In Another World with JUST MONIKA 9 Interlude 1 - Their thoughts in the deep of nigh

Elze was still toweling off her hair as she entered their room in the inn, and saw that her sister was already in her bedclothes. "Aah, it feels so nice to be clean and comfy again," she sighed with a happy grin.

Linze looked faintly disapproving, then turned her eyes down timidly.

"What's wrong? It's not like this place is that expensive. Getting three meals a day for both us is nice, now that we can afford it." Elze finished drying her hair and laid the towel over the back of a chair. "I mean, sorry, but while we've been making do sharing beds all this time, I do kinda want to be able to stretch out to the full sometimes, you know?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to be a bother," Linze said softly, and lay down on her bed. She looked down at her toes and nodded. "I agree, this is fine. We still have forty silver, so… that's a lot to keep us going. We could even send some to aunt and uncle in Collette…"

They had been on the road for so long. Belfast was a more prosperous kingdom than their native Refleese, however. More jobs for adventurers, no matter their age.

Then the short-haired girl exhaled noisily, "But that's not what I'm worried about."

Elze sat at the edge of her bed, and then lay back, her feet below her knees still dangling off the floor. "I can take a guess about what's bothering you. It's… that person, isn't it?"

"Why did you offer so quickly to team up with Mister Zah? Were you just hoping that since he was rich enough just to give us a gold coin for nothing, we could get some more use out of him? After what just happened… aren't you suspicious?"

"Heh. Are you saying I'm letting how convenient it is take over my good sense? I don't think he's that kind of person though."

"No, I meant you shouldn't be taking advantage of him."

"Oooh? That's strange, you're not usually taken with a boy this quickly, Linze! Don't think I didn't notice how… strangely daring you were, you were never able to talk to boys that easily before!" Elze giggled and kicked her feet up, before raising head slightly to give her twin an accusing stare. "Such a shame to think so badly of your sister! What makes you think Mister Zah needs to be protected from me?"

Linze shook her head. "It's kind of weird, isn't it? He sounded like he could make money very easily, but… he doesn't seem to have an idea of the value of money. It's so strange. He's so strange. He sounds so capable, but he acts so… helpless."

Elze laughed. "Then why couldn't I have just asked him to be an adventurer with us so that no one takes advantage of him instead?"

"Because then you should have said it like that. It also feels odd to me. I felt it was easy to talk to Mister Zah, because… he didn't feel like a boy. I've always felt it easier to talk to teachers and adults."

There was something reassuring in the barrier between superior and subordinate, they never expected so much from her. She could let her actions speak for themselves. Linze continued, "He left me with the feeling that it's fine to ask, it's fine to want to learn."

"Do you really believe that he's a traveler from far away?"

"It fits."

"Hee. But did you notice that he has this kingdom's money? Even if we assume that the way he acts is because he's a noble, if he really was a traveler that was inconveniently magicked here, how could he have so much local money that quickly?"

"I… don't have a theory. Unless he's actually that super-capable with making money," Linze sighed. "So is that the reason? You're suspicious and you want to learn more?"

"I do want to learn more, but not about that." Elze raised her finger to point at the ceiling. "We've been working for ourselves since we were eleven. We decided this was the best way to earn money to pay back all the care that was given to us. Being an adventurer is no easy thing, it's not something you can just do for fun. Someone like Sir Zah… is not suited for that life."

"Then why not try to persuade him away from danger?"

"Because while you were paying attention to what he was saying, I was looking at how he was moving. Even though we couldn't see his eyes, I could tell… for some reason, he's just so happy! Everything he looks at, it was like all so new and interesting. His every movement so open. And I thought – we've been so determined to become adventurers for so long, we don't see it anymore as anything special."

Elze shifted her position to lean her chin on her knuckles. "I just don't know. What makes such a person just so happy? I don't know, I think… I kind of envied that. I wanted a little part of that. Even if I couldn't see the world from his eyes-"

"That magic device probably wouldn't work for someone with working eyes."

A wistful note entered her voice, "That's not what I meant, sis. That strange… innocence. That enthusiasm. We haven't been innocent like that for a long, long time. It's really strange to see that sort of thing from a boy about our age."

"Actually, shouldn't that be normal for a boy about our age?"

"No, boys about our age are usually prideful idiots. All in a hurry to grow up, all in hurry to be taken seriously…"

"Um. So, a little like us?"

"Hah. A little." Elze clenched her fists and groaned. "I don't know. I just have this feeling. There's something… bigger. Something more than just earning money. More than just the next job. To be able to just enjoy what you're doing… if I were an artisan… if only my magic was anything other than being able to punch things harder, I could probably try to feel that."

"Sis…"

"That happiness. That simple pure happiness at just being alive. I want to feel that. I want to know that."

"Sis, I… I never realized you felt this way," Linze whispered. A pang of inadequacy crossed her heart again. "I'm sorry for not supporting you."

"No. No, this is new. I've seen people happy before, this shouldn't have hit me so bad until now. But they were always people that were happy in ways that made sense – they had families, they had friends, they were winning…" Elze reached for a pillow. She pressed it over her face and groaned into it. "I just don't understand it!

"And so I thought – I can't let this feeling get away, or I might regret never having the answer later."

"Um. There are people that are naturally happy and enthusiastic, you know? You can't really… that sort of personality is… " Linze grit her teeth as she fought for the proper word, "Exhausting."

"A feeling like the night sky is so big that it could just swallow you whole… a feeling like the air before a thunderstorm… a feeling that if would just dare to reach out... you can do anything," Elze mumbled in response.

Elze groaned again. A long and uncomfortable silence descended upon the twins.

Linze looked helpless and frustrated. She tried to look in her heart for that feeling, trying to remember if she had any similar inkling when talking to that mysterious young man from earlier, but there was nothing.

There was just a cavalier sort of casualness. It would just be nice to be able to talk to a boy her age without becoming an anxious emotional wreck. Just... nice.

She sighed. "You know… this would maybe be easier if you said you just found him cute."

"Linze!"

"That would be fine too, that's all I'm saying."

---

Chapter end