After that, he stared at me with the same look of disbelief.

“Salvia…?”

“Hm?”

Was he finding me unfamiliar after all this time? But I hadn’t changed much since I enlisted. My growth plates had closed a long time ago.

“Salvia… were you always this small?”

“…What?”

It was a bit rude to say something like that to a senior soldier, but I could tell there was no malice behind it, so I let it slide. Besides, I had always been soft on Karon, never quite able to get mad at him properly.

“I’ve always been this height.”

When I joined the Border Defense Army, I had already finished growing. I was neither particularly tall nor short—just average.

Karon fell silent for a moment. When he finally spoke again, his voice was noticeably deeper than before.

“How old were you when we first met?”

“Seventeen. Why?”

But instead of answering, Karon just kept staring at me, his expression unreadable.

“…You were small.”

“…What?”

The sudden shift to informal speech caught me off guard, but Karon seemed to be talking to himself.

“You were always this small…”

It was as if he had come to some kind of realization. He nodded slowly to himself, his broad shoulders and serious expression feeling completely unfamiliar to me.

“You’ve changed a lot.”@@novelbin@@

I said that half-jokingly, ready to tease him about how he’d grown into an adult now.

* Karon, I have something for you after this mission.

* Oh? What is it?

* Haha, it’s a secret~

* Salvia? Salvia! Stay with me! Salvia!!

* K-Karon… In my pocket… there’s a necklace…

* Hngh—found it! I found it!!

* That’s… your father’s… keepsake…

* …Salvia? Salvia!!!

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