“…….Sorry. I misspoke.”
Arna said with an incredibly awkward expression.
What Arna had overlooked was that the way humans perceive the length of life differs from how elves do.
Although Arna had adapted quite a bit to human ways of thinking while living with us, there were still times when that adaptation didn’t fully apply especially when it came to personal matters. It was probably because such things were based on her own sense of time.
Ironically, however, the very fact that Arna spoke like this was proof that she had been influenced by human thinking to some extent.
If this had been the Arna from when we first met, she wouldn’t have even considered us old enough to marry she would’ve treated us like complete children.
For humans, age is something that feels tangible with each passing year, but for elves, who live for centuries, even a hundred years can be just a small part of their lives.
In Irellexia, if a human hadn’t married for ten years, people would assume, there must be a really painful reason behind it.
But if an elf hadn’t married for ten years, the response would likely be,So what?
For them, time is something they have in abundance.
“……Well, you don’t have to feel that sorry about it.”
After a brief silence, Kalia finally spoke.
“We spent five years entirely devoted to defeating the Demon King. It wouldn’t make sense to apply the same timeline as ordinary people.”
“Exactly. And I have plenty of things to do. I don’t even have time to worry about something like marriage.”
Dana spoke decisively and then placed a piece of bread on each of our plates.
“Right. It’s not like any of us have someone we like, so we have plenty of time to think about it. Things will be peaceful for a while now, anyway.”
In the past, high birth rates were encouraged to maintain the population, but that was no longer necessary.
With no more war to drain manpower, there would be an abundance of workers for the time being. And once the economy stabilized, early marriages might even become less common.
“Yeah. By this world’s standards, our lives are just beginning.”
I added to the conversation.
At twenty-five, most people would just be graduating from university and starting their careers.
For men, military service would delay things even further.
So really, there was no need to worry too much.
“Even the goddess herself doesn’t know what the future holds. All we need to do is focus on the present.”
Fia said.
She was wearing clothes from Earth, and the setting around her was that of a luxury apartment.
But perhaps because we all knew she was a saint, her words carried a strange sense of conviction.
And so, we all found ourselves nodding in agreement.
*
After finishing a simple meal, we stepped outside.
Honestly, the amount we ate this morning was far too little compared to my usual portion. It wasn’t just me my companions were probably feeling the same way.
“Make sure to eat lots of delicious food with her.”
Thinking back to what Dana had said, it seemed like she had intentionally prepared just enough food to curb our hunger, so that my sister and I could enjoy a proper meal together later.
But….she must have overlooked just how much we usually eat compared to normal people.
Dana was usually meticulous about these things, but every now and then, she’d slip up in small ways like this.
I was so grateful for her thoughtfulness that I couldn’t bring myself to say anything about it.
Still, there was plenty of bread, so we managed to eat enough to last us for a while.
…..Though, I did end up stopping by a convenience store on the way and buying another piece of bread to snack on.
As I got closer to the meeting spot, my heart started pounding.
I saw my sister every day, but meeting for work and meeting for a date were two entirely different things.
I had thought about what to do and how to act in various ways, but by the time morning arrived, all those thoughts had vanished from my mind.
The moment I realized I was actually going to meet my sister, my heart started racing so fast that my mind went completely blank.
Still, I wasn’t too worried. This kind of thing had happened to me before where my mind went blank from nerves but once I was face-to-face with her, I always somehow figured out what to say and how to act.
“Ah.”
I had planned to arrive a little early, but she was already there, waiting.
From a distance, I could see her dressed in a simple white t-shirt, form-fitting jeans, and a light coat draped over her shoulders.
“Unni!”
Before I could even think, the word just came out.
The fact that I barely managed to stop myself from saying noona instead was proof that I still had some shred of self-control left.
It seemed like all the simulations I had run in my head last night had helped, at least a little.
Hearing my voice, she turned toward me, smiled gently, and waved.
There were quite a few people around. Some had probably come early to line up at the entrance.
Among them were couples with children, lovers walking hand in hand, and even pairs of people whose relationship was unclear—friends, perhaps, or something more. Most of these same-gender pairs were women. Or maybe I was just noticing them more.
Since the subway station was directly connected to the amusement park entrance, the atmosphere here felt a bit different from a typical station.
The clean, well-organized flooring in shades of brown and beige, the neatly designed food stalls lining the way—all of it gave the impression that a lot of thought had been put into the aesthetics.
And in the middle of it all stood my sister.
Even though a crowd of people bustled past her, she was the only one I could see clearly.
Without glancing at anything or anyone else, I walked straight toward her.
“Hi….”
She greeted me with a soft smile, but her words were cut off.
“Ah…”
Because I had wrapped my arms around her in a light hug.
“……”
“……”
…Huh.
A moment ago, I had thought, Once I see her, I’ll remember how to act and what to say.
I should take that back.
I had already messed up the moment we met.
My mind froze, and I felt a cold sweat forming on my back.
Then—pfft.
A quiet chuckle brushed against my ear.
And then, I felt her arms wrap around my back in return.
“……”
…Actually, I take it back again.
This was probably the best decision I could’ve made. After all, it meant I got to hold her like this.
After a brief moment, we pulled apart. No one around us seemed to pay much attention. They must have assumed it was just a casual hug between close siblings rather than anything romantic.
She simply smiled at me without saying anything.
“Uh, um… Did you eat…?”
“Yeah, I just had a light breakfast before coming.”
Desperate to keep the conversation going, I blurted out whatever came to mind, and she answered gently.
“I-I did too.”
“I see.”
And it was only then that I realized both of my hands were being held by my sister.
We were standing face to face, holding hands.
It still didn’t seem to look awkward to those around us.
…No, that’s not it.
Why do I keep worrying about what others think?
It’s not like anyone here knows us. Sure, one of my sister’s university friends could coincidentally walk by and see us… but I figured the chances of that were pretty low.
Looking around, there weren’t any teenagers in sight. Naturally so—Wednesday was the middle of the week, after all.
Since this was a famous amusement park, it wasn’t completely empty, but it also wasn’t overwhelmingly crowded. I had felt the same way when I came here with my coworkers last time.
“Shall we go?”
My sister spoke with an expression that looked as if she was about to burst into laughter.
I had been avoiding her gaze, looking around awkwardly, but she must have noticed no, she definitely did. We were facing each other, after all.
For some reason, that bothered me a little.
It’s not that I was trying to compete with her or anything, but looking at her always made me feel this way.
Even though I had held her hand so casually before and even stood next to her with my arm around her, when we were standing face to face like this when I was receiving her gaze it made me feel endlessly embarrassed.
Just realizing that my sister was looking at me made me feel that way.
Had she noticed the difference too?
Her steps, as she pulled me forward by the hand, were light and cheerful.
Bit by bit, the sounds of people talking grew louder. More and more people appeared around us, and the mixture of background music and the voices of amusement park staff speaking into microphones blended into the air.
It felt like we were stepping beyond the quiet everyday life we had shared crossing into something outside of the ordinary.
“…Ah.”
As I watched my sister walking ahead of me, she looked strangely young.
For a moment, she overlapped with the image of her from my childhood, as if she hadn’t aged a day since then. As if nothing had changed.
Like the sister who had always been a few steps ahead of me back in those days.
But I’ve changed so much.
A dull ache filled my chest.