PC CATCHALL WITH NERO

[greatdeduction]

Comments

[perfectdistance]

[Okay, this man has some sense of what a meal is.

Sure he'll take two.]

[greatdeduction]

[Nice.]

[He'll put the bag under his arm and just keep munching away, opening other drawers with his free hand.]

Mmm, this place is a nightmare for someone like you, isn't it? For someone who respects the kitchen this highly, to see it in these dire straits is rather horrifying.

[perfectdistance]

It's a complete disaster, but it sounds like it's been abandoned for years. Can't really ask a buncha kids to keep a whole city clean for nothin'.

[greatdeduction]

Well, you say that, but there are adults around. They abandon the children when the "spectres" come into town, and come back when the coast is clear. It's quite a mess of a situation, regardless.

[perfectdistance]

"Spectres"... The "devil" things, huh?

[Sounds like a problem.]

When I talked to 'em, made it sound like the adults have been missin' for years.

[greatdeduction]

[Hmmm.]

Is that so? Well, some talked about the advice they received from their relatives...ah yes, what was it? "My maman says we can't have pets". Implying more of a present time. But I cannot say I would completely disagree with you

[perfectdistance]

Is that why they don't have-?

[Gestures at Disce.]

But she doesn't really feel like a pet.

[greatdeduction]

No, these creatures we have are not pets. And where I hail from, animals don't change into others in the blink of an eye.

These are something more. And its something that none of the previous residents of this village have ever had.

[perfectdistance]

I guess they could if they were wizards but...

[He moves on immediately.]

None of 'em at all? So why do we? Is it cause we ain't from here? Or somethin' else?

[greatdeduction]

...

[Wizards, huh.]

Mm, I do think it's tied directly to our strange appearance in this town. Whatever was the impetus behind getting us from "here" to "there"...may have played a role in the creation of these animals.

[perfectdistance]

[A normal, everyday part of every world, right?

If Nero was slightly more genre aware, he could say isekai, but alas.]

Somethin' weird happened to get us here in the first place. And we don't have a lot of options to figure out what it was right now.

[greatdeduction]

Now.

[He snaps at Nero.]

Tell me. What do you remember last, before coming here?

[perfectdistance]

It's got nothin' to do with you.

[greatdeduction]

And it may have everything to do with the situation. What, did a spell of yours go awry? Or a wizard cast something that should not have been cast?

[he's just going with this because he mentioned "wizards".]

[perfectdistance]

[Reflexively-]

I'm not a wizard. Besides, there's only the one who does portals, and it's doors to other places in the same world.

[greatdeduction]

Are you not?

[Portals, huh.]

So portals is out of the question, then. And there's no traces of what you expect of wizards in this place?

[perfectdistance]

[... He's skipping the first question.]

I don't know that much about 'em...

[greatdeduction]

[Shaking the bag of peanuts in his direction, again. Take more!]

Are there a lot of them, where you're from?

[perfectdistance]

Less wizards than humans, no matter what country you're in.

[He'll take... two more peanuts.]

[greatdeduction]

[He nods, and continues searching, eventually finding a box of pasta. Nice!]

You say it like they're distinct. They're a different species?

[perfectdistance]

Yeah.

[sort of.]

[greatdeduction]

Huh. Extra arms? Extra organs?

Why, do they even look like humans at all?

[perfectdistance]

They look like humans, but they can do magic. They can live for thousands of years too... That's enough for the distinction.

[greatdeduction]

[He's reading the box of pasta as he speaks.]

Ah, I see. Poor humanity. If wizards live so long, one would wonder what's the point to such a brief life at all, right?

[perfectdistance]

[Is this a thing people worry about...]

... I guess?