…..As I put my hand into the bag and tucked away the pocket knife with the blade exposed, the goddess let out a light breath.
I didn’t have time to explain in detail. Especially about this world or your current state….. It would take a ridiculously long time to explain.
But I did say just before we got here that you wouldn’t be able to recognize me.
My heart was still pounding.
Over the past month, I had thought that I would only meet the people I had made connections with in that world after I died.
If things had gone as they should have, that’s how it would’ve been. But…
The goddess seemed like she wanted to say something more but stopped herself.
Anyway, you’ll meet these people who were your comrades again. At first, you might not recognize them… no, you definitely won’t. The way you look now isn’t the way they remember you.
That’s right. I told you to make sure you didn’t resemble them.
“The goddess……. Is she really the goddess?”
…..
I asked quietly, looking up at the sky, and the goddess was silent for a moment. It seemed like there was a lot she wanted to say, but—
Yeah. I am the goddess you remember. No one else is imitating me, and it’s definitely not some delusion of yours. What, do you need some proof to believe it?
“No, there’s no need for that.”
Earlier, I had felt a strong magical power. I can understand why, if my comrades had arrived, such a strong magical presence would be felt.
Even with a relatively common portal, you could often feel that much magic.
So, does this mean my comrades are here?
Arna, Dana, and Fia did they all come?
Since the goddess is telling me directly, they must have borrowed her power.
But…
“….But, why did they come to this world?”
The goddess personally sent them here. All four of you were members of my party. I gathered only the best of the best to defeat the Demon King.
Of course, that power was never aimed at people, but if it had been used in war, it would have been strong enough to replace an entire legion.
So, if those people are being sent to this world, it must be because—
No.
But the goddess cut me off before I could continue.
No, that’s absolutely not the case. At least not the kind of threat you’re thinking of. The wars happening in your world are all human-made wars.
They don’t require divine intervention, and if we tried to control them, that would only cause more problems. It’s not something you need to worry about.
“Then…?”
…..
The goddess was silent for a long time in response to my question.
And, in the world you live in, it’s better for you to just think to me rather than speaking out loud when you want to talk to me. If you talk out loud, people will think it’s strange.
Just think about it in your head. If you really can’t, at least put in your earphones.
The goddess was silent for a while before speaking, but her words were completely unrelated to my question.
“…Understood.”
I nodded after thinking for a moment.
If the goddess didn’t answer me, there must have been a reason for that. So, I decided not to ask further.
For now, yeah. I should just be thankful that I was able to converse with the goddess I worship.
….There’s no set time frame, but when the time comes, I’ll call you myself.
“Understood.”
I answered a bit too casually, and I wondered if it bothered the goddess. She stayed silent for a while, and then,
I should be going soon. After this, I won’t be able to interfere with things over there… I won’t be able to talk to you for a while.
“Understood.”
Just knowing I could have a conversation like this was satisfying. At least it meant I wasn’t completely alone.
That kind of thinking is good. It worked.
“Yeah?”
…No, nothing. And I told you to keep your answers in your head.
After hearing that, I closed my mouth and looked around.
The apartment I lived in wasn’t surrounded only by other apartments. It was in a part of Seoul where the land was expensive, with flashy buildings and shops surrounding it.
Naturally, there were a lot of people who had just finished work in those buildings.
Coincidentally, this moment happened to overlap with rush hour, and a lot of people were passing by me.
But, well… how should I put it? It felt like there was some kind of circular barrier around me within a 3-meter radius.
Most people walking by kept a certain distance from me. One person, who made eye contact with me, quickly looked away.
…See, I told you.
“…”
I lowered my head and quickly left the area.
*
After parting with the goddess, I realized that I hadn’t properly asked where they were.
But it didn’t worry me much.
It wasn’t like they had crossed over to this world and gotten caught up in some major incident, something completely unreasonable.
They weren’t helpless enough to get trapped in a difficult situation either. Most importantly, no matter how strong someone in this world might be, unless they were armed, they wouldn’t easily be able to overpower them.
It was highly unlikely that a gun owner would suddenly appear in the middle of South Korea to threaten them, and even if someone with a gun did show up, they wouldn’t easily be able to neutralize them.
While I couldn’t say there was no threat, at least Dana knew what guns were. She had heard about this world from me.
Besides, this was a world where the goddess’s guidance still worked, even if weakly. I didn’t think I would ever be separated from them again.
However, there was one thing that did worry me…
“Did you see that earlier?”
I heard two people talking as they walked by.
Actually, they didn’t pass right next to me. They were a little farther away….about 3 or 4 meters, maybe?
But my hearing wasn’t dull enough to miss their conversation from that distance.
“Was that cosplay? Is there some event nearby?”
I casually moved my eyes in the direction of the voices and saw a man looking something up on his smartphone.
“Maybe it’s just people coming back from an event.”
“Don’t people usually change out of their costumes after a cosplay event?”
“Maybe they were just part-timers. You know, those mascot suits? Maybe they’re going back to change out of them.”
“Hmm, do foreigners also do that kind of part-time work…?”
“Well, you see foreign models in those mobile game ads all the time.”
“True, that’s a good point.”
The two men continued their conversation as they passed me by.
Yes, that was it.
While their appearance was certainly eye-catching, it was their outfits that would stand out the most when they first arrived.
You could think they were foreigners based on their looks, and you might assume their hair color was just dyed. Even if it was a little unusual, there are plenty of people who dye their hair.
But their clothes were a different matter.
I didn’t expect Kalia to be wearing full plate armor after the war, but even so, the dresses that nobles wear weren’t something you’d see in this world.
Dana’s robe, Fia’s saintess gown, and Arna’s outfits….all of them were out of place for this world.
Arna always wore comfortable clothes for movement, but the design looked like something a ranger in a medieval fantasy game might wear.
It was no wonder they attracted so much attention.
…They weren’t the type to be bothered by public scrutiny. Kalia, as a noblewoman from a ducal family, was used to being in the spotlight. Fia, as a saintess, was very familiar with the attention from countless followers. Arna, though not so much now, had once taken pride in receiving attention from elves.
These three wouldn’t be shocked by the stares they got due to their unusual clothing.
However, Dana was a little different. While she was used to public attention—she had often presented at academic conferences, after all—she wasn’t the type to get embarrassed by being looked at.
Being treated with respect as a member of the hero party didn’t make her uncomfortable either.
But Dana cared about ‘face.’
Unlike Kalia, who was more laid-back compared to other nobles, Fia, who accepted that people are all different, and Arna, who had come to terms with the fact that the ways of elves and humans were different after five years, Dana was extremely sensitive to ‘embarrassing situations.’
Dana, who was likely to become the next headmaster of the academy and owner of the magic tower, was just a year older than me, but she always cared about formality when stepping into important roles.
What would her reaction be if she realized she was wearing something that looked like it came straight out of a fairy tale in this world?
“……”
Well, honestly, I thought it would be a little funny.
But I shouldn’t tease her too much.
To minimize her embarrassment, I quickly moved toward the direction the men had walked.
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