Sidequest: Photograph the Sapphirl Tower

Go to the Hotel Blanche and make an immediate U-turn to the left. Enter the first door and talk to the scientist. In short, the device on the top of the Sapphirl Tower has recently shown signs of activity and he wants you to take a photograph of it (and gives you a camera).

To save time, you should collect all the treasures in the tower as you ascend. After you reach the top and take the photograph, you are given an opportunity to return directly to Ruan. Of course, if you either forgot a treasure or haven't collected the monster ingredients yet, you can reject that opportunity and walk down yourself.

To reach the Sapphirl Tower, go to south Ruan and take the south exit to the Aurion Road. When you see a fork in the road, take the left path.

Sapphirl Tower

Items

2F: Shrimp, Medicine

3F: Sapphire Charm (adds water elemental to your attack and defense)

4F: EP Restore 1, Purging Balm

5F: Dangerous Meatballs (危險丸子), Jenis Girl's Uniform, Pearl Earring (resist Seal), Wooden Shoes, Black Staff, Fishing Spot

As you ascend, be careful of the monster-trapped chest on the third floor as it contains 3 Lava Trappers (岩溶捕獵手) and 3 Mint Poms (薄菏波姆). Remember to keep your distance from the Lava Trappers as they explode on death and keep Dorothy alive as the monsters sometimes will cast spells at her.

If you're lucky, you can meet Shining Poms at the second and fourth floors.

When you reach the top of the tower, stand in front of the device, go to the Item screen and use the camera (Estelle will refuse to take a photo if she is too close/far, or if a pillar is blocking the view). Estelle will try to get a good shot. If Dorothy is in your party (which she should be if you're following this walkthrough in order), Estelle will pause and give you the choice of letting Dorothy take the photo.

Regardless of if you "teleported" or walked back to Ruan, go back to the hotel and speak with the scientist again. You will then go to the Orbment Shop to develop the photo.

Dorothy's photo
An "okay" shot ... ($500 bonus)

Reward

Standard Reward
BP+1, $2000, Moon Glasses (月亮眼鏡) (resist poison, blind)
Photographed at an angle
Bonus: none
Photographed straight on
Bonus: $500
Photographed straight on, with a straight shot of the device
Bonus: BP+1, $1000
Get Dorothy to do it
Bonus: BP+2, $1000

Sidequest: Collect Ingredients

At Manoria Village, enter the White Wood Pavilion (白之木連亭) inn and go upstairs. Enter the room in front (not beside) the stairs and talk to the man. Our goal is to collect ingredients that are not on the list, which are: Monster Tooth, Monster Bird Meat, Monster Roe, Monster Bird Egg, Monster Horn, Monster Bone.

Since this sidequest ends at the end of the chapter, we can collect these ingredients as we go along. If you beat FC with a perfect game and have the Luck quartz, remember to let the person holding it do the final kill on the monster to boost your chances of getting the ingredient.

It appears that a minimum of three ingredients are necessary to complete this sidequest, although getting one of all six will get you a bonus reward.

Here are the monsters that carry ingredients:

Monster Tooth
Wild Boar (Vista Forest Road, Aurion Road), Rage Spider (Underground Ruins)
Monster Bird Meat
Dodo Bird (Vista Forest Road, Aurion Road), Ball Bat (Underground Ruins)
Monster Roe
Short Kiss Alligator (Manoria Byroad, Gull Seaway)
Monster Bird Egg
Dodo Bird (Vista Forest Road, Aurion Road)
Monster Horn
Large Helmet Crab (Sapphirl Tower)
Monster Bone
Striped Seahorse (Sapphirl Tower)

Reward

Standard Reward
BP+2, $1500
Got all six ingredients
Bonus: BP+1, $1000, Monster Feather x20

Sidequest: Vista Forest Road Monster

On your way back to Ruan, take the path to the Jenis Royal School. The wanted monster is on the second map of Vista Forest Road.

Advice Make sure everyone is equipped with a poison-resist accessory. If you were paying attention in the walkthrough, you should have bought two Silver Earrings before leaving Ruan.

Monster Mercury Snake x2

Essentials
HP: 3766
Exp: 25
x4 x2 x1 x3 x7
Items
Firefly Fungus
Monster Beast Meat
Elemental Effect
80%
80%
120%
120%

Nothing much to be worried about since the poison doesn't affect you. Be careful that the Mercury Snakes can summon mini snakes.

Reward

BP+2, $1500

Sidequest: Gull Seaway Monster

This monster is located at the beach in the second map of the Gull Seaway (map right after the path to Mercia Orphanage). Before climbing up the stairs, go north a bit.

Monster Super Alloy Sword Monster x3

Essentials
HP: 2250
Exp: 45
x6 x7 x8 x9 x8 x7 x6
Elemental Effect
100%
80%
120%
100%

These monsters have an ability that buffs the others on death, so the strategy is to spread out the damage. They can do quite a bit of damage, so it's recommended to fight them with Kevin in your party (although I have also done this without him). Fire magic seems to be quite effective too.

Reward

BP+3, $2500

After defeating the monster, don't forget to enter the path that it was blocking. Inside, there is a chest with a decent pair of shoes.

Hidden Sidequest: Lighthouse Test Run

After getting Kevin in your party, leave Mercia Orphanage and go back to Manoria Village. Take the north exit, continue north, and make a U-turn at the fork in the road. Head south to the lighthouse.

Ascend to the top of the lighthouse and talk to the old man. When the choice prompt appears, choose "Is there anything wrong?". Go to the left side and read through the operation manual. Then head right to the lighthouse controls.

Labelled lighthouse controls

Operate the controls as follows:

  1. Orbment Pressure: Low
  2. Stabilizer: Low
  3. On/Off Switch: On
  4. Orbment Pressure: Mid
  5. Stabilizer: Mid
  6. Orbment Pressure: High
  7. Stabilizer: High
  8. Quartz Connection: On

(As evidenced by one of the FAQs on Gamefaqs.com, you can also start by turning the On/Off switch ON, resetting the switches to Low, and then following the remaining steps)

When you are done and the choice prompt appears again, choose "Is there anything else?" for a bonus.

Reward

Standard Reward
BP+2, $1000, Sea Cucumber x5, Shrimp x5
Asked "Is there anything else?" at the end
Bonus: BP+1, $500

Sidequest: Sunday School Lecturer

Head to the Church and enter the side door at the back. Talk to the nun and accept the quest. Answering all ten questions correctly will result in a bonus.

Mission of the Bracers?
2. Keep the peace and protect the people
How many levels are there?
1. 7 Levels - G to A
When was the Bracer Guild established?
3. 50 years ago
What is the agreement between the Bracer Guild and the government?
3. Non-interference in state powers
Bracers must always ...
2. Priority is to protect the people
Is there an age limit?
2. 16 years or older
What to do about monsters?
3. Respect the employer's wishes
(this question might have multiple answers? see below)
Who apprehended the Capuas?
2. Army
"Protecting the People" is which article?
2. Article 2 of the charter
How long is the airship?
3. 42 Arge

(The "Bracer's Guide" as accessed on January 21, 2013 lists the correct answer as 2, 1, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3. It could be a translation difference or whatnot between the Japanese and Chinese versions. If you do not get the bonus reward, try the other answer)

Reward

Standard Reward
BP+2, $1000
Get all ten questions correct
Bonus: BP+2, $1000

Sidequest: Krone Pass Monster

This monster is located near the end of Krone Pass.

Advice Make sure everyone is equipped with a poison-resist accessory. If you were paying attention in the walkthrough, you should have de-equiped the Silver Earring from Kevin before he left the party in Ruan.
Advice With some luck and trial and error, you can help prepare for the battle by changing your characters' battle positions to form a "wall". This will help you block off the scorpions from getting too close to Dorothy.

Monster Emperor Scorpion x2

Essentials
HP: 4307
Exp: 23
x2 x2 x2
Items
Monster Shell
Elemental Effect
100%
100%
100%
100%

This will be a tough fight. The scorpions do quite a lot of damage (and poison), so it is important to keep an eye out on Dorothy (since we can't make her poison-resistant).

My advice above (to change your battle positions to form a wall) will help protect Dorothy from being physically hit when the scorpions get too close. However, note that one of their abilities (土中潛行) is to burrow underground and attack everyone on the battlefield. In my game, Dorothy can only survive one hit from this, so hope that the scorpions don't use it back to back.

The strategy for this monster is to focus on them one at a time. If you're playing with Agate, his AT-delay craft can be quite useful. Additionally, Dorothy will occasionally take a photo of a scorpion which will blind it temporarily. When this happens, focus fire on the other scorpion (as the blinded one will most likely miss its attacks).

Reward

BP+2, $2000

Sidequest: Aurion Road Monster

This monster is located south of Ruan, just a bit south of the fork that leads to the Sapphirl Tower.

Advice Make sure everyone is equipped with a faint-resist accessory, like the Feather Chestpin

Monster Flax Sword Beast (亞麻劍獸) x3

Essentials
HP: 3440
Exp: 63
x9 x8 x7 x6 x7 x8 x9
Elemental Effect
100%
120%
80%
100%

This monster is similar to the Gull Seaway Monster sidequest, so they also have an ability to buff enemies on death. The added challenge though is to keep Dorothy alive. She has enough HP to take only one hit.

Annoyingly difficult as it sounds, the strategy for this battle is to spread out the damage and to use only melee attacks as they are more effective than magic. Again, just like the King Scorpions, take advantage when Dorothy blinds a monster by taking its photo.

If the timing is right and the stars align, one way to help prevent Dorothy from getting hit is to have Estelle use her "Taunt" craft on one of the monsters. The taunted monster will more or less focus his attacks on her. I suggest doing this once though, as the taunted monster gets a STR increase.

Reward

BP+3, $3000

Sidequest: Gambler Needed

Not too difficult. Enter the casino and talk to the woman at the bottom of the stairs. Then go upstairs and the quest automatically continues.

Basically, it's standard poker, best 2 of 3 rounds. Each side is allowed one forfeit (which, of course, counts as a loss). The correct choices depends on which bracer is your partner:

Scherazard
1st round (Estelle): Keep one pair and exchange the rest, call
2nd round (Olivier): Forfeit
3rd round (Schera): Keep the spades and exchange the rest
Agate
1st round (Agate): Keep the K and exchange the rest, call
2nd round (Olivier): Forfeit
3rd round (Estelle): Exchange all
uhhhhhh......

TODO: one day when I'm reaaaaaaally bored, I'll replay this game with Schera again and take a screenshot. I remember at the 3rd round, she cheats and secretly swaps the deck.

Reward

BP+2, $2000

Hidden Sidequest: Election Office Incident

This one is a bit involved (lots of running around)...

Go to the basement of the Hotel Blanche and enter the room above the row of jars. After talking to Nial and returning to the first floor, Hario (海利歐) flags you down. Looks like someone in the election office upstairs got injured.

How this quest works is that you start off with a clue, Kuntz (昆茨). When you talk to people, you can choose to talk to them about clues that you already discovered. Talking to the right people, at the right time, with the right clue, allows you to unlock more clues. The sequence is as follows:

  1. You start with Kuntz
  2. Talk to Kuntz about Kuntz to unlock Sound
  3. Talk to Beruf in the basement about "Kuntz" to unlock Anger
  4. Go back to the top and talk to "Kuntz" about Anger to unlock Hario
  5. Go to the first floor and talk to the innkeeper Ernest (亞內斯特) about "Hario"
  6. Head to the stairs. Your teammates walk down and you decide to keep investigating
  7. Talk to Ernest about "Hario" again to unlock Lunch
  8. Go downstairs and out the north double doors and talk to the ferryman about "Lunch" to unlock Bell
  9. Go back up and talk to Ernest about "Bell" to unlock Cleanup
  10. These sequence of steps prove Hario and Kuntz's innocence:
    1. Go back down and outside to talk to the ferryman about "Sound"
    2. Talk to the ferryman again, this time about "Bell"
    3. Go to the top and talk to Norman about "Bell"
  11. These sequence of steps show that Beruf has no alibi:
    1. Go to the basement and talk to Beruf about either "Bell" or "Cleanup"
    2. Go to the ferryman and talk about "Lunch"
    3. Go back inside and talk to Beruf about "Sound" or "Cleanup". Now Beruf is a clue.
  12. These sequence of steps show that Beruf has been at the second floor:
    1. Talk to Beruf about "Lunch"
    2. Go to the second floor and talk to Norman about "Cleanup"
    3. Go back to the basement and talk to Beruf about "Lunch"

Lots of running around, but we end up finding out that it was all an accident. LOL

Serious business
Beruf is located here. He is also a really suspicious guy...

Reward

BP+5, $5000