I could not figure out how to make our robbers stay in their cells, so unless I figure that out, we could either buy into the conceit that even criminals need their recess until we call it off by running into them like bowling pins, or I could lock the jailhouse so players need not return after solving the puzzle.
Yes, you can indeed place fires under arrest for an instant K.O., which is why I had long wanted a way to distinguish between the two types of "death": "Arrest" for criminals and "extinguish" for fires. Unfortunately I could not figure out how to do that. Originally I wanted it such that robbers cannot be put down by firemen alone, but firemen's attacks can help increase the chance of a successful handcuffing (the only means of taking down a robber, which I originally thought would take place in battle). When I made fires immune to "death", however, it was not the "instant death" I initially thought it was; these fires would stay in my test battles even after copious amounts of damage, being impervious to "death", period. For now, let us just settle for the conceit that the constable has magic handcuffs capable of putting down fires!
Perhaps I should have made it more clear before the final meal that this would be the point of no return. And perhaps I should have seen if I could have made a more definitive ending than virtually starting day 7 over again with Minerva in tow.
Completing a side quest does give Juho and Kaj a new weapon that enables an attack on all enemies for double the cost of a regular attack, but perhaps one's water supply should be made to depend on an equippable water tank rather than on meals.
I absolutely agree that combat is exceedingly easy. When I asked what would suit a game for a 4-year-old, some said that it should not demand much more than to press the action button over and over again (For this reason, I wanted Lorent and Mette's default attacks to be based on their own weapons, the handcuffs, fire blanket, and handlamp, but that would have involved script editing which I cannot do on this engine.). What is also good about erring on the side of being too easy is that people are more likely to make it to the end.
Out of curiosity, when fighting "Mette on fire", did you put this fire down with your water attacks, or did she successfully get off her "stop, drop, and roll" move in which she instantly K.O.'s herself? I should have made it such that she regenerates HP too quickly to take her down normally, but the reason for her slow regen via "fanning herself" was that I originally had small numbers in mind for the very young audience I had mentioned in the above paragraph.