Recruiting Crewmates
The light hits first...
The summer sun, hammering straight down overhead.
Then the ground gives...
Sand constantly catching in the bristles of my broom.
Beyond that...
*Splash!*
Aaaah! I can't take this anymore!!
Agreed. The heat is too intense...!
*Flop!*
Luna threw her rag down and sprawled out on the pool tiles. Smile dropped her broom and flopped down beside her.
Luna, maybe we should reconsider Ayla's quest...
...Ngh...
...Never mind.
Still unable to decide whether to accept Ayla's quest, we took the best-paying odd job we could find: cleaning a pool. But...
At this rate, how long would it take to pay back everything we owe...?
As the grueling work and the intense heat rising from the tiles began to wear us down...
You three over there!
It's not even break time, and you're lying around in the middle of the pool?!
I trusted you with this because you're the Journey Captain, but this is no way to work!
W-we're sorry!
Ugh... Switching back to cleaning mode...
Must remove stains from the tiles and sand washed into the pool within the allotted time...
...
Luna?
...Oh, right. Yeah. Time to get back to work... Yeah.
Luna finally snapped out of her thoughts, got up, and went to scrub away the mysterious stain on the tiles.
...?
Left there alone, Smile and I could only exchange puzzled looks.
...Luna is acting strange.
Luna just said she should get back to work. A statement she would normally never make.
...
A short distance away, Luna silently scrubbed at the stains, looking lost in thought.
Finally... break time...!
The legally guaranteed right of every worker... to flop down and rest...!
*Plop...*
...
Unlike Smile, who had collapsed face down on a lounge chair, Luna walked over to me with a serious look.
Captain, if you don't mind, could we talk for a second?
...
What is it?
You're sure you turned down that girl's quest, right?
...Why do you ask?
Was the future you saw... that bad? Just how bad was it?
...*Sigh...* Well, the future I saw for her was...
Hmmm...
I mean, what I saw was...
Why are you dragging this out so much?
Ahaha... How do I put this simply?
Let's just say... it was one terrible omen after another. Like a really bad future was waiting for her...
Are you sure you didn't misread it?
I was hoping I'd gotten it wrong too, so I checked over and over, but...
No doubt about it. This quest is bound to fail. I'm not kidding.
Even so, Captain... You still want to accept the quest?
I feel bad for her, but there have to be other people who can help her search for the treasure, right?
But still...
The look in Ayla's eyes as she desperately asked for help stayed with me.
I kept thinking about how Ayla must have felt, enduring that pain alone in her room for so long.
If you're asking what I want to do...
I want to accept it.
...Hmm. I figured you'd say that, Captain.
Captain... you don't believe my prophecy?
It's not that I don't believe it...
I was thinking that if the prophecy showed us failing, maybe we could use what it showed us to avoid that outcome.
Captain, the future I see... doesn't work like that.
It's a fixed future that's already been set in stone.
No matter how hard you try to avoid it, run from it, or break free...
It's like a board game with the worst rule imaginable. No matter what you do, you always end up exactly where you're destined to.
No matter how many times we roll the dice trying to escape, the space we'll end up has already been decided.
So instead...
...
Luna. You didn't come back, so I came to look for you.
Oh... Smile, you're here too...?
Unintentionally overheard your conversation with the Captain.
...What do you think, Smile?
Come to think of it, you're the same way, Smile. Legends about the Pirate King, hidden treasure, curses...
Fixed future, fate and all that...
You'd normally dismiss all that as unscientific superstition, wouldn't you?
Affirmative. I do not believe every claim regarding the client's alleged curse and the Pirate King's treasure to be true.
Right. Then why don't we just make some excuse and turn her down?
...However, I also want to accept the quest.
Huh? Why...? I told you, this quest is guaranteed to fail!
Even if we help, it won't mean anything!
First. From a scientific perspective, I reject Luna's concept of a predetermined fate and a fixed future.
Recommend the latest paper stating that the world remains a distribution of probabilities until observation fixes the outcome.
*Sigh...* This is why I just can't get along with science nerds.
Second.
...This is clearly an irrational and emotional desire.
Even so... An emotional impulse to help has arisen. Impossible to ignore.
I... used to be the same.
Before I met the Captain, Asherah, and Luna, I...
...
...I thought it was my fault my sister disappeared.
Because I could not find a way to smile. Because I could not help my sister.
I thought my sister had become disappointed in me and left for somewhere far away.
But now, things are different.
Now I search for my sister by choice, not out of guilt.
The client is... like I used to be. She thinks everything is her fault.
So this time, it's my turn to help.
Just as the Captain, Asherah, and Luna helped me.
Smile...
Perhaps, as Luna says, we might not be able to complete the quest.
But I do not think that makes it meaningless.
Captain will help too. Reassurance increased...!
Ugh... I'm telling you, this isn't something even the Captain can just fix in a snap.
Just because the Captain is here doesn't mean we can change the future...
No, wait...
Maybe...
No, no. I can't start thinking in maybes now...
...
There you are...!
*Huff... huff...!*
Ugh, now she's here too...? How did she even find us...?
I couldn't just let you and the rest of the Voyager Savior Party leave like that... so I went looking for you...
Maybe... this is the chance of a lifetime for me... maybe even my last one...
And I thought... I might have let another huge chance slip away because I couldn't make up my mind...
...Hold on. I think you've got the wrong idea...
We're not as big a deal as you seem to think.
...
Fine. I'll be honest.
I didn't see a single future where this quest succeeded.
So all that stuff about this being a once-in-a-lifetime chance... that's just your imagination.
...I see. So this time, too... a bad outcome is already set in stone...
Yeah. So don't expect to find the treasure just because you're with us.
...
...When I first... fell under this curse, my fever was so high I could barely open my eyes.
The doctor who examined me told my parents...
Your child may not make it through the night, so prepare for the worst.
...
...But I made it through that night. Just barely, of course...
Even after I got a little better... I was still in so much pain I could barely open my eyes...
Then the doctor said I wouldn't make it through the week.
When I made it past two weeks, they gave me a month. And when I made it past three months, they gave me a year...
And this time, I was told I definitely wouldn't make it to adulthood...
...Ayla.
Not once in my life have I ever been promised a good future.
...But I'm still... alive, aren't I?
...
...Luna.
...
After all...
...I still want to accept Ayla's quest.
Yeah. I want us to accept her quest too.
...
Ugh... Guess I have no choice.
Fine, then... if that's how everyone feels.
...Let's give it a shot.
But you shouldn't get your hopes up too much.
The higher your hopes, the greater the disappointment.
...Yes, I know.
Even so, I still want you to come with me... because I'm prepared for whatever happens.
I promise I won't be a burden. So...
*Sigh...* Fine, I get it.
Why am I surrounded by so many idiots?
So we're taking the quest, then?
...Yeah. I mean... It's not like she'll turn back no matter what I say anyway.
...!
...!
Excellent choice...! Can say so with certainty...!
Yes, thank you...! I'll do my best...!
Ayla beamed, took Smile's hands, and started bouncing up and down like a child.
...
*Sigh...*
What's there to be so happy about...