In the end, I couldn’t decide on a birthday present.
It wasn’t that I had never received a present before, but I’d never actually chosen one myself.
The reason was simple. I believed that presents weren’t something you chose for yourself; they were something someone else gave you because they wanted to.
To me, picking something for myself felt less like accepting someone’s kindness and more like asking them to buy me something I simply wanted.
Maybe that’s why I wasn’t good at choosing things.
If I had to choose, how much should it cost? Where should I draw the line for what I wanted?
I had grown up with a difficult childhood. I believed that anyone giving me a present had their own limits, and it wasn’t right to expect more than they could offer.
Because of this, I was always satisfied when my mom stacked up Choco Pies as a substitute for a birthday cake.
I knew my mom always did her best for me.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to buy me a cake from the bakery. I understood that perfectly.
“Someday, when I make more money, I’ll buy you a delicious cake,” she would say whenever I happily ate the Choco Pies she had prepared for me.
I believed rejecting her by saying it was fine would only hurt her feelings, so I always smiled and nodded.
And my mom kept her promise.
By the time I was in high school, around my third year, our financial situation had improved a bit. A few better welfare policies had been introduced, so we had less to worry about when it came to food expenses.
Studying hard and raising my grades without attending expensive private academies also helped, and my older sister, who had already gone to college, gave us a hand as well.
So, on my birthday just before the college entrance exam, my mom splurged and bought a cake.
It was a cake from a chain bakery, topped with whipped cream and fruits.
That cake was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted.
*
After losing my life once in a tragic accident and crossing over to Irellexia, my companions there remembered my birthday.
It was a completely different world in a different universe, with different names for seasons, holidays, and festivals. Yet, a year was still approximately 365 days, and a day was still 24 hours.
I didn’t know if that was mere coincidence or if there was some other reason behind it.
Because of that, I could still state my birthday exactly as it was.
The twenty-first day of the tenth month.
“Birthdays are meant for hearty meals,” Kalia said, preparing a feast that almost made the table collapse under its weight.
Of course, Kalia didn’t personally cook the food. This was during a rare visit to the duchy.
Unfortunately, that one instance of such a grand celebration only happened because my birthday coincided with our time at the duchy. Other than that, we never had the luxury for a birthday party.
We were either lying in ambush near the enemy’s territory, carving out new infiltration routes, or waiting for reinforcements from allies.
Even in such situations, though, we never forgot the date. That was an incredibly important thing. If we couldn’t maintain real-time communication with our allies, we had to follow prearranged plans, which made dates critical.
*On this day, reach this location. If you don’t meet up with allies there, move in this direction by this deadline. Allies will wait until this time.*
Such plans dictated our movements, so we never forgot the date.
And because of that—
“Happy birthday, Hero.”
I occasionally received small celebrations.
When I turned around after feeling a tap on my back during my night watch, there was Kalia, smiling at me.
“Skip tonight’s watch. You should sleep soundly on your birthday.”
“Ah, but my birthday isn’t until tomorrow.”
“You’ll cross into tomorrow while you’re asleep anyway. And don’t worry. Fia has agreed to take your shift tomorrow.”
“…Alright. Thanks.”
“No need to thank me. It’s the least I can do for someone who came from so far away to help us. Someday, I’ll make sure to repay this debt.”
Of course, I wasn’t the only one allowed to rest on my birthday.
In our party, everyone was treated equally. Even though I was the “Hero,” that title only described my role, not some higher rank that gave me the right to inconvenience my teammates.
On the battlefield, tension was inevitable, and that tension could cause anyone to feel irritable or angry. If one of us insisted on being special, the party would inevitably fall apart from within.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
No one else in the party could do much for their birthdays either. Whether it was the Master of the Mage Tower, the Saint chosen by the goddess, or the representative of the elves, it was only natural to be without luxuries on the battlefield.
So, little by little, we supported and cared for one another, strengthening our bonds.
If a situation couldn’t be avoided or enjoyed, the best solution was to each take a step back and meet in the middle.
*
“Then,”
Fia said with a beaming smile on her face.
“This time, please let me properly celebrate you!”
“Hmm…”
But because of that, I felt a bit flustered by Fia’s words.
I’d never thought about wanting to receive something from someone before, so I didn’t have anything particular in mind to choose.
“Um, can I ask you something?”
“Yes, go ahead!”
At my words, Fia nodded several times. Sitting on the floor instead of the sofa, she looked quite peculiar. In Irellexia, all the clothing styles were Western, and it was common to wear shoes inside the house.
Yet, Fia had quickly adapted to a Korean-style way of living, sitting directly on the floor without any hesitation and even rolling around on it freely.
The elf, Arna, surprisingly didn’t seem to have any objections to sitting on the floor either. Well, though Arna often displayed a noble demeanor, she didn’t seem to mind sitting on dirt floors in the slightest—perhaps because she was an elf who lived in the forest.
Kalia, on the other hand, spent much of her time in the training grounds, so despite being a noble, she didn’t seem to care much about lying on the ground either. Still, she seemed to prefer chairs when she was indoors.
The Magic Tower had hard floors, and Dana often sprawled out on those floors to work on her research.
There wasn’t enough room to store books properly, so she stacked them on the floor, and sometimes even piled them on chairs, leaving no place to sit herself.
Now that I think about it, Dana had even chosen a room without a bed when she first arrived here.
…Hmm, putting it like that, it almost feels strange to even question it. My party members seemed oddly comfortable with the current situation.
I still didn’t know why they were here, but…
“Is it customary in Irellexia for the person celebrating their birthday to choose their own gift?”
“Uh, hmm…”
At my blunt question, Fia tilted her head, momentarily flustered.
“Um, no, I don’t think that’s particularly common…”
“Then, it’s fine. I don’t mind whatever I receive.”
“But still…”
Seeing Fia’s flustered expression, Dana suddenly raised her hand confidently.
“Here’s my input.”
This was the way we shared opinions when we were gathered like this. Of course, everyone had their own unique style of presenting ideas, but the common rule was to raise a hand high above the head.
When all of us turned to look at Dana, she lowered her hand and offered her suggestion.
“We haven’t fully adapted to this world yet, and we don’t know what you liked in this world either. So, at the very least, it’d be nice if you gave us a hint.”
“Hmm…”
This time, it was my turn to groan.
It was true that I had told Dana bits and pieces about this world, but I had never actually shared what I liked or what hobbies I had here.
…Besides, I didn’t really have hobbies to begin with. If I had to name one, it would’ve been following my sister around. But saying that out loud felt a bit odd, didn’t it?
There wasn’t enough money at home to do anything extraordinary.
I sometimes read books borrowed from school, and there were times when I’d leave the TV on. But our old TV was so outdated it couldn’t even properly display cable channels.
The books weren’t particularly fun either. I only read them to pass the time.
I got a smartphone relatively late, so I didn’t have the luxury of walking around listening to music or anything like that.
“…Sigh.”
As the four of them continued to stare at me intently, I scratched my head.
“Well… honestly, I don’t really know either.”
I said this and sat down in the remaining spot on the sofa.
“You don’t know?”
Dana asked back, and the same question seemed to flicker across the faces of the other three.
It was understandable. If someone answered “I don’t know” to the question “What do you like?” it was bound to confuse people.
“Um…”
I hesitated for a moment, then let out a small chuckle to myself.
Yeah, there was no reason to hide my past now.
I’d already talked about my sister and my mom plenty of times, so there was no reason to avoid mentioning the poverty we faced.
Having convinced myself, I slowly opened my mouth to speak.
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