Maid Extra 41: Glasswork Miniature Garden of Stars

The timeline is around chapter 150 (approximately).

The perspective is from Glida.

Two characters with a complex and bizarre worldview are having a conversation. Please be cautious.

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“Glida’s world is amazing, isn’t it? A completely flat land of mirrors, a sky of cobalt glass, a moon of glasswork. The consistency and completeness are really high.”

One night, Maito started talking about the moon in such a manner.

“I really like Glida’s world.”

“Is that so. Thanks. I’m fond of it myself.”

It’s a happy thing to have someone say they like something you’re fond of, isn’t it?

“Above all, I think it’s amazing that it’s completed by having Glida there.”

…Oh.

That’s right.

…Right, huh.

Maybe it is. As for myself, I didn’t intend to make it with that in mind.

I just wanted to make a world composed of things I like, without thinking about whether I would be there or not.

“…What about your world, Maito?”

“Mine? …Hmm, well, I’ve seen something that seems like my world, but if you ask me if it’s my world, it feels a bit iffy.”

Maito paused to think, then started saying,

“Gears. Huge gears turning. Delicate, beautiful gold ones, and cool-looking silver ones. And, there’s a tower in the middle. On the opposite side of the gears, it’s not so pretty, it’s more cluttered and dirty, and I don’t really like it.”

…Could it be that humans can’t create their worlds as they wish?

“Can you move those gears yourself?”

“No, not at all.”

…Strange.

“You know, if I think I want to do something like that, it becomes so.”

“Lucky you. For us…ah…maybe, yeah. In this world…outside our own worlds, we can move quite freely, I think.”

Right. “Skills” are what Maito and the others have.

I think it’s quite free. After all, it’s not based on any laws like magic or anything. It’s incomprehensible.

“Instead, we can’t do much about our own worlds…or rather, because we can’t do much about our own worlds, we can do things outside.”

…This guy is saying something difficult.

“Well, at least I understand you can’t freely change your own world. But it’s your world, so it’s something you created yourself, right?”

“That’s what it seems like, but…um, there’s this discussion about whether humans are more hardware or software, you know?”

…Huh?

“Um, hardware or software…ah, yeah, um, sorry. You might not get it.”

“Do I ever not get it.”

In Maito’s world, do such incomprehensible words just pop out? That must be tough. I don’t really get it, but.

“To put it simply… it’s about whether humans are determined by nature or nurtured.”

…I don’t get it. What does it mean by “humans are determined”?

…Ah, does it mean “what kind of human one becomes”?

“For example, our physical abilities are predetermined to a large extent. Things like how fast we can run, our memory capacity, concentration, are all partly innate. With that state, are we really determined by external factors? That’s a discussion I’ve had with President.”

Maito and the others seem to like such discussions.

Well, I can understand. I quite like thinking about such things myself.

“People say that humans are made of memories and learned behavior, but there must always be innate factors involved. There are many aspects we can’t do anything about.”

…Right. If I had been born with a lot of magical power, I definitely wouldn’t have this personality.

Because then, everything I would have experienced would have been different.

“…So, the ‘self’ includes parts that we can’t do anything about, but feeling that is also a part of ‘self’… I think we can’t create our own worlds.”

“I think the ‘me’ that can’t do anything about it and the ‘me’ that feels it are different. At least, in my world, that’s the case.”

At least, for me, my world is such a thing.

Separating myself from the “me” that includes parts I can’t do anything about.

…Well, in other words, an ideal.

An ideal. Yes. My world is essentially the world created by my ideal self.

So, I wonder if that’s what Maito meant by “it’s completed by having me there.” I wonder if that’s my ideal.

…Ugh. Absolutely detestable.

“Is that so… Yeah, maybe then one can freely create a beautiful world.”

“Well, at the end of the day, if it’s said to be mere self-satisfaction, that’s all it is.”

Creating such a world inside oneself, if called foolish, that’s all there is to it.

“I think it’s wonderful, though. Having one or two such worlds inside oneself is nice.”

Maito said that, looking a bit happy and smiling.

“At least, I like Glida’s world.”

…Truly, it’s a happy thing.

“Maito’s world is… certainly a world of your uncontrollable self, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

That half of the world she doesn’t like very much… Well, that’s reasonable, I suppose.

If I had created my world like Maito, probably more than half, like 90%, would be something I dislike.

…Thinking about it, maybe Maito is right. Even if it’s self-satisfaction, it’s okay to feel that way.

“What kind of world would you create inside yourself if you could freely create a world like mine?”

So, I asked her a little. I wanted Maito to experience this self-satisfaction too.

“Well, for me…”

…But then, Maito started thinking hard. Twisting her neck from time to time, she seemed to be thinking deeply but couldn’t come up with an answer.

“…Somehow, I can’t think of anything… um, I can’t think of anything I want to place, and if I place anything, I know it’ll just fall apart… It won’t work out as well as Glida’s.”

…So, I wonder if Maito is still unclear about such things.

Or maybe, she’ll always remain unclear.

Whether it’s just the nature of humans, or simply a difference between Maito and me, I don’t know.

“Ah, a shooting star.”

Maito, who was absentmindedly looking at the sky, suddenly said that.

“Shooting stars, huh. I don’t have many good memories of them.”

When half of my body was shattered, what fell into my world was a shooting star.

“Yeah, well, a shooting star falling towards oneself is unpleasant. I think that’s called a meteorite, not a shooting star.”

…Well, I like watching them. Shooting stars.

“As long as it’s someone else’s problem.”

“That’s how it is.”

…If it hadn’t been my body that was shattered, I might have admired a warrior with an excellent piercing technique… Maybe. I wonder. I might have been jealous. At that time, I was really weak and full of envy and jealousy towards the strong.

…Right. Maybe I want to detach from such jealousy and consider everything as someone else’s concern, admiring from the outside, saying, “How beautiful.”

“Maybe I should make a shooting star flow in the distance.”

Without mentioning my world, Maito said,

“Silverwork? Glasswork? Maybe it would be pretty with some lines of silver dust on cobalt glass. Wouldn’t it seem like something flowing in the distance?”

“That’s a good idea. Truly like it’s someone else’s concern.”

I like how she understands so well.

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Translator’s Notes:

Uhm…sorry, I really tried to understand but I only understood about half of it. I’m still vague about the other half. Anyone care to explain?