The Time Left to Us

“

Tesleen makes an effort to smile brightly.

— In-game description

Steps

Determined not to inflict her own feelings of gloom on the patients, Tesleen suggests a meal to lighten the mood. You are duly treated to a delicious stew, which does much to restore your spirits. Even as you consider a second helping, however, a frantic carer rushes up to report that Halric has gone missing...

Time being of the essence, Alisaie suggests assigning search areas, and Tesleen claims the territory to the east. Alisaie herself volunteers to take the north and the west, leaving you to scour everything to the south.

You find no sign of the missing Halric. There are, however, still plenty of other places to the south of the Inn where a young boy might wander unseen...

As you scan your surroundings in search of Halric, you stray into the path of a ravenous sin eater. But the predator is soon made to regret its choice of prey, and you resume seeking the Inn's wayward patient.

A short while later, you stumble into a breathless Alisaie, whose own search has proven similarly fruitless. As you wonder where to look next, a large sin eater flies overhead, and you decide to give chase in the hope that the creature might lead you to your quarry...as indeed it does. Alas, you arrive too late to prevent Tesleen from sacrificing herself to save the boy, and so bear witness to her horrifying transformation. The road back to the Inn is a somber one indeed...

With Alisaie still reeling from the loss of her friend, it falls to you to console the Inn's surviving carers.

Tesleen's colleagues are understandably devastated by the news of her fate, but they seem comforted by your stoic presence nonetheless. This does little to assuage your guilt at failing to prevent the atrocity, however. You wonder what Halric must be feeling beneath that silent mask...

As before, your attempts to engage the boy are met with a blank stare and nothing more. This sudden tragedy has cast a pall of hopelessness over the Inn and its residents─everywhere you turn, you see faces etched with grief and sadness.