After parting ways with Abigail, Leon headed off in the direction assigned to him and began hunting for eggs.
Thanks to his mories of the ga, he really did manage to spot two eggs hidden in the grass on the north side of the town square. Following the grass downward, he found another one behind the fence in Jodi’s backyard.
Not far from that fence, under so bushes, was yet another egg. Continuing south, he reached the road in front of Willow Lane, where an egg sat quietly under a streetlamp. After crossing that road, he found another egg beside a bush on the embanknt by the river.
That made six eggs already located.
In the ga, all it took was finding nine or more eggs to secure victory. But here in reality, Leon had no idea how many others would find, so he didn’t slow down.
Earlier in the morning, when the eggs were being decorated, Leon had estimated there were at least two hundred of them. Compared to that total, six was still far from enough.
He made his way to 2 Willow Lane, the villa shared by Emily and Haley, and searched along their fence.
When he spotted an egg hanging from the vines on the fence, he suddenly sensed sothing flying toward his head.
He instinctively dodged, glancing in the direction it ca from. On the ground lay the culprit—a pinecone.
It wasn’t dangerous. Clearly it had been thrown as a prank. Even if he hadn’t dodged, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.
“What are you doing outside my fence at night? Trying to be a peeping tom?” The pinecone’s owner turned out to be Haley, standing on the second-floor balcony of 2 Willow Lane.
“You’re exposed,” Leon said, looking up.
“Ah!” Haley’s hands flew to cover herself, instinctively closing her legs—until she rembered she was wearing loose pajama pants. She rolled her eyes at him.
“That joke wasn’t funny at all.”
“But you still fell for it, didn’t you?” Leon teased.
“That’s only because your track record is terrible. My guard just went up on instinct,” Haley shot back. Then she urged him to explain why he was lurking outside two single won’s house at night.
“I’m scouting early for egg spots,” Leon clarified quickly. The last thing he wanted was for her to spread gossip about him sneaking around at night near their place.
“No wonder.” Haley’s expression shifted instantly, and Leon realized scouting wasn’t seen as anything shady. That eased his mind.
“I just didn’t expect you to take this event so seriously. You that competitive?” she asked, smirking.
“I’m doing a favor for soone who asked.” Leon shrugged.
“Abigail?” Haley guessed imdiately.
Leon looked at her with mild surprise. “You know her pretty well, huh? Just guessed it like that?”
“We grew up together in the sa town. Everyone knows each other’s quirks. She’s exactly the type to pull sothing like this—and to rope you into it.”
Then she gave him a strange look. “What I didn’t expect was for you to agree. When did you two get so close?”
“Haha, I’m not sure when it happened. But she’s definitely my good buddy now, no question about it.”
“Buddy, huh? Heh… poor Abigail.” Haley muttered, then added, “If you really want to help her, check the grass near the Sewer Drain. When I ca ho tonight, I saw the people placing eggs hanging around there for quite a while.”
“Thanks.” Leon waved goodbye and headed toward the Sewer Drain.
Sure enough, in the grass nearby, he found four eggs. Inside the fenced area around the sewer cover, there were another two—six in this spot alone.
He followed the river embanknt and found one more egg, then moved toward the cetery not far from the drain.
In the cetery, he spotted two more eggs. Since Abigail hadn’t arrived yet, he wandered around to pass the ti.
Nightti in a cetery could be eerie, but as long as you had a clear conscience and didn’t believe in ghosts, it wasn’t that scary.
Leon wasn’t afraid—but not being afraid didn’t an being disrespectful.
So while waiting, he patiently cleared the vines and moss from so gravestones, letting them stand clean again. It was his way of making up for disturbing the dead at night.
While cleaning, one gravestone in particular caught his attention.
“In mory of Robert and Alice.”
It was a couple’s joint grave. Judging from the years, they had likely died in the sa accident in middle age.
It was the cleanest grave in the cetery, clearly tended regularly—but by whom, Leon didn’t know.
What drew his focus most was the small, crooked line carved into the base: “If only I had been in that accident too.”
The grief and despair in those words made Leon sigh. The shaky handwriting was clearly a child’s. Probably their surviving child, left alone after the accident, and in a state of deep emotional pain.
“What are you looking at?” Abigail’s voice ca from behind as she patted his shoulder.
“A gravestone,” Leon replied.
“Robert and Alice, right? I think they were Sophia’s parents,” Abigail said after glancing over.
“Sophia? Who’s that?” Leon asked blankly. The na didn’t ring any bells from the ga.
“A childhood friend. But after her parents died, she moved away from Stardew Valley. I don’t know where she went.”
“A pitiful soul,” Leon murmured.
But since she wasn’t in Stardew Valley anymore, he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he asked, “I’m done here. Found quite a few eggs. How about you?”
“Got a bunch too. But it’s so dark—just the moonlight makes it hard to spot them all. Still, if I retrace my route first thing tomorrow, I should haul in plenty. You?”
“Sixteen exact spots,” Leon answered.
“With mine, that’s over thirty. Our chances of winning are looking good.” Abigail grinned, clapping his shoulder. “Nice work, Leon. When we win tomorrow, dinner at the Starfruit Saloon is on .”
“Deal.” Leon smiled, then said, “It’s getting late. We should rest. If we can’t outrun the others tomorrow, those eggs you spotted might be gone.”
“Relax, I’m in great shape,” Abigail replied confidently.
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