Chapter 5

Chapter 5: My Sister Grew Up, and I Was Already Grown As one would expect, a myriad of events transpired over the course of eight years. Demeter and Hecate started working, Istos had somehow become unbelievably strong, and there were minor troubles with my job—there are endless stories to tell. Over time, my younger sister Istos had become a woman with androgynous features, her auburn hair pulled back into a side tail. She had grown to nearly 180 centimeters tall, towering over me, her older sister. Despite that, her body was well-sculpted from her life as an adventurer, making her an impressive and attractive high-spec beauty. Demeter, the third sister, grew into a woman with a cute demeanor and medium-length green hair. Her height was around 160 centimeters, just a bit shorter than mine. She had started a business selling rare plants grown with magic six years ago, and she was working hard at it alongside me. The youngest sister, Hecate, had become a woman with a gentle face and long wavy white hair. Since she was still only sixteen and growing, she was a bit on the shorter side, around 150 centimeters tall. She excelled in magic related to summoning, capable of calling forth creatures and having them serve her. Leveraging this skill, she had begun a delivery service utilizing monsters...although, for certain reasons, she kept the scale of her operations modest. I will explain the reasons for that later. As for myself, I too had grown in various ways. My own unassuming long, brown hair now fell to my shoulders, and upon looking in the mirror, I could say I appeared rather beautiful—though, of course, I could not compare to the beauty of my sisters. In those eight years, indeed, many things had changed. But there was one thing that hadn't: the life we four sisters shared. Despite all this time, we continued to live together in the same house. Several days prior, I had said to them, "If you want to live on your own, it's okay to go out," but upon hearing this, all of my sisters grimaced. It seemed they were all quite fond of our life in this house. It was as if the tragedy from ten years ago had never happened—we lived in tranquility. "Demeter, wake up. It's already morning." "Mmm... Wake me up, big sis..." "You're an adult now, what are you saying?" One morning, despite what I said, I reached out and pulled Demeter's hand, coaxing her out of bed. It seems I had a habit of spoiling my sister a little too much, and it was deeply ingrained in me. "Breakfast is ready, so come to the dining room once you are prepared." "Okay! Thank you, big sis!" After making sure Demeter had stood up and begun to get ready, I left her room. Returning to the dining area, I arranged the breakfast I had made on the four-person table. Today's menu consisted of rye bread, grilled fish, a vegetable soup, and yogurt. In general, I was in charge of cooking our meals. With my experience from a previous life, I was the most skilled at it. In turn, I had my sisters take care of other household chores like cleaning. As I waited, the other three sisters gradually assembled at the dining table. Once everyone was together, we began our breakfast. Eating breakfast together as sisters was one of our modest rules, something we tried to ensure whenever possible. "Istos, is the injury you got yesterday all healed up?" "Yeah. I enhanced my natural healing as usual, so it's all good." "That's good to hear." "Sometimes, with Istos, you don't know how much to worry. You come home covered in blood, only to find out it's all monster blood." "Ugh, sorry for worrying you. I'll pick an easier request next time." We chatted about such trivial things around the breakfast table. This time was always peaceful, and I enjoyed watching my sisters eat their food contently. "How is your work going, Hecate? Are the reactions from people around you okay?" "Yes. We do get attention, but nobody shows displeasure towards the fairies or pegasi." "That's a relief for now. Hopefully, there won't be any backlash." I had one particular concern regarding Hecate's use of monsters. I worried that she might be mistakenly seen as an ally of monsters. Monsters are generally considered hostile to humans. Thus, if someone saw her controlling monsters, there was a risk that they would mistake her for being an enemy of mankind as well. Witches are already subject to discrimination, so it was essential to take the utmost care to avoid such risks. However, that didn't mean I could forbid Hecate from using her magic. Instead, we agreed on one rule: to only summon creatures like fairies, which were not hostile to humans, in public places. I predicted that there would be less backlash from the people around us if she used such non-hostile creatures. So, Hecate was now using fairies and pegasi to deliver goods throughout Polis Commercial City. A pegasus is a creature similar to a pure white horse with wings of a bird, while fairies resemble delicate young boys or girls with insect wings. Most of the goods she transported were products from Defelos Trading Company, with whom I was well-acquainted. The pegasi carried the cargo from the company's large warehouse to the main street, after which the fairies collectively transported the items to each store. For now, we have kept the delivery scale modest to gauge the city dwellers' reactions, but if it seems to be going well, I plan to grant permission to expand the operations. I just hope the delivery creatures will not be rejected as foreign entities by the people. "Thanks for the meal. Well then, as usual, I'll be heading to my room to work." "Yes, Sister Ulgir." After finishing breakfast, I cleared my own dishes and left the living room—presumably, my sisters would each start on their own work after finishing their meal. I wished for these peaceful days to last forever. However, in the end, my wish would not be granted, and an unreasonable reality would soon stand in my way. --------------------------------------- *From the next chapter, there will be a pov about the sisters.