Alvina: There is no other path. I will do as a knight's honour requires until the very end.
Vester: Always so stubborn... Stop arguing and put down your sword, Alvina! If you die here, you'll be playing right into Almachus's hands!
Alvina: What...?
Vester: You have no idea, do you? Almachus controlling my father's mind with dark magic. The man is no Verian priest. He just used that as a disguise to get close to my father. And over the last year, he's slowly eaten away at his mind with magic.
Alvina: ...Then, his Grace has been corrupted...?
Vester: Yes... By the time I realised it, it was already too late. Father's mind is completely gone. He is Almachus's puppet now. I tried to lead a rebellion against Almachus, but I failed and was captured in Turon.
Alvina: That can't be... Then that's why His Grace...
Vester: Father would never betray the royal family of his own volition. He's not that kind of man. It's all that dastard's fault... That Razite snake Almachus!
Alvina: I am truly sorry, Lord Vester... I was blind to these events happening around me...
Vester: If you are sorry, then lend me your strength, Alvina. I'm going to defeat Almachus and save my father.
Alvina: If I fought alongside you, Lord Vester, then Bornia would become my enemy.
Vester: Indeed. In order to reclaim our homeland, we have to fight against it.
Alvina: ...Don't you feel anything about doing so, Lord Vester?
Vester: "Feel anything"? What should I feel? If you have something to say, then state it clearly, Alvina!
Alvina: The other Bornian soldiers are just like me. They only wish to serve their homeland and the duke. ...I don't know if I could fight them.
Vester: Alvina... Don't be so obtuse. Are you not a soldier? Such is the nature of war.
Alvina: Yes, I understand that, but...
Vester: ...All right then, let us do this: Why don't you join Lord Reese? Alongside him, you'll be fighting the Empire, and not Bornians. What do you think?
Alvina: Ah... Y-Yes! That I would do gladly!
Well that was a convenient solution to her loyalty dilemma.
Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP89bk6V9pM
Back in Navaron, the Verian-aligned forces regroup.
Vester: I envy you. I'd rather keep her to myself.
Reese: I'll be sure to appreciate the short time she will be spending among the Knights of Sinon.
Vester: Thank you, Lord Reese. I'll send her over to the West House later this evening.
Reese: I understand. We'll take good care of her.
Later that day...
Alvina enters the office.
If you recall back in chapter 7, we helped a knight with the same appearance:
It makes sense that she provided the tipoff covertly rather than openly defect, given her reluctance to turn her sword against fellow Bornians.
Alvina: Alvina, paladin of Bornia. I am at your service, Lord Reese. As I'm sure Lord Vester explained, I will be serving as one of your subordinates for the time being. I look forward to fighting alongside you, sir.
Reese: Likewise... I'm just shocked that it's you!
Alvina: Please forgive me for deceiving you as I did...
Reese: No, I understand... Back then, the "other" you... "Ellis", was it? She helped me realise many things about this war. Perhaps it's the will of the Goddess that we've been brought together again like this.
Alvina: Lord Reese...
Reese: Paladin Alvina... The road ahead of us will be a difficult one. Although Sinon has little to offer you, we would be honoured to have you fighting alongside us.
Alvina: By this sword, and by the name of Paladin, I swear: I will follow you in life and in death, Lord Reese!
Alvina: Thank you very much. It's been a long while since we last met, hasn't it, Lady Tianna?
Tianna: Yes, a long time indeed... It seems the goddess of fortune is a mischievous one.
Alvina [chuckling]: You haven't changed a bit. [turning to Reese] Well then, Lord Reese, if you will excuse me for now...
As she leaves, Tianna seems ill at ease, but says nothing.
Onto the citizen requests.
Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw7KfOAEnsA
Tianna: Y-Yes... Firstly, I wish to apologise. Lord Reese, I am terribly sorry for all the trouble I have been causing you recently. Therefore, please accept this gift as a token of apology.
Reese: A gift...?
Since the cutscene doesn't show it, this is what the statue looks like:
Reese: Tianna, you can't mean that you got this just for me...? It smells... just like home...
Tianna: ...It's made with wood of the silur tree of Sinon, milord. I had read in the library that Sinonese customs use silur to ward off evil spirits, so I wanted to find some... But I was unaware of how difficult it was to carve... All the local craftsmen said they did not know how to. Therefore, I had it commissioned from a renowned Bornian sculptor in Ruan, by the name of Siglis. I'd heard news that he had finished it just as Lord Vester's men had begun to attack Fort Ruan...
Reese: Then this statue is the reason you've been behaving oddly recently?
Tianna: ...I'm terribly sorry for having made you worry, Lord Reese... It is not right for me to caused you such concern, when I ought to be supporting you in any way I can. I feel so utterly useless... For how many months have I served you now? And yet not once have I accompanied you to assist you on the battlefield, where you need help the most! All I am able to do is wait helplessly here in the West House...I thought at least I could get you some sort of protection that would help to keep you safe...
Hmm. It's interesting that Tianna admits to harbouring this insecurity, as back in chapter 5 she told Sylvis the opposite, albeit in the context of arguing cultural differences. She might be underrating the importance of her non-combat duties, especially liasing with the common people.
Tianna: And then, once Ruan had become a battlefield, I thought even that plan had failed...
Tianna: I believe perhaps that I've envied you for quite some time... Though we are both women, only you are able to support Lord Reese as he rides into battle... So I... I feel I've been rather cold to you...
Christine: It's all right, Lady Tianna... You have nothing to be sorry for.
Reese: We were worried about you, when in truth, it was you who was worried for our sakes... Thank you, Lady Tianna. I will cherish this statue you've gone to such lengths to gift to me. For as long as the smell of silur still fills this house, I will return to it. That I promise you, Tianna.
Tianna: Thank you... Lord Reese...
A short while later, in Christine's quarters:
Elbert: It was all over a gift, huh?
Christine: Yes... I had no idea that Lady Tianna had been hurting so terribly... I never imagined that an intelligent and beautiful woman like her would have such troubles...
Elbert: Sounds like you need to work on your imagination, then.
Elbert being smooth and detached as usual.
Christine: Heh, maybe a bit... But still, I guess that I've looked up to her without ever thinking about her feelings.
Elbert: If you want to do something nice for her, why not get her a present? Or hey, better still, make one?
Christine: Make one?
Elbert: Sure! Funny story, I happened to buy this at the market the other day.
Elbert: I didn't want it, but I basically had no choice but to buy a spool of it. It was the only way to get the guy to stop breathing down my neck... I've been wondering what I was even going to do with it, since I can't knit or anything... Can you?
Christine: Yes, my mother taught me how to when I was young...
Elbert: Great! You can keep the yarn, then. Should be a nice way to pass time in between missions, right?
Christine: Sure, I suppose. Did you have to pick such a bland colour, though?
Elbert: Haha, now that you mention it, it is rather drab... Still, I bet General Ward would also be happy to have anything you made for him, Christine.
She looks back without responding.
I guess if they weren't already good friends, Elbert wouldn't be able to get away with pushing that issue.
Now for the painting:
Tianna: We were able to find and bring back the portrait of your wife. Here you are.
Lazlow: Y-You really did it...
Tianna: Your house seemed to be a bit worse for wear, but this picture remained miraculously untouched.
Lazlow: This is it... finally...
A girl walks out from behind Lazlow.
Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMQAkk7kyvk
This scene has two branching versions: one for having Esteban, Czene or Thaddy retrieving the painting, and the second for sending anyone else. You don't get to find out about Phyllis (or the truth of the story) in the latter.
Lazlow: Did you like my acting? Good, right? Well, I'll see you around...
He leaves, as Tianna looks on in confusion.
Tianna: ...So you're... a thief?
Phyllis: ...That's right.
Tianna: Then none of that was true?
Phyllis: ...Most of it was true. The difference is, my father was actually a very successful painter. And it wasn't the daughter who got sick and died... ...Look at the headstone here.
Tianna: Then you must be...
Phyllis: That's right! I'm their daughter. Before he died, my father got ripped off by a scumbag of a nobleman. He lost his house, his money... Even all of his paintings. And then, when my parents both got sick, they couldn't get help, and they died... leaving me all by myself.
Tianna looks on, not knowing how to respond. As Ward said a few chapters ago, there are likely many orphans like her in Navaron.
Phyllis: So I became a thief in order to get back what was taken from us. It's not like I had any other options...
Tianna: But why go through this whole act? If you had been honest with me from the start, then...
Phyllis: You would have helped me? Really? A thief?
Tianna hesitates to answer.
Phyllis: I knew exactly where to find this portrait of my mother, but it was too difficult to sneak into Ruan. So I listened to the local gossip, and I heard that your friends from Sinon were headed to Ruan...
Tianna: And you figured out how to use me to get the picture for you...
Phyllis: Yep, and all for this. This is what I really wanted... This portrait that my father made of my mother... Something to remember them by...
Tianna: I see... All right, I understand.
Phyllis: Huh? What do you understand?
Tianna: I don't like being deceived, but for some reason, I can't be angry at you...
Tianna: But you did... And so, in a way, I feel I can trust you... So I neither forgive nor hold anything against you.
Phyllis: Lady Tianna...
Tianna: And with that said, I think I should be going...
She steps away.
Phyllis: Please wait...!
Tianna [turning around]: Is there something else?
Phyllis: I want you to have this.
Tianna: A dagger...?
Phyllis: A long time ago, my father got it for me to protect myself.
Tianna: Then shouldn't you keep it?
Phyllis: It's all right. I want you to have it.
Tianna: ...All right. Thank you.
Phyllis: ...No, thank you, Lady Tianna.
Now for the third and final citizen request.
Leon: Huh?
Leon: Your grandmother? Oh, you're family, huh? Since she lived alone, I figured she didn't have any family.
Jean: Excuse me for asking, but exactly what sort of relationship did you have with my grandmother?
Leon: How should I put it... "Errand boy"? I just helped her out of a little. Where is she, anyway?
Jean [pausing for a while]: ...She passed away. The day before last.
Leon: ...What?!
Jean: Surely you knew? She was gravely ill. The priests had told her that she wasn't long for this world.
Leon: (Then that means... She wasn't faking that cough?!)
Jean: Are you perhaps... Sir Leon?
Leon: Huh...? Oh, yeah, that's me.
Jean: My grandmother asked for me to give this to you.
Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEn9eevjWoQ
Heh, I guess she wasn't so bad after all.
Jean: After my grandmother got sick, she got tired of all the sympathy. She started turning everyone away. Even so, she was thankful to you... For staying by her till the end, and for never pitying her.
Leon: But she... The entire time...?
Jean: Sir Leon, please don't trouble yourself over anything my grandmother might have told you about me. She always thought of me as just a child, but I'm already sixteen. I don't need anyone to look after me any more...
Leon: Sixteen? Yeah, I agree. That's old enough for a young boy to take care of himself, I'd say.
I see Leon can't tell he's talking to a tomboy. To be fair, the character sprite is part of the joke so I can understand his confusion :p
Leon: ...Having said that, I feel like your grandmother's watching me now. Like she's telling me "Don't let my grandson go off on his own!" Well, anyway... I never caught your name.
Jean: ...It's Jean.
Leon: Jean... I see. ...Jean, could you show me where your grandmother is buried? I want to pay my respects.
Jean: Sure... Follow me...
Let's see what's new with Axel:
Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5H3k3fvOBs
Ciel: Yes, sir...
Luciana: Oh, Miss Ciel...
Priest: ...Sister Luciana, why are you crying so? There's nothing to fear. The treatment was a complete success, and she's recovering well. This should be a happy occasion.
Luciana: Y-Yes, Bishop...
Priest: Now, Ciel, I know you may be afraid, but please have courage. Gently open your eyes and look at Sister Luciana's face.
Luciana: Oh, Goddess Veria...
She tries again after a brief pause.
Luciana: Oh, Ciel...!
Priest: Sister Luciana, the medicine you had me treat her with was the best that money could buy. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that it would be successful.
Luciana: Bishop... Thank you so much.
Ciel: Um... Sister Luciana?
Luciana: What is it, Miss Ciel?
Ciel: The medicine.. It was expensive, wasn't it? Who paid for it...? Was it... Papa?
Luciana: ...W-Well, it...
Axel: ...Goodbye.
They look at each other for a short while without speaking.
Ciel: ...Papa? It's you, isn't it?! Papa!
Axel: ...!
Ciel: I saw you from the window! Why did you suddenly disappear? I've missed you for so long...
Axel: N-No, you're wrong... I'm... I'm not your father! I'm just a stranger passing by!
Ciel: You're lying! You are my papa! Your voice is his, and you have his scar above your eye!
Axel: No! I don't know you! I don't know anything you're talking about!
He leaves in a hurry through the side of the courtyard.
Ciel being healed via blood money (a lot of passengers died when Axel's crew raided that ship) is no doubt weighing heavily on Axel's mind.