Nedoma lays in bed as his eyes wander around Jana's room. The moonlight pouring through the lone window is the only respite from darkness one can find here. A single, plain dresser stands in the corner of the room. A candle sits on top of it, leaving no trace of the flame that danced on its head a mere hour ago. Now extinguished, it now serves only as a reminder of how otherwise unremarkable this room really is, save for one thing. Thinking once again about her, Nedoma looks at Jana, whose head currently rests against his right shoulder. Her right arm lays across his torso, ending with her hand gripping his side, as if to keep him prisoner in her own bed. But neither shackles nor arms are needed to hold Nedoma captive here, for in this moment the entirety of the world outside this room is of no interest whatsoever compared to what lies next to him. As he lets fingers briefly stroke her waist, the slight reaction proves that she is still awake. Seeing a slight smile, Nedoma remembers what he wanted to ask her before during lessons that day.

Breaking the silence, he softly whispers, “Are you awake?”

“Mhmmm,” Jana replied in a sleepy tone.

“So, like I asked earlier, when did you get so good at reading?”

Jana chuckled. “I've always been smart.”

“Then why were you always asking me for help?”

“Because I wanted you to think you were smarter.”

Oof. Now I feel dumb. So she was just acting?

“So you were faking it?”

“Yes. Well, I knew you were faking it a bit too.”

“I was...but it looks like you passed me. You should have let me know, I would have stopped and we could have finished with our lessons.”

“I thought you were acting dumb so we would have lessons instead of more farm work?”

Clever...

Nedoma made a hushed laugh.“Heh heh heh, you really are smart.”

Jana tilts her head up to face him. “Right? Might as well take it easy while we can. Once we stop our lessons it'll be just work all the time.”

Hearing that, Nedoma suddenly felt very tired. “Yeah...”

Silence fell upon the room once more. As they both stare into each others eyes, Nedoma purses his lips, as though he is thinking about whether or not he should say what else was on his mind.

“I... uh...”

“I know you asked Kleia about becoming an adventurer again.”

The combined bluntness and accuracy of the statement made Nedoma flinch. Somehow her already knowing this was far worse than him having to confess it himself. His natural instinct was to look away, but he resists. He just keeps looking into her eyes. He is so focused on not turning his head that he just stares back in silence. A sense of what feels like shame begins to creep upon him. Jana uses both of her arms to support her upper body as she sits up and continues to look back at Nedoma.

“She told me to try and talk you out of it. She said it won't be as easy as you think it will. That-”

Nedoma shook his head. “I know it wont be easy... Of course it wont.. Always on the move. Having to fight dangerous monsters every day. Never knowing when you might come across something stronger than you..”

Jana began to speak in an almost pleading fashion. “So why do it then? If it's so dangerous then why are you so adamant about it?”

“Because...” Nedoma feels uneasy. “Because we're all going to keep living the same lives.”

Jana looks at him in confusion. “What? I don't get it..”

“Jana. We're going to be stuck on this farm every day for the rest of our lives. Our kids will be stuck on a farm. Their kids will be stuck on a farm. Just like our parents are. Maybe the kingdom will start up another village again somewhere, and they'll offer plots of land to people who will move there. And one of them will take the land offer there. Like our parents did. But it'll all be the same thing – still working on a farm. But adventurers can make a lot of money. I don't even have to do it forever. Even just a couple of years will be enough.”

“So to stop this cycle from happening you're going to run away and leave your family and me behind? If you die there's not going to be any children.”

“No, I'm not going to leave everyone. Since I'm turning seventeen soon, dad was saying I should go and do the 'Adventurer Initiative' program. He said everyone does it just to get the initial five silver. I thought that instead of returning to farming, I would just come back here and still live at home but go into the forest and pick off lone monsters to turn in for rewards...or maybe I could find a party that would want to hunt near here. There are already some adventurer groups who stay at the village inn to hunt nearby, so I'm sure I'd be able to find a group to make it less dangerous.”

“I see...I didn't realize how much you've been thinking about this. And so in all of your planning, did you think about the possibility of me becoming an adventurer?”

“Somehow, I knew you would bring that up. Obviously I would rather have you do something safer. But I don't own you. You're not my slave. If you decide to be an adventurer then I would love it if we group together. We'll both keep each other safe.” Nedoma grinned. “If you want to.”

Jana grinned back. “Someone has to keep you out of trouble.”

Nedoma leaned towards Jana to hold her once more. As they collapse in bed, Jana whispers one last thing into Nedoma's ear. He wonders How am I going to even work tomorrow?

---

Ding. Nedoma stirs. Ding. Ugh, is it time to get up already? Ding. Can't we ever have a day where we wake up late? Ding. Enough with the ringing, even the other villagers are screaming to stop. Ding. Ding. Nedoma bolts upright. Ding. Ding. Ding.