Early the next morning, after the banquet, Tati City still lay wrapped in a thin mist.
Ningning, draped in her freshly dried White Mage's robe, paced back and forth in the corridor a few times before finally giving Leilei's door three soft knocks.
By the third round of knocking, the door at last cracked open a sliver.
A pair of mismatched vertical-slit pupils, one water-blue, one orange-yellow, peered out cautiously through the gap.
Through the crack, Ningning could see Leilei's silver-grey cat ears give two nervous twitches.
"Morning, Leilei."
So Ningning summoned the most harmless, even faintly meek, smile she could manage, and gave a little shake of the vine basket in her hand, its white cloth cover in place:
"I'm out of Calming Potion, so I want to go pick some Calmspirit Flowers west of the city to brew more. I hear the herbs there are the finest quality.
"But the mist is a bit thick this morning, so, um... I'm a little afraid of getting lost."
As she spoke, she let slip, right on cue, just the perfect measure of the worry and distress unique to a "stamina-deficient White Mage."
Cat-beastkin had keen noses; even in weather this foggy, they wouldn't lose their way, perfect for a guide.
"Could you come with me?" she added, softening her voice further. "If we set out early, we can be back before noon. It won't take up too much of your time."
Through the crack in the door, those dewy eyes blinked, flickering with indecision.
Ningning didn't rush her. She waited patiently, even angling her body slightly away, striking a pose of someone who might give up at any moment, yet was too afraid of setting out alone and getting lost:
"If it's too much trouble, that's fine too. I can go by myself. As long as I'm careful, nothing bad will happen for sure..."
Before Ningning had even finished, the door opened without a sound.
Leilei stood before her, fully dressed and ready, her black mage's robe wrapping her body up tight, her hat pressed down low, the little blackboard Ningning had brought back for her the night before clutched to her chest, her tail swaying gently behind her.
The cat-beastkin mage nodded, a motion of no small amplitude, yet one that made not the slightest sound, an eerie sort of quiet.
"Wonderful!" Ningning beamed, as if she really were only after some company for herb-picking. "Let's get going, then."
A few minutes later, the two of them walked, one ahead of the other, down the early-morning streets.
There were few pedestrians about, only early-rising vendors tidying their stalls; the air was cold and clear, the mood hushed.
Leilei was clearly far more relaxed than she'd been in the tavern the night before. Though still silent, her steps no longer looked stiff, and her tail swung gently beneath her robe in small, rhythmic arcs.
As she walked, Ningning kept up a stream of chatter in a casual, small-talk tone, the medicinal value of Calmspirit Flowers, the monster distribution around Tati City, even what she'd had for breakfast that day.
She didn't expect the socially anxious Leilei to answer her.
She was only deliberately using a steady, even tone to build a safe, low-pressure mental environment for Leilei, steadying her emotions as much as possible.
Because Ningning knew that if this kid chose to bolt partway through, she'd probably never get her to venture out one-on-one again.
And she'd lose her chance to get a read on this mage's true depths.
Before long, the two of them passed through the city gate and came out onto a broad plain to the west of the city.
All manner of medicinal herbs grew here, a feng-shui treasure trove where countless novice adventurers made the first fortune of their lives.
Ningning didn't linger at the edge of the plain. Instead, she led Leilei on a good long trek deep into the wilds before finally stopping, crouching down, and beginning to identify the herbs she needed.
『Is this the place?』
Leilei pricked up her ears and, watching her surroundings warily, shoved the written blackboard right under Ningning's nose.
"It is. The Calmspirit Herbs here are all in excellent condition."
Ningning nodded, lightly pushed the blackboard away, and went on gathering the herbs from the ground.
Leilei's nose twitched uneasily, and she pressed the blackboard back into Ningning's arms:
『But I still feel like it's not very safe here.』
"Not safe? I haven't noticed anything strange. Heave-ho!"
Ningning feigned cluelessness and pulled up another Calmspirit Herb.
But in truth, her heart was clear as a mirror:
Leilei's instincts weren't wrong at all.
In the game, if you gathered herbs too many times on this plain west of the starter village, a giant Rock Golem would suddenly appear and hunt the player down with a vengeance.
Rock Golems, as monsters, had very high magic resistance. Against beginner-tier magic they were essentially immune; only intermediate-tier magic and above could deal them effective damage.
Today, Ningning, with a belly full of wicked ideas, was out to summon a Rock Golem on purpose.
She wanted to use this monster to see whether Leilei, at a life-or-death moment, could actually pull off magic above the beginner tier.
That was why she'd deliberately left the others behind, specifically choosing the early morning hours when no one would be around to interfere, and brought Leilei out to this place.
And for that very reason, Ningning paid Leilei's protests no mind, only redoubling her herb-gathering across the plain to summon the Rock Golem:
『Ningning, I really have a bad feeling!』
"Okay, okay, just this one more and we'll go..."
And so, at the moment Ningning pulled up the seventh herb, Leilei's tail suddenly bristled, and her whole body began to shudder like a sieve.
Seeing this, Ningning was secretly delighted, but asked as if she didn't know:
"What's wrong, Leilei?"
Leilei extended one soft, tender little hand and, trembling, pointed at a mound of earth not far off that had suddenly bulged up out of the ground.
The girl was so frightened she even forgot to raise her blackboard:
『There's a really scary monster over there!』
Ningning looked up, just in time to see the Rock Golem heave itself out of the earth, tilt back its faceless head, and let out a long howl at the sky.
"This looks bad! Leilei! Run!"
To keep Leilei from realizing she'd done it on purpose, Ningning made an instant decision, hauling the frozen cat-beastkin girl to her feet and running in the direction opposite the awakening Rock Golem.
They'd barely gone a few steps when Ningning gritted her teeth and, quietly, gave her own lower belly a poke.
At once, her whole body convulsed, and she crumpled to the ground, curling in on herself.
In the instant she fell, Ningning's fingers "accidentally" hooked the hem of Leilei's robe beside her, dragging the girl down along with her:
"Wu-eep!"
And so the two dainty little figures tumbled, one after the other, onto the soft grass.
The vine basket overturned, and the Calmspirit Herbs Ningning had just gathered scattered across the ground.
Sprawled on the grass, Ningning let the cover of her disheveled white hair conceal a fleeting, all-according-to-plan little smile.
There. The test environment was in place.
Isolated and helpless, a mighty foe bearing down.
And at her side, a helpless babe crying to be fed, no, wait, a frail, pitiable squishy healer.
In a situation like this, any protagonist worth their salt ought to trigger their awakening, right?
Go get 'em, Pika... no, wait.
Go get 'em, adorable kitty-cat beast-girl!
Show me your true strength, Leilei!