The first group, as instructed, goes to the town of Sant-Diegol.
The second one, on the other hand, marches off towards Jaxton School.
[Note]
The dialogue for this scenario will depend on the characters you pick for the two groups.
For the purpose of this novel, the two groups will be decided as such.
First Group: Benoit, Christian, Gershwin, Nolan, Jurina, CJ
Second Group: Edilbert, Angelino, Rosalind, Jamieson, Priscilla, Aisha
***
[First Group's Perspective]
And now, we're back to the Spanish-flavored town that is Sant-Diegol.
Strangely enough, despite the overbearing presence of the dancespores, there is nary a Guardia Civil in sight.
I wonder what happened to them. Maybe... they all retreated?
But still, we all must be on our toes, especially with the spawns of the dancespores still lurking at every corner.
Like in the case of Splendido when it was under the threat of the dancespores, every building here is locked down.
But unlike in the now-splendid town, there are no notorious monsters we can easily spot here.
We all just have to hope that what happened last time, where our weapons suddenly glowed and purged the dancespores out of the town, will happen here.
But the trigger for that to happen... yeah, we must find out for ourselves.
There's Rosalind's hideout, which is located at one end of Cokewood Road.
Before we, now a group of seventeen adventurers, split into two groups, Rosalind handed me the key to her hideout, knowing she could trust me and my quirky leadership skills.
And now, we're inside her hideout once more.
This hideout is sparse in terms of items being stockpiled, as well as furniture and decoration.
I just can't be some kleptomaniac hero in some RPG who raids dressers, cupboards, and closets for some useful items, but all they come across are pieces of underwear instead.
Oh. There's a tall boy dresser here, which is presumably made of oak.
Christian tells me, "Valmonte, if you are attempting to search the insides of that dresser, I have good news. There is no underwear there, and there are no explosives or hazardous substances, either."
I reply, "You have my word."
I then begin searching each drawer for something that will hopefully get us a lead.
I find out that every drawer here except for the third one is empty, and the third one itself contains a handwritten note.
The note is undoubtedly written in Rosalind's own handwriting, overflowing with her spirit of diligence.
I take a gander at what's written here.
"There are no notorious monsters that accompany the dancespores here in Sant-Diegol. However, there are steps to be taken if I should attempt to free the town from the threat itself.
"First, I must acquire three items. First is the Puzzle-headed Dot, which is acquired from the notorious monster that leeches off the energy from the trees in Splendido. Second is the Stigmatized Hexagonal Salted Egg, which is being sold at the nearby Dividendazo Gift Shop at a hefty price. Third is the Future Pattern No. 5865, which is currently held by a patron at Diomar's KTV and Ihaw-Ihaw Bar.
"And then, once all the artifacts are gathered, they must be arranged in a triangular pattern on the rooftop of this town's tallest building, which is a 4-storey apartment that lies across my hideout.
"But alas, there are some things I cannot do on my own. I therefore must wait for my potential allies to get that burden of saving this town off my shoulders."
Alright. We already acquired one of the items in this note, so we have to search for the other two.
We arrive at Dividendazo Gift Shop, which is next to Rosalind's hideout.
The proprietress greets us all.
"Good morning, even though the situation outside is anything but good. Please feel free to peruse our selection of fine wares."
We then come across a weird-looking salted egg, which comes in a hexagonal pattern.
She appropriately tells us, "Oh, so you want to get the Stigmatized Hexagonal Salted Egg? That'll be 12,500 double pesos. Are you gonna pay with cash or charge?"
Yikes! This artifact is as expensive as brand-new graphics cards being sold back in the real world as of this moment!
I just respond sheepishly, "Uhh... we'll get that later. We'll just acquire the needed money first."
"Alright, suit yourself. For some reason, no one here wants this artifact."
And after an hour of grinding for money (with momentary breaks courtesy of Motel de Abonce, which is an inn that sits next to the gift shop), we finally accumulate the money needed to buy the artifact.
We're back at the gift shop with the required payment in tow.
"Oh, thank heavens! You've already showed up with the required money! Alright, I'll hand over the artifact to you, no questions asked."
[You got the Stigmatized Hexagonal Salted Egg.]
We then say goodbye to the proprietress before heading towards our next destination, the bar.
Diomar's KTV and Ihaw-Ihaw Bar.
A place where wine and song come together in harmony.
Well, as long as no one sings the infamous "killer song" that gets one shot or stabbed if they sing it off-tune, that is.
We ask the bartender directly about the artifact.
"Oh, so you're all minors? Well then, in compliance with laws that prohibit the selling of alcohol to minors, I'll give you juicy information about the patron who carries the artifact... as long as you can pay for our awesome sparkling grape drinks. Comes from the same source as wine, but never intoxicating."
Alright! We're game!
"That patron over there is a 48-year-old washed-up fogey. He just wanted to relive the good old days where he could enjoy moments with his childhood friends. But alas, all those friends of his are now dead, no thanks to The Movement's suppressive rule over Shurilesia; and the artifact he carries is a keepsake from one of those friends. Maybe... you can convince him to part with the artifact so that he can move on with his life once this dancespore crisis is over?"
In exchange for 955 double pesos's worth of sparkling drinks, we are able to extract important info.
No sooner do we approach the patron in question.
He just slouches on his chair, a mug of beer in his left hand and a smartphone in his right one.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not paid."
Those are his first words, and we know what he's talking about.
Allegations of being a "paid troll" even exist on Daig'digaia's equivalent of the internet.
I take the initiative.
"Hey, we're not here to go after so-called trolls. We're here for your artifact, since it's the key to saving this town you call home."
"What home? My home is long gone, with my friends no longer by my side."
"And yet you're here, destroying your liver gradually until you're able to join your friends on the other side. Why don't you just accept the fact that your old friends are dead... and you can make new ones once we save this town?"
"I beg to differ, young whippersnapper. How am I supposed to make new friends with the dancespores still plaguing this forsaken town?"
"Here's a hint, buster: WE will save this town, no bones about it. Then you can have your life back."
After a moment of silence, he finally relents.
"Alright, you win. You all look like a bunch of experienced adventurers despite your age. Here, the keepsake. Use it well."
[You got Future Pattern No. 5865.]
"And I'll guarantee I'll finally breathe some much-needed fresh air. I even get sick of air-conditioning here in this bar."
We all leave the bar, triumphant that we all have the necessary artifacts to rid Sant-Diegol of the dangerous spores.
Now for the tallest building.
It already has stairways on its exterior that lead to the individual floors, and even the rooftop.
We all just have to climb it, naturally.
***
Meanwhile, just as the group is making their way towards the rooftop...
A hooded figure, who accompanies a few other hooded figures, just rubs his hands as he whispers with scorn...
"Hee hee hee. Now they're falling for our trap!"
***
The three artifacts, check.
Triangular arrangement, check.
Our own weapons, check.
All clear.
We all gather in a circle around the formation of artifacts...
...and immediately, our weapons resonate with them as they glow.
No sooner does the combination produce an invisible force field that sweeps out the spores for good.
Whew.
At last, the town of Sant-Diegol is free of the menacing dancespores; but who are those hooded people surrounding us?
They release some kind of magic net that paralyzes us all...
...and we all fall into unconsciousness once more.
***
[Second Group's Perspective]
So, this is Jaxton School.
Essentially, this school is not that different from the fantasy version of Dillington High School here in Daig'digaia, with regards to its basic structure, the uniforms, and the composition of the student population.
But now, with this institution ravaged by the dancespores via some convoluted conspiracy we at the Ishi-shiro still have to unravel, we have an obligation to free it from whoever unleashed it in the first place.
From the gathered intel so far, Jaxton School consists of two buildings: The main one and the annex one, both joined by a single hallway.
The main building has three wings, which are occupied by each of the three departments: Early childhood and grade school, high school, and college.
The annex building is where most of the extracurricular activities for all three departments take place.
We easily dispatch hordes of monsters that get in our way of our navigation and investigation.
And finally, we all arrive at the main building's central fountain.
From the start, we all know something is suspicious about the fountain itself.
We can spot a tube jotting out of the spout, which is shaped like a fish, that releases the dancespores.
Angelino remarks, "If there is a way where we can trace where the other end of the tube leads to, we can cut off the supply of spores entirely."
I nonchalantly reply, "Easier said than done."
Rosalind segues, "Sir, I gathered further intel on the tube itself, sir."
"Sure, go ahead, Portocarrero."
"Sir, the one who installed the tube seemed to have utilized invisibility magic so as not to arouse suspicion. The magic seems to only affect almost the entire length of the tube, and not the ends. Furthermore, I have detected where the other end of the tube is. It is located in an unused classroom in the annex building, sir."
"Excellent work. Well then, let us all proceed!"
We tear through more monsters as we navigate the annex building, looking for the elusive classroom.
And just as we all expected, the classroom is sealed shut by not just padlocks, but also magical paper seals.
The enemy is truly that devious, but that does not mean we will all cower to them!
I instruct Jamieson, "Can you do something about those seals and padlocks, Lagenstrom?"
The man with the gun steadfastly answers, "Sir, that should be my line, sir!"
We all cautiously stand back as he locks and loads his trademark weapon, a pistol that accepts all kinds of elemental ammunition and other kinds of bullets.
He then fires his shots, which I perceive to be special ammo that pierces through both physical and magical defenses, instantly unlocking the padlocks and deactivating the magical seals.
All this white hot lead action occurred in just 15 seconds.
We all then nod as we all prepare to kick the door, as if we are initiating a raid.
What greets us all in this supposedly abandoned classroom is a machine that undoubtedly has the ominous logo of The Movement emblazoned on it.
It just manufactures the dancespores from a mixture of substances.
From what I see in a note shown to me by Benoit, when his team raided Carmealla Gonzalvo's Dungeon days ago, the dancespores mostly consist of illegal substances.
Fortuitously, there are no monsters to spoil our planned sabotage of the machine.
We all then bring out plastic explosives, all crafted by none other than Jamieson, the weapons specialist, and plant them on the machine.
The explosives are designed to be activated by a chant only known by my betrothed, Priscilla.
"Alright, Lucewicz. Finish this job and this school will be free at last."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Once we all head out of the classroom and lock the doors, Priscilla chants the following.
"Landuzz maighaduzz paquituzz."
And we can hear a resounding explosion that should destroy the machine.
Once we surmise that the coast is clear, we open the doors once more, and find the machine all wrecked beyond repair.
Yes! This mission is a success!
In a few minutes, the spores will be no more, and the students can go back to their daily lives, free from the shackles of fear.
But wait... I can feel something throbbing within me.
And it is definitely not good.
I can sense it... Valmonte and company are in grave danger!
We have to save them, fast!
***
The first group – Benoit's group – was caught by several hooded figures and rendered unconscious.
They are now being sent to none other than the Theresentien House of Politics, which has a lesser-known and unfortunate moniker of "The Internment Capital of the World".