Chapter 3: The Warmth of an Older Sister
āWhy is there nothing but grassā¦.ā
Green here.
Green there.
This is a sea of green.
It would be nice if I could at least see some fruit.
“Since she’s the Goddess of Grass, wouldn’t it be okay for her to eat grassā¦?”
No, no, that’s not right.
This is for my precious Nahida.
How dare I even consider grass.
I gave up on the idea of hunting animals a long time ago.
It’s absolutely impossible with this weak body.
Something like a wild boar might even get me instead.
If I had my way, I’d want to search further out.
But if something were to happen to Nahida while I was gone, I would never be able to forgive myself.
Just imagining it makes my face turn pale.
That can never happen.
My little sister Nahida, I’ll protect you no matter what.
As I was hardening my resolve, something red caught my eye.
That’sā¦.
“Fruitā¦ Fruit!”
Before I knew it, I had climbed a tree and picked a handful of fruit.
What a relief.
Nahida won’t have to starve.
This amount is enough for both me and Nahida to eat our fill.
I cheered inwardly and headed for the cave where Nahida was waiting.
As I walked with light steps, the cave soon came into view.
And then I could hear it.
The sound of Nahida crying.
In that moment, I felt like something inside me snapped.
At the same time, I was already kicking off the ground and running.
The fruit in my arms fell to the ground, but that wasn’t what was important.
“Nahida!!!”
As I entered the cave, I saw Nahida sitting on the ground, crying sorrowfully.
“O-older sisterā¦?”
Seeing me, Nahida began to cry even louder.
“Sob, older sisterā¦ older sisterā¦.”
I rushed over, took Nahida in my arms, and gently stroked her back.
“Yes, older sister is here. It’s okay, Nahida.”
“Waaaaaah.”
“Shh, it’s okay. Yes, it’s okay.”
Nahida sobbed in my arms for a long time before she tired herself out and fell asleep.
I carefully laid the sleeping Nahida down and stroked her head.
She must have been scared because I disappeared for that short while.
“I’m sorry, Nahida.”
Only a voice that wouldn’t reach her echoed in the cave.
The flower carriage jolted, and Nahida opened her eyes.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a pretty older sister.
Nahida knew right away that the older sister in front of her was her real older sister.
“Older sister!”
When she called out to her older sister happily, her older sister looked flustered but also happy.
Then she took Nahida’s hand and started leading her somewhere.
She really wanted to play with her older sister, but her older sister looked very anxious, so she held her hand tightly and followed her!
She walked with her older sister for a long time.
It was very tiring, but holding hands with her older sister made it bearable!
When her older sister told Nahida to get on her back, she debated so much in her headā¦.
She said no because she was worried it would be hard for her older sister, but her older sister kept insisting, so she couldn’t resist and got on her back!
āIām a failure as a younger sister!ā
āTo think I couldn’t even endure this and ended up burdening my older sisterā¦.ā
āStill, how could anyone resist this!ā
The warm sunlight and her older sister’s warmth made her sleepy, so Nahida fell asleep.
To fall asleep feeling the warmth of the older sister she loves.
Today is the best day of Nahida’s life.