I would've thought the answer is just that it allows this place to operate. Though I'm not sure *why* they put in the effort, since it doesn't seem like they're making any profit off the resort. It's starting to sound like this is just an amusement facility for half-dead souls or a holding ground for ghosts, and those don't sound the least bit worthwhile to me.
[There's a pause as he rereads the message again. He's still stuck on the part about people who haven't gotten around as much—how their souls are "weaker." And then he thinks about that part in the diary page again. "Some of us are more valuable than others."
.....]
About the guests who have "weaker souls" - do you think that has anything to do with why people keep vanishing?
I believe it's what you said, actually. There's no need to be so shy when I'm only being honest with you in return, you know.
As for your question, I think I'd have to know the moment when someone vanishes and look into it as immediately as possible. Not only that, but there are countless strings in a complex web tied throughout this resort, interacting with one another— the roots are too tangled to isolate quite in that manner.
So, I have no idea. There may be correlation, but it may be unrelated. All I know is that those ones receive less energy than is being stolen from them, and the imbalance results in a less robust or comfortable feeling.
He almost denies it. But A, what does it matter, and B, Esikko does have a point about honesty.]
It just doesn't really seem relevant to our questions about the resort.
[Says the guy who's prone to getting off-topic... but at least he dodged instead of just lying.]
If you do want to investigate that, I have a couple of names I could give you. Someone on that post informed me of two more people who've gone missing. Unlike Rinne-senpai, their names weren't listed in the registry when I checked. But it sounds like you've exerted yourself just getting the information you shared with me, so I won't expect you to do anything more at the moment.
[He's worried about that, too. Not that he was close to either of the missing people, but he liked one of them well enough. And if it can happen to them...]
I'm surprised you can sense who's slept with a lot of people and who hasn't, honestly. You don't have magic eyes that enable you to see through people's walls, do you?
But basically, everyone's having energy stolen from them - not just those who frequent the casino - and the only way to replace that stolen energy is by being promiscuous, as far as you can tell. Do I have that all right?
Everything is relevant. The types of people who come here, their history, their personality, their souls, their lives. They can all be keys to the puzzle. That's all. You can rest easy.
I would be interested in those names. I'd like to do what I can, even if I grow tired. I do have limited time, after all.
As for being able to see it, no, I don't. The spell temporarily revealed to be the web of roots, or strings, connecting this place, these people, this world. Reaching out and touching them would grant me information, tracing along them could reveal more— it's a bit complex to explain, but think of it like the strings of a musical instrument, since you're so musically inclined. Plucking those strings releases a note, and that note echoes and is answered back— you can tell what note it is, the richness, the tone, the length, right? And two strings, if harmonizing... Well, it's something like that, I think.
But you're mostly correct. Energy seems to be stolen most often on the casino floor, by those dealers. Energy is replaced by sex of any form, but those who have it more often and with more people seem more robust with it. That is the summary.
... Hiyori doesn't disagree with the first part. A good detective takes stock of everything (at least according to TV shows!). But he's just going to skip past that part of the text for now.]
The first one is Deuce Spade. Which sounds like a fake name the House would come up with, but it's actually the name his mother gave him! Or so he said, and he didn't seem like the type to lie. His username is @ spadesarewild. And then the second one is
Sorry, hold on a moment.
[After going back to some previous conversations:]
The second one is Azul, and I'm pretty sure he and @ mostromngr are the same person. If you do end up finding something out, let me know so I can pass it on to their upperclassmen. He seems to think they'll be alright, and it'd be nice if he was right about that, but
[He just has a bad feeling, since their accounts are no longer listed. He didn't have the heart to say that to Vil, though.]
So that's what you meant by "roots."
That makes it sound like anyone someone's been intimate with leaves a stain somewhere deep down. One that can't ever be washed out or erased. I presume it works like that even if it's just a meaningless act of "collecting cards," huh.
In any case, thanks for the summary. It sounds like everyone who isn't sleeping around should stay far away from the casino. Actually, I can't think of any good reason to go there either way, so we should probably all stay away. I doubt Rinne-senpai will listen, but it couldn't hurt to try!
[...]
I really do appreciate you sharing, by the way. I might have something for you in return tomorrow, since there's someone I'm planning to question. I don't know how reserved they'll be, but it's worth a shot!
I'll note these names. It sounds like someone else may be doing some digging as well, to bring them up, but if anything comes up I'll be sure to let you know.
( A genuine thanks does earn a pause from him, but he eventually manages to reply to it, too. Sort of. )
How interesting. I'll wait in eager suspense to see if you have more news, then.
He said he'd look for them, anyway. And that he already tried asking the staff, but they were just useless. Not surprising now that we know they're ghosts!
I don't have any new information yet, but that should change soon. First, however, I need a memory! Care to describe something that happened to you in the past? It sounds like it can be absolutely anything, so you don't have to choose something sad or difficult.
Though I wouldn't choose something mundane, either, just in case that bores her. Something that makes for a good story!
Someone on my post suggested that the owner of the Red Cardinal might be the woman from Victoria's diary entry. The one who'd been planning on opening a bar, and who said that "what the resort takes from each guest is dependent on the person."
I asked if she was the same woman, and that *did* turn out to be true, but she wasn't willing to share much because she doesn't know me. So now we're in the "getting to know each other" stage. And she wants me to do 2 things for her:
1. Eat her dishes for a month 2. Collect the memories of 3 guests and bring them back them back to her
She said all I need to do for the second one is have 3 people describe a memory. She didn't ask for a specific kind of memory, like "a childhood memory" or "a sad memory," so I guess anything goes. I'd try to choose something interesting just to be on the safe side, though.
I don't know for sure that she *can't* do magic, but she seems like a regular bar owner. That's why she stands out, really. She doesn't act like she's been brainwashed the way the rest of the staff do. But if you're still leery, you can always go with something that isn't too personal.
Or I can ask someone else, I guess. I'm good at talking to all sorts of people! I just thought I'd ask you since we're already sharing all this information. Plus I didn't get the chance to hear your "earliest memory" at the Hearts party.
( Hmm. Of course, nothing comes free. Hiyori's been sent on a task, it seems, and Esikko doesn't exactly want to stop him from it. Besides, he knows from reading through Hiyori's post that a certain bodyguard had leaked a little too much information already, so... )
Well, it won't be my earliest memory, but I will give a relevant one. There are some memories I could do without, anyway.
I remember snow falling on the side of my face being the first sensation after a long period of darkness and pain. It must have been the first snow of the season, but I was beginning to be covered by it. My body was bloodied, beaten and weak. I thought for certain I was going to die. I couldn't remember how I'd gotten there, in that forest, if I'd crawled myself or been dumped, but when I felt a foot nudge into my side, that spike of pain gave me an ounce of energy to look up.
That was how I met that bodyguard. He was peering down at me, looking surprised to see me move at all, and I used the last of my energy on a breath asking him for help before I passed out again. When I came to once again, he had taken me to a dingy little shack somewhere, but I was alive. Patched up and cleaned, even, as he was making food.
But at what cost? He's not sure what he expected to read, but it wasn't that.
A multitude of questions flit through his mind. But does he really want to ask them? And is now really the time? Probably not, so after a minute or so he just writes back:]
Thanks. That should work.
[And now he'll put the prince's unpleasant memories out of sight and out of mind!
... or so he'd like, but certain details are nagging at him. Remembering his Network conversation with Kirma brings up even more questions, most of which he does know better than to ask. But after another pause:]
[....... has anything ever gone right for this guy?]
If you say so.
It's fine if you want to reinvent yourself. I'd rather keep being me, though. And I'm sure you don't like being tossed around and forced to obey the House any more than I do, since it sounds like you already got enough of that treatment back home. So!
In order to make things better for you *and* for me, I'll just have to figure out what it is they're after. Why exactly they're doing this, and what exactly they value. Once I've solved that, I'll be sure to let you know!
I have a generous heart, you know. So I'm afraid there's just no helping how I feel sometimes. I'm not sure what lessons you were taught growing up, but my family always told me that it's our duty to help those who are less fortunate. That's what you call the principle of noblesse oblige.
Though I don't think they were talking about royals when they said that. Royals are supposed to be even more blessed. You're sort of an odd case!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Is that what it sounded like?
[Yep, that was a dodge!]
I would've thought the answer is just that it allows this place to operate. Though I'm not sure *why* they put in the effort, since it doesn't seem like they're making any profit off the resort. It's starting to sound like this is just an amusement facility for half-dead souls or a holding ground for ghosts, and those don't sound the least bit worthwhile to me.
[There's a pause as he rereads the message again. He's still stuck on the part about people who haven't gotten around as much—how their souls are "weaker." And then he thinks about that part in the diary page again. "Some of us are more valuable than others."
.....]
About the guests who have "weaker souls" - do you think that has anything to do with why people keep vanishing?
no subject
As for your question, I think I'd have to know the moment when someone vanishes and look into it as immediately as possible. Not only that, but there are countless strings in a complex web tied throughout this resort, interacting with one another— the roots are too tangled to isolate quite in that manner.
So, I have no idea. There may be correlation, but it may be unrelated. All I know is that those ones receive less energy than is being stolen from them, and the imbalance results in a less robust or comfortable feeling.
no subject
He almost denies it. But A, what does it matter, and B, Esikko does have a point about honesty.]
It just doesn't really seem relevant to our questions about the resort.
[Says the guy who's prone to getting off-topic... but at least he dodged instead of just lying.]
If you do want to investigate that, I have a couple of names I could give you. Someone on that post informed me of two more people who've gone missing. Unlike Rinne-senpai, their names weren't listed in the registry when I checked. But it sounds like you've exerted yourself just getting the information you shared with me, so I won't expect you to do anything more at the moment.
[He's worried about that, too. Not that he was close to either of the missing people, but he liked one of them well enough. And if it can happen to them...]
I'm surprised you can sense who's slept with a lot of people and who hasn't, honestly. You don't have magic eyes that enable you to see through people's walls, do you?
But basically, everyone's having energy stolen from them - not just those who frequent the casino - and the only way to replace that stolen energy is by being promiscuous, as far as you can tell. Do I have that all right?
no subject
I would be interested in those names. I'd like to do what I can, even if I grow tired. I do have limited time, after all.
As for being able to see it, no, I don't. The spell temporarily revealed to be the web of roots, or strings, connecting this place, these people, this world. Reaching out and touching them would grant me information, tracing along them could reveal more— it's a bit complex to explain, but think of it like the strings of a musical instrument, since you're so musically inclined. Plucking those strings releases a note, and that note echoes and is answered back— you can tell what note it is, the richness, the tone, the length, right? And two strings, if harmonizing... Well, it's something like that, I think.
But you're mostly correct. Energy seems to be stolen most often on the casino floor, by those dealers. Energy is replaced by sex of any form, but those who have it more often and with more people seem more robust with it. That is the summary.
no subject
... Hiyori doesn't disagree with the first part. A good detective takes stock of everything (at least according to TV shows!). But he's just going to skip past that part of the text for now.]
The first one is Deuce Spade. Which sounds like a fake name the House would come up with, but it's actually the name his mother gave him! Or so he said, and he didn't seem like the type to lie. His username is @ spadesarewild. And then the second one is
Sorry, hold on a moment.
[After going back to some previous conversations:]
The second one is Azul, and I'm pretty sure he and @ mostromngr are the same person. If you do end up finding something out, let me know so I can pass it on to their upperclassmen. He seems to think they'll be alright, and it'd be nice if he was right about that, but
[He just has a bad feeling, since their accounts are no longer listed. He didn't have the heart to say that to Vil, though.]
So that's what you meant by "roots."
That makes it sound like anyone someone's been intimate with leaves a stain somewhere deep down. One that can't ever be washed out or erased. I presume it works like that even if it's just a meaningless act of "collecting cards," huh.
In any case, thanks for the summary. It sounds like everyone who isn't sleeping around should stay far away from the casino. Actually, I can't think of any good reason to go there either way, so we should probably all stay away. I doubt Rinne-senpai will listen, but it couldn't hurt to try!
[...]
I really do appreciate you sharing, by the way. I might have something for you in return tomorrow, since there's someone I'm planning to question. I don't know how reserved they'll be, but it's worth a shot!
no subject
( A genuine thanks does earn a pause from him, but he eventually manages to reply to it, too. Sort of. )
How interesting. I'll wait in eager suspense to see if you have more news, then.
no subject
And great! Guess that's that. Talk to you later 👋
[Now we wait to see how this pans out.]
no subject
Alright, so! ⭐️✨
I don't have any new information yet, but that should change soon. First, however, I need a memory! Care to describe something that happened to you in the past? It sounds like it can be absolutely anything, so you don't have to choose something sad or difficult.
Though I wouldn't choose something mundane, either, just in case that bores her. Something that makes for a good story!
no subject
( Is someone gonna like, eat it? He's got plenty to spare, but... At the same time, he doesn't!! )
no subject
Someone on my post suggested that the owner of the Red Cardinal might be the woman from Victoria's diary entry. The one who'd been planning on opening a bar, and who said that "what the resort takes from each guest is dependent on the person."
I asked if she was the same woman, and that *did* turn out to be true, but she wasn't willing to share much because she doesn't know me. So now we're in the "getting to know each other" stage. And she wants me to do 2 things for her:
1. Eat her dishes for a month
2. Collect the memories of 3 guests and bring them back them back to her
She said all I need to do for the second one is have 3 people describe a memory. She didn't ask for a specific kind of memory, like "a childhood memory" or "a sad memory," so I guess anything goes. I'd try to choose something interesting just to be on the safe side, though.
I don't know for sure that she *can't* do magic, but she seems like a regular bar owner. That's why she stands out, really. She doesn't act like she's been brainwashed the way the rest of the staff do. But if you're still leery, you can always go with something that isn't too personal.
Or I can ask someone else, I guess. I'm good at talking to all sorts of people! I just thought I'd ask you since we're already sharing all this information. Plus I didn't get the chance to hear your "earliest memory" at the Hearts party.
no subject
Well, it won't be my earliest memory, but I will give a relevant one. There are some memories I could do without, anyway.
I remember snow falling on the side of my face being the first sensation after a long period of darkness and pain. It must have been the first snow of the season, but I was beginning to be covered by it. My body was bloodied, beaten and weak. I thought for certain I was going to die. I couldn't remember how I'd gotten there, in that forest, if I'd crawled myself or been dumped, but when I felt a foot nudge into my side, that spike of pain gave me an ounce of energy to look up.
That was how I met that bodyguard. He was peering down at me, looking surprised to see me move at all, and I used the last of my energy on a breath asking him for help before I passed out again. When I came to once again, he had taken me to a dingy little shack somewhere, but I was alive. Patched up and cleaned, even, as he was making food.
It was the moment he became my bodyguard.
That should be sufficient.
no subject
But at what cost? He's not sure what he expected to read, but it wasn't that.
A multitude of questions flit through his mind. But does he really want to ask them? And is now really the time? Probably not, so after a minute or so he just writes back:]
Thanks. That should work.
[And now he'll put the prince's unpleasant memories out of sight and out of mind!
... or so he'd like, but certain details are nagging at him. Remembering his Network conversation with Kirma brings up even more questions, most of which he does know better than to ask. But after another pause:]
Mind if I ask one more thing?
no subject
( It feels awkward, sharing unpleasant things like this, but... well. There's no point in refusing additional questions, he guesses. )
no subject
The one you were both traveling towards, that is.
no subject
Well, it's just as much an inconvenience as it is an opportunity, really.
no subject
If you say so.
It's fine if you want to reinvent yourself. I'd rather keep being me, though. And I'm sure you don't like being tossed around and forced to obey the House any more than I do, since it sounds like you already got enough of that treatment back home. So!
In order to make things better for you *and* for me, I'll just have to figure out what it is they're after. Why exactly they're doing this, and what exactly they value. Once I've solved that, I'll be sure to let you know!
no subject
How noble. I'm grateful that you're going to share things with me, and I with you, but try not to waste your sympathy or pity on me, either.
no subject
I have a generous heart, you know. So I'm afraid there's just no helping how I feel sometimes. I'm not sure what lessons you were taught growing up, but my family always told me that it's our duty to help those who are less fortunate. That's what you call the principle of noblesse oblige.
Though I don't think they were talking about royals when they said that. Royals are supposed to be even more blessed. You're sort of an odd case!
no subject
( haha!!!! )
Anyway, Hiyori. You can get back to me when you have more information, then.
no subject
Yep, will do! I'm sure I'll have a breakthrough sooner rather than later. The truth is always one! 🕵️
[Here, Esikko, have one more reference you won't understand, just for the road.]