Chapter 827: Disciples of Nowhere(2)
*Bing-Bong!*
…
|…|
No.
|What? Why not?|
Because we agreed that in order for you to grow as a writer, you have to write stuff that makes you cringe.
|But-|
NO BUTS!
|Fine…|
Good.
*Bing-Bong!*
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[The hell is going on in the lobby?,] Razorstella asked.
[It appears that…Spring Brawler, Hurricroak and Screamira are attempting to pretend that the Library is some secretive temple sect while acting out like this is a period drama from our jarl’s original world,] Frosttusk answered.
[And they’re doing a rather questionable job on it,] Archanidame added. [If I was a naughty disciple, none of my masters would know I broke any rules.]
[Because they’re on your payroll, you blackmailed them or because you’re that good at hiding your tracks?,] Lacerage asked.
[Yes.]
[Oi!,] Nepherage called out. [Can we save the chatter for after we get our lord back into a medical bed? I swear he’s feeling heavier and heavier by the second and he’s feeling…weird.]
[Weird, how?]
[Weird, like I think he’s somehow creating a kaijin in his unconscious state-weird.]
[I’m pretty sure that’s actually normal.]
[Shut up, you know what I mean.]
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The art of improv is…interesting, to say the least.
The entire premise behind it is to simply agree with whatever anyone says during a performance and using that mix of inspiration, panic and a single prompt to turn whatever is proposed into something coherent.
The key to improv though isn’t just being spontaneous, but it also requires the performers to be able to communicate with one another on a level beyond the physical.
It takes years of practice, and many more years of friendship and understanding, to get to the point of being a troupe able to do any sort of performance at the drop of a hat.
Wouldn’t it be great to just be able to communicate with our minds directly?
Imagine how flawless that performance flows!
– A recorded musing of a famous comedian, who once had dealings with a strange boy.
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Harriet’s (Hurricroak’s) Thought Process
Prompt: I am an inner disciple who broke my sect’s rule about participating in external competitions and I must defend my honor against a younger inner disciple who also bends the rules willy-nilly.
Possible responses:
A. Cry and whine like a little girl, which will get them to think I’m an immature yet powerful warrior. Bratty behavior will also cause outside observers to doubt my abilities, which can lead to hilarious consequences.
B. Counter rant, where I pretend to get incredibly indignant over the fact that I’m being called out for my rule breaking and proceed to make a list of all the times Spring Brawler broke the rules. Rule basis will be based on cartoon stories.
C. Big Sister protocol, use Jasper and Janice as the main target for the blame. Go on rant about having to protect them when they agreed to help Archanidame (old lady) with organizing fights for their arena. Downside is that the klids will probably remember everything and be spiteful when they grow up.
D. Be incredibly stoic. Act like a stonewall and make it appear that when angered, I go from happy-go-lucky into someone who could rip someone’s throat out.
…
E. Mix and match responses from all possible responses into one coherent mess in order to showcase a variety of emotions and fuck with everyone.
…
Let’s go with E.
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Simone’s (Screamira’s) Thought Process
Prompt: I have been caught by my underclassmen in the act of breaking the rules. Nothing crazy, but I did get a job under a local power.
Thought:
Well…I could just say I wanted to see what life was like for people outside of this… monastery?
Sect?
Nunnery?
Wait, he said curators so I guess I could use Library of Nowhere like normal… wait, no…maybe I should use the old name to help cover our existence or would using the old name actually be more telling?
Oooh, wait, I could do what Hurricroak’s doing and pin the blame on the children…and maybe Arachnidame and Lacerage?
“I know I broke the rules, but I was asked by other members to do so because they needed to confirm something outside of the library.”
Hmmm
That could work…
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[…and that’s going to be my answer, what do you think?]
[If we both double down on the children thing, I think it might give both of our answers a form of shared legitimacy.]
[Baller.]
[That said…do we rope in the manager for this too?]
[What do you mean?]
[Well…he has been maintaining the lie that he has some mysterious master, we have been pretending to be occasional disciples from said master. Wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say the manager is a disciple of our pseudo-sect.]
[Oooh, I like that.]
…
*Tiny ping!*
Periodic reminder, all conversations between kaijin happen at the speed of thought.
*Tiny ping*
…
What actually happened despite all of their thinking, planning and improvising.
“Well?”
After Simon (Spring Brawler) “called out” Harriet (Hurricroak) and Simone(Screamira,) on the fact that they had broken the rules of their organization as well, the two women looked positively stunned.
Fortunately, the two of them had very solid answers as to why they had to break such an ironclad rule and were prepared to let loose their tongues and defend their positions better than a lawyer with a taped confession.
“Well you see-”
*Thud!*
“What the-?”
“Zhen Hai, oh my gods!”
“Ow…why can’t I stand up?”
However, as if the universe was throwing them a bone, Harriet and Simone wouldn’t have to use their carefully coordinated answers at all.
Before anyone could say anything, or even twitch a muscle, the first young master of the Zhen Clan had suddenly fell face first onto the floor in the middle of the circular lobby.
The weird thing though was that he was still completely conscious.
“Zhen Hai, are you…okay?”
“I…want to say no, because I can’t feel my body in the slightest and everything feels numb,” Zhen Hai replied. “But I can still move my mouth and my mind still works…so I’m very confused as to what’s going on.”
“Huh…”
His fellow scions looked stunned because they had no idea what had just happened.
The recently arrived Daria and the group of young women she came with look stunned because they had no idea what had just happened.
Hell, even the disguised kaijin looked stunned because they had no idea what had just happened. Unlike the other two parties though, they could get answers.
…
[Archanidame, what the fuck?,] Screamira asked point blank.
[What? What did I do?]
[The First Young Master of the Zhen Clan suddenly just dropped face first like a narcoleptic goat,] Hurricroak answered. [You were fighting him last, so…what did you do?]
[I…oh…wait a minute…yeah. I just remembered…I may have laced my legs in a homemade paralytic venom. Nothing too deadly, but he’ll be stuck like that for a day.]
[A day?!]
[Well, I can probably fix it if I can get access to him for a couple of minutes.]
…
“Ah, well. Looks like your friend has suddenly dropped like a stunned goat,” Simon said in a tone that suggested he was trying to get them to move along. “So I think we might be able to amicably part ways here since-”
“Apologies,” Daria Nerissa-Zhen suddenly interjected with a devious glint in her eyes, “but it appears that my darling nephew has suddenly fallen ill while in the esteemed prescene of…I’m sorry, what faction did you all say you were all part of again?”
“Uh…”
Due to the sudden shift in tone of conversation, combined with Daria’s sudden interjection, Harriet and Simone were still flabbergasted on how to respond.
Thankfully, Simon picked up the slack.
“Ah, apologies, but we can’t share that information with you.”
“Hmm. Why is that?”
“Because we’re in one of those groups that need to maintain a certain level of secrecy amongst certain social circles.”
“Ah…one of those sects…of course.”
In that exact moment, a strange tension appeared in the room as Daria continued to maintain her smile while staring at Simon directly in the eyes. Surprisingly though, Simon managed to keep a straight face.
“Well then…as someone who happens to be in those particular circles…would you still mind…”
“Oh, of course,” Simon agreed. “We can at least provide some…minor form of assistance.”
“Thank you.”
…
[What the fuck was that?]
[I don’t know, just roll with it.]
…
Prompted by Simon and Daria’s conversation, Harriet and Simone proceeded to assist the Zhen Clan scions in carrying Zhen Hai to somewhere to get medical treatment.
“Wait, what about the pained perverts on the ground?”
“We got it.”
Additionally, and perhaps as a small favor, the Zhen Clan scions and young women associated with Daria helped to pick up the trio of perverts in pain and carry them away.
However, not everyone in all of these separate groups left the room at the same time.
In the circular lobby room, Simon and Daria Nerissa-Zhen were the only ones left behind.
“…”
“…”
“So…why the act?”
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|Stabilizing spiritual combat body…|
|Reassessing connection between Kaijin Lord and Kaijin(Parasite Type)…|
|Estimated time until assessment and format completion: Fifteen minutes.|
