"...So this is Loki Familia's home?"
"Yeah..."
Watching Ais rub her sleepy eyes as she spoke, I could only stare blankly at the estate, unable to find the words.
It was a place I could never forget.
A neatly kept building with a spacious garden.
It had originally been the home of the Apollo Familia, and later, it would serve as the home for the Hestia Familia.
*The Hearth Mansion...*
To think the place where we would eventually eat and sleep was currently the home of the Loki Familia. The irony of it all was hard to ignore.
"...What are you doing?"
"Ah, um, well..."
I had thought about visiting it someday, but I hadn't expected to see it like this. My words came out awkwardly, stumbling over one another.
The basement beneath the church had been a place I'd stayed in for barely two months—a place that was, quite literally, nothing but a memory.
It was a place where I had lived hand-to-mouth; if not for the nostalgia, it was a rather bleak memory. Consequently, seeing it hadn't stirred much emotion in me.
But this place was different. This was the place where I had spent the majority of my days as an adventurer—the place that had been my home and my sanctuary.
I had thought I'd be fine, but standing before it now, I found it difficult to maintain my composure. Facing a place I had never been able to bring myself to visit was more unsettling than I'd expected.
Maybe that was why.
"Ais!"
That sharp voice felt strangely welcome.
Normally, I would have been worried that something troublesome was about to happen, but right now, it was a welcome distraction.
With the house right in front of me, emotions I couldn't even begin to name started churning inside me. I needed to turn my mind elsewhere.
"Ais! Why are you only coming in now? We were worried!"
"You're going to get scolded this time. Missing curfew is a serious problem."
"Tch, don't be so hard on her. Everyone's late once in a while."
"Shut up, you careless dwarf! It's a relief she came back safely, but what if she'd been kidnapped? What then?!"
They ignored me completely, crowding around Ais and peppering her with complaints.
...I felt a little guilty, as if she were getting scolded because of me. If I'd known she'd sleep that long, I would've woken her up at a reasonable time.
"Hm...? You're..."
"Haha... nice to see you again."
As Ais looked at me in confusion, the others' gazes naturally shifted toward me as well.
I'd pulled up my hood to hide my face, but Riveria, whom I'd met once before, seemed to recognize me.
"...Why are you with Ais? And at this hour, no less."
"...Well, it is night, but it's not quite the middle of the night yet, is it?"
"Speak. Otherwise..."
Gareth's retort vanished into the air. Riveria, acting every bit the overprotective mother, had already raised her staff and was gathering Mind, ready to fight at a moment's notice.
Uh... I only brought her back because I was worried... I understood her perspective, but it still wasn't a pleasant misunderstanding.
"...Ais, can you explain what happened?"
"Mm...?"
Finn directed the question to Ais, who was still standing there with a dazed, vacant expression, as if her mind hadn't fully woken up yet.
More importantly, how could she still be sleepy in this situation? This girl really did move at her own pace.
"Training, and then sleep."
"No, sle—"
She had omitted so much detail that, to anyone unaware of the context, it sounded downright suspicious.
"...I'll kill him."
See? They misunderstood.
Riveria pointed her staff at me and began chanting. Judging by her expression, she looked ready to kill someone... ah, so that was exactly what she intended.
Let's get out of the way first. I could explain later.
"Wait, Riveria."
In the midst of the tension, Finn spoke up.
As expected of Finn. Even now, he possessed a remarkable amount of composure. So this was the aura of a [Hero].
"Calm down for now. You know Ais isn't one for many words."
"..."
Riveria slowly lowered her staff. However, her Mind remained primed and her expression stayed murderous; she clearly still harbored deep suspicions.
That stung. Well, I knew the situation looked bad, but still.
"I'd like to ask about the situation first. Would you cooperate?"
"...Please keep it brief."
"Haha, that depends on the situation."
With a smile, Finn opened the door and gestured for us to come inside.
"..."
In the dark of night, the room lit by lamps was unchanged from my memories.
On the second day after being sent back to the past, I set foot once more in a place I had thought I would never tread again for the rest of my life.
*
"Hmm, I see. So Ais..."
The misunderstanding was cleared up quickly. With Ais right there beside me, there wasn't much to debate. We had simply trained on the city wall and then taken a nap—that was all.
"...That really is all?"
"...Even if you keep asking, the answer won't change."
"Honestly, this is why elves are like this. You should learn to trust others a little more."
After more than an hour of questioning, the people around us started defending me before I could. Ais had already fallen asleep with her head resting on my lap.
Because of that, Riveria's gaze only grew sharper, but with the support of the others, she finally seemed willing to set her doubts aside for the moment.
"Um, may I ask something too?"
"Sure, ask away."
"Why was Ais alone out on the street?"
Honestly, I'd been curious about that from the moment we met. Why on earth had they let a child wander out alone?
"Haha, well. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but Ais escaped through the window. Man, I was really shocked."
"...Sigh, I thought I'd properly scolded her, but it seems she still hasn't come to her senses."
Riveria glared at the sleeping Ais. It seemed a lecture was definitely in her future tomorrow.
The fact that they weren't waking her up now was perhaps the only kind thing about the situation.
"...Hah, I'll apologize to you again. Yesterday and today—I've done nothing but be rude to you."
"No, it was a situation where any misunderstanding would be natural."
"...I'm truly sorry."
Her apology left me feeling awkward. If the other elves found out about this later, it was going to be a headache.
"Well then, I should be going..."
*Clasp*
Before things could get even more troublesome, I tried to leave in a hurry, but something caught me and wouldn't let go.
Looking down, I saw it was Ais. Somehow, with that small body, she had found the strength to tightly grip the hem of my robe, anchoring me in place.
"Mm..."
"Haha, looks like Ais took a liking to you."
"Indeed. I've never seen her cling to someone like this before. Even Riveria doesn't get this kind of reaction."
"Hmm..."
The three of them watched Ais with curious expressions.
Was Ais this shy back then?
"Sorry, but Vesta-kun. If you don't mind, could you stay a little longer? It's been a while since Ais slept so peacefully, and I don't want to disturb her."
"I'd like to ask the same. I was worried about her, since she's the sort who couldn't sleep even if someone sang a lullaby beside her."
"I don't mind, but... is it really all right? Bringing an outsider into the home in the middle of the night?"
"Haha, we're the ones asking a favor, so we can't really be picky about that."
After saying that, Finn headed off, mentioning he had work to do. From what I heard, he was still the captain of the Loki Familia. He was likely going to handle administrative duties.
Tch, I remember a time when he didn't show even a shred of captainly dignity!
"...How strange."
"...Pardon?"
"That girl. It's the first time I've seen her sleep so soundly."
"She's the youngest by a huge margin, both in age and in when she joined. In the Familia, she's less like a comrade and more like a little sister or a daughter."
Come to think of it, looking at the average age, there was no way she could be treated as an equal.
"That's why the others in the Familia were worried. They wondered why such a young thing was so full of hostility."
"..."
"Still, seeing her like this does put me at ease. She didn't even care when Riveria looked after her."
"Hey, keep it down."
The two of them, laughing and chatting, gave off a lighter, friendlier atmosphere than the ones I remembered from the future.
I'd heard there were people more senior than them at the time. Maybe that was why they could afford to be a little less tense.
Standing at the top is a burden in itself. Not that I had any connection to such a thing.
"So, I'm sorry, but I'd like you to keep spending a little more time with her."
"Haha..."
I couldn't bring myself to answer.
I knew better than anyone how absurd this situation was.
To suddenly wake up and find myself in the past... could something like that even make sense?
Why on earth had this happened all of a sudden...?
*Ah, come to think of it...*
Now that I thought about it, before I'd been sent to this time, it had definitely been Elegia. I'd been preparing to honor them, and then...
*What is the date now?*
"Hm? Elegia was yesterday, wasn't it?"
"I didn't expect you to go into the Dungeon even for Elegia, but..."
Apparently, the timeline wasn't all that different.
*...This is a first.*
For the first time since that day, I'd simply let Elegia pass.
I'd always just looked up at the sky alone and choked back my tears. But perhaps because of the current circumstances, I hadn't even had time to get sentimental.
What should I even call this... fortunate, maybe? Or maybe...
"Mm..."
"Oh dear, have we been talking too much?"
"You're the one making all the noise. Honestly, this is why dwarves are..."
"What was that?!"
"Quiet..."
In the middle of their sudden argument, Ais rubbed her eyes and woke up.
Maybe because she'd taken such a long nap, she'd woken up earlier than expected.
"Since Ais is awake, I should be going..."
"Whoa there, why so hasty? Stay a little longer."
...Too late?
I knew they hadn't kept me here purely out of kindness.
They'd needed to confirm something. At the very least, whether I was an enemy or not.
I wasn't an enemy, but I was carrying plenty of secrets that made me suspicious, so I'd been trying to slip away quietly... maybe I was a little too late?
"Nice to meet you."
Before I knew it, a woman with a light, easygoing air was standing behind me.
Red hair, narrow slit-like eyes, and within them, a sharp, snake-like glint.
"I'm Loki."