Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Iris
I was looking at an unknown landscape.
Together with an older brother (?), who took great care of me, we lived our lives peacefully in a simple, wooden house. Come to think of it, I wonder how long I had been doing this. For some reason, the house I should have lived in since birth always seemed like an empty landscape.
I was looking at an unknown room.
Suddenly I was forcefully brought to a large town, away from the village I was in.
This was a room in one of the largest houses in the area. There was little furniture, but the furnishings were of high quality and must have been expensive.
A dark-haired girl I didn’t recognize, who appeared to be about one or two years older than me, was taking care of me apologetically and tearfully. She didn’t have to be that distressed.
I was looking at an unknown sky.
Floating in the clear blue sky were two moons. As I looked at them in a daze, for some reason I had a vague but certain feeling that I wasn’t supposed to be here.
Suddenly, I heard a noise and looked out the window to see a strange blue-haired boy looking at me with a surprised expression on his face.
I was looking at an unknown ceiling.
The feel of a soft bed on my back. A man in fine clothes, who frequently showed his face, was draped over me, but I just looked on as if it was someone else’s business.
For some reason, I had always been convinced in a corner of my mind that this world was not my world. So I did as I was told and just stared blankly at the ceiling.
Just before anything else could happen, I watched without any emotion as the blue-haired boy I saw some time ago punched the man who was pushing me down. My older brother, whom I had not seen for a while, appeared with a group of people carrying weapons, and upon spotting me, ran up to me and hugged me.
After being tossed about from one place to another, I somehow found myself in a luxurious room, facing a man in fine clothes that instantly identified me as a person of noble status, who looked at me with sad eyes, and I found myself living an unimpeded life under his protection.
…Wrong.
……Was this really my memories?
There was no way it could be possible. At the time, I was still “me”.
This wasn’t “my” world. Somewhere else, there were people who are important to me, and there was a daily life that is important to me.
Yes, I had to go home.
“Yes, it’s still too early for you to come back.”
Suddenly, I heard a voice, and as I reached out my hand to the empty space… someone’s hand took hold of it.
Ah, it’s been so long. With relief that I could finally return, I rested my body in that hand and threw myself off the balcony into the air.
And so, “I” disappeared from this world, once and for all.
I could hear birds chirping.
Someone slid open the curtains, letting the bright and warm sunlight into the room. It seemed the sun was already quite high.
“Fwah…”
I picked myself up and found my fine hair flowing down my body. The softly fragrant, flowery aroma might be the perfume oil imprinted on the skin after last night’s bath.
I looked around, thoughts still hazy. It seemed that I was back in my familiar room.
I felt something flowing, and when I gently touched my cheek, I found a clear liquid on my finger.
“Did I just cry…?”
Come to think of it, I think I was dreaming something… However, immediately after waking up, it easily lost its outline and density, and fizzled out as if fleeing before I could grasp it in my hand, leaving nothing behind.
“Good morning, Irisria-sama.”
“Wah?!”
Suddenly, a voice from behind me startled me, and I gathered up the bedsheet and hugged it to my chest.
…Oh, right, it was just Lenny-san. She had moved in here today for my personal care, dressed in a traditional maid’s uniform.
While she was quickly taking care of the chores around her… I used this spare time to grasp the situation and collect my hazy thoughts.
“Please come over here so that I can do your hair.”
“Ah, thanks…”
I sat down as she told me to, my head still shaking with sleepiness, and my long hair, which had become very shaggy in my sleep, was gently combed.
“Such smooth hair… the comb hardly gets stuck at all.”
“Is that so? Fwah…”
“You seem to have a good night’s sleep. Are you tired anywhere?”
“No, it’s just… it’s just so long since I’ve had such a relaxing bath, and the perfumed oil was quite nice… Ah?!”
Finally, my head started to reboot, and I realized. If she’d been in this room the whole time, that meant…
“D-Did you see that…?!”
Blood gathered in my face at the thought of my sleeping face being seen. What if I look embarrassing? What if I drool or something? I wiped my mouth, feeling uneasy.
“…Oh, I see. Then please rest assured.”
With a sweet smile, she told me…
“Your sleeping face is super adorable.”
“W-W-Wha?!”
I was glad I didn’t make an embarrassing face when I slept, but could she not tell it straight to my face like that?!
“…It’s done. You look pretty, Iris-sama.”
She had finished combing her hair and trimming the damaged ends, and as I was idly watching her put away her tools with a somewhat satisfied look on her face, the door slammed open and a familiar figure burst in.
“Thank goodness, you’re awake! You made me so worried…”
Saul-niisama suddenly burst into the room… and went to hug me. I felt like it’s been a while since I’ve seen anything like this.
“…Ahem. Saul-sama, even if you’re her brother, please behave yourself in moderation. It’s improper to touch an unmarried woman in her nightgown.”
“Um, Lenny-san? He does this all the time to me, and I don’t really mind…”
“I see, so this is an everyday occurrence, I assume?”
““Eek?!””
The usually reserved Lenny-san glared at me and Nii-sama like a snake staring at a frog.
“I think it’s time to teach Iris-sama and Saul-sama a lesson in etiquette…!”
“Well, while I’m grateful that someone finally calls those two out for their behavior, could you save that for some other time? Ugh…”
The helping hand arrived in the form of Reiji-san coming through the door… but I had to wonder, is he alright? He looked very pale.
“…He was in a drinking contest yesterday.”
“So it’s just hangover…”
Nii-sama whispered to me in secret.
Is it OK if I don’t use magic to cure his hangover? I think he should reflect on this a little bit too.
“Oh, by the way, Miriam’s calling you, it’s about your clothes. You know, you can’t wear your old clothes anymore.”
Apparently… the priestess dress I had worn in the last battle had become no longer wearable after my emergency treatment.
“If that’s the case, let’s revisit this matter at a later time. Now, please lend me your hand, Iris-sama. Saul-sama and Reiji-sama, please wait downstairs in the common room.”
When Lenny-san reluctantly backed down, Nii-sama and I both patted our chests.
Nii-sama then quickly left the room as if running away, and Reiji-san wobbled away as if he was about to fall down… again, was he going to be alright?
I watched his back with nothing but anxiety as we headed for Milly-san’s room, which had been unopened for the past few days.
The scene before me as I opened the door… to put it bluntly, it’s in total disarray.
What looked like pattern paper, scraps of fabric, and a variety of other sewing tools. As if to show the struggles of the past few days of being cooped up, such things were scattered all over the room.
Amidst all this, in one neat and tidy corner was a mannequin… if I recall correctly, it was a magical tool that could copy the exact body shape of the target in three dimensions… On top of the mannequin was a set of clothes.
“Milly-san, this is…”
While it was obvious from the size that it was going to be for my own use only, I was so fascinated that I couldn’t help but stare at it.
“Nyehehe, surprised, aren’t you? It’s something Senpai and Ayame-chan entrusted me with, what do you think? Is it cute?”
“……Yes, it’s very cute.”
I gently touched the surface, thrilled by its wonderful texture. Its overall silhouette was similar to my old priestess dress. However, unlike the warmer colors of the previous dress, the coloring was now white and blue, emphasizing a sense of holiness and purity.
“You can try it on, actually.”
“I would be honored to assist you, if I may.”
“P-Please…”
Fearfully, I dropped my one-piece nightgown crisply to the floor to put on the new clothes.
First, the underwear… It’s nothing worth mentioning, so I’ll skip it.
A pannier with plenty of frills. Like my previous outfit, this also seemed to prevent my underwear from being exposed due to its structure. Then, the one-piece dress that was supposed to be worn at the bottom. The back was slightly longer than the front, with an additional lace fabric covering the buttocks.
“Um, isn’t this too short…?”
“You’ll know when you put on the whole set, nya.”
The skirt was quite above the knee. It was also the case with my previous outfit… but above all, it was wide open from the shoulders to the back. When I wore this much, I felt like a young lady in a summer resort, but I also felt a very sensational atmosphere and involuntarily held down the hem of my skirt and wriggled around.
“Aww, don’t be so shy, nya. Here, wear this next.”
“This corset skirt, isn’t it? Turn around, please.”
The word “corset” made me cringe. I imagined the infamous tightening corset that I often heard about, and I turned pale.
“Ahaha, it’s nothing to worry about, nya. I would never make you wear something that constricting while your body’s still growing, nya… Just think of it as an adjuster of sort, though I don’t think it’s that necessary, nya.”
“I agree, Iris-sama is very slim.”
“But her waist and hips are certainly shaping up, nya.”
“So beautiful…”
“Could you not discuss that in front of me?!”
For some reason, they seemed to devolve into a discussion of the shape of my buttocks. My face turned red, and I hurriedly protest.
…I could hear both of them sighing in disappointment. When I glared at Lenny-san, she just looked the other way, feigning indifference.
In the meantime, the outer dress was put on over the one-piece and it was over. The pannier fluffed up the front and the skirt, which covered the sides and back, reached below the knees and around the shins, with only the occasional frill peeking out through the slits, completely restraining exposure of the lower half of the body.
I thought the longer skirt length would make it difficult to move, but strangely, the fabric was light as a feather, did not inhibit movement, and had a pleasant texture that caresses the legs… When I lightly turned to test the dress, the softly spread skirt formed a beautiful circle.
…More importantly, as soon as I put the dress on, my legs felt better.
“Hehe, it’s enchanted to increase your leg strength, nya.”
“Isn’t this way too expensive?!”
Back in the game, enchantments that increased movement speed were incredibly advantageous, and could only be made using high-level boss materials! Just how costly is this dress?!
“All good, all good, anything for your sake, Iris-chan.”
“I appreciate it, but…”
Certainly, this would act as a substitute for my enhancement magic to some extent, and I was very grateful for this effect in my travels. It could be scary when the effect disappeared after taking the dress off, though…
“I’ve packed the enchantments to the limits, so look forward to it, nya. Anyway, we’re not done yet, nya.”
“Yes, here’s your coat, please excuse me… okay, you can put your arm down now.”
After the sleeves were put on, Lenny-san came around to the front and buttoned up the collar… I could do this much on my own, but she was stubborn and wouldn’t give it up.
Clean white collar reminiscent of a priestess’ uniform. A short bolero-like jacket that covered the lower chest. The sleeves bulged out like a trumpet like the previous outfit, and through the slit peeked the multiple layers of frills on the inside. As with the previous outfit, the length was adjusted so that only the tips of the fingers peeked out.
Wearing all of them, I sighed at the quality of the workmanship, as if they were upwardly compatible versions of the clothes I had worn before. The blue and white outfit exuded a sense of purity and loveliness. As the designer of my original outfit, I felt defeated, but unable to hide my delight, I stood in front of the dresser picking at the skirt and sleeves, occasionally turning around to look at them from various angles.
“Its name is ‘Clarte Iris’, I hope you like it, nya… Well, I guess I don’t even have to ask, nya.”
“Iris-sama is having so much fun…”
Feeling some kind of warmth in their eyes and voices, I was excited about my new outfit for a while.
“U-Uh, I need to ready myself…”
“Have some self-confidence, nya. Come on, just go in.”
My excitement quickly turned into embarrassment as Milly-san and Lenny-san took me to the common room in a flash… Reiji-san and Saul-niisama were definitely waiting inside.
Too embarrassed to be seen with my new clothes, I was then pushed into the room with my head down. What awaited me was…
“……?”
Total silence.
Did they not like it? Unable to bear the silence, I squeezed my eyes shut…
“Iris-chan… So cute!”
“Eep!”
Suddenly, a woman jumped at me with tremendous force… Philias-san had me in her arms and rubbed her cheek onto mine in no time.
“Princess… Oops, that one’s national secret. Miss Iris, your majestic appearance has been etched in my mind. I regret to say that my vocabulary does not allow me to fully describe my heart, so allow me to say just one thing… You’re so gorgeous, my princess.”
“So you still end up calling her that after all, idiot brother.”
“…Thank you, very much…?”
At Zeltis-san’s unfamiliar and excessively worded compliment, my face was heating up… I couldn’t look up at him.
“Hey, stop making her embarrassed, asshole! And, uh, I’m late to the party but… yeah, it suits you.”
I looked up quickly at the blunt impression that reached my ears, and found Reiji-san lying on the sofa, looking embarrassed and turning away from me… I found myself unable to keep my cheeks from loosening, it’s weird, isn’t it?
“Yeah, it totally suits you… Miriam, what about the enchantments I asked?”
“Well, you’d better listen up, nya… Leg strength support aside, there’s ‘Magic Exhaustion Mitigation’, a ‘Reactive Shield’… unfortunately, I could only fit a single copy of it. And then there’s…”
“…Okay, that’s enough.”
Nii-sama’s face twitched at the contents laid out. I was also surprised.
Reactive Shield was an enchantment that deploys a set number of barriers when hit by an attack of a certain strength or greater, and would have been especially popular with rear-guard positions that are not normally exposed to attacks… Of course, it was very expensive and time-consuming to process the clothes to suppress the equipment restrictions…
“Also, since I used Arachne Queen’s threads as the base material, it should have some regenerative ability, and the durability should be as good as or better than Senpai’s armor, right?”
“What, are you serious- Ouch!”
Reiji-san jumped up in surprise and hit his head. Behind me, I feel Philias-san and Zeltis-san, who had been tilting their heads at our conversation, gasp at the names mentioned.
“Um, what about your payment…?!”
“Nya? As I said, it’s not a problem at all, nya.”
“But… it cost you a fortune to make this, didn’t you?”
As I was still bothered about its cost, Milly-san placed her hands on my shoulder. Her expression was very serious.
“Then, let me put it this way… This is the price we paid to entrust our lives in your hands… Never neglect yourself. Self-sacrifice is out of the question. You are irreplaceable to all of us. Remember that.”
“…Yes!”
…I must take those words to heart.
This outfit of mine was a symbol that I am responsible for everyone’s lives. That I must not fall before anyone else.
(TL Note)
The author themself drew two illustrations of Iris, one of which was used as their profile pic.
APM - Translation 
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