Chapter 20: Do Not Put Two People’s Schedules Into One Person’s Body

Early afternoon on the Adventurer’s Guild’s regular day off.

I was walking through the town’s market to buy supplies.

The sunlight was bright, and the scent of fruits and spices drifted through the streets.

Temporarily liberated from the guild’s battlefield — primarily the struggle over my time between the A-Rank swordswoman and the genius mage — I was fully enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

“Aah! Wait, wait, I’m really sorry! Was that today?!”

A familiar voice shattered that peace.

When I turned my gaze, I saw the thief girl with flaxen hair — Roux — being backed into a corner by two adventurers at the entrance to an alleyway.

“Don’t give me ‘was that today’! I told you the gathering escort to the East Forest was starting at noon!”

“But I also took on a request to search for something in the West District starting in the evening…!”

“Hah?! What’s wrong with you, did you double-book your requests?!”

Roux crouched down, holding her head.

Even from a distance, it was clear her schedule management had completely collapsed.

I let out a sigh and cut in between them as they argued.

“Excuse me. Is there a problem with an adventurer from our guild?”

“Ah, Nagi-onii-san!”

“You, you’re the guild receptionist. This girl accepted overlapping requests and is about to leave a hole in our escort.”

“I am very sorry.”

I quickly listened to the adventurers’ story and immediately arranged for a replacement escort using the guild’s network.

The adventurers reluctantly agreed, gave Roux a stern warning to “be careful next time,” and left.

“Phew~, you saved me… Thank you, Nagi-onii-san!”

“This isn’t a matter of being saved. How exactly do you manage to overlap your schedules?”

When I spoke in exasperation, Roux stuck her tongue out playfully.

“Because, when people ask me, I can’t turn them down. Besides, if I don’t earn enough, Luna complains.”

“Please show me the notebook.”

Roux took the handover notebook from the pouch at her waist.

Written inside was her schedule, just as I had recommended, but… the contents were awful.

Daytime Shift – Schedule ・Morning: Shopping at the market ・Noon: Escort in the East Forest ・Evening: Search request in the West District

And below that, carved in with strong pen pressure, were sharp letters written by the nighttime Luna.

To the daytime me. You are needlessly packing in too many plans, idiot. Our body won’t hold up. I must attend a Thieves’ Guild meeting tonight. Leave some stamina. Cancel the search in the West. Otherwise, you will collapse.

“…Roux.”

“Yes?”

“Properly look at the handover notebook. You already have two people’s worth of schedules as it is. Don’t overdo it.”

When I lightly tapped the notebook against Roux’s head with a smack, she dramatically held her head, crying “Ouch.”

“But still! I’m doing my best too, you know? I don’t want to place the burden entirely on Luna.”

“I understand your feelings, but there is a physical limit. Going on an escort in the East, searching for something in the West, and then a Thieves’ Guild meeting at night? You will definitively collapse from overwork.”

“Ugh…”

“Listen closely. The two of you are using a single body. The operational limit is also for one person. Therefore, you must coordinate your schedules with each other and determine your priorities.”

I took out a pen and drew a line on a blank page in the notebook.

“First, we divide the daily active hours into three parts: Morning, Afternoon, and Night. If the nighttime meeting cannot be avoided, the afternoon will be for rest or light labor. We’ll either push the West search to tomorrow, or I will assign it to someone else at the guild.”

Scratch, scratch. I wrote out a schedule that looked like a shift roster.

It was a “Joint Operations Schedule” that compromised between Roux and Luna’s demands and considered the physical burden on their body.

“Wow… it’s super easy to read!”

Roux leaned forward and hugged my arm tightly.

The distance was close. And she felt incredibly soft.

“It’s super easy when you decide things for me, Nagi-onii-san! I’m really bad at thinking about this kind of stuff. Just manage my schedule forever from now on!”

“I am a guild receptionist. I am not a hotshot manager.”

“Ehh, come on, it’s fine! If it’s what you say, Onii-san, I think both me and Luna will listen!”

Roux looked up at me through upward-glancing eyes, acting spoiled.

For her, who was afraid of taking responsibility herself, “having Nagi decide” was the greatest comfort.

Taken on its own, this reeked of a highly dangerous direction for dependency.

“At any rate, please operate on this schedule for today. Make sure you rest properly in the evening.”

“Okaaaay! I love you, Nagi-onii-san!”

Roux waved her hand with a beaming smile and ran off into the town.

　　　　　＊　＊　＊

In the evening, returning to the guild, I found a single envelope deposited in the suggestion box.

It was a letter from that anonymous client with an overwhelmingly massive scale.

Greetings. Your advice to put the irreversible decision on hold and narrow down the subject is deeply appreciated. A question suddenly came to mind. When two conflicting voices are constantly clashing in one’s head, which one is the correct choice to silence? Both voices are terribly bothersome.

The text read like a short poem.

However, it oddly seemed to link with Roux and Luna’s situation, causing me to pause my hands for a moment.

Thank you for your reply. If there are two voices, you should not silence either of them, but rather establish rules for dialogue. Cutting one off will not lead to a fundamental solution. Why not try searching for a compromise for the sake of coexistence?

I wrote up that reply and posted it on the bulletin board.

Perhaps the root of the problem carried by the anonymous client, as well as the adventurers under my care, were unexpectedly similar.

　　　　　＊　＊　＊

The way home after the sun had completely set.

I was walking alone down the dim night street toward my apartment.

Even though today was supposed to be my day off, I ultimately ended up mentally exhausted from adjusting Roux’s schedule.

Just as Fran said, I might really need to properly consider managing my own fatigue levels.

“…Hm?”

Suddenly, when I put my hand into my jacket pocket, I felt the rustling texture of paper.

I thought it was a shopping memo, but when I took it out, it was a small, unfamiliar slip of paper.

Relying on the faint light of a streetlamp, I read the words written on it.

Strong pen pressure, sharp, neat letters. It was the handwriting of the nighttime her — Luna.

You are far more trustworthy than the daytime me. The schedule helped.

It began with such unusually honest words of gratitude.

However, reading the sentence that followed, I unintentionally stopped in my tracks.

Therefore, do not walk the night streets alone. There were three thugs with bad attitudes in the alleyway on the East Street. Take a different route home. …Though, I have already taken care of them.

“…………”

Wordlessly, I directed my gaze toward the alleyway on the East Street just a little way ahead.

In the darkness, I felt as though I could see the faint silhouette of people collapsed on top of one another.

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

When was this put into my pocket? I hadn’t noticed at all.

The daytime Roux depended on the “comfort of having things decided for her” and acted defenselessly spoiled.

In contrast, the nighttime Luna placed a vigilance-laced trust in me, thinking “If I’m going to leave it to anyone, it’s only this person,” and had begun to move in the direction of physically protecting and monitoring me.

One clung to my arm in a sunlit place.

The other blended into the dark night, swinging her blade behind my back.

A complete, twenty-four-hour siege network by the exact same person.

It seems that not only my schedule management, but even the crisis management regarding my own physical safety, was about to be seized by them.