OH BOY, STUFF! Added a bit of a description of blade, so make sure to check that out as well.

---

Merchandise in dimensional bag:
Cellphone strap accessories (8)
Lighter (1)
Deck of Cards (1)
Full body armor (1)
Jenga Game (1)
Yo-Yo (1)
Department Store Catalogue (1)
Nice hat (1)
Pumpkin (1)
Sweater (1)
Herbs and leaves tea set (2)
Exorcism Arrow (RESERVED, 1)
Fireproof Clothes (RESERVED, 1)
Blank Spell Cards x2
Hakurei Charm x12
Handheld Electric Fan x1
Pair of (rocket?) Roller Skates x1
Extendable arm x1
Doohickey x1
Optical Camouflage prototype x1
Canthomite shard x1
Marisa’s Magic Wand x1

Orders and requests:
Superboy XL (Rinnosuke)
Keep an eye out for a manual sewing machine (Alice)
"Provide the means to exterminate a fire demon, as well as something to protect one against his attacks" (Temple Priestess Kira)

Personal items on hand:
Grappling hook (Consists of hook and rope, 1)
Toolkit (Screwdriver, flashlight, bottle opener, simple knife (non-combat), campfire starter)
Food Rations
21350 yen
Blade – Makes 7 jumps before taking you back to HQ. Since you have to jump from the same world each time in order to get to a specific place, it’s kind of an awkward way to travel.
Map of Gensokyo

Seals:
[Seal 1P] Arm Strength
[Seal 2P] Leg Strength
[Seal 3P] Stamina
[Seal 4P] Defense
<Seal 1M> Fire
<Seal 2M> Water
<Seal 3M> Locked
<Seal 4M> Locked

Abilities Unlocked:
LUCK x3 (Put in front of a choice to make our hero more fortunate for the next turn. At least 4 people have to select this for it to activate, but the options selected do not have to be the same)

Spell Cards:
Spiritual Strike Talisman (System)
Magic Potion (System)
Practice Sign: Simple Laser <Unusable>

Known Merchants:
House of Kirisame (General goods)
Kourindou (Antiques, Variety, Basic Identification)
Kappa’s Bazaar (Various goods, mainly technological and literary in nature, food court)
Made by Nitori (Technological goods, technological repairs, located in Kappa’s Bazaar)
Fall’s Bounty (Seasonal Food – Autumn, located in Kappa’s Bazaar)
Kirisame Magic Shop (Junk shop, Marisa-for-hire?)
Fukuda Groceries (Food, produce)

[x] "Well, I thought it'd be a nice to get you out of..."
[x] Put on sunglasses.
[x] "A hairy situation."

>>32131

http://people.rit.edu/~bss6378/instantCSI/

[x] “No, I can’t remember saying anything like that.”

Sorry, don't know what you're talking about.

>>32131
I wish we had a pair of sunglasses.

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”

[x] “Ah, sorry about that, I didn’t realize you craved punishment so much. Don’t worry; I’ll let Eirin know that she can go ahead with the full penalty in that case.”

Reisen is a masochist. I'm not going to judge here, but if that's her thing...

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”

Something tells me that this will get the most "interesting" response from her.

[x] “Ah, sorry about that, I didn’t realize you craved punishment so much. Don’t worry; I’ll let Eirin know that she can go ahead with the full penalty in that case.”

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”

Look like someone's a bit impatient over there. We better hope to not mess this up.

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”

Because I don't think Reisen like to be teased much, considering her daily life and the reaction to the earlier teasing. This may create some problems, but nothing that Jean could have known right now and nothing he can't make up for later I think.

[x] “Ah, sorry about that, I didn’t realize you craved punishment so much. Don’t worry; I’ll let Eirin know that she can go ahead with the full penalty in that case.”

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”

It's the truth and Jean'll explain that he thought things weren't really her fault.

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”
-[X] "People shouldn't get in trouble for doing their jobs. I should know."

I'm >>32154

I'd like to add
-[X] "People shouldn't get in trouble for doing their jobs. I should know." To my vote.

[x] “Ah, sorry about that, I didn’t realize you craved punishment so much. Don’t worry; I’ll let Eirin know that she can go ahead with the full penalty in that case.”

This is what we get for having a conscience I guess.

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”

Jean has no real reason to assume she's a glutton for punishment just yet.

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”
--[x] "It's just... I've been in your position before."

[x] “Yeah, I did, is that a problem?”
-[X] "People shouldn't get in trouble for doing their jobs. I should know."

“Yeah, I did. Is that a problem?” deciding that honesty would be the best policy here, you affirm the statement. Reisen’s eyes immediately narrow in response.

“May I ask why? It isn’t often that a complete stranger would help somebody they don’t know, unless they thought that there was something in it for them. I’m just going to say this right now; what you did was on your own merit, so don’t expect anything extra from me, alright?”

Is that what she’s worried about? “Do I really come off as so much of a cheapskate? Don’t worry little bunny, I’m not expecting anything in return.”

“Then why did you do it?” She says, “I can’t see any good reason for you to step in on my behalf, so why would you even care? It’s because of my looks, isn’t it? Well let me just say that-“

“Geez, listen to yourself!” you explain, “You make it sound like you actually want to get punished!”

“Eh?” She asks, a look of confusion coming upon her face. Good, that derailed her rant. Hopefully you can diffuse this a bit easier now.

“Look,” you say with a sigh, “You’re appearance didn’t have anything to do with it. It just that… People shouldn't get in trouble for just doing their jobs. I should know.” You rub the back of your head as you avert your gaze from Reisen, who still seems to be catching up to what you said.

Blinking a few times, she gives you a gentle gaze, and you think that you’ve gotten somewhere with her. Right up until the point where she pouts once more and looks away saying, “So you’re saying that my looks didn’t matter in the least?

“Yeah no, sorry to say this girly, but that line would only work if I were your boyfriend.” Upon hearing the end of the sentence, the rabbit’s face immediately becomes a few shades redder, and she turns further away from you. You come up to her and place your hand on her shoulder, making her flinch and look in your direction. “Look, can we just drop this? I’ll promise not to mess in your affairs so much if you do.”

She stays still for a moment before slowly nodding, blushing all the while. “Good!” You exclaim as you move towards the doorway, “Now let’s get to that main room, we don’t want to keep your masters waiting, do we?” You make to leave for the doorway, but before you do an “um” comes from Reisen’s lips. You turn around, only to see the rabbit girl giving you a deep bow.

“Thank you very much,” she says coming out of the bow. She still won’t look you in the eyes, but finishes her statement nonetheless, “…for stepping in on my behalf.”

“You’re welcome,” you say with a smile, “and let’s try to get along from here on out, alright?” She smiles and nods in response, and then exits the room with you, guiding you to your next destination.

Soon enough, the two of you have made your way through the winding passages to around the area where you entered the complex. Asking you to wait for a bit, Reisen enters a doorway, before coming back out and gesturing for you to follow. Upon entering, you are greeted with the sight of a large room, with cushions set up on the floor next to a low table with a bowl of fruit sitting upon it. Kneeling upon one of the cushions on the side of the table opposite from you with her eyes closed is the girl with the long black hair that you saw before. Dressed in a pink dress, you can’t help but notice that this girl has an aura of great elegance and authority around her. Opening her eyes, she looks at you.

“I welcome you, oh honored merchant, to the house of Eientei. I hope that your treatment has gone well, and I look forward to seeing the wares you have brought upon us. I have sent Tewi to fetch Eirin, so they should both be around shortly as well.” She gives you a regal-looking smile as you make yourself comfortable on one of the cushions. Reisen closes the door and does her best to stay out of the picture.

The formal treatment, huh? It’s never really been your style, but if that’s what the customer wants…

[ ] Go along with the formalities until you feel a bit more comfortable around each other.
[ ] Try to lighten thing up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.

First order of business…

[ ] Let’s give them a run through of the merchandise
[ ] The matter of the medical bill
[ ] The arrow, when Eirin arrives
[ ] Write-in

[x] Try to lighten things up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.
[x] The matter of the medical bill

A little aside here, it's just nitpicking, but I'm always bothered when authors don't note Kaguya's beauty. On every instance of the tale she's based on, she's noted as being supernaturally beautiful. I know this is just me being picky about my favorite touhou, but I felt it warranted mentioning anyway.

>>32198

You're probably right, considering that so many people tried to accomplish her impossible requests for the chance to marry her. But I don't want to go back and make changes just for that, so I'm not going to worry about it for now. (Also I'm really lazy, but you didn't hear that from me!)

[x] Go along with the formalities until you feel a bit more comfortable around each other.
[x] The arrow, when Eirin arrives.

This noble seems to appreciate formal stuff, might as well go with the flow. And we should start with the arrow. I mean, we can get cool stuff obviously (Canthomite shards fuck yeah!) but the vast majority of our wares are pretty mundane material, you know, Jenga blocks, cards, cell phone straps, etc... If we start with the Exorcism Arrow and similar items, we come off as more professional as compared to some ratty old street merchant. (Which we totally are. Maybe.)

[x] Go along with the formalities until you feel a bit more comfortable around each other.
[x] The matter of the medical bill

>I can’t see any good reason for you to step in on my behalf, so why would you even care? It’s because of my looks, isn’t it?

Poor bunny ;_;

[X] Try to lighten things up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.
[X] Let’s give them a run through of the merchandise

>“Yeah no, sorry to say this girly, but that line would only work if I were your boyfriend.”

We should work on that.

>>32202
And yet, maybe we shouldn't.

>>32204

This guy gets it.

[x] Go along with the formalities until you feel a bit more comfortable around each other.
[x] The arrow, when Eirin arrives.

>>32204
Don't kick the tide-pissers when they're down, please.

[x] Try to lighten thing up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.
[x] The arrow, when Eirin arrives

It's go time. We're in our element here, but we are up against royalty so we'll have to be on our guard. We should take it easy, play up the laymen act a little, and lull them into a false sense of security. Only when they have gotten bored of our unassuming demeanor do we bust out the big guns. Pull out all the stops, regale them with our dazzling presence, utilize every secret merchant technique we know, and when they least expect it, we bust out The Yo-Yo. They'll be so impressed that they surely buy most of our stock. Of this, I am sure.

>>32204
>And yet, maybe we shouldn't
I can only agree.

[x] Go along with the formalities until you feel a bit more comfortable around each other.
[x] The arrow, when Eirin arrives.

To be honest, I AM kind of worried about our stock. Do we even have something that will catch Kaguya's eye? There's the catalogue for orders of course, but still... Then again, since we're pretty much presenting all our wares, it's not like we have to choose what to show. Also, we probably shouldn't show the fireproof clothes. Presenting something she'll be probably interested in but having it denied probably won't go well.

And if Kaguya makes an order, we better watch our money count. If we end up taking more orders than what we have money for, we'll be in trouble.

[x] Try to lighten thing up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.
[x] The arrow, when Eirin arrives

Honestly, I don't know who to go for, that's assuming that romance is even a factor in the story.

>>32198
Times do change and all, and it was feudal japan. Just saying that Kaguya might be overshadowed by other things in Gensokyo.

>>32202
>>32204
>>32207
>>32212

Oh Jesus, the battle-lines have already been drawn.

>>32221
Calm down. Still way too early for that and in the context of the story (as in being a dimension traveller), Jean isn't going to make the first move. Also, we still don't know enough about his past to see how he would react to such an action.

[X] Try to lighten things up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.
[X] Let’s give them a run through of the merchandise

[x] Go along with the formalities until you feel a bit more comfortable around each other.
[x] Run-through of the merchandise, excluding the fireproof clothes.

[x] Try to lighten thing up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.
[x] The arrow, when Eirin arrives.

>>32215

Here's a hint; There isn't really anything in the pack right now that will entrance Kaguya. Eirin, on the other hand, might find a certain piece of merchandise very interesting (aside from the arrow, so don't worry about that one).

Wasn't there a scene in Inaba where Kaguya had a fan? I bet they'd appreciate a HANDHELD fan!

>>32230
I'll suggest that for this story to work better, you'll need to plant hints (no need to make them obvious of course) so that we don't rely on guesswork. Her obvious interests are archery and medecine. Except the arrow, I see nothing in our pack that fit those criterias. Next is her intelligence. There's the prototype optical camouflage, but does she work on technology? She'll probably know what the canthomite shard is, but I doubt she need so much energy in Eientei, if any at all.

That's the problem. I've seen nothing subtle or unsublte hint that will let us make a good decision. And if we get no sale or order to Eirin or Kaguya, our reputation will suffer (as in, word may spread that we have nothing really good to offer).

>>32236

Consider what medicine can be made from. Now, is there anything in the pack that at least sort of matches that description?

As for your advise, I'm not sure about how I feel about giving too many obvious hints. I like seeing the logic you guys put into your answers, and I feel that I would be railroading you too much if I set out too many obvious paths. This isn't an old Sierra game where if you make one wrong move you will die instantly, so feel free to try things out. Since we are still in the "introductory phase" until the first visit is over, I'll be fairly lenient on the consequences for now. (Note: This does not apply to obviously stupid or counter-intuitive decisions such as jumping into a live volcano.)

>>32237
I'm an idiot. It was right in front of my face and I missed it.

As for my advice, I said there was no need to be obvious. Just subtle hints like what is in the room can work for exemple. I do know that nobody will like it if it's too obvious.

>>32237
...I miss Sierra. Where did Graphical Adventures went to? Day of the Tentacle, Gabriel Knight, Grim Fandango? (The last one isn't of them but whatever)

>>32221
>>32223

Shippers gonna ship

>>32241

Telltale Games does a lot of Graphical Adventures, although I’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for

Word to the wise: This week is my midterms, so don’t be surprised if there is a bit of an update lull.
---

[x] Try to lighten thing up a little, business doesn’t need to be so serious.
[x] The arrow, when Eirin arrives

…nah, something tells you that the formality thing is just a test. Besides, you’ve always been keener on establishing more casual relationships when you can; it just makes you feel more comfortable.

“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer it if we relaxed the atmosphere in here a bit,” you say, waving your hand, “I’m not really one for huge formalities, so if you don’t mind let’s just take things easy, alright?”

“The raven-haired beauty blinks a few times before shrugging and settling back into a more relaxed position, “Fine by me,” She says in a more relaxed manner, “I never cared too much for such formalities anyways, it’s just that it’s always better to not make assumptions when it comes to other people.” She flashes you a smile before going on, “Is there anything that I can get for you? Something to drink, perhaps?”

“How about something that I can call you by?” You say, returning the grin, “It would be awfully rude to keep on referring to you through pronouns.”

“Oh, how rude of me!” The girl exclaims, “Please forgive me, I am Kaguya Houraisan, the princess and master of Eientei.”

“Jean-Luc Lawrence, a traveling merchant of sorts. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, princess.” You reach over the table and take her hand in yours, bringing it to your lips. Kaguya giggles in response, while Reisen seems a bit uncomfortable with this turn of events.

“A gentleman, I see.” Kaguya says, “It’s been a while since we have any of those around here.”

“I’m not a gentleman, your highness,” You say while waving your hands in front of you, “Just your ordinary traveling merchant.”

“Well I’ve been looking forward to meet you either way,” Kaguya says while leaning on the table in front of her, “I’ve heard that you’ve got some good stuff on you, and I’ve been looking forward to seeing what you have brought from the outside.”

“Well I’ll be glad to show you what I have in a moment Princess, but first I have some unfinished business to attend to with your resident physician.”

“Ah,” The princess says as she deflates slightly, “Well like I said, I sent Tewi to fetch her a while ago, so she should be here any-“ as Kaguya nears the end of her sentence, the door opens once more, and both Eirin and Tewi walk inside.

“Ah, glad to see everyone gathered together.” Eirin says as she briskly walks to a cushion to sit down in, with Tewi following suit. A gesture from Eirin brings Reisen away from the door to occupy a fifth cushion. “Now that we are all ready to go, I suppose that you are ready to begin?” She asks, directing the question to you.

You nod. “But before that, I said I would allow you to examine that arrow you saw earlier.” You place your pack on the table and open it up, drawing the exorcism arrow from inside of it. Kaguya’s eyes widen as she sees this, and even Reisen seems somewhat impressed. Handing the arrow over to Eirin, you continue, “This arrow was crafted by an independent crafter who lived in the middle of a violent jungle. I had an extremely hard time finding him, but the quality of what he makes more than makes up for the trip.”

“Indeed,” Eirin breathes as she runs her fingers over the shaft, taking care not to move any of the talismans attached. “I can feel the raw energy coursing in this; are you sure that you wouldn’t be willing to sell this to me?”

You shake your head, “Like I said, this one is already reserved for someone else. But as I also said, I can do my best to obtain another one for you.”

“Alright, I’ll hold you to that then.” She says with a smile as she hand the arrow back to you, which you deposit back into your pack. “In any case, it’s good to know that the outside world hasn’t abandoned the practices of old yet.”

“Mmm.” You say in reply. Does she suspect something? Well let’s not give ourselves away quite yet. (And hopefully not at all)

“Alright,” Kaguya says with authority, “Now that that’s over, can we get this showcase on the road?”

Looking over to Eirin, you see her just shrug with a smile. Tewi is grinning in anticipation, and Reisen is giving you her full attention as well. With a grin, you announce, “All right, let me show you what I have then.”

Time to get our merchant on!

[ ] <Select 5 pieces of merchandise, top 3-4 will be chosen to focus on>

[x]Nice hat
[x]Herbs and leaves tea set
[x]Full body armor
[x]Department Store Catalogue
[x][LUCK] Doohickey

So these guys obviously have some bit of cash, so showing off things like sweaters and cell phone straps aren't going to be enough. People here seem to love headware, so that Hat is an option. Eirin, as a Doctor, would probably appreciate the Tea and Herb set due to the traditional (Primitive? Rustic?) nature of this realm. Body Armor... that looks nice. And the Catalogue is there so these ladies can get a good picture of the sort of advanced stuff in the Outside.

As for the Doohickey... maybe one of these people can identify it? Sure it's bad to not know what something is in front of customers, but who knows, we might luck out and have it turn out something really awesome.

>>32244
I think we should wait for Rinnosuke to check it first. Also, I think full body armor would fetch a higher price from Remilia, if only to put as a decoration on a stand. Would fit with the European nature of her mansion. Same with nice hat: Remilia is in my opinion our best bet for selling it.

[x]Herbs and leaves tea set
[x]Department Store Catalogue
[x]Jenga game
[x]Yo-yo
[x]Pumpkin

Herbs and leaves tea set and Department Store Catalogue are obvious choices. One for Eirin, and the other for orders, since it's our most unique feature amongst merchants in Gensokyo. Yoyo for Tewi since her playful nature could make her interested in it.

I'm less sure of my others two choices are less sure due to lack of variety in stock, but Jenga as another game and pumpkin since I doubt it's common in Gensokyo and maybe someone would like a taste of something different.

That and I frankly doubt we'll be able to sell Gensokyo-bought stuff for a good price in Gensokyo

[x]Herbs and leaves tea set (2)
[x]Canthomite shard x1
[x]Handheld Electric Fan x1
[x] Rocket(?) Rollers
[x]Department Store Catalogue (1)

[x]Nice hat
[x]Herbs and leaves tea set
[x]Full body armor
[x]Department Store Catalogue
[x]Jenga game

[LUCK]Exorcism Arrow, if Eirin can find/make something that can take out a fire demon.

With a little luck we can make two customers happy.

[x]Herbs and leaves tea set
[x]Optical Camouflage prototype
Are the only things I can see anyone really interested in. Herbs for eirin and I'm sure a prankster like Tewi could find a use or ten for being invisible.
So, the rest
[x]Yo-yo
[x]Jenga game
[x]Pair of (rocket?) Roller Skates x1

[x]Herbs and leaves tea set
[x]Department Store Catalogue
[x]Jenga game
[x]Yo-yo
[x]Pumpkin

I don't care about anything other than the
[x] Handheld Electric Fan

[x] Yo-Yo
[x] Handheld Electric Fan
[x] Herbs and leaves tea set
[x] Nice hat
[x] Sweater


Unlike others, I do not like it when you provide hints and tips for what we should do/sell. Personally, I like figuring out what a given touhou would like based solely on intuition, so when you provide tips and shit it feels almost like cheating.

>>32249
Oh shit, good idea. I don't care about the other items, but I wanna try

[LUCK]Exorcism Arrow, if Eirin can find/make something that can take out a fire demon.

[x]Herbs and leaves tea set
[x]Department Store Catalogue
[x]Jenga game
[x]Yo-yo
[x]Pumpkin

>>32285

Even if Eirin could it's probably a bad idea. We've already stated that the arrow is meant for another costumer which makes trading it a bad idea. That's the type of thing that gives a merchant a bad reputation and might damage their willingness to do future business with us.

[x]Herbs and leaves tea set (2)
[x]Canthomite shard x1
[x]Handheld Electric Fan x1
[x] Rocket(?) Rollers
[x]Department Store Catalogue (1)

Only 3 out of the necessary 4 options requested LUCK, so it will not be activated this round.

[X] Jenga game
[X] Handheld Electric Fan x1
[X] Department Store Catalogue
[X]Nice Hat
[X] Herbs and leaves tea set

“Alright, we’ll start with the small stuff and work our way up,” you say as you draw the Jenga game out from the pack. “Here’s a small game that I picked up during my travels. Let me show you how it works.”

You set up the game and demonstrate how to play. The rabbits seem intrigued, but both Eirin and Kaguya don’t seem too interested. You get the feeling that they consider something like this childish, even though you were led to believe that this was a game for all ages. They politely wait until you finish the game with Reisen and Tewi, and then Kaguya politely asks if she could see the next item. Reisen looks a bit disappointed but doesn’t object. Still…

“Would you be interested in purchasing this, Ms. Reisen?”

The taller bunny considers this for a bit, but a look for Eirin ultimately decides it, and she shakes her head. “I don’t need it, and it’s probably cheaper to just carve out my own blocks. Thanks for the offer though.” You put the game back, somewhat dejected.

“Alright, have a look at this then.” You display items that you think the Eientei inhabitants will find interesting, getting more exotic in your wares as time passes. At one point, Kaguya jumps up with glee when she sees you pull out the electric fan you bought at the bazaar.

“Oooh, Eirin get that! That would be perfect for hot days!”

“As you wish, Princess. How much?” She directs the latter question towards you. Let’s see, you bought it for a steal at 200 yen, but it can’t really be worth anything more than...

“500 yen.” Eirin nods and the transaction is complete. Kaguya happily holds the fan and tries it out for a while, but eventually gets bored and hands it to Reisen for safekeeping.

Soon enough, you near the end of the showcase. Nothing else has really sparked their interest, but you saved the best for last.

“Alright, here’s the last of the showcase,” you say as you pull out the catalogue. Once again, Kaguya’s eyes light up as she grabs for the publication and pulls it toward her.

“Ooooo!” She exclaims happily, “It’s always good to know what the latest fashions and tastes are. And news travels so slowly around here too.” She begins leafing through the magazine, somewhat entranced.

“How much?” Eirin asks.

“…Excuse me?”

“How much for that publication? Does 500 yen sound alright to you?”

Wait… they want to buy the actual magazine? Granted, it’s not like you could read it anyways, and you didn’t have to pay for it, but you could still use it to take orders. Still, it’s not like they are hard to come by. You can probably pick up a few more copies on the way out.”

“…I think that I’ll want it back after this for the sake of taking orders.” Kaguya give you a pout that nearly breaks your heart, but before you cave in you think of a compromise. “I can pick up some similar publications for you on my next round, if you like.”

“Ooo, nice!” Kaguya says while grinning, “Get something on the latest fashions, and something about recent events, and…”

She goes on like this for a bit. You take down her preferences and then reach into your pack for the second-to-last item. “Alright, this is one of my very best items. Take a look at this!”

You flourish the nice hat, getting a nice reaction from everyone at the table.

“Very nice.” Kaguya says, looking up from the catalogue. Taking it in her hands, she turns it around a few times before placing it on her head. “What do you think?” She asks.

After a moment’s consideration, Eirin shakes her head, “It is a very nice hat, Princess, but I can’t say that it really suits you.”

“Yeah,” Tewi adds, “It seems like it just doesn’t fit somehow. Can’t put my finger on it, though.”

“Ah well, I suppose that if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit.” Kaguya says as she takes the headgear off and hands it back to you. Oh no, you aren’t going to give up just yet.

“What about the rest of you?” You plead to the other three?” Reisen and Tewi both give you odd looks before pointing to their ears. “Kinda hard to wear a hat with these, wouldn’t you say?” Tewi speaks.

“You could cut holes for them,” you bargain.

“And ruin the hat?” Tewi asks, “No way! It’s way too nice for that!”

Grr… well there’s still one more. Turning to Eirin with pleading eyes, you see her shake her head. “I don’t need another one.” She says, pointing to her fancy nurse’s cap.

Dammit, you’re never going to get rid of this thing. Shoving it back in your pack, you take out the final item. “Alright, well in any case, this is the last thing I want to display. I think that Eirin will probably be the one most interested in this, actually.” You open up the tea set, displaying the various leaves and herbs inside.

“Oh my,” Eirin says as she inspects the items inside. Pulling what looks to be a mini microscope out, she examines a good number of the herbs and leaves inside. After a bit, she nods and puts her tool away, turning to you with a smile. “Very nice; these might not have any medicinal qualities in and of themselves, but mixed together with other compounds they should act as enhancers.” Putting her finger to her lips in thought, she addresses you again. “How about this; if you let me have these herbs, I will waive the rest of your medical bill. If that doesn’t suit you, we can negotiate a price, or I can offer something else in return, such as a basic medicinal compound. What do you say?”

Exchange the tea set for:
[ ] The medical bill waive
[ ] Cash
[ ] Medicine
[ ] Something else<Specify>

And once the matters of money and bills are settled, what will you do next? You probably have enough time to converse with one or two people here before heading out.

[ ] Ask Eirin to go into more detail about her pharmaceuticals practice.
[ ] Ask Kaguya if she found anything that she wants to order.
[ ] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back
[ ] Ask Reisen about the layout of Eientei, and see if she’ll give you a tour.

[x] Medicine.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back.

Medicine might be useful, and Tewi's likely our best bet. Also we should just

[x] Wear the nice hat.

For higher charisma.

>>32324

Ah, forgot to put down that you can choose two people to talk to if you wish, sorry.

[x] Medicine.
[x] Ask Eirin to go into more detail about her pharmaceuticals practice.
[LUCK] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back.

I'll always bet on Tewi~

[x] The medical bill waive
[x] Ask Reisen about the layout of Eientei, and see if she’ll give you a tour.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back

[x] The medical bill waive
[x] Ask Kaguya if she found anything that she wants to order.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back.

Medicine might be nice, but we'll have no idea just what she'll give us for it. If it's the equivalent of some mystical cough drop, that's not a solid deal. And selling actual medicine is pretty sketchy.

[x] The medical bill waive

[x] Ask Kaguya if she found anything that she wants to order.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back

We need to start thinking about saving money. We already almost used a third of what we had at first and we'll need some for the Superboy XL and if we see a sewing machine for Alice. Also, we may as well see if there is anything Kaguya may want us to pick up.

And of course, asking Tewi for navigation is the most important thing.

Realm, about the luck option, you said there was three votes for it, but isn't that kinda wrong? One of them was for a different choice. Should they really count together even if they're different options?

>>32336

As stated in the ability description:

>LUCK x3 (Put in front of a choice to make our hero more fortunate for the next turn. At least 4 people have to select this for it to activate, but the options selected do not have to be the same)

>>32338
Ah, my bad then. Sorry about this.

[x] The medical bill waive
[x] Ask Kaguya if she found anything that she wants to order.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back.

It's better to cover your debts rather than taking on merchandise which's sale isn't guaranteed.

[x] The medical bill waive
[x] Ask Kaguya if she found anything that she wants to order.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back.

>>32344
Why worry about money? That Plot Crystal is worth way, way more than the pittance we're going to get here.

>>32351
Exactly because this is a plot crystal, I very much doubt we'll get that much money, if any at all.

[x] The medical bill waive
[x] Ask Kaguya if she found anything that she wants to order.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back.

This trip has caused too many complications for almost nothing. Let's take the safe route.

Once again Reisen's overlooked; the story of her time here.

[x] Ask Reisen about the layout of Eientei, and see if she’ll give you a tour.

Sorry for the lack of updates this week, midterms and illness have kept me from writing. I'll try to get something up by tonight.

[x] The medical bill waive
[x] Ask Kaguya if she found anything that she wants to order.
[x] Ask Tewi about navigating the bamboo forest and see if you can’t get her to guide you back.

You nod. “You said that the rest of the bill consisted of material fees, so clearing my bill like this seems like a reasonable offer.”

“Excellent. If you happen to spot any other leaves or herbs let me know; I will be sure that you are properly compensated for them in the future. Additionally, if you have any future medicinal needs, just let Udonge or I know and we will do our best to set you up. Come, Udonge.” With that the doctor gets up from the table and makes to leave. For a moment you consider offering the other tea set to her, but your merchant’s intuition tells you that it would be more beneficial to save it for now. With a nod in goodbye from you, you see the doctor and Reisen off, leaving a small rabbit seemingly dozing against the table and a princess engrossed in mercantile literature.

“Could you stick around for a bit,” you say softly to Tewi, who twitches one ear in response, “I want to ask you something, but I think I should address the princess first.” The rabbit nods slightly, and then goes back to doing what she was before, which is mainly nothing in particular.

Turning to Kaguya, you ask, “So, see anything that you like?”

“Not really,” She shakes her head, “Half of the stuff in here isn’t anything that I would really need, and the rest would probably be a pain to get here.”

“Ah, don’t worry about the size of things; my pack should be able to handle items to a medium-largish range.”

“Really?” She asks with a glint of hope in her eyes, “Then would you be able to get this for me?” She points out a record player on one of the pages, “Miss Hieda has wanted to loan me some records for a while now, but I just don’t have the means to play them here. Oh, but try and see if you can find one that runs on manual power; I don’t think we would be able to get anything electric working for long.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” You say as you take the catalogue back, “by the way, who is Ms. Hieda?”

“She’s a historian of sorts from a well of family in the village,” Kaguya says, “She is very friendly by nature, and I like sharing stories of the past with her. If you stick around Gensokyo long enough, she’ll probably seek you out to talk at some point.”

“Hmm, good to know,” you say as you get up from the table, “Well it was a pleasure meeting you princess, but-“

“Call me Kaguya, please.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Kaguya, but I have a standing appointment somewhere else, and I should probably get going. I’ll make sure to stop by again when I have your merchandise in, though.”

“That sounds lovely,” she says with an enchanting smile, “I’ll be waiting until that time, then.”

“See ya,” you say with a wave of your hand. Turning to Tewi, you ask, “You coming?” and head out of the room with the small girl following you, a puzzled Kaguya staring at the pair of you leaving.

“So what did you need, then?” Tewi asks.

“That bamboo forest out there is impossible for me to get through on my own, so I was wondering if you would be willing to guide me out, or at the very least give me some directions.”

“Hmmm?” She hums, a sly grin coming upon her face, “So that’s it then. Didn’t you ever hear the saying that you should never follow a rabbit through a bamboo forest?”

“Er… no, I can’t say that I have.”

“Yeah, me neither,” she says with a shrug, “But let me just say that unlike that fire girl who brought you here, my services don’t come free of charge.”

Fire girl? Does she mean Mokou? Well whatever, time for that later, right now its business time. “What’s your offer?”

“500 yen will get you directions out of the forest. For 1,000 yen I’ll send one of the other rabbits to guide you out. And for 1,500 yen, yours truly will take time out of her busy schedule to guide you out personally. Of course, we could always work out some sort of… alternative arrangement” Her eyes glint as they fall upon your pack, causing you to shift it away from her somewhat uncomfortably.

“So, what’s it going to be?”

MERCHANT UNLOCKED – Yagokoro Clinic (Medicine, health services)

[ ] 500 yen – Economy choice
[ ] 1,000 yen – Standard choice
[ ] 1,500 yen – Premium choice
[ ] Work out an alternative arrangement <Select item/write in>
[ ] Are you sure that you should be following a rabbit into the bamboo forest? Maybe asking for her help isn’t such a good idea…

[LUCK] Work out an alternative arrangement <The Yo-Yo.>

God, yes. A yo-yo is exactly the sort of thing I can see Tewi loving.

[X] Work out an alternative arrangement <Pair of (rocket?) Roller Skates x1>

I like this Tewi, I feel like giving her a good fucking great deal.

[LUCK] Work out an alternative arrangement <The Yo-Yo.>

Lucking Tewi is incapable of being a bad idea.

Deleted my post, voting [x] Work out another deal (Rocket Skates).

WHEEEE!

[X] 500 yen – Economy choice

Jean should be able to follow a bunch of directions to get out of a forest. It's a vital adventuring skill.

The rocket skates cost us 1000 yen. That's only saving 500, and that's not counting the cost of reselling.

which means she'll be really happy and we should use our luck so she gives us something awesome in return~

[LUCK] Work out an alternative arrangement <The Yo-Yo.>

[x] Work out an alternative arrangement <YourselfRocket Skates>

What the hell? Everyone is trying to get rid of our last remaining Yo-Yo? That's our best ware; it's bad enough that that troglodyte Marisa stole our spare, but now everyone is trying to ditch the remainder? Shame on all of you.

>>32433

I would agree with you, but Tewi seems to be a VERY good person to make happy.

[X] 500 yen – Economy choice

>>32435
From a meta perspective, sure, but Lawrence seems to be a little wary of her. Her interest in our pack is disheartening. I suppose she earned brownie points by not actually stealing our shit when she had free reign of the pack, though.

[x] Work out an alternative arrangement <YourselfRocket Skates>

[LUCK] Work out an alternative arrangement <The Yo-Yo.>

[x] Work out an alternative arrangement <Jenga>

Since the rabbits were 'intrigued' when we displayed it earlier.

>>32437

I don't know about you, but even meeting her in real life would set off alarms to not give her an excuse to mess with me. I'm sure our intuitive merchant can see that.

>>32441
Nice catch.

[LUCK] Work out an alternative arrangement <Jenga>

I doubt it'll win, but at least we'll still be spending luck on those rocket-skates.

Man, you guys are really underestimating her. Oh well…

---

LUCK is in effect! x2 remaining.

Yo-yo + Rocket Skates + 500 yen =

[X] 1,500 yen – Premium choice
“Let’s try to work something else, in that case,” you say as you rummage around in your pack, “How about this?” You bring out the yo-yo and display it to her. A look of indignity falls upon her face as she shakes her head.

“Come on now” she says, “I know you can do better than that.”

“Hmm, alright,” you say as you dig out the roller skates, “Would these be more to your liking?”

Her eyes sparkle as the lay upon the skates, and she nods her head vigorously. “Oh yes, those will do very nicely.” She then takes a pose as if thinking, and then nods once more. “Alright, in exchange for guiding you out of here I’ll take that circular toy you showed me, those skates and 500 yen. Does that sound like a deal?”

“Wha…” Hang on a second, you’re potentially losing money in this! The skates alone cost you 1000 yen, and the yo-yo is probably worth another 500! “At the very least take off the 500 yen, alright?”

She lets out a sigh. “FINE. C’mon, let’s get going. I’ll collect my stuff when you’re out of the forest” She walks towards the path leading out of Eientei, and all you can do is follow the rabbit into the bamboo forest in, hoping all the while that she really was lying about that saying.

---

“So where you going after this?”

“I’m not really sure, I’ll probably decide that after you get me out of here.”

“Aw, you’re no fun. By the way, you probably don’t want to step there.”

Geez, another one? You have no idea if there is really a trap there or not, but you figure that it’s better to play it safe then sorry. All in all, this little trip through the forest has taken around twice as long as Mokou’s, and you get the feeling that she might be leading you around in circles. Additionally, it feels as though she points out a different trap every 15 seconds. You get the feeling that she might have made up a good number of them to keep you on edge, but since you can’t say that for certain your only choice is to tread carefully. (If she is telling the truth, then you wonder how in the world anyone manages to get through this forest at all) To make things more complicated, she’s been quizzing you all about yourself the entire time, so you needed to split your attention between not giving away too much of yourself and not accidentally being killed.

Finally, you are led outside of the forest onto the road back to the village. “Here we are, safe and sound!” She hold out her hand, “Now, about my payment?”

For a single second, the thought of not paying her for a job done poorly runs through your mind. Right after that however, other thoughts enter your mind, though; thoughts of doom and destruction. Looking straight at the bunny girl, you can see that she is giving you a smile full of love and innocence. Yeah, you’ve seen these types before, and you know better than to try and screw them over.

“Alright, alright, I’ve got your payment here.” You dig out the yo-yo and the skates and hand them over. Tewi looks over them with satisfaction before asking, “And the money?”

“Oh no, don’t think I forgot, you agreed to take that off.”

“Hmph.” She says as she crosses her arms, “I was hoping you forgot,” she sighs in false resignation, then gives you another smile. “Ah well, I know you’ll be back later, so I’ll get it out of you one way or the other.”

“Yeah, looking forward to it,” you say with a completely straight face.

Tewi leaps off of the ground and surprises you by planting a kiss right on your cheek. Bounding off back into the forest, she waves while yelling, “See you later, hot stuff.”

…well, that was nice of her. Still, you’re pretty sure that you have to take most of what she does with a grain of salt. Still pretty nice, though.

<Rabbit’s Kiss obtained! x3 LUCK remaining.>

---

“Well, that was fun,” Tewi thinks to herself as she bounds back through the forest, this time taking the quick route. She chuckles to herself at the number of times she made that merchant jump whenever she pointed out a trap. Naturally, around ninety percent of those pointed out didn’t exist, but since it didn’t hurt him in the end there was no harm done.

Still, she had to admit the man was pretty sharp. Not only didn’t he fall for the extra 500 yen ploy, he was also able to keep up his act while distracted. It was pretty obvious to her that the man wasn’t telling the entire story about where he came from, but to his credit he didn’t slip up once during the trip back. Even extending the trip by circling around for a while didn’t produce anything. Oh well. At some point he’ll slip up, at which point Tewi could just use that to bring him down the blackmailing slope. No hurry at all.

“In any case,” Tewi happily things to herself while gazing over the rocket skates, “Tonight should prove to be entertaining enough. Now how do I get Reisen into these?”

---

Time to move on. It’s late morning right now, but you could probably head to the mansion anyways and chat with the maid to kill some time. Alternatively, you could head to the Temple of Myouren first and just head to the mansion when evening falls. Or you could go somewhere else because hey, you’ve got time. Still, you don’t want to waste too much time, so you should probably keep close to the village.

Make a detour?

[ ] Rinnosuke’s
[ ] The Fukuda’s shop
[ ] The school
[ ] The main square
[ ] Nah, let’s just keep moving

Where to next?

[ ] We don’t know what kind of delays we might run into on the way, so it’s probably best to head straight for the mansion
[ ] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

---

Also, from now on I’m going to limit the amount of LUCK you can get from Tewi to one per visit. Can’t have you all luck-spamming our favorite rabbit, now can I? Since I didn’t announce this until now, though, I let the LUCK you got just now slide, but keep this in mind for the future, alright?

And before I get any complaints about why your LUCK didn’t work this round, let me just say that it did. But what did you think would happen when you pit your luck against Tewi’s? Just be glad that you basically came out of that bargain even, and that she didn’t lead you astray. Like I said before, LUCK isn’t infallible. It might give you a nudge in the right direction when activated, but there is a chance that it simply won’t be able to do anything. Case in point, pitting your luck against somebody who can manipulate good luck probably won’t do much for you. Just saying.

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

>Also, from now on I’m going to limit the amount of LUCK you can get from Tewi to one per visit. Can’t have you all luck-spamming our favorite rabbit, now can I?

Won't stop me from hanging around with Tewi.

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

>Won't stop me from hanging around with Tewi.
Ditto. Fuck being an honest merchant; I want to ask her for lessons.

>>32454
>>32456

By all means, go ahead if you wish. I just wanted to keep you from using her as a LUCK outlet.

>>32457
Fair enough. There's no meaning in spending luck if we're just going to get it back immediately.

Broke even on luck and the skates, and 500 yen for the yo-yo... I believe we actually made a small profit there. A complete victory!

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

I'd rather visit Reisen some more; poor ignored bunny.

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

Detour would probably take too long and we wouldn't be able to go to the mansion.

>>32469
That's assuming nothing happens on the way. We're going to need a guide for the road if we want to avoid troublesome encounters in our defenseless state.

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

I doubt we'll make a sale at the temple (we were told the temple doesn't have much extra money around and spellcard creation will have to wait until Yukari comes see what went wrong, because I doubt the pain is what she had in mind.), but we can always see what they would want for future visits or if there's anything they want to order.

[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

>bring out The yo-yo and proudly display it to her. A look of indignity falls upon her face

Oh fuck you, Tewi. You don't deserve to be graced with the divine presence of such an object. At least Marisa uses hers.

>>32471
I just realized
>defenseless state
>Nazrin ready to kick our ass.
This should be fun.

>>32475
that's what happens when you treat her like a kid.

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

This story is rather dull. We're 3 threads in and nothing really of any particular importance has happened so far, but I remember seeing the author mention something about a plot, so I'd suggest hurrying it along.

Anyway, I'm too lazy to think right now so let's swim with the current.
[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

>>32489
You don't have to immediately bust some ass in the story.

Sometimes you just want to sell some tea sets.

I'd rather we slow down and visit the underground before finishing this visit.

>>32495
Impossible: it's one of the area we can't reach as we are right now. We need to know where the entrance to the Underground is (thus, we probably need an invitation), a way to defend ourself (Onis) and either a guide and/or our ring of flight.

>>32489
I suggest you find another story to read. If a story titled Merchant in Gensokyo doesn't draw you in when actual trading and commerce happens, than it probably isn't for you.

>>32499
I can't remember if Suika is staying at the shrine in this story or not. If she is, we have to head back there to leave Gensokyo; we can ask her to guide us underground then.

And lots of important things have happened so far. We met tons of people. First impressions are everything, you know? I'm sure that Plot Crystal will come into play eventually, and we'll head back to HQ sooner or later... but for now, merchant games.

>>32502
Except that unless we have a lot of alcohol to sell (and we don't), there's no reason to go meet onis. And going there just to say hello isn't worth all the potential dangers.

Beside, I'm expecting Utsuho to come looking for us once the batteries in the lava lamp run out of power (or if she broke it by bringing it near the reactor or by accident).

>>32500
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind at all if the story was about commerce alone, a slice-of-life kind of thing, but we keep getting multiple hints that something significant that would generate a full plot could, will, or would happen, but nothing actually does. Some of these things could even be really important (the seal thing, finding the crystal, etc), but they don't feel like it at all and we just skip over them immediately to get to the next trading scene.

I may just be impatient but I can't help feeling that, if this is just an introduction of sorts, being 'Visit 1' and all, the only things that will matter are the established plot points and hooks and so on, and I can't see the actual trading of trinkets being important in the long run.

>>32506
The trinkets aren't important, but if you want stuff that'll be important in the long-run... we have been leaving first impressions left and right. Realmhopper's even been good at switching point of view to drive that point home.

>>32499

Yeah, he really doesn’t have the means to get underground right now, not to mention the fact that since it isn’t listed on his map he doesn’t even know where it would be. (Or possibly even if it exists, I can’t remember if Okuu mentioned it or not) But don’t worry, your interactions with Okuu have basically guaranteed that you’ll get a chance to head there in the next visit.

>>32502

Don’t think I’ve mentioned Suika’s whereabouts yet. At this point though she might also be hanging out in the heavens or even underground, though, so the shrine isn’t necessarily a guarantee.

>>32506

Yeah, I can see what you mean; the plot is taking a while to get moving, isn’t it? It’s probably a combination of both my lack of writing experience, as well as the very nature of the story as a CYOA, since I need to change the story based around the choices everyone makes, not to mention the shipping (Oh the shipping :P). But all in all I’m satisfied how things are going, and I would rather take it easy and make this story good and fun then rush the plot and leave things half done.

Was the emoticon too much? I think it was too much. Anyways I’ll try to have a new post ready by later tonight.

[x] Nah, let’s just keep moving
[x] If we stop by the temple first we’ll hit our last two spots in one day. Let’s head for the temple.

Yeah, we might have spare time, but that doesn’t give us any reason to waste it. The more we can do in the time we have, the better. In any case, you don’t have any detours in mind, so you decide to head off towards your next destination. Since it would probably be best to arrive at the vampire’s around evening in any case, you get your map out and begin to make your way to the temple.

As you continue on, you once again here the words “Extra!” ringing through the air. Thinking from past experience, you look up towards the skies and to your credit the newspaper doesn’t hit you on the side of your head this time. Instead, it strikes you right in the face. By the time you regain your senses, there is no sign of Aya, and only her newspaper remains. Well at least it doesn’t look like you’re on the front page this time. (Reimu seems to take that honor today, although it doesn’t look like she was very happy about having her picture taken) There is a small bit about you inside, however. You still can’t read it (man, this is really becoming inconvenient) but you recognize the picture as you and Keine during your spell card practice. You consider what the article could be about for a moment before giving up and putting it away and pushing forward to the temple.

Temple, temple… something about that word seems to be resonating against something in your mind. Temple… oh well, if it’s important you’ll probably remember it when you get there. You continue onwards, not noticing the grass beside you rustling past.

---

The small mouse returns to the temple where its leader is to give its report. He finds her in the meditation chamber, sitting on her knees in wait with her eyes closed. Upon reaching her he begins to squeak out his report of the man she described approaching. Her eyes open immediately, and she turns her full attention to the mouse cadet’s report.

After he is finished, she dismisses the small mouse before heading over to the wall where two wooden swords hang. Taking them both, she begins her walk outside to the main courtyard where the enemy must first come. Other thoughts try to distract her from her task, but there are only two thoughts echoing through her mind right now:

“It’s time.”

---

The Temple of Myouren wasn’t very difficult to find, mainly due to its proximity to the human village. At first glance, though, you felt as though you might have been mistaken. From a distance, you could have sworn that it looked like a granary, and as you got closer the shape seemed to transform into that of a ship. When you got to the top of the stairs leading to the temple, however, you can’t imagine why you ever thought either of those things. It’s clearly a temple, no two ways about it.

As you enter the main courtyard, you are once again reminded that there is something that you should probably be remembering about this temple. Something about…

“YOU THERE! HALT!”

Oh yeah, that mouse girl you met the other day lives here, doesn’t she? And there she is right now, holding two…wooden…swords…

“Um, Nazin, right?” you ask, halting as per her request “Is there something I can help you with?”

“You’re actions from the last time we met have disgraced me beyond words!” She shouts as she throws one of the swords at you. Deftly catching it, you try and remember when you did that. “A youkai should never have to take any sort of pity from a human, so I must now repay you for that disgrace!”

“…Oh, are you talking about that cheese I gave you? I just thought it would be a nice gesture, sorry if you took offense.” A grin creeps up your face, “So are you saying that it didn’t taste good? Maybe I should find some another mouse to give cheese to from now on…”

“SHUT UP!” She yells, though you think you can see a blush through her scowl, “I challenge you to a duel! One round only, no spell cards, no items, nothing but us and these swords! First to knock out the other by the border’s rule wins. Do you accept?”

[ ] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”
[ ] “Sure thing, little mouse, but do you mind if… <Suggest change to the proposed rules>
[ ] “Not right now, alright? We might be able to find some time to play after I’ve shown off my merchandise.”
[ ] “I came here to sell, not to battle. I’m not going to fight you.”

>>32514
Quick question: What's our strength without seals? Jean probably is good enough with his sword to get a win here, but if he can't block or react fast enough, good techniques may not be enough.

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, but do you mind if… <use items>

Fuck your tourneyfag bullshit, Nazrin. We have a magic wand and stealth camo and we're going to use them.

>>32516
...That would be the best way to get on the bad side of Byakuren's group, especially Shou.

>>32515

Strength is somewhat above average for a human. More importantly, he does have good speed and reflexes, as well as a good amount of experience in fighting with swords.

He gets the impression that if he were to take on Nazrin, he would be able to hold his own easily, although he has no guarantee on that considering that he doesn't know how she fights, as well as the fact that she's a youkai. Still, years of hopping through dimensions have made him fairly decent at eyeballing the strength of others, so he feels somewhat confident in his assessment.

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, but do you mind if… we use these cards to makes things fun?
[x] "Every two minutes, we draw a card, the person with the highest value gets a free punch! Aces high, Twos low."

Let's have some fun, be a little masochistic. Besides, I'm sure our sleight of hand is enough that we can cheat like a motherfucker if we need to.

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

I'm not sure if it would warrant popping a seal to win a duel with Nazrin.

It's not like we absolutely need to go to the SDM tonight, but it'd be nice if we could.

>>32518
Good enough for me.

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

Anything other than a fair fight would probably anger her more right now.

...Should we point out that by her logic, she should also take offense at Kumiko's husband treats?

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

No items
Wooden swords
Left hands only!
TEMPLE OF MYOUREN!

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

She mad.

[X] “I came here to sell, not to battle. I’m not going to fight you.”

We're a merchant now. Abilities are best kept hidden until absolutely needed.

[X] “I came here to sell, not to battle. I’m not going to fight you.”
Mostly because all the other options sound stupendously condescending.

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

[X] “I came here to sell, not to battle. I’m not going to fight you.”

[x] “I came here to sell, not to battle. I’m not going to fight you.”

Alright, writing now

>>32559
Hooray!

[x] “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

Geez, she’s really angry with you. You get the impression that saying no will only make things worse here, though, so you secure your pack behind your back and take a stance. “Sure thing, little mouse, I don’t mind playing with you for a bit.”

She seems to ignore the little mouse comment as she draws closer. When she gets close enough the same border that surrounded you and Okuu comes into existence. True to Yukari’s words, your seals don’t react to its presence. Oh well, not like there will be any magic occurring in this duel so you doubt that matters. Still would be nice to have your physical seals, though that would probably be considered cheating in this case.

The two of you face each other in preparation for the coming fight. Nazrin gives you a small bow, although it doesn’t really look like her heart is into it. Not wanting to offend, you return the favor.

[BORDER OF DUEL]

The words come upon the border once more, and Nazrin launches herself straight at you, with blade over her head and war cries coming from her mouth. Since she’s shorter than you are a head strike would be difficult for her, so she goes for your chest instead with an overhead strike. A fairly obvious move, you position your blade in front of you to parry.

*WHACK*

The force of the blow takes you by surprise as it launches you off of your feet to the ground a few meters behind you. You knew she would be strong, but this was a bit more than you were expecting. Nazrin doesn’t let up her assault as you hit the dirt and continues to attack you while you are on the ground. After raining a few blows down on top of you, you catch her chest with your foot and push her away, regaining your footing.

“Hey, that’s not allowed!” Nazrin yells as you get up, “I said swords only, no feet allowed!”

“No, what you specified was ‘nothing but us and these swords’, and I would like to think that my foot is definitely part of the ‘us’ category.”

Gritting her teeth in anger, Nazrin assaults you anew. This time, however, you are prepared for her strength and parry her successfully before launching your fist in a counterattack. She dodges out of the way and swings once again, intent on winning by sword alone.

No, that’s not it. After a few rounds of this you realize that she is pretty good with the sword, so it makes sense that she is relying on it. It also begins to dawn on you that she is both quicker and more agile than you are as well, and that normally she would probably have an advantage in a match based on physical skill alone.

You can tell that she isn’t really on her best game right now, though. She is obviously distracted by her thoughts, and you get the feeling that her skills are somewhat rusty, in that she hasn’t used them in a long while. These things combined put the two of you on fairly even ground, although you get the feeling that you are going to tire out much quicker than she is. If you are going to win this, you will need to find a advantage of your own.

[ ] Go full out in your attack and try to overwhelm her
[ ] Stick to defense for now, she’ll probably drop her guard eventually
[ ] Your words seem to rile her, so if you keep talking she might eventually show a moment of weakness
[ ] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.

[x] Your words seem to rile her, so if you keep talking she might eventually show a moment of weakness

I suggest terrible puns. Alas, I am horrid at creative endeavors, so I'll leave the actually punning to others. Anything to keep the image that whatever she does doesn't affect us. She appears to get easily frustrated at our cool-guy image, and that'll leave her open.

What's is the 'calm down' option's strategy? Defense?

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.
-[x] Doesn't mean you should just stop fighting however: If she sense you holding back, she'll probably get angrier. Defense, but look for openings when she attacks.

That makes sense to me. If she's as Jean think, then she'll make bigger mistakes soon.

>>32572
That option may just piss off Nazrin more, with no chance to talk to her after the fight is over. And we don't want to get injured again already.

>>32574
>That option may just piss off Nazrin more

I am aware. If you'll carefully note, I said exactly as such in my vote. That's the point.

Nazrin is easily flustered by our cool-guy actions, leading her into constantly thinking of ways to get revenge or whatever upon us. The point of this is to get her thinking about us in any manner. She'll be so worked up about us that her every thought is consumed by petty anger and frustration at us. Soon, she'll be wondering why she is always thinking about us, and why we piss her off so much. And there-in lies the path to delicious mouse-love.

>>32575
I suppose that's one way to see it. But you do realize that right now, it won't help get on Byakuren's crew good side, right?

>>32576
Nonsense. Unless the other crew members are completely retarded, they should be able to see that this is all a giant misunderstanding based solely on Nazrins' strange pride. Considering neither of us are getting seriously injured, they won't care too much, either.

Hell, Byakuren is an old lady, she'll know exactly whats up, and will probably tease her accordingly.

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.

>>32575
If we try to piss her off, her answer to why she gets so angry with us will be because we're fucking annoying.

Losing is more advantageous here. It will calm Nazrin, restore her 'youkai pride', and to top it off we get to keep our harmless merchant image. On the other hand, she could probably notice if we let her win, so...
[x] Stick to defense for now, she’ll probably drop her guard eventually
This is the next best thing, as it will almost certainly lead to defeat.

I'm surprised a mouse youkai has so much pride, seems uncharacteristic of one.

>>32584
She was the right-hand-mouse to a god. I think that deserves a little pride.

>>32584

She's definitely proud of being a mouse, and I would think she hates the idea of humans taking pity on her. The latter is probably a trait that I see in youkai in general, actually.

[x] Stick to defense for now, she’ll probably drop her guard eventually

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.
-[x] Doesn't mean you should just stop fighting however: If she sense you holding back, she'll probably get angrier. Defense, but look for openings when she attacks.

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.

While calling her names may be fun and might even work, it will be better in the long run if we play the part of the cool cucumber. Remember, its not unlikely that Aya and/or Yukari are watching this fight, and we certainly don't want either of them getting a bad impression of us (especially Yukari, since she seems to have it out for us already).

[X] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.
-[x] Doesn't mean you should just stop fighting however: If she sense you holding back, she'll probably get angrier. Defense, but look for openings when she attacks.

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.
-[x] Doesn't mean you should just stop fighting however: If she sense you holding back, she'll probably get angrier. Defense, but look for openings when she att

[x] Your words seem to rile her, so if you keep talking she might eventually show a moment of weakness
She needs more training if she's going to get distracted in a fight. I think this is a good lesson to teach.

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.
-[x] Doesn't mean you should just stop fighting however: If she senses you holding back, she'll probably get angrier. Defense, but look for openings when she attacks.

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.
-[x] Doesn't mean you should just stop fighting however: If she sense you holding back, she'll probably get angrier. Defense, but look for openings when she attacks.
This seams to be in line Jean-Lucs personality

Sorry for no updates the past day or so, I've been out of town. Sorry also that the next post will be tomorrow, I'm basically collapsing from exhaustion right now.

[x] Our goal here should be to calm her down, not beat her up. Let’s get her to calm down a bit so that she will be more willing to talk after the battle is over.
-[x] Doesn't mean you should just stop fighting however: If she sense you holding back, she'll probably get angrier. Defense, but look for openings when she attacks.

As you keep on exchanging blows, it becomes more and more obvious that Nazrin is letting her thoughts cloud her judgment in battle. Each swing is stronger than the last, but at the same time her accuracy and timing are going out of whack. After a bit you don’t even need to concentrate on dodging anymore, as she basically telegraphs her moves before each swing.

“STAND STILL!” She yells as she brings down her sword once again. Sighing, you step to the side, dodging the blow. Alright, that’s enough of that. Fighting is one thing, but if things keep going like this she will probably stay angry at you long after the battle is over. Talking is probably the best option at this point, but first you’re going to have to get her to stop trying to kill you. You doubt asking nicely will work, though.

Nazrin once again comes at you, but this time as you dodge you sidestep her and swipe at her legs. She goes down with a squawk and lands on the ground face-first. You quickly stomp on her back and hold her in place.

“Let me up, now!” It takes quite a bit of effort to keep her pinned down, but you’re leverage allows you to do so. “Let me up so that I can kill you.”

“Not until you calm down a bit, alright?” you say. This is met by a round of expletives thrown at you as Nazrin continues to struggle. “Look, I understand that you have some sort of issue with me, and you wanted to use this fight to get through that, but all you are doing right now is throwing your rage at me in the hopes that it will connect.”

This seems to get to her a bit, as the struggling seems to have lessened somewhat. “I don’t mind fighting you, but I can say for sure that if you are only going to swing at me in anger you aren’t going to get anywhere.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that!” She spits. “I’ve studied the ways of the Bishamonten, so I know how to fight effectively!”

“Then why aren’t you showing it?” You take your foot off of her and step away. “When fighting with someone, you need to clear your mind of everything but the fight, or else you are going to make mistakes. Trust me, I know what it’s like to be distracted by thoughts while fighting, but at times like those you need to take a deep breath and clear your mind.”

After a few moments of silence Nazrin gets up off of the ground. “You sound like my master,” She says as she retrieves her sword, “but I guess you’ve got a point.” She turns to face you once more, and while you can still see anger clouding her face she seems much more focused.

“Good.” You say with a smile, “Now, let’s finish this up so that we can talk, alright?”

In the span of you saying those words Nazrin had rushed you once more and attacked. Caught by surprise, you attempt to block her strike, but your sword doesn’t connect with hers. In a feint, Nazrin spins behind you and strikes you from behind. You are once again sent flying, and when you hit the border you hear a high pitched noise.

[KNOCK OUT]

Getting up from the ground, you rub where Nazrin hit you on the back. The border kept you from being seriously injured, but that didn’t stop the blow from hurting. Turning to Nazrin, you see her take a deep breath before turning to you with a smile.

“Do you know your place now, human?” She says while continuing to grin. “Have you learned not to take pity on a youkai like me?”

“Doubtful, but I’m glad you’re feeling better in any case,” you say while returning her smile. “I guess that gift I brought you caused more trouble than I intended, and for that I apologize. I won’t buy you any more cheese from now on.”

“Ah!” Nazrin’s ears twitch as a look of desire inches across her face, “Well…you don’t have to go that far…”

“No, no, we can’t have any more incidents like that happen anymore.” You declare, “I wouldn’t want to offend you any more that I already have.”

“It… it wouldn’t offend me if it was a gift instead of an act of pity.”

“Oh, is that so? Well I’ll try to keep that in mind from now on.”

Suddenly, you are broken out of your little talk by the sounds of applause and cheering. Looking around, you realize that you were so engrossed in your little fight that you didn’t notice all of the people around you. Both youkai and humans are cheering and applauding the two of you for your performance.

“Who are all of these people?” you ask.

“Ah, visitors to the temple. There have been quite a few lately.” Nazrin blushes as she tries to hide her face. It looks like she doesn’t get a lot of attention. Well so much for keeping your abilities under wraps. Peering around, you try and catch a glimpse of… yeah, there she is, trying to discreetly take pictures on the temple wall. Catching your gaze, Aya gives a small wave before continuing snapping pictures like crazy. Honestly, that crow…

You aren’t given a too much time to focus on Aya, however, as a women is approaching you from the direction of the temple. Wearing an orange and red dress fringed by white cloth, and having yellow-black hair with an orange-looking ornament topping her head, she gives off what can only be called a warrior’s aura. Clapping her hands, she has a look of glee on her face as she turns to face you.

“Wonderful, simply wonderful!” She exclaims, “It has been a while since I have seen a fight as good as that one!” She turns to Nazrin with a critical look in her eye, “Of course, there will need to be some words about assaulting a temple guest for personal reasons, but all in all I am very impressed!” Nazrin flinches back a bit as the tiger-looking woman turns back to you. “I am Shou Toramaru, a disciple of Bishamonten. I welcome you to the temple of Myouren.”

“Jean-Luc Lawrence, a travelling merchant of sorts.”

“Of course, we have heard about you. Come inside, there is much that you probably wish to discuss.” She gestures for you to follow as she heads towards the temple. Looking around, it would seem that the crowd has calmed down a bit, though their attention is definitely still on you.

[ ] Follow Shou inside
[ ] Let’s talk to Nazrin a bit before we go in
[ ] Let’s see if we can’t talk to Aya for a bit before we head inside
[ ] Something else?

[x] Follow Shou inside

The problem with Nazrin is now cleared and she'll probably follow us inside anyway.

[x] Let’s see if we can’t talk to Aya for a bit before we head inside

Maybe she'll tone down her coverage of our abilities if we ask nicely? I'd like to talk to her in any case~

[x] Follow Shou inside

[x] Follow Shou inside

[x] Follow Shou inside

[x] Let’s talk to Nazrin a bit before we go in

Well that went terribly.

[x] Follow Shou inside.

[x] Follow Shou inside

I don't think we showed our hand that much, nothing beyond human.

>>32739
What? I can't imagine it going better than it did.

>>32742
Nazrin is no longer angry at us, we lost the duel, many people saw us doing our thing, and Aya took pictures of it all. This was a complete and utter loss. The only way it could be worse is if someone stole our pack.

>>32743
I'm glad Nazrin is no longer angry, Shou respects us more because of the fight, and all publicity is good publicity.

>>32743

All abilities you showed off were purely physical, and you didn't use any of your seals either. People will probably speculate on where you learned to fight, but you still managed to keep a lot of your abilities hidden at the same time. I'm not really sure what you meant by "people saw us do our thing", though.

>>32743
We lost, but it is better than if we won, I think. Nazrin's vendetta would probably get even worse and we might have people challenging us instead of buying from us. We did, however, fight well enough to show that we aren't easy pickings for a bandit either. I say its a victory when taken as a whole.

>>32743

Sometimes the only way to win is to lose.

Don't know why, but this next bit is giving me a bit of trouble in terms of writing. I'll post it as soon as I can.

[x] Follow Shou inside

Considering the fact that she’s been seemingly stalking you as of late, you figure that you can probably easily find and deal with Aya later. And since Nazrin is already following Shou inside, you decide to follow suit.

The temple is fairly spacious inside, and combined with the lack of any major furnishing it gives the impression of being somewhat empty. Shou leads you around a few corners, past what looks to be a kitchen of some sort and into an empty room with only a few cushions inside of it.

“Please, wait here a moment and make yourself comfortable,” she says as she gestures inside, “I need to go and ask Byakuren if whether or not she is ready to see you, and will return with her reply. Nazrin, come with me.” She gives Nazrin a short glare, and after a moment’s hesitation the mouse girl complies.

Sitting down on a cushion, you begin wondering what this “Byakuren” person is like. From the way Shou referred to her, you’re guessing she must be something along the line of the head monk around here, but that doesn’t give you much to go on. Oh well, you’re pretty sure that you made a good impression on Shou in any case, so you doubt you have much to worry about.

You wait around for about ten minutes, checking your inventory once more to pass the time. As you examine each item, you inspect it to make sure it hasn’t been damaged or spontaneously changed into something else. (Which is something that happens more often then you’d wish) Fortunately everything seems to be in order, and you decide to waste some time trying out the extendable arm. Nifty thing, this. Its reach spans the length of the room, and the hand on the end does a very good job of gripping things. You fool around with the other cushions in the room, moving them at your whim.

“That looks like fun,” says an energetic voice next to you. With a start, you look next to you to see a black-haired girl in a sailor’s outfit. Or at least half of a girl, since from your perspective it looks like everything below her torso is stuck in the floor. She doesn’t seem perturbed by this fact, though, and is in fact using the floor as a support for her arms as she holds her head in her hands.

“Er, yeah, I was just testing it out to pass the time,” you say as you place it back in your pack. “Hey, are you alright there?”

“Hm?” She says, as she looks down at herself, “Oh yeah, nothing to it.” Her body lifts off from the ground, and the rest of her body appears as she floats through the air in a sitting position. “Sorry ‘bout that. Now, are you the merchant Shou told me about?”

“Jean-Luc Lawrence, at your service.” Hmm… you’d guess that she’s a ghost, but you know from experience that you should never assume something like that. Still, you feel that it might be rude to ask her about it directly.

“Alright, well I’m Murasa, the captain of this ship. Shou said that Byakuren wanted her help with some other visitors, so she sent me to keep you entertained in the meantime.” The ghost girl begins floating upside down, though she remains in a sitting position. You wonder how she manages to keep her skirt from falling in that position. “So if you want, I can give you a tour of the ship until they are ready to see you.”

“I thought this was a temple,” you say.

“Same thing.” She says with a shrug, “Alternatively, I could take you to the kitchen if you want something to eat, or we could just go outside for a bit. Heck, we can even stay here and just chat if you aren’t up for doing any of that.”

[ ] Take the tour
[ ] Get something to eat
[ ] Go back outside
[ ] Stay here and chat

[x] Stay here and chat
Knowing gaems

[x] Go back outside

Since we can't meet these other visitors, seeing who they are when they leave is the next best thing.

[X] Take the tour

[x] Get something to eat.

[x] Stay here and chat

[x] Stay here and chat

[x] Get something to eat

You always get more than what you paid with Nitori~

[x] Stay here and chat

[x] Stay here and chat

[x] Stay here and chat

“I think staying here and chatting is fine by me.” To be honest, you are a bit hungry, but you figure that getting information about the inhabitants of this place probably takes first priority right now.

“Suit yourself,” the uniformed girl says as she floats down to a cushion near you. “Anything in particular you want to ask about?”

“Hm, well I’ve already met you, Shou and Nazrin, and I’ve heard about Byakuren; are there any other members of the temple that I should know about?”

“Well there’s Ichirin, a nun who works here. Not much to say about her other than the fact that Unzan speaks only through her.”

That’s… kind of mean, honestly. Is she really that unremarkable? But hang on, she mentioned someone else. “Unzan?”

“Yeah, Unzan. Great guy, even if he is really shy. He packs a major punch, too, so you should probably avoid looking up at him, which really sets him off.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Anyone else of note?”

“Well, there’s Nue. She’s somewhat of a newcomer, and she’s pretty fond of pranks, but other than that she’s actually pretty nice.” Murasa gives you a smirk as she says that. “Just don’t be caught off guard and you should be alright.”

“That’s just like saying that I should always keep on my toes since I don’t know when I’ll be attacked.” You say.

“Well you were attacked once already today, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, well I’m beginning to think that was a bit of a misunderstanding, but…”

“From what I can tell,” Murasa says, coming closer, “It was a bit more than a ‘misunderstanding’. Something has been bothering Naz since yesterday, and I get the feeling that it had something to do with her little outburst today.” Once again she grins at you, which only gives the impression that your secrets probably aren’t so safe with this girl. “I’ve heard some rumors that something happened between the two of you in town.”

“Maybe, but is that really any of your business?”

“Not really, I suppose,” She says, backing off. “So is there anything else you want to ask, or should we move on to something else.”

“There’s one more thing I want to ask, but after that I think we can move along.” You say.

What do you want to ask? (Choose ONE thing to ask)

[ ] Ask about Murasa
[ ] Ask about someone else <Specify>
[ ] Ask about what items the temple might be interested in
[ ] Something else <Write-in>

What next?

[ ] Get something to eat
[ ] Take the tour
[ ] Go outside

[x] Ask about Murasa
[x] Go outside

If she doesn't volunteer whether she's a ghost or not, just ask straight out.

[x] Ask about Murasa
[x] Take the tour.

[x] Ask about Murasa
[x] Get something to eat

[x] Ask about Murasa
[x] Go outside
I guess Murasa is the only one we got nothing on

[x] Ask about Murasa.
[x] Get something to eat.

The answer to why I haven't updated in a while involves beer. Hopefully I'll update soon, providing the alcohol permits it.

[x] Ask about Murasa
[x] Get something to eat

“What about you?” you ask.

“Huh? Me?”

“Yeah, you really haven’t talked about yourself much, and I have to say that I’m kind of curious.”

“Not much to say, really,” she shrugs, “I’m just your average ship ghost.”

“A ship ghost, huh? But wouldn’t that imply that there is some sort of ship around here?”

“Geez, don’t you pay attention?” Murasa says with a scowl, “Look, I’m only going to explain it to you one more time; this temple is a ship. It’s just grounded right now.”

“Huh. I thought it looked odd when I was coming up. But I also got the impression that it kind of looked like-“

“A granary?” Murasa interrupts, “Yeah, it’s also one of those, too, although it should only have the appearance of a temple right now.” She scrunches her eyes in thought. “I’m guessing that its appearance shifts like that ‘cause of Nue’s presence, though that’s only my guess, so don’t hold it against me if I’m wrong, alright?”

“Um…ok?” In all honesty you can’t really say that the appearance of the temple matters to you at all. “But how did a ship like this come to be dry-docked in a place like this?”

“We flew it here.” Murasa says with another shrug. “Byakuren said that this is was a good place to put it, so we did.”

“So the ship can fly, huh…in any case, you really look up to Byakuren don’t you?”

“Yeah, most of us here do,” she says as a dreamy look comes upon her face, “I think the only one of us that doesn’t have a real connection to her is Naz, since she’s more under Shou then any of us.”

“What exactly did she do to get you all to adore her so much?”

“That…” the dreamy look falls off her face, to be replaced by a slightly annoyed one “isn’t really any of your business isn’t it?”

“…fair enough. Sorry about that, I was only curious.” After a moment Murasa’s face goes back to being impassive. Geez, this girl is really taking it easy, isn’t she? “In any case, I believe you said something about getting something to eat?”

---

Opening the door, Murasa guides you into the kitchen. It’s somewhat plain as far as kitchen’s go, but you’d expect as much from one belonging to a temple. Inside is a girl working with various food items. Wearing what looks like a blue and white nun’s outfit, she… kind of gives of an aura of being unimpressive. There is also a lamp in the corner.

“Yo, Ichirin, how’s it going?”

“Hm?” the girl says as she turns around, “Oh it you, Murasa. It’s going fine, nothing to… oh, is that a guest? Forgive me; I’ll prepare something right away.” She quickly goes back to working on the food.

“Ah, alright,” you say. Wow, Murasa was right, this girl is kind of unremarkable. Still, she’s cooking something up for you, so at the very least she seems like a nice person. You sit down at the table and wait as Murasa floats around the kitchen looking bored. That’s right; ghosts don’t eat, do they? Or maybe she’s just not hungry, you can’t really tell.

“Here you go,” Ichirin says as she places a simple dish of rice and vegetables in front of you. It’s nothing exotic, but you’re not about to complain about free food. Digging in, you find that it’s actually somewhat tasty, even if it isn’t the best thing you have ever eaten.

“Pretty good,” you say to Ichirin, and she beams at you in return.

“Hey,” Murasa says, “Where’s Unzan? He’s usually hanging around wherever you are at.”

“Oh, he’s just outside the kitchen.” Ichirin says, pointing to a doorway leading out of the temple, “He said that he felt like going for some fresh air.”

“Ah, alright, it’s just that I almost never see him when he isn’t in your presence.”

You finish up your meal and look around. Since no one has come to get you yet, you suppose that you still have some time on your hands.

[ ] Stay here and talk to Ichirin and Murasa.
[ ] Go outside and see if you can’t find this “Unzan” guy
[ ] This task that Shou and Byakuren are working on is taking a really long time. It might be worth investigating what they are doing.
[ ] …that lamp in the corner is really nice, especially for a temple. Let’s get a better look at it.

[x] This task that Shou and Byakuren are working on is taking a really long time. It might be worth investigating what they are doing.

I'm curious~

[x] This task that Shou and Byakuren are working on is taking a really long time. It might be worth investigating what they are doing.

[x] …that lamp in the corner is really nice, especially for a temple. Let’s get a better look at it.

Exotic lamp? Looks better than a temple should have? It's special. It must have some special ability, or hidden worth to it. We must examine it to find out more.

>>32972
It's probably just Shou's thingie. You know. Her thing.

>>32973

It isn't the pagoda, if that's what you're thinking, although it most certainly is unique.

[x] …that lamp in the corner is really nice, especially for a temple. Let’s get a better look at it.

[x] …that lamp in the corner is really nice, especially for a temple. Let’s get a better look at it.

[x] This task that Shou and Byakuren are working on is taking a really long time. It might be worth investigating what they are doing.

[ ] Stay here and talk to Ichirin and Murasa.

[x] This task that Shou and Byakuren are working on is taking a really long time. It might be worth investigating what they are doing.

[x] …that lamp in the corner is really nice, especially for a temple. Let’s get a better look at it.

We are a merchant after all.

[x] …that lamp in the corner is really nice, especially for a temple. Let’s get a better look at it.

Alright, calling the vote and writing

[x] …that lamp in the corner is really nice, especially for a temple. Let’s get a better look at it.

Yeah, that lamp in the corner is one of the nicest pieces that you have ever seen in your life. The only thing that you think might top it is the hat, but that’s comparing apples and oranges. Getting up from your seat, you move over to the lamp and start looking it over. Hmm, looks like the stand is made from pure gold, decorated with jewels in a twisting pattern going up. Normally it would make the piece look gaudy, but the way they are placed is expertly done, giving off a pattern that accentuates the curves of the stand. The lampshade is one of a kind, with a design unlike anything you have ever seen. In fact, you really can’t seem to tell what it looks like at all. Every time your mind tries to picture what the shape represents, the identity it seems to pull out gets jumbled and lost. You figure that this calls for a closer inspection, and you reach to pull the shade off.

“What are you doing?” Murasa asks. Turning around, you see Murasa and Ichirin stare at you with creeped out looks on their faces.

“I’m just inspecting this piece over here,” you say as you indicate the lamp with your hand. “It’s one of the finest pieces I have ever seen, and honestly I’m amazed I found something like this in a temple such as the one we are in now.”

“…wait, are you saying that’s your trade?” Murasa says as her face gets darker by the second. Geez, what’s gotten into her?

“No, I’m more of a general merchant, but when I see something like this I can’t really help myself. It would make a killing on the market, and-“

You don’t get to finish that sentence as Murasa comes at you fists first, knocking you against the wall while Ichirin runs outside. You have no time to recover as she pins you against the wall by your throat, effectively choking you.

“I can’t believe that Shou would let a monster like you in here.” Murasa says through grit teeth. “How could you even consider doing that in the first place? Even a ghost like me considers that kind of act beyond evil, and I used to sink ships for a living?”

“W-what are you t-t-talking about?” you say through choked breathing.

“I might not be a merchant,” Murasa says, increasing her grip, “But even I know it’s wrong to sell youkai on the black market. How could you even consider something like that!“

“Wait…Youkai?” You say as the last of your air leaves your lungs, “I…thought that was…a lamp…”

“A likely excuse! Why if I weren’t a peace loving youkai I’d…wait, lamp?”

A few seconds pass as you feel unconsciousness coming upon you, before Murasa lets go and you fall to the ground. Gasping for breath as you massage your neck, you look up to see Murasa flying about with her hands on her head. “Augh, stupid stupid stupid! Of course that’s what it was! Why didn’t I think of that before!” As she turns to you with the looks of apologizing, however, a large pink fist flings the kitchen door across the room. Soon a large pink cloud with a manly face drifts in, locates you and forms a fist. Behind the cloud, you see Ichirin coming in, her face looking stormy.

“WAIT!” Murasa cries out as she places herself between you and the fist (phew) “Stop, false alarm!”

“Why are you defending him, Murasa? You heard what he said, he’s a-“

“Now just hold on a second, ok?” Murasa says as she turns to you, “Hey, mind telling me what that looks like to you?” She says as she points to the lamp, which was knocked onto its side in the commotion and is now… um…

“It… it looks like a lamp to me. A lamp that’s… rubbing its head?”

“Owwww,” you hear coming from the lamp, “Geez, way to wake a girl up from her nap guys. What’s going on?”

“What’s going on,” says a voice from the entryway “is a case of everyone jumping to conclusions caused by someone’s latent abilities.” In walks in a woman with hair in an odd purple and brown combination, wearing a black and white dress combination with a criss-crossing pattern running across her chest. (Not that you were looking there) “I ran over when I heard the commotion, but it looks like Murasa realized what was going on before I arrived, thank goodness.” Walking over to the lamp, she kneels down and says, “Nue, I know that a good nap here and there does everyone some good, but I know I told you that sleeping outside of the room during visiting hours is something that you can’t do. Your power seeps out when you sleep, and those who do not know your true form may mistake you for something else.”

“Ah, did I cause some commotion then?” The lamp (whose true identity is Nue, you suppose) asks with a cheerful note in its voice as it… looks over at you? You think that’s what it’s doing. “Well I guess I’ll try harder not to fall asleep outside of my room then. But hey, no one got seriously hurt right? So we’re all good?”

“At the very least apologize to the young man over there. And turn down your ability for him, will you?” the woman with the oddly colored hair asks.

“The apology is one thing, but it would go against my very nature to show off my true form just like that.” The lamp says as it walks(?) to the door. As it reaches the doorway and turns to you, it suddenly turns into a giant snake. “But yeah, sorry for all the commotion. I’ll make sure that the next time I cause trouble for you that it’s planned, alright?” the snake hisses.

“Er… yeah, sure.” You say as you try not to get intimidated by the snake’s stare.

“Great!” The snake says as it turns into a bouncing ball. “See you around, then!” It bounces out the door and out of sight.

You place your head in your hands as you try to regain your bearings. The woman who entered the room comes over and offers you a hand, which you accept. “Please accept my apologies,” she says as she helps you up, “That girl is still getting used to living among us, so she tend to cause a bit of trouble here and there. Still, she has no ill intent, so I hope you can forgive her.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you say, still trying to get yourself focused after that ordeal, “It was kinda my fault anyways, mistook her for a nice-looking lamp and things kinda fell apart from there.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Murasa says, “Considering who you were looking at, I should have known better than to assume.”

“So sorry!” Ichirin says as she frantically bows to you in apology. The pink cloud emulates her action, although you notice that its size is much smaller than it was before and that it seems to be avoiding your gaze.

“What was up with her anyways?” you ask, “Mistaking someone for a lighting fixture isn’t something that happens to me very often.”

“Nue has the power non-identification,” the unidentified woman explains, “so anyone who isn’t aware of her true form will probably see her as an object derived from their own minds. I wish she would have shown you what she really looks like,” she says with a sigh, “but I suppose that she is correct in that it wouldn’t be her nature to do so.”

“I guess I get it,” you say as you turn to the woman, “No hard feelings then.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” the woman says with a smile. “In any case, my name is Byakuren Hijiri, and I am the head monk here at the Temple of Myoren.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Jean-Luc Lawrence, a travelling merchant of sorts.”

“Welcome, Mr. Lawrence. I’ll be ready to talk to you in a moment, but I still need to finish what I was taking care of before I rushed over here. It should only take a moment to finish, though, so I should return shortly.”

Taking stock of your surroundings, it looks like Ichirin and the cloud are attempting to put the door back in it’s place, while Murasa cleans up some of the debris around the kitchen.

Hmm…

[ ] Ask if you can tag along to see what this business of hers might be
[ ] Offer to help with the clean-up
[ ] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
[ ] Write-in

[x] Ask if you can tag along to see what this business of hers might be

Still curious~

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
-[x] Today will finally be the day you sell the hat.

Fucking hat. Your days not on somebody's head are numbered.

>>33000

If hats could talk, it would probably laugh maniacally at that statement. Just saying.

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
-[x] Today will finally be the day you sell the hat.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

>>33001
Jean-Luc will get rid of that hat! He will never put that damned thing on, even if he can't sell it.

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
-[x] Today will finally be the day you sell the hat.

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
-[x] Today will finally be the day you sell the hat.

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch

I WARNED YOU ABOUT THAT LAMP, BRO. I WARNED YOU!

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch

Lawrence the slave trader... I can get behind that. Never mind that, though. Time to live up to our occupational name and face full time trafficking.

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
-[x] Today will finally be the day you sell the hat.
Fuck yeah. Stop wasting our infinte space.

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
-[x] Today will finally be the day you sell the hat.

Okay, what the hell? As funny as the write-in is, it won't work. We already know the temple doesn't have much extra money. There's simply no way they're going to buy it from us.

>>33014

It's all in good fun though, so it's nothing to worry about.

>>33016
...Actually, I just realized I missed the update. it's really my bsd.

Still can't see them buying the hat however.

>>33017
Did you somehow miss the multiple updates where we traded our wares for favors and/or other items of equal value? This story doesn't deal strictly in money.

I want to buy some Seeds of Non-Identification off Nue. Or whatever the name of those things is, I can't be bothered to look it up right now.

There are like a million uses for those things. Stick one on our nice hat, it might actually get sold!

[x] Take the time to cool off mentally and prepare yourself for your sales pitch
-[x] Today will finally be the day you sell the hat.

No, you’re hardly in any mental state to give your sales pitch right now considering what just happened. You need to take a few minutes to collect your thoughts and get ready.

“Hey,” you say, “If it’s alright, I’m going to head back to that room we were in before to get myself organized. Is that alright?”

“Sure,” Murasa says, waving a hand to you as she continues to clean up, “I’ll let Byakuren know that’s where you are when she comes back, so go ahead.”

You leave the kitchen and head back to the cushioned room you were in before. Sitting down, you do a bit of self meditation to calm your nerves a bit, and then dig into your pack to see what would be the most appropriate item to sell. The first thing you pull up is…

The nice hat.

Damn this thing. When you first bought it you didn’t realize what trouble it would be for you to sell it. The fact that the merchant you bought it from had tears in his eyes when you took it from him probably should have tipped you off about something. No matter how much somebody likes it, they never purchase it. They always come up with a reason, and the deal always falls through, no matter what you do. It’s so aggravating that it makes you want to scream sometimes.

This hat is an eyesore.

This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat. This hat!

…ah well, it’s not like your merchant nature would allow you to just get rid of it. Even if it’s at an extreme loss you’re going to sell this thing one way or another if it is the last thing you do. Or at least laugh at its untimely destruction. Either way, some satisfaction will be derived. Sighing, you place the hat on the chair next to you and move on through your inventory.

“Wow, what an ugly hat. Where in the world did you pick this up?”

…

…

This room doesn’t have any chairs.

“Another travelling merchant was very willing to give this up to me, “you say in a deadpan tone, “and it’s something that I’ve been trying to get rid of ever since.”

“Well geez, no wonder,” the chair says, “getting rid of something this ugly would be a pain for anybody.”

“I don’t know about your taste in aesthetics, Nue, but to me that hat actually looks pretty nice.” You sigh as you dig through your merchandise once more. Surprisingly, Nue doesn’t comment back, and you take the few moments of silence to get your mind organized once more.

“Oh wow!” Nue exclaims in a way that makes you jump, “This thing has a curse of un-identification on it! I didn’t even realize until you pointed it out.”

“A curse of non-identification?” you say as Nue promptly turns into a statue of a golden turtle.

“Yeah, this hat will change its appearance for anyone who looks upon it into something the viewer finds pleasing. It was pretty well hidden too. I wouldn’t have even noticed it, it’s so well hidden.”

“Huh. And it’s not working on you because?”

“I have powers of non-identification myself, duh. Something like this won’t work on me.”

“Hmm. Is there anything else about that hat I should know?” you ask.

“Heck if I know,” the golden turtle shrugs as it tosses the hat back to you, “I’m no curse expert; the only thing I can tell is that it’s hiding its true shape from people’s eyes for some reason.”

“Hmm. That’s good to know.” Looks like you’ll have to look into this item a bit more later. For now, though...

“Hey, would you mind showing me what you really look like?”

“Hah! Like I said before, showing off my true identity isn’t my style.” The turtle takes on a wicked grin, “If you really want to know, though, I’m sure that there is something we can worACK!”

The turtle is stopped mid-statement as Murasa brings her hand down in a chop. Suddenly, the turtle’s form shifts once more to show another black-haired girl wearing a black dress with red decorations and red shoes. On her back is an odd pair of red and blue… wings? They kind of look like some sort of modern art piece, actually.

“No pranks Nue, you know that.” Murasa says.

“I wasn’t going to prank him; I was just going to get a favor!” Nue humphs as she crosses her arms.

“In your case, the end result would probably be the same.” Murasa says as others come into the room. “So don’t cause any trouble that would ruin the temple’s reputation.”

“And now he’s seen my true form as well! Geez, you owe me for this Murasa!” Nue says as she goes on ignoring what the sailor girl says. You get the feeling that something like a chop to the head shouldn’t have been enough to drop one’s concentration, but on the other hand it’s pretty much not your business anymore.

You notice that Byakuren, Shou, Nazrin and Ichirin (sans Unzan) have all come into the room as well. You wonder why they all came, and then it hits you that this is probably a place as good as any for a demonstration. Looking at Nazrin, you see that she seems somewhat miffed about something, and that she is rubbing the back of her head as if she got some sort of injury there.

“Well then, I believe we are all here,” Byakuren says, “so if you are ready, Mr. Lawrence?”

“Hm? Oh sure, let’s get started then.”

Selection 1:
[ ] <Select 3 items, top 1-2 choices will be showcased>

Selection 2:
[ ] Write-in things to ask the residents <Commerce related questions only>

Optional selection:
[ ] “I guess that there is more to this hat” <Puts on Sunglasses> “Then meets the eye”

The showcase
[x] The yo-yo ;_;
[x] Doohickey
[x] Jenga game
[x] Body armor

The wrap-up
[x] I have no questions.

I realize it's sort of a running gag, but now that the mystery of the sweet hat is finally revealed, it doesn't make any damn sense why it hasn't been sold. You would think a hat that is "cursed" to always look nice to any viewer would sell immediately and fetch a high price.

On that note, we are running somewhat low on expendable and worthwhile wares.

The showcase
-Department Store Catalogue
-Jenga Game
-Pumpkin

I see no point in showing something like the doohickey, that we aren't even sure what it is. And the catalogue is our unique feature here as a merchant.

Questions
-[x]Is there any kind of ware I should look for that you would be interested in for another visit?

Is this correctly worded? I'm not too sure. Anyway, this is to ask what the temple may want to buy in general.

I have no other question in mind at the moment.

[x] Sweater
[x] Full body armor

[x] “I guess that there is more to this hat” <Puts on Sunglasses> “Than meets the eye.”

Who else is going to buy a set of armor? Remilia, maybe, as a decoration, but this is the only group that would be even remotely interested in using it.

[x] Jenga Game
[x] Doohickey
[x] Sweater

[x] Sweater
[x] Full body armor
[x] Jenga game

[x] “I guess that there is more to this hat” <Puts on Sunglasses> “Than meets the eye.”

No consensus on the second option, so I'm just going to ignore it. And nobody reacted to the third option in the way I thought you would, so that joke falls flat as well. The next post should be up in a minute or two.

[x] Jenga game
[x] Full body armor

And so once again you begin to display your wares. This time, however, a distressing pattern begins to emerge.

“It’s interesting,” Byakuren says, “but I can’t say that we need something like that.” As she says this, Nue collapses the wooden brick tower, much to the delight of Murasa and Nazrin.

“A lot of things aren’t necessary, Byakuren, but that doesn’t make them any less fun,” Nue says in protest, “C’mon, there’s nothing to do around here anyways, and at least this thing isn’t expensive!”

“Mmm,” Byakuren says as she considers, “I suppose…but every yen we spend on something like this is one yen that doesn’t go to helping bridge the gap between humans and youkai…”

Apparently, that is the main purpose of this temple. From what you’ve seen, you wouldn’t think this would be that big of an issue in Gensokyo, but apparently Byakuren takes this very seriously.

“Pleeeeease!” Murasa begs, “You know that we would have plenty left over for that! Between the temple’s donations and Naz’s work, the temple has plenty of money to work with! Just this once?”

Byakuren looks at Shou for guidance, but the tiger girl can only shrug in response. After deliberating a few moments later, Byakuren lets out a sigh. “Alright, you can have it.” Cheers go through the room as Byakuren asks you how much it’s worth.

Let’s see, you bought the thing for 500 yen, so...

“Would 700 yen be reasonable?”

“I suppose,” Byakuren sighs as she nods to Shou, who hands the money over. You put it in your pack as the other girls start a new game.

“Alright, well I suppose that I only have one other item that you might be interested in.” You say as you pull the full body armor out of the pack and assemble it. It’s an iron model, not unlike what knights would wear, but designed to be much more flexible on the battlefield. Because of this, the metal is much thinner and more jointed than other’s of its type, effectively sacrificing some defense for agility.

Shou seems somewhat taken by the piece, and even asks to try it on. While not a perfect fit, you can tell that it does suit her somewhat. She walks around the room, complementing the armor on its balance and combat worthiness. But in the end Byakuren deems it too much of an expense for the temple, so you pack it away, much to Shou’s disappointment.

“Are you sure that you wouldn’t be willing to simply loan that item to me?” Shou asks.

“Sorry, I’m not a leaser. If you can provide me with something of equal value, though, we could work something out.”

Shou scrunches her eyes as she thinks on this, before turning to Nazrin with a hopeful look in her eye.

“No way,” Nazrin says, “I already got into trouble once today for attacking a guest; I’m not going to risk breaking the rules again just so that you can have another set of armor.” Shou’s head drops in defeat as she sits back down next to Byakuren, who smiles in an attempt to comfort her.

“You know,” you ask Nazrin, “I keep hearing that you have the means to support the temple, but I haven’t exactly heard what these abilities are. Mind cluing me in?”

“Ah, you didn’t know?” Murasa asks, “Nazrin is a dowser. As long as she knows what she is looking for, she can pretty much find anything.”

“I can’t find anything,” Nazrin says with an annoyed look on her face, “I can only discern the quickest location to the nearest item matching the description that I have, and that’s only within a certain distance as well.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Murasa says as she waves her hands, “that’s basically the same thing.”

“So if you have an ability like that,” you say, “then why don’t you have more money to buy the things you want?”

“Everything she earns through that goes to the temple, naturally.” Shou says, “After all, a place like this needs as much help as it can to keep itself moving.”

That…doesn’t exactly strike you as fair. From your perspective she should at least keep some of her profits for herself. Nazrin doesn’t look upset at what Shou said, however, so all you do is shrug. “Alright then,” you say, “I might take you up on your services in the future, then.”

“Feel free. It’s 500 yen per half hour up to 2000 yen, so let me know if you want to me to find something” Nazrin says. “If you want, I can give you a demonstration right now.”

Hmm. It’s mid afternoon right now, so you are only a few hours away from evening hitting. While you are sure that the vampire’s mansion will be up at that time, you aren’t sure if travelling at night around here is a good idea. (Thinks the merchant who is heading straight to a vampire’s mansion)

MERCHANT UNLOCKED! Temple of Myoren (Dowsing)

[ ] Take Nazrin up on her offer
[ ] Ask if there is still time for that tour of the temple
[ ] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion
[ ] Write-in

[x] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion

Yeeeeeah, not a big Nazrin fan.

[Luck] Take Nazrin up on her offer (Manual sewing machine)

She can find anything, eh? Time to start filling out some of our preexisting orders. Luck for obvious reasons.

>>33071
I'm starting to agree. Nazrin may be mai waifu, but she's pretty boring now that she isn't angry with us.

[Luck] Take Nazrin up on her offer (Manual sewing machine)

Might as well have her take a look.

[x] Take Nazrin up on her offer (Manual sewing machine)
[x] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion

It's not like we need to be with Nazrin while she is dowsing.

Just tell her what we want her to find and leave before it gets too dark.

[x] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion

Except I seriously doubt we'll find that sewing machine here. I say we hit an antique store after this visit, then go to Nazrin if we really find nothing.

[x] Time's a wastin'

Isn't it too litle to earn 200 or 500 yen per sell?

[Luck] Take Nazrin up on her offer (Manual sewing machine)

[X] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion

>>33072
Really? You want to burn the luck on something that would be trivial to find in a more industrialized world? Not to mention:
>that’s only within a certain distance as well.
No guarantees that she'll even detect one.

[x] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion.

[x] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion.

I didn't think the temple would be in such dire straits, seeing how it's said to be very popular with people, likely more so than the two shrines.

>>33081

It's nowhere near being in dire straits. Byakuren is just stingy, and likes to put all available resources towards the temple's goals, that's all. I went with the idea that as a monk she doesn't care too much for material items, but I'm not sure if I got that across.

>>33072
>I'm starting to agree. Nazrin may be mai waifu, but she's pretty boring now that she isn't angry with us.

Yeah, probably. My natural view of her is somewhat stoic by nature, so at least in my mind bringing out her tsun nature would probably be a bit difficult. You're welcome to try, though.

>>33076
>Isn't it too litle to earn 200 or 500 yen per sell?

Yeah, but in his defense he's been dealing with mostly cheapish items, and in this case he realized that if he marked the price up too much Byakuren probably wouldn't buy it.

In any case, writing now

Only 3 votes requested LUCK, so it will not be activated this turn.
[HINT: LUCK will activate if 4 votes asking for it are given, regardless of whether or not that option wins. Use it wisely!]

[x] Time’s a wastin’! Let’s head for the mansion.

For a moment you consider asking Nazrin to help you locate a manually powered sewing machine for Alice. But then you realize that the chances of something like that being in the immediate area are pretty much nil, not to mention whether or not the item in question would be easily acquirable.

Standing up, you say, “I think I’ll save that demonstration for another time. For now, I should probably be heading towards my next engagement.”

“Oh, alright.” says Nazrin in a hesitant manner. It doesn’t escape your notice that Byakuren is giving her a sharp glare in an effort to convey something. “W-well then, if it’s alright I’ll show you off of the grounds in that case.”

“Sure, that seems fine by me.” You turn to your host and give a small bow. “I would like to thank you for your hospitality, and apologize again for all the trouble I caused.”

“Oh no, that wasn’t your fault at all.” Byakuren says with a small smile, “You are always welcome here, so feel free to come back at any time.”

“Good to know,” you say with a smile of your own, “I’ll see you around, then.” With a wave of your hand you exit the room, with Nazrin guiding you out.

As the mouse girl walks you toward the exit, she seems to struggle with something in her mind. As you reach the compounds exit, you hear a small “hey” coming from her direction. Turning to her, you see that she is facing away from you with a blush on her face.

“So…sorry for everything today,” she says curtly as the blush on her face increases. “I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. Will you forgive me?”

Suddenly it all clicks together; the business that Byakuren and Shou had to deal with, the pointed stares, her current behavior, all of it probably stems from the mouse girl getting lectured on proper behavior. She was probably told to give you an apology in an attempt to make things better between you two. In a case like this, there is only one natural thing to say in response.

…so naturally, you decide to go for the response that will get a much more interesting reaction instead.

“Nope”

“…eh?” Nazrin says in confusion, turning to face you at last.

“I said no, I will not forgive you.” You say with a smile, “At least, I won’t forgive you for something that you clearly don’t want to apologize for.”

“W-what do you mean! I’m apologizing and everything.” Her voice is slowly starting to rise in volume, “How can you not accept the fact that I’m sorry.”

“Because you’re not” you say in response. “If I had to guess, I’d say that either your master or Byakuren put you up to this apology.” She flinches away a bit in confirmation before returning to her angry stare. “I figured as much. Now I don’t mind that you outright attacked me today, if that is what you are going for. But the fact that you are trying to hide how you really feel about all of this is something that I just cannot forgive.”

“…how I really feel?” Nazrin says as she begins shaking, “You want to know HOW I REALLY FEEL?!? I’LL TELL YOU HOW I REALLY FEEL!”

She begins to detail her feelings about just how much she hates, reviles, and despises you in an extremely loud voice, getting some strange looks from the other temple visitors. You take this opportunity to start walking down the stairs away from the temple, with Nazrin shouting at you from the top during your decent. Around halfway down the stairs Nazrin’s voice is suddenly cut off with a squawk, only to be replaced with Byakuren’s calm voice. As you reach the bottom you hear what seems to be Nazrin pleading in anger, getting softer as the distance increases. You turn around at the bottom of the stairs only to see Nazrin giving you a death glare as she is being dragged away by the head monk.

“A most interesting reaction indeed,” you think to yourself as you head on your way.

---

You make your way to the mansion, using the map and the occasional asked direction as your guide. Once you hit the lake, however, it becomes much easier to find the mansion. This is due to the fact that it is right smack dab in the middle of the lake. Once again, you curse the fact that you left your ring of flight at home. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of boat service that you can see either, which leaves you at a bit of an impasse. The water temperature is fairly cold, but you’re pretty sure that you could swim it if need be. Alternatively, you might be able to find some sort of boat if you walk around the lake for a bit; the people on the island must have considered that something like this might happen. The good news is that you still have a few hours before sunset, so you do have a bit of time to look around if you need to. Alternatively, you could just call this a wash and head back, but that would probably be taken as rude by your potential hosts.

[ ] Swim across
[ ] Walk around the lake to see what you can find
[ ] Call it a wash and leave

...I'm pretty sure the mansion wasn't in the middle of the lake itself. It does get human visitors at times last I checked.

[x] Walk around the lake to see what you can find

Because it's the only option that seems viable to me. Calling it a wash is out of the question and swimming just seems like a bad idea to me. I frankly doubt we'll find much except Cirno, but there's no telling what may be in the water.

[x] Swim across

Lawrence won't be a real MC until he proves his worth with the lake option.

>She begins to detail her feelings about just how much she hates, reviles, and despises you

Yes. Oh god, yes. Everything is right in the world. Yell at me more.

>>33086

I could never find a good consensus on whether the mansion in on the banks of the lake or on an island. The touhou wiki said it was on an island, though, so that's what I went with. Too late to change it now, I suppose, but since basically everyone in Gensokyo can fly anyways it probably isn't an issue for anyone except our guy.

[x] Swim across
Lake option go!

For someone meant to be fostering goodwill, this guy is a massive troll.

[X] Walk around the lake to see what you can find

I don't think they'd appreciate a wet merchant.

>>33086
The SDM page on Touhou Wiki says it's on an island, except the BAiJR and PMiSS articles say by Misty Lake, not in it. I'd say the wiki page is wrong.

[+] Walk around the lake to see what you can find

While showing up soaked from swimming across would show a certain amount of determination as a merchant it isn't exactly the most professional route to go.

[X] Walk around the lake to see what you can find.

[x] Walk around the lake to see what you can find.

>>33087
I think this Nazrin is more your style.

[x] Walk around the lake to see what you can find.

This nazrin is kinda cute but the whole tsundere thing has been done to death 9001+ times.

>>33094
The whole <character archetype> thing has been done to death a million times.

You know what, I’m ret-conning the whole mansion-on-an-island thing. The mansion is actually on the banks of the lake instead of on an island, and our guy doesn’t think he can walk around it before night falls. Sorry for any confusion, but I’m thinking this will save me some trouble down the road. Hopefully this won’t change any of your answers, either.

Writing now

We’re just nearing the auto-sage again, so if I feel the need I’ll repost this one in the new thread. I’ll count the votes from both, though, so don’t worry.

[x] Walk around the lake to see what you can find.

Since the people at the mansion might take offense if you were to show up completely drenched, you decide that it would be a better idea to see if there isn’t a better way to cross the lake before nightfall. You start walking along the shore in a calm but hurried fashion, hoping to at least make it to the mansion sometime after sunset at the very latest.

After a bit of walking, you see what looks to be two children playing near the lake. As you get closer, you realize that they are just a couple of fairies fooling around, and pay them no heed as you move along. Generally, the antics of fairies aren’t anything to watch in any case, and you are in a hurry.

“Alright, now watch this!” One of the fairies, with both dress and hair of blue, leaps towards the lake in a dramatic fashion, while the other one (green hair and wearing a blue dress as well) just watches on in fascination. As the blue fairy hits the water, it freezes. She then proceeds to skate along the top of the water in an overly exaggerated fashion in an attempt to show off. The green haired fairy gives a small round of applause to her skill.

As it stands, you are fairly impressed as well. Most fairies you have met have been somewhat weak when it comes to using magic. Sure, you’ve seen a few channel power straight from nature before, but nothing to this extent. You decide that you can spare a few moments as you stop to watch the display.

“Now watch this!” The blue-haired fairy yells out as she leaps off of the ice into a mid-air spin. It would be a very impressive display if she didn’t hit the ice face-first while coming down, sliding off into the water and flailing around. As you begin to wonder if you should jump in to save her, she flies herself out and comes back to shore panting. Now how did she do that? Most fairy wings aren’t that tough, and won’t function properly if…wait, are her wings are made of ice? That’s something you’ve never seen before.

As you contemplate all of this, you pick up laughing coming from behind you. Turning around, you see a pink-haired woman dressed in a blue-and-white outfit leaning against a tree. Picking up a scythe that’s lying next to her, she makes her way towards the fairy. “Not bad, Cirno, but I think your landing could use a little bit of work.”

“Whatever.” The blue fairy says as she crosses her arms in a pout. “It just needs a little work, is all.”

“Hm, is that so? Why don’t you ask your audience for advice, then?” The pink-haired girl says as she points in your direction. The fairy notices you immediately, and rushes in your direction.

“Hey, why were you watching me?” Cirno asks in a bossy manner with her hands on her hips. She seems to come to some sort of realization, though, and crosses her arms while putting a smirk on her face. “I know, you were impressed with how awesome I was, weren’t you?”

“Er…yeah, that’s basically it.” You reply. “I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a fairy pull something like that off before, so I just had to stop and watch.”

“I KNEW IT!” The blue fairy says, pumping her fists in the air, “There’s no way that somebody could see that display and just walk away! So what did you think?”

“It was pretty good,” you say, “but is the spinning really necessary? I get the feeling that if you took that out-“

“The spinning is vital,” Cirno yells, “Here, I’ll show you!” She then proceeds to start her routine over, leaving you stunned on the shore. The other fairy proceeds to fly near Cirno’s performance in what you can only guess is an attempt to help her.

“A bundle of energy, isn’t she?” the pink-haired girl says as she walks over in a casual manner.

“Yeah,” you say as you watch Cirno fall against the ice once more, “Is she always like that?”

“Pretty much, but that’s what makes her so much fun to watch.” The pink haired girl extends her hand towards you. “Komachi Onozuka.”

“Jean-Luc Lawrence, a travelling merchant of sorts.” You say as Cirno marches back up to you from the lake.

“And I’m Cirno!” The blue haired girl exclaims, “So what d’ya got for me, Mr. Merchant?”

“I can’t just be giving anything away for free, you know.” You say with a small smile to her.

“It’s not for free! You saw my amazing performance, didn’t you? Come on, pay up!”

“…here,” you say as you hand her a 10 yen coin. She dances around with the coin in glee, with her friend following suit.

“That was sweet of you,” Komachi says with a smile.

“Knowing her personality type, she would have probably annoyed me about it for the rest of the day if I didn’t give her anything.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Komachi says with a shrug. “So what are you doing around here, Mr. Merchant?”

“I’m actually trying to get over there,” you say, pointing to the mansion, “but I haven’t found a quick way across.”

“Over there? Well if you’d like, I can take you over if you want.” She says, “I can get you over there in a snap if you’d like, or we can take the scenic version across the lake if you prefer. It’ll give us a chance to chat too, if you’re up for some conversation.”

“Oooh, oooh!” Cirno says, jumping up and down, “I can get you across the lake better than she can! Pick me, pick me!”

Well this turned out better than you had hoped. Now which way to go…

[ ] Komachi’s Quick route
[ ] Komachi’s Scenic route
[ ] The Cirno route

[x] Komachi’s Scenic route
I can see being friends with a reaper coming in handy.

[x] Komachi’s Quick route

I don't like either of these two, so I'll piss against the inevitable tide.

[x] Komachi’s Scenic route

[+] Komachi’s Scenic route
Don't wanna end up in the lake & having a friendly chat does nothing but increase the possible customer base.

[x] The Cirno route

Even if it's not going to win, I cannot resist ICE BRIDGE route. It's only slightly more likely to end with us not soaked than swimming!

[x] Komachi’s Scenic route.

Cirno and Komachi friends? I'd given up hope of ever seeing that bit of "canon" in a story. Thanks.

[x] The Cirno route

>>33105

Not sure if they are friends per say, but yeah I figure that they at least hang out or something.

[x] Komachi’s Scenic route

Like this, we're set to arrive as evening start with Remilia welcoming us, since it would be her style.

[X] Komachi’s Scenic route

Sit back, relax and enjoy the boob... I mean view.

[x] Komachi’s Scenic route

Komachi? YES PLEASE!

I'm feeling generous tonight, so a new thread should pop up in a bit.

[x] Komachi’s Scenic route
winrar choice is winrar

[x] Komachi’s Scenic route
winrar choice is winrar