A double return

It's a pun, and you're gonna love them when we get there.

We left off just before the Southern Tower and the unnamed abbey. Maria is the key, but she doesn't join in on the battles. Sure could use some heals, holy woman! Regardless, climbing the tower is, somewhat, easy. There's no boss at the top, so don't hold back on your way up. There are several paths, with most of them leading to treasure. There are dead ends, though, and you can fall from each floor, sending you back to the start. When you get to the top, you find the Mirror of Ra. I don't know what Ra has to do with truth and illusions, but it's mystical, so it works. Climbing up the tower, Abel gained enough EXP to level up and learn a spell called Outside. Outside is Dragon Quest's version of Exit. Using it will warp up out of the dungeon, and I plan to use this often going forward. With the mirror in hand, we, including Maria, warp back to Reinhardt.

Young Dale is missing from the throne room, but the Chancellor informs us Dale freed the captive empress, and both are now above us. Other NPC's tell us the two of them fought, but they're sitting still for us now. Using the mirror on one reveals an old woman, and the other is a monster. The monster, seeing the jig is up, attacks.

Despite not being fully prepared, I won. Imposter summons help from time to time, but that help only goes so far. Her damage output isn't very high, and her ads are random mobs we've already killed. Of all the boss fights, she's been the easiest.

When the dust settles, the true queen is remorseful for her actions. Dale, and everyone else, talks Henry into becomes a king again. He only joins on in an advisor type role, though, which is sufficient for everyone around. Peace has been restored in Reinhardt, and people celebrate in the streets. Maybe, more importantly, we learn that ship travel has resumed in Vista.

Heading there to explore new lands, I learn we can only advance with the monster wagon. I don't have any monsters, so I just have this annoying horse and cart on my screen now. Seems unnecessary and a little bit ugly, if I'm honest. Regardless, it's a safe trip to the town of Port Belmi. Upgrade your equipment and head to the tavern up north to participate in a bar fight. We see a man being accosted for his 3000 gold, and we jump in to save him. The mobs are your everyday affair, so whatever. The man then tells us about his village. It's being attacked by a ferocious monster, and the citizens have raised a 3000 gold bounty to anyone who can slay the beast. He gives us 1500 upfront if we say we'll take the job. Heading south to Kabocki reveals a rural village where everyone has an accent. As a linguist, I love accents in games. Speak to the elder, and he'll say the monster invades from the west. Far in that direction is the cave in question. It's a very short dungeon, and I even managed to skip over a fellow hunter. At the bottom of the place is a very welcome sight. It's Boronogo! I didn't have the heart to try to attack him, so I used Bianca's Ribbon. Boro smelled the ribbon and immediately recognized who I was. I had come to miss Henry, so I needed a trusted companion, and Boro had been the best one. Not only does he join the group, but he moves away from a sword in the ground. Our friend cat had been protecting Papas' Sword for all these years. I exited the cave and went to get the rest of my reward. Everyone thinks I set this whole thing up to swindle the gold, but they pay me anyway.

Next up was to travel even more to the west to the town of Auraphin. Everyone is talking about the crazy scientist in the smoking house, so we make our way to him through the labyrinthine walls. He tells us he's researching ancient spells and knows of a way to teach them. He sends us off on a quest to find a herb from the northwest peninsula. The herb can only be found at night, so walk around on the world map until the day/night cycle changes. It'll light up to indicate the locations. Pick it, and return to town. Wake the old man up, and he'll throw it into the pot. I take back everything I said about the graphical quality of DQV. These explosions were fascinating. When everyone comes to, the old man will ask us if we know any new spells. Opening the spell menu reveals that Abel knows the spell Return, which allows us to go back to any city we've visited. Except for Santa Rosa and Alpaca, for some reason. Further investigation of nearby towns reveals Henry got married and wants us there. So I'll be returning to Reinhard...

...tomorrow!

I have mixed feelings on how the Reinhardt stuff ended. We know the queen kidnapped Henry, but she's just allowed to hang around? But I did love how the NPCs in the town, 1.) grow in number, and 2.) are quite jubilant. I feel like my actions have consequences which is what video games should be about. And this game was made in 1992!