Yuzuru started his investigation where all investigations into strange local phenomena begin - At the inn.

He pushed open the swinging doors and was immediately hit with the pungent scent of fermented alcohol. There was something else too that was mixed in with the spicy smell. And it was only when he got to the counter that he realized what it was.

Perfume.

A woman leaned behind the counter, her face thin as plywood. Deep grooves hinted at the places eyes and noses were supposed to go.

“I see it’s not only men who are having late nights,” Yuzuru said.

The woman gave him a quick once over, then scowled. “What do you want?”

“A big glass of local news,” Yuzuru said. He took out a silver coin and slid it across the counter.

The woman’s left eyebrow twitched. “Think you’re smart, do you?” She reached down and tossed a dirty glass cup onto the counter. “We serve ale and milk. You want something else then go somewhere else.”

“I’ll have the ale, then,” said Yuzuru. “On the rocks.”

The woman reached back down, tossed a couple of actual pebbles into the glass, then filled it to the brim with amber liquid. She shoved it over to Yuzuru’s side of the counter.

Yuzuru swallowed a sip with a grimace. “Gritty.” Looking around the inn, he noticed a handful of workers had already started drinking, even though there was still light out. He dug out another coin and placed it on the counter, then raised his glass to toast the bartender. “I’ll take another one of this wild whiskey, thanks.”

The woman shook her head, unimpressed.

It took a surprisingly long time until Yuzuru found a worker who bothered to give him the time of day. The man was sitting by the wall, drinking alone from a flagon. He had thinning hair and bright red cheeks, and like all the other men Yuzuru had seen so far, dark bags under each eye.

“Salutations,” Yuzuru said brightly as he slid a full glass of pebbled drink over to the man.

The man pushed it back without even looking at it. “I don’t know anything.”

“Even about yourself?” Yuzuru signaled for the waitress and asked her to bring the man another flagon exactly like the one he was already drinking. He slipped her another coin, already one of his lasts. When Taiga had given him the fares to stay in the town, she left him with the strict instruction to not waste it on drinks or women.

Already, Yuzuru was betraying her trust.

It’s for a good reason, he told himself. I hope.

The man finished his flagon just in time for the waitress to bring him the one Yuzuru ordered.

“You have a problem, you know that?” the man laughed as he picked up the full drink.

“Yea,” Yuzuru said. He waited until the flagon was half-empty before continuing. “I just want to know why you look like you need a vacation. That’s all.”

“A vacation? Hah!” The man leaned back in his chair and let out a wet burp. “I think I’m enjoying myself quite well here.”

“But you look exhausted. All of you do.”

The man emptied the rest of his drink and stood. “Lucky bastards, I say.” He set both flagons upside-down on the table and tottered away with his hands deep in his pockets. “I’ve stayed up for three nights so far and haven’t gotten so much as a kiss!”

Yuzuru watched the man leave. He turned those words around in his head, matching them to his deductions.

He went back to the counter. “This might be harder than I thought,” he told the bartender as he sipped his own drink.

The bartender smirked. “Probably because you’re trying to make them drink rocks.”

“You did this on purpose?”

“You did say rocks.”

“Rocks doesn’t literally mean… Nevermind.” Yuzuru chuckled as he saw the humor in the situation. “I supposed I can’t get you to take this off my hands in exchange for some information?”

The bartender reached over, took Yuzuru’s drink, and threw it back in a single breath. She tossed the glass down, the pebbles jumping against the sides. “Thought you’d never ask.”

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Reaching under the table, she took out a small ice pick. “This is what you’re after,” she said, tossing the pick between them. “Don’t let the men see you with it.”

Yuzuru palmed the pick and slipped it inside his sleeve. “Thanks,” he said. “But I still have no idea what to do with it.”

The bartender grinned. “I saw the people you were with. One of those girls would know.”

“Why are you so sure?” Yuzuru asked.

“I recognize the hair,” the woman said as she leaned with her elbows on the table. Up close, she didn’t seem as hostile as before. Her eyes were actually a very pretty shade of orange. “A word of advice, traveler-boy. Don’t get attached. Her lineage is a complicated one.”

Yuzuru asked what she meant, but the bartender smiled and took his empty glass. She wiped it clean and tossed the pebbles over her shoulder. “Oh, and if you can stop whatever is causing all the men to lose their blasted peanut minds, you can drink here for the rest of your days free of charge. But if not, then I’ll need the dagger back.”

That night, as Yuzuru sat on the single straw-filled mattress in the tiny bedroom, he thought about a lot of things.

The Black Cube, the Calamity Dragon, the White Witch… all these were shrouded in mystery that no one seemed to be able to answer him. It wasn’t their fault, he supposed. They were NPCs. Their knowledge was limited. That was how it worked.

Except… this wasn’t a game world. Yuzuru knew this. A game world had rules and handholds and explanations for everything.

This was more real than anything he’d ever played. The people around him were real. Taiga, Gweyn, Leona and Likar and the other two kids Yuzuru hadn’t learned the names of, were more real than he ever expected to have to deal with.

There was a knock at the window.

It was dark out. And Yuzuru was on the second floor. Curious more than alarmed, he went over and yanked the narrow windows open, letting the crisp night air in.

A pair of red orbs blinked into his face.

“Jesus,” Yuzuru said.

“Not quite,” said Gweyn. She climbed through the window, moving as lithe as a cat.

“What are you doing here?" Yuzuru asked. "What about the kids?”

“Sleeping,” Gweyn said. She was dressed differently. Her cape was gone, and only a thin gown draped over her.

She had more curves than Yuzuru remembered. Realizing he was ogling, he marched over to the window to shut it.

“Waiting for someone?” Gweyn asked.

“Unless you’re the one somehow causing the sleepless nights in the town,” Yuzuru said, "then no."

Gweyn’s smile was startled, fleeting. She turned away from him and stretched, arching her back and puffing out her chest.

She didn’t have a bra on.

Heat flooded into Yuzuru’s cheeks. He took several steps back, but the room was too small and Gweyn followed his strides with her own, closing the distance between them as soon as it was made.

“What uh, are you…” Yuzuru’s knees hit the bed and he sat down. “I don’t think you answered my first question, Gweyn.”

Gweyn inched closer, wedging her body between Yuzuru’s knees. “The answer,” she whispered, leaning in. “I think you know.”

Yuzuru raised his hands but didn’t know where to put them. He chuckled nervously. “I’m not allowed to have slumber parties. The bartender said so.”

Gweyn was so close now, her nose almost touching his. She peered at him from under her eyelashes, and when she breathed out, Yuzuru felt the warmth spread all the way down.

On their own, Yuzuru’s eyes started to close. His body relaxed and his mind slowed.

It would be so easy to let it happen, he thought. I could, just for one night.

The image of the real Gweyn surfaced. Yuzuru didn’t know why but it wasn’t just her. He also saw Honoka’s face imposed over the girl's features.

They were so similar it took his breath away.

And as the Gweyn in front of him drew her lips close to his, Yuzuru reached behind him and slipped the ice pick from his back.

He held it up between the succubus’s ribs.

“Checkmate.”

The fake Gweyn gasped and looked down. An array of emotions flashed across her face, from disbelief to anger to hurt. She tried to pull back and Yuzuru grabbed her arm and kept the weapon pressed against her.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “Why are you doing this to these people?”

Tears spilled down Gweyn’s cheeks, shimmering as her features changed.

Yuzuru let the succubus go. She stepped away, shivering with her arms around her tiny frame. She was thin, starved-looking, and completely naked.

Yuzuru pulled the top blanket off the bed and threw it around the girl’s shoulders. “No tricks,” he said, holding the ice pick up to let her see he still had it. “Start talking.”

The succubus sniffled. Rubbing her innocently-round eyes, she said, “My name is Pekorin.”

“What sort of name is that?”

“A traveler gave it to me, once.”

“Huh.” Yuzuru nodded slowly. “I can actually believe that.”

“I’m hungry,” Pekorin said quietly. She looked to the door, where Yuzuru thought he heard men’s voices. He got up and pressed his ear to the cold wood.

He heard snippets of a conversation.

“I don’t see her anywhere,” someone said.

“She isn’t on the south side of town," another replied. "I checked all the houses.”

“Someone must be hiding her!”

Yuzuru stepped back from the door. “You’re kinda popular here, huh.”

Pekorin was staring at him, her pink-colored eyes locked onto his right hand.

“I still can’t let you feed on these people," Yuzuru told her. "Even if they want to, it's bad. They’re barely able to walk upright.”

Pekorin’s gaze dropped to the floor. She bunched the blanket around her chest and nodded.

“Good,” said Yuzuru. He raised the ice pick and then made a show of stashing it into his belt. “Let’s get you some help then. Maybe we can find something else you can eat.”

“I can only eat souls,” the succubus said and started to weep again.

“Wait, be quiet!” Yuzuru hurried to the door. Footsteps hurried closer. He turned the lock just as the doorknob jiggled.

“Hey!” someone bellowed. “Who’s in there?”

“No one,” said Yuzuru, backing into Pekorin. He remembered how she got in and went to the window. The drop wasn’t as high as he feared.

The door started to shake. A man’s voice thundered. “Whoever you are, open up! We know what you are doing. There's a line for that!”

Yuzuru turned and held out a hand to the succubus. “Alright, look, here's the deal. I promise to help you, but you have to promise to follow me and not run away.”

Pekorin nodded and gave him a small smile. “You have the pin," she said. "I follow the pin.” She stepped forward, leaned down, and then bit Yuzuru’s finger. “And now,” she mumbled, “you’re not going to die if you sleep with me.”