I opened my eyes. I tried to turn off the alarm but there wasn't any besides me. I tried to recall if I had anything to do today, then I remembered what happened, where I was, and what happened the previous day.

I got up and dragged myself to the window, it was night outside. I could see the moon shining upon the clouds. I always preferred nighttime over the daytime. The day is bustling, confusing, and scary, while the night is sweet and reassuring.

I also always really liked the moon.

I don't know why but if I looked long enough at her, my worries seemed to slip away for a while.

I used to often picture her in my mind as a cute girl, listening to my problems with a worried look and then comforting me with sweet words and a gentle smile. But every night comes to an end and every time she would disappear, leaving me alone again; she was like my personal princess Kaguya, from the tale of the bamboo cutter.

In the tale, Kaguya, a princess from the moon, fell upon the earth and was found and raised by a bamboo cutter. One day, after meeting her, the emperor of Japan fell for her celestial beauty. She, then, rejected him and returned to the moon, leaving a potion of immortality to the emperor. But he burned it, not wanting to live forever without her.

Kaguya was unreachable right from the start and the same was true in my case. As much as she comforted me, it was just an illusion, I always knew that but every time that I saw the moon shining in the sky I found myself calling my Kaguya back to me. And now, in this moonlit cabin, I pictured her in front of me as a pale girl dressed in white, with long silver hair.

I sat on the bed and started to speak.

“It seems that I have been summoned in another world, just like I always dreamed. Here I can learn magic, slay monsters and become strong enough to not have to rely on anyone else. I won't need people anymore.”

Kaguya got behind me, hugged me, and talked back to me.

”Oh my, that's good news. Now you have a lot of things you want to do, I'm happy for you. But what about making friends? You want them, right?”

“Yes I want them but it's dangerous, everyone here is so scary, even more than back at home. There's this girl named Jane, she is quite beautiful and cool and has a lot of friends, she scares me a lot. Until now I managed to always appear strong in front of her but I'm always scared of making a fool of myself in front of her. I also don't trust her, she could stab me in the back at the first chance.”

“Oh my, that's bad. But don't worry, I know you can do it, you just have to keep your guard up. I'm sure that someday you'll find someone you can trust.”

“I also met a boy named Oliver, he used to be bullied; he is also very shy, just like me. I think we might get along. I don't feel too threatened by him but it's still too early for me to open myself to him, for now, I will keep pretending.”

“How nice, you finally found someone who doesn't scare you. About opening yourself, you have to take your time, there's no hurry, it will happen on its own, someday.”

“There is also a woman called Alua, she's dangerous, she could even be my enemy. I think she's trying to trick me so I always have to be on guard and take everything she says as a possible lie.”

“Oh no, such a bad person. But don't worry, I know you're smart, you can do it.”

Kaguya started to stroke my hair.

”You don't have to worry, for now, you just have to rest, you deserve it, you have been giving it your all.”

I continued staying like this for a while, until.......

“Knock knock”

I was suddenly awakened from my state of half-dreaming; Kaguya vanished and the moonlight suddenly started to feel like just light. I hurriedly recomposed myself and said.

“It's open .”

Alua entered, with a courteous smile on her face.

”We are about to arrive at Hoss, the others are already on the deck.”

“Yes, give me a few minutes and I'll be there.”

“Sure, there's no hurry.”

Alua got out, closing the door behind her.

I took a deep breath. Alua really scared me, I hoped I could be on my own for longer but I guess I was asking too much.

Now I had to mentally prepare myself for what prospected itself to be a long and stressful day. I could feel my determination sway for a moment but then I thought about all the new things about magic that I could find out and managed to steady myself.

I took another deep breath, took a firm stance, wore a cold expression, and opened the door.