Looks like FeeNix is walking off towards the other side of the town. I added him onto my Friends List because it doesn’t hurt having more contacts, especially when I haven’t met many people in this game yet. He is pretty interesting; I’ll give him that.

When we were entering the town, he did bring up a good topic which I haven’t thought about enough. Or I guess my mindset so far wasn’t like how I’d like it to be, probably because I’m slowly becoming sleepier. Basically, I haven’t been thinking enough about exploring more widely in this game. Besides the city hall, there should be plenty of other places at this town where I should actively try and explore, just for the sake of it. I’ve been going on about how this is like another world and how immersed I am in it, but I haven’t looked into it as closely as I want to. I guess so far, I’ve been trying to avoid the exploration aspects of this game, simply because it’s so large that it has (I think) subconsciously overwhelmed me.

I did leave the Starter Town to adventure, but in my mind, I’ve been thinking about the activities I want to do in very linear ways. Go to Village A, finish quest, go to Town B, finish those quests, etc. After what FeeNix mentioned, i've decided that I now want to actively branch off more in what I do, so that I can experience everything more naturally. Of course, “experiencing more” is also one of my core overarching goals I’ve already set for myself in this game after I met Fate-Fan. So nothing is fundamentally changing about how and what I want to play. I just needed to remind myself that at any moment I could try to look for an almshouse or a bazaar, instead of strictly following the quests until completion. Why? Well, just because I can! I’m the player and this is a game. Why even have the power of a Divine Spirit if you aren’t going to use it!

So, with all that being said about me branching off to find new things to experience. Will it be done right away? Of course not. I’m going to find the city hall first!

It’s called a “city hall” but this is a town, so that’s bit strange. Maybe because a “town hall” isn’t as bureaucratically complex as this large town requires? I mean, if Susana grows a bit bigger, than it’ll become a city anyways. This building should be located somewhere around the center of the town, so I’ll head there. I want to get the town pass just in case I’ll be heading in and out often, and I’ll anyways need to get there by tomorrow night so I can proceed with the request quest I have.

Me and Eseli are walking down this main street, and on both sides, it looks like there are conveniently a lot of shops and other useful things for players to find at one place. The number of NPCs I see isn’t as much as I imagined but there is still a very fair amount for the size of this settlement. Certainly, a lot more than there are in the village or Starter Town. Perhaps most of them are inside buildings, I guess it is the afternoon so maybe it’s too hot for some of them to hang around outside? Besides the regular movement of laborers and merchants, I do see some townspeople here and there. Okay, I guess this is still a lot of NPCs, it’s just that this road is very, and I don’t see any of them crowded together. Anyways, it’s too much for a game like this to have. MMORPGs don’t usually have a lot of NPCs walking around, let alone have their own entire personalities, needs, and wants. In this respect, Divine Mortality is certainly taking a lot of inspiration from singleplayer open world RPGs.

Wait, Eseli isn’t next to me…and she isn’t hanging onto Amulet. Where did she go? I guess I need to walk back near to the town’s entrance.

Oh, I found her sooner than I expected to. She’s standing still and looking at a building. Ah, I see. It’s a café. And there are cakes roughly drawn on a sign board in display.

Did cafes or cakes even exist in the Middle Ages? I don’t know but this is a fantasy world after all.

Eseli: “…nnn…finally sweet stuff…”

I guess this is my other “quest” I planned on doing. Well, I’ll be learning more about Eseli sooner than I expected. I did tell her I’ll buy her something to eat. I hope 150 silver coins will be enough for whatever we buy.

Looks like I’m going into conversation mode with Eseli now. While she’s taking short steps to get slowly closer towards the shop.

MC: “Looks like we’ve found a place where I can buy you something sweet.”

Eseli: “…Let’s go inside…!”

She doesn’t normally sound excited, but this time I could actually feel her excitement, even though she’s still monotone as ever.

MC: “Alright, let’s go in”

This is the first time we’re actively moving while still in conversation mode. Usually, the characters and I stand relatively still while talking, but now the conversation window (dialogue options) hasn’t closed yet like it usually automatically does.

The shop from the outside looks pretty small. There are a couple wooden benches in front of it but nothing more. Besides the sign with a rough depiction of a cake and the name of the shop “Madam Pink”, I don’t see anything immediately impressive. Yet, as I enter inside, I can immediately tell that this shop’s environment is really cozy. The shop/café fairly thin, but it extends far before reaching its backside. I can see some bookshelves at the top backside, there is a sturdy thick ladder attached to a second-floor platform so that a person can reach those books. A little farther back, below the second-floor platform with the bookshelves, there is what seems to be the counter for the shop owner. A door leads even farther back, I assume that’s where the kitchen is. And everything in between the backside of the shop to the frontside where we are at, are seats and small round tables. Above us is two parallel tall windows which shine bright light into the shop. Besides that, there are many candles placed around. Besides all the other fantasy or medieval like objects, this looks like a real life modern trendy café. Which I haven’t actually ever been in, but I’ve seen enough videos and pictures of them before.

I didn’t need to select any dialogue for Eseli to quickly step towards the counter and ring a small bell. She then rapidly turns around to look at me, as a way to motion for me to walk towards the counter as well. Oh well, I go.

A tall lady spins into view as she welcomes us to her shop.

Orana: “Welcome…welcome! To the one and only cake shop in all of Susana, called “Madam Pink”! My name is Orana, Orana Galesia, pleasure to greet you two.”

The only cake shop in Susana? I guess I’m glad that Eseli managed to find it.

This tall lady who calls herself Orana Galesia looks like a Himen to me. Not only is she pretty tall, but her skin color is bronze-like. Yet her medium length hair is light blondish, especially at the tips. I’m not sure if that hair color is common among Himenians or not, but she certainly appears differently to me than the other human-like people I’ve seen. I guess there are more Lumenians in these parts than Himenians? She’s also wearing an expensive looking dress; it has flower patterns woven onto it. I feel like Orana Galesia is a high-class person, she gives off that sort of vibe.

Eseli didn’t even glance at Orana, instead she’s been staring at a simple menu that was drawn on a large wooden board hanging on a wall. It looks like the offers more than just cakes. Actually, it looks like there is only one type of cake selectable to buy. Everything else common café or bar food and drinks. And no, I’m reading this off the object’s description which I tapped on, the actual menu itself is in another language which I can’t read.

Orana: “Ahm!”

Oh right, I’m the one talking here. Since Elesi is a no better than an actual pet cat or a quiet child, I feel like her guardian. The dialogue options for me to respond with fazed out and changed to the appropriate scenario. Instead of asking Elsei something, the dialogue options changed to the possible responses I reply to Orana with.

One of these response options even allows me to stay silent, effectively ignoring Orana like how Elesi is. That would be kind of funny. But I don’t want to annoy this lady who gave us a warm introduction, so I’ll properly greet her.

MC: “Greetings Orana Galesia, my name is Amulet Pond.”

Orana: “Greetings onto you too. But who is this one?”

MC: “Elesi”

Orana: “Well, this Elesi looks infatuated with the menu. May I know what you wish to purchase?”

MC: “A cake. Elesi seeks to eat something sweet, so she followed her nose and found this place.”

Orana: “Oh good! A cake it is. My specialty, too bad not many people have been ordering it recently…”

MC: “Is business bad? May I ask why?”

Orana: “No, nothing as dramatic as that. But it could be better. These townsmen in the west simply seem not to carry a sweet tooth with them. So, they’ll only purchase my cakes during special events. And not everyone carries much coin around. So, the chances of them purchasing a cake, which they’ll simply eat once and be over with, is low to say the least.”

“Is that an accent I hear?” is the next possible response choice I can choose. But I don’t hear an accent from her? Well, I guess that depends on perspective, I’ll just pick this choice and listen closely to her voice lines.

MC: “Is that an accent I hear”

Orana: “Why yes, it is. Are you well-traveled? Have you been to the cities in the southeast?”

Now that I’ve listened closely, she does sound a bit “exotic”. I don’t know what it reminds me of, but she does definitely look the way she sounds like. Also, no I haven’t been to the southeast or any city. Actually, I’m a Divine Spirit who came literally from another world, but you don’t need to know that! However, I do wish to become “well-traveled” eventually.

MC: “No, I am not well traveled but your way of speaking of the townspeople hear sounds like you’ve migrated here.”

Orana: “I’ll tell you what, since your friend Elesi is beginning to drool on my countertop, I will begin baking the cake at the back. But we may continue our chat while you take a seat here. What do you say?”

Is Elesi actually drooling? She is! Does Divine Mortality really need to add “adjust glasses” or “drooling” features to their game? These aren’t even simple animations but is actually what is physically happening in-game.

Sure Orana, let’s chat while you start baking the cake because knowing this game it’ll actually take a while before the cake is baked.

MC: “Yes we may, I do not mind.”

Orana: “Good! I’ll keep the door open while I’ll start making the cake. Oh, should I add my specialty to the cake? Pink frosting, like your hair color Amulet!”

The AI can even comment on my hair color? It’s crazy! Whatever, I’ll sit down on this stool by the counter and make Elesi do that too.

Orana: “Alright…so where were we? Ah yes, I am indeed a migrant who has fairly recently arrived at this city. A year ago, and no, not during the war but before that.”

Good thing that this conversation seems like it will continue for a while. Because there are a lot of available questions I can ask her, and I personally also want to learn more about some of these topics…such as…

MC: “The war? Could you tell me what you know about the war?”

Orana: “A bit of a strange question to ask, since my experience of the war was pretty much like anyone else’s. I assume no different from you. You know, the usual tensions among people of different races and groups anywhere you went. Harsh rules temporarily set in place by local authorities, and a lot of general sadness for many people in many countries. Awful war. Oh! In case you were referring to whether I personally took part in something like the battles or work for a warlord, I did not! Even as a former citizen of Lunaria, I had no part of it.”

A former citizen of Lunaria? Is she referring to the Lunar Empire? She must be. I was confused why all the sudden she got a bit concerned after thinking that I was referring to whether she took part of the war or not. No ma’am, I wasn’t asking about that. I don’t even know anything about “the war” besides that it existed a year ago. According to the currently small encyclopedia for this game and what the monk NPC said to me yesterday.

MC: “Why did you come to Susana a year ago? Wasn’t it strange to be a citizen of Lunaria after the war started?”

I picked that response because I hope it’ll tell me more lore.

She isn’t instantly answering me because she’s in the middle of making a cake, so I wait for a moment before she responds again.

Orana: “Yes, it indeed was strange at first. My arrival here over a year ago was merely a coincidence. It’s a long story, but to shorten it, its origin lay with my father. He was a lesser aristocrat who had advocated the “incorrect” policies which costed him his liberty. The last thing I’ve learned about him is that he was imprisoned, but that was before the war had started. When I returned from one of my travels, I had quickly learned about his imprisonment. Me and him never had a fruitful relationship. So, when a close friend of mine, who also knew about my father’s situation, had recommended me to quickly flee the city we were at, I did so right away. Otherwise, I could’ve shared his fate. I would’ve stayed somewhere else within the Lunar Empire, but my gut feeling told me that I would be better off in a more different environment. So, I went northwest and eventually arrived here at Susana. I turned out to be lucky because of two things. The war started when I arrived at Susana, but now after it has ended my country is now basically shattered. By the sounds of things, it isn’t such a pleasant place to live in anymore. But more importantly, the lord-mayor here really wanted to eat cakes at that time. So, when I arrived at this town, he instantly gave me this little shop to have a place to bake my cakes and sell it to him and the other townspeople. Just so you know, out of everything you’ve heard about the lord-mayor, one thing I can say for certain is that he’s a skillful steward who knows how to manage money very well.

Her backstory is very interesting…but my attention switched midway through when I realized that Eseli wasn’t stuck looking at the menu anymore but has now sneaked past me towards the kitchen like the cat she is. Slyly peeking into it. I tried to call out to her and move my arms around to signal her to come back, but of course she doesn’t see me, and she certainly can’t hear my real voice telling her to stop trespassing.