Chapter 1

With a sound like the buzzing of an insect’s wings—bzzzt—my multi-purpose portable terminal powered on.

By the time the unique hum of the display charging up filled the air, I was already wide awake.

However, having slept curled up in a chair all night, clutching a bag stuffed with every worldly possession I owned, my body refused to move immediately. My muscles were stiff and solidified; if I moved carelessly, I felt like I might actually snap in two.

Still, I was inexplicably fond of this sensation—waking up and gradually stretching out my cramped limbs. It made me feel alive. It was a visceral confirmation that I had survived to see another day. I could verify that I was moving my own hands by my own will, moving my own legs by my own command.

The certainty that I wasn’t being kept alive by someone else, but was here because I chose to be, doing exactly what I chose to do, filled me with pride. It was a feeling I never could have tasted before leaving home.

I slurped the fake coffee remaining in a dirty cup, letting the terrible taste and the caffeine knock on the door of my brain.

Next, I roughly shoved a half-eaten chocolate bar into my mouth, and that was breakfast. With that, I had secured the glucose necessary for thinking.

By the time I swallowed the unpleasantly sweet mass, the terminal had finished booting up.

My head was clearing up. I checked for my small portable memory stick and what little cash I had, ensuring nothing had been stolen while I slept.

It seemed I had survived another night.

Even though it had been three months and twelve days since I ran away from home, this was the only moment I allowed myself a sigh of relief.

But I had to survive today, too. I had to make money.

On the terminal, a login screen greeted me with a fake, friendly “Welcome.” Beyond that screen lay a world that had swallowed the dreams of countless people and crushed the hopes of just as many.

The Stock Market.

Since hundreds of years ago, it has been the crater where human greed swirls endlessly.

To dive into that vortex, I reached out without hesitation and pressed the login button.

In that instant, my body felt as if it were being yanked onto a train traveling at three hundred kilometers per hour. My field of vision accelerated violently. A massive torrent of information overflowed, burying my sight and cognitive functions.

European markets softening. Following US markets in wait-and-see mode ahead of employment statistics. Ring Tech Q1 earnings downward revision. Large-scale bond issuance in South American currency proceeding smoothly. Emerald Industries under investigation for suspected bid-rigging. Fed Governor mentions inflation. Schweitzer Investment appoints youngest female executive officer. Mysterious price discrepancy between WTI and North Sea Brent. Is the bullishness from the VIX real…

Most of it was meaningless noise, but hidden within the raging storm were golden keys.

What I had found was a company headquartered in the UK or somewhere similar.

I had never been to the UK, but I knew everything there was to know about this company. The year its founder—hailed as a management genius—retired due to illness, a rival snatched their market share with a new product. Panicking, they ran exaggerated advertisements which earned them a warning from the Fair Trade Commission. Then, a massive factory they invested in to shore up related businesses was hit with new environmental regulations. It was an unlucky company that exemplified the phrase “when it rains, it pours.”

On the net, people were saying it would be perfect if the new president was scooped sleeping with a sheep.

Even if he was making love to a sheep, it was possible he was still an excellent manager, but image is everything.

Especially in this world where nothing is certain, that holds even truer.

This company, with its future looking pitch black, was scheduled to announce its earnings at exactly 2:00 PM local time.

No matter how you looked at it, it wouldn’t be a fun event. However, reports suggested the press conference might be filled with laughter, reasoning that British gentlemen only laugh when a black joke lands perfectly.

Currently, it was 1:30 PM local time. Here, it was 8:55 AM.

I wasn’t watching the European market; I was watching the market here.

While stock markets exist all over the world, a single company will often list its shares across multiple markets. There are various reasons for this, but it usually boils down to the simple desire to have as many people as possible buy their stock.

In that sense, the market I was watching right now was the world’s largest financial market. The company in question was likely far more concerned with the reaction here than the market trends back home.

This place, which Earthlings have looked up to since ancient times, viewing its magical allure with a mix of fear and longing.

Sixteen years have passed since humanity advanced onto the golden lunar surface looking down on Earth. This completely newly constructed Lunar City had no history or obligations to drag it down, and with its low gravity, it became a utopia for those chasing success.

This is the frontline of humanity.

It was perhaps inevitable that the Lunar City would become the world’s largest financial market in the blink of an eye.

Because investment is the quickest way in the world to make money.

The Lunar City stock market opens at 9:00 AM, so in just a few minutes, the frantic clamor where vast sums of money fly back and forth would begin. The news items displayed on my tool were increasing with furious momentum. Since the sheer volume of news can influence market trends, I also used a tool to detect the number of news items per second. Twelve per second. It rose to thirteen, then sixteen.

I filtered out everything but the news from major media outlets, scanning them while simultaneously flipping through the stock price screens of the 372 companies registered in my tool like flashcards. The market hadn’t opened yet, but seeing how many orders were gathering was a crucial act. Occasionally, a trader at a stupid company would fumble with their fat fingers and input the wrong order quantity, selling stocks at a bargain price.

There were over four thousand companies registered on the entire Lunar Securities Exchange; checking them all during trading hours was impossible. I was forced to limit my scope, but that drove me into an obsessive compulsion that I might be missing opportunities, so I switched through the stock screens frantically.

There was so much information to look at that I felt like I was going crazy, but in reality, there was no need to overthink it.

Ultimately, what happens here is simply a game of guessing whether numbers go up or down.

Predicting years ahead, months ahead, days ahead… no, even just minutes ahead is enough.

If you can guess whether the stock price will go up or down, you can make a fortune instantly.

But that was difficult.

Truly difficult.

“It’s starting…”

The numbers on the screen, which had been still until now, suddenly began to move frantically. It was 9:00 AM. The world’s largest Lunar Securities Exchange had opened.

Sell orders and buy orders crossed paths. In one minute, two minutes, there would be guys who lost their entire fortunes and guys who gained more money than they could spend in a lifetime.

I hammered on the shortcut keys of my virtual keyboard, patrolling the entire market without a moment’s rest. I read ten news titles, returned to the doomed company in question, quickly opened eight other companies’ stock prices to check for abnormal movements, and then returned. Repeat.

The company in question was likely about to announce the worst earnings since its founding. Its stock price had been falling continuously for months, and it had dropped sharply yesterday and the day before.

Stocks are sometimes defined as a claim on a company’s future profits. If the future is pitch black, no one wants such a ticket, and the price of things nobody wants goes down.

Incidentally, that company’s stock price was represented by the number 232. Perhaps that number held some very important meaning once, but nobody in the market remembers that.

Here, it had no meaning other than being a mere marker.

Is it bigger or smaller than the number you predicted?

Ultimately, that was the only thing we cared about.

“229…? No, 228…”

I muttered the number I glimpsed while switching screens at a speed that could induce a seizure in some people.

As the countdown to the worst possible settlement approached, the stock price continued to slide downward.

Pre-market forecasts predicted a 30% drop in sales compared to the previous year and a deficit equal to five years’ worth of profits. There was no reason for the stock price to go up.

However, I was hitting keys, typing numbers into the box on the trading screen. When the number written there matches the price list held by the Goddess of Fate, a person can obtain enormous wealth. When I think about it that way, I sometimes feel how fleeting human destiny is, packed into a box of just a few dozen pixels.

You write your prayer here, press the send button, and the god of the market network draws a lot to tell you if you won or lost. It’s ridiculous.

But the majority of the world is crazy, and this is the Moon.

The people of Earth believed that the Moon drove men mad.

“226.”

Amid the constantly switching screens, I suddenly stopped my hands and typed that number into the trading screen’s price box. It wasn’t a sell order. I was trying to buy the stock that kept falling.

The time had just passed 9:20 AM. Only a few minutes remained until the earnings announcement.

I continued to switch screens as usual, gathering information without resting for a second, while taking a deep breath. Don’t get nervous, I told myself.

It is statistically proven that the more emotional you get in investing, the more you lose. After all, there are experimental results showing that groups of patients with severe depression, who didn’t fluctuate between joy and sorrow over trades, didn’t waver in their strategy and had better total trading performance.

I stopped switching screens at 500 km/h and fixed my gaze on one single screen.

Two minutes until the earnings announcement. The stock price was stuck at 227.

Stock trading is no different from trading at a fruit market. Apples are put up for sale with a price tag, while those wishing to buy apples present their bid and wait. If the selling price and buying price match, the deal is done.

But if I put in a buy order at 227 here, my profit would be 0.5% smaller than if I bought at 226.

Moreover, if the stock price might continue to fall, buying at even a slightly lower price would minimize losses.

The seller curses, “Buy it already!” and the buyer grinds their teeth, thinking, “Sell it already!”

Less than a minute until the earnings announcement.

I decided it was no use waiting and rewrote the buy order price. 227.

But it was in that instant. Just as I thought there was a lag in the screen, the numbers for buy and sell orders moved massively. Someone had put in a huge buy order. The apples were swept off the shelves.

228. 229.
The stock price was climbing. Someone at the press conference venue had probably heard the results before the electronic distribution and moved to trade. I’ve heard that some trading firms have lasers beamed directly from news distribution companies to receive information. They say it’s 0.2 seconds faster than fiber optic lines, but that 0.2 seconds divides fate.

A person in my position, who couldn’t invest funds in such equipment even if I wasn’t losing in the madness department, had no choice but to wait for the brief summary of the corporate earnings to appear in the breaking news column. However, the trend was clear. I adjusted my buy price to 231, but the stock price moved dizzyingly to 232.

I corrected the price further and placed a buy order at 233, but in the brief processing interval where the confirmation screen with the brokerage’s disclaimer appeared, it was already 234.

The company name appeared on the news ticker, followed by the numbers.

Sales down 27% year-on-year. Battered by numerous special losses. A massive deficit wiping out all profits from the past four years.

But, it was one year’s worth better than the market prediction.

That was the moment.

“Ah.”

As if mocking my mutter, the numbers flew.

Traders watching this transaction all over the world swarmed like sharks.

The number had long since hit 242 and became 245 in the blink of an eye. The price was still rising.

Immediately after the announcement of a massive drop in sales and a record-breaking deficit, the stock price skyrocketed, filling in all the drops of the past few days. Beginners trying to sell this stock were probably staring wide-eyed, wondering, Why? It happens often in the stock world: when bad things pile up too much, a reversal point inevitably comes where things “can’t get any worse.” This was a textbook example.

I had accurately predicted that textbook example, but I misjudged the speed and the timing of the reversal. The stock price continued to rise at a speed my regret couldn’t catch up with, long surpassing the price I was willing to pay. And time does not rewind.

If I hadn’t been stingy and bought at 227, I would have had a 10% profit.

Because I hesitated over a mere 0.5% for just a fraction of a moment, I missed 10%.

10%!

My entire fortune is 70,000 Mools in the currency circulating on the Moon. The hourly wage for a part-time clerk job that anyone can do is 7 to 8 Mools. If I had taken that 10% profit, I would have obtained an amount that a part-timer supporting the bottom of society has to work a thousand hours to earn—all in just a few minutes, without sweating, without bowing to nasty customers, without diligently clocking in.

But I missed that profit by a hair’s breadth.

My prediction was right, but the timing killed it.

“…Dammit!”

I looked up at the ceiling, wiped the greasy sweat from my forehead, and slumped down in my chair.

My buy order was vainly sitting there at 235. The price was now 252, so there was no way I could buy it.

“…What is this? Seriously.”

I muttered as if spitting the words out, but I was long past the rookie phase where I would get desperate and force a trade. I had learned clearly that blindly making moves when you lose only piles up more losses.

So, I took a deep breath, closed my portable terminal, and stood up from my chair to cool my head.

---

The place where I was lodging was a cheap internet café in a block lined with dilapidated buildings.

Its name, “Big Bull Café,” sounded heroic, but it was a shady joint that unauthorizedly connected a repeater to a wireless communication zone provided by some other shop and dragged the signal indoors. The clientele was generally shady, too. Every booth was a nest for long-term residents, with towels draped over partitions and slippers left out, making themselves right at home.

“Yo, kid. Nice morning.”

Walking through the unchanging scenery of the shop on my way to the washroom to wash my face, I was called out by a dirty-looking clerk. He was a tall, skinny man with a green afro that stood out way too much.

He was fiddling with a portable game console, but rather than being a friendly clerk, he probably just wanted to emphasize that he was monitoring me by calling out. The only legitimate exit was next to the counter, and on the wall nearby, “No Dine and Dash” was written. Even in a place like a fish preserve built in a sewer, they intended to collect their fees strictly.

However, having a sleeping space and water available was something to be grateful for. Plus, they didn’t nag about age or anything; as long as you paid, anything went. It was a convenient place.

The trouble with running away from home was, above all, finding a place to sleep. Even if I had some money, I couldn’t change my appearance.

“Is ‘nice morning’ some kind of sarcasm, Earth bastard?”

When I retorted, the clerk twisted his face into a grin.

“Hah? It’s unfortunate that you don’t know what a real morning is. Even the weather is a program here.”

The clerk spoke casually and returned his gaze to the game screen.

He seemed to be from Earth, likely a dropout who came as simple labor, got fired easily, and drifted here. In blocks where cafés like this exist, guys like him gather like trash swept together by centrifugal force.

“Then go back to Earth.”

When I said that, the clerk glanced at me with only his eyes and smiled cynically.

“It’s still better here than down there.”

Then, the clerk said this:

“Moon rat.”

I didn’t answer and headed to the washroom.

My name is Yoshiharu Kawaura.

Born and raised in the Lunar City. A genuine, certified Moon rat.

After washing my face and feeling refreshed, I returned to my booth and glued myself to the terminal again.

The trading screen of the Lunar Securities Exchange.

No matter how many times I failed, this was the only place I could make money.

In this dry, tasteless world, desolate like the lunar surface, where only numbers dance madly.

“I’ll become rich without sweating a drop.”

Because for me, there is no time to earn money the steady way.

I’ve decided that I will earn more and more money and live in the center of the Lunar City. The place where crowds of incredibly smart people gather, said to monopolize seventy percent of the world’s wealth. Living the high life there wouldn’t be bad, but my goal only starts there. From the cutting edge of this city, far removed from Earth, where humanity’s wealth is piled high.

To inspire myself, I resumed trading while imagining my successful self. Staring at the numbers blinking like signals stimulating my brain, my head, simultaneously exploding with daydreams, flew all the way to Jupiter in an instant. Adrenaline narrowed my vision, constricted my blood vessels, and made my breathing shallow and fast. In that agonizing pleasure, I could feel the corners of my mouth rising and my canine teeth baring. I forgot the earlier failure and repeated trades as if possessed. That’s why I didn’t notice it for a while. I finally realized it only after I was smacked on the head.

“Hey, kid.”

When I turned around, that clerk was standing there with the booth door open.

“What? I’m busy!”

In the time I spend looking at your stupid face, I might be missing a hundred hours worth of your wages, I glared at him. The skinny clerk with droopy eyes sighed, “Good grief.”

“Hoh. You gonna talk like that? Even though I came to tell you the police are coming for a patrol—”

Before the clerk could finish his sentence, I had already shoved my terminal into my bag.

“Ah, hey.”

The clerk grabbed my shoulder as I pushed past him to leave the booth. His grip was thin but knotty, possessing a strength that reminded me he was an adult. Still, for times like this, I always kept a set amount of money in the breast pocket of my jacket. It was obsolete physical paper money, rarely used on the Moon, but useful in emergencies.

In the mafia movies I loved, they called bills like this “business cards for angels.”

I grabbed it and pressed it on him.

“Keep the change.”

I pulled my cap down, shouldered my bag, and ran through the narrow corridor. Guys who would probably mumble and equivocate if questioned by police about what they were doing in their booths peeked out from the partitions, wondering if it was a raid, and started rustling around to pack their things.

I shot past the dirty counter and ran out of the even dirtier shop. Peeling paint and rusted iron made the already cramped building feel even more suffocating. I ran straight down the hallway toward the outside. The end of the hall turned into a staircase landing, but I didn’t slow down until the very end. No matter how much I struggled, I was going too fast to make the turn. And so, the moment I stepped onto the landing, I kicked the floor.

Jumping high, I cleared the concrete fence, and my body flew out of the building. The café was on the fifth floor, so looking down offered quite a view. I flew straight to the wall of the building on the opposite side, grabbed it, kicked off again, and aimed back at the wall of the building I had just left. Once the soles of my feet caught the pipes crawling along the wall, I leaped upward with all my might.

Human genes have been tuned for Earth over millions of years, so as long as you don’t neglect resistance training, anyone can perform stunts like this in the Moon’s low gravity.

What people can’t do is not neglect their daily training.

Jumping from wall to wall, I leaped all the way up to the rooftop of the fourteenth floor of the adjacent building in one go.

I was out of breath, naturally, but when I glanced downstairs, I saw a pair of police officers in blue uniforms walking up the stairs, tapping their shoulders with their batons looking annoyed.

I frequently overpay that clerk to buy his favor. By now, he should have been humming a tune while cracking open a beer from the shop’s stock using the extra cash from the settlement.

I opened my bag and peered at the terminal screen. Since I fled in the middle of trading, my positions were still open. Wireless communication should barely reach this area, so I had to check. If luck was on my side and the price went up, there would be no problem, but at times like this, usually—

“So annoying.”

I slumped my shoulders in defeat, then closed every position that was bleeding money.

I missed the profit on the first trade of the morning, and now this disaster.

“…Am I going to fail to make money again today…?”

I stowed the powered-down terminal in my bag and lay down next to a water tower.

Three months and twelve days since leaving home.

For the first time, my trading profits had hit a wall.

---

There are several ways to become rich in this world.

You can be born to a rich family, start a company and make it a huge success, or guess which company will be a huge success.

My family isn’t rich no matter how you try to sugarcoat it, and who knows how many years it would take to start a company and become one of the world’s wealthiest people—I wouldn’t even know where to start. However, the last method, commonly known as investing, is different. The rules are terrifyingly simple.

In this world of investment, the legendary investor, said to be second only to God in success, narrowed those rules down to two.

Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.

Moreover, participating in trading requires no age limit, no qualifications, and race, gender, or educational background don’t matter. All you need is a little seed money, an internet connection, and guts. With just that, although on a smaller scale, you can perform almost the same transactions as the industry’s largest firms. This is the only industry where that is possible.

And the most important thing is that the most successful person in this world—the one who has obtained the most wealth in human history—is at least in the top three.

The top three on the current World Billionaires Ranking have been monopolized for a long time by three people: the founder of a company that developed software underpinning all human activity; a mafia don—no matter how favorably you look at him—who monopolizes the entire economies of multiple emerging nations; and that legendary investor. The top amount is currently around 80 billion Mools, and it is said that it will reach the first 100 billion Mools in five years.

Since the lifetime wages of an average Lunar worker are two to three million Mools, they could use their own assets to employ twenty thousand people for their entire lives.

To explain what that means in terms of human history, it is comparable to the Pharaohs of Egypt who built the pyramids. The Pharaohs made tens of thousands of workers labor for decades to build the pyramids, adding a new territory to the map of human achievements. At that time, the Pharaohs were undoubtedly standing at the forefront of humanity, making history.

The means to earn enough money to surpass those Pharaohs can be obtained with just an internet connection and a small amount of seed money!

It is only natural that trudging to school became ridiculous to me at the speed of light.

And the Moon was overflowing with guys chasing such dreams.

Originally, the Lunar City was the crystallization of a tremendous dream that people dreamed up to be free from Earth—a place too restricted by history and gravity. Therefore, dreaming here is, in a sense, almost a duty.

Because there is no way to maintain a comfortable city in the absolute zero of outer space other than by the enthusiasm of people chasing dreams. Otherwise, it would be too ridiculous to continue sending various resources via the orbital elevator and build a city on the lunar surface, where there is no escape if a major disaster occurs.

The moment when people are dreaming is surely when they can be the most foolish.

Since I flew out of my house, I couldn’t help but enjoy surrendering myself to that torrent. I love the vibe of the Lunar City, and I intend to ride that wave as far as it goes.

However, my trading profits had been stagnant for a while. As someone who had known only winning since starting stock trading, I was tormented by irritation akin to a hazy drowsiness. It was infuriating that the results were different even though I thought I was doing the same thing.

While I’m doing this, the rich are getting richer, and people are moving forward.

Sitting on the roof of the building and gazing at the lunar landscape, I put strength into my abs, raised both legs, and did a handstand. Since my body can be free like this, my fate must be the same. If I have time to worry, I should use my head. Besides, I haven’t broken the legendary investor’s rules yet. I just haven’t made a profit; I haven’t lost.

Sharpen your fangs. Focus. Don’t rest, don’t flinch, don’t stop.

Telling myself this, I did push-ups while doing a handstand to pump life into my heart.

Vascular pressure increases, blood circulates, and body temperature rises. The excitement of exercise is similar to the excitement of trading; it puts me in a “let’s do this” mood.

I’ve never seen one on the Moon, but a machine that runs on oil probably feels like this.

I watched a video of one spewing black smoke and pushing forward without losing to Earth’s gravity.

Never mind environmental destruction; that is the attitude I should emulate.

“…The police have come out, too.”

In the inverted view from the rooftop, I saw the pair of policemen coming down the emergency stairs looking bored. There are few places to go on the narrow lunar surface, and the places where shady crowds flee are limited, so we are marked.

Furthermore, education is mandatory for everyone up to the age of eighteen on the Moon, so practically speaking, teenagers aren’t supposed to be in town during the day on weekdays. If I were caught, I would be sent back to my parents’ home without question and subjected to numerous restrictions until I came of age.

For someone who must move forward as soon as possible, that is the same as being sentenced to death.

I waited a good ten minutes after the police went down to the alley and disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the main street. Once I was convinced they were completely gone, I shouldered my bag. Then, I jumped off.

I curled my body in the air to control my posture, kicked the wall to jump to the opposite building, kicked again to return to the original one, and on the third kick, I flew toward the landing of the fifth floor of the opposite building.

Without killing my momentum, without wasting a single fragment of energy, to the destination.

Just as I was literally about to dive into the hallway on the fifth floor, flying through the gap between buildings like a missile:

“Whoa!”

What appeared in front of me was a giant green… no, I realized it was an afro, but my body was flying according to inertia, and the door from the landing to the hallway was closed.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

I immediately thrust out both hands, and just as I broke the impact with my elbows before my hands could fully absorb it, I curled my body to hit with my back, immediately opening my arms to increase the contact area. It was the principle of Judo breakfalls.

The neighborhood around my parents’ house had many low-income earners and many immigrants from dangerous regions on Earth, so I learned a range of martial arts from them. My body moved on its own.

Bam! With a grand sound, I stuck to the door, and with my head slanted downward, I slid down to the landing.

Beyond my inverted vision, there was that afro clerk, holding a portable game console and looking dumbfounded.

“…What are you doing? You?”

“…”

I didn’t answer immediately; I relieved myself that I was safe for the time being, then sat up.

“…That’s my line. Why is the door closed…?”

“Hmph.”

The afro clerk fiddled with his game console and shrugged.

“Well, I completely forgot.”

“Forgot what?”

After brushing the dust off my body, I tried to open the door and realized it was locked.

“Huh? Hey, don’t lock it.”

“Like I said, the shop is closed today.”

“Haa!?”

“Actually, it’s closed for the next three days.”

I turned to the clerk, looked back at the door, and looked at the clerk again.

“What did you say?”

“Nah, I totally forgot. Starting today, it’s pest extermination for the building. It’s the owner’s wish not to turn it into a slum, even if it is a dilapidated building. If it gets dirty, the police get noisy, too. So, as a member of the proletariat at the mercy of the capitalists, I, the great me, was kicked out like this. It was tough kicking out the other customers, too.”

I noticed there were blankets and a mattress next to the clerk, who was clicking away at his game console.

I had suspected for a long time that he was living in that shop, but it seems my guess was right.

“…S-So, you mean I can’t get in for three days?”

“Yup.”

The clerk answered simply. I gaped for a moment before finally managing to complain.

“What am I supposed to do during that time!”

At my age, I can’t stay at a decent hotel. Sleeping outdoors is dangerous in its own way. Not so much because of being attacked or having luggage stolen, but because it’s a densely populated town, there are eyes everywhere.

And the places with many poor immigrants are more faithful to the Moon’s slogan of “We will not make this a second Earth.” Under the guise of “not losing integrity even if poor,” the peripheral areas of the Lunar City aren’t as rough as they look, and public safety is quite good.

It’s even more so in towns with high average incomes.

That’s why it was truly a blessing to have stumbled upon this shop on the net, a place that didn’t fuss about the details.

And now, a three-day suspension.

Interrupted during trading, and now this. It’s a disaster.

“Police crackdowns have been strict around here lately, too.”

The clerk spoke as if it were someone else’s problem, glanced at me, and grinned.

“The cops asked me again. If I’d seen a suspicious kid.”

Apparently, there’s a guy repeating dine-and-dashes around here recently. Probably some idiot who ran away from home without a plan and ran out of funds. And the troublesome part is that his description looks exactly like me.

“I’m not that idiot runaway.”

“I know. I don’t know what you’re doing, but you never come out of your booth. Your alibi is solid.”

Since I pay strictly, I should be trusted in that respect.

However, that doesn’t improve this situation.

After worrying for a bit, I said to the Afro.

“Hey, Earth bastard. Do you know any similar shops?”

The cityscape of the Lunar City is formed in concentric circles from the skyscrapers in the center.

This area is well into the periphery, a gathering place for centrifugal force.

There should be one or two similar shops.

“Is that the attitude for asking a favor?”

“I intend to pay for it.”

There is no irrational custom like tipping on the Moon, but on the desolate streets I saw in Earth-produced movies, it always had a great effect.

The Afro bastard scratched his head vigorously and shrugged.

“Good grief, Moon rats are all cheeky little brats.”

“None of your business.”

Against my spitting retort, the Afro seemed somewhat amused.

Maybe it was the composure of a guy working in a borderline illegal shop in a place like this.

Or perhaps it was the calmness of someone who came from Earth, where gravity is six times that of the Moon.

“Still, you certainly are a regular customer, so I don’t want to treat you coldly, but… even if you go to another shop and settle down there, it’s not great for me.”

“Huh?”

Asking for money? I frowned, but I had no choice but to pay. Rather, if money could solve it, I should do so.

Groaning in the back of my throat, I tried to take out the money, which was as important as my life, from my pants pocket, when the big Afro moved sluggishly.

And in the clerk’s hand was a slip of memo paper.

“Go here.”

“…Huh?”

In this day and age, a piece of memo paper. In Earth terms, it would be like selling a coelacanth at a fish shop.

I received it suspiciously.

“Address? Is it your house?”

“My house is currently being smoked. No.”

So this clerk really does live in the shop. He’s quite the dropout, even for the Moon.

“Then what is it? The welfare division of the city office or something?”

“Nn, well, something similar, I guess.”

“Haa?”

I thought he might be planning to persuade me to stop running away and go home, but the Afro clerk said while returning to his game console again.

“I was taken care of there a long time ago. There’s a guy whose hobby is sheltering people like you.”

“…”

“A place to chase dreams”—it sounds nice, but I doubted my ears that such a benevolent person existed on this lunar surface, which shines gold due to mammonism.

However, the clerk didn’t seem to be plotting anything in particular.

“They’ll probably let you stay until the shop’s fumigation is over. I’ll put in a word for you.”

Even after being told that, I stood motionless with the memo in my hand, and the Afro laughed mischievously.

“Well, it’s suspicious. I get it. I couldn’t believe it at first either.”

“What is in here?”

“Who knows.”

Even when I asked, the Afro dodged the question.

“But, if you go, you’ll see.”

“Hey, seriously—”

“That’s how we came to the Moon.”

An unexpectedly sharp gaze was directed at me from under the Afro, and I couldn’t continue my words.

But the Afro immediately softened his gaze and said with a half-smile.

“What a desolate kid like you needs is the leeway to accept the goodwill of others. That’s one of the few pieces of advice a guy like me, working in a place like this, can give.”

“…”

Saying that, the Afro returned to his game.

The incredibly old-fashioned electronic blip-blip sounds echoed strangely loud.

“Oh, and come back as soon as the shop opens. Without earnings, you’ll starve.”

His fearless smile held a strange depth. It was a characteristic often seen in Earthlings who have lived in such places for a long time. Most of them came to the Moon at the end of their hardships from Earth, where gravity is harsh and nothing good happens. Even if they stumbled on the Moon, a certain weight could be felt from them.

I showed a slight respect for that part and put the memo in my pocket.

“If it’s a prank, I’ll throw you down from here.”

“Heh. With this Afro, even if I fall from the atmosphere, I won’t get hurt.”

“Keep talking.”

I spat out and put my foot on the iron fence.

“Use the stairs.”

The Afro said without even looking at me.

“I don’t have time for that. I’m busy.”

“Nice. Fly as far as you can, Moon rat.”

It was clearly teasing, but for some reason, I really felt something like encouragement there.

I inadvertently turned around, and my movement stopped.

Then, the Afro moved sluggishly and looked at me.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

I answered bluntly, lifted my body onto the fence, and jumped toward the building on the opposite side.

When I jumped to the wall of the opposite building and looked back as I kicked the wall again, the clerk looking up at me from the landing seemed to be laughing.

“Fly as far as you can, huh?”

I had a dream. My dream is to stand on untrodden ground.

That is a place where there is only forward to look, the edge of this world that exists by moving forward.

And I seriously believed that if that dream didn’t come true, there was no meaning in my living.

What I worry about is how much my money increases and how quickly I reach my goal; this is no time to be picky about means or looking back. As that Afro said, I have to fly as far as I can. Faster than anyone, higher than anyone.

I snorted in the wind and headed for the written address.

---

Beyond the translucent membrane covering the Lunar City, a white, hazy half-Earth looked small.

The membrane was a dome covering the overhead of the Lunar City, and beyond that was immediate outer space. Thanks to the dome, the air was maintained, and it even produced day and night—a lunar sky, so to speak.

Incidentally, day and night are adjusted to Earth’s standards. Unlike Earth, the Moon has two weeks of day and two weeks of night alternating, but the life cycle of humans who have lived on Earth for tens of thousands of years is not built like that. The Moon, where most immigrants are from Earth, is adjusted to have the same environment as Earth. Note that it has countless sprinklers, so it even rains.

However, I’ve only seen downpours and thunderstorms in videos.

Here, it only ever drizzles, and strong winds have never blown. Only the gentle, clinging movement of the atmosphere due to centrifugal force and the Coriolis force, and the soft wind to mechanically circulate the air inside the dome.

I ran through the periphery of such a Lunar City, jumping from building to building, and arrived at the bottom of a cliff where grass grew. Since the Lunar City was built by covering a huge lunar crater with a dome, there are many such cliffs around the edges. Usually, the districts are also divided by this kind of cliff boundary, and the place in the memo was beyond this cliff.

Going around would be a detour, and since I often visit the top of this cliff for a change of pace, it wasn’t an unknown place. I bent my knees, jumped onto the cliff, and ran up. Only possible on the low-gravity Moon.

Finally, I kicked a tree branch to rotate my body, and when I came out onto the road at the top of the cliff, there was a tunnel in front of me. It seemed to be a relic from when the city was still under construction; now, I don’t know why there is a tunnel on such a cliff top. The road itself is still used, but since there is a considerable difference in elevation from below, people rarely pass through.

I jumped further from that road and landed on top of the tunnel.

This was a special seat from which I could overlook most of the Lunar City.

I took beef jerky out of my bag and held it in my mouth. According to the guys from Earth, it looks nothing like the real thing, but this is the beef jerky I know.

“Lunar City” actually refers to several cities on the Moon, and the one I am overlooking is the first city built among them, and also the town where I was born.

The population is about 700,000, and including tourists and others, it seems to be constantly around one million.

In the center of the city, pointy skyscrapers sprout up like mushrooms; it’s called Newton City. There are no entry restrictions, but it’s full of huge corporate buildings, and even in public places like shopping malls and parks, the number of police and the regulation of order are extraordinary, making it feel like a special ward where only selected people can go. Most of the Moon’s wealth is produced in that Newton City, and there are plenty of world-class billionaires with total assets exceeding ten billion Mools.

It is said that with as much fortune as they have, it is possible to build a personal town on this Moon. Money is something that realizes most of the desires in the world.

The world is money.

As if capturing the moment a liquid dropped onto a water surface, the height of the buildings suddenly drops around Newton City with its skyscrapers. This is where the middle-class guys working in Newton City live, called the White Belt. It’s a place inhabited by people who are lumps of pride and upward mobility, yet act as if they haven’t forgotten the elegance of valuing harmony.

If you go there, chalk-white buildings with beautifully manicured small gardens line the streets, making you feel like you’re in a sterile room and making you nauseous. Not a single piece of trash has fallen on the roadside.

And around such a White Belt, the hierarchy of buildings rises again, but from here on, it’s cluttered and lacks unity. Power lines with seemingly poor conduction efficiency hang sloppily, vulgar neon lights shine, and there is a chaotic atmosphere.

It’s a place called the Outer Districts, distinguished by numbers from one to eight, though they don’t mean much.

With Newton City as the center, there are many factories and the like on the north side of the Outer Districts. There are silicon oxide decomposition plants, fertilizer synthesis plants, and automated plantations. My hometown is on the east side.

It’s a district notorious for being inhabited by stubborn people who are unsuitable for this Moon no matter how you think about it.

It’s where ancient beings called “craftsmen” flock, and there are countless small workshops. In the Lunar City, which pursues all efficiency to the limit, there are many people obsessed with manual labor. After all, they even produce lumber and food by human power.

Naturally, the cost becomes ridiculously high, and the finish is uneven, but they seem to have customers.

I don’t understand what’s good about them at all.

If you like inefficiency, why did you come to the Moon in the first place? That’s the question.

This isn’t that kind of place.

The Moon is supposed to be a place to aim for the pinnacle of those inorganic buildings lining Newton City.

However, perhaps nothing goes according to plan. Shifting my gaze from the city center to the west, there is an area where those who dropped out of such competition nest.

Because no one repaints the buildings even if they rust, its nickname is Red Valley.

I hate the ideology of handmade furniture, but I liked the chaotic Red Valley.

The guys living there are dropouts of the competition, so to speak, but their sloppiness makes it easygoing.

I hear that many of them were go-getters in Newton City but got poisoned by that lazy atmosphere and settled down. It seems that in any group of ants, twenty percent always don’t work, so such a place might be a necessary evil even on the Moon.

Of course, I have absolutely no intention of becoming that twenty percent.

So, the area I am in now is the 6th Outer District, which is not as decadent as Red Valley but not as productive as the east. The half-heartedness oozes out in this area that still has no common name.

Every building is dirty and dilapidated, but there are scattered small companies aiming for Newton City, and decent houses here and there, so it’s not that uncomfortable to live in.

The address indicated by the memo seems to be just a little further down from this cliff.

I stood up, headed from the top of the tunnel to the bottom of the cliff, and jumped down lightly.

The 6th Outer District is peaceful in both good and bad ways; there are guys putting out benches under the eaves and indulging in fossil-like non-powered board games while drinking beer or tea, and guys setting up stalls and working hard at business.

Every town on the Moon is multi-layered and has poor visibility anyway, so you lose your sense of direction immediately in unfamiliar places. Each time that happened, I came out to the rooftop of a building like a turtle poking its face out of the water, then dived into the alley again.

By the way, since waterways are stretched all over the place on the Moon to maintain the environment, aquatic life is relatively abundant. Among the Earth bastards, some assume that genuine Moon-borns only know events inside test tubes, so they are surprised just by my knowing of the existence of fish.

Don’t mock me, I think, but I am also aware that I live without knowing most of what is common sense on Earth.

It seems that becomes a complex, leading to fistfights between Earth immigrants and Moon-borns in schools, but I think that’s to be expected.

After all, Earth’s common sense is truly bizarre to a Moon-born.

That’s why when I arrived at that address following the memo I received from that clerk, I was literally standing still.

“…Here?”

And I muttered unintentionally.

What was there was a building too unsuitable for the Lunar City—a city that continues to prosper by the image of a golden city where success is most easily grasped in this universe, built by gathering the essence of science to construct an orbital elevator, supported by indomitable fighting spirit and the sense of omnipotence that humanity can do anything.

No, maybe it is exactly suitable for such a place?

The building in front of me was such an outrageously Earth-like object that I thought such things in confusion.

It was a church.

“…But, this is it, right?”

The entrance door was half-open, and a physical paper sign was posted, suitable for a place where low-income earners gather.

Please enter freely.

I put my hand on the old wooden door. Only sixteen years have passed since the Lunar City was built. There is no such thing as history here. It’s shiny, frivolous, gravity is one-sixth, and the flow of time is jokingly said to be six times faster.

And yet, in the weight of that door, I felt a weight of time different from mass.

The door, which made me feel like I was watching an old Earth movie, opened with a creeeaaak.

Beyond it was a crucified man I had also only seen in movies, wondering what he did to receive such punishment. And…

“…”

There was a pitch-black angel.

No, I immediately realized it was a black-haired girl, but her slender, graceful body looked like a sculpture, making it feel unreal.

In the church, long benches were lined up facing the crucifix, and below the statue, the floor was raised one step, with a podium. Probably, someone from the church delivers grateful words from there, but the black-haired girl was glaring at a terminal screen in front of that podium, thinking about something with a serious face like a professor lost in thought.

Looking closely, she was dressed entirely in black, looking as if she were cornered, and her seriousness was so intense it was suffocating to watch. I was so captivated by her serious profile that I forgot to breathe.

That’s why, the moment a violent knock pounded on the door I’d just closed behind me, I literally jumped several dozen centimeters in the air.

“Excuse me!”

And then:

“Police! Is anyone there!”

My breath stopped. Had I been reported before I even got here? Whatever the case, being here was bad news.

My thoughts collided like billiard balls. I looked around and jumped toward the window.

But the poorly fitted window wouldn’t budge. And any second now, the police were going to come around from the entrance to peek inside.

As I flustered and looked around frantically, my gaze was sucked toward one point.

The girl, who had been lost in deep thought in front of the podium, had also looked up, and our eyes met.

She had beautiful black eyes that reminded me of a solitary cat.

“Police! Helloooo!”

My encounter with the girl was blown away by that single shout.

Besides, although the girl still had a difficult look on her face, she was clearly panicking. Being in a place like this at this time meant she wasn’t attending school properly; in a sense, she was one of my kind.

I looked between the door the police were knocking on and the girl, and then my gaze settled on a third location.

The podium beneath the crucifix.

I stepped onto the raised platform, hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then grabbed the bewildered girl’s upper arm. It was a thin arm; it felt like it might snap if I squeezed too hard.

The girl’s eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t scream like a damsel.

“Wha—what are you—”

The interrogating tone of her voice hinted at a strong will. I didn’t let her say any more and forcibly dragged her under the podium. The girl, whose mind hadn’t seemed to catch up with the situation, met my eyes in the cramped darkness beneath the stand and finally seemed to grasp what was happening. Immediately after, she tried to shove me away with both arms.

The corner of the terminal I was holding hit her cheek, looking quite painful.

“H-Hey, the police will hear us…”

When I spoke in a suppressed voice, the girl stopped moving, but she glared at me with eyes full of undisguised disgust.

“Hey, there’s an intercom over here. You really need to do something about that impatient personality of yours.”

“I just want to get promoted quickly!”

Such an exchange could be heard from beyond the door, and shortly after, a ding-dong sound chimed in the distance.

It seemed the building next to this sanctuary was the main house where people lived.

After a while, I heard the sound of a door opening near the center of the sanctuary, likely connecting to the main house. Peeking out slightly, I saw a tall woman.

“Yeees, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Immediately after hearing the voice of the woman running pat-pat-pat toward the entrance and opening it, the girl tried to move her body again, so I desperately held her back.

Right then, the girlish softness and a sweet scent almost made me loosen my grip.

“Sorry to disturb you when you’re busy. We’re from the Community Safety Division.”

“Asking for God’s protection for your dangerous work?”

The woman seemed unexpectedly playful.

“Haha, fortunately, public safety is quite good. No, but there are some fellows disturbing that peace, so we’re asking around.”

In movies from Earth, police in these bottom-tier places are overbearing and residents respond with bare hostility, but this was truly harmonious.

However, the content of the conversation was not peaceful for me.

“Actually, right next door in the 7th Outer District, there’s a guy repeating thefts and dine-and-dashes. We suspect he might have fled this way.”

“Oh my.”

“He’s in his mid-teens, Asian descent, black hair and black eyes. Probably a runaway who ran out of money, but if he commits a robbery on a tourist, it’ll be a huge problem, so the higher-ups are nagging us to catch him quickly.”

As expected, no matter how many times I heard it, it sounded like they were referring to me.

The girl I was restraining stopped moving and turned a stunned gaze toward me—not surprise, disgust, or anger, but blank shock.

Desperately, under the podium, I shook my head no.

“Also, we received a report just a moment ago that a boy fitting that description was loitering around here.”

Give me a break, I almost cried out loud under the podium.

“We thought he might have fled in here.”

“This place is open for anyone to enter during the day, right?”

The two officers were clearly suspicious.

I could sense the woman who answered the door turning to look inside.

“Yes… that is true, but surely…”

“Do you mind if we take a look inside?”

“If he has snuck in, it could be dangerous for you as well.”

Of course, the answer of a good citizen is predetermined.

“If you would do that, I would feel safer.”

And so, the police officers entered.

However, their steps were cautious, and they seemed to be holding batons, making clack, clack sounds as they tapped the backs of the chairs.

The sanctuary was not a large place.

The police were getting closer and closer to us. If they peeked under the podium, it was game over in one shot.

Or, should I jump out by surprise and run at full speed? I could shake them. I should be able to shake them.

If I get caught here and sent back home, my manual laborer father, who believes stock investment is the work of the devil or something, will undoubtedly take away my ticket to my dreams.

Then I’ll be sent to a boring school, and after graduation, I’ll be forced into a similar job that makes no money.

“One step at a time, steady and slow”—people say that at the drop of a hat, but the places you can reach with that mindset are limited.

A life like that is the same as being dead!

I’ll do it, I took a deep breath. Depending on the situation, I’ll use this girl as a decoy, beat down the cops, and…

Creak, creak. Listening to the approaching footsteps, I waited for the timing to jump out.

Two more steps and they’d be here.

It was in that instant.

“Ah, excuse me. Beyond this point is the sacred altar, so…”

“Whoops.”

At the woman’s interjection, the footsteps stopped.

“Apologies. I’m not familiar with these things.”

“No, no. It’s not exactly fashionable on Earth these days, either.”

The two officers laughed at the woman’s mischievous self-deprecation.

“Well, there doesn’t seem to be any particular problem…”

Then, the officer sniffed.

“Does this church keep a pet or something?”

“Eh? Ah… perhaps someone brought their pet dog to the morning service. That might be it.”

“Ah, I see. No, I thought it was a nostalgic smell. I used to have a big dog when I was on Earth, but I can’t possibly bring one here. I envy the owner.”

“Indeed. I look forward to meeting it every time, too.”

With harmonious conversation, the footsteps receded. The officers gave their greetings and left.

Under the podium, I let out a sigh of relief… I’m saved. Now, once the woman returns to the main house, I just have to sneak out.

But immediately after that.

The girl suddenly leaped out from under the podium.

You idiot, I thought, but before I could finish the thought, the girl spoke.

“Lisa.”

Apparently, the girl was a resident here.

“Oh, is that where you were? I told you to stop thinking about things over here. It’s visible to the public and dangerous.”

“…Okay.”

Her tone was somewhat grudging, which alone gave a glimpse into the personality of the girl in black.

At the same time, these words reached me.

“So, where’s the other one?”

Huh?

“Come on out. You’re there, right?”

I couldn’t move. How?

Did the girl write a memo on her terminal and silently notify the woman? But while she looked smart, she didn’t seem the type to pull off that kind of trick.

I took a deep breath, storing oxygen in my body.

If I smash the window glass with my bag, I can get outside immediately. Then I just have to run recklessly. I can throw in the repair money for the glass later.

Alright. I’ll go with that.

I shifted my feet and leaned forward. Just then:

“It’s okay. I won’t report you. Or did you commit some evil deed that prevents you from coming out? If so, I have no choice but to report you, though?”

It was a way of speaking that revived memories of being scolded at nursery school ages ago.

Besides, I finally remembered that I had come to this place looking for lodging. No matter how I thought about it, clearing up the misunderstanding was the priority. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and spoke.

“O-Okay.”

And before crawling out sluggishly, I added a condition.

“But don’t scream when you see me. I’m not the criminal the police were talking about.”

“Hmm?”

When I stood up, standing in the middle of the sanctuary was a woman with short hair, about twenty years old.

Next to her was the black-haired girl from earlier, but the woman was easily a head taller.

The girl in black looked at me and took a step back with an expression of disgust.

“I’m troubled by this, too. Believe me.”

When I said it briefly, the woman smiled.

“If you say so, then I suppose it is so.”

“It’s true!”

I inadvertently raised my voice, but the woman kept smiling gently.

“It’s a joke. In a church, believing is part of the job.”

“…”

Or rather, I finally remembered that the afro clerk, Cello, should have contacted her.

So there was no need to be nervous. I sighed at my own stupidity.

Even so, going out of her way to scare me was a nasty move, I thought. Just then, an electronic sound came from the main house.

“Oh, telephone. Wait a moment.”

As she turned to head from the sanctuary to the main house, the woman suddenly stopped. At that moment, the girl in black, who had been trying to follow her, bumped her face into the woman who had stopped.

“You can’t go outside. The police are probably still wandering around.”

Without waiting for my reply, the woman took the hand of the girl in black, headed toward the main house, and returned after a short while.

And then she said this:

“Hey, are you the boy introduced by Cello?”

“…Eh?”

“I just got a call saying a guy who looks exactly like a criminal is coming over, so please take care of him for a few days.”

Cello seemed to be that clerk’s name. I stared blankly at the woman who was saying this happily. Did she hear that on the phone just now? If so, even though my features matched exactly with the criminal the police were talking about, she hadn’t suspected me even a fragment.

Moreover, if I look back at the exchange with the police, it’s clear. If she hadn’t noticed the girl in black was there at that time, then stopping the police by saying the area near the podium was a sacred place was undoubtedly to protect me.

Is she unbelievably good-natured?

Based on the story from that afro named Cello, that certainly seemed to be the case.

Even though I was saved, I had to ask.

“W-Why? Why did you save me?”

“Hmm?”

The woman tilted her head slightly and laughed.

“This is a church. Salvation for all.”

The Moon is a crazy world, but there are some truly eccentric people here.

“Introduction from Cello means you’re a kid living there. I see, I see.”

The woman muttered to herself, giggled, and then said,

“You can’t relax in a place like that. For now, go take a shower.”

“Ah, uh…”

I felt intimidated by her lack of carefree attitude.

Above all, I still couldn’t believe that she would really harbor me.

Is such a good deal allowed to exist?

“My, you have a face that says human kindness is rare.”

Narrowing her eyes, even her teasing smile looked stylish.

She’s an adult woman, I thought.

“It’s okay. Cello has an eye for people, despite appearances. And a long time ago, I was the one who saved him when he was lost on the streets.”

I felt like he had said something like that.

“Stay for as many days as you like. However.”

The woman paused, then smiled.

“Get along, okay?”

“Huh? With you?”

I asked back without thinking, and I could tell the woman was slightly annoyed behind her smile.

“I have a name, Lisa. Even without that, calling people ‘you’ isn’t admirable.”

I, who am confident I wouldn’t lose a fight on the Moon even against a considerable giant, flinched at the woman’s strange intensity.

“N-No, um, that’s not what I meant.”

“You’ve already met, right? I didn’t expect the two of you to be under the podium together, but… with that child.”

And then, the woman turned toward the door leading to the main house.

There, the girl in black from earlier was glaring at me with naked wariness.

Or perhaps, even though the situation was what it was, dragging her under the podium might have been a bad move.

Above all, at that time, she tried to push me away with quite a look on her face.

“Well?”

But there was no ‘well’ about it. I had nowhere else to go, so I could endure anything.

Besides, I was fiercely attracted to the word shower.

Since that café didn’t have such a high-class thing, I had only been wiping my body with a wet towel.

“I will. I’ll get along. Of course.”

“Fufu. Nice to meet you.”

Lisa turned to the main house and said,

“Come on, Hagana, say hello too.”

The girl who had been staring fixedly at me looked at Lisa. Black hair, black eyes. Her outfit was all black, like a rigid school uniform. If her stockings were black, her shoes were black too.

Her lips were tightly pursed in stubbornness, and her eyes were as sharp as someone on their third day of staying up all night. When she furrowed her brows on those features as perfectly arranged as a doll’s, a clear will of rejection could be seen.

Moreover, Hagana was pressing her hand against her nose as if disgusted. She was a complete and utter disagreeable princess.

“Is it really a person? Not a stray dog?”

“Wh—”

At the abusive language on par with a real princess, I was the one who lost my words.

“Hagana, you mustn’t call people dogs.”

Lisa warned her in an exasperated tone, but Hagana didn’t reply immediately. After glaring at me with scorn, she finally looked at Lisa.

“Lisa, this guy is suspicious after all.”

“Hagana.”

Lisa warned her again, exasperated, but Hagana looked up at Lisa and said one thing.

“Because, he stinks. So bad.”

“Eh?”

Beside me, dumbfounded, Lisa sighed.

“Geez. Hagana, you’re a girl. Learn some delicacy.”

“But.”

Hagana said, and looked at me.

“As a fact, he stinks too much.”

I hurriedly sniffed around my body. I couldn’t really tell if I smelled myself.

However, I finally understood why Lisa noticed me hiding under the podium and why the police talked about a pet.

A dog.

It also made sense why Hagana tried to push me away with all her might under the podium.

So that’s it…

“It’s true that he smells a little, but… the one the police are chasing is a different kid.”

“How can you say that?”

Hagana turned accusing eyes to Lisa.

“Mid-teens, Asian descent, black hair and black eyes.”

Hagana repeated the characteristics the police stated.

“It’s this guy.”

“It’s not!”

I couldn’t help but retort, and Hagana, pulling in her chin, glared at me menacingly.

If I’m a dog, this guy is a temperamental cat.

“Hagana, that’s not it. An acquaintance of mine saw this boy at the exact time the criminal was doing a dine-and-dash. In other words, he has an alibi.”

“…”

I was holed up in the café trading stocks. There was only one entrance, and that afro was watching. Being a shut-in is useful sometimes.

“T-That’s right. Basically, I don’t do things like dine-and-dash.”

The one running around is some idiot who ran out of the house with no decent plan and is causing trouble for others. I am different from guys like that. I have a dream, I have a plan, I’ve clarified my objectives and means, and I’m only doing this because I had no choice but to leave home.

“Hmph.”

However, Hagana snorted and, maintaining her haughty attitude, looked away.

I was driven by the urge to grind my teeth, but if I fought here, I would lose both the shower and the bed. I desperately held back.

“Well, that’s why we’re going to live here together from now on.”

“Eh?”

Hagana looked up at Lisa in surprise.

“What? It’s the same as you, Hagana. He’s in trouble, so I’m lending him a bed. Is there a problem?”

Lisa said so, still smiling, but with an air that made one feel a certain intensity.

Hagana, who looked like she had a terribly bad personality, shrugged her neck and backed down.

“B-But…”

“But?”

At Lisa’s repeated question, Hagana glanced at me, then looked at Lisa.

“He’s terribly… smelly.”

Even coming from a guy like Hagana—a girl is a girl. Being told clearly that I stink hurts tremendously.

As I pressed my hand to my chest, taking damage that surprised even me, Lisa let out a big sigh.

“Sigh. That isn’t a reason. Come on, don’t get hurt by every little thing either.”

“I-I’m not hurt!”

I retorted, but I knew that getting defensive made it obvious.

“Take a shower and you’ll be back to a handsome man. I’ll do your laundry too.”

Lisa said this refreshingly, in a tone that didn’t sweat the small stuff.

On the other hand, Hagana, still pressing her nose, was glaring at me.

And she said suspiciously,

“Are you really not a dog?”

“Hagana!”

Reprimanded by Lisa, Hagana frowned, then turned on her heel and withdrew into the back of the main house.

Watching her retreating figure, I told myself: It’s just three days of patience.

---

I almost cried at the first proper bath since leaving my parents’ house.

Since both my parents are immigrants from Japan, we had a custom of soaking in a bathtub almost every day. It could be said that was the only luxury those parents of mine indulged in.

You can see water circulation everywhere in the Lunar City, but that doesn’t mean water is cheap by any means. On the Moon, every substance circulates through human hands, so even oxygen isn’t free.

This is a completely artificial city, incomparable to Las Vegas or Dubai, cities famous for having fountains in the desert. I haven’t seen either of those two with my own eyes, but I have seen them in videos.

Ah, Earthlings are idiots, I thought simply, and that was when I first understood the madness of the existence called Lunar City.

“Feel refreshed?”

When I came out of the changing room, Lisa, who was sitting on the sofa, poured water into a cup on the table for me.

The changing room connected directly to a rather spacious living room. A sofa set that was definitely scavenged from somewhere and a low table were placed on a carpet with signs of being mended many times in the corners. However, there was a vase with flowers on the table, preventing it from feeling shabby. There was no TV in the living room, but there was a computer. On the low table, there was also a multi-purpose terminal that Lisa seemed to have been using just a moment ago.

What surprised me was the thick book next to it.

On the Moon, where space and resources are limited, you rarely see a physical book.

Until relatively recently, I thought “Book” was an interface standard for application software. I didn’t think objects of that shape on the screen actually existed in reality.

This is the kind of thing Earth immigrants use to mock Moon-raised kids, but from my perspective, Earthlings who still utilize inefficient books like idiots are the crazy ones.

“Is a physical book rare?”

Asked, I returned to my senses.

Lisa was holding the portable terminal again. She was probably reading a “book.”

“…Well…”

Even if I accepted that I didn’t know what I didn’t know, being treated like I was ignorant of the world was irritating.

So I answered mumbling, but Lisa didn’t mock me.

“They take up space, you know. They get dirty easily so you have to be careful preserving them, and above all, you can’t search the contents. The electronic version is a hundred times better. But, are you perhaps Moon-born?”

I realized immediately she was being considerate. She was like a veteran nursery teacher who knew exactly what caused fights between immigrant children and Moon-raised children.

“I’m Moon-born… So, what is that?”

I pointed to the tattered thick book on the table and asked.

There were what looked like alphabet letters written in gold on the spine, but I couldn’t read them.

B… I… b? …L…

“This is the most important book in the world to me. I brought it from Earth. Even though I had to part with Julie, who was with me since I was born… that’s my pet dog, by the way… I couldn’t leave this book behind.”

Lisa put the portable terminal aside and stroked the cover of the tattered book carefully.

Watching that, I remembered stroking my parents’ hands, rough from work, when I was still small and innocent.

“…When did you come from Earth?”

“I was kicked out of the land we lived on when I was eleven. My parents made a big decision to apply for lunar immigration. We didn’t have money, so it was the general quota with tremendous odds, but well, since their occupation was special, we got into the preferential quota of the Noah System that still existed back then.”

“Noah, System?”

“Ah, the common name for the Cultural Diversity Protection System… Oh right, if you’re not familiar with it, you wouldn’t know. There’s a story called Noah’s Ark. When a corrupted world was about to be destroyed by a great flood, a ship carried good people and a pair of each animal, male and female, to build a good world again in the new land after the flood receded… it’s a legend, or a tradition, or a teaching, well, something like that. My parents were both theologians. I guess they judged that such oddities were also necessary on the Moon.”

The word “theologian” was also new to me.

Lisa looked it up in the dictionary using the terminal in her hand.

Seems to be a person who studies the teachings of God.

Honestly, I was surprised that there were guys on the Moon dedicating their lives to something so useless.

“So, this book is the soul of me, raised in such a family. The writing varies by chapter, but it’s mostly from about two thousand years ago. It’s the best-selling book on Earth.”

“Heh… Is it that interesting?”

Investment is, after all, the same as voting for what is popular. When I looked at the book with a little interest, Lisa started laughing.

“Haha. Ah, no, I’m sorry. If you ask me if it’s interesting, I think it’s interesting in its own way, but it’s not that kind of book.”

“Hm, ah?”

“This is called the Bible. You saw it in the sanctuary over there, right? The book compiled by the disciples of the man who was crucified.”

I knew the word Bible. I see, so this is it.

“In short, it’s a book of religious teachings. Apparently, it has sold over a billion copies.”

“…A billion, copies?”

I couldn’t imagine it instantly.

“Because on Earth, it’s everywhere. It’s translated into languages all over the world.”

“Does that mean every guy on Earth has read it?”

Suddenly, the tattered book on the table began to look like a legendary tome from a fantasy movie.

“I wish that were true.”

At Lisa’s words, a question mark popped up in my head.

“The population of Earth is about nine billion. Even in an era where seven hundred thousand live on the Moon, nearly a third of people can’t read, and two-thirds aren’t in an environment where they can leisurely read books. The remaining lucky third have plenty of other entertainments. These days, even among Christians, few read the Bible. Even in the church I attended, few people knew there were four Gospels, and even fewer could name the four authors. How lamentable this is… you probably won’t understand.”

“…Sorry, but I don’t get it at all.”

“Well, it’s fine. I have my hands full just protecting this obsolete church. Still, where paths cross, knowledge is inherited. The etymology of trivia, meaning knowledge, is trivialis. In other words, a place where people come and go at a three-way intersection. It’s concerning that only lost people seem to cross here… but maybe this is also a revelation telling me to have the self-awareness of a shepherd.”

Shepherd? If it’s sheep being driven by sirens and electric fences, I’ve seen that in the process of researching companies to invest in, but what’s the connection to the manager of that factory?

When I looked blank, Lisa laughed wearily and said,

“Sorry. It’s a metaphor. I haven’t seen a real shepherd either.”

It seems it wasn’t just because I was Moon-raised that I didn’t know.

For the time being, I was relieved about that.

“I’m generally that kind of human. People probably think I’m doing something strange coming all the way to the Moon.”

“Yeah, I think so.”

When I arrived at this building, I thought I was hallucinating.

When I said it clearly, Lisa giggled.

“Then, can I ask about you this time?”

I was saved from the police and even borrowed a bath. Being treated this well, it might be manners to concede a little. Besides, I no longer thought Lisa would report me to the police out of some strange sense of justice.

“East Outer District… the 3rd Outer District. I came from a place called the Pioneer Village there.”

“Heh, a nice place with lots of greenery.”

“…Guys coming from below all say that. It’s just primitive, isn’t it?”

“Haha. People who come to the Moon have lived in urban areas since they were on Earth, you see. They miss the greenery.”

I started to nod but felt the meaning didn’t quite parse.

“Do cities on Earth have lots of greenery?”

“Nnnt… my phrasing was bad. There’s no green in urban areas on Earth either, but people are somehow attracted to things like ‘ancient nature.’ Maybe it’s instinct. Don’t you think?”

Asked that, I tried to deny it, but stopped.

“Anyway, I came out of a house there.”

“Hmm.”

Lisa closed her eyes as if chewing on my answer for a while, leaving a pause.

“May I ask your name?”

Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes had no cloudiness. But rather than the cold, lonely emptiness of outer space, there was a softness like clear water.

On this lunar surface, every human and most goods are assigned an ID. If my real name is known, it can be searched in the government office database, and my identity can be pinpointed anytime.

As a runaway, my real name is a top-secret matter. I have absolutely no intention of returning home.

“You don’t have to be so guarded. Besides, it doesn’t have to be your real name. It’s just inconvenient to call you otherwise. That child from earlier, Hagana, I’m sure that’s not her real name either.”

Indeed, it was a strange name.

“It’s not that she won’t open her heart… but she has a wary side like a wild animal. Well, in that respect, I think you’re a decent match for her.”

Feeling an implication in “wild animal,” I felt depressed—Did I smell that bad?

“But it’s rare. For a Moon-born to have such glaring eyes.”

In Lisa’s gaze, I felt some indescribable self-deprecation.

I think there are barely ten thousand genuine Moon-borns yet. It is said that this is the result of the fact that most guys working in Newton City don’t have children in the first place.

In this city, immigrants from Earth are still the overwhelming majority, and most of them come riding the orbital elevator only after they turn ten at the earliest. It is believed on Earth that low gravity harms physical development, and because of that, it is common for Moon-borns to be mocked as having light brains too.

“So what?”

When I included a thorn in my sulking tone, Lisa was a little surprised, then smiled troubledly.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It’s just… on the Moon, there is no war or famine yet.”

“…”

In most parts of Earth, there are countries where people cannot even satisfactorily obtain the water necessary for life, and more than half of infants die. There are many immigrants on the lunar surface who have literally bet on revival from such places.

The Moon is a utopia for Earthlings, and Moon rats are considered sterile-raised kids born in Utopia.

We have a debt of conscience.

“But it’s natural for there to be various people on the Moon too. Truly trivial. Paths cross, and people exchange wisdom.”

Lisa laughed as she said it. If that girl in black called Hagana was eccentric, Lisa, who saved me and harbored me, seemed to be quite the oddball too.

After all, in this day and age, despite being on the Moon, she’s into religion and cherishes physical books like treasures. Frankly speaking, socially, she falls into the category of a dropout.

However, for some reason, I held a favorable impression of Lisa, who seemed not to be participating in the competition in this competitive city called Lunar City.

Certainly, she isn’t moving forward, but she doesn’t feel decadent either. Lisa looked like a human standing firmly with her feet on the ground, even in this low-gravity environment.

And she looked like she was enjoying standing there.

There are humans like this, too, I admired a little.

I thought there were only three types of humans on the Moon: the people of my parents’ village who are rough and crude yet say high-minded things; the hopeless decadent people of the Outer Districts; and the residents of Newton City who are trying to fly high into the sky utilizing this low gravity.

Looking at Lisa laughing happily alone, I thought.

I feel like I can trust her.

When I thought that, it came out of my mouth unexpectedly.

“Kawaura, Yoshiharu.”

“Nn, eh?”

Lisa was surprised, but I was surprised too.

For some reason, suddenly, I wanted Lisa to know my name.

Besides, it was strange to deceive her now.

“Kawaura, Yoshiharu.”

“Ah, your name?”

“It’s my real name, so if you report it, my parents will be contacted immediately.”

When I said it bluntly, Lisa looked at me for a while, and then broke into a smile that seemed to seep out.

“I see. Understood. But, Hal is fine, right?”

“…?”

“Even if I call you by just your first name, it would be quite specific, right? It’s obvious you’re a child of Japanese immigrants. If it’s just Hal, not so much.”

Having trusted her, it felt strange to feel too trusted.

I’m grateful, but perhaps due to over three months of wandering life, doubting has become a habit.

Perhaps noticing that, Lisa said this:

“Fufu. On Earth, if you say ‘As the Lord wills’ and smile, most people are generally convinced.”

“…I don’t understand the meaning.”

“Right. This is the Moon, after all. But, sometimes I want to wear a habit…”

Lisa says happily. What’s a habit? I thought, but I kept it in mind to search for it later.

“However, frustratingly, the one it suits is Hagana. My hair seems to be too bright.”

Lisa said as if talking to herself, combing her brown hair with her fingers.

It wasn’t as much as Hagana’s, but I thought it was beautiful, straight, good hair. Back in the village, everyone put blond women at the top of the hierarchy, but I prefer darker colors. It feels distinctly like being there.

In that respect, that Hagana had beautiful black hair and was exactly my type, but her personality was too difficult.

As I was thinking that, Lisa said,

“Or rather, I wonder what that child is doing. She’s shy, you know…”

“That’s not unexpected or anything.”

“Eh? Really?”

Does she have no eye for people? I directed a questioning gaze at her.

“There’s no one who is bad to the core.”

As expected, her baseline standards seem to be off.

However, thanks to that, I obtained a bed for several days. I have to be grateful.

“Ah, right, right. The room is empty, so I’ll show you.”

Since Lisa stood up, I followed her with my luggage.

Heading back from the living room, there was a kitchen on the left and a hallway.

On the left side of the hallway, two rooms were lined up, and the right side was a wall because of the cliff.

“This is Hagana’s room.”

She pointed to the near room. Not a shared room; I was relieved in various ways.

“And this is Hal’s room.”

When she opened the door at the back, it was a simple room with only a bed and a desk.

However, it was cleaned very beautifully and filled with a sense of cleanliness. Seeing it properly taking the form of a room, I unexpectedly felt like crying, and finally realized how tired I was.

“Since you were sleeping at Cello’s place, it’s been a while since you slept stretching your arms and legs, right?”

“Yeah…”

Answering half-heartedly, I collapsed onto the bed as if sucked in.

Even though it was barely noon, sleepiness overflowed from inside my brain like oil.

“Oh my.”

Lisa laughed softly and reached for the bag I had on my shoulder.

In that instant, from the ingrained habit of sleeping outdoors, I tried to snatch the bag back almost reflexively. A few moments later, I realized Lisa wasn’t a thief, but it was enough for an awkward atmosphere to flow.

However, Lisa slowly withdrew her hand and said quietly.

“I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”

Rather, Lisa apologized and closed the curtains.

“It locks just in case, so if you want to sleep peacefully, lock it.”

Saying that gently, she left the room.

I saw her off without a word.

And eventually, I forced my heavy body up and clicked the room lock shut.

I must not let my guard down. It’s not that I don’t trust Lisa, but this is my way of life.

“But… no good, I’m at my… limit…”

The sleepiness that overflowed once pulled me into the bed like gravitational acceleration.

From the fluffy pillow, there was the smell of soap that I hadn’t smelled in a long time.