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File: DOG.DAYS.OP.3.jpg (1.74 MB, 1555x2058)
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"She went whar, again?"
Oh, damn it all. There you are reaching for your flask again.

This is starting to become a force of habit. You don't like drinking out of stress; you really don't! It's not like you specifically seek out activities which drive you to drinking from merely being the unwilling participant in them.
It just seems to find you no matter where you go. Here you are right now in yet another situation which calls for heavy liquor.

You don't try to find trouble; you really don't! It just appears that trouble is a social drinker.

You are Jack Albator; mighty warrior, skilled detective, and foremost strongest hero in Biscotti. You find yourself once again trying to clean up the mess that the incompetence of others have created.

This time you've come across a peculiar case of incompetence from an unexpected source. Akiko, the shrine maiden Atsuko's sister and a rather respected huntress, quit responding to letters from the castle for several days. Atsuko asked you to investigate, and determine if anything had gone wrong.
You arrived at her cottage to find mostly everything in order. After some interrogation; you have come to the conclusion that Akiko is not as trustworthy as you had anticipated. Especially in regards to keeping track of things you left in her possession.

"I said, 'She went whar, again'?" You ask the question a second time, but you're certain that Akiko understood it.

Akiko stands with a sheepish look in front of you.
"Home." Akiko states plainly. "She said she was going home."

"Argh, aye heard you say that. Look, lass, didn't that dragon lady say that she couldn't go home? Whar happened to that?"

"I- don't know." Her extremely guilty face seems reddened. "-She just said she's had enough and she's going home."

"How'd she even get home? Did ye take her there?"

"Uh- uh, nope! She just said she's going home, and then.. went home!"

You feel that urge in your stomach kicking back up again.
"..Lass, which way did she go?"

Akiko points past you, and toward some random direction in the forest.

"How long ago was that?"
"About.. two days?"

"Oh fer-" You try to restrain yourself, "Why didn't ye mention this in the letters bein' sent to ye?"

"They were sending letters?" Akiko blinks. "It's strange, I wasn't getting any new letters, so I just assumed Atsuko was getting lazy."

Oh, so the letters weren't getting through. You suppose that answers that question at least.

"Did ye at least go and look fer 'er?"
"Of course not, why would I do that?" Akiko responds like it's the most natural answer in the world.
"What if she got lost?"
"She shouldn't have left, then. She'll come back when she's good and ready." She smiles obliviously.

>Okay. I'm going to go search for her.
>You're coming with me, don't think you're free of this.
>You are more worried why letters aren't getting through. Investigate that, first.
>Investigate the inside of a pint of banana rum while thinking about your life choices.
>Other?
>>
Pastebin:http://pastebin.com/jCGAA6J2
Archive:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=dog%20days%20quest
Twitter:https://twitter.com/Announcer_QM
>>
>>1242130
>>Okay. I'm going to go search for her.
>>Letters were sent, but you're not getting it? Someone needs to look in on that, cause aye'm thinking this is a problem
>>
>>1242130
Also, hiya announcer, how ya doing?
>>
>>1242284
Fine, I'm kinda mad about how slow I've been. I'm pretty sure I'm breaking /qst/ records with how slow the story has been going and my updates.

But enough about that, writing!
>>
>>1242374
Eh.
Honestly qst seems slow as hell either way.
>>
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"Alright. I'm gonna go search fer 'er, then." You resign to your fate.
Damn it, why does there have to be so much wood and forest? After two days, she could be anywhere from here all the way to Gallete at this point. She could have wandered in a big circle and come back around to the town in a day's worth of traveling.

Argh.
You hate this.

No, no! You're not going to fall to the siren call of that tiny silver canister in your pocket.
At least not yet.

"Alright, I'm gonna go try'n find her. Then aye'm gonna find out why you haven't been getting any mail."
"Oh, would you?!" Akiko is overjoyed at the prospect of you solving all her problems for her.

"Don't think yer off the hook, Lass." You grab her by her yellow, fluffy tail before she has a chance to prance away. "-Aye want ye to stay right here in this cabin until I get back."

"Wait, I can't go out?"
"Aye don't want ye wandering around just in case the dragon lass really DOES come back. You stay right here, and wait to see if she returns."

"Aww! That's not fair!"

Don't even get you started on what is or isn't fair.

"..Aye'm off to search the woods. Then we'll look into yer mail problem. Who delivers your mail?"
"Oh, usually it comes by pigeon. They drop the mail off once a day, and then I can send a message out."

"Fine, aye'll go see what the holdup may be."

You return back to the path to fetch Cody. He seems just as unphased by the conversation that he overheard as anything else.
"Do you know what this means?" You give him another one of your tired stares.
"That I can charge the castle for my unpaid labor?" Cody gives a small smile.

"Aye, at least one of us can." You chuckle, and then stare off into the woods.

No, seriously though, this is a huge problem. There are hundreds upon thousands of uncharted acres that extend off into the mountainous horizon. There are places out here that you're certain have never seen a human footprint.

How do you even go about this? It seems this case is cold before it even began.

>What you need is an eye in the sky, and you happen to have one.
>It's time to think about how you can use water magic in a more proactive way.
>You need a search party. Go see if you can assemble one.
>Just do a cursory search of the surrounding woods. You doubt she went very far. She may have been throwing a temper tantrum.
>Other?
>>
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Okay, it's late, I gotta go to bed, we continue tomorrow!
>>
>>1242636
>>It's time to think about how you can use water magic in a more proactive way.
This sounds good.
Get us thinking about this will be key for geting really good.
>>
>>1242636
>It's time to think about how you can use water magic in a more proactive way.
>>
So speculating on what this could be...
Perhaps some sort of new sense that humans generally can't have?
>>
Sorry about that.
Writing!
>>
>>1244927
Hope it's nothing bad?
>>
>>1244931
Was held up after work. I just got home.
I'm feeling tired, so I hope the things I write actually make sense!
>>
>>1244939
Ah ok.
>>
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"Cody, hold my drink."

You didn't even realize it, but you already took the flask out and were about to take a sip from the nectar of life before you came up with a plan.
Which is fair enough, you suppose. You always make your best plans when you are drunk.

"Can do." He smiles, and then takes a drink from it in your stead.

You stare into the forest, and think about something you could do to possibly make this searching thing much easier.

Your element is water, right? What is there that could possibly help you right now using water in finding someone.
You could spray a mist into the air, but that would only give you a viewing range of only a few feet.

Can you even see through water? That you'll have to test, later.
Right now, you need to find this dragon girl.

You reach into the leaves at the forest floor and grab onto something which might be helpful.
A root.
It's not a very large root, but it's long and spindly enough to surely be attached to one of the nearby trees.

You squeeze the vein, and feel the moisture it was collecting slowly seep into your palm.
It's not much, but maybe it will do.

"Whatcha doin' Jack?" Cody helps himself to another sip of your liquor.
"One sec."

You concentrate on the moisture, and you can feel it. The water flows like a tiny river through the root, and back into the tree. Following it, you can feel the tide extend from that tree to yet another tree next to it.
So on, and so forth.

"Hey Jack, aren't we gonna get going? You've been crouchin' there for like ten minutes."

You ignore Cody's remark and instead keep count of how many trees you've surveyed.
Ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, -

There.

It's not much, but you can feel a slight presence.
Extending from the forest floor, and up into a porous sheet of skin; are a set of feet.
You don't know who owns those feet, but that's a good of a place to start looking as any.

"Thar." You look off into the forest. "About half a mile. She didn't get very far."
"Huh, nice trick Jack." He goes to take another drink from your flask, but you take it away from him.

Then you take a drink from it. You have a feeling this will be a long day.

--

You peer past one of the large oak trees into a small clearing in the forest. While it's not enough of a clearing to have decent sunlight; it is enough to at least be able to see in front of your face.

Sitting on a felled stump is a mud-stained dragon princess. Her tail wraps around her like a blanket, and she sits with her knees pressed against her nose.
Oh darn it, why do you always get the emotional ones?

>Confront her, tell her to get her scaley butt back to the cabin.
>Approach her cautiously. Try not to scare her.
>Watch her for a few minutes.
>Grab her and wrestle her to the ground.
>Other?
>>
>>1245166
>>Approach her cautiously. Try not to scare her.
Might as well try diplomacy?
it seems to generally work out for us.
>>
>>1245166
>Approach her cautiously. Try not to scare her.
>>
>>1245166
>Approach her cautiously. Try not to scare her.
>>
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You tell Cody to hang back. It's hard enough having a conversation with her, and you're certain that she doesn't want to feel pressured at the moment.

You're going to take this nice and easy. Hopefully, this will be enough to make her quit throwing her temper tantrum and plod her ass back to the cabin.

You slowly emerge from the woods, and get her attention.
"Ahoy."

She nearly jumps out of her skin, but her posture loosens when she realizes who you are.

"Go away." She says in an almost commanding tone.
"Naw, aye don't think aye'll be doin' that."

Her brow furrows.
"I don't want you here. I'm going home."
"Yer a long ways from anythin' lookin' like 'home', miss."

That just makes her even angrier.
"I don't WANT your help, I can find my way home myself!"

She stomps her foot, but loses her footing and falls right on her butt.

"Whar do ye even think yer goin? I thought ye said you couldn't go home."
"I'll... think of something!" She stands up, "I just know that I don't want to be slave labor for another MINUTE!"

"Aye, now ye know how I feel tryin' to fix everyone's problems. Yer not helpin' with that, by the way."

She continues to pout. At the very least, she's not trying to run away.
"Lass, have ye looked down at yerself recently?"

Her expression softens; she knows exactly what you mean.
You continue, "Yer covered in mud, you have no shoes on, and your dress is torn in several places. Did ye even pack before you left? What'd ye do? Walk out one night when no one was lookin'?"

"That's none of your concern!" She snaps back.

She stands in silence, glaring at you for what feels like several minutes. You can hear a low growl escape her voice as she concedes.
"..fine. I'll go back."

"Aye don't wanna pressure ye, Lass. If ye want to wander around out here, that's fine. Just make up yer mind already."

"..No, I'll return to the cabin."

>Ye don't sound very happy.
>Do ye want me to try and take ye back home?
>It's fine, just gotta wait for yer sister to tell us when it's all clear.
>Want to live someplace else? Like a big castle instead of a shoddy cabin in the woods?
>Other?
>>
>>1245942
>Do ye want me to try and take ye back home?
>>
Okay, that buzzing behind my eyes is to the point where I can't ignore it. I'll continue tomorrow. Sorry.
>>
>>1245942
>Ye don't sound very happy.
>Yer not a slave, you don't have to go to the cabin.
>Want to live someplace else? Like a big castle instead of a shoddy cabin in the woods?
>>
>>1245942
>>Ye don't sound very happy.
>>Yer not a slave, you don't have to go to the cabin.
>>
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"Well, ye don't sound happy." You pat her head, "Yer not a slave. Ye don't have to go back to the cabin if ye don't want to."

"No, you're right. I don't have anyplace else to go and I'm just wandering in circles here in the jungle."
She breathes a frustrated sigh, and balls up her fists.

"Do ye want me to take ye back home?"

She shakes her head, "That's not even my home. I've never lived there."
"If ye never lived there, why do ye want to go back?"

"Because sis is there, I think. I actually don't know where she lives, either."

This is frustrating.
"Don't ye want to meet yer father?"
"I don't know, okay?" She turns away from you. "Are you going to take me back to the cabin, or are you going to just leave me out here?"

This clearly doesn't have a good end to it. If you knew a way to contact her sister about all of this; you would do it right now.
Since you don't, that just leaves only one other alternative.

"Do ye want to live someplace else besides the cabin?"

She kneads at the front of her dress, "..Like where?"

"How about, ye put up with us a bit more and aye'll bring ye to the castle."
"I don't want to live in a dungeon!" She immediately snaps back at you.

"-But! But, ye would live in a room, just like the other patrons in the castle."

"..Are you lying?"
"No, in a room, with the other people."

"I would like that."
"One condition." You tap her on the scalp, "-Ye talk to yer sister so she doesn't attack or come to the castle in her big, scary, scaley form. Alright?"

"If I don't like it, can I come back?"
"Out to the woods? Yar, sure, anytime."

She doesn't take to your humor too well, instead pouting in response.
You smile at her, and lead her back to the cabin.

--

"What?!" Akiko shouts. "You're taking away my free labor?!"
"Yar, Lass. And she's not free labor." You scold the golden-haired foxgirl.

"But, Who's gonna chop wood?! She already did two seasons worth of lumber!"
"Guess yer gonna hafta do it yerself, or pay her a living wage." You furrow your brow.

Akiko seems nothing short of mortified.
"Lass, aye think yer the one that caused this particular problem."
"How so?!"

"Fer one, aye asked ye to keep her safe and secure. Not work her like a slave."
"What's the difference? She's safe, right? I'm just making her earn her keep, that's all."

>Yknow what Lass? Aye'm gonna count this problem as 'solved'.
>Now tell me about your mail system.
>Nope. This is too much crazy for one day. Head back to the castle.
>With the Lass
>Other?
>>
>>1248446
>>Lass, Aye'm thinking that you need some education on how to deal wit' people.
>>Which can happen after this whole mail thing has been solved.
>>
>>1248446
>Yknow what Lass? Aye'm gonna count this problem as 'solved'.
>Now tell me about your mail system.
>>
>>1248446
>>Lass, Aye'm thinking that you need some education on how to deal wit' people.
>>Which can happen after this whole mail thing has been solved.
>>
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"Lass." You feel your head starting to hurt. "-Aye'm thinkin' that you need education on how to deal wit' people."
"Oh?" She tilts her head, "Why is that?"

What's terrifying is that you're not entirely sure if she's serious or not.

"People aren't free labor, what the heck are you talkin' about, even?"
"I just thought that if she was going to live here, she should have to take a portion of the work."

"Workin' fer yer way is fine, but ye overdoin' it and ye know that."

"I am not overdoing it! If I was working her too hard, then she wouldn't be able to work the next day. So there."

She crosses her arms like she's made some kind of salient point.

"Lass. Aye think ye need to work on dealin' with people."
"Geez Jack." Akiko huffs, "You're starting to sound like my sister. You've been hanging around her too much."

You're starting to understand why Atsuko wasn't exactly heartbroken at her sister deciding to go out on an adventure all by herself just a few months back.

"-Never mind that, Lass. Tell me more about this mail problem yer havin'. It seems more important than making a mountain of firewood."
"There used to be a pigeon that delivered urgent mail, and a mailman who delivered packages and things like that. Haven't seen either of them in a week, though."

"Ye think foul play?"
"I don't know what to think." She seems rather blasé about this fact.

"Are ye worried about not gettin' any mail?"
"Only if something important happens like my free help tries to run away."

"Stop callin' her 'free help'."
"Then don't take my free help away." She shoots back rather quickly.

You think her priorities are somewhere in the wrong place.

You manage to escape her without having to chop a mountain of firewood. Then, you focus on this mail problem.

This doesn't seem like much of a problem, until you return to town to investigate it.
You're then struck with the intensity of how much this may ruin your day.

"Argh, then what happened?"
"What do you mean 'what happened'?" The clerk sitting behind the postmaster's desk is clearly upset. "He hobbled back to town the next day, said he was jumped!"

"Alright, alright, calm down."
"I can't 'calm down'! I reported this days ago and you're the first person who has even cared about this!"

>And if ye don't calm down, I may be the last.
>Bandits, outside of town. seen any of them?
>Was your postman carrying anything important?
>Diamonds? Jewels? Anything?
>-And now I don't care. Aye'll go get a knight to deal with this while I find a bottle to crawl inside.
>Other?
>>
>>1249268
>>And if ye don't calm down, I may be the last.
>>Bandits, outside of town. seen any of them?
>>Was your postman carrying anything important?
>>Diamonds? Jewels? Anything?
>>
>>1249268
>And if ye don't calm down, I may be the last.
>Bandits, outside of town. seen any of them?
>Was your postman carrying anything important?
>Diamonds? Jewels? Anything?
this could be demons, who knows?
>>
>>1249579
Yeah this could be either demons - or, well, it could be another attempt by some traitors to continue being assholes.
>>
So, hey, is that pic of the dragon accurate?
Cause I'm sorta getting a Kanna feel for her...
>>
>>1250942
Pretty much, as I picture her.
It's not original artwork, but it fits her profile.

By the way, I am home and I'[m going to start writing.
>>
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"-And if ye don't calm down. Aye may be the last one who cares."

She gives you a mean look, but you care little about her feelings right now.

"This sounds like the work of Bandits. Have ye seen' any outside of town or any reports of merchants attacked?"
"I haven't heard anything about that. You're with the guard, right? Shouldn't you already know about bandit attacks?"

Do you really look so unheroic that you seem like a guard?
"Aye'm not a guard, Lass. Aye'm workin' for the castle. Now ye see here, aye'm losing a lot of patience so ye need to spill the beans on what ye know quick before I lose what little interest I have."

"No word of bandits. The other carriers who go even further out haven't seen or heard anything." She replies with exhasperation in her voice.

"Was he carryin' anything of value? Jewels? Anythin'?"

"Just letters." She sighs, "I thought the same thing, too. Then I went back and looked and there wasn't anything over a few grams in his pouch."

Great, you were hoping it just was a robbery.

"-Whar did he get nicked?"
"Just outside of town."

You grumble, and turn for the exit.
Yet another perfectly good day for draining ruined.

On your way out, you notice Cody talking with Bennet, and Noel. They're two Biscotti knights whom have helped you out in the past.

"Can you BELIEVE IT?!" Noel screams with an almost girlish tone you don't usually hear from her. "All of them! Just right out the door!"
"They didn't even bother with a trial. Tuile was furious." Bennet continues his usual disinterested look.

"Hay, what's goin' on?"

"They let the scoundrels out of prison!" Noel immediately replies.
"Scoundrels? Which one?"
"All of them! They just let them walk right out the door!"

"At least the ones who could prove they were from Gallete. A lot of them covered for one another, so those guys were released."

This is starting to make some more sense.

"..Whar did ye learn this?"
"The bar." Bennet huffs, "I would have stayed, but my shift is-"

>Cody! Onward to the bar!
>Let's go investigate the spot where the mailman was jumped.
>Time to return to the castle and ask some hard questions.
>Other?
>>
Yep, another day where things don't go very fast. Damn!
>>
>>1252455
>Let's go investigate the spot where the mailman was jumped.
>>
>>1252455

>Let's go investigate the spot where the mailman was jumped.
>>
>>1252455
>>Let's go investigate the spot where the mailman was jumped.
>>
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"We'll check there later. We got a problem arisin'."
"What kind of problem?" At least Noel is interested.

"Bandits er somethin'. Been jumping the mail carriers."

"Probably the same criminals they let out of the dungeon." Bennet concludes.
"Yeah! They're probably back to their old ways." Noel immediately agrees.

"Argh, who cares? Aye just wanna wreck 'em and get back to the castle for a nap at this point." You sigh.

"Well we're coming with you!" Noel grabs Bennet by the arm.
"We are?"

"Ye are?"

"Yes! This is a serious problem, and I want to help solve it!" The blue-haired knight seems determined.
"Noel, our shifts.." Bennet pleads.

"Please, Mr. Albator?!"

You're going to regret this soon, aren't you?

"Aye, fine."
"THANK YOU!"
"Oh for-"

"Looks like you have fans every place you go." Cody smiles.

You don't smile back, and you're sure he knows why.

The place where the mailman was jumped is located only a little ways outside of town. It seems like a well-traveled road, and you don't see any real reason that someone would choose here to rob someone.

Of course, any trace of the robbery has long since been rubbed away by the countless merchants and carts that have come this way.

"So, Detective." Cody grins, "Any leads?"

>Try the same thing you did to find the dragongirl, but on fluffy bandits.
>Nothin' to see here, aye guess.
>Split up, form a search grid, see if ye can find somethin.
>Drink, you've earned it by now.
>Other?
>>
>>1253489
>Try the same thing you did to find the dragongirl, but on fluffy bandits.
>>
>>1253489
>Try the same thing you did to find the dragongirl, but on fluffy bandits.
>>
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Finding tracks isn't going to do you any good. It's likely that the perpetrators are long gone at this point.
You're going to try that new trick out once more.

Slowly, you close your eyes, and concentrate on the ground. Your hand moves through the dirt until it snatches a live root.

"..So does he always do this?" Bennet sounds confused.
"Yeah." You can't see it, but you can feel Cody smiling.

"Oh, that's no good. People might think he's a weirdo." Noel helpfully interjects.
"So he just.. sits there in the dirt.. doing nothing?"
"Sometimes." Cody, you're not helping.

"How long does this last?"
"A couple more minutes."
"Is he gonna be okay?" Noel has a strange sense of urgency in her voice.

"I don't know." Damn you, Cody. He has to know what you're doing, but you can tell he's getting a kick out of this.

"..This way." You stand up from the dirt.
Bennet blinks, "Are you sure? What's that way?"

"Camp, has some people in it. It's not older than a few days old." You cough, dusting the sand off of your hands.

"What should we expect to find?"
"Hell if aye know."

You start walking toward the seemingly small camp. It doesn't seem very far away from where the mailman was jumped, so maybe they saw something when it happened.

Then again, it's equally likely that they didn't see anything and this little side-trip was pointless.

You enter the clearing near the camp, and consider a good question that Noel brought up.

"Hey Jack, even if they did have something to do with it; do we have any proof they were the ones who jumped the mailmen?"
"Naw, but when has that stopped me before?"

"Well, I was just asking because-"

WHUMP!

Something big just landed on your back!

Oh, it's a net.

"The hell?"
"Busted." Bennet sighs.

You and Cody effortlessly tear through the mesh fabric and step out of the obvious trap. Just to have another little surprise.

"RRARRGGH!"
You feel a set of arms wrap around you from behind.

Cody seems to be having the same problem of his own.
He reaches behind him and grabs the fluffy varnmit who had latched around his neck. With a sling, he slams it so hard into the ground that the varnmit instantly fluffballs.

You notice the one trying to wrestle you to the ground has exposed a leg. You grab the leg and sling it upside-down in front of you.

It's a teenage girl wearing some rather rough looking clothing. Her face has a look of anger, and her long cat-tail wraps around her body.

"The hell ye doin' Lass?"
"What are YOU doing sneaking up on our camp?!"

>Try to argue with her.
>Just fluffball her and search the camp yourself.
>Give her a few seconds to tell you everything she knows
>Just keep her like this. Walk back to her camp and continue your search.
>Other?
>>
>>1255350
>Try to argue with her.
>Give her a few seconds to tell you everything she knows
>>
>>1255350
>Try to argue with her.
>Give her a few seconds to tell you everything she knows
>>
"What're YOU doin' out here in the middle of no where?"

"None of your business! Put me down!" Her cat-tail swirls around her.

"What was this net for? Ye expectin' someone to chase ye?"
"No, I was expecting someone like YOU to sneak up on our camp!"

"Hey." Bennet throws the net off of Noel and approaches the girl. "Why are you out here?"
"We were waiting for someone, nothing more!"

"Aye dun' believe ye."
"It's the truth! I would have him tell you all about it, but you just fluffed him." She responds with an angry glare.

"Who ye waitin' for?"
"None of your business!"

Noel, clearly not having any of this, takes her axe out.
The girl you're suspending is clearly intimidated by the show of force.

"One question." Noel glares at her, "Who were you waiting for?"

"..A letter."

"Did you find it?"

"Look, if you're trying to pin what happened to the mailman-"

"Who said anything about the mailman?" Noel retains her deathly stare.

"-No one!" the mysterious girl squeals, "I'm just saying that we were waiting for a letter, and he got beat!"

"What did you find?"

"What?"

Noel puts her axe closer to the girl.
"What did you find when you found out the mailman was beat? Any other letters? Anything important?"
"I don't know, we took that stuff to the camp. I haven't looked at it!"

That girl isn't very smart.

Noel holsters her axe, and you drop the girl right on her head. Bennet slaps the cuffs on her, and drags her further into the woods with you.

Soon, you come across her camp. It seems anyone else who was here has left.
The size of this camp, it's definitely something that would house about fifty people. These were were not the only ones here.

You step inside one of the tents, and notice a very infuriating sight.

Dozens of letters, torn open, torn up, scattered to the winds.
There is one letter in particular which seems to be spread out on a makeshift table.

You pick it up and read the handwritten text.

"-and the rumors are true." You read aloud, "The festival has been postponed a week. Expect a surprise guest at the coming events. Aye think this is a good time to revisit our plans. Shit."

You didn't read that last word, but you were sure thinking it.

>Get mad and disassemble the camp, searching for clues.
>Just take the two idiots back to the castle.
>Is it time to drink yet?
>Ask the knights what should be done next.
>Other?
>>
>>1256373
>Ask the knights what should be done next.
if letters are no good, we'll have to directly travel to warn the other kingdoms.
>>
>>1256373
>Get mad and disassemble the camp, searching for clues.
>Ask the knights what should be done next.
>>
>>1251885
Huh.
She really IS Kanna?
That's great, she's my favorite on that show.
>>
>>1256373
>Use superhuman speed to look through the camp for clues but don't disassemble it just yet.
>Meanwhile, the knights interrogate the two captives
>Then bring them back with you
>>
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You turn to the massive pile of discarded letters.
There must be a thousand of the things. Didn't the clerk only say that one mail carrier was knocked over? That can't possibly be right with the number of letters piled up in the corner.

Despite having some superhuman qualities; you still very much read at the same speed. Most of these scraps of paper are long past being worthwhile for any real investigation.

That just leaves one thing.

You fold the message over into your pocket, and step outside the camp.

"Noel, Bennet, find anything ye can about this camp out from that girl. Aye'm gonna do one more look before we leave."

They seem confused by your strange sense of urgency, but obey your order all the same.

You don't waste any time trying to search the camp for any remaining clues. Unfortunately, it looks like those two were just there to clean up what was remaining. Anything of value had long since been moved out of this camp.

"Damn it." Cody swears under his breath as he drags the two captives behind him.

"Ye goin' to take them back to the castle?"

"May as well." Bennet sighs.
"It will make Tuile mad, but she has to know." Noel agrees.

"So, what's the deal gonna be?"

"We'll go get the guard to clean up the camp, and search for anything we may have missed." Bennet blinks in his usual almost-asleep manner. "It's too bad, because I was hoping this problem would just move on to a different country."

"I wasn't." Cody grumbles, "It might end up moving to MY country, if it did."

>Great. Day is saved. I'm off to the bar.
>I should head back to the castle with you, just to see what Tuile thinks about this.
>-I should probably get back to what I was doing, and that was fixing the problem with the Dragon Girl.
>Other?
>>
>>1258499
>I should head back to the castle with you, just to see what Tuile thinks about this.
>>
>>1258499
>>-I should probably get back to what I was doing, and that was fixing the problem with the Dragon Girl.
>>Maybe Tuile can help with that?
>>
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"Noel, Bennet, take these scoundrels here to the castle. Aye'll be back in a few minutes."
"What are you going to do?"

"Aye gotta make good on a promise to a dragon-girl."

"Heh, you're gonna take her back to the castle?" Cody laughs, "I thought you were just telling her that so she wouldn't run away again."

"Ye know aye don't break promises."
At least the promises people expect you to keep.

You return to the cabin and gather the dragon-girl. Akiko is a bit sour about you stealing her 'free help', but she manages to remain pleasant to talk to for the time being.
In a way, you don't expect that to last very long when it comes time for her to chop firewood again.

The walk back with her in tow is fairly quiet. She comments on some of the sights she didn't have a chance to enjoy when she was spending her time away from Gallete. One very good question hangs on her mind.

"So what do you usually do, all day, at the castle?" She notices the large fortress in the distance.
"Usually aye don't spend that much time at the castle. Too busy fixin' problems that ain't my own."

"But what is it used for, then? Gallete's castle didn't last very long against my sister's attack."

"Mostly a meetin' place. Trainin' grounds. We gotta big fight comin' up against a big guy later this week. Aye'm sure the other heroes are busy trainin' inside."

"Oh, what do the other heroes do? I've only met you, Cody, and that girl hero. Yuuki, right?"

"Aye. Yuuki is out on a mission, but ye may be able to catch-"

Oh good! There they are right now. Louise, Kayda, and Keiko seem to be training on some of the target dummies in the training yard. This will be a good demonstration!

"Ahoy, Louise! Glad to see ye up."

She nearly jumps out of her skin, but then puts on an amazing smile!

"Jack! Jack! You need to see what we can do now!" She happily runs toward you as Kayda and Keiko stare onward. "Jack! You need to watch this! This is amazing! Jack!"

You instinctively rub her head, but she continues to spout nonsense at you.

"We learned all this great stuff and I can turn into a lightning bolt, and look at Kayda! Jack! Watch Kayda! watch! Kayda! Do that thing again!"

Kayda blinks, and takes out a hatchet from a box. You almost forgot, she knows how to throw those things with precision.
She snaps her fingers, and the entire hatchet burst into flame! She throws the metal implement at a target dummy, which promptly explodes!

"Isn't that great?!" Louise seems so proud right now.
"Aye, isn't that great?" You turn to the dragon girl. "These are the heroes that'll be protectin' ya."

"She's.. They're."
The dragon girl blinks, staring directly at Louise.

"-Really cute."

>Continue with a tour of the castle!
>Get her straight to Tuile. You have some questions about the mail theft, anyway.
>Stay here and watch the youngin's some more.
>Show her to a vacant room. You have better things to do
>Other?
>>
>>1262749
>Stay here and watch the youngin's some more.
>>
>>1262749
>Stay here and watch the youngin's some more.
>Wuzzat about turning to lightning?
>Head to Tulie after.
>>
>>1262749
>Yep, they are.
>Stay and watch the youngin's some more
>Wuzzat about turning to lightning?
>Head to Tuile after
>>
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"Yep, they are." You pet Louise on the head again. "Hay Louise, why dun ye show us that lightnin' thing you were talkin' about?"

"Right! Right!"
She skips away from you, and then turns to the target dummies once more.
Her hand extends, and she almost appears to be whispering under her breath.

For some reason which is lost to you; the other two kids have covered their ears.
Uh oh.

BZZT-
BANG!

In a massive explosion, she disappears from your sight!
The dragon girl gasps, and you even notice yourself feeling a little worried.

That is, until she steps out from behind the target dummy; completely unharmed.

"Cool huh?" Louise smiles.
"Yar.. What is that? A magic trick?"

"Not a trick! I moved there, with lightning!"
"Ye what."

"It's a special attack! I learned it when I was fighting demons. Did they tell you Jack? About the demons I fought? I did it all by myself!"

"Yar, yar. Aye heard."
"That's.. really cool." The dragon girl continues to ignore the story at hand.

"We gotta go see Tuile about somethin, Louise. Aye'll come back and train with ye later."
You give her another pat on the head for good measure and head off toward the castle. The dragon girl follows behind you hestitantly.

"I'm going to live in a room, right?"
"Aye."

"Not a dungeon, right?"
"Aye."

"Why? What have I done for you?"
"Lady, stop askin' these kinda questions. Ye makin' me want to question that myself."

--

"A room?"
"That's all aye ask for. A room for her until we can get this thing with her family straightened out."

"Sure, I can do that, but aren't you worried about her sister?" Tuile blinks. "If I remember correctly, her sister is a gigantic dragon, no?"
"Aye, aye'll try to have a talk with 'er about it. But until then, aye need to focus on this problem."

"Bennet told me about it. Something about the prisoners we released planning to disrupt the festival?"
"Aye."

"Well, it's nothing we can't handle." Tuile smiles. "I'm worried more about Yuuki and Dorje."
"Argh, why?"
"Because they don't know that the prisoners have been released. Since they're on the road; I can't exactly send them a message, either."

You just had a worrying feeling run down your spine.

>Thread End.
>>
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Everyone. Sorry for how slow it's been; it's been a rough week.
Thankfully, things are looking up! Tomorrow is the dreaded recap thread. So hopefully we will catch up on everything and maybe get a bit of story told that I otherwise I wouldn't have been able to tell. I hope that works out and is quite a bit faster! There is a LOT to go through looking through my notes.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for participating. I hopefully see you tomorrow!
>>
>>1265514
alright, thanks for running
>>
>>1265514
OK, thanks for running.
>>
Everyone. I was going to use tonight to get my notes in order. So the recap thread will be hopefully tomorrow! See you then!
>>
>>1271747

The recap thread begins!




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