Episode 12: Cleaner's Collection

Episode

Cleaner's Collection

BGM

Gallery

“

A box of personal effects treasured by a cleaner wandering Norport Borough. The box contains many ownerless objects collected from the tattered district. Perhaps it can help you uncover the dark side of this city, buried beneath the dust of the battlefield.

”

The Cleaner's Collection is Episode 12's milestone. It is the belongings of a cleaner (i.e. fixer) operating in Norport Borough; while the cleaner's status remains unknown amidst the chaos surrounding the Borough, their collection proves to be useful in giving insights on the underbelly of Londinium.

Contents #1 to #5 are divided into three parts:

• The sketch, which is unlocked by clearing the corresponding operation's Story Environment mode.
• The record, which is unlocked by clearing the corresponding operation's Standard Environment mode.
• The item and its description, which is unlocked by clearing the corresponding operation's Adverse Environment mode. The item will also replace the sketch once unlocked.

Clearing the operation's higher Environment mode will unlock the lower parts at the same time, eliminating the need to repeat the operation to obtain all of them.

The contents are quoted verbatim from the game and should be kept pristine. Edits and updates should be placed on other pages related to the same subject.

#1: Per's Gold Tooth (Clear 12-4)
I seriously can't believe that Per, the old baldy, ended up choking to death on his own bread. The stench from the crumbs lodged in his throat was enough to make you vomit. He loved showing off. Every morning he'd stand there in that stinky ditch and show off that big ol' grin with his mouthful of gold tooth to attract the customers. I swear, it'd make my own teeth itch with envy. Per would always scrub his bread cabinet squeaky-clean every day, and he'd boast about his loaves every time he met someone. He'd often shove a couple slices my way in exchange for some words of praise about how great it was that his fortune was "trickling down," but I knew that he didn't want me to disgust his customers by standing in front of the store. But ever since the devils started frequenting Norport, his business gradually became harder to run. Even his precious gold tooth disappeared, leaving an empty hole behind to complement his bald head. Yes, complement. That's the word Per taught me. He told me that his gold tooth had been taken by those bread-snatching bastards. But, that gave me some relief, at least knowing that there was some karmic justice in our rich friends getting the short end of the stick. Right when Norport Borough was driven away, I warned Per to lock his doors and hide. But instead of listening, he even mocked me, saying that the reason I never made any money in life was because I was too lily-livered. But now, the lily-livered one is still alive. That day, I hid in a nearby block waiting to start my work, praying that nothing would happen to the ol' baldy. But even in the end, I never heard his voice. I thought he managed to make it out, but never imagined that even his dead body would get mutilated beyond belief by those bread-snatching madmen. When I helped tidy up his body, I discovered a small piece of bread lodged in his throat, in which the missing gold tooth was hidden. No wonder why I didn't hear his voice that whole time. Alas, even this greedy old baldy wanted to cling to his precious treasure before he died. I'm sad that an old friend is dead, but what really kills me is that he made a cheap fake into his treasure! Per's not such a bad man. From the bottom of my heart, I swear I was quite fond of the ol' baldy, but he was simply too much of a money-grubber. But then again, who isn't?
Ol' Baldy Per's business in the district was doing so well it may as well have been on fire, but his appearance was the laughingstock of his customers. He even scared away more than a few noblewomen. In a stroke of ingenuity, he got himself a new gold tooth to bless his bakery with good fortune. He never expected his shop to really take off like that.

Story Environment rewards	Standard Environment rewards	Adverse Environment rewards
3 5	5 3 2	1 2

#2: The Proof of Science (Clear 12-7)
This metal tag isn't something I picked up from a pile of corpses. No, it was personally given to me by a respected scholar as thanks for saving the future of Victorian "heraldry." Let me be clear– the title of "Master Scholar" is too modest for such a man of culture. He also went out of his way to correct me, saying that I cannot call him "Master Academician" yet. But, he clearly is no different from those bigwigs in the Royal Academy of Sciences! It was purely by chance that I met this scholar. I was doing some cleaning beneath a bridge, which just happened to be the place where this bloke planned to cut his life short. There's no point jumping from there anymore, as ever since the devils arrived, a whole mountain of bodies have been thrown down there. Besides, how could such a respectable person meet his end here? I quickly pulled the master scholar back from the edge and told him to look someplace else. But, he suddenly became excited, saying that he ought to read more, and finish writing a book of some sort. I didn't dare ask, so the master scholar gave me this shiny tag on his own, in exchange for a charcoal pencil. To be honest, what I wanted most was the canned food he had hidden on his person. But, how could I steal from such a respectable person? I couldn't afford to muck up the reputation of our cleaners' labor union. The master scholar also promised that he'd credit me at the end of the article and asked me to see him at the address he provided after the article was published. He'd give me a large sum of money in exchange for me returning this metal tag. Extremely generous, as expected of an upright person! I was moved when I saw the master scholar leave with a spring to his step. There are still cultured people left in this country, which means hope is still alive! (When I was polishing the metal tag in the morning, I suddenly remembered that I couldn't understand a word of the newspapers those old geezers read every day. Where in the bloody hell would I go to get my money from that scholar?)
At the closing ceremony of the third Columbian Heraldry Conference, a young, no-name scholar had the opportunity to give a speech in the place of his instructor, who received an award. The instructor then gave the medal to the young scholar, encouraging him to become a rising star in the field of Victorian heraldry. For a time, the bond between teacher and pupil became the talk of the town.

Story Environment rewards	Standard Environment rewards	Adverse Environment rewards
5 20K	5 30K 2	1 2 2

#3: Gangster's Perfume Gift (Clear 12-13)
When Norport fell into the hands of the devils, it wasn't just the old nobles who kept the lights on that went missing. Even communication between our trade union members became more difficult. Finally managed to scrounge together some valuables from corpses nobody was interested in, but who woulda thought, those Glasgow bastards are cleanin' the streets from right under the Sarkaz's noses. How am I gonna let that slide? But I gotta admit, when it comes to standing against those devils, the little bastards are a real good bunch. As of late, the devils have been going around indiscriminately grabbing people every now and then, making 'em clean up the dead bodies from the material transport channels outside the blockade. We hapless bunch either end up a part o' that corpse pile-up, or we get stuffed back inside this barbed-wire and concrete cage after the work is done. Neither are particularly great options, but if you ask me, I find the prospect of being alive to go back home a bit more enticing. If not for those little bastards doing a solid for us when we were out there slaving our arses off, I might've ended up dead in a ditch a long time ago. The more I saw 'em around, the more I took a liking to 'em! But recently, a handful of the gangsters got a bit uppity and decided to take a swing at the devils while we were out there working. I managed to survive by playing dead, but those good lads weren't so lucky. When I went digging for their bodies to mourn for 'em, I pulled out one o' the Glasgow lads who was still clinging on to life by a thread. He begged me to take him to see his woman, and I couldn't say no. Unfortunately, I didn't find out until we got there that his woman's gang had some bad blood with Glasgow, and plus, the devils mopped the whole place up a long time ago. At least the little bastard didn't last long enough to see the tragedy with his own eyes. (I buried the little bastard together with his woman, and took the perfume he had bought for her as a present with me. When better days come, and I meet a nice lady willing to be with me, this'll make a pretty nice gift.)
In their fight against the Sarkaz, the leaders of the Norport Borough gangs reached a strange understanding on how to protect their neighborhood. They were planning to spearhead the resistance at the supply lines. Regardless of the outcome of their partnership, this was great news for the youngsters in love with people in their rival gangs.

Story Environment rewards	Standard Environment rewards	Adverse Environment rewards
4 3 30K	4 50K 2	1 2 2

#4: Mr. McClaren's Monthly Card (Clear 12-17)
Ran out of wine at home last night, not even a smidge of foam left. Today, when I was thinking about looking around for some leftover bottles of wine, I suddenly dug out a monthly pass to the cinema hall from under my bed. The date marked on it made me remember how long I've been living in this half-dead state. The devils outside are still loitering around the walls, and nobody dares speak up when they're outside. I sure miss the days I could squat in front of the cinema hall and listen to the old ladies chatting. The stuff they'd talk about was so fresh you'd swear it came straight from a movie! Whenever I found myself bored back then, it's not like I didn't have my own ways of getting around. McClaren, the owner of the cinema hall down the road, had a bunch of fresh and weird tapes stashed away, the rare kind you couldn't find anywhere else. That stuff was as exciting as booze! Of course, I didn't have the money to rent those tapes myself, but I knew that McClaren fella had a private screening room where a guy in a gray hat would show up to pass the time every week. The man in the hat and I never met, I'd be willing to wager that the two of us were pretty much would've been chums who could strike it up. After all, we both had a love for the more stimulating stuff. I'd imagine he was also the easily embarrassed type, which is why he always wore that hat and kept his identity tight to avoid that anyone in the family who'd go to watch some blockbuster films. Those films were the real deal, I tell you. How come I never met any women as fine as the one from the films? A damn shame. But one day, the man suddenly disappeared. Not a trace for two whole weeks. The next time I saw him, he had already been hung from the gates of the city hall. Those damn devils even self-righteously used public broadcasting to announce that he was a spy. What a load of shit! Was he not just another thrill-seeking guy just like me? I gave his body a proper sendoff, but since he couldn't make use of this monthly card anymore, figured he might as well give it to me. Too bad it's already expired. (Was he really exchanging information in the cinema hall like one of those super spies from the movies, or was he just going for the thrills and to blow off steam just like me? Too bad I never got a chance to ask him. Having that said, I've seen those Glasgow lads sneaking into the cinema hall quite often recently. Maybe I'll look into it some other day.)
Watching explicit films is always a good way to alleviate stress during wartime. McClaren understood this, which is why he made good money showing these flicks, unauthorized for public viewing. Come to think of it, though, who would come enforce it anyway, given everything that was going on?

Story Environment rewards	Standard Environment rewards	Adverse Environment rewards
5 3 2	6 2	1 2 2

#5: Unknown Butterfly Knife (Clear 12-20)
This beautiful item was a gift given to me today by a colleague who came by to bring me some wine. Though I said "gift," he in fact didn't dare to lay hands on it at all, and could only throw it at me. Oripathy is just like the devils - nobody knows where they came from. It laid ruin to the once-thriving Norport Borough. Everyone has become paranoid. Everyone fears they'll be Infected the next time they wake up. An aura of death lingers thick in the air. Who knows if this knife has been stained with those disease-causing things? After all, we both saw that guy using it to carve those black stones growing from his body, bit by bit. We were all worried for that guy. Afraid that his screams would attract the devils. Afraid that the two of us would get implicated for no reason. My colleague wanted to drag me away, but I was so scared I couldn't move a muscle. And I knew why. That man was McClaren, so kind and wise. Why would he do something so terrifyingly stupid? McClaren did in fact end up summoning the devils that day. A small squad of them walked by, mocking and jeering at the poor bastard on the ground. I saw with my own eyes, that poor bastard frozen in place at their feet, his crying turning to laughter, his voice becoming fainter and fainter. Those bloody devils just stood there and continued to watch, unwilling to even put him out of his misery. Looking back at it, I'm pretty sure McClaren was loudly muttering something before he died; a pity nobody but the squad of devils knows what he said. Even after becoming an Infected, isn't being able to cling to your life, no matter how briefly, a form of fortune in itself? Would digging all those black crystals out make him clean and free from disease? Why couldn't he figure it out? When my senses returned to me, my colleague had already disgustedly passed McClaren's knife over to me. Only then did I see that the devils were gone, and McClaren had breathed his last. To be honest, holding this butterfly knife in my hand gives me no pleasure. It always reminds me of that poor man who went mad. The only good news is the Glasgow logo on the handle of the knife. Who knows? I might be able to pawn it off right away, or trade it to those bastards for something nicer. I don't want to end up with that damned Originium disease and die like McClaren did.
Baird still remembered that when she showed off her new butterfly knife to the Glasgow members, Indra suggested making it gang property and stamped their seal onto its hilt. Although the two of them got into a fight over this, according to Vina, Baird seemed somewhat open to the idea.

Story Environment rewards	Standard Environment rewards	Adverse Environment rewards
5 2	1 4 2	1 2

#6 (Clear H12-1)

Portable Military Flashlight The plate started rumbling since a week ago. Today's just the second day since the shaking stopped. The union has already been completely cut off from the other plates. Though in the past most of our activities were confined to Norport, it's no secret that we'd also head to other plates under the cover of night for purposes that need not be reported. But now that the blockade of Norport is a certainty, everyone in the union already has the sense that the darkest days are yet to come. Quite a few of my colleagues heard news that war had already broken out beyond the plate, and that no small amount of valuable Victorian military equipment had started to pile up into little mountains. But, none of the people trapped inside the city ever heard the sound of battle, and I couldn't help but to feel that whoever spreading this news was messing with us. What war were they talking about? Clear as day that it was completely quiet outside in the streets. But deep down, I couldn't set aside all those valuables just outside the city walls. So, at night, I used my familiarity with the city to slip past those scattered devils, and snuck out of the city. And what ended up happening... was nothing but an empty, pitch-black wasteland outside. When I got lost, I nearly bumped into a living person. Scared me so bad I tried to duck and take cover. But before I could even get my ass down, something went off next to me with a bang. Mud, grass, rocks, and a whole pile of wet, mucky what-else got blasted into the sky, then came splashing down all around me. I was so scared I fled back towards the city. It was only when I was heading back that I found a mound of dirt full of chunks of flesh, where this flashlight with markings of the Victorian Army was. Look like there really is a war out there. Couldn't fall asleep that night even after two drinks. That's when I swore on my life to never leave the city again. (Today, I used the flashlight as evidence to stamp my reputation in front of my colleague. I got a lot of information firsthand: first, there really is a war out there. Second, you can make a whole lot of money by leaving the city. Hah, how I love seeing that greedy glint in their eyes.)

Rewards
1 2

#7 (Clear H12-2)

Birthday Gift Tonight I finally have a chance to take my child down to the cemetery for a proper burial. Those bloody devils have been ramping up their patrols more and more these days! This cemetery used to only be accessible to noblemen. At some point, I even wanted to receive a dignified burial here myself. Never could've imagined this is where I'd end up, letting such a damn tragedy befall my lovely child. I'm sorry, my son... I never should've told you those fibs I made up. Had I never boasted to him about the grand and epic tales of how I led our Victorian soldiers into the alleys to mop up the devils, my poor boy might not've... No, he definitely wouldn't have died trying to be the hero when that blasted devil smashed down his neighbor's door. But, it made me so happy when he looked up at me with adoration in his eyes. He was the only thing that made this empty life worth living. I did more than enough to protect him. He just didn't know what those bloody devils are like, or about what this bloody war is about. He was just happy he had a heroic father! I'm the most cretinous idiot ever to walk these lands! I should've anticipated the risks of doing that a long time ago, but I stood by and didn't do a damn thing! I should've come clean a month ago, when he said right before bedtime that he wanted to go slay some devils with me. I had a bit too much to drink that night, and even though my legs were shaking, I didn't have the courage to face my lies. No, I didn't just do nothing. I went and made the biggest mistake of my life. I tried to dispel his unrealistic dreams of heroism through intimidation. I took the job of cleaning up on the front lines from my compatriots. Relying on the good ol' technique of hiding under a pile of dead bodies during the cannonfire, I cut off the horns of a bunch of devils and snuck them away when nobody was paying attention. On his birthday, I gave him a few of these severed horns as present. He cried that night, and never mentioned those bloody devils again. I naively felt that not only had my goal been accomplished, but he actually looked at me with even more admiration. I really felt like a mighty hero. I heard that the guy I replaced was also executed by the devils not long ago for defying the Military Commission. Some hero that makes me.

Rewards
1 2

#8 (Clear H12-3)

The Cleaner's Pocket Notebook I don't know when it happened, but I don't think I can live without this little book anymore. All I remember is, carrying it on me like this seems to be a habit I picked up during my last stint in jail. When those scary devils first came to our land, life didn't seem to change all that much. But one night, when I went out to the streets to search for some small baubles, I was caught by the patrolling devils and thrown in prison. It was then that I realized, the place where I lived my whole life really had changed hands. But after that, those devils never showed up again. Instead, a few Victorian gentlemen showed up to interrogate me every day about where some "hat" was. But, there are so many hats on this plate. How am I supposed to know where the hat they're looking for is? They then tossed me this little notebook and told me to write down all the places there were "hat." Do you have any idea how hard that is? Hundreds, if not thousands of hats have passed through my hands in this line of work. How am I supposed to finish this? I have kids back home I need to take care of! So, I just wrote down the locations of all the hat-wearing corpses I cleaned up, and even listed the little baubles I secretly dug out. That entire week I was in jail, the gentlemen said they had never seen me be so meek and cooperative before. Hah, being meek and cooperative can save your life! When I was released, they threw me out right in front of the devils. Thinking back about it, that attitude came in handy twice! In the time after I was released, one of the gentlemen came up to me secretly and warned me not to go out to work at night – it wasn't safe, he said. He also said, he knew who I was from the very beginning, a poor fellow hard at work on the streets all year 'round. Even said he had been taking good care of my kid back home this week! To this day, I'm still extremely grateful to that man. Before the devils showed up, it was never this easy to get out of jail after getting thrown in, and even harder to meet such kind-hearted people. I can assure you, our fellow Victorians are good people who can be trusted! After I got out of jail, I realized it wasn't a bad idea to use the notebook to record my daily earnings. It's basically a habit at this point, right? Just like my work.

Rewards
1 1

#9 (Clear H12-4)

Legacy of the Battlefield To the Victorian citizens of Norport Borough: During the joint assault between the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Caster, and the Duke of Windermere, we have largely broken through the blockade of Norport Borough. The light of Mother Victoria once again shines upon her dear child. Though there are still sporadic Sarkaz troop activities in the city, most of the area is already under our control. Citizens of Victoria, you are now safe! According to our statistics, during this small-scale turmoil, Victorian troops suffered 32 casualties, 291 injuries, 464 MIA, totaling 787 souls. In Norport Borough, there were 2,154 civilian casualties and 6,473 injuries, and we are in the process of tabulating more detailed data. The dukes' forces are also quickly mobilizing to provide relief to affected citizens. We pay the utmost respects to everyone who made sacrifices in service of glorious Victoria during this battle, soldier or civilian. All surviving Victorian citizens, please ensure your safety by reporting to nearby Victorian troops as soon as possible, and accept the protection of the dukes! Though I am but an ordinary military clerk, I was touched by the sincerity of your emotions the moment I set foot on Norport's plate. I had the privilege of witnessing an ordinary citizen sacrifice himself in a blaze of glory to save a flag bearing the insignia of our great mother, Victoria. What an inspirational display of bravery and patriotism! As such, I now call upon in my personal capacity only: Citizens of Victoria in Norport Borough, please follow the examples of those who have sacrificed themselves out of love, so that our compatriots will never again be slaughtered, so that our progeny will never again be trodden upon. For the sake of a freer future, rise up and unite! Join the dukes' forces, and let us fight against the vile Sarkaz and usher in the glorious victory of Mother Victoria!

Rewards
1 1