Hand in Hand Through the Night
The clothes I pulled from the wardrobe were the gym uniform I wore for physical training. Even a noble young lady had no law forbidding her from stepping outside in athletic wear. And if it looked a little off, well—it was only for a short while, right? Besides, it felt far more comfortable than those uselessly fluttering skirts. At least now there wouldn’t be any idiots trying to flip my skirt like yesterday. There was no skirt left to flip in the first place.
Anyway, enough of that pointless train of thought. I couldn’t afford to be late for our appointment, so I needed to finish changing and get moving.
I’d already decided on the gym pants for the bottom half. Now came the question of what to wear on top. No matter how I looked at it, pairing gym bottoms with a school uniform top would be a fashion disaster. I rummaged through the wardrobe, pondering, until my eyes happened to meet something.
A little dog sticking its tongue out at me.
It was one of my favorite T-shirts. Every time Anne saw me wearing it she would scold me for looking like a kid—though the one who looked the most like a kid when she said it was Anne herself. Did she even realize that?
In any case, my outfit was complete. Honestly, I considered it a flawless choice with nothing whatsoever to criticize. Even the Boss would be unable to hold back her admiration if she saw this dog.
I’d spent so long praising myself that quite a bit of time had slipped by. Any more dawdling and I’d be late, so I hurried off toward the research building.
On the way to the place where we’d finished work yesterday, the Boss and I walked hand in hand. I knew Fresia was only two years younger than me, but she was even smaller than Anne, so she just felt like a little kid.
There was no real chance of her getting lost, yet the thought still made me reach for her hand without thinking. Fortunately—if you could call it that—Fresia didn’t pull away, sparing me the embarrassment.
We strolled through the night streets like an older sister taking her little sibling for a walk when a certain stall caught my eye.
It was a snack vendor packing up for the night, the owner bustling about as if ready to close. A quick glance told me not everything had sold out yet.
I gently changed direction and led Fresia toward the stall. She tilted her head in curiosity but didn’t resist, simply following along.
“Hello. Are you still open?”
“Oh my, I was just about to pack up, but you two showed up at the perfect time. Go on, pick whatever you like…”
The auntie’s easygoing reply made me choose two lollipops and pay for them.
With the two candies in hand, I held out the slightly larger one to Fresia.
“Hm?”
“Your arm’s going to fall off. Hurry up and take it.”
She hadn’t realized it was for her until I spoke, and only then did she accept the candy. Even someone who loved tasty things as much as I did wasn’t enough of a glutton to eat two lollipops at once.
Probably.
“I could have bought them myself…”
“I wanted to treat you. Do you not like it, Boss?”
Fresia popped the candy into her mouth and shook her head side to side.
“Tasty things are even better when you share them. Well? It’s good, right?”
Still sucking on the lollipop, she nodded. If I ever had a little sister, I imagined this was exactly how it would feel.
With a warm feeling in my chest I put my own candy in my mouth, and a rush of sweetness spread across my tongue.
Walking the streets with a lollipop each, breathing in the night air, it felt less like we were heading out to work and more like we were simply out for an evening stroll.
I don’t know how long we walked, but just as we finished melting the last of the candy we arrived at yesterday’s worksite. Perfect timing.
“Shall we get straight to work… No. Let’s wait until you’ve finished your candy.”
She seemed to eat a little slower than I did; Fresia still had the lollipop in her mouth, so I decided to savor the moment a bit longer.
We sat side by side on a bench tucked into a quiet corner, my hand still holding hers.
Neither of us said a word. We simply sat there. Yet the silence never felt awkward. If anything, this kind of quiet suited two people enjoying the night air together.
“All right. Shall we get started again today?”
Having finished her candy, Fresia hopped down from the bench and headed toward the city wall. I picked up the backpack I’d set aside and followed after her.
“Boss? Need any help?”
Fresia had stopped in place while checking the barrier’s condition and wasn’t moving. Unlike before, when she would simply demand a few mana stones, she kept her hand pressed against the wall for a long time, eyes closed.
Even when I spoke she didn’t seem to hear me, completely focused.
I couldn’t leave her alone, and I couldn’t interrupt either, so I simply stood behind her and waited in silence.
“This section’s pretty badly damaged. It’s a miracle no monsters have broken through yet.”
With that she took the entire backpack from my shoulders and began pulling out mana stones one by one.
“Repairing this is going to take a while. Just wait a bit.”
“Yes, ma’am. No worries.”
It probably wasn’t a particularly difficult job for Fresia, but while someone was casting magic it was always best to keep interruptions to a minimum.
So I stood behind her with my arms crossed, glaring at anyone who came near so they wouldn’t even think of approaching while she worked on the repairs.
Perhaps because it was the middle of the night and two girls were standing there with a pile of mana stones doing something incomprehensible, a few people kept glancing our way out of curiosity. Of course I had no obligation to explain, so I simply ignored them.
“Hey! You two—what do you think you’re doing over there?”
About ten minutes later, two guards on patrol spotted us and came over.
“Good evening.”
From a guard’s perspective we probably did look suspicious. I wasn’t so lacking in common sense that I’d treat people working to keep the city safe as enemies.
“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? Depending on your answer we might have to arrest you, so don’t even think about lying.”
“Oh my, there’s no need to be so wary. We’re from the Academy—we came out to repair the city barrier.”
“Hmm?”
Answering in a gentle voice completely different from the one I used to chase off drunks seemed to ease some of their suspicion.
“Then do you have proof you’re from the Academy?”
“Just a moment. Ah…”
I reached into my pocket for my student ID only to realize I wasn’t wearing my uniform. Since I only ever used the ID at the Academy, I’d left it in my uniform pocket and completely forgotten to bring it.
“What’s wrong? Hurry up and show your identification.”
My flustered reaction made the guards sense something was off, and they pressed harder. But no amount of urging would make a missing student ID magically appear.
“Um, I left my student ID back at the dorm… I really am an Academy student, though…”
“You’re out here in the middle of the night messing with the city barrier and you don’t even have a way to prove who you are? That’s pretty suspicious.”
Of course they wouldn’t believe me.
“Ah! My Boss over there might have her ID! So if we could just…”
“Then go get it. Quickly.”
“Well… as you can see, she’s in the middle of repairing the barrier…”
I started to speak while looking at Fresia, only to realize she was still deep in the repair work. Now was a terrible time to interrupt her.
“How are we supposed to know whether she’s repairing the barrier or destroying it? This isn’t good. We’re arresting both of you.”
With that the guard leveled his spear at me and took a ready stance. The other one, while his partner kept me covered, pulled a portable communication crystal from his coat as if preparing to call for backup.
Going along quietly wouldn’t have been a huge problem. Eventually our identities would be confirmed and we could prove we really had been repairing the city’s barrier.
But that would delay the work, and worse, it might break Fresia’s concentration while she was casting. I’d heard that losing focus mid-spell was far more dangerous than a knight stopping halfway through a sword swing.
One way or another, I needed to buy time at least until Fresia finished.
“Please wait!”
I quickly stopped the guard about to call for backup and spoke up.
“What now? So you really were up to something shady after all.”
“No, we’re not! We’re not suspicious people at all!”
“And why should we believe that? For all we know that mage is destroying the barrier right now and planning to attack us the moment she’s done.”
No choice, then.
“You can restrain me instead. Just wait until the Boss finishes the repair. If anything goes wrong you can use me as a hostage, can’t you?”
Even if I was captured, no one would dare try anything against Fresia right in front of the guards. That made the offer possible.
“Hmm… if you’re going that far, I suppose it’s not completely unbelievable…”
Sensing the guard was about to accept, I quickly held both hands out in front of me, wrists together.
“Here.”
“She doesn’t seem like the problem, though. What do you think?”
“Still, better safe than sorry. Let’s restrain her like she suggested.”
Since I offered my hands without the slightest hesitation, the two guards conferred briefly and then used restraints to bind my wrists.
Only then did they relax. One stayed near me while the other moved closer to Fresia, both of them keeping a careful watch.
And so I ended up standing there looking rather foolish with my hands bound. To kill a little time I struck up a conversation with the guard.
“You must have it rough on night patrol. Hope we’re not wasting your time for nothing.”
“Ah, this is just part of the job. We’ve had some troublesome incidents lately, so we might’ve been a bit sharp. As long as you two aren’t suspicious characters, there’s no problem.”
“Just give us a little longer. Once the barrier repair is finished everything will be cleared up right away.”
We chatted about this and that for a while longer until, at some point, the barrier work must have finished—Fresia and the other guard were walking toward us.
“Hey. Let her go.”
The guard had already pulled out the key the moment he saw them approaching, ready to free me.
Clink.
I rolled my wrists, which had grown a little stiff from even that short time bound, while Fresia spoke up.
“…You should have just called me. Why were you tied up?”
“Because if your concentration broke while you were casting it would have been dangerous.”
“That’s true, but…”
Fresia shot the guards a sharp glare, yet she knew they had only been doing their jobs, so she didn’t say anything further.
“Nothing really happened, so please don’t scold the guards.”
“I’m talking to you.”
Fresia pouted, kicking lightly at the ground with the tip of her shoe for no particular reason.
“Well then, we’ll be on our way.”
“Ah, I’ve already informed the others via crystal, so no one should bother the two of you from now on.”
We exchanged polite bows and set off once more to continue the barrier repairs. I walked close beside Fresia, who was still pouting—angry on my behalf.
Maybe it was the night making me sentimental, but every little thing the Boss did felt precious. I didn’t say thank you, though.
Instead I simply took her small hand in mine, and we walked on together.