You are Patchouli Knowledge, a physically frail and sickly magician of profound aptitude and power. You live in the Voile Archives of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, though it seems like a temporary relocation is in your near future. You are Friends with Remilia, the vampire who owns the mansion, who considers it entirely too much effort to try to feed off you. Your Magical Potency varies somewhat from day to day, depending on how long of an incantation you can manage before breaking off into a fit of coughs, and how much strain your body can handle in addition to the rigors of illness. You currently have one vial of Medication to offset the worst of the days, however, though it will later exact a toll, and your new Magical Focus eases use of magic to a significant degree. It seems that Luck can play a reasonable part in keeping yourself healthy, as can the Hakurei Hot Spring.
Your magic is based on Elementalism primarily, though you are also skilled in Diabolism and Other Summonings, which can be surprisingly versatile, particularly in combination with Golems. You can also create Homunculi, if you have the materials to hand.
You have recently allowed Kappa to do as they please with your vehicle while you Completed Yukari's order, which she immediately collected in exchange for a small pillar, tiny but ornate chest, and key. You cannot help but feel some worry as to what she will use the golems for. You have also had Marisa prepare two types of healing elixirs, you estimate about a dozen of each, and had a startling conversation with the Hakurei shrine maiden.
Following this, you returned to the library and slept, in preparation for the new day.
---
The day is Aug 24, 8 days to term.
It is Wednesday: Day of Water.
--Yamame, Hot Springs+10 Your health level is 80/100: Reasonably good, so long as you ignore the mild nausea.
---
You wake with a slight headache from yesterday's drink, though it will pass quickly. A quick check with Koakuma reveals that Tewi hasn't arrived yet, though you expect her and the medicine shipment soon. The witch and spider are both still asleep, and it seems like the former took some time to stitch the hole in her outfit back together. Now would be a good time to consider any general plans for the outing.
[x] Take your medicine.
[x] Grab a few samples of the medicine Marisa made.
[x] Head for Eientei. If Tewi hasn't left yet, you could save her a trip.
[x] Tell her about your Marisa problem.
[x] Head for Hogwarts.
[x] Build a modest house.
[x] If Madam Pomfrey is in, ask her opinion of Marisa's medicine.
That's all I got. I'm almost certainly forgetting some stuff.. this thread is hard to keep track of.
patchy is at 80% health and you guys want to build a modest house? also, we should prolly supervise the trip to the outside that's going on today instead of making small-talk at Hogwarts.
It's water day, so lets have some fun
[X] scry Tewi, see how much time you have
[X] check on the truck
[X] cast water missile at the darkness spider
[X] breakfast
>>48073 I have an idea for that, from when Tewi's messenger came by.
[x]To do list(in no particular order):
-Let the rabbit know that the truck has been modified. Also mention you have no idea how extensive said modifications are.
-Note that you'll be bringing the Black-White along, mostly to keep an eye on her, but you suppose she'd be handy for any heavy lifting that might occur. Koa may or may not be coming with the two of you right away, but she'll be splitting off to do her own thing once you've hit civilization.
-While the day's activities are mostly up in the air, you would like to hit a decently stocked mundane bookstore at some point; the sciences looked to have progressed quite a bit since you were out in the world last and a few books on the subject might prove to be interesting reading. Also ask Tewi how good of an education the rabbits over at Eientei get, picking up some literacy primers for them might be in order, provided they can find someone to teach them.
-Ask for advice on the Marisa situation. She probably knows a thing or two about letting people down gently.
-Also ask if there's any quick ways of making copies of books.
>>48074 >>48075 Guys, Pomfrey will be back for day before term or start of term. Kindly remember what Dumbledore told you.
However, Pince SHOULD be back (Albus said she would be back around Monday), if we want an inventory of the school library.
Also, samples will be tested on Humonculi. No need to grab them.
As for hot springs, we know it has a positive effect, but we don't know why.
Plans:
[x] Take the medicine. Making a house will take some effort.
[x] Ask the giant for what he want in his future body.
[x] Head for Eientei. If Tewi hasn't left yet, you could save her a trip. Consider telling Eirin about the positive effects of the hot springs.
[x] Mention Marisa. If there is nothing to keep your books safe from her, you need to have her following along.
[x] If Marisa must follow, her finding about your job is inevitable. You may want to fill her in and watch her reaction, especially after what Reimu told you.
[x] Ask Tewi to check the vehicule. You don't know much, but perhaps she would be able to tell if the kappas installed 'special' features or not.
[x] Pass by shrine, go to Hogwarts. Ask Albus for a suitable place. If he isn't here, find a location that should be alright.
[x] See if the librarian is back so you can get an inventory of the library.
[x] Once non-Gensokyo residents are around, use the key and set the portal in a room (preferably one no one else but you would want to go). Bring in Koakuma and send her to her 'task'.
-[x] Yukari will probably not take long for this, but you may be wrong. Inform Koakuma to simply continue as usual if portal is not usable today.
[x] You may want to check if the golem you left fought. Is that woman still being hidden away or is her matter resolved?
That should be all that need to be done before simply getting used to the Outside and buying books.
[x] Take the medicine. Making a house will take some effort.
[x] Ask the giant for what he want in his future body.
[x] Head for Eientei. If Tewi hasn't left yet, you could save her a trip. Consider telling Eirin about the positive effects of the hot springs.
[x] Mention Marisa. If there is nothing to keep your books safe from her, you need to have her following along.
[x] If Marisa must follow, her finding about your job is inevitable. You may want to fill her in and watch her reaction, especially after what Reimu told you.
[x] Ask Tewi to check the vehicle. You don't know much, but perhaps she would be able to tell if the kappas installed 'special' features or not.
[x] Pass by shrine, go to Hogwarts. Ask Albus for a suitable place. If he isn't here, find a location that should be alright, and begin building a home (Doesn't have to be fancy till earth day comes around, for now a place to set the portal down will be fine).
[x] See if the librarian is back so you can get an inventory of the library.
[x] Once non-Gensokyo residents are not around, use the key and set the portal in a back room of your newly made home. Preferably one no one else but you would want to go. Bring in Koakuma and send her to her 'task'.
-[x] Yukari will probably not take long for this, but you may be wrong. Inform Koakuma to simply continue as usual if portal is not usable today.
[x] Take the medicine. Making a house will take some effort.
[x] Ask the giant for what he want in his future body.
[x] Head for Eientei. If Tewi hasn't left yet, you could save her a trip. Consider telling Eirin about the positive effects of the hot springs.
[x] Mention Marisa. If there is nothing to keep your books safe from her, you need to have her following along.
[x] If Marisa must follow, her finding about your job is inevitable. You may want to fill her in and watch her reaction, especially after what Reimu told you.
[x] Ask Tewi to check the vehicle. You don't know much, but perhaps she would be able to tell if the kappas installed 'special' features or not.
[x] Pass by shrine, go to Hogwarts. Ask Albus for a suitable place to summon your house. If he isn't here, find a location that should be alright.
[x] See if the librarian is back so you can get an inventory of the library.
[x] Once non-Gensokyo residents are around, use the key and set the portal in a room (preferably one no one else but you would want to go). Bring in Koakuma and send her to her 'task'.
-[x] Yukari will probably not take long for this, but you may be wrong. Inform Koakuma to simply continue as usual if portal is not usable today.
[x] You may want to check if the golem you left fought. Is that woman still being hidden away or is her matter resolved?
[x] Start penning a letter to Keine for student/crush advise.
>>48082 You didn't take the time to read everything I take it? Patchouli DOESN'T NEED to eat. Also, she refuse to allow both her books and Marisa out of her sight. And current vote is to make plans for the day.
[x] Take the medicine. Making a house will take some effort.
[x] Ask the giant for what he want in his future body.
[x] Head for Eientei. If Tewi hasn't left yet, you could save her a trip. Tell Eirin about the positive effects of the hot springs.
[x] If there's nothing else for Marisa to do, consider tasking her with you.
-[x] Her finding about your job is inevitable. You may want to fill her in and watch her reaction, especially after what Reimu told you.
[x] Ask Tewi to check the vehicle. You don't know much, but perhaps she would be able to tell if the kappas installed 'special' features or not.
[x] Pass by shrine, go to Hogwarts. Ask Albus for a suitable place.
[x] See if the librarian is back so you can get an inventory of the library.
[x] Once the outsiders aren't around, use the key and set the portal in a room (preferably one no one else but you would want to go). Bring in Koakuma and send her to her 'task'.
-[x] Yukari will probably not take long for this, but you may be wrong. Inform Koakuma to simply continue as usual if portal is not usable today.
>>48074 >>48075 >>48080 >[] Tell her about your Marisa problem.
Tell Tewi about Marisa's crush? Are you retarded?
>>48092 >was a guy
This matters to you?
>mischievious
That's part of what I like about Tewi. Seriously, think of it as a test for Tewi. What's she going to do with this information? I'd like to know. If she fucks over Patchouli (or Marisa) in major way, she's not worth Patchouli's time.
Why the sudden rush for building a house? We already have other plans for the day. Not to mention it's the day of water, so unless we're planning on making some super-fancy plumbing, we should probably hold out for earth or wood. For that matter, why do we even need our own place on the grounds? Yes, the sleeping quarters we were offered are completely useless, but what about our office? If memory serves, the DADA classroom comes with an attached office, and we could easily craft and ward a large cabinet or something similar to keep the portal concealed. This would also have the benefit of being mundane enough to not raise any questions, while a house would definitely attract the attention of curious students and who knows what else.
>>48077 This seems sensible, and actually sticks to the plans we made yesterday. I do want to make a few changes, namely in adding a visit to Keine today, and note that we should probably consult her, not Tewi, about our issue with a certain young admirer. Not that I don't trust Tewi to give good advice, but we should probably try to handle this as discreetly as possible, which will be easier with Keine. Keep in mind that failing to be discreet about this could result in Marisa's feelings getting hurt. Which in turn would cause us to get hurt, by Reimu, with needles. Not a pleasant prospect.
[x]To do list (in no particular order):
-Let the rabbit know that the truck has been modified. Also mention you have no idea how extensive said modifications are.
-Invite Tewi to join you on your outing. Note that you'll be bringing the Black-White along, mostly to keep an eye on her, but you suppose she'd be handy for any heavy lifting that might occur. Koa may or may not be coming with the two of you right away, but she'll be splitting off to do her own thing once you've hit civilization.
-While the day's activities are mostly up in the air, you would like to hit a decently stocked mundane bookstore at some point; the sciences looked to have progressed quite a bit since you were out in the world last and a few books on the subject might prove to be interesting reading.
--Ask if there's any quick ways of making copies of books.
--Also ask Tewi how good of an education the rabbits over at Eientei get, picking up some literacy primers for them might be in order, provided they can find someone to teach them.
-Visit Keine to discuss some of the finer points of teaching the age groups you'll be dealing with.
--Ask for advice on dealing with infatuated students (of both genders).
>>48096 Ending her crush isn't enough. She really does need the books and will continue to steal them as long as she lacks a different source of knowledge.
What does water stand for in the oriental system Patchy uses? Well, at least beside the obvious. Clarification on that would make it easier to get some decent ideas what to do with our godd health and the inherent boost in magical ability. Build house on better day for that (earth; metal)
For relationship advice: tell her that somone Patchy knows has a crush on her an she would like advice on how to let them down without creating a mortal enemy. Marisas name doesn't need to come up at all
[x] To do List:
[x] get Tewi and let her inspect the Truckmods
[x] get relationship advice as detailed above (making sure Marisa is busy elswhere e.g. brewing potions)
[x] mundane bookshops for modern sciences
[x] check your coworkers, maybe they have teaching tipps as well?
>>48098 Are you taking Tewi for an idiot? She'll figure it out inside the hour.
>>48095 It was already said a decent house can be made any day of the week. Since we don't want others to stumble upon the portal, keeping it out of the castle would work well. Since it's connected to the Library, we don't need to work for luxury since we'll only need to create the illusion we live in it. Inside the castle, House Elves may find it.
[X]To do list (in no particular order):
-Let the rabbit know that the truck has been modified. Also mention you have no idea how extensive said modifications are.
-Invite Tewi to join you on your outing. Note that you'll be bringing the Black-White along, mostly to keep an eye on her, but you suppose she'd be handy for any heavy lifting that might occur. Koa may or may not be coming with the two of you right away, but she'll be splitting off to do her own thing once you've hit civilization.
-Stop by Hogwarts and set up the portal, get Koakuma unless there's too much delay in getting the portal working. We don't want to bring her past the shrine.
-While the day's activities are mostly up in the air, you would like to hit a decently stocked mundane bookstore at some point; the sciences looked to have progressed quite a bit since you were out in the world last and a few books on the subject might prove to be interesting reading.
--Ask if there's any quick ways of making copies of books.
--Also ask Tewi how good of an education the rabbits over at Eientei get, picking up some literacy primers for them might be in order, provided they can find someone to teach them.
-Visit Keine to discuss some of the finer points of teaching the age groups you'll be dealing with.
--Ask for advice on dealing with infatuated students (of both genders).
This looks like the best option.
Just clean up the room inside the castle or the office and set up the portal there. We should easily be able to make a suitable doorway for the portal and ward it to keep out nosy students and their ilk.
>>48100 Best? Teaching rabbits is going well out of our way. Or if you prefer I put it simply, far enough to be out of character. Second, this seems to ignore that Patchouli already stated that she didn't want to take the effort to even clean a bit and preferred to make a house outside. Third, this also forget that visiting Keine was already set for another day.
>>48101 This is just the plans for the day. Most likely, Kahi will use one or two and place a decision to make before next update.
>>48104 You misunderstand, Patchy's not the one going to be teaching them, saying they'd need to find a teacher would imply that she's not going to be doing it. I imagine they might be able to toss them to Keine once they're caught up a bit or something.
I couldn't think of a water-based gift off the top of my head, so I thought back to the rabbit youkai who seemed rather down about being illiterate, and figured she probably wouldn't be the only one. Figured getting something for them would work as an indirect gift of sorts.
>>48109 I don't think he's angry. There's just no point in teaching the rabbits how to read. Where would we profit from that? Giving things to Tewi and Reimu is an investment in our health. Doing things for random rabbits? Not really.
>>48110 Yup, I'm not and thanks for pointing out what's wrong about helping random rabbits.
I also want to point out that unless we do something to upset Tewi, there's no point in making another gift for no reason for her when she like us already. Too many gifts may even make a wrong impression (as in maybe thinking that Patchouli think she needs gifts to spend time with her).
We're only voting on a rough framework of how Patchy thinks the day is going to go, anyways. The literacy thing would only be brought up provided they actually get to a bookstore(I'm considering it fairly low priority), and as a sort of afterthought. Sufficient derailment would likely prove enough of a distraction to cause her to forget about it entirely.
[x] Wake up and feed people as necessary and portal to Eientei. Talk to Eirin about your treatments, possibly mentioning the hot springs. Go about getting medication and Tewi.
[x] Set giants to guard mode.
[x] Gather your group (Yamane optional) and head Outside, via the shrine. If Reimu is likely to object to Koakuma tagging along, either hide her or make plans to fetch her remotely once outside.
Once outside, in addition to anything else that will be decided, there is one little experiment I'd like to run:
[X] See how, if at all, being outside Gensokyo affects Marisa's spell casting ability.
I'm going to stop there for now and just mention a couple of thoughts concerning some of the Hogwarts plans in posts above:
* Koakuma, unless her nature is disguised, is likely to register on some kind of ward in/around Hogwarts. That offers the possibility (however remote) that she, and thereby Patchy, are linked to anything the little devil may do. This is sloppy.
I look forward to having her around later, but popping her through Hogwarts expressly to commit deeds she can't do in Gensokyo is needlessly risking unwanted trouble. And could someone remind me what was the reason to hide her from Reimu, again?
Not to mention if we wanted to hide her passing from Reimu, we could always just dismiss her and then re-summon her on the other side.
* My main concern with having the portal inside Hogwarts castle proper is that places it deep within Dumbledore's influence. And it leads directly back to the Library. Given Patchy's a bit paranoid, we didn't trust him there before, and I don't see any reason to trust him there ever. He seems to think himself clever, and is apparently fairly powerful (for an outsider). Could he have placed some subtle magic in the castle that might let him bypass our protections? Can we be sure? New construction, at least, should not have anything unknown to us intrinsic to its nature.
Though there are, of course, a number of viable counter-arguments to this (convenience being a big one and not showing our hand being another).
We probably don't need breakfast, if nothing else then because Tewi may either buy us food or expect us to buy her food.
[X]Find something for Marisa to do. Taking her along with the person it's been pointed out we may be unwittingly dating is probably a horrible idea. Leaving Marisa with nothing to do is also terrible, especially given how her cries for attention manifest.
[X] Use magic to teleport to Tewi, possibly scrying her first if we know how. Sure there's a chance for comedy misunderstandings but I'd hate to head to Eintei and find out she was already on her way to the mansion.
[X]Take Tewi on a trip Outside, set up portal somewhere concealable. Alistair's place maybe, he owes us and knows to keep his mouth shut. We can just tear time and space asunder to get to school.
[X]Get Inventory of Hogwarts books.
That won't take the whole day but I'm sure there's plenty that will come up as needing our attention.
Soo....who would we have to bribe to get them to like us? So far we seem to have had remarkable succes with our gifts. Which cost us nothing but a little bit of effort and some time spent thinking on them.
Hey, wait a mo....say can we stick something like trackers or cameras (spell equivelants) on something?
Also: D&D has a nasty trap for thieves, a book that eats them. You open the book and it sucks you in with the pages displaying your life up to the moment of the capture. Sounds perfekt for us, doesn't it? Stick incredibly awesome looking tomes in prominent spots and voila.
In No. 48120, I forgot to elaborate. It's less a lack of trust in our employer, though I'm sure we don't trust him and more a lack of trust in students and various service staff.
A portal to a hazardous location in a school full of magical children, in a society that possesses books on spells for pranks is asking for trouble, though I suppose we may have faith in our wards keeping them away given how weak the outside world has gotten.
It's pointless to add cameras or trackers on the books because the only one who steals them is Marisa, who piles the books on her house, which means they're easy to retrieve when we're in the mood for a good stomping.
Also that DnD trap would be a fantastic idea if there weren't any you know, asskicking mikos in Gensokyo
As much trouble as it might be, I really am starting to think keeping Marisa on as an assistant at Hogwarts might be for the best.
1. Anything she steals won't be Patchouli's, and since Marisa is human - rather than Patchy's summoned demon familiar - all responsibility for theft falls to Marisa.
2. Keeping Marisa around on the Outside means that Voile will be safe and sound in Gensoukyou.
3. Marisa's broom-and-flash-also-potions style would fit right in, albeit perhaps a bit eccentrically, with the Outsider witches and wizards. The fact that she can fly without a broom and do magic without a wand would make her a unique persona to them, as well.
4. Marisa being human would be much more easily accepted as an assistant than Koakuma or the golems/homonculi.
>>48124 How about an apprentice of sorts? Since we're already teaching, might as well take one extra student. That might be fun too.
And if wanting attention from Patchouli really is Marisa's motivation for stealing books, it also solves that problem.
And Jesus Christ guys, quit it with the huge votes. Discuss what you plan to do in the day if you want, but don't put it all in one vote. What is this, the third time this has to be said?
Yes, let's most certainly tell Tewi (who appears to be crushing on Patchy) that Marisa is ALSO crushing on Patchy. Provided no one gives Tewi a billhook cleaver I see absolutely no way this can go wrong.
Since we should get more medicine today, we could take the last dose we have now. We are already feeling quite well, but Eirin might like hearing that we used it all up.
We might want to take a look at the truck to see if it still looks usable, before Tewi comes over.
If we want to send Koakuma to collect materials for the homunculus, we can either:
- Sneak her out in the truck. There's a risk that Reimu might notice.
- Open up the portal at Hogwarts. It would be nice to have a safe residence in which we could place it.
-- It's not earth day, but we are somewhat healthy so we should be able to build something. Doesn't have to be a castle anyway. If we need more than we can do today, we could possibly just put up the outer walls today and do the rest next earth day.
-- In any case, we should talk to the headmaster before we do anything.
Leaving Marisa to watch the library is kinda iffy, but so if taking her along.
Readjusted vote:
[x] Take the medicine.
[x] Head for Eientei. If Tewi hasn't left yet, you could save her a trip. Consider telling Eirin about the positive effects of the hot springs (or did we do that already?).
[x] Ask Tewi to check the vehicle. You don't know, but perhaps she would be able to tell if the kappa installed 'special' features or not.
[x] Head for Hogwarts.
[x] Build a house after confirming with the headmaster. If he isn't available, just go ahead anyway.
[x] Set up the portal inside the house. Once open, have Koakuma come through so you can give her her assignment.
[x] See if the librarian is back so you can get an inventory of the library.
[x] Head for Eientei. If Tewi hasn't left yet, you could save her a trip.
-[x] Mention her your Marisa problem and how to stop her before it's too late
[x] Go to Hogwarths via Hakurei Shrine (Ask Tewi if she'd like to come along)
After a few long moments of consideration, you decide that with another shipment coming today, your vested interest in the days events is enough to justify medication, even with your relatively good state of health. It's only the work of a moment to break the ornamental top off the vial, as before, and drink the fluid inside, and immediately feel the effects, even as you know the aftereffects will be unpleasant. That is a concern for tomorrow, however. Health: 97/100
The first order of business after that is to summon maids to bring breakfast, in effort to stave off any early morning accidents on the spider and witch's part, though with her not being bound, you don't doubt that she would be perfectly capable of waking and defending herself. You limit yourself to a piece of fruit, to settle the nausea that is from last night's indulgence and not part of your illness, and move aside a bit. You take a moment to cast your mind out, checking on the golem you left outside, ignoring the few metal ones you seem to have left without orders about Eientei, which have apparently been moved out behind the building at some point. You aren't able to tell much, but it seems like it has taken some damage, one eye has been shattered away, and there are a number of cracks along its form, with bullets embedded harmlessly in its bulk. It seems like nobody has yet gotten the nerve up to stick a hand into its mouth to clean out the worst of the dried-on gore. Well, something interesting has happened thereabouts, anyway. You turn your mind back to the present and address a different golem.
"I don't suppose you have come to any decisions about your new form?" You ask, and Porphyrion rouses himself from his deep contemplation.
"... As it happens, I have reached a decision, yes. I believe I would like to try out a female body, as it happens." Porphyrion says simply, even as your eyebrow rises. "I have already had many decades to experience maleness, as it happens."
"And you were not satisfied with it?" You ask, only mildly curious.
"No, it was fulfilling enough." Porphyrion denies. "Though I bear some regrets, that I was not given Hebe as promised in particular. I suspect Alcyoneus bears similar lingering sentiment, that he was not delivered Artemis for his part."
"Then I suppose the likelihood of sterility will be of little concern to you." You say aloud, thoughtfully. "And in any case, it leaves less concern of you attempting to force yourself upon a woman, a trespass which would likely be punished most harshly."
"Tewi has been sighted, and she is approaching the gate with your shipment." Koakuma says, weaving herself into the conversation.
"Very good, it saves me a trip. We can determine further details later." You say, moving already, portalling to the grounds rather than bother with the hallways and doors. "Collect the medicine and store it." You order, as the gatekeeper grudgingly lets Tewi through, heavy box on one shoulder.
"Tewi." You say simply. "There have been some modifications to the truck. I'm fairly sure I don't know what most of them are."
"Huh. Let's have a look, then." The rabit says, shoving the box of medicine off on the succubus as she follows you to the storage shed.
"There was mention of armor plating, and converting the engine to run on water..." You say, as Tewi moves in and immediately opens up the front of the vehicle, thickness of the replacement material around the engine readily apparent.
The rabbit hops up to balance on her hands and lean over, before floating in midair and going a little further inside to inspect and poke at things. After a few minutes, she pulls back out, smiling, and slams it shut again.
"Yep." She says simply. "I have no idea what's going on in there, and it'll probably give people who know lots about cars or normal science headaches. Pretty sure there's some cheating going on, with magic, but it's really hard to be certain. Kappa work?"
"Yes, actually." You say.
"Figures. They're hardly ones to let little things like sanity, or inconvenient laws of physics, get in the way of their fun." The rabbit replies, opening up a door and moving inside the truck interior to rustle through things. "They probably left a manual... yeah, here it is."
You peer inside to see a small opened compartment with gloves and assorted loose papers, and that Tewi has begun flipping through and skimming a thick... you would call it a manual, you suppose, except that it's closer to a stack of papers with holes in it, tied together and hand-written, and with casually doodled illustrations. There is also a new row of colored buttons, and many of the various levers and things seem subtly different.
"Speedometer is set up so it looks like we can hit about three times previous top speed, that's neat." Tewi says. "And yeah, should take water just like it would have gas, before. With you able to make that out of nothing at a whim, that'll save some time and money. Oh hey, she stuck some of that optical camouflage in. That should be fun. Looks like it's an experiment though, there's a note to let her know if it breaks, and how, so she can fix it."
"I see." You say. "In any case..." You say, with some slight hesitance.
"Do not touch this button." Tewi says, pointing at a red one. Her finger shifts towards another red one, this time with a transparent case securely over it, which would have to be moved out of the way to get at it. "Or this one. They're seat-ejection and the self-destruct systems."
"... Why would they even need to-"
"Kappa." Tewi explains simply. "You might want to try browbeating her into taking that back out, yeah. Anyway, you were saying something."
"Yes... I have sufficient cause to suspect that someone I know.. harbors interest that I am uncertain... how to gently rebuff, if it comes to that." You say, putting it in as vague terms as possible.
"That puppeteer?" Tewi says after a moment of thought.
"Ah? No, that's not-"
"Because I've heard rumors, but I kind of doubted it, yeah. All kinds of weird rumors about who's hooking up with who, and who's giving who eyes. I'd guess your succubus, but that's pretty obvious, and I don't think you'd be worried about letting her down gently." Tewi says.
"... Yes, well." You mumble awkwardly.
"Don't really know who sees you enough to get a crush, though." The rabbit continues. "Might be the vampire, since if you didn't want to spend a few nights there now and again, you'd have to be careful not to get thrown out out of spite, hm. Probably not the maid, she seems pretty well fixated on the vampire, whether it's romantic or not. Huh... Hey, no, don't tell me it's seriously Marisa you're talking about?" She finishes with a grin.
Your frown answers the question for you before you can stop it.
"Heh. The witch crushing on you, and you're trying to find a way to dodge it." Tewi says in amusement. "That's... pretty much the exact opposite of the usual rumors about you two."
"What." You say flatly.
"Don't worry about it, people just gossip, and if there's no real interesting things happening they make stuff up." Tewi says flippantly. "My next guess was going to be whichever kappa fiddled with this thing, though I guess that would have been a long shot, but pretty much everyone after that would be even longer. So how'd you figure this out?"
"I didn't." You say shortly. "And I am not completely certain it is the case, but it is the shrine maiden's conclusion. I am unwilling to dismiss her intuition out of hand."
"Yeah, guess that's a point." The rabbit admits.
"In any case, I would not have even had that conversation, had I not used her current state of employ in my service as an excuse to visit the shrine's hot springs again." You point out.
".. So, she's inside here, right now." Tewi says, suddenly seeming significantly less amused at the potential infatuation to be dealt with. "How'd that happen?"
"It's a rather long story, but it sums up to be that she found numerous articles of certain clothing missing, and somehow came to the conclusion that I was responsible for the matter." You say wryly. "And so came with some minor desperation to have them returned. She was disappointed to learn I did not have them in my possession, but was by that point amenable to negotiations regarding alternate means to restore her full modesty. It was really a stroke of luck, as I certainly wouldn't have thought of doing such a thing myself, but cannot deny that her services, although temporary, have proven to be of some minor use already."
"Yeah. Lucky." Tewi says blankly. "I'm sure that's exactly what whoever stole those bloomers had in mind."
You decide not to mention that you hadn't specified exactly what had been stolen, as Tewi shakes her head.
"Anyway... I guess I'm not really the best person to ask about this. What I do when that happens, and I'm not interested in playing along with them, is just ignore things as long as possible, then skip town for a few years, maybe a decade or two, to let things cool down." The rabbit admits, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "They've usually moved on by then, and it's hard for people to track me down if I really don't want to be followed. I've only been in the habit of having maybe three or four decade long flings, too, but usually only for a few months or years... not really relationships, as such. Usually humans, though, so that's a part of it, they're usually dead three or four decades into things. You'd probably be better asking someone else about this, because I can't see that working out all too well for you, what with the huge library and all, and not just owning enough to fit in your pockets or a sack."
"I suppose you may be right." You say after a minute. "... I can trust you to be discreet about this, of course?"
"Hey, I don't plan to go rambling about private stuff like this." Tewi says, waving it off. "Nobody's hearing it from me. But nevermind that, got a plan for the day?"
"I've been considering making it a trip to Europe, and there is... a matter I would like to have Koakuma attend to Outside, among other things." You reply, thinking. "I am... not entirely sure I am comfortable with leaving Marisa with free run of the Archive, however." You admit.
"... Bring her along." Tewi says after a minute, seeming disgruntled and mildly irritated about the decision. "No telling what she'll get up to if you just leave her dusting candles all day. May as well have someone along to carry bags, I guess, if nothing else. Taking the succubus too?"
"I have some concerns about if she'll be noticed going through the Shrine, but there should be preparations in place for a semi-permanent portal, during or following this outing." You say.
"Yeah, not sure Reimu really cares much about what gets done outside, so long as it doesn't come to trouble her later." Tewi says. "So she'd probably let her slide even if she does get noticed, but you could always do the other thing too, in case. Or you could do that thing from before, where she wasn't there one second, then was, all tied up? How's that work?"
"I can call her to my side like that, yes. It... hm. It functions very much as though I partway dismiss her from this plane of existence, but not entirely, and then re-summon her from the in-between state at my current position." You say, thinking.
"Yeah, I guess the idea is still to not punch holes in the barrier, but any idea if that would dodge it?" Tewi asks.
"I'm afraid I have no idea." You admit. "In theory, it shouldn't, as there was no mention of such on any instances when I was forced to re-summon her inside the Barrier. Of course, Ran might simply have not bothered to bring it up, and I don't believe I've attempted this sort of thing before." It would likely dodge any connections being made if she happened to get more ravenous than you would prefer, of course, and you do recall that Albus was rather alarmed at her nature.
"Not going to get changed or anything?" The rabbit suggests, almost-innocently.
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
-[x] Ask Tewi if Marisa will be alright in her uniform or if she'll need something to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
[x] You haven't breached the Barrier for a few days by now. One breach will most probably not send Ran on a rampage if resummoning Koakuma makes one.
As expected, Tewi isn't too happy to have Marisa following along today.
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
[x] If getting the portal set up takes longer than expected, try the re-summon trick. Otherwise, no need.
[x] Bring Marisa.
Marisa isn't going to steal any books from Patchy while she is working for her, just leave her here so we don't have to deal with all the unresolved sexual tension.
[x] Go get changed.
[x] give Marisa the day off, don't tell her where you're going
[x] You haven't breached the Barrier for a few days by now. One breach will most probably not send Ran on a rampage if resummoning Koakuma makes one.
Wow Patchy...Tewi just carried a box that was described as heavy all the way from Eientei to the Scarlet Devil Mansion on her back...and she doesn't even get a word of thanks?
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
[x] give Marisa the day off, don't tell her where you're going
[x] You haven't breached the Barrier for a few days by now. One breach will most probably not send Ran on a rampage if resummoning Koakuma makes one.
The only unresolved sexual tension I want to bring along for this date is Tewi's.
If some really want Marisa to stay, perhaps a threat of asking Remilia if she has anything that she would want Marisa to do should any book be missing be enough?
[x]Go get changed
[x]Might as well try out the resummoning thing with Koa, if only to see if it pokes a hole in the barrier or not. Might want to pick up some manner of elaborate confectionery on the way back though, something big enough for Ran to share with Chen. If a hole is poked the gift will help smooth things over, if there's no hole you can give it to Reimu for another dip in the springs.
[x]As for Marisa...
-If you do bring her along, ask if her current attire is fine, or if you should grab her something while you're out.
-If you don't: Have her study that alchemy book some more. If she wants to try her hand at another recipe in the book or wishes to experiment she's to do it off-site. In any event the book is not to leave the library, though she's free to take as many notes as she pleases. Promise the usual horrible and dire fates that will befall her if anything happens to the library while you're out.
I generally agree, but would suggest one modification. There is still some indecision if taking Marisa on as an additional assistant/apprentice (in order to keep an eye on her -- assuming we can deal with the crush) is a good idea. Let's test that with something relevant to what she might be doing.
[x] Figure out what to do with Marisa first. Taunting her with your Tewi outing (even if inadvertently) if she will not be going along and having "fun" also will likely just leave her sullen and uncooperative, at best.
- If you do bring her along, ask if her current attire is fine, or if you should grab her something while you're out.
-If you don't: Have her study the two DADA books you had favored and prepare a report on them -- a short summary as well as her own impressions, including what she can intuit about the writer's assumptions, in as much detail as she can complete by the end of the day. As long as she does not do it in the library, she is free to attempt any practical experiments related to them she wishes. Promise the usual horrible and dire fates that will befall her if anything happens to the library while you're out.
[x] Go get changed
[x] Plan on summoning Koakuma to get past the border.
[x]Mention to Tewi that the golem you left with the courtesan had to fight. Adjust your plans if necessary, depending on her response.
Personally, I kind of want to see what antics she gets up to if she comes along, but either way works, and testing her might help us resolve the other matter.
>>48152 What indecision? I don't recall Patchouli ever thinking about the idea so far.
Beside, I don't trust Marisa to not screw around when she'll get bored with theorical stuff. The last thing I think Patchouli want is someone defying her authority as a teacher in front of actual students.
[x] Figure out what to do with Marisa first. Taunting her with your Tewi outing (even if inadvertently) if she will not be going along and having "fun" also will likely just leave her sullen and uncooperative, at best.
- If you do bring her along, ask if her current attire is fine, or if you should grab her something while you're out.
-If you don't: Have her study the two DADA books you had favored and prepare a report on them -- a short summary as well as her own impressions, including what she can intuit about the writer's assumptions, in as much detail as she can complete by the end of the day. As long as she does not do it in the library, she is free to attempt any practical experiments related to them she wishes. Promise the usual horrible and dire fates that will befall her if anything happens to the library while you're out.
[x] Go get changed
[x] Plan on summoning Koakuma to get past the border.
[x]Mention to Tewi that the golem you left with the courtesan had to fight. Adjust your plans if necessary, depending on her response.
I can't decide if I prefer to bring her, it could be fun but I'd prefer to avoid having her along just to rub her nose in our outing with Tewi.
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
-[x] Ask Tewi if Marisa will be alright in her uniform or if she'll need something to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
[x] You haven't breached the Barrier for a few days by now. One breach will most probably not send Ran on a rampage if resummoning Koakuma makes one.
Why don't you guys want to bring Marisa? She's like a natural wacky hijinks magnet, so what if we might have to deal with her crush a bit, It's still worth it for the hijinks.
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
[x] Bring Marisa.
[x] Plan on summoning Koakuma to get past the border.
[x] Mention to Tewi that the golem you left had to fight. Maybe they should see Hideo about the situation?
As No. 48158 points out, Marisa's reactions are more worrying than Tewi's. If we leave her home, should we even mention Tewi going with us?
Leaving her home might lead to sulkiness but taking her with us might lead to worse.
Though, I suppose allowing Marisa to conclude there's something going on with Tewi, regardless of whether or not there is (and we don't even know for sure), might be a good way to subtly crush her romantic hopes before she ever mentions them.
[X]Give Marisa something to do. (Study Defense books?) Threaten her if we don't think that will produce a rebellious reaction.
[X]Change clothes (preferably with anti-peeping defenses in place)
[X]Go Outside
[X]Summon Koakuma to us, send her off on her mission
[X]Check on Hogwarts stuff
[X]Check on golem if we have time afterwards, since our ability to portal everywhere means the rest of Japan takes just as long to get to as Britain.
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
-[x] Give Marisa her new task: Remilia's assistant and bodyguard: follow her and obey her orders all day.
[x] You haven't breached the Barrier for a few days by now. One breach will most probably not send Ran on a rampage if resummoning Koakuma makes one.
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
[x] give Marisa the day off, don't tell her where you're going
[x] You haven't breached the Barrier for a few days by now. One breach will most probably not send Ran on a rampage if resummoning Koakuma makes one.
Anonymous 11/10/18(Tue)08:40 No. 48165
[x] Go get changed.
-[x] You did buy more than one outfit last time. Might as well wear that one.
[x] You haven't breached the Barrier for a few days by now. One breach will most probably not send Ran on a rampage if resummoning Koakuma makes one.
[x] Take Marisa with you, unless she hasn't finished any previous task.
Calling it, in case I don't finish writing before I have to go do stuff. Looks like, leaving aside the votes that don't come down one way or another on the Mari issue, it would be an even 5-5 split.
That is, if leaving her behind wasn't split three ways, making it 5-3-1-1 instead. It got overcomplicated, and you cant have her take the day off and study the books you want her to study and have her attending to Remi. The first two might be sort of compatible, but the last one isn't at all.
You admit to yourself that your standard casual wear really isn't proper for an outing, and head back inside. You look through the newer clothes and at first are going to go with the simpler looking suit, before Tewi nudges you another choice. You aren't entirely sure how the rabbit ended up assisting you, but by the time you're through you are at least mildly grateful, as there are some oddly complicated snaps and fastenings involved in putting it on, and a second pair of hands are helpful. Marisa seems speechless for a moment, when you leave the room, and you give Koa a quick order.
"Will her clothing be adequate?" You wonder aloud.
"Hm. Meido'd be a little iffy." Tewi says. "This get-up should be fine, though."
"Very well. Come along then." You say.
The front of the truck is a tighter fit than before, as you settle down between Tewi, in the driver's seat, and Marisa' who seems prepared to affix her face permanently to the window as the rabbit pulls out of storage and into a swirling portal to the base of the Hakurei stairs.
"Oh yes." You say, as the truck begins to climb upwards. "That construct I left outside seems to have seen battle. Should we investigate the matter?"
"Is it fighting right now?" Tewi asks in response.
"Hm... It seems not." You admit.
"It'll keep for at least a few hours, then. Unless you have nothing more important to do." Tewi decides, as she crests the top and comes to a stop. Reimu shakes her head and sighs from nearby, but after a moment the air seems to shift and she returns to sweeping as the rabbit starts coaxing the vehicle around and back down. "Wasn't expecting everything to go perfect anyway, someone had almost definitely already figured out where she was."
"Is this outside? Are we outside?" Marisa asks, almost bouncing in her seat. You get the feeling she would be sticking her head out the window to get a better look if she had noticed the toggle to open it. It's a little tiring to watch.
"Hold on a minute, will you? Almost." Tewi answers, truck rolling down the last of the way and some distance from the stairs before it comes to a stop. She waits patiently, and you reach out with your mind.
Koakuma appears without much in the way of fanfare, and the interior of the passenger compartment suddenly becomes more cramped and tangled with limbs.
"-Hell is poking my-" Marisa starts.
"Just my tail, nothing more~"
"Do you even have a tail?"
"Would you like to see~?" Koa says slyly.
Tewi opens her door, and assists the succubus in making space for the other occupants.
"You know your instructions." You say aloud, as she floats in the air next to the door, and open a portal. She shrugs and drifts through, and it closes.
"... Where'd you send her, exactly?" Tewi asks aloud, as she closes the door.
"You recall that gambling house? That general area." You say.
"Heh, little chance of anyone I like getting caught up in whatever you have her doing, then. That'll do." She says, even as Marisa blinks. "So, where to?"
Well, no chance of Marisa attracting attention if that's really what Patchouli is wearing.
[x] It's still early and it's night in England anyway. Stroll around for a bit, unless Tewi has a better idea.
-[x] Inform Marisa that yes, everything around will be probably new to her. But she doesn't need to act like it.
Getting used to Outside was the main point of going out, was it?
[x] It's still early and it's night in England anyway. Stroll around for a bit, unless Tewi has a better idea.
-[x] Inform Marisa that yes, everything around will be probably new to her. But she doesn't need to act like it.
Good points. Too bad that the 5-5 didn't end up as a tie. I guess I'll vote for someone else's options next time.
Yes, so, what exactly do we have left to do? We already gave the golems to Yukari and we have Eirin's medicine. All we really need to do now is build a place to put the portal safely in, and schedule classes.
However, we still have 8 days left. No idea when Earth day is, if we build something nice today at Hogwarts, Patchouli could probably use it as a base to make building something better/bigger easier during Earth Day.
We could also write a small book to enchance classes.
[x] It's still early and it's night in England anyway. Stroll around for a bit, unless Tewi has a better idea.
-[x] Inform Marisa that yes, everything around will be probably new to her. But she doesn't need to act like it.
As fun as the British night life might be, let's just take it easy first.
Also I'm starting to wonder just how skewed Patchy's ideas of a normal outfit are.
>>48173 We can search for Mima, we can go visit a goddess (goddesses?), we can talk with the other magicians about Marisa... we've got lots of things to do. We just don't have much that we have to do.
[x] Find a safe place and see how fast this thing can go.
>>48173 On the must-do list before term, we have...
-Setting portal. Will most probably be done today.
-Getting tips from Keine.
-Making a schedule. Visiting others teachers to see if arrangements are possible is optional (Albus gave us a list of names).
-Ensure the Library's safety while we're away.
[x] Find a nearby public or university library; the sciences looked to have progressed quite a bit since you were out in the world last, and a few books on the subject might prove to be interesting. Bring back what you can for later reading.
The original vote called for a bookstore, but I get the feeling most would disappoint Patchy with their selections. I also specified bringing back books, as reading on the spot would be a waste of our lovely companions' time.
>>48179 This, but add:
[x]Flip through the truck's manual for a way to stop the self-destruct sequence when it's inevitably started by Marisasomeone or something.
>>48179 We're on the Outside more for social interactions than knowledge I think. Patchouli did comment that books wouldn't help that much in getting used to the progress of Outside.
[x] It's still early and it's night in England anyway. Stroll around for a bit, unless Tewi has a better idea.
-[x] Inform Marisa that yes, everything around will be probably new to her. But she doesn't need to act like it.
If Tewi doesn't have a better idea:
[x] Find a nearby public or university library; the sciences looked to have progressed quite a bit since you were out in the world last, and a few books on the subject might prove to be interesting. Bring back what you can for later reading.
[x]Flip through the truck's manual for a way to stop the self-destruct sequence when it's inevitably started by <strike>Marisa</strike>someone or something.
[x] It's still early and it's night in England anyway. Stroll around for a bit, unless Tewi has a better idea.
-[x] Inform Marisa that yes, everything around will be probably new to her. But she doesn't need to act like it.
If Tewi doesn't have a better idea:
[x] Find a nearby public or university library; the sciences looked to have progressed quite a bit since you were out in the world last, and a few books on the subject might prove to be interesting. Bring back what you can for later reading.
[x]By far the best person for advice on how to gently let down Marisa is Hideo, as she has probably had the same situation with some of her customers. How convenient that we now have an excuse to visit.
[x] It's still early and it's night in England anyway. Stroll around for a bit, unless Tewi has a better idea.
-[x] Inform Marisa that yes, everything around will be probably new to her. But she doesn't need to act like it.
If Tewi doesn't have a better idea:
[x] Find a nearby public or university library; the sciences looked to have progressed quite a bit since you were out in the world last, and a few books on the subject might prove to be interesting. Bring back what you can for later reading.
[x]Flip through the truck's manual for a way to stop the self-destruct sequence when it's inevitably started by someone or something.
Patchy, dressed like that, telling Marisa not to attract unnecessary attention should be pretty amusing to Tewi at least.
Checking out books on science etc should be pretty low priority since, as she said, it won't really give a good idea of how the outside has advanced but it could be interesting anyway.
[x] Use Metal magic to fashion a more foolproof cover over both Big Red Buttons. Making them completely inaccessible might be a good idea.
-[x] If necessary, remind Tewi that the truck is heavier than before, making it even less suitable for jumping over rivers.
[x] Inform Marisa that, yes, everything around will probably be new to her, but she doesn't need to act like it.
-[x] Also instruct her to avoid using magic until you tell her otherwise. No need to draw even more attention to yourselves.
[x] It's still early, and night in Scotland anyway. See if Tewi has anything she wants to do.
-[x] If no one else has something they want to do, succumb to your Inner Patchiness and seek out new books. What was that place called? Jimbouchou?
>>48186 I assume Anon meant Mitsuru, not Hideo. And having tea with her might be a good way to kill time. Though I don't think asking her about our little problem would be in character either.
(Given the costumes and WarTruck, why do I see a re-enactment of something from Mad Max in our near future?)
I'd like to see us take care of business, and then time-skip to the start of the school year. It is already thread 6 and we haven't got to the beginning of year feast.
[X] Set up Portal someplace, possibly in a house we make ourselves
[X]someone mentioned talking to Hogwarts librarian, though I'm not sure why since we have a book list from Dumbledore
[X]See what happened with golem
[X}get some books on what's been going on Outside. Not as good as practical experience, but it's more books about things we don't have books about!
We also considered talking to Keine but now is not the time.
I second the idea of a timeskip after we finish up the next few things, probably to the day before classes so we can do last minute prep work. Eight days is probably too many.
We'll just need do this batch of stuff and then make homunculi after we get back.
[x] Use Metal magic to fashion a more foolproof cover over both Big Red Buttons. Making them completely inaccessible might be a good idea.
-[x] If necessary, remind Tewi that the truck is heavier than before, making it even less suitable for jumping over rivers.
[x] Inform Marisa that, yes, everything around will probably be new to her, but she doesn't need to act like it.
-[x] Also instruct her to avoid using magic until you tell her otherwise. No need to draw even more attention to yourselves.
[x] It's still early, and night in Scotland anyway. See if Tewi has anything she wants to do.
-[x] If no one else has something they want to do, succumb to your Inner Patchiness and seek out new books. What was that place called? Jimbouchou?
[x] Later on, Hogwarts, building and portal setup.
>>48194 >As for an inventory of the Library, I'm afraid you shall have to see madame Pince directly for that, and she is away dealing with family-related matters at the moment. I expect she will not return until Monday at the very earliest."
I would also like to mention that there's still the matter of the protection of the Library from Marisa that must be resolved, as well as the schedule. Until all main problems before term are done, no skipping forward.
>>48204 That sure didn't stop her when we were out with Tewi. If anything, Marisa'll do it more often to force us to come back to deal with her should we be away too often for her.
The security on the buttons, or at least on the more dangerous one, seems foolproof enough. Of course, you have had the misfortune of, a time or two, seeing people make spectacular fools of themself indeed. It likely won't hurt to take an extra precaution, and a closer look at the buttons reveals them to be set in steel.
You subtly cause it to flow up and around them, only a thin layer, but enough that it is now highly unlikely either will ever be pressed.
"Try to contain your enthusiasm." You chide the witch. "No matter how fascinated you are by the new surroundings. In any case, at this time it is still the middle of the night, and while theatrically, my plans may come off better, practically I have other things to do as well. There are several hours yet until morning comes, there. Have you any plans?
Tewi donned a slowly widening grin.
A portal followed by a short drive later, as Tewi kept a sharp lookout, a familiar face is spied, with a new girl at his side. He seems to have learned nothing from his previous ordeal, as Tewi rapidly thumbs the optical camouflage button, as he is once more taunting another driver, this time an equally young man, in an older-looking vehicle, speckled with a few patches of slight rust. Tewi pulls up on the opposite side of him again.
"Water, door." She whispers quickly. It takes a moment for you to divine her intent, but then you set up a blob of liquid against the inside of the door, containing dozens of gallons, inside portion held carefully in place to ensure that feet do not become wet. It is already trickling through the cracks however, and Tewi thumbs another button that seems to turn the camouflage off. Then she revs the engine.
The young man goes very still, of a sudden, and slowly turns around even as his companion doesn't seem to understand his difficulty.
"Hey, buddy." Tewi says, and opens her door a little. His gaze travels down to watch the water splash rapidly down to the pavement, spreading rapidly, and his face goes slowly white even as the rush dies down to a trickle. Tewi pulls the door closed again. "... You didn't think you'd seen the last of me, had you?"
The light is red. The young man doesn't seem to care, as his vehicle begins to immediately accelerate, though fortunately traffic is low. Tewi seems content to give him a momentary head-start, only accelerating herself once the light changes to green.
"The truck is significantly heavier than even before, I would suppose, with all the extra weight." You point out.
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." Tewi said.
Marisa let out a cheer now and again, when the young man would be allowed to think, just for a moment, that he had escaped, before Tewi burst out of nowhere onto his trail again, turning off a street after him, or smashing through the guard rails of a raised portion of road to get down to his level. There were no daredevil stunts as before, in part because the young man had no opportunity to find an oncoming train to dodge or a bridge to jump, you suppose. Instead, after only perhaps two dozen minutes, not a full half hour, Tewi pulls up next to a housing complex where the young man's car has been left, motor running and doors wide open, uncaring of the risk of theft. She turns off the engine and opens the door, and you follow.
"You should probably keep back and let the rabbit handle things, Kirisame." You say calmly as you enter, and follow Tewi up stairs.
The young man's woman of the moment is pounding at a door, clearly having no idea, still, what is going on, and Tewi ushers her out of the way quickly. Then she kicks the door down. Within is a mess, clothes strewn everywhere and half eaten-meals set out on a table. Through another door you can see what looks like some sort of bizarre alchemical apparatus, or miniature distillery, and Tewi frowns as she glances at it.
"... Knock knock." She says, as she saunters in, glancing around and then picking up a battered looking training sword from the floor, half-under a pile of clothes.
The young man is rummaging with haste through his drawers, but stops as Tewi approaches, and drops to the ground to pull something out from beneath a cabinet. It's a real blade.
"Get away... You god damned lunatics!" He yells, jerking it free of the sheath and swinging wildly at Tewi. She catches his arm easily, and responds by slamming a foot into his midsection. He coughs and his grip weakens, sword slipping out of his hands to imbed in his sleeping mat.
"Little punk. Were you swinging that five thousand yen piece of crap they stamp out of tin and sell to tourists at me?" She asks dangerously. "And that set up in the other room. I was just teaching you to mind your manners in public before, but it looks like I'm here on business. You a pusher? Who're you with, kid? Give me a name, so I know who to complain at for not teaching their boys right."
"No... nobody." He groans. "I'm not... with yaks."
Tewi considers this, then slams the training sword into the side of his knee, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Independent, huh. Well, I knew you probably weren't one of Hideo's anyway. His stuff gets strictly regulated in production, careful to take as much of the danger out of it as possible. Can't keep selling to people if your customers die because you cut corners and cut something with cleaning chemicals to bulk it out. The way I saw you're doing, you piece of shit."
"Not my fault..." He groans, from the floor. "Stuff is... is expensive."
"Yeah, but it was your decision to start selling in the first place, kiddo." Tewi says. "And since you can make more money this way... what? It doesn't hurt you at all. It's not like you're using the stuff yourself. Just profiting from it. Is that right?"
He's started to rise, but a kick drops him again.
"Can't do this... I have rights... I know people, they'll-"
"Kid, if you lived to be a hundred and fifty, you wouldn't know anyone important or strong enough to protect you from anything I feel like doing to you. You need to pop that inflated ego of yours, or it's going to get you in trouble. But yeah, like I was saying, not l'il Hideo's modus operandi. Which means you were one of his, and going way against policy and orders, or you belonged to someone else and you're operating way outside of accepted territory, or you were independent. None of those is a good answer. Independent, though, that's a dangerous game. You might think you're a smart boy, not tying yourself down to a group of hard-bit, dangerous criminals, but that just means that the law doesn't like you and you have nobody on your side. You're lucky this is me, here. If we weren't having this chat now, I give you another six months before someone starts finding chunks of you in dumpsters across the city."
"Can't do that." The young man insists, starting to look very worried indeed. "The police-"
"Boy, you are making substances in your apartment and pushing it on the street." Tewi says seriously. "All it takes is some knockout juice and thirty minutes with a well-bribed tattoo artist before hand, and it's one more case of yaks killing yaks. People aren't going to look too deeply into that at all. Especially with you out showing off money and hassling working folk. What... is it funny? Is it that big a laugh, that people are working for their money? Show some respect, punk."
Tewi stopped and considered, rubbing thoughtfully at her chin. An attempt on the young man's part to crawl away is ended as she drops a foot on his back.
"Strictly speaking, now, if one of Hideo's boys were here in my place, their job would be to beat you until you stopped moving." She pointed out. "What happens after would be up to Hideo, after they drag what's left of you in front of him. He's never had a soft spot for kids that don't play by the rules, though. Not good odds. From the moment you started this whole fun money making game, you've been living on borrowed time. But I'll tell you what, kid. I'm in a pretty good mood today, so I'm going to cut you a break. In a few minutes, I'm gonna be walking out of that door. What happens next is up to you. You have three options at that point, and I'm gonna spell them out for you, just so there's no misunderstandings."
She tapped the wooden sword against the floor.
"First option. That mess in the other room? You put it all in a nice crate, lined with plastic, and you fill that with concrete. Cover it all, hidden. Once that's set, you dump the whole mess in the river one night, and make like you never had it at all. You don't contact anyone you used to push at, you sell the flashy ride outside and buy something tamer, you get a real job. Work for your money. Ten years from now, you live in a nice, small apartment on your own, or maybe you got married to a good girl by that time and you have a home and family. Nobody ever knows about this business, and you'll hardly remember these days at all."
She taps the sword on the floor again.
"Option two. You can't give up the money. So you go to this place I know, you order a nice meal, and then you mention that you need to speak with Hideo, urgently. And yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'I'll just set things up so that the police are watching, and they tail us to this guy'. It isn't going to be that easy, I'm afraid, the boys are no fools. You'll get picked up and moved, but if there's even a hint of that sort of thing, you'll end up in a whole heap of trouble, really fast. But when you do speak to l'il Hideo, this is what you do. You get on your knees and grovel, right off the bat. You spill everything you ever did as an independent, and you tell him that the White Rabbit sent you to beg for a chance to earn his forgiveness. You'll probably get a beating out of the deal. You'll almost definitely get worked to the bone. But ten years down the line, you'll be one of the family, and the day'll just be something that gets brought up and laughed at over drinks and take out."
She brings the sword down one last time, a sharp crack against the floor punctuating things.
"Or you go with what's behind door number three. You ignore what I have to say. Oh, you put on a face anyway, make like you're going through with the first part, but you can't hack it. You just don't have the backbone to go through with it, to be just some businessman, but you still can't deal with being a yak. You get a new set of stuff, and you start pushing again. And then, sooner or later, someone not as nice as me figures you out. Ten years from now, you're just chewed bones, or maybe a nice shallow grave set beneath a new building foundation. That what you want kid, huh? Well?"
"... No." The young man groaned through grit teeth.
"That's what I thought." Tewi says, taking her foot off his back and walking back towards the door. "You take a few hours, sit down and think this through, right? Have breakfast. Most of that pizza still looks fine. Wouldn't want you to make a decision like this on an empty stomach, now."
You watch as the young man curls up into a little ball on the floor, unmoving, before you turn and follow Tewi back to the truck. Marisa hadn't followed you inside, she's simply been poking about at the running vehicle, some degree of interest clear on her face.
"Well. That was fun enough." Tewi says. "Didn't last too long, though. I guess we can go take a look at that lady in Nakano, if you haven't thought of anything else to do."
[x]Find the wizard side of Japan to get some info you can compare the English wizards to. -[x]Maybe even find some wizard magic more styled to your elemental circle?
If the above isn't possible:
[x]Time to kill and not a whole lot to fill it with. May as well check on things, perhaps over tea.
[X] Make sure Marisa didn't take any of the drugs.
[X] Time to kill and not a whole lot to fill it with. May as well check on things, perhaps over tea.
>>48215 Why would we care about a wizard side here? And Patchouli is already not impressed with what they consider great so I doubt they would even add anything to what she knows.
Like voted, best check over the situation, with tea unless something is about to happen.
How did Tewi know that the guy was dealing drugs? Sure she saw it after she entered, but why did she follow him in the first place? At least, why inside? It doesn't make sense.
>>48220 It's pretty obvious what Tewi was getting at from context. Besides, if she did take something I wouldn't be surprised if Tewi noticed and made her cough it up once you're clear of the place.
[X] Time to kill and not a whole lot to fill it with. May as well check on things, perhaps over tea.
Well that cuts it, This Tewi is the best Tewi ever. Now I'm hoping we'll be able to repeat this level of dickery once we're in Hogwarts, but who'll be the target, Umbridge?
>>48223 We don't know the full extent of her Intel from the Outside. She may have known about the guy from before but wanted to race him last time. Or she could smell the chemicals used to make the stuff. Youkai are known for good noses.
You were standing in the doorway the whole time, so you know that Marisa didn't pass by you. Still, a mild uncertainty hits you for a moment.
"Find anything interesting?" You ask.
"Nah." The witch says, disgruntled. "Lots of papers, I guess some of it was money so I took that, and some little pouches of sugar under the seat, but nothing worth any real time."
"That's poison." You say, oversimplifying things a bit.
"... Definitely nothing worth any time, then. Deadly? Or useful?" Marisa asks, nose crinkling.
"Sometimes. And no." You say, as she rummages around under the back seat.
"There's a metal pipe under here, but not really anything else. Oh, a little box of something." She says.
"Leave the miscreant's trash and lets be off." You say dismissively, and the witch shrugs but follows you away.
"This thing doesn't really have good pockets like my dress and apron, anyway." She grumbles.
"That would be something of the point." You say dryly, deciding that Nakano would indeed be a good choice for the next stop. Tewi drives some distance, then parks the truck in an out of the way place, and you prepare a portal. She is the first one through, of course, but you are just shortly behind, and Marisa follows.
The thugs in place seem mildly distressed at your casual entry, and the means, but relax enough in recognition of Tewi. Mitsuru is perfectly unmoved by the whole thing, by contrast. Her calm aplomb, as she sips at her tea, is only marred by the bandage on her cheek.
"Lady sorcerer." She greets you with a nod, a slight smile gracing her face as she considers the witch at you side. "... And your apprentice, or servant?"
"Apprentice, hah. Like I'd go for that." Marisa denies snidely, and without hesitation.
"She is more of an annoyance, currently held in check, though only for an unfortunately brief period." You say in response.
"Hey, don't be too flattering now, Patchy." Marisa jeers back lightly. "People might think the wrong thing. But anyway, I wouldn't be even if she asked. I don't need to be hand held through the basics of things."
"Hmph. I would never dream of making such an offer to you." You snap shortly. "But you'd be a fool to turn it down if I did: I have forgotten more magic than you know, quite literally."
"Ah, that I don't doubt a bit. Age does mess with the memory."
Tewi and the courtesan seem amused by the byplay, and you snort.
"You certainly don't miss a chance to pilfer from my archives." You grumble, settling down.
"Hey, it's just borrowing." Marisa insists.
"Without permission, and without intent to return your acquisitions."
"You can have 'em back when you take them back, you figured that much out already. Or when I'm dead, not that I'm planning on that."
"And you would not believe the temptation you instill to hasten that time's coming." You say dryly, and the witch smirks, seeming to take pleasure in the fact that her annoyances vex you to such a degree.
"Not an apprentice, then." Mitsuru clarifies, as a thug sets out a few extra cups and she graciously pours tea.
"At the moment, she is closer to a 'possession'." You say, and it's Marisa's turn to snort.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Patchy. I'm not working for you forever. Servant's a closer word, but it's only a temporary thing. Next month, everything's back to normal."
"Yes, and more's the pity, at the very least you're easier to deal with this way. Headstrong, kleptomaniacal witch that you are. Mind your silver, with this one present." You warn, as your eye catches the damaged golem in a corner, pretending it's artwork. You shake your head.
"Now, you know I'm not interested in some cutlery." Marisa points out vaguely, sitting down.
"You have some interest in pocket-watches though. Incidentally, you can return that one to the gentleman whose pocket you've taken it from."
A startled thug pats himself down quickly, as Marisa tosses the watch in her hand.
"These are interesting, though. I like to take them apart and poke around with the insides. Lots of fiddly bits." Marisa says, dangling it by the chain now.
"You'll not work out Sakuya's abilities that way: her watch is ornamental." You point out. "Can you even put them back together afterward?"
"... Nnnnno, not as such." Marisa admits after a moment. "Kappa can, though, in ten minutes or less."
"Without preparing it to explode, on demand?" You ask.
"... That only takes five minutes, but costs an extra cucumber." Marisa says. "They like booms. A lot."
You sigh, as she's still made no move to return the item, and its owner seems uncertain about demanding it back.
"If I have to take the man's item away from you I will be most vexed." You say sternly. "There will be an opportunity to purchase another, if you must."
"Geeze, fine, fine." She says, tossing it through the air and back to the man, who snatches it carefully. "You happy now?"
"I'll be happier once you've returned the other fellow's wallet." You say.
"You just don't miss a thing, do you." Marisa says, but begrudgingly divests herself of her ill-gotten property, even as a second man is suddenly checking his pockets.
You sigh again, as the remaining thugs subtly pat themselves down to reassure themselves that none of their effects had gone missing.
[x] The golem seems to need only minor repairs. May as well take care of it.
[x] Ask what happened. Judging by the bandage, it seems the fight was a bit close.
[x] You have time and Mitsuru did give an invitation for a talk over tea.
-[x] If the place or tea here is no good, a suitable place in another town far away from where they'll expect her is only a few seconds away for you.
[x] If they try again, they will expect the golem this time. See if you can add anything else to the defenses before you leave.
[x] The golem seems to need only minor repairs. May as well take care of it.
[x] Ask what happened. Judging by the bandage, it seems the fight was a bit close.
[x] You have time and Mitsuru did give an invitation for a talk over tea.
[X] The golem seems to need only minor repairs. May as well take care of it.
[X] Ask what happened. Judging by the bandage, it seems the fight was a bit close.
[X] You have time and Mitsuru did give an invitation for a talk over tea.
[x] The golem seems to need only minor repairs. May as well take care of it.
[x] Ask what happened. Judging by the bandage, it seems the fight was a bit close.
[x] You have time and Mitsuru did give an invitation for a talk over tea.
[x] The golem seems to need only minor repairs. May as well take care of it.
[x] Ask what happened. Judging by the bandage, it seems the fight was a bit close.
[x] You have time and Mitsuru did give an invitation for a talk over tea.
[x] If they try again, they will expect the golem this time. See if you can add anything else to the defenses before you leave.
[x] The golem seems to need only minor repairs. May as well take care of it
Make clear that this is just because you happened to be passing through.
Also, clean the gore off, you don't want it to start giving it's position away by smell.
[x] Don't improve the defenses unless we're offered something more or we decide we really like Mitsuru, though. Otherwise people will start expecting things of us.
[x] You have time and Mitsuru did give an invitation for a talk over tea.
Question, should we introduce ourselves? Marisa is calling us pet-names (which probably makes us shudder) but I don't think we actually gave our name out last time. Do we want these people to have it? The alternative may be them thinking of us as 'Patchy'.
"I see there has been some damage." You say calmly. Responding to your silent will, the golem lifts into the air and floats to your side for closer inspection.
"Yes. It seems that the client... was rather more interested in ensuring things than had been anticipated." Mitsuru says vaguely. "Ruffians with firearms secured from other sources were only to be expected. That he was willing to spend the money on ninja, no matter how ill-trained and unfortunate, was a surprise."
"Oh?" You say, with some small degree of interest, even as you manipulate bullets out of the golem and knit its form together again.
"Yes. While the men were occupied, they slipped in unnoticed, and would have gone unmolested were it not for that rather marvelous creation. I do believe I owe my life to its presence, as by the time I turned around it had quite thoroughly rendered the first no longer a threat, and had begun on the second. I think he found one of the bullets of the third going astray to be quite a merciful relief, though the gunshots drew attention the way using their blades would not have. I'm afraid I was grazed by a sliver of stone which broke free, but I am assured that there should be no scarring." Mitsuru said, touching the bandage lightly.
"Ah. Then the situation has escalated, somewhat?"
"Yes. I am afraid that as a result, the only satisfactory conclusion remaining is that man's death." She replies, seeming almost sad about it. "Else he will simply continue to make such attempts, as he seems to refuse to believe that I simply do not recall the information he deems of such crucial importance to silence. I have received many such confessions, you see, and at times they grow quite tiring and blur together. It does not help that we had both partaken of some strong wine previously, though he seems to have held it better than I. Not well enough to hold his tongue, but neither poorly enough to not recall that failure, more's the pity."
She pauses to sigh.
"It's rather a shame. I did enjoy our evenings." She said.
"He was something of a favorite, then?" You say, considering the golem and finding it adequately restored.
"Something like that, yes." Mitsuru says, after a moment of consideration. "Do not misunderstand, I greatly enjoy my work, else I would have become a secretary or some manner of pastry chef, but times with him were always something of a relief. His appetites were very much tamer than that of others, which I could mention but shall not."
"Yes, of course, I have no interest in the specifics." You say, waving it off, and considering improvements. The ocular lasers you gifted the greek golems with had turned out remarkably well, and those could be duplicated easily. Or you could turn to the more common adjustments, manipulating the composition of the golem for durability or increased lethality, or possibly imbue it with some manner of summoned addition. The spirit of a false-dragon would be amusingly appropriate to fill the shell, though beasts are less tractable than creatures of intelligence, and so it would not likely be a wise choice, without time available to train the result.
"In any case, many of the tastes are somewhat... distressing, is all I shall say." She says. "More relaxing evenings, with simpler requests, were something of a small treasure. Well, one makes do."
"Indeed." You say simply, having not held much interest at all in the conversation as you considered whether turning the golem's scales to some strong metal, or its teeth and claws to the razor's edge of obsidian, would be appropriate. "But in any case, I believe you have other things you wish to converse regarding. Speak your mind."
"Hm. Yes, of course, lady sorcerer." Mitsuru says. "I will admit, I harbor a great curiosity regarding your craft."
"There are more details than I could speak of in a day." You reply. "I will hear specific queries, however, and may answer. Or I may not."
"Hm... I have seen you tear holes in the air, to step through to your destination, and to craft substance from nothingness. Have you no limitations upon your ability?"
"That I will not answer." You say simply, but shortly. "As soon ask me 'have you any weaknesses to exploit'."
"Of course, lady sorcerer, I have overstepped my bounds in my haste." Mitsuru says, the very picture of chastised tranquility."A better question might be, perhaps, what things may be done with your craft?"
"Anything imaginable." You say simply. "So long as you have both the power and skill to twist the ether to bring the desired result."
She arches a delicate eyebrow at the unhelpful reply.
"I confess, I had hoped more for specifics." She admits. "Might you call lightning from a cloudless sky, then, or cause falling rain and howling winds to cease? Could a creature not of this world be called at your command, and thereby be dismissed, or could a gesture cause an enemy to become wreathed in searing flame? Is it possible to gather beasts at your direction, and send them to perform tasks, or to lay blessings and curses upon entire households, spanning generations?"
"All these things are within the scope of my power." You reply calmly, and take a sip of the tea.
"Doesn't mean she's practiced at them, though." Marisa interjects, taking full advantage of the opportunity to take the wind out of your sails.
"... Indeed, as you say, I have had little cause to remain in the habit of placing curses, no matter how much temptation might be laid at my feet." You say shortly, mind filled with images of strangling the blasted witch. "And as I said before, I have forgotten more magics than you know. It is little trouble, however, to refresh the memory should a particular spell be more suitable than others."
Mitsuru seems to be thoughtful for several moments, interest clear.
"Is your craft, perhaps, something that anyone might learn to use, given opportunity?" She asks.
"No." You say, at the same time as Marisa pipes in with a "Yep." She seems startled, as she realizes what you said, and turns to you.
"I will repeat. It is not." You say shortly. "In ages past, such was the case, but as the world is today Magic has ebbed drastically. One is either born with the innate ability, the potential all carry, to learn its ways... or not. Breeding for magical ability may make it more likely for the ability to surface, but it would not be a guarantee in even the best of cases, and it is not impossible for the talent to simply appear in an infant who's genealogy gave no cause to suspect its emergence. Hidden places from before the world's current state, with means to secure and prevent the Magic's disappearance, grant increased probabilities for such ability, if one is fortunate enough to be born within. I could take a child completely devoid of talent, drill it endlessly in arcane words and mystic sigils, spoonfeed it ancient texts and grimoires, and instruct it in motions to better grasp and bull at the ether, and no matter the skill of its mimicry, it would never naturally have enough ability to so much as cause a grain of sand to shift in place."
Mitsuru seems disappointed by your judgment on the subject, and Marisa herself seems a little unnerved.
".... Hadn't realized they didn't just keep it quieter." She mumbles to herself, leaning back into her chair.
"Is there any means of determining if a person has such talent or not?" Mitsuru asks, seeming unwilling to just yet allow the matter to settle.
"Of course." You reply. "In less disciplined children, simply for example, there are occasionally outbursts of some kind, though the vast majority of these are over quite minor matters. Floating a candy off a shelf they could not normally reach, or soothing a bruise from an accident during play, things which are easily overlooked and quickly forgotten by the child itself. I don't doubt there are other means, as I understand there are entire schools devoted to the instruction of Magic, though they begin their studies at a younger age. However, it would be no difficulty to check."
You hold out a hand and very deliberately wait for Mitsuru to place her own in it. Then you invoke both the Sun and Moon, and reach out to inspect her in ways you much doubt she has ever been seen before, or ever shall again. She feels your inspection, of course, and seems to understand, baring herself willingly as you search.
After a moment you withdraw.
"You have no natural talent." You say simply, without apology or fanfare. "Though the odds were, at best, very slim indeed."
"I see." She says dispiritedly for a moment, before shaking it off. "I recall, however... you phrased your words curiously. That a student without talent would never naturally have talent. Is there, then, some un-natural means by which such ability might be gained?"
... This woman is too perceptive for her own good, you reflect. Of course there are ways. Theft of talent from a being or human with talent, requiring their extended, tormented and unpleasant sacrifice. The implantation of a being or spirit with talent in a talentless body, though unless the two wills could reach some measure of harmony, the body itself would likely be destroyed in the struggle for dominance, unless one will was by far the superior of the other, and forced it into compliance. The gift of some measure of magic from a being with sufficient magical power of its own, though there are limitations in that regard as well, and the process is far from a simple matter. Temporary gifts will find no purchase on their new bearer and return to their true owner after a short time, and more lasting imbuements cannot be normally recovered by the being until the recipient passes on. Forcibly reclaiming the gift, in the latter case, will cause the recipient's immediate and painful death, as after a certain period of time their body adjusts to having the talent, and its sudden lack causes a shock it cannot recover from. Many other means exist, you do not doubt, though you have only come across these, and only in passing, while researching other matters.
You are not convinced, however, that you wish to mention any of these, earnest and curious as Mitsuru appears. On the other hand, of course, any one of these could make an interesting experiment, though you do not believe you would care to take the time or effort required for the first no matter what recompense might be offered.
[x] "None that any sane person should desire to pursue."
Though I assume permanently transferring talent might be done for very close people, such as family, in a situation such as this it's not an appropriate option.
>>48254 A few more reasons why this is a Good Idea:
Water spirits are all about harmony.
She's a dead-ringer for the typical water personality type.
It's water day.
It doesn't take much effort on our part.
[X] "It almost always ends badly, but we could try. Might be worth writing a chapter on. Though if you die or break in ways that make you unsafe I would of course dissect you. I don't like not knowing what went wrong."
...Come to think of it, what will happen to the golem once Mitsuru is safe? Is it going to follow her around and still protect her, since we implanted no further order? Maybe we should add a secondary order to not move when Mitsuru willingly leaves until we can give it a better long-term order.
[x] The only way I remember that doesn't involve an almost certain chance of pain and suffering followed by dead is to merge with a spirit with magical talent
-[x] The odds are, however, still terrible and, unless you can reach some degree of harmony or (much harder) outwill the spirit by a fair amount, the same fate, a painful death, awaits you.
-[x] If she agrees, summon a water spirit and follow with the procedure.
Give the yakuza (or her, I'm getting some seriously bad vibes from this woman) so much as a hint that this is feasible and no magic user will be safe so much as blinking. That includes Patchy, powerful as she is.
>>48269 If you need another reason else than not being someone who find amusement at people's horrible ends, how about she's part of a group that likes us and we have no reason to want them to like us less?
[x] "None that any sane person should desire to pursue. And even in insanity, they did not meet a good end."
-[x]Your health is excellent, a consolation prize of sorts wouldn't be particularly hard to conjure up.
([x]Make a note to look into this a bit more at some point. No rush, but it could lead to interesting experiments in the future.)
Do it:
+ Gain experimental results.
o Possibly gain gratitude.
- Somebody we are not supposed to kill/do not particularly want to kill will die with high likelihood...
- ...or has their personality replaced with the spirit we summoned.
o Either way, in the case of success, we have created...
- ...an untrained magic user...
- ...that might expect us train them...
- ...with unknown motives...
- ...and dubious trustworthiness.
Do it:
+ Gain experimental results.
o Possibly gain gratitude.
- Somebody we are not supposed to kill/do not particularly want to kill will die with high likelihood...
- ...or has their personality replaced with the spirit we summoned.
o Either way, in the case of success, we have created...
- ...an untrained magic user...
- ...that might expect us train them...
- ...with unknown motives...
- ...and dubious trustworthiness.
I vote for:
[X] "It almost always ends badly, but we could try. Might be worth writing a chapter on. Though if you die or break in ways that make you unsafe I would of course dissect you. I don't like not knowing what went wrong."
Because it's the funniest way of putting things and likely to make her back off. If she still wants to go through with it, we can mention that powerful spirit beings such as gods can imbue people with abilities or maybe, maybe try the water spirit option
We DO NOT mention any of the 'stealing the power from magic users' options.
Because we're not stupid and we're rightfully wary, as our response to the question about our limitations shows.
We have no reason to trust this woman and less to go out of our way to help her now that we've already been paid for our first aid.
[X] "It almost always ends badly, but we could try. Might be worth writing a chapter on. Though if you die or break in ways that make you unsafe I would of course dissect you. I don't like not knowing what went wrong."
[x] The golem needs laser-eyes. Lasers, lasers everywhere!
[X] "It almost always ends badly, but we could try. Might be worth writing a chapter on. Though if you die or break in ways that make you unsafe I would of course dissect you. I don't like not knowing what went wrong."
I'll agree with this one. Just for interest's sake. I'm a bit undecided if I want to go with the laser eyes or not.
Also she is servant now. OUR servant. And it's two way street - we can lord over her but we must protect her (in cases that she did nothing to cause her own problems) and it's opposite of that.
As we've seen, Kahi mocks votes that Patchouli won't do. With snippet before current one, it's been made clear Marisa will not work for us beyond this month nor does she intend to learn from under Patchouli.
"None." You say sharply. "That any rational or intelligent person would risk. And the end of those few fools who I might mention who took leave of their sanity to attempt such things were neither pleasant nor swift."
"Then it is possible." Mitsuru responds, and you almost wish for a moment that you had attempted to lie outright, and simply claim there was no way. "... But there are perils."
"I will explain for you the least dangerous method. Only so that you remove the fool thought from your head." You say sharply, twisting the truth a bit as you think quickly. "A spirit, a being from another plane, implanted inside you and to share the space within your skin. Its will will strive against your own, and those which are summoned into such vessels are not, in general, the understanding sort that are willing to compromise. Your will will clash with its, and rend your body asunder in the most tormented agony your imagination will allow you to comprehend, unless it can be convinced to go against its very nature and make an agreement, or unless you possess the truly heroic sort of willpower which does not often appear in the blood of man, and force the being to submit, and bury it deep within your own psyche. More likely, it will shred your mind, consume what fragments of 'you' remain, and continue on to enact whatever plot drove it to answer the call, hidden beneath the husk of your slowly dying and then decaying flesh."
One of the thugs apparently has quite a vivid imagination, as he has gone rather green, but Mitsuru simply looks thoughtful. As though she is weighing the odds.
"... Suppose that, understanding this risk, one was still willing to make the attempt?" She says aloud.
"Then you will have to locate a very skilled and powerful summoner to perform the task, for I will not do this for you. Would you have me make meaningless the effort I have already put forth to secure your life, by personally ending it?"
"As you say, lady sorcerer." Mitsuru says after a moment, seeming disappointed with your decision, but understanding of the logic behind it.
And that is a part of it. Though all but effortless, the golem you created was an investment of personal time and energy. As well, you dislike the idea of making enemies of Tewi's allies, by enabling their courtesan's self-destruction. You do not care to discover how they would choose to lay out the blame for her demise. Were she another person, with no ties to people you would not turn against you, and towards whom you had put no personal interest, then you would consider it, as the experimenting could prove interesting indeed. But for Mitsuru, no.
More than anything, though, you are wary of the outcome. Not the large chance of her death, no, though that would bring drawbacks. No, you worry more over the chance that such a venture would succeed too well. As a magician, you can very much appreciate the thought of creating another user of magic, greatly indebted to you for the gift. But with the same stroke, you balk at the thought that, statistically improbably, even near impossible as it may be, you might end up creating a magician more powerful than yourself. No matter what debt may exist, no matter what holds may be brought to bear, no matter the personal gratitude that may come from the action. You would not worry so, were she a simpler woman. But Mitsuru is too perceptive. She has too much subtle charisma, she thinks too quick on her feet. As they say, one should not summon something that cannot be sent away again.
Marisa seems to instinctively understand, at least, even if she does not quite seem to have put things together on her own, as she holds her tongue. She does not seem to like the refusal much, though it likely only leaves a small bitter taste in her mouth to see the opportunity that you will not allow the woman to risk. At the same time, however, she doesn't seem capable of making the offer to attempt the matter in your stead. There is no knowing how much of that is the simple matter of her lack of knowledge of the sort of magics to allow such things, of course, but it hints that perhaps she might one day become a real magician, as she claims to intend.
Eager to be gone from the current topic, you set a finger against first one of the golem's eyes, then the other, and the carved pupils beneath your touch morph in response as you change the nature of its eyes. A shiny bauble presented to distract a toddler from the gleaming knife which had caught its eye, more than anything else, but it seems to turn the trick.
"What have you done?" Mitsuru asks curiously, her brief moments of melancholy from just before forgotten, as she peers in interest at the golem.
"An enhancement." You say, without detail, as you turn your attention to the tea. "One that should come as a surprise, if it proves needed."
Some moments pass by in silence, as you drink your tea. You wonder if, Mitsuru's questions having wound to a close, there is anything left for you to say or do here, or if your time would be better served by finishing the cup and politely excusing yourself to attend to some other thing.
[X] Ask Marisa for her opinion on the matter, she seems to want to say something.
(correcting wrong students is what you're going to be doing for the next year, so might as well get some practice.)
[X] Finish the cup and politely excuse yourself to attend to some other thing.
[X] Ensure that Marisa leaves before you do.
[X] Check the area for any residual magic Maria might have thought to sneak to the woman out of sympathy.
Dunno what's next on the agenda though, i'll prolly change my vote once a smarter anon figures something out.
[X] Finish the cup and politely excuse yourself.
[X] Ensure that Marisa leaves before you do...and frisk her again for stolen goods.
[X] Ask Marisa for her opinion on the matter, she seems to want to say something.
[X] Finish the cup and politely excuse yourself.
[X] Ensure that Marisa leaves before you do...and frisk her again for stolen goods.
[X] Ask Marisa for her opinion on the matter, she seems to want to say something.
[x] Go to Hogwarts.
[X] Finish the cup and politely excuse yourself.
[X] Ensure that Marisa leaves before you do...and frisk her again for stolen goods.
[X] Ask Marisa for her opinion on the matter, she seems to want to say something.
[X] Unless there's something else to do before lunch, go to another area and stroll around. Warn Marisa against trying to steal again, especially in stores. You don't want to be in trouble by association should she get caught.
>>48301 >>48302 Not that much time has passed, guys. It's probably still too early.
[X] Finish the cup and politely excuse yourself.
[X] Ensure that Marisa leaves before you do...and frisk her again for stolen goods.
[X] Ask Marisa for her opinion on the matter, she seems to want to say something.
[x] Go to Hogwarts.
[X] Finish the cup and politely excuse yourself.
[X] Ask Marisa for her opinion on the matter, she seems to want to say something.
[x]Go to Hogwarts.
What do we care if Marisa steals some minor items? By now the people here are aware of her nature and it's their own fault if they are inattentive enough to let her steal from them, again.
Also, I'm not sure if that's what some of these votes mean but, don't bring the subject back up until we're out of earshot. I'm all for hearing Marisa's thoughts on the matter but bringing it back up around that woman gives me the shivers.
...Guys, do you all forget that the sun may still not be up in England at this time? When we brought back Alistair, we waited until after lunch. And lunch still hasn't passed at this moment.
[x] Finish your tea and excuse yourself.
[x] If you noticed Marisa pilfering anything else, instruct her to return it. If not, the yakuza have been sufficiently warned.
[x] See if any worthwhile thoughts have sprouted in Marisa's head as a result of the conversation.
[x] Find some way to kill time until morning, GMT. Perhaps:
-[x] Indulge Tewi if she has any other ideas. Well, reasonable ideas that won't tire you overly.
-[x] You did have some questions to ask a god. And outside ones are less likely to gossip to anyone you care about. Hunt one down for interrogation.
-[x] It might be a good idea to observe a modern classroom for a bit. It is likely to be much more similar to what you will have to expect than the human village's excuse for a school.
The last is a perfectly reasonable assumption. It just happens to be completely wrong. And will produce ample chances for hilarity.
And I think playing parol officer to Marisa will be too stressful to make casual shopping worthwhile. Though Remilia might appreciate a souvenir.
... No, nothing comes to mind. And in absence of conversation or reading material, the tea is pleasant enough, but not enough to convince you to remain longer. You swallow the last of it and rise.
"It has been a pleasure, but other matters demand my attention." You say, turning a wary glance Marisa's way as you open the portal and wave her through. She's not had anything pocketable and worth pocketing in arms reach since sitting down, but the brief trip between the seat and the exit is carefully scrutinized. She fortunately makes no attempts, and the thugs aren't willing to get close enough for fingers to slip into pockets.
"I understand, lady sorcerer." Mitsuru says. "Always, it seems, there is another urgent thing to be handled. But please, return when you will, and I will gladly have you. Perhaps next time you will be fortunate enough to arrive in time to sample one of my culinary ventures?"
"Perhaps." You say noncommittally, as Tewi steps through and you begin to follow. The last you see of the woman is a slight smile, and then you are gone, and the portal closing behind you. The truck has been waiting patiently.
First things first, though.
"You seemed to have something you wanted to say, back there. Well? Speak your mind, Marisa." You say dryly.
"... You weren't telling the truth, back there." She says simply. "Or, not all of it anyway. I know lies. And I know enough about you to have a pretty good guess when you're lying about something. So why..?"
"You are correct." You answer. "The danger of that tactic, though severe, was overstated. As well, it was not the least dangerous course. With only minor preparation, I could have lent the woman a portion of my own power, to do with as she pleased until it was used up and returned to me, and there would have been hardly any risk at all to either of us. There are other means as well."
"Then why make it sound like she's going to almost definitely die if she tries to get ahold of magic of her own?" Marisa asked grumpily. "She was jaded and tired, but I could see her eyes lighting up like an excited kid when the thought came to her, and she hid it, but it hurt when the little dream got shot down."
"Spare me." You interrupt. "Why? That is simple. Because I did not want to give that woman power."
Marisa scowls and turns her head aside, but you continue on.
"I have a question in turn. Assume you are capable of doing these things. Would you do so? Answer honestly. Would you give her a little taste of power she had never known, only for it to drain away, to leave her suddenly and keenly understanding its absence? To have her returning again and again, begging for just one more taste, just a little spark, a tiny mote of power which will only leave her again? Would you give her a more permanent measure, and do without that fraction of your own ability as she does with it as she pleases, until the day she dies? Or would you call a powerful being into her flesh, perhaps to watch as she tears herself apart in the ensuing agony, or perhaps to see her become more powerful than yourself, with no effort of her own put into the matter? And this is entirely leaving aside the more unpleasant options." You say sternly.
Marisa starts to answer, but the words turn against her tongue, and after a moment she simply closes her mouth.
"... No." She says, sulkily, after a long minute of silence passes. "No, I wouldn't."
"Of course. And why not?" You press on.
"I don't know! Do you have to ask me that? I know that it would make her happy. Even if it's just for a little while, before it goes away. But then I think about her showing up somehow, over and over again, hungry for more, and it aggravates me so much.... I can't, won't, give her my own power for good, either. I worked hard for my magic. It's mine." She says, almost snarling the final word.
"Worked hard and stole." You say, waving a hand. "But I see that you begin to understand my position."
"Ugh." She says, but doesn't argue the point. "Her dying wouldn't be good. But the thought of her just getting handed power on a silver platter like that, by accepting something else... that doesn't sit right either. A little would be fine. A little bit would be okay, yeah, maybe enough to match her up to your average fairy. Enough to get her started, and then she can work until she blisters and bleeds to make more of it. But enough to even come close to me would be... I don't know how I'd react. I don't think I'd take it well. So I don't think I could do any of those, but still..."
"You're still human." You say, waving the concerns aside as you voice your thoughts. "To be so caught up in the emotional distress of a human you've only interacted with for minutes at best, and not even held a direct conversation with. And yet, you are more of a magician than I would have thought. You aren't wrong to feel this way. Generosity without reason, to the point of sacrificing what is ours, or some chance of an equal or greater return, is simply not a part of our nature."
"You think I haven't been told that before?" Marisa scoffs. "Not in the same words, but still."
"Hmph. I think I might be interested in meeting your teacher at some point." You say dryly. "In any case... My estimation of your ability to become a true magician may have been slightly mistaken. If you already have begun to feel a change." You grudgingly admit. So long as she was being as honest as you had instructed, and was not merely pantomiming to fulfill expectations.
"It's not really an all-at-once thing like they say, then, just cast the right spell and you aren't human anymore. Hey, Patchy?" She says, seeming uncertain. "Giving up humanity for longevity... is it worth it, do you think?"
"If you are hesitant about the exchange, then you will never have the opportunity to find that out for yourself." You reply. "In any case, I am not the one to ask such things. I was born a magician, of magicians, and have never been otherwise."
"I guess so." Marisa says, then shakes her head. "Well, whatever. There's at least a couple that used to be human, in Gensokyo. Hadn't thought to ask something like this before, but there's time. Speaking of summons... now I think about it, you're the one who put that annoying voice in the hakkero, aren't you. No chance of you taking that back out again?" She says wryly.
"Not any time soon." You deny.
"... Well, I guess it was a long shot. Annoying to have to ignore it, though, yelling in my head like that when I just want a closer look at something. You getting in?"
You drift into the seating area, as Marisa clambers up behind you, and settle down. Tewi, for her part, puts forth a valiant effort at pretending she hadn't been listening in.
"So, where to now?" She says, seeming more than willing to let you pick.
Where indeed. At your best estimation, it's still two or three hours before dawn would start to break over the magical castle. You could go now, of course, but likely no one will be immediately available, though with the tea-visit cut short you could also fill time somewhere here before you leave. Or you could visit essentially anywhere you please. There are a number of fascinating landmarks and constructions across the world, if it comes to that, and no doubt there would be tourists of some kind as well, to show some inkling of how current society functions. You could let Tewi pick something as well, as she seems to have a strong grasp of how things work outside.
Minor inconsistency with canon: According to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, youkai-born Magicians are functionally the same as humans until they learn and cast the "abandon temper" magic, which stops their aging process permanently; until that point, they will continue to grow and age, and will have a limited lifespan like any human.
Is this a point you wish to clearly diverge from the canon materials? I won't fuss if it is, but I'd like to clarify on this point, so as to know where to set the bar for willing suspension of disbelief.
[x] Purple Wizard Needs Food BadlyHave Tewi pick a restaurant and go to dinner.
>>48322 Well, she was never human and you could argue that achieving immortality was always in her nature as opposed to someone born human.
She didn't say that she was always immortal after all, only that she was always a magician.
There's no deceit here. Marisa was asking if trading one's humanity for an extended lifespan was worth it, Patchy said she couldn't answer as she'd never been human(along with an accompanying mindset) in the first place. Alice might be a somewhat better person for her to ask, but she has the mitigating factor that her mother is the Queen of Hell, so she might not be able to give Marisa advice either.
[x]You have nothing in mind, so ask the other two if they have anywhere they'd like to go.
Also, from her point of view, it may have simply been part of life - like going to school, or moving out when you're 18. Maybe there are some that never become true magicians, but it's not really presented as a choice.
>>48335 The same thing that's stopping Mima from visiting Marisa, presumably. It's worth a try.
>if we care enough?
What would you rather do? I care enough.
>>48337 Her body would be heavily trapped, yes. I don't want to find that. A body without a soul doesn't sound like a good conversational partner at all.
[x] If Tewi has something she wants to do, within reason, do that.
[x] If Marisa starts complaining about being hungry (it should be nearly lunch time, and tea was just tea), then spend the time leisurely taking care of that.
[x] You were just now lamenting your lack of reading material while having tea. It might be a good idea to make sure this doesn't happen again. If nothing else comes up, go find a good book. Maybe a new copy of the Necronomicon, so you can amuse yourself with the inevitable transcription errors. Or more. You do have an empty semi trailer sitting around, after all.
Huh. Actually, in hindsight, the second probably counts as a (qualified) vote for a wonderful snack tour.
"If you can think of something, I'm sure it would be more than appropriate. Though it might soon be a good time to consider a meal." You say.
"Leaving it to me, huh?" Tewi muses. "Alright. We're in the right area for something. We'll see if it hasn't closed down yet. They do some food, too, last I was here.
The ignition starts, and the truck pulls out, making its way carefully through streets until Tewi pulled down a side alley and parked at the opening at the other end.
From there, she led you into a loud building, with numerous machines lining the walls and set in outward facing circles. The levers and buttons were easily accessible, as the screens displayed pictures and sound played from small vents. There were some, towards the back, which had attached seating similar to the interior of a vehicle, or a motorized cycle, as you've spied once or twice. Many of the machines are in use, many are not, and there are tables set out where youths chatter and eat.
"Hey, uncle." Tewi calls. "See your place is still running."
A balding man squints in their direction, then brightens up.
"Why, if it isn't miss Inaba." He says brightly. "Why, you haven't aged a day."
Yeah, I get that a lot." The rabbit says as she tugs out some folded over bills. "Get us some tokens, alright? I'll make an advance order for in a bit while I'm here, too."
"I don't have to worry about...." The man says, voice lowering. "... People asking about these bills, do I?"
"Nah, I wouldn't give you counterfeit or stolen money, old man." Tewi denies. "You'd be able to point me out in a heartbeat if I did, wouldn't you? No, all of this is from a legit gambling hall."
"I see your luck in wagers is still running strong." The man says, shaking his head and accepting the bills. "You should really think about quitting that habit, though. Sooner or later, you're going to stop coming out ahead."
"Eh, maybe, maybe." Tewi says. "So what's your menu like these days?"
The talk turns to food, and the two of them wander a few steps to a counter, as the man bends down behind it and starts stacking and separating tiny, shiny tokens.
"Nice threads." A young man says appreciatively, himself rather snappily dressed, the young lady on his arm rather less so. Her clothing could be easily considered less covering and modest than most undergarments. He says something speculatively, and it takes you a moment to recall what the name means.
"I believe that was the name of the store, yes." You say.
"Nice. They do good quality, not like the cheap places that just stitch things together enough that it won't fall apart immediately, to try to make you come back." He says. "I've picked up some outfits from there myself. Looks like this one is an original modeling though, I don't recognize the cut."
"That's likely the case." You say, unwilling to admit that you aren't entirely sure what he's talking about.
"Ah, you shouldn't be shy about it. I could really see you pulling off, say, Knight-captain Aria, from that popular war-simulation game. Or the high enchantress from this one VN, though hers is a little skimpy."
"I thought you liked skimpy~" The young woman on his arm purred, rubbing against him.
"Babe, I'm talking shop right now, can this wait?" He says in mild irritation. "You only ever want to get dressed up if you want to get dirty in the outfit."
"Isn't that the point, though? And besides, you enjoy it~"
"That's not the point. Neither is." He says. "Whatever. But hey, there's a convention in a couple months, are you going to atten-dammit woman, don't pinch me so hard."
"Don't make plans to shack up with some random girl right in front of me, then." She says, huffing.
"I literally just said that that has nothing to do with it." He snaps, rubbing his side. "The convention is a meeting of people with similar interests and hobbies and in spite of what you insist on thinking, we do not just get dressed up in our favorite clothes and have a multi-day orgy!"
"Well, maybe you should! It sounds a lot more interesting than when you talked me into coming along that one time."
"Why did I get in a relationship with you?" The man laments without heat or seriousness.
"Because I'm incredible in a bunch of ways, especially in private~"
"Besides that." He says dismissively. "Anyway... what was I saying before this jealous wo- enough with the pinching. Before my lovely girlfriend insisted on sharing her pearls of insight?"
"A convention of some sort." You say, mildly confused by this point. "... Unfortunately, I am soon to take up work that will demand my time and attention for the better part of a year, outside of Japan, and so any such things in the near future will be unfortunately all but impossible to attend."
"Really? Shame." He says, seeming honestly disappointed. "Out of country work, though? You seem really young for that. Secretary work for a big business type, going abroad?"
"An education post, actually." You say.
"Really?" He says, eyebrows arching. "Youngest teachers I've seen are clearly middle aged, you must have some talent and drive to become an instructor at... what, twenty? Twenty one, maybe?"
"Bit older than that." Marisa snickers, from behind her hand.
"Not that it's any of your concern, but yes, I don't quite show the number of my years." You say sharply, glancing at Marisa.
"Really?" He says, seeming quite startled. "So... closer to twenty eight, twenty nine perhaps? You really don't look it at all."
"... So I am told." You say in lieu of clarification, as Marisa chuckles again. By this time Tewi has returned, carrying a few small paper boxes of tokens, one for each of you.
"All of the games will take these." She says, pausing only a moment before handing one off to Marisa, and then giving you yours without hesitation, as the young woman drags her paramour off. "You might want to check out the dance-off machines... it's, eh, probably a little too strenuous for you, though, good health or not. You aren't really in great physical shape." Tewi appraises. "We can start you off on a vs. fighting game, though, see how you take to it."
Bemused, you allow yourself to be ushered in front of a machine and receive a quick explanation before Tewi takes the other side of it, and an inserted token brings you to a screen of portraits. As you understand it, the point of the game is to have the chosen character physically beat the opponent into submission, and so after a moment's thought, you select the one who seems the most likely to succeed at such a task, a great hairy shirtless beast of a man.
A few strings of horribly complicated-looking combinations of movement-stick movements and punch and kick button presses scroll across the screen, much less intuitive than the more standard, simpler combinations painted onto the surface of the machine itself. Then the characters make their appearance, entering the stage set on a large dock of some fishing or shipping town on the coast. Tewi's character is much smaller than your own, this should be over quickly.
It is, but not as you expect. Your initial charge is met by the opponent grabbing hold of your character, half turning, and flipping him through the air to splash down in the water off the end of the pier, and what nonsense is that, that little stick of a girl couldn't be so much as a quarter of your brute's weight in pure muscle mass, but you've learned that the arena itself can count as a hazard, as the screen prominently displays you as having been 'Ring-Out'-ed, and thereby lost the match.
"Ah, my bad, didn't mean to do you that fast. Reflex." Tewi says apologetically, from her side. "This next one, I'll give you a few seconds to get familiar with the controls."
You frown, but take the advantage as the next round begins, tapping out a few buttons and combinations. After a moment you realize that most of the attacks seem to have a distressingly short range, as the character seems to be entirely unwilling to make use of his long, muscled limbs, instead keeping almost entirely to elbow and knee assaults. Tewi's character seems to have no such restraint, as a third of the battle-time elapses and she begins an assault, and you rapidly find out that she can kick and hit you from just outside of the range of most of your attacks, and she has missile attacks, of course she does, and that thick headed lump on the screen is too slow and big to get out of the way.
Well, that was illuminating, at least.
"Yeah, that guy is kind of shit-tier. You seem to have worked that out on your own, though." Tewi says. "You might want to try the guy in the tuxedo?"
The switch of character's aids you greatly, as you exchange some damage for a much greater range, and over the following rounds you gradually improve enough to be at least a little challenging of an opponent for Tewi.
Time seems to fly through the matches, as you get caught up in the entertainment, until later you're surprised to realize that you are out of tokens and that Tewi has risen and is tugging you away from the machine.
"Food's ready." She says, smiling cheekily. "Got burgers for you guys, some nice potato wedges and a salad for me.
Marisa seems slightly worn out, but pleased with herself, as you seat yourself, and you eat slowly. You estimate, as you chew, that given the current time, it would be just slightly after dawn in England, and so now would be as good a time as any to head there. At the same time, you're sure Tewi wouldn't be too put out about purchasing more tokens, and you think you might actually be able to manage a tie on the next game.
[X] Penalty game, loser has to do one request from the winner.
Do you ever write anything that isn't pure gold? This was great.
Now, to consider. We probably shouldn't arrange a penalty game at something we don't think we can win. We could probably only barely scrape out a draw in that fighter, the way Tewi was wiping the floor with us. Perhaps something more to our strengths, if there is such a thing?
[x] You can afford to stay a bit longer. It will take only an instant to arrive at the school.
Now, while I'm sure we all like Tewi, can someone explain to me why Patchouli would set herself up for failure with a penalty game? I would be foolish to think Tewi is already playing her best against us right now. Really guys, think about Patchouli's character before making votes that would go against it like that.
>>48354 Exactly what I was thinking when I saw the vote.
>>48358 It is when you try to make a wager when you imagine the best you can do is a tie. Like I asked: WHY would Patchouli makes a wager she cannot imagine winning?
>>48362 Sure, because everyone who voted for this had simple, fun pure intentions when they imagine what Tewi would ask...
Seriously, this is frustrating because not only I believe this is against Patchouli's character, but also because I can see what some want out of this. I'll stop complaining on this when I see an actual valid reason on why Patchouli would do this.
[x]You can afford to stay a bit longer. It will take only an instant to arrive at the school. Perhaps take a look at the dance-off machines? You might not be able to participate, but it may be interesting to watch.
[x] You can afford to stay a bit longer. It will take only an instant to arrive at the school.
-[X] Find, completely on accident, a Seihou Project, or equivalent, Cabinet Game. Compare actual danmaku reflexes to those required for a danmaku game.
[x] You can afford to stay a bit longer. It will take only an instant to arrive at the school.
-[X] Find, completely on purpose accident, a Seihou Project, or equivalent, Cabinet Game. Compare actual danmaku reflexes to those required for a danmaku game.
[x] You can afford to stay a bit longer. It will take only an instant to arrive at the school.
-[X] Find, completely on purpose accident, a Seihou Project, or equivalent, Cabinet Game. Compare actual danmaku reflexes to those required for a danmaku game.
[X] You can afford to stay a bit longer. It will take only an instant to arrive at the school.
-[X] Find, completely on accident, a Seihou Project, or equivalent, Cabinet Game. Compare actual danmaku reflexes to those required for a danmaku game.
[X] You can afford to stay a bit longer. It will take only an instant to arrive at the school.
-[X] Find, completely on accident, a Seihou Project, or equivalent, Cabinet Game. Compare actual danmaku reflexes to those required for a danmaku game.
-[X] Find, completely on accident, a Seihou Project, or equivalent, Cabinet Game. Compare actual danmaku reflexes to those required for a danmaku game.
Well, it isn't as though the castle will be going anywhere, and it's only a step away, when it comes down to it.
"Are there any other types of games?" You ask after a moment of thought.
"Well, there's the shooting games, but those aren't really that fun." Tewi answers. "Just point and fire, until you run out of things to shoot. There's some timing games, where you can win prizes, but not much more than that."
"Not anything comparable to the sorts of games played... at home, then?"
".... Hm, now there might be something like that." Tewi says, after a moment. "I'll have to change a bit more, though."
It's only a few more moments before you've been seated in front of a new machine, in control of some manner of flying vehicle. There are two buttons: one on the end of your movement-stick, which you quickly determine fires standard ammunition, and one to the side, which is labeled to fire a bomb. You seem to have unlimited standard ammunition, so you simply keep that button depressed with your thumb at all times, but you are limited to three bomb-type attacks. There are three different marks near the top of the screen, which you quickly determine to be a gauge of how much damage the vehicle can take before becoming too damaged to continue.
It starts out fairly simply, only requiring you to move and fire in a straight line to shoot down oncoming craft, but shortly onward they begin firing back. This proves simple enough to avoid at first, though the oncoming storm of bullets increases slowly to familiarly complex levels. Fortunately, some of the enemy craft will occasionally drop glowing boxes, which when collected upgrade your own craft, and your rate of fire increases as the spray of bullets spreads outward to cover a greater area, and tiny missiles begin launching from the furthest edges to lock onto and destroy enemy craft. You aren't quite perfect at translating three dimensional experience with this sort of thing onto a two dimensional plane, however, and it's not much longer that you accidentally touch against an enemy bullet, and one of the markers indicating your health slips away.
More alarmingly, you have just lost every one of the upgrades you have gathered, though a few remain on the screen for a few moments, just long enough for you to regain a couple before the rest disappear.
This wouldn't be a significant issue, as you can always gather more, except that the screen is flashing a warning, and now the entire upper third is occupied by a gargantuan craft, with a bar indicating its structural integrity, which your attacks only shave off the barest amount at a time. It goes steadily, but you barely manage to reduce the bar by half before you have been shot down into a crumbling wreck.
The next few attempts pass with helpful advice from Tewi, and commentary from Marisa, until the point where you manage to reach the sixth 'boss' craft before being helplessly gunned down like an infant. It seems that there are ten in total. You shake your head. Very much like the barrage games of Gensokyo, and yet completely different in the details.
"Perhaps I'll have to make the attempt some other time." You admit, rising from the seat.
"Hey, don't worry about it. You're looking for patterns in the bullets, and after the fourth boss a lot of the firing is random." Tewi says.
"How distasteful." You say. "I suppose it would be more accurate though, as there is little that can be done with simple weaponry to create organized and intricate patterns with the bullets."
"Yep. I guess you've decided you've had enough fun here for the day?"
"Yes... I should get to business." You say, sighing.
"Well, this place isn't going anywhere, can always come back some other day." Tewi says, smirking as she drops the few remaining tokens across a table, following you out the door.
It's only a few moments before you're settled into the truck seats, and Tewi drives through the portal ahead. On the other side, you clearly see the sprawling grounds of the castle, in the morning sunlight. There doesn't seem to be anyone in the immediate area.
---
Looks like it's almost at autosage, so it's time to see about a Korner again.
I forgot to mention this earlier.
>>48320 It's like I'm really Marisa! I'm not sure if you're intentionally addressing reader concerns with stuff like this or not, but you're really good at it. Half the time you think of things I didn't know I cared about.
>>48396 You do remember that Marisa came into that conversation on update before latest about being busy for a year outside of Japan? She may not know the specifics yet, but I have no doubt Marisa know now.
It looks like there's only really one thing to cover this time, so this will be thankfully quite quick.
Heavy Box- It weighs enough that Patchouli would have a lot of trouble lugging it about. By the more physically oriented sort of youkai's standards, however, it's really not much trouble at all.
Tail- Wouldn't you like to know~
Young Magicians- Yes, they grow up. They don't just crawl out of the womb fully formed, that would be really uncomfortable, and probably fatal, on the mother's part. But from the start, their minds and souls are that of Magicians and not Humans, where a human magician has to go through some changes before they're compatible enough to become a real Magician. For the ones born that way, though, the spell to halt growth is mostly just a formality, unless they happen to be unfortunate enough to be born particularly stupid or untalented.
>>48326 >Ease up there yo. It's Kahi's story, let him tell it like he wants it.
I'm perfectly satisfied with doing so; I just wanted to know whether that part was
A. a divergence from canon,
B. deception on Patchouli's part,
C. other
As I said, it was purely for the sake of knowing where to set the bar for willing suspension of disbelief, and to gain a better understanding about that particular sticking point. Doing so makes being part of the reading/voting audience easier.
Considering Koa Corner and all, I don't think that was out of line.
No. 48071
