Kochiya Sanae
Nieve — Bookstore
After receiving the tome from Rayne, Sanae wasted no time in hastily flipping through it's contents in order to find at least a mention of the goddess' name within. The number of deities listed was rather numerous, unsurprisingly enough, but after utilizing her years-old memories of analyzing texts in school to its utmost the young shrine maiden finally found a passage naming the goddess... And a few others.
"Wow, this one really does mention her. Let's see..." Sanae trailed off as she glanced over the paragraph in question briefly.
The three goddesses Lavielle, Eistre, and Filyn seemed to have been held as those who controlled fate. Eistre, the eldest, marked the 'beginning' of journeys. Filyn, the second eldest, marked their ends. Lavielle, the youngest, seemed to have been given the role of charting their courses... And, fittingly enough, seems to have been the ones that the Merellians often believed was most likely to watch over—and, in many cases, interfere with—their lives.
"This... Does seem like what we're looking for," Sanae answered, closing the book back up and returning it to Rayne. "I guess it might be in our best interests to buy the book—and maybe look for whoever wrote it, too."
With that said, Sanae turned towards where Rayne was pointing and, in seeing nothing more than a hooded woman, simply bowed in thanks before refocusing on Rayne.
"Uh... Speaking of, though... Do you have any money on you? I wasn't exactly trading with the caravan, and it, uh... Slipped my mind when we were travelling."
@DracoLunaris@VitaVitaAR
Musashi would have considered herself very much a fool had she not heeded the words—and rather distinct choice of action—of her opponent as she recovered from the scant few moments of her counterattack missing its mark. The swordswoman acknowledged Youmu's choice of action with no more than a smirk as she readied herself for another clash of blades, her own swords at the ready as the other girl sprang forward with an assault quite similar to the last.
"You're not the only one with tricks up their sleeve!" the pink-haired woman called out as she bent her knees ever so slightly. In an instant, a barrage of rainbow-colored energy seemed to
rocket out from behind her, launching her towards Youmu with a speed that, at that point in time, far exceeded that with which she was approaching with. Now, with both her swords pressing down upon her opponent, Musashi's smirk turned into a wide grin as she pressed the assault further.
All the while, though, the smaller girl standing to Mokou's side gave her conversation partner a look of mild distrust. While it was clear that she didn't agree with the white-haired girl's assessment of her own realm, it seemed reasonable for the moment to simply accept that they would likely not see eye-to-eye on the matter for a long while, if ever.
"...Yes, you could say that. My so-called bodyguard over there seemed to be familiar with the concept of interdimensional travel, though as far as I know she's only ever traveled to parallel versions of her own Earth. I come from a different one altogether, and to summarize the situation in as simple a manner as possible, we both found ourselves in this foreign world and chose to work together for both of our sakes," she replied before revealing a set of three red markings that seemed to be tattooed onto the back of her hand. "While I have your attention, then: would these markings be at all familiar to you? At this point, it's one more question in the dozens I need to research, but if anyone might have any answers it would probably be another wanderer like yourself."
@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze
Bren nodded in silence as Anne relayed to him a few names that would prove useful in his own investigations, and after having committed them to memory the minister briefly excused himself from the room to, as he put it, 'contact the person most likely to be able to help and set everything else into motion'. The wait afterwards took more than a few minutes, but bereft of anything else to occupy themselves with the three present may as well have felt the wait to have been far longer than it actually was.
When the minister finally returned to the room, he seemed to have been left
notably more exhausted than he had first been when he had left. It was quite obvious that the source therein had to have been mental in nature, given the lack of any sort of signs of strenuous activity, but by the way he seemed to be keeping himself it was clear that
something was amiss.
"My apologies for the delay. I've sent some people to retrieve testimony about the situation you presented, and they should be following up with us within the next few hours. As for the tests..." he trailed off before sighing and shaking his head.
"...The person in question should be arriving to meet us within a few minutes. She insisted that if what I said was true... No, actually, I do not believe I could accurately convey anything that she said in any reasonable manner. Could I ask that you please follow me? My office isn't particularly suitable for anything beyond clerical work and discussions, I'm afraid."
With that invitation extended, Bren quickly escorted the trio out of his office and towards a different building nearby—one that, as Fran would notice quite quickly, seemed to be suffused with mana of one form or another.
"The Nievan Mages' Guild," Bren briefly explained as they walked through the doors and towards a young man who had quickly moved to meet and guide the group in turn. "If there's anywhere equipped to dispel any magically-inclined doubts about your story, it would be here. As for the person in question—"
Before Bren could even finish his statement, the sound of an explosion from further down the hallway they had been led down caused the minister to pause in concern. After a few seconds, a plume of white smoke billowed out in turn as a young woman with vibrant red hair tied back in a ponytail stumbled out. Her clothes—a blouse and a dress—seemed rather practical at a glance, but further inspection would reveal that their craftsmanship and delicate handcrafted stitching was weaved through with no small number of magical wards and protections.
"Eugh..." the woman grumbled to herself before noticing the oncoming group and quickly scrambling to dust herself off in an effort to make herself look more presentable. At this, Bren simply sighed and turned back towards the group.
"The woman you see before you is Princess Serena ei Verzhe, sixth in line for succession of the throne. Though she may be a bit more spirited than one might expect of royalty, her dedication towards the magical arts is worthy of more than a little praise. She is also the one who
insisted to examine you in lieu of the person I had in mind, and, well..."
@Izurich@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92