“Are you really okay?”
My sister had already asked this for the third time on the bus.
“I’m really okay,”
I replied with a smile.
I truly was fine.
This wasn’t my first time going to volunteer.
Ah, but it wasn’t as if I had gone often either.
When I was younger, my life wasn’t exactly busy, but that didn’t mean I dedicated time to volunteering regularly.
Honestly, kids who went out of their way to volunteer might have been considered unusual.
Still, since school required a certain number of volunteer hours, I remembered going with my sister a few times.
To be fair, there isn’t much high school students can do for volunteer work.
It was usually just cleaning or helping out a bit.
Volunteering that truly helped those in need was often hard to come by.
Such opportunities preferred groups or people who came regularly rather than those who showed up just once.
Before I got on the bus, my sister had emphasized multiple times that today’s volunteering might involve physical effort.
We were heading to a local church’s volunteer event.
It seemed like the person who had called my sister was the pastor.
When we were younger, my sister didn’t have any particular religion.
It wasn’t because she was an atheist; she just happened to be born into a non-religious family.
The same went for me.
In fact, considering how our mom worked even on weekends, I doubted we’d have been able to attend church regularly even if we had a religion.
When I asked if she had a religion now, my sister smiled and shook her head.
She said she still didn’t, but somehow, through a certain connection, she ended up volunteering regularly like this.
“If it gets tough, you can head back early. I already informed the pastor,” she said.
“Yes, but really, I’m fine,” I answered for the fourth time.
Although it was a weekday, it was earlier than the usual time office workers commuted.
Since it was even earlier than when my sister usually opened the bakery, the bus wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t empty enough to find a seat either.
Inside the rattling bus, there was barely any conversation.
Most of the people looked tired.
A man stared blankly out the window, an older woman nodded off in the elderly seat, and someone my age, sitting at the very back, leaned against the window, half asleep.
Of course.
They weren’t heading out for leisure.
Most were likely on their way to work to make a living.
Did I look like that every morning on my commute?
I didn’t recall dozing off on the subway.
After exercising in the morning, I usually felt refreshed. In fact, I often felt excited at the thought of seeing my sister’s face.
Ah.
The young man sitting at the very back suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Startled, I wondered if he’d noticed me glancing around, but his gaze was actually fixed outside the bus.
He quickly stood up, pressed the stop bell, and walked to the back door.
As the bus halted, the door opened with its distinct alert sound.
The young man got off and waved to a woman standing at the stop.
She looked a few years older than him and waved back with a smile.
The bus doors closed, so I couldn’t hear what they said, but it was obvious the two were pleased just to see each other.
Were they coworkers? Maybe I had just misjudged their ages—they could both be college students heading to class together.
Without holding hands, the two started walking side by side as the bus moved forward.
I felt a gaze on me and flinched.
Turning, I saw my sister looking at me.
“What are you staring at?”
Following my line of sight, she glanced out the bus window.
“Oh, uh…”
When I looked back, the bus had already turned, and the pair walking away was no longer visible.
“Nothing, really.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I replied, “I just saw a pair of people who looked nice together.”
“Did you?”
My sister smiled faintly at my response and looked away.
‘That’s right.’
Everyone here must have someone like that.
Even if they looked tired or bored now, they probably had friends waiting at home, at school, or at work.
Or maybe they were building connections in a club or their neighborhood.
Come to think of it, even the world I’d lived in for the past five years wasn’t much different.
Amidst war and countless battles on the frontlines, people in the kingdom or the elven sanctuaries must have been living their daily lives.
They might have worn dull expressions, dozed off, or looked reluctant, but they probably also smiled brightly at loved ones or shared drinks with old friends.
If I hadn’t been at the frontlines, if my party members, knights, and soldiers hadn’t been there, those people wouldn’t have been able to live so peacefully.
Thinking about this, I felt glad.
‘That’s right.’
Even though defeating the Demon King didn’t make the world perfect, somewhere, someone might still be suffering from hunger or violence.
But I had saved countless lives.
Not everyone, but enough.
“…Shihyun?”
Lost in thought, I heard my sister’s voice.
“Ah, yes?”
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
My sister quietly looks at me, her gaze profound.
Whenever I was lost in thought, she would ask me like this and watch me patiently.
Eventually, I’d always end up telling her what was on my mind.
Whether it was troubles from school, arguments with friends, or sudden worries about the future, I would confide in her.
Of course, she couldn’t solve all my problems.
She was only a few years older than me, after all.
It was natural that she couldn’t fix everything.
Still, talking to her always made me feel better.
I often shared personal concerns that were difficult to discuss with our mom or friends, and sometimes I even talked about my far-fetched dreams for the future.
She always listened.
Looking back, I couldn’t help but wonder how someone like her could exist.
“No, it’s nothing.”
I paused briefly before speaking again.
“Just… I’m happy to be out here with you.”
But right now, the thoughts I was having weren’t ones I could share with her.
The day I could talk about them… well, that seemed unlikely.
“Is that so?” she said, smiling at my response.
Thud. The bus jolted slightly, causing the knees of the standing passengers to wobble a little.
Thankfully, my body—still honed from the other world—allowed me to remain steady.
“…Oh.”
Hearing the bus’s announcement, my sister murmured softly.
“We’re here.”
Following her gaze out the window, I saw a neighborhood that seemed out of place along the busy road.
The bus had brought us to an area that climbed upward, as if heading into the mountains.
Low, old houses were clustered together on the slope, resembling a haphazard pile of belongings someone had meant to sort through but forgotten about entirely.
It reminded me of the neighborhood my sister and I had lived in when we were younger.
At the highest point of the area stood a church with its distinctive spire.
It was still daytime, so the cross wasn’t illuminated yet.
My sister’s gaze, fixed on the neighborhood through the bus window, seemed distant, as if she were looking far beyond the present.
Somehow, I felt I understood why she volunteered here.
“You’ve arrived,” an elderly man said with a smile, greeting us.
His voice over the phone had made me think he was middle-aged, but seeing him in person, he was closer to being an old man.
Though he was a pastor, his attire wasn’t particularly religious.
If not for him standing in front of the church, I wouldn’t have guessed.
“Hello,” my sister greeted him.
“Ah, hello,” I quickly followed, bowing slightly.
“Ah, welcome,” he said in a tone that had a hint of playfulness.
Honestly, judging someone based on a first impression wasn’t ideal, but…
How should I put it? He didn’t quite have the atmosphere of the priests I had met in the other world.