Joshua combined, though not hard to know more than Estelle's lack of knowledge. In the hopes to keep the sweet girl safe from monsters, they escort her back the way they came and into Zeiss. In exchange, Tita showed them the way into the city so they didn't get lost in the immense factory the tunnel ends at.
Leaving Tita at the factory, the two of them head off the Zeiss' guild branch to go and do the assignment change deal they have to do in every city. There they meet the receptionist for Zeiss, a very unusual woman named Kilika who seems to be so good at predicting what they will need that Estelle thinks she has a super power to read minds. Kilika knows about the strange black orbment and hands the two of them a letter to meet up with the Central Factory's Chief, who also happens to be the closest thing to a mayor the city has.
They head off to the factory to meet the Chief, Mr. Murdock. Chief Murdock is happy to see Estelle and Joshua since like many the two of them have met, he knows their father and Cassius has done a great deal for him. So he looks over the black orbment and finds that it truly is a unique item. It is made of modern materials, but has no seams and no way to even open it up besides cutting it open. It also lacks any sort of markings or caliber to identify it. He's baffled by this and they all decide to have another person look at this strange orbment since he has more tools and according to the note Cassius got, the mysterious K who sent the note advised this man to look it over and analyze it anyhow. At the very least, Chief Murdock was able to answer the question of who Professor R was, that would be Professor Russell, one of the foremost scientific minds in Liberl. He calls for the professor's granddaughter to show them to the professor's house, and that turns out to be Tita. Seems that earlier meeting is even more lucky than they had originally thought.
Tita leads them to her house to meet her grandfather and they learn very quickly that Professor Russell isn't just a genius, he's a crazy genius. Joshua and Estelle find themselves roped into being assistants for his experiment on a new device to jam biosensor orbments. After that finishes up Professor Russell realizes his blunder and helps them out with investigating the black orbment.
The first thing they find out is that the metal the orbment is made from is not only an unknown metal, but it is impervious to normal cutting tools. The professor really wants to get the thing open since that will be the best way to tell what it can do. However, instead he decides to do a measurement scan on it. This seems like a harmless enough way to figure out what it can do, right?
Wrong. The scan activates the device and the power goes out in the entire city until the scanner is turned off. Thankfully this wasn't very long, so the people didn't panic too much, though there was definitely some curiosity about what was going on (though many suspected it was the professor up to no good...again). The professor calls this event the total orbal shutdown phenomenon.
The next day the professor decides to try a different route of figuring out what the black orbment will do. Unfortunately, it's ability to shut down orbal power is slowly growing to be a pain in their butts. Anything they try to use to cut it open is shut down. So he sends Estelle and Joshua off to get an old fashioned device called a combustion engine that should be laying around in the factory somewhere and some gasoline to power it.
With that mission accomplished, they attempt to use the professor's saw again to cut the black orbment open. The combustion engine is atrociously loud compared to the orbal engine, but it seems that does the trick, after a lot of sparks fly off the saw, there is a tiny scratch. Seriously, whatever that thing is made from is quite durable indeed. The professor knows he is going to have to go at it for most of the day (and go through quite a few saw blades) to get through this. Then he gets a call from a nearby village about their pump being broken. Since the professor is going to be working on cutting open the black orbment, Tita volunteers to go fix the pump and Estelle and Joshua say they will accompany her to ensure she is all right on the long trip.
They go off to Elmo village and Tita goes to fix the pump, leaving Estelle and Joshua to kill some time. They head back to the inn and the innkeeper asks about if they saw a woman from Grancel while they were coming in. Seems the woman wanted to leave the village to see the scenery. Joshua and Estelle go off after her before she becomes monster food.
It turns out the woman was Dorothy. Figures that only someone as ditzy as her would take off on such a careless venture. But Estelle and Joshua arrived just in time because she's about to be attacked by those creatures that attacked the checkpoint on their way into Ruan. Estelle and Joshua take care of them and escort Dorothy back to Elmo Village. They arrive at a great time because Tita just finished fixing the pump and the hot water is working great again.
Since it's late, and the innkeeper got a call from the professor that they should stay the night in the village, the group decides to enjoy a nice bath. Tita and Estelle take off to the women's baths, and Joshua to the men's. Tita and Estelle have some nice girl talk, mostly about if Joshua and Estelle are married or not and Estelle basically says that she'll be a big sister to Tita. The whole conversation leaves Estelle feeling really embarrassed, so to avoid the topics Tita is bringing up about Joshua, she heads off to the central bath, missing the fact that it is unisex.
She goes out there wearing only a towel and finds Joshua, alone. One would think with how much Estelle obviously is in love with him that she'd like this, but instead she ends up screaming so loudly that even the innkeeper comes running.
Poor Estelle is mortified at this point and takes her frustrations out on Joshua. This really soured the mood overall, so they go have dinner with Dorothy and then head to bed.
The next day they head back to Zeiss, on their way they meet a giant bracer from the Calvard Republic named Zane, who was headed to the hot spring. Once they return to Zeiss, they find that the Central Factory appears to be on fire with all the smoke coming out of it. The people are evacuating, but it appears that Professor Russell is still inside. Estelle and Joshua head inside to go find him and to deal with the smoke that turns out to just be smoke canisters.
And it seems that the strange guys dressed in black they ran into in Varenne Lighthouse are up to no good again. They find the professor being dragged away by these men and the men get away into the elevator and run into Agate. Joshua and Estelle pursue, but the elevator is far faster than the stairs.
It seems that the black clad men changed clothes while in the elevator, because everyone outside saw Royal Guardsmen escorting the Professor away and thought nothing strange of it. Dorothy even grabbed a few pictures to add to the story she wanted to write about the burglary, which unfortunately has turned into a kidnapping.
The army is called in to assist with this and Captain Amalthea comes personally to investigate and take witness reports. She takes Dorothy's picture from her and departs. Joshua and Estelle decide to also investigate this further and their lead leads them to Carnelia Tower. Agate comes with them because he's after the black clad men too, and especially wants to get them after his encounter with their commander after Varenne Lighthouse. They leave Tita in Zeiss, not aware that she will actually end up following them.
They find the black clad men and the professor at the top of the tower. The black clad men of course attempt to use their hostage to ensure their escape, but Agate comes up with a plan to deal with them. He's almost successful except Tita arrives at this point and messes up their plan. Agate ends up being shot and Tita is upset that not only the men got away with her grandpa, but Agate got hurt protecting her. Agate claims to be fine and advises they head back to Zeiss to report in to Kilika.
On their way back they run into Zane again and this is a good thing because right as they do, Agate passes out from his injury. Zane identifies that Agate was poisoned by a nerve toxin and helps Estelle, Joshua and Tita get him back to Zeiss and take him to the clinic. There isn't much the clinic can do because they don't have an antidote for this unknown poison and advise Estelle and Joshua head to the church and see if they know of a medicine that can help.
They do find out about a medicine that will help, but it requires a rare ingredient so off they go on a short quest to find this ingredient. Zane joins them for this, which is a good thing because the monsters in the cave where this ingredient is found are very dangerous. The medicine is prepared and given to Agate and he starts recovering. Tita looks after him as he recovers.
Estelle and Joshua report back in to the guild on Agate's condition and find out that Dorothy had run off to Leiston Fortress to take more pictures. This seems silly at first, but when they see her photograph they finally get a much needed lead on the kidnapping case. They can see the airship the black clad men used flying above the fort. This seems strange, because why would criminals fly so close to the army?
So Joshua and Estelle head off to Leiston Fortress to gather some more intel. They don't get much from the army itself, who is as usual, very uncooperative. But as the commander of the fortress goes back inside, they notice something strange. The gates won't close, and this seems to be a recent problem. Joshua guesses that it is the black orbment and the professor is inside. It's not a good realization, because that means the army is the one who kidnapped him when the army should be helping them. Also, as bracers, there is only so much they can do against the army. It is only by a tiny loophole in the rules that they can even act.
Chief Murdock offers assistance in the form of the maintenance airship that is permitted to fly to Leiston Fortress. It seems the army has actually ordered it to come there, so the timing is good. With the assistance of Tita and the device the professor had been making when Estelle and Joshua arrived, they get in. They find out it was Colonel Richard who was behind this all and he is up to some nefarious scheme in Grancel too (and the black clad men are part of the Intelligence Division). Once the colonel leaves, they break the professor out of the room. The alarms sound and they are pursued and nearly caught (in fact, the Sky Bandits did see them when they accidentally made their way into the jail), when Major Cid helps them escape. They get away, Agate takes Tita and the professor into hiding, and the professor bids Estelle and Joshua go to Grancel and tell the Queen of this black orbment and what happened.
So with that job in hand, Joshua and Estelle head off to the next city on their journey, and the last one, Grancel. It is arranged for them to take an airliner, but due to the mess at Leiston Fortress they end up having to take the highways instead. The military is definitely out searching for the now missing Professor Russell, and using that disappearance as a great way to make the Royal Guardsmen look like terrorists.
Joshua and Estelle head to the Sanktheim Gate checkpoint and fill out the usual requisite paperwork to travel into another city. Unfortunately they get stopped there once identified as bracers because it seems the army is spreading tales that the terrorist Royal Guardsmen are disguising themselves as bracers. They only make it through because Professor Alba speaks up on their behalf and in exchange for his assistance Estelle and Joshua escort him to the city.
They arrive to Grancel without much problem, just a few rude soldiers stopping them at one point. They go their separate ways from Alba and head to the guild to change assignments as always when arriving to a new place.
They find out that being able to get an audience with the Queen isn't going to be an easy task at all. All Estelle and Joshua can do at this point is to gather intel pretty much. They head off to the castle for information and then head off to the Martial Arts Competition that is being held.
And they find out a very useful tidbit at the competition. It seems that Duke Dunan is being impulsive and giving an invitation to the castle for a dinner party to the winners. It is suggested to Estelle and Joshua to try and team up with Zane who was stuck having to fight alone and this is supported by Elnan, the guild receptionist. So they head off to find Zane, rescue a nun in the process and end up teaming up with Zane. It goes well except they also meet up with Olivier who ends up forcing his way onto the team.
So the next couple of days are pretty much the tournament. Joshua and Estelle do great in it with Zane and Olivier and they first beat the Ravens again, then the other bracer team and then the Special Ops team. The Special Ops team was an especially tricky foe because their commander had joined the team and was quite a fearsome opponent. And strangely, Joshua seemed to react very strangely to the commander of Special Ops, to the point that he asked Elnan to find out personal information on him, but there was little to be found.
But anyway, having secured their invitation, they go to the castle dinner. Here they meet up with the head maid, Hilda who helps them gain an audience with the Queen. There is one snag to it, though, they have to dress up as maids. And because of Estelle's twisted sense of humor, Joshua ends up as a maid too.
But before that they attend the dinner and find out just how far along Colonel Richard's plan truly is. There they hear an announcement that the Queen will be abdicating her throne to Duke Dunan, the others in attendance are stunned, but there is little anyone can do at this point, Colonel Richard played his cards well for now.
But Joshua and Estelle start towards being able to foil this plan. They meet with the Queen and find out what Colonel Richard said was all lies. The Queen wanted the princess to take the throne, but the princess was taken hostage to force her to instead fall into Colonel Richard's hands too. The Queen asks Estelle and Joshua to rescue Princess Klaudia.
So they head off to the Erbe Royal Villa along with the other bracers and the Royal Guardsmen and successfully rescue Klaudia who turns out to actually be Kloe! Estelle is definitely shocked at this. Once they gain control of the Villa and the Special Ops ship, Kloe asks them to rescue the Queen.
That was definitely no small task and was going to involve a lot of cooperation. Kloe did have a good plan though. She knew a way into the sewers that would allow a small group to break in and open the gates. Once the gate was open, the Intelligence Division soldiers would be distracted dealing with invaders and allow a small rescue group in. Estelle, Kloe and Schera end up in the rescue group. Joshua, Zane and Olivier are in the group that goes down to the sewers.
After a lot of battles, Estelle's group successfully liberates the Queen from her guards, the primary of which is the Commander of Special Ops, Lieutenant Lorence. Joshua and the others meet up with the Queen and because of Lorence's parting words about heading down below, they finally realize what the Colonel was after. He wanted to activate an artifact called the Shining Ring.
So they head below, and meet up again with Agate, Tita and Professor Russell. The whole group trudges their way through the sealed area and its dangerous mechanized monsters. They also have to fight Captain Amalthea again on the way down, but they make it and find Colonel Richard.
After listening to his long villainous tirade about why he's doing what he's doing, they fight him. They do win, but the Shining Ring activates anyhow and they are too late. They then have to fight off the Ring Guardian, Reverie.
One long and VERY tedious battle later they win, Cassius returns just in time to help them with the last part of it and things are good again. Colonel Richard and many other Intelligence Division members are arrested. The Queen's Birthday Celebration happens as normal and life seems good again.
Joshua and Estelle are given full-fledged bracer status and they find out Cassius is returning to the army. But that doesn't stop them from enjoying the festival. Joshua and Estelle spend their day taking in all the sights and eventually stop to talk and rest. Estelle blunders in what she says and ends up really embarrassed and runs away to buy ice cream for them both while she calms down.
During this time, Joshua is approached by Professor Alba and finally has his memories returned to him and this eventually spirals into his leaving Estelle to deal with his enemies once and for all.
So they went ahead and said their goodbyes to Kloe, who went ahead and saw them off as far as the Kaldia Tunnel that led to Zeiss. The group of them promised to see each other again in Grancel, Liberl's capital. And with that, Joshua and Estelle took off into the Kaldia Tunnel to make their way towards Zeiss.
The trip itself was mostly uneventful. Definitely far more so than their trip to Ruan had been. The only event of note was meeting an odd little girl as they got closer to Zeiss who seemed to be in a major hurry to fix a broken light. They couldn't blame her, broken lights did attract monsters, after all. But the idea of a girl of twelve being off to someplace likely infested with monsters worried both Joshua and Estelle, so they took off after the girl.
A good thing too, because when they arrived they found her being attacked by the monsters. Thankfully, both of them arrived in time to prevent the little girl from being made into monster food. They found out the girl's name was Tita and she was an apprentice at Zeiss' Central Factory, which is the biggest orbment factory in Zeiss, and quite possibly the whole continent. Definitely a good meeting, because Tita sure knows a lot about orbments, definitely far more than Estelle and Joshua combined, though not hard to know more than Estelle's lack of knowledge. In the hopes to keep the sweet girl safe from monsters, they escort her back the way they came and into Zeiss. In exchange, Tita showed them the way into the city so they didn't get lost in the immense factory the tunnel ends at.
Leaving Tita at the factory, the two of them head off the Zeiss' guild branch to go and do the assignment change deal they have to do in every city. There they meet the receptionist for Zeiss, a very unusual woman named Kilika who seems to be so good at predicting what they will need that Estelle thinks she has a super power to read minds. Kilika knows about the strange black orbment and hands the two of them a letter to meet up with the Central Factory's Chief, who also happens to be the closest thing to a mayor the city has.
They head off to the factory to meet the Chief, Mr. Murdock. Chief Murdock is happy to see Estelle and Joshua since like many the two of them have met, he knows their father and Cassius has done a great deal for him. So he looks over the black orbment and finds that it truly is a unique item. It is made of modern materials, but has no seams and no way to even open it up besides cutting it open. It also lacks any sort of markings or caliber to identify it. He's baffled by this and they all decide to have another person look at this strange orbment since he has more tools and according to the note Cassius got, the mysterious K who sent the note advised this man to look it over and analyze it anyhow. At the very least, Chief Murdock was able to answer the question of who Professor R was, that would be Professor Russell, one of the foremost scientific minds in Liberl. He calls for the professor's granddaughter to show them to the professor's house, and that turns out to be Tita. Seems that earlier meeting is even more lucky than they had originally thought.
Tita leads them to her house to meet her grandfather and they learn very quickly that Professor Russell isn't just a genius, he's a crazy genius. Joshua and Estelle find themselves roped into being assistants for his experiment on a new device to jam biosensor orbments. After that finishes up Professor Russell realizes his blunder and helps them out with investigating the black orbment.
The first thing they find out is that the metal the orbment is made from is not only an unknown metal, but it is impervious to normal cutting tools. The professor really wants to get the thing open since that will be the best way to tell what it can do. However, instead he decides to do a measurement scan on it. This seems like a harmless enough way to figure out what it can do, right?
Wrong. The scan activates the device and the power goes out in the entire city until the scanner is turned off. Thankfully this wasn't very long, so the people didn't panic too much, though there was definitely some curiosity about what was going on (though many suspected it was the professor up to no good...again). The professor calls this event the total orbal shutdown phenomenon.
The next day the professor decides to try a different route of figuring out what the black orbment will do. Unfortunately, it's ability to shut down orbal power is slowly growing to be a pain in their butts. Anything they try to use to cut it open is shut down. So he sends Estelle and Joshua off to get an old fashioned device called a combustion engine that should be laying around in the factory somewhere and some gasoline to power it.
With that mission accomplished, they attempt to use the professor's saw again to cut the black orbment open. The combustion engine is atrociously loud compared to the orbal engine, but it seems that does the trick, after a lot of sparks fly off the saw, there is a tiny scratch. Seriously, whatever that thing is made from is quite durable indeed. The professor knows he is going to have to go at it for most of the day (and go through quite a few saw blades) to get through this. Then he gets a call from a nearby village about their pump being broken. Since the professor is going to be working on cutting open the black orbment, Tita volunteers to go fix the pump and Estelle and Joshua say they will accompany her to ensure she is all right on the long trip.
They go off to Elmo village and Tita goes to fix the pump, leaving Estelle and Joshua to kill some time. They head back to the inn and the innkeeper asks about if they saw a woman from Grancel while they were coming in. Seems the woman wanted to leave the village to see the scenery. Joshua and Estelle go off after her before she becomes monster food.
It turns out the woman was Dorothy. Figures that only someone as ditzy as her would take off on such a careless venture. But Estelle and Joshua arrived just in time because she's about to be attacked by those creatures that attacked the checkpoint on their way into Ruan. Estelle and Joshua take care of them and escort Dorothy back to Elmo Village. They arrive at a great time because Tita just finished fixing the pump and the hot water is working great again.
Since it's late, and the innkeeper got a call from the professor that they should stay the night in the village, the group decides to enjoy a nice bath. Tita and Estelle take off to the women's baths, and Joshua to the men's. Tita and Estelle have some nice girl talk, mostly about if Joshua and Estelle are married or not and Estelle basically says that she'll be a big sister to Tita. The whole conversation leaves Estelle feeling really embarrassed, so to avoid the topics Tita is bringing up about Joshua, she heads off to the central bath, missing the fact that it is unisex.
She goes out there wearing only a towel and finds Joshua, alone. One would think with how much Estelle obviously is in love with him that she'd like this, but instead she ends up screaming so loudly that even the innkeeper comes running.
Poor Estelle is mortified at this point and takes her frustrations out on Joshua. This really soured the mood overall, so they go have dinner with Dorothy and then head to bed.
The next day they head back to Zeiss, on their way they meet a giant bracer from the Calvard Republic named Zane, who was headed to the hot spring. Once they return to Zeiss, they find that the Central Factory appears to be on fire with all the smoke coming out of it. The people are evacuating, but it appears that Professor Russell is still inside. Estelle and Joshua head inside to go find him and to deal with the smoke that turns out to just be smoke canisters.
And it seems that the strange guys dressed in black they ran into in Varenne Lighthouse are up to no good again. They find the professor being dragged away by these men and the men get away into the elevator and run into Agate. Joshua and Estelle pursue, but the elevator is far faster than the stairs.
It seems that the black clad men changed clothes while in the elevator, because everyone outside saw Royal Guardsmen escorting the Professor away and thought nothing strange of it. Dorothy even grabbed a few pictures to add to the story she wanted to write about the burglary, which unfortunately has turned into a kidnapping.
The army is called in to assist with this and Captain Amalthea comes personally to investigate and take witness reports. She takes Dorothy's picture from her and departs. Joshua and Estelle decide to also investigate this further and their lead leads them to Carnelia Tower. Agate comes with them because he's after the black clad men too, and especially wants to get them after his encounter with their commander after Varenne Lighthouse. They leave Tita in Zeiss, not aware that she will actually end up following them.
They find the black clad men and the professor at the top of the tower. The black clad men of course attempt to use their hostage to ensure their escape, but Agate comes up with a plan to deal with them. He's almost successful except Tita arrives at this point and messes up their plan. Agate ends up being shot and Tita is upset that not only the men got away with her grandpa, but Agate got hurt protecting her. Agate claims to be fine and advises they head back to Zeiss to report in to Kilika.
On their way back they run into Zane again and this is a good thing because right as they do, Agate passes out from his injury. Zane identifies that Agate was poisoned by a nerve toxin and helps Estelle, Joshua and Tita get him back to Zeiss and take him to the clinic. There isn't much the clinic can do because they don't have an antidote for this unknown poison and advise Estelle and Joshua head to the church and see if they know of a medicine that can help.
They do find out about a medicine that will help, but it requires a rare ingredient so off they go on a short quest to find this ingredient. Zane joins them for this, which is a good thing because the monsters in the cave where this ingredient is found are very dangerous. The medicine is prepared and given to Agate and he starts recovering. Tita looks after him as he recovers.
Estelle and Joshua report back in to the guild on Agate's condition and find out that Dorothy had run off to Leiston Fortress to take more pictures. This seems silly at first, but when they see her photograph they finally get a much needed lead on the kidnapping case. They can see the airship the black clad men used flying above the fort. This seems strange, because why would criminals fly so close to the army?
So Joshua and Estelle head off to Leiston Fortress to gather some more intel. They don't get much from the army itself, who is as usual, very uncooperative. But as the commander of the fortress goes back inside, they notice something strange. The gates won't close, and this seems to be a recent problem. Joshua guesses that it is the black orbment and the professor is inside. It's not a good realization, because that means the army is the one who kidnapped him when the army should be helping them. Also, as bracers, there is only so much they can do against the army. It is only by a tiny loophole in the rules that they can even act.
Chief Murdock offers assistance in the form of the maintenance airship that is permitted to fly to Leiston Fortress. It seems the army has actually ordered it to come there, so the timing is good. With the assistance of Tita and the device the professor had been making when Estelle and Joshua arrived, they get in. They find out it was Colonel Richard who was behind this all and he is up to some nefarious scheme in Grancel too (and the black clad men are part of the Intelligence Division). Once the colonel leaves, they break the professor out of the room. The alarms sound and they are pursued and nearly caught (in fact, the Sky Bandits did see them when they accidentally made their way into the jail), when Major Cid helps them escape. They get away, Agate takes Tita and the professor into hiding, and the professor bids Estelle and Joshua go to Grancel and tell the Queen of this black orbment and what happened.
So with that job in hand, Joshua and Estelle head off to the next city on their journey, and the last one, Grancel. It is arranged for them to take an airliner, but due to the mess at Leiston Fortress they end up having to take the highways instead. The military is definitely out searching for the now missing Professor Russell, and using that disappearance as a great way to make the Royal Guardsmen look like terrorists.
Joshua and Estelle head to the Sanktheim Gate checkpoint and fill out the usual requisite paperwork to travel into another city. Unfortunately they get stopped there once identified as bracers because it seems the army is spreading tales that the terrorist Royal Guardsmen are disguising themselves as bracers. They only make it through because Professor Alba speaks up on their behalf and in exchange for his assistance Estelle and Joshua escort him to the city.
They arrive to Grancel without much problem, just a few rude soldiers stopping them at one point. They go their separate ways from Alba and head to the guild to change assignments as always when arriving to a new place.
They find out that being able to get an audience with the Queen isn't going to be an easy task at all. All Estelle and Joshua can do at this point is to gather intel pretty much. They head off to the castle for information and then head off to the Martial Arts Competition that is being held.
And they find out a very useful tidbit at the competition. It seems that Duke Dunan is being impulsive and giving an invitation to the castle for a dinner party to the winners. It is suggested to Estelle and Joshua to try and team up with Zane who was stuck having to fight alone and this is supported by Elnan, the guild receptionist. So they head off to find Zane, rescue a nun in the process and end up teaming up with Zane. It goes well except they also meet up with Olivier who ends up forcing his way onto the team.
So the next couple of days are pretty much the tournament. Joshua and Estelle do great in it with Zane and Olivier and they first beat the Ravens again, then the other bracer team and then the Special Ops team. The Special Ops team was an especially tricky foe because their commander had joined the team and was quite a fearsome opponent. And strangely, Joshua seemed to react very strangely to the commander of Special Ops, to the point that he asked Elnan to find out personal information on him, but there was little to be found.
But anyway, having secured their invitation, they go to the castle dinner. Here they meet up with the head maid, Hilda who helps them gain an audience with the Queen. There is one snag to it, though, they have to dress up as maids. And because of Estelle's twisted sense of humor, Joshua ends up as a maid too.
But before that they attend the dinner and find out just how far along Colonel Richard's plan truly is. There they hear an announcement that the Queen will be abdicating her throne to Duke Dunan, the others in attendance are stunned, but there is little anyone can do at this point, Colonel Richard played his cards well for now.
But Joshua and Estelle start towards being able to foil this plan. They meet with the Queen and find out what Colonel Richard said was all lies. The Queen wanted the princess to take the throne, but the princess was taken hostage to force her to instead fall into Colonel Richard's hands too. The Queen asks Estelle and Joshua to rescue Princess Klaudia.
So they head off to the Erbe Royal Villa along with the other bracers and the Royal Guardsmen and successfully rescue Klaudia who turns out to actually be Kloe! Estelle is definitely shocked at this. Once they gain control of the Villa and the Special Ops ship, Kloe asks them to rescue the Queen.
That was definitely no small task and was going to involve a lot of cooperation. Kloe did have a good plan though. She knew a way into the sewers that would allow a small group to break in and open the gates. Once the gate was open, the Intelligence Division soldiers would be distracted dealing with invaders and allow a small rescue group in. Estelle, Kloe and Schera end up in the rescue group. Joshua, Zane and Olivier are in the group that goes down to the sewers.
After a lot of battles, Estelle's group successfully liberates the Queen from her guards, the primary of which is the Commander of Special Ops, Lieutenant Lorence. Joshua and the others meet up with the Queen and because of Lorence's parting words about heading down below, they finally realize what the Colonel was after. He wanted to activate an artifact called the Shining Ring.
So they head below, and meet up again with Agate, Tita and Professor Russell. The whole group trudges their way through the sealed area and its dangerous mechanized monsters. They also have to fight Captain Amalthea again on the way down, but they make it and find Colonel Richard.
After listening to his long villainous tirade about why he's doing what he's doing, they fight him. They do win, but the Shining Ring activates anyhow and they are too late. They then have to fight off the Ring Guardian, Reverie.
One long and VERY tedious battle later they win, Cassius returns just in time to help them with the last part of it and things are good again. Colonel Richard and many other Intelligence Division members are arrested. The Queen's Birthday Celebration happens as normal and life seems good again.
Joshua and Estelle are given full-fledged bracer status and they find out Cassius is returning to the army. But that doesn't stop them from enjoying the festival. Joshua and Estelle spend their day taking in all the sights and eventually stop to talk and rest. Estelle blunders in what she says and ends up really embarrassed and runs away to buy ice cream for them both while she calms down.
During this time, Joshua is approached by Professor Alba and finally has his memories returned to him and this eventually spirals into his leaving Estelle to deal with his enemies once and for all.