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On the Road to Elspar [Book 1] (Dryad Mercenary Schoolgirl Quest)

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Kei said:
The two of you end up sparring some more, making a bit more inconsequential small talk, and then eventually part ways warmly, or at least as warmly as someone like Wendy permits. But when you have a moment to flop onto your bed to rest your muscles and wait for dinner, it occurs to you that many of your friends are largely satisfied as to where they are in life. Melanie and Vesna and Mia seem largely happy being daughters of merchants. Emilie and Nikki seem happy being freeholders. Sieglinde and - to some extent - Elizabeth seem critical - again, to some extent - with their lot in life, but you don't get the feeling that they're entirely unhappy with it. And if you really think about it, if you consider why you even came here in the first place, you realize you're happy being the daughter of a humble freeholder family as well.

But it's perhaps at some point as you stare at the ceiling in your bedroom that you come to understand that Wendy isn't. And although that may be the most enlightening thing you've come to learn about the mousy human girl with a spear - more so than anything else that you've come to learn about her ever since you saw her help spill soup on Elizabeth - you also realize that you have no idea what to think about it.

And you're not sure whether it says more about Wendy...or about you.
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So, Wendy wants more in life than just to be another poor gal from slums? That's admirable, really, but not that easy in their society.
I am not entirely sure why Neianne is not sure what to think about it though.
 
ctulhuslp said:
So, Wendy wants more in life than just to be another poor gal from slums? That's admirable, really, but not that easy in their society.
I am not entirely sure why Neianne is not sure what to think about it though.
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Kei said:
You've been to Arkenvale once, but that was years ago, and you don't quite remember how the people were like. And certainly not people like Wendy; your parents never would've allowed it.
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Neianne's exposure to the urban poor has been limited at best and non-existent at worst. She is realizing this.
 
I was gonna comment myself and just say that Neianne tends to put people in nice, neat little boxes because that's all she's ever had to do her life.

Village people are village people. Noble people are noble people. It was that simple for her. But, yeah, I'm not in Kei's mind so I didn't know if I had it right. ;d
 
Kei said:
I'm in a hurry, so I'll post this part for now and dealing with details (formatting, links, BGM) later. Congrats, I'm not a splatter on the pavement.
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Kei no

remember we're supposed to never cause trouble for other people, this is why we jump off bridges

...

*patpat*

Kei said:
Wendy narrows her eyes. "You know, when you send someone flying five meters away with a big stick, I don't think you get to decide if they're fine or not."

You fidget awkwardly again. "I-It was four," you insist.
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*measures* Well, it might be five if you count the arc with vertical height?

Kei said:
Technically, her spear is longer,
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Cuts off

Kei said:
you suspect that many of those who are watching are mostly curious about how you use as improbably a weapon as a buster sword
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improbable

Kei said:
But spectators are spectators.
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Some day they may even cheer!

Today is not that day.

Kei said:
You are stammering, so before you manage to actually say anything of substance, Wendy - despite being just a second late - finishes first: "Let's be friends."
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*laughs* Neianne will get the first word eventually. Maybe.

...yeah okay probably not.

Kei said:
Then your brain finally catches up with the conversation, your eyes widen, and your face tries to decide whether it should pale in shock or flush in embarrassment. "W-W-Wait!" you stammer harder, waving your hands in front of you in a panic, realizing what has just happened. "Not yet!"
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Daaaaaaaaamn. Yeah, you tell her!

Wait this is the wrong thing to be assertive about what are you doing Neianne

Kei said:
"When I almost got killed by a wyvern." And when you tilt your head slightly to the side in confusion, Wendy looks mildly unhappy as she mumbles, "I didn't have a boob hanging out or anything, did I?"

You immediately flush red once more. "Y-Y-You didn't!" you insist, flailing your hands in front of you once more in a warding, denying gesture. Then, as an afterthought, you add much more hurriedly, "I-I mean, I wasn't l-l-looking!"
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Yeah, Neianne was checking out your ass, Wendy!

...

*flees*

Kei said:
"Well, you don't talk weird like a real dryad, like the ones at Roldharen," Wendy explains, and again you're not sure whether she's trying to mock you or praise you or somewhere in between, "but your sort don't really go for cities much, right? You don't talk like it and you definitely don't dress or act like it either, not like...Mia or Vesna or Nikki. But you're not much like the farmgirls either. Becky and Pisha and Ashlyn always have this kind of...squirrely thing where they don't want to look anyone even a little bit posh in the eye and they sound at least twice as hickish as you do. So: Village girl."
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Well reasoned enough through comparison. Theoretically large enough comparison sizes to avoid outlier influence.

Kei said:
Melanie and Vesna and Mia seem largely happy being daughters of merchants.
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*cough* Melanie ain't gonna be happy anywhere but being covered in the blood of her enemies.
 
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Neianne 2
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    • A little late, but.

    Spectrum said:
    Cuts off
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    Edited:

    Technically, her spear is longer, but she understandably doesn't want to take full advantage of this by closing into a distance where she's more likely to be hit by, at least as she once bitterly described it, "a bed masquerading as a sword".
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    Other stuff fixed too, thanks~

    Now, if you don't mind:

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa



    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    Once again, thanks to @Lazy Minx for commissioning more artwork (again), and thanks to @Sinkquattro for the art~ Please check out their profile on the SV Artist's Registry and their Tumblr~

    Now, if you would excuse me.

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
     
  • Media
    • Kei said:
    A little late, but.



    Edited:



    Other stuff fixed too, thanks~

    Now, if you don't mind:

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa



    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    Once again, thanks to @Lazy Minx for commissioning more artwork (again), and thanks to @Sinkquattro for the art~ Please check out their profile on the SV Artist's Registry and their Tumblr~

    Now, if you would excuse me.

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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    AnonymousRabbit said:
    SHE'S SUPER CUTE.
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    Weaponized cute is deadlier than any sword.
     
    The draft for the next update was a horrible mess because I am a miserable failure. Deleting it and starting over.

    You can tell how much a QM lacks anything resembling a social life by how long it takes them to write about social lives.
     
    Kei said:
    You can tell how much a QM lacks anything resembling a social life by how long it takes them to write about social lives.
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    On the other hand, isn't the willingness and ability to work outside their comfort zone the sign of a good writer? It's easy to write what you know but takes both courage and skill to go beyond.
     
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    Elizabeth Irivich Zabanya 1
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    • Elizabeth in more formal wear compared to her usual "I'm lazing around" sundress.



    im serious the amount of art @Lazy Minx is commissioning for me without me even asking is reaching super guilty levels

    Thanks once again to Soojin Paek for accepting the commission. Please check out her Tumblr and her Twitter.

    I want to try to get the next update out within the next few hours. There may or may not also be an omake in the works.
     
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    • At first glance I was suprised she wasn't smiling. But given the sheer disdain she exudes, that works too. Especially if she's got to dress up and not chillax in casual clothes.
     
    Her eyes is so her same goes for the posture, there's something more than just formal or cute.
    Amazing work!
     
    ah so there's our sadistic lolibabba. Pretty cute, in that regal sort of way. Looks completely done with whatever is going on though with the :\ face and everything.
     
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