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Archive:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=dog%20days%20quest
Twitter:https://twitter.com/Announcer_QM

Previous Recap threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1271747
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1311056

>>1444476
>Wander the castle grounds anyway, you're curious about the other parts of this culture you haven't seen yet.

>>1444476
>Wander the castle grounds anyway, you're curious about the other parts of this culture you haven't seen yet.

I havent joined this quest in ages. Is this the part where we ask questions since the quest is over?

>>1444476
>Wander the castle grounds anyway, you're curious about the other parts of this culture you haven't seen yet.

>>1444512
nope, but there was a few recap/Q&A threads before

>>1444512
This is actually the final arc. But if you want to ask questions, feel free to ask anyway!

>>1444666
>Final arc
W-what are you going to do after this?

>>1444698
Hopefully? He'll stop using the "Nobody believes your dire warnings" plot device so much.

Seriously, just crushed through the archives and maybe other people didn't notice because of the time between runs, but goddamn that well is dry dude.

Like it's getting Harry Potter levels of contrived ignorance.

>>1444698
Well, #1 is study for the damn exam I have in a few months that will determine my professional career path.

Who am I kidding, I'll probably do #2: start another quest.

>>1444702
I don't know exactly what you mean, but I am very interested in learning more
Can you elaborate?

Test? Come on 4chan, let me post the next update.

Oh god, something in the update is aggravating 4chan's weird spam filter (the one that spams 'connection error' instead of outright telling you it's spam.)

Let me post it in parts and maybe I can narrow down whatever esoteric series of words is causing it to freak out.

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While you're here, you may as well make the most of it. You can write this off as a recon mission later, if you must.
After all, you still know next to nothing about this culture or the people it's trying to protect. It's time to at least put yourself in their shoes and make an attempt to understand.

So, you quietly shuffle away from Jack's door. You don't really want to be caught outside and have to explain what you were doing listening in on his room. You proceed down the hallway back the way you came in hopes of retracing your steps.

It's annoying how these castles are designed. You suspect they just built new sections of the castle right on top of the older revisions of this castle. Walls seem to go off into the distance and just end. Wings start and end without any kind of spacial formality. It's really quite frustrating to see such a wonderful piece of architecture be worked and re-worked so many times. You're certain this was once a very efficient center of commerce and military organization.

Speaking of confusing layouts; you appear to have wandered off into a section of the castle where you're all alone. You thought you were turning toward the library section, but you seem to have wandered closer to the guest hall once more. It's strange how the main hallway seems to curve around onto itself. Only a few maids scamper about, trying to deliver their goods to the rooms who requested them.
Having maid service always seemed so lazy. Cleaning after yourself requires discipline, as it requires you to memorize every piece of equipment and gear you may leave in your quarters before you head out for the day. Plus, having people to go get food for you? What kind of decadence does it take to not wake up and proceed down to the mess hall in the morning?

"Oh, excuse me." You step around someone else loitering in the hallway.
"Uh, you're.. excused." A tiny voice rings out.

You look down and are confronted with another little girl wandering the hallways completely unaccompanied. She rubs the darkened circles under her youthful eyes, and yawns profusely. Her hair is so blonde that the redness in her cheeks seems to be almost magnified.

>Cont.

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"Hello little girl, are you lost?" You try to kneel down to her level so you don't appear so intimidating.
"What..? No. This is Biscotti Castle. Are you lost?" You can almost hear the haze in her voice.

You would be more than a little ashamed to say 'yes'.
"..May I ask your name?"

"Louise Lacerte." She replies between another yawn, "I'm the.. the.. Oh! The hero of Gallete. Right. I'm kinda sleepy, so I gotta get going."

"'Going'?"
"Y-yeah. Odelle is missing. Gotta keep searching."

>Wait, you're going out there, too?
>Surely you have someone to accompany you.
>Right?
>You should really search for an adult.
>Well, have a nice day young lady.
>Other?

Oh okay, so posting it all at once activated it, but splitting it up did not. Thanks 4chan.cilo

>>1446468
>Surely you have someone to accompany you.
>Right?
>Ask if this is okay for her to do alone.
>Well, have a nice day young lady.

>>1446468
>Surely you have someone to accompany you.
>Right?

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"Surely, you have someone to accompany you."

She blinks, and then tries to avoid looking directly at you.

"Right?" You ask again. She merely tries to find something else to look at.
"W-well, I better get going!" Louise adjusts her voice, and starts shuffling away.

That's when you notice that she's only wearing a nightgown. What, does she expect to go out in just a silk dress?

"You should really dress yourself, first." You try to draw attention to her choice of outfit.
"O-oh. Right. I forgot. My barrier jacket is in my room." She grumbles.

She starts to turn around, but then something seems to bother her.
"..I can live without it." Louise states confidently before turning back toward the door. You're now noticing that her nightgown is partially see-through.

"Young lady, before you head out on adventure; you should be properly dressed, well-equipped, and fielding a party of at least three other people. Especially adults or squires to hold and retain your gear." You say, well aware of the hypocrisy. "-Why do you neglect these important staples?"

"Well, if I go back to my room then Charlotte will find out that I'm leaving. That's a bad thing. Also I don't know where I'd find three people right now." You're not entirely sure who 'Charlotte' is, but you're going to hazard a guess that is her guardian.

"Is this task really okay for you to do alone?" You ask, with concern.
"I don't know." She says, rubbing her eyes. "Can I go now?"

"Young lady, at the very least steel your body before attempting to steel your mind. How about- this."

You reach up onto the wall and grab a piece of decorative armor. It's clearly functional armor that has been re-purposed with a spike through the chest to maintain its grasp on the brickwork. You rip the spike out and slap the metal skin over her with a single motion.

She wobbles slightly, and squirms under the new found weight of the protective husk. Comically, the decorative face-shield snaps shut over her face.

"..Thanks." Louise says in a muffled tone. You're reasonably sure some of that is sarcastic, but at the very least any see-through parts of the dress are now covered by a plate-mail layer.

"Take care of yourself, young hero. For any hero's business is an important errand." You give her a pat on the back as she wobbles off toward the door.

Maybe what you did wasn't the ideal thing, but you feel as if you've done a good thing.


>Cont.

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You continue toward the practice yards. You wish to see the steely resolve of Biscotti first-hand. You're certain their soldiers must be either on high alert or training at the moment.

"ATLAS?!" You hear a familiar voice.
A tall, black-haired girl holding a suit far too small to fit her is standing just outside the door to the training yard.

"What are you doing here?!" She asks, clearly surprised, "You said you were walking to Biscotti, I thought that would take you at least a week!"

>cont.

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".. It would take you more than a week?" You ask the fellow hero, clearly perplexed at why she would be surprised at this.

"Ah- Ah. Uh." She's at a loss for words. "I gotta find Louise, so could you, uh. Go bother Dorje or something? He's right over there practicing. Just don't. roam. around. Okay?"

>Why not?
>I just passed a 'Louise'.
>Okay, you'll stay near this Dorje kid.
>Say you will, but then don't.
>You have important business to do, and babysitting isn't one of them.
>Other?

Yes, I had to split that last post up into 3 to get it to post.
It appears some kind of spam filter has come into effect that throws a 'connection error' when a post has some kind of length or content criteria. Maybe when it's too long? I don't know. It's frustrating. If anyone has any information for me as to why it's doing that, I would appreciate it.


>>1444702
I thought about it, and I think I know what you're talking about now.
Do you mean the 'lack of information' subplots I tend to have? Because if so, then yes; I think I overuse them.

>>1446741
>Okay, you'll stay near this Dorje kid

>>1446741
>Why not?
>I just passed a 'Louise'.
>Okay, you'll stay near this Dorje kid.

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"Why not?" You ask, with sincerity.

"'Why not'?" She asks back with annoyance. Her tone gradually settles down, "..I'm sorry, the reason why is because I really think you should be accompanied around here by another hero, just so people don't freak out."

>Cont.

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".. If you say so." You feel like that isn't the actual reason. "Oh, speaking of which, I just passed a 'Louise'."

"You did?" Her eyes widen, "WHERE?!"

"She walked past me on the way to the front gate. She was dressed in a nightgown, so I had her equip some armor."
"And you didn't-, Okay, never mind." Yuuki sighs, "I have to catch up with her, so just stay here with Dorje, okay?"

"If that's what you wish."
"Great!"

She dashes through the courtyard door and off into the distance. You're guessing she's the reason Louise didn't want to return to her room to fetch her garments.
Strange happenings, this castle has.

You slowly walk up behind Dorje. He appears to be practicing ten-ton rocklifts, but his form is all wrong. For one, he's trying to transmute the ground of the training yard, and his lifting is leaving much to be desired.

Dorje has already taken off his shirt and thrown it aside. Sweat pours down his body like a river, and his absolutely soaking through his pants and his shoes. He coughs in exhaustion as a rock he's suspending falls from his grasp and cracks against the soft sand of the training field.

He drops to one knee as he tries to catch his breath. You pick up his shirt, and throw it at him.

Dorje nearly jumps out of his skin when it hits his back!
"WOAH!" He stands, gripping the gi to his chest. "Oh, OH! Atlas?!"
"Good afternoon, Lad." You try to address him with some level of respect. "I see yourself hard at work training.

After all, he seems to be the only hero who is steeling his body.

"I've been trying, yes." He seems worn out.
"May I offer some advice?" You approach him, unfurl his gi and then throw it over his head. "Wear your vestments, it becomes difficult to concentrate if you train without them."

"Y-yes." He throws his sweat-soaked gi back on.

"Another thing, you're not taking into account the concentration of crystal and grain in the sand and dirt that you pull. Dirt isn't an element into itself, it's a mixture of many parts crystal, gravel, and soil. All of which are different in how they are pulled, and the mass they occupy."

Dorje blinks.
"Okay. I'm not sure I follow.."

>Oh boy, Stay here and teach this lad on the basics of Earth Magic.
>No better usage than practice. Want to go help search for this missing person?
>Stand back, watch him go through a few more sets and correct his form.
>Keep working on it, I'm going to go explore some more.
>Other?

Ah, I figured it out. It's new robot-detecting that's messing with the native extension!
No matter, then. I can just disable it and do things the old fashioned way.

>>1447100
>Stand back, watch him go through a few more sets and correct his form.

>>1447100
>Stand back, watch him go through a few more sets and correct his form.

>>1447100
>Stand back, watch him go through a few more sets and correct his form.

>>1447100
>Stand back, watch him go through a few more sets and correct his form.

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"Go through a few more sets. I want to judge your form."

"..I didn't ask for your judging." He pouts.

"Trust me on this one."

Dorje continues the sets he was just going through. He starts by picking up a 500 pound lump of sand, and then starts to layer sand and stone on the outside.
Soon enough, he's levitating a clump of dirt roughly several tons in weight straight out of the ground. You can tell he's straining to do so.

Which is impressive, because with the way he's lifting; he shouldn't be able to lift ten pounds of dirt out of the ground.

"Dorje, lad, drop the dirt."

The massive cluster subsides back to the ground. Dorje falls back to one knee, panting.

"Lad, watch."

You show him proper lifting form for stones and sand by placing your hand against the ground and then gently leading it out of the Earth. The trick isn't to use sheer force to lift objects. Magic isn't doing the lifting for you, but is instead providing a way to grip something so you can lift it up on your own strength.

It's very telling of his strength that he was able to incorrectly lift a ton of dirt out of the ground. Normal geomancers wouldn't be able to lift ten pounds if they weren't holding it the correct way.

You grab his wrist and slowly straighten it, and then teach him a few things about sand.

"Lad, what ever you may be lifting, you must be certain not to stand anywhere near where it is coming out of the ground."

You draw a twenty-foot circle around the area where he had been training. He's standing slightly inside of it.

"If you're inside of this circle, then lifting becomes many times more difficult. You're lifting against your own strength by pulling against a section of earth which you are standing on."

His eyes widen, "..Really?"

"Most certainly. Think of the weight of the sand like a cone, that extends downward into the ground. You're only making things harder for yourself as you try to pull that cone out of dirt out of the ground while standing on top of that cone of dirt."

"..I.. not sure I follow."

"Let me demonstrate."

You hate doing this, but it's for a good cause.
You draw a small circle and then stand in the center of it.

Slowly, you start to rise. This hurts almost every muscle in your body, and is taking quite a bit of strength from you. Yet, you still manage to rise roughly a foot above the ground.

Through sheer magic power, you're standing on a stone which you are lifting away from the force of gravity. You can't do this long, and it is impractical for anything except this one lesson.

"Wow!" Dorje exclaims.

"That, my lad, is why you do not stand where you are lifting."

"That's really amazing!" Dorje seems enthralled, but you're not sure if it's for the right reason.

>Stay here and help the lad train. This is fun.
>Suggest you both go elsewhere.
>This is great, but I should be going.
>Check to see if Jack is awake.
>Go help that green-haired lady you met earlier.
>Explore the castle some.
>Other?

>>1449565
>Stay here and help the lad train. This is fun.

>>1449565
>Stay here and help the lad train. This is fun.

>>1449565
>Go help that green-haired lady you met earlier.

>>1449565
>Check to see if Jack is awake.

>>1446753
Yeah man. It's a little heavy handed. Like it's more reasonable when it's from the kids point of view, but when the Adults learn about possible child-abuse and then just decline to look into it any further it's another thing.

Also Jack has slowly gone from "Getting slightly drunk to very drunk and doing wild things" to "Getting shithouse hammered immediately to the point of uselessness as a plot device". Seriously. Stop doing "booze falls Jack dies" ad an excuse for auto-failing people or to have threads from the pov from other characters. It's not making a Yuki storyline, it's just Yuki playing Jacks storyline.

But you are really good at writing, so just keep at it and the plot planning will come along. Right now you're like at Dean Koontz level. Great at writing, not very good at plot/hitting up the same plot wells too often.

I'd say JK Rowling style good at writing and world-building but bad at plot, maybe, because you seem to be good at world-building, or at least conveying it but you're using someone else's setting so it's hard to tell.

Anyways forum Quests aren't really the best places to work on that. Like I said, it probably wouldn't be noticeable unless you read through the archives consistently.

By all means please do keep writing though. It's the only way to get better.

>>1449565


> Stay here and help the lad train. This is fun.

>>1450636
I can see that. Thanks for the writeup!

>Having Yuuki do Jack's part

I do this a lot, and I sometimes notice when I'm doing it. Just swapping the characters in the plot and having them go along with the story as if nothing has changed.

I'll try to keep an eye out for it.

>Stay here and help the lad train, this is fun!
Writing!

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You did say you were going to go back to that guardpost to help look, but-
This is good, too. It's fun helping the lad train. It reminds you of your days as a mentor long, long ago.

It also reminds you of your mentor. Though, he was no where as kind as you strive to be.

"You're standing on it, Lad." You kick his foot off the circle.
He nods, and then puts his full weight into pulling the same mass of stone he was once trying to lift.

With a heave, he-

Launches a massive clump of dirt straight upward at breakneck speeds! The one-ton sand missile flies into the air, and starts to fall apart several hundred feet above the ground.

"Oh no! I-"
"Good job!" You give him a pat on the back.

With some control, you're able to use the wind to keep the stone relatively stable as it crashes back to the Earth.

"-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No, Lad. You did great. This shows that you have real potential to be a strong hero, someday."

"..Really?"
"Absolutely!" You pick the stone back out of the ground. "You know, back in my day; we couldn't just pick this up and throw it around like you can now."

"Wait, seriously?"

"We didn't have as many elements, either!" You try to think back to the days of only having four elements to manipulate with magic. "Magicians and wizards at the time thought that everything in the world was made of four base elements, and that all magic had to go through that. We learned better as time went on, but it was rough for a long time, having to elevate stone from the Earth with water and wind."

"That's incredible."

"It's just old history. Probably best not to think about it." You state rather plainly.

"I like history. My father used to teach me about my family history, all the time." The boy has an air of honesty when he refers to his past.

It must be nice to still have the ability to remember what your past life was like. You can't even remember who your real parents were, or who you were before you served the Great Kingdom.

>I'll tell you a bit more about it sometime.
>I'll tell you more about it right now
>Let's take a break
>Time to wander off
>Other?

Folks, I'm sorry for disappearing for a day. I had a lot of things happen. Mostly I pressed 'Reply' and got a damn connection error just before it posted, and I just found out! Hopefully, I can spend tomorrow getting at least three replies in.

>>1450636
I wanted to add, I really appreciate you taking the time to read and critique my quest, if you want an example of some of my other work; I suggest Card Priestess Masami.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Card+Priestess

>>1458715
>I'll tell you a bit more about it sometime.
>Wonder if the other heroes are actually strong, but don't know how to use their strength.

>>1458715
>I'll tell you a bit more about it sometime.
>Time to wander off

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"I'll tell you a bit more about it sometime." You smile.
He seems overjoyed by this.

"Really?"
"Sure! But only if you train hard."

"Definitely! I'll definitely work hard!"

"That's the spirit." You rub his pitch-white hair, "Go take a break, a strong warrior knows when he's at his limit."

"Thank you, Atlas!"
He takes a small bow and hurries back into the castle.

You suddenly remember something about staying with Dorje. Something about not being able to trust you and, blah, blah. You forgot.

Wow, your memory is worse off than you realized.

Ah well, it probably wasn't important.

You decide to continue your inspection of the castle. It's good to be acquainted with the staff members.

"Oh, hello." You bump into a brown-haired man wandering in the hallway. He has books stacked as high as his head that shift uneasily as he walks. "Do you need help carrying those?"

"No thanks, I'm good. Uh-"

"Adam, of Bruschetta." You give him your moniker. It's best to keep the name 'Atlas' from spreading around just in case more people than just Dorje knows who you are.

"Aligot, I'm the Archmage of Biscotti. Thanks for the offer, but I'm kind of busy. I'm researching some old guy from a faraway kingdom."

"Well, best of luck to you on that."

"Yeah, thanks, take care." He wanders down the hallway, leaning as his stack of books sways from side to side.

Huh, researching an old guy from-
You look down the hallway and notice something.

It's Yuuki pulling an armored tin-can behind her. The tiny tin-can exclaims that she can't go back to bed yet, because she hasn't found Odelle.
Yuuki doesn't care, and pits her heroic strength against the tin-can's heroic strength in order to wrangle the young child back into the guest quarters where she probably belongs.

Hey, 'Odelle'. Didn't you tell someone that you were going to help them search for someone like that when you were done here?

>..Nah, it was probably nothing
>Go talk to that brown-haired guy with the books. He seems very knowledgable about this castle.
>Ask Yuuki if you can help.
>OH RIGHT! You forgot about something! About- Felice, A Felice? Right! The green-haired girl!
>Go back and search for that Green-haired girl. You have a promise to keep!

>>1462812
>OH RIGHT! You forgot about something! About- Felice, A Felice? Right! The green-haired girl!
>Go back and search for that Green-haired girl. You have a promise to keep!

>>1462930
>Wonder if the other heroes are actually strong, but don't know how to use their strength.
This part completely slipped my mind, I'll add it into next post

>>1462812
>OH RIGHT! You forgot about something! About- Felice, A Felice? Right! The green-haired girl!
>Go check if Jack is still ...busy

>>1462812
>>OH RIGHT! You forgot about something! About- Felice, A Felice? Right! The green-haired girl!

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Huh.
Odelle.

Something, something. Something about helping someone, maybe a promise you made? It's hard to tell. You have difficulty remembering things like that. It's easy to forget at your age. You can remember things that happened nearly five thousand years ago as clear as a bell, but something that you were asked to do nearly an hour ago seems to gradually disappear.

Wait, wasn't someone looking for an Odelle? Wasn't that same blonde-haired girl going out to look for Odelle?
No, someone else was looking for her as well.

Oh.
OH!

OH RIGHT! You remember now!
Green-haired girl! Felicia, Feline, Fernie? No, no- Her name was Felice! Right! You said you were going to go back and help her look after you were done at the castle here.
No better time like the present. With Dorje taking a break; you decide to follow up on your old promise.

With a hop, you jump straight out of the castle courtyard.

--

You slow to a halt just outside the guard post. Quickly, you look inside.
"Hello?" You try to see if anyone is home.

On the bed sits a half-charred catboy. Antonin, you think his name was? You remember the maid telling you that he was one of the knights from Gallete.

"Oh, it's you." The boy coughs, "'Adam', right? Thanks for sticking up for Felice back there. I guess one of them snuck up on me."
Ah, right. That's what happened. He must not remember you throwing a bolt of lightning at him when he was stalking you and Felice earlier.

He stands up to shake your hand, but nearly loses his balance. You can tell that he's not quite at full strength yet. One wrong move could puffball him in an instant.
He should really be resting.

You offer your hand to help him up, but he waves it off and stands on his own. Tough one, he is.

"Ah, right." You adjust your voice, "I just came back to see if Felice had any luck with Odelle." \
"Wait.." Antonin takes a second to process this. "She's not with you?"
"No, she ran off by herself after we got you back here."

"Son of a-! Erk!"
He slips as he makes a dash for the door. You gently pick him up by his collar and set him down in a nearby chair.
"-I'll go search for her, you stay here."

"You can't tell me what to do! HRK!" He tries bolting upward once more, but immediately sinks back into the chair.

You turn and head out the door, and start down the path you originally came from. There's no rush, really. You're sure Odelle hasn't found anything of value in the few minutes you were searching. Anyone who was foolish enough to attack in the first place likely already ran into your fist.

>Search for her using her footsteps
>Search for her using her heartbeat
>Return to where you first found her, the guardpost.
>Try to see if anyone else is in the area who may have saw her.
>Other?

>>1467088
>>Search for her using her heartbeat

>>1467088
>Search for her using her heartbeat

>>1467088
>Search for her using her heartbeat

>>1467088
>Search for her using her heartbeat

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You stand still, and let the air be your guide.
It's not reliable to listen for people by their heartbeats in places that are crowded. It's akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, you're very much alone, and can even hear the tiniest termite gnawing at bark.

You tune your senses, and concentrate on rhythmic patterns.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

You start to slowly immerse yourself, tuning out your own heartbeat.

..
There's the creak of wind in the trees, and the skitter of leaves as they descend from the branches.

.
thud. thud. thud.-

That's Antonin, his heartrate is elevated right now to about seventy beats every minute. You suspect he's still trying to scramble out of that chair you left him in. You're looking for someone about five feet and some inches tall, and would have a heart rate of close to sixty.

You keep focusing. The wind will tell you the answers.

..
whud...
whud...
whud...

This heartbeat is much slower, and much less powerful than the one you were expecting. This might belong to a smaller person, and the heartrate almost sounds like they are sleeping. Maybe one of the local kids taking a nap? Who knows, but it's not what you're searching for.

..
thump.. thump.. thump.. thump..

That sounds a bit more like it. It's at about sixty-five beats per minute, and is coming from almost a quarter-mile to the north of you. It appears to be trying to seek out the river.

It's worth checking out. With a spring, you set off toward the steady rhythmn.

--

You land steadily near the river which you believe the heartbeat was seeking out a minute ago. You can't quite place where it would be right now, as you didn't quite account for travel time when you were performing your search.
Oh! You didn't need to!

Crouched down, sipping water from the stream, is a green-haired girl with a long tail waving behind her. You gently walk up behind her, and give her tail a good tug.
She yips, before falling forward into the river!

"JACK!" She exclaims, "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT-"
She stands up, and blinks.

"Oh, You're not Jack." Felice adjusts her voice.
"How goes the hunt?"

"Not great, and a bit soggy now." She shakes her armor off. Tiny bolts of electricity extend from her fingers and run over her soaked leather armor. It visibly heats up as steam starts to pour from the material; drying the inside and outside.

So her element is lightning, huh?

>I promised I would come back and help.
>So where do we look next?
>Just wanted to check in.
>That Antonin fellow keeps trying to leave.
>What should I be looking for?
>Tell her about the faint heartbeat you heard.
>Other?

>>1469650
>Tell her about the faint heartbeat you heard.

>>1469650
>>I promised I would come back and help.
>>So where do we look next?

>>1469650
>I promised I would come back and help.
>Tell her about the faint heartbeat you heard.

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"So, no luck in finding the missing person?"
"If there was, I wouldn't be out here right now." She crosses her arms. "Why are you out here, then?"

"I promised that I would come back and help." You state, bluntly.

She gives you an almost unamused stare.
"Did the maid put you up to this?"
"No, I keep the promises I make."

She flicks the last bit of water out of her hair, "I'll forget about being thrown in the water if you admit that I'm not too short to be a knight."

"I didn't say that at all."

"Good, that's-

"I said you were underequipped to be one." You glance at her pauldrons, and sheet-metal sword.

Immediately, she covers her chest.
"I am NOT 'underequipped' to be a knight!" She blushes furiously. You have the strange feeling that you have both stopped talking about the same subject.

"In any case." You clear your voice, "We have around three hours until sundown. Shall we get going?"

She frowns, "Yeah, sure. But get going where? She's clearly not here. I've searched up, and I've searched down. I'm stumped."

"I heard a faint heartbeat off to the south of here. Maybe that would be a good place to start."
"You, heard a heartbeat?"

Oh shoot, you forgot that regular people can't do that.
"..Yes."

She sighs, giving her green tail a final flick as the last bit of water leaves her skin.
"Sounds good to me. Lead the way."

You nod, and start down the path toward the weak rhythmnic tone.

The walk is mostly in silence. You spend most of it observing the sounds of the trees and the wildlife. Usually if something is about to happen; they find out about it before you do.

"So." Felice breaks the silence, "Since we're partners now, why don't you tell me your real name, 'Adam'?"
"Why must you think my real name isn't Adam?"

She turns her head, "You don't look like an 'Adam'."

That's fair enough, you suppose.

"..My name is 'Atlas'."

"Pleased to meet you, Atlas. My real name is still Felice." You hear her previously annoyed tone melt away into a more pleasant one.

"I find it strange for you to have bandit attacks so close to the castle. Surely, you must have-"
"Shh."

Immediately, Felice enters a fighting stance, and grips at the handle of her sword.
You turn around and put your hand on her shoulder

"Just keep walking, stay behind me." You instruct her.

Her furrowed brow softens.

You know exactly what she just sensed. Up ahead, there are at least five people. She must have noticed them, and thought that they were readying an ambush. Which is a safe, and cautious thing to assume. You have to give her credit in being extremely observant of her surroundings to notice them.

But this is different; these five are not expecting you. They stand up ahead, trying to ready some kind of trap.

>Lightning them, straight through the underbrush
>Just walk up to them and ask how they are doing.
>Avoid them, go around the outset and leave them alone.
>Tell Felice to stay close, you're going to clobber them quickly and silently.
>Other?

>>1472037
>Just walk up to them and ask how they are doing.
>If they are bandits or the like, ask them if they really want to do this.

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>>1472037
>Just walk up to them and ask how they are doing.

sup.

>>1472037
>Just walk up to them and ask how they are doing.

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The element of surprise is a kind ally to have on your side, indeed. You're certain that the five up ahead are not expecting someone to come visit them so early. Especially if the trap they are creating was made for human game.

"Let's just stop by, have a little chat with them."

"Wait, what?" Felice seems confused.

"If they are bandits, it would be unwise for them to continue their plans if they are aware that they've been found out. Let's put them on the spot and maybe we can get some answers."

"That's.. awfully bold of you." Felice seems almost worried about your wrecklessness.

"Ah, it's fine. I've done this plenty of times before."

Unfortunately, you don't remember most of the times that you have done this. You hope it works out the way you remember it working out; with the bandits falling to their knees and begging for forgiveness.

Is that what happened? You guess there's only one way to find out.
"Stay close." You give the same instruction to Felice, and then you nimbly step through the brush to confront them.


"Top of the afternoon to you!" You bellow in your jovial persona.

Immediately, they nearly jump out of their skin. The one who was working on the wooden contraption falls forward into its wooden jaws. It snaps around him and turns him into a puffball.

"Oh dear. You should be more careful in the future. So! What ho about these parts? I'm a traveler and may be looking for the nearest town!" You try to feign ignorance, but you feel that you're not being very good at it.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the terrified men lays splayed on the ground.

"Just a wandering traveler!" You give a big grin, "While I was on my merry way, I met this young knight who appears to be looking for someone. Perhaps you can help?"

"I don't see why we would have any business with her." One of them stands to his feet. "We're just some guys trying to make a living in pelts, that's all."

Felice steps forward, "Then you would know that poaching in these woods at this time of the year is highly illegal." She crosses her arms, "So you can either share my business, or find yourself in prison."

"We don't have to take this from you." One of the men rolls up his sleeve.

"-We're looking for a missing person." Felice continues, drawing her sword. "I think you may know more about it than you're letting on. So, there's either my way, or-"

>Cont.

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You knead the catball in your hands. That's one thing you miss about dealing with people; they make soft catballs when they get out of line.

"Where is it?" Felice takes the fugitive from your hands and drops him in her backpack.
"Up ahead." You point to a tree that seems oddly out of place. "It should be laying under that."

You approach the tree, and are greeted with the sight of a knocked-out man laying beneath the truck. He has an obvious bump on his head, and appears to be wearing a uniform of some sort.

Felice kicks the tree as hard as she can.
"DAMN IT!" she exclaims.

"Is this not the right person?" You don't think you're being as observant as you would like to be.

"No, no it's not. This is just a mailman." Her brow furrows, "Damn it, back to square one."

>How about we return to the guardhouse and take a break?
>You said something about a bar earlier, maybe we should visit that and search for clues.
>I think we should return to the castle for the evening.
>Let's keep searching, we have maybe an hour left of daylight remaining.
>Other?

>>1472849
>I think we should return to the castle for the evening.
we do have to talk to jack, too

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You pat Felice on the shoulder, and try to keep her calm. She's very clearly losing her cool at this.

"Now now, it's getting late. I think we should return to the castle for the night."
"This will make the third night she's been gone.."

"I understand, the uncertainty is hard on you. At the same time, you cannot wear yourself thin while on the hunt. If you believe her to be in danger, you only put yourself in danger by overextending."

Felice sighs, you can tell that she would rather spend all night out here wandering around in the woods. A part of you wonders how long she had been doing that prior to you finding her.

"Fine." She resigns to giving up for the day. "Let's just go back."

Her walk goes from alert and springy to an almost shuffling as she moves. Her tail has gone from the swaying that you normally expect in the step of a Galletian to a somber sag. She appears to be taking the prospect of giving up for the night quite personally, even.

"-It's just-" She continues to argue, not with you, but with herself. "-In Gallete, three is usually the number of nights it takes for searches to be called off. I know we're not in Gallete, but-"

"Worry makes the mind grow weary." You grab her tail, giving it a slight tug, "Focus on rest, focus on home. There will be another day tomorrow, with another daylight."

"Yeah, you're right." She says, but doesn't improve her mood. "There's a bench up ahead, I need to sit down for a second."
"Fair enough."

You sit on the ground next to the bench mostly because you suspect you would break it in two. Felice immediately pulls off her boot and starts rummaging around inside of it. With a tap, a tiny stone falls out.

She sighs, and then puts the boot back on. You stand up, but she insists that you continue sitting.
"Not yet, just give me a second."

You're not entirely sure why. She seems more or less fine, but appears to continue slouching on the bench.
Her breathing deepens, and her eyes slowly start to flutter.
"Thank you, Atlas." She says in a hushed tone.

"Hmm? I'm not sure what you're thanking me for, but; you're welcome." You adjust your voice, "Can we be on our way, now?"

No response. You turn your head over to the young lady, and notice that her eyes are closed.
She's fallen asleep.

A part of you wonders if this is just a common thing for her, or if this is a result of overextending herself over the last few days.
You stand up, and gather her into your arms. Slowly, you finish the remainder of the trek toward the castle.

>Cont.

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"Aw, that's sweet!" The blonde haired maid standing at the entrance to Biscotti castle immediately notices you carrying Felice in your arms.

"Excuse me, young lady." You address the maid, "Do you know if Jack has awoken yet?"
"I believe he has. If you want, I can get the maids to arrange rooms for you and Felice."

"Won't be necessary, only she will need one." You adjust your voice, you don't like sleeping indoors for a number of reasons.

"Ooh." The maid seems to have a blush across her face, "So you want a room for both of you? That's bold."

>Completely miss the implication and continue about your business.
>Deny what she's implying.
>Hand Felice off and go search for Jack.
>Try to find someone else first.
>Other?

>>1472037
>"I am NOT 'underequipped' to be a knight!" She blushes furiously. You have the strange feeling that you have both stopped talking about the same subject.
Don't be silly Atlas it's nothing.

>>1474318
>Completely miss the implication and continue about your business.

Why the hell not I'll ship it.
The girl wanted a muscular and badass hero when we trolled her way back.
So getting her together with THE mountain of a man seems like something that'd appeal to her?

>>1474318
>Completely miss the implication and continue about your business.

>>1474318
>Completely miss the implication and continue about your business.

>>1474318
>Completely miss the implication and continue about your business.

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Huh, that's a strange way to put searching for your room. You're going to write this off to her also being exhausted after a long day of tending to the castle patrons.

"No thanks, just one room will do." You adjust your voice, and only sort-of notice the blush spreading across the maid's face, "Could I hand Felice off to one of your maids? I need to talk to Jack before I turn in for the night."

"S-s-sure thing!" The small, blonde maid eagerly whistles off into the castle. Several maids come by, and you hand Felice off to one of the taller women.

"Thank you. I'll be back later."
"You certainly will!" She winks, and follows behind the other team of maids.

That was a particularly strange encounter, but you're not going to let it phase you.

You have important business to discuss.

--

"Ah." A gruff man sighs, as he slams another shotglass down on the counter. He observes the bartender with a bit of annoyance.

"Aye din' say stop." he adjusts his voice.

The bartender gulps, and stoops under the bar to get several more bottles out. He is well aware who he deals with no ordinary man.

The man leans against the bar, and breathes a deep sigh. He seems very pleased with himself. You're not entirely sure why, because it almost seems like he's done little to no good in the short time you've observed him.

You sit down next to him, and adjust your voice. The wooden stool creeks under your weight.
The man adjusts his voice, noticing your presence. You can tell that he's surprised, but doesn't let it shake him one bit.

"Aye." He takes two of the upside-down shotglasses, and pours several small shots. "Fancy meetin' ye here. Ye gettin' along just fine?"
"I don't drink." You inform him, noticing him finish pouring the second shotglass.

"Ah, these ain't fer ye."

He picks up both shotglasses, pounds one, and then the other.

"So, what can we do ye fer?" He coughs, "Aye din' expect to see ye around until the day of the festival, Atlas. Ye come by to have a little pre-match visit?"

>I came by to observe the culture you like so much.
>Never hurts to come prepared.
>It felt like the right time to travel.
>Aside from that, are you aware of the kidnapping thing going on?
>If you don't mind me being personal; are you a married man, Jack?
>Other?

>>1477536
>>I came by to observe the culture you like so much.
>>This one lady is really very weird. I try to talk to her but she gets upset.
>>If you don't mind me being personal; are you a married man, Jack?

>>1477536
>I came by to observe the culture you like so much.
>Aside from that, are you aware of the kidnapping thing going on?
>If you don't mind me being personal; are you a married man, Jack?
>Is this really all you do?

>>1477536
>I came by to observe the culture you like so much.
>If you don't mind me being personal; are you a married man, Jack?

>>1477536
>I came by to observe the culture you like so much.
>This one lady is really very weird. I try to talk to her but she gets upset.
>Everyone is exhausted searching for the missing girl, are you doing fine?

>>1477536
I missed the chance to vote for asking if she wanted to be in the room in case hanky panty did happen.

In a totally neutral voice.

Anyways I notice he doesn't seem to pick up on women's unsure hints. Maybe we could just drown him if fluffy tails wearing battle lingerie.

He definitely enjoys playing with their balls.

>>1477536

> Repraochfully mention that there are plentyof demons her as well. Also that just because there was a kidnapping doesn't mean he should slack off. Let the cops handled it. Heroes have specific abilities that they're obligated to use to defend the people.

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"I felt like visiting early to have a look at the culture you told me about." You state, bluntly.

"Aye, good fer ye. Nothing like a little sightseein', I always say."

Jack pours himself another shot, and then completely drinks it in a single gulp.

"Are you aware of the kidnapping thing going on? Many of your knights were occupied with it." You don't mean to pressure him, but you are curious what he was doing enjoying himself while a comrade was in danger.
"Aware of it? Aye've been searchin' fer almost a day straight. Who can blame me fer needin' a little downtime?" He adjusts his voice, almost as if he thinks you're accusing him.

"No, no, just wanted to be sure you were doing fine. Everyone I talked to seems to be at the end of their rope."
"They're a fine crew, I tell ye." Jack pours himself yet another shot.

"If you don't mind me being personal; are you a married man, Jack?"

"Not yet." He sets down the empty shotglass, and on his hand you can see the glimmer from two rings on his finger. "-But soon, very soon."

Wait.
Two rings?

You're not even going to bother asking.

"Well, they're an excellent group of knights, indeed." You lean against the bar, "They have that fighting spirit inside of them, and that's the strongest part of being a knight."

"Definitely would up their pay, if aye could."

"They're definitely getting exhausted, this one lady is a strange one; I try to talk to her and she gets upset."
"Ah ye'll get used to that 'round here." Jack states like it's the most normal thing in the world.

You look down at the table, and think about what Jack said to you.
"Is this really normal life around here?"

"Aye'm always tacklin' some crisis er another." Jack stands up, "But recently it's been just lots of things all at once. Aye dun know how the other heroes hold together."

"Plenty of demons, as well." You think back to the few that you met along the road. "-Just because there was a kidnapping doesn't mean anyone should slack off on that."

"Aye agree. Aye just- can't see 'em as well as ye can."

"Want me to give you a few lessons in that, then?" You decide it's only fair to extend the offer to Jack.

He blinks, not expecting that kind of response. He downs another shot, and seems to be wistfully considering his options.

You, on the other hand, are wondering if having more than one wife is something of a tradition around here or not.

>Thread end.

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Folks, sorry this thread went a little slowly. We will hopefully pick up steam when we have the new thread on Tuesday.

See you then!