/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Why the library looks Satori's pet bird was let loose?" Marisa vaguely indicated the space around them. "I mean, 'a rather poor state' is a bit of an understatement, right?"

"It is, but it's not incorrect. An experiment went wrong. Before you make assumptions, it was for complicated reasons that I am not sharing at this current time." She thought about denying that it was her fault, but...Her perspective on many things had changed recently. "I made some errors that compounded into a bigger problem that was exacerbated by events outside of my control." And inside her control, though it had been her Remnant self's control and she certainly couldn't have predicted what Patchouli had been doing in the real world at that time. "Regardless, I am taking it for the opportunity it represents. Change is welcome, from time to time."

"You're remodelling?" Marisa asked, raising her eyebrows. At least, Patchouli thought that she was raising her eyebrows. She couldn't really see well enough to be sure. "That sounds a bit..."

"It's not as daunting a prospect as it sounds. I'm sure you're familiar with the Kurodani family." Marisa's eye twitched. How interesting. "Youkai can hire youkai constructors. There are none as efficient as the tsuchigumo." Patchouli spread her fingers. "I imagine that you would never know of the damage in a very short period of time once Yamame Kurodani and her sisters have been through here."

"R-Right..." Marisa mumbled. "Of course it'd be the Kurodani." She muttered under her breath, shaking her head. "Of course." Patchouli considered asking her what it was that stuck in her mind in regards to the Kurodani family, but decided that it was hardly important. "A-Anyway, I'll make you an offer. While you're remodelling, I'll try and break in to steal books." Patchouli raised an eyebrow. "Should tell you where any weaknesses might be." That, Patchouli thought, was very impressive. Marisa Kirisame was offering to help her secure the library from theft. "I told you that I was trying to grow up, and I meant it, too. What better way than to help protect the library?"

Patchouli felt a slight laugh escape her before she could stop it. "What better way indeed. Perhaps I shall take you up on your offer when the time comes. Now, shall we get back to the task at hand?" Patchouli indicated the book once more. "You were, I think, telling me something about the magical flow?"

"Yeah. Okay, if you've dimmed your eyes, then look at this." Marisa indicated - Vaguely, because she couldn't touch the book - The cover. "Closely. You wouldn't be able to see it without either a dampener or lowering the amount of light your eyes can take in." Patchouli frowned, then looked closer. Ah, no...She could see it. The cover wasn't blank as she had initially thought. The entire cover, spine, and back of the book...They were the runic sequences. All of them, written so tiny that to the naked eye, it just looked like a black cover. That was why the book glowed so brightly with the detection spell, too. Every single runic character was being lit up at once. "It's all runes. Good gods, Patchouli. What the hell is this book? What kind of contents needs this much sequencing?"

Obviously, Patchouli wasn't going to actually tell her. It was good enough of her to assist Patchouli in understanding the runic sequencing. "I do apologise, Marisa, but I cannot tell you. Not yet. When the time is right...Perhaps." To her pleasure, Marisa only watched her like a hawk for a moment before nodding. "Thank you. Believe me when I say that it is more important than you know."

"Whoa, no need to sell me on it. Say anymore and my fingers might start to itch." Marisa raised her hands with a slight smirk. "Actually, I like my fingers. Having them evaporate wouldn't do me any good. That said..." She leaned back down, tilting her head to the side. "Look at this sequence, here." She indicated the very top of the spine, and Patchouli turned the book to the side in order to get a better look. "Obviously, there's so much here that you can't tell, but...Assuming this follows any sort of logic, then the sequence covering access to the book might be near the top." Patchouli could see the logic, so she simply nodded. "And if that's the top bit, then..."

She reached into her pockets and pulled out a pair of glasses. "I keep all sorts of junk for this stuff." Marisa explained as she pulled off the goggles and put the glasses on. On her left eye...Ah, a set of lenses that were screwed onto the glasses themselves. Patchouli had seen those before, though it had been some seventy or eighty years ago. Marisa pulled down two of the lenses for magnification, then tapped the side. "Covered these in runes, too. Should be...Uh, double or triple the magnification. Not entirely sure. It was a boring night."