From what I recalled, Recilia had died in the original game right after she’d warned Rex that the city of Ars was being attacked and told him to run. It had been an incredibly depressing event to put so early on in the game, but it was obvious the developer’s plan had been to use it to instill a sense of urgency in the player.
Well, too bad! I thought, eyes narrowing. Screw the developer’s vision!
I focused in on my left hand and accessed my Inventory, which was a skill that everyone in Braves and Blades possessed. I then began pulling out as many healing items as I could, pouring them over Recilia’s injuries as I went. She let out a soft “Nnnngh,” as her wounds closed up in record time.
Having used up all the healing potions I had, I leaned over Recilia, assessing her condition. Her injuries appeared completely healed, and a little color had returned to her previously blanched complexion.
She should be good now, right? I thought with a rush of relief.
When I’d played through this event in BB before, Recilia was already on the verge of death when the protagonist’s party came across her. There’d also been no monsters in sight. Taken together, these facts made me suspect that we’d arrived at the scene earlier than normal, likely because we’d skipped the battle inside the Cavern of Trials with the demon.
In other words, my actions have altered the course of the game’s plot, even if it’s only slightly, I realized. I wonder—
“Hey, old man!” Radd erupted, having run up next to me as I was deep in thought. “What’re we gonna do now?! They’re coming for us!”
Looks like I’ll have to consider the ramifications of that later, unfortunately, I thought with a grimace. I glanced up, quickly catching sight of a contingent of gargoyles flying our direction. They must have noticed us from that spot where they were hanging around the city walls.
I reached over, hoisting Recilia’s body onto my back, then turned on my heel, leaving the city behind me. “We need to run,” I told the kids shortly.
“B-But what about the city?!” they cried in unison.
I sighed. “We can’t do anything.”
The truth was, saving the people of Ars was impossible at this point. The city’s gate had been shut from the inside, and even if we managed to get past it, the army of monsters rampaging behind Ars’s walls was way too strong to defeat. Even for Rex.
“But...that’s Mana’s hometown!” Radd said in a choked voice. “Her family and friends must still be...”
The pain in his words hit me right in the chest. All of a sudden, I realized how coldhearted I must have sounded, making those short, clinical statements. Even if I had come to the most logical conclusions. Aghast, I turned toward Mana.
She stared down at the ground for a second, as if to steel herself. “Rex is right,” she said a few moments later. “We need to run.”
“I’m sorry, Mana,” I said softly.
I really did feel guilty about leaving the people of Ars to die, but even if we busted our way in there, we’d only manage to add our own names to the death toll. We’ve gotta get moving as soon as possible.
“But, um, Rex?” Mana asked hesitantly. “Which way should we run?”
“Oh... Well, I guess we...” I trailed off.
Mana’s question had reminded me of yet another cruel fact about the storyline tied to the protagonist who was a young boy that dreamed of becoming an adventurer.
If you started BB by choosing that backstory, the game would inform you that the makeup of your starting party depended on the choices you made during the story’s initial arc. To get specific, the game was referring to the choice you made here, after Recilia gave you her warning and died. As the player, you’d be given the option of fleeing from Ars to one of two different towns: the tiny fishing village of Umina to the north, or the larger town of Rixia, which lay to the east beyond the Cavern of Trials. Whichever city I chose, it would decide our fate.
From what I remembered, if we went east to Rixia, we’d be ambushed by a group of gargoyles right before we reached the safety of the town. In the game, I—or rather, Rex—fought as hard as he could to protect the newbie adventurers, but ultimately failed due to how badly outnumbered the protagonist’s party was. As a result, everyone died except for Rex and the protagonist.
If we went north to Umina, on the other hand, a powerful level 60 doom demon would start chasing us. In the game, Rex opted to stay behind and let the rest of the party flee, protecting them the best he could by fighting off the monster. In that portion of the storyline, the newbie adventurers all survived and safely reached Umina, but Rex ended up dying during his fierce struggle against the doom demon.
It had been a truly difficult choice to make as a player, and was even more difficult now that I was actually inside the game. If I took us east, I’d be consigning three promising youngsters to death, and if I went north, I’d be the one dying instead! No matter what I decided, there were going to be casualties.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” I muttered, cold sweat pouring down my forehead.
This is total bullshit! I mean, come on. I’m just some regular old guy from modern Japan! I lived a life of luxury, with practically no hardships! You can’t just ask me to choose who lives and who dies like this...
“Old man, they’re getting closer!” Radd snapped.
I looked up. The gargoyles had indeed closed the distance between us considerably. There was no more time to deliberate. I grit my teeth and inwardly cursed the writer who came up with this story event.
What should I do? I thought desperately. What’s the right choice?
Everyone looked at me, waiting for me to make the final decision.
If we just stay here, in the field next to Ars, we’ll all get killed. And if I choose Rixia, then... I closed my eyes, remembering the last time I’d played through the event.
❈❈❈
“We made it! Look, Rixia’s right there!”
“We’re saved!”
“Let’s hurry! We need to let everyone know about what happened to Ars!”
The party of rookie adventurers had run toward the town, spirits high. I’d watched them sadly, already knowing what was about to happen. From what I’d looked up online, no matter what choice you made during the Sack of Ars event, someone in your party was bound to die. There was no avoiding it, so I’d gone ahead and chosen what I felt was the best choice—to go east, sacrificing the three newbie adventurers in favor of keeping Rex.
“Wait!” Rex had yelled. “Don’t rush ahead like that...”
Unfortunately, the excited youngsters had paid no heed to the senior adventurer’s warning. And in that very moment, the harbingers of their death had descended from above.
“Run! It’s a gargoyle ambush!” my character had screamed as the gargoyles spread their pitch-black wings and shot toward the party.
Rex could easily have taken on the creatures one at a time, since he was an experienced adventurer and the gargoyles were mid-level monsters. The problem was, in order to be able to save the newbie adventurers, he’d have to fight his way through the line of gargoyles blocking his path. It would take time for him to do so, and in that time...the three young kids would die.
As the protagonist, I’d been safe, so I’d stood watching from a distance, my gaze impassive as the group of young adventurers had been slaughtered.
“S-Stop! I can’t die here, I’m going to become a hero, and—”
“Nooo! I don’t wanna die!”
“M-Mommy! It hurts...”
Even after they’d died, the pained screams of the newbie adventurers had echoed in my ears.
Rex had slain the last of the gargoyles near him mere moments later, striding the last few steps to where the young adventurers lay.
“I couldn’t reach them in time...” he’d mumbled, voice tight.
Of the original party, only Rex and I, playing as the protagonist, had been left alive. We’d begun to trudge our way onward toward Rixia, mourning the loss of our companions, all while sad music had slowly faded in from the background.