[Human Village, Shopping District; 9 PM] What started as a short trip to pick up some eggs ended up leading to a convoluted and disasterous sequence of events. I go to down the shopping district, looking for a shop selling eggs, only to find just one with any in stock. From what I understood, something had spooked many of the village's chickens, and now none of them wanted to hatch. The farmer told me that if I grabbed him a lucky cricket to try and calm the chickens, he'd give me a discount. It's hard to say no to helping someone (as well as a 10% discount), so I made my way to some old lady's esoteric doo-dads shop. She had a plethora of things I could barely even describe, but only one cricket. And she didn't want to part with it because she had heard the chickens in town were too scared to lay eggs. And if something was out there scaring the chickens, she would need all the protection she could get. However, if I retrieved her family's sword from a her nephew that she let borrow, she'd feel much more secure and willing to part with the cricket. So I head down to the guard barracks where I meet her nephew, and he tells me that he actually broke the sword a while back and needs to get it repaired, so I have to deliver it to a blacksmith. And the blacksmith tells me that he'd be willing to repair the broken sword, but only if I seek out the finest butterscotch delights in the land. So I head down to the local sweets store... Eventually, after hours of having been run haggard across the village, I managed to return with the lucky cricket to the farmer. I was bracing for some cruel ironic twist at this point, but he was actually incredibly thankful. So thankful that he invited me to enjoy dinner with him and his family. Part of me wanted to insist it was no trouble, but I worried that turning down such hospitality might come off as rude. Also I was hungry, and a hot free meal is never unwelcome. Let me tell you, a farmer's wife knows how to cook! When she brought out such massive bowls of ramen, my heart almost dropped. Pork belly, green onion, egg... My mouth is already watering again thinking about it. They were a pleasant couple through and through, and it really made running all those obnoxious errands worth it in the end. What didn't was that the farmer's wife had unknowingly used the last of the eggs in the ramen w enjoyed. The farmer begged for my forgiveness, but I insisted it was no trouble. I'd just drop by the next day. If luck and fortune are on our side, that cricket will have worked its magic and gotten those chickens to lay eggs again. Still, having spent my whole day running errands for everyone and to leave without the single thing I had arrived for left me a bit dejected, like the whole day of wasted. [Chimata fades in] Chimata: "Wow, sounds eggs-hausting." "..." Chimata: "..." "..." Chimata: "..." "I recounted why I'm out here so late as you asked, what about you, Lady Tenkyuu?" Chimata puffed out her chest, placing her hand upon it. Chimata: "Dilligently, I continue my work! Perhaps you were hoping for a more scandelous answer, but alas. My efforts to meet with my many merchant followers are ongoing and neverending!" Hmmm... Chimata had talked about meeting with merchants the other day too. However... "This late? The other day you were checking with them at the crack of dawn. Why this late now?" Chimata gave a boisterous laugh. "My young follower, a goddess is never late! She is never early either! A goddess arrives at precisely the time she is needed." It didn't add up for me, but I saw little point in pressing the odd goddess about it. Perhaps goddesses simply think about things in a way that us mortals can't really comprehend. What's normal for them would be weird to us, that sort of thing. "Actually, if you don't mind me askng Lady Tenkyuu, what is it like being a goddess?" Chimata: "Hmm?" "If you don't mind me asking, of course." Chimata: "No! No, of course not! I can offer some enlightenment, I'm always happy to in fact!" She brought her hand up to her mouth, the gears in her mind supposedly turning. Chimata: "I'd say... it's the best thing in the world!"