I am back – Chapter 4

I hadn’t realized it had been just a few hours since I confronted the Demon King.

The time spent talking to the Goddess wasn’t that long, so my companions must still be dealing with the situation.

That said, I don’t think my companions suffered while at the Demon Castle. By the time we entered, the Kingdom’s army was already surrounding the place. While we were handling the remnants, we were also receiving all the support we could to face the Demon King deep within his stronghold.

If the Demon King had just surrendered without his last desperate struggle, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point.

There’s no guarantee that time flows the same way in that world and this one, but judging by the date on my smartphone, it seems to be about five years since I left. So, I guess only a few hours have passed in their world since my supposed death.

It’s a shame I didn’t even have time to say goodbye to my companions in those final moments.

I wonder if Arna is alright.

At the last moment, she stepped in front of me as if to protect me. Given her position as an elven archer, that wasn’t the best idea.

Still, I’m glad I could take action for that brief instant.

It wasn’t her fault. If no one had to sacrifice themselves in that situation, things could have turned out even worse. It was either everyone dies, or just one. That was the choice the Demon King presented in those final moments.

Perhaps he wanted us to fight against the terror of death.

If there were beings who would bend their convictions in the face of such fear, we would have never made it this far. The Demon King looked at the world through his own perspective until the very end.

“……”

Lying on a soft bed, I stared blankly at the ceiling.

There was a fairly large road in front of the apartment, and cars were bustling down it. With a shopping mall nearby, many people wandered along the street.

But the sounds didn’t reach here. That meant the apartment was well designed. Perhaps because it was tall, it was built sturdy, which might have compromised soundproofing.

I raised my hand and kept opening and closing my fist in front of my eyes.

My palm was endlessly soft. It was nothing like my hands, which were calloused from wielding a sword, covered in blisters, and bursting from labor.

Earlier when I washed my body and examined it closely, I had to admit it was quite attractive from a man’s perspective. While no specific body part stood out as overly exaggerated, it was certainly appealing enough that I couldn’t say it was ‘lacking.’

Indeed, it was a body that could only be described as crafted by a Goddess.

There were, of course, none of the many scars from my travels, nor any sign of skin diseases or blemishes.

Though there was still some incongruity, it wasn’t something I couldn’t bear. Above all, this body was shaped by my desires.

“Still, should I have asked to be made a man?”

I muttered to myself, but no answer came back.

Right, I was alone.

During my travels, I always had companions by my side. Whether I lay on a hard floor or in a haystack, sleeping outside alone was dangerous. Someone had to stay awake, and whoever woke up first needed to be ready to rouse the others.

It was the same when procuring items in large cities or villages. Having crossed over from another world, I was undoubtedly less savvy about that world’s customs and the safety there was far lower than in the world I came from.

Well, even so, no one would dare threaten a hero with a sword, but there are always con artists around. Even though a hero’s position is that of a representative of the Goddess, there are always those who do not believe in gods.

Since I traveled with at least a pair, it was natural that someone would usually answer back when I talked like this.

“……”

I kept my eyes closed.

The body I had stressed to its limits until catching the Demon King was now gone. With a new body, the fatigue I had accumulated until just before was completely erased.

The sun outside hadn’t yet set. When I traveled with the hero party, I could never have dreamed of sleeping this early.

But…

Could I truly sleep comfortably?

The bed was so cozy I could almost sink into it.

A home that perfectly blocked outside noise.

It was a safe space without any risk factors…

But there was no other being that should be here with me.

In that comfortable space, I was more tense than ever.

*

…Still, it seems I was more tired than I thought.

At some point, I fell asleep and then woke up. The sky was still tinged with orange, and I initially thought I had woken from a brief nap, only to realize the sun was rising instead of setting.

Maybe because I had slept so deeply for the first time in years, my body felt weightless.

And at the same time—

My stomach growled loudly.

Then it hit me that the refrigerator in this house was empty. Not just the fridge. While most essential items for living were available, there was not a single food item. I had money, so it wasn’t that I couldn’t buy things.

“…Ah.”

Suddenly, it dawned on me.

Right.

I can eat food from this world.

I didn’t mean to say I hadn’t eaten properly in that world. Though food was not abundant, I wasn’t lacking in that regard. Let alone, our hero party was always well-fed thanks to surplus provisions. After liberating certain areas, they would quickly send a supply unit to secure supply routes and establish forward bases.

They would dispatch skilled cooks to ensure we were well-fed and load us with jerky and preserved foods to keep us going. That solid support was why we could advance without tiring over five years.

The royal chef’s cooking was delicious. In fact, almost all food in that world was ‘homemade.’ Whether it was cheap street food or high-class noble dishes, every dish was crafted by a chef’s own hands. Even if the variety of ingredients was slightly less compared to this world, the effort put into cooking was never lacking, so as long as it wasn’t made by someone particularly inept, it was bound to be tasty.

You might ask if that was the case in this world too…

But the fact that most of the food was homemade also meant there were no synthetic flavorings, mass-produced seasonings, factory-made snacks or instant foods, and no franchise restaurants managed by companies.

And the food I could eat was typically Western cuisine. Spices like chili or pepper were scarce. Since agriculture had to be conducted within the barrier established to protect territory and people from the demon race, the priority was always on wheat or barley. If there was a prairie, livestock had to be raised. Besides that, the priority for ingredients that merely added flavor was relatively low, and nobles and royals couldn’t waste food either. Overall, meals tended to be plain or rich, there was no in-between.

Especially for pepper, it often came through maritime trade from a distant country almost at the mainland’s edge, and it could be more expensive than gold. At least we were fortunate that the salt was abundant because of salt mines within the kingdom’s territory.

But here, I didn’t have to think about such things.

With slightly trembling hands, I picked up my smartphone. Nervously, I installed a food delivery app—

The dishes I had wanted to eat but could not over the years burst forth right before my eyes, laid out through the phone.

I thought I had become quite accustomed to the food from that world after five years, but it seemed that nothing could replace the taste of what I originally ate.

I stared intently at the message that said ‘Installing.’

And I pondered over what I should eat.

I didn’t particularly have a craving for something specific. If I had to put into words the exact thought in my head, it would be something like ‘I want to eat anything.’

Jajangmyeon or tteokbokki, tonkatsu or curry. Considering there was no culture of eating raw foods in that kingdom, it had been ages since I had tried sushi.

Well, sushi was something I almost never got to eat, but back when I was in high school, our situation improved just enough to occasionally have it.

“……”

After thinking for a long while, I ordered a set of Jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork.

I had enough money to order a variety of things, but for some reason, I wasn’t inclined to do that.

Ever since childhood, I had a strong aversion to wasting food… If I ordered too many dishes at once, I’d just get tired of them while eating. It seemed better to order what I genuinely wanted one by one and enjoy them at a leisurely pace.

I received a notification saying the food preparation had started.

I anxiously waited for my delivery to arrive.

Grrr.

My stomach growled once more.