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You try to remember what the ‘Goat Knight’ told you, as you are really not that great of a mage or a teacher yourself. And you admit it. “Have Tugela taught you anything?” you ask Elvira, who awkwardly and negatively shakes her head. You sigh: is wine Tugela’s solution to everything? “I’ll tell you what she told me when I asked her for advice, then.” You pause, “She said it takes time, effort and practice to improve one’s magic, so you should continue practicing every day, and I’m sure you’ll be able to improve your magic in no time.” You raise your thumb up at her.

“Perhaps with less drinking. If you ask me, you do not need to use and strain your body and mana for senseless spells. Unlike my magic, and especially people who use powerful but dull magic like water and fire, you have a very unique affinity, Elvira. I’m not the most creative person around,” you hesitate before admitting as you take a short glance at your own clothes – no person would ever think you are a tailor with a focussed tailoring magic with your clothes being so dull and plain looking, “But you should try coming up with novel ways to use your spells, and not just using multiplication on stones and steaks.” You ponder for a moment, “Like that time you multiplied yourself.”

“I…I did it when I was drunk,” Elvira reminds you as she immediately puts her hands over her reddening cheeks, “And I was feverishly hugging and bothering that boy, so indecent of me. No-no-no, I’m not going through that again…”

You hide a personal smirk. “I don’t think he minded,” you say in a whisper before you raise your voice, “But won’t creating duplicates with your magic solve the problem of you not having a lot of mana? You already have five spells, so this might not be a problem for you, Elvira, but you might discover new spells if you try working on old ones.”

“I… do not think any of my clones had mana,” she groans as she tries to remember, “I can’t say it for sure, because I was… drunk… but I think it takes all of my mana to create a duplicate so they are made as I am left – without mana.”

You put a finger to your chin, “Yes, that would make sense. How did you manage to create several of them, then?”

She raises her shoulders in a difficult shrug, “I really wish I knew…”

You suddenly slap your hands to catch her off-guard, her body hops in surprise. “Don’t get gloomy, I’m sure we’ll figure it out. What about mana? Have you ever tried increasing by two your own mana? Wouldn’t that be helpful?”

Again, she shakes her head. “That’s impossible,” she says rather sternly. “There is no way something like that is likely to work, Cynthia. We are all born with the mana we have; my magic might be bizarre but not to your proposal’s extent.”

“But -have- you tried it?”

“N-no,” she says, “I… don’t want to. I’m afraid. I’m a peasant, our bodies are not pre-disposed to hold lots of mana.”

You scowl, “Absurd. Your grimoire chose you; you have every right to use it how you want – peasant or noble.”

“I…” she shakes her head, “I’m just a cooking assistant. As long as I can improve my magic a little bit to be better, more useful and more helpful at my job and earn enough yul to support my family – that will be enough for me.”

“What about yul?” you insist and push your head menacingly forward, “Have you tried ‘Addition’ to make more?”

“That’s illegal!” she shouts and quickly covers her mouth, “Or… I’m sure the Knights would have a problem with it.”

“I’m not sure a coins or two or ten is going to make much of a difference,” you smile at her before another idea flashes in your mind. Carefully, you take a single coin from your pouch and show it to Elvira who gasp in utter shock.

“T-that’s a 500 yul coin!” her voice trembles, “I have never seen one so close! H-how did you manage to get it?”

“That’s besides the points. Hear, it’s pretty small, and made out of solid gold, so it should be no problem for you to replicate. Let’s meet tomorrow and if you can create a copy of it that is permanent – you said that’s how your ‘Addition’ spell works, right(?) – then I will let you have one of them to do what you want.” You give her a wink.

“R-really?” her eyes are dead set on the coin.

“Really,” you smile and nod at her, “And it will stay between us.”

“T-that’…” she awkwardly rubs the belt of her bag, “I don’t know what to say…” She gulps down her saliva, “You…” She doesn’t finish, you are left guessing if she was to praise or insult how brazen you are. “What about you?”

“What about me?” you hesitate.

“Why are you training?” she straightens her back to reassure herself, “I-is there an advice I can offer?”

“Well, if you could that’d be really helpful,” you sigh, “I’m trying to figure out how to improve the damaged clothes I am given. I repair the rends with no use of thread or patches and I clean them, but from what I heard that is too boring for people here. Olyver seems to be adding some decorations, streamers and frills to the clothes he fixes up, and just recently I found out he discovered a technique to make the clothes extremely soft with his steam magic.”

“Yes, the way he fixes up even the kitchen staff clothing is amazing,” Elvira admits.

You glare at her in annoyance, “Like I said, he seems to be steps ahead and I’m not sure what I can do to solve it.”

It is now Elvira’s turn to place her finger to her chin. “I-I do not know much about your magic, Cynthia, but can’t you change the properties of the linen so it’s warmer, softer, or perhaps that it repairs itself without needing you?”

“No, I need to be close and be touching the linen to do anything with it by my magic. As soon as the linen cloth is taken away from me, my magic starts to drain from it. My spells are both blankets I create with my magic, and they have properties no regular linen has – healing and restraining respectfully, but they disappear quite quickly as you know. I had an idea about applying my healing spell to the clothes as a trap magic, but I do not know where to start.”

“I… I can’t help you with trap magic,” she hands her head dejectedly.

“D-don’t worry,” you comfort her, “Even Sol couldn’t help me. Even if I could learn it, I don’t have the time…”

“Can’t you combine the linen your grimoire creates and the linen that already exists to have a mouldable cloth?”

“I’m not sure how to do that,” you say.

“T-the problem is that the linen in the damaged clothes is not your own, but the linen your grimoire creates is short-lived, is that correct? Y-you somehow need to put your magic to make the linen your own, but if just putting your magic into it is not enough… I-I’m not sure, sorry. Do you know how linen is made? It’s from plants, isn’t it?”

“Flax plants, yes, there are fields of it in the Forsaken Region from which we receive already prepared sheets…”

“If you treat those plants with your magic, the linen made from them will be better for you to use your magic?”

You blink, “I… I am not sure, but even if that was a probability, that’s going to take way more time than I have.”

“Y-you are right…” she pauses and sighs, “I’m sorry, I do not have any other ideas. Add some frill as well?”

“I feel like that is my only choice at this point.”

Elvira follows you to the main entrance of the Headquarters as you two leave the gardens. Nervously, she reminds you of your promise and you reaffirm it before the two of you separate and return to your duties. To your pleased surprise, you come back from your break to find Pero and Lilth already hard at work so, as to not look too much of a lazy and work-skipping superior, you join them in. Time passes by rather quickly as you fall into the pleasant routing of fixing the quickly diminishing pile of garments, attires and uniforms; have the boys always been this fast? If so – you hem – that means until just recently they refused to do their job and go against Olyver in the challenge seriously.

So entrenched you are in your work, the second ‘break-time’ comes up unexpectedly. Excited about yet another chance to see the ‘Dueling Hours’, Pero is quick to warn you and, without even waiting for your answer – although it would be a yes – escape the workshop. You admire the racks and shelves of fresh, prepared and repaired clothing: there are only a few piles to take care of to mark this day a success… although your mind hurts at the though of people putting on your clothes and calling them boring. You sigh and approach the weaved basket to take the gown.

Until Pero and Lilth return, you have some time to try fixing it for the Vice-Captain of the Blue Rose. You decide to fix it in a way you know best – regular and simple. You will attempt to repair the gown in a way it is supposed to look like – no extra accompaniments or vicissitudes. This is Blue Rose Headquarters: it will be no problem to find silk and even velvet here… Perhaps you can even ask Elvira to replicate this gown so you have the exact same cloth to repair all the holes in it. GAH! You shout in surprise as you are caught off-guard. Lilth’s iris-less glasses are looking at you.

“I-I thought you went to see the duels as well, Lilth?” you ask him bashfully.

“I… I wanted to ask you something,” he awkwardly rubs his hand but his sentence is interrupted, “That’s…?”

You pause, “Don’t worry about it, what did you want to ask?”

“I… Wanted to ask if you could help me make a dress, o-or another piece of clothing… for Elvira.”

> “Sorry, Lilth, I need to take care of this gown first. Once that’s done, I promise to help you.”
> “I think a dress it a bit too excessive to make from scratch. How about we make her a scarf?”
> “Of course, you have been a big help so far, Lilth. Let’s make this a dress Elvira will look stunning in.”
> [Write In]

File: Black Clover.png (692 KB, 534x918)

692 KB PNG

A few questions:
> What do you think about the Quest and how faithful it is to the world so far?
> What do you think about the character of Cynthia?
> What do you think about the dice, mana and spellcasting system of the quest?
> What do you think about the writing?

>>3945282
>Write In
>> Ask Lilth if he has a design in mind for Elvira's dress
>> Ask if Lilth would be okay coming to us tonight to work on it in our spare time, since we still have work to do.

>>3945280
>“What about yul?” you insist and push your head menacingly forward, “Have you tried ‘Addition’ to make more?”
>“That’s illegal!” she shouts and quickly covers her mouth, “Or… I’m sure the Knights would have a problem with it.”
>“I’m not sure a coins or two or ten is going to make much of a difference,” you smile at her before another idea flashes in your mind.

Counterfeiting for fun and profit! I'm afraid Cynthia might be starting to be a bad influence on poor Elvira.

>>3945294
+1

>>3945282
>> “I think a dress it a bit too excessive to make from scratch. How about we make her a scarf?”

>>3945294
Sounds good. Support.

>>3945283
> What do you think about the dice, mana and spellcasting system of the quest? the spell system
feels unique in a good way. and the mana and the die system is decent

> What do you think about the writing? i think that the writing is pretty good

“Do you have a design in mind?” you ask him.

“No,” he stumbles before looking up to you, “I-I was hoping you could pick one for me, as you are a tailor.”

“I don’t know what sort of person Elvira is,” you say as you glance through many of the cabinets of your workshop – to your disappointment, there are no materials such as designs, outlines and fashion illustration, drawings and sketches a typical workshop would have. It figures: yours was makeshift-made in a hurry, and the regular workshop where Olyver and company is working will probably have all of the above and more. “I know her for as long as I know you. I am not a dress making tailor either, it’s an art all on its own… How about we make her a simple scarf instead?”

“Is the dress really out of question?” he speaks sadly.

“Does it have to be a dress?”

“I think she’ll be happier with a dress than just a scarf,” he mumbles.

“I think she’ll be happy with anything as a gift from you,” you smile as you turn around to smack the gown in the air to straighten it, “And making something like this from scratch will take a week for a specialized shop, and several for us. I’ll think about what sort of dress we have the time to make. We still have work to finish today, however, so if you are okay to come tonight to work on the dress in your spare time, we can do it.”

He ponders for a second, adjusts his glasses and nods, “O-of course!”

“If you can go to Olyver’s and find a dress that is not too complicated from all the drawings he should have, that would be helpful as well,” you tell him and after a slight hesitation, he nods. Olyver is not the nasty type of rival.

Lilth spends his break doing just that, and eventually returns with several illustrations, most of them way above your profile and experience. You manage to fix-up the gown before the break is over but there are still a lot of things left to be repaired – your hands almost forgot how real tailors struggle without convenient magic to help them. Pero returns about ten minutes later – he blames the duels lasting too long and being too exciting to leave earlier…

The three of you manage to finish all your backlog requests and clothing by the evening-time, and after a short clean of the workplace you let Pero conclude his job today and be on his merry way. You and Lilth return to the workshop after dinner, however, to work on the dress as per your promise. After a short review, you decide on one of the dresses amongst the many Lilth brought previously: it is a simple yet elegant brandy rose dress with a tall belt and a long but narrow skirt-part. The girl on the drawing is about Elvira’s age although she has short brown hair; the girl is wearing a simple white undershirt that perfectly complements the simple dress – you should make that a part of it.

Suddenly, a knock is heard from the other side of the door and before you can even approach it, it bursts open by a welcoming force of Tugela. She gives you a massive salute and sways her hands in circle before smashing the door behind herself and approaching the both of you – you don’t even have the time to hide the drawings from her.

“Hello there, little tailor,” Tugela grabs you by your neck into a tight hug. Lilth does not escape this fate either.

“H-hello,” he whispers, clearly out of breath.

“Hello, Tugela,” you nod at her, “What brings you here?”
“Are you free? I hope you are free. You need to be free,” she throws her words like a catapult, “I need your help.”

“Sorry,” you answer straight, “But Captain Charlotte made it clear that I should stay away from your missions.”

“No-no-no,” she shakes her head as one of her horn-like bun bruises against your cheek, “It’s not for a maission.”

“Then what?” you raise your eyebrow.

“I need you to join mea and Virginia in Kraal. I’ll tell you in maore detail on the way there – come on.”

“Sorry,” you apologize with a bow, “But I am busy today with something. Can’t you ask somebody else?”

She prepares to headbutt you for dominance but you cover your forehead before she can manage to.

She mildly baa-a-as like a goat, “No, I can’t ask any other person here. It should stay between us three.”

What can be so important yet not part of her Knightly duties?

“Can it wait another time?”

“No,” she shakes her head, “What are you busy with anyway?” Her orange eyes quickly glance over the drawings suspiciously. She pauses and ponders for a second until she figures it out. “Are you planning on making a dress? Well that’s nice, who is it for? I don’t think this one will fit you, personally,” she points at the dress you decided to make.

You glance shortly at Lilth who is sweating nervously.

“This one will be for nobody,” you lie and Lilth exhales in relief, “I just need some practice before I can start repairing the gown somebody actually left me to repair,” you nod your head to the gown, “I don’t want to ruin it, you see…”

“Can I have it if it’s going to be just a practice piece anyway?” she leers.

“You wear dresses?” you question her in trifling amusement.

“We do have balls,” she chuckles before playfully headbutting your palm-protected forehead, “One soon, actually.”

“I make no promises,” you say, “But, as you can see, I am very busy and I have a few days left to beat Olyver.”

“I know, I know,” she releases the both of you and takes a step back, “I understand your situation, little Cynthia, but this is very imaportant too… How about this, help mae here and I’ll help you with making this dress of yours?”

“W-won’t you be busy with your missions?” Lilth questions her suspiciously, “And how good are you with tailoring?”

“Not good at all,” she admits with a giant grin,” But I’ma a fast learner! As for the maissions, I have not been assigned any so I can begin helping you with the dress as soon as we return. We can make this a slumaber party!”

> Agree to Tugela’s suggestion and assist her with whatever she needs in Kraal.
> Sadly, refuse Tugela as you made your promise to Lilth first and you don’t break them.
> Ask Lilth if he is okay with this – your answer to Tugela will depend on what he thinks.
> Insist that Tugela explains what she and Virginia needs in Kraal before you agree.
> [Write In]

>>3946671

>> Insist that Tugela explains what she and Virginia needs in Kraal before you agree.
>> Ask Lilth if he is okay with this – your answer to Tugela will depend on what he thinks.

>>3946707
+1

>>3946671
>> Insist that Tugela explains what she and Virginia needs in Kraal before you agree.

>>3946671
We are popular.
>>3947081
This.

“Lilth,” you turn towards the boy, “What do you think? There are still a few days left for my-our challenge, we don’t have to finish Elvira’s dress tonight. Perhaps, I can find some interesting designs in the city of Kraal,” you point him towards the illustration before you stop and place your hands back to your hips, “But it is all up to you, honestly.”

Tugela hopefully glares towards the boy. He succumbs to Tugela’s forceful insistence.

The boy fidgets, “If she promises to help, and if this is very important… I can wait...”

“It’s good that you are offering to help,” you take a step away to be out of reach of Tugela’s next head-bump or tackle, “But I need you to tell me what you and Virginia want to do in Kraal this late at twilight time before I agree.”

She pouts and places her hand behind her ivory hair, “I was hoping I could get you on a brooma half-way there before I had to explain, and then it would already be too late for you to turn back,” she so easily admits it. She looks at Lilth and then puts both of her hands over her ears, as if instructing him to do the same. He follows. She doesn’t want him to hear this. She shortens the distance and quiets her voice. “I can’t trust anybody in here but you – we need a third seat. I’ma just joining for the comapany, but Virginia has been invited to a pre-planned maixer.”

“Mixer?” you question her in confusion.

“It’s kind of… a group dating?” she ponders.

“I… what?”

She quiets her voice even further, “Virginia wants to go out on a date, see? Captain Charlotte is kind-of against any forma of dating or having boyfriends, so which is why everything we will be doing will have to be kept a secret.”

You imagine Wardress Virginia as you remember her: an extremely tall, intimidating woman with cold, grey eyes, spirit breaking voice and a mana presence unlike anything you even felt. A person like that, in search of romance?!

“I’m really not sure I’m the right person,” you tell her with a clear hesitation.

“You have your grimoire,” she puts her hand over your belt for a moment just to make her point, “You have no maore restrictions the way kids do. Don’t worry, as far as I’ma aware there will be a boy your age there as well.”

“I’m really not sure.”

“Drinks and food will be provided by the guys’ side,” she insists as she slaps both of your shoulders and then moves her head closer. She grins. “Honestly, it’s half the reason I’ma going there, there is guaranteed to be free wine.” She notices your further hesitation and rolls her eyes, “I’ll protect you if you are worried about thema getting touchy.”

> “I am surprised the Wardress is that sort of person, but if you begging me here, fine… only this time”
> “Sorry, Tugela, but I will have to refuse. I have lots of additional work left, I don’t have time to on blind dates.”
> [Write In]

>>3948491
> “I am surprised the Wardress is that sort of person, but if you begging me here, fine… only this time”
>> Before we go, we should grab the old broom that we need to have prepared.

>>3948491
>> “Sorry, Tugela, but I will have to refuse. I have lots of additional work left, I don’t have time to on blind dates.”

>>3948594
Support. Hopefully the shops are still open.

>>3948594
+1

“I am surprised the Wardress is that sort of person, but if you begging me here, fine… only this time”

She knocks her head a few times in gratitude and agreement and tells you she will be waiting in the gardens. You lock the workshop’s door and separate with Lilth whom you promise to meet tonight if you are able to return not too late – you honestly have no idea how long all of this is going to take. Not to prolong this mixer any longer, you rush as fast as possible to your room and seize Adeliza’s faulty broom. You ponder on whenever to leave your yul bag here but, in the end, you decide to take it, just in case you might need money. You’ll feel safer once you learn have to put – and remove – things from your grimoire. A personal vault is certainly one of the more useful functions.

A date…? It’s been years since you have been on one of those, and even then, it was a one-off. You prefer not to dwell on the time you made a fool of yourself. You slap your cheeks to concentrate as you haste down the stairs and into the cold garden. Intuitively, you apologize to the grown women you find standing in wait there. Tugela thanks you once again. Virginia gives you a short, cold nod and then begins to raise above the ground in a baffling fashion – it is only then you comprehend she is already standing on a broom – it is just so much smaller and thinner than her.

Not a woman of many words, is she? You ponder how people will react to seeing an officer of the Blue Rose Magic Knight Group going on group dates before you notice that Tugela, too, is already flying and ready to go. You take a deep breath before, unlike Wardress who is literally standing on her broom and Tugela who is, once again, swinging from her broom by her kneepits, you simply sit on your broom your release your mana. Once again, you struggle heavily to balance control with the broom however, with every use it gets easier for you to do so; it is a good practice, too, you might find yourself missing such an exercise when it is repaired. Quickly, you catch up with them.

You reach the city of Kraal by the break of sundown, yet the neighbouring town is anything but lifeless. The streets you land on are jam-packed with people of all sorts, although they are mostly commoners. This place appears to be the town’s centre – it’s heart; none of the houses look pale – they are all well-kept yet, at the same time, appear ancient. The woods of almost all the balconies, windows and roofs are carved with convoluted symbols and painted in bright colours. The main road and streets breaking from it deeper into the city are well maintained and paved with glass-like pebbles which mirror the flames of flower-like lamps located all across the street. The Goat Knight follows Virginia and leads you into of the dozen taverns currently open and bursting with life. Won’t people see you here?

“I believe we are here,” Tugela exclaims as she follows through a busy floor towards one of the empty rooms. She jams the cloth to block the three of you from view – you notice that they are wearing more-of-a-casual clothing than usual, and they are missing their Blue Rose cloaks, as well. Sadly for you, not that you have any intention on taking this seriously, the only clothing you have is this. As you wake up from your thoughts, you realize Tugela is rubbing something very slimy over your head. You jump away and run your hand over your hair to spot a yellowish liquid.

“W-what is this?” you show your tongue in disgust.

“Don’t waste that, little tailor,” Tugela complains, “It’s a magical potion that will change the colour of your hair to…” she pauses, “We’ll have to see. Wait, don’t cry, it will easily wash away in the maorning. We just need to hide our identities.” She waves her finger as she points to Wardress Virginia who is silently brushing the potion into her hair.

“We need to hide our identities?” you question.

“We can’t let others know the maembers of the Blue Rose are going on dates,” she opens another similar vial and pours the entire content of it over her ivory hair – such a concentrate begins to quickly and magically dye her hair pitch-black, with streaks of red, as if burning far away comets, present above her forehead. You look at your hand and, with no use to argue now, you rub the liquid deeper into your roots. You meet eyes with Virginia who’s previously dark-green hair is now bright-blue and practically sparkling. You flinch as the tall woman suddenly approaches you, but she simply lifts a strand of your still-red hair and, with her usual strict-motherly voice says:

“Don’t miss this part.” This sounds more like an order than a suggestion.

You rub the remaining liquid off your fingers into the strand, and you patiently watch the magic take its effect.

“Why is it turning my hair pink?!” your eyes widen in shock.

Tugela turns her face and tries her damn-hardest to hold her chuckle, “I think it suits you, little tailor.”

“No, it doesn’t… Can I get some other colour?” you plea.

“I do not suggest using the potion a second time, there is a chance to lose all your hair then,” Virginia aloofly warns.

“Why did you give me a potion that turns my hair pink, Tugela?!” you, rather meekly, begin to shake her.

“The potions change the colour half-randomaly half-according to your real colour,” she explains as she rubs your, now pink(!) hair, with her hand, “I tell you; you look great. Boys like a girl with a pink hair, I can promaise you that.”

You harrumph and pout at her. Tugela repeats her promise that your hair will return to its natural colour before she removes the hairpins holding both of her horn-like buns together to let her hair spread. For a moment, you are afraid they are going to somehow change the way their eyes look as well, but that does not seem to be the case.

Finally, the three of you leave into a well-lit and warm corridor to enter a separate wing of the tavern where a table is set and prepared with shiny gilded plates and similar tableware lying in wait. Each of the plates have a napkin folded in shape of a unique animal – yours is a flamingo. You decide not to worry about how much tonight is going to cost the boys for now. The only other things on the oak table are empty mugs and numerous, gilded candelabras.

“We’re here!” Tugela exclaims to the boys with her arms open: she does not even bother to change her personality.

“H-hello,” one of the three people opposite – and the only boy in this group – greets her. He’s a head shorter than you, but he seems about your age. He is wearing a sartorial semi-formal black costume – something that looks way out of place between the casual clothing everyone else seems to be wearing. He has a freshly-washed, golden-brown hair barely reaching his ears and grey, oily eyes. His face is sweating… this is likely his first time here, just like yours.

The other person is a tall – although not as tall as Virginia – man in his late twenties. He has a lovely, ginger hair and a long, smooth beard. His haircut has shaved sides and a mohawk, and there are two braids going over his sides. The man’s beard is, too, weaved into a single, long braid with several metal rings across it. The person is wearing a casual yet formal, long white shirt with two thick leather belts – one across his chest and other across his torso – present. Despite being tall, the man looks extremely feeble and lathy, and it even shows over his face. Someone bring dinner.

The third person is about the same age as Tugela. He has a long, white hair around his sides and back and unlike his friend, he is clean shaven. His eyes are green-blue with a strange, golden-sparkle in them and they are inspecting the three of you closely. He is wearing a warm red flannel shirt with checked pattern and dark, blue pants. Weird…

“Well, I’ll start but I’ma going to be short in my starter,” Tugela’s expression changes when she notices the last man, “They call mae Bertha, Imma a sheep herder not far froma here.”

No, you’re not.

“Irene,” Virginia speaks emptily as she takes a sit in front of the, “I teach children in another town.”

A teacher?!

It’s your turn town…

> “I am Cynthia, I work as tailor in Kikka.”
> “My name is Fiora, I am a waitress from around here.”
> “Crystal. My parents are wealthy businessmen but I am currently preparing to become a Magic Knight.”
> [Write In]

>>3949864
> “Crystal. My parents are wealthy businessmen but I am currently preparing to become a Magic Knight.”

Oh the tangled webs we'll weave!

>>3949864
>> “My name is Fiora, I am a waitress from around here.”

idk what we should go with so lets go with this

>>3949864
>> “My name is Fiora, I am a waitress from around here.”

>>3949864
>> “My name is Fiora, I am a waitress from around here.”

>>3949955
Even if we say our real name I don't think it will cause any trouble to Tugela and the other girl since we are not technically part of Blue Rose.

>>3950006
true

>>3950008
I'll probably support the waitress option too just in case.

>>3950038
Personally, I just want to see the irony of Tugella and the Wardress pretending to be normal women while Cynthia pretends to be a Magic Knight, or at least a Magic Knight in training.

>>3950048
That would be funny. Changing my vote to
> “Crystal. My parents are wealthy businessmen but I am currently preparing to become a Magic Knight.”

>>3949864
>> “Crystal. My parents are wealthy businessmen but I am currently preparing to become a Magic Knight.”

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>3949875
>>3950071
>>3950769

>>3949955
>>3949959
>>3949964

>Rolling to decide between the two.

“Crystal. My parents are wealthy businessmen but I am currently preparing to become a Magic Knight.”

Virginia remains calm but Tugela perks her eyebrow and turns her head in surprise. You glance back at her with raised shoulders. What? This is as far from the truth as you can push, are you not supposed to be pretending either?

“A Magic Knight?” the man sitting in the seat in front of Tugela baritones, “That’s an interesting goal, Crystal.”

You clear your throat before you turn back to him – the boy next to him is looking at you with visible astonishment.

“And you are?” you ask the white-haired, lumberjack-looking man with a fake(?) note of aristocracy in your voice.

He glances to his left to the young boy, “I believe Arthur here wanted to introduce himself first. Oh, sorry Arthur.”

The boy pouts and nervously adjusts the neck of his costume. Red in face, he looks at Tugela, then at Virginia and finally, he looks at you. Awkwardly, he stands up from his seat, “I am Arthur. M-my family are blacksmiths here!”

You give Arthur a short but welcoming nod but, dubiously, you turn your eyes back to the evading man. He, however, playfully claps to his friend and then turns his hands towards the tall man. The man holds an excruciatingly long pause glancing back at the white-haired one but eventually, he drowsily pushes his weak body forward, “Name – Kristof. Family – seven sons, mother and father. Age – twenty-nine. Work – woodwork. Dream – big household.”

He gives each one of you three a long, individual bow. Virginia scoffs, she is not impressed by his verbal quirk.

You burry your eyes deeper into the anonymous man, “And -you-?”

“Best for last, beautiful Crystal,” he says and begins to expose his naked shoulder by lowering his shirt for some rea- oh, he has a black tattoo in form of a mantis, “You can call me Labrys tonight. I am a Green Mantis Magic Knight.”

A Magic Knight? You throw a quick glance to Tugela’s reaction – to your surprise, she looks nervous and unhappy.

“If you have any questions about becoming a Magic Knight, I might answer them,” he rubs his fingers together…

“How about we order somae drinks and maels first,” Tugela suggest as she raises her hand to call the waitress.

“We already took care of that,” Labrys gives her a sharp smile. Tugela hems at him and crosses her hands – she looks mightily disappointed. What is going on? “I must say, you have a very interesting accent, Bertha.” The man smiles.

“Yeah,” the Goat Knight answers after a brief, hesitating pause, “It’s how we speak in may family.”

“I did not see or heard about any sheep farms around here?” he keeps pushing with his questions, “Is it new one?”

“No, we are just not that big to be on the maps,” she grunts back at him, “We keep to ourselves and sell to shops.”

“I see,” he nods his head playfully as the waitresses begin to bring food. Roasted beef, lasagne, boiled lobster, stew from exotic mushrooms, meat and cheese plate and they just keep bringing more. In just a blink, the empty table transmutes into something you would see in a dining room of nobles. This is way above Kristof and Arthur, does that mean Labrys is paying for everything here – as he is a Magic Knight? That would make sense? Soon after, the waitresses finish the table with an iron mug of ale for each, but certainly not the last. Tugela looks disappointed.

Labrys crosses his fingers together on the table, “Is ale not to your liking, lovely Bertha? If you want, we can order…”

“It’s fine,” she mutters angrily before she grabs you by your shoulder and attempts to pull you away from the table. “Excuse us, I need Cy-Crystal here to help mae with something. We’ll return you won’t even notice we are gone…”

“Of course,” Labrys comments as he turns to Virginia, “Is there anything not to your liking here, Irene?”

Virginia looks back at him with a stern glare and then shakes her head, “We should start before it turns cold.”

You decide not to create a scene and allow yourself to be dragged behind the tables and into the empty corner.

“What’s going on, Tugela?”

“It’s Labrys,” she sighs and groans and allows her arms to fall in exaggerated manner, “Labrys Adzefrene. I hate hima, he’s stingy and annoying and shallow. Switch seats with me, Cynthia.” She puts her hands together in visible plea.

“You want me to sit with a man four years older than me?” you ask her in doubt.

“He knows who I ama, if he’s going to keep making fun of mea I’ll going to have to punch hima! I don’t want to.”

“Even if I sit right across him for tonight, how am I going to keep his attention away from you?”

“You told hima you are interested in becoming a Magic Knight, right? You can talk about that all date!”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that…”

Adzefrene… Adzefrene… Why does that surname sound so familiar? Adzefrene… Right, that is one of the families that are the members of the White Yul. The Adzefrenes own couple of extremely expensive yet popular woodwork workshops on the High Street – your father is likely to hire them for repairs. Still, have you ever met or seen Labrys?

Thankfully, even if he ever met you it was a very long time ago…

> “I’m sorry Tugela, but I already did my part and agreed to come to this mixer. I want to at least enjoy it a little bit.”
> “Very well. In return, you’ll help me in my workshop when you are not busy with your missions.”
> “I see you have some uncomfortable history with this Labrys fellow. Even if we switch seats, he’ll still be near.”
> [Write In]

>>3951028
>> “Very well. In return, you’ll help me in my workshop when you are not busy with your missions.”

>>3951028
>> “Very well. In return, you’ll help me in my workshop when you are not busy with your missions.”

>>3951028
>> “I see you have some uncomfortable history with this Labrys fellow. Even if we switch seats, he’ll still be near.”

>>3951028
> “Very well. In return, you’ll help me in my workshop when you are not busy with your missions.”
By that we mean in our Kikka workshop of course! Or is that too much?

>>3951161
Yeah, I don't see why we would want to send her to our dad's place.

>>3951193
Free labor, we already did so many favors for her.

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>>3951161
>Sorry, Cynthia means until the Blue Rose challenge. Bump because creating new threads is a pain and I want to squeeze as much from this one as possible. Goodnight and see you next update.

“I see you have some uncomfortable history with this Labrys fellow. Even if we switch seats, he’ll still be near.”

“History, yep,” she bites her cheek from inside and chews it for a couple of seconds, “It’s a long story to tell so maybe somae other time, little tailor. Near – I don’t maind, as long as he’s not concentrated on mae alone.”

Pondering this carefully, you clunkily run a strand of your pinkish hair between your fingers.

“Very well. In return, you’ll help me in my workshop when you are not busy with your missions.”

She beams, “I already promised I would help you with your dress problema tonight, right?”

You shake your head rather slowly, “If you want me to switch seats with you and keep what-his-name all evening busy I want you to help me with my tailoring duties for the rest of the week. I will teach you the basics, if needed.”

Tugela frowns and puckers her cheeks. Suddenly, she takes a step forwards and swings her head towards you. You are caught off-guard as her forehead painfully bumps into yours and you have to take a step back. You yelp in pain.

“W-what was that for?” you cover your bruise with your hands. You squint at Tugela though the tears.

“Did that convince you?” she questions innocently as you notice a similar bruise violating her forehead.

“No,” you wince.

She sighs and rolls her orange eyes, “You are maore of a maerchant than a tailor, little Cynthia.”

You give her a small, aching smile, “You have to be both to survive on the High Street.”

“Fine,” she drops and sways her pasta-like arms towards the ground, “I promaise I will help you with your… work.”

You both return back to the table, where you find a strange discussion – or something more akin to argument –being had between Virginia and Kristof. Despite the strange and brief way Kristof talks-like, the Wardress seems to be able to answer him in kind(?). From what you can hear, it sounds like they are quarrelling about the correct way of raising and disciplining children and young siblings, with Virginia being for harsh discipline and strict punishment.

“I-is everything alright?” Arthur, the young boy, murmurs as he notices yours and Tugela’s bruises.

“Yes,” Tugela smiles to him in a somewhat coy manner. She ignores Labrys completely and takes a sit in front of Arthur. “You look young, is this your first timae going to a maixer?” She looks at the ale inside her mug and grimaces.

“It is, B-Bertha,” he repeats nervously as he also takes the mug into his hands.

It one single gulp she downs the entire mug of ale and, rather discreetly, she puts a yul coin into the empty iron. You watch Tugela lean closer to the boy and seductively, whisper, “How about we go get somae real drinks, like wine?”

Arthur blushes even harder. He and Tugela stand up, bow to the rest of the table and soon leave to buy other drinks.

You budge uncomfortable in your seat as – since Virginia and Kristof as still deep-rooted in their talks – you and Labrys are left practically alone. With a smug smile he points one of his fingers at your bruise, “Did you hit anything on your way here, beautiful Crystal? I really like your name, I must say, you do resemble a rose quartz a little bit.”

“I do?” You shake your head – what did Tugela say? He was stingy, shallow and annoying? Keep that in mind Cynthia, you are not having this date to find a boyfriend – you realize how ridiculous that might sound if said out loud. “Y-yes,” you take the ale into your hands but as soon as you take a single sip, you place it back in disgust, “Low ceilings.”

“You have to be careful,” he continues to look you straight in the eyes, you have to glance away to not get worn-out.

“You are right,” you decide to take penetrate a piece of cheese with your fork and put it to your lips. It looks as if Labrys is not really that interested in Tugela, or he finds you interesting as well… There is no way he remembers.

“If the ale is not to your liking, beautiful Crystal, we can order other things – certainly, you prefer expensive drinks?”

“I am fine with wine,” you say.

Alright, Cynthia…

> Pick three:

> Ask Labrys why he decided to become a Magic Knight and what is his opinion about the job and Green Mantis.
> Reveal what are the things you looking the most forward to as a Magic Knight – the open world of adventure.
> Ask Labrys what he can tell you about the Entrance Exam and what steps you should take to get ready for one.
> Ask Labrys how often he goes to group dates and what sort of girl he is looking to find.
> Confront Labrys about Tugela and ask him if he knew she was going to be here; what is their history?
> Ask Labrys about Arthur and Kristof. If they are friends, how did they met and if they want to become Knights too?
> Push Labrys about his Adzefrene name and ask him if he had any problem with convincing his parents about becoming a Magic Knight, as that is what you are (falsely) having to deal with because of your merchant parents.
> Talk about stereotypical aristocratic things like gems and make yourself as stingy and upper-lip as possible.
> [Write In]

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>>3952299
>> Reveal what are the things you looking the most forward to as a Magic Knight – the open world of adventure.
> Ask Labrys why he decided to become a Magic Knight and what is his opinion about the job and Green Mantis.
> Ask what Labrys thinks about the other Magic Knight squads.
> Ask Labrys how often he goes to group dates and what sort of girl he is looking to find.

The weak should fear the strong, Cynthia!

>>3952299
>> Ask Labrys why he decided to become a Magic Knight and what is his opinion about the job and Green Mantis.
> Ask what Labrys thinks about the other Magic Knight squads.
> Ask Labrys about Arthur and Kristof. If they are friends, how did they met and if they want to become Knights too?

>>3952299
> Push Labrys about his Adzefrene name and ask him if he had any problem with convincing his parents about becoming a Magic Knight, as that is what you are (falsely) having to deal with because of your merchant parents.
> Ask Labrys why he decided to become a Magic Knight and what is his opinion about the job and Green Mantis.
> Ask Labrys what he can tell you about the Entrance Exam and what steps you should take to get ready for one.

>>3952299
> Reveal what are the things you looking the most forward to as a Magic Knight – the open world of adventure.
> Ask Labrys why he decided to become a Magic Knight and what is his opinion about the job and Green Mantis.
> Ask him about our father and home maybe he heard something about our case. Phrase it as our father is extended family and he is 'fathers' trade contact we sell better quality textile too. We simply worry if evrything allright with him.
>>3952358
> Pick three:

>>3952358
We need to train our forehead.

>>3952358
>If you could pick three that would be swell.
>>3952585
>You forgot to pick anything, friend. But yes, Tugela's forehead is much bigger and sturdier.

>Update will be later today.

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>>3953570
>Tugela's forehead is much bigger and sturdier.
Well I think I know what our next little project will be

>>3953570
>>If you could pick three that would be swell.
Okay then, just these three. IP might have changed:

> Reveal what are the things you looking the most forward to as a Magic Knight – the open world of adventure.
> Ask Labrys why he decided to become a Magic Knight and what is his opinion about the job and Green Mantis.
> Ask Labrys how often he goes to group dates and what sort of girl he is looking to find.

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> [4] Ask Labrys why he decided to become a Magic Knight and what is his opinion about the job and Green Mantis.
> [2] Reveal what are the things you looking the most forward to as a Magic Knight – the open world of adventure.

At first, he raises his eyebrow at your request. Why did you even ask for wine in the first place, Stupinthia?! Labrys is, as if on purpose, unhurried about breaking the awkward pause. He takes a piece of cheese and puts it in his mouth.

His eyes open wide as he then clicks his fingers together and places the edge of his knuckle to his lips.

“M-m-m, you have to try this, beautiful Crystal, this is well worth 100 yul,” he exclaims with honest satisfaction.

“I-if you insist,” you, too, chew on the surprisingly tasty cheese.

He smacks his middle fingers several times against the table’s surface and then points them straight at you, “Of course, you are Bertha’s friends after all, lovely Crystal, I shouldn’t be surprised you admire a good wine as much as she. We can order some, no problem. Let’s see…” he pauses, “I know a good bottle for 10,000 yul, let’s take that.”

“I’m fine with the cheapest one they got,” you assure him as you scuffle in your seat. No wine is worth that price.

He looks at you in surprise. He continues to hold a neutral, rather contented expression over his face as he calls the waitress and, without insisting otherwise or even arguing with you, he calmly asks for the cheapest wine they have.

You give him a thankful nod and, once again, he looks outright bemused by you.

“200 yul for their cheapest bottle,” he says and motions to the mug of ale you have – in grateful gesture, you push it towards him. Unlike you, it does not take the man long to half-empty the content into himself. He licks his lips clean from foam and ponders, “Maybe I was wrong, cute Crystal, how come you -don’t- know the value of a good wine?”

“I know,” you lie, “But I don’t want you to spend tonight more than you already did.”

Yet again, he pauses and blinks. He looks inside his mug and decides against taking another sip so rapidly…

“Let’s talk instead,” you smile at him and he smiles back, “Why did you decide to become a Magic Knight?”

“That’s easy,” he leans his head forward for a moment and then straightens his neck back, “Money.”

“M-money?” you are puzzled by his question. Is that really a good enough reason to become kingdom’s protector?

He rubs his fingers together, “What I was doing before chained me to one place, and it did not add any value to my name,” he stops mid-sentence, as if skipping several words, “It was boring, delightful Crystal, being a Magic Knight is the most respected and envied and well-paid job in all of the kingdom, ‘sides being the Magic Emperor, of course.”

You deliberate on his answer in – ignoring Virginia’s and Kristof’s still continuing argument – silence.

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“Do you enjoy your time in the Green Mantis? What kind of Magic Group are they?”

He somehow manages to combine a grimace and a chuckle, “If I were to worth my Magic Group, I would say that commoners who greatly -value- autonomy, hard work, shoving it to the nobles and exciting clashes will like it there.”

That is, indeed, the type of group you imagine the infamous Jack the Ripper, with all his bad reputation, to lead…

“What about you, charming Crystal? Why do you want to become a Magic Knight?”

You give a thankful and approving nod to the waitress who brings a murky-glass bottle of red wine. You raise your hand to take it but, in awkward gesture, she uncorks it herself and pours a full glass she brought together with it. Fiddly, you glance at her and accept the glass. You pray you are not as weak as Elvira as you take a sip of the alcohol.

It tastes worse than muddy water, only with a harsh kick of spoiled berries and ginger(?). You cover your cough.

“M-me?” you repeat his question in your mind. Maybe Tugela really knows more about wine than you. Still, the horrible taste soon vanishes and relaxing haze begins to fill your mind. You thank the skies your father does not see what you are doing right now. You make another alcoholic swing. Now you can’t help but smile. “Lots of money does sound good, Labrys, and I would lie to say I do not need that.” You cough once again – this wine is really foul. You take another sip. “But… what I am really excited about is a world of adventure, outside of this town and kingdom!”

He nods. The colour of his green-blue eyes begins to mix into a muddy rainbow.

“I do not know whenever to disappoint or reassure you, fair Crystal,” he says and bites into the stew he previously put on his plate, “Oh, this isn’t that good. They say the mushrooms are exotic, but this taste is not worth 500 yul.” He looks at your impatiently-waiting-for-an-answer face, “Ah, yes. We do go on expeditions and adventures, we often visit the Grand Magic Zones and the Dungeons, as well as venture into the neutral zone – although, as much as my heart desires it, they will never allow me to enter the Witch’s Forest.” He jokes. “However, pleasant Crystal, the only reason a Magic Knight would go to Spade or Diamond Kingdoms is to wage war against them… not much adventure.”

Oh… of course, that figured. You lean on your hand to support your wobbling head. The kingdoms are at war…

“Is that so?!” Virginia’s magical turbulence echoes the room. It makes your already spiralling drunkenness worse.

You wince your eyes to see Kristof and Virginia battling it off. In a sense. They have their iron mugs tightly pressed against each other and, despite being much weaker than Virginia’s in body and mana, Kristof is able to fence her.

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You quickly stand up once you feel oatmeal of food escaping your stomach. Luckily, Labrys is able to see what is going on and he takes your hand to hastily lead you outside your ‘mixer room’, then across the tavern floor and then away from any prying eyes behind one of the least-seen walls. You don’t want to be an embarrassment of Kraal…

“Elegant Crystal,” he – obviously – jokes at your bent and nauseous self, “You… don’t drink often, do you?”

“It’s been a while,” you lie to him… Is it still too early to consider you have a ‘horrible luck with dating’ curse?

Thankfully, now that your stomach is free, you don’t feel drunk enough to heal yourself -yet-…

>>> You don’t feel like returning to the tavern right now, but is it safe to go around Kraal with Labrys alone?

> Return back to the tavern – now that your head and stomach are cleared you can battle a few more hours.
> Ask Labrys if he is willing to go stall-shopping around the town’s centre. You could use some fresh air.
> Offer to Labrys to go to the Finalis half-pub instead: it should be much cheaper and you can visit the shop again.
> Apologize and ask Labrys to return back to the tavern without you. Wait until the mixer is over – sorry Tugela!

>>> Pick three topics to discuss further if you decide to stay with Labrys:

> Ask Labrys how often he goes to group dates and what sort of girl he is looking to find.
> Ask what Labrys thinks about the other Magic Knight squads.
> Ask Labrys what he can tell you about the Entrance Exam and what steps you should take to get ready for one.
> Ask Labrys about Arthur and Kristof. If they are friends, how did they met and if they want to become Knights too?
> Push Labrys about his Adzefrene name and ask him if he had any problem with convincing his parents about becoming a Magic Knight, as that is what you are (falsely) having to deal with because of your merchant parents.
> Ask him about your father and home. Maybe he heard something? Phrase it as our father is extended family and we can benefit his family with better quality linen contracts. Your simply worry if everything alight with your dad.
> [Write In]

>>3954271
> Ask Labrys if he is willing to go stall-shopping around the town’s centre. You could use some fresh air.

> Ask Labrys how often he goes to group dates and what sort of girl he is looking to find.
> Ask what Labrys thinks about the other Magic Knight squads.
> Ask Labrys about Arthur and Kristof. If they are friends, how did they met and if they want to become Knights too?

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>I wish you guys would leave a comment - even if it's negative - from time to time, as just going from post to selected choices feels a bit robotic. Forgive me for being irksome and thank you for playing so far. Much gratitude for those who do.

>>3954271
>> Return back to the tavern – now that your head and stomach are cleared you can battle a few more hours.
> Ask Labrys how often he goes to group dates and what sort of girl he is looking to find.
> Ask what Labrys thinks about the other Magic Knight squads.
> Ask Labrys about Arthur and Kristof. If they are friends, how did they met and if they want to become Knights too?

>>3954442
well i have said this before but i often can't come up with what to say

>>3954271
>> Apologize and ask Labrys to return back to the tavern without you. Wait until the mixer is over – sorry Tugela!

>>3954271
> Ask Labrys if he is willing to go stall-shopping around the town’s centre. You could use some fresh air.

> Ask Labrys what he can tell you about the Entrance Exam and what steps you should take to get ready for one.
> Ask Labrys about Arthur and Kristof. If they are friends, how did they met and if they want to become Knights too?
> Ask him about your father and home. Maybe he heard something? Phrase it as our father is extended family and we can benefit his family with better quality linen contracts. Your simply worry if everything alight with your dad.

>>3954442
You are doing good job QM. Now that I think about it we have friend that can copy currency and if evrything went ok there is boy wirking for our father that would be great at smuggling that currency to neighboring kingdoms... We can become crime lord this kingdom is not ready for. XD

> [2] Ask Labrys how often he goes to group dates and what sort of girl he is looking to find.
> [2] Ask what Labrys thinks about the other Magic Knight squads.
> [3] Ask Labrys about Arthur and Kristof. If they are friends, how did they met and if they want to become Knights too?

“Labrys,” you use your sleeve to clean your lips, “I could use some fresh air.”

“No rush, beautiful Crystal,” he smiles, “We can wait here until you feel better.”

You shake your head inelegantly away from him, “It looks like the town centre is extremely lively today, I was thinking about going around the stalls to see if there is anything interesting there… do you want to join me?”

He hums, “But we still have untouched food inside the tavern, like the 1000 yul lobster. It is going to get cold.”

You put your hands behind your back, “It’s fine if you don’t want to, I’ll just go by myself – thanks for the company.”

Scowls form over his eyes as he pushes his open hand forwards, “No, wait… I can’t let you go alone.”

You glance to your left, then to right in an attempt to remember the way back to the town street. With a doubting decision, you choose to trust your gut and follow the sounds of the uproar. Labrys glances back to the tavern but soon joins you by your side – so close, he resembles a way older brother. You soon enter the bright lights and the sparkling streets of the main road: the smells of dozens of food stalls hits your nostrils and the heat of fires cuddles your body. You pass by a thick crowd of people until you reach an open stall offering some meals and mulled wine.

There are also a few empty chairs here. Perfect. Taking the charge, you invite the man towards the seating area and place your rear on the warm pillow. The owner is a plumb, young man with long, olive moustache and bald head.

“Ho, a couple,” he speaks in ruff voice and you begin to feverishly shake your head to convince him otherwise.

He corks his eyebrow and suspiciously narrows his eyes, “Ho, no? You don’t look like siblings. Ho, not my problem.”

“What can you offer us, roundball?” Labrys rudely calls the owner as he then, without question, puts two 100-yul coins on the counter of the food stand; you do not even have the time to argue for splitting the bill or offering to pay yourself – and now it would be rude. Is he really suppose to be stingy, Tugela? You can only offer him a thankful nod.

The owner harrumphs at first, but he decides to ignore the name-call in exchange of the attractive coin jingle. He pauses to – rather slowly – calculate the value of the coins Labrys gave him. “Ho, the name is Ronald. R-O-N-A-L-D,” he pauses, “Ho, that will be enough for a few drinks – my speciality is mulled wine – and a plate of cheese fritters.”

Labrys leans closer to owner to whisper something to him. Ronald glances at you, sways his hand and reassuringly nods before whispering something back. The owner of the stall turns to hanging iron pot, that smells like pines and citrus, above the fire, grabs two tall iron mugs and, with professionalism, dips both of them into the pot. He places the two full mugs of sweet-smelling wine in front of you and Labrys. He didn’t do anything different to your drink...

“What did you ask?” you ask Labrys. Your glare insists on an honest answer.

He pauses, “Lovely Crystal, I was just asking how strong this drink is. He reassured me it is weak, so… cheers.”

He raises his mug towards you and, per etiquette of the drinking culture, you have no choice but to do the same.

You take a dreadful sip. Oh. Oh! This is so different, there are practically no noticeable hints of alcohol in this drink.

“So,” you place your hands on the counter once the warmth of the drink begins to make you sleepy. “How often do you go on group dates, Labrys? If you don’t mind me asking, what is the sort of girl you are looking to find here?”

He hides half of his face behind the massive iron mug, “What a question, lovely Crystal. I see, you want to know if you are my type,” he quickly comes to a conclusion – you don’t tell him wherever it’s right or wrong. “I will answer honestly,” he exposes his guard by lowering the mug back on the counter stand, “But I want an honest answer too.”

“That’s fair,” you smile at him.

“This will be my tenth time,” he admits honestly, “But not because I am that hard to please, adorable Crystal.
I am not looking for a long-term relationship. An evening company of a beautiful and interesting girl is enough.”

“Is it really?” you echo as you sip more on your mulled wine.

“Yourself?”

“This is my first time on a group date,” you admit to him only to see another shocked expression of his. “I… was invited by Bertha to attend, but I had no intention to find myself a man tonight. It’s good our interests line up.”

“It was obvious you switched seats with Bertha because she asked you to,” he comments before taking a small grilled cheese crouton in his hand, “You did not look that enticed by me, dazzling Crystal, to offer it yourself.”

“Sorry,” you admit – there is no use denying it now, this person is rather perceptive, “I won’t comment on that.”

“So, what sort of man are you looking for?”

“You did not answer that part of the question.”

He sneers, “Perceptive, but I did. Not right now, but perhaps somebody as interesting as you.”

“H-huh? Interesting?” you cough on the warm wine, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“This is my first time seeing a girl outright refusing an expensive drink, and being so adamant about her choices.”

You open your mouth only to silently look at him. Finally, you come with a witty response:

“You really had to try to come up with a compliment that fits me, didn’t you?” You shake your head - how dishonest. “My father wants me to marry eventually, but that will be much harder as a Magic Knight, won’t it? Perhaps a loyal, hard-working, honest, charming person who will be just as crazy as me about adventures but just as grounded as I am about it will be a perfect fit for me. That is not the sort of person you can meet during a group date, however.”

He smiles as his teeth bite into the fried bread, “No, angelic Crystal. Likely not.”

You allow the awkward air between you two to settle over a minute of silence. You glance at owner who is now busy serving other customers on the opposite side of the stall – you do not need any droll commentaries right now…

“Kristof and Arthur are your friends, aren’t they? How come you are the only person who’s a Magic Knight?”

“Arthur is too young, the first exam he can possibly take is six months away. I am his uncle. He is shy, as you seen, so I’m trying to help him break out of his shell. Kristof is extremely dedicated to his orphanage and his job, as the sort of person he is, he is never going to trade that to become a Knight. He’s just searching for a good wife, you see.”

You nod, “They sound like good people. Bertha just might break him out of his shelf, and Irene… um… maybe?”

The two of you ponder and lightly chuckle on that possibility. That is very unlikely to happen.

“What do you think about the Magic Knights? How do they compare to the Green Mantis?”

He touches the edge of his lips – you notice several of the young girls and boys stop as soon as they hear the name of the group. “There is not much I can say that will be different from usual opinion, marvellous Crystal. I know, if you can tell me what sort of magic affinity and form you have, I can tell you where you might fit in, precious Crystal.”

You put your hand on your pouch. “Linen Magic. My most used spell is-”

“You are the Gualdo girl, are you not?”

Damn it…

“W-what do you mean?” you glance away from his glare and chuckle sheepishly.

His small grows just a tiny bit ominous, “I only know two people with linen magic – Francis’ wife and his daughter.”

You frown and slap the table. Your brown eyes glare through him.

“Although I remember her having red hair last time I was there, delicate Cynthia. Pink hair suits you.”

No, it doesn’t!

Your infuriation explodes as if a jar, “If you figured it all out, can you stop with the ‘beautiful’ prefixes?”

“I decided to play along, despite the name, I feel you were pretty honest. I was wonder what you were after. It took me a while, and I was surprised to see you accompanying that goat-face Tugela. You are with the Blue Rose now?”

“What did you think I was after?”

“Oh, the obvious. Either my father asked you to convince me to return or you want to get close to White Yul family in hope that, following such a relationship, you will be able to expand the profits and reputation of your family further.”

>What is he even implying here?!

> “It’s no wonder why the Adzefrene family is so influential now, with their son working as a Magic Knight.”
> “I knew it, you were just pretending. Tugela was right, you are as vile in personality as the rest of the White Yul.”
> “You heard the truth, Labrys. I don’t care about the High Street; I want to become a Magic Knight.”
> “That workshop means everything to me, but I would rather become a Magic Knight than marry to save it.”
> “We don’t want to expand… I just want my workshop to stay. This is the only reason I’m with the Blue Rose.”
> [Write In]

>>3955162
> “That workshop means everything to me, but I would rather become a Magic Knight than marry to save it.”

>>3955162
>> “That workshop means everything to me, but I would rather become a Magic Knight than marry to save it.”

>> “That workshop means everything to me, but I would rather become a Magic Knight than marry to save it.”

>>3955162
>> “That workshop means everything to me, but I would rather become a Magic Knight than marry to save it.”

>>3955923
I gotta say, I wasn't expecting things to play out quite they have, but it's been pretty interesting so far. This is really giving Cynthia an outlet to vent the feelings she's been harboring underneath the surface this entire time but never seemed to be able to admit to herself out loud.

>>3955162
> “That workshop means everything to me, but I would rather become a Magic Knight than marry to save it.”

But I would like add something of her being unsure if she is fitted for that position of seamstress. Wondering if it wouldn't be better of joining knights.

“That workshop means everything to me, but I would rather become a Magic Knight than marry to save it.”

“And what will you do if you fail the Entrance Exam?” he puts one of his hand over the counter.

“What if I fail the… Entrance Exam?” you slowly repeat his words - they echo in your mind. That’s very possible.

“It is harsh, a hundred people attend every year but only twenty of them are able to join a Squad.”

“I… Of course, then I will… continue to work as a tailor. I am currently trying to get a position in the Blue Rose.”

He beats his fingers against the surface, “You should leave the High Street and settle your shop somewhere else.”

“W-why are you saying that? There is no competition between our shops.”

He sighs and rubs the edge of his nose, “Cynthia, I made it clear? I don’t care what happens in Kikka, I -cut- that part of me because the politics of the High Street and the White Yul are bothersome, gruesome and just not worth it…”

“All of that is still worth it,” you insist, “My parents worked all their life to open that shop, I won’t just sell it!”

“But do you care about owning a shop on the High Street?” he runs his hand through his white hair, “Cynthia.”

In a brazenly bothersome, annoying and outright stingy manner, Labrys repeats his question.

“Of course, I do,” you repeat, “It was my mother’s and father’s dr-”

“It’s not your dream, at least, that’s not what I heard from you when you felt safe enough to tell the truth when you were pretending to be somebody else – the beautiful Crystal – or am I wrong? Didn’t we find a common ground?”

“We…” you bite your lips, “we did not. If I can’t be a Magic Knight, I will be content with becoming a seamstress, a head tailor, in the Blue Rose headquarters. All the yul I will earn will be send to my workshop in Kikka to save it.”

“You won’t be able to visit Kikka often if you become a tailor in the Blue Rose, sweet Cynthia. And as a Magic Knight, you will even busier to look and support your workshop if it’s currently struggling, and winter months are still to follow. But, of course, you and your father are competent – I remember, but Francis is going to get older and older each year. Even if he can run the shop by himself once you move away to earn money elsewhere, what will you do when he longer able to? Will you quit your job as a Magic Knight – as a head tailor in the Blue Rose? What if it happens sooner than you expected? Will you be able to sustain the workshop by your strength alone? Will you consider the marriage then? A husband will be very useful in such a situation, as well as some kids to help you…”

Tears begin to gather under your tired eyes. No, you are not crying – you are not emotional. Don’t cry, Cynthia…

“I-I-I… I want to know too…” Damn it, you can’t stop those tears dripping down your cheeks.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry! There is no value in girl’s tears! I was a bit too neg-”

“Impact Magic: Horned Goat Headbutt!”

A powerful ivory-rose burst of wind and magic in shape of an angry goat smashes between you – closer to Labrys. The covers of the stall are immediately sent flying far high into the air and only leave the shaking, wooden pillars standing. The owner of the stall and several of the people previously enjoying their wine drop themselves on the ground for safety. The thick crowd, previously standing as a wall around the stall, quickly scatters away from it.

All eyes are on the dark-haired girl with glowing, orange eyes and a floating grimoire over her hand: Tugela.

“Cy-!” she shouts as she rushes forward towards you, “I mean… what was it? Diamond! What did he do to you?!”

“It’s Crystal,” you cough to free your throat from all the dust, “And he knows.”

“You know how to make a destructive entrance, charming Tugela,” Labrys is holding a grimoire of his own.

“Shut up, axe face!” Tugela grabs you by your shoulder and into a very tight hug, “Sorry, little Cynthia, I didn’t realize you left with him until a while ago! I didn’t maean for anything like this to happen? What did this pervert do to you?”

“I didn’t do anything to her, goat-brain,” Labrys harrumphs, “I can’t believe you forced a girl to replace you as my date because you either couldn’t handle a bit of banter or took a liking to a young boy who can’t say no to you.”

“Y-you…” Tugela straightens her back once she makes sure you are safe; her entire body engulfs in rose flame.

Labrys’s timber-looking grimoire spreads open just below his hand as the pages quickly flicker with brown colour.

“Axe Magic: Sky-Piercer Axe,” he states out loud as his hand submerges into the parchment to take out an enchanted axe from within it. It is a tall, yet small, one-handed axe. The handle is wooden with several massive runic symbols across it. The blade is short and appears to be ‘made’ out of blue iron, with its distinct shine and gloss. You can spot several decorative symbols in white going across the blade, although you can’t really say their meaning.

“W-what’s the big idea?!” the owner of the stall stands up and smashes the counter, “You are scaring away my clients!” He points directly to Tugela, “You destroyed my stall!!! Who is going to pay for the damage, will you?!”

“I’ll pay in full,” Tugela promises as she lets go of her embrace and stands in front of you, “When I’ma done here.”

“I though you were only interested in goats and sheep, but you actually sound jealous,” Labrys says as he points his axe towards the Goat Knight. His eyes meet yours as he extends his other hand towards you, “Cynthia, if you want to become a Magic Knight then I have something I want to show you. If you won’t learn it now, you might regret it.”

Tugela blinks and makes sure to fence you with her arm, “You are not taking her anywhere. Wait, a Magic Knight?”

>Oh, come on!

> Apologize to Tugela and push through her. Hesitantly, grab Labrys’ hand – you might as well dedicate yourself.
> Try to convince them both to calm down as this will only anger their captains. Tell Tugela Labrys did not hurt you.
> Step aside from both Labrys and Tugela and allow them to fight this out – as it looks this will not end peacefully.
> [Write In]

>>3956831
>> Apologize to Tugela and push through her. Hesitantly, grab Labrys’ hand – you might as well dedicate yourself.

Well, this is an interesting situation we've found ourselves in. No half measures!

>>3956831
>> Try to convince them both to calm down as this will only anger their captains. Tell Tugela Labrys did not hurt you.
> Apologize to Tugela and push through her. Hesitantly, grab Labrys’ hand – you might as well dedicate yourself.

some type of combination of these two

>>3956831
> Try to convince them both to calm down as this will only anger their captains. Tell Tugela Labrys did not hurt you.

>>3956829
Hug Tugela and ask her to stop.

Gingerly, you clutch Tugela by her feathery sleeve to grab her attention. In confusion, she turns to look at you.

You shake your head. “It’s alright, Tugela. Please, you two don’t have to fight; he didn’t hurt me in any way.”

“But, little tailor,” Tugela protests; she tries to keep one of her eyes on you and another on Labrys, “I saw it, he made you cry. I know how sleezy he can be, you don’t have to defend hima anymaore – I’ma here to protect you.”

You take a step closer to feebly grip her in an awkward hug, “I am telling you: he didn’t do anything. Calm down.”

The black-haired woman hesitates. Slowly, she allows the bright, rosy glow of her body to settle and vanish and her grimoire to dim – yet, it remains open. She answers the hug and nods, although she stays glaring at Labrys.

“Where are you taking her?” Tugela asks the man, as if a father interrogating potential suitor of her daughter.

Labrys keeps one of his hands tightly over the handle of his enchanted axe, “We will be back in an hour, or less.”

“No,” Tugela strikes her foot like an agitated animal, “-Where- are you taking here?”

Labrys rolls his eyes at Tugela and, once again, extends his hand towards you – in an offer, “Are you going?”

Tugela’s body and hug stiffens as, even when you try to step forwards to meekly accept his invitation, she keeps you by her side. You try to reassure Tugela that you are fine with this, but she does not bulge from her question.

Labrys sighs and steps forwards to approach you. Tugela is forced to take re-open her grimoire in self-defense.

“Mizu, I am going to show her Mizu,” the white-haired mage explains once he points the axe behind himself.

“Why do you need to go to Maizu?”

The minute you catch her mind drifting, you delicately yet hastily break from her hug and rush to grab Labrys by his hand. You try not to give this gesture too much thought, yet you can’t help but blush when he pushes you headfirst and grabs you by your torso – you are not prepared for a boy to be this close. What will happen now?

“Hold tightly,” he lowers the one-handed axe to allow it’s edge to touch the ground… He then turns around and swings it high into the sky. You do not even have the time to comprehend the force with which you are sent soaring through the air in the direction the axe was pointed at; a painful draft of cold air smashes into your face and sends your pink hair flapping as if a struggling tree crown during a hurricane. Your ears deafen almost as soon as you breach through the wet clouds of the night sky, the only warmth you can feel is Labrys’ hand around you...

Once the strange feeling ceases, and the howling winds calm to quiet whisper – you open your eyes. You find yourself thousands of meters above the ground, with only bright flickers of yellow-red dots visible below on the shadow-consumed landscape. You have never been this high before: you are way above even the clouds themselves. Despite the cold and the humidity – you are in no way dressed for such an eccentric adventure – you can’t help but find yourself looking all around you in amazement, even if you can barely see a thing… You raise your eyes to the sky to find every part of the celestial canvas filled with stars of all shapes, colours and brilliance.

Your thoughts are cracked by a chuckle from Labrys, who, you remember, is here too. He is holding the axe that acts as airborne Magic Tool- it is now surging with his unique mana. Your heart begins to beat even faster here.

“Is this your first time flying this high?” you barely manage to distinguish his voice.

“W-why didn’t you warn me w-we would be flying?” you question him despite your tremoring teeth and voice.

“Yes,” he smiles back playfully, “I guess I should’ve. It’s more exciting when you do it for the first time.”

“I-I think I’m going to be sick.”

“You can’t hold your alcohol,” he teases and tightens his grip as you feel your body weaken from fear (?).

“Y-yes I can… just not when you mix it with cloud-breaking flying and Irene’s pressuring mana.”

“I think we are done drinking for now,” he says and his smile shortens just a bit when he looks down below. “We are here,” he says – that was barely five minutes… just how fast is Labrys’ magical flying axe?! You don’t have time to ponder on this thought, however, as you find yourself plummeting just as fast as you were ascending. Yes, you feel like you prefer a magic broom instead. You break his amorous hug once you can feel your feet on the ground.

You are in half-ruins of a town; the torches that brighten the place are infrequent and several stand untreated and defunct. Mizu is a town, you figured out that much, but you have never been here before, or heard it ever mentioned. Despite the late hours, you are still able to identify the damage that has been done to this city.

And the town sounds dead, there are no people dilly-doodling outside, although, several of the houses have light.

“Why are we here, exactly?” you ask less-than-joyful Labrys, “What… happened here?”

“Mizu is a town that borders our Kingdom,” he explains, “And a few days ago, it was attacked by the forces of the Diamond Kingdom.” He waits for you to realize the depth of his implication, “None of the citizens were killed.”

“O-oh,” you sigh a breath of relief as you approach closer to one of the completely destroyed stone buildings.

File: town ruins.jpg (476 KB, 1920x1080)

476 KB JPG

“But,” the man drags his axe against the earthy floor of the building, where dark-red spots are still present, “Many of them were injured, perhaps some of them are still waiting for their wounds to be looked at.” The golden glitter in his irises reflects the flame of a torch nearby, “Many of the invaders were killed, however, and so were ours…”

Killed? Of course, it is only reasonable that people die in wars. “H-how many?” You question unsurely.

“Two of our Magic Knights fell defending the city,” he raises his voice, not to yell, but make himself clearer.

You furrow your brows, “Are you trying to scare me away by telling me this?”

“No, alluring Cynthia,” he places his axe on his shoulder and begins pacing away from the murder scene, “But it is clear you do not go outside Kikka often, so you should be aware of the dangers Magic Knights are forced to face, excluding everything else I told you about. If you die,” he emphasises the word, “How will Francis deal with it?

“Of course, even if you don’t, are you ready for him to be worrying for you every day? Will he accept the risks?”

You remain in silence, unsure of how to answer those questions even to yourself. Suddenly, Labrys and you turn a flicker of light inside the glass of a dim candle. It is a girl with long, dark-purple hair, no older than eight years old.

“S-sorry,” she quickly apologizes after she jumps back in shock and barely managed to keep the lamp in her hands. She takes a deep breath and, with anxiety in her voice, asks, “A-are you Magic Knights? A-are we being attack ag-”

“No,” Labrys quickly vanquishes her fears, “We are just checking to make sure that is the case, however.”

She nods in a mild, hankering manner.

“How has the town been doing the last few days since the invasion?” he asks the timid girl.

“E-everyone is still hurt or weakened or afraid to go outside after the attack, sir Magic Knight,” she whimpers, “But I heard they plan to start rebuilding once the King and the Magic Emperor give us some funds for that and everybody is in better condition. Two times we had a visit from Noni, a healer from the Azure Deer, but she was unable to heal all of the injured, sir Magic Knight. S-she promised to return a few days t-to heal my mother too…”

Labrys gives her a mellow nod, “You should return home, it is a bit late for you to be outside, charming girl.”

“O-of course, t-thank you for protecting us, sir Magic Knight,” she returns the nod and turns away from him.

> “Wait. I make no promises, as I do not know how strong her injuries are, but I can heal your mother myself.”
> “Labrys, I want to ask you to keep this a secret. I have healing magic; I can’t stand away – I need to help her.”
> “Why can’t the Magic Emperor assign more healers for this town? Imagine the pain they are suffering through!”
> “This town won’t be ‘rescued’ as long as people here are frail. I insist to come here every night by myself then.”
> As much as you want to help the poor girl and her family, you have been warned by Charlotte not to interact with the duties of the Magic Knights, and it looks like Noni of the Azure Deer is already plenty busy with this task.
> [Write In]

>>3958899
>> “Wait. I make no promises, as I do not know how strong her injuries are, but I can heal your mother myself.”

>>3958899
>> “Wait. I make no promises, as I do not know how strong her injuries are, but I can heal your mother myself.”

>>3958899
> “Wait. I make no promises, as I do not know how strong her injuries are, but I can heal your mother myself.”
Our hair is PINK so nobody will know it was us.

>>3958899
> “Wait. I make no promises, as I do not know how strong her injuries are, but I can heal your mother myself.”

>>3953570
Yeah, sorry.

>>3958899
>> “Wait. I make no promises, as I do not know how strong her injuries are, but I can heal your mother myself.”

“Wait. I make no promises, as I do not know how strong her injuries are, but I can heal your mother myself.”

The young girl immediately stops and her legs turn her around as if springs. The sparkle in her blue eyes outshines the night’s dimness. “Y-you can?!” she half-mumbles half-shouts. She -slaps- her palms together and raises them to her chin, “Oh, please Lady Magic Knight, even if you can’t – if you could at least try, I’ll be so-so-so-so grateful!”

“I did not know you had healing magic,” Labrys drawls with a visible incredulity as he follows your pacing.

Your lips lift in a soft smile as you begin to shadow the girl through the streets, “You interrupted me.”

The girl leads you through destroyed stone arcs and tight, collapsed corridors where no other light but that of her lamp’s illuminates; the whole moon, that was so beautiful and bright during your ‘flight’, is now hidden beneath a layer of gray clouds. You step over the debris and hike one of the fallen walls to abridge your way to where she lives – a stone house akin to all the others it is attached to by both of the walls. The house managed to remain unharmed during the invasion. The girl gives you a ginger nod and places her lamp on the steps in order to have enough strength to push the heavy, wooden door open. She then picks it up and guides you through her house.

A blazing – hot enough to dry the air itself – fireplace is barely able to give this room a soft, orange light. The walls and the floor are made out of cold stone, and the roof is the only thing that is arranged in inexpensive wood. As soon as you enter, you can smell fungus mould, dried herbs, ashen firewood and freshly gathered flowers, all of them easily distinguishable. The young girl leads you by the kitchen area, then across several beds where her much younger siblings(?) are already asleep and then she guides you through a very narrow and short set of steps.

She pushes the door into an incredibly small room with a different, dying fireplace, low ceiling and a tiny window. There is a bed here, one which commoners are the likeliest to afford, on which a groaning, middle-aged woman can be found – likely the injured mother of this household. Per etiquette, you and Labrys close the door as soon as you enter the chamber. The girl bows to you as a pre-advance thank you and then walks to wake up her parent.

You stop her and shake your head. You try to keep your voice hushed here, “We don’t need to wake her up.”

“We don’t?” she asks you in confusion.

File: entering the tiny room.jpg (49 KB, 564x490)

49 KB JPG

“No,” you reassure you as you approach the bed and, once you made sure she is not naked, you take off the bedding and place it neatly on one of the small stools nearby. You ask the girl to come closer and, with the help of her lamp’s light, you investigate the modest yet multiple bruises over woman’s body. According to the girl, she was caught under a collapsing section of the wall and parts of her arms and chest have suffered crushing damage.

It’s lucky she even survived. You unclip your pouch and take out your gray-silver grimoire. You open it by hand and allow the pages to magically flicker to the one spell you need – your healing spell. You raise your empty, left hand towards the shuddering woman and then you invocate your spell, “Linen Magic: Homely Blanket.” From the hovering magic of your grimoire, a linen cloth begins to slowly manifest with brightening glow inside each of its threads. You use your hand to guide and spread the blanket until it is wide enough to cover the woman’s body.

As soon as the textile touches her skin, her groan softens and then completely disappears. Even the trifling snore she previously had is no longer troubling her. You keep the quickly darkening cloth tightly wrapped against the woman’s body. With every passing moment, the bluish hue of her bruises begins to turn red, then pink and then completely disappears. By the time your Homely Blanket begins to crumble, it looks as if it was originally black.

“M-mother?” the girl approaches the woman who is now relishing her sleep.

“She should be all healed-up now,” you smile to the girl before you put your grimoire back into your pouch.

“O-oh,” the girl pauses and then grabs into you into a hug, “T-thank you Lady Magic Knight!”

“No need,” you raise a ginger smile.

“Fair Cynthia,” Labrys beams as he comes face to face with you, “You should join the Green Mantis!”

“I… huh?” you pause and blink in utter confusion, “Didn’t you bring me here to convince me otherwise?”

“I… In a way, yes,” he admits, “But I did not know you had healing magic! Healers can avoid the midst of the battlefield, so my previous warnings, dear Cynthia, do not apply. Magicians with healing magic are extremely valuable, you know, and the Green Mantis barely has any – we are, actually, pretty low on cute females as well.”

Awkwardly, you take a step back, “I’m not sure.”

“I’ll go on a second date with you if you agree!” he says, and there’s an awkward silence between you two. “Sorry, I forgot you are somewhat different to other girls. This won’t work on you – forget I said that, delightful Cynthia.”

“No, but…”

You can feel the young girl awkwardly tucking your sleeve. Intentionally, you turn away from Labrys towards her.

“Lady Magic Knight,” her voice wobbles, as if ashamed to ask, “A few of my friends are injured too… I know it is asking too much, b-but would you be able to take a look and maybe heal their injuries as well? Pretty please...?”

>Please roll 1d10+10 - best of three - for the cost of the spell.

> Apologize to the young girl and say that you do not have time or mana left for anyone else.
> Agree to the girl’s request and try to heal as many people as your mana will allow.
> Outright refuse Labrys and tell him you will be sticking with the Blue Rose.
> Tell Labrys you will think about his offer, although you do not feel like Green Mantis is your type of group.
> [Write In]

Rolled 1 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>3960877
> Agree to the girl’s request and try to heal as many people as your mana will allow.
> Tell Labrys you will think about his offer, although you do not feel like Green Mantis is your type of group.
> After all we already have some contacts/friends in Blue Rose

File: 1574032324315.jpg (255 KB, 704x1029)

255 KB JPG

>>3960948
>Very nice roll.

Rolled 5 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>3960877
Supporting >>3960948
Being able to heal others is a valuable thing, but it could also make us a target depending on who finds out about it

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>3960948
+1

Rolled 9 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>3961089
shit

>>3961044
>Being able to heal others is a valuable thing, but it could also make us a target depending on who finds out about it
We will be number one target on the battlefield, probably.

> Agree to the girl’s request and try to heal as many people as your mana will allow.
> Tell Labrys you will think about his offer, although you do not feel like Green Mantis is your type of group.

>>3960877
>> Agree to the girl’s request and try to heal as many people as your mana will allow.

>>3961044
Good thing we have magic that makes us capable of defense

Question, how do we lower the cost of magic spells or it lock at 10

>>3961230
Good question, we haven't been given any way so far.

[blue]You spend 11 mana.[/blue]
[blue]Mana [74/100][/blue]

You shift your weight from one leg to another, “I don’t think I’ll fit in with your Magic Group, Labrys.”

He lets out a snicker, “Nonsense, adorable Cynthia, I’m sure in a week or two you will be enjoying yourself.”

“I’ll think on it,” you tell him unsurely, “But… I feel like I am already very close with the members of the Blue Rose.”

He bops his head to have it lean on his shoulder; he allows his eyes to meander over your blunt and obvious face. There is only so long you can keep an eye-to-eye contact with him; you glance away. “Draken did seem to be over-protective of you back in Kraal… Shame,” he sighs, takes a deep breath and sighs again, “But do think about it!”

“Of course,” you smile and nod, “I’m not drawing any red lines here, dear Labrys – I mean… Labrys.” You curse.

“It seems are imitating me, lovely Cynthia,” he sounds incredibly smug and proud about this.

You simply roll your eyes and cut the conversation, and further blunders, short. Instead, you turn to the patiently awaiting girl to agree to her request. Happily, she squeaks. She softly leads you and Labrys from the room and to the musty kitchen. There, she takes out an olid candle and replaces the one in her lamp with it. You follow her outside and then inside the dwellings of her neighbours – some look feeble, as if they will collapse any second.

It is a warm feeling: everyone you are introduced to by the young girl is surprised yet pleased to see you. With care, you look over each and every wound and injury but you are not really that knowledgeable in medical arts for such to be of any help to you. Instead, you wrap every person – woman, man and children – in Healing Blanket.

Regardless of the type of injury, your magic is powerful enough to heal them all – although some marks and wounds require a second, repeated invocation of your spell which you can’t really afford. Despite you taking the time to walk from one house to another, you fell yourself growing tired and weaker from your draining mana. There is a single injury you find yourself unable to heal – several missing fingers on a hand of an elder man. Something like this would be impossible, even for Siegfried – the professional doctor back on the High Street.

You apologize to him, but the elder man holds no enmity towards you. He thanks you for trying regardless and being able to ease his pain. The people in this town are friendly; this town does not deserve to go through this. As a thank you, he gives you a couple of baked pies which you share with Labrys who have been following and watching you from the side. The white-haired man did not interfere, although he did exclaim stingy commentary.

You feel your feet wobble on your way out – Labrys catches you by your shoulders to ensure you stand still. You are too tired to care or to feel shy. From what you heard, there are still many more injured in those ruins… you trust Nino to take care of the rest. You place your head against Labrys’ shoulder and, softly, you ask him to bring you back to Kraal. He jokes, compliments and follows your wish. He takes out his axe and swings it at the high sky.

*** *** ***

“Cynthia, hey Cynthia,” you feel your cheeks being painfully twisted and pulled by a familiar hand.

You open your eyes to find yourself on the outskirts of the city, away from the crowds of people. A single, dying torch is illuminating the area and Tugela’s wincing face. You jolt the upper half of your body from your slumbering position – how long have you been asleep? You take deep, embarrassed breathes you look at Tugela for answers.

“Oh, you are awake, little tailor,” Tugela hems, “I really wanted to follow you, but may brooma is not that fast.”

“It’s… it’s nothing,” you shake your head, “I am just… a bit tired,” you yawn and groan from a sudden headache.

You slide your hand into your pouch only to realize that you do not have enough mana to heal your own body…

“How long have I been asleep?” you ask the Goat Knight. Goatly, she shrugs her shoulders and shows her tongue.

“I took your unconscious body froma that idiot as soon as he was back. So, it’s been a few hours in total…”

That’s not too bad. You are still vowed to your promise to Lilth, it would be lame of you to spend all night here.

“R-really Tugela,” you blush just a bit as you try to remember your way home – were you sleeping in his arms?

“Virginia is still there with her ‘friend’,” she smirks, “But the boy I was with had a little too mauch wine. He was pretty fun to maess with – we played a bit with his fire magic – but I brought hima to his rooma in the inn after. Virginia is going to stay here for a while longer… unless you have something else to do, are you ready to return?”

She pauses and smugly bumps your shoulder, “Don’t tell mea the date went well? With axe-brain of all people?”

> She is just making fun of you now. Perhaps, you should ignore her last question entirely? Nothing happened…

> Tell Tugela about your talk with Labrys in Mizu. Tell her about your thoughts regarding future Magic Knighthood.
> Ask Tugela if she can wait or join you as you do have a few things to take care of. (Specify – perhaps the broom?)
> Slap your cheeks and get up. If Virginia is enjoying her night, your part of the deal is taken care of. Time to leave.
> [Write In]

>Please roll 3d10 (I’ll pick lowest per post) to see how many people we healed. At best, it would be 6 people.

>>3961230
>It's locked, but there will be a way to influence 'stats' in the future, not sure if spell cost will be part of it yet.

>>3962860
> Ask Tugela if she can wait or join you as you do have a few things to take care of. (the broom)

Rolled 1, 2, 5 = 8 (3d10)

>>3962860
>> Tell Tugela about your talk with Labrys in Mizu. Tell her about your thoughts regarding future Magic Knighthood.
> Ask Tugela if she can wait or join you as you do have a few things to take care of. (the broom)

Looks like your formatting broke since your IP changed, Melk. Good update!

Rolled 1, 9, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>3962860
Tell her the date went well but don't go into details. I don't know why she hates the guy so much.
> Ask Tugela if she can wait or join you as you do have a few things to take care of.
Let's get that broom sorted, I think buying a wand in the shop could improve our magic's reach? Depends how expensive they are.

Rolled 3, 5, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>3962860
> Ask Tugela if she can wait or join you as you do have a few things to take care of. (the broom)

Rolled 10, 4, 6 = 20 (3d10)

>>3962860
> Tell Tugela about your talk with Labrys in Mizu. Tell her about your thoughts regarding future Magic Knighthood.
> Ask Tugela if she can wait or join you as you do have a few things to take care of. (Fix broom, Buy magic item that can smack a bitch[because we need to give our knife back])

>>3963328
We need replacement as we are losing the knife

>>3963340
Did they had anything in the shop?
I remember discussing making a scarf?

>>3963567
Once we're actually in a shop, Melk will probably give us a chance to look at the inventory and buy anything that piques our interest

>>3963577
Well we were in a shop here before, they had a whip there but I think it was useless. Let's try looking for another shop with useful stuff.

>You spend 11 mana.
>You spend 11 mana.
>You spend 13 mana.
>You spend 14 mana.
>Mana [25/100]
>You healed 4+ people.

“The date went well,” you tell Tugela with false absentmindedness, “But we don’t plan a second one unless you’ll force me again.” You close your eyes for a moment to raise your head and leer at her. Tugela sneers and points her finger to her forehead, as if a warning. No facetiousness. “He showed me the ruins of Mizu after the attack.”

Tugela raises her eyebrow and pauses, as if in thought, “There was indeed an attack on it a few days ago… why?”

“He…” you battle: do you wish to reveal it to Tugela or not? “He thought I was interested in becoming a Magic Knight so he tried to convince me otherwise by showing me the aftermath of a battlefield. A few deaths, too…”

Tugela grimaces as she crosses her hands over her chest, “Yes, I heard it was a grisly battle… Did he scare you?”

You bite your lips and, honestly, shake your head. “No, but he wasn’t trying to convince ‘Crystal’, he knew I was only pretending… Actually, I knew Labrys years before today, although we’re not close… we are not even friends.”

Tugela nods her hand in understatement, “I don’t feel as bad for asking you to switch with mea then!”

“N-not really,” again, you strain your neck with another negative wobble, “There is a group of influential traders on the Hight Street, you see, they call themselves the ‘White Yul’. His family is a big part of that group as well.”

“White Yul? That’s a charmaing name. I take it your famaily is not part of this group?”

“Not yet,” you reassure yourself, “But hopefully in the future.” You take a deep breath, “I know you won’t tell this to Charlotte, Tugela, but in Mizu we encountered several badly injured folks and, although I knew that there was already a proper Magic Knight assigned to heal them, I couldn’t help but heal as many people as I could, myself.”

Tugela chuckles funnily under her own breath, “I don’t think the Captain will be angry at you for this, little tailor.”

Your brows furrow, “Still, I would rather you not tell her. Just as I will keep absolute silence about today’s mixer.”

Tugela spreads out her hands with a continued, quiet chuckle, “Sounds like an agreemaent to me.”

You keep a long, thoughtful – yet awkward – silence. “Labrys was suppose to follow his family’s steps and become a carpenter, just like they are. An influential, rich merchant and trader. Instead, he became a Magic Knight…”

“Four years ago,” Tugela interrupts by shaking four of her fingers in emphasis, “He was even maore arrogant back then, you know!”

“Four years,” you calculate the numbers in your head, “Did he become a Magic Knight as soon as he was fifteen?”

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“Yeah,” Tugela scowls. She puts her hands behind her neck and makes a semi-circle turn with one of her legs, “We were there during the samae Entrance Exama, little Cynthia. He was convinced he was going to easily beat mae, but he didn’t know who he was dealing with.” She pauses and innocently glances away, “We had a draw, kind of.”

You smile, “So your animosity and relationship dates way back.”

“I hate hima.”

“Okay,” you push your hands forward, as if putting a barricade to this topic, “Let’s not talk about Labrys anymore.” Once again, you stumble on your words as the heavy silence clamps your voice. You look at Tugela.

Tastefully, Tugela snaps her fingers, “Hey, if you don’t want to tell mae, I’ma not going to force you, Cynthia.”

“No,” you prolong, “It’s not you who I’m afraid to say this…” You sigh, “Tugela, regardless of what the results of my challenge with Olyver are – I was… considering becoming a Magic Knight. It’s… It’s what I want, I feel.”

Tugela holds a blank expression for a few seconds before her lips break into a massive, uncanny smile and her orange eyes brighten with what you can only describe as a magical glow. She quickly closes the distance, grabs you into a hug and half-squeaks half-hiccups, “I knew it, I saw it in your eyes when we were chasing the ghost!”

“No, I… wasn’t thinking about it back then,” you confess unconvincingly, “I-It’s because I want to travel around.”

“Don’t make me head-bumap you again, little Magic Knight,” she grins, “Come on, we need to get you ready.”

She lets you go – practically dropping you on the ground – and deaf to your future words, she opens her grimoire and takes out your broom from inside it’s rose-glowing, magical pages. She tosses it straight into your hands.

“W-wait, Tugela,” you plea, “I am not sure I’ll be in Kraal again. I need to get my broom fixed before we return.”

“Oh,” the Goat Knight looks at you confusedly before she pushes her broom back into her three-leaf grimoire.

“Do you know any place like that here?” you ask. Tugela ponders, aloof and with a not very good memory.

Tugela invites you to follow her as she begins walking the bright streets of Kraal, until she finally remembers and rushes towards one of the buildings – with a heavy breath you follow her suit. You find yourself standing in small alley with two-store stone buildings. There is a single lamp which mellowly brightens the cul-de-sac. It is not enough for you not to stumble and kick your foot on the dark yet short steps Tugela continues to lead you over.

She knocks on the door and, without even getting a response, she slaps it open and enthusiastically enters inside. You follow her, etiquettely closing the door as quietly as you can. As soon as you enter, an exotic smell of magic and ancient wood envelops your senses. There are no candles, lamps or magical fires here, however, the room is brightly lit because of the magical windows charming and empowering the moonlight. No matter where you look, every spot seems to be taken over by a Magic Tool or two – none of the items are put in a well-ordered manner.

Piles and piles of all kind of wares are absentmindedly put on the shelves. There are wands, brooms, clothes, magical stones, rings, amulets, cloaks, helmets, bracelets, potions, mirrors, a hand inside a green-liquid-filled jar(?!), bronze cat figurines, orbs, a gilded chair and… your eyes go blurry from the amount of stuff that is here.

“Da yau knaw what time it is?!” a loud, sharp voice echoes the room as a short – shorter than you even – woman climbs on top of one of the tables at the end of the furthest corner, “It’s clasing time – that’s what it is. Get aut.”

“No need to be rude, little Rud,” says Tugela as she steps forward to approach the woman. You follow, holding the magic broom in your hands. “We need a broom fixed, can you take a look and give us a discount – as old friends?”

“Ald friends?” the woman spreads her unwashed, blue with black strands hair, “I dan’t even remember yau!”

She snaps and extends her arms so you can give her the broom. One of her eyes ticks as she turns and scratches the wooden handle with her long, decorative nails, “Na discaunts. This thing… 150 yul to get it fixed; ane haur.”

Wasn’t she complaining just a minute ago it was too late? You sigh, that’s more expensive than you thought. You nod and remove three yul coins from your heavy pouch – you are so lucky nobody made attempts to rob you.

“Alright,” she -very closely- inspects the coins to make sure they are the real deal. She slams the top of a small, wooden box which slowly opens only to reveal two sets of sharp, ivory teeth. Rud throws the coins into the box and hastily removes her hand before the teeth slam shut. She puts her hand over the cover and gently pets it.

“If yau want ta buy anything – scream or whistle. Dan’t try any funny business, I have eyes everywhere in here.”

>Is there anything particular you are looking for? Tugela probably knows more about Magic Tools than you. This is Adeliza’s magic broom, you will have to return it at the end of the week. Perhaps, it might be best to buy your own flying broom? A wand would be nice, you have seen them used by nobles and commoners alike – it help mages focus their magic power – perhaps it will allow you to control textile from a safe distance? You won’t find a Paralyze Knife here, according to Charlotte it is a weapon used by criminals. What about other weapons, perhaps?

>[Yul 10,350ea.]

>We have some mana left so more 1d30 please!

>>3963022
>Yeah, guess we are without formatting for the time being.

Rolled 5, 2, 2 = 9 (3d10)

>>3964506
I assume you meant 3d10?

Broom is a must. See if she have headband that offers magical protection to our head and forehead.

>>3964542
>Yes, 3d10 - my bad.

Rolled 10, 7, 3 = 20 (3d10)

>>3964542
this

Rolled 8, 6, 4 = 18 (3d10)

>>3964505
> Search for a broom of our own
> Ask about the hand in a jar. What does it do?

>>3964506
Let's ask about the brooms and wands she has for sale. I support the headband suggestion, although I don't want to waste too much money just to headbutt Tugela. Let's browse weapons too, maybe something that can fire magic from distance.

>>3964506
I remember there were some sort of leaves in the last shop we visited which were a bit expensive but were useful to improve our mana

>Update will be later today.
>You can remind yourself the items in the other shop by going to the thread below, post 3824161
>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3814563/
>Sorry for not compiling a neat list.
>Thanks for playing!

>>3965791
2x moguro leafs - 2k yul one for us and another for Elvira
magic wand - 600 yul
If she has something that would allow us store mana I would be willing to buy it for around 2.4k to be left with 5k yul

>>3966279
I belive the other shop had a bottle that could convert water into Mogura leaf juice over a period of time. Might be a good investment.

>>3966279
Yeah, support

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>You spend 12 mana.
>You spend 13 mana.
>Mana [0/100]
>You have managed to heal seven people by your magic alone (including the mother of the child): that is very impressive, if not outright remarkable, for a tailor-by-day! With every injury restored to health, the amount of people in the city talking in awe about a pink-haired healer increased! You did not tell them your name, however some of them did hear Labrys mention you by it. Only time will tell if this is a good or a bad thing…

“W-what is that thing?” you cringe as your face turns sickly-green – you point towards the preserved asexual hand floating in a greenish liquid. Tugela bends over to glance at the hand – she looks -way- more curious than you do.

“Looks like a delimabed hand,” Tugela states in obvious.

“Ah? That? That’s nat far sell,” the woman’s sharp voice booms the shelves as she loudly and without care pushes books, instruments, vials and other kind of trinkets off a small table to free it. She puts your broom on top of it. After a brief moment, she rummages through a completely random – for you – pile and takes out a silvered instrument resembling a sharp pen. It begins to glow with a dim, purple light as she traces the cracks inside of it.

“It’s a Dark Magic Taal,” she adds, surely just to pique your curiosity. A subtle smell of freshly cut grass fills the air and a noise of a cracking wood swiftly follows suit. “I was allawed ta have it far keep sake. It’s rather necramantic. If yau end up lasing a hand, yau can attach that hand ta yaur limbless wrist and it will take place af yaur ald ane. Yeah, I can see yau shudder. It wan’t replace a whale arm, but yau can cut the fingers ta have the same effect.”

You can’t see exactly what she is doing with Adeliza’s broom, but the way this short woman is managing the tools the thing that is certain is that she is a professional. Perhaps 150 yul is not that big of a price after all. Definitely, a magic to regrow limbs is extremely rare and powerful, something like this Dark Magic Tool would be useful… still, the though of a jarred hand of some person becoming part of you sends a shudder through your entire body.

“It’s nat far sell, but if same wauld make a danatian of 45,000 yul I cauld ‘lase’ it and farget where it was…”

You look at Tugela in shock. To a Magic Knight, this person is outright confessing to illegally trading Dark Magic Tools! Tugela looks at you and gives you an innocent, calm shrug. Oh, you guess that’s not illegal then…?

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Are you, perhaps, too honest to be a merchant? No, not really. You notice an incredibly long staff that immediately catches your attention. It is made out of cherry wood and resembles a long four-way-split fork with dazzling, magenta points at the end of each. There are five ‘blood brass’ rings an inch tall apiece going from the bottom of the wand to the start of the fork-split: all of them overflow with an eerie tint. You do not dare to touch such an inquisitive Magic Tool but even when you simply drift your hand above it, you can feel a soothing heat.

“What are you looking there at, little Cynthia?” Tugela asks you as she sticks behind you like a bay leaf.

“That’s Kergaze’s Greatstaff,” the shopkeeper’s voice interrupts her, “I dan’t think yau can handle it. There’s a pawerful fire spell inscribed inside af it, ‘Ifrit’s Breathe’. Then again, I wan’t stap ya fram buying it if you really want ta. 100,000 yul, and keep in mind I da nat haggle ar barter. If ya try ta, I’m anly gaing to raise the price af it.”

Of course, you’ll not even be considering bartering this! You barely have 10% of the price she is asking you for it!

You can’t hide your disappointed expression, however. It looks so… well… cool! Tugela slaps your shoulder and grips it. With a reassuring voice, she says, “I bet you need to use all your mana to charge it’s single spell, y’know?”

You rubs beneath your eyes and nod at her. You yawn, clearly tired. Perhaps going shopping on a completely tired body is not the best of ideas. Regardless, you step away from ‘Kergaze’s Greatstaff’ and continue looking around.

“Are all your weapons here as powerful as that?” Tugela ponders on your behalf, “What others do you have?”

Rud angrily slams the table and painfully grabs a chunk of her hair, “Gah, I dan’t knaw. Da yau nat have eyes?!” She takes a deep breath and leaves the broom away to climb over the counter and join you. “Here, there and up there,” she points in completely random directions, “Ya da nat have a lat af maney, sa thase will suit yar request.”

You watch Rud return to fixing your broom with an angry, quiet muttering. Tugela takes the weapon from the top shelves you would be unable to reach without the help of a cloth-weapon. It is a knife with a very short blade. The straight metallic knife-edge is just twice as big as the hand-sized, wooden grip and resembles a stake more than a dagger. She inspects it from both sides, shrugs her shoulders in loss and gives it to you. Is it really a magic item?

“Fade Knife,” Rud begins explaining with her back turned towards you – you don’t even have to ask her, “It’s 3,000 yul. The spell inscribed there allaws a small circle araund the graund yau stab in ta became all-invisible to athers.”

You take other weapons she pointed beforehand – it is a hand bar-mace: resembles a baton more than anything else. It is light despite it’s appearance. It has a bland, crude aesthetic and the metal is of muted, murky colours…

“Numbness Mace, 6,000 yul that thing. The spell inside paralyzes the part af the bady yau hit foar an haur ar twa.”

“What about this?” Tugela slashes the air with the sickle she is holding. The whistle it makes sounds like a dying, yet still passionate, bird. The curbed blade is long and is gilded with green gold. The blade looks razor-sharp, too.

“Scarch Sickle,” she speaks up again, “I’ll give it far 12,000 yul. It’s a very dangeraus, gald spell inside of there. If charged, and an contact, it leaves a streak of liquid-gald spell an the apen waund that burns inside af their rend.”

Each and every spell embed into those weapons sounds extremely powerful, and extremely useful in a fight…

“What about wands?” you ask her, “Do you have wands that could help me with controlling my magic?”

“Tans,” Rud rudely clears her throat and spits outside the window, “What are ya laaking far? Details!”

“The cheapest,” you smile at her gingerly, “I need to get used to one before I consider buying anything expensive.”

“Sure,” she points towards another completely random shelf with dozens of weird items there. Tugela, once again the height-assistant she is, takes and hangs you the very short wand. There is a simple, deep zig-zag engraving going across the entire wand. “I can recammend this, it’s a plain pine wand. It’ll cast yau a 1,000 yul – want it?”

You carefully spin and inspect the wand in your hand… it fells and looks way less magical than the other ones…

“I am also looking for a headband or a helmet which would grant me a magical pro-”

“Dan’t have that,” she quickly cuts you mid-sentence, “Are you preparing for war, or something?”

“No, I just don’t really have the time to fly back and forwards to Kraal so I might as well do my shopping now.”

“I can respect a wise use of time,” the woman stops her work on the broom and swiftly squeezes between you and Tugela to begin searching for… something in the piles of items. “Anything else yau want ta buy, then?”

“I need a magical broom,” you nod, “That one there is not mine, I’d like one for myself. I need to return this one.”

“Yau dan’t seem ta be high an funds,” her voice chortles as she takes out a small jar under her armpit. She raises her free hand to point at two different parts of the shop, “I have ane far 1,000 yul and ane far 4,500 yul. The first ane is yaur regular magic braam, but the shaft has engravings to allaw easier cantral aver it. The secand ane is made aut af Ianuce waad – a very unique tree that allaws magic ta easily surge thraugh it. It is much easier ta cantral because af that. The birch twigs have been dipped in a lake in a Grand Magic Zane, it’s much faster naw.”

“Give me a second to think on that,” you mutter to yourself as you place your hand to your chin. “Also, do you have a trinket or something like a moguro juice or it’s leaves I can use to improve and grow my mana?” You ask.

“Nathing af that sarts,” she waves her hand before she stops it up-high mid-air, “But I have samething similar. I was actually haping samebady wauld buy them aff my hands.” She quickly paces to a deep corner and pulls a very ancient and filthy cloth to toss it further away. She picks up a small, wooden boxes with several small holes over the lid. She lifts the small box with two of her hands and puts it on the counter, “Muti Crickets. 500 yul for five.”

“C-crickets?” you looks at her in utter confusion.

“Yes,” she gives you the same, confused nod, “They breed, sa yau’ll have same extra in abaut a manth. Yau take ane fram the bax, put it in yaur mauth and -snap-, yau chew it like a sweet. Yau are a better mage for an haur.”

You face twists in a grimace. Disgusting…

>Anything you are interested in?

>The shop above the Finalis half-pub had:

>Magic Wand – 600 yul.
A regular, oak wand. Improves spell focus of your magical casting.
>Mana Chest Keys – 15,000 yul.
Three glass keys. Create a treasure chest from surrounding mana when one uses them to ‘open’ the empty air.
>Moguro Bottle – 1,000 yul.
A glass bottle with petrified moguro encrust. Turns regular water into moguro juice in a week’s time.
>Woundless Whip – 1,000 yul.
A dark ebon whip. It leaves no marks or wounds on the hit person, but they still feel the pain of the hit.
>Message Mirror Frame – 2,000 yul.
A wooden frame with a glowing, reflecting mirror. It can chronicle your reflection and message for thirty seconds.
>Magic Spice – 500 yul.
A magical spice. It turns every object you sprinkle it with into edible food – be it wood, meat or even poison.

>Sorry, ended up a huge post.

>>3967220
>>Magic Wand – 600 yul.
>Moguro Bottle – 1,000 yul.

>>3967220
> From Rud's shop
>> 1000 Yul Magic Wand
>> 1000 Yul Magic Broom
>> 3000 Yul Fade Knife

> From the Finalis pub's shop
> Moguro Bottle – 1,000 yul.

There's a lot of cool stuff to pick from here! I'm leaning towards the more expensive wand since I'm assuming it will be of a higher quality than the cheaper one.

>>3967220
>Magic Broom - 1000 Yul
>Magic Wand – 1000 yul.
>2 x Moguro Bottle – 2000 yul.
>10 Muti Crickets - 1000 yul
for 5 k

>>3967349
>The Moguro Bottle and Cricket Cage (5ea) are in one unit, sadly.

>Hey guys. I will be taking a day-wide hiatus today but I'll return tomorrow. There are some changes in my work schedule next week so I'll have to do some adjustments to update time.

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>>3967710
>If you have any comments or questions I'll be able to answer them.

>>3967625
:( alright then
>Magic Broom - 1000 Yul
>Magic Wand – 1000 yul.
>Moguro Bottle – 1000 yul.
>Muti Crickets - 500 yul

>>3967277
knife is kinda meh with most of the knights being able to detect magic, also I want at least 5k for dad

>>3967897
+1

You and Tugela browse the wares for a while longer, but you do not find anything else eye-catching.

You decide to delay purchasing any of the weapons here – the Fade Knife is cheap but you don’t see it being much of a help in a fight against magicians. Pushing down the disgusting thought on chewing on crickets – you ask Rud to prepare them for purchase. After a long consideration you put both: the low-priced wand and broom – on the counter. Until now, you’ve never been this interested in Magic Tool shops – it is cruel how expensive they are!

Annoyingly, Rud meticulously checks each of your yul coins to make sure they are genuine. While you do wait patiently for her to finish, your face betrays annoyance she does not care about. With a care of an older sister, Tugela helps to free you hands by putting both of the brooms and the box of Muti Crickets inside her grimoire.

You decide to keep the wand by your side – you might need to sew-up a belt-sheathe in order to easily access it. The wand is small, barely the size of your hand – as if it is made for grimoirless kids. You can already predict people making fun of you because of it… You shake your head: they won’t be laughing for long. You move your fingers by the deep, zig-zag engraving – you can easily lead your thumb from bottom to top of the small wand.

On your way back to the entrance of the city, you visit the shop above the Finalis half-pub where the shopkeeper lady looks more tired and miserable than before. You do not waste too much of her and yours time, instead simply pointing to the Moguro Bottle and buying it for the exact price she asks for – 1,000 yul. That’s settled.

>[Yul 6,850ea.]

>New Item(s) Acquired:
>[Magic Tool: Magic Broom]
>[Magic Tool: Magic Wand]
>[Moguro Bottle]
>[Muti Cricket 5ea.]

Despite the time you have spend in Mizu and here, and the early hours of the night, Virginia is still not there to join you. Perhaps, her date will be smoothest of them all? How did she even manage to click with Kristof? You are not brave enough to ask her directly, but, perhaps, she’ll be a little friendlier towards you after this… As long as Charlotte doesn’t know a thing, of course. You feel as if you saw a side of Blue Rose Knights others never do…

Disappointingly, no matter how deep you reach within your body there is no mana to be found – healing all those Mizu citizens took a great toll, and now you stand magicless. Tugela kindly offers to fly you back on her broom and you have no option but to agree. To your surprise, The Goat Knight is not too brazen with her flying. She sits properly and doesn’t try any senseless manoeuvres. Excitingly, she tells you more about her ‘date’ with Arthur in an adorably obvious way to prickle you about your “““date””” with Labrys – you remain secretive to annoy her.

You arrive to the headquarters in the middle of the night – it is too late to begin working on either the Vice-Captain’s gown or Elvira’s gift-dress. That will have to wait until tomorrow. Tugela returns you all your items and, after you remind her of her promises and commitments, she lazily promises to come to your workshop if there are no missions, she has to attend tomorrow… today. That is good enough for you, although it will take a day you just don’t really have to train her the very basics. She thanks you for your help today. Drowsily, you go to your room.

No mana, mixture of alcohol, long-work day and dozen-worries is a mixture that leaves you with barely enough strength to throw the brooms into the corner, place the cricket crate on the table and, without undressing, fall dead on your bed. You remember what crickets do – they ‘sing’ at night; those magical ones glow, too. No wonder she wanted to get rid of them… You are so tired, however, that their annoying song acts like a powerful lullaby…

After stressful days, you always see and clearly remember your dreams. And what a stressful day it was…

It is the same dream – locations of all landscapes, biomes and weather. What unites them all is how exotic they are compared to ground around Kraal… Like always, you have a bright thread attached to your leg dragging itself behind you – it does not pull you, but it reminds you of your home. Unlike before, you stall following it back…

>Day 6. Day 5/7 of challenge.

You wake up with a headache, again! This time, however, it is not as bad as before… it this how people feel every morning after drinking alcohol? If so, you will do your best to stick to drinking water, even at mixers, parties and celebrations. That might be rude to others… won’t it? Perhaps you can just ‘heal’ yourself from time to time…

You force yourself to stand up to the rhythmical chirping of the crickets. Hopefully, they will not die if you cover them with some cloth – else it will be impossible for you to fall asleep. You approach the mirror only to scream in shock at the pink-haired girl with purple-dark marks under her eyes in the reflection. Oh… Oh… you remember now. Indeed, Tugela used a concoction to change the shade of your hair last night. What did she say? You can’t remember. It did not disappear by itself – perhaps, you need to wash it? People will rightfully question you about it… and you want to avoid needless queries and attention. It’s still early morning; you might as well visit the baths.

You fill the Moguro Bottle with water, if all goes well, in a week’s time you will have a powerful remedy.

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You cover your head with a towel – it is not discreet, but you’d rather be seen strange than pink-haired. You find the entrance to the Blue Rose public baths. What luck, nobody is here – perhaps this is an evening ritual more than a morning one. The mosaic stone floorings are lukewarm – the bath are not heated completely yet. You undress in a special chamber hidden behind multiple layers of silk-blue curtains, and then you venture through a warm hallway until you enter the main bath that is located beneath the ground of the base. It is a romantically lit by-dozen-candles room that is filled with a lingering, hot steam that smells – and tastes – like salt. Surrounded by archways, in the middle of the bath, stands a large pool with marble stone rose fountain. From each of the petal, a you notice a stream of hot water dripping into the pool, and from the centre of it, hot waters bursts like a geyser. As the heating is far from done, you can only assume this pool in particular feeds from an underground hotbath.

There are several small rooms leading from this central area – surely, different types of saunas. It’s been a long while since you visited a sauna in Kraal, and none of them can be compared to this one. Of course, it was no doubt the Blue Rose would have the poshest bath of them all. There is no way you can blame them either… You are in a rush today, and you, really, have no time right now but… in those last three days, you need to go through a full course at least once – or you may never have this opportunity in your entire life. You take a cautious glance around to make sure nobody is here before you approach several of the magic mirrors encased in stone pillars.

They are able to reflect the steam and remain shiny and clear. Yep, your hair is still pink. You take a bucket of hot water and pour it all over yourself – ah, so good! You wince from a sudden, relaxing shudder before you push your hands through your hair and begin washing it. Heaven’s blessed, the pink begins to quickly crack and then vanish… After a brief massage, you reclaim the beautiful, blazing-red colour of your hair. Yes, it suits you so much better.

You turn and slowly approach the hot poll at the centre. After a brief hesitation, you decide not to waste this moment and at least take a brief bath to open and clean your spores – according to yesterday, you will need all the energy you can muster. As soon as you dip your naked foot into the scorching-yet-pleasant water… a sudden, female voice freezes you in place. A very small portion of Tresses’s face is visible at the other end of this pool.

“What are you think you are doing, commoner?” she moves her lips, the rest of her face is hidden by shadows.

> “I just needed to wash my head. I’m leaving now.”
> “I’m taking the bath, is there a problem?”
> “Do I need to ask your permission first? If so, can I enter the bath?”
> Enter the hot centre pool without engaging in any dialogue with Tresses.
> [Write In]

>>3969828
> “I just needed to wash my head. I’m leaving now.”

>>3969833
>> Enter the hot centre pool without engaging in any dialogue with Tresses.

>>3969833
> “Do I need to ask your permission first? If so, can I enter the bath?”

>>3969833
>> “Do I need to ask your permission first? If so, can I enter the bath?”

“Do I need to ask your permission first? If so, can I enter the bath?”

“I will not be interrupted during my bathing, so go away,” she says in a calm, relaxed manner. It seems she is looking down on every single person but the Captain. You lick your lips – salty. Perhaps, you should just ignore Tresses and dip into the water regardless? As soon as the thought crosses your mind, you notice the water becoming… whiter through its entire surface. Tresses has consumed the entire pool with her enchanted hair.

It will be impossible to enter the pool without interacting with her hair, now. You grit your teeth at this display.

As you turn, you almost stumble into a body of another woman – she is wearing no black lipstick or shade in here but you can easily recognize her by her plain skin and silver-white short bowl-cut: Cleole. She rubs her eyes and sniff her nose – likely from all the salt in the air – before she realizes she is blocking your way. You soon notice that she has a thick, leather belt with a grimoire pouch – is it even safe for a grimoire to be in such a condition?

“Cynthia,” Cleole whispers under her breathe and then huffs, “I was hoping you’d visit me a second or third time.”

“Sorry,” you tell her with an apologetic smile, “I am very busy those last few days. Certainly, you are too, Cleole?”

She lets out a desperate sigh before continuing talking in a cold monotone, “No, it’s rare for them to let me go on a missions after… what happened.” She cuts the explanation short and approaches the poll before you can stop her. “Cynthia,” she speaks and looks like a foreboding ghost, “You are busy, but let’s enjoy the baths together…?”

She drop her pouch near the border of the hot bath – for a second, you think she plans to enter inside of it. Tresses’ hair begins to immediately shrivel back and free the waters of the pool. The woman almost jumps out of the water and her hair sharply begins taking shape of a collection of spear-like barricade aiming towards Cleole.

Despite being the same age as you, Tugela’s body is not – not even close. She has a physique any girl would envy.

“Cerastes!” shouts Tresses as she takes a step back, “Don’t even think about touching the bath with your magic!”

Cleole comes to a quick stop as she realizes Tresses is there as well. She looks hurt, and immediately hesitates.

> Suggest Cleole that you two leave and visit the baths together some other time.
> Who does she think she is? Enter the hot-bath by yourself and then invite Cleole to join you.
> Tell Tresses that if she does not like either of you being here, it’s she who should be leaving.
> [Write In]

>Don't have time to make a new thread. Hopefully this one can hold a while.

>>3969828
>pores, not spores - of course.

>>3971677
>> Who does she think she is? Enter the hot-bath by yourself and then invite Cleole to join you.

>>3971677
>> Who does she think she is? Enter the hot-bath by yourself and then invite Cleole to join you.

>>3971677
did you mess up the names

>>3971677
>>Don't have time to make a new thread. Hopefully this one can hold a while.
I think it should be good for a few more days, as long as it's archived there shouldn't be a problem

>>3971677
>> Who does she think she is? Enter the hot-bath by yourself and then invite Cleole to join you.

>>3971758
>Yes, should be Tresses instead of Tugela.

>>3971677
> Tell Tresses that if she does not like either of you being here, it’s she who should be leaving.

>>3971767
Both start with T so I don't blame ya!

>>3971767
have you archived the thread?

>>3973441
Yes indeed.

>>3973651
Here's a new one.