In Another World with JUST MONIKA 45 Interlude 7 – Their thoughts in the city

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"Heh. He ran away." Elze chuckled lightly as she watched Playa just powerwalk his way down the street trying not to look like he was in a hurry.

"… did I offend?" Yae asked, confused. "I must apologize, that I do."

"Nah. Playa is used to girls (or just me) kicking his butt all over the place. He's not really that good with the sword, you know? But if you want a real fight, he'll have to mix in magic all sorts of the weird magic that he likes, and that's why when we spar we do it out in the wilderness."

"I see. So yours is the very opposite of dojo training, that it is!" Yae nodded, looking even more satisfied with things.

As soon as the carriage arrived back at the inn, Playa suggested that they take the time to shop and take in the capital city. Tomorrow would be all business again, though they didn't need to accompany him back to the Duke's estate. Linze was very interested in that, since she was a magician and had Light magic for healing too. Elze and Yae could go without the long boring academic talk though.

Yae said she would prefer to stay by his side and learn what she could about magic. And since that would leave Elze alone with nothing to do, she sighed and decided she might as well just tag along and lounge around the estate with her every whim being attended to by servants.

But that was for tomorrow. That afternoon was a girl's afternoon.

"You did give back the earbuds, right?" Elze asked Linze.

"Yes. Although… w-won't it make it more difficult for Miss Monika to find us if any one of us gets into trouble?"

"What do you think this place is? Bern? Alephis actually does have good public order for sensible folk, you know." Elze groaned and stretched out, feeling her sinews loosen after a very long time under tension. She shivered in relief. "It's been a very long time since we've been able to talk without Monika hanging over our words."

They walked around and looked at the shops and then stopped at a café for a little bit. Elze frowned at the prices, but considering how they were each walking around with about one Platinum in loose change, they could afford to splurge a bit.

"You know, before we left Reflet… I made all of sixteen copper by my own power, and I was happy with that. While Linze and Playa were studying, the only thing I could really do was work hard to earn my way. So I had all of forty two copper… four silvers… and when we saw that deliver request for seven silver I thought it was a nice way to get two more silver for very little work," Elze began to tell Yae about their work as adventurers.

"But because Mister Zanac was friends with Playa he offered us a whole gold, ten silver, instead of just seven silver," Linze had to add. "So… that is three silver for each of us. Thirty copper, at two coppers per day at the inn, it is enough to live on for half a month. And Mister Zanac also provided for traveling expenses, so we didn't even have to pay costs out of our expected rewards!"

Elze nodded. "Like most things in life, it's not what you can do but who you know, huh? And since we know Playa, I thought… money just keeps falling onto his palms, huh? No wonder he doesn't care about things like that, he's just that lucky."

Then Elze sighed and rested her head down on the table. "So I thought, that was fine. It would just be a nice trip, we could see Belfast's capital city instead of the sad excuse of a capital we had in Refreese."

"Refreese… ah, the country to the west, is that it?" Yae asked.

"It's a... poor place," Linze answered. "We… we came here to make money. Two silver just for traveling back and forth in under two weeks? Craftsmen d-don't make that much in a whole month!"

Yae smiled. "… I see. Then are you not lucky as well?"

Elze grimaced again. "We met you, and that's lucky enough. Then just a few hours after that, we fought some lizardmen, rescued the daughter of a duke, healed someone from a mortal wound to his chest. At the time I didn't think we were lucky… it's someone else that was lucky we were nearby. I fought… and I liked it. I helped with rescue, and really the thought of a reward never really entered my mind."

"Very admirable, that is so."

"Yesterday I had four silver and counted myself well-off. Right now I have /one hundred silver/ with me, and /nine hundred more/ waiting in the Guild. Luck? This isn't luck! This is ridiculous! I'd thought I'd have to sell my soul (or at least my dignity) before I'd even believe something this good could ever happen to me."

Elze looked up and glared through narrowed eyes at her sister. "Do you understand what I'm saying? Just one platinum could have aunt and uncle live well for years. YEARS. I thought it would take us years to even begin to repay the debt of goodwill we owed them."

Linze cutely tilted her head to the side. "… yes? Isn't that a good thing? I'm also a little scared that so many good things are happening to us so fast, but… it's not like anything bad is expected of us."

"That's what bothers me most, you know? Playa doesn't even care. He probably doesn't even think this is unusual! He just blithely trundles along and then – wham! Money just throws itself at him! Adventure throws itself at him. That's not even luck anymore! It's just stupid."

Yae giggled lightly. "Playsama is a man beloved by the gods. Or, to be more precise, one specific god, that he is."

Linze shook her head and firmly stated "Miss Monika is human. Or was human once."

"A kami can be many things from many different things. Lands, even objects, may even through centuries have a little god of their own."

Elze snorted. "And that's why it's a good thing Monika and Playa can't hear us right now. They'd be insufferable. Them and their little jokes that no one understands…"

"So why do you not trust Moniksama? Should you not rejoice that you have the favor of the heavens?"

"Didn't you hear they type of things that she says? /'Player only sees what I allow him to see'/. Playa is soo lucky, okay. But sometimes I worry that he's too dependent on her… and if we get too dependent on Monika too, what do we actually have?"

Linze looked at her, frowning slightly. "Sis, I don't understand. Miss Monika really doesn't seem like she'd be malicious like that. She's not a god, she doesn't require our worship. And given how much you nitpick Mister Zah, it's not like she is easy to offend."

"It's been less than a month. LESS THAN A MONTH! We started just hoping to break even from adventuring, and now we can JUST STOP. We have more than enough to buy land, buy a trade!" Elze hissed.

She raised her fist and shook it in their faces. "What's the use of this, huh? For what did I bust my butt doing all that training before leaving the farm? I never worked for any of this, it just happened to me!"

Yae nodded. "I see. It does not feel right when you do not gain things by your own power. It feels like you are treated like a child. As if you cannot have things without being gifted them."

"Yeah. And I mean you… you're fine," Elze waved towards Yae. "You're born of a warrior family. This sort of epic adventure is the sort of thing you wanted to find to prove your strength in the first place, right?"

Yae sat stiffly and considered it. "… I must admit that I feel fortunate to have this opportunity, that is so. But… it is not just an honor to fight beside such a brilliant warrior as Playdono or under the auspices of Monikkami-sama, but also fighters such as yourselves! You underestimate your own worth as a warrior, you are an excellent and inspirational fighter, Elze-san."

"That's fine for you, but Linze and I are just some /random peasants/ from /nowhere/ whose only luck was to be born with some better than usual innate abilities. We worked and trained to become adventurers. But… just adventurers."

Elze then let out a loud moan. "But we're not heroes. We're not built for this sort of epic adventure that trails along in Playa's wake. I mean, come on! Who is ready for that? Are you ready for that? Things were just nice and simple before… now we have more money than what we ever know what to do with, and high-ranking nobles have their eye on us."

"… sis, what are you really saying? Do you want to stop traveling with Mister Zah and Miss Monika?"

"I'd like to, that would be the sane thing to do. Just take the money and go home. We're done."

Linze looked terrified. "… are we?"

"Eh. No." Elze pouted and began to run her finger around the rim of her teacup. "I don't feel like a hero. But someone has to keep Playa reined in, and Monika doesn't have the hands to do it.

"I'm starting to understand why he enjoys his life so much… It's exciting to know that just you being there matters. That you have the power to change other people's lives for the better. I don't feel like a hero, but in time… I think I might get to like it."

"Oh thank goodness…!" Linze cried out. She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.

"Linze…? Are you… are you crying? Wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" Elze began to wave her arms about in panic.

"I don't… I really don't want to l-leave… no, I'm sorry!" the girl wiped at her cheeks and put up a brave grin. "If you ever decided to leave of course I would follow you. It's… it's been great being part of the team, but if that's for the best then I won't complain.

"But you… you're the one that deals best with Mister Zah after all. Miss Monika and I even get a little jealous sometimes how well you two get along…"

Elze winced. Linze's crush was really just so obvious, Playa should be able to see that. And of course Monika was sure to notice that too, so that was another thing to make her anxious about their whole situation.

Yae just looked really uncomfortable not knowing how to deal with feminine emotional outbursts.

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Chapter end