Starting off on the small investigation, they were able to note something out quickly enough. Professor Layton had noted that Chief Morel could smell Desmond's cologne easily enough, which he believed to be a clue somehow. Running into Amanita again, she greeted them happily, especially Professor Pigtails as she seemed to have taken to calling Desmond. Much to his bother.
"Do you fancy staying for dinner tonight? I can cook up a mouth-watering stew, you know!"
"Really? What kind?" Elaine asked with interest, looking over to the boiling cauldron Amanita stood by. She had been wondering what exactly it was. Though hopefully the taste was better than the scent Elaine was getting from it.
"There's warty foulcap, mature parsnip and a liberal helping of moss and bark for that added texture!" she explained cheerfully and almost excitedly. Elaine hid her grimace well. She had no idea what a 'warty foulcap' was, other than the fact it sounded like some type of mushroom. But the rest of the ingredients didn't sound the most appetising.
"Sorry, can't tonight. Washing my hair," Desmond spoke. His thoughts, and probably most of the group as well, were probably more or less on the same train of thought as Elaine's. Amanita however seemed to have some idea what was on their mind, and pouted.
"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe once you boil off the poison!"
… Elaine felt confident that none of that stew would even touch her lips.
"Just look at the chief. He comes round every day to eat the stuff, and he's a picture of health!"
"Ah… Well, it pains me to decline, but I fear our palates may not be accustomed to such… Rich cuisine," Professor Layton was the one to decline for them. Not that anyone was going to complain. Amanita herself had taken the decline quite well thankfully, and was able to direct them in the direction of the Chief's family to ask questions.
The first member being the Chief's granddaughter (Button, if Elaine recalled correctly) and admitably adorable looking girl with short hair.
"Ahh, outsiders! Nooo, no, no! You're not allowed to talk to me!"
… Who certainly knew how to make people feel a bit unwelcomed. Though Elaine reasoned that they were strangers. But they were able to calm the girl down enough to try and explain that they were trying to help her grandfather. From there, they were able to get more information. Such as the fact that the Chief had been falling over a lot for almost a month, and had been covered in mud that morning.
She was able to point them in the right direction of where it was the Chief had fallen, though the location itself did not have as firm soil as that in the village. That alone already gave the idea that the Chief may have just simply slipped around here, confirmed when after a quick look over, they found the person-print of Chief Morel. The cause being a rather large and bright flower, that many would have noticed almost immediately.
From there, they went to talk with the Chief's wife back the family's hut. Apparently, the Chief was still insistent on hunting even though he was old, much to his wife's annoyance. He was 'too old and too senile' as she put it. Possibly having a hard time coming to terms with his age as well, possibly.
"… Mrs. Morel," Professor Layton began after a moment of deliberation. "I believe I know the reason why your husband is feeling so miserable."
"You do?"
"You mean it's not just because he's going crazy?" Luke asked in bemusement.
"On the contrary, I believe our chief is very much sound of mind. And if my theory is correct, there's a good chance that we will be able to change his attitude." While it would have been nice to hear what exactly the Professor had in mind, just knowing he may have a solution of some kind helped immensely.
"Another puzzle solved, Professor?" Emmy asked as they left the hut.
"Not just yet, Emmy. While I may have determined the root of the problem, we have not yet offered a solution. We're going to have to build a special accessory."
"So what materials will we need then, Professuer?" asked Elaine.
"Let's see. First, we're going to need some thin, smooth, cylindrical things. Preferably robust."
"Some industrial-strength glue would be nice for combining parts," Desmond brought up. "But we may struggle to find that here."
"What about tree sap?" Johanna suggested, looking a little uncomfortable just speaking out. "It's… It's sticky stuff. Could that do?"
"No, although tree resin would do the trick," Professor Layton explained.
Those two items had been easy enough to obtain. They managed to obtain bullfrog bones from Amanita who was planning on using the rest to make something called, 'milkcap broth'. Something Elaine was sure she wanted no taste of. They didn't look the most pleasant, and were quite slimy to the touch as Aurora put it. But Professor Layton insisted that they were adequate for what he had in mind.
They then found something better then tree resin to use as glue. Luke and Johanna had spotted and nearly touched a rare species of snail that produced a liquid stronger then superglue. After carefully getting the sticky substance into a jar, they were almost done and just had to find the last item. Something translucent that light could pass through. Such as glass or a gemstone.
"Ah, Mr. Long Head!" chirped Button when they came across her again in the jungle. This time she was holding a chunk of shinning stone in her hand. Possibly just the type of material they needed. And she was also soaking wet as though she had jumped in a river.
"Why are you soaking wet, Button?" Elaine asked.
"Oh, yeah. That's okay. I decided not to catch a cold this time!"
"Ah… That's good to hear, but make sure to dry off when you get home," Professor Layton told her. "Button, might I ask what you have there?"
"Oh, this?" She held up the stone.
"Is that a crystal?" Johanna asked as she looked at the stone with interest. "It looks very nice."
"Wait… Isn't this exactly what we're looking for Professor?" Luke asked, looking up towards his mentor.
"As fortune would have it, yes, I believe it is. Button, may we use that crystal?" Button glared and held the crystal close to her chest.
"No! This is my treasure! You can't have it!"
"Ho ho. And rightly so. But perhaps you could at least tell us where you found it?" Button thought it over, and smiling again she nodded with enthusiasm.
"Sure then. I went over a really wobbly, really dangerous bridge!"
"A bridge? Like this tree bridge here?" Luke asked as he looked to the hollowed out tree that acted as a bridge behind Button. It looked old, covered in moss, and fairly unstable.
"N-no! I mean… Yes, like this one! But not this one! And you'll never find it!"
"She's not a good liar," Johanna commented quietly.
"I'll say," Luke agreed with her.
Crossing the bridge hadn't been as bad as Elaine expected. While it was a bit shaky, was able to hold the entire group with ease. Even if Emmy did shake the bridge a little when she went across.
"Phew," Luke gave a sigh of relief when they made it to a waterfall. "We crossed it. That wasn't so bad…"
"Says the boy who wouldn't let go of the Professor's hand," Emmy teased.
"You kept shaking the bridge," Johanna stated, still clinging onto Desmond's hand and the back of Elaine's shirt. Aurora stood not too far from them.
"Yeah, when you went stomping across!"
"I think we may have to step through the waterfall," Professor Layton said suddenly, to prevent a small argument breaking out.
"What, really? Through it?!"
"I'm not sure if all of us would be willing to step under that torrent of cold water, Professeur," Elaine commented as she gave the water a wary look. It wouldn't exactly be pleasant to spend the rest of the day with only wet clothes on them, but it seemed there was little choice in the matter. Well, until Emmy spotted a rock at the top of the cliff the waterfall was coming down from, and climbed up the cliff side with great speed much to everyone's amazement. It began to make Elaine wonder what exactly Emmy did before she became Professor Layton's assistant.
Barely a minute passed when Emmy reached the top, and with ease she kicked the rock over to block the waterfall until it was nothing more but a thin line of water streaming down the side of the cliff, and revealing a cave. Likely the location where Button got her crystal.
Inside the cave itself, there were many twisting stalactites and stalagmites, with a few mushrooms about. The coolness inside was a big welcome compared to the heat of the jungle.
"The rock formations… So curious, and yet so beautiful," remarked Aurora. "Nature holds many wonders."
"Could that be what we're looking for?" Elaine asked as she pointed up near some crystals sticking out of the ceiling. At first glanced, it seemed they would be impossible to get.
"It appears so," Desmond answered.
"But how are we going to get up there?" Luke answered, only for a sudden rumbling to start for a few moments.
"Uh oh. Is this my fault?" Emmy asked with concern as she looked around. "Did I do something when I knocked the boulder over?"
"The pillar, it's shaking!" Luke exclaimed as he pointed towards said pillar. It looked as though it could reach the crystals if it fell at a certain angle. The Professor must have already thought of this as he went to remove a stone against the pillar. It resulted in it topping over in the direction of the crystals, and then causing a stalactite to fall to the ground, which would be helpful in reaching the crystals further. And getting the crystals themselves was easy enough surprisingly. They broke away fairly easily. It made sense in a way. After all, Button had been able to get a crystal for herself, so why not them?
With all the materials gathered for whatever it was Professor Layton had in mind, they returned back to the Grand Stage where a majority of the villagers were still present at. Including Chief Morel, who still appeared to have yet to crack a smile.
Once again, the Professor and Luke got on stage with the bones, snail glue and crystal, prepared to do… Whatever it was Professor Layton had in mind.
"Who's this, then?" Chief Morel asked.
"I knew he was old, but I didn't think he would have trouble remembering them," Emmy mumbled to himself.
"Maybe 'e just doesn't remember them because they aren't locals?" Elaine suggested, though she did sound too confident with her words. More so when the Chief claimed he never saw the two before in his life. The Professor however seemed to be confident about his plan.
"If I could have your attention, please. Is there anyone in the village who is especially good at polishing?" he asked aloud for the crowd present to hear. One woman came up, and when they were asked for as well, a cutter and someone who could handle the snail glue.
While Professor Layton gave the volunteers some instructions, everyone else looked on in curiosity to see what the result would be exactly. It looked like the Professor was pleased with the work so far, up until the end. Though they couldn't see what it was they had made.
"What do you think 'e made?" Elaine asked Emmy.
"I don't know, but we're about to find out."
"I believe we're done. Chief Morel, if you'd just like to place this on your head." The Chief accepted what the Professor held out to him and put it on. Professor Layton then stepped back to allow everyone to see the result of their work.
A pair of glasses were on his head, and he looked a bit startled when he saw the Professor and Luke.
"What… What's this about?"
"Chief Morel, can you see us?" asked Professor Layton in a kind tone.
"Wh-what in the… What's wrong with your…?" He trailed off and much to the surprise of some (and joy for most of the villagers), he began to laugh loud and clear.
"Oh ho h oho! Wah ha ha ha ha ha! The pair of you look ridiculous!"
"'E's actually laughing," Elaine said with a bemused look.
"And being rude," Johanna added in, frowning as traces of annoyance on her face.
The situation was easy enough to explain in the end. The Chief's eyesight had simply been going bad but he had been able to get around with his sense of smell. And since most of the attempts of humour had been physically done (with the exception of Desmond's poor joke telling skills), he didn't see any of the things he probably would have found humourous.
"I don't know what you outsiders have done, but now the lot of you look completely barmy!" Chief Morel exclaimed, calming down long enough to talk properly. Elaine held her tongue in from making a comment on the village's apparent obsession with mushrooms for hairstyles, and pointing out to herself logically that different cultures will always have certain aspects that look odd to one another. But that didn't keep her from being a bit annoyed at the Chief. But she could still appreciate how he dismissed Desmond's attempt at joke telling.
"I'm glad we were able to bring a smile to your face Chief Morel." After Layton ended his words, Chief Morel broke into laughter again.
"Wah ha ha ha!" Your face is all stretched out! And look at you, with that enormous nose!"
"It appears the lenses in our makeshift glasses provide the Chief with a slightly distorted view of the world," Desmond commented, subconsciously touching his nose briefly. The Chief began to calm down once more.
"Ah, before I forget, didn't you say something about wanting this eggy thing?" He took the Azran Egg off the string necklace and handed it to Professor Layton who took it gratefully. Aurora gave a tiny smile momentarily as the Professor handed it to her to hold, and she took it gently as though it were made of glass.
They had the first of five Azran Eggs, and they hadn't even run into Targent. That could definitely qualify as a success.