And the next time I woke up, I was lying in my room in my original world. In my original world, I was treated as a missing person during the year I spent in the other world.

“Nina, I’m really, really sorry….”

I had intended to pretend to be calm when I spoke, but perhaps the turmoil inside me was oozing out after all.

Theo was shedding tears just as he had done that day, and everyone else also had sad, regretful looks on their faces.

“It’s my fault! It’s because I went out alone. Besides, it’s all right, I got back to my original world.”

“Don’t lie to me, that guy killed you in a terrible way! He burned you dozens of times and stabbed you….!”

“…..”

“Theo, calm down.”

Lala quietly soothed the crying Theo. Theo must have remembered that man’s words.

“I stabbed and burned her dozens of times. It was fun. Nina, you know, she made such a nice voice.”

Remembering that moment made me want to vomit and cry. However, I desperately tried to act cheerful, thinking that if I got upset now, I would cause worry.

“It was a little painful, but I’m alive now.”

I tried to smile, but everyone remained tight-lipped. Especially Dirk and Owen, who heard this for the first time, looked terribly shocked and my heart ached.

“I’m sorry, Nina. We didn’t know you were going through something like that, and we were just living our lives like a bunch of fools.”

“…. I’m sorry.”

“No! It’s that guy who’s at fault in the first place, so let’s just think about the future.”

I recalled how his voice echoed in the place, “See you again later,” even after his body was mutilated, his head crushed, and his figure disappeared. There was no doubt that the man was still alive.

“…. That guy’s after the ‘Saintess,’ isn’t he? Nina, from now on, never leave my side.”

Alvin-sama’s hand was clenched so tightly that I thought it might bleed.

Erica, who was in a local temple, was also heavily guarded. In addition to that, she was connected by Lara’s black magic, which was supposed to transfer her to the royal castle in case of an emergency.

“We’re here for you, too, Nina!”

“Yes, we’re with you, so don’t worry.”

“Yeah. We’ll definitely protect you this time.”

“Everyone… thank you….”

“I’ll keep you posted on the investigation.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

And so, that’s how the overprotective three became five, and I had zero time alone until I went to bed.

Of course, I was happy to be able to spend time with everyone I loved, but it was a headache to hear their arguments every time over trivial things, such as who to eat with or go for a walk.

“Nina-chan, I’m here to pick you up! Oh my, why are these guys with you? It’s a girls’ night out.”

“Girls? Where’s the second girl──Ouch!”

“I’ll rip your tongue out, you little shit.”

“Come on, Nina. Let’s go.”

“….”

And so I would have another overly crowded lunchtime today.

◇◇◇

“Nina-san! It’s nice to be able to talk to you today!”

“Me too. I’m glad to see that Erica is doing well.”

The next afternoon, I was having a remote tea party with Erica in a forest mansion behind the royal castle, talking with her using a magic tool for communication.

It seemed that Alvin-sama had an important meeting to attend, and the others were also concerned that Erica and I might have a lot to talk about alone, so I was alone right now.

“How’s it going over there? I’ve just asked Alvin-sama if I can come visit you when things settle down.”

“Wow, I’d love to have you here! I’ve been training from morning to night, so I haven’t had a chance to do any sightseeing…. Ah, I was able to defeat a D-rank demon yesterday!”

“Eh, that’s amazing! That’s really great, Erica!”

Apparently, Erica seemed to have grasped how to use holy magic properly after rigorous intensive training and was improving rapidly.

The time was ticking for the event of defeating the Evil Dragon that Lara predicted, but by the looks of things, Erica’s power might be able to defeat it, and I patted my chest in relief.

“Erica has a lot of magic power to begin with, so you can be a much more amazing saintess than me.”

“Oh no, Nina-san is truly an amazing saintess!”

“I had quite a bit of trouble with it myself at first.”

Anyone who was suddenly transported to another world and told to use magic to defeat the Demon King was bound to be perplexed.

“Ah, that’s right!”

Erica clasped her hands together and brought her face closer to the crystal-shaped magic tool.

“I’ve always wanted to hear about Nina-san’s story from back then! I wanted to know about all of you.”

She seemed to be very interested in the story, and her large ice-blue eyes were sparkling.

“It’s not a very interesting story, but if that’s okay with you, I’d be happy to.”

“Yes, please!”

“Hmm, where do I start?”

I put my teacup down and began to tell her about the first time I came to this world.

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