Finding musicians turned out to be a much more thrilling job than Partitio originally anticipated. 

He and Agnea briefly returned to the manor so they could drop off their things, and after that, they got to work. Audley had said previously that he didn't know of any musicians who called Winterbloom home, but Partitio wasn't willing to go down without a fight just yet. He didn't know when the travelers would be returning to Winterbloom again--or if that was ever something they had planned--so he wanted to try and do everything he could as long as he was in town. Winterbloom was a town brimming with potential. Partitio could feel it even if he couldn't see where it was going to take him at just a glance. With a little bit of digging, he was confident he would be able to find a few musicians who would be able to help him to record something for Audley and the gramophone. 

Partitio had been right to have faith in Winterbloom too. After he and Agnea began to look for help, they found a cleric who knew how to play the piano. She had only just recently moved to town after deciding to take a break from her work in the church, and her music was nothing short of heavenly. Partitio was just glad Audley's home already happened to have a piano in it. That was certainly much easier than trying to haul the cleric's piano through the snow, especially since Partitio was almost certain that would have damaged it without the proper materials to transport it. Everything was fine though, and the first song was recorded with only a little bit of effort. 

Partitio had decided earlier in the day that three felt like a perfect number for this, so that was his goal. Now, he and Agnea only needed to track down two other instrumentalists. Partitio wasn't sure if any of the other travelers would be able to help him with something like this though. He couldn't imagine any of them other than Agnea would be the musical sort, and even if they were, it wouldn't do him much good at this point. He had already found someone who could play the piano, and Partitio was certain he would have known it if he had been traveling with somebody who carried an instrument everywhere they went. He was just going to have to keep looking around.

Agnea was more than happy to help him too. She had only grown more enthusiastic as the day went by, skipping from place to place with a hum on her lips. Partitio had wondered if perhaps she knew how to play an instrument, but that turned out to not be the case. Agnea knew how to sing, but her voice was the only instrument she had. Partitio thought it would be a fine idea to have Agnea sing on one of the future tracks. However, he knew they would need some other backing instruments for something like that, so he chose to hold off for the time being. He hardly wanted to embarrass Agnea by pushing her before she was ready... Though there was no harm in asking. Maybe he could bring it up after they tracked down their next instrumentalist. 

"Partitio!"

Partitio hadn't realized he and Agnea had wound up in the area of the manor again until he heard Osvald's voice, and the merchant waved one hand high above his head. "Hey!" he called out. Both Partitio and Agnea dashed up to the front door where Osvald was standing alongside Hikari. Partitio grinned at the warrior excitedly. "I'm glad to know you're back on your feet again. It would've been awful if you had to stay inside all day for too much longer."

"Castti said it was fine for me to move around more as long as I took it easy," Hikari explained. "I had a question for the two of you though... Did you drop something off at the mansion earlier today? Osvald and I went downstairs to get some food, and we saw an odd sword on the table..."

"Ah, yes, that was us!" Agnea exclaimed. "We were walking through town when we found a woman who was struggling to pull it out of a stone. With a little bit of hard work, we were able to get it out, but since neither one of us is great at fighting with a sword, we thought we would bring it back here."

"And we wanted to ask you about it too since you know more about swords than either one of us," Partitio finished for her. "I guess we should've stuck around long enough to ask you about it when we first brought it here, but... There's no time like the present to handle it, right?"

"That's true," Hikari agreed. "Though I'm not sure of what use that sword will be to us right now... I can sense something powerful within it, and it seems like it was once a very useful weapon... But that's not the case at the moment. It's rusty and worn, and it will take the hand of an experienced blacksmith to return it to its former glory."

"I guess that makes sense..." Agnea murmured, deflating slightly. "It looked like it had been stuck in that old rock for a long time, so it must have started to fall apart in the time it was lodged in there... It's unfortunate though. We were really hoping we'd be able to do something with it."

"I think it could be worth something of note if we can find someone to fix it up," Osvald told her. "I agree with Hikari. There is something powerful within this blade. I do not know much about physical weapons, but I'm sure there's more to it than meets the eye. If we could find a blacksmith who would be able to help us learn more about it, then it could greatly benefit us going forward. I imagine Hikari would appreciate having a much stronger sword by his side."

"Then maybe that's what the two of you can do for today!" Partitio suggested. "You can take the sword out, see if there's a blacksmith in town that can help you fix it up, and then tell us what you find! Agnea and I would do it if we had the time, but we're a bit caught up in some other business right now, so we need to stay focused."

"Other business?" Hikari echoed in confusion. "I hope nothing too horrible has happened since you left the manor this morning..."

"Oh, not at all!" Agnea assured him with a shake of her head. "We found a man in town named Audley, and he wants help with gathering a few musicians so he can record songs! He has a machine that can play sound back, and with a little bit of searching, Partitio and I were able to find someone who could play a song for him!"

"Audley and our piano player are back at his house right now, and they're waitin' for us to find the other instrumentalists they need to make more music," Partitio went on. "They were real excited when we said we had a plan for how to handle all of this, and we didn't want to keep 'em waitin' for any longer than we had to. That's why we decided to drop the sword off and then run back into town."

"I see... In that case, perhaps Osvald and I can go to the blacksmith and see if there's something new we can learn," Hikari nodded. "If we could find a way to repair this sword, I imagine it would make our future battles significantly simpler. I can feel its strength even when it's not in a useable state."

"You'll have to tell us how it goes then," Agnea grinned. "And we'll be sure to let you know how our search for instrumentalists goes in the rest of town too! You'll love to hear the music once it's all finished. I'm sure of it. The piano song is already perfect."

"We'll look forward to it," Osvald said. He glanced over at Hikari to see if he was ready to leave, and the warrior nodded. Seconds later, they were off through the streets of Winterbloom, and even though their mission was different, Partitio still felt a deep sense of camaraderie knowing they were able to do something helpful with their time in town. One way or another, their lives were going to get better, and Partitio certainly appreciated that after the disaster that had been the mission in the Snowhares' den. 

"Alright," Agnea declared once she was out of earshot of Hikari and Osvald. "It's back to the search with us, isn't it, Partitio? Do you know where you want to take a look around next?"

Partitio pressed one hand against his chin and nodded. "Let's head to the tavern. You can find all sorts of interestin' things there with a little bit of lookin' around," he grinned. Perhaps Partitio was looking for a chance to rest and enjoy a nice drink, but beneath that, he knew there was no place people gathered to talk quite like a tavern. Surely at least someone in town would have something to say about a person who knew how to play a different instrument. 

"Off we go then!" Agnea punched her fist into the air and then dashed off through the snow toward the tavern. Partitio smiled before trailing behind her. He still wasn't sure of how he was going to ask her to help him with potential vocals for another track, but he could figure that out later. Right now, they had an instrumentalist to find, and Partitio was sure they were going to strike gold soon enough. They had already tracked one person down, and Partitio knew this was only the beginning. 

Soon, Audley would have the greatest music the world could ever ask for, and Partitio couldn't wait to hear it. 

~~~~~

There were few things that delighted Temenos quite like a strategy game. 

Back in Flamechurch, Temenos had come to love playing chess with the other high-ranking members of the clergy. He was one of the best players the city had, and he enjoyed taking advantage of the ways others underestimated him to claim victory. Mindt had tried countless times to steal his title from him, but Temenos always found the upper hand in the end. He knew how to play his pieces well, and Temenos believed it had given him quite the penchant for long-term planning in battles too. It may have been a slightly different scenario, but Temenos thought the heart of it was the same. 

Now, Temenos was taking advantage of that chance to try and plan out what the group was going to do when they charged into the Snowhares' den. He wasn't sure of when exactly they were going to do it, but the travelers had already promised they would do something before they left town, and Temenos was hardly one to leave a vow unfulfilled. Temenos had chosen to keep Ochette and Mahina company for the day while the huntress waited out the opening terrors of her concussion, and sitting quietly was a perfect time for Temenos to plan out everything the travelers would need to do before they left town. He had learned quite a bit about the layout of the Snowhares' base, and he was confident he would be able to chart a path through it that would bring the travelers to victory in the end. 

"I don't know how you like doing this sort of thing."

Ochette was watching Temenos with a small frown on her face. Her body had demanded she take time to recover, but her mind was as restless as ever, and her foot was bouncing back and forth because of it. "I've never been that much of a fan of planning things out and strategizing," Ochette admitted. "I have to do it when I go hunting, but it's my least favorite part. I don't know how you find it fun."

"I suppose it just takes a certain personality to enjoy it," Temenos remarked with a shrug. He knew many others who were too impatient to try and learn the art of tactical planning. Surprisingly, the church was full of them. Temenos thought there was a special type of satisfaction that came with plotting something out and then executing the plan in the right moment though. If he played the game properly, then he would come away far more satisfied than anyone who hadn't bothered to learn how to try in the first place. "I believe it will benefit us greatly when it comes time for us to eliminate the Snowhares."

"I guess you're right... We went in without a plan last time, and we all know how that ended." Ochette tapped at the side of her head for emphasis, and Mahina cooed in her direction, clearly trying to tell her to stop doing things that could aggravate her injury. "I don't think tapping my head is going to cause that much damage, Mahina. You worry too much." Mahina tried to protest, but she quickly found herself too flustered for it, and she relented with an uncharacteristically loud exhale. 

Temenos chuckled to himself as he continued to map out the plan for the attack on the Snowhares. He couldn't understand Mahina in words, but he could certainly say that she communicated a lot without them. If he looked closely, then he could figure out exactly how she was feeling. Temenos had been skilled at reading people for a long time, and apparently, that extended to owls as well. "I'm glad to know you're feeling a little bit better after everything that happened," Temenos told her. "I was worried when I saw your injury after the battle."

"Physically, I'm feeling a lot better," Ochette confirmed. "But... I don't know. I can't stop thinking about that woman who got taken right out from under our noses. I thought I would be able to track her down again if I could just get a whiff of her scent, but that was how I got hurt. I let my guard down for a little bit too long. I couldn't even figure out how to find her in the end. I know we're going to be able to stop this from happening again when we get the Snowhares out of the picture, but... I can't stop thinking about her. I hope she's alright wherever she is."

Temenos hummed, his smile shifting into something far more sober. "Sometimes, you cannot save everyone," he told her slowly. "But you must do what you can for the sake of those who you can save. There are still other people who you can help, and right now, your best course of action is to take care of them instead."

"I guess that's true..." Ochette nodded, though she quickly stopped when Mahina reminded her about her head injury. "It just bugs me, I guess. We were so close to being able to get her out of there only for it to all fall apart at the last second. I hope that doesn't happen again, but we're not going to be able to say for sure until after we've already started the battle."

"We're all going to give it our best. That's all we really can do, isn't it?" Temenos pointed out, and Ochette hummed her acknowledgement. "I'm confident we'll be able to eliminate the Snowhares before we leave Winterbloom. As soon as all of us are in a state to fight again, we can charge into their base and ensure nothing like this ever happens again."

"You're right," Ochette agreed. Even so, Temenos could tell she wasn't quite ready to stop thinking about that other woman. If the situation had been even slightly different, Ochette would have been able to save her. Now, they had no idea where she was, and there were no guarantees they would be able to find out the truth when they went to the den of the Snowhares to clear them out of town. 

However, there was a chance, and Temenos had taken risks on slimmer possibilities before. "Perhaps we will be able to learn more about her whereabouts when we go to investigate the den for ourselves," he suggested. "She may have been taken away from us this first time, but the Snowhares may have left behind a few clues that will help us to find her later on. If so, then I have no doubt we will be able to locate her in time."

"Hey... You're right!" Ochette cried out. She had spoken too loudly though, and Mahina was quick to tell her to quiet down for the sake of her injury a moment later. "You're right. Thanks for that, Temenos. I appreciate it."

"Of course," Temenos nodded, returning his attention back to the plans spread across the piece of paper on his lap. He was glad to be able to take all of his anxious energy and turn it into something far more productive. He knew just how antsy it made him having to sit around while not doing much of anything. It grew worse when he thought of a situation where someone had gone missing. 

Temenos looked down as much as he could to obscure the inevitable shift of his expression when he began to think about Roi. Over the course of his travels, Temenos had been doing everything in his power to distract himself from thinking about his adoptive father and brother. He knew it would only make him feel worse, and he was quickly proven right when he remembered Roi now. It had been years since Roi disappeared, but Temenos was no closer to finding the truth behind what happened to him. Roi had simply vanished into thin air, and all of Temenos' attempts to find him had ended in failure. Temenos had almost given up on finding Roi entirely. 

The key word, however, was almost. Temenos couldn't give up on any truth as long as he knew there was a chance he would be able to claim it and make it his own. If there was a small possibility he could still learn what had happened to Roi, Temenos knew he had to try. One way or another, he would reach the secrets lurking around his brother's disappearance. Temenos didn't know how he was going to do it, especially given how many times he had fallen short before, but he was determined to push through regardless. 

The others would no doubt happily help Temenos to learn what had happened to Roi as well, but Temenos had yet to tell any of them the truth behind the fate of his older brother. Temenos didn't think he had even told most of them about Roi. It was a sore spot for him, and so, he chose to bury it as far down as it could go. His grief was not pretty, and Temenos was content to ignore it for as long as he was able. It was not a perfect solution, but if it would keep him from crashing into despair, then he knew it would have to do. Productivity was far better than moping, and Temenos was determined to be the most productive he could be regardless of the circumstances. 

So he forced himself to focus back in on the strategies he was plotting for the takeover of the Snowhares' den. If there was nothing he could do to help Roi in that moment, then he was just going to have to settle for chasing after the truth of what had happened in Winterbloom. He would save everyone he could in town, and while it would never fully assuage the guilt in his chest, it would do something. If it kept his mind off it, then Temenos would do it for as long as he had to. 

After all, that was what strategy games did best for him: distract him when he needed to turn off his mind. 

~~~~~

The songs really were starting to come together. 

Agnea and Partitio continued their adventures through the streets of Winterbloom, hunting down anyone else they could who they thought had skill with an instrument. They had developed quite a nose for it in Agnea's opinion. How could that not be the case when they had found a violinist to go along with the piano player? Partitio and Agnea had dropped the violinist off at Audley's house to record another song, and with that, they were back to the search for one last person who could play a new instrument. 

Agnea wished she had taken the chance to learn how to play the guitar when she was younger. Cuani had known, and she had promised to teach Agnea how to play when she was a little bit older. Agnea would only be able to do so much when she was so small that she couldn't even properly hold it, after all. Agnea wished she had pushed her mother harder to ask her to learn now. It would have been perfect if Agnea was able to volunteer her skills to this search for an instrumentalist. She could complete their trio and then wrap up the adventure then and there. 

However, Agnea knew nothing of what it took to play an instrument, and she knew she wasn't going to be able to learn as long as she was there in Winterbloom. She and Partitio had ducked into the pawn shop to see if there were any instruments there, but they had come up short in the end. They were just going to have to get lucky to see if they could find someone who knew how to play a new instrument to complete their trio. In a perfect world, the instrumentalist would even fit in well with the piano and the violin. After all, they were hoping to get all three of the players to unite for one last song, and Agnea really wanted it to sound its best. 

Agnea glanced around for any signs of yet another instrumentalist, pressing one hand up to the top of her face to block out any rogue snowflakes that threatened to fall into her eyes. She and Partitio had already checked out the tavern. Were there any other public spaces that would attract a crowd and therefore potentially have someone who could help? There wasn't much in the way of entertainment in Winterbloom, and there weren't outdoor spaces people liked to settle in either because of the cold weather. Surely there was one other building that would give them a lead. Agnea wasn't going to let their efforts fall apart when they were so close to fulfilling their goals and creating something beautiful. 

"I've got an idea!" Partitio exclaimed suddenly, and Agnea yelped at the explosion of noise just beside her. "There's a little library here in town, isn't there? I bet we'd be able to look around for any sheet music they were offerin' there! I think there are little books of 'em, right? If we ask the librarian if anyone has come by to borrow it lately, then we'll have the perfect chance to learn if there's anybody else who can help us!"

"You're right!" Agnea cried out, a bright smile spreading across her lips. "Let's do it then! I'm sure there are at least a few people who have checked out the sheet music before... Hopefully, they're not the same ones as the people we were already able to ask to help Audley to record songs."

"We'll figure it out when we get there," Partitio assured her with a wave of one hand. "For now, let's get down to business!"

Agnea nodded, and she darted after Partitio through the snow. All of a sudden, the cold weather wasn't bothering her even half as much, and she was far more focused on every warm thing waiting for her when they were finally able to record the last song. Agnea couldn't wait, and she knew the rest of the travelers would enjoy having the chance to learn about this too. They could all use the boost in morale after everything they had gone through at the hands of the Snowhares. 

The library of Winterbloom was a small building, and yet, it was packed with more books than Agnea had seen in weeks. Her jaw dropped at just how efficiently every inch of the space was used, and she brushed her fingers along the spines of the books. There was something so magical about being in a library. Where else could she have the entire world spread out before her? Maybe she would have to set aside a bit of time to visit the famous library in Montwise when she and the other travelers had to return there for Osvald and Throné's journeys. Agnea was sure she would learn a lot there. 

"Ah! Look over there!" Partitio hissed, nudging Agnea in the side with his elbow. He was pointing over at the sheet music section, and much to Agnea's surprise, it wasn't empty. Not only were there at least a dozen books filled with sheet music, but there was also someone standing in the section. It was a young woman with a guitar attached to her back using a secure bag, and she was clearly trying to find new music to play. "I think we've just lucked into exactly what we're lookin' for!"

"Perfect!" Agnea beamed, and she started over toward the section. She waited until she was close enough for the guitarist to be able to hear her when she was speaking at a whisper and then waved. "Hello! I'm sorry if we're interrupting you, but we were wondering... Do you know how to play the guitar?"

The young woman jolted at the sound of Agnea's voice, and she nodded. "I do," she confirmed. "I was looking for a few new songs to play, but I'm struggling to find any here in town that I haven't already learned before..." The woman tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "What about the two of you? Do you know how to play? I can't imagine you would be here for any other reason..."

"It's a little bit different than that," Partitio explained. "We're workin' together with a local seller to make somethin' truly fantastic... How would you like to have your music recorded forever? Would you like it spread across the continent for anyone to hear near or far?"

"That... That sounds incredible!" the guitarist cried out, clapping her hands over her mouth when a few other visitors at the library shushed her. "But how is something like that even possible? No one can hear me unless they're in the room when I'm playing..."

"We're working to change that," Agnea told her. "All you have to do is come with us, and we'll explain everything to you with the man who's helping us with this. Soon, all sorts of people will be able to hear your music no matter where they are. It really is amazing."

"We've already got a pianist and a violinist workin' with us on this. After you all record one song, we're hopin' to get you together to do a three-person piece," Partitio said. "I'm not sure what song you'll be playin' together just yet, but we can look around in this section to find somethin'."

"Ah, right!" Agnea realized, her eyes widening. She had completely forgotten they were going to need to find sheet music for a song that had piano, violin, and guitar parts specifically. The three players all had their own songs, but if they were going to come together, then they would have to follow sheet music. Agnea had a song on hand, but the melody she had received in New Delsta was hardly complete enough yet for her to pass it out. Besides, that song would require someone to sing it, and Agnea wasn't even halfway through writing the lyrics yet. She would have to find something at the library if their plan was to go through as she had hoped. 

"I'll take her back to Audley, and you can try to find some sheet music. How does that sound?" Partitio suggested, and Agnea nodded eagerly. "I'll see you in a little while, Agnea! Good luck!"

"You too!" Agnea whispered after him, and she watched as Partitio led the guitarist out of the library. Agnea let out a small sigh and turned back to the shelf before her. She was going to have to look through all of these in order to find the song she needed, but Agnea was hoping she would strike gold soon enough. The music section wasn't that big... Though Agnea knew that its lack of size meant she was running the risk of not finding anything that fit her criteria at all. Maybe the fact that it was small was a bad thing. 

Agnea's doubts melted away instantly when she caught a glimpse of a familiar spine though, and her eyes widened. She pulled a book off the shelf and began to flip through it, a knot rising to the back of her throat. She recognized this book... It was a collection of the songs Cuani had performed publicly. She had wanted to share the sheet music with others so the joy would remain in the places she had performed long after she left. If this book had every single song Cuani had performed in it, then... Then that meant it had Agnea's favorite song too. It had a piano, guitar, and violin part in one certain arrangement of it, and it was nothing short of beautiful. What better could Agnea ask for? 

She didn't take it back just yet though. Instead, Agnea leaned against the shelf and began to flip through the book. She found the song a few seconds later, and Agnea smiled at the melody with teary eyes. She was sure of it. This was it. 

'Journey Begins' was going to be their song. 

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More for the Scent of Commerce! Yay!

We're getting closer to being finished here in Winterbloom. I feel like a broken record saying that over and over, but I do mean it. We're making progress, and I love how this entire arc is turning out. This chapter in particular is getting us closer to something I've had in mind for a long time, and I hope you all like the way it pays off for both Partitio and Agnea. 

Next time, we'll wrap up Partitio's next Scent of Commerce and then prepare for the end of the Winterbloom arc. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Comments and kudos are appreciated as always. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

-Digital