I am back – Chapter 132

Arna’s expression wasn’t completely expressionless.

Rather, she was just quietly listening to our conversation while wearing a gentle smile.

…Hmm.

It felt less like she was experiencing some grand emotion and more like an adult looking at very young children.

Well, that’s not entirely wrong. No matter how much we interacted casually and treated each other as equals, Arna was much older than us.

Arna would occasionally say she lacked life experience because she had just read books over the years, but even if she did only read for 150 years, her life experiences overshadowed ours.

If we treated her studying and researching through books as simply “hiding away in a room,” then that would belittle the work of countless mages who have researched magic for decades or the many bureaucrats who handle all sorts of paperwork necessary to govern a country.

Even while doing such work, having at least minimal interaction with people is crucial. To get what you want, you need to negotiate, and if emotions build up or there are fights, you have to communicate to resolve those relationships.

And the information read from books or training done nearby gets accumulated over time, becoming substantial “experience” that can’t be ignored.

Arna was someone who could handle any task within our party. Whenever one of us lacked hands or couldn’t act, Arna was more than willing to step in. Thanks to that, we could efficiently fight and take down the Demon King with just our small group.

These were truths easily forgotten when interacting closely.

“…….”

The comrades sitting around the table began to glance at Arna one by one. In the end, my older sister also looked at Arna.

None of us had really seen Arna live for that long, but we had heard stories that elves don’t lie about their age.

Elves take pride in “long life.”

And often, an elf’s social status is determined by their age, so lying about one’s age is almost akin to hiding one’s position. It’s simply an act of great disrespect.

…In truth, Arna was the only elf I had exchanged many words with, so those were merely stories I had heard from passing elves or Arna herself.

As we began to look at Arna, she shrugged her shoulders lightly and opened her mouth.

“If you want to, it’s fine to do so,”

And with a smile at the corners of her mouth, Arna added,

“But I’d prefer if you treated me as you have until now.”

She said it in a lighthearted tone.

At her words, our gazes met.

Five years is not a short amount of time. Even if I’m not a mere fifteen, but seventy years old, it’s still significant. Each day I’ve lived is a day, and each year is a year. And if someone has been with me all that time, their influence on my life is undoubtedly vast.

However, even after knowing someone for quite some time, you can never fully understand them.

If the other person doesn’t express themselves, there are things you’ll remain unaware of. The reasons for bringing such thoughts to light are often because they are unpleasant or perhaps because they think the matter is so obvious that the other person already knows it without needing to be told.

And in such cases, it can unexpectedly become an obstacle in your relationship.

Because it’s regarded as common knowledge, when faced with another’s perspective, it becomes hard to agree.

…And naturally, we had gone through such situations quite often.

At least in my case with Kalia, Pia, and Dana, it was somewhat better. Though we belonged to different cultural spheres, we were still all human. Our lifespans were similar, and the age we were recognized as adults was also close. Moreover, the kingdom’s culture resembled the “fantasy worlds” I had imagined, so there was nothing particularly incomprehensible about it.

But Arna… well, she was an elven “fantasy” character. And because of that, she was harder to understand.

She fit the definition of “fantasy” itself, and since elves are not easily seen by the people of this world, we found it challenging to understand Arna at first.

“It’s a bit awkward to mention this now, but in the beginning, I did try to act like your ‘eldest’,”

Arna said, looking a bit embarrassed as she noticed our reactions.

There isn’t a human alive who has lived longer than Arna. Regardless of the past, at least among the living humans in the kingdom, there would be none.

And among elves, ‘age’ determines hierarchy. To Arna, even the king of the kingdom was merely a child who had lived only half as long as she had.

At first, Arna seemed somewhat proud of that fact—

…But then, after witnessing how many ‘newly adult’ humans die on the battlefield, the atmosphere around her began to gradually change.

“To be honest, elves often get complacent with the fact they have a lot of time, which makes them slow to act. It can take dozens of years to form even the minimum of relationships. Elves often say, ‘We form deeper relationships than humans,’ but… well, I’m not so sure.”

A small sigh escaped Arna’s lips.

“You can think of it as a long time spent far away like cowards, avoiding getting close to one another. Sometimes, getting to know each other doesn’t even take a year.”

Arna smiled at us.

“So, just because I’ve lived a long time doesn’t mean you have to treat me differently or change how we address each other. Anyone who has lived less time can know far more than me, and they might be aware of worlds I’ve never seen before. I felt the reason the elven elders told me to be humble right after meeting you was because of that.”

Glancing around at us, who were looking at her with open mouths, Arna spoke in a gentle voice.

“So, there’s no need to raise your speech or change how you address me. I like the relationship we have. Hmm… I hope saying this doesn’t make me seem too old.”

After looking at each other once again, we quickly shook our heads.

“Not at all. Indeed, it’s true. Our relationship has already formed like this. If something really serious had crept into our relationship, we’d have to figure out how to resolve that situation, but there’s no need to break this relationship.”

Kalia nodded in agreement with Arna’s words.

“Right… it’s just a change in where we are. There’s no reason to adapt the way we act to that. No one is pressuring us to change. If you put it that way, if we return to Irrelaysia, it would mean we have to change how we address each other again, right?”

Dana nodded as if she agreed.

“That’s true….”

Pia looked a bit deflated.

“If you want to do it, then you can, but….”

My older sister said with noticeably relaxed expression. Indeed, just yesterday, we had been calling each other by our names and speaking casually. Suddenly shifting to respectful speech… even if we don’t use honorifics, it would probably feel quite awkward.

And I felt the same way.

If the comrades I had spoken casually with for five years suddenly treated me with respect, I would feel incredibly uncomfortable.

“But!”

Pia exclaimed, raising her hand.

“I mean, you can do it if you want!?”

Just a moment ago, she had a much deflated expression, but it seemed Pia genuinely wanted that.

This time, everyone, except Pia, looked at each other and then turned their gaze back to Pia.

“Pia, you’re the youngest, right?”

I asked her.

So if we split by age, that means Pia is at the bottom.

“It’s okay! I’ve always spoken politely to everyone anyway!”

…Hmm.

That’s true.

There’s no countering that. Pia naturally addresses everyone with respect. Of course, that doesn’t mean she treats them uncomfortably.

“In fact… I don’t have older sisters or brothers. So I’ve always wanted to have family like that…”

“…Ah.”

Oh, I see.

Pia doesn’t have any blood relatives.

For reasons Pia may not fully understand herself, she had grown up in a convent since childhood. That means there were no siblings around.

It seems relationships among the nuns are quite strictly divided.

“As I said before, there’s no problem if you want to.”

Arna nodded and said, looking at us as if seeking agreement.

And we all nodded in agreement too.

Seeing us like that, Pia’s face immediately brightened.

“Thank you! Older sisters! And brother too!”

…So I’m still treated like a brother, huh?

Is that a relief…?