Day 62: The Bookworm (Noon)

[unpriest]

After acquiring a feel for the small town, perhaps it was no surprise that Seishin ended up making his way towards the bookstore that he had passed earlier today. It was a fairly large building made of wood, and it did not take the former priest much effort to locate it. The sign on the front read 'The Bookworm' in green and red letters, with a worm crawling through the two O's.

Once inside, Seishin could appreciate the silence the store provided. It seemed more as though he had just walked into a library rather than a bookstore, he guessed. Near the entrance was a metal stand with the local newspaper, but upon investigation it didn't provide the novelist with any significant information. He passed the front desk, offering a polite nod towards the pair standing behind it before wandering further into the store. The wooden floor creaking as he walked, giving the place an old feel.

The large shelves that made up most of the store were crammed with books. Most appeared to be used copies in some way, but that hardly stopped Seishin from navigating the shelves, his eyes going from spine to spine as he read the titles. The store was divided in four sections, including a non-fiction setting. Remarkably, there was no section containing books related to history or traveling. The library in the institute was the same; it was as though someone had deliberately removed anything that could possibly tell them more about the surrounding area. He had to wonder how far Landel-san's influence extended.

He ended up pausing before the section containing general fiction and literature. The former priest wasn't quite sure what he was looking for -- it was mostly curiosity and his interest in books that had led him here, but it was not as though he had anything specific in mind. He had been given money to spend, but Seishin wasn't quite sure what to use it for. He didn't really need anything, did he? Though Landel's was not the most desirable environment for casual reading, plenty of books could be found in the institute's library.

[Free!]

Comments

[age_of_kings]

Well! Now it was time to actually make use of being in town! Tolten had his vouchers and his bit of...money square. And there were shops! He had already been warned that useful items were extremely difficult to get ones hands on, but he wasn't looking for useful things at the moment. Useful things were rather taken care of for the time being.

His list of shops and establishments to visit was rather short, and the first stop was the bookstore. The library's selection was limited, especially on the subjects of poetry and ballads. He hoped the town store would have a wider selection.

It was a much smaller store than he was used to. But stepping inside, the young king felt...well, he wasn't sure. He supposed he was just happy to have some illusion of freedom, if only for a short while.

Now to navigate the groupings of books... as he began to do so, Tolten caught sight of someone else among the shelves, and recognized Seishin after a moment. It was harder to tell, when everyone wasn't wearing uniforms!

"Ah! Hello!" Tolten called, waving. He was happy to see the other man was looking more or less well.

Apologies for the delay! ;A;

[unpriest]

Seishin had pulled a random book from the shelf, noting how dusty everything was. He had to wonder how much use a store like this actually got in a village like this. Not much, judging by the dust. He looked up from his book when he heard a familiar voice calling out.

"Tolten-san," he responded, offering a smile. It had been a while since he had seen the other man, hadn't it? Though they were all trapped into the same cage, it somehow proved to be a little difficult to keep track of people. Or were his own efforts lacking, perhaps?

Either way, he was glad to see that Tolten-san appeared to be fine. "How have you been doing?"

No worries!

[age_of_kings]

"Oh, as well as can be expected," Tolten responded, waving his hand vaguely. "Better than some, I'd imagine." He was armed and girded with allies, and had yet to sustain serious injury. That was certainly better than others....

"I can't say I've had any great discoveries or epiphanies, other than they give you candy if they drug you against their will." He shrugged and laughed a bit. "Is this place any better than the library?" he inquired. "I'm afraid a number of their sections are quite lacking..."

[unpriest]

Though it was relieving that Tolten-san appeared to be doing well, he had to wonder about these drugs the man had mentioned. It was worrying that patients were being drugged, but on top of everything else that was happening it failed to be surprising. Was it related to this 'bug' perhaps? But the other man had already dropped the subject, so Seishin did not pursue it any further. He had no intention to pry, after all, even despite his own concerns.

"I'm afraid there is not much of a difference," Seishin commented in a quiet voice. He supposed it did not matter now that the opportunity to read was sparse, defeating the point of being demanding even if he had wanted to.

He absent minded-ly flipped through the book he was holding before placing it back on the dusty shelf. "Like the library at the institute, this store lacks anything that might have been able to tell us about our whereabouts."

[age_of_kings]

"They don't want us to know anything, do they?" Tolten sighed and shook his head, let down but somehow not surprised. "How can they control so much? I understand the government or army or some such has high stakes in this...this...madness! But really? To be able to restrict even public information?"

It never occurred to him that the town was anything but a town. But that begged the question....

"Are there other towns, I wonder? Further from the institute? Does this place communicate them?" The young king wasn't entirely sure what sort of long distance communication this world had, but they had to have something. 'Letters' came, after all. He folded his arms and leaned back against a shelf, wishing he were a smarter or more clever man.

"They have to communicate with other places."

[unpriest]

"It would seem they deliberately keep us in the dark," Seishin commented, frowning at the dusty books in front of him. The army implied the involvement of some government, but if they were truly able to manipulate all that they perceived around them...

"I wonder how far their control actually extends..." Quite further than one would expect, apparently. It was frightening, in a way...

There were other towns, yes; the former priest knew of at least one -- a city, rather, though he did not know where it was or even what it was called. He had been sent there along with Gamzee-kun for that mission. The building they were to destroy -- it had been a sabotaging mission, so it was likely to hold some significance for some other party. He had to wonder what had happened to it, whether the documents he had left would have been any help in preventing a disaster. But there was no way to find out, was there?

"There was..." Seishin trailed off in his hesitation, uncertain whether he should tell Tolten-san about the mission. Even then, would the knowledge truly be useful to anyone? How useful could the knowledge of a nameless city of unknown location be to anyone? If it were, they would have silenced him, no doubt.

[age_of_kings]

"There was...?" Tolten prompted, gently. What had Seishin discovered? And why was he cautious? Perhaps it was ill news. But what else was new in this place? The young king had gotten used to ill news after a week of captivity. He didn't want to put the other man on the spot, but he had brought it up. Sort fof.

"And I've found that powerful, mad men can extend quite an influence." Gongora had had his hands in the politics of nearly every country back on Plank, one way or another. And he was just one man, it wasn't as though all of his staff and employees knew what had been going on. They'd been lied to, the same as Tolten....

"I wonder what the world thinks of this place. They can't know the truth..." And anyone who tried to say different was labeled a mad man. It was very clever, when one thought about it.

Sorry for the delay...again.

[unpriest]

Again, Seishin hesitated for a moment, keeping his gaze on the bookshelf for a moment. Was it wise to share this information? Then again, references had been made to these missions on both the intercom and the bulletin board; it would hardly be surprising were it to become common knowledge.

"They send their captives on missions," he began, his voice quiet, "Or at least, they did during the military's reign, but I hardly believe they have ceased such practices. Regardless, shortly after my arrival, they had sent me on such a mission."

He paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in.

"Though I cannot tell you its location, but it took place in a rather large city -- I suspect it was located somewhere in America, like this town," the former priest continued, "Depending on their reasoning for sending patients to do their dirty work, however, there may be implications of at least an active opposition. However, there are certain things that worry me...though I guess it sounds rather crazy..."

He trailed off again. He could not say what had happened to the building after they had left. Had someone found the file he had shoved under the door? Or had he merely pushed the decision of life and death on another person? That...would hardly have been more admirable, would it? Yet, Seishin realized it was something forever shrouded by uncertainty.