Published: February 1, 2026
Closing yet another book with a soft thump, Lizel looked up at the sky.
The moon was just past the point overhead; time to change shifts, he thought, rising from his chair.
In the end nothing had happened, and all Lizel had done was occasionally add firewood so the fire wouldn’t go out.
Even that firewood was stacked right beside him, so Lizel hadn’t taken a single step away from the chair.
Careful not to make a sound, he approached and peered through the half‑open carriage door.
In the wagon, faintly lit by moonlight, two men lay curled up in blankets.
As expected of tall men, Lizel thought that a carriage that should be fairly spacious felt cramped, as he put a knee up on the step.
He had been careful enough that only a faint creak of wood sounded, yet one of the heaps of blankets rustled and moved.
“...Shift already?”
Gill pushed himself up and, because Lizel still had his shoes on and was on all fours, Gill looked straight at him.
That low, husky whisper was a just‑woken voice Lizel had never heard before, but he couldn’t believe anyone could wake up from that little noise.
Taking care not to step on Gill’s shoes, Lizel inched closer and peered at his face. There wasn’t a trace of sleepiness there.
“Why are you waking up so easily? Did you really sleep properly?”
Lizel asked in a small voice so as not to wake Judge.
Accused for no reason, Gill protested by taking the blanket he’d been using and dropping it over Lizel’s head.
As he pulled the blanket off, his vision momentarily covered, Lizel scooted backward.
Gill sat up as well, sat himself on the edge of the carriage, and stuck his feet out to put his boots on.
“’Course I slept. I woke up from your presence.”
“Sleeping like that, aren’t you going to stay tired?”
“I’m fine.”
Lizel also sat down on the edge of the carriage to take his shoes off, and suddenly reached over and took Gill’s hand from above.
It was just a bit cooler than his own — so, as Gill had said, he’d at least actually been sleeping.
Leaving his hand in Lizel’s as‑is, Gill finished putting on his boots, then flexed the hand Lizel was holding once with a soft snap.
After confirming Lizel had let go, he stood up, yawned once, and started toward the chair—only for Lizel to stop him.
“Here you go.”
“Mm.”
He took the book Lizel held out and glanced at it.
He had helped himself to Lizel’s books a few times before, but it seemed Lizel had figured out what he liked.
He wouldn’t say he was fussy enough about books to call it a “preference,” but it was true this wasn’t the type he’d get bored of halfway through.
Gill raised one hand loosely in thanks and this time really headed for the chair.
Without watching him all the way, Lizel slipped into the carriage.
The blanket he’d been given still held a faint warmth; thinking he’d sleep quite comfortably, he leaned over and looked at Judge, who was sleeping facing the wall.
His boyish face looked even younger, wearing a peaceful sleeping expression and breathing evenly.
After confirming he was in a deep sleep, Lizel lay down himself and wrapped the blanket around him.
He hadn’t been sleepy while on watch, but as soon as he warmed himself, drowsiness welled up. Apparently he really had been staying on guard in his own way.
Pulling the blanket over his head to block the moonlight seeping into the carriage, Lizel quietly closed his eyes.
The next morning, when the sky had only just begun to pale, Judge woke up.
Even so, if you looked the other way, you could still see the night sky — it was that sort of hour.
But shops that cater to adventurers all open early. Judge, who always got up early to prep for opening, was waking at his usual time.
He pushed himself up, resisting the heaviness in his eyelids, when the bump of a blanket next to him caught his eye.
From tall Judge’s perspective, it was a small bulge of blanket. He’d seen Gill there when he went to sleep, which made it seem all the smaller.
Lizel would have liked him to stop calling it “small,” since he had a perfectly respectable average male height; but from Judge’s point of view, nearly everyone was small regardless of sex, so it couldn’t be helped.