I am back – Chapter 179

It didn’t take long to decide on the envoy.

In fact, I didn’t have many matters to decide on.

While traveling with the elf Arna, I learned about some characteristics of elf culture, but that didn’t mean I knew as much about the places where elves lived as Arna did.

And it was the same with the kingdom’s envoy. Sure, I was a hero who played a symbolic role in the war, but I didn’t know much about the political powers or the names of the nobles within the kingdom. I had only put all my effort into stopping and driving away the enemies where necessary.

So, realistically, the conversations would have to take place between the elf ambassadors from the kingdom and the kingdom’s officials. And among those officials was the princess.

She would occasionally ask me questions, but they weren’t all that difficult. What was my favorite food, what fruits I liked. Were there any foods that didn’t agree with my body…

…

Well, thinking back after it was all done, I wondered if it was too much to tailor the visit schedule solely around personal preferences, but by then it was too late to say anything.

“Ohhh, you’re the one the hero mentioned!”

The princess exclaimed, grabbing my older sister’s hand with sparkling eyes.

“Yes, yes?!”

My sister, suddenly caught by a princess who was about a head shorter than her, spoke in a voice filled with shock.

In fact, it hadn’t been long since we arrived in this world, so my sister still felt awkward about everything.

She was flustered at being treated as a goddess’s envoy and at being treated like a precious guest.

Fortunately, since we had already established that we were each other’s partners at the ball, there hadn’t been anyone daring to court us.

“…”

Seeing my sister look at me, I averted my gaze.

Actually, coming to this world did make me feel more at ease about certain things.

The people I knew back in my world were mostly acquainted with my sister as well. Our mom was included in that… Ah, of course, most of my school friends never met my sister, but still, I didn’t want to talk about my crush in front of them.

Because that story might reach my sister’s ears.

Right?

It was terrifying enough to think of being rejected after confessing… but what was even scarier was the situation where I hadn’t even confessed and still got rejected.

What if I randomly told someone that I liked my sister, and somehow that rumor made its way to her ears? That was the thought that haunted me. It would be better if I were to get rejected than to have people spreading rumors that I confessed without doing it myself. That would be… too much, I thought.

Well, to sum it up, I could say I just didn’t trust people.

In that sense, in this world, I didn’t have to worry about such things. Even if the people here found out that I liked my sister, they wouldn’t be able to tell my sister directly.

If I were to go back to my original world, that would simply be the end of it. I could just say something like, “Oh, I used to have a crush back home,” and that would be that. There wouldn’t be any fear of an unmade confession being spread around like it was truth.

So, I often spoke about having a crush in my original world.

Naturally, most people were told it was just a village from “my original world,” without the part about it being an alternate realm.

The princess knew I had come from a “different world,” so she would inevitably realize that my crush was a person from that different world as well.

“…”

So, I really couldn’t say it was my fault.

“Just as I’ve heard, you are truly a beautiful person! I’m sure you must be very kind, just as the hero said!”

My sister looked at me with a mix of a smirk and a very embarrassed expression. I averted my gaze even more fiercely.

There was no hint of malice in the princess’s words. She was only speaking as she felt and saw things herself.

In fact, the princess wasn’t much younger than me. Due to her small stature and somewhat frail appearance, she might seem a bit younger, but she was a full-grown adult now.

However, seeing her speak that way made her seem a bit childish.

“D-did I say something like that?”

It seemed my sister chose to tease me rather than play it safe with her embarrassment.

“Indeed! You’ve always been my role model since childhood!”

“…Hah.”

But if my sister heard such a thing, she would undoubtedly regret saying it almost immediately.

At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to find a corner and pull my hair out.

Why on earth did I say that to the princess back then?

Maybe the princess’s eyes were sparkling so much while listening to that story that I got carried away without realizing it.

…

Well, I suppose from the perspective of the princess who admired the hero in old stories, the hero’s words about having a loved one back home might have seemed just like something out of those old tales.

“…”

And naturally, my companions didn’t really look like they were planning to save my sister from the princess.

They all wore expressions as if they were about to burst into laughter any moment. Thankfully, they were holding themselves back simply because they were in front of someone prominent.

It was truly a relief that the original noble guests had ended their meeting.

For a long while, we sat there feeling like we might die from the princess’s compliments.

*

“…I’m so sorry. I got too excited…”

It seemed like only after a while of showering me with praises did the princess suddenly deflate like a balloon.

In fact, I’d seen that kind of reaction a few times before.

…And that time, it was even in front of the nobles.

The first time I met the princess was when I accidentally intercepted her at a ball—no, wait. I only managed to attend that ball because I had received intel about her being there and recklessly crammed my schedule to get there somehow.

I was already of legal age then, and the princess was even younger than she was now. It was only natural. I practically died the instant I became an adult.

At that time too, I’d already established quite a reputation.

There was a reason why I hadn’t met the princess right when I arrived in this world.

The princess had been encouraging soldiers on the battlefield at that time, and most of the mages were already supporting the soldiers’ firepower from the front lines. Therefore, the supply routes and things like the front lines weren’t set up systematically yet.

The fact that I had arrived was a secret initially, so news of my coming didn’t spread to the battlefield.

The royal family didn’t disclose my arrival until I had established enough of a reputation. They wanted to craft a slightly more dramatic and miraculous situation to leverage the enemy’s morale and our own effectively.

As a result, I had no choice but to attend the ball without even knowing the princess was present, and I met her for the first time without knowing anything about her character.

And on that day too, she had loudly praised my achievements in front of all the nobles at the ball, almost bursting with excitement.

“…Hmm.”

Well, she wasn’t a bad person, after all.

If anything, she was so nice that it could be a problem… sometimes she didn’t even seem like royalty.

Of course, my conversations with the princess never really dragged on for that long. The princess preferred motivating soldiers on the battlefield over spending time at the ball, and I had plenty of battles to fight.

However, during those brief encounters, I could never really be on guard against the princess. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, no matter how hard I tried.

That was also why I spoke about my sister, as a way to steer the conversation with the princess in another direction.

“It’s alright. It wasn’t that bad of a thing to have done.”

But this time, at least it wasn’t in front of the nobles.

It really came close to killing my sister with embarrassment, or it nearly made my companions choke trying to hold back their laughter… well, these were just exaggerations for humor.

The princess simply admired seeing the hero who protected her beloved country and his partner with her own eyes.

“…Still, I apologize…”

“No, it’s fine. You might just be a little overwhelmed since it’s been such a long time since you last saw each other. By the time we go to the area taken care of by the elves, things might settle down a lot.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course.”

Though I couldn’t make any guarantees. I’ve managed to get used to quite a bit while living in this world, but that didn’t mean I had adapted as perfectly as the people from this world.

So, I could only awkwardly chuckle at the princess’s reaction.

I could only hope that would be the case.