Text | UN: Anonymous

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata was just having the time of his life on the Island of Dreams, playing with a whole bunch of cute mayonnaise mascots, when a little bird (literally or not... who knows) told him that back in Camelot his ghost subordinates are being hunted and trapped by dark web denizens. Shit!! Why does this happen the one time his burner phone is out of commission?!

After a quick panicked brainstorming session he decides to take to AOL, totally anonymous this time, just in case. He'll keep it short and sweet.]

How do you find ghosts that have been sealed in containers and hidden?

[If only there were something like a more specialised Wayfinder spell for this exact situation! Wait, didn't the traders sell a pendulum that can detect items? Ugh, why didn't he buy it?! But really, who could know that something like this would happen? Now he can only hope that Avalon's netizens have some good ideas for him.]

Comments

[mayoninofukucho]

[At this rate Hijikata wouldn't be shocked if there were nefarious workarounds for non-death-mages who still want to get in on the ghost poaching train, frankly! But either way, the response makes him bristle.]

You know this will backfire on you, right?

[He's trying to not let his mounting frustration show (at least this isn't a voice call, otherwise Klaudia would definitely be able to hear his aggravation), but he's stumped yet again. There's a good chance that he's just being trolled here, but how can he verify that? Perhaps a technomancer might be able to tell him his conversation partner's Magicast singature and thereby identity... but he only knows one (Rei), and he has no idea if he'll be able to get a hold of him on short notice.]

[sulit]

[Nefarious workarounds? Not so much. Just an alchemist and a death mage with too much time on their gremlin hands. Truly an oversight that Klaudia is able to see ghosts now, but not hear them. The poor things never had a chance to explain.]

[On the other hand, Klaudia isn't tech savvy enough to understand digital identity tracing. So he's got all the time in the world so long as he keeps her talking.]

Unlikely. How do you imagine this backfiring? My new ghost friends are just fine in their new ghost homes.

[mayoninofukucho]

[Honestly, given the multiple complaints from people who were able to perceive ghosts back home and lost that ability here that business venture might just be quite lucrative... even more so among the presumed locals who put the quests on the QuestBoard.]

Bullshit! How'd you like being trapped in a jar? They'll haunt you in retaliation once they're freed.

[No, they won't, because if they really are his subordinates they're ghosts with a job and have no time to haunt random people at length - but Hijikata is determined to charge this pesky anon with kidnapping and imprisonment if he can get a hold of them. Sadly that looks to be a big "if" since he realises that he misplaced Rei's contact information. Ugh, this is Murphy's Law in action!]

[sulit]

Maybe I just won't free them, then. If they haunt me, I'll just put them back in the jar. I have plenty more where these came from.

If you don't want to buy a ghost, then I don't know why you're still complaining. I didn't even give a price yet, and it's like you're still haggling very poorly with me.

[mayoninofukucho]

[Ughhhhh. He can feel the angry veins popping out at his temples. How did he end up in this position?! Calm down, Toshirou. If this jackass wants to play games with you they'll see what kind of prize that'll win them.]

OK, so how much do you want for one?

[sulit]

[Oh, delightful. An actual nibble. Now she has to actually consider how much ghosts cost on the black market, which she assumes is the sort of exchange this person is looking for.]

Hmm. 100k G.

[mayoninofukucho]

How about 50K G? I mean, come on. Ghosts are a dime a dozen since the autumn equinox.

[Sorry, Yuureisengumi, you're actually invaluable to him!! But he's not going to not haggle, just in case he actually ends up being unable to get around shelling out the gold.]

How many do you have to sell, anyway?

[sulit]

50k G??? What are you talking about? These ghosts are premium quality! Are you looking down on my goods?

How many are you looking to buy? I might be willing to give you a discount if you take multiples.

[mayoninofukucho]

How do you gauge their quality? How old are they? From this year or from 300 years ago?

[What are they, fine wines?!]

How many do you have?

[If it's just a handful he'll want all of them, but if this sketchy ghost seller has dozens of them he'll need to totally rethink his approach.]

[sulit]

I gauge their quality myself. I have a very discerning eye. I can tell good ghosts from bad ghosts, and these are some very good ghosts. I can't go selling them for pennies.

Hmm. Seven... teen.

[Definitely not a made-up number.]

[mayoninofukucho]

[There's no information about the quality control criteria in that response! It sounds like bullshit! And what the hell, 17 ghosts?! If those are really his subordinates it's almost all of them! There's no way!]

I want to choose which ones I want in person. We can talk about the individual pricing then too.

[sulit]

In person? Are you sure you want that? What was the point of anonymity if you're throwing it away just to look at some ghosts?

[mayoninofukucho]

I'll maintain my anonymity even in person.

[Is he seriously going to disguise himself for this...]

[sulit]

And what about my anonymity? Maybe I have a reputation to keep.

[She does not, but she is a little worried about retaliation... since she's planning on selling him empty jars. Maybe she'll put little paper ghosts in them.]