A day in the Isekai Ryokan

    Giganpor, after a hard day of smithing, manages to at least clean himself with the menu function before making his way across Dun Loireag to the Isekai Ryokan.

    And he's almost dragging his feet by the time he unequips his sandals and makes it to the bar, sitting down hard enough the bar stool's tag as an object pops up.

    Yep, the red-headed giant looks tired, worn out, and definitely in need of a good meal!

    Hifumi is holding court as always behind the bar, grilling up foods, getting eel and cluckcluck and other such meats delivered. With soups and roasts being the other mainstay of the resturant. He does offer his bentos, from grilled fatty fish to yakisoba pan.

    Giganpor, having seated himself at the bar, sighs. Looks thoughtful, then comments, "One beer, and something to eat with it, please."

    Yep. Giganpor must be tired. He doesn't even drink! Looks like he's about to get his first taste, though.

    Hisami smiles "Sure Gigankun, you want udon, ramen, cluckcluck, or eel, or some thing else?" he offers he's happy to feed the were fang who's turned out to be something of a kindred soul.

    Giganpor looks considerate, "Mm... cluckcluck sounds good. Been one hell of a day. Apparently this Beerbass thinks us Were Fangs are only good as soldiers or something. Not as anything else. Kinda annoying."

    "Keeps having me go over and over and over the same techniques with making billets. At least I'm getting a lot better with them." The red-headed were fang looks about as worn out as an avatar can get. Seriously, shoulders slumped, leaning on the bar.

As the front door to the Isekai Ryokan opens once more a black hooded figure quickly flows through and quickly closes the door behind her. Taking in a deep breath of the smell of real food Shaskur pulls down her facemask and lets down her hood as she saunters over to the bar and hops into a chair.

Pulling out a couple coins places them down where they can be easily grabbed by Hifumi and she calls out, "A plate of whatever eel dish has been the most popular today" and she grins a tooth fanged grin. Overhearing Giganpor she turns slightly to face his direction, curious about what he has to say.

    Hifumi nods "I've had sensei like that." he says as he sets several skewers of cluck cluck on the grill to crisp. He pours a beer and sets it on the bar for Gigan. It's a real beer not menu crafted.

    "I've just been doing the yaki today." he says with a smile and gets some of the glazed eel to add to the grill. "You want, water, juice, or beer?"

    Giganpor looks thoughtfully at the beer, "Mm... never had some before, but well... parents always had one after a bad day at work." He takes a sip of it. Looking considerate as he swallows. "Eh... not bad. Taste takes some getting used to."

Looking back over to Hifumi she gives a nod, "Yeah, sounds good." And then after a moment of consideration she answers the question, "I think just water for me. Thanks."

Then turning to Giganpor she examines the tired looking giant of a man, "You found someone to train under, Gig?" and she raises an eyebrow before bringing an elbow onto the table and rests her head in her palm as she looks over at him.

    Hifumi sets a glass of water by Shaskur's elbow. Then turns back and gets the cluckcluck yaki flipping the eel. Then he sets the plate of chicken analog infront of Giganpor before returning to his grill to check the eel and finaly put a plate of the grilled glazed eel infront of Shaskur. "There we go." he says leaning back against the wall by the grill in 'chat with folks mode'.

    Giganpor looks over at Shaskur, blinking. Then he looks at Hifumi. "I don't think she listens to the chimlink a lot, does she?"

    He looks over at Shaskur, "Well, in a way... yeah. I kinda impressed the Tradesmen with the shield I made. They offered to apprentice me in order to learn more, so... that's what I'm doing. Flat out apprenticing my butt off for a couple months and seeing where it leads. The other offer was paying for it and mostly observing, but... eh..."

    He shrugs, reaching to take a bite of the food before a sip of the beer.

Ignoring the food for the moment she listens to Giganpor's explanation and then shakes her head, "Nope, I often mute the chim. I find it distracting when I'm-" She waves her free hand in the air, "out and about. Got to keep my focus." She gives a small sigh, "and sometimes I forget to turn it back on.."

She turns to her food but goes for a sip of water first and then continues talking, "Still, that's great, Gig! Though if your state is any indicator it really is hard work?" and then she starts to chows down on the eel meal, "Mmm, This is great as always, Hifumi!" she says in appreciation.

    Giganpor shrugs, "It's mostly the hammering of billets all day at the moment. I thought I was good at it, but this latest smith, little gnome fellow called Beerbass, seems to think that's all I'm good for. I've not hammered out a nail, horseshoe, hammer, or sword in a few days. Just been working on the billets... uh... they're basically what happens when you heat the metals together?"

After a bit of eel Shaskur replies talking out of the side of her mouth, holding a hand in front of it as well, and asks around the food, "Sho, sthis ish like prep work for others stuff?" Then finishing the bite she follows up with a quick sip of water to wash it down and continues. "And you just kind of do what Beerbass wants all day? He think you don't have it right or something?" she raises an eyebrow.

    Giganpor shrugs, "Eh, who knows. I prefer old Caknic, but if I stick to one I'm afraid I'll end up using the menu system instead of learning stuff." He smiles a bit. "By the way, Hifumi, you might try him for some of those knives if no one else will. He seems to like doing it the old fashioned way like we do. He's... eh... northwest of here, I believe? Little shop in a small town off thatta way."

    Taking a sip of the beer, he seems to consider, "That does take some getting used to." He looks to Shaskur, "But... basically, they're passing me around to learn all I can from everyone I can while they have me and before something goes insane and I need to start shovelling out something crazy far as gear."

    Sighing, he munches on the cluck cluck yaki for a moment, "But this guy? Eh, I think he's got something against Were Fangs or something. I think I have a few more days to endure it before I get sent on. Either that or I'm going to turn one of those billets into something to show that I can."

    Hifumi smiles a little sadly "There's still some... prejudice against Cait and Were Fangs. They were both originally created to fight the monster invasions." he says and nods his head over to the older Cait Sith who tends bar for him. "It's not as bad as it was, but it's just something that still exists out here." He places a hand on Giganpor's shoulder "I'm sure Gigankun, you'll win him over, and if not you'll have learned a basic skill that you'll need when you start your own place."

Shaskur nods along with the explanation, "If you don't win him over then at least I hope that the next guys works out a bit better. Weird to think there is legit racism going on with the Landers." She frowns at that. "Maybe it is good I wear my facemask most of the time, I don't really know what people think of imps here." She looks thoughtful as she taps her lip.

A petite girl enters into the restaurant and she shifts her long frilly dress as she removes her slippers before walking over to the bar, not even waiting for a waitress. Climbing up into a chair she carefully tucks her dress under her and then looks up at Hifumi with her dull red eyes, "Hello. I will take a meal." She says in a monotone voice.

    Hifumi smiles at Seliana "What would you like this time?" he asks "Want something, spicy? Something to remind you of home? Something to make you forget?" he asks. He likes the laconic girl or he's taken it as his mission to make her smile or something.

Seliana continues to remain silent as she blinks at Hifumi before replying without showing facial expression, "It doesn't matter." She looks around and then points at what Gigan is eating, "How about that?" her toneless way of speaking making it sound more like a statement then a question. She then looks up at the man. Then up some more. She blinks a few times as she stares at Gigan.

Shaskur turns to look at the new arrival and raises her hand in greeting, "Yo. I'm Shaskur. I don't think we've met yet. I'm a regular here!" and she gives a fang toothed grin at Seliana. Then looking to Hifumi, "Oh, say, has there been any news lately? I'm sure you hear everything in a place like this." And her eyes twinkle a bit in anticipation.

    "Eh... technically, history-wise, it happened not that long ago. I think. Maybe." He blinks, then looks over at Seliana. Then at Shaskur, then at Hifumi.

    Giganpor is more than likely joking at his next statement, "Is this what everyone calls emo nowadays?" He motions at the other two.

Shaskur scowls at Gig, "I'm dressed for work!" and then she winks to let him know she isn't upset. Then she mutters a couple words under her breath and it is like the area she is sitting slowly grows darker, the shadows deepening. Her cloak starting to blend into the unnatural darkness. Then as quickly as it started to gather it dissipates and her white skinned face grins back at him.

Hifumi nods his head and tosses more cluckcluck on the grill "Not a problem." he says as he works to cook the meal. "Second hour glass has started running, started up when they killed the floor two boss, so it looks like each major city is likely to see an attack anytime they clear a boss." he says and moves the cluckcluck to a plate sliding that infront of Seliana along with a mug of beer. Just like Gigan has.

Looking over to the imp Seliana replies flatly, "Hello. I'm Seliana." Her red eyes remain dull and it is like her face only has a single expression, that of a slight frown. She continues to just stare at the imp until the conversation moves on.

As the conversation turns to news Seliana waits until then is a break in the conversation and then talks, "I found out the Landers have graveyards. Even without bodies they still keep track of their dead. They have stone blocks for families, and they have the names going back hundreds of years sometimes. Generations. When another dies they add the name. They even go to visit these places to remember those who are gone." Then Seliana starts to nibble on the grilled cluckcluck.

Shaskur straightens slightly as Hifumi relays the information about the calamities, "Ooooh, reeeeally? That is very interesting." And then she hums in thought and narrows her eyes slightly. Then slightly more quietly she says "That might become a problem."

Finishing off the last of her eel Shaskur pushes the dish forward and then stretches, "Thanks for the grub, Hifumi! Always great!" and she flashes him another grin before lifting her facemask back up and rising from her stool. She raises an eyebrow at the information about the graveyards but doesn't comment further on it. As she lifts her hood back over her head she queries, "Where was the new hourglass, Hifumi? I did hear mention of it but thought they were talking about the event that happened in town here. I've been pretty.. occupied. Glad I have you to catch me up!"

    Giganpor looks annoyed at that bit of news, "Great... where's the second hourglass at this time?" He sighs, "To think I helped kill that thing just to see what it was like, too... seriously, who thinks up masked men popping out of pillars and doing coordinated kung fu?"

    Yep, Giganpor looks annoyed at that one. Then he grumbles some more, "I need to find a better suited weapon, too." He hums, draining his glass of beer before sighing, "Another, please?" He holds the glass out towards Hifumi.

    Hifumi chuckles softly "Always just in and out, you should stay sometime, relax, enjoy yourself." he says "The new one is the hourglass in Breg Epona in the Holy Empire." He fills the beer for Giganpor "And I keep trying to explain to Adventurers that the Landers are just people." he says "Half or more of my customers, most of my staff... hell the guy in charge of making and selling me that beer... all Landers."

Shaskur winks at Hifumi, "I got places to go. People to find. I don't want to start being too predictable. Oh! But I'll rent a room and crash there for a bit later." She pulls out a coin and flips it his way, "and that's a tip for being a great guy about it all."

As she heads out she pats Gig on the back, "Keep at it big man, you're going to turn into the master smith of the alliance at this rate!" and then without looking back she waves over her should and calls out, "Later!" before slipping out the door once more.

Taking the mug of beer in both hands Seliana lifts it to her lips and takes a couple gulps before returning it to the counter. She then continues to nibble on the grilled cluckcluck but waits as Hifumi starts to talk about the Landers. "They aren't people like you and me though. We don't die. They do. There is something fundamentally different." She adds in without looking up from her meal.

    Hifumi nods "Perhaps I should say... they are people like we were." he says "And now we're adventurers and that comes with benefits and responsibilities." he says "We need to do what we can to protect them from the monsters and other things that respawn like we do.. it isn't fair to expect them to have to fight endless hordes while a bad day on the battlefield means not coming home.... we have some pain and a shitty day until we respawn."

Seliana silently looks at hifumi, still nibbling on her food, listening as he explains. She then looks down at her food for a moment, face still impassive, then back up to Hifumi. "Do other creatures really respawn like us? I thought we were the only ones."

    Giganpor looks thoughtful, then sighs, "Unfortunately, the monsters do. I'm told multiple people faced the boss spider in Spinner's End, for example, And others have done the same with a gnoll encampment."

    He looks thoughtful, picking up a piece of the cluck cluck and looking at it, "And truthfully, I agree with you Hifumi. One of my first interactions was from an informant. She runs an orphanage. Some would say it's a bunch of programming or the like, but... when you're telling stories to a horde of children and they ask questions about the stories, things that you don't think of off hand... it makes it all seem a bit surreal."

Taking another gulp from her mug Seliana then comments, "It was a Lander that showed me their graveyard. He recently lost a child to illness." She then continues work on the last of her meal.

Having finished the grilled meat Seliana turns the stool to more easily see both Gigan and Hifumi, her dangling legs swinging slightly. Black stockings just visible as her feet kick out from the front of her dress. "The Landers have gods. Do they do anything?" she asks simply and without inflection, "They had a statue at the graveyard, but I didn't ask about it."

    Giganpor sighs, finishing his meal and the beer before standing up, "Mmm.. as enlightening as the talk is, I need to go and get some rest. Another harsh day under a gnome named Beerbass. Maybe I'll get there early and get some billets done while he's still half asleep or something."

    The giant of a Were Fang shrugs, dropping some meat drops and some coin down for Hifumi before turning to go. "Nice to meet you, miss." Then he turns to walk off out the door. Yep. No rest for the apprentice trainee types!

Seliana watches as the large were fang says his parting words and walks away, blinking a few times at his back as he leaves the building. She then turns back to the counter and two hands the mug once again as she takes another gulp of the beer, then she just stares at Hifumi patiently. While her face remains impassive her eyes seem to droop tiredly as she watches the chef work.