I am back – Chapter 28

It’s now been three weeks since I returned here.

I think I’ve managed to adapt reasonably well during that time.

Just in case, I carry enough food for one meal in my bag, along with a pocket knife and a lighter.

Even without getting caught in a natural disaster, a pocket knife comes in handy quite often. Whether I need to cut something, untie a stubborn package, or extricate an object wedged into a narrow space, it’s useful. The blade is only about three centimeters long, so I don’t consider it much of a self-defense tool, but it can be wielded decently against a person.

Well, in this world, the only beings that could attack me are humans or small animals. Based on my observations of physical abilities, I feel confident I could take on a medium-sized dog. Of course, I can’t say for sure how I’d fare against a large dog that’s almost wolf-sized.

Carrying a conspicuous weapon like a sword would easily land me in the police’s hands. Even if I were to find a longsword or a one-handed sword back in Korea, I couldn’t openly carry it around. Price wasn’t a huge concern, but legal issues posed a significant problem.

Something like a machete or a hatchet is definitely effective for offensive purposes, and legally they are treated as tools rather than weapons, so I could buy one easily. But carrying something like that openly would just scare people in a peaceful urban setting in Korea.

So I opted for a small pocket knife that doesn’t fold. Structurally robust, it could be used as a weapon if it came to that.

…Yeah, I know. Carrying something like this around probably means I’m unlikely to ever use it against a person, and if I did, it would be a massive problem.

But without it, I just wouldn’t feel right.

I can’t always be carrying a backpack, so if I don’t have at least a small amount of survival gear that can fit into a bag hung from my arm, I feel like I’m forgetting something while walking down the street.

Thus, I carry it just in case. That became my second rule after arriving in this world.

Of course, the first rule is to exercise every morning.

Ideally, I’d attend magic classes with Dana, engage in sparring with Kalia, and practice archery with Arna. Then, before breakfast, we would all gather around Pia to pray to the Goddess as part of our daily routine.

Naturally, I can’t train in magic in this world lacking divine power. As for swordsmanship… there is a kendo dojo, but it would be vastly different from the training I did with Kalia. Archery would also be quite different from what I practiced with Arna.

So, the only thing I can do alone is pray to the Goddess.

Every morning, after finishing breakfast, I offer up a prayer of gratitude, confirming that the Goddess is there.

That way, I assure myself that all the time I spent in that other world was not just a fleeting dream.

…Yeah, it wasn’t a dream.

I still couldn’t quite grasp which of my experiences from the other world or what I’m experiencing here is more surreal. Common sense would suggest that this world, with almost no magic or divine power, is more ‘realistic.’ After all, I’ve lived longer in this world.

Yet, in stark contrast to the mundane flow of daily life here, the days I spent in the other world, where I constantly risked my life to carve a path, remain vivid memories. Each day that I consider ordinary was actually full of war, and I had to be cautious even while resting.

In battle, the sharp chill of danger touching my skin. The feeling of being watched. The rustling sounds from the bushes… I endured all this in a heightened state of alert, and in that other world, I felt an intense sense of reality.

After coming here… I suppose I could say the tension just slipped away.

I know it’s an overly pampered thought to have, but it’s like, well… it feels too peaceful and good, so I find it hard to feel grounded.

Not that what’s right in front of me looks like some fantasy, though.

It’s just… so.

It’s as if the current situation seems so natural that I can’t help but think, what if everything I went through in the past five years was just a dream?

Even with so much evidence right before me.

So, I can’t skip my prayers, which I do twice daily. They’re the only evidence that I really was there.

Something I can’t tell anyone in this world, and even if I did, they wouldn’t believe it—my memories.

“…Arna. Dana. Kalia. Pia.”

I murmur the names of my comrades.

I took out a piece of paper and began to write with a pencil, my handwriting as bad as Dana always pointed out.

It’s crooked, but I think it’s legible enough for others to read.

It’s the writing from that other world, which I probably won’t need anymore.

Similar to the alphabet, but with subtle differences in detail, and completely different from the pronunciation I knew—it was a nightmare trying to learn that script, which is now nothing but a memory.

In the common script of Irrelaysia, I wrote my name and added the pronunciation in small Hangul letters below it.

That’s some weird lettering. Or is it just your handwriting that makes it look strange?

The first thing Dana insisted I teach her when she discovered I came from another world was how to write her name in Hangul.

While I did live in this world, I had never been close to acquiring any specialized knowledge, so I had almost nothing to offer Dana.

“Well, I do think my handwriting is bad.”

But at least I could clearly show her the shapes. Dana picked up on reading Hangul significantly faster than I learned the common script of Irrelaysia.

I could barely teach her how to read, but that didn’t mean I was able to convey the Korean language with confidence.

Korean is an incredibly tough language once you dig into it… which wasn’t a huge issue. I could still teach her basic conversational language. Dana is smart, so even a little I taught her, she grasped quickly.

The problem was, the translation magic.

The Goddess had given me the miracle that everything I said would be understood in the language of the other world when she sent me there. Naturally, whatever I said, as long as it made sense, would be translated for the listener.

The same went for what others said to me. As long as it had meaning and form, I heard it as intended, no matter how odd the mixed languages were. Thanks to that, I could translate the special languages formed where two languages met at borders, and I sometimes interpreted for my party members when they needed to understand the language of outsiders.

However, this also means that whenever I read a word, it’s directly translated into my ears.

So even teaching just one word required taking time and breaking it down letter by letter. That was a massive hurdle for language teaching.

…Of course, unlike the huge struggle I encountered learning the script of Irrelaysia, Dana quickly learned to read and could perfectly pronounce what I wrote as long as I just presented it.

My lack of teaching skills didn’t hinder Dana’s exceptional learning ability.

In the end, that too had to come to a halt once we entered the Demon King’s territory. There was no time to waste. We needed to act swiftly to defeat the Demon King and secure territory before he expanded his influence further.

“How is everyone doing?”

I wanted to hear some news.

In truth, there were times I regretted coming here. Of course, that feeling soon faded.

But I’m well aware that if I hadn’t chosen this path, there would have been greater regrets. What I felt was nothing more than lingering attachment. The remorse of not being able to reunite with my reliable party members, who entrusted their lives to me for five years.

Someday, after my life comes to an end once more, I’ll get to meet them again… but that’s still a long way off.

Could Kalia have achieved her goal of becoming a hero?

Can Dana finish her research?

Could Arna become an elven elder at such a young age?

…Is Pia praying for me?

All these are stories I can’t know now.

“…”

Before I knew it, the paper was crammed full of words I could remember.

I still don’t know how to read it well, but I could still jot down the meanings beneath the words.

Right, I must not forget.

It’s our precious memories that only I can remember.