Floor 2, Room 3

[troublereduction]

JOYOUS DAY

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[troublereduction]

[ The good news for Solomon is that Day happens to be one of the stalls at the nearby market. The owner is chatting him up in between trying to sell him a magical charm, and Day seems to be returning the favor while also trying to dodge parting with his hard-earned coin. Please save him, Solomon. ]

[impacter]

[Uh-oh.

Solomon at least slides next to Day quietly (perhaps a little TOO quietly) in between the back and forth.]

Ah, there you are! [Boo.]

Sorry about the interruption, but I need to steal you back for a little while. [He makes it sound very official, though Day at least will know by now that Solomon isn't nearly as serious as he would be if this was genuinely an emergency. But what the shopkeep doesn't know won't hurt him.

Solomon shoots the owner a smile that's briefly apologetic.] A delightful pitch. Can your business wait for the moment while we attend to ours?

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[ He startles a little because where the fuck did Solomon come from???

But immediately, Day gets with the program. ]

I'll be back later. [ Read: this is probably a lie. ] Thanks for takin' the time.

[impacter]

[With their goodbyes in order and the vendor's ego hopefully temporarily soothed with a little white lie, Solomon leads Day off in a random direction. Where are they going? Who knows!]

So how long had he trapped you in that little sales pitch of his, anyway? You were starting to look a little tired.

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Dunno, maybe ten minutes? Started off as a nice conversation, then...well, you saw.

[ Day's following after Solomon obediently. ]

[impacter]

Good thing luck was on our side today, then, hm?

[He's dragging them both off to a snack vendor. Wow, such important business! Hope you like shaved ice with weird wizard cuisine toppings.]

I never heard back from you last week. How did things go up North?

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Ah, it was pretty much as expected. Lights were still lit in the castle, and your barriers were still up. Had to heal up and treat a couple of villagers. [ While internally sweating because Day knows he is not trained in medicine, just furiously referencing someone who actually is. ]

[impacter]

Good, good... no signs of mischief, I hope?

[Solomon thumbs through the coin on his person for two servings, gesturing for Day to pick a flavor he likes. Go ahead, his treat.]

I'll take myself and a few others back to them within the week... but it's been a relief knowing all of you came back safely.

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No signs of mischief. [ Thank goodness.

Day seems to contemplate for a moment before he picks what sounds like a fruity flavour. ]

You're bein' pretty thorough. [ Which is more an observation than anything else. ]

[impacter]

Mm. It's just selfishness. I've grown fond of them, after all.

[He shouldn't. He' ll be gone from their lives soon enough, if all goes well. But... he can't help himself.]

It should be two-fold, anyway. With wizards having died out on the battlefield, I'd like to double-check the open forest outside where we had our fight. I doubt Ithaqua would have left any loose, but with how injured we were... well, it doesn't hurt to double check.

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[ He raises his eyebrows a little when Solomon says he's grown fond of them, because Day knows as well as Solomon does that he shouldn't. ]

Huh? What do you mean?

[impacter]

Mm?

[He looks up from his own cup of shaved ice, a lemony looking glaze over top.]

Ah, sorry. Which part? [He rambled off quite a bit there.]

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About Ithaqua not having left any loose?

[ What is "any" here, he's not sure? ]

[impacter]

Ah, that.

Sophie and Eva's mana stones. [He doesn't look entirely thrilled, but it's... important to mention them by name.]

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...Oh.

[ That makes sense. ]

Guess it's better to be safe than sorry, huh.

[impacter]

Exactly. I'd like to not have any more magical incidents out here just because we weren't thorough.

Have you experienced one yet? A wizard's mana stone, I mean.

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No. Haven't eaten a single one.

[ Which is very South of him, depending on who you ask. ]

[impacter]

Mm.

Is there a reason why?

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...Couldn't bring myself to get used to idea of gettin' stronger by eatin' somethin' or someone else.

[ And when the idea was introduced by someone asking if how he felt about cannibalism...well, it doesn't make him feel good.]

[impacter]

[His smile fades slightly, a little pained.]

You're aware, then.

The beasts aren't an issue, unless that's something you feel you would be particularly sensitive to. But... I'm afraid I can't say the same about the others.

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Thought about it too, but I can't even hunt. [ I.e., kill wild animals. How can he possibly eat mana stones from magical creatures if he's not comfortable with that?]

...You know since you ate Sophie's mana stone.

[impacter]

[His finger raises to his lips, before he continues in a much quieter tone.]

How I went about it could be considered a taboo, so be careful what we say in mixed company.

But yes. You're correct.

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Ah. Sorry 'bout that.

[ ...He'll stare at his shaved ice and take a spoonful. ]

[impacter]

No apologies needed. Let's just not cause a scene on accident.

[Like, he's used to being a pariah so it's no big deal, but he'd rather not drag Day with him just because of the conversational topic of choice.]

I think you're one of the only ones who's had appropriate amounts of caution upfront. Who did you learn that from?

[troublereduction]

From our previous mentor. I asked him about how wizards can get stronger, then he asked me how I felt 'bout cannibalism.

[ Thanks, Wanderer. ]