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In Irrelaysia, there’s a saying:

“Coincidence is the guidance of the Goddess.”

In this world, nothing happens by mere coincidence; every event occurs based on its own causes and effects. Therefore, results can sometimes feel insignificant, but on the flip side, they can also bring immense joy.

It could be stumbling upon a long-lost friend on a street corner in a different city.

Or finding the item you needed at a bargain while walking down the road.

Perhaps discovering a rare manuscript hidden in a corner of a library you thought you’d searched thoroughly.

Whenever such delightful occurrences happened, people thanked the Goddess. In fact, it’s a phrase commonly used in the church. It’s clever how, when something unfortunate happens, no one ever brings it up.

As someone who has directly conversed with the Goddess, I would say this is only half true.

The Goddess doesn’t intervene in everything in the world. A god who respects the free will of sentient beings wouldn’t just grab everyone’s fate and shake it up. Even if it’s something they’d approve of, if every aspect of life flowed according to the deity’s intent, it would hardly qualify as one’s own life.

However, the guidance is not entirely absent. If a kind individual capable of using divine power finds themselves in danger, facing troubles, or in need of something, the Goddess happily offers assistance. Of course, she doesn’t just present it openly saying, “Here you go.”

It’s when a sudden noise draws your attention, or a glimmer catches your eye in a corner, that you find what you need unexpectedly, or when you bow your head to admire flowers in a field and an arrow whizzes by where your head just was.

Genuine coincidences like this happen from time to time. However, if the Goddess was indeed behind it, you would usually feel a divine presence right afterward. I, too, have had that sensation multiple times during my travels to defeat the Demon King.

Maybe… just maybe, the reason I happened upon this bakery was also because the Goddess guided me here, right?

I thought so. The timing was just too perfect.

May your future be filled with nothing but hope and happiness. When you see me again, I hope you can smile and say you had no regrets.

The Goddess said that…

So, this path forward is one I must carve out for myself.

I awkwardly picked up a tray near the entrance and also grabbed a bread tongs with a plastic end. To be honest, this was my first time entering a bakery of this sort, but I still had some sense about me.

I could feel her watching me. Not really observing, but just finding me a bit fascinating.

Could I say it was a success in leaving a strong impression?

…Though I definitely can’t claim it was intentional.

Fortunately, the bakery’s bread didn’t have overly complicated names. Most were the basic types that come to mind when you think of “bakery.” Like I had imagined, the prices weren’t high either.

I wasn’t sure if my older sister was working part-time here or held a managerial position, but I wouldn’t have thought it odd if she set the prices herself.

Of course, it wasn’t like the bakery from my childhood where you could get three pieces for one thousand won… but well, they were bigger.

One Fresh Cream Bread, one Cream Puff Bread, and one Soboru Bread.

With a racing heart, I loaded the bread onto my tray. These were the breads we used to choose back in the day. I liked the Fresh Cream Bread, and my sister favored the Cream Puff Bread. The last Soboru Bread was something we would split between just the two of us…

As I finished selecting, I couldn’t help but smile.

Well, it wouldn’t be surprising if at least a couple of people picked bread this way. Even if I remembered what we bought back then, a girl I’d never seen before wouldn’t be focused on what bread I was getting. They were just three very basic types, after all.

Still.

I couldn’t suppress the excitement in my chest.

At the very least, I could find a way to connect with my sister again.

If we got closer, would I be able to ask her about Mom? I wanted to see Mom too.

…Given that she’s already gone, I was thinking about getting close to two people already, which was ironic, given that I had requested a different body so I wouldn’t be recognized.

I kept saying I had no lingering feelings, but in reality, I must have held onto them more than anyone.

“Phew…”

I let out a small sigh, turning my back towards my sister.

Calm down.

If I look too suspicious, things might actually get tangled.

I tried to collect myself the best I could and slowly turned around.

She was still there. No, thinking back, I had dragged things out for so long that she had no choice but to stay there. After all, my sister was a staff member here.

I thought I wouldn’t shake no matter what, but my hands trembled lightly as I walked towards her. It was fortunate I hadn’t piled too much onto my tray—it could have fallen and dropped the bread everywhere.

“Can I ring this up for you?”

As I neared the register, she cheerfully greeted me. Her deep brown eyes were kindly curving again today.

I felt strangely embarrassed as I made eye contact with her after five years and looked down for a moment.

Lee A-yoon.

That was the name tag on her chest.

…Without a doubt, she was the person I knew.

“Uh, um…”

I tried to break the ice, but my words spilled out, incomplete.

It was good to see her. I was so happy. I thought I could casually engage without pretending to be a stranger, but now that I was this close, I didn’t know what to say.

There were so many things I wanted to say.

It’s been a while; have you been well?

You probably won’t believe this, but I’ve come from another world.

I’ve learned magic, trained in swordsmanship, made friends with elves, received a knight title, fought the Demon King, and saved the world…

But nobody in this world would believe such words, not even the person standing right in front of me.

“…”

As I struggled to piece together a coherent response, she quietly began to ring up the bread.

“Would you like it wrapped?”

“Uh, no!”

After a brief pause while she waited for my answer, she gently asked. I was so startled that I blurted that out and quickly raised my head.

Our eyes met again.

She smiled kindly at me as if nothing was wrong.

“Would you like to eat here?”

She asked again. I nodded.

“There’s one table inside and some outside by the window.”

She pointed to a table by the window, speaking kindly.

“Then I’ll eat inside…”

Thanks to her calm demeanor, I managed to respond properly this time.

After the checkout, I slowly walked towards the area with tables. I placed the tray on the table and sat down.

Warm sunlight poured in through the window.

Though it was still blazing summer heat, it wasn’t as unbearable as I thought it would be. Maybe it was thanks to having awakened as a hero once.

I took a long breath.

She didn’t seem to be looking at me strangely… did she?

She was just such a nice person that it didn’t seem like she’d get mad over something like this. And luckily, I appeared to have a face that looked harmless on the outside. Perhaps I was fortunate to be in a woman’s body; otherwise, a tall man behaving this way might have scared her.

Still, my sister might have approached it without prejudice.

“…”

I quietly glanced at the bread laying in front of me.

This bread was probably made by my sister. She had been bustling about inside since earlier.

I gently pressed on the Fresh Cream Bread with the tip of my finger. It looked like the elongated bread I used to buy for a thousand won—cut open, filled with cream—but was there something different about it?

I glanced towards her direction before turning my attention back to the bread. She had been watching me closely since earlier. Perhaps she was concerned since I was the only customer.

Anyway, I looked back at the bread. It was filled to the brim with cream. It seemed softer than I remembered… or at least it was much more easily squished. Was it a different kind?

As I chewed slowly, lost in thought,

“Make sure you drink this too.”

“Gah!?”

The sudden voice startled me, and I almost shot the half-chewed bread out of my mouth.

Turning towards the voice, my sister smiled at me, placing a coffee cup on the table.

“You don’t need to pay for this.”

“Oh, um…”

I almost stammered a response, realizing my mouth was full of bread, and scrambled to chew it down quickly.

 

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