[x] Stay and chat about sewing techniques with Alice.
[x] Stay and talk about how you wanted to make clothes and things of that nature.
[x] Ask her about the beasts that wander around the Forest of Magic. Tell her that you want to know how to protect yourself from them.

Well, you can’t see any reason to decline Miss Margatroid’s offer, so you might as well accept her hospitality.

“I’d like to stay the night, if you’re sure it won’t be any trouble…”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. Please, make yourself at home. Shanghai will show you the way to your room,” your host says, and gestures towards a doll, which curtsies and begins to move off on its own.

You follow it upstairs to a room that is presumably for guests. It has a raised bed, in keeping with the style of the house, though the doll draws your attention to a compartment underneath. When you open it, you see it contains a rolled up futon, presumably left there for guests to use. How thoughtful. It’s not as though you don’t like western beds, it’s just that they’re so… springy.

You’re not tired just yet, so you set up the futon on the floor and head back downstairs to chat with Miss Margatroid. You find her in the living room and sit down next to her.

“So,” you say, “I was wondering. What do you do when you make clothes? Is there anything special you do?”

“No, not really. I start with a sketch, pick out cloth, and so on. You’ll see tomorrow; it’s a lot easier to explain when you can see it. Oh, by the way: if it’s something you don’t mind sharing, would you tell me how you became interested in clothing? If I recall correctly, the Nonvintuses are a big farming family.”

You think for a bit, to find the right words. “Well, I was never really that interested in farming. I was always going to end up doing [i]something[/i] else, I think. I just happened to get interested in clothing because I have clothing powers: I get abilities based on the kind of outfit I wear, and I can switch them pretty quickly.”

“Interesting,” Alice says. “Does that mean you could dress up like, say, Hong Meiling and be able to use ki and martial arts?”

Hong Meiling? That’s the Scarlet Devil Mansion’s gatekeeper, the Chinese one. You’ve never been near there, but you’ve read the Gensokyo Chronicles. “She wears Chinese clothes, right? No, I’d probably learn to speak Chinese or something. A gi or something would work better for martial arts. And even then, I don’t think I would be able to infuse ki into my attacks unless it was a really fancy one.”

Now that you think of it, there’s a few things you're curious about yourself. “I’ve got a question of my own. Why do you clear the woods of animals? Don’t they mostly stay in the trees?”

Miss Margatroid sighs. “Mostly, yes. The problem is that I mainly use materials from the forest to make my dolls. Wood from the trees, dyes from some of the mushrooms and flowers, and so on. However, the animals seem to see my dolls as easy prey, so every so often, I go clear them out.”

Makes sense. “Oh! You sometimes help solve incidents, right? Can you teach me how to defend myself against animals?”

“Most likely, no. I only really use dolls,” Miss Margatroid says, gesturing towards the closest one. “If you want to learn Danmaku, you could try Kirisame. As for weapons, I haven’t the foggiest idea who you should see, I’m afraid.”

The two of you keep chatting for a while, and then you both head off to bed. You shift into your pajamas, lay down on the futon, and are soon asleep.

[b]DAY 2[/b]

You wake up, stretch, and change into your dress. You are still located in Alice’s guest room, and you can smell breakfast being prepared downstairs.

[x] What is your course of action?
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Also, yesterday was my birthday, so you lot may as well get a birthday bonus.

PICK TWO:
[x] Random Clothing Tip
[x] Random Item Tip
[x] Random Skill Tip