Yikes! If that's the case, I must have completely forgotten. (Then again, it's probably been almost 10 years since I last played the game...)
Yes, it's time we took back the
Medal from the Frog King.
And I'd like to see that mythical
sword for myself.
That's all we really know about his quest. The DS translation doesn't change much, it just makes Cyrus more emphatic; "It's time" becomes "It's long past time" and "I'd like to see" becomes "I need to see."
Still, he was a major figure in Guardia even before then, I presume. He may have heard the rumor (no idea who was spreading it or how on earth they know about it) that the legendary sword Masamune and the Hero's Medal could give them all a chance against the fiends and their magic, especially Magus, and the fact that he may have overcome the trial of Masa and Mune to wield the sword to begin with, despite being human, says a lot about him and perhaps may inspire the other troops who may feel helpless against the fiends and their superior might.
I don't recall any mention of Magus or the Mystics (unless the Frog King is one) in Frog's flashbacks. It seems likely to me that Magus was still building his power during this time and hadn't yet revealed himself as a threat. Cyrus probably wanted to see the sword because questing after legendary items is just what knights
do when there aren't wars to fight.
But yes, Cyrus was quite a big deal. He seems to have been promoted to Knight Captain very quickly (Glenn's sprite hasn't aged visibly in the time between Cyrus thinking about enlisting and when he leaves on his quest, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything since the developers couldn't really be expected to make a new sprite just for that one scene), and I'm sure being strong enough to take on Masamune had something to do with that.
Maybe, but who would go out to find him? Assuming he's a major figure who was indeed capable of acquiring the Masamune, being the best chance the kingdom has, maybe the entire Kingdom of Guardia would be on the look-out for him? How long has it been since he died? Also, with an imminent threat on the horizon, that of the fiends, would it not be a useful assumption to regroup your resources for defense and assume that he has, in fact, died?
Frog says 10 years have passed. The kingdom may not have a full-scale manhunt going on, but people are probably still on the lookout. But as you say, even that was probably dialed back when war broke out.
Remember, Odysseus was missing for 20 years and his family and a few loyal subjects still held out hope for him. I've gotten "Have you seen this person?" flyers in the mail where the person was last seen in
1953.
You can perhaps also imagine if Frog / Glenn frequents Inns / Pubs at Guardia (and maybe gets mistaken for a Mystic, idfk), sitting in silence somewhere and hearing gossips about Cyrus, perhaps, still being alive somewhere and the King has offered a bounty to have him found, while some spreading rumors about maybe, just maybe, he may have deserted them all, being hushed out by others who still believe in him. If Glenn is right there, wouldn't he rather them all not waste their resources and man-power on something futile? Maybe he calls them stupid, tells them he's dead, offers no explanation, and just walks away.
But again, I may be missing details, because -- as I said -- it's been pretty long since i played the game.
Even Queen Leene, who is one of the only people who actually trust Frog, thinks Cyrus is still alive. If he never bothered to tell the queen the truth, I highly doubt he'd bother to correct some random pub patrons.
Wait, he did?
Yes. He adopts a new identity and didn't tell anyone that he is actually Glenn.
Personally, reactions about Cyrus all depend on how much people knew him. The whole "people might think he deserted" can only hold if people think that's something he might do. Not everyone is going to see the worst in everything. Specially those who knew Cyrus personally. That said, some NPC dialogue do show that some people have started to think just that. I know one NPC at least is worried that Cyrus might have really abandoned them. Said NPC is a random villager, though. It's in big contrast to say, Queene Leene, who thinks Cyrus had a hand in Tata having the Hero's Medal.
Oh!
Where could Sir Cyrus be?
Surely he hasn't deserted the kingdom?
Cyrus must have sent the boy to us.
But you know... now that makes me wonder. Just how did no one from the Mystics/Fiends ever thought of revealing Magus had killed Cyrus to the humans? I could see Ozzie as the kind of individual who would love to divulge stuff like that, and he was there to witness it, to boot.
I also like the idea of Ozzie propaganda. But it seems like he would have had trouble disseminating it. Even if he has a Mystic disguise itself as a human to spread the news, that's just one guy's say-so. He could have had Yakra tell everyone as the fake Chancellor, but even then, where's his proof?
