Drafted In

Nico took it better than Lydia had thought he would.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of a lie, but he did take it well. He didn't run away like she was a crazy person. He refrained from calling her a crazy person. He even heard her out. That said, he was still having a bit of trouble with the whole thing.

"Let me make sure I've got this right," Nico said. "You got isekai'd in your sleep, right? You're somehow sure it wasn't a dream. When you're isekai'd, you become a noble lady. Not only that," he added, looking Lydia dead in the eye. "When you isekai, so does she?"

"Nice job, Nico," Lydia said. "Way to sum up the last few minutes of our conversation."

For said conversation, Lydia and Nico were sitting at her dining table. The plain brown wood set only had seating for two. Since Nico was the only one who went around Lydia's place, she had never felt the need for more. She'd considered getting another brown chair to match the two others, but she never really saw the point. If the nearest furniture store wasn't an hour and a half by bus, maybe she would have an extra chair.

"I swear," Nico said, shaking his head. "You could write a book on this."

"I don't know," Lydia said. "Seems like a weird concept to me."

"Oh, and the books you tell me about are so normal," Nico said sarcastically.

"Anyway," Lydia said. "I still think we need to do something about this. I don't think we can keep going on like this. Lorelei's bound to get bored of my room eventually."

"Wait," Nico said. "Why are you even bringing me into this?"

"Well," Lydia said. "Other than your love of wonders, you're also my only friend."

"That's sad."

Lydia chose to ignore that. "As my only friend, you are the only one I trust to help me with this."

Nico narrowed his eyes. "Help you how," he asked cautiously.

"Well," Lydia said slowly. "Since I'm actively being isekai'd, I can't really talk with Lorelei. Thus, there's no way for me to know how to live as her. Even more, I have no clue how this stuff started in the first place!"

Nico nodded his head thoughtfully. "So," he said. "You want me to gather intel on her."

"Well yes," Lydia said. "That and teach her."

Yeah, teach her," he said, then stopped. "I'm sorry, did you just volunteer me as a teacher?"

"I know how it sounds," Lydia said quickly. "Think about it, though. Lorelei's basically stranded in this completely foreign world alone every night. That'd be terrifying for anyone. Plus, she could very well get herself in trouble if she's left alone. She literally trashed my room on her first swap."

"Doesn't that make it dangerous to approach her, then?"

"No, I don't think so," Lydia said thoughtfully. "She didn't trash anything this time. Maybe she got it out of her system. Of course, I also left her some stuff with the TV on. Regardless, I think teaching her is a good idea."

"Wait," Nico said, putting his hand up in a time-out motion. "I'm not even fully believing you. Well, I mostly do, but this is still a lot!" Sighing, Nico ruffled his hair back and forth between his fingers.

"I hear you," Lydia said sincerely. "Maybe you could stay the night. If you saw it for yourself, maybe it'd be more convincing?"

Nico seemed to consider that. "Alright," he said. "I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to give it a try."

Lydia sighed in relief. Lydia didn't know what she would have done if he had said no. "Thank god! Make sure to get some info from her tonight. Ask her about where to get information discreetly. Ask her what kind of food she likes. You get the point."

"Speaking of info, I'd like a little more," Nico said, finally stopping his hair ruffling. Given the state his hair was in though, it looked like it was too late. "When you close your eyes, do you immediately wake up as Lorelei, or is there something in-between? Given that you swap at night, how are you not tired in the morning? Also," Nico paused to take a breath. "How does it feel to be rich?" Wow, that was a lot of questions.

"First question," Lydia started. "I have a bit of a dream first. I mean, I imagine that I'm flying away, but I do that every night. Second, I don't know why I'm not tired in the morning. My guess is that time works differently. Maybe there's a transition period. As for the last question, it feels pretty awesome." Well, until the maid rats you out to the husband.

"So basically," Nico said. "It's magic."

"Probably."

Sighing, Nico shook his head. "Let's move on to the teaching part. What am I even teaching her? Wilderness tips? Geography? Am I giving a course on the top ten best television shows? Actually," he paused. "That one sounds like it'd be pretty fun. Not very useful, though."

Lydia thought for a moment. "Okay," she started. "What if we started with history. You could tell her how we got to the modern age. You could also teach her what everything is. That way, she'll be able to navigate this world better. Maybe you should teach her how to use a flashlight, too."

Nico quirked a brow. "Why a flashlight," he asked.

"Oh, I guess I forgot that part," Lydia said. "Whenever I'm in her body, I see lanterns all around her room. I figured that she might not like the dark. My light was off for the first switch, so she probably had trouble finding the light, which might be why she trashed the room."

Nico nodded. "That makes sense," he said. He then clapped his hands, "I guess that settles it, huh? I'm now Lorelei's teacher. Though, to be fair, it kind of sounds like I was going to be drafted in this regardless."

"I mean, you are my only option," Lydia said with a shrug. "There wasn't really anyone else I could ask."

"That's still sad," Nico said. "Why not make more friends?"

Lydia shrugged. "Why would I need friends when I've got you," she asked. "There's no one I'd trust more to do this than you, anyway."