Ouka
“ROCHE? He’s a good kid.”
“He’s a hard worker and courteous.”
“He was always practicin’ his Engrave Incantations and the like.”
“He didn’t have that corrupted look in his eye like most of the street kids ‘round here.”
“I haven’t seen ‘im around lately. Maybe he found a better life for ‘imself?”
Ouka traveled around Chest Island inquiring about Roche, and only heard good things about the boy. Walking all over the place paid off, in that he had gathered a decent amount of information by nightfall. That would be the case, at least, if the man calling himself Jair truly was the same person as Cliff’s master, Roche.
Ouka read off the notes he had taken up until that point. “Street child Roche is in his late-teens, last name unknown. He settled in Shoulder Coast Station a few years back. He’s highly skilled in creating Golems and he worked part-time at Flank Beach Market’s Akizu Company, huh?”
Ouka paid a visit to Flank Beach Market after gathering that much information. He stood in front of the barracks belonging to Akizu Company and knocked on the solid door. It didn’t open until after a long silence.
A clearly exhausted man appeared from inside the barracks. He was likely the shop owner. “Oh…sorry, I’ve just closed up shop for the day.”
Ouka tried cutting straight to the point. “I’m not a customer. I’m Ouka Baraki; I run a factory on Heartbreak Hill. I wanted to ask you about something.”
“…What is it?”
“It’s about the boy Roche, who used to work here.” The owner’s puffy eyelids flew open. Ouka went on, “I’ve heard no one has seen Roche around lately. Do you know where he is?”
“Beats me. I wouldn’t know. He was the kind o’ kid who didn’t talk ‘bout himself much,” the owner answered him in an unclear, doddering tone. A difficult type to obtain information from.
“Is that so? But you know…there’s a high chance he’s involved in a major crime. I’m going around gathering information on him because his crimes can’t be overlooked.”
“What crime?”
“I’m acting on behalf of the Church. You might be in for world of trouble if you don’t cooperate with me. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”
The owner’s eyes instantly narrowed, flashing Ouka a sharp, keen glare. “…I was wonderin’ where I’ve seen yer face before, and then it hit me. Yer the mine’s Illegal Golem Artificer, ain’t ya? That’d put us in the same boat, but the look in yer eyes ain’t like ours.” His tone had changed.
Ouka glared back at him despite himself. The corners of the owner’s lips curled up. “There ya go. Those are the eyes. Ya’ve got the eyes of a bloody Rabbi.”
The gig was up. The man had figured him out, but he couldn’t back down now.
“Yeah, I do. I’m a former Rabbi.”
“I wonder why a former Rabbi such as yerself is digging into Roche.”
“‘Cause he’s wandering the length of this island with somethin’ dangerous. Somethin’ dangerous enough to turn the whole archipelago on its head.”
“He’s got something dangerous? Ya shouldn’t lie through yer teeth. He’s not that kinda kid.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
The shop owner gaped at him. “…What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The more I hear about Roche in my investigation, the more he sounds like the complete opposite of who I’m searchin’ for. That’s why I want to know who Roche is for sure, so that I don’t make a mistake,” Ouka told him, his tone serious, earnest. He bowed his head to the speechless owner, knowing that it was now or never. “Please. Tell me everything you know ‘bout your version of Roche.”
The owner contemplated his request for a long while before he finally revealed Roche’s history. “…He came to this town about eight years ago. He would’ve been around seven or eight at the time. But he didn’t tell nobody where he came from, or who his parents were. Not like anybody cared though.”
“How did you meet him?”
“He’s the one who came to me, askin’ if he could work part-time at my shop. I would’ve normally never hired a kid, but he surprised me by sayin’ he could use Remote Engrave Incantation at his age.”
“Remote Engrave Incantation?! I-I can’t even use that! Sounds like he was really something, right from the get-go.”
“Yeah. So he started working ‘bout three times a week at this shop. His Engrave Incantations really added value to my merchandise and he worked hard, so it was great for me.”
“What happened after that?”
“He spent the entire time creatin’ Golems for practice. Seemed like he wanted to enroll in Head Island’s academy. He ended up taking the exam to become a special scholarship student, and passed it by some miracle or another.”
“He enrolled in St. Rollins Academy? You sure about that?”
“Yeah. A kid from this neighborhood gettin’ admitted to that fancy-pants academy as a scholarship student is nothing short of a miracle. He should’ve left Chest Island last spring for the Academy’s dorms.”
Ouka clenched his hands into fists. The pieces of the puzzle he had failed to see—what connected Roche to Jair, and the two of them to Lovel and the other kids—all fell into place. The dorm was the clue that connected Roche, who seemed unrelated, to the overall picture.
“The dorms! That’s it! Thanks, I got the information I needed.”
“I only helped ya out because ya don’t seem like a horrible person for a former Rabbi scumbag. Please lend Roche a hand.”
“I will,” Ouka agreed, and left Akizu Company.
He had decided on his next location already. The Academy’s dorms were the one node on the disconnected diagram of clues that linked Roche, Erie, and Lovel to each other. He ordered Dram to gallop there at once, but his partner suddenly stopped on the way.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Dram?” Ouka said, only to realize the answer after he asked. Dram’s Restrictor was “can’t move for more than two hours a day.” He was reaching his time limit for the day.
The always valiant Dram rubbed his face with his paw like a sleep deprived cat. He had about ten minutes of activity left in him at most.
“I’ve had you run me all over the place since morning today, huh, buddy… Head Island isn’t far from here. I’ll just walk.”
Ouka wanted to save his last ten minutes for any unexpected throw downs. He ordered Dram to lie in wait on the side of the road, and walked the rest of the way to Head Island.