I am back – Chapter 56

The four people who followed me naturally had no sense of money in this world.

Of course, that didn’t mean they lacked objective judgment, so they didn’t just ask me to buy them this and that.

In fact, if you base it on “commercial goods,” it would be virtually impossible to distinguish between Earth and Irrelaysia. Most items in Irrelaysia were handmade. That’s not to say that everything handmade is expensive, but the gap in prices is quite large compared to this world, where you can buy ceramic plates for under five thousand won.

And the quality of the items produced is different too. Though for things like clothing, ceramics, and glass products, which tend to get more expensive as they’re handmade, I don’t know how that would pan out—generally, for items produced in factories, the errors that occur in the rough manual crafting are significantly reduced.

So… commercial products in this world actually look quite expensive when viewed from Irrelaysia’s standards.

Maybe because of that, the four people following me kept glancing at me nervously.

It seems there were a lot of items that caught their attention.

“……”

Well, since there was actually quite a bit of time left, I figured I might as well take a look around the discount stores.

First things first, I should buy some clothes.

*

After buying clothes and changing the party members out of their loose outfits, we wandered around the mart picking up various items.

Inside the discount store, it wasn’t quite up to being called a bookstore, but there was a decent collection of books. However, it wasn’t a place for choosing books carefully; it was stocked with popular titles to attract passersby, and there were no books about learning Korean.

So, what Dana picked was a storybook for young children.

“The letters are big and easy to understand, plus there are usually general morals from that culture in old stories.”

When I questioned whether such a book would be okay, Dana nodded vigorously.

Kalia showed quite a bit of interest in the clothes we were about to buy.

“It’s probably because she only ever sees me in armor, but even this way, I’m still the daughter of a noble family. I’m pretty interested in the trends among women going to balls.”

Indeed, when it was time to take off my armor and wear a dress, I would often don dresses of various designs. It wasn’t just that others chose them for me.

“Wow, there are so many different outfits! I can’t believe this exists!”

Surprisingly, Pia picked out a few outfits that would have made any goddess faint. Still, except for the fact that the pants were a bit short, they were outfits that wouldn’t cause too much of a problem for everyday wear…

But with her expression looking like “thud thud” was written all over it, I didn’t know how to respond.

However, since it was an outfit accepted by social standards, I figured it was safe for now.

“Hmm? What’s this? Is this a plant too?”

Arna, being an elf, was showing interest in a plant she had never seen before.

What she was pointing to was a small cactus. The kind that you would casually grow by placing it on the corner of your desk.

“Is this a spiny leaf? Is it an extreme adaptation for surviving in hot, dry places? Interesting.”

Ah, well, considering that in their world, the road to the desert was pretty much blocked off, it made sense.

Although they say there’s a land just filled with sand if you keep heading south, there were almost no elves who wanted to go out far beyond the forest. Thinking about Arna, who originally had no reason to leave, it made sense that this was the first time she was seeing a plant of this kind.

Anyway, that concluded our first shopping trip.

The expenses weren’t as big as I had thought.

Maybe it was quite a fun shopping experience from their perspective, as they chatted amiably on the way back. Dana even asked me how credit cards worked, leaving me flustered.

…Well, it’s true.

No matter how recently they started living in this world, they were adults. I couldn’t just keep them cooped up while I was away.

It was certain they could talk to people, and they were aware that the culture in this world differed from their standards, so I figured it wouldn’t cause any problems for them to wander around…

But, well, money was the problem.

Should I just give them cash arbitrarily? If so, how much should I give, and how often?

It’s not that I’m frugal. However, carrying too much cash around would raise suspicions. Nowadays, how many people live just by using cash for everything?

As I walked down the tranquil night road, I pondered seriously about it.

*

In the end, the girl who had said she would come tomorrow never showed up.

“Did I do something wrong?”

My older sister said that with a serious expression while touching her cheek.

“Maybe you shouldn’t worry too much?”

To be honest, I was a little concerned too. But that didn’t mean I could take a girl I didn’t even know to the bakery.

Perhaps her “I’ll come tomorrow” was just empty words. She might have seen my note, come looking for me, realized she had gone to the wrong place after coming in, and hurriedly left.

Maybe she was embarrassed to find someone else there besides the baker mentioned in the reviews while thinking it was still under the church’s name.

Of course, judging from her attitude, it seemed she felt rather differently than that sentiment.

The reason my sister was still worried could be because that girl had reacted quite similarly when she first walked into the bakery. She might also think of her as a child with some worries like me.

“If she really came looking for this place, she’ll definitely come back.”

“Right?”

My sister smiled slightly as if to ease her mind in response to my words.

After tidying up the store, we stepped outside.

The day was indeed starting to feel quite short. It wasn’t fully cold yet to be called winter, and although the temperature rose a bit during the day, it was still noticeable that my sister and I had spent a season together after reuniting.

During that time, we hadn’t really done much. Other than attending a wedding with my sister and seeing my mom’s face once.

Still, I didn’t feel particularly urgent about it.

Um, how should I put it…

It felt like I was right at home.

Every time I came here, my sister was there. My phone had her number saved in it. Even last time I met Yoori, she was friendly enough to give me her number.

So… even if I couldn’t meet Mom right now, I thought it was only a matter of time before I would, and that it was only natural.

Moreover, going back home didn’t mean I would be alone anymore.

The comrades who fought alongside me risking their lives, my friends, were there with me.

So there was no need to feel lonely anymore.

Even if those kids someday had to return, there would be plenty of evidence left that they had been out here.

“Did you know?”

As I was walking under the night sky with my sister, she suddenly spoke up.

“What? What is it?”

“Not anything remarkable.”

My sister smiled at me.

“Before you came, I used to walk this road alone every day. Back then, I never felt scared or lonely or anything like that.”

The light of the streetlamp shone beautifully on my sister’s face.

“Now, if I walk alone, it feels a bit scary. Even if it’s short, I can’t express how happy I am to walk like this while chatting with you.”

“Ah…”

At those words, for a moment, I was left speechless, standing there with my mouth agape, not knowing how to respond, and then said, “No, I mean, we’re on the same road anyway…”

I ended up saying something really awkward because I spoke too quickly.

As I fell into self-deprecating thoughts, my sister chuckled at me.

“Still.”

Then she looked up at the sky.

The partly full moon was particularly bright that night.

“But it’s nice when it’s not boring, right?”

My sister turned her head slightly back towards me. A smile brighter than the moon floating in the sky was directed at me.

“To be honest, I really hope you stay here for a long time.”

“……”

“…I guess working in a place like this for a long time might be a bit much…?”

As I racked my brain to come up with a proper answer, my sister mumbled shyly.

After all, I was still just a part-time worker. That was probably the concern she had.

“…If you’re here for a long time, I’ll stay too.”

Finally finding something to say, I managed to respond like that.

“…”

Upon hearing my words, my sister didn’t reply for quite a while. She remained silent until we were nearly close to her house, which left me feeling a little uneasy. Did I say something too forward? It felt a bit off to say something like that after just getting to know each other.

But to blow away such worries of mine,

My sister stopped in front of her house, turned to me, and said:

“Thank you.”

Her response really made me glad.