We are Similar

The interior of the mansion looks just as grand as it is on the outside. The floor is laid with carpet that looks expensive, and there are exquisite paintings hung all over the walls. A scrawny middle-aged man with already greying hair made his way down the stairs of the 2nd floor, towards Crescent and I. She looks completely calm and she doesn't even pay any attention to her surroundings. I must've looked like some wide-eyed idiot from the countryside who's seeing something so grand for the first time.

"The two of you must be Javean and Crescent. I am Zam Curfate, and I welcome to my house. Feel free to call me Curfate. I pay no heed to formalities, as long as you do your jobs properly." After we gave him polite bows in acknowledgement, he directed us to our living quarters where we met the other slaves and learned how to perform our duties in depth.
Over the next two weeks, I got accustomed to the lifestyle and work and everyday felt like a breeze to me. I even get to live the fantasy of being a rich person in my free time once I'm done with my duties. Zam Curfate is a odd man who commits all his time and energy to his work, which has led to extremely high levels of freedom for the slaves as he has basically entrusted the entire mansion to us to take care of.

I never got to spend much time as I would've liked with Crescent, and we've only made some small talk every now and then. I'm really interested in her, as she seems to have gone through similar things to me, that have eventually led to us working as slaves in the present.

Today, I have the luck of being assigned to cleaning Curfate's library together with Crescent. Alright, today's the day I get closer to this girl! I arrive to the meeting point 10 minutes early, and I waved enthusiastically at her when she arrived. We exchanged polite nods to acknowledge each other as she approached me, and I led the way to the library.

We are at the entrance of the library. The door's almost two times my height, and I almost struggled to open it.

*Cough* *Cough*
What's wrong with this place!? It's so damn dusty! We walk into the library and approach its center. There are windows all over the walls, and yet the lighting in the grand library appeared to be dim. The dust accumulation of the library has spread to even obscuring entire windows. The architecture of the room is unorthodox as well, the structure of the entire building being a cylinder. Bookshelves are stacked on top of each other around this cylindrical building, encompassing every corner of the room spare parts of the wall with windows. A ladder coated with magical imprints are set at the side of one of these bookshelves, and it is probably the only way one can reach the books that are located in the bookshelves high up, way out of anyone's reach.

Crescent tapped me on my shoulder, jolting me from my observation of the room.

"Javean, aren't we supposed to go clear out the storeroom? I think we came to the wrong place." A puzzled look surfaced on her cute face.

Hm? The storeroom?

"Ah, really? I guess I wasn't paying attention back then when the head slave was assigning duties. All I knew for sure was that we're a pair for today." A sheepish look surfaced on my face, embarrassed that I had to admit I wasn't focusing while on the job.

"You wanted to be with me that much?" She put on a playful look on her face that I have never seen before.

"I-I guess so."

"I'm just teasing you, you didn't have to be so honest!" She giggled for a bit, and turned around to face the entrance. She was always polite and never showed much emotion when we were around the other slaves in the mansion. I guess this means.. She's kinda comfortable around me?

"In any case, we should leave now. I was warned by the other slaves that have worked here for a long time to avoid the library." She gestures at me to follow her and leave.

That piques my curiosity. Is Curfate hiding something? Perhaps... His fortunes?

"Did they mention why?" I remain standing on the spot and probed her for an answer.

"They didn't."

"In that case, let's do some digging around. We might find something good!" I state my intentions and I reached to grab the ladder.

"I don't want to get into any trouble! Let's leave now!" Crescent turns back around. Her face tenses up, and for once, she seems to be losing her composure that she keeps so well.

"You can leave if you want to. Let the others know that you never saw me at the meeting point. You won't get into trouble that way. I'm out here all alone with nowhere to return to. I have nothing to lose, and I won't let any opportunities to make a better life for myself slip." I look directly into her eyes and expected her to leave. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, akin to someone bracing themselves for something. She opens her beautiful red eyes, now seemingly filled with determination. She looks straight at me, making her way towards me.

My heart started to race... Ah.. Beautiful girls are my weakness!
But what does she want? Drag me out of the library? I'm firm in my decision and I won't leave. She is now before me, almost less than a hair's breadth away from me. The racing in my heart quickens, that unwavering look in her eyes remaining.

She then unexpectedly grabs both my hands.

"W-Wha--"

"Javean, have you ever truly trusted anyone in your life?" The determined look in her eyes have now changed to a twisted look of pain, the sides of her mouth twitching. It's as if she's recalling painful memories, given the out of place question and the look on her face.

"N-no. Why do you ask me this?" I felt a little apprehensive now, not knowing her intentions.

"You don't have a surname, do you?" She continues to press me with questions, disregarding my question. She seems to be a little shaken up, so I guess I'll just play along and answer all her questions for now.

"No, because I'm an orphan."

"S-so am I! That's why my name's only Crescent! I truly trusted in my people, who took me in from birth and taught me the ways of kindness, and they exiled me from Gratearia just because I couldn't pass my healing magic tests in school!" Her composure was completely lost, and she was on the verge of tears. Damn, it sucks to see a beautiful girl in pain. I don't really understand why she's telling me all this in the context of this situation, and I can't really relate to being exiled since I had to flee the literal inferno that Nanoxate became. But being discriminated against and treated as a lesser being just because of not being able to command magic to the stupid country's standards? That I can relate.

"So....! So..!" She seems to be mustering courage to say something, and I continued to remain silent.

"..I can't just leave someone who has gone through the same things as I did alone like this to do something bad! You told me that Nanoxate authority disliked you because of your lack of proficiency in magic, right!? I'm all alone now after being exiled and I have nowhere and no one to go to either! I felt so hopeless and I had to come work all of a sudden to support myself.. meeting someone with similar circumstances to me was like a miracle.. I felt like you're the only person I can trust now since we share the same situation!" Her serious and determined look once again returned. That figures her actions, too. How she's so reserved around the rest and only becoming less tense when we are left alone together. I guess it's my turn to speak, then.

"Why didn't you just approach me and let me know these feelings from the start? I was really happy to meet someone that's like me, too. Saying it now in this situation when I'm about to commit a crime is a little out of place.." I kind of lied here, since I was actually more happy about meeting a cute girl. But I did feel some kind of connection to her right from the get-go because of all the things about her, from having no surname to how she's different from the rest in her hometown in terms of magic.

"Y-you have no tact in dealing with girls! How... how am I supposed to just randomly let you know out of the blue about how you're the only one I feel like I could trust just because we have similar situations!? We barely even know each other! That would make me look like a complete creep, right!? Confiding in a stranger about my unique circumstances, then letting him know I feel like he's the only one I can trust!?" Crescent raises her voice, almost sounding angry. My eyes widen after hearing what she said, realizing the stupidity of what I just said.

"I.. I guess you're right. That's also kind of why i didn't talk to you that much, either. It's real awkward to just say things like that out of the blue... Uh.. I'm sorry about what I said. I realize that the situation right now was an opportunity for you to open up. I share the same sentiments as you. Let's be friends and have each other's backs, alright?" I scratch my head sheepishly, realizing how insensitive I was.

"I accept your offer!" Crescent's face lit up instantly, becoming so bright that no one would ever know she was just on the verge of tears from letting me know about her painful past. So this person's actually pretty emotional, huh. A real shocker considering how she felt like the mature and emotionally reserved type.

"Javean! So, what's your decision? To leave the library or dig around?"

Ah, so we're back on topic now.

"My stance remains unchanged on this. I want to look for potential hidden treasures. There must be a reason why Curfate doesn't want anyone in here, right? You can leave now if you want to. Just remember to cover for yourself so that you don't get into trouble."

"I decided that I'll aid you in your search! I know this is wrong, and we shouldn't be doing this, but it's wrong to just leave you alone here and cover for myself when you are so determined! Friends help each other, right?" That determined spark in her eyes appears once again.

It's the first time in my life I ever heard someone saying something so nice to me.

"Sure, I'm fine with that. But are you sure about this? You'll be stealing from Curfate if we do find something nice, you know. You're willing to live with that on your conscience?" I shoot her one last question to make sure that she's fine with it. After all, it does seems like she's quite emotionally sensitive.

"I was betrayed by the very people I trusted.. I had faith in them even though they were always looking down on me.. I have to be a little more ruthless for the sake of myself too, right?" Crescent gave me a wry smile.

"Heh, do as you please then."

I combed the entire library with the magical staircase that changes its length to my will, and Crescent kept a lookout for any potential passerby. After what felt like an eternity of not finding anything of worth, I noticed an inconsistency in one of the bookshelves. One of the books actually emitted an magical aura when you came close enough to it, and I pulled it out instantly.

"The story of the goblin village that perished overnight?"

What, there's nothing special about this book? I flip open to the first page, and a slip of paper fell out. I caught it before it fell out of my reach.

I struck jackpot.

The piece of paper was handwritten by Zam Curfate, and in it details how he have hidden his live earnings in a labyrinth. It's apparently right behind one of the bookshelves near the entrance of the room, and it's guarded by monsters he summoned. This means that those monsters won't attack him, right..? How did he even learn summoning magic? That's not the main point though. I slid down the staircase and called for Crescent.

I explained everything to her.

"You know what this entails, right!? We'll have to make our way through a labyrinth full of monsters! We'll lose our lives! Besides, we have this collar restricting our magic!" Crescent tried to reason to me with rational arguments.

"You know, these collars come right off when we're in the presence of monsters. I learnt that in school. In the past, a group of slaves were thrown into a dungeon by a sadistic master, and they couldn't fight for their lives due to the collars on their necks. Ever since that incident, the collars have been designed to come loose whenever the wearer's near a monster with malicious intents. I have no idea what kind of advanced magic they used, but yeah, that's basically it." School's actually useful for once to me, huh.

"But that still doesn't mean we can win fights down there, right!? Moreover, the both of us lack proficiency in our specialities!" A stern look on Crescent's face that says "NO" out loud stares right into my soul.

"Hey, how about we test our waters, then? We'll try fighting the first few monsters we meet. If they're too tough, we run."

"That doesn't sound like a convincing proposal at all!"

"Whatever, I'm still going anyway."
True to what was wrote in the piece of paper, the bookshelf came right off after applying some force to it. The entrance to the labyrinth was right before me. An ominous wind blows from inside the labyrinth, but its surprisingly well lit. Torches that are somehow still lit litter the walls. I should be safe.

"Crescent, I'm heading in."

"GEEZ, YOU REALLY CAN'T BE LEFT ALONE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and joined up right beside me.

"In the end, you still decided to come with me."

"I can't have you dying on me, right!? You idiot!"

We take cautious slow steps into the labyrinth. The look on her face screams "I'm so nervous I could die."

Whatever. I've fought a lot of monsters in the past. Even without my sword, my magic should suffice at the least.

*BANG*

The bookshelf slid right back into place, and it became affixed.

"Quick, knock it down!" I screamed at Crescent who was now shaking in terror.

The both of us struck the back of the bookshelf with all our might, but it was to no effect.

"It's hopeless... look at this magical circle imprinted on it. Only Zam Curfate can open this from the inside.. What have we gotten into..??" Crescent's body became limp and she slid onto the floor, sitting with a look of despair on her face.

Tsk. That cunning man! I dragged Crescent into this mess... I can't break down now..

"Crescent. We can only fight our way out now. If we can't get out, we can only venture in, right? There must be some other way to get out." I try my best to keep my composure and suggest a feasible idea. The only I could think of.

Crescent stood up slowly, and tears started to flow from her eyes. She pouts at me. If I die here, at least this is the last thing I saw. A really cute Crescent. Wait, what am I thinking!? I can't let her die here!

"You idiot. I shouldn't have trusted you after all."

"Well, you already trusted me. So please trust me again. I won't let you die here. It's my fault that we're stuck here now, so I promise I'll get us out." She wipes the tears from her face, and makes eye contact with me.

"You're really an interesting guy.."

Crescent smiles faintly despite the severity of the situation.

"I won't hold it against you.. You didn't force me to follow you, anyway. I followed on my own accord. Come on, let's get out of here now." She marches ahead of me, despite the obvious trembling in her arms.

"Hey. You're trembling. I have experience in fighting monsters. Get behind me. The last thing I want would be you dying because of me. I'll protect you." I sped ahead of her.

"I..I'll take your word for it."

Despite playing the cool guy, I'm actually really afraid too. But there's no other choice but to do this...

And so, I continue to lead the way down the eerily well-lit corridors of the labyrinth entrance. No monsters are in sight yet... Perhaps they're actually all gone?

In any case, monsters or not, all we can do now is to keep moving forward.

This is all my fault, and I'll see to it that Crescent gets out safely no matter what!