I am back – Chapter 168

“Is that so…?”

That was all I could say in response. I felt a bit embarrassed for being enviously alone, even though I hadn’t even brought it up to anyone.

Siyun was still Siyun, even in another world.

“Hmm.”

Kalia nodded.

“I owe a lot. Strictly speaking, attempting to quantify all that debt is presumptuous, but even so, I can’t simply ignore it without any compensation. After all, Siyun fought for this world and defeated the enemy, even though he really didn’t have to.”

This time, I nodded in agreement.

“If we just overlook it without any compensation, it would cause various troubles for the kingdom too. It would mean losing an existence that would fight for the kingdom at the risk of their life in the future.”

It’s wrong to take for granted that someone performs a good deed without expecting anything in return. Most people are reluctant to do something without a reward.

It’s not that it’s wrong, but rather it’s a natural issue that causes problems. Equity shouldn’t just be carelessly dismantled for any reason.

“When you think about it, nobles live indebted to countless commoners too. Those who lost their lives the most during the war were the commoners. No matter how much nobles send their children to the battlefield, it doesn’t mean they’re always assigned to the most dangerous places.”

“But you…”

“Yeah, I was in the most dangerous spots on the battlefield. It wasn’t exactly for the glory of my family, but thanks to that, I somehow upheld the family’s name. My brother told me it was such a sacrifice that I could proudly refuse whatever demands other nobles might have for a while.”

Even though I didn’t actually lose my life, Kalia added.

“…Was it really that hard?”

When Siyun told me his stories and when all of Siyun’s comrades shared their tales beside me, they always focused on the fun or glorious experiences.

Thinking back, that makes sense. If Siyun told me about the times he was hurt, I’d just be worried. Even if he’s fine now, just knowing he went through such things makes my heart race.

It was the same when Arna told me about Siyun’s sleeping habits.

“Yeah. It was tough.”

Kalia nodded.

“It wasn’t all fulfilling; there weren’t always glory and success.”

But Kalia smiled at me.

“Still, it was a glorious thing. Traveling with the hero who saved this world is something I’ll probably never forget, even years later.”

*

Since the conversation with Kalia was unexpectedly enjoyable, the wait for Siyun’s return didn’t feel overly long.

Kalia shared various common knowledge about this world.

To be fair, Dana, Pia, and Arna were all somewhat out of the ordinary when it came to ‘common’ knowledge.

Dana already knew a hell of a lot, sometimes sounding like a university professor from a cultural program. It was quite fun to hear about the ‘common knowledge’ of magic, but I guessed not all of that would be applicable in the daily life of Irrelaysia.

Pia was a religious person. Not just any religious person, but one with a significant role. While she wasn’t as extreme as those odd folks you might see on the streets yelling about heaven and hell, our conversations sometimes veered into religious topics.

The stories were pretty much given as common sense from Pia’s perspective, and the perspective of Irrelaysia, but they didn’t exactly seem vital for ‘living.’

Arna was an elf. Even though she was still a person of Irrelaysia, she lived far away in the elf territory, away from the kingdom. Even after traveling with humans for five years, she still didn’t know everything about the human kingdom.

Kalia, being a noble, didn’t know exactly how commoners lived, but as a knight commander who had traveled around, she had a general idea of life. Sure, the gap between nobles and commoners was pretty wide, but that didn’t mean there was nothing in common at all.

“I see. So most of the living conditions aren’t that different from where I lived.”

There were no smartphones or the internet. Most of the information had to be gathered from reading books or reports or hearing it from people.

But there was a system similar to delivery services. The toilets were surprisingly similar to flush toilets, and while they were a bit pricey, there were means that could somewhat replace home appliances.

Thanks to the existence of magic, this world developed in a way different from the one we lived in.

Hearing about it, I didn’t get the impression that one world was just simply lagging behind.

“Still, it must be way more boring than your world. You probably haven’t become accustomed to the writing here yet, so your options for passing the time are limited… though, if you’re traveling with Siyun, it might be different. You’d probably be busy in various ways.”

“Is that so?”

I remembered what Siyun had said—that he wasn’t officially declared a hero yet, and the recognition ceremony was quite simplified for various reasons.

“Yeah. After all, he’s the savior of this kingdom. He might be summoned here and there. Of course, if Siyun refuses, no one would drag him along.”

Kalia said it with a hint of amusement.

“Nobles are likely thinking he must visit all the nobility who calls for him. No matter how unparalleled he is, he can’t handle politics alone.”

“But Siyun’s not interested in that stuff.”

“Nobles can’t fathom that there are people who aren’t interested in such things. Plus, they probably can’t even imagine he’d want to go back.”

Kalia smiled as if she was looking forward to the moment when Siyun would refuse the nobles’ invitations.

“Is that so?”

While feeling a bit unsure, I heard a knock on the door.

“What’s going on?”

Kalia asked, using the familiar form of speech, unlike Siyun.

“I’ve brought the hero.”

“Oh, alright. Come in.”

The door opened, and in came a maid.

Then, as the maid stepped aside, Siyun appeared.

“Uhm…”

“It’s fine. Come in. Who would say anything bad?”

I wondered if there might be someone who would judge him for entering a noble lady’s room.

Well, considering Siyun was a girl right now, and with the atmosphere being quite conservative around here, it was unlikely anyone would think it strange for two women to be together.

“Hmm, then I’ll excuse myself.”

As Siyun stepped inside, the maid bowed slightly and closed the door.

“What’s up?”

I asked, looking at Siyun’s face.

Siyun, who had entered the room, had a slightly troubled expression.

“Ah, well…”

Siyun opened his mouth but glanced at Kalia, and then spoke in a more serious tone.

“Perfect timing. I wanted to hear both of your opinions.”

“Both of us?”

I repeated, looking at Kalia. It seemed like Kalia was equally curious.

But Kalia’s face showed clear signs of ‘interest’ as our eyes met.

*

“I see. An engagement, huh.”

Kalia said with a face that looked like it might burst into laughter at any moment.

“Don’t make such a face. I’m being serious.”

Siyun grumbled, looking at Kalia.

In fact, I felt the same way as Kalia, ready to burst into laughter.

Is it because it feels like a guy confessing to a guy dressed as a woman? Sure, Siyun was in a girl’s body, but…

Still, I wasn’t worried because of Siyun’s expression at that moment.

Siyun won’t end up marrying any guy who confesses to him. More likely, he’d just refuse. No, it’d be a surprise if he didn’t run away in fright.

To top it off, the other party knows that Siyun was originally a guy.

“Honestly, Louis seemed really serious when he said it.”

“You already knew that my brother would say that without any expression?”

“…I knew, but…”

“Well, even so, it’s not completely out of the question. My brother sometimes says ridiculous things, but almost never are those ridiculous things completely baseless. So, it gets a bit uncomfortable to just brush it aside like a joke.”

“…”

A deep sigh escaped from Siyun.

“And it’s not just me. There might be someone who’s thinking of proposing to my sister too.”

“…Huh?”

Hearing Siyun’s words, I was left speechless.