Chapter 101 - The Calm Side Of A Coin

Although I said I was going to change my clothes and fully intended on doing so, my first stop was Mildred's door.

Honestly, the anxiety of getting paid first was getting to me. It even overrode my fear of Mildred when she... gets a little weird.

After a moment of hesitation, my hand raised up to Mildred's door and knocked at a medium volume. It did not take long for the door to open, revealing Mildred.

She looked... normal.

Mildred smiled.

"Ah, hello there! Your name is Jay, right?"

My eyes blinked a few times.

...I decided not to question it.

"Uh yeah, yeah."

Mildred nodded.

"Is there anything you need?"

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Um... about the deal we worked out. I tended to the farm."

Mildred tilted her head to the side.

"Eh?"

My eyebrow twitched.

"Like... I would tend to the farm in the morning and come to you after to ask for fifty coppers?"

Mildred gasped, covering her mouth with her palm.

"You worked on the entire farm for only fif-"

Suddenly, she cut herself off.

"...Ahem."

Mildred cleared her throat with a fist over her mouth. She proceeded to look up and down at my body.

"Haha, it definitely looks like you have worked on the garden. I shall fulfill my end of the deal."

Mildred hurriedly closed the door. In just a few moments, she reopened it and had coppers in her free hand.

There was a cheerful smile on her face.

"Here you go!"

Mildred stuck out her hand, prompting me to do the same. She poured the copper coins into my hand, causing many tiny clinks to ring out.

I hurriedly nodded.

"Thank you, thank you."

My eyes drifted towards these copper coins. They were small, even smaller than my fingernail. They were also fairly thin, but still thicker than my fingernail. The coins themselves didn't have a pattern on them. There were also many tiny nicks on almost all the coins. It was clear they had been worn down with time.

Though I wasn't sure if there were fifty, it shouldn't be too far off. Honestly, when I thought of fifty coppers, I imagined it would be hard to carry. Yet my hand nicely fit all fifty coppers, though adding any more might cause it to slip off.

Mildred smiled sweetly.

"Is there anything else?"

My mind went a little blank.

...What was happening with Mildred? She seemed far more normal than just moments ago.

My eyes peered past Mildred, into her room. It was still very messy, essentially in the same condition it was in before. If anything, it was messier than when I last saw it. The room was almost like a lie, defaming Mildred's caring personality.

...Or was it the truth?

Mildred tilted her head to the side.

"Um, hello?"

I snapped my gaze back to Mildred and laughed awkwardly.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry. There's nothing else."

Mildred giggled.

"Alright then. Goodbye."

She waved to me, prompting me to return one as well.

Mildred did not waste too much time in closing the door, leaving me outside. I stood there for a few minutes, letting the rainwater pool at my feet. It was at this moment I realized how little of Mildred I really understood.

She seemed to be such a simple person... but that clearly wasn't the case.

I shook my head before letting out a sigh. First things first, I needed to get some new clothes.

My steps took me to the front of my door while my hand pushed it open. For a few moments, I was at a loss.

Where should I put the copper coins? Taking them with me into the shower would be quite strange and inconvenient.

After a few moments of hesitation, I opened up a drawer in my table and put them in there. Then, I stopped thinking about them. After all, I would need at least one hundred and fifty coppers before I could start drawing. From there, I would still need more to buy the paper.

The time will come soon, but not now.

I went into the bathroom and freshened up. Taking off the clothes was a bit difficult since they stuck to me while they were wet, but I got over it soon enough.

After a fair amount of time, my hand pulled open the door to my room. My hair was still wet, but as of now, I was dry.

"Ah, Jay!"

Erin ran up to me and grabbed my hand. With a bit of surprise, I turned to look at her.

"Eh? Did something happen?"

Erin giggled.

"We are cooking lunch right now! If you don't join in quickly, you're going to miss it!"

My eyes blinked a few times.

"Ah, ok!"

Suddenly, I stumbled. Erin pulled me forward without warning, forcing me to clumsily stumble about just to stay standing. Erin used one of her hands to hold mine and stuck the other out to the side. A small smile appeared on Erin's face.

"Hehe, do you feel free!"

A bitter smile appeared on my face, but it was quickly replaced by a fearful one as I tripped. Thankfully, I didn't fall.

"Haha... I guess I feel free in a certain way!"

Free of all stability.

Erin waved her other hand in the air enthusiastically.

"Hehe, try running some more! It's great!"

My eyelid twitched.

Was it really?

Fortunately, Erin slowed down once we reached the stairs. However, she still moved down them energetically, tugging me along. With a bit of rushed stumbling, I was able to keep up.

The moment Erin's foot touched the floor, she broke out into a sprint once more. To my dismay, she was still tightly clutching my hand, forcefully bringing me along.

Once we made it to the kitchen, Erin let go. She pridefully put her hands on her hips and stuck her elbows out.

"Hehe, do you see now? I bet you feel so much better already!"

...What exactly was she seeing?

As of right now, my hands were on my knees while my back hunched over. I was panting heavily, especially because I was still tired from doing that farming earlier.

"Haha, good thing you rushed. You made it just in time for us to start!"

I looked up to see Ned with a wide smile on his face. He already had a pan raised in one hand and a small fireball in the other.

Alyx giggled teasingly while looking at me.

"It seems you got a little taste of what I experience every day."

The corner of my lip twitched.

"Haha, that must be... exciting."

Erin raised both hands in the air.

"Of course it's exciting! Running fast makes you feel free!"

Ned laughed.

"Get me some of the bread!"

He turned to look at me.

"Haha, I'm sure you're going to need it since you missed breakfast entirely."

A small smile appeared on my face.

"Ah, thanks!"

...I felt a little weird.

For one, I wasn't actually hungry. That sounds really strange given the amount of work I did, and like Ned said, I skipped breakfast.

But more importantly... Ned was so casual now. The last time I saw him, he was awkwardly trying to avoid the topic of weather. It was almost like it never happened, or that Ned forgot about it entirely.

From what I could tell in that last time Ned lied, he was bad at lying. At least, that's what Erin basically said. That meant if he was also covering it up now, he wouldn't be so casual.

Instead, he would be scratching himself and avoiding eye contact.

It reminded me of Mildred's caring appearance, yet devastated room. On one side of the coin, everything was calm and collected. But on the other... it was a huge mess.

Although each side contradicted each other, both of them still existed at the same time.

"Jay?"

Ned waved a hand in front of my face. A small smile was on his face.

"If you aren't feeling it, you can always sit out."

I shook my head.

"Ah, sorry! Was just thinking about something again."

Ned chuckled before shifting his attention to the pan.

"Man, if you really think that much, won't you run out of things to think about?"

I hurried over to a cabinet and pulled out some bread. My head turned to the side so I could see over my shoulder.

"Haha, ironically enough, it seems the more I think, the more things there are to think about!"

Ned gasped while shaking the pan, letting some oil spread around its surface.

"Then with time, that would become infinite things! Won't you become omnipotent by then?"

I handed Ned the bread while rolling my eyes.

"I'll be dead by then!"

Ned threw his head back in laughter as he took the bread from me. He proceeded to shove a bunch of meat in the pan and used his fingers to crush the bread into tiny crumbs, sprinkling it on top.

Right now, the calm side of the coin was face up.

And that was all I thought about.