I am back – Chapter 21

Actually, I didn’t buy anything special while going to the clothing store with my older sister.

As she said, I already had plenty of similar clothes. Honestly, I was grateful that I only had modest outfits. Even if I found something revealing, I didn’t think I’d wear it anyway.

It was a little strange that most of the clothes were skirts and not pants.

Fortunately, there were plenty of slip shorts available, which was a relief. It seemed the Goddess had considered my situation somehow. Thanks to that, every time I wore a skirt, I always had slip shorts on. Though the slip shorts themselves were shorter than pants, at least I didn’t have to get used to the feeling of only wearing a piece of fabric over my underwear.

“How about this one?”

Unlike me, who showed no particular interest in the clothes, my sister kept asking as she tried on various outfits in front of me.

“It’s pretty.”

Yeah, they were all pretty.

While my sister looked beautiful, most of the clothes she tried were plain designs that suited her really well. Since these outfits were for wedding guests, they shouldn’t be too flashy.

From what I gathered during my research, if you dress too beautifully or stand out more than the bride, the response is usually not great. I shrugged it off since there were a few stories that made mention of the groom’s ex-girlfriend, after all.

As for guys, no matter how fancy they dress, they’ll hardly compare to the groom. It wouldn’t be easy to outshine the groom’s tuxedo, anyway.

Anyway, ultimately, my opinion wasn’t much help to my sister. Since she said everything looked pretty, it was impossible for me to give any valuable input.

“Then, I’ll go with this one.”

Regardless, there had to be at least one option that stood out among the rest. I wasn’t exactly sure what guest attire was, but I carefully chose the one that looked prettiest in my eyes. My sister decided to buy the outfit I picked.

“I’m so glad we came out together. If it were just me, it would have taken much longer.”

As we exited the shopping center, she waved the paper bag in her hand with a smile.

Truth be told, I could have bought her that outfit as a gift… but that seemed a bit out of line.

My sister and I had become somewhat close, but at the end of the day, she was still my upperclassman at work. It was hard to gauge if it was okay to give each other casual gifts.

…Thinking about it, I had always received from her. She bought me things like clothes or shoes just because she was a few years older than me.

She never told me how much they cost, and I never bothered to find out. I was simply happy that she gave me gifts.

In fact, she had been like that since we were young.

When we were kids, it wasn’t clothes or shoes, but snacks, candies, and chocolates. For the reason of being three years older than me, she always handed me this and that.

Even when I reached middle school, she was still giving me gifts like that.

She always walked a few steps ahead, helping me with various things.

“…I’m sorry, was that not very interesting?”

Seeing me walk without saying much, she asked with a slight frown.

“N-No!”

I answered quickly.

“No, it was fun.”

That was the truth. I was so grateful to be able to walk with my sister. Had I not coincidentally entered that bakery, I wouldn’t have met her, and I would still be alone in that house.

I could only be thankful for the Goddess’s guidance.

“It was really fun. Just being able to walk out like this with someone…”

As I spoke, a long-forgotten memory suddenly resurfaced.

Now that I think about it, this wasn’t the first time.

The clothing section of a big discount store.

It was a place I had been dragged to a few times with my sister. Before that, I had come a few times with my mom.

But I clearly remembered the first time my sister and I came alone together.

We weren’t there to buy her clothes but rather my shoes. It was a big treat for my birthday.

At that time, my sister was a university student and had only started her part-time job recently.

Even back then, she looked at me silently following behind her.

Without thinking much, I—

“Just being able to walk out like this… made me happy.”

I think I answered something like that.

“…”

As soon as I said that, I regretted bringing up such a personal memory. My sister was looking at me with a bit of surprise.

“Ah, um, I mean… it’s been a while since I’ve walked out like this, so… it was nice…”

Oh no, I blew it.

I was basically repeating what I just said.

I didn’t know why I was emphasizing things.

…If Kalia had seen this, she would have burst out laughing. The guy who leads the charge on the battlefield, what’s he doing? That’s what she would’ve said. When I panicked in the presence of a noble lady, Kalia had said just that.

“…”

But my sister quickly brushed off her surprised expression and smiled at me sweetly.

“Is that so? That’s a relief.”

Thump.

My heart raced.

At that moment, my sister had said that too.

“Then…”

But the following words were—

“Well, shall we eat something?”

…Yeah, my sister had said that in my memories too.

It wasn’t just once.

After that, my sister continued to take me out because she had her own money. Whenever we ate, she always insisted on paying. Still, I managed to argue my way to share most of the time, but on important days like my birthday, I couldn’t win against her insistence.

…Even though she was just a student who hadn’t even properly entered the workforce yet.

“…Yeah.”

So much has changed since then.

My sister was a few years older now. So was I. Even though we looked almost the same, we were no longer students.

In the last five years, my sister graduated from university and gained experience in the real world. Somehow, she was working at a bakery now; I wasn’t sure about her role or her salary. But at least to me, she seemed really at ease.

In the last five years, I had been in a different world. I managed to achieve a lot there. I couldn’t save everyone, but I think I did my best. I had no moments of regret, but I could still muster strength thinking about what I had managed to protect.

I wonder, will there come a day when I can tell my sister something like this?

…Probably not, there wouldn’t be such a day in my lifetime.

“What should we eat? What do you like?”

I rummaged through my head.

What did I like? What kind of food did I like back then?

As I pondered, my sister briefly looked around, then suddenly looked down at her smartphone.

It was still only 2 PM.

“Have you eaten lunch?”

“Uh, n-no.”

Actually, I had something before coming out, but I deliberately answered like that. I didn’t want to miss out on lunch with my sister.

And even if I had eaten lunch, I was the type who could always eat more.

“Then…”

My sister thought for a moment,

“How about spaghetti?”

Ah, right.

I remembered that.

We had spaghetti that time too.

Honestly, I didn’t find it that delicious. I could eat most foods well, and while I didn’t have a problem with tomatoes or ketchup, the stimulating taste of tomato spaghetti sauce was something I wasn’t used to.

However, since it was food my sister went out of her way to get for me, I couldn’t say it was bad. It wasn’t inedible, so I moved my fork diligently, and I think she thought I liked spaghetti because of that.

As I kept eating it, I gradually got used to the taste. Though I couldn’t say I liked it all the way, I could tell my sister enjoyed it a lot, which made me happy.

“So, how is it?”

My sister glanced at me and asked.

“It’s good.”

I answered without hesitation.

“Really? I know a delicious place nearby. Let’s go there.”

She took hold of my wrist.

Her hand was warm.

Ah, come to think of it, this warmth also felt like a long time coming.

Though my sister didn’t seem aware of it, it was the first time our hands had touched since I entered this world and met her again.

My heart raced again.

Even after facing the demon king’s high-ranking officials several times, my heart had trained to stay calm. Even when diving headfirst into the final battle against the demon king, my heart had remained steadfast, but just touching my sister’s hand made it wildly race.

I was happy.

I thought to myself how fortunate I was to be here.

The neighborhood we used to live in had disappeared. The bakery we had cherished as a memory was now gone too.

Mom was no longer in our home, and I had changed so much in appearance.

My sister also seemed a bit more mature than before.

But amidst all this—

There were still things that hadn’t changed. Some things remained exactly as they were waiting for me to return.

My sister still listened well, still cared for others, and remained close with her childhood friends.

She still visited the stores we frequently went to, and she still loved spaghetti.

The fact that these unchanging points felt like they had been waiting for me made me happy.