Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Iris
“…ey, wake up.”
A voice called out to me, and somebody lightly shook my body to wake me up from my light sleep.
When I opened my eyes… I saw Reiji-san, who had already put on his clothes.
“…You’re awake, good. Saul and the others should be here in a moment, so hurry up and get dressed.”
“Okay…”
…? My thoughts were still a jumbled mess.
Oh, right, I need to get dressed…
I reached out my hand toward the hanging clothes, but they were too high for me, so I guess I have to get up…
“…?! OKAY I’LL BE WAITING OUTSIDE BYE!!”
Reiji-san left in a hurry. Weird.
Shaking my unsteady head, I picked up the completely dry clothes that were hanging in front of the fireplace, beside the blanket that had fallen off when I stood up…
As I was getting dressed, my foggy head became a little clearer. Maybe.
“Hmm… Is that how it is?”
I made a quick turn. This was the first time I put on this “Clarte Iris” all by myself, but I guess it turned out alright.
Since Lenny-san had been taking care of me for the past few days, I felt that I am getting completely used to being dressed by others. I fear for the day I become a useless person who can’t even dress for herself.
When I opened the door and walked out of the room, Reiji-san was standing right next to me with his arms folded… but for some reason he refused to make eye contact with me.
“…Reiji-san? Is something wrong?”
“Nonono, I’m completely fine! It’s your head that I’m worried about!”
“…?”
“Nevermind, just forget about it… Looks, they’ve finally arrived.”
Reiji-san pointed in the direction of a beautiful woman walking in the front of the group, Hayato-kun, who broke into a run as soon as he saw us, and…
“Iris!! Iris, oh my god, you’re still alive…”
…Nii-sama, who hugged me with extreme force as soon as he got close.
“Eep?! Nii-sama, you don’t have to say it like that… I’m glad you’re safe and sound, too.”
“Yeah, we’re not going to die that easily, you know.”
Reiji-san moved in and clashed his fist with Nii-sama, and they immediately pulled each other into another hug, again with extreme force… I’m glad from the bottom of my heart that everyone’s back together.
Gently, unnoticed, I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and put my arms around his back.
After a brief reunion, we spent some time catching up.
What surprised me was this gentle woman in front of me… Aini-san, was another of the Count’s “secret agents”.
And so, after introductions were made…
“…Once again, I’m really glad that everyone’s together like this… The situation here is much more serious than I thought.”
Nii-sama started off the discussion with a serious look on his face.
“What do you mean?”
“Remember that strange crystalline creature we fought in the previous town?”
“…Is that the one formed by the bandits’ corpses?”
“Well, it’s hard to forget even if you wanted to.”
“So here’s the catch. There’re over one hundred of these, this time mutated from goblins, just sleeping down there.”
“…Is that true?”
“Seriously…”
The same kind of enemy as the one that took all our effort to defeat… a whole swarm of them was just lying in wait.
I think my head is finally starting to boot up properly after hearing the bad news.
“…I had already reported this matter to the Count, since it’s of great concern. For now, we should get out of here.”
“Aini-san, you did?!”
“Yes… Gantz-san, who was hiding here, was the first to discover those creatures.”
“Mmm. The news, should have reached him, already.”
Then there’s still hope for reinforcements. But…
“…It’s still questionable whether the army can get here from the capital in time. We shouldn’t rule out the possibility of this town becoming a battlefield before then.”
“Are you saying we should evacuate all the townspeople…?”
There’s a big problem with that plan, however. Namely, the mayor.
“…Do you honestly think he’s going to cooperate with us?”
“It’s… difficult. No, it’s actually impossible. If we tell him what we discovered, he would realize that we have evidence of his shady dealings.”
In addition to this morning’s tea spiking, which was clearly intended to be a kidnapping, he also illegally mined state-sanctioned ores and sold them through unauthorized channels. Aini-san and Gantz-san were already gathering materials left in this room to make a report to the Count as we spoke.
Once the mayor’s crimes were exposed, it’s likely that he’d be immediately removed from office, or even executed.
However, since all of this was done in secret, he could just brush it all off as a lie… or send his private army to silence us.
…He was simply not someone we could talk to and reach an understanding with.
“So, are we gonna somehow evacuate all the townspeople and fortify the town’s defense while keeping that asshole of a mayor from stabbing us in the back? Sounds like a lot if you ask me.”
“…But we have to do it, right?”
“Well, yeah…”
The lives of the entire town were at stake. We couldn’t just walk away and pretend nothing happened now.
“Uh, I’d really like it if you save the town too… There’re a bunch of bad guys running it, but most of the people there are nice to me… I feel indebted to them.”
Hayato-kun, who had been listening quietly all this time, bowed his head as he spoke. Aini-san was watching him warmly from the side.
“…I don’t know how much we can do… but let’s just do the best we can, alright?”
“I have no objection with this. Of course I’ll have to go back and report to the Captain about it, but regardless of what happens, I promise I’ll give it my all.”
At Nii-sama’s and my words, Hayato-kun looked up, delighted… He might act a bit older than his age, but I think he’s a good and honest boy at heart… Is this my maternal instincts awakening?
“…Just to be clear, though, I’m only doing this because I need all the help I can get to deal with the ‘Wound of the World’ that’s causing this anomaly. It’s simply for my own convenience, you hear?”
Nii-sama pointed his finger toward Hayato-kun, causing the boy to be utterly confused.
“…That guy’s not being honest again.”
“He’s happy to find someone he can treat as a little brother, isn’t he?”
Maybe it’s because Ayame had been taking care of me all the time in my old world, but she had a really doting side to her.
Reiji-san and I chuckled as we whispered to each other.
We were then escorted by Aini-san and Gantz-san out of the tunnels, using the passageway that the miners used to carry their goods out.
Because of the circumstances, it was not possible to use the front entrance frequently, and it seemed a that secret, exclusive passageway was prepared in advance… It was a complicated feeling because the same route used for criminal purposes allowed us to escape in this way.
The exit was a gaping hole in the shadow of the hill, hidden from the beaten path. The moment we stepped out of it, the cool, clear night air spread out.
“Phew… Finally out of that damn tunnel. Too bad it’s completely dark in the outside too.”
“It seems like we’ve been underground for a very long time. Six hours, if I have to guess.”
“I… see…”
Everyone was breathing in the fresh air for the first time in several hours.
But for some reason, my vision suddenly distorted… Huh……?
“…Ir……s? Wha…”
Why is… Reiji-san’s voice… so far away…
“Oh, you’re finally awake.”
“…Eh? Why am I…”
When I came to, I found myself on Reiji-san’s back.
My head felt foggy. My senses were dull, but I could tell that I’m cold. Really cold.
“You just collapsed from a fever. According to Aini-san, in addition to the lack of sleep every night, being exposed to the cold has taken its toll on your overworked body… I’ll make sure you go to bed once we return. Aini-san is kind enough to lend you a patient bed at her place.”
“Oh, no…”
Thinking back, I feel like my thoughts had been hazy and sluggish ever since I woke up in that rest stop. I guess it’s only after I was released from the tension that it all came crashing down.
“…Reiji-san fell in with me too, but why are you still so healthy?”
“Unlike you, I have enough sleep… and I guess I’m just built different.”
“That’s kind of unfair…”
Must be nice, being so strong, I thought.
“…You know, I’ve been wondering if I should ask you this… Do you… want to go back to being a man?”
“…Eh?”
The words thrown at me so unexpectedly made me question myself a little.
Come to think of it… Strangely, I had never thought before that I wanted to go back to my original body.
When I think about the future if I stay in this body forever…
“…I don’t know.”
“Mmm.”
“But I don’t feel bad about it either.”
“……Fair enough.”
He then fell silent and continued walking. His steps were light, as if he was in a good mood, and I tilted my head in confusion.
“I knew you were acting weird, but I should have been more careful. Sorry about that.”
I immediately shook my head. Physical strength is one thing, but this only happened because of my lack of self-care.
“No, I should be sorry for causing you trouble… If only I was more helpful to you…”
“…What an idiot.”
“Ouch!”
As I sank into a sea of negative thoughts, Reiji-san lightly tapped on my forehead with the back of his hand.
“Don’t make me repeat it, you saved my life down there. Now just sleep it off until we’re back in town, you need all the sleep you can get.”
“…Okay.”
Time passed in silence again.
Reiji-san’s big back, which didn’t sway a bit even when he was carrying me, shook at regular intervals as he walked.
Somehow… I felt really at ease…
The warmth of his body made me forget about the cold and wander into dreamland before I knew it…
“Hey, Iris. I…”
At the end, just before I fell unconscious, I think Reiji-san tried to say something, but it never reached my ears…
Reiji
“She couldn’t have heard it, right…?”
I fearfully checked behind me and saw Iris’s feverish face, right in front of my eyes and nose.
Her face was so strangely charming that I hurriedly returned my gaze to the front.
All I could hear behind me now was the light breath of a sleeping Iris.
“Dammit… I really went and said it…”
I ruffled my hair and ruminated on what I just said.
“That’s selfish of me, isn’t it?”
Looking back on it, it seemed that my head was still out of wack since that incident underground… The blanket she was wearing fell to the floor as she got up from her sleep, and I got a direct view of her from the front…
I frantically shook my head to expel from my thoughts that nude, art-like body, which, because of its immaturity, exuded a really suspicious charm.
But what I just said earlier was my real feelings coming out of my chest.
The moist eyes shaking with anxiety I saw in bed.
The gentle, friendly smile as she talked to me.
The soft feeling I still felt on my back.
The tickling of her hair on my cheek.
The sweet aroma that tickled my nostrils.
I don’t want to let them go. I want them to stay by my side, I thought.
Sighing deeply, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself, regained my composure and began to follow Saul and the others who had left earlier.
APM - Translation 