I am back – Chapter 57

Wednesday is the bakery’s day off.

Since it’s not a franchise bakery and there are only my older sister and me working, keeping the bakery open all week is tough.

We close much earlier than franchise bakeries. Most customers come in during the morning and commuting hours, and we get a decent number of visitors during lunchtime. We baked bread to coincide with those times, and then close at eight when most of the bread is sold out.

Even though it’s just a neighborhood bakery, I did wonder if closing so early was a bit much, but considering this operating schedule has been around since the church ran it, I thought there wasn’t really a reason to change it.

As I mentioned, there are only two employees. Before I joined, my older sister managed alone. Naturally, that must have been incredibly hard. It would be pretty cruel to ask her to keep the shop open any longer.

I did consider hiring more staff… but even after I started, the “Help Wanted” notice outside the bakery hasn’t been taken down yet.

Maybe the rumors spread by a kid who followed my sister around during her volunteer activities traveled far, or perhaps the locals just never thought to work here. Maybe my sister just turned them down. At least it seems like she hasn’t felt the need to post online about desperately searching for part-time work.

For at least a month, no one has come forward to apply for the part-time position. Not sure if that’s just coincidence or what.

…Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for my older sister, but I thought it might be nice to keep things this way. If more people showed up, I might have less time to spend at the bakery. I didn’t think my sister would reduce her working hours either.

Anyway, for those reasons, our bakery is closed on Wednesdays.

“So, you’re saying we put money in here?”

“Not exactly putting money in… more like leaving a certain amount as a deposit, and this card is proof that I have that amount set aside.”

I provided a little more explanation in response to Kalia’s question.

The house I live in from the church is quite a distance away. It’s definitely walkable – it’s not like I haven’t done a three-hour walk before. What’s three hours? When I was really in a rush, I walked for ten hours in a day. If I were to jokingly ask Kalia, “Is three hours okay?” she’d nod and immediately start preparing.

But I can’t make my friends travel like that from so far away.

…Plus, I didn’t really want to be a bother.

Fortunately, it’s possible to buy a transportation card without any ID. You can recharge it with as much money as you like.

Instead of saying “five people” when getting on the bus, it’s much better to recharge a certain amount on the card and hand it out one by one. Plus, if these folks are going to spend time here, they’ll need to get used to this method.

If Kalia heard, “You can get your driver’s license as long as you have an ID,” she’d probably immediately decide to get one.

Wearing a black skirt, a dark gray blouse, and a beige coat, Kalia had even tied her hair up, which I guessed she had seen somewhere. If she let her hair down as usual, the red color might have clashed a bit, but with it up, she looked very much like a working professional.

Honestly, I could totally see her wearing sunglasses and driving a flashy red convertible.

“Hmm? Is there something on my face?”

“N-no, nothing at all.”

As I hastily replied, Kalia shrugged and said, “Anyway, with this… card, it seems like using transport won’t be a problem.”

“Yep. Just watch what I do and follow along. And if you have questions, I’ll tell you more.”

“Understood.”

Seeing Kalia nod, I turned to the three people behind her.

Pia’s outfit was quite bold compared to what she usually wears. A white t-shirt with a short denim jacket and short denim shorts. However, the shades of her jacket and shorts were different, with the pants being a little darker, so she was showing off her legs quite a bit.

In the other world, she had only worn the saintly outfit that covered her skin almost completely.

“Well, here, you’re not a ‘Saintess.’”

Pia, unprompted, said this first. Well, I didn’t have anything to say; it suited her.

Honestly, the awkwardness I felt seeing her in that outfit probably came from having already seen her as a saint. If someone saw her for the first time, they might just think she’s a standout university student with that pink hair. Or being a foreigner might make it easier to accept.

Dana’s outfit was all black. A black shirt, a black coat, and black pants. I thought it might be a bit too dreary, but Dana herself seemed satisfied, so I didn’t have any remarks. In fact, even with all black on, Dana’s face was showing an expression of excitement, making her look brighter.

Arna wore a simple outfit of a green blouse and black pants. That must have been comfortable for her to move in. The vibrant green matched well with Arna’s shiny blonde hair.

“Okay, then.”

The four of them looked completely relaxed. They seemed rather jubilant or excited… in any case, there wasn’t a trace of fear on their faces. I could understand why. I had summed up the worst possible enemies they could face here to a mugger with a kitten.

If that were the case, these four could take them down with their bare hands. Even Dana and Pia could handle it. I didn’t know how things would go if they faced a professional athlete dedicated to training, but with Kalia and Arna around, it shouldn’t be a problem.

The one feeling the most tense was me.

Thinking about it, it reminded me of how I felt five years ago when I first formed a party.

Everyone was a big deal in their own domain, the best at what they did—except for me.

They were all so much further along than me, who had only studied at home and never even done part-time work.

Honestly, back then, I sometimes wondered why people like them weren’t getting the holy sword instead of me.

But—

“Don’t worry too much.”

As if she read my expression, Kalia gave me a light tap on the shoulder.

“I won’t do anything that’ll get you in trouble. I’ll just follow along with what you do.”

“Yes, I won’t let you down!”

Pia joined in, echoing Kalia’s words.

“…Well, I might occasionally let my eyes wander, but I’ll make sure not to miss anything important,” Dana added on.

“Right, we’re not here to make things hard for you,” Arna said, a small smile on her face.

“…”

—Yeah. And it was the same back then.

These people each cheered me on in their own way, even when I wasn’t sure if I was worthy of the strength I possessed.

“Okay, I believe in you.”

And because of that, I could answer back confidently.

They were truly always dependable companions.

Trustworthy enough to hold my life in their hands.

*

“Truly fast. And the system seems quite organized. It would be nice to have it in the kingdom, but… that would require fixing a lot of things.”

Kalia joked.

“If it’s just not too many, we could manage it, but… the most important thing is the fuel. If it’s not something we can continuously bring in, we don’t even have the technology to extract, or rather, find that fuel. I wonder if we could replace it with magical stones somehow.”

Kalia and Dana were chatting while watching the bus drive away.

“If it weren’t for the obviously poisonous air I’d be spewing each time I walked by, I’d have agreed with you.”

Arna spoke from behind her mask.

“We just need to develop in our own way,” Pia ended the conversation, and we turned away from the bus stop.

In the distance, there was a church perched up high. The cross was visible above the tightly packed houses.

Even though it was at a height, the atmosphere around it gave more of a feeling of surveying rather than looking down disdainfully.

“Is that the ‘church’?”

Even though it was a church serving different gods than the one she worshipped, Pia didn’t seem to have any aversion to it. The symbol of Irrelaysia was a blade pointing upward with a circle drawn around the holy sword. It could look like an inverted cross in some way, so it seemed she didn’t think it was weird at all.

Well, this is a different world, after all. Having other gods isn’t surprising.

Separately, I didn’t believe in the gods of this world.

“Yep. That’s the church we need to go to.”

“The building isn’t that fancy.”

“There are definitely some very opulent churches out there.”

When I said that, Kalia shrugged.

“Well, every region has its own characteristics. Although I did notice quite a few churches on the way here,” she added.

With Kalia’s words, I could only muster a bitter smile.