Family Hierarch Candidate Ishmael/Identity Story

Overview

Voicelines

Identity Story

Speaker	Dialogue
Jia Family Ishmael	Ugh… Makes you wonder why they even hold these banquets, doesn't it?
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Had they come, they would have done naught but bring displeasure to you; have you not said as such yourself?
Jia Family Ishmael	I… guess that's true.
	The child walked out of the banquet hall and let out a deep sigh, folding her fan.
	All she got for attending a Daguanyuan banquet for once…
Jia Family Ishmael	Haah… no one came to the banquet but my big brother with that silly smile, huh?
	… was a nearly empty party. The Family Hierarch and the family elders, whom she actually came to see, apparently all had some business to attend to and only left her letters and notes.
	And the people who were indifferent about her didn't even bother showing their faces…
	So, essentially, there was but a single family member who was there to welcome her.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	This being an inauspicious place, it has already been anticipated that they would not hail your return with open arms…
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	… yet, I sense that aught is certainly awry.
Jia Family Ishmael	Ow, my head's already starting to hurt just thinking about it…
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	However, with all credit to your efforts, we may as well have passed the first round already.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Protect what you have, collect what intelligence that may be gained, and we shall be able to garner what wisdom there is to be found about the competition. Let not haste taint your wisdom.
	The first round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation was to bring them a clue of immortality.
	Fortunately, after a long and grueling journey, the child was able to find for herself what she sought.
Jia Family Ishmael	Phew… Can't believe we actually managed to scoop up some of that ■■■■■ of the deep place from the ■■■■■ Whale's traces. We were really in luck, huh?
Jia Family Ishmael	Jeez, I'm still shaking from what a close call that was. First time in the Lakes, almost devoured by the Waves as soon as we sailed out…
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	It could not be helped. You are a sc■■■ of the Jia Family; you must have had no ■■■■■ ■■ visit U Corp. even once.
Jia Family Ishmael	Yeah, I really ■■■■■■ up, sailing out blindly in my ■■■■■ voyage to the Great Lake in search of the clue for immortality, but…
Jia Family Ishmael	■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
[Scene glitches out.]
Oh.
Too early for that observation, I suppose.
But it's alright.
Nothing to worry about.
[Scene blurs back in.]
	That's not what the observer of this possibility is… curious to learn, is it?
	The fact that the child has never been to the Great Lake…
	The fact that the child was born as a scion of the Jia family…
	They're all trivial issues… as long as there was an observer, a wishmaker.
	With the mere act of witnessing, and only witnessing…
	… the world reflected on the mirror will only grow clearer.
	Yes, as it does now.
[Return to normal.]
	♬He who harbors an iridescent light in his eye… O, he who glimmers and showers the world with the gem's shine♬
	♬Yet hidden it remained for long, shadowed for years in his embrace♬
	♬The fell omen shall return, and tears of red shall flow like a great, winding river.♬
Jia Family Ishmael	What a creepy song to hear as soon as we walk out into the streets.
Jia Family Ishmael	I guess that's Hongyuan for you.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	What an… egregious song this is.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	The 'gem' of Hongyuan… cannot be referring to anyone else other than young lord Baoyu.
Jia Family Ishmael	Well… I get how these songs can spread.
Jia Family Ishmael	He… sure is a frightening foe, I can't deny that.
	The song called him a fell omen… and aptly so. He is feared by every Family Hierarch candidate in the competition.
	At first, what they felt was envy. Envy for the gem of Hongyuan who was praised and loved by the elders…
	… but that envy soon turned to fear when the gem began to ruthlessly wield the favor and love as his power to expand his network and dominate the competition.
	Every move he made was a threat against the other candidates.
	But… what the child fears is something else.
Jia Family Ishmael	The scariest thing about him is that… none of us have any idea what he's thinking behind that smiling face of his.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Yet, has he not always shown quite the pleasant degree of gentleness toward you, Miss? He thought it kind to visit your banquet, after all.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Were you not quite close with him in your youth?
Jia Family Ishmael	Yeah, we used to be pretty close. I followed him around because he'd always play with me wearing that silly smile of his, but…
Jia Family Ishmael	… That smile just feels so… I don't know, it makes my skin crawl.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Mm.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	… I understand. For there is aught I could presume.
Jia Family Ishmael	Yeah… Though I might just be letting my emotions get the better of me.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	However, I have faith that you are not one to suspect without cause.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Aught of his smile must have given you this perplexing sensation.
	The child shakes her head, trying to clear her mind after sharing her concerns to her right-hand man.
	Analyzing other candidates was all well and good, but she decided that it would be best for her to focus on what she has at this very moment.
Jia Family Ishmael	I'm just worried that even that concern might be kinda… premature, to be honest.
Jia Family Ishmael	We gotta focus on protecting what we have until the Evaluation day.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Then let us return to NuanxiangwuFort of Warm Fragrance.
Jia Family Ishmael	Been a while since I got to sleep in my own room, huh.
	The same night, the latter edge of Hai hour(亥時).
	Contrary to what she said, the child cannot seem to fall asleep. Well… it's more like she wasn't thinking of going to sleep at all tonight.
	This was her first night back in Hongyuan. She knew that it was pretty much a guarantee that she'd be getting ambushed.
	If she doesn't survive the ambush, even if she were to be revived later… the clue she brought would be gone.
	And she wasn't wrong.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Miss.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Shi family's snake-man has released the serpents.
Jia Family Ishmael	Haah… no place like home, huh?
Jia Family Ishmael	I would've thought they were underestimating me had tonight been completely peaceful.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Yet… Strange.
Jia Family Ishmael	Y… S…? Yi Sang, this is seriously not the time for one of your weird puns—
	The child muttered at her right-hand man, who somehow found it appropriate to make a pun in this tense situation…
	… but he only looked back at her in confusion, as though it was no joke at all.
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	I wish also that the situation indeed called for jests, yet…
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	… it seems that I have neglected aught. It is not the Shi family that holds these serpents' leash.
Jia Family Ishmael	…!
	There was a sound of several pairs of powerful legs kicking the ground, followed by the terrified screams of her clansmen.
	The child's expression hardened with the realization that she was under even greater danger than she'd thought.
Jia Family Ishmael	The hares… the rats… No, there's more…?
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Our clan is under attack. They must have allowed the Mao to strike them in the dark… as the rat swarm is coming to overwhelm us.
Jia Family Ishmael	And here I was, wondering where you'd all gone instead of coming to my banquet.
Jia Family ???	Hm? That is such a heartless thing to say, Ishmael.
Jia Family ???	I was the only one who filled a seat at that barren banquet of yours at Dahuating, wasn't I?
Jia Family Ishmael	… Big brother Baoyu?
Jia Family Ishmael	Huh. So much for trusting anyone in this stupid house.
Jia Family Ishmael	Looks like you've found a hidden knack for knifing people in the back while I was gone, huh?
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	Hm~ are you sure 'knack' is the right word? Please, I've learned and studied hard for this.
Jia Family Ishmael	How did you even get ahold of the snakes' leashes— Ah. I guess all this questioning is kinda pointless, huh.
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	Hehe…
	He carries himself with the air of an enlightened person, but the child knows that it's all a charade.
	His laid-back attitude wasn't prudence; it was arrogance…
	… and every word that spoke of humanity and righteousness that came out of his mouth was hollow.
Jia Family Ishmael	I never should've let my guard down, damned be the good memories we shared…
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	Aw, you're still seeking to gain understanding even in a jam like this? I'm so proud of you.
Jia Family Ishmael	I'm a Jia. That's pretty much a given quality in us.
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	But… wouldn't you have to survive tonight first, if you wanted to put that understanding to good use?
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	And that seems kinda… untenable for you, doesn't it?
Ishmael's Clan Yi Sang	Young lord Baoyu, that is—
Jia Family Ishmael	Enough talk. Nothing'll come of this conversation anyway.
Jia Family Ishmael	I'll prove myself by surviving tonight.
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	So you're not giving up?
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	Okay, Ishmael. If that is what you want… go ahead.
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	But I hope… you've left your regrets behind.
	The child prepared for battle, calming herself as the shadowy beasts poured into her room.
	Most other candidates would've folded here out of fear…
	… but she wasn't going down that easy. She was going to put her all into surviving tonight, as she has always done.
Jia Family Ishmael	Yeah… I'm probably gonna regret this.
Jia Family Ishmael	But it's really not like me to back down. Not here.
Jia Family Jia Baoyu	… Ha ha.
	The struggle against the current, surviving through these deadly, painful circumstances…
	… she was used to it all. Just as she was to the smile the man before her wore.

World of Daguanyuan Identity Stories