"Ooh, I haven't thought about that in some time but you're quite right."

"Maybe we'll even get to see-- what was its name? Aldebaran?"

Terrence smiles without realizing it at the possibility.

Is he the only person who minds magic stuff leaking into reality. I mean-- evidently it's always been there but it doesn't inspire wonder.

THAT'S NOT HOW MAGIC WORKS, Sal does not say, because he cannot read Oscar's mind.

Magic stuff is reality, it isn't leaking, it's just already here, same as everything else, Inaaya also does not say, for the same reason.

Terrence loves it when magic stuff leaks into reality.

"Perhaps! So - uh - Jing Yi and I were thinking we could, uhh, start by getting the a feel for the place, and also perhaps tracking down the, er, site of historical interest in case it has anything we can learn from. I suppose we'll want to start on the latter while it's still daylight."

"Trying to find a ritual site in the dark might be fun, but I doubt it would be practical."

"Much easier to already be there when the sun sets."

He'll accompany them to wherever and try his best on the investigation stuff, but do they have to be so cheerful about it. (Though Terrence probably can't help it.)

"We might also want to check the local newspaper archives for information about the deaths? Less intrusive than going around asking random people."

"Terrence could always say he needs to get in there for academic research."

"Most of us could say that. How many newspapers demand credentials?"

"I don't know, maybe rural ones?" Does he look like someone who has ever needed to go into a newspaper archive?

"We could even say we're asking for a friend who stayed there once. We wouldn't even be wrong."

He glances around. "We're a bit of a motley crew, though, maybe the more legitimacy the better. I'll happily tell them it's for academia too."

"Appreciate it," says Inaaya, who almost certainly cannot claim to be an academic with any credibility.

Clare Melford is a small town; it looks like at night pretty much everyone heads to the Railway Public House, right next to the train station.

Yeah that's British people for you.

That's convenient! Let's go in.

The barkeep is cleaning a glass at the bar; a bunch of the residents have decided to treat how profoundly boring this town is by getting steadily drunk.

You're probably supposed to find a pub like this quaint and charming instead of, you know, depressingly provincial.

That is too many people. Country pubs should be less crowded than city pubs, not more.

They have found the place to pump people for information once they're a little more trusted! Look, they're even making themselves drunk! So convenient.

"Want me to go buy a round and check how the barkeep feels about Strange City Folk?"

"Please."

He points at Sal, Terrence and Oscar. "Ale, ale, ale--" he points at Inaaya with less confidence "--also ale?"