FujiwaraPhoenix

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Upon hearing Mie's explanation with regards to the ores present in her shop, Misaki took a few moments to consider what the shopkeeper's words meant with regards to what information she had to bargain with. The furnaces she had seen thus were far from able to create the temperatures necessary for steel production, and that process was inherently slow as it was... But 'some time' by these standards could take anywhere from days to week. That part, she couldn't quite change—not unless a high enough temperature could be sustained and kept constant for hours on end. The presence of steel, though, meant that Chagawa had at least accomplished some form of small-scale manufacturing process. Even so, the sale of low-quality iron ore meant that they might have at least enough excess iron in the first place to be in a position to do so.

"Hm... Maybe...? No, but that doesn't solve the issue of speed..." she mused quietly to herself, taking note of Mie's general attitude as various images from textbooks periodically flashed through her mind. Luckily, the foxgirl had some more time to herself to consider the possibilities as the shopkeeper seemed to go check on whatever commotion was going on outside (which, in all likelihood, probably involved them anyways).

Once Mie returned to her seat, though, Misaki had come to at least something resembling a suggestion in hand. Whether or not it would be enough would be up for debate, of course, but given that their ultimate role in this world was to try and get everything to be a bit less ancient...

Well, maybe there was some leniency to be had on her end.

"If we're speaking in regards to time efficiency, then what comes to mind for me is that the production of iron is in... Well, batches, so to speak, rather than being continuous," she began, gesturing slightly towards Mie before continuing. "There are ways to automate some of the processes—for example, heating the metal to the point of melting, then using ways to drain both the metal and the runoff—but again, I would recommend someone more versed in metallurgy to confirm my thoughts. With that said, provided my ideas are sound, I could offer test schematics for a smaller-scale version. That aside, I also have basic ideas for pulling iron from certain types of sand, but I assume that such processes are already available. I haven't actually spent much time looking into these things until a few years back, truth be told, and it is not as if I was able to visit forges as a child, but compared to what I have seen here..."

There were, admittedly, bits and pieces of the truth scattered about in her closing statement to Mie; hopefully, that excuse would be enough to excuse her lack of knowledge on how technologically advanced Chagawa as a whole actually was. But if a proper blacksmith was on hand, then the only real loss would be the time spent to make the furnace in question and all the fuel burnt in the process... Provided she wasn't shut out completely in the process, of course.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Misaki's eyes would widen briefly before she bowed in thanks, a smile of relief on her face as she entered the tent with Lazirha. Despite the apparent safety, though, the foxgirl felt somewhat awkward when she heard Mie's followup response. With the woman opposite her seated in her usual place and giving them all the more shelter...

Well, it was difficult to buy anything, given her distinct lack of cash, which only really left giving information in return. Given her current plans, Misaki was disinclined to speak at length about papermaking. But as her gaze panned around to the other items floating around the shop, other things to dance around came to mind; maybe not all of them were feasible to pursue in terms of knowledge, but it wouldn't hurt to try and speak about those topics in the interim.

"Hm... Well, I would like to keep the project I began the other day under wraps until I can present a proof of concept to you," the white-haired girl began, choosing to take a seat perpendicular to Mie's own, "but in the interim... I'd like to speak about the ores that you have here. I don't know where you obtained them or where you can obtain more, but if I said that there were more efficient ways to extract more value out of them than the furnaces here do, would that be in any way surprising?"

Her earlier romp around the village made coming to that conclusion fairly straightforward, and given the weapons on the oni (or, at the very least, the ones she had seen), they had the capacity for improved metallurgy beyond just ironworking...

"Of course, you might want someone more versed in metalworking to confirm if my ideas hold up, but, well..."

Hopefully that little bit of information would be enough to dangle in front of Mie and tide her over, if only for now.

@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Shokatsu Yu

Aluvera — Outskirts

Despite having heard Kokoma mention the 'game', Eunice seemed rather unperturbed (if only because she simply came to a stop with her back turned towards the party as the Shenke blew a shrill whistle) by the whole situation. The white-haired girl would take a deep breath, shoulders rising and falling slightly before she turned towards the rest of the group, as if she had never heard what had been said in the first place.

"So a tamer, then...?" she mused as a pair of rambunctious monsters soon came running towards the group. There was a slight pause as her eyes widened at the sight of the two, if only because of how rare and dangerous the two beasts brought to heel were. "Well, I suppose than in lieu of horses or the like, they would certainly speed up our journey... So long as we don't end up accidentally drawing too much attention to ourselves, I have no qualms about this either."

"I mean, they won't draw too much attention when other tamers start moving out in full force. Better this than a caravan, I suppose?" Yu remarked, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced between Kokoma and her monsters. "Regardless, I give you my thanks."

With that, both the young man and the girl leading the group would summarily take their seats upon the monsters—whichever ones the Shenke guided them towards—and once everyone was properly on board, the latter would direct them forward.

There was still daylight to burn, and the sooner they reached their destination, the better.

---

As the sun began to set over the horizon, Eunice would raise a hand in a gesture to get the group the stop. The plains seemed to stretch on endlessly, rolling hills dotted by a sparse few trees, but altogether nothing too dangerous had approached them since they had left. The beaten dirt road seemed to stretch on well out of their field of view, leaving everyone the leisure to appreciate the natural wonder so rare in the cities of the modern era.

"We should make camp for the night," the mage would say, hopping off the monster she was atop before turning to the rest of the party. "I don't suppose you wouldn't have any tents on hand, would you?

It was at this point, Yu realized as he followed suit, that he really didn't actually have much of anything on hand... Or much proper 'adventuring know-how' to speak of. While the transfer had given him the ability to fight, there was a distinct lack of information on, say, setting up a fire pit. Given how camping in Japan was far more relaxed (complete with sinks, stoves, and electricity, among other things), well...

"Ah... No?" he half-asked half-answered as he opened up his inventory. In terms of food, at least, he had things on hand, though they were mostly desserts meant for raiding purposes. On that front he could provide, but...

"...Actually, on that note, does anyone have food to feed us all? Or, well, do any of you happen to know how to cook?"

There was a sheepish smile on his face as he spoke, but the embarrassment as the realization dawned upon him that they might be up the creek without a paddle was somehow buried behind it... Somewhat.

@Sho Minazuki@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

---

Sen Rynta — Outskirts

With the (notably less charred) corpse of the rabbit in hand, Anastasia would soon find that she was able to butcher the animal without much hassle—or, at the very least, break it down into workable materials. A leatherworker was not a butcher by any means, but when it came to stripping it of its fur, whatever had brought them into this world deemed it due diligence to give her the information on how to do so without utterly mangling the body. With Myrtle's attention turned elsewhere, the young woman took it upon herself to at least explore the information that had curiously found its way into her mind.

The skinning, at the very least, found itself done without too much hassle, and given how she had handled killing the animal in the first place, bleeding it out and leaving behind a rabbit's worth of meat was no more problematic than that. She placed the skin and horn into her inventory almost as a matter of course, but the rest...

"Um..." the girl would begin, raising the prepared rabbit once the blood had all drained into the ground, "Myrtle, you were a culinarian, right? Should I be giving this to you, then?"

It was quite surprising to everyone when it seemed to look more like something found at a market—especially given how quickly the process had been done—but complaining about conveniences like these made little sense (if any at all).

@Hammerman@Operator Luna

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

With fairly few options left in terms of escape, Misaki ultimately decided that the safest place was, in fact, Mie's entourage. They were a neutral party, which just as easily meant that they could turn them down (or in, assuming they wanted to keep trading with the town), but given that the alternatives were getting run down in the wilds or run through in the middle of the village, this seemed like the option with the highest chance of survival.

Once they had arrived at Mie's tent, the foxgirl (who was now starting to feel the pain in her hands from haphazardly lobbing the jug of water at Lazirha's assailants) took a few deep breaths before turning to look back over her shoulder. Given the commotion outside, it was likely that the hunters were still on their tail...

"Worse than trouble, I'm afraid," Misaki spoke, giving an apology as she bowed her head towards the merchant. "Two men just attempted to kidnap Lazirha, and I'm afraid they're still after us. I will give you my apologies in advance, but could I ask if you could give us some shelter until things settle down?"

It was a damn shame about all she had started to work on at this point, but labor could be redone and efforts salvaged; the cost of a life far outweighed such things in the long run.

@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Shokatsu Yu

Aluvera — Outskirts

As he followed the other two he had left the town with, Yu found that Eunice had decided to put her own piece into the offhand question she had thrown out.
"If it comes down to it," she began, "I can manage the healing. As Saito says, I do not expect that any healing beyond that will be quite as necessary. Of course, that would be on a normal trip, and given what had just occurred..."

"I suppose that makes sense; bit used to adjusting for people, but if that much isn't necessary..." the swordmaster shrugged, thinking to himself for a moment before the other two adventurers who had assisted them chimed in. Honestly speaking, it would have been odd if they hadn't chosen to follow along; with Eunice being who she was, the only reason they might not have was if they had contacts of their own to meet up with, and even then...

Well, if anything, introductions seemed to be in order regardless. It might have been naive from other points of view, but the streamer-turned-adventurer had no reason to doubt their intent in tagging along regardless.

"Ah... Shokatsu Yu. I'll be in your care," he responded, giving a quick bow in return. "Kokoma and..."

Given the elf's reaction, Yu could assume that either one of two things was the case.
One: the two were friends and were taking jabs at one another.
Two: the elf—Sefira—had slipped up during an introduction of her own and this was the result.

Given the elf's defensive reaction, the reasonable assumption was the latter; he had no reason to really extrapolate further on that note, though.

"...Sefira, then. Noted."

Stretching his arms as he walked, the young man considered Kokoma's offer for a moment before speaking his own piece.

"In regards to your offer... While I assume it would help with travel time, it's hard to say if we would all fit onto three mounts without actually seeing said mounts, right?" he asked, glancing back at the beast that the Shenke was riding for a moment.

Regardless of what she did, though, it did seem as if this party of five would be traveling together for the near future regardless. A week with complete strangers and an NPC-turned-human...

It certainly felt like something out of a light novel or manga, once he gave it a bit of thought.

"So... How long's everyone been adventuring?" he asked, taking care not to use the word 'play' in this context despite what he knew Eunice was aware of. "I think I'm at... Four... Years now?"

Of course, playtime didn't necessarily translate into combat proficiency, but Yu was curious about how familiar they were with the world that they all had found themselves stuck in regardless.

@Sho Minazuki@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

---

Sen Rynta — Outskirts

The charred corpse that had once been a rabbit made clear that Myrtle's spell was undeniably overkill, and in some ways the resultant waste of perfectly good materials was no more beneficial. Regardless of if that had been the intent or not, the body of the rabbit was undeniably unsalvageable.

What might have been more interesting to the group, though, was how said corpse both did not disappear and did not automatically offer them any items—not that any could have been harvested from it in its current state anyways—to Myrtle. Killing another rabbit—possibly with less destructive means—would at least leave a corpse behind, but more importantly the previously-automatic system that gave them items was no longer in place.

@Hammerman@Operator Luna

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

"I... Er... Well, not... Quite...?" Misaki responded, shifting back and forth as she tried to figure out a way to explain how a hectic life on Earth would translate to a semi-agrarian society like the one they were in now before shrugging. The girl at her side seemed to have her own set of problems to work through, though, but if she had come to her own conclusions, then—

"...Oh."

And as if on cue, the two people that she had been monitoring up until now moved over and in no subtle terms attempted to threaten her to back away from Lazirha. A kidnapping, then; with a sharp gaze, the foxgirl shook her head and glanced at her sides. On one side, a clearly anxious Lazirha (though to be fair, it would be odd if she wasn't); on the other, the deer that had followed her until now. They were outside the young woman's home, though, which left precious little to defend either of them with. Everything except...

"Ah... I'd rather not be run through, thank you very much," she sighed, giving a slight nod towards Lazirha for a moment as she stood up and walked towards her boiling water. When the hunters moved to collect their target, though, the foxgirl would move with a burst of strength, picking up the pot over the fire and lobbing its contents towards Lazirha's would-be kidnappers' heads before tossing the actual vessel at whoever had avoided the most scalding water aimed at their faces. For what it was worth, though, the adrenaline from burning her hands would keep any residual pain from kicking in immediately.

"Run!"

To where, though, remained to be seen. The forest was risky, as they were hunters and by nature of their job knew the lay of the land, but heading into town was equally dangerous...

Would Mie be willing to give them respite...?

@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Shokatsu Yu

Aluvera — Outskirts

With the other two adventurers immediately identifying her and the scant few living harpies beating a hasty retreat, Eunice seemed to pause for a few seconds, half in shock about having her cover blown so quickly. She was wearing a robe meant to keep her from standing out, but—

"Voice," Sho responded simply, shrugging his shoulders as he flicked the blood off of his blade. "Yours is a bit distinct, after all. Hard to stay undercover if they can match your face to it, however briefly."

"...Right. I... Suppose that makes sense," the white-haired girl sighed, pausing for a moment as she pensively stared at the ground. "...No, no, I should have expected this after what you told me."

It was a bit embarrassing to admit that she hadn't foreseen something like this happening, but all things considered, making a mistake now when less people seemed to be aware of the situation (or of her location) was better than slipping up in the middle of town.

"Right. Well, then," she continued, taking a deep breath to calm herself before walking past Yu, "We'll continue south on foot for now. As much as I would prefer riding a horse or something similar, I do not own one."

"...A mount, was it?" Yu asked, pulling up his own mount listing... Only to find that a majority were seemingly unusable, and of the few that were, none were either low-profile enough to ride without causing a stir. "Never mind. Walking it is."

With that, he turned to the Shenke who had come to their aid and shrugged his shoulders.

"Honestly, it's hard to explain. I assume you saw the sky go red before all the monsters poured out? That's all we know on that front. If you're asking why we're here, though, I'm afraid none of us really have any answers to that question."

Seeing that Eunice and Saito were already heading off, though, the swordsman thanked the two again for the help before running after the pair—though, well, given the situation and who they were escorting, it wouldn't be surprising if the two followed them.

Not that he'd stop them if they did, though; who knew what else had changed in the world they had found themselves in?

...Maybe the more important monsters wouldn't just be vastly underleveled compared to them overall? That... Could prove to be an issue.

"Nice work back there," he called out towards the samurai, slowing his pace down to sheathe his weapon as the last of the blood dripped off of it. "So, path to Sen Rynta... I assume that crossing the Sunswept Plains and heading straight into the Iwen Forest is our route?"

"You missed a few towns in between, but yes, you have the right of it," Eunice responded without bothering to look back at the two for the moment. "The trip should take us a few days' time, I suppose?"

Nodding at the white-haired girl's response, Yu turned back towards Saito, pausing before snapping his fingers as if he remembered something else he wished to address.

"Right. Do you think we need to adjust the composition on this trip, or are we fine as we are now? I haven't attempted to change classes yet, but..." he trailed off, opening the menu to see that only two others were available to him—ones that he had on hand before the shift, yes, but it was better than nothing.

"...Might need to experiment once we find a place to relax, actually."

@Sho Minazuki@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist

---

Sen Rynta — Outskirts

As it turned out, the outside of the town was, in fact, far from dangerous; with no threat to distract the townsfolk or those loitering within, people were free to use the nearby wildlife as training dummies. There was a non-negligible amount of carnage, and the smarter animals (and monsters) had taken the opportunity to flee from the direct vicinity of the town out of fear for their lives. Of course, there were a few that seemed to be too aggressive for their own good striking out anyways, but the possibility of meaningfully injuring someone with so many people milling about seemed... Low.

Of course, picking any sort of herbs in the area out here would be easy, and though they would not regrow immediately, in a few minutes' time they would return to their full size. Would that they were more potent, though, as all of them seemed to be meant for beginners to use and learn with.

The more valuable reagents would require trips elsewhere, and with that came far more inherent problems—especially with teleportation unavailable to anywhere yet unvisited at the moment.

@Operator Luna@Hammerman

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Misaki simply returned Lazirha's comment with a smile and a nod before refocusing her attention towards her current project—at least, for the moment. Granted, it was far from fun to watch water boil, and less so over an open fire, but as far as how good or bad her current situation was...

Well, the foxgirl would gladly take a boring day preparing materials over being thrown into life-threatening situtations like the others seemed to have had the pleasure of encountering.

Before she could lose herself in her thoughts, though, Misaki managed to catch sight of a few hunters drawing oddly close to the house. Remembering Narkissa's summary of her last encounter, the foxgirl almost instinctively straightened her back, sitting up straight for a moment as she mentally assessed the threat level of the current situation. It was hard to judge if they were hostile and all, but seeing how armed they were...

Well, if worst came to worst, she'd have to take the others and run. Warding off wild animals was one thing, but people? That was another matter entirely.

It took a moment for Lazirha's words to register, and another few to process, though. Thinking about things now, it was hard to argue that she hadn't technically spent the most time around the village and it's residents... Well, minus the hunters, at least. But given how the girl at her side seemed to be troubled, it only made sense to give an honest reply back.

"Hm... Well, I don't quite mind the town," she began, her head moving lightly from side to side, ears swaying back and forth as she did so, "But if I had to be honest, this sort of life isn't... Really my 'thing'. Don't get me wrong; the people here have been really nice and welcoming of me despite being a complete stranger and I'm very grateful for their hospitality, but I guess I'm used to a more... Fast-paced lifestyle surrounded by things to do? I don't think I could deal with a laid-back life for very long, though maybe that's because I'm still curious about the world. Maybe in that regard I'm still a bit naive, though, but, well..."

Of course, 'staying alive' and 'exploration' did not necessarily go hand in hand—quite the opposite, in fact—but if there was anything that dying once had taught her, it was that diving into something unprepared was tantamount to suicide... And if the last few days had taught her anything, it was that she was probably well out of her depth when it came to anything beyond what she was already doing now.

"...With that said, I think that there are people here who care for you, if Enli is any indicator. My parents were also protective of me just as much as they were anxious of my future," she continued, sighing as she let her shoulders relax for a moment. "Would that I could meet them again. But that aside, if you think it's boring here, maybe it's time to spread your wings and fly, so to speak. Not alone, of course, but I don't think it's a bad thing to want to explore and go on a bit of an adventure. Maybe you'll find something new out about yourself in the process? Though, well, I suppose it is a fair deal more dangerous setting out on a journey here in the first place anyways, but if the benefits outweigh the costs..."

Then there's no reason not to consider it, right?

@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Shokatsu Yu

Aluvera — Outskirts

Seeing that a pair of the griffins had managed to slip past Yu's initial assault, Eunice raised her staff in response before erecting a protective barrier around herself. It seemed that she had caught onto her current status as a priority target in the eyes of whatever foe it was that had sent the monsters after her in the first place. With a frown, the white-haired girl winced as the two monsters clashed against the shield and found herself pushed back from the force.

Though the rear was more than safe thanks to Saito's efforts, the group would have been hard-pressed to push past the wave of enemies without having to cut them all down—or, well, that might have been the case, had the arrival of a third party to help reduce the pressure placed on them in the first place. As Yu arrived back at the pair of griffins pressing down upon Eunice, the sound of another roar instinctively pulled the young man's attention towards it. Seeing a shadow flying overhead, the blademaster brought his blade up in preparation for an attack to come flying his way, only to see that it—or, rather, it's rider—swinging away at the monsters he was preparing to attack prior to their arrival. The scattered bolts of magic flying about overhead coupled with the monster's own attacks seemed to catch more than a few harpies and peppered away at the griffins, forcing both to draw back momentarily from the pain; one of the latter was soon run through with a lance, making clear that the duo who had arrived were almost certainly friendly.

Rather than immediately thank them for the help, though, Yu dashed towards the remaining griffin, who despite the attacks it was taking seemed fixated upon striking at Eunice, and summarily thrust his weapon into its eye. The monster reared back in pain too dire to ignore and brutally lashed back at the adventurer, only to find that its attack had all but missed the mark. As it swung wildly about in an attempt to find the opponent that had taked out its eye, though, Yu—who had used the sword lodged within the monster's head as a temporary platform—leaped further into the air before motioning with his hand. The blade seemed to shake for a moment before driving itself further into the griffin's skull, causing it to pause for a moment before falling to the ground.

With room to breathe again, Eunice soon turned her staff towards the remaining griffin in front of her and, after a brief pause, launched a silver bolt of magic from its tip. The spell quickly coalesced into the form of an ornate spear as it drove its way into the monster's body, leaving the others to finish it off.

"Are you two all right?" she asked, glancing towards the two swordsmen as she confirmed their health before nodding and breathing a sigh of relief. Of course, the timely arrival of the other two had turned a slightly problematic situation into more of a rote encounter, but she still felt obligated to thank them all the same.

"Ah... Thank you for your help," she said, bowing before looking at the other two again. "But we must be off; time is of the essence."

It did not cross Eunice's mind to think that her voice might be recognizable despite her outfit, but in what circumstances would that have been normal anyhow?

@Sho Minazuki@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

---

Sen Rynta — Bramblewood Estate

It was no surprise that Anastasia found the appearance of Myrtle's residence rather overwhelming, especially given how it was multiple times larger than it already was in the game until then. The young woman's mouth was left agape, and as she was led inside, that awe simply left her dumbstruck.

The grandeur of the structure was undeniable, of course, but the real reason that she was here was that she at least had one other person that she knew in the game here now. Try as she might, Anastasia found herself simply unable to teleport to meet any of her other friends at the moment, scattered about the world as they were, and though the possibility of traveling with others to her destination was possible...

Well, being a stranger to all of them was not something she was entirely comfortable with, either.

@Hammerman@Operator Luna

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Once she had gathered everything required to start the process and returned to Lazirha's home, Misaki took a deep breath and began to set everything she needed up. In the middle of preparing the pot of water, though, the foxgirl found herself momentarily accosted by their gracious host, who had apparently returned from wherever she had gone. The curiosity, of course, was reasonable—after all, what sort of 'normal' person in this era would attempt something like this?—and given what she had taken...

Well, it was only right to answer.

"I... Hm... How to describe this..." she began, musing to herself before glancing at the shredded pile of plant matter in its bag before shrugging. "I suppose that the best way to describe this is... I'm taking the fibers that make up the plants here, cleaning them of any spare materials, soaking them to break them down into pulp, then breaking them down further beyond that. Afterwards... Well, assuming Narkissa finishes the frame I asked for, that pulp would be dried in the frame to create something I hope to be able to sell to Lady Mie, even if it's only at a proof-of-concept level. With that said, though, I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread that around the village—at least, not quite yet."

The other people living with Lazirha would probably understand what she was attempting with a glance, at least, even if they might not have understood the process in its entirety—granted, even what she was doing now was still half-fumbling about and piecing together bits and pieces of papermaking from memory—but the bargaining chip would most certainly lose it's value if the process came to light too early. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case, but who knew what would happen?

@Rune_Alchemist