Track 1: Sophie’s Departure
The drama essentially starts leading off of the events of the game’s ending (well, actually it’s copied from the official drama CD but w/e) where Asbel and Sophie watch the kazahana.
Scene switch to dinnertime at the Lhant’s. Kelly wants Asbel to meet with another noble family from Balonia and hints oh so subtly that they have a cute daughter around his age. He suspiciously asks her if she’s trying to set him up and Kelly only replies with how it’d be nice to meet them and get better acquainted. Asbel admits that he doesn’t really like doing these formal events and relates how it was a lot more fun just casually eating curry with his friends when they were travelling. Clearly, Kelly is ashamed that Asbel loves eating curry so much because she calls him childish over it while he refutes that it is the most awesomest dish ever and you should eat it all the time. Her shame is practically radiating off her and she tearfully expresses her dissappointment. Sophie calms her down. Topic switch! Sophie wonders where the kazahana went and Kelly says that she can check out Aston’s books and is impressed with how Sophie is interested in learning… and obviously follows it up with a remark on how Asbel wasn’t studious at all. The guy himself is pretty desperate to leave the table and man, I don’t blame him after Kelly was sniping at him for the whole meal.
To Aston’s library! They get a book about flowers and learn that the kazahana are actually Krosophie seeds. Sophie insists on following them.
/cue intro
On the front lawn, Sophie’s ready to set up and obviously Asbel’s reluctant to let her go alone and wants to follow along; however, he still has his job to do and nobles to meet and stuff. Sophie says she’ll come back after she finds “the Krosophie’s children” and Asbel lets her go. As she leaves, he calls after her with various warnings even as she goes out of sight. Kelly is all K about it because he’s worrying too much. In any case, Asbel doesn’t to be able to let the matter go, so he resolves to follow Sophie by using “that”.
Track 2: The Masked Knight, “Masque de A*”
We start off with Cheria healing a bunch of soldiers as part of her job. They call her “the Angel of the Battlefield” and she tells them to stop calling her that; didn’t she say that before? The soldiers are like, oh right, yeah you did say that, but that person kept saying it, soooooo. Cheria wonders who “that person” is.
And then Raymond appears. He introduces himself and says how it was Cheria who taught him about love (or something like that). In any case, he’s pretty dramatic about it. But wait, there’s more! He even wrote a book about it called “Legend of Raymond” and you can get it for only 2000 gald- and then Cheria interrupts him.
Cheria: Mister* Raymond! What are you doing?!
Raymond: Oh, Miss Cheria! To be able to meet you in a place like this - surely, it must be ~fate~!
Random soldier # 1: Fate? This guy’s been following Cheria-san this whole time…
Random soldier # 2: …Yep.
Anyways, Cheria basically tells Raymond to keep his voice down since there are recovering patients here, not to mention what’s the deal with that book he’s showing around. This opens up a whole new can of beans for her and Raymond insists on flipping through it and showing her excerpts of the text. (Not sure about this bit, but the one he describes might be about how Cheria healed him after she was saved.) In any case, that passage moves him to tears and he starts crying, quickly making this One Of The Most Awkward Days Ever for Cheria. Amazingly, even while he cries he still manages to find more parts of the book to point out. Cheria has finally had enough and nervously tells him that she has to get going to meet His Majesty.
Clearly, this is the wrong thing to say.
Raymond thinks to himself that just when he thought that feudal lord was gone, now King Richard is taking her attention. He’s determined not to lose to Richard and ends his disturbingly possessive thoughts with evil laughter.
As it turns out, both Random Soldier #1 and #2 heard Raymond because he was talking out loud. So did Cheria. (Cue more awkward laughter on her part.) Cheria, probably kind of desperate to escape by now, quickly changes the subject to, “I’m going to get going now, so please don’t do anything weird, okay?” Raymond obviously says he’ll oblige and cheerfully waves her off; when he sees the other two soldiers not doing so, he berates them for it until they do.
Random soldiers #1 and #2: H-have a nice trip.
Raymond: You’re too quiet!
Random soldiers #1 and #2: H-have a nice trip!
Raymond: Not yet! Is that really all you can do?
Random soldiers #1 and #2: HAVE A NICE TRIP!
Of course, they both wonder why the hell they’re even listening to Raymond and promptly decide to beat him up. Possibly with weapons.
Anyways, their fun is interrupted by Sophie, who tells them to stop by… offering them money. Apparently she's offering to buy Raymond. The soldiers seem confused about this and Sophie explains that she "read in a book that someone saved a bullied tortoise by purchasing it***" . (Raymond is offended with being compared to a tortoise, btw.) In any case, Sophie doesn’t seem to recognize just who she saved even after Raymond introduces himself. He tries to shrug off the disappointment of being forgotten by mentioning that it’s not like he would want her to remember that he was the one who confined Cheria, although apparently mentioning that jogged Sophie’s memory so that she remembers him being “that person that bullied Cheria”. Gj, Raymond.
He manages to convince her that he’s not a bad person and gives her his epic novel and some-other-thing-I-can’t-make-out (as thanks for saving him) but Sophie refuses it, destroying his self-esteem. (Okay, that last bit was a lie.) But anyways, he wonders why she won’t accept his stuff and Sophie replies with how Asbel told her not to take things from suspicious people. Obviously he is quite stricken by being called suspicious and demands that she take it back. Sophie agrees and stuff is settled.
Raymond then wonders why Sophie’s alone and she explains Asbel’s in Lhant because of his job. Raymond is happy to hear that (I think he says something like he thought Asbel was going to take Cheria back to Lhant?) and at the mention of Cheria, Sophie asks if she was here. He tells her she went to Balonia and Sophie tells him she’ll to go there too, although Raymond doesn’t care… at first. Then he goes into a loud monologue on how it’s a perfect chance to get inside the castle… and is somehow surprised when Sophie figures out that he wants to get inside the castle. A lot more politely than before, he asks her to let him go with her (says stuff about how it would be tough for him to do because he’s from Strahta) and Sophie agrees, saying she’ll vouch for him.
Just when the two are about to set off on their merry way, Raymond gets a surprise Shuntotsu to the face from someone who sounds suspiciously like Asbel wearing a mask.
Raymond: Ouch… Just who the hell are you?!
Masked person who sounds suspiciously like Asbel: Have you forgotten me already? I’m A-aahhhh…-
‘That’s right, I dressed like this because I didn’t want Sophie to recognize me!’
Asbel: I’m the masked knight, “Masque de A”!
Raymond: The masked knight?
Sophie: “Masque de A”?
Asbel: Heh.
Sophie: …A suspicious person?
Asbel: D;!!!! S-suspicious…!
Raymond adds his own two cents on how suspicious it is and Asbel says he doesn’t want to hear that coming from Raymond. Not completely sure on this, but I think Asbel mentions that he’s heard that Raymond’s been stalking following Cheria around. In any case, he disapproves and won’t let Raymond lay a hand on Sophie. Raymond insists he was protecting Cheria and points out that it’s pretty odd for definitely-not-Asbel to randomly know Sophie’s name (Cheria gets a pass because he thinks she’s just that awesome). Asbel has no good excuse, so clearly the answer is a good helping of Genma Shoureppa to the face. He tells Sophie to flee in the meantime and she does, while Raymond recovers and the two prepare to fight moar.
*"Masque d'A" would look stupid and you know it.
**She calls him “Raymond-san”, and I didn’t know what else to translate it to. :T
***"A Japanese folk tale about Urashima Tarou involves a fisherman by that name finding three children bullying and teasing a turtle. When they ignore Tarou's protests to leave the turtle alone, Tarou offers to buy the tortoise from them, and then releases the turtle back into the sea." Much love for clearing that up,
enzanijuuin!
Maybe after this and if someone confirms my summaries aren't horrifically inaccurate I'll do the Vesperia anthologies. WE'LL SEE!