Namaki's letter

"Alright, should be good now" Gretchen says as she slides out from underneath your project. "Fire it up"

You nod and push energy into the machine, activating the twin chaos engines. The devices hum to life and...

...

Nothing.

"Still not enough lift?" You ask.

"Might need to make the devices bigger again" Gretchen says.

You sigh. This is the third attempt you've made at this. You're trying to create a flying frame for the Rook using Gretchen's extra Kestrel engine. Problem is, even with the two engines you can't seem to get enough lift to make them fly.

"We make the devices any bigger and we'll have to make the frame bigger" You say. "Bigger frame equals heavier frame, and we're back to square one"

"Umm" Elphie says.

"Well how do you propose we get that extra lift?" Gretchen asks.

"Umm!" Elphie says again.

...

"What's up Elphie?" You ask.

Elphie is over at the desk where the blueprints are, and it's pretty obvious that she's been looking them over while you and Gretchen argued. "The devices might not be the problem" She says. "The Rook is still made of the old materials right?"

"Yeah" You say.

"Well the Rook wasn't made to leave the ground..." Elphie says. "There's a new light-weight material you could be using that might solve your problem"

"That stuff's expensive though" Gretchen says. "Waaaay outside my materials budget"

"How expensive we talkin'?" You ask.

Gretchen stares at you for a moment. "Oh yeah..." She says. "If you want, I can do some math and get you a quote"

"Do that, and good work Elphie" You say, patting the little butterfly on the head.

Gretchen and Elphie head out, and you see them to the door. Once they're gone, a maid approaches you.

"Letter for you, sir" The maid says.

"From the front?" You ask.

She shakes her head and hands you an envelope. "Not from the front. I don't recognize the letters on the front, and it kinda smells sweet..." She says.

You take it and give it a sniff. It does smell sweet, and kinda familiar...

Ah. Yes. She did say she'd write. You still don't recognize the weird looking symbol on the front, but there's no question who it's from.

You thank the maid and head up to your study, cutting the envelope open and unfolding the letter...




Dear Yuu,

I will begin this letter by saying that it has been a long time since I wrote one of these. I do somewhat remember proper etiquette and styling, but forgive any mistakes.

That said, I have decided that modern fashion is not for me. I do not know when buttons became popular, but you people seem to be obsessed with them. They're on your shirts, your jackets, your pants, and I believe I did see some underwear with buttons on them as well.




You look down and understand her point. The shirt you're wearing is button-up, as is the fly on your pants, and all of your jackets. It really isn't that bad, but then you're used to doing up buttons. She's gone 300 years quite possibly wearing nothing but robes and sashes... and when you continue reading, she confirms it.




I've been wearing robes with simple ties for over 300 years, and I shall continue to do so. In my old age sacrificing comfort for fashion just isn't something you do.

And I know you were worried about me staying away from Otuna, but I was fine. My powers diminished somewhat, but since I've returned to Otuna, they've returned to me.

Now if you think that will stop me from adventuring, think again. The illusions are only a fraction of my abilities, and I am far from helpless without them.

Aside from that, nothing much has happened here. But I believe things are more eventful on your end, so I do expect a reply.

With love,
Namaki

P.S. I completely forgot I was supposed to write these in character. Next time.

P.P.S. And Miranda is doing fine. Her and her husband are settling into Leon quite nicely.

P.P.P.S. Is there a limit to the number of these you can add before you just scrap the letter and write it again? I asked someone but they weren't clear on this.




You chuckle as you set the letter down, checking the back to see if there's anything else there. For a woman who seemed so confident when you first met, she is remarkably awkward now that you've gotten to know her.

Giving yourself a moment to get your thoughts in order, you pull out your pen and get to work on a first draft...