“But all of this does make me think,” Sam said. “Can we talk about the practicalities of you… for a lack of a better word, moving here to study?”

  “Ugh.” Erianna shook her head with disgust. “Why must you question everything? Can’t you just take stuff for granted? Leave some mystery in your life.”

  “Nope. Also, you’re a princess. I kind of like interrogating a real-life royalty like this. It’s like you’re my companion in a video-game and I’m exhausting all of your dialogue options in order to raise your approval.”

  “OK, first of all, if anyone’s a companion here, it’s you. Second of all, I assure you, no approval is being gained from your constant questioning.”

  “I strongly disagree with both of those statements. First of all, by asking questions, I’m showing interest, getting to know you. Everyone on the internet always says that the best way to a woman’s heart is to show her you’re interested in her life and what she says. Ask questions, don’t give answers. And as for your inane belief that you are somehow the main character, thereby relegating me to being a mere companion?

  “Exhibit A: You came here for me. Now, an MC that comes to a new region in search of a new companion is a fairly common trope, as we all know. But coming alone? And not only for one companion, but for four? Exhibit B: I already have my own cadre of stooges here, my own circle. You’re joining us. We’re not joining you. And exhibit C: I’m a man. You’re a woman. We both know the statistics.”

  “That is a good argument,” Erianna conceded with a nod. “Especially your last point. I keep forgetting the society you grew up in was rampant with sexism. So rampant, in fact, that you aren’t even able to recognize a female protagonist and her male companion when they slap you in the face.”

  “Would’ve been really funny if you slapped me in the face.”

  “I don’t believe in corporal punishment. No matter how much the erring pupil might deserve it.”

  “Also, you know that as a companion, you’re not allowed to attack me unless your approval isn’t low enough during the general gameplay, or not high enough during a specific segment that questions your loyalty to me.”

  “What if we’re in a squad based game with friendly fire? I could attack you no problem, and whenever I want because we’re both equal in the eyes of the player.”

  Sam laughed. “Then you’ll be conceding your claim that you are the main character and I’m the companion. And the moment you give me any ground, you’ve already lost. Also, I don’t like squad based games that don’t have a main character. They suck. I need to live vicariously through someone who I can make the dialogue choices for.”

  “In that case, let me just say that you have done an awful job playing Sam Anders. We’ve only just met and yet you’ve somehow managed to make all the wrong dialogue choices. My approval numbers are in the toilet.”

  “I call that the Sam Anders Special. Couple it with some Stockholm Syndrome and before you know it, you’ll be able to tolerate me enough for the approval to hover around zero. But seriously, back to my question. I am genuinely interested in how this is all going to work from your perspective. Not to mention that it does affect me at the end of the day.”

  Erianna sighed. “Oh, very well. What do you want to know?”

  “Let’s start with living quarters. You said you have an apartment? I’m assuming that it’s the same kind that Maurice and Dan have since we’ve already covered the importance of you being in a secure area?”

  “You are correct. I’ve only seen pictures of the place, but apparently, it’s about a third larger than my own rooms back home. All necessary amenities included: kitchen, washing-machine, you get the deal. It’s one of the places saved for special visitors so it’s more fancy than the staff’s regular apartments. Very out of place with the Terran style of military utilitarianism that dominates the rest of this place.”

  “Alright, and how does that work? You have to do your own laundry? Cook your own meals? Clean the place by yourself?”

  “Do you have to do those things?”

  “God, no. But I’m a man.” Sam laughed. “So you’re really going to clean and do laundry by yourself?”

  “Of course.” She flared her nostrils. “I’m not so coddled that I don’t know how to clean a room.”

  “I noticed you didn’t say anything about doing laundry.”

  “So what? I never had to before. I’ll learn. How hard could it be?”

  “Not that hard. I’ll help. I also spent most of my life not doing my own laundry. But… I don’t know, don’t you think it’s weird requiring a royal person such as yourself to do those common tasks?”

  “Common tasks? You’re not working very hard to endear me to any passerby, are you?”

  Sam gestured around them. “No one here, princess.”

  “No one is going to look down on me for doing my own laundry or cleaning my rooms. Well, no one I care about. And those I don’t care about? No one is going to take them seriously. In theory, the minute I enter the regular service, I should be treated as any other soldier.”

  “Expect you’re not any other soldier. You’re an officer. And a captain at that. I’m not sure they do their own laundry.”

  “No one does their own laundry in active deployment. Well, they could, but the chances they’ll get to handle their own clothes in laundry duty is rather small. And officers don’t have laundry duty. But I will have to clean my own quarters. And fetch my own meals.”

  “I guess that makes sense. I’m pretty sure that the royal sons and daughters who went into military service back in my time were treated much less generously. Well, if they came from healthy democracies, at least. But I don’t know, it’s still weird. The whole deal with a monarchy like yours is the importance of symbolism and the show of power and status. By making yourself appear like the rest of us, aren’t you diminishing the stature of the royal family and, by extent, monarchy?”

  “Ugh.” She made a gagging face. “Like I said, only in the eyes of people who I don’t care about and who no one else will take seriously. Besides, those very same people, or their noble sons and daughters, will have to endure the very same treatment that I will get. All of us are equally numerical in the ledgers of Bergvazhe .”

  “But some of us are more numerical than others.”

  She shrugged. “That so. That’s why I could get attendants to do those things for me in the future. And why I can pay the academy’s custodial staff to do those things for me right now.”

  “Even though you’re a student?”

  “They’re already treating me like academy personnel by giving me a furnished apartment.”

  “Good point. So, you going to request that sort of help?”

  “Probably not. But who knows? Still, at the very least, I’d like to experience doing my own laundry while I still have to struggle with such menial tasks.”

  Sam furrowed his brows. “You’re talking about before becoming a Ruler and being able to magic those tasks away?”

  “Of course. Why? Oh… yikes. Did it sound like I was planning to play at being a normal person or something? Coming down from Versailles to my specially built cabin I had built so I could ‘see’ what the common folk live like?”

  Sam laughed. “How the hell do you know about that?”

  “I read it in a book about the French Revolution.”

  “You read a book about the French Revolution?”

  “I read a couple.”

  “Awesome. You’re cool, princess. And yeah, it did sound a little like that. So you meant menial as in being physically simple and easily solved with some threads magic?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Farris basically keeps his entire livelihood in his storage artifact. He has weavings to keep him clean throughout the day and at night he waves his hand and the clothes become immaculate in the millisecond before they disappear into storage. My mother only does the first. She has to have people take care of her wardrobe for her.”

  “You don’t?”

  “Not in day-to-day life. And not for the foreseeable future at all, thank the Drowned.”

  “Alright, so you basically carry your entire life in the palm of your hand, or ring on your arm. Everything you need in order to live here comfortably. You got a place to stay and eat. And you don’t need any extra security as long as you’re within these walls. Can you go out?”

  “Of course. But I would have to be escorted. Then again… if… say someone of a particular caliber where to accompany me when I went outside, I wouldn’t be required to inform the embassy of my departure.”

  “I think if we’ll invite Dan to come with us to the pet cafe, it will kind of ruin the mood there.”

  “That’s a shame, because I really wanted to go. Yvessa told me that there’s a cat there who really likes you.”

  Sam smiled brightly, eyes misting just a tiny smidge. “Yeah. His name is Rufus. He’s the best.”

  “Can’t wait to meet him.”

  “You’re not going to try and steal him from me, are you?”

  “I’m not going to try and do anything but be my usual charming self, and present myself in the same manner that I do with all other felines.”

  Sam grumbled. “I’m watching you, Ninae. I don’t trust you.”

  “Hmph. You do you. I don’t have the time nor the patience to placate the fragile ego of a jealous wretch like you—This is it?” She pointed at the gym building.

  “Yeah. Entrance to our right. I never actually worked out here, though. But thankfully our Terran military utilitarianism also results in architectural conformity.”

  “That’s every military ever, though.”

  “Every good military. Tsk… ugh! Why did I have to think of that?”

  “What?”

  “Nah… it’s nothing. Something stupid about video games and having to admit that a certain design choice in the sequel might not have been the worst thing in the world. Everything else is trash, though,” he assured her and himself.

  “I’m sure it is.”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  They entered the gym and quickly made their way to the main section, identical in most aspects to the place Sam was supposed to spend this morning at. “Wow…” he said, “I’ve never seen this place empty. Feels kinda weird.”

  “I prefer it like this,” Erianna said. “No need to concern yourself with other people. You can do what you want and be as loud as you want.” She sighed. “I’m going to miss that.”

  “Is that the first sign of homesickness I hear?”

  “Might very well be. I will have to give up some of the luxuries I’m used to. No more private gym. Super expensive training dolls. Everything close to home.”

  “It’s still pretty close here.”

  “It’s all relative. Jumping up to a ten-minute walk from a two-minute one is literally a five-fold increase.”

  Sam snorted. “You’re right. Reminds me of waiting to be picked up from elementary instead of just walking. It was even less than a ten-minute walk.”

  “Exactly.” Erianna nodded. “But it’s alright. I’ll be fine. You’ll help me get through this grueling ordeal, won’t you?”

  “Ah… tsk. I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll see if I’ll feel like it. Worst case, you could lean on some of my companions for help. They’re much more amenable than me.”

  “I don’t doubt it. But speaking of my future companions, don’t you think you have something to tell them right about now?”

  Sam stared at her for a couple of seconds without comprehension. Then, when he finally realized what he had missed, he slapped his forehead. “It’s not my fault, you know,” he tried to deflect. “You distracted me with your womanly wiles and schemes meant to ridicule my friends.”

  “Just send them a message, Anders. Try to salvage some of your dignity before it’s too late.”

  Sam grumbled for show while taking out his phone. “Alright… so send a group text? Or a just message Sarah?”

  “Why are you asking me? They’re your companions.”

  “Exactly. I never had to lie to them before. I don’t have your deceitful mind.”

  “Now you’re just being hurtful.”

  “I’ll message Sarah. Felix and Yvessa’s morning routine doesn’t depend on waiting for me. So… let’s see: ‘hey, Sarah, good morning’—how am I doing so far? Do you think she’s unto us?”

  “I think you’re wasting time that we could use in order to improve our physical capabilities.”

  “Psh. You’re no fun. ‘I woke up early today for some reason, and haven’t been able to go back to sleep.’ So far, so true.”

  “Not exactly.” Erianna smirked. “Haven’t been able to go back to sleep insinuates that you’ve tried.”

  “Or simply that something prevented me from doing that. Could be I’ve been kidnapped and slapped awake every five seconds.”

  “Now who’s being deceitful?”

  “I’m being logically thorough. There’s a difference. ‘I wanted to get a head start on the day and let out some energy, and I couldn’t manage to do something else in the meantime. So I’m going to work out early, meaning I’ll miss you guys. I’ll also be grabbing breakfast and heading to my room afterwards. You know me, don’t want to walk twice.’ Send?”

  “Seems fine to me. Unless you’ll wake her up and she decides to come and join you.”

  “Nah, her phone is on silent for messages during the night. Also… there is the insinuation that by going now, I want to work out alone.”

  “Is that so… And won’t that invite more questions later in the day?”

  Sam shrugged. “That’s your problem. By the time those questions could be asked, you’re already going to have your little shroud dissolved.”

  “At which point it would be obvious that asking those questions is not necessary.”

  Sam tapped his temples. “Scott free.” He mouthed. “Then again, could be she takes it the wrong way and comes looking for me. Ugh. This is why I don’t like lying to my friends when it’s not about something that directly benefits me.”

  “You’ll be fine. Just placate her by saying that you’ll join them for the evening’s workout to make it up to them.”

  “Just how well do you know us?”

  She smirked.

  “Don’t,” Sam warned her.

  Her smirk widened even further, and she made eye contact with him. He returned it with all the gravity the occasion demanded. After a few tense moments, she batted her eyelashes and said, “Come on Sam… how many times I have to tell you that…” she stretched her last words, mocking him. “That I’m simply a much better person than you. Unlike you, I actually showed interest in my martial counterpart before us meeting today.”

  Sam released a heavy breath. “I’ll let you off this time with a warning. But no more. Taking the joke into a meta level does salvage it. And it was funny. But it won’t be next time. You don’t get any more chances.”

  She nodded with her hand on her heart. “I hear you. And I promise you. No more. Well, not until we actually start learning about threads and then we can make callback jokes to it.”

  “Oh yeah, of course. That goes without saying. You got a timetable for me?”

  “It will probably have to be a couple of weeks after we start studying. So not anytime soon.”

  “And the answer to my actual question?”

  “Not today, I’m afraid. Today is just for me to observe you going about your usual schedule.”

  “Well the clock’s a ticking.” Then, with a smirk, he muttered, “On the mantle-shelf.” He couldn’t help himself. It was a sickness.

  “I’ll take it under advisement.” She smiled at him. “And I’ll be careful when crossing the road.”

  Sam’s eyes widened in awe. “You’re hired.”

  “Good, so we can finally begin working out. You start, I’ll follow your lead.”

  “Alright. I’m sure the old adage about the cart and the horse will go well here, but I’m game. So, let’s start with warming-up.”

  She followed his movements to the latter, mimicking every motion of his and making him look like a clumsy fool in the process. That was an exaggeration, of course, but she was better than him. That much was clear. She moved fluidly from one exercise to the other despite, or so he assumed, having never gone through the exact same routine before.

  With a start, Sam realized that he wasn’t just making shit up to conform to his own world-view and low self-esteem. He really could discern the dexterity and strength guiding her movements. He was doing the same thing he did when given homework to analyze other fighters, judging her speed, her reactions, her accuracy of meeting her intentions. Fuck, he had actually gained a new skill; his training managed to apply itself to his everyday life. The only reason he hadn’t realized it up till now was because he wasn’t really looking at Sarah’s movements (or anyone else’s, for that matter) outside of the context of sparring.

  He finished going through the warm-up completely on instinct and only recognized that fact when Erianna’s clicking fingers appeared in front of his face and brought him back to reality. He shook his head. “Sorry, I spaced out.”

  “Yeah, you seemed really focused on something.”

  “Well, I was thinking about how I was able to look you over.”

  “Come again?”

  He rubbed a finger under his nose with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, stupid joke. But I had just realized that I could… for a lack of a better word, analyze your movement and come to conclusions about your abilities and physical state. That came out dumb. Did I make sense?”

  “You did.” She nodded. “And I understand what you mean. The instincts you began developing half a year ago had started to sprout. You were able to take what you were taught to do in combat and apply that to just a regular display of physicality. That’s admirable. It’s also about time that you realized you could do that, because according to Farris, the fact that you had developed those instincts was already apparent a month or two ago. But, you know what comes after learning to use your instincts to analyze your opponent?”

  “I think that going by your tone and cadence, I can hazard a guess.”

  “Indeed. It’s learning not to trust them. You know why?”

  “People can lie. Pretend to be one thing when they’re actually another.”

  “And not just that, they can also behave differently than what you’re familiar with. You could simply be reading them wrong because you recognize X as one thing, when in reality, for them, X means something completely different.”

  Sam nodded. “That definitely sound like a more important reason than the first. Especially for people like us.”

  She smiled. “What do you mean people like us?”

  “Nevermind that. It’s also nothing for me to worry about because all I need to do is follow Lin’s training and guidance. He’ll tell me how to develop and apply my instincts. No room for critical or independent thinking at this point.”

  “And yet I don’t see you stopping all of your independent criticism of me.”

  “Ooh…” Sam muttered giddily, then he grimaced. “Ugh… damn. There’s just too many options for a joke there. I can’t pick one.”

  “Poor you.”

  “Yes, but that’s my cross to bear for being so damn clever and funny. We starting or not?”

  She waved him ahead. “Your lead, remember?”

  “I didn’t, actually. Alright, so let’s start with legs.”

  They carried on like that for half an hour, lightly chatting as Sam went through his usual Monday workout routine and Erianna diligently. and accurately, followed. After half a year of constant exercising, the workouts were no longer a challenge like they had been before. Even during the weeks where their difficulty was upgraded, they still came nowhere close to how much difficulty he had working out during his first weeks on New Terra. And if he was having an easy time. He glanced at his compatriot, who was uncharacteristically (and wasn’t he one to talk?) silent for the last few minutes. How much of a boring ordeal much this be for her?

  “You sure you don’t want to play some music or something?” he asked. “I mean, there’s no one here. No reason why you can’t enjoy the same amenities you’re used to.”

  She shook her head with a smile. “Thank you, but I’m quite alright, trust me. If you’re fine to keep as is, then I’m more than fine. I’m not doing this to have fun, after all. I need to observe you, do my uncle’s job for him.”

  “Yeah… the only thing I heard from that is that you’re not having fun.”

  “I said that I’m not doing this to have fun. I am having fun. It would’ve been more fun to see you heaving and grunting, sure. But this is still pretty nice. Even when Marin and Yvessa were available, I usually worked out by myself. So this is a nice change of pace.”

  “Well it’s going to be your only pace pretty soon. So hopefully it’ll take time to get old.”

  “What makes you so sure that I’ll be joining your workouts?”

  “Hm… I wasn’t even thinking of that. Although… now that I am, I was taking that for granted, weirdly enough. But I was just talking about the limited time table you’d have in which to work out alone here.”

  “True enough. Then I suppose I’d rather that it’d be with friends than with complete strangers.”

  “And speaking of complete strangers.” Sam gestured with his head towards the entrance, where someone who seemed to be a fellow student was coming in.

  Erianna nodded without taking a look. “Good work ethic. Getting up so early during the break.”

  “Can’t say I know the girl, so can’t say I agree. But just so you know, I’m not changing my sleeping habits to accommodate you.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. Anyway, we going back to it?”

  Sam nodded and pretty soon he was back to focusing on the exercise itself. He and Erianna still exchanged words every couple of seconds, a jab every couple more. But he felt that, just like him, she was mostly inwardly focused. Before too long, as the gym finally started coming to life, although still a far cry from the usual occupancy that Sam was accustomed to, he had finished with his morning workout.

  “That’s it?” Erianna asked as she joined him in standing up.

  “You don’t have to sound so disdainful.”

  “But I want to, though.”

  He stuck his tongue out at her. “That’s it. Shower and meet up outside?”

  She nodded. “And be quick about it. I haven’t eaten since yesterday at lunch. And I haven’t slept. So I’m extra cranky and hungry.”

  “Will do, ma’am.” He gave her a thumbs up and started showing her the way to the showers. A quick shower late, he exited the building and found her already waiting for him, crossed hands and her right leg tapping on the floor in constant rhythm. “You alright?” he asked her. “Oh shit. It wasn’t your first time in a public shower, was it?”

  She waved him off. “No, thankfully. The first time was a year or so ago when we had a week of… it was supposed to be field training.”

  “Then why are you so… you know?”

  “It’s nothing. I’m just hungry. Let’s go already.”

  Sam nodded and started walking, but still kept looking at her with concern. “You sure you’re fine?”

  She grunted. “Yes, I’m sure. If you must know, I’m just thinking about tomorrow. And what is supposed to be my job when it comes to helping you train for combat. Ugh… I’ll need to talk with Farris about this. He helped me train in… pretty much everything. I’d be remiss if I didn’t try to do the same to you.”

  “Well hold on now. You don’t have to do anything besides teach me threads, remember? Everything else, I already have the excellent tutelage that the academy provides me with. If you want to help, you’re more than welcome to. But it shouldn’t come at a personal cost to you. Especially not if it makes you so antsy.”

  “I’m not antsy!” She glowered at him. “I’m just… Ah…” she sighed. “I guess I didn’t expect this to be as hard as it is.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well… it’s everything.” She gestured around. “Showering in a public shower. There weren’t other people there, and I don’t really have a problem with doing that, but it’s still something that… I wouldn’t want to do if I could help it. And staying away from my family. And having a job. I had never had a job before. Real responsibility that was both completely my own but also towards other people. I’m looking down the barrel of ‘hey, if you want to do a good job helping Sam, you might have to sacrifice more time than you bargained for.’

  “And it’s not just about spending that time. It’s how I spend it. If I go with you to your session tomorrow, what am I doing there? Am I just watching? Am I taking an active part? Or should I try to replace Lin Jingway in being your teacher? And what about other subjects? Or what if I’ll teach you something wrong? Or if I won’t be a good teacher? It’s just…” She shook her head, letting out exasperated grunts.

  “Hey, hey, come on now.” Sam grabbed her by the shoulder. “Let’s take a sit. You want to take a sit?”

  She stared back at him angrily. “No. I want to eat.”

  “Alright. So keep walking. But we can keep talking on the way there, right?”

  “I’m not a child, Sam. I’m just…”

  “Going through a panic attack?”

  “It’s not a panic attack.”

  “You ever had a panic attack?”

  “Once.” She sighed. “It was awful. I’m not used to feeling anxious, if that wasn’t obvious by now.”

  “You know what you’re also not used to? Trying new things. No, come on. Think about it. Since you were born, or at the very least, since you were twelve, your whole life has been laid out for you, right? Study under Farris, then study at the Royal Academy. The exact details might’ve changed, and the experience might not’ve been what you envisioned it to be, but the overall picture was the same. The same picture that said you weren’t supposed to leave home until next year. Use a public shower on a regular basis. Have a job where the parameters for success weren’t obvious.”

  She released a breath. “I see what you mean.”

  “Also… you’re hungry. And all negative emotions are heightened when you’re hungry.”

  “I can definitely attest to that.”

  “Just relax. We’ll grab a bite to eat. We’ll shoot the shit. Send a message to Dan and see if we can come in early today. Pretty soon, you’re going to be embarrassed about the fact that you showed your true emotions to a base-born like myself.”

  “Honestly? I’m more embarrassed about the fact that you somehow managed to clock that I wasn’t comfortable showering just now.”

  “Ain’t nothing to it.” Sam tapped his temple. “Great minds not only think alike. They sometimes feel alike.”