[he is in another office. A much smaller one, with a much lower quality desk. In fact everything seems to speak out of it being: 'the new guy's' space, from the ancient carpet to the wood grain paneling that resembles more plastic than wood. At least he's got a spinny chair which he is sitting on, legs crossed at the ankle, propped up on the flimsy desk and slowly rotating back and forth as he plays with a pen]

You know I've never much been one for the rhythms of every day life. Get up, get dressed, go to school, go home, get your splines reticulated, go to bed. Much prefer to be out there [points at the ceiling with the pen] Doing... something. Doing whatever.

Odd what you can get used to. Even tedium.

That being said, hey! [he grins and claps his hands, rubbing them together.] Almost time for school again! That's one thing to look forward to, isn't it? Acquisition of knowledge. Doodling in notebooks. Skiving off to go snog behind the phys ed building. Used to do that all the time when I was in school. Couldn't keep me pinned down. Even if there wasn't any one to snog. Sometimes I made it up.

But, with any luck I'll be on the other side of the desk, stuffing willing and not so willing brains full of facts until they fill numb with it. For instance, everyone knows that a pulsar is a collapsed neutron star that underwent a supernova,and it emits bursts of radiation. But every now and again, in a quintillion to one chance... that's a 1 and eighteen zeros, that a quantum pulsar will be formed from the heart of that star-- and what you will get as it pulses and dies, slowly crushed by the weight of its own gravity, are flashes of time. The past. The future. The present. All rippling outward, unseen and unheard and unknown except by the lucky few who happen to be there at the right place.

Mind you they can't be there for very long...not if they want to live.

But just knowing something like that is out there, knowing that something like that can even exist-- makes the universe stunning, doesn't it? So much to see and do and explore...

[he trails off, looking at his pen which he's holding between two fingers, as if it's absorbed his attention, murmuring to himself]

But here we are, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, smaller than most, wrapped up in petty concerns, money, work, romance, where we're going to live the next however long we're here because time is running out when no-- time doesn't work like that. It just... exists... and we move through it. And if we're very clever we can find a way to use it well.

Which you can. [he sits upright again] With any luck. Attleton University. My class. Three days a week and twice on Thursdays. Auditing is available. See you there.

[swings away, swings back]

Oh and I'm coming back in about three hours. But not for long.

And if you don't get it, don't worry. That part of the message is not for you.

[end feed]

[[Action: Everglade]]

Konoka's summer in review:

-Went on a lovely camping trip
-Traded barbs with a friend
-Realized she had feelings for said friend
-Then had no time to confess because Everglade went to hell in a handbasket because Dracula is a huge jerk
-Saw one of her mentors again, and set up room for her in her apartment somehow.
-Healed someone
-Learned Dracula's rampaging due to something about his wife... but the details were hard to come by, due to Dracula being... well, a jerk
-By the time she got some free time, the person she wanted to confess to... might have already been going out with someone else.

Long story short,  Konoka was on a roller coaster of emotions, and the brunette was having difficulty dealing with it. So for the first time, she wound up digging into a bounty, a surprisingly easily solved case once she was willing to brave one of Everglade's wicked nights. In the end, it turned out that she wasn't truly cognizant of Everglade, just Castlevania... otherwise, why would she have been surprised when it turned out that it was a human vandalizing non-human properties? Maybe she should actually venture out and explore the place.

When not at her shop, Konoka could be seen venturing out into Everglade itself, poking at stores, asking people about their lives if they look approachable, regardless of whether or not they were human. And of course, she was keeping a close eye on Castlevania, knowing that something dangerous had been brewing there for the past few days.  Maybe from this trip she'd be able to expand her shop's business... or at least get some fresh air. Too bad she seems a bit distracted.

[[Video]]

Hey everyone!

Now, I know I said Everglade is super dangerous right now, and as far as I know that still holds true. But I feel like I've been cowering for too long. I still work here, and I want to make this place better for visiting... given that I specialize in protective magic, it's the least I can do. If there's something else I can do to improve Everglade, let me know.

In the meantime, if you need to actually visit, please stop by my store! I sell protective charms so ghosts and undead can't get ya... even if you're not human! It'll be especially useful if you don't already have magic.

[[Video, locked to those who know of Castlevania except Dracula]]

This might be bold of me to ask, given that I'm just a bystander now... but Dracula mentioned he had a wife. Who is she? Why is he angry about her now?

How do you work out a lot of rage when music, running, and talking or drinking aren't enough?