"Sooo," MatchlessMinion said as soon as the leopard was out of sight. He rubbed his little hands together and instructed, "Let's go visit that wizard hmm?"
Danika asked guiltily, "Shouldn't we tell Salty?"
"I already told her that you ran into a wizard who cursed someone into being a book, if she didn't see you realize that this cat was probably cursed by a wizard who already knows how to create a were curse, it's her loss," he replied heartlessly.
He looked at ZipZing's doubtful face and added, "Besides, Justin might really be able to create the curse on his own. And if he can't, he can afford to buy more information if he wants to, we'll just be making it available. And the cheapest of the buildings beside Shrubbery's garden costs 350 thousand coin."
"Okay," Danika agreed finally. MatchlessMinion sighed and took a deep breath and she said, "I mean it, it's ok. I was just wondering if I should have gotten bitten, but not being able to control when you transform seems annoying."
He blinked at her and then gave her a sly grin, "Oh, shortcut to human? But aren't you really close to finishing your thousand animals?"
"Yeah, but it feels like the last few are taking the longest, although partly that's because I didn't play for half a week," she admitted.
"How many more do you need?" he asked.
"Only 36," she replied a little glumly.
"Oh, I see," he said with a secretive smile.
"What?" she asked suspiciously.
He held up a hand and folded down a finger for each point he listed, "Your boyfriend is planning on playing in VR next weekend, then he goes on his next concert tour, you're down to needing to collect less than six a day between now and then, if I were him I'd have some extra stashed to surprise you with, your birthday happens while he's gone."
"You remember when my birthday is?" was her first question.
"Yeah?" he replied questioningly.
"I think yours is in July, but I'm not even certain of that," Danika said guiltily. "And I don't think Aishin knows when my birthday is?"
"I'm surprised you even remember that much," MatchlessMinion said. His voice said that he was impressed. "Why haven't you guys exchanged birthdays? Isn't that a big deal when you're dating?"
"It just hasn't come up?" she replied nervously, and quickly brought up one of the other points. "But even if everything else works out, the weaving skill can only be used once a week, since it needs the full moon?"
"Oh, I forgot about that, I wonder if he did too," he said with a frown.
"He's going on a tour? For how long?" Danika finally asked about the most important part. She felt like either she was failing as a girlfriend by not keeping track of what was probably a public schedule, or Shinichi wasn't communicating with her well, and she didn't know which was more worrisome.
MatchlessMinion gazed at her for a long moment, and her guilt increased. He reached up and scratched one round ear thoughtfully. Finally he told her, "Like a month? I didn't pay that much attention. I know this might be weird for a guy to say, but I think maybe you should talk to him more, I mean you've been together for awhile?"
"We've only been dating for a couple of weeks," she replied defensively. She was pretty sure that other people had already exchanged more personal information by the time they'd been dating for a couple of weeks, and probably knew a lot more about people they'd known for months than she did though.
He closed one eye and considered her for a moment. "Mmm, well, what do I know about it anyway. I'm not even dating someone."
They let the matter drop, and MatchlessMinion didn't ask anything when Danika sent out a message a bit later.
--
Shinichi pulled out his phone when they got a quick break. Naoki teased, "Can't live for a few hours without contacting your little dragon anymore?"
"You say that like anything's changed," Kimitoshi commented dryly.
Shinichi ignored them and checked for messages. ZipZing had sent a message to Aishin that read: "I just realized that I don't know when your birthday is, and I heard that you're going on a concert tour soon and wondered if you've been assuming that I've been tracking your public information?"
He bit his lip and wondered how to reply. He wondered if she'd be upset when she realized that his birthday had passed by without comment since they'd known each other. They didn't have each other as contacts on any of the usual social media that tracked those things. And then he wondered if she'd realized it because her birthday was coming up. He had a horrible feeling that it was going to be while he was gone.
Pryadarshi, who'd been the band's manager since their five year contract expired and was replaced with current performance based agreement, opened the door and announced, "They're ready."
Shinichi quickly texted Danika an invitation from the ID he kept his personal calendar on and replied through the game: "Texted. Don't worry, it's a good thing that you aren't a fan."
He closed his phone and followed the others out.
--
They tracked down the elven wizard Wise Ardlee without any trouble, but the recalcitrant wizard refused to admit to what kinds of curses he could create. He also evasively neither confirmed nor denied whether he'd cursed the leopard. Danika knew that Aishin had been able to view at least some of her skills with his skill, Read Person, but it only gave her an extended info summary on the wizard.
Not that some of the information in the summary wasn't interesting. The wizard's wife was a witch who specialized in healing plants. The cat who was his current familiar had replaced a gryphon, who had died during a war that Danika calculated had probably happened near the middle of the beta testing. The little family seemed to be living a surprisingly realistic life, becoming more reclusive and focusing on a peaceful home life after experiencing more than enough adventure and glory.
She did ask about Heftybookboy and his party though, "Did they at least obtain the book form that he was seeking?"
The wizard winked at ZipZing, and said, "Don't worry, that group not only got what they came for, but have also gotten to spend time with some of the best books in the world. I'm sure that it's been a very educational experience for them."
Danika felt relieved until she saw the wizard's familiar. The cat was definitely laughing. The words 'educational experience' suddenly took on a much more ominous tone in her mind.
"Where are the best books in the world? Do you have a library?" she asked.
The wizard waved a hand dismissively, "I certainly have a few good books, but I'd never keep the best books to myself. Those belong in one of the great libraries, where they can benefit all people. You can often find the most troublesome books there too."
MatchlessMinion asked with interest, "What sort of troublesome books?"
"Mmm," the wizard gazed across his wife's garden and into the sunset that had crept across the sky while they'd been talking. "Sometimes it's difficult to tell the best books from the most troublesome, but they are usually the kind that hold the words that will change you forever. Some of them can even change an entire world."