Character Story 3: Introduction to Modern-day Practical Hospitality

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Female Student 1
Kyaa!? A-A male is... What ever is he doing at our school...?

Female Student 2
His behavior seems somewhat strange. He's looking around restlessly, as if looking for something in particular...

Female Student 2
Excuse me, sir. My apologies, but for what business do you have coming to our school?

Yuuki
1. I'm looking for Yuni-senpai.

Female Student 2
Yuni-san...? Umm, who would that be...?

Female Student 1
Ah... Could you mean her? Remember? The one part of the special course, honored with the title of doctor in our school.

Female Student 2
Oh my, you were referring to Dr. Yuni? She's been a gifted woman from the day she entered this school, also well known as the "tiny sage." She's "special," so you won't be able to find her in a classroom.

Female Student 2
I've no idea where she is. To an average student like me, she's an existence far above the clouds.

Female Student 1
I've once heard that she lives secluded high above, similar to a hermit.

Female Student 2
Oh! What timing -- a person in charge of school affairs has just arrived. Let us ask her.

Female Student 2
Good evening, Mother! Excuse me, but this boy is --

Female Teacher
My word, what is the matter? It's rude to raise your voice like that. I'll have you know that since my first cries from birth, not once have I ever raised my voice in front of others -- Gywaa, a boy!?

Female Teacher
Y-Y-You there, boy! What are you doing there!? Stay away from my students! How shameless!

Female Student 1
W-Why the sudden outburst, Mother...?

Female Teacher
We've been receiving a rush of reports recently of a suspicious boy wandering about school grounds looking for someone. The boy in question is you, is it not?

Yuuki
1. "That's correct."
2. "No, I'm not."

Option 1.

Female Teacher
My word! And to say it so shamelessly without hesitation! You have some nerve saying that now! You are just like a thief who threatens violence when they get caught!

Option 2.

Female Teacher
My word! Shamelessly being stubborn til the end, I see! You have some nerve saying that now! Have you not the grace to admit to the crimes you've committed?

End of branches.

Female Teacher
However, ahem, I am a person who hates the crime, and not the person. Why have you committed such a crime? Please answer honestly, under the name of god.

Female Teacher
I see, you're looking for someone? Just who... Ah, Yuni-san?

Female Teacher
Oh, my, this is for Dr. Yuni's research? Oh, my, and you've bought her the materials she asked for? Oh, my, my, my! Thank you for your good work!

Female Teacher
I see, so then you're Dr. Yuni's, umm, apprentice, perhaps? No, no, no, I don't mind. We expect her to be the star of our school after all.

Female Teacher
Now then, you two? Please lead the Doctor's apprentice to the "Ivory Tower."

Female Student 1
The "Ivory Tower..." Umm, if I remember correctly... that's the library tower found around the old school building?

Female Student 2
What a surprise... To think there was someone still using that rustic building...

Rosetta
Pipipi! Pipipi! A notification for Doctor Yuni! Please wake up, a visitor from outside has arrived!

Yuni
Nna... afuu..

Yuni
Good morning, world. There's no one else around as always, you little liar.

Yuuki
1. "Good morning."

Yuni
Hmm...? Oh, what. This isn't a dream?

Yuni
Hey, Yuuki-kouhai. It's great to see you again. What brings you here today?

Yuuki
1. Hand her the materials you bought.

Yuni
Ahh, that's right, this. I had asked you to get these for me.

Yuni
I'd sent that letter partly as a joke, so I didn't think you'd go out and fulfill my ill-mannered request. People sure are good. No, correction. You sure are a good person.

Yuni
Yes, thanks for coming. You have my thanks for your generous hard work. Really, thanks. *Slight bow*... Ehehe.

Yuni
Though, what is this small, strange sensation of restlessness? Aah, Now that I think about it, since gaining exclusive use of this "tower," this might be the first time I've invited someone in.

Yuni
... Ah, right. If I remember correctly, it's proper etiquette in the city to prepare tea at times like this. Apologies for the rudeness, I'll prepare it right away. Sit wherever you can.

Yuni
I've kept you waiting. Here's the hospitality tea and a snack. You're free to eat some.

Yuni
Hm? What's the matter, Yuuki-kouhai? Don't just sit there blinking at it, eat. Hurry.

Yuuki
1. Drink the mysterious fluid in a test tube.
2. Eat the tablet sitting on a small plate.

Option 1.

Yuni
You drank that well, I didn't think you'd down it all in one go.

Yuni
Hmm, you've got a horrible face. Figures, that stuff's really gross.

Yuni
No, sorry for being late on the explanation, but that steamed tea was poison extracted from the leaf of a plant-type monster.

Yuni
Well, while it's a type of tea, it's usually consumed more for the experience than for refreshment. It's meant to be consumed in small quantities, placing piece by piece on the tongue to enjoy its extremely unique grossness. Back at my hometown, we enjoyed this over tobacco or coffee.

Yuni
What's so fun about it...? Hmmm... I suppose you could say, it's so gross that you can't help but smile. Once you get past the grossness, you can briefly experience a mysterious state of mind. That in itself is truly ecstasy.

Option 2.

Yuni
Ooh, going straight for that one, I see, you've got quite the eye. That's a strength-nourishing supplement I received from Master Mitsuki.

Yuni
No, wait. Are you some sort of small rodent? You aren't supposed to chew on each tablet one at a time. Grab a few of them and munch on them all at once.

Yuni
What, it's fine. The amount for it to take effect is quite large, so there's a low risk of overdosing on it. In my head, I like to eat it with the mindset of it being a snack.

Yuni
Well, the effects can be so strong that it brings about a considerable need to go for a hustle, but it shouldn't contain any ingredients that would bring any irreversible effects to the human body. Know that it's safe for child consumption as well.

Yuni
The law? Aah, it's probably fine. At least, Master Mitsuki says it's fine.

End of branches.

Yuni
Well, Yuuki-kouhai? I want a strict evaluation. How was it? Yuni-senpai's first attempt at hospitality.

Yuni
Emulating what I read from a book, I attempted a healthy incorporation of a personality on the side of inviting another to their home. I had my worries, considering I have yet to understand your preferences and tastes, but as a visitor who has come from so far away, I hope you were happy with the results.

Yuni
Well, my birthplace was a remote place, out in the middle of nowhere. Until I'd come to this school, not once did I ever come down from the "mountains."

Yuni
Together with the old sages who had abandoned normal society, and my reliance on their vast book collection, in hindsight, I'd spent quite the secluded growth period.

Yuni
Because of that, it seems that I lack a bit of general common sense.

Yuni
By all means, if by some chance there's something about the things I say or do that comes off as strange, I'd like to know. In fact, tell me. Tell me now.

Yuuki
1. "Err... the way you talk...?"
2. "Err... the way you look...?"

Option 1.

Yuni
Aah, yes, that's true. It's stiff, or maybe old-fashioned. In situations of oral conversation, I'm aware of the fact my speech is overly literary.

Option 2.

Yuni
Aah, no, that's not the case. While it's true I am in possession of an abnormal, lovely appearance, that is nothing more than a innate quality of mine. As such, it's difficult to say that is a consequence of my circumstances or upbringing.

Yuni
Hm? You have no idea what I'm saying? Aah, I see, that's what that is. The identification that I have an uncommon way of speaking is a true one.

End of branches.

Yuni
From as far as I can remember, I had already been sharing this way of speaking with the old sages. One could call it a dialect from my hometown.

Yuni
At first when I joined the school, I'd made an effort to learn the standard way of speaking for a time, but --

Yuni
Y'know, at first I'd tried talking all normal-like --

Yuni
However. As I viewed the situation more, I unexpectedly found that there were many who used semi-dialects as well. They'd say things like, "desu-wa," or "desu-no," or "chelluun."^[1]

Yuni
If they let high-class daughter dialect slide, then they should allow sage dialect to slide as well. Having reached that conclusion, I made the decision to go on using a way of speaking natural to me.

Yuni
Although, once I'd entered the school, my desk had been moved to this "tower." Since then, I'd had almost no chance at all to hold a conversation with a school friend.

Yuuki
1. "Why were you moved here?"

Yuni
Hmm, let me think... In layman's terms, it's because I was too excellent.

Yuni
According to the school. It seems that, due to my high level and excellence, there was no meaning in having me pursue the same level of knowledge as other students.

Yuni
I was told something along the lines of, rather than have me memorize textbooks written by pioneers, they want me to strive to make my own knowledge known.

Yuni
In layman's terms, "you're better off writing papers than taking classes."

Yuni
If for example, my research were to hold some sort of value in the academic community, the status of St. Teresa's School for Girls, in regards to the area, is likely to go up.

Yuni
... Oh, I phrased that like it was it's not important to me. Of course, even I have ambitions for coming back to my hometown in glory as well. I still haven't been able to properly give back to those wretched elders.

Yuni
And in exchange for the seminar room, I've received this library tower, also known as the "Ivory Tower." For my constant desire to pursue knowledge, the tower has been an amazingly charming place of treasures.

Yuni
Each time I go digging through these shelves, I find more and more old literature. New knowledge, lying all over the place. All kinds of things to learn, the joy of learning, is located here in this tower.

Yuni
Still, I find it strange for a place such as this to be neglected. One would think that intellects all over the country would be drooling to swarm this place.

Yuni
In any case. It's for this reason that I, today like any other day, stay secluded in this library.

Yuni
I spend all day and night indulging in literature, and from time to time, I fall asleep while embracing a book. And all the while, I write my thesis paper to make up for my classes.

Yuni
So, do you understand, my comrade? From here on, your cooperation would be of help.

Yuni
So to summarize. In layman's terms, feel free to come by again.

Yuuki
1. "I'll come again."

Yuni
Is that so. Hmm, that's good then. Yes.

With that, Yuuki would from then on be called out to the "Ivory Tower" time and time again.