One of the Hallmarks of the Trails series of video games is its diverse and dynamic cast of NPCs that help the world feel vibrant and alive. Kuro no Kiseki is no exception to this rule with plenty of interesting and charming NPCs such as the eccentric taco stand girl, the train man, or the bathhouse investment consultant. Most of the time, this dialog is relatively meaningless in the grand scheme, but occasionally there will be characters that seem to be more than they initially let on. 

Introducing Gray. Gray is the newest junior bracer of the Calvard bracer guild having just passed his bracer exam at the start of Chapter 2 and he is remarkably protagonist-like despite being an unvoiced NPC. 

1. He’s pretty strong despite only being a junior bracer, probably around the level of Estelle in FC. —Intermission-Finale
2. His early character arc is about discovering what he truly believes in, almost like he became a Bracer because that’s the only thing he knew. —Chapters 2 & 3
3. He seems to be overcompensating for something and is trying to get stronger as quickly as possible. This seems to be related to his sister. —Intermission
4. He’s from the Leman State which is the headquarters of the Bracer Guild, but chose to run away and join the guild in Calvard instead. —Intermission
5. His name is Gray Arnold. NPCs almost never get last names unless they are important. —Intermission

My question after all of this is “Who the Hell is Gray Arnold” and I think the answer is kind of obvious once you put all the facts together. His dialog with Van in the Intermission suggests that he ran away from Leman without telling anyone implying that some big event happened that caused him to run away from home. This event is probably related to his sister who seems to be the reason he is trying to get stronger. The fact that he’s relatively strong for a junior bracer and that he became a bracer without a strong belief system suggests that being a bracer is all he’s ever known, and he has been training for it since he was a kid. Putting things together, my suspicion is that Gray is the son of an S-rank from Leman. 

In Chapter 5, Gray runs away from the Edith branch to come help in Oracion and almost gets kicked out of the guild for it. His stated reason was that he was angry over Almata and wanted to help all he could, but this comes off as bullshit. While he is clearly overcompensating, the situation was already bad enough in Edith that Leman needed to send an S-rank bracer to resolve the situation. If simply helping with Almata was all he wanted to do, he didn’t need to go to Oracion. Rather, I think he was running away from something in Edith and that thing was the S-rank, his dad.

Thanks to Deru for the picture.