• 1360
• Alvero
  I kept trying to get information from my father but no results...
  In fact, after I showed him this letter he has stopped seeing me altogether.

• 1361
• How will you respond?

• 1362
• What letter?

• 1363
• You're not saying...

• 1364
• Alvero
  It's too soon to make a final judgement yet...
  but take a look.

• 1365
• How will you respond?

• 1366
• I can't read someone else's letter....!

• 1367
• Let me take a look.

• 1368
• Alvero
  I found it in my father's office.
  Just read this part here...

• 1369
• How will you respond?

• 1370
• I can't read someone else's letter....!

• 1371
• Let me take a look.

• 1372
• Alvero
  Please, take a look.
  There's a name in here you'll recognize.

• 1373
• I know that both you and Baltazar have had long, troubled times since losing Natalia to that terrible incident. In the face of that, please excuse my belief in your lasting friendship and my making this request of you now. The Duke of Alba has finally succeeded in having Baltazar removed from his post as captain of the mercenaries. Now on the run, he could be captured any day. You are the only one in a position to appeal to the Duke for his safety. Please, take this opportunity to save your one irreplaceable friend.
  Yours, Irene

• 1374
• Alvero
  Natalia here is my mother.
  I was told she died from sickness when I was young...
  I never heard that she died in an accident...
  My father and butler won't tell me anything, though...
  He won't tell me anything at all, actually! This letter might be connected to the pepper problems, too.
  If we meet Irene, the one who sent the letter, we might find out more.

• 1375
• What do you want to do?

• 1376
• Talk about Irene.

• 1377
• Say nothing.

• 1378
• Alvero
  If we don't know where to find her then I think I'm finally at a loss.

• 1379
• Alvero
  ...You know this person? Please...
  take me to see her.

• 1380
• How will you respond?

• 1381
• Okay, I see.

• 1382
• No.

• 1383
• Alvero
  I suppose I can...

• 1384
• Alvero
  Thank you.
  I'll owe you for this.

• 1385
• Irene
  Oh, Player.
  You have a friend with you today?

• 1386
• Alvero
  Your Irene...? I'm Alvero Sarmiento.
  Diego Sarmiento's son.

• 1387
• Irene
  You're Alvero?! You were so small last time I saw you! Diego told you to come, did he? So what did Diego...
  what did your father say?

• 1388
• Alvero
  I'm sorry...
  I took a letter from my father's study.
  He didn't tell me about you himself.
  But I thought you might know something about him and my mother...

• 1389
• Irene
  I see...
  Very well.
  I'll tell you whatever I know.

• 1390
• Alvero
  What should I ask?

• 1391
• Alvero
  What should I ask?

• 1392
• What do you want to ask?

• 1393
• The relationship between Baltazar and Diego.

• 1394
• The death of Alvero's mother.

• 1395
• Diego's apparent plan to monopolize pepper.

• 1396
• Irene
  I'm sorry.
  I only know rumours about the pepper incident myself.

• 1397
• Alvero
  I suppose I can...

• 1398
• Irene
  ...Ah, Natalia...

• 1399
• Alvero
  ...My father told me my mother died from sickness...

• 1400
• Irene
  It was a terrible thing.
  I'm sure he simply can't talk about it.

• 1401
• Alvero
  Terrible...? What happened?

• 1402
• Irene
  It was seventeen years ago...
  just after you were born.

• 1403
• Alvero
  Baltazar and Diego worked together...? When was this?

• 1404
• Irene
  It would have been...
  almost seventeen years ago...
  just after you were born.

• 1405
• Irene
  At the time Baltazar and Diego were rouge trade merchants in the Caribbean and along the African coast.
  At times they were almost like pirates, never giving in to authority, surviving on their skills as merchants and their own physical strength.
  Among sailors of the time they were a source of both admiration and fear.

• 1406
• How will you respond?

• 1407
• Almost like pirates?!

• 1408
• Source of both admiration and fear?

• 1409
• Irene
  Diego would get information on his rivals, cut them off and steal the profits for himself.
  If these tactics led to a battle then Baltazar would step in and use force.
  I was still small and the two of them would always tell me stories of their adventures.
  Being able to hear these tales before anyone else was a source of great pride for me, as a child.
  Their deeds looked so bright to everyone...

• 1410
• Irene
  ...But that didn't last forever.

• 1411
• Irene
  The premises they held on Madeira island were suddenly attacked and burned to the ground.
  Almost all of their goods were stolen and Natalia was killed...
  protecting you from the flames.

• 1412
• Alvero
  So my mother died...
  there in Madeira...?

• 1413
• How will you respond?

• 1414
• Who perpetrated the raid?

• 1415
• Don't ask any more questions.

• 1416
• Irene
  Hayreddin Barbarossa...

• 1417
• Irene
  Now famous as the pirate king of the Algiers.

• 1418
• Alvero
  ...!

• 1419
• Alvero
  So the reason Baltazar continues to chase Barbarossa...

• 1420
• Irene
  That's right.
  For revenge.
  Having left his partnership with Diego he now lives only to exact his revenge.
  Tomorrow holds nothing else for him...

• 1421
• How will you respond?

• 1422
• Why did he leave Diego...?

• 1423
• Don't ask any more questions.

• 1424
• Alvero
  ...So what about my father? Shouldn't he have joined in the fight to avenge my mother?

• 1425
• Irene
  ...But he didn't.
  After moving his premises to Lisbon he quit sailing altogether and just focused on managing his company...
  Baltazar left Diego and became a mercenary about six months after moving to Lisbon.

• 1426
• Alvero
  ...So he lost faith in my father and left him behind...?

• 1427
• Irene
  I don't think so.
  They both seem to think of it as having just gone their separate ways.
  I don't think he has abandoned Diego...
  but...

• 1428
• Alvero
  But what...?

• 1429
• Irene
  No, it's nothing...

• 1430
• Irene
  That's everything, anyway...

• 1431
• Alvero
  Tell me.
  But what...?

• 1432
• Irene
  ...There's still something you want to ask?

• 1433
• What do you want to do?

• 1434
• You said "but" back there.
  But what?

• 1435
• I don't want to ask anything else.

• 1436
• Alvero
  Irene, please.
  I need to hear anything that might help me understand my father's intensions.

• 1437
• Irene
  ...Okay.
  It was when the Duke of Alba was chasing Baltazar, forcing him to hide here in the tavern.

• 1438
• Baltazar
  ......The Duke of Alba's minions?

• 1439
• Irene
  Well, I'm not entirely sure but they seemed to be looking for you.
  It might be dangerous for you to just stay here and do nothing...

• 1440
• Baltazar
  I suppose I can...

• 1441
• Irene
  ...Baltazar, I've been thinking...

• 1442
• Baltazar
  Talk to me.

• 1443
• Irene
  ...Why don't you ask Diego for help? I'm sure he has developed really good ties with the royal family of Spain and be glad to help you...

• 1444
• Baltazar
  ...No, I can't do that.

• 1445
• Irene
  Why...? After seventeen years, surely there's nothing to feel guilty about? He said you are still his friend, even now...

• 1446
• Baltazar
  Hmph...
  it has been 17 years indeed...
  I always believed that he and I would end up working together at some point...
  to defeat Hayreddin.
  But...

• 1447
• Irene
  But what?

• 1448
• Baltazar
  If I show him any weakness, he'll take advantage of it.
  That's what I'm worried about.

• 1449
• Alvero
  Afraid of losing his footing...?

• 1450
• Irene
  I'm sorry, I didn't ask anything more than that.
  Then he left for the Indies...
  without saying anything else to me.

• 1451
• Alvero
  I suppose I can...

• 1452
• Irene
  So all I can do is wait, knowing nothing...

• 1453
• Alvero
  This leaves us one choice...
  we have to go after Baltazar.
  As my father's old friend he may know the truth of the current situation...

• 1454
• Irene
  I wouldn't recommend that.
  The sea leading to the Indies now belongs to the Spanish.
  They aren't going to allow passage to the Portuguese...
  and even if you do get through the Duke of Alba is waiting to capture Baltazar.
  It'll be far too dangerous alone.

• 1455
• Alvero
  Then we'll just need to shake the Duke of Alba off.
  I've been hardened by my work under Admiral Gama, I can do it.

• 1456
• Irene
  But...

• 1457
• Alvero
  ...Right, I need to start getting ready for the trip to the Indies.
  Thank you for telling us so much Irene.
  I'll make sure Baltazar is safe.

• 1458
• Irene
  Player, can you tell Alvero for me that I don't believe Diego has changed, either.
  Those two are still strongly bound together...

• 1459
• Alvero
  Player, thank you for bringing me here.
  After getting back to Lisbon I'm going to start looking for a way to reach the Indies.

• 1460
• Alvero
  Hey, Player.
  I've been thinking of ways to meet with Baltazar but I can't really come up with anything.
  Even if I manage to sneak through the waters I won't be able to put into port over there...

• 1461
• Juan
  Hey, Player, listen.
  Alvero is horrible...! I keep asking him to take me along on his next voyage, but he won't!

• 1462
• Alvero
  That's because I'll be risking my life.

• 1463
• Juan
  Uh...
  and here I was thinking I'd get to sail again!

• 22117
• Several days later, Player met Alvero in front of the Sarmiento Company.
  Alvero handed over the letter from the other day.
  It was a letter sent to Diego from Irene in a tavern in Marseilles.
  The letter stated that after a disagreement with his superior officer, the Spanish mercenary captain Baltazar had been stripped of his captaincy and was now a fugitive.
  She went on to ask that Diego use his popularity throughout the country to perhaps intervene on his old friend Baltazar's behalf with the superior officer, the Duke of Alba.

• 22118
• However, the first line of the letter had shocked Alvero most of all.
  "Ever since that unfortunate incident when you had to bury Natalia, things have been difficult for you and Baltazar for a long time." Natalia was Alvero's mother that had supposedly died of illness.
  Alvero asked Diego about the contents of the letter, but there was no response, and he would not even listen to him anymore.
  Thinking that the contents of the letter had something to do with the pepper issue, Alvero asked Player to take him to Irene.

• 22119
• Player and the others met with Irene, who listened to Diego's response about the letter.

• 22120
• However, Alvero confessed that he had secretly read the letter, and asked her about the incident 17 years ago.
  Irene spoke quietly.
  Once, Diego and Baltazar were known throughout the Mediterranean Sea as successful Portuguese merchants who sometimes even turned to pirate methods when the situation called for it.
  However, with his sights set on their wealth, the pirate Hayreddin attacked their company outpost on the island of Madeira.
  Natalia had died protecting the young Alvero from the fire.
  Baltazar swore vengeance on Hayreddin, but Diego focused on protecting his son and his company and refused to help him in his quest for revenge.
  And so Baltazar had fled.
  Alvero was shocked at the rift that developed between Baltazar and the uncooperative Diego.
  Irene said that it was not that Baltazar no longer cared for Diego, saying hopefully that even still, there was a strong bond between them, even if they did not realise it.

• 22121
• However, just before Baltazar had fled, he had apparently said that if he were to show weakness to Diego, that Diego would use it against him.
  The truth was, Baltazar had actually said to Diego, "If I was to show him any weakness, he would surely use it against me."

• 22122
• Alvero was certain that there must be something important in regards to Baltazar's true meaning about Diego and decided to set sail for the Spanish sea that lie to the west.

• 22123
• He swore that after returning to Lisbon, he would look for a way to get to the Indies.