Chapter 19: Can a Handover Notebook Save People?

Early afternoon the next day.

During the time when the Adventurer’s Guild was moderately bustling, the thief girl with her flaxen hair casually tied back suddenly popped up in front of the counter.

“Yahoo, Nagi-onii-san! Beautiful weather again today, isn’t it!”

A friendly smile. Light, agile movements.

It was the same daytime “Roux” from yesterday.

It was entirely unthinkable that she shared the same face and body as the “Luna” who had looked down at me with eyes as cold as ice last night.

“Good afternoon, Roux. You’re here at just the right time.”

“Hm? What’s this, a present for me?”

When I pulled out a brand new notebook from under the counter, Roux’s eyes sparkled.

“No. It’s practical administrative equipment.”

“Ehh. What is this, a ledger for debts? I’m not really good at writing letters, you know.”

“It is a handover notebook.”

When I offered the notebook, Roux tilted her head blankly.

“A handover?”

“Yes. A business communication log for you during the day and Luna-san at night to manage your shared life.”

“…Luna?”

“The name your nighttime self called herself.”

At that name, Roux’s shoulders gave a small jump.

The bright smile she had been forcing stiffened just a bit.

“…I see. So my nighttime self properly talked with you, Nagi-onii-san.”

“Yes. We had a highly meaningful discussion about various things. This notebook is the result of that.”

I flipped open the cover of the notebook and pointed to the items written on the first page.

“The basic rules are simple. At the end of the day and the end of the night, you must fill in the necessary information in this notebook.”

“What necessary information?”

“For example… what happened today, tomorrow’s schedule, people you shouldn’t interact with, or places you shouldn’t go near. Also, your current funds and the status of any requests you’ve taken on.”

At that point, I asked something that had been on my mind.

“Just to confirm one thing. You operate during the day, and Luna-san operates at night. …When is your body resting?”

“Eh? I sleep soundly all the way from right after dinner until the morning, you know?”

Roux answered blankly.

I fell into thought for a moment.

“…I see. Luna-san isn’t awake all night long — she only acts for a few hours and then makes sure to get proper sleep.”

“Eh?! I was awake in the middle of the night too?! No wonder I’m always hungry when I wake up in the morning…”

“It’s your own body, isn’t it? That is precisely why you need to coordinate your lives using this notebook. We’ll decide on rules for emergencies as we go.”

When I explained this matter-of-factly, Roux blatantly grimaced.

“Eeeh, what a paaain! Something so stiff and formal is absolutely not gonna last~”

“Please make it last. Your life and your livelihood depend on it.”

“Ugh, Nagi-onii-san is a Spartan…”

Roux sprawled face-down on the desk and threw a tantrum.

Then, from the fixed position forty-five degrees diagonal to the counter, a sharp gaze and voice flew over.

“…Nagi. Are you exchanging diaries with that girl?”

It was the A-Rank swordswoman, Lise. She was gripping her wooden sword tightly in her hands.

“No. It is a tool to improve her livelihood.”

“If it is a business communication, please use the guild’s designated format.”

This time, Fran, clad in her dark blue robe, walked over from the shadow of a pillar a short distance away.

“Deepening private interactions with a specific adventurer violates the spirit of the ‘Nagi Operations Accord’ that was just enacted yesterday. Or should I prepare a new contract?”

“Like I said, I am not a shared resource. Furthermore, this is not a diary exchange with me — it is a communication log with her own self.”

When I shot them down flatly, Lise and Fran directed suspicious glares at Roux, muttering “Hmm…?” but backed down for the time being.

If I let my guard down even for a moment, the sparks immediately fly over to me. I really can’t relax around this desk.

“…Somehow, it’s always so lively around you, Onii-san.”

“Rather than lively, it’s a powder keg. Now, returning to the topic of the notebook.”

When I shifted my gaze back, Roux was staring at the notebook, her head hanging down just a bit.

“Hey, Nagi-onii-san.”

“Yes.”

“As I thought, it’d be easier… if the nighttime me just disappeared, right?”

A voice that spilled out like a solitary drop.

It was the exact same thing “Luna” had said yesterday.

Luna had said it too. “It would be faster to just erase one of us.”

Sharing a single body between two people is inconvenient, inefficient, and above all, terrifying. So if one of them were to disappear, wouldn’t everything be solved?

If I were following the theory of a counselor from my previous life, this might be the scene where I offer words of acceptance that appeal to her emotions, saying, “Don’t say such things,” or “You are fine just the way you are.”

But I am different.

Their problem is not merely an emotional disconnect. It is the physical collapse of their daily life.

“Before searching for a way to erase someone, let’s try the method of matching up today’s current funds first.”

When I declared this in a practical tone, Roux raised her head in surprise.

“…Eh?”

“The idea that everything will be solved if one of you disappears is an illusion. Right now, the two of you are actually living your lives using a single body. In that case, both of you are the concerned parties responsible for managing tomorrow.”

“…”

“Therefore, instead of cutting someone off, we are going to try a method to connect you. With this notebook.”

At my words, Roux blinked her eyes rapidly for a while.

Eventually, the shadow of anxiety faded from her expression just a bit, and a soft, gentle smile spilled forth.

“…I see. You aren’t going to choose either of us, Nagi-onii-san.”

“Because I have neither the authority nor the reason to choose.”

I don’t sympathize with the daytime Roux as a “pitiful victim,” nor do I exclude the nighttime Luna as a “troublesome alternate personality.”

I merely present, in a matter-of-fact manner, the rules for the two of them to survive tomorrow.

That is the only “practical work” I can do in this different world.

Luna had a similar reaction last night.

‘…The pinnacle of inefficiency. Playing a game of telephone with a single body.’

Receiving the notebook proposal, Luna had spat that out in a cold voice.

‘But… even if the daytime me is a nuisance, if I cut her off and our livelihood stops functioning, it’ll be even more troublesome. …It’s better than total collapse, I suppose.’

Saying that, she reluctantly took the pen.

Both the daytime Roux and the nighttime Luna wavered when they realized I wasn’t trying to erase either of them, and accepted my practical proposal.

“Well then, let’s immediately confirm the handover items from Luna-san last night.”

When I prompted her, Roux timidly turned the page of the notebook.

Lined up there were the sharp, neat letters left behind by Luna last night.

Handover Items. Current Funds: Twelve silver coins, five copper coins. Do not waste them. Sleep: Secured from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM. I set up a trap of noisemakers and poison thread around the room and have the information broker brat keeping watch, so it is safe. Danger Zones: Do not go near the tavern in the East District. I sowed the seeds for a dispute there. Requests: Only gathering medicinal herbs is permitted. Do not accept any troublesome jobs.

“Whoa…”

Roux’s face twitched.

“She wrote it out in crazy detail… and just from her handwriting, she’s totally talking down to me. Wait, poison thread trap?! I was sleeping in a room that dangerous?!”

“Please direct your complaints to your nighttime self. Oh, there’s still more.”

At the bottom of the page I pointed to, a private message addressed to the daytime Roux had been added.

To the daytime me. Do not act foolishly while full of openings. Also, do not approach Nagi with a weird look on your face. It’s an annoyance.

“…………Huh?”

Roux’s movements completely froze.

After about three seconds of silence.

“Haaaaaaah?! W-What is this!!”

Bang! Roux slammed the counter and stood up, her face turning bright red.

“What do you mean ‘a weird look’?! You and I have the exact same face, you know!!”

“No, it puts me in a tough spot if you say that to me.”

“And what do you mean by ‘annoyance’?! Nagi-onii-san is on my side, right?! We get along way better than he does with the nighttime you!”

Roux began to fiercely complain toward the notebook.

Where did her serious worry of “maybe it’s better if I disappear” from just a moment ago go? A full-blown shouting match across the notebook had completely erupted.

“…Nagi. That girl is getting angry all by herself, but is she going to be alright?”

“Let’s leave her be, Fran. It is an internal conflict between them.”

“Include me too!”

“Lise, please stay seated.”

Cohabitation of the same person through a handover notebook.

It seems the first step of their practical coordination will begin with a “diary exchange” where they hurl their dissatisfactions at each other.

…Once again, another troublesome management task has been added to my daily life.

Rubbing the area around my stomach, I let out a sigh, losing count of how many times I had done so today.