'I haven' been paying attention at all.' How is that even possible? I sighed as I slipped my hands from my gloves and undid my ponytail. I ran my hand through my hair, shaking it out before I put it back up. Gods, it was hot in that cavern. I caught up to the prince. "Alfonse."
"Yes, Commander?"
"If you don't mind, I'd like for you to meet me in my office once you can."
"Of course, Commander."
"Oh!" Maxis exclaimed ahead of us. He turned around, now walking backward, snapped his finger, and pointed at me. "I have work tomorrow, so do you guys know how I can get home?"
I winced. "I'm… afraid not."
"You can't?"
"No. We… haven't seen a world like the one you've described." Not that you've really said anything that would paint a clear picture.
"…Huh."
"Look, I… I think the chances of us finding your world are very slim. Not to mention that all the gateways we would open trying to find it would just be invitations for Princess Veronica to enslave more Heroes."
"…Oh."
Sharena tentatively put a hand on the summoner's shoulder. "I-it'll be alright!"
Maxis chuckled tiredly. "There are definitely worse… It could be worse! That's… what I'm trying to say." He swallowed. "I jus'… don't like disappointing people is all. I could call in, but I don' like lying, either. An' I gotta go t' Mass the day after! How 'm I supposed to do that if I'm here?!" He raised his hands up with his fingers tensed slightly and shook them slightly and stiffly. "Aaagh! Hahaha… Huuuh, this sucks…"
Sharena fidgeted for a bit. "H-hey, what about your music? Weren't you listening to some somehow on the way out here? How can you listen to music without instruments?"
"Through my phone," Maxis replied as he held up and waved a little black and blue… thing.
"Huh?"
He rolled his eyes. "It's magic."
"Oh. Well, can we listen to some of it?"
"You don' wanna listen t' my music."
"What?" the princess exclaimed. "Of course we do!"
"Okay, no, but—" Maxis lowered his voice and his head slightly. "Do you?"
"Um. …Do we?"
"Do you?"
Sharena blinked a few times before looking to us for an answer.
I don't know either, Sharena, I thought as I let a quiet sigh slip from my nose.
"Look," Maxis continued. "I like good music. And you like good music. The only people who don't like good music are the people who don't like music. But I digress. We also both like good food. But we don't always like the same food, right? So what I'm trying to say is that it's a matter of taste. A taste that you guys likely don't have."
Matthew snorted in amusement. "That's a pretty convoluted way to say 'you guys wouldn't like it.'"
No sh—kidding.
Azura let out a polite cough. "What about that song you were singing this morning?"
"Uhhhhh, no."
"'No?'"
"Not in a million years."
"You mean you won't play it for us? Why not?"
"Because that'd be really embarrassing."
"What's so embarrassing about a song?"
"If you have to ask, then you won't understand the answer," Maxis said sternly. "Y'know what? I'll cut ya a deal. I'll play some of the instrumental songs that I have, and then we can go from there."
"Alright."
"I didn't know this album had thirty-two songs," Maxis mumbled to himself. "Let's start with— Oh, there's a lot of waltzes in here. One, two, three, four, five waltzes. Huh! Who'da thunk? Whatever, let's start at the top, shall we?" He pressed his finger to the object in his hand, and music started playing with no indication of preparation.
My face hardened. It wasn't an unpleasant sound, but I much preferred the silence we had before. Or just the talking.
The first instrument I heard was like a lute or a mandolin, but I couldn't figure out which one. Then a low-sounding violin joined it. Or maybe it was the bigger one, actually. After a while, there was the knocking of wood mixed in, clacking along with the song. And eventually, it was over.
"What was that plucking instrument that that song started with?"
"That was a banjo," Maxis replied with a slight and weird accent to it. It almost sounded like he didn't even mean to say it like that. "A staple instrument of the time."
"Ah, I see. I was surprised to hear how well it went with the viola."
"Yes, the fiddle. A five-stringed version of both the viola and violin with its bridge flattened slightly so as to play more than even two strings at once."
"Interesting. I also heard metal shaking and wood clacking. What was that?"
"The uh… the name escapes me at the moment… the tambourine, I believe? And the bones. Both keep the tempo and add their own flavor to the melody."
"Just as any percussion instrument ought to!"
"Exactly right."
"How do you know so much about music, Maxis?" Sharena asked.
"I used t' be in orchestra in middle school an' high school. Played the viola."
"Really?! I play the violin, and my brother plays the cello! Maybe we could all play something together!"
"Maybe. Hey, Anna, you play the bass then?"
I glanced at Maxis as my name was called. "No, I don't play any instruments."
"Nothin'? That's a shame."
"Maybe we can teach you!" Sharena offered.
"Uh, no, that's alright."
"Alright," Maxis said as he rolled his head around.
"Yes, I could tell that you played a string instrument by the way you moved your head to the song," Azura continued. "What chair did you sit in when you were with your orchestra?"
"I sat in the back. I uh… wasn't the most motivated of students. Especially in my last days of school. It's a miracle I even graduated from college!"
"What are you talking about with these schools?" Raigh asked, his eyes appearing over his book as he glared at the summoner.
"Ah, I suppose you guys don't have the same school system, huh? Back in my world, we have preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and high school. Then after that, we have college and whatever else secondary education."
"What do you learn in these buildings?"
"General knowledge, basically."
I rubbed my face with both my hands. I would have been a lot more grateful that Maxis was telling us more about his world if he talked about anything important. Everyone has music! Everyone has schools! Tell us something interesting!
I opened the door to the commander's office and stepped inside.
"Alfonse, you're finally here, good."
"Is something the matter, Commander?"
She sighed as she capped her inkwell. "Yes, but not with me. Maxis…"
I sat down across from her as she paused.
"Maxis has a pornography addiction."
"…A what?"
She winced. "Pornography,… as Maxis explained it to me,… is… smut."
"Smut?"
"Please don't make me spell it out for you."
I stared at her blankly. "I'm… afraid I don't know what that is, either."
The commander grimaced, and her gaze fell on a particular drawer in her desk. She looked back at me and said, "Some books… that people write… are… not meant for… your usual sort of entertainment. They're more meant for… a more physical sort of entertainment. For… For pleasure."
My brows furrowed, and I cocked my head.
"Gods…," she muttered as she opened the drawer and took out a bottle of whiskey and a glass. She uncapped it, poured a drink, and drained it just as quickly. "For masturbation."
"'Masturbation?'"
"People—!" She grabbed me by the collar and pulled me close. "People read these books and touch their dicks or their vaginas because it feels good and they're gross, disgusting degenerates." She let go of me and fell back in her chair. "That's the problem Maxis has."
My face fell. "Maxis…?"
"He told me this because he wants to change for the better. And he told me to tell whoever I trusted, and that's you."
"Does Sharena know?"
"Of course not. I wouldn't tell her even if you paid me."
"Good. …Good."
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. The commander cursed and quickly put the bottle and glass away. "Come in!"
The archer Virion stepped in, speaking proudly, "Ah, greetings, Commander Anna, Prince Alfonse. How does the day find both of you?"
"Good," the commander hesitantly answered.
"It has been well," I replied.
"Ah, most excellent!" the noble spoke. "I hate to eavesdrop, but I heard shouting from outside the door. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is fine," Commander Anna replied.
"Ah, good." His voice lowered. "However, I hesitate to believe that. While I am willing to trust you and your noble goals, well, being whisked away from my home into another world does not do anything to help put my mind at ease. I do not ask you this for my sake, but rather for dear Olivia's: What secrets are you keeping from us?"
I looked up as the door to my office creaked open. "Hey," Maxis said with a tired wave as he entered.
"Welcome back," I replied tersely as I returned to my paperwork.
"So, how's it goin'?" he asked as he sat down in the chair opposite of mine.
"Things have been fine." The sound of my quill filled the room as he rapped his knuckles on the wooden armrests.
"I'm, uh, sorry I was gone so long."
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. That would be Alfonse. He's out in the training yard. Go talk to him."
I swung Fólkvangr at the pell, starting another training drill. Training like this always seemed to ease my worries for an adequate amount of time, but that didn't appear to be the case today.
The Great Hero was gone. He said he would return after going to his workplace for the day, but he never appeared. Commander Anna told me to give him the benefit of the doubt that day. That he would likely return the next day because his religion required attendance to what was called Mass. He never returned that day, either. The commander said that he was likely taking a much-needed break as being summoned to this world and helping save other worlds would be quite difficult.
It was now past lunch, and he still hadn't returned.
I had been a fool once before, and I had learned from such mistakes. That's why I stayed away from him—why I wanted Sharena to stay away from him—so that we wouldn't once again bear the pain of having a friend leave us without saying goodbye.
He said that he liked being here, though, didn't he?
The last slash of my drill knocked the pell down, and I sighed as I replaced my sword in its sheath. I put the pell into its upright position and turned back around.
"Summoner!" I exclaimed. "Welcome back!"
He rubbed the back of his head. "Hey… Sorry I'm late. …I guess."
"That's… quite alright. You're back now. …That's what matters."
"Yeah, I— …Look, I'm sorry. Thing is, I had a bad day at work, so I didn't wanna come back an'… jus' look like I wanted t' murder someone."
I blinked in reaction to his words. "I see."
"So I thought I'd jus' stay home for a bit an' cool off—jump online with the boys—but then minutes turned to hours, then I thought, 'Hey, why don' I jus' stay here until after Mass,' but I got distracted again, an'… yeah." Silence passed between us as I took in what he said. "I shoulda left a note or something; I'm sorry."
"That's—" It wasn't alright. It was… "I'm just glad that you're back… Maxis," I said as I replaced my weapon in its sheath.
He grunted in agreement as we began making our way back inside. Suddenly he snapped his fingers and pointed at me casually. "Oh, hey! I put in my two weeks' notice!"
"'Two weeks' notice?'"
"Basically, I wrote them a note saying that I was quitting, so now, I jus' hafta work two more weeks until I don' need t' go back anymore. An' since I only work Saturdays, it's only two days!" Maxis explained as we entered the castle.
"Ah, I think I understand now."
"That's—"
"Maxiiiiiiis!" an all too familiar voice sounded from down the hall, quickly approaching. Sharena jumped at the summoner, nearly knocking him off his feet. "I knew you'd be back! I just knew it!"
"Yeah, hi, Sharena," the summoner replied, his tone quickly changing.
"Alfonse said we shouldn't get our hopes up, but I just knew it; I knew you'd come back!"
"You said that already."
"I did? Oh, right, I suppose I did. Oh, I'm just so glad you're back!"
"Uh-huh."
My sister opened her mouth to speak again, but I had to cut her off. "Sharena, I'm afraid the summoner and I need a moment to speak privately. You can speak with him more later."
Sharena blinked, mouth agape. "Right! Alright! I'll go let everyone know you're back, Maxis."
"Sure." Once she was running back down the halls, he turned to me. "Yer sister sure is… excitable, isn't she?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I apologize on her behalf. And, um, needing to speak with you wasn't a lie."
"Oh, okay. So what is it?"
"Er. Wouldn't you like more privacy?"
The summoner raised an eyebrow. "Uh, I'm… good."
Looking at the floor for a moment, I realized that that phrase was likely his way of saying that he was alright with discussing this in the middle of the hall. The difference between us and our cultures was truly staggering.
I glanced back and forth up and down the hall, ensuring there were no prying eyes or ears. "Commander Anna… told me about your… addiction."
"Oh."
"Did… you wish for this to remain secret?"
Maxis looked up and down the hall. "Well, it's not exactly something I would wanna go shouting from the rooftops… But I suppose I did tell Anna to tell people she trusted…."
"Er… Do you… not trust me?"
"Tss, uh… I mean, I haven' exactly known you for a long time… but I haven' had a reason to distrust you, either."
"I see. Um, well…" I took a deep breath and let it free. "I worry that I will not make for a good king in the future."
The summoner stared at me with his head slightly cocked, one eye slightly closed, and his eyebrow slightly raised. "…Huh?"
"W-w-well, I just thought it fair to divulge a secret of my own! Since I know one of yours! One just as big, I would imagine."
He continued to stare. "…Uh-huuuh. Not really much of a secret, is it?"
"P-pardon?!"
"Well, I think anyone would worry that if they were in your shoes. Unless they're greedy, or cocky, or arrogant."
"I-I suppose…"
"Plus, if yer worried about it, I'd say yer more likely to be a good king."
"Really?"
"Yeah, maybe. I can't say if you'll be fantastic or the greatest, but you won't be awful, I'm sure."
"I see," I said, a small smile beginning to form. "That's all I would ask."
"Good, good."
We stood there silently, reflecting on each other's words.
A shaky exhale came from the summoner. "Not really much fer secrets, are we?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well, both arr secrets aren't really shocking, really."
I shook my head, my voice barely above a whisper. "If word got out that the Great Hero was a deviant, there would be an uproar! And if the people found that I lacked the confidence to be king, then they likely wouldn't trust me to lead them!"
Maxis's lips parted slightly. "Oh. That makes sense, I suppose. …'Deviant,' huh? I'd say that's the perfect word."
"G-Great Hero, I meant no offense…!"
"No. Alfonse. Lemme add a secret to my secret. I've… had this addiction for longer than I can remember. I've seen things that no man should see. This isn't just a struggle to stop… gawking at women. It's a struggle to be normal. To be good. To… honor the Lord."
