Maribel Quest Latterly - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, there's also countless millions of people there, too. It's kind of relative to the population. It's not like everyone goes around with a huge pile of books, even outside Gensokyo."

[E-Nazrin]

>"To be honest, I might have been using a lot of presumptions from the outer world when we talked earlier... Mystia, DO you have any cookbooks?"

[Jana]

>"There are also a lot of people who consider their books, no matter how many, to be their treasures."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, there's also countless millions of people there, too. It's kind of relative to the population. It's not like everyone goes around with a huge pile of books, even outside Gensokyo."

>She nods, but you have the feeling she lost you.

>"To be honest, I might have been using a lot of presumptions from the outer world when we talked earlier... Mystia, DO you have any cookbooks?"

>"A few," she says, "They were gifts. I don't use 'em much, though."

>"There are also a lot of people who consider their books, no matter how many, to be their treasures."

>"Weird. How could you consider something not rare to be a treasure?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Because it's important. Something doesn't have to be rare or shiny to be a treasure. If you feel it's important to you, that's treasure enough."

[E-Nazrin]

>"Some people like to collect things. And while books themselves may be common, most of them have different stories or information - so you can learn a lot from new and different books, even if you've read a lot of other ones already. And if there are few or no other copies of a book on a topic that other books don't talk about, then the book IS rare since that information is so unique to it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Because it's important. Something doesn't have to be rare or shiny to be a treasure. If you feel it's important to you, that's treasure enough."

>"Really?"

>"Some people like to collect things. And while books themselves may be common, most of them have different stories or information - so you can learn a lot from new and different books, even if you've read a lot of other ones already. And if there are few or no other copies of a book on a topic that other books don't talk about, then the book IS rare since that information is so unique to it."

>She nods. "So...certain kinds are treasures, not just all of them. That's still disappointing, now I don't have any...Oh well."
>Mystia deftly skewers the meat, and hands you and Tokiko your respective meals.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Thanks"
>Take the lamprey and dig in

[E-Nazrin]

>Try and help Tokiko learn how to not eat like a savage, if she starts on that.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thanks"
>Take the lamprey and dig in

>Try and help Tokiko learn how to not eat like a savage, if she starts on that.

>You dig in!  It is very tasty
>...Then you flash back to Tokiko eating that snake... Oh god.
>Then you see her tearing into it like a savage. You quickly give her some advice for small bites and the like. She adapts, but you can tell she doesn't get it.
>"Hey, this is good," she says, "What is this?"
>"Lamprey meat," Mystia answers, "grilled with a few seasonings."
>"This is meat?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, like I said earlier, cooking things changes the taste of it significantly. People don't generally eat most meat raw. ...and certainly not like that."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, like I said earlier, cooking things changes the taste of it significantly. People don't generally eat most meat raw. ...and certainly not like that."

>"I guess this is better," says Tokiko, "But I kinda like both ways."
>"I dunno," says Mystia, "Sushi is pretty popular."
>Why did she have to mention that...The memories...

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Trust me, sushi is far, far more tame than what I'm referring to...."
>Make sure not to let ourself spoil our own meal

[Hello Purvis]

>"Trust me, sushi is far, far more tame than what I'm referring to...."
>Make sure not to let ourself spoil our own meal

>Mystia nods.
>You finish your own meal, but really, it's just not as fun anymore. Tokiko keeps your advice in mind, at least, and manages to eat roughly like a normal person.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
>"By the way, Tokiko, do you have any idea how to reach that big mansion in the bamboo forest?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
>"By the way, Tokiko, do you have any idea how to reach that big mansion in the bamboo forest?"

>"It was nice," she says, nodding.
>"There's a mansion? I never go in too deep, it's easy to get lost, and the flame lady is there..."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Flame lady?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Flame lady?"

>"Yeah," says Tokiko. "She lives in there somewhere, and she makes lots of fire and stuff."
>"She's thinking of Mokou," Mystia says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, Mokou? Do you know how to get to her place, at least?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, Mokou? Do you know how to get to her place, at least?"

>"I know kinda where it is," says Tokiko. "But not really well. I don't go there, I don't want to get set on fire..."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't think she sets random people on fire..."
>To Mystia: "She doesn't, right?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I don't think she sets random people on fire..."
>To Mystia: "She doesn't, right?"

>"Well...not usually," says Mystia. "But she's pretty prickly from everything I hear. Tokiko probably did the right thing keeping away from her."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, I see. I was actually hoping to meet her later today. Need someone to show me to Eientei. But I guess I'll wait until Keine's out of class, and hope she has the time to show me."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, I see. I was actually hoping to meet her later today. Need someone to show me to Eientei. But I guess I'll wait until Keine's out of class, and hope she has the time to show me."

>"That's the best idea," says Mystia. "It's pretty well known she and Keine are close."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I should probably get back to the underground, now. And hope that Utsuho and Yuugi haven't beaten the hell out of each other, yet. Or that Utsuho won, anyway..."

>"Take good care of the books, now, Tokiko. Although you probably would, anyway. And here, take this in case you want to get yourself some more of these later."
>Give Tokiko 30☼

[E-Nazrin]

>"Would you like me to try and explain how money like those work, before I go?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I should probably get back to the underground, now. And hope that Utsuho and Yuugi haven't beaten the hell out of each other, yet. Or that Utsuho won, anyway..."

>"Take good care of the books, now, Tokiko. Although you probably would, anyway. And here, take this in case you want to get yourself some more of these later."
>Give Tokiko 30☼

>"Don't worry, " says Mystia. "I'll keep an eye on her."
>You give her some money. She looks at it curiously. "Oh, this is what you gave her for the food, right?"
>"Like that, for instance," says Mystia.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Wait, what happened to teaching a youkai to fish instead of just giving her a fish?

[Kilgamayan]

> "Actually Mystia, I...was wondering about something with you and Tokiko."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Actually Mystia, I...was wondering about something with you and Tokiko."

>"Yeah?" Mystia says, as she cleans off the grill.

>_