A Chain of Debt (A Matou Shinji AU Quest)

[Malorius]

[X] An Erumpent

An easy and safe target, yes. I'm sure it will be just fine. What's the worst that can happen?

[alfheimwanderer]

[x] Erumpent.

---

...serious question. Are you actually planning on fighting the Erumpent, or was that merely a show of bravado for the ladies?

[ ] Of course I was serious - I am a man of my word
[ ] ...a rhino who can make you explode? Are you kidding me?!

[Daiki]

[x] ...a rhino who can make you explode? Are you kidding me?!

Guess people don't want to blow up anymore.

[Skull Leader]

[X] ...a rhino who can make you explode? Are you kidding me?!

This. Very much this. Sums up everything nicely.

[Malorius]

[X] ...a rhino who can make you explode? Are you kidding me?!

We are kind of totally useless in such fight. Letting Hillard do everything for us? For real? There is a line beyond which a real arrogance starts. Going to this fight pretty much means crossing it.

[Dracueri]

[x]​...a rhino who can make people explode? Are you kidding me?!

[alfheimwanderer]

[X] ...a rhino who can make you explode? Are you kidding me?!

---

...of course, for all his brave words, the boy had no intention of actually fighting an erumpent, as he had no desire to learn what it felt like to be trampled, gored, or to have his insides be smeared across the wall after a gory explosion. Perhaps this made him a coward - but if so, Shinji wanted no part of being brave (and foolish - like many Gryffindors).

Still, it wasn't the (virtual) pain which deterred him, but the very real promise of Ron Weasley's wrath, should Shinji get himself killed while fighting such a beast and cost the boy all of his points in the process. The last thing he needed was to be in debt to someone else - especially someone who had a familiar which had proved to be uncannily good at finding one's valuables.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have minded possibly ruining a potential rival (as his failure would have simply meant that the boy had been foolish to trust him), yet with him already slaving away to repay his debt to the usurper's sister...well, he had no intention of finding out just what Tohsaka would do to him if he failed to repay what he owed.

"So, I hear you'll be fighting that erumpent?" Hillard asked casually, once they were out of earshot of the group.

"...I wasn't actually planning on it," Shinji replied. "If it's all the same to you."

Hillard blinked.

"Oh. I see. You were just trying to impress Edgecombe," the older boy noted. "Would have thought you'd be more interested in Cho, or you know, someone with actual hair, but there's no accounting for taste, I suppose."

This time, it was Shinji who blinked.

"Hey. It's not like that. Don't get the wrong idea!" he protested, even as Hillard had a hearty chuckle at his expense. "Why doesn't she have hair, anyway?" he asked after a bit. "She doesn't have some kind of sickness or something...right?"

He supposed she could have inhuman ancestry or something like that, with lack of hair being one of the signs, but...no, she had eyebrows. Faint eyebrows, but they were there, nonetheless. Unless those were also fakes....

"...no, unless you consider extreme jealousy an illness," Hillard responded.

"Huh?" was Shinji's all too eloquent response.

"She got jealous of the lab partner of a boy she fancied and had a group of her friends bully the girl," the prefect replied tersely. "Her victim...eventually had enough."

"...what did she do?" Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Is there a spell that makes someone's hair fall out?"

"There is, but that's not what she used," Hillard related. "On an unrelated note, did you know that wounds caused by dragonfire can leave scars that magic has trouble healing?"

"...no. I didn't know that. Not that it will ever be relevant, since I don't plan on fighting a dragon anytime soon."

"Indeed. When in doubt, remember the Hogwarts motto - 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon.'"

"...you're not going to tell me who the one Edgecombe tried to bully was, are you?" Shinji asked, his voice more serious.

"No, because that's not my story to tell."

"...you just told me about what happened to Edgecombe."

"Well, that's different."

"How?"

"That was a warning, since...from one bloke to another, it's not a good idea to get close to crazy."

"...you learn that from experience?"

"Only secondhand."

Shinji makes it back to Slytherin without further incident, in as much as being trailed by a pogrebin, taking out a pack of gytrashes, and a Nogtail (basically a demon boar) counted for without further incident.

What does he do when he gets back?

[ ] Chat with Ron - the other boy should know what he's been up to
[ ] See if Amber or one of the others is up for a game
[ ] Work on his divination skills
[ ] Read his books
[ ] Check on the dodo

[Dracueri]

[x]​Read his books

[Skull Leader]

[X] Read his books

Either this or divination. I figure we just seen why we need to work on the sleath and sly stuff so we might as well read up on that. Dodo fun is always welcomed, but that is more the stress release of Shinji.

[Daiki]

[x] Read his books

[Malorius]

[x] Just nerd things

Gaining True Wisdom in all routes, aha.

[alfheimwanderer]

[x]​Read his books

---

Time passed, as Matou Shinji did his best to apply himself to in the classes required by the Hogwarts curriculum, as well as his...more extracurricular interests, such as improving his ability with divination, or amassing money to aid him in gaining influence and paying off his debts. His results, sadly were...mixed.

While he certainly makes progress on his divination and his classwork, his initial stunts with cards and other games of chance have left others wary of him, meaning that he is not raking in nearly as much as he could. Though...he does have knowledge of passages to Hogsmeade? Should he use them to acquire goods and...sell them to first years who might desire them?

[ ] Yes - it's not like anyone will notice an additional student, and it could be good income
[ ] No - it's not worth the risk

Also, what is Shinji's plan for the holidays?

[ ] Stay in the Castle over the Holidays
[ ] Go back to Japan
[ ] ...perhaps someone might be willing to invite him over as a guest?

[Dracueri]

[x]​Yes-it's not like anyone will notice an additional student, and it could be good income
[x]Stay in the Castle over the Holidays

[Skull Leader]

[X] Yes - it's not like anyone will notice an additional student, and it could be good income

Preferably you wait until Christmas break to scout it out but profit is profit. No risk no reward. Just remember that Shinji is a fairly easy person to remember and pick out since almost blue hair and foreigner. Going to need to be clever here.

At worse he gets detention but that is a small price compared to his debts owed.

[X] Stay in the Castle over the Holidays

I am between this and asking for an invite. But the issue here is that Shinji is a Slytherin. If you go around trying to get invited it might look worse than just the foreigner staying in hogwarts because its more convenient than going home. After all you need to save face to survive in this house. If we had a good friend I would say go for it but if we have to ask...

And I am not sure we want to create anymore debts in asking. But I would be super cool if the Blacks took us in.

Spending a few weeks focusing on what we want to do by staying at Hogwarts sounds like a good plan. It is unlikely that big money returns will happen this way but we gain time to study our skills by being Ravenclaw Slytherin, as well as a near isolation that might allow for him to work on his calm for divination. Plus there is always getting wrapped up with Sion or someone else that stays. Dodo time as well.

[Daiki]

[x] Yes - it's not like anyone will notice an additional student, and it could be good income.

We need funds and we need to improve (and put to use) stealth (maybe even divination, if it helps). We have learned about the secret passageways, so why not using them that way?

[x] Stay in the Castle over the Holidays.

Alright, I'll swap for this. At least, we should have time for extra study time (or just plain training for fights), if anything.

[alfheimwanderer]

Hogsmeade? [X] Yes - it's not like anyone will notice an additional student, and it could be good income
Plan for the holidays? [X] Stay in the Castle over the Holidays

---

Yes - Matou Shinji has always been a bit of a gambler, and as the example of the Vittle Broker proves, being the only source of a commodity or service does tend to present...opportunities one can exploit. This is true no matter what that service or commodity is, so long as there is enough demand, and certainly there is a demand for Hogsmeade goods.

Though...one wonders, if there is such a demand...would the Vittle Broker and his/her/their agents not have already moved to act on it? Given the long reach of the Broker's network, perhaps it might be wise to...try and broker an understanding with the shadowy merchant of secrets and sin.

[ ] Contact Blaise. He wants to discuss business with the Broker
[ ] Why give up a percentage of his possible earnings to someone who already makes more than enough? Do his own thing
[ ] ...try and shut down the Vittle Broker. Matou Shinji does not need competition.

---

As for holidays - Quirrell announces a special event happening in Wizards Unite during the week before the Winter Holiday, with the area where the training program can be accessed expanding to cover the grounds of Hogwarts - not merely the castle itself, with the virtual environment reflecting the colder clime (with ice to impair one's footing, wind to throw off one's aim, or even fog one might get lost in).

During this time, rare creatures worth a great deal of points have a higher chance of appearing, and all point gains are doubled.

Ronald Weasley, of course, is asking for Shinji's help again, promising to share any monetary reward / Christmas gifts from Quirrell with him, given that with help, he stands a good chance in being

As a reminder, the best scoring individuals of each team (and from each year) would receive some sort of monetary reward and what Quirrell promised would be a nice Christmas gift. That is, Ron is competing against other first years in Team Valor for a reward.

Even if Ron does not end up the best scoring person in Valor, however, so long as Valor is the best scoring team, they will receive a feast in their honor the day before the Christmas break, and a day at Hogsmeade exclusively for them (and a guest, each)...generously subsidized by Lord Black. Ron has of course, offered to have Shinji be his guest, should this come to pass.

[ ] A very generous offer. Of course, Mister Weasley, I would be happy to help
[ ] Sorry, I'm busy

...of course, one doesn't have to help Ron. Why, for those who are more...ambitious, Quirrell is making a limited number of glasses available for those who wish to start the training program during this final week before the holidays, and with there being more rare creatures and every creature worth double the amount of points...there is a chance for him to tip the scales in the favor of one team or another - including a new, fourth team which Quirrell dubs Team Firebolt, whose members may gain the perks of the others if they outdo one of the existing teams (with that team's members getting...somewhat reduced perks).

Perhaps Shinji would rather join as a new player, instead?

[ ] Yes, on Team Firebolt - there is a certain...appeal to overturning the status quo.
[ ] Yes, on Team Valor (currently the largest team, from what Quirrell says)
[ ] Yes, on Team Mystic (currently leading in points)
[ ] Yes, on Team Instinct
[ ] No, he still would rather focus on other things. Money doesn't tempt him.

Note: At launch, 150 glasses were distributed. With the new run, there are 90 new glasses available, so depending on who joins what, a fairly sizable shift could occur.

[Malorius]

[x] Why give up a percentage of his possible earnings to someone who already makes more than enough? Do his own thing

And so it begins. To reach beyond the limits of morality for the chance of superior profit by exploiting the children's addiction to sweets - this is Matou Shinji's path to greatness.

[x] Sorry, I'm busy

I'm afraid the only social interaction I'll allow here is reserved for Dodo. We have decided to at least try to lay low this year, come on. No need to involve ourselves in Quirrel's web even further.

Books are waiting!

[x] No, he still would rather focus on other things. He will steal all their money anyway when he becomes the awesome Phantom Thief of Hearts.

Nerd power 100%.

[Dracueri]

[x]Why give up a percentage of his possible earnings to someone who already makes more than enough? Do his own thing

[x]Sorry, I'm busy

[x]​No, he still would rather focus on other things

[Daiki]

[x] Why give up a percentage of his possible earnings to someone who already makes more than enough? Do his own thing

[x] Sorry, I'm busy

[x] No, he still would rather focus on other things

[alfheimwanderer]

Negotiate with the Broker? [x] Why give up a percentage of his possible earnings to someone who already makes more than enough?
Help Ron? [x] Sorry, I'm busy
Join Wizards Unite? [x] No, he still would rather focus on other things

---

After some thought, Matou Shinji decides against contacting the Broker, given that making an arrangement with that enigmatic individual would almost certainly result in him losing out on a good deal of potential profit - and he didn't think he could afford that, given that he needed to save every penny he could for that unpleasant business of repaying his debt.

'Of course, the Broker might send someone after me, but maybe he just won't notice?'

That was the hope, anyway. He knew it was a gamble, but, well, he'd been lucky so far. Mostly. When it counted. That and the cards didn't seem to predict disaster for him, so even if he was wrong, surely the Broker would be generous and not take too large a cut of his earnings.

...not that he had any earnings to speak of yet, and he wouldn't until he actually went to Hogsmeade and picked up some goods to sell for a significant markup to unsuspecting first and second years.

'Hmm...I should go soon. Before the Winter Holidays.'

There was a Hogsmeade weekend scheduled, after all, which would be a good time for it, as the presence of other students would help him not stand out like a sore thumb. On the other hand, he could wait for Team Mystic to have their private outing, given that they took first place in the Wizards Unite Challenge (as he hadn't been paying attention to it, he frankly only knew this because Weasley had been grumbling for the last few days about how if more people didn't come out for the event, Valor wouldn't be able to take the lead - and since Weasley had seemed more and more disheartened as of late, muttering dark things about those ruddy blue bastards, he imagined that Mystic had won. It was either that or he had a grudge against a Ravenclaw or three...not that there was a huge difference between them, he supposed.)

'Wait. Ana is a Ravenclaw,' the boy mused, remembering how she had helped him out in his game against Hagrid once. 'If she's a Mystic, maybe she would be willing to take me as her guest?'

Which approach seems most ideal?

[ ] Sneaking into Hogsmeade via one of the tunnels during a normal Hogsmeade weekend, where there are more students to mask his presence
[ ] Sneaking into Hogsmeade via one of the tunnels during the Team Mystic weekend, where the presence of first years will not be unusual
[ ] Asking Ana if she would be willing to take him as her guest during the Team Mystic weekend - no sense taking an unnecessary risk

Bring the Diricrawl?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

That aside, there is the question of what to buy for resale to the student population...

[ ] Candy - Honeydukes is a very popular brand among Hogwarts students, and there is always a demand
[ ] Potions - with competition being what it is, a bit of liquid enhancement would no doubt be helpful to some...
[ ] Prank items - they're contraband, but that just means they're valuable, right?
[ ] Potions ingredients - in particular, rare plants, as sometimes people need something quick, and aren't Hufflepuffs
[ ] (write-in)

And with regards to things to buy...

Who should he get gifts for this year, if anyone?

[ ] (write-in)