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>Year 484 of the Raschan Calendar

Ten years ago you lost her, Carna; your first memory. Now ten years later; you've only the memories that linger in the air.

You slept late but you woke up early, your body refused to let you rest. Despite that, the wounds you'd taken the day before were already quickly healing and barely could you feel their stinging any more. But as if it had drawn into itself the injuries from the rest of your body, the pains in your chest had grown either larger. Your heart beats against your body, trying to smash through the bone that confines it.
You ignore the pains as you take in your surroundings. The small room of a roadside inn with two beds, the one you were half-tucked inside of and the one across where Rein sleeps, embraced by her sheets. The gentle smell of her permeates the air--the window and door were both well sealed to keep the heat inside and the frigid Belgran air out. Rein's orange bob was brushed neatly behind her head, save for a single strand that stubbornly clung to her lips.

The two of you are separated from your companions and the sooner you return to them the better, but it might be awhile before she wakes up...

>Wash yourself off, change your bandages while you wait
>Watch over and wait for Rein to awaken
>Write-In

Going to move into promptless over the next few sessions since I'm finding the format a lot more enjoyable, but it'll be a transition. Heavily encouraging write-ins.

>>32402984
>Wash yourself off, change your bandages while you wait

>>32402984
>Wash yourself off, change your bandages while you wait
Or maybe
>Wake up Rein

>>32402954
>Wash yourself off, change your bandages while you wait
Shouldn't linger too long, though.

Maybe
>leave a note so Rein knows where we went if she wakes while we're out
if we've got the means close at hand. Don't want her having a momentary panic that we're missing because people found us.

>>32403369
If the bathroom is attached to the room this wont be necessary. But if we're leaving the room we should leave a note.

You consider waking Rein up, but it'd be criminal to force her out of that warm bed with how peaceful she looks in it. If she looked so sweet all the time, chances are that she'd have a lot less reason to feel so poor about herself.

You dig some bird seed out of your pocket and arrange it on the stand by Rein's bed to write out a small message that you'll be in the baths before you take your leave of the room...

You remove your clothes bandages before heading into the baths they have in the inn, it's closed off on all sides by thick wooden walls and warmly kept in ways you don't understand. It isn't as big as the one in Deneb, but the men's bath is obviously built for socializing with the size and the extended wood-seats coming out underneath the water. At the moment though, it seems you have it to yourself.

Your heart has been settling since you left your room and it slows down to a regular beat when you dip yourself into the water...
The gash on your side is nearly gone, only a thin scar remains where it was. The gore on your shoulder has completely vanished, and your arm moves just fine. It took you much longer to heal last time you took an injury...
Something odd is definitely at work here, but now isn't the time to worry about it. You take advantage of this little time you have to relax before washing yourself off. You redo your bandages for good measure before dressing and exiting the bath...

>>32403690
So he has bird seed on him 24/7?

You knock on the door of the room you're sharing with Rein, entering only when she gives you the okay.

She's dressed and ready to go when you enter.

"Bird seed messages?" Rein looks at you quizzically when you step inside.

"I didn't have an ink well." You slip on your jacket.

"Whatever. Just... leave it or clean it up, I don't know what you do with the stuff." She makes her way over to you and places her hands on your waist, staring at your face.

"What're you doing?"

"Nothing..." Rein lets go of you quickly and picks up her bag, slinging the strap over her shoulder and sitting it on her hip, "Let's go quickly then. You have a map right?"

You take out your map of Rascha, and Rein draws a line from Belgrand's capital to some unmarked spot south of it with her pointer finger. "We should be here roughly." She tells you before drawing her finger westward to Deneb, "And we want to be here."

"Do you think we should walk it straight?" You ask for her opinion. Her sense of direction aside, she probably has a better idea of how to navigate the snowy country.

"We could catch another caravan but we might run in with more knights if they check. We can walk the roads around and sneak off at the borders, but we'll be lucky to arrive by nightfall then."

"And the mountain sides?" It looks like you could just march between the mountain sides.

"Well see, about that... they have dragons there."

>Take a carriage
>Walk the roads
>Try the hills

>>32404037
>Take a carriage

>>32404037
>Walk the roads

>>32404037
>Walk the roads
or maybe
>Try the hills
Dragons are awesome but we're injured... I'm conflicted.

>>32404037
>>Take a carriage

>>32404037
>Try the hills
Dragons are cool, and I have a feeling that throwing the MC at danger will speed up his personal plot

>>32404037
roads

>>32404037
I'll vote for any option that doesn't run the risk of running into her mom.

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>>32404037
>"Well see, about that... they have dragons there."

Bueno

>Try the hills

Lets get this show on the road

>>32404002
Always.

"I guess we'll take the roads then." Being a bit slow isn't nearly as big an issue as running into knights and dragons. You decide to take it safely and slowly...

After releasing the borrowed pegasus with the hopes that it can find its way back home alone, you set off on the road that'll take you the far way around the mountain. Though the area just in front of the inn is nicely shovelled, it's not a long distance before you meet frost covered paths again.

"At least it's not snowing right now, right?" Rein reassures herself while the two of you march through it, the decreased level and signs to the side keep you on your destination but it's still a long long ways to go to get back home. It's a little warmer today than it was yesterday, but you can think of plenty of places you'd rather be than in this cold...

"Aaaah, we've been walking foreeeever!" Rein taps on your arm with a fist about an hour into your march. You should be coming across the first town on your route fairly soon at this pace but the unchanging scenery is slowly getting on your nerves as well.

"Ugh, I haaaate this. This is the worst." She continues on her complaints about the cold.

"You lived here about twenty years didn't you?"

"Yeah, and it was awful the whole time. I'm already in love with how warm Rascha is..." Rein sighs, "Leona loves the snow but I'd rather just stay indoors."

>CONT

"We pretty much have two seasons in Belgrand. Seasons where the snow is barely manageable and seasons where people freeze to death." Rein sticks a finger out in a very matter-of-fact way as she explains, "The only bright side to winters here is that it's so cold the bears rarely come out their dens."

"What do you do all winter then?"

"On my own time, sleep and clean mostly. Mother made us do a lot of weapons training when the chance arrived. Dreadful childhood."

"You clean on your own time?"

"It's soothing isn't it?" Rein closes her eyes, smiling softly, "What about you? Tell me a bit more about your childhood. We've nothing but time after-all!"

All your best memories are with Carna, and the first that pops to mind is...

>Hide and seek in your home
>Racing down the market
>Play-fighting with Carna's father
>Write-In

>>32405053
>Play-fighting with Carna's father

>>32405053
>Hide and seek in your home

>>32405053
>>Play-fighting with Carna's father
Carna's dad was cool

>muh Carna

I hope protagonist knows how unhealthy this is.

>>32405219
Well, we kinda did vote him into that mindset, so don't blame him.

>>32405053
>Play-fighting with Carna's father

>>32405053
>>Hide and seek in your home

>>32405248
I don't remember that vote.

>>32405303
We've already decided that Carna is our Waifu to stop waifu wars.

You tell Rein about the spars you had with Carna and her father.

"Ugh, sparring." Rein groans, "I don't understand how so many people like getting all sweaty and bruised up. I mean, you never really win against teachers and it ends up being a one way beating quickly enough."

"It feels good coming closer. It feels good measuring your improvements." You try to explain to her.

"Think you could beat that old man now?" Rein leans forward, peeking her eyes up at you.

"That'd be impossible." You return to her a solemn smile, the sight of the town is finally coming up on you.

"Ah... sorry." Remembering your circumstances, Rein goes quiet...

You'd skipped past this village on your road up here and your road back. It has a calm atmosphere and the houses are look cosy. Perhaps it's the place, or perhaps it's the weather but the people walk around freely, pushing aside snow and making small talk.

"We can finally get some horses here!" Rein thrusts her arms up in the air.

"You let the pegasus go."

"You don't ride pegasi like horses! They have sensitive hooves." She snarls back at you. You have no idea how much of that is true.

"Well, let's get some horses then." As you turn your head around, looking for the stables, Rein's grip on your hand grabs your attention.

"How about we rest a bit first, we've been walking for awhile." Her face is a little red, she must be tired.

>But you should press on anyways
>Stop by the pub for food
>Write-In

>>32405303
We always voted Carna anytime talk of relationships came up.

>>32405731
>But you should press on anyways

>>32405731
>Stop by the pub for food

>>32405731
>>Stop by the pub for food

>>32405731
I'm not actually pro-Rein or anything, but this is too good to pass up.

>carry Rein to the stables

>>32405731
>Stop by the pub for food
Why the hell not.

>>32405731
>Stop by the pub for food
How long of a walk was this. You said that it would take all day to get where we're going. It doesn't make any sense to go a whole day without eating.

>>32405731
>Stop by the pub for food
No sense in forcing ourselves to ride on an empty stomach, especially since it seems like we didn't eat anything before setting out.

Every settlement in Belgrand has three things. An inn, a pub attached to the inn, and a blacksmith beside the pub.

In this particular village, the pub can neither boast in size or in atmosphere but as long as you can get something to eat you can't complain.

There is hardly anything in the way of tables here, and the few that rest on the floor also rest beside the windows where the cold air drifts in. You and Rein end up seating by the bar where a plain looking fellow minds it. You leave Rein in charge of the food orders, and as you expected she just picks some warm soups. You're not complaining.

"How about drinks then?" The de-facto owner of the place asks, "Or are you two just going to be sipping on broth?"

You get yourself a pint of ale, your usual order at places like this. Rein takes a pause before ordering the same.

"I don't want to deal with you if you get drunk." You recall your traumatic memories of the night with Leona.

"It's fine, I'm only having the one." Rein groans, seemingly recalling some memories of her own...

"You know, we're rarely alone together are we." Rein says between sips of soup, "You're always pairing up with Leona or Sheryl."

"I'm mostly with Yu'yen on missions aren't I?" You do your best to recall past jobs.

"That's not..." Rein sighs, and takes a swig from her mug, "I just mean the girls."

You knew what she meant, but you'd rather not touch on that subject.

>CONT

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"Is that a problem?" You lift your bowl and finish the rest of your soup in a gulp, having already picked the meat off early and leaving yourself just broth.

"Hrm..." She struggles finding her words, "I want to work beside you more." Her palm flattens out against the cheek she faces you with, her eyes glance the other way. You can't help but notice the owner sending looks over at the two of you, curious about your business.

You finish up your drink and reach for your coin purse, ready to pay and leave...

"Hey, let's get another round of drinks!" Rein raises a hand up, waving at the owner. This is an unfortunately familiar pattern.

You should...

>[Tenacity] Get Rein to leave, you're not dealing with this again.
>Let her have her way. It'll be easier to carry her back with a horse than risk getting smacked around again.
>Write-In

>>32406493
>Write-In

Join in

WhatsTheWorseThatCanHappen.jpg

>>32406493
Make her carry you to the horses.

>>32406493
let her

>>32406548
Gonna second

>>32406568
I was voting for getting shit-faced in case that wasn't clear.

Rolled 6

>>32406493
>[Tenacity] Get Rein to leave, you're not dealing with this again.
Have you all already forgotten what happened last time?

>>32406493

Let's get drunk and make some bad decisions. Time to act our age.

Rolled 2

>>32406493
Let's go, we can drink all we want when we're not in Belgrand

Rolled 7

>>32406612
It's been a D12 for ages, how did I fuck that up.

>>32406493
time to get drunk and get strange demon-dreams

>>32406493

Just to clarify, >>32406627 is me, joining my vote with >>32406548

Also so glad this is tonight, I'm having a shitty week and forgot all about it.

>>32406493
Warn her that if this keeps up we'll have to carry her over to the stables.

Watch embarrassment war with her secretly kind of wanting that to happen.

>>32406493
Would seeing if we can out drink a Belgrand woman require a Tenacity roll?

Because that's what we're doing.

>>32406493

This world has distillation right, or was that an expensive bottle of wine we stole from Masoch a few threads ago?

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We should tell the bar keep to get one for the girl and two for us. If she drinks like her sister we'll need to compensate for superior tolerance.

"You know, I'll have to carry you back if you drink too much." You warn her. She doesn't say anything, just smiling with her shoulders raised as she waves at the owner.

Rein is a fair deal more level-headed than Leona, and it doesn't seem like there's a lot of trouble you could get into in a place like this. What's the harm of letting her have her fun? In fact, why not join in.

"Alright, another all around." You give Rein a sly look and she giggles at you...

The mugs placed in front of you are crisp and clear. The bar selection is terribly poor but the man has a perfect pour when he drains ale from the barrels behind him and that suits you just fine. The cool liquid chilled by the air gives you a little tingle when it slides down your throat, washing away the taste of soup stuck to your mouth.

"Hey look, rings." Rein points at the empty mugs you finished with your meals before taking on her second drink. Despite Leona's self-title; Rein looks like the real champion here with how she handles herself.

"I thought you didn't drink much." You tell her.

"My father let me have a share when I did well on the chores." Rein nudges you in the elbow, "Leona would blow the secret right away so we never told her about that." It sounds like their father is a lot more easy-going than their mother, "How about we make a competition out of this?"

An interesting proposal...

>[Tenacity] Take her up on it.
>Decline, you need to watch over her.

>>32406835
Yes.

Rolled 4

>>32407048
>[Tenacity] Take her up on it.

Rolled 11

>>32407048
>[Tenacity] Take her up on it.

Ere we go

Rolled 12

>>32407048

>[Tenacity] Take her up on it.

This night will end in shots and ignominy.

>>32407048
As fun as this is, hoooly shit is this a bad place and time for it. But oh well.

Hey, drinking on the job behind enemy lines works for Kita, right?

>>32407105
>>32407112 (Dice Gods' affirmation, even if it's one roll too late)
Our destiny awaits.

>>32407105
>>32407112

Oh no. Hopefully this doesn't play out with Rein getting fucking blackout and us not doing the same. Prepare for awkward shit if so. Even if we just outdrink her and nothing weird happens, she's going to be so ashamed. Hahah

>>32407048
>[Tenacity] Take her up on it.

>>32407215
Kita derives his basedness from not giving a shit and taking another shot. Any time any place any where.

>>32407215

I don't even know if we're over 18, can't you hear the excuses? "Man I've been working so hard lately, when was the last time I just cut loose and did something for myself? It's not going to be a problem at all to get back, and Rein is pretty cool, we'll just chill for the night!" and so on.

Plus subconsciously (or not) maybe her nudging us towards misbehavior and being a little impulsive reminds us of Carna?

>>32407222
>Rein getting black out drunk
>Us having to take care of her

That would be a waste of a good roll. I mean I would rather lose and have her take care of our drunk ass.

Ideally it would end in a tie with both of us getting equally drunk and just having a good time.

>>32407314
The best drinking contest are always the ones where everyone loses track of how many we've had. Then we just keep drinking and have a good time. It's always better than "winning"

>>32407314

Yeah that's what I'm hoping too, at least kind of. I have to keep reminding myself that our character has either no, or barely any idea of the romantic shitstorm he is heading into.

"Alright then, let's do this." You call for another round and it quickly arrives.

"Loser has to do one thing the winner asks for." Rein says, you consider objecting but she starts on her drink right away, holding her pointer and her thumb out in your direction. The sly girl is trying to steal a lead away, or perhaps not so sly since you didn't discuss whether you win by volume or by speed.

You start on your drink quickly, determined not to let her beat you...

"Aaaah. It's so good, another!" Rein is on her fifth, she's going through them quickly but you're certainly not about to lag behind. You might not share blood, but through spirit you have inherited Ianc's hardy drinking gut. The two of you move onto your sixth round together and the owner sets the drinks forward.

"Wow, look at them go." Some fellows off to the side seem to have entered the bar during your competition, too distracted by the show to make their own orders, "Four ras on the man, he's got a good look to him."

"Well six on the woman!"

"Why her?"

"She's got those massive jugs to fill!" The group laughs until Rein finishes her sixth and tosses the mug in their direction, bringing them quiet...

"That's... teeen!" Rein slides her mug forward and rests her chest over the counter.

You're feeling a bit unbalanced but you're not about to be beaten, "One more for me!" You call for your... however many it is now.

"Aaand that's eleven sir." The owner hands it to you, you down it quickly.

>CONT

>>32407529

>"Loser has to do one thing the winner asks for."

god damn you

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>>32407529
>"Aaand that's eleven sir."

>>32407529
These fourth-wall dice comments are the best.

>>32407529
Now I hope we lose. I don't want to think of something to make her do. Mostly because no matter what we come up with it'll lead to an argument out of character.

>>32407631
She never gave us a time frame. We could just wait and save it for the future.

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If it ends in a tie is the bet canceled. Or do we each have to do one thing for the other?

I'm actually hoping we tie and it's the later.

"There we go boys!" The men at the table go wild, it seems they have little else to look forward too in this community other than the tension between passing adventurers.

"ONE MORE!" Rein pushes herself back up and calls for a drink. The owner looks at her in surprise before serving it to her, and she downs it with a fire in her eyes. She must really want to win.

You tap your finger against the table, contemplating getting another drink. As drunk as you are, you can tell she's worse for the wear with the swagger in her movements...

>Order one more and win
>End the match here on a tie, consider the bet cancelled
>End the match here on a tie and trade favours later
>End the match here and tell Rein she won if she asks

I started writing something else but I think you guys would prefer this choice.

>>32407918
>End the match here on a tie and trade favours later

>>32407918
>End the match here on a tie and trade favours later

>>32407918
>End the match here on a tie, consider the bet cancelled

>>32407918
>>End the match here on a tie and trade favours later
it's not about winning

>>32407918
>End the match here on a tie and trade favours later

>>32407918

Tie and trade favours later.

Or we could order one more, win, and kiss her.

>>32407989
You see now I like you

>>32407918
>>End the match here on a tie and trade favours later
It might irritate the bettors, but calling it even is probably a good idea. Better to keep things out of the realm of self-destructiveness.

And aside from the potential for antics, both nullifying the bet and throwing the game after the fact seem somehow more dishonest than allowing for two winners, I guess?

>>32407918
>>End the match here and tell Rein she won if she asks

>>32407918
>End the match here on a tie, consider the bet cancelled

>>32401749

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>>32408171

"I guess we're tied then." You lean back in your chair, the men behind you groan and whine about an anti-climatic ending but they're none of your business.

"Nooooooo." Rein grabs your arm and shakes it around, "I'm going to wiiiiin!"

"How about we each get to ask for one thing from each then." You suggest to her, leaving your seat. She takes a moment to think it over before nodding, and you help her over your shoudler when she starts to stumble from her chair. The owner gives you a bow after you pay him for the drinks and the men in the bar go to order theirs...

"I can walk on my own!" Rein loudly exclaims as you leave the bar with her, pushing and pulling on you.

"Can you?" You let go over her after making way over to the snow-covered square so that she won't hurt herself when she falls. She wobbles about trying to keep her balance, barely able to stand on her feet. "See, now let me help you to the stables." You move to help her again, but as you come in close she thrusts her arms forward, knocking you backwards while falling herself.

You sink into the fluffy snow, and it takes a moment for your blurred vision to focus. Rein hovers just over you, her hands digging into the white on each side of your head--her arms shaking while she holds herself up. Her breaths hover in the cold air, mingling with yours.

>CONT

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>>32408203

She starts to stand back up, grabbing a hold of your hand to help you out. When you come back to your feet, the shift in weight sends her stumbling backwards, you grab around her waist to keep her from falling, pulling her upright again. Your legs touch at an awkward angle when the two of you find some sort of balance.

"Well then..." Rein says, not following it up with anything...

You should probably go get those horses.

>Yup, definitely should probably go get those horses
>Ask Rein why she wanted to win
>Write-In

>>32408285
>Yup, definitely should probably go get those horses

>>32408285
>Yup, definitely should probably go get those horses

>>32408285
>Ask Rein why she wanted to win

I hope we pass out in the barn.

>>32408285
>>Ask Rein why she wanted to win

>>32408285
>>Yup, definitely should probably go get those horses
If we're going to ask her why she wanted to win so badly, do it once we're on our horses and on our way so we've both had a little bit of time to simmer down first.

>>32408285
>Ask Rein why she wanted to win

>>32408285
>>Yup, definitely should probably go get those horses

>>32408285
> Ask Rein why she wanted to win

Rein is to clueless and drunk to feel awkward... right?

>>32408324
This

Fun fact in the United States it is illegal to ride a horse while drunk. Because, it's considered drink driving.

>Ask Rein why she wanted to win

>>32408285

You know what, let's attempt the horses and if we're too drunk to ride let's make a pass at her in the stables. She's not even my favorite, but the build-up has been good and the moment is right.

>>32408390
I wouldn't trust a drunk person with handling a half-ton of potentially-skittish muscle either.

>>32408285

>>32408395 is me. Changing my vote to "Ask Rein why she wanted to win"

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>>32408454

Librarian is kill?

>>32408733
It's only been 20 minutes since his last post.

"So why'd you want to win so badly anyways." You ask her, "You must really have wanted something from me huh."

"Maybe." She wriggles in your grasp, nervous movements but not to break free, "Your breath tickles..."

"Will you tell me?" The clouds are slowly building overhead, you really definitely should probably go get those horses but... you don't want to let her go right now.

"No way. It wouldn't be fair." She says, trying to hide her increasingly red face by tucking her chin inward. Standing on level with you, she ends up burying your face in her hair. That sweet scent you're growing so familiar with is catching you at point-blank...

"Unfair to me? Or to you?" Your heart beats.

"Leona... Sheryl." She keeps on sliding against the arm you have around her, but if she was really trying to leave she'd have easily escaped that clumsy grasp of yours right now.

Your heart aches. You should let go of her.

"If you don't tell me why you wanted to win then you can't collect your prize can you." Why in the world is she being so difficult about this? Well, you probably know why.

"...alright then." She leans her head back up, the red on her face might as well be fire, you swear you feel the warmth coming off of them.

Ah, that might be your face.

"I'll tell you, but you have to--promise me that you will; do what I tell you." Wet gathers in her eyes, as she shakily speaks.

Your heart hurts, it hurts so much. You have to let go of her.

>Promise her
>Let go of Rein

>>32408775
Ya, Some QM's wait that long just to count votes.

>>32408795
>Promise her

Carna pls go

I'm too bias for this man

>>32408795

>Promise her

Holy shit it's happening

>>32408795
>Let go of Rein
Fuck no

>>32408795
>Promise her?

>>32408795
>>Promise her

>>32408795
>Let go of Rein

>>32408795
time for bad things to happen either way.

>"Carna. It would be unfair to her too."

>>32408795
>Promise her

>>32408395
>if we're too drunk to ride let's make a pass at her in the stables
I can't help but feel like whatever way we end up choosing to go, we owe it to whoever's involved in that decision to do so while all parties are lucid about it.

Which is also kind of why I've been wanting to put a hold on things until we have a better handle on our MUH CARNAs. In-quest decision making aside, we've been on this fairly single-mindedly for nearly half of our life, and starting any sort of potentially-meaningful relationship while the resolution of an obsession of that magnitude is nearing resolution seems like a terrible thing to do to someone, especially with a relationship as indistinct as ours to Carna.

Even if it means losing out on some amount of player-side enjoyment of lovey-dovey stuff, I can't possibly see it as justifiable in-character.

>>32408795
>Let go of Rein

>>32408795
> Promise her

Jeez he has serious heart problems. Is he gonna die of a heartattack at the age of 20?

>>32408795
I know what we're all expecting. But, I feel like the QM is going to throw curve ball at us. But we'll never know if we don't try. Let's do it.

>>32408795
>Promise her

Rolled 87

>>32408795
Oh dear god, I hope this doesn't turn into another princess guard quest.

>>32408939
Demon-Heart Attack

Poor Anlak

>>32408965
More VMQ/2 than PGQ.

Friendly reminder to try to keep this thread shitstorm-free. Those are never any fun for anyone.

>>32408795
>Let go of Rein

>>32408965
We strung the girls along for 100 threads in that quest. I don't think going that long will be an option here.

>>32408990
VMQ2? What's that?

>>32409107
Valkyrian Mercs Quest (and VMQ2, its sequel.)

>>32409107
Valkyrian Mercs Quest. In both of them the QM had a love interest suddenly confess to the MC.

>>32408924

I think you are approaching this too rationally. We're a teenage boy, we can be obsessed with Carna and our hormones and cheap booze will still get the better of us. Despite our behavior in our dreams with Carna, as a Seeker we're pretty brazen and confident. As a player I don't even like Rein as a waifu, I'm not doing this for personal enjoyment I think it's what the character would do.

>>32408939

Yeah I think it's a curve-ball too, not sure those are tears of joy in her eyes. I still picked "promise her" though.

>>32409183
Considering
>Your heart hurts, it hurts so much. You have to let go of her.
It is the complete opposite of what the character would do.

>>32409233

I don't see that as the sole force working within the MC, but I take your point.

>>32409183
I agree. Even the strongest and most driven people can get drunk and do things without thinking.

>>32409310
Yeah, I see your point also. However, people would rarely have hormones and cheap booze getting the better of them when they're in severe pain.

>>32409357

Ah, you know I took that line as figurative. And there we have it.

>>32409381
That's nice

"Alright..." You close your eyes, waiting to find out what she wants from you...
Or so you tell to yourself. You already know what exactly what she wants, don't you.

"Heheh... it's starting to snow." Rein says, her breath on your lips, "Well... um... here I go then."

Rein moves in on you, her lips overlapping yours. It's a tingle through your body and her warmth spreads out through to your fingers and your toes.

You bastard.

And yet, it's over in an instant. With a peck, she pulls away as quickly as she came in. You open your eyes again to see her shyly slinking away, the gentle show falling all about her.

You're not supposed to be here, you're not supposed to be doing this are you.

"That's what I wanted..." She folds her hands behind her back, mimicking her sister. Her feet shuffle about beneath her.

Your heart is clawing at your chest, you can feel it, you can feel it trying to burrow out.

"Sorry. I should've said something..." She turns, facing a side towards you. Alternating between sending you glances and hiding herself away.

You just kissed Rein, and Carna is still out there waiting for you.

"Sorry, sorry. I just... I can't stop smiling." Rein turns away from you, and starts walking off towards the edge of town, "I think the stables are this way." She seems to have sobered up a little. So have you.

Your heart is going to break.

>CONT

>>32409436
Well, that's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

>>32409436
Welp Carna is our heart demon

>>32409218
No matter whether or not it's a curve ball, I kind of want our end of the bet to ask her to tell us whatever it is again once we're both sober.

Make sure that whatever she's doing with this bet is something she's doing earnestly rather than on impulse.

>>32409346
The point is that we're obviously NOT drunk enough to be operating on sheer impulse, since we're capable of choosing how to respond, and saying "But we're drunk so characterization's out the window." is totally disingenuous.

I actually like Rein best of the options we've been presented with so far, and was actually kind of worried that backing out there looked like it could actually do irreparable harm to our relationship with her, but STILL went with it because deciding that the value of being in a relationship over not being in a relationship is not a good enough reason to commit here and now given everything we've done prior to this.

Which is more or less the one big thing I took issue with in >>32408171

>>32409436
Rein, you're drunk. Look at the man you just kissed.

>>32409436
Where's my it's happening pics when I need them?

The next little bit is a blur, between the intoxicating drinks, the intoxicating kiss, and the endless heart beats.

You got on a horse, somehow. And you're riding, somehow. The snow is light, barely anything really and the route back home from here looks to be fairly easy. Rein hasn't said much of anything, but that just works out better for you. Her smile hasn't left for a second since your kiss earlier.

Your heart beats don't stop, but with the time passing you think they're getting slower. Right now though, if your heart weren't an option, your body or mind stopping would do just as well.

It's coming into the evening now, how much time has passed since you left the village?

How much further is your destination?

What in the world do you tell everyone when you get back?

What in the world will you tell Carna when you find her again?

It's just a kiss, you tell yourself. There's no reason to get yourself all beaten up over it; but your heart beats, and it won't stop...

"Hey..." Rein's voice finally pulls you out of your stupor, "Say something, won't you...?"

What in the world does she want you to say?

>What will you talk about on your way to the borderlands?

>>32409686
Ask her how far we are from our destination

>>32409686
>Ask if there was anything that she liked/will miss about Belgrand
Can't think of anything else.

>>32409686
"I don't...feel so good..."
"Everything just feels...wrong."
"What am I doing? Is this what I should be doing? Is this what I WANT to be doing? What I want...Carna..."

>>32409686
Tell her somethings wrong with our heart.

>>32409770
This.

Wasn't Carna always very adamant about her and the MC not ending up together. Why would he be worried about what he's going to tell her.

>>32409770
Seconding.
I don't trust /tg/ to come up with anything that's not disgustingly cheesy anyway.

>>32409686

Well we can try and deal with the kiss, or whatever's between us and Rein. We do seem to be a little drained though. Maybe we could take a rest and try? I think the truth of the matter is that we're feeling conflicted, and we're not sure what to do. I think it's reasonable to say that we have some interest in Rein, but we also fucked up with regards to Carna. Just want to take it slow, but we do want to work with her more when we get back to school. We'll see how it goes.

>>32409812
Agreed. We should probably tell someone about our impending heart attack.

So are we route-locked now or what

>>32409892
The image of our heart jumping out of our chest screaming "you betrayed me" flashed across my mind.
I chuckled

>>32409861
Seconding

>>32409812
Weren't our injuries healing weird. We should probably let someone know if there is something wrong.

>>32409842

The character doesn't realize that. Not yet, anyway. Or something happened in between that we haven't dreamed about yet.

>>32409770
This, I guess

>>32409935
Ya, I think our injuries are healing faster every time we take a hit.

>>32409937
Yes he does. It's been in half a dozen flash backs. She was talking about how she was going to marry a prince and that MC was going to be her maid of honor. Then in a different flashback she talked about how after they got older they would live next door to each other.

Do you even read the flash backs?

>>32409686

>>32409780
I like this; with recent events, it's going to be a long time until she can return home, and we know that even if it wasn't enough to make her want to leave, she was still missing her friends back home.

>>32409842
Carna went from talking about how she's going to marry a prince to wanting to kiss us just for kicks to badgering us into cleaning up her room to being covetous to the extent that she was sort of jealous that we even had a second friend. Being impulsive and a little bit inscrutable was kind of her deal.

We haven't actually stated that it's a romantic thing by proxy or just an obsession based on a long friendship, but it's less a matter of figuring out what the deal was back then than it is a matter of not having a good handle on what it's become in the years she's been gone.

If we find out what happened to her and she just goes right back to being whimsical as usual, there's probably going to be a little bit of heartache that nothing's changed, but I can't imagine it wouldn't fall back into old habits. If she's gone, there's going to be a stretch of depression in which we'll be glad we have friends to help us through, and then he can start moving forward with that knowledge.

>>32409861
Pretty much. That said, I can't help but think that our dreams are going to start to lean slightly toward "Now maybe you should worry about it, 'kay." in the coming days.

>>32410016

Do you not know what it is to be oblivious and in the friendzone? Would our heart break, would we call ourselves a bastard because we kissed a girl if we didn't love Carna? We think of her as more than a best friend.

"How far away are we from the border?" You ask Rein, making conversation.

"Huh? Well uuh..." She doesn't seem to know. You're starting to recognize some of the mountain-lines though and it must not be more than two hours to your destination.

"Are you going to miss Belgrand?" You move the conversation along, not wanting her to feel too awkward.

"I have friends and family here, but I'm sure things will blow over enough that I can see them again someday... anyways, I have Sheryl, and Yu'yen, and Anlak. I have Leona. I have you..."

Your heart aches...

"Hey... you're not angry are you?" She says, another hour into your travels, "Should I have been less forward?" She sounds hurt.

You're not sure how to answer her. Your feelings are a mess right now.

"I like... care about you a lot you know," She says, "So tell me what's on your mind, please..."

"My heart hurts." That's all you understand about it, that's all the honesty you can give her, "My heart hurts when I'm with you."

"Can I take it to mean that you care about me a lot too then?" Every word she says cuts into you, "Can I take that to mean that you care about me as more than a friend?"

"There's something wrong with me and I don't know what it is. My heart hurts and my body isn't working like it's supposed to."

"...I was right then." Rein's voice grows weak, "You were healing up after your bath."

>CONT

>>32410212
Damn were floundering worse than a magikarp here

>>32410258

I know man, this is bad. Oh well, I guess we'll have to work through it. My heart, though...

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29 KB JPG

>>32410258
I couldn't think of a better analogy. Especially since our heart is going to evolve into Gyarados.

When she touched you earlier at the inn, her hands were where your wounds were meant to be... was she checking them then?

"I'm sorry. Since we were in Ridaela I've been wondering... Yu'yen thought something was strange when we fought that contractor." Her horse pulls just a pace away from yours.

"There's something very wrong with me Rein." You keep yourself focused on the road. It's getting warmer as you approach the borderlands but as far as Deneb you're sure there'll be snow...

You pass a mountain chain that you're certain marks the border. The clouds are parted here and a moon pokes out from behind them. You can't be too far from Deneb now.

"Let's take a break." Rein suggests.

"We're almost home Rein."

"Yes, but you look completely ragged. That fortress is nearby, what was it called... Fort Kuglak? Where we met Sheryl's father. We can stop there." She pulls her horse in front of yours, forcing both into a stop, "And... I don't want this time between us to be over yet."

You're at a lost for words again, you just can't seem to find any today.

"It's okay if you need time to figure this out, but I want us to at least talk about this before we return."

You take a moment to collect your thoughts...

>Take a rest at the fort
>Continue back to Deneb

>>32410401
>Continue back to Deneb
We can someone check on our heart there.

>>32410401
>Continue back to Deneb

>>32410401
>>Continue back to Deneb

>>32410401
>Continue back to Deneb

>>32410401
>Take a rest at the fort

>>32410401
>Continue back to Deneb
Better to get back quickly and find out what's wrong.

>>32410401
>>Take a rest at the fort

>>32410401

take a rest, or slow the horses to a walk for a bit

>>32410401
>>Continue back to Deneb

>>32410401
>>Take a rest at the fort
It doesn't seem like our issue is a life-threatening one, and it's probably a good idea to clear the air a bit before getting back.

I don't remember if the fort is safe for human occupation, though, but hey.

>>32410472
Thisssss

>>32410401
> take a rest at the fort

>>32410401
>Take a rest at the fort
I don't think we're going to keel over in the next ten minutes and I really want to know why they've been suspecting this for so long.

>>32410401
>Take a rest at the fort

>>32410401
>Take a rest at the fort

>>32410401
>Continue back to Deneb
Finally found time to finish archived threads. I have to say Librarian, your setting is very interesting.

>>32410401
Do we have to go to the fort? I'm for taking a break to talk but couldn't we just stop by the side of the road?

>>32410675
Closing the votes on this more or less since it hit an 8-8 with one of the previous votes having "Slow the horses to walk for a bit". Hold on a sec while I write.

"Alright then, let's talk." You tie up your horse nearby and take a seat by the sides of the road with Rein following your lead.

"It's cold out here."

"It's probably just as cold in that abandoned fortress." The place wasn't the most hospitable last time you were there...

"Do you think there's something wrong with me?" You said you'd talk but some silent minutes passed before you said something.

"Yu'yen says he trusts you, but he doesn't trust what might be in you." Rein catches her breath in her hands. Her knees are pulled up by her chin.

"In me huh."

"Sheryl thinks you might be a contractor... but you're not, are you?"

The earliest you recall meeting a demon was when Carna vanished those years ago, when the light was stolen from your life. You don't have any memories of making a contract, and you make it clear to Rein that you don't.

"Yu'yen said that we shouldn't bring it up with any of The Seekers, it might cause trouble if we did... he trusts you, I promise he does; but he said we should be wary if you lost yourself." She leans her head on your shoulder, "But I trust you, I trust you entirely. You saved me after-all, so I promise I trust you."

"The heart beats won't stop." You say as your body aches some more.

"Is it really that bad?" She whispers, "My heart beats won't stop either... not when I'm with you."

>CONT

>>32410874
Vacate shoulder pls

>>32410874
Are we really stuck with Rein from now on?
Fuck me

>>32410874
I like Rein. Leona is not gonna take this well though

>>32410874
>"But I trust you, I trust you entirely. You saved me after-all, so I promise I trust you."
REIN PLS. I'm not even sure we trust us with ourself when we lose ourselves either.

Also holy shit, saying this is such a gargantuan death flag, I don't even know. Take it back, you poor, non-fourth-wall-aware girl.

>>32410874
But we already established the horses don't like contractors. We were riding one without any problems a few minutes ago.

>>32410891
>>32410909
Calm down it's not that big of deal.

>>32410958
It kind of is, Anonymous. She's our love interest for the rest of the quest.

>>32410932
Personally, I dig sheryl or leona over rein.
but that was if this was a waifu quest, or if we werent entirely focused on finding carna

>>32410971
Again, nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their own tastes.

>>32410975
I didn't like Leona. The whole "can't take care of herself" was a big turn off.

>>32411023
Yes, there is. It was way too sudden, especially since we'd spent relatively little time with her, but I'm going to stop whining and just stick to the archives from now on.

Rein undoes the clasps on your jacket, and you can't work yourself up to resist. She places her ear against your chest, and rests there for a moment...

"See, they're just heartbeats. There's no need to worry, you're perfectly fine..." Her whispers calm your thoughts a little, but they do nothing to soothe your pains.
"Do you want to hear mine?" She adds.

Whether or not you want to though, you can't do that. Not yet, not the way you are now...

"It's fine if you don't want me. I'm well enough right now to know that this might just be a one-sided crush on my end... but think about me, would you?" She says her bit and steps off away from you, "I'm sure it's hard for you right now, but if you give me the chance... I'm sure I can come to love you, because you're wonderful. And I'm sure you can come to love me, because I'm persistant." She smiles painfully as she mounts up again.

You silently saddle up on your horse. The two of you begin to make your way back to Deneb again...

The rest of the trip goes by uneventfully. The climax of your little 'tryst' had began in the hamlet and ended by the roadside. From here to Deneb, the two of you just gallop through the floating emotion.

You come across the city, too quickly, too slowly. You couldn't resolve things, you're not ready to give Rein an answer.

You leave the horses in the stables by the gates. The two of you walk towards the dorm, an unclear distance between you...

>CONT

>>32411037
there's always NTR

>>32411098
> NTR
thats the devils work son

>>32411046
>Her whispers calm your thoughts a little, but they do nothing to soothe your pains.

>your pains.
...this is not the word I initially thought it was. Time to sleep.

>>32410971
>>32411037
It's probably a little too early to freak out about this, if only because I suppose this doesn't strike me as a route-lock-y sort of quest. At least not while there's still romantic tension-meat still left on the bone.

"I was so worried!" Leona hugs Rein tightly when the two of you enter through the dorms, waggling her rear around in the air.

"H-hey, I'm okay, alright? Could you please just let me sleep? We can talk in the morning." Rein's tone is perfectly normal, she seems to want to keep things natural.

"But I missed you sooooo much!"

"Leona, she's probably exhausted." Sheryl pinches Leona's ear and pulls her loose, "They're probably both exhausted, don't bother them."

"So friiiiend, how was it? You spent two nights out all alone with the lady. Must've been a fun time, riiiight?" Yu'yen steps towards you full of questions, but Anlak yanks him back by his collar without looking. Your Daktori classmate has his gaze on the quickly vanishing shape of the girl you just let go.

Anlak lets go of Yu'yen and pushes past you towards the gardens when Rein enters her hallway.

"Where're Henry and Kita?" You ask.

"Henry was sobbing on the way back here, and then as soon as he returned he grabbed some equipment and declared that he was leaving to continue his mission." Sheryl explains to you, "Kita said you would probably find your way back and went to bother Masoch."

Leona grabs a hold of your arm, pressing her chest tightly against it, "I missed you too, come on, tell me about everything! Huuubby." Your fake marriage is still fresh on her mind, evidently.

You're finally back at the dorms...

>What do you do?

Last decision, probably.

>>32411158
Go talk to Yu'yen about maybe being a contractor.

>>32411158
Uh
How about we check up on Chance?

>>32411158
>think of carna

I fully support going solely for carna need to maximise the tragedy and carna is best girl

>>32411158
Go to sleep

>>32411204
Yeah this is a way better idea than mine.

>>32411158
Try and figure out this pain in our heart

>>32411158
I'd like to talk to Yu'yen a little bit about his theories. (With the mention that we didn't do anything ACTIVELY freaky or dangerous while we were out to warrant immediate investigation, but it's enough that we don't want to just sit on it and hope things will stay that way.)

If he thinks there's even a possibility that we're potentially dangerous, we don't want to wait until something proves him right.

Leave the account of our (probably pretty stupid, yet) swashbuckling rescue until later when we have some distance from it and can do it proper justice.

"Yu'yen and I have to talk. If you'd excuse me for a moment Leona." You tell her, and she lets go of your arm, pouting as you turn towards the male hallway.

"Well, you heard him ladies." Yu'yen sticks his arms behind his head, walking dramatically behind you with his legs well outstretched...

You take the conversation inside your room. It's still a mess from Kita having used it before you left. You do a little bit of clean-up while you talk to sooth yourself.

"So, what've you been talking about behind my back anyways?" You probably sound a little spiteful when you say it, but that's always been your relationship with your Lunese fellow.

"Ah, Rein told you huh." Yu'yen grins, taking a seat on your chair, "We've been spitting out theories that you're a contractor, or that the valkyries love you, or that you're some demon that fell in love with mortal kind and seeks to bring life back into the world to repent for heinous crimes centuries ago... the last one was Leonas."

"I'm not a contractor or demon," You tell him, "Animals love me."

"I don't know, you might have some kind of animal controlling demon in you. Henry was saying that there're demon controlling demons, and when demons control demons, who's to say that demons don't control... Chance?"

"How long have you been thinking this anyways?"

"I thought you were off since we ran into the first demon on that mission. You were hurt worse than Anlak, but you sure healed up quickly."

>CONT

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>>32411469
That thing with the Pegasus... He was testing us. If we did have an animal controlling demon in us then it might have allowed us to ride the Pegasus.

Yu'yen leans backwards against your work-desk, letting his head hang behind him, "Though what really made me wonder is that run in with the contractor, Quan'tran? You were moving like a doll on strings and it was hardly a week from your wrist snapping that you started swinging a sword again."

"You think I'm dangerous then?"

"To me? No, I can handle myself. To you? Yeah, I'm waiting to see if a goblin bursts out of your chest." He hops back onto his feet, stepping towards the door, "Rest up nicely now that you're back will you? The Seekers are going to round us up and ship us out again in a few weeks."

"Two of us to a teacher out on the field, I heard from Sheryl."

"I'd like it to be the two of us, but the odds are slim. I doubt they're doing lotteries, if I had to wager they'll be sticking you with Anlak."

"Why's that?" You ask.

"Because he doesn't like you." Yu'yen smirks, "Nothing they do around here is any good friend, these fine folk at the Archives just want to make life hard for us."

"Then why are you still here?" You return Yu'yens look.

"Same reason you are, I want answers and no one knows more about the world than the wise cats that prowl about it." He waves you good night as he steps through your door.

You line up a few more loose bottles before giving up, and stumbling over to your bed.

>CONT

The events of the day play through your head, and your heart beats with every second.

The sweet smell of Rein in the morning, the gentle look on her resting face...
The talks you had coming up to the village, and the fun you had when you arrived...
Her bashful gaze underneath the clear sky, and her virgin lips between the falling snow...
And the feelings unresolved on the long trip home.

Your heart hurts.

"Don't worry about it, okay?" You tell yourself, pulling your sheets up. Like a mantra, those words always seem to calm you down a little. You repeat them to yourself, and with each phrase your heart beats calm.

You're back here, one of the few places you still hold in the dying world. But it won't be long until you're sent out again. One more whisper to yourself...

"Don't worry about it, okay...?" You pass onto sleep.

And so life goes on.

>>32411554
And it explains why Sheryl kept giving dirty looks a few threads ago. She thought that we were a contractor and intentionally keeping it a secret.

>>32411634
danke schön

Well that didn't end as badly as I thought. Never again though, please.

>>32411706
Never again what?

It's oveeeeeer.

So,
>>32409916
I didn't answer this during the thread because I figured no matter what I answered people would get pissed and that would hurt the session. Honestly, I considered a few times; "Yeah, Rein is your waifu now." But I think it'd be unfair to stick you guys into a girl when she has the advantage of being one on one with you for more or less two sessions.

I gotta say though, I was always under the impression that this sort of thing would be an instant shit-storm but it was really civil in here. You guys are great players to have.

Other than the shipping topic, I think the other thing debated a lot was the protagonists feelings towards Carna. I don't have a clear answer to that and I'm trying to play a delicate game of keeping it hovered between familial and romantic.

If I may be so presumptuous, I like to think that writing romance is my strongest aspect here but in my previous experience as a writer I've never played with anything more than three characters in a love triangle. Between that and this being my first quest, I don't have a lot of confidence in giving a resolution to things that you might find acceptable. I'll try to make things clear if we hit a point where there's no going back without a lot of work on committing to a character, and I'd love advice on how to handle it.

Thanks for playing.

>>32411642
I remember bitching about her dirty looks and attitude being an attempt at railroading us away from Sheryl as a love interest. Now it actually makes sense.

>>32411814
Wish we could go the ignore bitches get Carna (I really like the finding lost love kinda things and the sweet tragedy) route but sadly most of my fellow anons don't seem to agree witch is fine. Keep up the good work Lib.

>>32411956
But anon, Carna was inside us all along.

>>32411814
I've always hated the idea of rout lock. Rout locks don't exist in real life. People get into relationships and then break up all the time. But people are too used to the Disney princess "Happily ever after" ending.

Right now it would be easy to play off the kiss as "Shit happens when you're drunk" But, you might have gone a little too far with the love confession. (I don't mean that the confession shouldn't have been in there.) It just when't on longer than it should have.

No one trusts you like I do, feel my heart beat, etc. It's like you took love confession scenes from multiple sources and put them all back to back with no break in between.

No offense I like the quest. But in the future try to make it a little more subtle or at least more concise.

>>32412204
Route*

>>32411814

I fell asleep before this wrapped up last night, but here's my 2 cents. You're never going to please everyone, but so long as the characters are all likable, people will be able to tolerate whoever we waifu. I'd get us to a point of understanding as far as our relationship with Carna before pushing us towards anything though. If you nudge people towards a choice while stuff is still totally up in the air it may not go well. Not saying everything needs to be wrapped up, but we need somewhat solid ground to proceed.