In Another World with JUST MONIKA 61 Blasting Off Again!

"Ow! What the hill!" I moaned as I clutched my nose. "What the alive sounds of music was that for?!"

Elze shrugged. "No reason. You were just looking so self-satisfied, I felt like I had to hit you."

"You're not a tsundere, you're just an asshole!" I spat back. Then I raised my left hand with a thumb up. "I LIKE IT."

Elze made some sort of engine-like noise from the back of her throat and dilated her nostrils. Ah, such a bro. You were such a treasure, Elze.

Monika's eyes were still a little bit glazed. /"Player… that was… what the heck was that?! Last night was...? I should… I need to talk to Linze. Linze is Not Safe."/

I surely have no idea what she meant by that. But I handed out the Bluetooth earbuds again to Linze, telling her that Monika wanted to supervise her for the day. Linze nodded and looked excited about it. A part of me envied their relationship of besties, based on respectful communication instead of punching each other in the face and laughing about it.

I flicked a finger and sent a stream of water up Elze's nose.

"Blargh!" She began sputtering and sneezing.

It was a bright and fresh new day in Reflet.

We quickly finished registering Yae as an adventurer. While we were rich enough that we didn't need to go adventuring for a good long while, but just sitting around was why a lot of nobles were such useless shucks.

/"Isn't this at odds with your constant hankering for passive income?"/

"Nah, it's like you need first the ability to secure your own survival before you can look for improvement. It's like why permanently lifting yourself out of poverty tends to be a multi-generational effort – the first generation almost kill themselves from working just to allow their children to go to school, that generation having grown up in poverty do everything to save and scrimp and give their children better lives, and either they or the children after them make it big with a business or a trade… and then the ones who grow up in plenty don't appreciate the sacrifices involved to give them a good life and skack it up with their spoiled brat ways... aaaahp."

I stopped and gasped for breath to recover from the run-on sentence. "But nobility and the landed class don't usually have that problem of the rich second-or third-generation spending away all their hard-earned wealth and influence and just continue thinking they deserve to have everything for nothing."

"That… sounds about right," Linze had to admit.

"Seeking strength is its own reward," Yae spoke up suddenly. "Nobles have a responsibility to their lord. It is their duty to raise arms in the service of their liege and fight in their name. Is that not the case here?"

"But so what if they're fast to call up troops? Does that make it okay for them to abuse commoners?" Elze interrupted with a scowl. "Not even wealthy merchants can't stop nobles from just taking whatever they want. Not all nobles are there to fight."

/"But an adventurer is free…"/ Monika murmured. /"Yae, you're right, strength is its own reward."/

So we looked at the job board for something suitably challenging. The smile castle quest was still there. Elze saw my head tilt up towards it and repeated her veto. I could only laugh back and replied with how much I spent for the new armor clothing sure as heck I wouldn't want them to just be melted off by some slimes.

"… but we're not wearing armor clothes /now/…" Linze logically pointed out.

"I'm a frontliner too, you know? It's not just your clothes at risk. Do you really want to see me naked that much?"

While Linze blushed and indignantly puffed up her cheeks, Elze laughed and playfully punched my shoulder again. "Nice one. But don't bully Linze."

"N-no! I didn't mean it like that!" Linze squeaked.

I posed, tightening my biceps and standing one foot on tip-toe. "Ah, the tragedy of fiscal conservatism."

"I still want that duel you promised, Playdono."

Aw come on. Fiine.

In the end we picked the quest that allowed us to fight a group of Tiger Bears in the nearby mountains. While technically it was reachable within the day the terrain meant we couldn't use horses or wagons. We would be paid twelve silver for our time. Considering that we were paid seven silver for almost two weeks off to deliver a letter that sounded fair.

While I technically would be able to reach the place inside an hour's semi-rocket flight, and Elze could [Boost] her way over in about an hour and a half carrying Linze on her back tree-jumping all the way, Yae had to run on her own. While Monika could [Amplify] her physical abilities, it felt like it would be rubbing in her inadequacy without magic.

So, we walked. I didn't even bother to cheat with reducing my apparent weight. Only with ambient air conditioning. We walked in a bubble that blew a sustaining cool breeze to make the march easier.

Elze vetoed the idea of spending a night out camping, but if just kept up the pace we might be able to reach it, find and kill the beasts, and make it back just in time for dinner.

We had no real need to tire ourselves out in a hurry. Walking teaches patience. Walking teaches humility. Walking forces every stupid powerful mages to keep in touch with their humanity.

"This is boring!" Elze shouted after about an hour of walking in silence. We were already far enough from the roads. "Well this personal magic user is fully in touch with her humanity and her humanity is telling her just walking is boring as heck and she'll have no more of it!"

I stopped and wheezed. "Really, Elze?" I then looked towards Linze. She didn't seem bothered, but then she looked away guiltily. "What, you too Linze?"

Yae spoke up stiffly "I must admit that I am dissatisfied with our pace too, Playdono. And I must say, that refusing to use magic to aid our travels for my sake… that is patronizing, that it is. It is almost insulting. Though warriors are born with two feet to walk, for this reason have we tamed horses. It is always permissible to speed one's journey – it is tactically relevant, that it is!"

"Oh. I see. Sorry."

Monika emerged from the projector cube Velcro-taped onto my shoulder. "I told you so." She shrugged. /"Well, this was mainly a test for how long Yae would keep her temper before informing Player of his arrogance. As always, if it wasn't for Elze's unwillingness to put up with any of your shite, we'd have to put up with this little hike for a while longer."/

Yae blinked in sudden enlightenment. "I see. This is why Elze-dono has the veto powers, is it not?"

"Dang right!" Elze smugly replied.

"… why… um, if I may ask, why did you not command Playdono not to waste our… his… time? If… if Elze-dono had not spoken up, I would have endured. There is virtue in enduring."

/"It is not my place to tell any of you organics not to exercise your muscles."/

"… Organics now, Monika? Next we look you'd be calling us meatbags."

/"M-meat… ah!"/ Rather than the obvious Hk-47 joke I was expecting, Monika glanced at me and suddenly seemed to freeze. For a few moments she stood there unmoving, slowly her whole face turned red, and then she disappeared.

Monika, no. You're not allowed to pretend you're just an AI. You have memories of being an organic too, and you will be one again!

"Um. So… what do we do now?" Linze asked.

"Monika? Helloooo? Could we at least have a map, please?"

While Monika refused to reappear, she did project onto the air the minimap showing where we were and how far off from the mission area.

"While Monika could [Amplify] your own muscle power to equal Elze's [Boosts], I have the map. It would probably be faster if you just ride on my back like Linze would on Elze," I told Yae. "Um, no offense. This would just waste less time with making sure none of us gets lost."

"Or we could trade and let Linze ride on your back for a change!" Elze said with a cat-like grin.

"N-no! This is… I am fine with this. The usual please!" Linze eep'ed.

Yae nodded. "That is acceptable. It is simply efficient, I understand. The mission comes first. We must make haste, that we must."

So I crouched down slightly and with nary a hint of shyness or hesitation she took up a piggy-back ride on my shoulders, looping her legs to be supported by my arms. She secured her place by locking the inside of her knees around my thighs. As a samurai girl she was quite zen about things, huh? Far more than Elze's tomboyishness, she just didn't see a need to worry about the difference between men and women. Warriors should all be treated equally.

Squish. The feeling of her pressed upon my back however, reminded me only of our differences.

"Huh. You're lighter than you look."

Elze sighed. "Playa, why are you so dumb?" She stood up with her sister already on her back. Both white-haired girls stared at Yae expectantly. "Yae… you're not mad?"

"I am waiting for permission. I choose to take it as a complement for now, that I will."

/"Do it!"/ Monika ordered in a very Palpatine-like manner.

Then her weight-supporting embrace around my neck tightened slightly. "Hurgh. What is strangulations if not /a very specific kind of hug/ anyway?" I hissed out.

And then we blasted off again.

"[JET BOOTSU!]"

"[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]"

"I take it all back, I am not fine with this after aaaaaalllll.....!" Linze wailed.

Chapter end

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