Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

Chapter 320 - 262 - By Group and Association

Shouri and Rebecca wandered about on their lonesome, to let Taika and Pacifica have their time together. The Riterran guild network apparently had a lot of talent in it, as promised. Things like a blacksmith's guild, an electrician's guild, and even a chef's guild. The last one drew pause from the young guildmaster.

Solana Leduc.

They met a few times during his journey. The last they encountered one another, she wasn't doing too hot, having lost one of her Resonators--her first. They did exchange numbers before, but he hadn't reached out to her. With everything that happened, it had been difficult to consider burdening her with his issues. When they did finally get a break from it all, he felt too much time had passed for it to be proper to hit her up.

So, that led to her as someone who existed on tuner's contact list as someone he could say he sort of knew.

"You okay?" asked Rebecca, which snapped Shouri out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, was just thinking." His gaze remained on the chef's guild stand for a bit longer before he tore it away.

Rebecca smiled, and hugged his arm. "You do that a lot," she commented.

"Someone has to," he snarked back. She responded by bumping her hip against his.

Their walk through the crowds was peaceful, as they continued to look at the different organizations on display. There was one that caught Shouri's attention, and he dragged his loyal fox into the tent.

"Conductor's Association?" questioned Rebecca.

It wasn't an organization Shouri claimed familiarity with. Inside were a couple of Maestros and their Resonators. Their tent was more subdued than some of the other ones. Even their outfits served a utilitarian purpose; they looked similar to military or law enforcement uniforms--designed with mobility and protection of their wearers in mind.

Since it was still a bit chilly out, their uniforms were in the winter variety, with slacks and somewhat thick jackets. On their left breast was the emblem of the Conductor's Association, while the right had their name engraved into a badge.

At their hip was a holster which contained a device with a design similar to a tuner, but it was very obviously not the standard device that hung at Shouri's waist.

"Howdy folks!" greeted one of the two Maestros. "Enjoying the festival?" he asked.

"Uh yeah." Shouri shuffled awkwardly in place--this guy must have a strong emotion stave. Thankfully, Rebecca was by his side, so she gave herself up to him and helped him through the conversation rhythmically.

"Was just curious," Shouri added. On walls of their tent, articles hung detailing rescue missions ranging from Scherzando extermination in remote regions, to humanitarian efforts in areas affected by natural disasters.

It seemed like they were just an aid organization. He wasn't sure what made them so special. The way the articles talked up the group drew his intrigue (not to mention the weird tuner).

Rebecca sensed her Maestro's growing curiosity, and spoke up on his behalf. "So what's your deal?" she asked, (a bit more bluntly than Shouri would have put it).

"We're Conductors, a special class of Maestro who work in aid efforts around the world," one of them began.

"Right, we're actually part of a Resonator aid guild," Rebecca spoke. "Is it just another guild like that?" she questioned.

"No," spoke the second, reaching for the device at his side. He flashed it to the two curious ones before them. Now that they could properly see the device, it was most certainly different from the tuner.

Rather than having the four buttons that the standard tuner had, this device had an arrangement of six below the screen, and a seventh button on the side. Just like the standard tuner there was a red button in the lower right of the device, though it was much smaller than the big gaudy one on the standard variant.

It took Shouri a moment to find his voice as he took in every little oddity about the strange tuner model. "What is it?" he asked.

"A Baton Tuner--made by Rose specifically for usage by the Conductor's Association," said one of the Conductors.

"We can demonstrate what it does if you don't mind us borrowing your Resonator," he motioned to Rebecca.

Shouri looked to his vixen, who nodded.

With the permission given, the Conductor holding his baton flipped it around in his hand, the screen facing his palm as his thumb rested on the black side button. He pressed it down with his thumb, and a baton extended from the device.

"Fuoco Fatuo, Tenuto a Piacere." The baton took on a glow and he swished it through the air, swishing it four times before flicking it in Rebecca's direction.

The vixen jumped as she suddenly took in the rhythm from the device. It was strange though, she didn't sense the same compulsion to cast the spell like tuners normal enforced on her. She also didn't feel as if she had too much rhythm. What she did sense is the spell itself decayed--it steadily lost power the longer she let it dwell in her. Figuring it'd be rude to waste the rhythm like that, she went ahead and cast the spell, a small fire ball appearing at the tip of her finger.

"It lets you cast with other people's Resonators?" Shouri questioned.

The Conductor released the button, withdrawing the baton back into the device. "There's a lot more to it than that," he said.

"A Resonator can refuse the rhythm with no harm to themselves. Our rhythm simply evaporates into the air for a failed attempt," the other explained.

"We can also only cast with the a Piacere modifier, which unlike normal modifiers doesn't impose our will upon the Resonator. It instead lets them use our rhythm as if we're big rubato crystals."

It was an interesting concept, but Shouri now wondered another thing. "Why have I never heard of you?" he questioned.

"It requires a certain disposition towards Resonators. Maestros that have the qualification to become Conductors are very rare. You have to be willing to give yourself up to total strangers to achieve a common goal."

"We usually go into areas where typical resources are scarce and help the Maestros and Resonators that are there, by leveraging the Resonators in the area to help."

Shouri and Rebecca nodded in understanding.

"Resonators, no matter where in the world you go, always want to help where they can. So, in disaster scenarios, we can come in and help those Resonators without endangering their Maestros by depleting their rhythm."

That was the part that made it click. "You help people help themselves," Rebecca understood.

"Right. We also bring resources with us like food and water to help get people back on their feet, or even evacuate them and assist with relocation efforts depending on the nature or severity of the disaster."

Shouri noted there weren't many other people checking out the tent like they were. He wondered if the lack of familiarity by the general public contributed to that.

Either way, he had one more nagging question he had to have answered.

"How big is the Conductor's Association?" asked the curious guildmaster.

"Very small--like we said, it takes a particular kind of Maestro to be able to become a Conductor. Maybe like one or two hundred globally?"

That was surprising, if not a little sad. The disposition needed to be a Conductor is so rare out of the billions of Maestros on the planet, that only the tiniest of a fraction of the population was even aware of the organization.

"Typically, we have our members as part of guilds, helps make sure our people are distributed around the world to serve as first-responders."

"Makes sense," Shouri nodded. "Is there any way we'd be able to request a Conductor for our guild?" he asked.

It was a question that caught the Conductors off-guard, they looked between one another, as if trying to decide which one would answer.

"Hmmm, not sure."

"Usually, Conductors join guilds they're interested in--or they're already in a guild when they get their Conductor's license."

Shouri nodded. He personally wasn't interested in getting such a license (if he even could.) Having someone like a Conductor in their back pocket would be nice, especially in a tornado-stricken place like Dalliva.

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Something to consider for later.

"Dahlia was a flower zalavan, who loved history more than any other. It was said she studied all the world's mythologies and found herself bored. That was until she met the Pagalia Pirates. Their goal was the one place talked about in myth: Lontano Island. It held some kind of secret that the historian in her had to document. Unfortunately, no records of what lay on Lontano Island exist from that era, perhaps it was lost on purpose."

Satisfied with the second half of the story for the day, Pacifica and Taika resumed their prowl. Of all the displays from various organizations, there were many mundane ones. One particular display got their undivided attention. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be an uneventful walk when a certain familiar logo came into their vision. The two Resonators ducked into a nearby tent to figure out what to do.

"The René Group? What are they doing here?" Pacifica whispered.

"They're like a company thing right? Maybe they're doing normal company things," Taika offered.

"Maybe." Pacifica poked her head out of the tent, carefully observing the René Group tent several paces down.

Nothing of note was happening, people came and went like every other tent. Things seemed normal.

"Looks can be deceiving," Pacifica decided. "Let's go scope it out," she suggested.

Taika furrowed her brows, humming with disapproval. "I dunno… shouldn't we let Sho know?" she asked.

"Nah! Let's go!"

The over-eager otter dragged her fellow Resonator out of their hiding spot and rushed towards the René Group tent. There were quite a few people inside, watching the televisions that decorated the walls of the tent. More than anything, people were impressed with what the René Group had on display. One screen played a looping brand video, which talked about what the René Group did as a company.

On the other screen were videos of various Resonator Festas, though all the energy and excitement was sucked out it as a gentle corporate voice talked over the footage.

Unlike most of the other booths, which staffed several people, this one only had a single Maestro and her Resonator. The Maestro of the pair was a woman around their age, give or take a couple years. By her side was a younger looking Resonator, roughly as tall as Nina. What was unusual was her species. Her ears were pointed and long; ones they had seen before, horse ears. They couldn't see her tail to confirm, but there was one thing they did see: a horn poking out from her forehead.

"It can't be…" Taika gasped.

Pacifica knew what Taika was thinking, but the otter was hungry for info, so she accosted the poor woman immediately.

"Hey!" greeted the otter.

"Good afternoon miss, how are you today?" the Maestro greeted back.

"Doing good! I was just curious," she pointed to the woman's Resonator, "is she a unicorn?"

There was a brief moment of silence in the tent, only the televisions continued to play their informational videos. Pacifica sensed many of the other visitors had the same question and silently hoped someone else would ask.

She didn't care; especially if the René Group would eventually become their enemies, she wanted to get some kind of information.

"Hahaha!" The Resonator's hearty laugh broke the silence. "Sorry, Abilene," the nature element apologized to her Maestro.

Abilene giggled to herself. "No, it's okay." She looked to the otter with a smile. "Briar is a pony, a small horse breed. She just really likes unicorns you see," explained the Maestro.

The pony in question lowered her head. "Feel it," she offered.

Pacifica went ahead and felt the horn affixed to Briar's head. It felt solidly attached to her skull, but…

"It's wood?" Pacifica asked, making sure she felt the material right.

"Yep! Abby got me some adhesive they use in movies for like demon horns and stuff! It's really good, but I have to re-apply it every few hours, and forget battling with it on!"

Pacifica smiled, though she felt there was something… weird about this pair. Maybe Shouri was rubbing off on her a little too much.

"That's really cool! The way it goes around your hair makes it look so convincing!" the otter noted.

"Thanks! I spend a lot of time every morning getting it just right!" Briar boasted.

"You work for the René Group?" Taika asked, trying to get them back on topic.

"We do. We're uhh…" Abilene furrowed her brow. "Um…" She grabbed her head, her brows pinching tight as if she was suddenly struck by a great pain.

The faux unicorn grabbed her Maestro's shoulder. "Ah, Abby. Let me get you into the back."

"Is she okay?" asked Taika. "I'm studying medicine, if I can help—"

"No! It's okay! Really! She just has a condition. The René Group has been helping her, seriously though, gotta get her to rest in the back," Briar insisted. "Nice meeting you!" was the last they heard from her.

Before Pacifica could get in another word, the two rushed into the back, out of sight.

Taika deferred to her water girlfriend. Pacifica frowned hard, scrutinizing where the pair had vanished into. "Let's go Taika. I don't think bothering them is gonna help anything," mumbled the otter, as she turned and walked out of the tent.

The lunar fox allowed her gaze to remain on the flaps of the tent's back room for a moment longer before she followed along.

The four reconvened and compared notes on what they found.

"I mean, I appreciate the attempt, but even if the leader himself is the scum of Riterra, there's plenty of people that work for him that don't know all of the stuff we've found out," said Shouri.

"Well let's just tell them then!" Rebecca protested.

"Yeah!" Taika agreed.

"It's not that easy," Shouri spoke sternly.

The two foxes deflated.

"Oh…" Pacifica realized the problem. "Who are we to just drop such a claim like René Noel is inhumanely collecting Resonators? It might as well be hearsay," the otter reasoned out.

Shouri nodded slowly, the frustration hanging on his face. "Also if anyone really looked into it, they'll find out we have ties to the Klein Foundation--so it would be a cake walk for them to refute the claims."

The room remained quiet for a moment. The silence was only broken up by a sudden knock at the door.

For a moment, the four tensed as their attention was locked on the door. "I-it's Vince," Rebecca released her held breath.

"Thank god for Canid Sense," Shouri let out a sigh of relief, as he stood.

Vince and Zephyr greeted him at the door. Taika and the others poked around their Maestro, being nosy as always.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Shouri.

"You weren't answering your texts, so I came to check on you," Vince replied.

The guildmaster checked his tuner, to find several notifications from Vince. "Ah sorry, we were busy. Something happen?"

"Oh, we might have found someone to join the guild!" the young guild member beamed.

Shouri blinked; that wasn't what he expected. "Really?"

"Yeah, her name is Solana. She's really nice and cool," Vince said excitedly.

That disarmed Shouri. Really, what were the odds? There was no way.

"Leduc?" asked Shouri.

Now it was Vince's turn to be surprised. He looked to Zephyr who shrugged. "How did you know?" wondered the guild member.

"We've met before, but I'd be happy to see if she'd be interested in joining us," Shouri replied.

"Great! We can meet tomorrow then!"