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“I am….”

The next one to speak was Pia.

“I have nightmares.”

Thanks to the hero Siyun and the strongest party that came together, the war ended after five years. Five years was a long time, but considering how long the heroes fought the Demon King in the records, it was actually one of the shortest periods.

In history, the war with the Demon King lasted ten years, or even thirty.

The number of people who died during that time was countless. Most wars were not detailed in the chaos, but there was plenty of evidence to guess that it was certainly not less than the previous war.

But still, Pia couldn’t help but think about those she couldn’t save.

“We saw the burned villages and cities.”

Inside the kingdom’s barrier, it was relatively safe. The Demon Race and demons that could break through that barrier were only a few high-ranking ones. However, even if such a small number broke through the barrier, they could not overcome the long, high walls, the well-trained elite soldiers, and the various weaponry lined up along those walls.

But there were still people outside that wall. There were villages and cities.

After a sweep by the Demon King, peaceful times would last for a hundred to a hundred and forty years. During that time, some people from the capital city would venture out to seek new lives.

The contaminated land would be purified, and villages and cities would be built on it. The kingdom couldn’t just leave that land untouched, so they actively supported the newly built villages and cities. Settlers received support from the kingdom, allowing even those who lived as the poor in the capital to start new lives.

Just because there was a war didn’t mean all villages and cities burned down, and once the war ended, people thought that the Demon King wouldn’t appear at least during their lifetimes, leading many to set off for the frontier villages.

And history repeated itself.

Some of the larger cities had completed barriers, but many did not. After the Demon King began to move, news would suddenly cease, and later on, when they went to recover, they often found nothing but ashes.

And such occurrences continued throughout the war.

After the war started, there were orders to evacuate from cities or villages without barriers, but many who did not heed that call to come back to the capital also joined the army to protect the villages or cities that had already become their hometowns.

And many people died or went missing.

Stories emerging from the captured Demon King’s army slowly revealed what kind of endings those people faced. They were all horrifying stories.

Those stories reached the upper echelons of the kingdom and the church, and Pia was one of those leaders in the church.

“If I had started moving just a little earlier, before Siyun came looking for me, if I had acted myself, couldn’t I have saved more people? Even if I couldn’t get to the cities or villages, at least if I had been on the front lines….”

“If you had lost your life in doing that, we wouldn’t have faced the Demon King directly. At the very least, I would have lost my life,” Kalia interjected.

Kalia was right. But just because it was the right thing, it didn’t mean there wouldn’t be regrets about the choices made. Kalia herself regretted a situation she couldn’t help.

Pia awkwardly smiled at Kalia. It seemed even she, who had hidden her emotions with laughter until now, couldn’t hide them after talking about something like this.

“….”

Finally, Arna, who had been silent until then, spoke up.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“….”

At Arna’s words, the party members fell silent.

In fact, Arna was one of the people whose values changed the most during this war. Elves might learn to bow their heads as they aged, but Arna’s period was extremely brief.

The party members knew well that she cried silently every night during the first year after joining. She was proud to participate in the war, but felt shame over that pride.

The fact that she still couldn’t sleep at night resonated deeply.

Arna had been the first to notice that Siyun had trouble sleeping at night. Probably because she stayed awake until that time.

“Um.”

In a somewhat awkward atmosphere, Kalia spoke up.

“But I can guess.”

Kalia said with a small smile.

“Everyone here seems to have found some relief since coming into this world. Isn’t that right?”

“….”

They all didn’t respond, but they seemed to agree with her.

Of course, Kalia hadn’t picked up a sword since coming here. But at the very least, she knew that there were still people who couldn’t protect themselves. The simple fact that she could help them again here made her purely happy.

After coming here, Dana turned her attention to this world. Of course, a research topic still lingered in the back of her mind, but she could take a breather. At least as long as Siyun existed in front of her, she felt she could relieve some of that guilt.

Even though Pia knew the existence of the Goddess and souls, her heart felt much more at ease after directly confirming that Siyun could exist in another body in another world. Even for those who had suffered in reality, thinking they could be saved through the Goddess’s guidance made the pain feel like it slightly subsided. At the very least, she could stop having nightmares about people blaming her.

Arna felt the same way. The fact that she could directly help Siyun greatly helped stabilize her heart. After pulling an all-nighter assisting Siyun, she could comfortably sleep the following day.

“We came to help, yet we were the ones receiving help.”

Arna muttered with a bittersweet smile.

“Therefore, we should repay it to Siyun. As much as we received.”

Kalia said with a laugh.

She turned to look towards Siyun’s room and said, “So, you can come out now.”

At Kalia’s words, Arna’s smile faintly grew more bitter. She realized that in concentrating on the story, she had momentarily forgotten that there had been silence just now.

In a battlefield, it could have been dangerous…

…but here, it was not a battlefield. They were just together in a safe and plentiful place with comrades they could entrust their lives to.

*Click.*

The sound of a door opening was heard, and Siyun came out with a slightly embarrassed expression.

At least, she looked much better than the crying face from earlier.

“Um, so…”

“Since you heard our story…”

As Siyun averted her eyes, seemingly trying to make an excuse, Kalia said, “I’d like to hear your story too. What it felt like to come back to this world, and what issues you’re experiencing… Honestly, I can’t say that we can perfectly solve those problems. But…”

Kalia shrugged.

“At the very least, we can listen to you and empathize. Feel free to lean on us, just like you did on the battlefield.”

At Kalia’s words, the other three nodded seriously.

“….”

Siyun stared at her companions in silence for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

“…I see.”

And then she smiled.

It was an entirely different face than the Siyun they knew. Honestly, they wouldn’t have believed it if she had said she was a younger sister or a brother; she hardly resembled them.

But that smile.

That smile was exactly the same as the Siyun they always saw in Irrelaysia.

Not just the smile, but her actions and speech were like Siyun’s. She didn’t look similar at all, but strangely enough, watching those actions made it impossible to think she wasn’t Siyun.

…And with just those actions, they could tell that she was Siyun, having crossed over that line for a long time.

Siyun walked over slowly and sat at the empty spot at the table.

Her hair was still slightly damp, and a towel was draped over her neck, but she didn’t seem to care much about that.

Seeing Siyun like this, Kalia, Pia, Dana, and Arna could feel that here, at least, Siyun was allowing herself to relax.

And they felt relieved.

At least, they believed they were being of some help. It wasn’t just one-sided that they were receiving help from Siyun.

 

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