Seija Quest 5

[Kilgamayan]

> Step back out of the room, then, before she can come over here and close us in.

[Tom]

> Step back out of the room, then, before she can come over here and close us in.

> You hop out of the storage room and return to the storefront. Sanae asks about prices for a few things before thanking Mamizou and leaving (once again 'forgetting' the door open).

[Kilgamayan]

> Scoot on out the door!

[Tom]

> Scoot on out the door!

> You dash outside and find Sanae walking back towards the inn.

[Kilgamayan]

> Follow along behind her.

[Tom]

> Follow along behind her.

> You follow along and eventually return to the inn where you find Patchouli discussing something with Keine in the lobby.

[Kilgamayan]

> Oho! Have a quick listen-in to determine if they're talking about us.

[Tom]

> Oho! Have a quick listen-in to determine if they're talking about us.

> Keine's asking Patchouli about automating spell casting, and she's explaining some of the research and mechanics involved.

[Kilgamayan]

> Oh, that's less interesting than talking about us.
> Is Sanae still in here, or did she skedaddle off to her room or something?

[Tom]

> Oh, that's less interesting than talking about us.
> Is Sanae still in here, or did she skedaddle off to her room or something?

> It's still at least a little interesting though.
> She ran off somewhere in a flash.

[Kilgamayan]

> True!
> But it also seems like a conversation that might take a while, and us interrupting it while invisible would get incredibly awkward. Head up to where Sanae's room is to see if that's where she went.

[Tom]

> True!
> But it also seems like a conversation that might take a while, and us interrupting it while invisible would get incredibly awkward. Head up to where Sanae's room is to see if that's where she went.

> Sanae doesn't appear to be in her room, could she be visiting another room perhaps?

[Kilgamayan]

> Meh, oh well.
> Unmake the wish for invisibility.
> Then head back down to where Patchouli is. When we can see her again, say "Oh, I thought I heard the voice of my favorite magician."

[Tom]

> Meh, oh well.
> Unmake the wish for invisibility.
> Then head back down to where Patchouli is. When we can see her again, say "Oh, I thought I heard the voice of my favorite magician."

> With a tap of the mallet the invisibility gets dispelled.
> The magician waves you over "Ah miss Seija! We were just discussing a rather new topic of research of magic you might also be interested in!"

[Kilgamayan]

> Head over.
> "What's up?"

[Tom]

> Head over.
> "What's up?"

> Bursting with enthusiasm Keine explains "Auto-casting! Miss Patchouli has made several recent discoveries in the field and is almost finished publishing a book with another scholar of magic detailing their findings!"
> "A demonstation.. ?" the magician asks, before taking a swing at Keine with the large book in her arms. To your surprise a bubble barrier surrounds Keine instantaneously, with the book bouncing harmlessly off it! Even Keine appeared surprised for a second, before laughing "A heads-up would've been nice..."

[Kilgamayan]

> Raise our eyebrows.
> "Wow. Impressive."
> "...This isn't because of that one swap I did with you, is it?"

[Tom]

> Raise our eyebrows.
> "Wow. Impressive."
> "...This isn't because of that one swap I did with you, is it?"

> Patchouli looks confused for a moment before recalling something and explaining "No.. I started working on this after meeting some foreign scholars two years ago. This book is the culmination of our research on spell triggers."

[Kilgamayan]

> Does she seem miffed to have remembered what we did to her?
> "Neat. How soon can your bestest oni buddy get a copy?"
> "Also, who were those scholars you mentioned? I've gotten around in my time, and I'm wondering if they're anyone I might know."

[Tom]

> Does she seem miffed to have remembered what we did to her?
> "Neat. How soon can your bestest oni buddy get a copy?"
> "Also, who were those scholars you mentioned? I've gotten around in my time, and I'm wondering if they're anyone I might know."

> Likely.
> "I could show you the basics now!" the magician offers.
> "It'd be Professor Okazaki and miss Maribel and Renko,two students publishing an article on a related topic. Have you heard of them?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Do any of those names sound familiar?

[Tom]

> Do any of those names sound familiar?

> Not in the slightest!

[Kilgamayan]

> "Ah, darn, nope, none of those names are familiar.  But sure, I'm down for a crash course now."
> "Miss Keine, if Patchouli and I are busy when Sanae returns, let her know I found what we were looking for."

[Tom]

> "Ah, darn, nope, none of those names are familiar.  But sure, I'm down for a crash course now."
> "Miss Keine, if Patchouli and I are busy when Sanae returns, let her know I found what we were looking for."

> Keine nods "I'll let her know if she drops by the front desk!"

> Patchouli leads you to the study and you hear a thud as she drops a large grimoire on the table before opening it and flipping through a few pages.
> "So, the basic theory behind auto-casting is that you can bind spells to events you perceive, like Remilia summoning a cloud of mist when hit by sunlight."

[Kilgamayan]

> "Ah, so it's like a conditional trigger? You cast it and nothing happens, and it actually takes effect when your chosen event takes place?"

[Tom]

> "Ah, so it's like a conditional trigger? You cast it and nothing happens, and it actually takes effect when your chosen event takes place?"

> "Exactly!" nods the magician.

[Kilgamayan]

> "That makes sense in theory, yeah. How does one actually cast a spell that way?"

[Tom]

> "That makes sense in theory, yeah. How does one actually cast a spell that way?"

> "It's.. complicated" she pauses for a moment "At the end of the day, all spells really do is direct magical energy in a controlled and repeatable fashion. Therefore, magical energy only flows where it's consciously being directed to by the caster of the spell. Without direction it just dispels into the surroundings, with varying effects depending on the amounts being channeled, which is why spell experimentation is best done outdoors! Knowing that, you'd think it'd be impossible to design a spell that casts itself! And you'd be right if we didn't live in Gensokyo with the spell card system."
> Flipping to another page she asks "Are you familiar with the finer details of the spell card system?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Presumably we're familiar with the system to a degree, given we have our own cards. How much do we truly know, though?

[Tom]

> Presumably we're familiar with the system to a degree, given we have our own cards. How much do we truly know, though?

> You know how to fight using the spell card system, and how to design patterns for cards. You learned that was created to make duels between unequal opponents more fair, an idea you'd certainly support if it solved the oppression of the weak. Created by some of the strongest humans and Youkai of the time, it only gives the weak the illusion of a fair fight using agreed upon rules, thereby perpetuating a system of inequality most don't even realize they're trapped within anymore.