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“……I see.”

Kalia, who had been listening to me, nodded her head.

It seemed like the others could relate to my words quite well.

Considering the situation in Irrelaysia, it was certainly worse than mine.

Of course, it wasn’t that no one starved in that kingdom, but at least there were some minimum welfare policies in place here, unlike the much more dangerous slums of Irrelaysia. That place actually had real thieves lurking around.

Sure, there were hardly any thieves stupid enough to target our party, being heroes and all, but the mere existence of such figures in the slums showed just how tough life was for the poor in Irrelaysia.

The Church was continuously running relief programs, and as the battles against the Demon King’s forces were nearing their end, the kingdom had also begun increasing the amount of aid. The Magic Tower had also promised support, so things should gradually improve.

Anyway, the situation meant that the impoverished had no time to enjoy any ‘hobbies.’ They were too busy just scraping by and surviving.

If I had grown up as a noble, I wouldn’t have known about all this, but Kalia, having done security work for the knight order, seemed to resonate deeply with my words.

“Still, at least the security is better than the kingdom…”

“I know that just because the security is better doesn’t mean it’s easy to survive.”

Kalia nodded, her arms crossed in contemplation.

Sniff.

I turned my head unexpectedly at that sound and saw Pia wiping her eyes.

“I didn’t know you were dealing with such circumstances. I’m sorry…”

“Ah, n-no, there’s no need to react like that…”

I responded a bit flustered to Pia, who was speaking with teary eyes.

Now that I think about it, wasn’t Pia also among the poor back in her childhood? I remembered hearing that if the Church hadn’t recognized her talent, she might have died somewhere no one knew.

That’s why she could empathize so strongly.

“This world doesn’t have all this wealth circulating equally.”

Dana nodded along. She had heard about the situation in this world from me already.

“It’s unfortunate.”

Arna said with a troubled expression. Honestly, the one who would have the hardest time relating to my story here would be Arna. The elf’s country was different from the kingdom. Of course, I didn’t think everything would be perfect just because it was the land of elves. There were power struggles within, and I had heard that sometimes individuals committed crimes and got banished.

But still, she wasn’t incapable of understanding humans. She had learned various things from interacting with the people of the kingdom. Initially, she didn’t look pleased following us, but in the end, she managed to learn how to mingle with people at taverns.

“……”

For a moment, the living room fell into silence.

“Ahem.”

And feeling a bit uncomfortable with that silence, I cleared my throat to break it. Since it felt like the silence was because of me.

Ah, well, to be fair, I had brought up a pretty heavy topic.

Even so, I didn’t want sympathy for my past. It was precisely that life that had allowed me to meet my mom and sister. I had spent my past happily, even without money.

Rather, after coming back to this world, I felt greater emptiness on the first day despite having a lot of money.

What I truly wanted, and what I wished to keep with me, was not money, but my mom and sister who created memories for me.

And my companions who risked their lives alongside me.

I was lucky that they recognized me for who I was.

In fact, if giving up all my possessions right now could convince my mom and sister of my identity, I would gladly leave them behind.

It was because I couldn’t do that that I chose this body and this future.

Ah.

Is that so?

Maybe I’m regretting that last moment.

I wanted to return to this world so badly, yet I couldn’t carry on the reasons for that desire.

The fact that I had died in this world.

If I hadn’t jumped in at that moment, I’d have been with my sister—

…No.

No, that’s not it.

What’s done is done. Changing the past is something even the Goddess cannot do.

More than anything, if I hadn’t acted that day, that child would have died.

And perhaps Irrelaysia wouldn’t have been able to defeat the Demon King.

So I guess there’s no point in regretting.

“Ah.”

As I broke the silence with a cough, my companions were staring at me intently.

“No, um, what I mean is…”

I scrambled to find a way to continue speaking. How could I convince my companions?

“So… you don’t really have to worry too much about it. Whatever you choose to do will bring me joy. You guys don’t have any reason to deliberately try to make things difficult for me.”

“……”

After that, my companions stared at me for a while longer before Kalia finally broke the tension.

“Um, yeah, we can’t just let this slide, can we?”

“Huh?”

I asked, confused about what she meant, and this time Pia jumped in.

“We can’t just ignore your birthday.”

“Eh?”

“Yeah, ignoring it just because you don’t know is foolish.”

“Eh?”

Then Dana added, “No one in the world exists without something they like. Even the beasts in the forest know what they like.”

And finally, Arna finished off with, “Um…”

As I struggled to think of a response, Kalia took the lead.

“Since you’ll be working on your birthday, there’s nothing we can do about that, but still, I hope you can spare some time on your rest day that week.”

“Spare time?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

At my question, Dana responded incredulously.

“Of course we want to know what you like. It’s not that you don’t have likes; it’s that you just don’t know them yet.”

“Ah…”

Is that how it works?

“If you spend the whole day searching, I guarantee you’ll find at least one thing!”

Pia said, her fists clenched in determination.

“Yeah, we’ll prepare as many things as we can that you might like. You’ll have to endure us for that whole day, but you’ll manage.”

“Uh…”

I should at least reply somehow, but I had no idea what to respond with.

Seeing how I struggled, Arna chuckled.

“Well, it’s only been about a month since we came to this world, but we’ve learned a bit about it. And despite appearances, we’ve been with you for five years.”

When I looked at Arna, she shrugged her shoulders.

“Did you think we wouldn’t be able to discern your habits over five years? Even if it looks like this, I’d say our observation skills are something to be proud of. So, just leave that day to us.”

“……”

I struggled to say anything for a moment before finally managing to say,

“Th-thank you…”

I could finally mumble that out.

Hearing it, I felt a little shy.

…No, not just a little; I felt very shy.

For some reason, thoughts of the things I had said back in Irrelaysia came to mind.

“Um, well, there’s no need to thank me.”

As everyone was smiling at my response, Kalia quickly spoke up.

“Actually, right now we kind of have to use your money. I think the expenses are going to be quite large that day. Well, we’ll pay you back at some point…”

At Kalia’s words, everyone averted their gazes from me.

Ah.

Right.

The money being spent right now was my money. Well, it was money I received from the Goddess, so… I wonder if the Goddess will get mad if I think like this.

“Ah, seriously!”

Finally, Dana chimed in.

“I was playing dumb on purpose! I didn’t want to break the mood! How can a noble be so clueless?!”

“It’s not that I’m clueless; I’m just being deliberate about questioning everything. Even if I look like this, I’m still a knight, you know. Now that the war is over, I am also the commander of the knights! Do you want me to act like a slippery snake of a brother for real?”

“No, still!”

Watching the two bicker, Pia burst into laughter. Arna also let out a small chuckle.

…Yeah.

Being with these four was so enjoyable. Whether it was at the tavern or even during those tough days on the battlefield.

They were always my reliable companions and friends.

…Though it was such an embarrassing thing to say out loud.

To be honest, I think that just being able to spend this birthday with you all is a great gift for me.