-The Story so Far-

After going to Quarrycrest, I learned of the Merchant's Fair, an amazing place where only the best merchants can go. Now I'm going with Zexi and his group to Victor's Hollow in order to find the best treasure to sell at the fair.

"So, what are we looking for here exactly?" Leonis asked.

"I dunno. Something." Tressa said.

"Hey, isn't that the pirate guy? From Rippletide?" Zexi asked as they saw Leon in front of a tavern with Mikk and Makk bringing supplies to him.

"Captain Leon!" Tressa said running at him.

"Well, it's been awhile." Leon said.

"Wait...you evil pirates are here too?" Tulip asked.

"No no. We've changed our ways." Mikk said.

"True. We work for ol Captain Leon now." Makk said.

"Well, so long as you guys have changed your ways." Sam said.

"What brings you to Victors Hollow, Leon?" Abby asked.

"Merchandise and sales of course. And you?" Leon asked.

"Well...I want to participate in the merchants fair and I'm trying to find an amazing treasure." Tressa said.

"Hmm. Is that so? Well...there was tale of a treasure buried here. I know this because I was friends with the man who one had it." Leon said. "Long ago...I had a rivalry with a fellow pirate named Balthazar. We would compete with one another for treasures. But eventually, we stopped those days. But from a map he left behind, leading to the location of his last treasure, a rare gemstone known as an eldrite."

"Eldrite, huh?" Leonis asked. "That's the rarest gem in any universe. It could be worth millions."

"Well first we would need that map and...wait, where's Zexi?" Tulip asked before they saw him heading towards the caves.

"There he goes following instinct again." Psychic said as they followed.

"He'll be fine. But...we don't really know what could be in those caves. We better follow him." Harumi said.

"Zexi...I swear one of these days he's going to get us killed." Leonis said as they moved through the caves before coming to a grotto where they saw Zexi in a spot marked with an X as he dug.

"Wait...did he?" Dark asked as Zexi took out a chest.

"He found treasure." Kenshin said.

"Yes! See...we weren't gonna die. And no big ugly stupid monsters to…" Leonis said before seeing pools of poison behind him and growling. "It's right behind me, isn't it?"

"Yep." Zexi said as they saw a large tiger like creature with sharp claws and fangs dripping with venom.

"Not good. That's a venomtooth Tiger. It's a predator that poisons its prey before finishing them." Sam said.

"For real?" Harumi asked, recalling an incident from when she was younger. "Everyone… Let me handle this."

"Harumi, you wanna take it on? Go for it." Tressa said.

"Harumi? Are you sure? I know you're a skilled assassin but this is a dangerous predator." Sam said.

"I know. But the description you gave it...it just reminded me of something." Harumi said.

"If that's the way it is, we aren't gonna stop you." Tressa said. "Give that tiger something to be scared of."

Harumi nodded, and pulled out her daggers. "Black Spider Assassination Arts: Double Silk Shot!" she said as she threw her daggers with ropes that wrapped around the tiger.

"Wow!" Tressa said.

"I'm not done! Black Spider Assassination Arts-Level 2: Spider Web!" Harumi said weaving the ropes until the tiger was trapped in a Giant spider web.

The tiger roared as poison dripped from its fangs slowly eating away at the rope.

"Harumi, you need to hurry! The poison's eating away at the rope it's trapped in!" Sam said.

"Alright, time for the final technique!" Harumi said. "Black Spider Assassination Arts…" Harumi said pulling the rope towards her as she dealt rapid slashes at the tiger. "1000 Strikes of Oblivion!"

All 1000 slashes hit the Venomtooth Tiger as it was cut up all over its body. It soon fell to the ground, bleeding out.

"Whoa...I just got a new appreciation for you." Sam said. "You are way deadlier than a tiger."

"Thanks. Though, I wished I didn't have to resort to it." Harumi said. "My brother...he mentioned something about an incident with nagas, did he?"

"No no...well yes." Zexi said.

"Basically...he said you were almost killed by some." Tulip said.

"That's right. He also mentioned that one of his partners died in that operation, too. But...he didn't reveal the whole story." Harumi said. "Although I was unconscious at the time...I heard what really happened."

"Sorry...but we were afraid if you knew what happened...you would have some sort of psychological breakdown." Abby said.

"But if Brother knew that I knew the whole time, it would only make him feel worse about it, so...I kept quiet about it all this time." Harumi said. "The truth of it was, after he was injected with venom, that naga tried to go for him. But...his comrade pushed him out of the way, taking the fall for it instead. He saved his life back then, and my brother didn't even know about it. By the time he was able to stand, his partner was already gone."

"Whoa… heavy." Tressa said. "I'm sorry, Harumi. I didn't know about that."

"His comrade died when my brother went to save me. I felt as though the whole thing was my fault…" Harumi said.

"David wouldn't be moping like this." Zexi said. "Instead he would face the world with a strong face and keep the sadness down...in order to better save all those who need him."

"Heh… Yeah. He'd be like that." Harumi said. "He always moved forward with a calm and confident look on his face. I sometimes wished I had a tenth of that confidence."

"I think you already have it. In fact, you've had it for a long time." Sam said.

"You really think so?" Harumi asked.

"Oh definitely." Heart said.

"You've never taken a step back for as long as I've known you." Zexi said.

"Yeah...you're as confident as the next person. You're pretty amazing." Tressa said.

"Thanks, guys. That really means a lot." Harumi said smiling.

"To us...you're our greatest treasure." Zexi said.

"Their greatest treasure…" Tressa said as she claimed the Eldrite. "I have the gem...now we have our entry to the Merchant's Fair."

"Are you sure you don't want to give that back to Leon?" Sam asked.

"Leon will be fine. I have a feeling he already has his own treasure." Zexi said as they headed out of the cave as the scene showed Leon with his ship.

"Balthazar...I'll continue to live out the dream you wanted so much." Leon said.

And so...after a heartpounding encounter in the cave, we won and got the treasure for the Merchants Fair in Grandport.

But during this trip...I couldn't help but wonder...what's my greatest treasure? What would it be? But I wouldn't discover the answer until I reached Grandport…