《Mail Fox Tales》The 8th Delivery: Chapter 2
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“So,” Kurt began as he stepped inside and spotted Eva sagged into a chair still wearing her miko clothes, “What exactly had you so worried that you don't want to talk about it on the phone?”
“This” Eva said as she picked up the folded letter and turned to hand it over to her friend.
She watched with bated breath as his eyes run over the text in his hands, then went over it again. “And what do you think?”
“For someone who knows so much about it, this Odinson is suspiciously sparse on details.” Kurt commented after a moment of deliberation. “How did you get this in the first place?”
“A very drunk squirrel dropped it in front of me.” She replied, leaning back into her chair, her left arm dangling down limply.
“Well then even if it is as sketchy looking as it is, we should probably go.” Kurt mused aloud. “After all, if they can find out this much about us, and make Ratatoskr deliver the letter, we probably can’t avoid them for long anyways.”
“Yeah that’s just what Komaki said earlier as well.” Eva said, sagging a bit in on herself. “Do you have anything to wear to a fancy restaurant like that?”
“Mhm. I packed a suit.” The werewolf replied, before mumbling on. “Though I didn’t expect to use it for a fancy dinner.”
“Well then I guess we’ll just have to wait for Sunday and hope it’s not a bad surprise, whatever it will be.”
“What about asking prof. Yamanaka for advice?” He suggested with a tilt of his head. “Or did you call him already?”
“No, I, kinda, forgot that was an option.” Eva mumbled while rubbing her neck, fluffy fox ears flattened against her hair.
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“Well it wasn’t his class that was canceled this morning, so how about we swing by his office later today?” Kurt suggested, to which the Kitsune simply nodded. “Great, then how about we do something more entertaining than moping around about things we have no idea how to approach?” As he finished, he didn’t even wait for his friend’s reply. He simply took a hold of her dangling left arm and dragged her to the genkan to put on shoes.
~~~
As the Werewolf hadn’t given her much choice, Eva had had to change her clothes to something more casual as they’d taken the short cut along the fox road. After stepping out through a Torii near a small shrine in a side alley, the Kitsune’s stomach let out a long growl. While she was busy trying not to look embarrassed about it, Kurt took charge and, following his nose, dragged her off again.
“Seems someone hasn’t had breakfast yet.” He ribbed her, a friendly grin nearly splitting his face. “So what are you feeling like? Handful of Karaage? A few takoyaki? A skewer of grilled eel? My treat.”
“Takoyaki sounds good.” Eva mumbled in reply as she let herself be dragged along.
“Well then let’s go find a takoyaki stand before we see about bothering prof. Yamanaka.”
While he had no magic sense of direction like her, Eva knew that Kurt’s nose could be trusted, especially when he was leading the duo towards food. And sure enough, after rounding a couple of corners, the two Germans reached a rather nondescript Takoyaki stand. The grill was manned by an elderly gentleman, who displayed speed and agility when flipping around the tiny balls of sizzling hot dough few would attribute to one as wrinkled as him.
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Entranced by the lovely smell and the prospect of tongue searing hot food, Eva completely missed Kurt ordering, paying for, and receiving half a dozen tiny balls of octopus filled deliciousness until he pushed one against her lips.
Opening her mouth and taking it off the little wooden toothpick he had used to pick it up, Eva was immediately reminded why that was usually a bad idea. As she bit down, the slightly gooey, and burning hot, interior of the Takoxaki spilled out and covered her whole mouth. Parting her lips slightly, Eva began to pant loud and fast, trying to get as much of the cool morning air to sooth her mouth as possible.
Kurt, deciding to be both helpful and enjoy this, was laughing loudly at her misfortune while taking a bottle of ice cold water from the vendor and handing it to the unfortunate Kitsune.
“Tha- thanks.” Eva groaned once her mouth was no longer in utter agony.
“No worries, I got you.” He replied as he held out the small paper tray with the remaining takoyaki for her.
As she took it from him and began to eat the rest of it, much more carefully now, the two continued on, and, thanks to numerous more or less weird short cuts, soon arrived at their destination.
Sadly, what greeted them was not the open office door and friendly professor they had hoped could give them some sage advice. Instead a sign hanging from his door informed everyone interested that he’d sadly not be available for anything beyond classes, and to please present any important issues to one of his teaching assistants.
Seeing a weird ripple in the air around the sign though, Eva focused on her magic, hoping to make something happen with those. Be it because it was just supposed to reveal itself to magical students, or because Eva actually managed to make something happen, the note did expand, letting people in the know know that he was busy counseling a small number of students that had unexpectedly been thrown into the deep end of things. Though even this was rather sparse on Details.
“Well, there goes that idea.” Eva grumbled, head dipping down.
“Well, if he truly is busy with something like that, I think we can handle a slightly suspicious dinner by ourselves.” Kurt offered, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Do you want to check if maybe Karasuza is up for sitting on a nearby window so we have someone we can trust to call for help if things go weird?”
“Yeah. Yeah that’s a good idea, I’ll visit her later today.” Eva said, pulling her head back up.
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The Vitaean Chronicles - Volume I: The Sanguine Prince
NOTE: Chapters 02 - 19 are currently slated for review and rewrite following the Conclusion of Act I. Please bear this in mind! When tragedy strikes Arcturus Valoura, he is ripped from his carefree existence and thrown into a world of politics and peril, where today's friend is tomorrow's foe. Bereft of the knowledge and skills needed to survive in his new reality, he will need to find his place within a realm that mixes magic and science in impossible ways. He will need to learn the secrets of the mysterious System that allows him to guide his potential for growth even as he struggles to unlock the powers needed to keep himself alive. In the darkest, and most desolate places of an ancient land he will have to find the answers to forbidden questions, and terrible secrets long purged from the histories of mankind. And in so doing, shake the very foundations of reality itself. Release Schedule: Tuesdays (I may post on off-days if I get a lot done). Advanced Chapters available on Patreon starting May 4th 2021. Discord Community: https://discord.gg/3tHKHAx7Ye The Vitaean Chronicles are a debut LitRPG High Fantasy series written with the intent of filling a niche I've yet to see filled anywhere else. This is my first novel of this kind, so please be patient with me. Throughout this story, I will endeavour to create an evolving and expansive narrative anchored around believable characters, compelling plotlines, and a consistent and sensible magic system. The purpose of this work is to create what I believe to be a relatively unique piece of fiction, drawing inspiration from many great stories that have come before from the likes of Tolkien, Jordan, Hertbert, Goodkind, Pratchett, Martin, and several others. My goal is not to create a masterpiece, but simply to create a story that someone can read and re-read with the same joy, same frustration, and same investment each time. This story will contain violence, politics, Shakespearian drama, tongue-in-cheek references, adult content, and well-crafted relationships of both platonic and romantic natures. I will not promise you will like every choice I make. I can only guarantee that I will do my best to create a story I, and you, can be proud of. As I progress, I will have room to incorporate fan-made characters for those interested in making their mark within the tapestry of this tale (with the customary disclaimer that they do so while waiving any rights to future profit, lol). Thank you to Royal Road for giving me the platform to do that, and thank you dear readers past, present, and future for choosing to come on this journey with me. Finally, just to cover myself: This work is Copyrighted to the Author herein known as 'Hannibal Forge', and recreation, distribution, or re-release of any material herein in a commercial or public capacity absent permission from the Author can and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the Law.
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