Mood Ring

    Giganpor had arrived first to the Isekai Ryokan, tossing some monster drops and a few extra coins on to help out. Getting a drink was the easy part! He didn't want to end up with the whole drunk bit, though, so went with something light that he knew he could handle and settled down at a table to wait. At least he was fairly noticeable. The red hair, the old Japanese style of dress, and the color changing cloak helps out!

    While waiting, he had pulled out some parchment paper and a quill and ink pot to write with. It gave him time to think, and to figure out a lot on the side as he enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of the Ryokan. Something he hadn't had the chance to do with all that was going on.

    "Irasshai!"

    The traditional Japanese greeting works much better than a presence detector. It does not miss, it does not falter, it does not forgive.

    One might wonder if it is the ultimate skill ninjas must master: manage to enter a restaurant without triggering a cheerful chorus of "irasshai."

    Or, at least, that is what Uta wonders as she steps into the ryokan. Despite all the time and possible leveling up, she still sports her newbie gear, including her martial-arts-gi/nurse-uniform hybrid. The only difference since the last time she briefly crossed paths with Giganpor is that her hair is much shorter now. Oh, also, while she still looks kind of lost in thought, she does not have the outright fish-out-of-water newbieish look.

    She stops, looks around, and flicks her menu open. After what must be running an inspect on people around, she jabs at thin air (at least from the perspective of other people in the room), and shortly after Giganpor will receive a friend request. It will not be hard to guess from whom: it's the spriggan who's walking determined towards him. "Hello, Giganpor. We have crossed paths briefly and I forget if we have introduced properly. My name is Uta Furore, musical kung-fu nurse. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

    She bows.

    There in the corner, because he is /always/ in the corner, is Xander Scaleharth. Drinking a glass of possibly sake, given there is also a bottle on the table.

The Salamander for the moment seems to be off on his own thoughts and isn't fully aware of all who are in or entering the restaurant inn. Though at the sound of Uta's voice, his eyes slowly look in that direction.

    Giganpor looks up from his writing. Blinking. He smiles as he hits the 'accept' on the friend request. "Hello, Uta. Ah, I remember now. You were around whenever that guy had his name go red for some reason and about the fish, right? I do not think we were introduced properly. I never did fill in the surname on this character, so it's just Giganpor."

    He gets up while he's talking to give a bow back. "And thank you for meeting with me. Much as I'd like to keep it pleasant... I'm told you know something about the whole moods thing effecting people who do crafting lately?" He asks.

    Uta slides to sit while Giganpor speaks. Due to her stopping her scanning as soon as she read Giganpor's name, she didn't make it to scan all the way to the corner, so she remains completely oblivious to him.

    "Oh, you mean Xander," she replies. And sighs. "Haven't seen him since the tournament. I definitely need to speak with him about running off with the circus. It's important." Her musings are interrupted by waitstaff who arrives to take an order. "Oh, uh..." She looks at Giganpor, blinks, then turns to waitstaff with a drink. "I'll have a barley tea."

    As the person disappears into the kitchen, Uta turns to Giganpor again. "I know something... but just that, something. A little. It's not much," she offers, hands clasped in front of her. "I've actually identified three such status effects up to now, and I think it's important to establish that not all of the people affected are strictly crafters, or completely absorbed in projects that could be considered crafting. Research is ongoing on that point." She looks up at Giganpor. "But the one with the most numerous and consistent occurrence, the one that seems to hit crafters specifically, is what my medical inspection reports as being named 'Fey Mood'. I have managed to access the readout, and it is explained as 'This person is Resonating with this world's Primordial Song.' I could find no information about that. I've even spoken with one of my mentors about it. He said that he's heard of Crafters getting into crazed moods sometimes, and crafting wondrous works." She shrugs. "But he doesn't know much about that because it has never happened to him. And no, I have asked, he has no idea of what 'this world's Primordial Song' means." She sighs and looks down. "He doesn't even know what /Primordial/ means..."

    Xander continues to sit there, drinking his cup of sake as he watches the two of them talk. When Uta brings up his name, he tilts his head a little, before his eyes gently fall back on the table in front of him.

For now, the Salamander stays where he is.

    Giganpor looks thoughtful, then hums. "Can you give me a list of who you know has had these? Among us Adventurers? Weird as it sounds, I think they unlock something. It did for myself and Miho. I'm now a Moonlight Armorcrafter in addition to Monster Handler. It's... weird. The most I can tell is that I am better at making armor."

    Considering a bit on the words, Giganpor looks at his drink, "The most I can say there is that primordial seems to be a before civilization thing. Usually universal. At least that's how I understood the term. What I can't figure out is how we are tapping into this. Is it whenever we try to go beyond our limits or because one of the Goddesses takes notice?"

Having just gotten back to the city Shiruba decided to get something to eat and some rest before moving onto other tasks.

She sees some familiar faces when she walks into the restaurant, smiling and raising a hand to wave. "Konnichiwa~"

    Uta clicks her tongue and looks up. "In normal circumstances, medical deontology would mandate that patient data is not to be disclosed..."

    "...but I'm not a real nurse, this is not the real world, and everything is going topsy-turvy. I know each single person and the information is pretty much publicly known by now, so I think it's safe to share." She starts counting on her fingers. "Let's see. Gwen and Kita both had a 'Fey Mood'. Jazz had 'Yuugen', which I was either not lucky or not skilled enough to get the full readout for, and Pela has something called 'Mujou'. It's described as 'The affected is resonating with the Earth Song'."

    She clasps her hands again and leans forward. "Which brings us back to our original discussion. We both know what 'primordial' means in common parlance. Anyone who has been exposed to Japanese aesthetics knows that 'yuugen' is one of its cornerstones, and anyone who's not completely ignorant of Buddhism knows of mujou, or impermanence. But as you point out, yes, I don't think those words mean what they think they mean, here. We're in uncharted territory."

    She shakes her head and looks down. "I wish I knew what this means. Sadly, all I can add is that once the strange mood is over, the status effect is gone as well. I have zero idea of what might trigger it. By the time I jump in and scan people, they are... well, already 'far gone' and 'not exactly the best interlocutor for investigations'. And I haven't had much chance of interviewing people about how it /began/, yet. Only recently a couple of them popped out of that state. I was planning to start the interviewing once I got back to Carmina Gadelica Marina." She bursts into laughter. "The one time I decide to undertake a project and start a slime laboratory, /everyone at once/ gets into a crazed mood... it's as if they did it on purpose."

    Xander continues to listen, raising an eyebrow from where he is sitting at in the corner as Uta explains to Giga about mood buffs or... debuffs. Either way, strange side-effects he only picks somewhat on.

His eyes shift over to Shiruba as she walks in and gives a polite wave to her, but continues to remain quiet, while pouring himself some more sake.

    Giganpor frowns. He looks considerate, "What seemed to trigger it was whenever we started as far as Miho and myself. We wanted to design some swords befitting a Noble Lander, and well... it just started. I think I may be able to help there. Give me some time to figure out a good work, and I'll contact you when I'm ready to put it into practice. That way you can be there and observe the start at least."

    He shrugs, "And that's pretty much the story of my life here. You get an idea you want to do, and everything else pops up with something crazy." He leans over a bit, then gives a wave to Shiruba. "Hey, Shiruba! Want to join us? We were discussing the whole mood thing. And how trouble seems to pop up when we try to do personal projects."

"Neat,"'Shiruba says as she grabs a seat at the table after returning Xander's wave. "I haven't had one, but considering Jaz had something similar for exploring it seems, I might have my time yet."

She shrugs and sits. "But I have helped look after several of the people that did have it."

    Uta turns to Shiruba and waves. "...Shiruba! There you are!" After Shiruba is done speaking, she segues into, "Indeed. I do not think there is any reason to assume that it will happen to anyone. Or at any time. The way I have it reckoned, it might happen only rarely, possibly only to very special people." One open palm is trust forwards toward Shiruba, in a defensive gesture. "Don't get me wrong! I am not trying to belittle those who haven't been affected: my mentor is an impressive crafter, and yet, it never happened to him. In fact, he implied that the occurrence is pretty rare." Back to Giganpor, more hushed, she continues, "We do not know what makes these people 'special', or what the exact circumstances that trigger it are, yet. As said, I am under the impression it's not that common an occurrence, so we should not assume that anyone can just trigger it at will. We can try, but... my money is on the mood not being trigger again." Her tone now goes down to almost conspirational. "It might /actually/ be that the Goddesses do take notice of some of us..."

    Merek steps up into the place with his casual dark attire on as well as what looks like a cloak. He begins adjusting that into a cape along the back, swishing while he would begin to walk forward along to the front. He notices Giganpor, Xander, Shiruba, with Uta. He then takes a moment to look to the people, nodding a bit. He contents to begin working with his order, "I'll have a... Sushi, with fried potatoes if you have any, sautee'd in classic Japanese style." Because this is the only place that does that likely.

Shiruba wags a finger at Uta. "If you ask me, I think how special the project or inspiration is may also matter."

She starts ticking off her fingers. "Kaydpn recreated a lost alloy and crafted a super efficient sword from it. Gwen's tapestry portrays the catastrophe that trapped us here like it's the start of a new Era. Miho and Gigan forged traditional weapons of exceptional quality for a noble. Jazu reinvented a navigation instrument and discovered a forgotten island with it."

A pause to talk to a waitress and order, then Shiruba turned back to the table. "Maybe that combination of traits, passion and purpose are harder to find in Landers."

    Giganpor considers, then writes down what they do know on the parchment he has with him. "Hm... does seem to be a thing. What about Pela, though?" He looks to Shiruba. "And I really wish I could see these status effects. It might be something we can look into better. They definitely didn't pop up when I did my buckler, for example. So it can't be just inventing things. Either that, or something triggered since then."

    He takes a sip of his drink, then waves over a wait staffer, "A few large plate of appetizers for all of us, please?"

    He tilts his head, then calls over, "Merek! Want to join us?" He seems to ponder a little, then looks to Uta, "How did you say you saw those status effects, by the way? With Merek here, I'm wondering if we could do something the same with that sword of his."

    "Ah, what was that about my sword? I will join you, if you don't mind I can pay for your meals," Merek notes, while he would begin to adjust that cape. "Anyway, I take it everyone is doing alright?" he asks, walkin to the table to find a place to settle in. When his food arrives, the man takes a bite of the sushi.

    Uta does turn to Merek as the traditional choir of cheerful "irasshai!" which welcomes each customer is heard. "Oh, hi! Please, do join us", she greets, and then she returns to address Giganpor. "Oh, it's nothing strange. It's because of my profession. I suspected people in strange moods might be sick, so I ran a medical-grade inspect on them. That's how we normally diagnose people. Diseases are reported as status effects in this world. The way I understand it it's related to one's skill with Pharmacy." She clasps her fingers and leans over. "Which is why I'd like to have second opinions. As said, my scans failed to get as much information out of Jazz as I did from other people. It might be that my Pharmacy skill is too low for that. I think it'd be better if we got multiple physicians to work on this." She frowns, as if realizing something, and then she levels her gaze at Giganpor again. "...or maybe other professions might get something different out of them. I have never thought of that. That's also worth a shot..." She turns to Shiruba. "...maybe. I mean, Kita was crating this amazing rendition of Ezzo. Was still a work in progress, but one could already see where it was going. Seriously, at this point, it could be anything. In any case, I suggest that as soon as someone goes into a strange mood again, we immediately run an inspect on them. And possibly multiple inspects by differently skilled people." She sighs and slides down her seat a little.

    "Oh, I've already run an inspect on Merek. The strangest thing about him is how healthy he was." She turns to the alchemist as if for silently asking for confirmation. "I did not medical-inspect the /sword/ itself..." her eyes shift sideways to Giganpor. "...but maybe a /weaponsmith/ is a best choice in this case?"

    Xander continues to observe the group and listens. His nose wrinkles a little as Merek walks in, but the Salamander stays to his corner, with his sake.

When Giganpor talks about wondering about status effects cause of Merek's cursed sword. The Salamander raises his brow, leaning back in the chair and he glances over to Merek, before back to the others.

    Giganpor shrugs, "Maybe? It depends upon how far the inspects overlap, I guess. I could try on the sword. Since my technical profession is Armorsmithing, it might not work."

    He looks over at Merek, "Since you're here, may I give it a shot?"

    A small shrug is given, "If nothing else, we can point Miho and Kaydon at it. Let them get a look. With the blasted thing being the near start of the whole undead army situation, it might be a clue as to how to stop it as well."

Shiruba just huhs softly at the mention of Merek's sword. "Well, I don't have pharamcy skills or anything, but I do have some item analyzation ones." She chuckles awkwardly and rubs the back of her head with one hand. "That I kinda sometimes forget I DO have because I'm usually focused on my tracking or cartography... Speaking of, when I get an oppritunity to I'm going to start looking for the Misty Ruins again. Now that we know the Undead Army and their Queen are connected to that adventure, finding it's location might help with the problem as well. Find their 'home base' as it is, and maybe we can find how they're travelling from it and slow them down that way."

    "I think that was more we killed the insane King, not so much the sword itself. Anyway, you can take a look, though usually it looks like a normal sword," Merek notes while he takes a moment to draw the blade, with the inset gem of crimson and places that for folk to take a look at, nodding a little.

    At long last, the Salamander speaks up from where he sits and been so idle at with his cup and bottle of sake. "If you are going to track down their base of operations. I would suggest you take someone with you."

Xander goes to pick up the cup in his hand, "After all, if something does go sideways, you want someone watching your six." Then takes a sip of his cup.

Then he looks over to Merek, "... And only normal until it is trying to devour some part of you for whatever the hell reason."

Then after he takes another sip he goes, "Hi Uta. Please don't lose yourself to status buff or debuffs. I already have enough on my plate."

    Uta does a double-take as Xander speaks, but composes herself quickly enough. "I think we're pretty safe there. Unless you count cookie-cutter, run-of-the-mill potions of minor healing and antidotes as exceptional achievements, I doubt I'm going to attract the attention of any Goddess of Crafting any time soon. In fact..." She points at her Cait Sith friend with an open palm. "I've pretty much being supporting other people, just like Shiruba. That seems to have done wonders for us not getting hit by the mood bug."

    There is some silence, and after that, unable to restrain therself, she continues. "...I'm sorry for that time I ran off with the circus. I didn't mean to run off-run /off/. More like, temporarily learn things. Hope it didn't sound like I was ditching you there. It was all playful banter, I hope it was obvious."

    "Oh, right! The misty ruins! I was there. Still got the vial of water we got back then." She smiles. "That takes me back..." She frowns at Merek's words. "Yes, we killed the king and you immediately yoinked the sword. I'm seriously still wondering if it was a good idea."

Shiruba holds up both her hands. "Hey, I like helping my friends! And no Xander, even if I do figure out where it is I sure am not going to run off to it by myself, that would be rediculously reckless." She shakes her head a bit and settles back down, picking up the drink she was brought along with the rest of the food. "Yeah, I have that vial still too. Don't really plan to use it any time soon, it might yet prove to be important to this matter."

After what happened on the island with her just happening to have the right item for the Machina to use, and able to get a promise it wouldn't kill them in exchange for it, she's not taking chances on certain things possibly becoming relative later on.

She's mostly keeping undisruptive so Giganpor can give the sword a look if he wishes.

    Giganpor moves over to get a look at the sword, doing an inspect on it as he tries to figure out if there's anything odd about it. He certainly doesn't touch it, as that's probably a bad thing. Plus, he has enough on his plate without additional curses being stuck on him.

    "In any case, Uta, one of the things that I would like to check is those that you know have had these moods. I know I gained a new... title, I guess? Maybe profession out of it? Jazuhanzu did as well, and I think Miho did. I need to find Kaydon and check with him. If that is what is happening and we're just getting... better at whatever fields they are, then I would say we need to just see about watching out fellows instead of attempting to do something about it. As long as it's not harmful." Giganpor is saying this as he's checking the sword's information as much as he can. Damage, type, weight, everything it seems like.

    To Giganpor, it would look like any other weapon. Although of note, its damage seems to be a bit on the plus side, well above what one might think of most weapons available. All the same, not much to really gain from it at the moment. Merek looks then to Giganpor, as well as Uta and Shiruba, "It's... I went to the Temple of Law, the ones that would work with the Law of Alba. It kinda looks normal usually. I don't know why."

    "Like this thing." Xander says to Shiruba holding up an orb with mists swirling around in it. He then goes to place it away back in his inventory. His eyes shift over to Uta, "Also don't worry about it. Your fine."

The Salamander goes to finish his glass of sake, then places a cork in the bottle, and stowing it away as well. He looks over to Shiruba, "And I know your not reckless, just saying. It's hard to say how their hold out is being defended."

Shiruba says. "I will ask Kaydon next time I see him about it. I didn't before because I didn't know new designations were a thing from it."

    "... the hell? The damage is enhanced, I can say that much. I'd say it's a rare item at least." Giganpor looks over at Shiruba, "Well, we kinda just started figuring it out. I mean, I still don't know what the quest thing is. 'Follow in the steps of your ancestors'? Geez." He notes, looking back at the weapon.

    "I have managed to inspect Gwen during our brief encounter after she was done. Status effect was completely gone. But you're right, I will have to try and gather as much data as possible. Maybe we should inspect anyone who has not undergone the effect, yet, so we can compare complete dossiers before and after the fact."

    At Giganpor's comments about the sword, Uta grins. "It's impressive how many things you find out just by being nosy beyond what you're supposed to, right? I'm getting it down to an art." She points her thumb at Shiruba. "For instance, Shiruba and I regularly get high-quality crafted outfits from Gwen. I can tell they're hand-crafted by tasting them. They taste like clothes. Works just like with food!" She seems to realize something, then turns to the wolf Cait Sith. "...Please don't tell Gwen I double-check they're not menu made. She might think it's rude."

    She almost falls over from her chair. "Wait, what's that about the Temple of Law? Do you have more information about the subject of the Laws of Alba?"

Shiruba just gives Uta a flat look for a moment. "She'd probably question more why you're checking it by -taste- than the fact that you're checking it." A shake of her head and she looks to Merek for a moment. "So.. it doesn't break any 'laws' of the world then? If the Temple found nothing wrong with it..." Though that is a little over her head.

Instead she turns back to Giganpor and smiles. "So, Giganpor. You want to see something possibly cool and relevant to your interests?"

    Giganpor glances over at Shiruba, "Sure?" He sighs, grumbling a little. "This is going to take a while." He looks at Merek, "How long are you here for? Or can you try to go by Miho's forge?"

    Merek looks then to Giganpor, "Ah, I need to make a meeting tonight, although I will try to meet with Miho," he notes, then a look to Uta, "Ah, well. The Temple of Law are the Priesthood which deals with the Law of Alba, their whole mission is to find anything that breaks that Law. At the moment they saw nothing different about the sword, although clearly something's up with it. We'll see," he states. Then a look to Shiruba, "I don't know, anyway I do know I'm glad it isn't in the Queen's hand. It eats character data, and it broke my sprite. It was like it was taking pieces of me." That's something Uta might not know!

    Merek looks then to Giganpor, "Ah, I need to make a meeting tonight, although I will try to meet with Miho," he notes, then a look to Uta, "Ah, well. The Temple of Law are the Priesthood which deals with the Law of Alba, their whole mission is to find anything that breaks that Law. At the moment they saw nothing different about the sword, although clearly something's up with it. We'll see," he states. Then a look to Shiruba, "I don't know, anyway I do know I'm glad it isn't in the Queen's hand. It eats character data, and it broke my sprite. It was like it was taking pieces of me." That's something Uta might not know!

Shiruba scoots back her chair a little so she has room to reach into her inventory, though she's waiting for Giganpor to finish inspecting the sword. That thing still slightly gives her the creeps, but like Merek she is thankfully the Queen doesn't have it. If she wants it so badly she's willing to start an invasive war over, it is probably better that she doesn't it.

But she doesn't want to disrupt the smith doing his thing before she distracts him with something else of interest.

    Xander watches everyone look and examine the sword, at least those who are. He reaches over and dares to tap it with his claw. "I think it should be still thrown into the lava pit somewhere."

The Salamander then goes to walk past the group, "Either way, take care folks. I am going back to my room, getting some rest, and trying to kick out a dent in my shield."

    "Wait, wait, you did WHAT?! IT ATE DATA?! Is that why you came to be inspected?" Uta might or might not have heard this story but, you know, this is Uta we are talking about. "And there is a Priesthood of the Law of Alba?! Why do you keep dropping such bombs-"

    Silence.

    "...wait a minute..." She slaps her forehead. "So /THAT/ is what it means!"

    She flicks her finer, navigates through her inventory, and materializes... something. What looks like a dragon's scale materializes in her hand. She runs it over the sword, as if it was some sort of ritual object. Or perhaps, more like a science fiction detector. "Interesting. Fascinating. Most intriguing," she says, staring down at the item.

    Giganpor shakes his head, "Just the name of the thing. Shadow Eclipse. Otherwise, I've got nothing." He shrugs, then looks to the others. "I guess armorcraft and weaponcraft don't interact that much when it comes to inspections. Ah well... so what did you have?"

    The smith eyes Shiruba, "So, what do you have? And why do I get the feeling this is going to be another long time thing?"

"Take care then, Xander." Then the wolfgirl smiles, tail whumping lightly against the back of her chair as it doesn't have a lot of clearance to actually wag. "I don't know about that." Shiruba pulls out a portion of armor and puts it on the table -- carefully to not disrupt any of the food or drinks there -- and scoot it towards Giganpor. At a closer look it becomes apparent that it's not just armor, but some combination of organic and metallic materials, with some spikes and mottled coloring that could be some manner of camoflague. "This came off one of the bosses we found in the new section of the spider dungeon that recently became accessable... So I think it might be an sort of rarer version of the chitinous plates we found last time." She figured the smith would be as interested in the place it came from as he would the item itself.

    Merek waves a little and nods to Xander, while he looks to the three, "Ah, well there's always a few new things we can learn," he notes, then he inspects the weapon. "Well, it's pretty interesting and all of that," he notes, then he yawns.

    "It's a Lawey-Wawey Detector. It goes ding when there's stuff," explains Uta. "I mean, uh... it's... a thing I found in my inventory after the Apocalypse. It's described as glowing red when this world's laws are being broken. I thought it was a crime detector, possibly some sort of magical surveillance system or something, but now I realize it might mean much more!"

    After far too many wavings of the scale above the sword, and zero change in its appearance, she raises the scale to eye level and stares at it. "Nope," she says, flipping the item front and back. "No breaking of the Laws of Alba seems to be taking place."

    There is some silence. "Either that, or the sword is not being stolen."

    Seeming to FINALLY catch up with what is going on in reality around her, she turns to the leaving Salamander. "...bye Xander!"

    Giganpor looks considerate as he eyes the plate. He reaches over to tap the plate, then actually flicks one of the spikes. "Interesting." He looks thoughtfully at it, even picking it up and turning it over every which way before handing it back.

    "I'll have to visit that dungeon again. The piece looks similiar to the buckler before I crafted it. It could perhaps be used to enhance it, or if a large enough one drops, make armor out of it. It's definitely not the same as what I used, which means I could possibly combine it with what I have, too. Hm." He looks very thoughtful on that one.

Shiruba smiles a little more. That is the sort of the reaction she was expecting. "When you mentioned bucklers and that it would be something that wouldn't get in the way of my archery like larger shields, I remembered having this. I think, if you put a socket or two in it, I could add one of these magic gems I have and get some resonance with my magic as well, like how I empower my arrows. I mean, for all means, go in there to get your own, but if I decide to do something like that with it I'll be coming to you."

    Giganpor gives a nod towards Shiruba, "Sure! Be interesting to see what comes out of that one. And I can probably make the fitting to the jewel." He considers, then gives a small grin, "That's already possible. Us tanks do it sometimes."

    Picking up his buckler from his side, he motions off to one side as a summoning circle appears and the buckler gives off a little white glow. "Come forth, Auris!" The bird-like light elemental comes flying out, darting around the table before landing on Giganpor's shoulder.

    "It's just a matter of changing how you do things, really. The gem might just enhance it, however." Giganpor notes, then looks to Merek, "Sorry I couldn't help with the thing." Then he looks to Uta, "So... you got a list of names of those effected by the whole moods? Best way to find out if they gained professions or the like with it."

    Merek looks between people, while he nods a little bit, "It's fine, I should be about my way, if you all don't mind." A little smile while he picks up the food to place into inventory.

"I figured you'd be interested in seeing it, and the idea." Shiruba whistles a bit as Gigan summons his Light bird through his buckler. "I will gladly take it just making it stronger with the attunement. My defense options outside of evasive tactics are limited, so I won't complain about having just an extra layer to put between me and something else, considering some of the dangers we have seen."

With that said, she picks up the rest of her assortment of the food. "I'm going to go up to my room, finish this, and get some rest. I'll bring you the armor and the gem and anything else I have that might be useful to it later. Or leave it at Miho's shop for you."

    Uta stares in amazement at the bird getting summoned. Seems like her sense of wonder hasn't abandoned her, despite having been in a Land of Magic and Adventure for months or being a magic user herself.

    Once she recomposes herself, she tells Giganpor,"The list of people is pretty much the ones I've mentioned earlier. Gwen, Kita, Jazz, Pela. Might be a bit early for Pela, but I can check with the rest. I'll be prettty busy finishing the setup of my lab in the next week, then I'll have to ramp up the first batch of experiments, so I'm not sure when I will actually get around to it. You can certainly ask them if you meet them first. I don't meet Miho often, so perhaps someone else should ask her. Oh, and now that you know how it's done, get anyone who acts strange inspected medically."

    She pushes herself to stand, and waves. "Thank you for the invitation, Giganpor. This was a really fruitful exchange. Thanks to you as well, Merek. And to you, Shiruba. Always great. Now I really have to go, though..."

    *** HOURS LATER ***

    Uta's stomach grumbles. She frowns in concentration, before slapping her forehead. "EATING. That's what I forgot to do at the Isekai Ryokan!"