Pitter-patter.
Rain pattered down, causing the road of tiny town get very muddy. The residents of the town covered their heads with their coats as they rushed inside their homes, inns or bars.
Then, several wagons wheeled inside the town with horses neighing under the rain. The wagon drivers wore their raincoats while whipping the buttocks of the horses with their reins. They were expecting to encounter rain, thus brought proper clothes with them.
The players inside the wagons, didn’t because of their inexperience. They didn’t expect to encounter such heavy weather in Yatagarasu’s territory.
Soon, the wagons came to a stop in front of a red-colored inn with water pouring down from the roof. The wheels of the wagons were deep in the mud, unable to move any further.
“We have arrived!” One of the wagon drivers shouted and knocked on the wall of the wagon. He then jumped down into the dirt, mud splashing up his trousers. He cursed loudly and turned to the wheels covered in mud.
“A mess, proper mess!” The wagon driver cursed knowing that they had to dig the wheels out of the mud and take horses and the wagons under the shelter. It was unacceptable to leave them outside in this weather.
The problem was that it was raining very heavily, and it would take them close to an hour to complete this task. They couldn’t ask for help from players either because they were their clients, and they didn’t have suitable clothes with them.
Players slowly left the wagons and cursed at the terrible weather. They had to walk over muddy puddles, drenching and staining their boots and trousers until they reached the inn.
The players were welcomed by friendly innkeeper, who offered them a washing service at later date when they have rented an inn room and had unpacked their stuff. They accepted it with relief and took off their shoes to not make a mess everywhere on the lounge.
As several players, led by Leprechaun went to rent the rooms, Serenity and Ambrose entered the inn, their hairs and clothes drenched.
“A member of my dojo will go rent rooms for us.” Serenity said and looked into Ambrose’s eyes. “Everyone will get individual rooms, unless one wants to share with someone.”
“Why?” Ambrose asked in surprise. He thought it was huge waste of money.
“Haha, Leprechaun was also quite unpleasant about it, but some of our members wish to spend night here and not in real-life. This is experience which you cannot have in reality.” Serenity said.
“They would finish their business in reality before returning here. They would either tour the town, which is unlikely because of this weather or just spend time with other dojo members. Most would just prefer sleeping here as well, even though the beds are most likely not that comfortable.”
“I see…” Ambrose looked at the side of her beautiful face. “What about you?”
“I have stuff to do in reality.” Serenity said with a forced smile. “I would also like to spend time here with others. This feels like a camping trip, but as you know, I have some work-related stuff to finish.”
“I understand.” Ambrose nodded and took off his shoes before tossing them into his inventory. “I will go pay for my own room. I don’t need you guys to pay anything for me.”
“It wouldn’t be a problem!” Serenity quickly grabbed him by shoulder. However, she suddenly flinched and removed her hand. Her eyes showed fright. “Are you alright?”
“I am not made of glass, you know.” Ambrose looked at her in the eye with sharp gaze and walked to the innkeeper to rent an inn room for himself.
“Ah…” Serenity looked at his retreating back and sighed. She covered her face and shook her head. “I forgot that his disease doesn’t exist in here. Stupid Alice, stupid!”
“Serenity!” A cheerful-voiced girl hopped towards Serenity with room keys in her hand. “Want to share a room with me?”
“Oh, sure Layla.” Serenity smiled and accepted the key. They then walked past the drenched players, who were looking at the ongoing rainstorm through windows and stepped up the stairs to second floor.
At that moment, Layla looked over her shoulder and saw the black-haired young man talk with the innkeeper.
“Who is the person you brought with you?” Layla asked curiously from the beautiful silver-haired girl. She respected their dojo leader very much as she didn’t expect women to able to contend against men in such realistic video game.
However, Serenity proved that it was possible by beating everyone during sparring sessions.
“A friend of mine, Ambrose.” Serenity said and followed Layla to the second floor. Several doors were already open, with players entering their respective rooms. The inn was otherwise empty except few adventurers that got stuck in the town because of the rainstorm.
“Ambrose, huh.” Layla inserted a key to keyhole, unlocked the door and opened. A small room with two beds, couch, few plants and bathroom opened up. “Is he a swimmer?”
“Swimmer? I don’t think so.” Serenity shook her head as rejection of that idea.
“Mm, my brother is professional swimmer and even he doesn’t have his physique.” Layla looked at the stunned Serenity and giggled. “Thank god for the rain. His shirt was entirely drenched, allowing me to catch a slight peek. Not bad, at all.”
“W-W-What are you talking about?” Serenity stumbled over her words and stomped inside the room.
Layla followed after closing the door. She then tested the bed by jumping on it and let out a surprised shout. It was softer than she imagined. 𝑜𝗏xt.𝗇t
She then turned back to Serenity, and saw her inspect the flower plants on the room that was used as decoration.
“Too bad that his face is quite meh. Otherwise I would’ve asked him to share room with me!”
“Enough.” Serenity said with a sudden cold voice, surprising even herself. Layla looked at her, stunned and forgot to speak for a moment, but then she pouted and whispered sorry in a quiet tone.
“Ahah, sorry for lashing out like that.” Serenity wryly smiled and looked out of the window at falling rain. “He is my friend, so I hope you all take care of him like you would do with me.”
“Alright~” Layla said excitedly. “Are you planning to stay here? I was invited to play cards with others at downstairs. You could join us.”
“It sounds good, but I have to go to reality.”
“Oh, okay.” Layla said disappointingly.
“Enjoy your time. We have to leave early at morning to reach Yatagarasu before noon.” Serenity said and opened the interface. The blue light of the interface landed on her delicately shaped face and she made the inn room as her temporary spawn before logging out.
Layla watched as the silver-haired girl disappeared among pixels.
“I wonder what others are doing~” Layla jumped off the bed and rushed out of the room. To her surprise, she found a person next door trying to open the door to his rented room.
“Ahh, it’s you~”
“Huh?” Ambrose twisted the key and unlocked his door. He then turned to the cheerful-looking girl, whose shout reached his ears clearly.