[Kromm]

Speaking only about Merle: He's actually intended to be an ironic non-boss. Defeating him is a simple matter of one-shotting him with a reasonably high-damage Deceptive Attack. He's basically a way to get a bonus reward. There are more dangerous monsters in the dungeon, guarding better loot. This is in the tradition of the genre, where "the nasty thing in that random room" proves to be a bigger challenge than the main quest . . .