Which event was popular among the development staff?

It differs per staff member what scenes they like, so opinions are a bit scattered. Some like the events related to Hamel, others prefer the final battle in which everyone partakes. Fans probably have similar impressions.

Which event did you like, then?

The last scene for me. Throughout the four Cold Steel games, Rean has always had to suffer during the endings, hasn’t he? (laughs) It's a feeling of relief that he's been rewarded at long last. He’s a character we've been following for 5 years now, so being able to congratulate him honestly made me happy.

Why was the true ending route unlocked after having watched the normal ending?

You experience a different sentiment when watching the true ending after the normal ending than watching the true ending straight away. We made it this way since we thought it could be more moving to watch the final ending after having seen the normal ending once. By the way, the development team first submitted a proposal to make the true ending inaccessible unless all quests were completed. However, I found those requirement a little too strict. I think that those who have seen the final ending will understand that it would be waste to have people out there unable to see that very part. Back when we made Ys Origin, the game was structured in a way that the third route wouldn't unlock until both the first two routes were cleared. There were players who didn't get that far, so for Cold Steel IV we made the conditions so that everyone could watch the true ending.

Actually, is the narrative branched, with each ending its own world axis

No comment.

What exactly was Ishmelga, the final boss?

Ishmelga has been revealed as the source of many incidents in Erebonia. Please share how Ishmelga came into existence.

Originally, the Divine Knights were the singular Sept-Terrion of Steel, which was split in seven in an attempt to control it. However, doing so only postponed the problem. The very system of the Divine Knights itself was unstable, so I think Ishmelga awakened to bad faith in one of the power's seven fragments.

Did Awakeners exist at that point?

There were no Awakeners at that point. As the Divine Knights themselves are like artificial intelligence. The one that gained the ability to think after awakening to bad faith continued to manipulate the human fighting spirit from behind the scenes, resulting in the birth of Ishmelga. For the same reason the other Divine Knights have each their own personality.

By the way, are the Dark Dragon's curse and Erebonia's the curse the same thing?

It’s fine to interpret it as such.

Was the Dark Dragon itself created by Ishmelga?

It was not. I'm thinking it had an impact on something and had the form of the Dark Dragon.

Why did Ishmelga continue to cling to Dreichels’ soul?

That’s related to Dreichels’ outstanding virtue and sense of humanity first and foremost. Basically, a Divine Knight can’t move without an Awakener, so Ishmelga continued to seek an Awakener for over a thousand years. In the end it happened to meet Dreichels, whose soul quality was high enough to satisfy its demands.

It didn’t look for an Awakener other than Dreichels?

That’s right, keeping Ishmelga's abnormal persistence in mind. It kept looking for him ever after his Dreichels’ death, because a man of his sense of humanity or position comes along only once in millennia.

Osborne is the reincarnation of Dreichels. Are these kind of phenomena happening elsewhere in Zemuria as well?

Who reincarnates as whom isn't precisely set. If some kind of error occurs once the soul returns to the Goddess, the phenomenon known as reincarnation may occur. However, it’s not like reincarnation happens frequently in Zemuria.

Why wasn’t Osborne’s Sword of the End used to slay the Black Holy Beast?

That sword is Ishmelga itself, as shown in the last scene. Not only Ishmelga, all Divine Knights were originally the Sept-Terrion of Steel, making them creations of the goddess. The Holy Beasts are also creations of the goddess and can therefore not be defeated by Ishmelga as a creation from the same goddess. A Holy Beast can only be defeated by a bearer of a soul, so it can’t be defeated unless it is a sword formed from Millium or Altina.

Is Rean's ogre power also related to Ishmelga?

It’s fundamentally entwined with Ishmelga. When Rean’s family home was attacked, Osborne borrowed Ishmelga's strength to transplant his heart into Rean. On that moment, the factor of Ishmelga served as intermediary and took root within Rean. In addition, it combined with the latent potential that already existed in Rean and gave rise to the to the ogre power. McBurn previously described Rean's situation as being “mixed”, but this does not mean that he is mixed with the power of Divergent Laws.

Erebonia’s curse, the Twilight’s noise

Where lies the difference between those susceptible and those resistant to Erebonia’s curse?

If you think back on people who have undergone a major transformation, doesn’t it feel as if they have something in common? People enduring a mental trauma or bearing a large complex tend to be more susceptible to the curse’s influence. Take the mayor of Alster, those messages are easy to follow. Lightning strikes and burns down the Lenheim residence, and then the news of Olivier’s death reaches him, taking advantage of his enormous grief. It’s also partially accidental of course, so some are influenced a lot unexpectedly.

Erebonians are more affected by the curse, right?

That’s right. Those from outside Erebonia are less affected.

Children affected by the curse didn't seem to become aggressive.

That seems to be one of the traditions of the Legend of Heroes series. The idea is that we don't want to see too many children and animals suffer.

There were cases of memory disorder due to the curse. What was the cause of this?

The Twilight itself served as a setting in which it intervened as a noise in different things.

So the Twilight makes one forget things that would be inconvenient for Ishmelga.

Whether Ishmelga itself was aware of it I don't know, but the Twilight’s noise appeared to have been an unintended result.

Was the curse involved in hindering the plans Regnitz was drafting mid-game?

That’s exactly right. It's not that Ishmelga kept watch on Regnitz but rather generated noise as the system.

Is it the same mechanism that caused everyone to forget about the appearance of the Infernal Castle?

They’re one and the same. Think of the Twilight’s noise as the murkiness of consciousness and memories.

Vita was trying to set up a mock Rivalry to release the curse. Had Osborne not taken over the plan, would her attempt have been successful?

With only the manifestation of the Infernal Castle she wouldn’t have gotten the full 100%. However, the whole world wouldn't have been dragged into it if her mock Rivalry had proved successful there.

Characters and countries after the ending

In the true ending, Rean is seen leaving the dormitory at the very end. What happened to Class VII?

I think that basically everyone related to New Class VII will return. I don't know how Ash will be treated, but I want the same for him.

I'm also interested in the subsequent episodes of the main characters.

Future arcs may touch those parts or present them as side stories.

I heard that in the artwork “Class VII, Rise Up”, which served as the game’s cover art, there’s a reason Alisa and Jusis are facing the opposite direction from everyone else. What did you mean with this?

Alisa was in a really severe spot in Cold Steel IV, because all her relatives turned out to be opponents. It depicts the feeling of guilt she has been enduring. Jusis’ actually holds a positive meaning. Since he’s in a leading position when Rean is not around, it shows the part where he fills in the rear guard in cases of emergency. Another reason is that he and Machias are back to back.

How will the circumstances of West Zemuria, including Erebonia, change going forth?

The ending tells Erebonia is paying damages, but it’s not a defeated country. The damages are not only paid by the imperial government, but also by the imperial family, Four Great Houses and companies like the Reinford Group. That said, the national power of the large empire hasn’t dropped below the level of surrounding nations. Although its excessively prominent parts have been suppressed, there’s no major imbalance to speak of, so I think the situation between Erebonia and Calvard will continue in the future.

With Cedric absconding, what will happen to imperial family's right of succession?

Emperor Eugent III is still alive and well, but going forward this will pose a big problem for the imperial family. There are many issues for Olivier (Olivert) to succeed. First of all, the unknown origin of Scherazard, which their surroundings could take an issue with and the Four Great Houses will have to approve or disapprove. Well, what will happen to the class system in the first place is another issue altogether.

Can Cedric, having unexpectedly left the imperial family, safely become an Enforcer?

That topic also came up among our staff members. I haven’t decided yet, but I guess he might become an Enforcer? Speaking of which, Cedric was disliked among players at the time of Cold Steel III, but as of Cold Steel IV he’s been largely forgiven. Now Rufus has been attracting all hate. (sweats)

Rufus owes that to the Arianrhod matter, right? I gasped at that scene.

Stabbing her with the words “It's time for legends to leave” earned him an unfavourable impression.

And then he got arrested during the ending.

Rufus found himself arrested in stead of his father and Osborne, whom he looked up to. Now he’s contemplating what he can do. However, since he is not in the position where I can decide for himself what to do, he has that kind of conflict.

After the war the imperial government is led by Regnitz, so how will the Four Great Houses such as Musse move?

Since Regnitz assumed office temporarily, you can assume that will change in the future. The Four Great Houses are managed by family heads, but Musse is still a student. I think there was talk that she would make herself widely known and so on after graduation, so afterwards she will start to distinguish herself.

Although the war ended in two days, many Erebonians went to war. How many victims were there?

You can’t imagine there were no human losses in such a situation. Although there were less than expected, both Erebonnia and Calvard suffered a great number of deaths.

By the way, the trial grounds for the Golden Divine Knight appeared in Crossbell. Does the land hold even more history for us?

Crossbell is a historically unstable place with periods of being annexed into the Erebonian Empire or becoming a dominion of the Calvard Republic. With those shifts repeated throughout history, it’s become a unique place where various things happen. Perhaps I should say that somehow feels like its fate...

Does that mean there’s also a chance Crossbell will be the setting again in a future arc?

That is perfectly possible.

Speaking of which, we previously heard that Pleroma Grass was unique to Crossbell. Why did it start blooming throughout Erebonia?

Because Crossbell became an imperial province. The curse of Erebonia that manifested in Crossbell is the same. Phenomena unique to Crossbell spread to Erebonia, including the flourishing of Pleroma Grass.