Meira Quest (Part 3)

[日巫子]

>"Hotpot's an easy thing to cook. Just gather whatever ingredients you want to use, chop them up, and set them to boil in a pot."

> "And then you eat it like a soup?"

> _

[Hanzo K.]

>"It's more like a heavy stew. Well, this one should end up that way at least."

[日巫子]

>"It's more like a heavy stew. Well, this one should end up that way at least."

> "Oh."
> It looks like the water's starting to bubble.

> _

[Hanzo K.]

>How fast is it bubbling?

[日巫子]

>How fast is it bubbling?

> Not very fast yet.

> _

[Hanzo K.]

>Let's wait until it speeds up some more, then add in the pork.

[日巫子]

>Let's wait until it speeds up some more, then add in the pork.

> You wait a few more minutes for the water to come to a complete boil, and add the pork.  There's so much of it in there...

> _

[Sect]

> Um... let's wait for however long Kouyoshi waited before adding the rest in!

[日巫子]

> Um... let's wait for however long Kouyoshi waited before adding the rest in!

> You float around the pot and wait for a while.
> It takes a while.  Rika starts pacing, fiddling with her braids.
> After a while, when the water in the pot has turned a brownish color, you throw in the vegetables.  That should be decent.

> _

[Sect]

> Are we supposed to cover it and turn down the heat? If we are, do that, otherwise just keep boiling~
> "And now we wait!"

[日巫子]

> Are we supposed to cover it and turn down the heat? If we are, do that, otherwise just keep boiling~
> "And now we wait!"

> You can't remember, so you just leave it to boil.
> Rika stops pacing and turns to look at you.  "That's boring!"

> _

[Sect]

> "Well what d'ya wanna do, then? We gotta wait for it to cook!"

[日巫子]

> "Well what d'ya wanna do, then? We gotta wait for it to cook!"

> "I don't know.  There's nothing to do in the kitchen..."

> _

[Sect]

> Poke around in the kitchen. "This place is really clean! I'm impressed! It's better than Mokou's kitchen, ick!"

[日巫子]

> Poke around in the kitchen. "This place is really clean! I'm impressed! It's better than Mokou's kitchen, ick!"

> You take a look around, and find a few buckets and rags underneath the sink, and even a broom.  There's also a series of pipes running beneath the sink and into the wall.
> It's gloomy, but better than Mokou's place.
> Rika sits down on a nearby crate.  "Who's Mokou?"

> _

[Sect]

> Poke at the pipes. "Oh, she's this girl in the bamboo forest. She taught me magic! But she's very messy and doesn't like the rabbit princess that says she's not a rabbit."

[日巫子]

> Poke at the pipes. "Oh, she's this girl in the bamboo forest. She taught me magic! But she's very messy and doesn't like the rabbit princess that says she's not a rabbit."

> Rika kicks her legs, her heels thumping against the crate.  "Oh.  Are there a lot of interesting people out there?"
> The pipes are kind of scummy.

> _

[Sect]

> "Yeah! There's the rabbits, and Mokou, and the rabbit princess who says she's not a rabbit, and Keine the protector of the human village - she reads and writes a lot! - , and Rumia, and Kouyoshi oh wait she's here. Oh, and there's this singing bird youkai that sells lampreys, which kinda taste good but lamprey are very ick to look at!"
> Hop on the crate next to Rika. "I bet there's a lot more people out there, too!"
> Gasp. "Oh!" Pull Mii out of our bag. "She's Mii! I accidentally burned her, but we're friends now."

[日巫子]

> "Yeah! There's the rabbits, and Mokou, and the rabbit princess who says she's not a rabbit, and Keine the protector of the human village - she reads and writes a lot! - , and Rumia, and Kouyoshi oh wait she's here. Oh, and there's this singing bird youkai that sells lampreys, which kinda taste good but lamprey are very ick to look at!"
> Hop on the crate next to Rika. "I bet there's a lot more people out there, too!"
> Gasp. "Oh!" Pull Mii out of our bag. "She's Mii! I accidentally burned her, but we're friends now."

> You take a seat next to Rika and start telling her about the things you've seen in the Human Village and the Bamboo Forest.  Keine, Mokou, Rumia, the rabbits, the lamprey...Rika stops kicking her feet after a while, instead watching and listening.  And that's probably not even half of it!
> You then remember that you had Mii in your bag, and take her out to show off.  She looks a bit squashed from sitting around in your bag, but makes a contented squeak when you pick her up.  For all the screaming she was doing when you had kind of set her on fire, this is a better improvement.  Rika makes a face, and leans in to poke her.
> "A kedama?  I find those things in dusty corners!"  Mii rolls over in your hand and squawks in protest.

> _

[Sect]

> "A kedama? What's that? She's kinda a fluffy ball of eating things. She tried to eat Mr. Strawman earlier today."
> Stroke Mii's fluff.

[日巫子]

> "A kedama? What's that? She's kinda a fluffy ball of eating things. She tried to eat Mr. Strawman earlier today."
> Stroke Mii's fluff.

> "A hairball.  If you leave the windows open the wind will blow them in, and they'll get into everything and raid the kitchen."  Rika pokes Mii again.  "They're kind of pests.  And who's Mr. Strawman?"
> You pet Mii, and she makes a trilling sound.

> _

[Sect]

> "Mr. Strawman's a man filled with straw." Give her a look like she's kinda dumb. "He stands around in a wheat field over there somewhere."
> Hm... wait a second... "Hey, hey, you've been to the lamprey stand, right?"

[日巫子]

> "Mr. Strawman's a man filled with straw." Give her a look like she's kinda dumb. "He stands around in a wheat field over there somewhere."
> Hm... wait a second... "Hey, hey, you've been to the lamprey stand, right?"

> "Oh."  Rika starts kicking her legs again.  "That sounds like a scarecrow."
> You ask Rika if she's ever been to the lamprey stand.
> "Lamprey...lamprey...Oh!  Yeah, now that I think of it, I have," Rika says.  "There's a bird lady there."

> _

[Yonowaaru]

>"A scare.. crow? That Mister Strawman is supposed to scrare crows? How's he supposed to do that? He can't even move!"


(I'll leave the rest to you guys, I haven't followed that part of the story well enough to know if Rika is actually the monster girl..)

[Hanzo K.]

>Check on that food! Can't let it get overcooked!

[日巫子]

>"A scare.. crow? That Mister Strawman is supposed to scrare crows? How's he supposed to do that? He can't even move!"

> "The crows get scared of him," Rika explains.  "They fly down to the field, see him, get scared, and fly away."

>Check on that food! Can't let it get overcooked!

> You go back to check on the pot.  It's really boiling, but it looks like it'll need maybe five minutes, tops.

> _

[Hanzo K.]

>"Wow...So that's how he does it?"
>Check back on the food after a few more minutes.

[日巫子]

>"Wow...So that's how he does it?"
>Check back on the food after a few more minutes.

> "Yeah.  He doesn't have to lift a finger."
> You wait for a little while longer, and after a few minutes, check on the pot again.  It looks about ready to go.

> _

[Hanzo K.]

>"Looks like it's just about ready!"
>Let's get ready to serve it, or whatever it is we have to do.

[日巫子]

>"Looks like it's just about ready!"
>Let's get ready to serve it, or whatever it is we have to do.

> Rika jumps off the crate.  "Yes!"
> It's just about ready to be served.  You'll have to find something to put it in besides the pot, though.

> _