Charles Patricius

[Bloodedge]

The owner kept an eye on Sakura, not seeing anything strange about her demeanor at all. If anything, she was just a sweet young girl looking to have fun like everyone else here at the shop. With that being the case, how could those boys have been talking about her the way they did? Well, it didn't matter. She wondered if it was unusual to see her return, and in short... yes, it was. "Sou ka. You are new. It is strange to see girls visiting card shops regularly. A lot of boys treat them strangely, much like in video games and anime communities. I try to promote this shop as a safe space, though, so I hope we can look forward to your continued visits," he said earnestly. A warm smile crossed his face when Sakura spoke of making purchases to better her playing experience. He nodded, gladly retrieving for her the sleeves and playmat she requested. "As you like. Just for you, I'll make a special deal. I'd like you to enjoy your time playing at this shop, so I'll offer you anything you like at true cost. Your patronage is more important than profit. At those costs, you can leave with a full bag for the same price you would normally pay for these few items,' he explained, even showing some items on the shelves behind him ─ briefcases, binders, bags and the like that were placed right next to a display of unreleased cards.

[Apollymi]

Sakura was in for a different sort of lesson immediately after coming into the shop. She explained to the owner what she was looking for and point to the items that she wanted. And expressed her curiosity about the lack of returning female patrons. Apparently, something about her question made her seem new, so she figured she would be adding another question to her list for Kaguya and Miko later. According to him girls were often treated strangely by boys in this situation and thus wouldn't visit regularly. According to him it was common for this kind of concern in gaming in general and anime communities. "Sou ka, I'll have to ask about that," she murmured. Still the man was being very genuine in his desire for this place to accomodate anyone who liked the game and Sakura could tell. It gave her happy and warm feelings. "I have some girls who are my friends who might be interested. I'll ask them and see if they'll come along later," she said earnestly. She enjoyed this game initially because Kazuhiko did, but she was sure that the other girls would also like it, given their studies and mental acuity. Those were the reasons she liked the game.

Beyond those points it would seem like he had more to say. Offering her a special deal on some extra items because he wanted her to enjoy her time playing the game. It would seem she would be able to purchase more than her little items a bag and other things were also on display. "I'll take you up on that... thank you. I'd like that little black bag too." she offered seemingly pleased. "Hm I don't know your name yet," she stated clearly. "I'd also like to learn more about the game... you run this shop so does that mean you have the most information to give about it?" she asked him directly. She was willing to spend a great deal of time talking to him, seemingly finding the distraction of his conversation enough to stave off the weird emptiness that was called being 'horny'.

[Bloodedge]

Sakura's newness to nerdier communities was showing bit by bit. The fact that she didn't know the reason players of the female persuasion would not frequent shops and the like, meant she'd led either a reclusive or very satisfying life thus far... or perhaps some combination of the two. Whatever the case, he was keen to have her continued patronage. It seemed Sakura had some female companions who may be interested as well. "I would appreciate you spreading the word. Tell them my offer is available for them as well ─ at least for the first purchase," he said.

While preparing Sakura's items, the owner was directed to a bag for card storage. Those were items he'd acquired in the hopes that some girls would visit and have reason to return, as the males often didn't care much for their accessories beyond card safety and anime breast imagery. He pulled down the bag while Sakura mentioned not knowing his name. "Akaba Reiji," he said simply. As for her need to know more about the game, she was barking up the right tree in a manner of speaking. Her bag was placed on the counter as he went fishing for something just underneath. "As a shop owner qualified to host tournament preliminary matches, I am a registered judge for the game. If you have questions about any rules, regulations, errata or new and upcoming releases, I pride myself on having all information readily available upon request. Feel free to place your trust in me for such things."

[Apollymi]

Sakura had a lack of relative understanding of the female perspective on the world of Gaia. Where she was from a goddess sat in the seat of power and she had five husbands, no one would speak bad about a woman making choices of any sort, it simply wasn't wise to do so. Beyond that there was an appreciation for fairness and reciprocity in Munetsuchi which likely wouldn't have made sense to Gaia's natives. Even so, she would be asking her friends about the 'taboos' surrounding young women in card shops. Still he made an earnest offer to treat the new purchases of the girls she spread the word to, "Hai, the next time we're all together I'll ask them about it. They seem to be into 'media' and 'table top games' I not sure entirely what that all means but I feel like they'd like this," Sakura said while nodding affirmatively.

Akaba Reiji was the name given to Sakura and she was rather happy. She would consider this older man a look into the knowledge foundation of this card game and her opening space here. Given this she was pleased to know him. "Reiji-san." she concluded seeming to like the way that one sounded. More than that, her positive feelings about this man would only be multiplying by the second. He claimed to have a great deal of knowledge about all kinds of things directly related to this card game. Her eyes began to sparkle as she leaned forward with pure excitement and elation on her face. "Sugoi! So I can ask you about all the things I don't know yet about the card game?! I'm still trying to learn everything so it'd be great to have a reliable and unbiased source of information!" Sakura was far too excited. This was definitely a good man and a great choice. She couldn't quite tell what his dick situation was yet, but he was earnest, kind and knowledgeable which were all criteria shared by her fathers. She could appreciate him as a person simply based on this.

[Bloodedge]

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Reiji said in response to Sakura's offer. Even a recommendation to others about his shop would be a positive. If she got only one person to visit, he'd call it a win. If she spoke to others and no one visited, he'd still appreciate the girl's effort. The girls she spoke of did sound like they would be able to enjoy a nice card game or two, though.

Just the same, Sakura was obviously enjoying her time learning and growing in this game. She even showed an amount of excitement previously unseen after finding out he had some valuable information. Reiji's eyes widened, and he pulled from beneath the counter an upgrade to Sakura's existing deck box. "You're suddenly very excited. It's good to see. You're a lovely girl, Tohsaka-chan," he observed, that smile remaining on his face. "Also, this is on the house. Your existing deck box is a bit small. Those sleeves you chose would be a very tight squeeze. This should fit them perfectly without leaving too much empty space," he explained while sliding across a box which matched the image background she chose the previous day. "It isn't good to have your cards bouncing around inside the box, even in sleeves. And yes, you're free to ask me anything you like. If there is anything I can teach you or guide you through, consider me an open book."

[Apollymi]

The smile on her face was permanent while talking to Reiji. She found this man most interesting and would definitely help him add female patrons to his list. Actually, a few girls would definitely improve the conditions. In places that pretty girls existed pretty men also existed, everything would be fine. Soon enough she even had a replacement for her deck box. Reiji offered it to her with several statements about the nature of her cards fitting within it and even spoke specifically about the nature of it. Perhaps Sakura's brain was set to sex or maybe this man was making a pass at her. Both were acceptable to the way Sakura was thinking. She couldn't help but be pleasantly amused. "Hai, thanks for the advice. I'll make sure to switch everything over~" she said pleasantly.

She was forced to believe this man was actually flirting with her at some point, given his commentary about her being nice. She couldn't help but be pleased, it would work towards her general plans. Beyond the sex itself he also left himself an open book to her learning. She was still raised by an elf, she'd take him very literally and use him for learning later. "Sou ka, I'll be happy to have your assistance. While I am putting these in sleeves and switching the box... would you like to look at my deck. I am curious about the opinions of someone who knows more varieties. I'll also take any suggestions you have into consideration," she offered the man. Of course, she was always going to consult someone more knowledgeable while she was trying to learn. One could say she'd almost forgotten the reason she'd come here originally had something to do with meeting up with Kakihara.

[Bloodedge]

Reiji nodded, needing no thanks for simple advice, but taking it all the same. Sakura's purchases were organized across the counter, tallying up her total while doing so. He was sure to throw in a small pack of additional sleeves for the sake of an extra deck, not counting those as part of the total. "Your total will be 778 yen," he said calmly. Sakura intended to sleeve her cards, but paused to ask if he'd take a look at her deck. Reiji reached out to open her original deck box and spread her cards across the counter in one swift motion. "Of course; I'll have a look."

And have a look he did. Each card was observed individually, and Reiji mentally formed various combinations with the deck. He could call it very consistent, if not missing a 'wow factor' or two. "Hmm. This has the look of a deck belonging to someone who's spent a bit of time playing competitively. It's quite good. Here I can see a lot of variety for combinations that will keep your opponent on their toes. It's unlikely you'd have a bad starting hand as well. If I had any recommendations, I'd say... you may want to pick up a few copies of Celestial Sacrilege. It's this card here," he said, reaching under the counter to grab a glass case containing a new, holofoil Magecraft card ─ one which worked exclusively with Divine attributes to evolve them to the competitive level of Spirit Servants. "It is going to be a very high-value card soon. Most vendors are estimating about 50,000 yen on the market."

[Apollymi]

Apparently Sakura owed this man a mere 778 yen on her first purchase. She could accept this given he claimed he was giving her a discount but she was certain it was going to be very cheap for her first purchase. "Sou ka..." she said sliding him a 1,000 yen note from her little purse. She'd gotten a few of these though she'd not spent much money she did understand the nature of the exchange after observing humans so much this morning. Beyond this point he was having a look at her deck. She smiled and began sleeving up her deck while she waited for a critique.

His words for her deck spoke of her variety and her ability to deal with multiple issues regardless of everything else. He claimed she might be missing wow factors but the deck itself was consistent. "Sou ka, Kazzun also said it was very consistent... I am glad," she claimed thinking about it. Ah, and there was another card she might want to look at, Celestial Sacrilege. She read the card effect and heard its potential future price and understood. "Sou ka, that would be a very nice card for the kind of deck I am trying to perfect... I could still afford at least one or two copies, can I not buy them yet?" she asked of Reiji rather directly. It sounded like there was some sort of future prospecting taking place here and she might need to get in on it to get a reasonable set before the price shot up. She was quite interested in the card and it was another rare one because she'd not seen it in Kazuhiko's binder while she was building.

[Bloodedge]

Sakura's deck was something he'd never seen from a new player ─ even a quality unexpected from newbies in any card game for at least two decades. For this particular game that was only a year old by now, Sakura's deck could easily compete at the national level if executed skillfully. "You should be proud. Whether you had help building this or not, it is incredible. Kimura-kun lost a round to you yesterday, didn't he? That's an accomplishment," he praised.

There was one problem about Sakura's current desire. She wanted to purchase a few copies of Celestial Sacrilege, but he couldn't legally sell them to her just yet. If anyone caught wind of him doing so, Reiji would certainly lose his license. "That price won't be official until the market value is established; that is only an estimate. I'm sorry to say, this card is from the Age of Man set, which won't release officially until tomorrow. This shop is still too small for pre-release drafts or sealed tournaments, so there's no way I can sell you even a pack from the new set. However... if you are still here late, I can figure a reasonable price to sell you a few copies when we close. That will be in about four hours since there are no tournaments today. If you're interested, I can run some numbers between now and then."

[Apollymi]

As for her deck, according to Reiji she should be proud, whether she had help building it or not it was good. A third opinion was quite nice and she could only smile remembering playing her second game with Kazuhiko and pulling out a victory. "I built it myself, after Kazzun explained the basics. I think the game is really logical so I find it easy to process. I am just interested in learning everything about it. I think it will be fun for us to play. I am quite happy with it, I am just trying to perfect it now," she said. Not specifying who the us was, but there were a few assumptions to be made. Reiji was a very nice man, she was sure of this the more she spoke to him. There was an innate maturity about him she'd not encountered before on Gaia so she was ready to continue speaking with him.

According to him the card she wanted was a little too new to be sold. The price wasn't currently set in stone but his store was a bit too small for a sealed play or tournament release. She understood those words from talking with Kazuhiko and nodded. The entire time she was finishing the process of placing sleeves on her cards and she'd comment while she finished up. "If you have the ability to sell me a few copies, I can definitely make it back before I go home for the night. I'd also like to buy a case for Kazzun I think he'd like opening the packs," she said with a smile. "Though that last bit can wait until tomorrow if its better for you." she offered Reiji happily. She was quite interested in this card game and figured both Kazuhiko and Angelica might enjoy being able to play at the house, when they got back. She figured the transition might be a little hard on them considering what Kazuhiko had been like when he first got back this morning.