Skywind said:
Let's try to be friends with Tsu-Ko by knowing more about our guide and her sprites species. Afterwards we should all go to the gaming houses for some fun a little extracurricular activity will take our minds off this challenging mission and we may learn some new things that may provide us some vital clues about this land and it's inhabitants.

You realize that while Tsu-Ko has been an invaluable source of knowledge thus far, you still don't know much about her. You decide to ask the sprite about herself.

Tsu-Ko: "Me? Did you run out of things to ask about or something?"

You tell Tsu-Ko that you had never heard of sprites before meeting her, and wanted to learn more about her kind.

Tsu-Ko: "Is that so? Well, if you have to ask, we sprites are spirits of nature. Do you know what spirits are?

... Spirits are creatures who are native to the arcane dimension. You know about that, at least, right? ... Don't they teach you anything where you're from?

Alright. Imagine a world where everything is made out of colourless shapes. Now, imagine a new world made entirely out of shapeless colours. Finally, imagine both of those worlds put together — the shapes from the first and the colours from the second —, and you get a world of colourful shapes. That's basically what the physical and arcane dimensions are to each other."

Moonflower: "Ohhh! ... I don't get it."

Tsu-Ko: "What I'm getting at is: the arcane dimension is a world that exists in parallel to your own. Since you're all magical creatures in some way, you might be able to catch glimpses of it here and there, or use magic to interact with it, but for the most part, you're bound by physical laws."

Honourshine: "I was under the impression that magic existed inside of things, not in a different world altogether."

Tsu-Ko: "You're not wrong. If two things exist in the same place at the same time, then depending on which side you look at it from, one is technically inside the other."

You remark that you like the sound of that.

Tsu-Ko: "Anyway, I'm not here to teach you how it all works. All you need to know is that spirits like me are the inverse of you in a sense; we live in the arcane dimension, and we use our magic to interact with the physical world.

As for sprites, we're spirits of nature; we use our powers to create environments for seaweed, plants and mushrooms to flourish in — or what most of you call "wilderness". And every now and then, mortals bring us offerings — just like you did — in exchange for blessing their harvests."

Honourshine: "Interesting. Does this mean you are using magic to speak to us?"

Tsu-Ko: "That's right! It's also how you're able to see me while nopony else can."

Moonflower: "Wait, nopony else can see you? So we all look like we're jus' talkin' to ourselves?"

Tsu-Ko: "Thankfully, not everyone is as ignorant as you are."

Curious, you ask if every sprite is as cheeky as she is.

Tsu-Ko: "Oh, no, I'm one of the nicer ones. Honestly, you should be grateful I was the one who decided to help you."

You admit that you are, if what she says is to be believed...

With your snack break over, you and your friends decide to visit a gaming house next. You enter a large building on the eastern side of town and find yourself in a spacious hall. All around the hall, various signs welcome players to different rooms, each filled with various volumes of cheer and laughter.

Your sprite companion gives you a quick summary of the games available: Pai Gow, a tile-based gambling game; Sic Bo, a dice-based gambling game; Touhu, a game where sticks are thrown into a pot; Tuoluo, a game where spinning tops fight in a small arena; Xiangqi, a strategy board game; and Mahjong.

Honourshine: "And what are the rules of Mahjong?"

Tsu-Ko: "Don't."

Honourshine: "... I see."

One final game, glossed over by your sprite companion, is Wuziqi, an abstract board game not unlike noughts and crosses. However, it is the game's instructor that catches your eye — a massive stallion with not one, but two curved horns projecting from his forehead.

For a brief moment, you are reminded of Eleven, the large four-horned equinculus from Midgard. You figure that Azure Spark was right; there are indeed many kinds of creatures in the Kirin Empire, most of which you seemingly have never heard of before.

Making sure not to stare, you turn to your party and begin to discuss which game you would like to try first.

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