Keeping It Fresh

Side quest, level 10. 49th of 102 in play order.

Quest giver: Kazai Buoyzai, Middle La Noscea (X 15.8, Y 16.7).

Next: Baiting Buzzards ›

Steps

Defeat water sprites and collect their cores.
Deliver the water sprite cores to Kazai Buoyzai at the Skylift.

Journal

Kazai Buoyzai, a cargo transporter at the Skylift, needs a helping hand to keep his fish fresh.
The gelid essences of water sprites are perfect for keeping fish chilled during transportation. Slay water sprites until you have collected three of their cores.
You have collected three water sprite cores. Deliver them to Kazai Buoyzai at the Skylift.
Kazai seems well pleased with the cores, and relieved that his customers will be receiving their goods in unspoiled condition. Competition among the cargo companies using the Skylift is fierce, and any misstep can mean losing business to a rival.

Hidden

Lore The companies that move goods started the Skylift together. Yet Kazai says they 'steal each other's clients soon as sneeze'. One mistake, and a rival takes his business.

Lore This is why a lift is needed. Middle La Noscea was once an endless stretch of flat, rocky meadows. Now a very steep cliff known as the Descent splits it in two.

Easter egg Kazai Buoyzai

sends you to 'dance with' the water sprites. Then he stops to make sure you know he doesn't mean it literally.

In-game text You gather

water sprite cores. Their item text calls them 'concentrated cores of suspended water'. They help keep newly caught fish fresh.

In-game text The Encyclopaedia Eorzea talks about sprites, like the water sprites here. It says they are creatures not of this world. They come into being under certain conditions of aether.

Characters 1

Kazai Buoyzai
Kazai Buoyzai is a cargo transporter at the Skylift. He has too many fish and too few water sprite cores to keep them cool.

What happens in this quest spoilers for this quest

Kazai Buoyzai sends you for three water sprite cores to chill his fish, then checks you know he does not mean "dance" literally. Pleased, he explains that the Skylift's delivery companies compete hard: one slip, and a rival steals your business.

What the Japanese and French versions say 3

Japanese

EN 'There's a whole mess o' delivery companies what make use o' the Skylift─ye slip up one time an' some bastard's liable to steal yer business!'

JA 「このスカイリフトでは、いろんな荷運び業者がしのぎを削ってるからね。ちょっとした失敗が命取りなのさ。」, 'Here at the Skylift, all sorts of haulers are locked in cutthroat competition, see. One little slip can be the end of you.'

Kazai uses a set phrase for fierce rivalry: the shinogi is the ridge line of a sword blade.

French

Title

EN Keeping It Fresh · 'Ye back already? Don't keep me waitin', now. Let's see those cores!'

FR «Il est frais, mon poisson», 'My fish is fresh!' · «Et dépêche-toi, s'il te plaît, mon poisson commence à sentir drôle !», 'And hurry, please, my fish is starting to smell funny!'

The title is the fishmonger's classic market cry, ironic since Kazai's fish smells funny. The English line has no fish.

Idiom

EN 'There's a whole mess o' delivery companies what make use o' the Skylift─ye slip up one time an' some bastard's liable to steal yer business!'

FR «La moindre erreur, et on peut se retrouver à coucher sur la paille.», 'The slightest mistake, and you can end up out on the street.'

Kazai's words come from the idiom «être sur la paille», 'to be on the straw': to be penniless and ruined.

Dialogue 7 lines

Accepting the quest

Kazai Buoyzai

Look sharp, lassie/laddie, I got a job for ye! We don't got much time, so listen close.

Today I got me too many fish an' not enough water sprite cores to keep 'em cool. Ye see me problem?

Now I can't be deliverin' crates o' rotted fish, so I need ye to head over yonder an' dance with them drippin' sprites till ye've collected three o' their chilly essences. ...Ye do realize I don't want ye to actually dance with 'em, right?

Deliver the water sprite cores to Kazai Buoyzai at the Skylift

Kazai Buoyzai

Ye back already? Don't keep me waitin', now. Let's see those cores!

FR Rappelle-toi, il me faut trois noyaux d'élémentaire d'eau. ‘Remember, I need three cores from water elementals.’ English greets you as back with the cores; French reminds you that three cores are still needed.

Aye, lassie/laddie, ye done well. Can't wait to get these beauties into me fish crates...

That ought to keep the catch fresh, an' me customers happy.

There's a whole mess o' delivery companies what make use o' the Skylift─ye slip up one time an' some bastard's liable to steal yer business!

JA このスカイリフトでは、いろんな荷運び業者がしのぎを削ってるからね。ちょっとした失敗が命取りなのさ。 ‘Here at the Skylift, all sorts of haulers are locked in cutthroat competition, see. One little slip can be the end of you.’ Kazai uses a set phrase for fierce rivalry: the shinogi is the ridge line of a sword blade.
FR La moindre erreur, et on peut se retrouver à coucher sur la paille. ‘The slightest mistake, and you can end up out on the street.’ Kazai's words come from the idiom «être sur la paille», 'to be on the straw': to be penniless and ruined.
DE Ich habe mich auf den Transport frischer Ware spezialisiert, um mich von den anderen Transportgesellschaften abzusetzen. ‘I have specialized in transporting fresh goods to set myself apart from the other transport companies.’ English notes many delivery companies use the Skylift; German says he specialized in fresh goods to stand out.
DE Dank dir behalte ich meinen Wettbewerbsvorteil! ‘Thanks to you, I keep my competitive advantage!’ English warns one slip lets a rival steal your business; German thanks you for keeping his advantage.