"Is the cold feeling are better now?" I nodded slowly, looking into her eyes while pretending to observe the surroundings we had just passed. There were 6 pedestrians and several adventurers passing by. The bright streetlights shone down on us from above as if curious about the feelings of the two individuals, occasionally flickering.
Some vendors were offering their goods, and the wind blew gently. It was a usual scene, but the drizzle made it feel different.
As the drizzle persisted, we quickly took shelter in the nearest food stall and enjoyed a meal there.
"It still seems to be drizzling. Do you want to go straight back?" Arin asked eagerly, wanting to return to the inn.
Without much talk, I made an umbrella using my skills. I just thought of making an umbrella now because earlier it was a bit awkward due to Arin's unusual demeanor.
I pulled Arin's hand to brave the rain and smelled the earth soaked by the rain as we headed back to the inn, slightly hurried due to the rain intensifying.
Lightning flashed briefly, followed by thunder rumbling through the sky. Black clouds loomed overhead as far as the eye could see.
They clustered together, appearing ominous. It seemed like they were hiding something. Who knows? I always liked rain. The heavier, the more exciting. I imagined those dark clouds and standing amidst them with Arin, this woman I had recently met. This understanding and beautiful woman.
Every time it rained, I always insisted on playing outside when I was still on Earth. Occasionally, Mama allowed it and even joined. It was the second game I knew, after hide and seek, which ended up being boring. I ran across the wet grass, shook the branches of mango trees dripping with water, sat in the mud, threw something, kicked something, and laughed joyfully. It was always fun.
"You're behaving like a little kid running around in the rain like this," Arin ran, holding my hand while I held the umbrella, laughing.
"Then what else can I do in this rain? It's even more fun because I always love rain, Rin," I replied, laughing while wiping my face soaked by the rain.
"Ah, you just had a bath earlier, didn't you?" She smiled with her beautiful face, now reddened from the cold rainwater.
Soon, the two of us arrived at the inn. I repeated my earlier routine, taking a bath, and Arin followed suit afterward. The water here felt different. It tasted different from Earth. Rain was always so enjoyable.
After putting on dry clothes, I sat on the soft bed, trying to dry my hair. Shortly after, Arin came out of the bathroom wearing a towel. I could see her white thighs and her long wet hair. She walked towards me slowly, as if teasing, and I felt embarrassed.
"My clothes, please," she asked, extending her hand because all her belongings were stored in my dimensional storage earlier.
"Oh, right away," I dared not look into her eyes and immediately opened the dimensional storage and handed her belongings.
"It seems like your eyes can't focus, huh?" she said teasingly, knowing my reaction already.
"Hurry up and put on your clothes before my eyes wander," I replied, closing my eyes.
Shortly after, she dressed in her pajamas as usual, climbed onto the bed, and pulled the blanket, looking at me sitting next to her.
"How long are you going to sit there like that? Don't you want to sleep? Come sleep here," she offered, patting the bed next to her.
"Because you did it yesterday, can I ask for a hug now because it's cold?" I asked, lying down and jokingly, then immediately pulled the blanket and snuggled into the warmth of the inn's blanket.
Without a word, Arin immediately hugged me tightly from behind, turned my body around, and laid my head on her quite large chest, feeling the depth of that gap. I felt warm, as if this coldness was nothing, so soft. I closed my eyes and hugged her.
Lightning struck in the middle of the night. The sound of thunder began to rumble, penetrating into the depths of my heart. The rain fell harder. The air felt colder and more humid. And I, spending the night with a woman and falling asleep in each other's arms, felt a happiness like no other. The night was beautiful.
The long night passed by quickly. The day changed, and we decided to leave together. I told Arin that yesterday I had obtained permission for my own trading business and informed her that our next destination was to search for valuable natural resources on this continent. I told her that I had a skill for detecting hidden precious metals underground and our next destination was in the dark northeastern forest. My first gold mine. Wait for me.
I don't know why Arin accepted it so easily, I don't know what's on her mind anymore. I thought she would be more aggressive because I suddenly started my own trading business without telling her. What surprised me even more was that Arin didn't complain at all about my main goal. When I said I wanted to go to the dark northeastern forest, she accepted it as if it were normal and should have been.
I don't know what else to say to her anymore, every word that comes out of my mouth about this journey, she always agrees with, as if she doesn't care what we're going to do as long as we can be together. If that's true, then I feel burdened because Arin trusts me so much, while I only think about myself. But is this really what she wanted from the start? I became more and more curious about her real purpose in joining the journey.
"Rin, do you need anything else?" with a falsely innocent face, I asked to make sure if she needed anything else for the journey.
"Mmmm, everything's ready," she answered while tying her hair.
"Okay, I like your hair tied up like that hehe," I tried to lighten the somewhat awkward atmosphere.
"Wleeeee," she just stuck out her tongue while still tying her long hair.
"I think I can see your cheeks blushing," I continued trying to keep the conversation going.
"No, it's not, there's none," she avoided my gaze and handed all her belongings to me to be stored in the dimensional storage.
"Ready to fly again?"
"Of course, this is the part I like hehe."
"Your hair will surely be messy again later."
"That's why I'm trying to tie it so it's not too messy. I remember my first flying experience with you. Because I didn't know anything, my hair ended up being messy when we arrived at our destination."
"Hahaha."
Earlier, I had tried to find out the location of my gold mine through a map and the fastest route using the skill 'seeing everything', and I succeeded. Estimated arrival is approximately 2 days at maximum speed.
They continued their journey to the dark northeastern forest with great curiosity.