I am back – Chapter 147

“……”

Is there really time to go back to Irrelaysia?

It’s not that I hadn’t thought about it.

Right after I returned here, when I was still struggling to adapt properly, I had thought about wanting to meet my comrades again.

I was curious about how the world might have changed after I left.

Of course, I also thought that everyone might forget about the Hero since the war ended and it was time to forget all the bad things and just prosper.

Perhaps the existence of the Hero was merely a reminder of the scars of war for the remaining people.

The world doesn’t just revert to its original state.

The burned cities need to be restored, and the tainted lands need to be purified. With the morale dwindling, there might be bodies buried by the Demon King’s army to hide what happened in the occupied territories, and we might even stumble upon massacre sites.

For a while, the cries of parents who lost their sons and daughters, and of children who lost their parents, will not cease.

We also had internal issues, which had been postponed because of the war, that needed to be dealt with… Of course, these weren’t things I, who had already left Irrelaysia, needed to worry about. Those were problems for the remaining people to solve.

But…

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

Lying down and staring at the ceiling, I heard that voice in my ear.

Turning to look, my older sister was watching me.

She looked incredibly beautiful, lying down facing me, her white skin even glowing in this dark place.

The weather had turned colder, and we had switched to thicker blankets. But the warmth inside the blanket wasn’t just because of that.

It was because my older sister was lying next to me.

It had already been quite a while since we started sleeping together like this. Every night, we shared our body heat and slept while kissing each other.

But… strangely, we had never crossed that line.

Just being together calmed my heart, yet crossing that line remained surprisingly difficult.

It would be a lie to say I didn’t crave it… but having known my sister for almost my entire life, it felt strangely impossible to cross that line.

“Since they say we might be able to go back to the other world, it feels weird.”

In truth, I had always prepared myself. When I first died, I was prepared for not being able to return here, and when I died the next time, I thought all my connections had been severed.

After I rejoined my comrades and met my sister again… what had I prepared for?

I think I wanted to let go of both sides.

I just wanted to stay like this, and keep enjoying this noisy and happy time forever.

I understood that my comrades were going to return to their original territories. I knew there were more than enough reasons for that.

Yet, despite that, deep down, I wished to simply continue living like this.

“……”

The gaze of my sister, who was silently looking at me, sparkled.

“…What about you, sister?”

“Hmm…”

As my sister moved a bit closer in response to my question, she came close enough for our breaths to almost touch and said,

“To be honest, I am a little curious.”

Saying that, the silhouette of my sister seemed to shift. She was probably smiling shyly.

“I, um, have never traveled abroad… so…”

“……”

Well, it’s true that it’s not just an overseas trip, she probably hasn’t gone on a proper domestic trip either. She did go on an MT during her university days, but it wasn’t quite the same.

Well.

Just because my comrades found a way to return doesn’t mean we’ll never see each other again forever.

No matter the situation, we can’t stay together like this for our entire lives. My comrades have their own lives, and we have our own.

Besides, if we stuck together for too long, there could be an unbearable point.

I’m the only young man, and all four of them are in a party with a different gender from me. It’s not like there won’t be any complaints. In the end, the only reason we were able to endure was that it was a special situation.

If there were no need to endure, we might end up fighting and splitting apart.

It’s only been a few months since we’ve been together, and we have solid personal space. It’s comfortable now, but I wonder if it will always be like this in the future.

And even if social statuses differ, a hometown is always a place one wants to return to. Although we may be living like this now, there will come a day when we want to go back.

Just like I did.

“I see.”

I quietly said.

“Then, this will be our first trip together.”

It was dark, so I couldn’t see my sister’s figure very well.

But I was sure she smiled.

“Now I can finally keep my promise.”

Those words from my sister made my heart tingle deep down.

*

“The more magic stones we collect, the faster we can travel. So, as time goes on, the work will also become easier. Pretty amazing, right?”

“Really.”

The next morning, I smiled as Dana boasted about it.

It was indeed amazing. The more they worked, the faster the processing speed would be. Of course, that meant it wasn’t an easy task. They had to constantly use magic while locked in a room, extracting magic from the magic stones.

But for Dana, this repetitive task didn’t seem too difficult.

“Don’t worry. It’s way simpler than the Demon King sealing magic research I did in Irrelaysia.”

Dana said this to soothe my worries.

“Plus, mages basically have high resistance to magic. Especially for a great mage like me. So you really don’t need to stress too much.”

“……”

Well, it’s true if Dana says so, but…

I still felt a bit uneasy.

What people call ‘magic’ in Irrelaysia fundamentally shares the same nature as magic power. It’s just that if it’s used at a level that a person can withstand, it’s called magic, and when it’s far beyond what a person can tolerate, it’s called ‘magic.’ There’s hardly a clear dividing line, and for the most part, it varied depending on who felt it, which meant that there were often normal people calling a level of magic that mages found manageable as ‘magic.’

Well, in a way, it’s similar to the relationship between poison and medicine. Large amounts are poison, while anything appropriately adjusted is called medicine. The key was to use a proper amount of magic as efficiently as possible. Looking at it this way, it can be compared to nuclear energy in modern society. Though the dangers to the human body from nuclear energy are on an entirely different scale.

“Just don’t overdo it.”

“Don’t worry!”

When I said that to Dana, Pia, who was next to us, puffed up her arms and said,

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t push herself too hard!”

“Eek.”

Dana made a face like she was startled at Pia’s words.

Normally, researchers live how they please, and Dana often doesn’t take care of herself. In Irrelaysia, whenever Dana would lock herself up without eating, Pia would have to barge in and force her to eat.

“So, if you just take care of yourself while researching, I wouldn’t have to meddle, right? Honestly, admit it. Even when you said you succeeded last time, you actually felt it was possible from the start, didn’t you? But you sent me out because you were worried I’d nag you?”

“You could just not nag me!”

Dana sprang up like she was about to run away, but as she did, Pia also stood up and said,

“Why do you make it so I can’t help but nag?”

We watched, speechless, as Dana ran away with Pia chasing after her.

*

“Well, I’m glad.”

“Hmm?”

In the train to work, my sister, who was pressed against me in the crowd, whispered to me.

“If we had just gone to a regular company, we wouldn’t have been able to think like this. How could we go on a trip with no idea when we’ll leave or how long we’ll be gone? Taking a vacation means we’d have to negotiate with people!”

It was indeed true; since my sister’s work was closer to self-employment, it wasn’t impossible for her to open and close her shop.

But—

“…Are you okay with not knowing how long we’ll be gone?”

If I suddenly couldn’t be recognized as a Hero all at once, maybe that could be fine too. I could just quietly stay and return. I wouldn’t have to purposely meet anyone, and I could come back quickly without being held for long.

But if they find out that I’m a Hero…

And the church would probably notice quickly. If the holy sword is still there, that is.

“…I’m okay with the store,” my sister said with a slightly worried expression. “But I’m troubled about what to tell Ga-young.”

“Ah…”

Yes, that’s true.

It’s not that wide, but there are connections in this world too.

We both seriously pondered how to convey this to Young Miss Ga-young.