Dawn logged in and woke up in the early morning while it was still dark out and was immediately greeted by a high pitched scream. Of the people she had seen the previous day who could possibly make such a feminine panic, only the lady in the gaudy rainbow dress seemed to match. With how soon the scream happened after she woke up, she knew it had to have been a scripted event; a sequence in the game that was planned by the developers instead of occurring naturally through player interaction. With how much the game relied on player-driven stories, she was almost surprised to find any scripted sequences. Having none would give the game an organic feeling, but also meant players would grow bored of it quicker and the parts they would remember would be about the other players and not the game itself. Dawn knew that it wasn't necessarily any easier to make a game with good organic gameplay, compared to one with good scripted events, despite many people saying that they were lazy. It mostly came down to a lot of investments in the AI, environments and the games engine, which could easily chew through as much time and money as good story-boarders and implementation. She also knew that going too heavy on one end could make the other feel out of place, though if done well the scarcity could make them feel special. Most of all, she knew that cheeping out on time or effort would lead to a bad result regardless of the direction the developers went in.

By the time she got her feelings on the matter sorted out, Dawn had changed her clothes and prepared her weapons. While they travelled, she spent most of her time with her tinkering skill, along with stockpiling energy in crystals. As a result, she had made herself a curved knife with a glowing blue blade from the crystal-like tail spike of an armadillo-like creature they hunted along the way. Embedded in its pommel was the largest crystal she had, and it contained every bit of energy she had to spare for a couple of weeks straight. She had designed the grip so that she could comfortably hold it in a back-handed style with her thumb on the gem, letting her cast a spell whenever needed. Along with her strengthening the blade with voice, a blade that was very hot despite its cool colour, she was proud of how well thought out her plan had been. When she saw the way that Lotus was able to pull her scythe from nowhere, she had wanted to upgrade her own combat style. Despite several attempts, she had never been able to recreate the transformation the Lotus's weapon had gone through when she first strengthened it with voice. The weapons did get harder and sharper, but they didn't alter their shape or colour or gain new properties. Whether it was just a matter of luck or some unknown mechanic, she had no way of knowing.

Out in the dining hall, the other patrons gathered. The old man, his apprentice, his granddaughter and their pet were gathered nearby, while one of the knights, a relatively handsome man with dark brown hair and a well-toned body, now that he was out of his armour, blocked the way behind the bar, while a blond haired woman was consoling Oqua, who was in tears, seemingly having aged ten years over-night. The unknown woman wore a simple cotton nightdress, and from the baton, at her waist, she was the other knight. The noble was walking about the room, trying to pry open every window and door, all without any luck. Not sure what to do, Dawn walked up to the woman who had previously been wearing a gaudy dress, and now wore plain white bedclothes, to ask her what happened.

"It's truly terrifying," she said, "someone killed the poor old man in the night. When the doors open, I'll be sure to perform a purifying dance to see his soul finds rest."

"What's that about the doors?"

"Oh, it seems that the building was somehow attached to the old man, and it's not letting us leave until his killer is also dead. At least, that's what the wife said," she then lowered her voice conspiratorially, "Between the two of us, that Duke Dohebli has been fidgeting to leave the moment he found out. That kind of thing seems suspicious to me."

As she said that, Dawn heard a voice behind her.

"I hate this kind of puzzle. We could just kill them one by one until we can leave."

It was Lotus, having changed into her green monster-leather skirt, brown top and a bone chest plate with pouches across her belt, she looked as though she still wanted to sleep. Dawn admired how the white of the bone highlighted the wildness of her eyes and contrasted with her hair. While she knew that Lotus could be really kind, she also knew that she was entirely serious when she casually suggested murdering her way through the situation. As the only people that were currently armed, they were definitely at an advantage if a fight broke out, though Dawn was against that happening. Lotus had shone throughout the forest and at the temple, and now Dawn wanted an opportunity to prove her worth. This was a situation that required cunning, required deduction and planning. It wasn't a situation that could just be solved with brute force. Clearly seeing how determined she was, Lotus gave a heavy sigh and sat down at a table.

"Fine, we do it your way. But if it's not solved soon I'll solve it by force."

"You're the best Lotus," Dawn said with a beaming smile, "I'll solve the case in no time."

Dawn walked over to examine the body. The man's back seemed to have been pierced several times with a thin blade as he was walking towards his room. Running her mind through the various weapons and tools she had seen the previous night, only the noble's crummy rapier seemed to fit. That seemed too neat. He was the obvious suspect and he was the person who wanted to leave the most. Considering the violence and pain settings, there was no way the game was targeted at children, so the solution couldn't be that simple; he had to be a red herring. Tentatively, she walked over to the man to hear his alibi.

"Huh? Why should I explain myself to a commoner like you? Be thankful I don't have my guards kill you for daring to question my integrity," was the indignant response she received when she asked him if he had been in his room all night.

"My rapier is an heirloom of my noble bloodline, it was on my person the whole night. I would never allow anyone even the opportunity to touch it, let alone use it," was his response when she asked if anyone else might have taken his weapon. After that, he called over the free knight to chase her off.

Not only did it have to be him, but she also wanted it to be him. No matter how she thought about it, he just seemed too guilty. She refused to believe that the problem would be solved so easily. While she was wondering about what else to do, she noticed Lotus walk up to the draws that the old man's apprentice carried and started opening draws up at random. He was about to protest when she gave him an angry stare that shut him up. When she found a draw towards the bottom, she took out a purple rose-like flower and crushed it up in her hand along with some green seeds from her own supplies. When it was all mushed, she walked up to the noble, slipped past the guard by faking to one side and turning to the other, and shoved the contents into his mouth. She held her hand over his mouth until he swallowed summoned her scythe so that the shaft rested on his shoulder and the blade on his neck. When the man needed air, he ate the mixture and Lotus walked away from them.

"Give it five minutes or so and he won't be able to lie for ten to fifteen minutes. Or that's what the recipe said; haven't tried it before," she said with a shrug and tapped Dawn's shoulder like she was tagging her in.

Dawn felt like it was cheating, but she and the other occupants waited for the concoction to work. A few minutes later, he seemed to be dizzy, barely able to stand, and was laughing to himself like a drunkard. With him in that state, Oqua walked up to him and asked, "Did you kill my husband?"

"Husband?" the noble replied with a confused expression, "I didn't kill any husbands."

The guards let out relieved breaths, but they were premature. He continued to talk.

"I did kill an old man last night, though. The filthy backwater peasant refused to give up the fountain of light, even after hearing who I am. So, I did kill him. No husbands though. Do peasants even have husbands? Are there peasant wives also? Who would marry a peasant, though?"

After that, he started bellowing a full body laugh, as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world. His face grew red and he was short of breath. As he tried to reclaim it, he had a look of surprise. That soon turned to panic as he tried to speak despite his breathlessness. He started to pale, clearly unable to breathe, like a vacuum had formed around him alone. Next to him, Oqua was retrieving gold coin after gold coin, flicking them into the air while muttering a strange incantation. Each coin turned from glistening metal to colourless grey, then broke into ash-dust when they struck the floor. Even after he collapsed, she continued the trend until she was sure he was dead. Without any hesitation, she had burnt through a small fortune just to kill him.

With the man dead, the doors and windows opened, revealing the morning sun. Dawn found the whole experience entirely unsatisfactory.