Sophie/Stories
Quotes
Adventurer Story Episodes
Observer of Mana
Euden: I haven't been feeling well lately.
Euden: Although you look a bit unsteady on your feet yourself, Ranzal. Are you okay?
Ranzal: Same as you, actually—I feel like 10 pounds'a crap in a five-pound sack.
Ranzal: I was gonna ask Cleo about it, but she's been lookin' green around the gills herself.
Sophie: Er, excuse me? Do the two of you happen to be from this castle?
Euden: Yes, that's right.
Sophie: Well, I don't wish to overstep, but how have you left it this way for so long?
Euden: Sorry, left it what way?
Sophie: Well, the castle's mana is... Er, that is to say...
Euden: Please, it's all right. If you know something, just tell us.
Sophie: The mana around this castle is TERRIBLY out of balance.
Sophie: I've never seen anything quite like it.
Sophie: Surely you must have noticed it? Er...right?
Euden: I can't say that we have.
Sophie: ...Truly?
Sophie: You haven't found yourselves feeling unusually sad and heavy recently?
Euden: Oddly enough, that's EXACTLY how I've been feeling—and I'm willing to bet others would agree.
Euden: So you're saying the reason for that...
Sophie: Is due to the unbalanced mana, yes.
Sophie: And if you don't do something quickly, it will only get worse.
Euden: Well, this isn't good.
Euden: But I don't know exactly what TO do about it. Do you?
Sophie: I'm afraid it's not something I can just wave my staff and fix completely.
Sophie: But I should be able to go some way toward balancing it, which will limit the effect it has on you. A moment, please...
Sophie: There. How does that feel? I tried using my magic to balance the flow, but...
Euden: I feel light all of a sudden. Almost...free!
Euden: Hoo! I feel like I'm floating!
Ranzal: Hooo-eee! Me too!
Ranzal: I feel like I could take on a hundred fiends right now! Yer really somethin', sister!
Sophie: Oh no! Not at all!
Sophie: I'm just glad it was still at a point where my magic was able to be of use.
Sophie: Because... Well...
Sophie: I am an observer of mana, you see, who came here to survey the local area.
Sophie: I noticed that the mana in this area seems to be particularly disturbed, and I can only assume that something must be causing it.
Sophie: Until I can establish what that cause is, however, I won't be able to correct the flow. All I've done here is put a bandage on the problem.
Sophie: So I'm going to need to look into the problem more if it's to be fixed.
Euden: Well, if you'd like, you're welcome to stay in our castle and do your work from there.
Euden: Frankly, we'd appreciate the help. If this thing comes back, it seems like you're the only one who'll be able to help us out.
Sophie: You'd let me do that? Oh, thank you!
Sophie: I love the wind blowing around this castle. It's truly wonderful!
Sophie: It makes it hard to believe the mana flow is so terribly unbalanced.
Euden: You like the...wind?
Sophie: Oh! Um...
Sophie: Well, I'm sure you're already aware of the connection between mana and wind, yes?
Euden: Not in the slightest.
Sophie: Whaaaat?!
Sophie: Well then! While I'm staying at your castle, I'll have to teach you more about mana!
The Importance of Mana
Sophie: This is the discovery of a lifetime! I must let the others know right away...
Sophie: Hello there! Um, excuse me...
Sophie: I think I may have worked out the reason why the mana here is out of balance.
Euden: Please, go on.
Sophie: Well, this may come as something of a shock, I'm afraid.
Sophie: So if you'd like to sit down or otherwise prepare, I'm happy to wait while—
Euden: Please just tell us.
Sophie: Ah! Yes. Well, you see, mana circulates here at a terrifically rapid rate.
Sophie: More rapidly than it does in any place I've ever seen.
Sophie: So I'm guessing that's the reason it's out of balance!
Euden: I...see? Maybe?
Sophie: I'm still working on finding out the reason why it circulates as it does.
Sophie: But it might well have something to do with the lovely dragons you keep here.
Euden: Are you following all this, Ranzal?
Ranzal: Yer kiddin' me, yeah?
Euden: Right. So, Sophie, answer me something as clearly as you can: Will you be able to get the mana flowing correctly again?
Sophie: Oh, goodness! It's far too early to say.
Sophie: ......
Sophie: Erm, I'm sorry. It's just that you all seem rather...nonplussed about what is clearly a monumental discovery.
Euden: It is?
Sophie: Do the two of you have ANY concept of how much influence mana has on the world around you? ...No? None at all?
Sophie: ...Right then. Permit me to sum it up. First, you DO know what magic is, yes?
Euden: I think I understand it well enough. We have plenty of magic users in the castle, as well as in our fighting ranks.
Euden: It's basically just...you know. Magic? Hand waving and wands and...stuff?
Sophie: Er, no. That is...not really correct at all. Basically, if mana didn't exist, the magic you rely on so much ALSO wouldn't exist.
Sophie: Magic is nothing more than a skill that absorbs mana floating in the air and converts it into a tangible physical event.
Euden: Oh, that's right! Someone DID teach me that at some point.
Euden: Or at least I think they did...
Euden: Anyway, you're saying that mana has been helping us all this time without our ever realizing it, correct?
Sophie: Exactly!
Sophie: Magic and mana are linked to each other, and humans are connected to them both.
Sophie: The teachings of the Church say as much:
Sophie: ＂Thus did humanity use the magic which springs forth from mana to develop the land and advance their civilization.＂
Sophie: If not for mana, we might still be painting cave walls and hunting with knives made of stone and flint.
Euden: Huh. I feel like I have a much better idea of why mana is so important now.
Sophie: Well THAT is the most delightful news I've heard all day!
Sophie: I take it the two of you have more of an interest in mana now?
Euden: I certainly would like to learn more.
Ranzal: Thought I was gonna nod off there at first, but now I'm actually kinda interested. Yer quite the teacher!
Sophie: Oh, it has nothing to do with the quality of my lesson, I assure you.
Sophie: Mana is just inherently interesting!
Sophie: Regardless, I'm ever so happy that you're interested in mana now.
Sophie: The first thing you should do is try to be more thankful for it in your daily lives!
Euden: Right!
Ranzal: You got it, Professor!
Shepherding Souls
Sophie: Yaaaaaaah!
Fiend: Graaaaaaah!
Sophie: W-we did it!
Euden: *pant* *pant* Well, the people around here shouldn't need to worry about fiends for a little while.
Elisanne: Your Highness! Sophie! Come here!
Euden: ...Judging by their clothes, I'm guessing they were traveling merchants.
Elisanne: They were likely eaten by fiends, with the remains lying here exposed all this time.
Elisanne: How awful...
Euden: What are you doing, Sophie?
Sophie: Hmm? Oh, I was praying.
Sophie: I asked the goddess to help their souls return safely to mana.
Elisanne: Return to mana?
Euden: What do you mean?
Sophie: Well, I suppose this is as good a time as any to explain how death and mana are connected.
Sophie: In the Church's teachings, it's said those who give thanks to the goddess and pray regularly will return to mana after they die.
Sophie: I believe the mana of the departed travels around the world along with other, more traditional mana.
Sophie: As such, when we pray to give our thanks to mana, we are also praying for—and giving our thanks to—the deceased.
Sophie: Of course, this is merely my own personal interpretation. I have no way of knowing if it is true or not.
Euden: So that's how it works...
Euden: Still, I'd like to believe your theory.
Euden: You told us before that people and mana are closely intertwined, yes?
Euden: So if you're right, that means I'll be able to stay on with everyone even after I die. Er, in a sense, at least.
Elisanne: Please don't speak of death so lightly, Your Highness.
Elisanne: You have Ranzal, Cleo, and me at your side, and we will protect you at any cost.
Elisanne: Please do not say such things again.
Euden: Oh! Of course. Sorry, Elly.
Sophie: Hee hee! Goodness, but the two of you are so terribly close.
Elisanne: C-close?!
Elisanne: Not at all! I'm merely speaking as another one of his subordinates!
Elisanne: I'm just saying that I intend to protect him as part of my duty.
Elisanne: There is nothing more to my statement than that!
Sophie: Hee hee! There's no need to get flustered.
Sophie: And there's no shame in admitting that you're driven by feelings beyond those of a mere subordinate.
Elisanne: ...Kindly stop teasing me, Sophie. My intentions are pure, I assure you.
Sophie: Hee hee hee! Oh, please don't worry. I know EXACTLY what you mean.
Elisanne: G-guh...
Sophie: Regardless, now that you understand the connection between death and mana, let us offer our prayers.
Sophie: By doing so, we may yet aid these people in returning to mana...
Carried on the Wind
Sophie: The flow of mana just changed. But why?
Euden: Hey, Sophie. How's your work going?
Sophie: Euden?
Sophie: Wait... Could THAT be the reason the mana flow changed so suddenly...?
Sophie: ...Euden!
Sophie: Might I look at your mana for a moment?
Euden: Depends on what that entails.
Sophie: Would you stand over there for me?
Sophie: All you need to do is stay still and let me have a good look at you.
Euden: Not sure how I feel about this...
Sophie: Hmm... Yes, I thought as much... Your mana is truly unusual!
Euden: Is it?
Euden: Although now that you mention it, I seem to recall Midgardsormr saying the same.
Sophie: Your mana has a strange vibration not normally found there.
Sophie: Have you ever been in mortal peril?
Euden: Sure, lots of times.
Euden: When I made my pact with Midgardsormr, I could have died at any point.
Sophie: Hmm. I imagine the reason you were able to make it through that danger was because that vibration protected you.
Sophie: It's FASCINATING! ...Although I'm not sure how you came to possess such a thing.
Sophie: But however it happened, I can sense in it both kindness and a desire to protect you.
Euden: Kindness, eh?
Sophie: As I've told you once before, after people die, they return to mana.
Sophie: So it's perfectly possible that after someone who cared deeply for you died, and they became mana, they stuck around to protect you.
Sophie: And they may even now be trying to protect you in that form.
Euden: Someone who cared deeply for me? I wonder if...
Sophie: Can you think of someone who fits that description?
Euden: ...I can, actually.
Euden: We're talking about something that happened a long time ago, but I do remember it.
Sophie: Then I can only imagine that person is watching over you even now.
Sophie: Or at least, that's my theory.
Euden: I had no idea...
Sophie: So make sure not to forget to give thanks and pray to the mana of this world!
Sophie: By doing so, you'll be offering thanks and prayers to those who have passed on yet watch over you even now.
Euden: Thank you, Sophie. I'm glad you told me all of this.
Sophie: I did nothing worthy of thanks. ...Hmm? Oh, what a lovely wind!
Sophie: Oh! Let me tell you something ELSE interesting, Euden!
Sophie: Mana is carried around the world by wind.
Sophie: That's why I love it so!
Sophie: By carrying that mana, the wind lets us feel the presence of those we care about— even if they're far, far away.
Euden: Will the wind carry what I'm feeling, too?
Euden: Will it carry it to the person I'm thinking of right now, even if they returned to mana?
Sophie: Most certainly!
Sophie: Let us pray, then, that the wind carries our thoughts and feelings to those who we care about...
A Wild Theory
Euden: Hey, Sophie. Out for a walk?
Sophie: I am indeed, Euden.
Sophie: This is my favorite place around here.
Sophie: It's open enough to really feel the wind, which makes it perfect for observing mana.
Sophie: Oh, that's right!
Sophie: When I was doing just that earlier, I discovered something fascinating!
Euden: Do tell.
Sophie: You remember how the mana in the area was very much out of balance when I first arrived, yes?
Sophie: All this time, I've been trying to work out the cause so that I could put it to rights, and today I made a major breakthrough:
Sophie: There's no need to correct the flow of mana at the castle!
Sophie: The castle's mana has started to stabilize IN its unstable state!
Euden: Oh wow! That's... Um... Yeah, I don't follow that at all.
Sophie: To be honest, I don't quite follow it either. But no one's fallen sick since that first time, have they?
Sophie: My personal theory is that it's a result of all those who have gathered there, both human and dragon alike.
Sophie: Also, all those who have lost their lives and whose feelings made their way here. All of that is having an effect on the mana.
Sophie: The feelings of both the living and dead are combining, and the result is mana that is chaotic and stable at the same time!
Euden: That's a pretty wild theory, Sophie.
Euden: When you put it that way, a whole lot of people really are counting on us without our even realizing it.
Sophie: Yes, and I can only imagine that number will continue to increase.
Sophie: Wherever you go, Euden, mana is always there with you.
Sophie: As such, there are two things I would like you to remember always:
Sophie: the feelings of those who have returned to mana, and the feelings of those who live on and continue to influence it.
Euden: I'll remember. I promise.
Euden: Still, even if your work is technically done here, would you be willing to keep teaching me about mana?
Euden: I feel like there's still so much to learn.
Euden: About both the people who've returned to mana and that which dwells inside me.
Sophie: Hee hee! Goodness, but you have changed! You couldn't have seemed less interested in the subject at first.
Euden: Erm... Well, that's because I thought it would be really difficult to understand.
Euden: Besides, you've changed over that time as well.
Sophie: Oh? What about me has changed?
Euden: At first, you seemed a bit...unsure of yourself, I suppose.
Euden: But now you'll look me right in the eyes and explain things with confidence.
Euden: You're much more of a teacher now.
Sophie: Do you really think so?
Sophie: I never realized that transformation was happening, but now that you mention it...
Sophie: I suppose I HAVE grown more confident.
Euden: You've really taught me a lot.
Euden: I'm grateful to you.
Sophie: Oh, that's just delightful to hear! And of course, I'd love to keep teaching you if that's something that interests you.
Euden: Really?
Sophie: Yes, silly! Honestly, I can't really imagine myself living anywhere but here anymore.
Sophie: I can keep seeing all my new friends AND examining this fascinating mana.
Euden: Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you like.
Euden: I'm looking forward to spending more time with you.
Sophie: The pleasure will be all mine.
Sophie: Besides, there's so much more that I still want to teach you!
Sophie: So long as you remain thankful for mana's blessings, I'm sure you'll end up with more of it protecting you.