"Where are we? What happened?"
Beta finally woke up.
"We're heading south, and well... everything is over."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we managed to escape safely."
Sister explained the situation when Beta regained consciousness.
Beta scanned here and there, then stopped when she saw my sling bag.
"Where are the two of them?"
She was probably referring to Bestie and Fel, who were currently absent.
"I don't know, I really don't."
Then suddenly the carriage door opened, and a red-haired girl appeared, smiling as she ran alongside the horse-drawn carriage.
"Yo..."
It was Bestie; she jumped inside and immediately glanced at Sister.
"This is your favorite mask. Your mother asked me to bring it."
Bestie handed over a mask, which Sister immediately took.
"Where did you come from? Could it be...?"
Beta immediately asked, and Bestie replied with a nod.
I glanced at Bestie; there was something furry on her shoulder. It was Fel; it was clinging there.
"Ah... it hitched a ride when I was chasing the carriage. It suddenly jumped onto my shoulder."
Fel jumped from Bestie's shoulder into my bag, leaving only its head poking out.
I thought it wouldn't come back or perhaps would return in its large form, but it didn't.
Beta walked closer to Bestie, who was currently standing by the carriage door.
"Did Alpha Warding ask you anything?"
"No, but wait... I think I forgot something."
Bestie checked the bag on her back, and I just realized she was carrying a quite large bag there.
"Damn, I forgot to bring the money your mother entrusted to me."
I wasn't surprised if she did forget the money Alpha Warding entrusted for Sister, because she was always like that. Once, when I asked her to climb a tree and pick fruit, she came down carrying a bird's nest.
"How stupid..."
"Sorry..."
"No, I'm not blaming you for forgetting. I'm just thinking how stupid I am for forgetting to bring the money."
Sister, Bestie, and I simultaneously looked at Beta. We probably felt the same way; Beta, who brought soap, could forget the money and only realized it now, after everything.
"But it's okay, I have an acquaintance in the city later."
Bestie sat down next to Beta, put down her bag, and checked the contents inside.
"What about your acquaintance?"
"What about her? To borrow money, of course, hahaha..."
I listened to their conversation; Bestie and Beta, then suddenly something fell onto my shoulder.
"Is your sister asleep?"
I nodded in response to Beta and looked at the silver-haired girl who was sleeping soundly, leaning on my shoulder.
Sister must have been very exhausted; running all night must have been a great burden on her.
"This belongs to Sister, it seems I accidentally brought it."
How could that object be there, while you forgot the money...
Bestie pulled a bra out of her bag.
The bra was very large, though not as large as
Teacher, and when she referred to her sister, Alpha Annihilation, I wondered what had happened to them.
"Hm... what is it, Bestie?"
She was reading my notebook. My position wasn't comfortable for writing, because Sister was leaning on me, but it didn't mean I couldn't write at all.
"Oh, you want to know what happened?"
I nodded.
"So, actually, Sister didn't come to drag me back."
She spoke while examining the black bra in her hand; pulling it, stretching it like a rope. Then she put it on like glasses.
"Her arrival was actually just to monitor, and she wasn't alone. With her were Alpha Warding, Alpha Preservation, and many more."
She then twirled the bra in her hand.
"Then Alpha Preservation was the one who calmed the giant lion, while Alpha Warding drove away the Monsters."
"Can you stop that?"
"Oh, sorry..."
Unconsciously, the bra in her hand had been hitting Beta next to her all this time. Bestie then put it back in her bag, then took out something else.
"Ah, this is mine, hahaha..."
She immediately put it back.
"Oh yeah Bestie, actually Fel stopped fighting when you left, and that's when Alpha Preservation acted. I don't know what she did, but she definitely seemed to be talking to the giant lion."
"Hey, that's enough, it's time to rest. Stop talking."
Beta pointed at Sister.
"Look, she's resting. Lower your voices or stop and go to sleep."
She had a point. I looked at Sister who was asleep. Our conversation might disturb her and make her wake up, even if I wasn't speaking loudly.
"Go to sleep. When we arrive later, I will wake you up."
"Alright, I'm a bit sleepy too. Good night, Bestie."
She immediately curled up, putting her head in Beta's lap.
"From below, they look very big."
Ah, that's right, this position must be tiring.
Seeing Bestie using Beta's lap as a pillow, I decided to do the same; putting Sister's head in my lap.
This might be the first time she slept in my lap. Before, she always competed with teacher, making bets and always losing.
Just like Sister, at first, I didn't know much about my teacher. All I knew was that she was my guardian; a parental figure who cared for me since childhood, when I didn't know who my parents were.
Then I learned that teacher job was a Chronicler, and at that moment, my perspective changed.
I knew she was a great figure, knowledgeable, experienced, and very strong; many people respected her.
The irony is that I was the closest to her, yet I knew everything about her from other people, although there were a few things only I knew.
I knew she was like this and... well, that's it. I never tried to be curious or ask.
The institution was like home to me. I ate, slept, and played there, waiting for teacher to come home alone when she was gone, and when she returned, she always brought something for me like books, food, clothes, and toys.
Until finally, she asked me to live in the dormitory with the other students, and it was then perhaps that my distance from teacher grew, but then we became close again after I read that book.
Before, I never commented on her casual clothes, because that was a common sight for me every day.
But there was a moment when I realized that I hadn't realized, and at that moment, I was forced to realize.
It was all probably because of my growth. When I was little, I didn't care; as time went on, I started to care and only then reacted.
"I will definitely win next time... just you wait."
Sister was talking in her sleep.
She must be dreaming.
Seeing her asleep like this makes me think that Sister is still just a girl, just like me, only a little older than me.