Chapter 493: Doko-Mii – The Loremaster’s Perspective |
Username, LoreOwl.
Work name, Lore.
Real name... Secret.
But either way, as a newly hired member of Myth Incorporated as well as someone tasked with not only directly working with the Project MirAIs girls but even to collate, assemble, and compile proper lorebooks in a potential ARG...
It was a dream come true for Lore.
But even if that wasn't the case...
Lore let out a content sigh as he dragged a small wagon behind him filled to the brim with various esoteric memoribilia from niche anime, rare collectibles from mainstream anime, as well as numerous independent VTuber merchandise.
Asako tilted her head, watching Lore expertly bundle up the latest purchase, which was a 3000 page manuscrupt titled 'Type-Fate, Complete Edition EX.'
Lore noticed and said, "Is something the matter, 'Luka?'"
"Nowhere near as heavy as the weight that had plagued my soul dreading the entry into corporate Japan until I was hired into this current position."
Asako did a slow blink. Then she nodded and said, "Honestly... fair."
Alphy smiled and said, "Well, you don't have to worry about that!" She giggled and said, "Papa's not the sort of person who lets people struggle when he's personally picked them up!" She paused. "Unless you're Uncle Bai or Uncle Qing."
Lore paused. "...Come again?"
Asako's eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. "Oh RIGHT! I forgot about those guys! Did John demote them or something? Aren't they supposed to be Myth Inc's CFO and COO?"
Alphy shook her head. "I don't know. But last I heard they had to have shotgun weddings because both of them weren't careful with their girlfriends?"
Lore held up his hand. "One moment." He pulled out his phone and then pressed the button for his custom-trained AI assistant that helped him filter his notes. "Search query, begin. Names: Bai, B.A.I. and Qing, Q.I.N.G."
*Query received. Searching... ten results found. Summarizing...*
*Bai is a suave individual with white hair reminiscent of the White Tiger from the Four Auspicious Beasts.*
*Qing is a calm individual with dark hair that appears blue in proper lighting, reminiscent of the Azure Dragon from the Four Auspicious Beasts.*
Lore nodded. "I see. I remember now."
Asako gave Lore a side eye and said, "...You have a customized AI assistant strictly to parse your notes?"
Lore tapped the referenced hyperlinks on his phone that showed up after his assistant finished summarizing. As he did, he said, "When you have millions of pages of notes to sort through, it becomes humanly impossible to find the exact place where a particular subject is located even with proper indexing, hyperlinking, and footnoting. This speeds the process up." He reached up to adjust his glasses... and forgot they were there. So instead, he adjusted his scarf.
Alphy nodded. "That's what Papa says about the Dao. But he also says that's what cheats are for. And time dilation!"
Lore snapped his eyes towards Alphy and said, "...Time dilation?"
Asako shook her head. "Darling... please refrain from implying that you have the holy grail for research and studying to a man who clearly would be happy sitting in a library for a million years just to figure out what color of fingernail polish a woman like had on the day of the solar eclipse in the fifteenth century from circumstantial evidence."
Lore adjusted his scarf again and said, "Considering that the 15th century was marked by the War of the Roses within Europe and the rise of the Tudor dynasty, it's unlikely that the usage of any form of fingernail coloring was prevalent enough to-"
Asako groaned. "Please no more info dumps... I have to listen to enough of those when R- my imouto talks about the hitboxes, timings, and absurd droprates in the FPS games she's playing..."
Lore's eyes sparkled. "...I see. I hadn't considered that she would be playing those games in her offtime, but when you factor in the absurd reaction time as well as almost preternatural luck at times..."
Asako paused. "Don't you mean supernatural."
Lore shook his head. "No. I am a man of precision when it comes to lore. Your younger sister's abilities are beyond the normal course of nature. They are in the top 0.000000001% in most cases. But they are still achievable through human means." He pointed at Alphy and said, "Miku-hime here is supernatural. The odds of her last stream playing a gacha game where she rolled a hundred SSRs in a row go beyond human means to pure impossibility without divine or outside intervention."
Alphy giggled. "Well... Sometimes Lady Luck favors me? She DOES owe Papa a lot recently..."
Lore paused. Then he pulled out his phone and made a voice note. "Note: Consider the possibility that intangible forces may take a tangible presence around John. Expand upon this possibility by tracing through various phenomena and weight the probabilities..."
Asako sighed. "Alright, Loremaster. Let's get going." She pulled out her phone and said, "We've been roaming through the Artist Alley for three hours now and somehow managed to not get flagged down by anyone other than creeps trying to sneak pictures of me and Darling. Let's keep it that way."
Lore nodded and pointed to the signs. "Again. The reverse psychology of implying you are related to criminal syndicates by explicitly stating you are not is impeccable." He paused. "...Though I suppose calling it Streisand effect is more apt. Hm. Is there a term for this? I should review it later..."
Either way though, Lore noted that Asako had a point. So he moved his wagon out of the way and took a look around... though he made sure the signs from earlier warning off any potential interlopers was clear along his wagon.
They were in the detached building dedicated for the Artist Alley this year, and they'd made a complete loop through it.
It was Saturday, the second day of Doko-Mii. And also the busiest...
But it seemed like everything was going well.
Though...
"Interesting." Lore looked over at the corporate sponsor booths and saw that Variant Hue had a stand up, but it almost seemed to have an invisible barrier around it with how few people were visiting.
Asako noticed Lore's reaction and said, "Oh, aren't those guys the wannabe rival corp that ended up almost causing a girl to off herself?"
Alphy's crimson eyes flashed as she looked at the booth. But then she paused when she saw that it was run by a single young woman who looked extremely uncomfortable. "...I remember that. But... I guess it's not fair to blame everyone working there for it, right? She looks terrible..."
Lore nodded. "I agree. Although that company's official statement was as riddled as a rice strainer and their CEO's heart blacker than the profits that John is making with Myth Incorporated... it is still a bit upsetting for a normal intern to be caught in the backlash." He adjusted his scarf. "Should we go greet her?"
Alphy smiled. "Let's go. I'll give her a gift to brighten her day!"
Asako shook her head, though a faint smile was on her face. "You care too much, Darling."
"And you don't care enough, Honey~"
"Grk."
Lore paused and pulled out his phone. "Note to self: Queen is weak to pet names..."
"OI!"
Lore put his phone away. "Am I wrong?"
Asako glared at him, but didn't deny it.
"I thought so." Lore nodded. "Now, let's go then." After saying that, he wheeled his wagon after Alphy, who had already gone ahead.
The young woman at the booth was Japanese, which was a given considering Variant Hue was based in Japan. And considering that they were in Germany...
Well, Japan DID teach a bit of German in school as well.
History and all that.
Lore was one of those WWII otakus back in the day, so he could go into a deep rabbithole on that mess...
But in any case.
The young woman wasn't like Lore, it seemed, since she was shifting around and looking uncomfortable. But the moment that Alphy approached, followed by Lore and Asako, the young woman relaxed.
Alphy waved and spoke in Japanese. "Hello! How's your day been going?"
The young woman let out a long sigh. "It's been... not the best." She frowned. "...I was a fan for a long time and signed up to do this booth after getting an internship. But since everything became a mess..." She flinched as someone in the distance glared at her. "...It's been hard." She finished softly.
Asako frowned. "...That's not fair. It's not like it's your fault."
The young woman reached up and tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear. "I know. But it can't be helped. I mean... Meryl DID try to... you know. And it WAS from their corporate practices." She winced and said, "...A few of us in the company looked into it. Um. It wasn't... pretty. What they were doing. It's fixed now. Mister John's helped a lot by having his legal team dig into it. But..." She looked around with sad eyes. "...The damage is done. You know?"
Lore hummed and reached up to adjust his scarf. "I see..." He glanced back at Alphy.
There was definitely something they could do.
But Lore also wasn't one who was in the space to suggest it.
Alphy hummed, thinking. Then she said, "Well..." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small figurine. A chibi of Mira-chan. "...It's not too popular yet, so most people won't know. But the ones who DO know should come over to say hi if you have this!" She placed it on the counter and said, "Think of it like a good luck charm!"
Lore tilted his head, thinking.
'Mira-chan at Variant Hue... Hm. Considering the similar color schemes, it should be net neutral. But the diehard fans of Project MirAIs will know...'
Lore nodded.
'As expected of John's daughter...'
It was a solution without being overt.
Did the young woman working the Variant Hue booth realize it as well? She let out a grateful smile and said, "Thank you. I'm not really a Project MirAIs fan, but I appreciate it."
"That's okay!" Alphy smiled and said, "We're not for everyone!"
Asako groaned. "Darling..."
"Oops~" Alphy winked at the young woman in the Variant Hue booth. The young woman who was very much on the verge of panicking as she realized just who exactly she was talking to.
Lore paused. Then he pulled out his phone again and said, "Note: Hana does not get her mischievous nature purely from her own innate characteristics..."