We logged in half an hour before seven.

The world loaded around me, misty blue light, faint wind brushing through the grasslands near the New Destiny's mountain-side hideout, where I last log out of this morning in preparation for Hailie.

I got in the tavern, greeted a few assholes (said wholesomely) as I waited for Hailie to spawned in just a few meters away in the corenr, the glow of her avatar slowly fading as she materialized.

She looked the same as her real life counterpart, just a different head structure considering you have to make your own avatar, and even if she tried, she probably didn't know how to make it look like herself to a hundred percent.

But it same kind smile, same mismatched outfit that looked half-healer, half-adventurer, she really like the speedy build.

For a moment, I thought about waving first, but she beat me to it, running forward with a bright grin.

"Coryyyyyyy!"

"Hey," I replied simply, trying not to sound as awkward as I felt. The silence between us over the past week had been heavy enough. "Did you tell your team you're going to be absent today? Sorry, by the way…"

"Oh, it's okay! They're really understanding, and from time to time they also are busy so it's all fair!" She cheered as she held my hand tightly.

Depart we set.

We rented a carriage that will take us there. Because while I could run and it'll take at best a few minutes, it'll take way more when accompanied by a slower person like Hailie, so a cart was the best option.

In this game, there were barely any potholes or bumps on the road, so these carriage riders were extremely efficient at their job, they're probably faster than me if on a straight road.

The driver was a gruff-looking NPC with a straw hat and permanent eye bags, the kind that probably never existed outside quest textboxes.

The wheels creaked as the carriage started moving, rocking slightly as the road dipped down a muddy trail, and I sat across from Hailie, with the clattering rhythm of the wheels doing most of the talking for us.

Then I decided to tell her my plan… And I may have lied a bit, because she didn't need to know the details about me sucking cum out of someone's asshole then sandwiching that person to be penetrated by a futanari.

I told her something a long the lines of:

"Ann, the nice woman that saved us… She tipped me off that the so-called NPC from that cave dungeon incident might actually be hanging around a small inn in Toreno Town, a town near Wroeg's Hollow that we once were… I'm investigating this because the cave incident still didn't sit right in my mind, no matter how much I tried to let it go."

"Basically," I added, fiddling with my gauntleted hands, "I just need you to see if he's there, to confirm if it's the same person you saw. Then, it'll be over."

Hailie listened intently, her head slightly tilted like an animal, just like how she usually looked when trying to process information.

"That's nice of you, Cory!" She said, "You're trying to find justice for Olga, right? I heard a lot of people didn't trust her after that event. I'll be glad to help you uncover the truth! It's been a while since we did something together, now we're detectives!"

"Detectives?" I furrowed my brows.

"Deee-tec-tiveeee~" She stretched dramatically with squinted eyes.

Well, that was cute.

Then, out of nowhere… Hailie started giggling, suddenly leaning forward on all fours across the carriage floor to get close to me, who was sitting from across.

I thought she got possessed and some freaky succubus was going to kiss me, so I instinctively recoiled… Forward, because honestly, I'm down for that. But turned out, she glanced down on my weapon on the floor.

"Whoa!! Is that a war scythe???"

"Y…Yeah?" I said, sliding it forward a bit for her, "Just got it reforged last night to add some more weight on the tip, it's… heavy."

"It looks so cool!" She was practically glowing, studying every curve of the blade. "I love edgy weapons! Maybe after I'm done playing with the healer class, I'll be a cool Assassin that can hide and pop out of nowhere! But I don't like killing though… Can I be an Assassin that heal?"

"That sounds ridiculous… Also, edgy?" I looked at my scythe, then at her up and down. "You're wearing healer's overalls with tank boots, girl, that's edgy."

"No way!" She sat back down, stretching her legs and flinging them to the air, showing them off. "They're fire-resistant! The five of us doing a fire-based dungeon next week. They'll help with keeping me from dancing, Rina said."

"Uh-huh. Totally not bought for aesthetic reasons," I chuckled.

"You're teasing meeee!" Hailie laughed, light and unbothered.

All according to my plan, the week-long ice melted away, replaced by something normal. The kind of mood we used to have before everything got weird and I started avoiding her.

By the time we reached Toreno Town, the sun had set behind the mountain ridge.

The driver slowed down, pulling the reins as the carriage came to a stop by a stone bridge just outside the town gates.

I handed him the fare, thanked him, and we both got off to stretch after a long ride.

"Now, I can see the inn from here, I think we should…"

Suddenly, I feel a sensation on my neck, wet...

I didn't immediately assume that Hailie had sneakily licked me, so I turned around to assess my surrounded.

A drop.

Then another.

Then a soft drizzle that quickly turned into full rain.

"Huh…" It took me a second to realize what I was seeing. "…Rain?"

I looked up at the sky and saw that the clouds were dark, rolling across the horizon, heavy and moving fast.

I hadn't seen a single drop of rain since launch, not once... Most people probably thought the devs just hadn't added weather yet, but we definitely had 'em in Early Access, so the event just haven't occured… In the original game, rain would occur like once per week, so seeing it this late was off-putting, but probably not serious.

Raining was, also, a server-wide thing… Most of the time, which meant it affected the entire map. It also meant that whatever was happening tonight… wasn't normal, probably, I wonder if there was any reason to it.

I ducked under the nearest roof ledge, watching as puddles began forming on the cobblestone road.

"Hailie! Get in here, you'll get drenched!"

But she didn't.

She stood there where we got off the carriage, her head tilted up, eyes half-closed, face lifted to the sky.

The rain dripped through her snow-white hair, down her cheeks, onto her ropes. She smiled, actually smiled with a kind of quiet awe I hadn't seen in her before.

"So this is what it feels like on the skin," she said softly, almost to herself.

"What?" I blinked. "It's a pain in the ass, what's new?

"Oh, sorry Cory! I've just never felt rain before! Not like this." She held her hands out, palms open to the sky as she spun three-sixty. "I am told to stay away most of the time, not even Gerald would let me be near the windows when it rains. I like the sound it makes when tapping on the windows though!"

"..." I stay quiet.

"So pretty!" She laughed, light and breathy, "It's so cold, and it tickles."

I didn't say anything really… I just watched, and the world felt still for a moment. Just her voice, the rain, and the soft glow of the inn sign I'm supposed to be checking out flickering in the distance.

I check my wrist… Before realizing that I already sold the wristwatch to Ann Murphray, I guess she knew it was from LyraBell and was going to blackmail her or something… So, I checked the time the usual way, with the game's built-in UI.

I only needed the wristwatch because it was fast, and I needed perfect timing anyways.

It was 7:09.

He'll be there between seven and seven-thirty, every day except Sunday.

The inn was right ahead, so maybe… Just maybe, no need to rush, not yet.

So I stayed under the roof, watching in silence as Hailie twirled slowly in the rain, her arms out, her laughter barely audible under the pattering sound.

For a brief, fleeting moment, she was the most free creature in the world. She began to dance, and it looked ridiculous, awkward. It was like ballet, but worse, she was moving too much of her hips, then too little of her feet, then a lot of her arms, then not any of her calves.

She had never danced before, I believe.

So, I crossed my arms and let myself stay still, letting the strange peace of that moment drown out everything else.

"Five minutes." I told myself.

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