It had been two weeks, and so far, I have made pretty good progress on the Community Center. At the rate I was going, I might even be able to input every spring item.

  Clint had upgraded my axe and hoe now, making it even easier to clean up the farm and seed the plants. If only Pierre's weren’t closed on Wednesdays, I would have enjoyed new potatoes a day earlier. Fuck Pierre. Who even closes their shop on Wednesdays? Couldn’t he pick Sunday or something?

  Speaking of which… it happened three days ago.

  “My, the farm looks much better than it did before,” Lewis approached me, as I was watering my potatoes.

  “It sure does. What’s the occasion?”

  Lewis coughed. “Well, this is a pretty delicate issue. Could you give me your word, and not tell anyone of what I’m going to speak about?”

  “Absolutely, you can always trust me with your secrets,” I lied.

  He then talked about his Lucky Purple Shorts and how he struggled to find them. I already knew where they were, but I was specifically waiting for Lewis to come and ask me. After all, I wouldn’t pass up a chance to embarrass Lewis.

  “Of course, I will bring them to you once I find them.” I gave him a reassuring smile.

  “Thank you. You are truly an upstanding young man,” he said, and then left the farm.

  I smiled wildly, almost laughing at the idea that came to my mind.

  After that, I waited for a few days to make what would happen next more natural.

  One thing I had to note was how the interactions with the townsfolk were wildly different from the game. I did not remember this moment happening like that in the game whatsoever.

  At first, it was just minor differences, but over time they became greater and greater. Once in a while, some moments that I recognized from the game happened, but even they became more sparse. It was like a reverse butterfly effect – instead of the past changing, it was the future.

  Well then, it was time to begin my grand plan.

  I finished the farm work for the day and headed to the town. There was one person I needed to meet for the plan to work, and they stood in front of me.

  “Hmm, oh. Hey,” Haley said.

  “Morning, Haley. Look what I got.” I gifted her a tulip that I raised on the farm.

  “Do you give gifts to everyone in this town?” She accepted the gift with a smirk.

  “Yeah, pretty much.” I wasn’t lying. “I’m actually heading to Marnie today. Thought it was a good idea to finally get some chickens on the farm. Do you, uh, wanna come?”

  Haley blinked. She lost herself in thought for a few seconds, and I suddenly realized how it came out. I tried not to blush.

  Eventually, she gave me an answer. “Sure. But I get to pick which one.”

  I chuckled with relief. “Aren’t you asking for too much?”

  We headed to the ranch, where Marnie was tending to her own animals. She was a woman who looked to be in her forties, with brown, somewhat bushy hair and on the larger side in terms of physique.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Ah, hello there, John!” she said with a smile.

  “Hey, Marnie. Remember when I told you I wanted to get a chicken?”

  She smiled harder. “I have a great pick, just you wait.”

  Haley and I waited for a moment before noticing someone in the distance. She was a girl of about ten, with dark hair and a slight resemblance to Marnie.

  “John!” she called out and ran up to me.

  “Hey there, little troublemaker.” I knelt with a smile and pulled out yet another gift from my pocket. “Here, for you.”

  “I was waiting for you to bring something.” She picked the present. It was maple syrup. “I will make pancakes for Aunt Marnie and Shane!”

  “I’m sure they would love that.” Especially Shane.

  The three of us walked to the ranch, and Marnie showed us plenty of chickens.

  “Oh, this one’s pretty,” Haley said as she pointed at one with dark-brown feathers.

  I didn’t really consider chickens to be ‘pretty’, but oh well. In honor of a certain rooster from a novel I once read, I named this chicken Bi Di.

  We then found ourselves at the reception, and I paid for the chicken. Right after, however…

  “You two want to go to my room?” Jas asked.

  Here it is.

  “Yeah, sure. Actually, why don’t you show us around the whole house first?” I asked.

  Marnie, who was to our side, responded. “That’s a great idea. I will go and prepare dinner right away. You can stay.”

  “Wait, Auntie. What about Shane? Shouldn’t we wait?” Jas asked.

  “Ah… he always comes late, anyway. Besides, we have quests.”

  “Oh… okay…” Jas looked down.

  I then let Jas give the two of us the tour. It was after a few minutes that we reached Marnie’s room. She wasn’t present, as she was in the kitchen. Perfect.

  Jas was talking to Haley, who responded to everything with a smile. I looked closely around the room, trying to find it. It had to be hidden somewhat, otherwise Marnie would have found it long ago. Where could it be? Hmm.

  I couldn’t be too conspicuous, so I waited for a chance. It came soon after. Jas was showing something to Haley at the other end of the room. Their backs were turned to me. I knelt and looked down, below the bed.

  There it was! Haley and Jas still weren’t paying attention. I put my foot under the bed and slid the purple shorts so that they were visible.

  Haley turned around and raised her eyebrow as she noticed the item on the ground.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “No clue,” I lied. Then, I picked it up for Haley to see. Her eyes widened at the sight. Jas tried to peek in, but right then, I made a sudden motion, as if in shock, and put it back under the bed.

  I coughed. “Well, it’s probably not our business.”

  Haley blinked. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  We spent the next two hours hanging out before parting our ways, and when I was alone… a wide, probably creepy smile spread over my face. The plan was complete. I then headed to tell Lewis the location, which he rewarded me for with a grimace. He looked especially displeased and in a hurry when I told him about Haley and Jas.

  “Hey, Emily. You won't believe what I saw today,” Haley turned to her sister, Emily.

  There was no doubt about it. These were a man’s pants. But why were they in Miss Marnie’s house? It was just too interesting not talk about.

  “How’s it going, Leah? You won’t believe what I’ve heard,” Emily said.

  “…it was in Marnie’s house!” Leah told the group of girls in Pierre’s shop.

  “Apparently, Marnie found someone to, uh, hang around with. Heh. Who do you think it is, Demetrius?” Robin spoke to her husband.

  “No way.” Sebastian blurted out as he overheard the conversation.

  Sam spat from shock at Sebastian’s words. Too bad he paid for the drink – he was at the Stardrop Saloon after all.

  Lewis had never been so embarrassed in his life.

  The young man had done nothing wrong. He couldn’t have expected such an outcome – to find his shorts when he was with someone else. It was just that everything had gone in the worst possible way, and now that the entire town knew about it…

  Everyone was speculating about to whom the shorts belonged, and Lewis was one of the candidates. Just what had he ever done to deserve such punishment?

  I pet the lovely chicken, Bi Di, as I thought about what Lewis must feel like. Then, I finally let out a laugh. Ah, it was building up in me for so long…

  Pierre would be next, once I had the chance. Oh, this was just too fun.

  The sun had already set. I looked at the small barn that Robin made for me not long ago, and headed off to my house. Then, with the corner of my eye, I noticed an orange cat walking around my farm as if it owned the place. It saw me looking at it and meowed.

  Looks like I own a cat now.