The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

When you really look closely, it feels like everyone’s personalities have remained the same even after coming to this world.

For example, Claire always enjoyed the situation she was in. Just like back in Azerna, when she went out on missions with Leo at dawn not purely out of obligation, but partly for enjoyment, Claire quickly understood and embraced the culture here too.

She was the first to start using cosmetics, the first to watch idol music videos and study internet broadcasts, and she was the one who taught us about short-form videos too.

Honestly speaking, she knew more about the latest trends in this world than I did, since by the time you hit your thirties, your tastes are pretty much set.

And because she sincerely adapted her tastes like that, I felt like Claire would do just fine wherever she ended up in Korea.

Alice was just as diligent. Her speed at absorbing the culture through online videos was impressive, but her focus leaned more towards "studying."

When I watched her study so hard as a child, I thought she was just forcing herself to do things she hated, but that wasn’t entirely true.

After we crossed over, Alice initially enjoyed herself for a while, but over time, she naturally drifted back toward studying. Of course, the intensity wasn’t nearly as brutal as it was back in Azerna, but still—the fact that she studied at all showed her drive to improve.

The fact that she mostly watched science channels and health videos was proof enough.

Compared to those two, Charlotte and Mia’s personalities hadn’t surfaced as clearly yet, but little hints were starting to show.

Charlotte was studying various aspects of this world’s culture. She showed particular interest in the royal dynasties that had vanished with modernization—probably thinking about how that history might apply to her own country.

If she could take away some lessons from that, it would be valuable. Having the "perspective of a country that has already been through it" was surprisingly important. Even if the future wouldn’t mirror the past exactly, recognizing early warning signs could be incredibly helpful.

As for Mia... it felt like she was desperately trying to reclaim the childhood she had lost.

"Isn’t anyone eating...?"

After dinner, we had stopped by to buy some snacks on the way back to the hotel. We picked up the biggest size of ice cream from a franchise Charlotte and Mia hadn’t tried yet, and grabbed a pile of chips and drinks from a convenience store.

Honestly, there wasn’t any special meaning behind it. I just figured it would be boring to sit around with nothing to nibble on. It wasn’t even because I was thinking of the kids—it was just something I normally did whenever traveling.

Watching Charlotte and Mia react to the ice cream was fun. It wasn’t a Korean brand, but it was still something you could only experience in this world.

There were all kinds of flavors—many of which weren’t common, or even available at all, back in Azerna.

Charlotte, still a girl at heart, lit up with every bite of ice cream.

Mia’s reaction was similar... but somehow different.

The way she sparkled her eyes and kept spooning ice cream into her mouth was adorable, but also made me feel a little... sad, somehow.

I had seen similar moments before, so at first, I hadn’t thought much of it. I just thought, "Oh, that’s how she is."

But when she opened new bags of snacks, smiling brightly every time, it finally clicked. Her reaction wasn’t just childish—it was truly childlike.

And that made me think again about Mia’s unfortunate childhood.

Mia, who had been raised solely for the sake of revenge. She had never really gotten to live as a child.

As for me, well, I had never really been a "child" on the inside anyway. Alice had me by her side to keep some of her innocence intact. Claire had been adopted into a wonderful family, growing up bright and cheerful.

Mia... didn’t have that luxury.

"No, I’m eating."

Saying that, I grabbed a snack and popped it into my mouth.

I had thought about this before, but observing Mia's reactions again, it became even clearer.

Maybe her innocent reactions now were because she had been forced to suppress her childhood for so long.

...Come to think of it, Mia had started watching magical girl anime too.

Better not bring that up. Let’s leave her to enjoy it in peace.

"So where are we going tomorrow?"

Once I started eating again, the slightly tense mood loosened.

At Claire’s question, I answered.

"We’re going to an amusement park."

"An amusement park!?"

"Yes, I already booked the tickets. They were doing a discount event recently."

"Wow!"

"You’re that excited?"

Alice laughed at Claire’s reaction.

"I always wanted to go after watching videos about them!"

If the food in this world was stuff rare or difficult to make in Azerna, then amusement parks were something nearly impossible to replicate because of the technological gap.

I mean, sure, they could probably build something similar using steam-powered exosuits, but when it came to safety... there would be a lot of question marks. And being steam-powered, the whole place would be filled with white fog.

"An amusement park?"

Mia tilted her head so cutely that I almost reached out my hand — but I held back.

Patting her head just seemed... way too creepy.

Besides, heroines in the original Azerna stories weren’t really big on physical affection either.

"It’s a place with all kinds of rides you can get on and have fun."

They call them "theme parks" overseas, and the themes might be clearer there compared to our amusement parks, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° but still—the big attractions are the rides.

Sometimes they even made movies based on those rides.

"There are parades and other events too. Anyway, once you’re there, you’ll have fun. Since you’ve come to this world, you should enjoy everything you can while you’re here."

Maybe later, if we had more time and money, we could expand our range even further.

"It’s probably this place."

While I was talking, Claire pulled up a video on her smartphone and showed it to Mia. Mia’s eyes sparkled as she watched.

"Um, Sylvia?"

"Yes?"

Charlotte called me cautiously.

"You never asked us to pay for anything... so you booked all the tickets yourself?"

"That’s right."

"But then..."

What? Are you about to tell me I’m losing out?

"I’m doing it because I want to."

That’s right. I was doing it because I wanted to.

When I first came back to this world, the overwhelming feeling wasn’t relief—it was loss. The goddess must have known that, which is why she sent me back.

Sure, I could try to find my family and friends here, and maybe even rebuild those relationships. Whether or not it would work, I didn’t know, but at least I could try.

But before I even had the chance to start, Claire and Alice came to find me.

And spending time with them here was so much fun. So I wanted to do things for them. Because I had already received so much from them.

"...I see."

Charlotte seemed to pick up on something from my expression, because she didn’t press any further.

But seeing her smile warmly while watching us from a little distance away, I could tell she found the conversation heartwarming.

"And soon, I’ll also get smartphones for the two of you. You’ll probably have information you want to look up yourselves. It’s better if you can find what you need without relying on me for everything."

Hearing that, both Charlotte and Mia lit up with excitement they couldn’t hide.

It really made it feel worth it, doing things for them.

"I think Claire and Alice have adapted pretty well to this world already. As for the two of you... It might still be a bit worrying to let you go out alone, but I think it’ll be okay if you go out with someone else from the group."

"Really!? ...Although honestly, I don’t think I have much reason to go off on my own."

Claire’s face had lit up for a moment, but she quickly returned to normal.

Yeah, I figured you’d say that.

"Is it because you don’t want to go work out with us?"

"..."

At Alice’s teasing, I quickly averted my eyes.

"Alright, then you’re stuck with Sis from now on."

Ah. No escaping it now.