Chapter 2

In the morning, the first thing I do upon waking is check my belongings. I groped for the bag I always hug to my chest when sleeping in a chair, and when I realized it wasn’t there, my blood ran cold.

Immediately after, I jumped up and was confused to find myself on a bed. Then, seeing pitch blackness, I was doubly confused.

Before long, memories slowly returned. This wasn’t a booth in a shady café, but the house attached to a church managed by a slightly eccentric woman named Lisa. It had been a while since I slept with my limbs fully stretched out.

I must have slept like a log since then until nightfall.

“…Dammit…”

Groaning with a mix of guilt and defeat I couldn’t quite place, I collapsed back onto the bed and buried my face in the pillow again. I was tempted to just sleep forever, but since it was dark outside, this wasn’t just a nap. I had slept for more than half a day.

Being away from the market for this long was out of the question. The news I had to see, the data, the price movements I had to consider—they all flashed through my mind like a raging torrent, filling my chest with a buzzing anxiety.

Still, the comfort of sleeping in a clean bed with my limbs stretched out, without having to be on guard against other people, was considerable. In the end, it took another twenty minutes for me to actually get up.

“Good morning. You’re up surprisingly early.”

Since I didn’t have clothes, I went to the living room wearing the shabby old clothes I borrowed after the bath, only to be met with a quip. She had the same attitude with the police, so that must just be Lisa’s personality.

Right now, Lisa was wearing glasses and facing a computer placed in the corner of the living room. Since a document-style organic display was open, it didn’t look like she was playing around.

“Did you sleep well?”

I scratched my head, looked around the living room, and answered.

“…You can tell just by looking, can’t you?”

Embarrassed to answer honestly, I looked away.

“Does the wireless net connect here?”

Even having just woken up, I had my bag slung over my shoulder. Just as I was ready to leave at any time, I was ready to trade at any time.

“Is mine no good? It’s connected to the net.”

I didn’t want to do stock trading on someone else’s terminal.

Or rather, it was a better strategy to keep quiet about the stocks. If it got out that I had a substantial amount of money, it might cause trouble.

“…I want to use my own.”

“Umm… I’m not good with that stuff… can you try it yourself?”

She shrugged. I sat down by the window where the signal seemed likely to be strong and took my terminal out of the bag.

Turning it on and typing the password was a task I could do with my eyes closed.

As I did so, Lisa, who was watching with interest, frowned slightly.

“Are you a net addict?”

Her way of asking was so typical of someone digitally illiterate that I laughed a little.

“Something like that.”

Dodging the question, I opened the investment tool and felt like I had returned after a year away. Of course, what I felt wasn’t nostalgia, but the anxiety of having been left behind.

The time was past 9:00 PM, so I had been asleep for about ten hours.

“What about dinner?”

She called out to me as I was going through unread news one by one.

“Don’t need it.”

Although I answered immediately, I realized I hadn’t eaten anything since noon. Keeping my eyes on the terminal, I stuck one hand into my bag and pulled out a chocolate bar.

“That is your dinner?”

Naturally, I didn’t reply to Lisa’s accusatory tone.

Then, making a creaking sound, Lisa stood up from her chair, marched over, and stood right in front of me.

“I don’t sweat the small stuff, but since you have come to this church, I will have you live a life with a minimum level of moderation.”

It sounded like something a primary school teacher would say. When I looked up at her with undisguised annoyance, Lisa looked back with a face that said she wouldn’t retreat a single step.

“Early to bed, early to rise, and eating meals properly. At least morning and night. And, take a shower every day.”

Hearing that, I just looked blankly at her.

“Huh? That’s it?”

I thought she was going to say something much more troublesome.

“I wake up early. And I want to shower if I can. I couldn’t at the café, so I didn’t.”

“Huh? Oh, really…”

Lisa seemed taken aback, perhaps expecting me to resist.

“As for food… well, if it’s there, I’ll eat it. Anything is fine.”

Then, just as I tried to bite into the chocolate bar, Lisa snatched it away.

“What are you doing!”

“You can’t eat this. I’ll make something for you.”

“Whatever…”

“It is not ‘whatever.’ A healthy life starts with a healthy diet.”

I thought there was no point in talking about health when harboring runaways, but I’d be the one in trouble if I resisted poorly and got kicked out.

“Does it cost money?”

When I asked just that, Lisa sighed.

“Just the cost of ingredients. It’s cheaper than eating out.”

“Then, please.”

And with that, I quickly returned my eyes to the screen. I wanted to check the afternoon’s price movements along with the massive amount of news. Even while I was doing this, the Earth was spinning, and new news was coming in one after another, so catching up was hard work.

I sensed Lisa shrugging in an exaggerated manner above my head, but of course, I ignored it.

“Oh, and also. It’s fine for now, but from tomorrow, change your clothes properly before coming here. I won’t allow you to loiter around looking sloppy.”

It was like being scolded at my parents’ house.

I tried to brush her off with a half-hearted answer, but my gaze was suddenly pulled elsewhere.

“Are you listening?”

Lisa brought her face close, but she seemed to notice my stiffened expression.

“What?”

She turned around and looked up in surprise too.

“W-Wait, Hagana!”

While Lisa rushed over in a panic, Hagana herself narrowed her eyes, looking puzzled. In her hands, she held neurotically folded nightclothes and what looked like a change of underwear, but the problem was her outfit.

She was wearing only a pair of short shorts that exposed her slender, long legs all the way to the base of her hips, and a thin, sleeveless shirt on top that looked like it might reveal her chest from the side at any moment.

“How many times have I told you not to loiter around in that kind of getup—”

“…? I am not naked.”

Answering the angry Lisa with a dubious look, Hagana quickly entered the changing room.

Lisa, not knowing what to say or how to say it, was groaning in front of the changing room door.

As for me, I pathetically looked away and thought this:

So her underwear is white…

For someone all in black and damn cheeky, she has a strange childishness.

It wasn’t bad per se, I thought, but I said to Lisa, who looked like she was fighting back a headache, “Isn’t sloppy dressing prohibited?”

“S-She’s usually much more proper!”

Since they were both women, they probably let their guard down.

“Jeez… And I finally got her to stop wandering around naked…”

Hearing Lisa mutter that, I couldn’t help but imagine the scene. Indeed, Hagana had an air about her that suggested she would do something like that without a care in the world.

“Wait, that would be a problem for me, too…”

“It is a problem for me as well! Sigh… God bestows trials upon me.”

“What’s that?”

“…Who knows.”

When I asked, Lisa gave me a weary reply.

---

Dinner consisted of bean soup, fish meunière, and bread.

The beans were grown by a neighbor, the fish was a type of trout caught by someone in the town’s circulating waterways and shared with us, and the bread was apparently day-old stock bought cheap from a bakery.

Isn’t this all just other people’s leftovers? I thought, but since it tasted excellent, I kept my mouth shut.

Besides, if you think about it, it’s a smart way to get by without spending money. I don’t know if I can mimic it, but I’ll remember it for future survival.

“This is a church, after all, so give thanks to God.”

Sitting in her chair, Lisa rested both elbows on the table, clasped her hands against her forehead, muttered something in a language I’d never heard, and finally said, “Amen.”

Although I vaguely knew of such behavior as knowledge, having never actually witnessed it, I felt somewhat awkward. However, she didn’t force me to do the same, so I didn’t say anything either.

“Okay, sorry for the wait. Please, dig in.”

Then, as Lisa looked up and served me soup, I spoke.

“So, how much you charging?”

If I was going to ask, it had to be before I reached for the food. I thought Lisa would hate it, and as expected, she gave me a sharp look. It was also a question to gauge Lisa’s character, so I didn’t flinch at her glare.

“Ten Mools.”

“…Isn’t that expensive?”

Eating at a town diner wouldn’t cost that much. You said it was cheaper than eating out, I signaled with dissatisfied eyes, to which Lisa replied with a composed face.

“Lodging included.”

“…Say that first.”

“But your sense of money isn’t quite normal.”

Apparently, I was being tested, too. She’s a woman you can’t let your guard down around.

“Of course not. I’m not playing around.”

If she says ten Mools including lodging, I’ll reach for the food without hesitation.

Eating a proper meal for the first time in ages, my stomach woke up all at once.

“Hmm?”

However, Lisa was staring at me, looking like she was thinking about something. I, who was stuffing bread into my mouth, slurping soup, and sticking my fork into the fish, naturally went on guard.

“W-What…”

“Eat a little more neatly.”

“…S-Shut up.”

Receiving a scolding like a child, I inadvertently answered like a child.

“So, there’s that, but yes. About money.”

“Huh?”

I was greedily chasing the bean fragments remaining at the bottom of the soup plate when Lisa silently took the plate and poured me a refill. The unexpected comment reached me along with the second serving of soup, but the word “money” stopped my hand.

“I don’t know how long you were at Cello’s place… but the fact that Cello introduced you to me means you were paying properly over there, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

Answering warily, I finally sipped the soup.

“But what do you intend to do from now on?”

Ah, so that’s it, I understood.

“I’m sheltering you and all, but as you can see if you look around, our finances aren’t exactly overflowing. If your cash runs out, we can’t support you.”

Money doesn’t rain down just because you pray.

I nodded and said,

“No need to worry about that. I’m leaving in three days.”

I slurped the refill of soup, wiped the bottom of the plate with bread, threw it into my mouth, and finally felt satisfied.

It was a truly wonderful meal.

“…Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Cello, was it? That afro’s place.”

I have nowhere else to go.

“You’ll get caught before long.”

I couldn’t immediately refute Lisa’s comment. The police come around for patrols constantly, and I’ve had close calls where I felt a chill. If that dine-and-dash idiot doesn’t get caught, there’s a possibility they’ll come for a surprise raid even at night.

In that respect, this church probably won’t be raided suddenly.

“Besides, you haven’t been able to rest properly, have you? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone collapse into sleep like that.”

The moment I saw the bed, I felt like crying and was sucked in irresistibly. I thought I was fine, but my body seemed to be more exhausted than I thought.

However, I believe there is a state of mind you can only reach by staring at the terminal without eating or drinking and dedicating everything to stock trading.

“I rested plenty earlier, and I can rest for the next three days. I can hold out again.”

I said that seriously.

However, Lisa sighed and tapped the table lightly with her palm—tap, tap.

“Life is long, and you are still young. I won’t say ‘a place like that,’ but you need a slightly more normal life.”

“…So you’re saying stay here?”

“It’s not limited to here, but you don’t seem to have anywhere else. Do you plan to go home?”

I clasped my hands behind my head and leaned back.

“A lecture?”

Just as I thought here it comes, she gave an unexpected answer.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“A proposal.”

When I frowned, thinking don’t blow smoke up my ass, Lisa said plainly, not caring a bit about my reaction.

“I can’t approve of breaking the law, but people don’t exist for the sake of the law, either. So, I want to be of some help to people who get lost due to various circumstances.”

She says things that a person with a pure heart would say, without any shame.

I felt uncomfortable and squirmed in my chair, but Lisa was unpredictable as always.

“So, I introduce several jobs to people who come here. If you do that, you can stay here, right? What would you like?”

I stared at Lisa for a good few seconds before asking back.

“…Huh?”

“There are many people struggling around here, so they are understanding of people like you, Hal. Besides, everywhere is short-handed. Kitchen, delivery, construction, cleaning… those are the main ones. If it’s the kitchen, it’s a Chinese restaurant with me. Which one is good?”

Lisa was smiling across the table. The ones she just listed were all low-wage menial labor. The reason they are short-handed is that there are no takers for such jobs on this lunar surface.

However, imagining Lisa working at a Chinese restaurant made me a little curious to see it.

Fed up with myself for thinking that, I reached for the bread, only to have my hand lightly slapped.

“He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”

Even I understand that the logic of “I’m paying ten Mools so it’s fine” wouldn’t work here.

“…About how much is the pay for those four?”

“Let’s see, the highest is delivery. They said they’d pay nine Mools an hour.”

I don’t know what kind of face I was making, but Lisa’s reaction told me it wasn’t a good one.

“You have a complaint? It’s nine Mools. True, you’ll be entrusted with deliveries in places with large elevation changes, but you look surprisingly good at sports, don’t you?”

Delivery in a chaotic place like the Outer Districts, unlike the zoned areas like the White Belt or Newton City, makes me shudder just thinking about it.

Basically, at nine Mools an hour, even if I work my hardest, I’d make at most a hundred Mools a day. My investment results haven’t been great lately, but I’ve made over ten thousand Mools in a single day at my peak. Roughly a hundred days’ worth. It’s not worth talking about.

“Besides, I’d have to go out during the day, right?”

“Isn’t that obvious!”

I almost choked on the bread at her menacing intensity.

“This isn’t a child’s chore, you know? or did you think it was?”

I felt like I was being scolded by a meddlesome older sister, but strangely, I didn’t feel bad about it.

Perhaps I had been completely tamed by the room where I could sleep with my limbs stretched out and the delicious food.

I was amazed at my own spinelessness for not being able to say, “If you’re going to nag me, I’m leaving.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what?”

I sighed deeply and said,

“It’s just not worth the effort.”

Immediately after, Lisa opened her mouth to say something, but I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out a bare bill. A business card for angels, for when push comes to shove. If used in a church, the naming is truly correct.

I took out the largest denomination bill from the stack and placed it on the table.

I don’t dislike that afro’s place, but going back to the café before that dine-and-dash bastard gets caught is too high a risk of arrest.

However, unwilling to waste precious time on low-wage labor, I used the most powerful force on the Moon: money. In short, this is also an investment.

“I’ll deposit a hundred Mools. Keep me here for a while with this.”

“Eh…”

Lisa was surprised. Somehow, I felt like I couldn’t win against Lisa, so outsmarting her made me feel a little proud.

However, although I outsmarted her, her reaction was different from what I expected, making me flinch a little. Is she suspecting counterfeit money?

“No good?”

When I asked probingly, Lisa looked at me as if snapping back to reality.

“Eh? Yes… ah, no, of course, I won’t kick you out or anything…”

Lisa suddenly became flustered, which bothered me after all.

“…It’s not dirty money, you know?”

At my words, Lisa shook her head in a slight panic.

“Sorry. That’s not it.”

Then what is it? I was tempted to ask back, but since the conversation had successfully diverted from “do shitty manual labor,” I decided to settle the matter quickly.

“If there’s no problem, I want you to take it.”

And with that, I want her to let me stay here quietly for about ten days.

Lisa still stared at the money with a somewhat brooding face for a while.

However, in the end, she nodded slowly.

“Understood. I’ll accept it.”

When she took the bill with polite hands, she was back to the usual Lisa.

“Stay here for a while. You collapse into bed like a soldier returned from the battlefield. You’ll ruin your health eventually.”

Since there is no doubt I am fighting on a battlefield every day, I felt a slight pride in being evaluated that way.

“But, think properly about your future.”

At Lisa’s scolding, I just shrugged.

However, regarding the future, I’m thinking about it far more than the guys around here.

To earn an exorbitant amount of money and stand on untrodden ground—to fulfill my dream.

“Well, I can’t really talk about others, though.”

However, I was surprised that Lisa muttered such a thing.

“Are you done with your meal?”

Asked unexpectedly, I missed the chance to question her.

“Ah, yeah. It was good. Thanks for the meal.”

“You’re welcome.”

Watching her clear the dishes, I couldn’t quite understand how an adult like Lisa could wander aimlessly without thinking about the future.

However, other people are other people. I don’t have time to worry about them. I immediately opened my terminal and strove to gather information.

I have a purpose, a path to proceed, a dream to fulfill… I was fired up, but the letters of the news distorted, and the numbers didn’t enter my head.

Despite having slept that much, a fierce drowsiness attacked me.

Having eaten properly, the peaceful sound of clack, clack from washing dishes, the gentle air of the living room.

I held out for a while, but the pitch-black fatigue I had been desperately damming up burst forth like the oil fields I saw in videos.

“But, you know. ‘Early to bed, early to rise’ means you sleep all day and night properly…”

Lisa said while wiping her hands, laughing midway.

“Doesn’t seem like I need to worry about that.”

“Guh…”

“There’s a spare toothbrush in the washroom, so just brush your teeth and go to sleep.”

Honestly, it was a hassle, but resisting was even more of a hassle, so I nodded like a dead man and staggered to the washroom.

And I felt like I heard Lisa’s voice beyond the drowsiness, but wanting to sleep as soon as possible, I opened the washroom door. What lay ahead of my gaze was Hagana, wiping her body with a bath towel.

“…”

Facing me, whose mind went blank, the calm Hagana furrowed her brows and said:

“What.”

I immediately closed the door, but couldn’t leave the spot either, standing there like an idiot. The bath towel hid most of her body, but her wet black hair and exposed slender shoulders were terribly captivating.

Standing dumbfounded in front of the door, I was pulled back by Lisa’s hand. Then Lisa opened the door lightly, slipped inside, and came out holding a toothbrush.

I accepted it silently, brushed my teeth in the kitchen, staggered back to my room, and crawled into bed.

The first time I saw a girl’s nakedness up close.

However, what was perhaps most shocking was that Hagana wasn’t agitated in the slightest.

Along with a strange sense of defeat, I fell into a black sleep as if swallowed by crude oil.

---

Snap. I woke up. Naturally, there was no panic searching for my bag.

And, the sensation I could be certain of the moment I woke up: I’m in top form today.

Being able to toss and turn as much as I liked and sleeping in a bed without being on guard against theft was indescribably wonderful.

When I went out to the hallway, clothes were folded and placed there, so I changed into my familiar outfit.

However, since Hagana had called me smelly so much, I sniffed them a little before putting them on.

Okay. Should be.

After doing that, I went to the living room, where Lisa and Hagana were at the table nibbling on bread. Both of them noticed me, but Hagana immediately ignored me with a prim look.

“Good morning. You really are early.”

“…I told you so.”

“I think it’s rare for someone running away from home to be so regular.”

“None of your business.”

Even told that, Lisa was smiling happily, and I wasn’t seriously trying to be rude either. Somehow, it was embarrassing.

“Breakfast? Judging by your name, your parents are Japanese… or so you said. Do we have rice?”

“I don’t particularly need that stuff.”

“Oh, really? Then, is the same thing okay?”

In the end, Lisa cooked bread and bacon and eggs for me.

It seems that the people who were on Earth long ago didn’t think humans could eat the same things as on Earth if they advanced to places other than Earth. In other words, mysterious tube-shaped synthetic food and eerie supplements in colors never seen before. In fact, some things were made like that on purpose, but they didn’t go beyond the realm of joke food. The first thing immigrants are surprised by is that the visible parts of the Lunar City are almost unchanged from Earth.

Of course, I don’t really get that emotion.

“Thanks for the meal. I’m borrowing the net connection.”

I tried it a little in my room, but the signal reception was bad. Even a 0.1-second difference can determine whether a trade is established or not, and I might miss a huge profit. As I sat down on the floor by the window, same as last night, Lisa spoke.

“Yes, yes. It’s fine, but… you’re not doing anything bad, right?”

I don’t know myself if betting large sums of money on the mere rise and fall of numbers, and in some cases earning in an instant an amount that people spend a lifetime earning, is a bad thing or not.

There is only one thing I can say.

“It is perfectly legal. I am not breaking any laws. I guarantee that much.”

“…Then, I won’t ask in detail.”

I thought she might press a bit more, so when I looked at her with surprise, Lisa laughed slightly and shrugged.

“Because boys are creatures that die if they don’t have secrets.”

I’m sure she doesn’t actually think that, but for some reason, my chest felt fluffy.

So I fell silent and logged into my securities trading account.

By that time, everything around me had already been driven out of my head.

My interest was directed toward extracting money from the rise and fall of numbers.

The market was somewhat volatile.

Some Earth markets were experiencing turbulence, and the globally interconnected financial world was feeling the impact. The cause was something familiar—Russia sending troops to a former satellite state over gas fields, or something like that.

There’s a joke on the Moon that says you can just copy and paste world history textbooks and change the dates. It’s a jab at how Earth keeps repeating the same stupid things no matter how much time passes.

Watching from the Moon, you understand well that conflict and tragedy never disappear from Earth. It has thousands of years of history, billions of people living on it, and the grudges of the past and ad-hoc systems creaking twenty-five hours a day. That is Earth.

An immigrant in my village, who came from a particularly dangerous region on Earth, once said this:

—Looking at Earth from the window of the orbital elevator, I could see all the hopeless problems shrinking away along with my birthplace.

They say there are still places on Earth where more missiles rain down than rain itself, and more landmines bloom than spring flowers.

The reason there are people who want to come to the Moon even as simple laborers is that there are too many who don’t want to live on Earth, which is supposed to be their mother planet. And the scary part is that the people in developed countries on Earth seem to be completely ignorant of that situation.

In the first place, how many people see the world situation flowing as news and feel pain in their hearts? The ones watching such news seriously are surely only thinking about money—how the conflict will affect crude oil production, or how that will affect the economies of developed countries.

The Lunar City, in particular, gathers such people.

The fact that the Moon always faces the same side toward Earth feels like it’s staring with a cold, unblinking eye of surveillance.

Just like how I stare unblinkingly at the flow of numbers and news, trying to wring out even a little profit from it.

“Phew…”

And the moment the trading time ended, I sighed. With the switch to log out from the net world, my soul, which had been swallowed by the terminal screen, returned to the vessel called my body.

This sensation of my consciousness slamming on the brakes from the accelerated world of trading and crashing back into the world where gravity and time exist.

Not bad, I always think.

However, that only lasts until I recall today’s trading performance.

I was glued to the screen from the morning, trading relentlessly without eating or drinking, and the total profit was seventeen Mools. I earned the lodging fee for one day here, but my heart isn’t big enough to call that a plus. Although there are days when things go well and days like this, I’m still treading water as usual.

I’m scared to calculate how much I’ve increased since last week.

Feeling a sudden wave of fatigue in my back, I rolled onto the floor while still sitting cross-legged.

“…”

Only in this moment, nothing floats in my mind. Since I sometimes trade even in my dreams, this is surely a moment more relaxed than when I’m sleeping. It is said that most of the excellent leaders who once held hegemony on Earth slept only a few minutes to at most an hour a day. I understand those words painfully well. If you want to conquer the world, there are too many things to think about, so there is no time to sleep.

Someone among the people constituting the world is always moving and continuing to influence this world. Therefore, if you sleep, you distance yourself from the leading edge of the world by that much.

Even just trying to conquer the stock market, I have to allocate most of my brain’s operating capacity to it. And I am far from conquering it.

However, someday I will conquer this market, withdraw infinite money from it, pile it up, and reach out. To the door leading to untrodden land, to slide into the first step of humanity heading beyond the Moon.

My brain stopped relaxing, and I felt new, boiling blood circulating into my drained brain. If I rot in stagnation, I will only fall further behind. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to sit up in one go.

It was truly a sheer accident that all my movements, including my thoughts, stopped right there.

“…”

When I opened my eyes, my vision went pitch black.

No.

To be precise, there was black fabric. Part of it traced a unique slender outline, and part of it showed the shape of jaggedly folded pleats.

And deep inside, through a gap in the black fabric, white fabric was visible.

Those things passed smoothly over my head. What my gaze caught afterward was Hagana’s face, turning around as if she suddenly noticed something.

“What.”

Neither shy nor embarrassed, let alone angry, Hagana looked at me completely as if looking at a pebble. Like the bath incident last night, Hagana doesn’t seem to view me as a person.

It seems Her Highness Hagana had business with the cupboard next to the kitchen, and to take the shortest route, she stepped over me.

It’s true that I was the one lying in a strange place, but if she’s equipped with defenseless gear like a skirt, shouldn’t she be the one to be a little more careful?

Or rather, as I was sitting up while being tormented by the unreasonableness of why I was the one hurt, an unexpected voice called out.

“Where is Lisa?”

Hagana opened the refrigerator and seemingly drank milk—which boasts nutritional efficiency far superior to chemical synthesis—leaving a white mustache around her mouth.

“Don’t know.”

Despite treating people like idiots, the stupidity of having a white mustache around her mouth is strangely irritating. When I answered bluntly, Hagana frowned blatantly enough that I could almost hear a sound.

“You were here the whole time, weren’t you? Why don’t you know?”

Are you stupid?

Her momentum was such that I could almost hear those words.

It is an unmistakable fact that I was here the whole time, but if I’m concentrating on trading, I wouldn’t notice even if someone stood behind me unless they hit me on the head. I thought about explaining that, but since it was a hassle, I decided to ignore her.

Hagana was glaring at me irritably, but I spat out in my heart go ahead and be angry on your own and fiddled with my terminal.

Just then, opening the door of the hallway leading to the sanctuary, Lisa returned. In her hand, she carried a hemp sack stuffed with this and that. Following the Lunar City’s policy of recycling everything recyclable, the hemp sack was patched up here and there so much that it looked like a pattern.

“I’m hoome… Hmm?”

Entering the living room, Lisa seemed to sensitively sniff out the atmosphere of the place.

Or rather, since that Hagana has been silently shooting daggers at me the whole time, even an idiot would understand.

I continued to fiddle with my terminal without looking at Hagana at all.

“Hagana.”

When Lisa called her name, her gaze shifted like a dog looking at its owner.

“Brain cells die when you get angry, you know.”

What’s that.

When I inadvertently looked up, to my surprise, Hagana was nodding.

She accepts such childish words?

Ignored by me, who was taken aback, Hagana was grinding her temples with her fingers as if I were no longer in her eyes.

Then, keeping her eyes closed, she deftly poured milk into a cup and tried to drink a second cup.

Before drinking, she chanted a spell like this.

“Calcium calms anger.”

“Exactly.”

It doesn’t look like a joking exchange, but I couldn’t tell if it was acting or serious.

Hagana finished drinking the milk and said while watching Lisa throw the things she bought into the refrigerator.

“Lisa, the auditorium key.”

“Eh? Oh, didn’t I give it to you?”

“I haven’t received it, and I searched everywhere I could think of. The remaining possibilities are that Lisa has it, or that guy sto—”

“Ah, yes, wait a moment… umm…”

Stopping just before Hagana pointed at me with pinpoint accuracy, Lisa rummaged through her pockets and the hemp sack.

Apparently, she had put it in her wallet.

“I have to do something about my habit of putting small things in my wallet. Will you make it in time?”

“Even if I’m late, I will explain the circumstances properly. That it is Lisa who is at fault, not me.”

She said it clearly and decisively.

Although smiling somewhat bitterly, it seemed to happen often, so Lisa wasn’t particularly shaken.

“…That’s right. Yes, please explain clearly that it was my mistake.”

“Right. Simple logic.”

Saying that, Hagana took the key and turned around.

The hem of her skirt spread lightly, and her beautiful long hair drew an even more beautiful arc.

Then, she left the living room almost without making a sound, and the sound of the door to her room closing was heard. Left behind, Lisa sighed good grief, looked at me, and smiled lightly wryly.

Then, without much interval, the sound of the door opening and closing was heard again, and Hagana returned to the living room. In her hand, she carried a small black bag.

“Well then, I’m off.”

“Yes, have a good day.”

Hagana greeted only Lisa, and without saying anything to me, she cut across the living room and walked down the hallway leading to the sanctuary.

No, to be precise, she shot me a cold glance that seemed to say, “Oh, you were still here?”

Apparently, Hagana recognized me completely as an enemy.

“She really is a bit of a difficult girl, isn’t she?”

However, those muttered words from Lisa supported the fact that it wasn’t unilaterally my fault.

“A bit?”

I seized the opportunity to direct words at her.

“Just a bit. She’s actually a good girl.”

“Isn’t that the typical line to defend a hopeless person?”

Lisa, who had been looking down with her hand on her cheek, turned slightly cold eyes toward me.

“I don’t think you’re one to be ignorant of how broad-minded I am?”

“…Okay, I get it. Don’t get angry…”

“Yup. That’s good.”

Lisa smiled brightly and carefully folded the empty hemp sack.

“So, what should we do? Is an early dinner better?”

“Huh?”

Taken aback by the unexpected question, I asked back.

“You didn’t eat lunch, right? Or rather, even when I talked to you, you didn’t react at all. What were you doing?”

Her exasperated expression didn’t feel like an interrogation.

I scratched my head and mumbled to evade the question.

“Well, fine. So, if you want to eat early, I’ll make it now, but what do you want to do?”

“Huh? Ah, no… I mean, isn’t it a hassle to make separate meals?”

“Of course it is… It’s surprising. You can be considerate like that.”

“I’m running away from home, but I’m not a delinquent or anything.”

Lisa brushed off my claim with a light sigh.

“Your language is thuggish, though.”

“…Shut up…”

“So, about whether to make it early or not, if we wait for Hagana, it will be a bit late.”

“Ah…”

Imagining the scene of having dinner together with that Hagana made a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Besides… seeing how she was earlier, maybe I shouldn’t force it.”

Me aside, Hagana’s hostility toward me is extraordinary.

I don’t know what exactly she finds so objectionable, but she was like that even before I saw her naked and looked up her skirt.

“Of course, eventually I intend to have you two share the table amicably.”

“Geh.”

I inadvertently let that slip out.

I don’t even want to hear such optimistic pacifist opinions.

“Well, a ball bounces violently the moment it hits the ground. But eventually, it settles down, right? Things like this are often solved by getting used to it.”

It was a way of speaking that played the role of a mentor in life, but I was a little relieved.

“I thought you were going to say, ‘Let’s shake hands and make up.'”

“Hmm? I could make you do that… but I’m surprisingly realistic.”

“That helps.”

I said, took a light deep breath, and returned to the topic.

“For me, nothing beats eating early.”

“Then, right. Shall I make it?”

“That would be helpful.”

When I deliberately used polite language, Lisa snorted as if laughing at a cheeky child.

Then, Lisa put on an apron and stood in the kitchen, but looking at her back, I called out.

“Hey.”

“Hmm? What?”

“What is that girl doing going out with a bag like that?”

If it’s evening, school is generally over, and while it’s not a problem for young people to wander around, “going out” while running away from home seemed too incongruous.

“Not ‘that girl,’ Hagana.”

“…Even she calls me ‘that guy’…”

“Why don’t you make the first move? Besides, surely that girl is just a little shy. She’s really a good child to me.”

“She didn’t look like she was listening to you yesterday, though?”

“Ugh… Anyway, it’s Hagana. Hagana.”

“Okay, okay, shut up.”

“Good grief… So, Hagana, was it? She’s working. That girl is working as a teacher.”

My breath stopped for a good few seconds.

“S-Seriously!?”

“Seriously, seriously.”

Having my tone mimicked, I pursed my lips.

“Stop acting cool and talk normally.”

“Shut up…”

I could only reply with that; I was being treated completely like a child.

It’s frustrating, but overall, it seems I can’t win against Lisa.

“But… a teacher? That thing?”

“That’s right. That girl is incredibly smart.”

“…Certainly, she looks down on people amazingly…”

“I certainly won’t deny that part, but… to some extent, her eyes are just naturally like that. She cares about it herself, so I’m asking you too, please don’t get too angry about that.”

“…Hah.”

I laughed lightly through my nose and looked away.

However, I didn’t completely blow it away with a snort; the fact that Hagana cares about her bad look touched a chord in me.

A little cute.

“She gathers neighborhood children and teaches them. She’s very earnest. I used to do something similar before, but it didn’t work out. I can handle humanities subjects, but there’s absolutely no demand.”

“Ah? Is that so?”

“Hagana is hardcore science. Knowledge that works anywhere in the world is nice, isn’t it? I graduated from a university on the Moon too, you know? But my specialty was the relationship between Catholicism and indigenous beliefs in medieval Europe.”

“…What’s that?”

“Right… There’s no one who comes all the way to the Moon to learn Earth’s history, especially religious history… Even the university professors came here intending to teach liberal arts subjects, so when I begged them to open a lab, they were beyond surprised and just exasperated.”

“Well… if you pay to learn, it’s math or physics, I guess.”

Physical labor is replaced by machines, those machines are all governed by physics, and physics is built on the foundation of mathematics. If you master either of those two, it is the same as having the power to manipulate the world.

Even without that, mathematics has been compatible with making money since ancient times. The one whom a nobleman addicted to dice gambling sought help from long ago was the mathematician Blaise Pascal, and the man who first found a winning strategy for blackjack and broke the casino also made full use of mathematics.

In the modern world of investment, the situation hasn’t changed, and mathematical geniuses are in high demand.

There is a type of investment that can only be done by magicians with Ph.D.s, carrying all the achievements of hundreds of years since Pascal’s research. Their brains surpass supercomputers calculating the universe, so predicting the future and making money in stocks is a piece of cake for them. Because they are the ones in the position to create those supercomputers.

I am confident that I have investigated most things about investment and tried everything that seemed usable, but this alone is beyond me. Of course, even with the intelligence to gather neighborhood kids and be a teacher, it would still be an impossible realm.

“Other than that, chemistry or biology… medical school tuition is too high, so the investment efficiency seems subtle. Or rather, this is common sense if you live on the Moon.”

“Exactly. As if to say, if it doesn’t make money, it’s not learning. It’s lamentable.”

I don’t know if it’s lamentable, but it is certain that Lisa has made quite a few wrong life choices on this Moon. To succeed on the Moon, there is no time to learn literature or history. It’s science subjects led by mathematics, or if it’s humanities, economics or business management.

However, whether Lisa regrets it because of that, there is not a speck of that feeling.

The reason I can trust her is that, after all is said and done, I feel she has roots growing properly from the soles of her feet and is standing firmly on the ground.

“But still, for her to be a teacher…”

I muttered and tried to imagine it. Dressed all in black, with eyes and tone looking down on people completely, standing at the podium asking, “You don’t even understand this?”

That’s a situation that seems to have demand in its own way, but I’ll pass. Basically, I highly doubt whether that short-tempered Hagana can handle brats who are no different from animals. She’d warn them only the first time, and from the second time on, she’d likely hit or poke them with a stick without saying anything.

It suits her too well; it’s scary.

“I can roughly tell what you’re thinking.”

“Because… you’d hate a teacher like that, right…”

“Actually, the children are attached to her.”

Lisa lowered her voice as if telling a secret.

Apparently, Lisa herself didn’t expect the children to be attached to her.

“Well, she’s become an important pillar of our church management. That girl pushes all her earnings onto me. Even though God admonishes against greed, He doesn’t demand excessive honest poverty.”

“…I don’t really get it… but I understood that you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“That’s right. If I judged by appearances, I wouldn’t have saved you.”

“Keh.”

I said that and returned to selecting the trees that bear money.

Muscular strength training on the Moon generally borrows the power of springs due to the low gravity.

Sets of rods and coils for that purpose are sold via mail order and have become hugely popular products.

However, it is extremely doubtful how many people actually buy and use them. After all, the health equipment company that made a fortune with that rod and coil set has released a series of similar products and must have sold about three million sets in total sales, but no matter how you look at it, owning just one from that series should be enough.

Moreover, the Moon’s population is around 700,000, and even including tourists, it tops out at a million. This means there are many people who buy, barely use, and then buy a new one again. Continuing to use one tool properly is one of the most difficult things in using that tool. And that fact is not written in the instruction manual.

Listening to the words I heard from my stubborn and old-fashioned father repeating on their own in my head, I finished my usual training. Training that applies load to arms, shoulders, legs, lower back, and abs, and cultivates a sense of balance with handstands and light somersaults, takes twenty minutes at most. Since I’m not aiming to be an athlete, more than that is unnecessary.

In the first place, I’m doing this because the guys in my hometown village—the type who absolutely never speak lies or vanity—all said in unison: “Keep your body trained, at least. It will definitely be useful.”

On the lunar surface where the net is at its zenith, gravity is low, and electricity is stable and nearly infinite, manual labor is classified as the lowest of the low. No one has become a millionaire through manual labor. At best, it’s show business making a spectacle of that strength, but even then, the one who gets the biggest profit is not the strong man, but the manager who hires him.

However, once I ran away from home and stepped outside the rules of society, I found that their words indeed contained a lot of truth. I think the reason I haven’t been caught by the police or sent back to my parents’ home is also thanks to their advice. As expected of guys who fled from modern dinosaurs like guerrillas, secret police, and warlords.

I wiped my sweat with a towel and put on the clothes that Lisa and Hagana called smelly.

It seems they finally stopped smelling after being washed twice, but I felt like something important—like a mental attitude that had finally soaked into the clothes over these three months—had been washed away with it.

One of the things I realized after leaving home is that the smell of detergent makes people relax.

The word “cleanliness” has an image of weakness.

But well, this isn’t bad either.

I went to the living room, had breakfast, told Lisa I was going out, then returned to my room and shouldered my bag.

Since today is Sunday, markets related to trading are closed. Above all, schools are also closed, so it’s a precious day when I won’t be blamed for walking around outside. Incidentally, the thief in question seems to have been splendidly caught, so the possibility of being sent back to my parents’ home due to false arrest is also gone.

By the way, according to the story Lisa heard from the neighborhood network, the culprit seems to have been a runaway boy. Leaving home without any means, committing crimes, and causing trouble—a truly typical idiot. Probably not an Earth immigrant, but a guy born and raised on the Moon. I understand this because I am born and raised on the Moon, but there are very many Moon rats whose heads are fuzzy, perhaps due to the low gravity, compared to guys from Earth.

On the lunar surface, working to maintain the city is considered more important than anything, but in reality, since the geniuses and talented people in Newton City earn enormous amounts of money, you can live off the crumbs as long as pride isn’t an issue. In fact, the guys loitering in the Outer Districts are existences close to such parasites.

However, the real reason Moon rats are looked down upon probably isn’t such economic talk.

Guys who come to the Moon from Earth, including tourists, all come with a tremendous sense of purpose. Because they come to achieve something on the Moon.

It might be to live a peaceful life they couldn’t get on Earth, or to live every day filled with stimulation they couldn’t get on Earth.

In any case, they know well what it means to move forward for a purpose.

Riding the orbital elevator costs a not-cheap amount of money if done the proper way, and to receive discounts or exemptions, you have to clear tremendous hurdles through effort or rely on luck, so coming to the Moon is a special thing.

That’s why there are very many Earth bastards who properly understand where they came from, where they are, and what they should do. Literally, their feet are on the ground.

In contrast, since Moon rats were not born on the Moon by choice, things like what they want to do on the Moon or longing for the Moon do not exist. They cannot understand most of the enthusiasm people from Earth have for the Moon.

As a result, Moon rats are told they are vague or that their feet aren’t on the ground.

Of course, I think I’m a lump of sense of purpose that won’t lose to Earth bastards, but I inevitably have the debt of conscience of being born on the Moon.

My dislike of Earth bastards originated from such places.

When I tied my shoelaces and went out to the hallway, the house was silent. After eating breakfast, Lisa went out saying something about being called by the university. I know that Hagana bastard is here, but she seems to be holed up in her own room except for the toilet, and not a sound can be heard from there. I don’t know what she’s doing, but it feels somewhat eerie. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were dissecting a stray cat.

Therefore, I have packed all my personal belongings in my bag as usual. There is no guarantee that Hagana won’t smash my terminal with a hammer while I’m gone.

In addition, I didn’t walk down the hallway to the living room.

Instead, I climbed the stairs leading to the second floor. This church extends upward with the second and third floors clinging to the cliff. Climbing the narrow and steep stairs, there is a small garden in a slight space carved out of the cliff, and two rooms made clinging to the cliff. Both are on a steep slope, so the rooms themselves are small, but one seems to be Lisa’s room. A white-painted chair and table are placed in the small garden.

The stairs leading further up are more like a ladder than stairs. Lisa deftly climbed this ladder and was drying laundry in the third-floor garden.

The building part of the third floor is more of a storage shed than a room, and passing through it leads to a plot close to the rooftop. The door is wooden but cheekily has an auto-lock, and there is a handwritten note by Lisa saying “Don’t forget the key when leaving.” She must have been locked out a few times. Of course, I intend to enter from the front entrance when returning, so I go straight out.

The Moon is right in the middle of the “daytime” that lasts two weeks, so this time when the dome covering the Lunar City transmits light feels very good. The Earth can be seen in the same position today too. This garden is rather luxuriously spacious given the location, and a large tree grows nestling against the cliff behind it. Perhaps for Lisa or Hagana to relax in the shade of the tree, a folding chair is placed, and lilies were swaying in the flower bed. Laundry is also being dried now, but since it’s obvious at a glance whose is whose, I gently avert my gaze.

Anyway, because the cliff is so steep here, the view from the surroundings is blocked, while it was a good place to overlook everything.

From under my feet, I could overlook the cluttered cityscape of the 6th Outer District; there were people relaxing and reading on terminals on rooftops, and I could see people repairing roofs. Perhaps there is a bakery or a cleaner, as some buildings were emitting steam from unsightly chimneys, and there were also houses under construction.

However, my purpose isn’t to explore around there.

It would have been fine to run up the cliff behind here and run on top of the plateau, but I’d probably come out onto someone’s property and get the police called on me.

I did some light bending and stretching, found a path leading to the top of the plateau that passed narrowly through the gap between houses visible from this garden, took a run-up toward it, and jumped off the garden.

My destination was far, far beyond what I could see from the garden.

It was the skyscrapers of Newton City, stretching sharply as if rebelling against Earth.

---

I went out to the downtown area of the 6th Outer District and got on a train. It has the dry name “Lunar Development Train,” but it is literally the train from when the lunar surface was developed. At the start and end points of the station, dolls wearing typical space suits are displayed in dioramas working in the so-called lunar desert. Even though you can relive it as much as you want on the net, it’s always strange to see tourists flocking to those dioramas gratefully and taking pictures.

Previously, when some smart guy placed a box with a small slit on a whim, tourists mistook it for a donation box and put in mountains of small change. However, what that smart guy failed to foresee was the stupidity of the tourists who put in enough money to fill the box in just a few hours; the prank was exposed because of tourists complaining to station staff that they couldn’t put money in because it was overflowing.

Since then, capitalizing on the failure of the smart idiot, station staff placed a huge box and collected small change from tourists with it, without claiming it was a donation or anything. It could be said to be a well-made example that even a good money-making scheme can come to nothing if the execution is sloppy.

Since land with an environment where humans can live is very scarce on the lunar surface, the Lunar Development Train runs through the town shrinking its body apologetically.

The train passed right by the vulgarly dense buildings, and the inside of those lives could be seen well from the window. Tourists frolic happily when they catch a glimpse of buildings or lives in the cultural style of their own country.

Naturally, there is no cultural style anywhere that I am happy to see.

The Moon is a melting pot of immigrants, and since it’s a place where only guys who desperately wanted to shake off Earth’s gravity gather, there are places where the colors are even thinner. So, the various things along the railroad tracks can be said to be a bit of a performance. A guy who wants to stick to the cultural life of his birthplace will be looked at with very cold eyes here. Because this is the Moon, not Earth.

Passing a few stations, the cityscape eventually changes.

Changing from a vulgar atmosphere to an orderly cityscape, it becomes increasingly stateless. Buildings that do not exist in the natural world, drawing straight lines and elegant curves, increase, and there are many beautifully trimmed trees. We have entered the White Belt.

Electronic advertisements inside the car also become targeted at office workers working in companies, with many things like home ownership and insurance for families.

Also, from here on, the ground drops rapidly, and the train moves away from the ground. The beautiful cityscape eventually spreads out below, finally reaching a height of about the tenth floor of a building.

The buildings are beautiful, with park greenery here and there, and larger waterways peeking out.

If you took a picture and put it in a frame, the title would be “Harmony.”

Far beyond that, the vulgar town of Red Valley is visible, making for quite a contrast.

As I was doing that, the train gained even more altitude. The cityscape below also changed from residential areas to commercial facilities standing out, becoming an inorganic concrete jungle.

Although the train should be at a height of about the twentieth floor of a building, fewer buildings passing by allow a view of the sky. Newton City is approaching. Beyond the glass windows, figures of people working busily can be seen, and electronic advertising signs begin to appear here and there.

Eventually, the train was enveloped in shadow as if entering a dense forest, and visibility suddenly worsened.

Threading through the forest of skyscrapers and making a large detour in an arc, the view suddenly opened up.

The Grand Plaza in front of Central Station in Newton City.

The space hollowed out there like a huge atrium blows the minds of not only those from Earth but also humans raised on the Moon. A huge clock and holographic screen, existing 162 meters above the ground and suspended by nanowires, float in the very center of that vast space.

The train proceeded along the corner of the plaza and was eventually sucked into the terminal station.

A place where the greatest wealth and honor in the human world gather, not just in the Lunar City.

I got off the train and counted the number of advertisements that caught my eye. Three nanotechnology companies. Four major software companies. Two biotech companies. Two insurance companies. Six banks. And five investment banks. All of them boast world-renowned profit rates and sales, fulfilling the role of a vacuum cleaner sucking up Earth’s wealth to the Lunar City. Listing world companies by market capitalization, thirty-seven of the top one hundred are on the Moon. That number is greater than London or New York.

Many companies abandoned Earth to set up headquarters here, and even more companies made it big here.

The new world gathers excellent brains, and in this era, if you have excellent brains and an internet connection, you can outsmart the world as much as you want.

Because Earth has a long history, almost every place visible has been fully developed, and old geezers sit atop the power structure acting big forever. The lunar surface was not a situation where any country could claim exclusive rights, and Earthlings didn’t have attachment to territory to put into practice the idea of ruling the lunar surface even by forming alliances, like in the old war periods.

Therefore, the lunar surface literally became a vacant lot with no obstacles. Even if you didn’t come here first, being second or third was enough to become one of the leading actors of the city.

They didn’t leave footprints displayed in the “Sea of Tranquility” Memorial Museum, but they were undoubtedly those who stood at the forefront of humanity.

For example, there is a bronze bust in front of the central exit of Central Station.

It is said that E.J. Rockberg, the model for the statue looking down on passersby with a serious face, would have ended up as just a mere excellent banker if he were on Earth.

Now the CEO of an investment bank that ranks in the top three on the lunar surface, he played a role in investing in the Lunar Development Train when he was only twenty-nine. He is one of those who bet his life career and entire fortune on lunar development, which everyone vaguely thought was done on momentum even at the time.

There are plenty of such examples.

Creating a city from zero hadn’t happened on Earth for a long time, so everyone didn’t understand the true meaning of it, many leading actors say. That we just rode that wave well.

While agreeing with those words, I know well that not everyone can do well.

After all, my parents arrived on the lunar surface around the same time as E.J. Rockberg, yet the difference in income is evident. The work they do involves removing rocks to make soil, growing trees, and processing them.

What trillion years ago work is that? Or rather, if it’s that, they should just do it on Earth.

That’s why I purposely take the train and come to Newton City occasionally so as not to forget what’s important. Especially since trading hasn’t been going well lately, it was also to psych myself up.

That place is located where you exit the station in the opposite direction of the Grand Plaza and pass to the right of the Lunar Administration Building towering in front of you. In Newton City, where there are many glass-walled buildings, there are many buildings made of materials that look like dull rock carved out. Therefore, at first glance, it looks plain.

However, rather, it had an intimidating air that made you feel something like unparalleled powerful gravity. That is the Financial District where banks and investment banks stand side by side.

At the entrance of the street, a curt road sign stands. Following the lunar custom of naming things after those who made important contributions to scientific history, it reads Schrödinger Street.

And beside it was a small bronze statue of a cat. The cat narrowed its eyes slyly and lay on a single gold plate. On the gold plate, it was written:

You never know until you open the lid.

I think it is the most suitable thing for a financial district. I haven’t fallen low enough to pray to something on the Moon, but I can’t resist the superstition that luck improves if you stroke this cat’s head.

I stroked the cat’s head and traced the gold plate with my finger.

You never know until you open the lid.

I come here to tell myself those words. There are many who started their careers as errand boys and eventually became masters of the huge buildings lining this street.

I came here to restore my spirits.

The Schrödinger Street on a holiday was mostly filled with sightseers like me.

There were some people walking around busily in suits, but the guards protecting the main entrance of a building that must have been five meters high were yawning out of boredom.

There was a hot dog stand on the street. The monthly income of big-shot bankers and hotshot traders who work in this neighborhood and make a killing easily exceeds one million Mools, but it’s a famous shop in the industry because they also eat hot dogs at this stand, mingling with fledgling messengers who make six Mools an hour.

It seems they like that it comes out ten seconds after ordering and can be eaten with one hand. Eating in a roofed shop is for second-rate people, and buying a bento box and sitting down makes you a laughingstock.

So, pretending to be a fledgling on this street, I always buy a hot dog too.

“Working on a holiday?”

Being told something like that, I was given a thick sausage.

If this happened in the Outer Districts, I would think, “Don’t mock me, I have a decent income,” but being seen as a member of this street makes my nostrils flare with pride.

For me, making money is a means, not an end. However, I inevitably feel admiration and respect for the guys running straight ahead on the path I decided was the only way to become rich as quickly as possible after thinking it through. Above all, there is a specific greatness in those who achieve what many desire but cannot do, no matter what it is.

So I thanked him and started walking faster than usual, like a resident of this street.

Newton City is generally divided into three layers for effective land use.

Underground layer, ground layer, and aerial layer.

Where I am now is the most popular aerial layer, and the main entrance of every building is here.

Not only the main branch of E.J. Rockberg Bank, which supports the lunar economy, but also the buildings of major investment banks like Harald Bros. and Platinum Smith are dignifiedly located here, not losing out to anyone.

Below the aerial layer is the ground layer, which consists of related companies and rental sections. If it comes to the lower part of this street, companies trying to somehow wrench money from the financial market are jostling each other.

Walking while biting a hot dog, occasionally there are small buildings that look somewhat ashamed, but their signs are gold-plated, and chandeliers and paintings are decorated in the atrium of the hall.

This is not a place that handles money, but a place where guys who handle huge amounts of money get the seal of approval from the law. Major law firms, accounting firms, and branch agencies of governments on Earth.

Continuing on, a building shaped like the Roman Colosseum comes into view before the intersection. The entrance is located up dozens of stairs from the street, and the stairs alone form a plaza. The reason they can use space so wastefully in this city is that it is a special place.

Situated at the intersection with Gauss Street, where software companies and media companies line the street, is the Lunar General Securities Exchange, a place that could be called the source of this city’s wealth. Not only lunar companies but also prominent companies from all over the world are listed here, boasting the highest trading volume in the world. Enormous amounts of money, trillions of Mools, fly back and forth every day; it could be called the pinnacle of capitalism and human development.

There were many tourists, too. Watching those taking pictures in front of the customary bronze statue at the entrance at the top of the stairs, I sat halfway up the huge stairs of the exchange and slowly nibbled the rest of my hot dog.

Everything here is big and profound.

I am a kid worth less than a tissue here, buying a hot dog at best.

However, I have to earn money with just one terminal in the bag on my back and someday become one of the major players here. I have to stand shoulder to shoulder with them, twist them down, and wrench money from the table.

That is merely a preliminary stage for fulfilling my dream, but when I actually place myself in that location, it seems reckless enough to make my legs tremble.

After all, the opponents are guys who graduated at the top of their class from super-famous universities and have been fighting in the financial world for thirty years, geniuses who wrote world-leading mathematical papers at the age of ten, or super-rich families with overwhelming funds.

But in this world where demons and monsters run rampant, there are many great people in the past who fought through without education or backing and wrenched away huge sums of money.

Then, there is no reason why I cannot be one of them.

You never know until you open the lid.

Money. Anyway, money.

What I want so badly is swirling here.

I couldn’t sit still anymore, crumpled the hot dog wrapper, and stood up. The slump in trading for a while now seemed like nothing more than a speck of dust flying in the universe.

I’ll go back and search for money-bearing trees like crazy.

And someday, I will become an entity to be reckoned with here.

To grasp my dream beyond that.

Breathing hard, I ran through the street.

---

In the train on the way back, I hugged my bag again, looking at the huge skyscrapers of Newton City moving away. As expected, going to Newton City fully restores my mental strength worn down by a week of trading.

On the other hand, the scenery visible from the train soon changed so much that it was hard to believe it was the same lunar surface, with many buildings looking like they were about to collapse at any moment.

Getting off at the last stop, I saw people dropping fishing lines into the waterway, people growing something to save on food costs. I even saw people selling steamed buns, knife sharpeners, and shoe repair contractors. A place full of life, never associated with enormous profits. I clicked my tongue at no one in particular and took a shortcut by jumping over several buildings.

Being yelled at by an old man napping on a roof, I kicked the roof of a four-story building and jumped up. In the distance, I could see the cliff that serves as the boundary with the 7th Outer District. If I jumped higher, I would probably see the dirty building district where Big Bull Café is located.

However, I couldn’t fly in the sky forever, and I slowly fell, pulled by gravity one-sixth of Earth’s. Bending my knees to absorb plenty of inertia, I gained further distance with one last jump.

I can only do this on streets with little pedestrian traffic, and in some cases, I might be chased by the police for dangerous behavior.

Still, this sense of speed is irresistible.

It’s perfect for me, excited from Newton City.

I arrived at the church in the blink of an eye.

Now, shall I diligently select stocks that will bring me wealth? I opened the huge door and entered. It was that moment.

“Hey!”

A man’s shout echoed.

For a moment, I thought I had entered a different church by mistake, but it seemed not.

Immediately after, I heard a familiar voice.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Dammit, stay still!”

Threats could be heard from the hallway leading to the main house. My mind spun idly for a few moments, and immediately after, I flared up.

Lisa went to the university, so only Hagana should be in the church. Sofas and such were overturned, and sounds of struggle could be heard.

While my heart tried to pump blood furiously, my head tried to assess the situation calmly.

Police?

If so, I should turn on my heel right now and run for my life. Whatever happens to that damn cheeky Hagana is none of my business.

However, if that wasn’t the case.

“There is no money here!”

At Hagana’s desperate scream, I moved my body almost unconsciously.

Without throwing my bag, I jumped onto the backrests of the lined-up pews, leaped over them, and kicked open the door leading to the main house.

Immediately after, what caught my eye was the back of a small man.

The man grabbed both of Hagana’s thin wrists and was in a posture as if leaning over Hagana, who had fallen on her backside. The overturned sofa, the flipped carpet, and Hagana’s thin legs visible beyond the man predicted something terribly disgusting.

Hagana is a girl, even if she is damn irritating.

Anger welled up so much that adrenaline seemed to burst directly from the pores of my head.

A moment later, I jumped at him with all my might and stomped down with my right foot. On the low-gravity Moon, striking isn’t very effective, but my body inevitably desired to put anger into a fist.

Whether it was the sound of my stomping foot, or perhaps he actually noticed me when I kicked the door open, the man might have turned around.

Anyway, my fist cleanly hit the cheek of the opponent who turned around in surprise at the sudden event.

However, my anger couldn’t surpass the laws of physics, and it passed through with almost no resistance.

Nevertheless, it seemed enough. By the time I braced myself with the leg opposite to my pivot leg to resist the inertia of my own fist and finished twisting my body, the opponent collapsed on the spot while spinning like a joke.

He wasn’t unconscious, but perhaps concussed; his unfocused eyes and hands trying to grab something were trembling and stiff.

Having calmed down somewhat after landing a blow, I called out to Hagana while taking a stance to kick the fallen guy away anytime.

“Are you okay?”

And then I realized.

Hagana had fallen on her backside and was still cowering in a strange posture. However, although her face was pale with blood drained from it, only her eyes were filled with a strange light. It was a dangerous look, as if she would kill the opponent using any means necessary.

Something might have been done to her.

Anger welled up in me again at that thought. I grabbed the hand of the man who had put his hand on the overturned sofa trying to stand up somehow, and twisted it up with all my strength.

His body rolled easily, and severe pain seemed to clarify the intruder’s consciousness.

“Owww!”

A grand scream went up, but I raised my voice not to lose.

“Shut up!”

I twisted his arm behind his back, putting him in a position where I could wrench it up anytime. Counterattack by the opponent was now impossible.

I took a deep breath and said to the old man whose arm I was twisting up, putting killing intent into it.

“Hey, robber bastard. Prepare yourself.”

“Hiii!”

This time he screamed clearly.

“W-Wait, wait, don’t kill me!”

“Shut up.”

“Guaaa!”

When I tightened his arm further, he squawked like a duck.

I felt Hagana’s body flinch with a start.

Looking at her, her face seemed to snap back to reality, and that dangerous light had vanished from her eyes.

“I-It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! I’m not a thief, no, no!”

“Then what are you? A neighbor came for tea, didn’t like it, so you flipped the sofa, kicked the table, and ripped up the carpet?”

The room looked exactly like that, like a building before demolition.

Besides, I heard Hagana scream with my own ears. It was disturbing words like there is no money.

“N-No, that happened when I tripped.”

“Hah?”

“It’s true! It’s a misunderstanding! Or rather, look at the situation properly! I’m the victim here!”

“Huh?”

I thought it was a transparent lie out of desperation, but the old man continued desperately.

“I-I was just trying to sit on the sofa… when I was hit with a vase… It’s true!”

I thought about just breaking his arm right there, but I noticed the old man’s head was wet. On the floor lay scattered lilies and a vase.

“Hiii!?”

When I peered at the old man’s head from behind, sure enough, there was a huge lump on his forehead.

“But if you encounter a robber, you might try to hit them with a vase.”

“T-That’s why I’m saying it’s a misunderstanding!”

The old man screamed like a shriek.

“I’m a moneylender! I came to collect money!”

“…Moneylender?”

“Y-Yes! I just came to collect money! It’s my job!”

It didn’t seem like a lie, but I glanced at Hagana just in case.

Although not as sharp as before, Hagana was still glaring at the old man.

“…Is that true?”

When I asked, she looked away.

Then, after hesitating profusely, she nodded.

“Tch…”

I clicked my tongue and released the man.

The man crawled on the floor as if escaping to put distance between us, then turned around.

“G-Good grief, what a terrible story!”

If he’s not a robber, I don’t really understand the flow of the story.

I scratched my head and said,

“What’s going on?”

“When I asked to see Lisa-san, that girl let me in.”

The old man pointed at Hagana. Hagana glared back silently.

“I didn’t intend to do anything rough in the first place. It won’t make me a single cent…”

The old man said, looking utterly exhausted.

“Like I said before… I’m a moneylender. I just came to collect the interest on the money I lent to Lisa-san.”

“Lisa went to the university. She said she was called for some business.”

“Haa?”

The old man raised a hoarse voice, and his gaze turned to Hagana.

“I-If that was the case, you should have told me and I would have come back later. I-I told you I wouldn’t forcefully collect debt.”

“You can say anything with your mouth, though.”

When I interjected from the side, the old man lowered his eyebrows as if begging for mercy.

“Ask Lisa-san. Last time was a terrible scuffle too. But Lisa-san apologized, and she explained that I’m not some unscrupulous operator…”

The old man, explaining desperately, seemed to be getting gradually angry at the unreasonableness in front of him.

I shrugged and sighed.

“So, you came to collect, this girl lied to lure you in, and suddenly hit you with a vase. Is that right?”

It’s a ridiculous scenario, but when I turned to Hagana, the gaze glaring at the old man wavered somewhat. Then, she pulled in her chin. Rather than nodding, it looked like resistance, refusing to admit guilt until the end.

Situationally, the old man’s claim seemed more correct.

“If you were suddenly hit with a vase, you’d try to restrain them, right? On Earth, that’s attempted murder… That’s where you saw it from, sonny.”

“So, the sofa and stuff were overturned literally because you were suddenly attacked.”

It makes sense.

Above all, Hagana remained silent the whole time.

Her face said she didn’t want to open her mouth, rather than being unable to due to fear.

As someone who rushed in heroically, I felt awkward.

“Then… what should I do?”

“Eh? No… well, from the outside, I think it couldn’t be helped that you misunderstood. Besides, you didn’t kill me, sonny.”

Despite what was done to him, the moneylender old man said with a wry smile.

My lips twisted because I felt a certain magnanimity from this dull-looking old man.

“Ugh… anyway, I want to contact Lisa-san. I thought she would be home today.”

“I told you she was called to the university. She left after breakfast. Don’t know about after that.”

Since Hagana wouldn’t open her mouth, I answered instead, and the old man sighed heavily.

“Phew… Then, she probably went to the university to get an advance on her lecture fee.”

“Ah?”

Grimacing as if chewing on something bitter, I asked.

“Is she behind on payments?”

“Since the second repayment, frequently.”

What an exasperating story.

“Since there’s no end to it, I haven’t made it compound interest, but I’m troubled if payments are late. It’s not like I’m making a fortune.”

“…Certainly, you don’t look like a lunar moneylender.”

Meaning he looks like he has no money.

“I get told that often.”

The old man shrugged without getting angry.

Listening to the old man’s story, it seems I had jumped to a grand conclusion, but the old man didn’t blame me with a single word. Rather than being afraid of my strength, it felt like he simply didn’t do it because there was no need.

The child was me, and the adult was him.

If left like this, I felt like I would owe him for earlier.

I opened my mouth as if sulking.

“How much?”

“Eh?”

The old man asked back.

“Lisa’s debt, and interest.”

The old man looked at me and scratched his head vaguely.

“Thirty thousand Mools… at 12% annual interest.”

“The interest rate is cheap!”

I groaned inadvertently, and the old man was surprised too.

“You understand interest rates, sonny?”

“Even absolutely certain government bonds go up to 6% depending on the country, and if you take risks, there are plenty over 10%… Or rather, with such a low rate, are you a bank employee somewhere?”

“Haha, this is a surprise. No… being a bank employee is a story of the past. Now I’m just a humble town financier.”

The old man laughed tiredly and said,

“My name is Toyama. You’re not just anyone, are you, sonny?”

Being praised doesn’t make me happy, I pouted, but Toyama was laughing after all.

“At this age, being useful to people is more fun than making a profit. Since I do it mostly alone, I can manage with this much. But business is business, so I have to be clear about that part.”

“…”

I groaned, thinking it was ridiculous, but I took bills from my chest pocket.

Three hundred-Mool bills. One month’s interest.

“This, is?”

Holding the bills I pushed onto him, Toyama looked blank.

“Because I jumped to conclusions and did something bad.”

Also, hearing that Lisa went to the university to get an advance for the debt was a cause.

When I paid a hundred Mools for my stay here, the reason Lisa hesitated strangely was probably this. Basically, if she’s that short on money, lodging people for a bargain price like ten Mools is nothing but foolish behavior. It’s not rational no matter how you think about it.

However, thanks to that, I was able to fall into a deep sleep for the first time in a very long time. I didn’t have to worry about being chased by the police, and she even made me proper meals.

Advancing the interest was an apology to Toyama, and also meant as a small thanks to Lisa.

“Of course, I’ll have Lisa pay me back. I’ll take the trouble of one collection off your hands.”

My tone became sulky, but what I wanted to say seemed to be conveyed.

Toyama shook his shoulders laughing, nodded, raised the bills slightly, picked up his bag that had been thrown aside, and put them inside.

“Received, indeed.”

“Keh.”

Toyama then tried to fix the furniture, so I threw words at him.

“It’s fine. I’ll fix it here.”

“Really? Sorry about that.”

Toyama said without hesitation.

“Well then, my work for today ends here. Give my regards to Lisa-san.”

And he left simply. Watching his shabby back leave the sanctuary, I sighed heavily.

I directed my gaze at none other than Hagana.

“What were you doing?”

I thought it was only proper to say that much.

I can imagine wanting to hit someone and tell them to shut up if pressed to repay money by a moneylender, but actually hitting them with a vase is clearly crazy. Even if the opponent is villainous, the law would likely side with the moneylender, and it would only give the opponent an opening to take advantage. Moreover, being a woman, it could invite terrible results.

Besides, Hagana’s look at that time seemed like she seriously intended to kill. I couldn’t think she was considering the consequences at all—it was like she was prepared to stab him and die with him.

And then, Hagana glared at me.

“Shut up.”

“Haa?”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

I was taken aback by her complete belligerence.

Hagana pursed her lips and started fixing the furniture with a brooding face. Although gravity is one-sixth, once you get used to it, you can only exert corresponding strength. It looked difficult for Hagana’s slender arms to handle large items like the sofa, so when I tried to help, a sharp voice flew.

“Don’t touch!”

“Wha—”

At my loss for words, Hagana directed a piercing gaze at me.

“Even paying the interest… what do you intend?”

When I stood still not understanding the meaning, Hagana shook her head as if unable to bear my dullness.

“Don’t get in my way.”

In the way?

I wanted to ask back, but I understood from the atmosphere that she wouldn’t even look at me if I did. However, I couldn’t even get angry because I didn’t understand the meaning of her words at all. Although Toyama wasn’t a villain, so it wasn’t like I saved her from danger… shouldn’t I deserve at least a word of thanks?

Such thoughts swirled around in my head, but dealing with Hagana any further felt ridiculous, so I stopped. Do whatever you want. I shouldn’t waste time on this; I should dedicate everything to stock trading. Remember the sight of Newton City. I am going to become a resident there.

With a small sigh, I switched gears, went back to retrieve the bag I left in the sanctuary, and headed to my room. Since I wasn’t trading, a room with slow connection speed was sufficient. Or rather, I didn’t want to be in the living room where Hagana was.

When passing by Hagana desperately fixing furniture, I didn’t offer help anymore, and Hagana didn’t look at me either.

However, once in my room, I felt the urge to urinate and returned to the toilet with a sigh.

By that time, Hagana seemed to have managed to finish fixing the furniture and was now returning flowers to the vase.

Thinking that she looked cute in her own way if I only looked at that appearance, I tried to pass by.

“What… should I do…”

A suppressed, faint voice was heard. I thought it might be an auditory hallucination, but Hagana was looking down in front of the vase. You could say she was standing still.

Moreover, in her hand was a lily with a broken stem, crushed perhaps by being stepped on.

Hagana timidly tried to put the lily into the vase, then stopped. There was a pitifulness in that manner, like a soldier in a war movie trying to pick up his blown-off arm and reattach it.

Still, I tried to ignore it and go to the toilet. I thought if I spoke to her again, I would be met with unreasonable hostility.

So, the moment I put my hand on the toilet door, I thought the voice I heard from behind was an auditory hallucination.

“Flowers are… missing.”

Turning around, I was startled.

Hagana, looking at me, was clutching the crushed flower with a brooding face.

“H-Hey…”

Forgetting the unreasonable treatment from earlier, I frantically chose my words while bewildered by the unfamiliar development.

“Eh, ah… d-don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying.”

Hagana answered firmly, but no matter how you looked at it, she was on the verge of tears.

But why? Is the lily in her hand so important?

“W-What is it. What about the flower?”

When I asked back, Hagana looked down, pursed her lips, and said,

“Flowers are missing. Even though Lisa… displayed them…”

Hagana looked down further, shrinking as if suffering.

Apparently, some lilies were ruined due to the earlier commotion, and since they were what Lisa had arranged, she’s in trouble if they are missing. She was exactly like a child who acted without thinking of the consequences, broke a windowpane, and turned pale.

Also, considering she showed such unreasonable hostility just a moment ago, the mental structure to rely on me for such a thing was baffling.

Or maybe Hagana herself was just that flustered.

I sighed and asked reluctantly.

“How many are missing?”

“…Two…”

Being told that, I looked at the vase and saw the flowers and stems placed on the low table, probably torn off when stepped on.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

It’s obvious what she’s asking for from the situation, but solving the problem for her was a bit annoying.

I stuck my pinky in my ear and looked in the wrong direction in front of Hagana. Hagana, still looking down, glanced at me and immediately lowered her eyes again. Her mouth moved as if trying to say something, but unable to say it.

That timid appearance made it hard to believe she was the same person as before.

It’s just lily flowers, and I can imagine Lisa would easily forgive her if she apologized honestly.

I don’t think it’s something to be so depressed about. At least, there should have been many more things to worry about.

Looking at the crestfallen Hagana, I thought she was a weirdo after all.

The venom was taken out of me, and I stopped caring about what happened earlier.

“If it’s lilies, there were some upstairs.”

In the end, I told her.

“…Uh, eh?”

Hagana looked up, looked straight at the ceiling, and tilted her head.

“They don’t grow on the ceiling. The garden on the third floor.”

Hagana, startled, lowered her gaze and glared at me.

But it didn’t last long.

Her gaze gradually lowered, down to looking at my feet, and finally she said quietly.

“I forgot.”

And then, Hagana trotted out of the living room.

Once again, not a single word of thanks was said, but since she seemed desperate, I didn’t get angry.

She’s a weirdo, I just thought again.

Shrugging, I returned to my room, opened my terminal, and then suddenly realized.

Could that last comment have been her way of saying thank you?

“No way.”

I muttered in amazement and set about gathering information for stock trading.

Since it’s Sunday, the volume of newly distributed news is small, but there is never enough time to investigate what kind of news was distributed during the week and what kind of price movements resulted from it.

Moreover, all of them only yield confirmation on the level of “maybe” or “this might be the cause,” and most of the time even that cannot be hoped for. As I fished for information with my head practically stuck in the terminal, I was sometimes seized by the anxiety that I might be doing something meaningless.

However, I believed this method of investment was the best move, and indeed, great people in the past likened stock trading to a kind of beauty contest. If so, what I should do is explore which stocks people find beautiful, and that boiled down to investigating thoroughly what kind of news they read and what kind of things they prefer.

Besides, it had been going well until now.

It should go well from now on too.

I switched screens so fast the terminal lagged, swimming recklessly in the sea of data. Then suddenly, I noticed an email in my inbox, and my hand stopped.

Since I apply for investment mailing lists and news services at random, my mailbox is always overflowing with emails. I know most of them are crap, and since they are mostly advertisements, I usually don’t even open them, but I was strangely attracted to this one.

“Investment… contest?”

In the stock world, investment contests sponsored by companies are not rare. Most of them have prize money, but in short, they are another form of advertisement to gather people to their site and make them open accounts. However, some are close to pure competition. These have large prize amounts and are mostly by invitation.

The email I opened was distinct from emails for gathering people or advertising purposes.

Guide to the Ratzinger Economic Research Institute Sponsored Investment Contest. This contest involves participating in trading in a virtual market and competing on operational performance. All trading logs will be provided to sponsoring companies and research institutions and used for new services and research. Due to the purpose of the contest, it is completely by invitation, and participation is limited to those selected based on trading volume in actual markets and trading frequency. Participation rights cannot be transferred. Prize amounts: 1st place 200,000 Mools, 2nd place 50,000 Mools, 3rd place 20,000 Mools…

“Furthermore, as a supplementary prize, top winners will receive…?”

Beyond my muttering gaze.

There were unbelievable words.

There will be headhunting from sponsoring companies. There is a track record of hiring into the operation departments of major investment banks, hedge funds, and foundations. Those who wish to work on Schrödinger Street, please actively participate.

“…Is it, true?”

It could be taken as bait to simply make participants trade seriously.

The prize money is certainly huge, but that one sentence was bigger for me, and from the text, it seemed they wanted to appeal to participants with that as bait.

Getting a job on Schrödinger Street is said to be more difficult than an Earthling coming to the lunar surface. Just graduating from a super-famous university with good grades will get you dropped in the document screening; it is the most difficult barrier requiring a Master of Business Administration or a science Ph.D. to analyze ultra-complex trading markets.

After all, since it is the cutting edge of the industry that makes money the quickest in the world, guys called geniuses from all over the world rush in droves.

To fulfill my dream, I needed to become one of them in the future, but no matter how I thought about it, the hurdle was too high for my brain to go via the standard method. In the first place, with my parents’ financial power, it was doubtful whether I could even go to university.

So I resorted to the method of increasing my seed money like crazy with just a terminal and an internet connection. Once it reaches a certain scale, I slip into some investment company based on that track record. Then, obtain the real know-how and connections of the financial industry, and aim for even bigger game. That was the ideal form.

Of course, it would be best if I could become rich on a Pharaoh-class level as is, but the reach of individual power is inevitably limited. To build one of the greatest fortunes in human history, I needed to get inside the system.

In that case, this contest is perfect.

I tried to click the URL for registration with joy, but my hand stopped abruptly.

Notes for participation.

“…Trading is for sixty days from registration?”

Reading the notes, it seems the investment contest started several months ago.

And instead of everyone participating in the contest all at once, invitation emails are sent sequentially, and each person can start investing at their preferred timing. However, once started, trading ends in sixty days.

Perhaps out of consideration for those who want to watch the virtual market and participate carefully, or for some research purpose, they might have set up such irregular rules.

However, when I checked the date, the investment contest itself had less than seventy days remaining.

In other words, if I don’t decide to participate quickly, I won’t be able to use the full sixty days.

Still, there is a reason I hesitated to register.

The part in the invitation about handing over trading logs to sponsoring companies, and the word “headhunting.”

This means, in short, they have no use for guys who made money simply by luck. They analyze trades and call out to those with true ability.

Then, I inevitably cannot move my hand.

It was due to the pathetic nature of my trading for the past while.

This contest is not held regularly, and it is unknown if there will be a next time; perhaps this is the first and last chance.

I stare at the screen, unable to move.

As long as there is no chance of winning, moving poorly is dangerous.

I needed to face it with perfect preparation.

“…However…”

I squeezed a voice from the back of my throat like a groan, clenching my teeth and closing my eyes.

I am not investing with half-hearted feelings either. I am doing everything I can, spending everything I have to face trading. Yet, I don’t know the cause of why trading hasn’t been going well for a while. Conversely, this could mean that everything up to now was simply good luck. That I have no talent for investment, or rather such a thing doesn’t exist in this world in the first place, and that’s why everyone goes to school seriously.

The anxiety I always desperately drove out of my head tried to push up the lid with a thud.

I hurriedly shook my head and told myself.

“I just have to find a method. That’s all there is to it.”

I pressed down the lid and hammered in nails.

“First of all, I have no choice but to move forward.”

Then, I sat cross-legged on top of the lid. With that, the anxiety finally quieted down.

The option of not participating is impossible. I need to devise a strategy as much as possible.

I set a goal in my heart and stared at the email.

It was at such a moment that there was a sudden knock on the door.