...
"This should be the place." Lucian arrived at the location marked with a red circle by Nice Nature.
He put away his flashlight and map, then melted into the darkness, deliberately making loud footsteps and even coughing a few times.
After that, he waited patiently nearby, quietly waiting for the cat-mouthed girl to take the bait.
Sure enough, Lucian soon heard a series of footsteps along with Doto's muttering to herself, "How strange~ I just heard someone coughing, but there's nothing here."
Had she come out too late? Had that person already left quickly?
But she hadn't seen any light earlier either.
Lucian's heart softened, thinking that if he scared her like this, he might make this careless girl cry.
"Ahem... I'm still here, just turned off the flashlight."
"Wh-who's there!?" Doto whipped her head around, only to see a beam of light shining directly at her.
"I was just saying..." Lucian used the light to get a clear look at Doto's outfit, but before he could finish his sentence, he froze in place, stunned. "What kind of costume is this?"
Doto's ears twitched, as if the voice sounded familiar. "Y-you... Trainer Lucian?"
"Who else? Have you already forgotten my voice after such a short time?" Lucian slowly walked closer. "So, what's with this outfit?"
A white cloth covered Doto's head, completely obscuring her face except for two small holes for her eyes, with pink blush painted beneath them.
The lower half of her outfit resembled a silk bedsheet—smooth and soft, but far too tight, effortlessly outlining her graceful curves.
The loose, elongated sleeves added a playful, cute touch.
She looked exactly like a ghost girl.
Whoever designed this costume was way ahead of their time.
If possible, Lucian would gladly let her keep scaring him like this forever.
"This is the costume from the props team... I got there too late, and this was the only one left."
That day, it was because Lucian had suddenly taken her to a restaurant that she ended up late. If she had been any later, there might not have been any costumes left at all.
But Doto didn't understand why Lucian was so fixated on this outfit. "Trainer Lucian, is this outfit... not good-looking?"
"It's great! Who dares say it's not? I'll fight them!" Lucian gave a thumbs-up.
"Oh~ That's good then~" Doto lifted the cloth covering her head and took a deep breath. "Why are you here, Trainer Lucian?"
"Didn't you invite me? Now that I'm actually here, you're not happy?"
"I'm not unhappy, it's just... not what I imagined. I thought I'd get to see Trainer Lucian startled for once."
Before Lucian arrived, Doto had indulged in some fantasies. Like jumping out with a loud "Boo—" and Lucian screaming "Ah—!" in response.
"Trainer Lucian, how did you know where I was? Did you find me a long time ago?"
She had only slacked off for a tiny bit, sneaking a few snacks—there was no way she could've been discovered that easily, right?
"Yep." Lucian nodded. "Nice Nature told me."
"Nice Nature!? How could she—how could she do something so mean—"
"I asked her."
"Trainer Lucian, you're breaking the rules!"
"If you say so~ Not like I have any manners anyway~" Lucian ignored Doto's helpless frustration and continued, "Come with me to find Rice Shower."
"Rice Shower? No, no, I still have to stay here and wait for the next person." Doto suddenly remembered she was supposed to be an NPC and hurriedly glanced behind her, preparing to pull the white cloth back over her head.
"Let's go, let's go. There are plenty of NPCs—they won't miss you. It's so dark here, come with me to find Rice Shower." Lucian urged her.
"Did Trainer Lucian come in alone?"
Doto had thought Lucian was quite popular among the horse girls—at least within his own team. She never expected he'd come in by himself.
"Yeah, yeah~ And I just got scared by Doto, so now I'm too afraid to go any further."
"Did I scare you?" Doto's eyes sparkled as she puffed out her chest proudly, placing her hands on her hips and imitating T.M. Opera O's dramatic laugh. "Ahahahaha~"
"Shh!" Lucian's expression suddenly changed as he pointed behind Doto. "Over there..."
Doto's laughter cut off instantly. She instinctively shrank back, pressing close to Lucian as she turned to look behind her. "Wh-what's there—"
"Nothing, just messing with you. Hehe."
"Trainer Lu—" Doto turned back, her forehead lightly brushing against Lucian's chin. Only then did she realize how close they were and quickly took a step back. "Trainer Lucian, you're bullying me."
"Come on, come on. Staying here is boring. Don't you want to experience the test of courage for yourself?"
"But..."
"Let's go, let's go. If you don't, I'll cut off that ahoge on your head." Lucian raised his hand in a scissor motion, applying both soft and hard tactics.
"N-no! Don't!" Doto clutched the ahoge on her head protectively. "I'll go with you, okay? Just don't cut my hair!"
...
Rice Shower's spot was still quite far from Doto's.
Along the way, they passed the old dormitory building, encountering Maruzensky dressed as a mummy, Hishi Amazon playing a monster, and Narita Brian lying in wait among the props, ready to jump out and scare people at any moment.
So the members of "Rigil" were all working at the test of courage event.
When she had been guarding her own spot, Doto hadn't been scared at all.
But now that she was with Lucian, even the slightest scare brought tears to her eyes.
Her hands clung tightly to Lucian's arm the whole time, and when a horse girl dressed as a ghost chased after them, she buried her face against Lucian, muttering, "Can't see me~ Can't see me~"
"Doto, why don't you close your eyes and just hold onto my sleeve?"
Doto's tears hadn't even dried yet as she shook her head. "Trainer Lucian, you were right. Maybe I'm not cut out for the test of courage."
"I was just joking. When I came in, I noticed they were short on guides at the entrance..."
"Trainer Lucian, please don't tease me~" Doto wiped at her tears with her hand.
Lucian chuckled, finding himself growing fond of teasing this little ghost girl.
As they turned a corner, a vampire Rice Shower suddenly jumped out at them.
Rice Shower waved her claws, baring her little fangs as she lunged toward the two. "Boo—"
Lucian, caught off guard mid-laugh, choked and shuddered violently. Meanwhile, Doto nearly tore the sleeve right off his arm.