I didn't really see anything else after the first initial meeting with all of the Merchants in Ruby's memory, but I did find out what they were selling.
Drugs.
It almost made me laugh, even this world had big drug rings! But, it also made me upset, knowing that Ruby idolized her father without knowing what he did.
But is it really that bad in this world? This world does have different rules, and it could be a good career... judging by the secrecy, I'm more inclined to believe that it isn't, but I'm not one to judge.
Whatever brings in the money. I had a habit of doing that as well.
I walked out of the room Ruby's memories were playing in and the entire thing collapsed into dust and pushed the rooms more toward the left. The next room was simply a record player, and once I played it, I was met with audio. Why did this world have record players?
"Today is the day that I move out of Gaia to go meet this new Hero guy. I'm not really sure if he's a good person or anything, but I don't really have anything else to do. My dad is gone and I can't trace him, my Mom either died or is missing from the collapse of Gaia... and I'm here." Ruby said.
This is lining up so far with what I learned about her previously... but I wonder if any details within it were hidden from me.
"That Hero guy... one of them was here. I'm not sure which one, but he didn't realize I was calling out to him. I lost my voice and I was trying to stare at him until he felt my gaze, but he never did. I want to bring it up with him next time I see him, but I have no way of knowing that it's the same Hero I'm about to go meet." She added.
Nothing out of the ordinary here...
"I'm bringing my staff. I can't really do anything with it, but having it makes me feel comfortable. Like a keepsake from my mom before she died. I wish I knew how to use Magical Skills, but I'm only built for the ranged class. If I only had my dad's musket, I could use it and become more useful, maybe even join the Hero's party if I'm lucky." She said again.
Huh... a musket in this world too? Interesting...
I'm glad I knew one of Ruby's strengths, but I wasn't sure if I could really depend on it, considering I had never seen her use one. No matter, I should keep listening.
The recording continued on and Ruby talked about specific Ranged skills that she used. I was highly impressed by the simplicity of the skill's names, and the fact that I could probably inherit the names and turn them into magical skills if I was lucky, but again, she wasn't done talking, so I wanted to keep listening.
"I know it may seem bad, but because this diary is going to be burned right after I leave what's left of Gaia, I feel like I need to say it. I want so many things in my life... and I'm willing to use people to get them. I want to use the Hero to propel myself forward and find my dad, but my heart would never allow me to do such a thing. It seems terrible as I write it... but it's how I truly feel. He left a while ago for some work and he never came back. I hope he isn't dead... and I hope the Hero will help me, no matter if he knows or doesn't know what I plan to do with him." She ended the recording after the final sentence.
It popped out of the record player, smashed on the floor, and the individual pieces ignited.
Papiya is really trying to make me upset, but I don't care about Ruby's wish to use me to find her father. In fact, I told her I'd help her. That's what I want. Her attempts weren't working, but I could obviously tell that she was trying. I couldn't help but smile. I could find a way out of this if I upset Papiya into overwhelming me with methods of jealousy like she just tried.
But, anyway, I wanted to help Ruby, and I want to help her find her strength... I can't be mad at that. In fact, I now understood her much more and wanted to help her more than before. I wonder if Ken and Ipa have motivations like that they hide from me... or motivations to use me to attain their own goals.
We're all barely friends, so I would understand, but they're so quiet that I can never tell what they're truly thinking, or how to help them, so I'm left in the dark more often than not. Either way, I had a lot more to learn now.
I turned the corner into another room, covered in black wallpaper and black items. This must be Ipa's room. I can just tell with the... style of it...
I sat on the bed and looked all over. The bed was hard like it was made of metal and wood, and Ipa didn't have anything but this bed. His walls and floor were empty. No carpet, no dresser, no end table, no closet... nothing. It kind of freaked me out when I looked at it for a while.
But, there have to be memories in here... right?