The party walks a little ways into Toto when a little girl in a pink rag of a dress calls out to “Uncle Jowy.” Oh, gag. Jowy introduces Barry to the girl, Pilika. Barry is now “Uncle Barry.” Kill me. She talks about walking to Muse with her parents to get a “sacrifice” for Daddy’s shrine. How pleasant for her. Pilika leads her two uncles and the other unimportant people to the north end of the village, where her house is. Daddy’s shrine is apparently the small building next to it. In typical six-year-old fashion, Pilika bounces up and down ahead of them, wondering why they’re so goddamned slow.

‘Step off, bitch! He’s mine!’

Chez Pilika. Her parents greet Jowy and his “boyhood friend” warmly. Joanna, Pilika’s mom, promises to make a “terrific feast” for them next time they come by. This marks the third or fourth time she uses the word “terrific” in this scene. This is a thesaurus, writers. It’s your friend. Pilika asks Barry and Jowy to follow her so she can ask them something, ignoring her father’s (whose name is Marx, by the way) request to leave them alone for a while. Yet again I’m denied a yaoi scene. Sigh.

Pilika tells our heroes about a cool wooden amulet she saw at the item shop in Muse City. Since Daddy’s birthday is coming up, she was wondering if they could take her money to Muse and buy it on her behalf. I have to make Barry say yes for the story to continue, so Pilika squeaks with delight and hands Jowy her “precious” 70 potch. The whole scene is quite idyllic and sweet, meaning that something very bad is going to happen to this happy little family, and soon. Just a hunch from someone who’s played this game dozens of times. Take it with a grain of salt.

So the gang takes a little field trip to the City-State’s capital, Muse. There’s nobody to recruit at the moment, and I have no money to speak of, so I don’t waste time goofing around here; Barry and Jowy go straight to the item shop. The coveted wooden amulet was apparently left by someone who couldn’t pay his bill, and the guy behind the counter wants a whopping 500 potch for it. Yeesh. Jowy thanks Barry for buying it anyway, and promises to “pay [him] back sometime” for it. That also becomes important later, although it doesn’t lead to any steamy yaoi scenes. I’m getting screwed, here.

Wooden amulet in hand, our ambiguously gay duo heads east back to Toto Village. On the world map, the village looks considerably blacker than it did when I left. Wonder why that is. Sure enough, upon entering Toto the “Some Bad Shit Just Went Down” music is playing. The party members look around at all the torched homes and businesses, and notice one moving person: Pilika. Raise your hand if you didn’t see that coming. Pilika is crying and babbling incoherently, and in six-year-old language she tells Jowy what happened to her parents. Suffice it to say they died horrible, bloody deaths. Jowy hugs Pilika, so for once Barry gets to be the seething jealous one. In the middle of all this, a woman in a yellow smock and giant glasses approaches them. They don’t look like Highland troops, she says. On the one hand, she’s right, they don’t. On the other hand, they are technically Highland soldiers. It’s either her stating the obvious or being stupid. Apparently this woman, Apple, witnessed the whole thing. Prince Adolf came in, looted, slaughtered, and burned. Bad man. Apple asks them if they know a man named Viktor. Since they indeed know him, she asks if they can escort her to his fort. Since I hate Apple for being a dumb, self-hating, worthless harpy, I wish I could say no. Alas, I cannot. Apple and Pilika join the party, in the convoy. Meaning they can’t fight. That’s fine–it’s not like they’d be good in battle, anyway.

I’m automatically taken out of Toto Village, but now I have to do another random thing: go back in for no apparent reason. When I do, there’s a very manly woman standing at the front of the village, taking in all the rubble. Her manliness is very bland, though–nothing about her screams “interesting” to me at all. Therefore the woman, Hanna, is now Generic Man-Chick. Yes, the nickname may be a little uninspired, but so is her character design. Nyah. Generic Man-Chick is upset that she alone couldn’t stop Prince Adolf and his men from ransacking Toto. Apparently she’s one of those people who has to be fighting and protecting stuff all the time. Uh, go her. Barry tells her she can wield her sword again fighting for the mercs, and she joins the party. Well, at least I know I have someone manly I can put in the party now, aside from Viktor.

In no time at all the group is back at the merc fort. Apple, justifying my intensely low opinion of her, says, “This is Viktor’s fortress. Let’s hurry.” Contrivance, anyone? How about stating the very, very, stupidly obvious? Get used to it. It’s Apple’s MO.

‘What the hell did you need me for, then?’

Now everyone’s convened in the conference room on the second floor. Apple wastes no time in nagging Viktor and Flik for never contacting them after their off-the-record amazing escape from the crumbling Gregminster Castle three years ago. Flik joins in the nagging, since Viktor apparently said he would keep in contact. Dude. Flik. Does Viktor look like the kind of guy who would remember to do something like that? If Viktor had Christmas cards to send out, he would lose his address book. If he had a woman, he would forget their anniversary. God.

Flik, you make this too easy for me.

Anyway, Apple tells them about the attack on Toto. Viktor and Flik are duly worried, since their fort is now in the way of Prince Adolf invading Muse. They need firepower, and fast. Viktor shows off his rusted old Fire Spears to Barry and Jowy. The Fire Spears, he exposits to those of us who never played Suikoden, were forged by the Dwarves and shoot fire from the tips. Hey, wait a minute. If Viktor never contacted his old Liberation Army buddies after he and Flik escaped Gregminster, how the hell did HE get the Fire Spears? It’s not like he could…oh, forget it. Writers aren’t big fans of consistency these days. Anyway, the Fire Spears are not in usable condition, so they need a weaponsmith to work on them. Specifically, a guy living in the forest north of Ryube named Tsai of the Divine Spear. Yes, that’s his name. What’s the point of all this? Why, it’s another stupid chore! Viktor and Flik ask our boys to go find Tsai and ask for his services. Flik gives Jowy a wad of cash for Tsai. I don’t mind the fact that they could just ask the blacksmith downstairs to work on them. I don’t mind that Sprite Pohl is probably smirking at Sprite Barry, happy that Barry is still an errand boy. My only concern is that I get out of the same room as Apple. To Ryube!

This is as good a place as any to end this recap. Next time we’ll meet the Tsai of the Divine Spear, and see if his spear is really that divine. And maybe we’ll see some more torched villages. No promises.