Vol.5 Ch.86 - What's in a name?

“So, what’s on the menu for today’s breakfast?”“Today’s specialty is barely boiled eggs from the roof that at least look likethey aren’t cracked.”“Ah, my favorite!”Well, as it turns out, with my pocket money that I had stashed away for arainy day I could only just barely afford an umbrella (so to speak). In otherwords, we could afford a week’s worth of rent for the inn we were lodgingin, but that was about it. We had to drink water from the town square’s river,and as you can tell, the food isn’t anything too hearty.Even still, we don’t know the language, so I doubt we’d get that far even ifwe had the money to hop on a transport wagon. To be honest, I wassurprisingly quick to get accustomed to this new, more conservative way oflife, but Marina wasn’t having any of it. Looking at her, she’s slimmed downan amazing amount in just a week, and her previous teasing nature was all butexchanged for one of a primal beast looking for survival and survival only.“Say, Lune, why don’t we just stop by the plaza real quick? Y’know, take ourminds off of the hunger?”“No way!” I immediately objected, “You’re just planning on stealing thebaker’s bread. I’m tolerant on a lot of things, but I will not allow us resortingto petty crime in order to survive.”“…Weren’t you a gang leader?”“Well yeah, but we were a… a good gang, I guess! We certainly had our gangdisputes, b-but it was most always the enemy gang that were picking a fightwith us! We never stole and treated the people who lived in our territory withgreat care!”“Alright, alright, don’t get your panties in a twist. Oh, but wait, so does thatmean you guys killed?”Well, of course we did. As any gang should, for that matter. But it was eitherdone in self-defense or if we had a REALLY important reason to do so. Youhave to be resolute as fuck if you wanna take someone’s life away from them,y’know? Ah, but if I told her that, she might start to feel threatened by me, soI’ll just give a white lie.“Didn’t I just say we were a good gang? While I certainly can’t speak for thegang’s past records, but as far as I can tell, ever since we took over the BBGand TBL, there hasn’t been a single reported murder.”“Seriously? Lame~!”This girl…! You think killing someone is a joke or something?! A-Ah, calmdown, Lune, the hunger’s getting to you…“So what does MariLune have to say to us today? D’you think it finallyunscrambled some instructions?”“No clue, MariLu-err, that scrap of paper has been unscrambling for a weekstraight now. It’s probably still not finishe-”I cut my sentence off at the end after inspecting the scrap of paper andwitnessing a miracle unfold before my very eyes. It’s… unscrambling! It’sunscrambling right in front of us. Quickly, I need to check what it says, I don’twant it to suddenly change before we could extract any information from it!“Climbing great heights and meeting a many great people, the protagonistfinds himself gaining and losing interchangeably and hastily. With hiscompanion, the protagonist must first go South and visit the Grys RoyalFamily in order to…”…?“Where’s the rest of the message?” Marina asked.“I imagine on the rest of the page. Since we only have a small scrap of paper,it got cut off right around at that part of the sentence. That’s really damnunlucky.”“Well, I guess you could see it like that, but remember that our names are Mr.and Mrs. Optimist! In a way, you could say that we’re lucky to even haveMariLune with us, not to mention that it actually worked.”Didn’t I tell you not to call me that?! If Cecily somehow heard this, theentire situation would devolve into a huge misunderstanding!“O-Oh right,” I got an idea, “Since we’re faking our deaths to escape the ITAscot-free, how about we go the whole nine yards and change the way we’readdressed as well?”“You mean a name change?”“Exactly! It’d make it easier to move around, instead of being stuck in thislittle town in Boreal. Plus, we could continue our normal lives when we getback home without issues as an added bonus! It’s a two birds with one stonetype of thing.”Marina suddenly got extremely excited at my suggestion. It was actuallykinda worrying how much she wanted her name to be changed. Does shedislike it that much? I think Marina’s a pretty fitting name for her, though… (Imean this in a purely wholesome and platonic way, Cecily! Please don’tstrike me down with thunder!)“That’s an awesome idea!” She jumped at me with a certain intensity, “ThenI’ll be Mariabelle! Mariabelle Pandora!”Mariabelle? Isn’t that name way too… princess-like? I can’t quite put myfinger on it, but I just feel like it’s way too prim and proper for a rowdyseductress like her.“And you’ll be Elle Gordon!” She then pointed to me.…Eh?“E-Elle… what? Come on, surely you’re not being serious here!”“Why? It suits you pretty well. Despite being a man, you never accept myadvances, hence the Elle. And Gordon because you always take the biggerhalf of our food supplies!”Those are really shallow reasons!I guess naming wasn’t one of her strong suits. I feel bad for her future kids (ifshe ever has any). Well, I guess I’ll have to be the man in charge of my ownname. Let’s see, this is the name I’ll be using until I get back home. Whoknows when that day’s gonna come, though, so I really don’t wanna get stuckwith a name I personally dislike. Hmm, something cool, mysterious, but alsogives off the vibe of an experienced traveler. Something that's as great andmighty as the high Sun above… Oh wait, I got it!“Sol!” I proudly declared, “Like Abyssus Solis, the very center of the map!”“Eh? What kind of name is that?”“It’s cool and mysterious! It’s a name that stands atop anyone and everyonetriumphantly!”Marina’s expression suddenly went from one of disinterest to one of greatamusement. She got close to me, as if she wanted to lean in for a kiss butstopped midway.“Well, I just can’t get ‘Lune’ out of my mind, but I’ll amuse you while we’rearound other people. From now on, you’re Sol Pandora… darling.”“E-Eh?! Who said we were married?!”“Married?” She gave a confused reaction, “I never said we’re married. Whosays we can’t be siblings? Unless of course, you want to…”“NEVER!” I backed away with a flushed expression, “And what kind ofsiblings address each other as ‘darling’?!”Marina chuckled at my words, realizing I saw through her teasing, “Heh,we’re both in the ‘Only Child’ faction, so I wouldn’t know~”Dammit, I’m dancing in the palm of her hand, I can’t let this go on. I gottastraighten up my act, or she’ll just continue making fun of me for the rest ofmy life!“Marina…” I leaned in close, surprising her with my sudden action.“Fueh…?!”“…”Ah crap! I just wanted her to back away, but now it looks like I’m leaning infor a kiss as well! With the way we’re situated, there’s just no other way oflooking at it! I hope she doesn’t find what I did creepy-WHY ARE YOUPUCKERING YOUR LIPS OUT, WOMAN?!This isn’t right, this isn’t right… Ooh, I shouldn’t be doing this with her, butthe mood is set up this way, plus we’re both in a delusional state from thehunger… W-Well, one quick peck wouldn’t hurt, right…?“…?” Marina still waited for me with her lips puckered out.“…Ngah!” But in the end I still backed out, “…I-I just wanted to scold youfor always teasing me. I’m sorry for causing a misunderstanding.”“Hmph!” She made a disappointed face while turning away, “What kind ofhusband doesn’t kiss his wife? That won’t do, darling!”“O-Oi?! Didn’t you say our fake identities were siblings, not lovers?!”“Eh, same difference.” She said as she opened the front door cooly.“It isn’t though!? H-Hey! Where are you going now?!”“To the fountain, I wanna get something to drink before we depart forCentralis. We’re apparently destined to get rich if we go meet the Gryses,remember?”This girl…! Making me risk my healthy relationship with Cecily before justwaltzing out of the house like it’s no big deal…! Well, at least she finallysnapped out of her tease display and is actually doing something productivefor a change…I was now left all alone in the house, with nothing to do. But damn, I’m ayoung man who just endured absolute torture by the hands of that damnedsuccubus. Because of that, my little guy can’t sit still! Hmm…“…R-Rubbing one out wouldn’t be c-cheating, right?”***After a delightful, yet vigorous chicken-choking took place, I felt a lot calmerabout the entire situation. That thing I heard about Post-Nut Clarity reallydoes work, huh? I feel like I’m on top of the world!“Honey~! I’m hoome~!” The front doors burst open, and the young ladywhom I fantasized about just minutes prior came in while carrying two bags.“Isn’t that something the husband says, though?”“Never mind that, hubby!” She said as she shoved the two bags in my face,“This is more important! I got us some bread!”I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! The nerve of this woman, and JUSTwhen I told her about my conscience regarding food theft.“Marina! Did you even listen to a word I said?!”“I did, and I offer a counter-argument.” She said as if she rehearsed this, “Iheard what you said loud and clear, and I found a loophole in your logic. Yousee, if I’m the one who steals the food, then you can just enjoy the foodwithout having to feel bad about it, since you’re not the one who did it!”“What kind of logic is that?!” I continued berating her, “That’s it! Dowhatever you want, but I will absolutely NOT be partaking in eating stolenfood.”“Really? Cool, more for me! Man, I’m starving…” She said as she happilymunched down on her loaf, “Mmm! Delicious! I really went out of my wayto stealthily take this without being noticed, so absolutely no one wouldcare if you were to join me.”I know what she’s doing. She’s trying to tempt me into eating as well, andshe’s definitely not holding back either. From guilt-tripping me by telling mehow hard it was for her to accomplish this, to reassuring me that I’m notstepping on anyone’s foot if I really were to take a bite myself, the wholenine yards!“Alright, now that I ate my share, I guess I wouldn’t want your share to goto waste…”I struggled internally with all my might, before heading off to sleep. When indoubt, sleep the hunger away! That’s the tried and true method, after all!“Ah, shucks!” Marina stopped before she bit down on the other loaf, “I’mreally full from my share. Unless someone was willing to eat it themselves,I guess I’ll have to throw it away… What. a. shame.”“Marina?”“Hm?”“…I’m gonna take a short nap right now.”“Oh, alright.”“…Marina?”“Yes, Lune?”“…Leave some for me when I wake up, okay?”She giggled at my sheepish and frail plea, as if she finally won a hugevictory.“Of course, dear.”Nghh…! And knock it off with the ‘dears’ and ‘darlings’ already! Geez!