About

About three days by carriage from the Royal Capital, there lies a tiny village without even a name. Gentle hills and vast wheat fields stretch around the village, and every morning, the songs of birds drift in from beyond the forest. Though it is a world where magic and monsters exist, life in this village is exceptionally peaceful. People till the fields, draw water from the wells, and as dusk falls, the smell of dinner wafts from every home. Occasionally, a small fairy might appear from deep within the woods, but no great disturbances ever occur. I have lived in this village since I was a child. And living right next door is the older girl next door, a childhood friend I've known for as long as I can remember. She is a little older than me and has looked after me in various ways since the old days. If I oversleep, she comes to wake me up, and if I help with the field work, she smiles and tells me I'm doing a great job. To the village children, she is a reliable older sister figure; to me, she is a precious presence whose constant company I have always taken for granted. "Hey, how long are you going to sleep? We're going to town together today, remember?" Squinting against the morning sun streaming through the window, she peeks into my room. It seems that today, another day just like any other is about to begin. But—it is precisely these casual, ordinary days that are more precious to me than anything else.