Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“……Why are you even here?”

Under a blue sky in a town bustling with reconstruction work, my voice came out harsh in contrast. I’m sure if I were to look in a mirror right now, I’d see my gaze just as cold.

“Uh… I don’t know what might happen when you’re alone, so I’m just concerned.”

“I’m even more concerned if you keep following me around.”

“Guh?!”

I couldn’t help but feel awkward around those two, so I ran out into town aimlessly, but for some reason, Reiji-san was right behind me. As much as I wanted to hurry up to distance myself from him, our difference in leg stride was so great that he was able to keep up with me just by walking at a leisurely pace, which was really irritating.

“I said I’m sorry! I didn’t know things would go that badly…”

“Badly, you say…?”

When I thought back to that time, my face was burning with embarrassment, and tears spilled from my eyes. Reiji-san grew flustered at such a sight, but I couldn’t stop the wave of emotions that is surging through me.

“Do you have any idea how humiliated I felt?! The two of you… kept on violating my body over and over, no matter how much I told you to STOP!!”

“Heyheyhey, could you not word it like that, people are going to get the wrong idea!”

I shouted in anger, as my uncontrolled emotions ran wild. Every time I looked at Reiji-san’s face, I was reminded of that embarrassing experience when I exposed myself so foolishly, and I lashed out at him.

…Truth be told, I believed that Reiji-san wasn’t entirely at fault.

I was the one who asked him to examine the pattern on my back in the first place, and I didn’t expect things to turn out that way either.

As much as I wanted to blame him for what happened, I couldn’t forgive myself for making such a blunder in front of him and then behaving in a not-so-pretty way afterward…

And yet… I was still so embarrassed that I could neither look him in the eye nor let bygones be bygones…

Thus, an entire day had passed without me being able to do anything meaningful.

…What about Saul-niisama? I don’t know, how about him grow a pair and take responsibility?

“By the way, it seems a peddler has arrived in town.”

“Yeah, no wonder the kids are so excited.”

As I wandered around aimlessly, trying to lift my sinking spirit, I overheard a conversation among the townspeople.

“A peddler, huh. Not a bad idea to pay him a visit, don’t you think? We might be able to plan our next destination.”

Apparently Reiji-san had also heard about it… This could be a chance for us to make up.

“…Um, Reiji-san.”

Ugh, I must be looking like a sulking child right now. I really hated it.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“I want to see what kind of goods a peddler sells, you know…”

For some reason, I couldn’t finish the rest of my sentence, as the words died in my throat… but if I couldn’t be honest with myself here and keep running away, an opportunity like this might not come again.

I squeezed my eyes shut, took a few deep breaths, corrected my trembling voice and told him with all my might.

“…If you agree to go with me, I’ll forgive you for what happened.”

“Excuse me?!”

Did I make a mistake again?

I tilted my head at Reiji-san, who suddenly became flustered.

While Reiji-san seemed to be occupied with something over there, I was engrossed with the knick-knacks in front of me. It was no longer common in my original world to see so many of the various goods that were spread out by the peddler, spread out all over the town square. The small items, each of which seemed to be handmade and slightly different from each other, were pleasing to the eye, and there were several materials that I had never seen before.

I used to not be so interested in these accessories, but now I enjoyed just looking at them. Come to think of it, my taste buds seemed to be changing as well. Compared to my old self, I was more of a sweet tooth, while at the same time my spice tolerance had dropped… I got a little anxious and secretly pinched my belly area lightly. Yeah, I wasn’t getting puffy or anything… probably.    

It happened when I picked up one of the merchandise.

I casually picked up a brooch in the shape of a dark-blue flower with a faint iridescent glow. It looked very beautiful, but the moment I touched it, I felt something tugging at my heartstrings.

“…Huh?”

My field of view tilted, and the world seemed to be turning… No, it’s me who’s going to be…

“Watch out!”

The next moment I felt a quick and light shock, and someone held me up.

I blinked my eyes at the blue sky that suddenly spread out in front of me and Reiji-san’s worried face looking down at me.

…What just happened?

“Are you feeling unwell? You just collapsed all of a sudden.”

“I… collapsed?”

When I came back to my senses, my small figure was held up in Reiji-san’s embrace.

I could feel my heart thumping a little… that’s weird, isn’t it?

“Yes, you did. Again, are you feeling unwell?”

Reiji-san looked at me in concern, apparently unaware of my new weird emotions. What a relief… Wait, why was I relieved?

“Well, not really… Ah.”

“What happened?!”

“My legs… they aren’t moving. The enhancement magic wore off… I think.”

Yes, the reason why I collapsed was because my legs were unable to support my weight when the enhancement magic suddenly wore off.

“I see, so it’s no big deal. It’s rare that you misread the effect duration, though.”

That couldn’t be. The magic was supposed to last for three hours. It was not possible for it to wear off after only a few dozen minutes of running out of the room.

“…Anyway, I’m going to recast the spell. ‘Physical Enhance’.”

The elementary level magic took little time to chant, and my body was momentarily enveloped in the familiar faint magical light… or not.

I didn’t feel anything at all.

“Huh…? ‘Physical Enhance’… ‘Physical Enhance’!”

No matter how many times I tried, there was no response. Oh, no.

That enhancement magic was the only way I could be able to live a normal life in this world. What am I supposed to do now?

Blood drained from my face, and a feeling of panic slowly eroded my chest.

As I impatiently recited the magic over and over, an apologetic voice called out to me from behind.

“Dear customer… I think you’re unable to use magic because of that brooch you’re holding.”

“You mean this?”

I was still holding on to the brooch from earlier. I returned it to the peddler and tried casting the spell again, this time without any problems.

“I’m sorry if I inconvenienced you.”

“Don’t worry, miss, I’m glad that you weren’t hurt. It’s my fault too for not explaining it sooner. It’s not often that I found someone relying on magic for everyday life this far from the cities…”

As it turned out, the brooch was made from a material that could nullify magic of its surroundings to some extent. It was newly discovered in recent years near a village not far from here, on the road leading to the city. Especially in this northern continent, which had a large concentration of magic users and magic tools, it was said that a license issued by the government was required for handling more than a certain amount of this material, as it might be used for criminal purposes. That’s what the peddler explained to us.

Recently, however, research was being conducted on its use as a material for magical tools after processing, and there was a booming demand for it in places where it could be mined. Because of its brittleness, it didn’t seem to be used to create restraints or something like that, which is a relief for a moment, but…

“Reiji-san, there was no such thing back in the game, right?”

“Maybe Miriam knows a thing or two about it, but as far as I know, that material is unheard of.”

“…I have a bad feeling about this.”

All too conveniently, a recently discovered material appeared in front of us, one that did not seem to exist at the time of the game. Such a material seemed to be used in everyday products without question… I couldn’t say for sure what it is, but I couldn’t help but feel something fishy about it.

“My apologies, dear customers, but this is getting too much for my unmarried heart to bear… Could you continue somewhere else?”

“Yes?”

“Hmm?”

I looked around when the peddler said something unexpected.

…Why were we getting so much attention?

The crowd was happily whispering to each other, and I could hear some of the women squealing… Ah.

“S-s-s-s-sorry, I didn’t mean it, Reiji-san!”

“N-n-no, it’s my fault too!”

I was still held in Reiji-san’s arms.

I immediately got off from his arms and sat down on the ground, and Reiji-san quickly moved away from me.

All I could do was pinch the edges of my hood down to shut out my burning hot face from the eyes of those around me.

My heart was threatening to jump out of my chest… I think I might have gone somewhat crazy after all…

I hope it’s not a bad disease.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Reiji

Saul disappeared from my sight, Iris in tow.

I let out a breath of relief and sank into the hot water, resting my back against the rock.

That was so close, yikes.

I tried to remove my eyes as much as possible, but my gaze was inevitably drawn toward Iris. The charm of her white, young body felt like magic.

The image was burned into my eyes even if I tried to forget it.

Her hair was pulled back, her thin neck and nape exposed. Drops of water slid down the firm, fine-textured skin of her neck, shoulder and the slight bulge in her chest. Even if the person herself didn’t notice, I could occasionally see the cherry blossom color hidden beneath the thick and murky water.

Earlier, when she walked, her buttocks, which could be glimpsed from time to time through the shade of her long hair despite her trying to hide them, were modest but cute and plump… Okay, I should probably stop.

The point is, although she was implanted with knowledge by Ayame-chan, and her consciousness now belonged to the girl called “Iris”… she was as just defenseless around us as the Yanagi of before.

Because she trusted me.

Without those words of her, my reason might have been blown away into next week. Betraying her trust was not an option. With that one thought in mind, I managed to hang on to whatever’s left of my sanity.

I’m sure that’s why Saul didn’t say anything about the mixed bathing, and why he took Iris to do something deliberate to humiliate me now. He wanted Iris to be properly alert to us, the opposite sex… probably.

Well, knowing what he’d done so far, I’m not so sure about that.

As a matter of fact, Iris had unknowingly become extremely popular in this town. The people knew of her as a healer girl who was captured by bandits and suffered terrible emotional trauma, yet ran around for other victims and didn’t demand much gratuity. She normally wore a hood in the presence of men to conceal her face, but after a certain incident the other day, rumor of her beautiful appearance had already spread.

Although she was unaware of it, her mere presence in the background of today’s reconstruction site was enough to make the men at the site extremely enthusiastic. Their disappointment afterward when she was taken by a group of women, was well deserved. Men are like that.

We were lucky enough to enjoy such a warm camaraderie from the townspeople, probably due to the fact that this town was located at the frontier, or the mayor and his wife were good people, or both. But things might not stay the same once we continue on our journey. It’s better for Iris to develop her self-awareness as a girl from now on, without Saul’s involvement, for once.

“Nii-sama, stop, this is really embarrassing! M-my front is…!”

“As much as I would love to, unfortunately this one time I absolutely cannot. Don’t worry, just show me. ‘Chain Bind’”

“Kyah! M-my arms…!”

… Hold up, what’s happening? Did he seriously forget what his goal is? Was that the sound of metal chains clattering I just heard?!

“Nyahoo~ Looks like a lot has happened, Senpai.”

“Yeah, totally… Hey, why the hell are you here?!”

Before I knew it, another person was leisurely soaking in the bathtub. The one who should have been holing up in her room, Milly, no…

“Miriam the Tailor.”

I didn’t think Iris was aware of this, but this girl was actually the guildmaster of a famous top-class production guild back in the game days. A wanderer at heart, she rarely showed up at the guild and was still well-liked for some reason. My junior at college, who was also a cosplayer in real life, took up the hobby of making clothes in video games as well. She travelled around by herself, collected rare material, pushed her self-made equipment to players caught in her eyes (namely, the cute ones) and left without elaborating. In a sense, she was a walking myth.

“Everyone’s so mean, nya, leaving me behind while bonding in the bath together. You could have called out to me, nya.”

“S-sorry about that! But why are you even here, you’re the only one who’s 100% a girl!”

Yes, unlike Saul, who’s a man with a girl’s heart, and Iris, who’s a girl with Yanagi’s memories, she’s a girl in both the original world and this one!

“Nyahaha, how could I miss out on a mixed bathing trip in the countryside? Besides…”

Arms outstretched, she flaunted her figure… which was covered by a thin, one-piece, water-soaked bathrobe, unlike the naked Iris.

“… I came here prepared, see.”

“You could have said that from the beginning.”

And why didn’t she give Iris a piece of clothing like that too while she was at it? That could have saved me from so much agony.

“Anyway, want a drink?”

Damn, she even brought booze. She was enjoying this to the fullest, wasn’t she?

Come to think of it, I hadn’t had the opportunity to drink alcohol since I arrived here, so it was a tempting invitation.

“Y-your face is so close, it tickles… Eek!”

Considering what was going on over there, I suppose drinking was a fine distraction.

Japanese… no, Eastern Islands sake was poured into the cup, which was then gulped in one go. The burning sensation in my throat wasn’t half bad to be honest. Soaking in a hot spring under a clear, snowy sky and good sake. I felt like my fatigue was finally slipping away.

“… By the way, the request I made, it was crazy, wasn’t it?”

“Of course, nya. ‘Make the best armor possible which she can wear right now’ and whatnot. Somehow I think we’ve come to a satisfactory arrangement, nya.”

“I see… that’s perfect. How much do I have to pay you?”

“Nyahaha, no strings attached, nya. If this is for Iris-chan’s safety, I can do it for free, nya.”

So generous of her. In this world, when equipment with powerful effects was worn by those who were not strong enough, they become severely “intoxicated” by the power they were charged with. It was so bad that they couldn’t even stand up. In order to mitigate this problem and still maintain performance, appropriate materials and procedures were required, and it’s not something we could easily afford.

But she just laughed it off while gulping down her own sake cup. Her face, as she looked up at the sky, was not her usual aloof self, but rather a serious face with a hint of melancholy.

“…I’d hate to see a girl I care about die before I do, you see.”

“…Sorry to hear that.”

I remembered. Ayame once told me this girl had lost her sister in the past. It was a suicide, caused by mental illness. Her cosplay hobby… she started it for the sake of her late sister, based on the favorite anime she watched when she was stuck at home.

“… I’m really glad that you came over to this world with us.”

“Hehe, you flatter me, nya.”

Perhaps embarrassed by my sudden display of gratitude, the slightly red-faced, goofy tone of her joking expression quickly became serious.

“Not just that, call it intuition or whatever, but I have a feeling that we must keep her safe at all costs. Her life alone is more important than all of ours combined…”

“She’s got an important role to play, I see.”

Somehow, I had a faint sense of it. There was something unusual about Iris’ support capabilities. However, the overwhelming presence that I felt at that time had now faded away in this relaxed atmosphere.

But even without that, if, as expected, only the tertiary reincarnated classes were coming this way, she would be the only pure support and recovery player among us. It’s not like the non-player people in this world couldn’t become healers and supports, but compared to them, Iris’ capabilities were immeasurable.

“So that’s why I’m willing to help. And I’ve taken a liking to her.”

“I’ll be counting on you from now on, Overlord Miriam.”

“Nyahaha, it’s embarrassing being called by that name, nya… Well, my pleasure, Sword Saint-san.”

Calling each other by our unfamiliar class name, we bumped the sake cups lightly, and gulped the contents once again.

“Eep! W-why do you… have to confirm that far? Stop it… no, not that spot, stop!”

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS TOMFOOLERY, DUMBASS SAUL!!”

Clearly, whatever was happening behind those rocks seemed to be about to break past an unforgivable line, so I had to put a stop to it.

“(sniffs) I can’t become a bride anymore…”

“Then why are you sitting next to me, huh?!”

Yes, when she came back and got into the hot water, she went straight to sit between me and Miriam, who were drinking side by side. The space wasn’t that big to begin with, and I could feel her soft and smooth arm pressed against my right arm, chipping away at my sanity. However, I was reluctant to push away the crying girl, so I had to let her do what she wanted while feeling uncomfortable.

“My, my, is this girl secretly possessive, nya?”

Miriam nodded in agreement all by herself. What was she going on about?

“I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Saul bowed deeply, and Iris, unusually, turned bright red and glared at him with tear-filled eyes. If that isn’t pissed off, I don’t know what that is. Miriam and I quickly evacuated the liquor.

“…So, did you find what you were looking for?”

“Not really, as I haven’t found the answer, but at least I was able to confirm that it isn’t tied to our initial registration in the original world.”

“If you say so.”

“Because… when I started the game, I had already ‘grown’ compared to this.”

“?!”

Iris and I choked. Why did this dumbass have to drop such a bombshell?!

Next to me, Iris’ shoulders were shaking. Although I couldn’t see her downcast expression, I could somehow guess how she feels.

“…Nii-sama, if that’s the case, a glance would have sufficed… Could you please explain it to me why you literally stared at every inch on my body in a way that makes sense?”

Uh oh, I felt a tremendous aura of negative emotion wavering up from next to me. It might even surpass the strange enemy we fought the other day.

“Ahaha… You were so cute when you were embarrassed, so I couldn’t help myself- I’m really sorry!”

Oh well.

I could hear the sound of a blood vessel breaking.

“NII-SAMA, YOU DUMMYYYYYYYY!!”

The next moment, a large amount of water splashed up toward Saul in the hands of an enraged, teary-eyed Iris.

“Reiji-san, is that sake? I want some.”

“No.”

Come to think of it, she had always liked drinking, but her alcohol tolerance was pitiful.

By the way, Iris had not looked at Saul at all since a while ago. Saul, who was consciously ignored, looked depressed. Suck it up.

“I’m not a minor anymore.”

“Your body says otherwise.”

“Ugh…”

As Iris turned away, my eyes caught a glimpse of an unnatural white object on her back. It was really just a coincidence that I happened to spot it.

“Hey, Iris… there’s something on your back… a white worm?”

“Eh?”

Actually, it’s too beautiful to be called a worm. The thought of staring at a young girl’s skin scared me, but I still did it.

“Did you draw in these feather-like patterns when you created the textures?”

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Feather-shaped patterns spreading out to the left and right, surrounded by something like a magic circle. Moreover, they were the same color as Iris’ original white skin… That made sense. I could only see it now because Iris’ skin was reddish from soaking in the bath.

“What you said was scary, Reiji-san… Can you check on it?”

“Yeah, we’ll be in trouble if it’s something bad. Turn your back to me.”

Iris

“Hyaaah?!”

As soon as his finger slid down my back, my brain went blank from the sudden and unexpected stimulation, and a strange voice leaked out of my mouth as a scream, which I could not suppress… What’s happening?!

“Sorry, did it tickle? But please bear with me. I can’t check it out if you move… Hmm, what’s this?”

I couldn’t know what it was because I couldn’t touch it myself, but what I did know was that it’s getting really weird!

“Hey, Saul, are those magic letters? It’s so complicated I can’t read it at all.”

“Let me see… No, these aren’t even letters, do they come from the previous magical civilization or something?”

“Seriously?!”

“H-hold on, you two… let me catch a break…!”

Whenever their fingers slid together, I felt the magic in my body being disturbed like a ripple, and the stimulation slowly spread throughout my body…It’s too much!

“…! …?!”

Every time my back was touched, it felt like I was being stroked by countless hands across my body. Ever since I became like this, I’d been more sensitive than before… I could barely keep my voice from leaking out by sucking my fingers with my lips and clenching hard, but if this kept up… I didn’t want to think about it!

“Scratch that, could this be the markings of the goddess Ailene herself?”

“If so, we’d have to get an expert to decipher it, wouldn’t we?”

“Yes… It’s not a language with a fixed grammar, it’s something that shows meaning in the letters themselves… how do I interpret this?”

Those two, still concentrating on their discussion, didn’t notice my pleas, and the relentless stimulation on my back chipped away at my thoughts. At first, it was only skin-deep, but it gradually eroded deeper and deeper into my body, lighting me up in heat.

That feeling I had earlier in the changing room was now passing through my mind, and my blood quickly started to boil.

“Stop! If you continue, I… I…”

I couldn’t hold back my fingers, which were sticky with drool from sucking on them, and they left my mouth. I tried to get them to stop, but I had the feeling that as soon as I tried to speak, I would be unable to stop my embarrassing voice from coming out of the back of my throat, and I could only make a mosquito-like sound, which would not reach the ears of the two of them, still absorbed in the discussion.

“I… can’t… ! Stop it, please…!”

The rippling waves that disturbed the flow of magical power throughout my body reached its core, deep inside my stomach. An intense heat came down upon me like an avalanche. How’s this even possible?! I was just being touched on the back! My whole body was bubbling with the sensation that I had already crossed the breaking point, from which I could not return… no, no, no, why is this happening to me?!

“Is this… stick-looking thing in the middle the staff you saw the other day?”

Reiji-san’s finger was right on my spine. I couldn’t take any more of this!

“Guys, if you don’t stop whatever you’re doing, Iris-chan will be in great trouble… Ah, it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

The two of them finally came back to their senses. But Reiji-san’s finger, caught off guard, slid vigorously in the hollow above my spine…

“FWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!?”

The biggest and most sudden stimulation struck me like an electric shock, and I let out a scream that I had been accumulating until now…

“Woah?! Sorry, you alright-”

Reiji-san’s voice felt so far away.

My body, drained of strength, fell into the hot water like a puppet whose strings had been cut… and I let go of my consciousness.

A while later, when I came to on Milly-san’s lap, apparently having fallen over the edge, they were both down on their knees bowing their heads together.

“I told you to stop… so many times already…!”

“My bad, I really didn’t notice, I didn’t mean any harm!”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry!”

… Hmph, those two really put me through the wringer, I don’t think I can forgive them for a good while! Argh!

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

In the large dressing room, a red-faced girl whose silver hair seemed to radiate a faint rainbow-colored phosphorescence, was repeatedly unbuttoning and re-buttoning her garment.

Yes, it’s me.

At the mayor’s recommendation, we went to a hot spring on the outskirts of the town.

It had been about a quarter of an hour since Nii-sama hammered home to me that I should properly face up to my present situation and accept reality. It seems that Nii-sama had already gotten tired of calling out to me, and he had already finished washing his body and were soaking in the bathtub first. That’s what I was told earlier.

…I was getting nowhere like this. It was a path that I had to give up and pass through at some point, and I guess the time had finally come. I had to make up my mind.

In front of the mirror, my clothes were removed from the top.

A thin, unbuttoned robe slipped down my torso, followed by a skirt that was unzipped on the side and crashed onto the floor. The glimpse of white porcelain skin, cherry-red from embarrassment, and peach-colored, breast-covering underwear, glimpsed through the shadows of the blouse as the top buttons were unbuttoned one by one, made me catch my breath as if I had seen something I was not supposed to see. But my hands couldn’t stop, and the fabric covering this body was removed in a nonchalant manner.

The sound of light cloth falling to the floor intermittently continued, until at last there were only two pieces of cloth left, one covering the waist and the other the chest area.

“…”

At this point, I already wanted to run away. Reflected in the mirror was my skin, as white and spotless as pearl. My body hair was very thin, and my immature limbs, which didn’t have much in terms of muscles, were long and slender, and my slim but well-proportioned hips and waist were a modest proof of my body beginning to turn from a girl to a woman.

Touching lightly around the arms and stomach, I found the elasticity of healthy thin fat as soft as a marshmallow, moist and fine-textured to the touch, and a cool, slightly low body temperature. Everywhere I slided my fingers, they were soft and fluffy, leaving an exquisite touch that feels almost unreal, but on the other hand, there was a faint friction that told me that the body I was touching belongs to me. The skin on this body seemed to be thin and sensitive, and if I slid my finger over the surface a little, that area would twitch slightly.

“I can’t run away, I can’t run away, I can’t…”

Chanting like a Buddhist prayer, I undid the hooks behind the upper part of the last two pieces of cloth, which covered my chest. It slipped off my slender shoulders, and the part of her body hidden behind it was finally revealed.

“Woah…”

So far, I have stubbornly kept it out of sight, and therefore had only touched it lightly through a thin cloth just after the transition, but never again. The place reflected in the mirror, where I saw it for the first time, was indeed still an immature bud, but it had a modest cuteness that seemed to condense a sense of immorality. The slightly swollen area that I directly touched still retained the hardness of immaturity at its core as before, but the surface was smooth and soft to the touch, leaving a superb feeling in my palm that made you want to touch it forever after touching it once. The modest cherry blossom color, which was slightly tinted at the tip, was so lovely that I couldn’t help but want to love it.

My overall appearance was pale and delicate, making me want to reach out and touch it, but at the same time, if it was touched, it would scatter and disappear instantly… It had a kind of ephemeral, art-like appearance, like an ice sculpture that shines only for a very short period of time.

I took a deep breath and put my hands on both sides of the last piece of cloth around the waist. I was frozen in conflict there for a while. Once this was taken away, all that remained is this body, without a stitch of clothing on it like a newborn. Once I saw it, there was no going back, and I must accept that this is who I am, even if I didn’t like it.

However, it’s also true that I couldn’t continue to turn my eyes away from reality forever, so now that I’d been given the opportunity from Nii-sama’s strong-arm tactics, he would never allow me to escape, and I couldn’t stop trembling at the thought of what I’d face next. Closing my eyes, I pulled the little piece of cloth off my legs at once.

Finally, I had nothing left on my body, and I slowly opened my eyes to look at it.

I. Saw. It. Perfectly.

I wouldn’t go into details, but I guessed the only thing I could say was that this body was a remarkably brutal lolicon killer… To be honest, I did not expect it to be this good. As if guided by it with its fantastic danger, my hand wandered up and…

It was a little too stimulating for me.

I had completely underestimated the situation, as I had felt nothing but disgust during my previous horrific experience.

In this peaceful atmosphere, I touched it of my own volition. It should have been just a light stroke with the tip of a finger, but just like that, my knees shattered, and my heart started to beat wildly.

Lots of blood rushed to my face and I felt a terrible heat. The unexpected shock caused an embarrassing voice to leak out of my mouth before I had time to hold it in, and I am sure it was my imagination that I felt a burning sensation deep inside my flattened body from the shame that welled up inside me.

I was disgusted to realize that the sensation that ran through me was definitely because I was touching my own body. I was too afraid to touch it again.

I hated myself for getting hot on my own naked body before even soaking in the hot spring. My memories were those of a man who has no experience with women, so please forgive me.

When I finally cooled my head and body, I ducked out of the changing room and was greeted by a small but much more beautifully maintained bathroom paved with rounded stones than I had expected, and a bathtub constructed of natural rock.

The sun was still high in the clear blue sky. The imagination of a secluded hot spring deep in the mountains was betrayed in a good way, and the sight of an open-air bath that resembled the nostalgic ones from my original world was exciting. As a matter of fact, I loved hot springs. When my grandfather and grandmother were alive, we used to go to various places for hot spring cures, along with Reiji’s family.

Due to the dangerous environment, including monsters, the human population in this world was not as large as in the original world. However, due to highly developed magical technology, it was actually not so inferior, but rather, when it came to urban areas, it was equipped with technology that even surpassed that of the original world. For example, Acropolis, which sat at the center of the continents, was an almost sci-fi version of a “perfectly environmentally enclosed multilayered city”.

Such benefits even extended to such a semi-pioneer town like this. Not all houses of course, but it was not uncommon for somewhat wealthier houses to have complete water and sewage systems. This seemed to be one of those places, albeit minimal, and seemed to be no more inconvenient than the public bathhouses of the original world.

I reached the washing area, taking great care not to slip on my feet. When I touched the stone that seemed to play the role of a switch, I felt a little magic power absorbed from the palm of my hand. This was a device that used the magic power of the person who touched it to produce hot water using a built-in mechanism. A little while after touching the stone, a gush of hot water from the shower came out…

“…Hyah?!”

..or rather, cold water came out. Was it common here to be cold and surprised at first?

I immediately checked the water with my hand until it’s warm and let the sponge soak up the hot water. Then I took a small amount of something that looked like body soap, let it lather for a while, and then gently rubbed the surface of my body with it when it was sufficiently foamy.

……Come to think of it, it’d been several weeks since I’d washed my body in such a luxurious way using plenty of hot water. It felt better than I expected, and I couldn’t help but start humming a tune. With this body, I could sing in higher keys than before without any problem, so it’s quite fun to sing what I couldn’t in my original body. There shouldn’t be much difference in terms of hygiene from when I was magically purifying myself, but when I did this, it was as if fatigue was flowing from the area where I had rubbed it.

“… Why are you strolling in here so casually?!”

Reiji-san sank his body into the bathtub and only stuck his head out. By the way, Nii-sama was taking a half-body bath with a cool face.

Yes, this hot spring was a mixed bath.

Although it was not obvious at first, the entrance was divided into men’s and women’s sections, but as soon as I went a little further inside, the wall separating the two sections disappeared, leaving a “concave” structure that allowed people to come and go as they pleased.

“Um… I felt lonely in such a large bath all by myself… and it’s my long-awaited hot spring trip, so I want to bath together like before… is that not okay?”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be a little wary! Don’t you think anything of being seen by a man with that body!”

At his words, I put a finger to my chin and thought for a moment. Well, it’s not that I wasn’t ashamed of it. I strongly resisted being seen in front of the stones, and now my back was turned because I was in the washroom, but when I moved, I covered the important parts with a towel, and so on. But.

“Reiji-san has always said ‘we’ve bathed together so many times that I don’t care about seeing you naked’, so I decided not to mind it either.”

I resumed washing my body, humming an appropriate tune again. I couldn’t wait to soak in the hot spring myself.

“AAAAAARGH!! Who, who the hell said it?! Dammit! I’ll beat the snot out of whoever said that! Wait, was that me?! Curses!”

It was followed by the sound of something hard hitting the rock. What was happening…?

“Well, calm yourself, Reiji.”

“Why are you so calm with this, Saul?! Normally you’d be pissed off for exposing your sister’s naked body to other people!”

“Yes, but I think I’d reward you for your hard work the other day.”

“Did you mistake reward with torture, dumbass?!”

Behind me I heard what sounded like a heated argument.

“… I’m sorry if I’m intruding you if I stay here… I’ll go over there now…”

It’s lonely to be alone in the spacious bath, but if that didn’t allow Reiji-san to rest, then I had to give up on my desire.

“Uh… It’s not like you’re intruding or anything… but I’m a man, you know?! Aren’t you afraid of exposing yourself so defenselessly?!”

I blinked a few times at those words. Certainly, it hadn’t been that long since what’d happened, and I was afraid of what would happen if my body was exposed to the male gaze, but.

“I trust you, Reiji-san.”

I turned toward those two and said that. It was a little embarrassing to say it, so I concealed it with a smile.

“………………”

Oh, my.

Reiji-san, who had been standing up before I knew it, was frozen and flapping his mouth. What happened? His face was bright red, and I wonder if he was upset.

“……Do whatever you please already.”

Reiji-san sank into the hot water, looking away as if he had given up.

Then, after a long time, and with the help of Nii-sama, I finished washing my long hair and had it put back together, I finally had my long-awaited bath.

“Ahhh… It’s paradise…”

I scooped up the murky and milky water into my hands. The slightly thick and viscous water was smooth and gentle to the touch, sliding down the hands and arms, tickling the armpits, and falling into the bathtub. The falling water reflected and sparkled in the sunlight, and the warm bath after a long time under the surrounding snowy forest and the open blue sky was so comfortable that my whole body seemed to melt away.

“You seem to be perfectly fine with bathing even though you hated it so much before.”

“I’ve already given up with this body…”

I clasped my hands together and stretched my arms out above my head. After a moment, my arms relaxed and fell into the warm water.

In fact, I just didn’t have the guts to look directly at the changed female body, and once I saw it, it didn’t matter anymore. I stopped thinking and rested my back against the rocks on the edge of the bathtub.

Really, I didn’t know why I had been so stubborn, this feeling was much more important to me.

“There’s a saying that… many people have trouble getting into the bath, but few regret it… I think it’s right.”

“She’s completely into this huh.”

“Well, she’s a big fan of hot spring even when she was ‘Onii-chan’.”

They were talking to each other, but what was being said didn’t enter my head. Tiredness seemed to melt out of my whole body, and something euphoric seemed to seep in instead to fill it. Ahhh.

“Now that I think about it…”

“… What’s up?”

“What’s the matter, Nii-sama?”

“If our current bodies are based on the game, then what could the parts not displayed in the game be based on?”

“Isn’t that a dirty joke?!”

Now that it’d been brought up, I was certainly curious about it. Unlike other body parts, those parts couldn’t be created in the game.

“Let me see… Back in our world, all those years ago, probably when he was in high school… Reiji-san loved bragging about it while we were in the bath…”

Could the body on the other side reflect the one on this side? If so, the suspicious thing would be the calibration for physique recognition at the first login. But if that was the case, Saul-niisama and I were of different genders from the other side.

“Hey, Iris, are you even aware that you just said something outrageous…?”

“What do you mean… Oh.”

“Don’t ‘Oh’ with me! You know what you look like right now, don’t you?!”

What do I look like…? (gasps)

My hazy head quickly became clear, and my face boiled red like it was going to explode. Ah, aaah, d-did I really say… that?! Oh no!

“T-That was really a silly thing to say, wasn’t it?! But it’s really amazing that I don’t feel any discomfort from looking at Reiji-san’s current body at all!”

“Stop, you’re making it even worse! I don’t want to hear that coming from you of all people!”

As we were struggling, a hand was suddenly placed on our shoulder from behind us.

The black presence, which I could see even without turning my head, cooled my thoughts, and even though I was in a hot spring, I began to break out in a cold sweat. Fearfully, I turned around.

“Well then, looks like I heard something that I can’t ignore.”

The Devil was here.

“…Erm, Saul-niisama, your hand… and your face too, you’re scaring me.”

The hand on my shoulder was gradually getting stronger and stronger, as if trying to make sure to never let me escape. It even hurt a little.

“Iris, when we created our characters, we didn’t exchange them when we logged in for the first time, right?”

“Y-Yes.”

It was like that for a few days, no?

In other words, Nii-sama… no, Ayame was suspecting that the “current” me here was…

“……Oookay. Let me take a look. There’s something I must confirm. I don’t wish to do something you don’t want to, Iris, but this is different. My dignity is at stake here.”

“Hyah?! W-wait, h-help me, Reiji-sa…!!”

“… Sorry, I can’t help you if Saul’s like that.”

The hand that reached out for salvation was beaten down mercilessly.

I was easily held up and dragged behind a rock, my body laid bare without any resistance…

I couldn’t become a bride anymore… (sobs)

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

How did it come to this?

In my arms, a little baby was smiling happily.

… Ah, but it’s cute though.

Nonono, that’s not what I want to say here.

The problem was that for some reason, I was surrounded by many mothers who lived in the town, and they were waiting for me to carry their babies in my arms. The babies themselves were light, but my arms were getting tired.

“Thank you so much, I’m sure this child will grow up wonderfully with your blessing!”

“E-Erm… You’re welcome?”

A smile of my own was pasted on my face. Is this what it feels like to be a celebrity or a popular politician visiting the countryside?

“Thank you, thank you…”

In addition to the long line, there were also housewives and elderly people who had finished preparing for lunch and had some free time, some of whom were praying with their hands together.

“Ah, ahaha…”

“Da~”

The baby’s hand tapped me on the shoulder as if to comfort me.

… Seriously, I wondered how things came to this.

It’s been three days since the night of that fatal battle.

I took the next day off… mainly because Reiji-san, who was the most fatigued, could not get out of bed.

At that time, I was dressed in various clothes and took care of him in that way. While I’d always appreciated taking care of others for once instead of receiving it, the… cosplay was a little embarrassing to me, and I’d rather not do it again.

Well, I put the lid on that at the bottom of my memory, took a good night’s rest, went to the hideout the next day, and repaired the “wound” that had occurred as expected without incident. In the process, I discovered the badly damaged remains… I’m not sure if it’s fair to call it that, of the missing townspeople, and reported to the mayor, who said he would send someone to collect their belongings and hold a funeral service in a few days. As for the building itself, it was decided that it would be burned down it was no longer usable, or rather, no one could find any use for it.

And thus, I was able to confirm with my own hands that the place of nightmare that had plagued me for so long was now a thing of the past.

I could now show my face with no problem around people of the same sex as me… in other words, the women.

Our equipment had been severely damaged from the battle, so we had to leave all of it at the mayor’s place. Since we couldn’t leave the town or train while it was being repaired, we decided what to do and offered to help with the reconstruction of the damaged areas of the town this morning.

… Actually, only Reiji-san and Saul-niisama were helping with the reconstruction works. They both had physical abilities that set them apart from their surroundings, and they were very dependable.

Milly-san, on the other hand, hadn’t come out of her assigned room after taking various body measurements of mine on that abominable cosplay day. I felt rather concerned whether she was eating properly.

What about me? I was actually really enthusiastic about it… sorry that was a lie. I went to the site basically trembling with fear, and everyone just gently declined my offer to help. To be fair, I couldn’t lift even a small piece of debris… no, I did manage to lift it a little bit, it just took all of my strength to do so.

The warm gaze of people toward me was very painful.

And just like that, I was evacuated to a corner… or should I say I was moved out of the way. Then I happened to be caught to a housewife passing by.

Before I knew it, I was brought here in front of the church by her in no time at all. Perhaps because it was a small town, the church looked more like a simple meeting place than a private house.

As a side note, this region, the northern continent, was home to the faith of Ailene, the goddess of wisdom and purity.It was also said that my current race, Lightwing, was her messenger sent to this world long ago, during the Age of Gods. On the other hand, the major faith in the Eastern Island Union was the faith of spirits and nature, while the people of the south were believers of Ares, the god of war.

…So, were my race to be discovered here on the northern continent, it’s likely that I’d be made an object of faith…?

Yeah, I’d like to avoid being exposed as much as possible…

In the church, there was a gathering of the mothers in this town, along with their children. At the request of the mothers who wanted to take advantage of this precious opportunity, this place of worship was now open.

The cause of this must be what I did the other day. According to the mayor, my light at that time had healed the wounds of all the people who were watching from afar, and it seemed that the fact that I was a healer had spread to the extent of a rumor, so by process of elimination, it must have been me, and so it came to this.

The mayor had been told by my guardians to keep quiet about it, but he just laughed apologetically and left when he saw what had happened.

…Truth be told, I don’t want to be worshipped, nor do I want to be here, I just want them to give me a break. I used to be a mere citizen, so this situation was unbearable for me. I wish I could run away right now. But that’s not possible when I had someone’s child in my arms. Ugh……

“I’ve already heard about you, but you’re really beautiful in person. How about you marrying my brother?”

“Stop it. A beautiful girl like her doesn’t belong with that country bumpkin!”

Everyone around me laughed in agreement. When a stranger told me I am beautiful or cute, I was, well, embarrassed. My face was getting hot from the blood rushing to it.

“I mean, just look at the two accompanying her. They’re way above our league. I’m sure she doesn’t have an eye for any of the men in this town.”

“I know right?! A cool-looking beautiful boy and a wild-looking beautiful man, both of them are also strong, isn’t that nice? Hey, by any chance, which one of them are you dating?”

“Uegh!”

I shouldn’t have done that. But I was already in a daze, and the question pointed straight at me was too sudden, so couldn’t help but let out a strange yelp.

“Which one, you ask…?”

““Mhm, mhm…””

The pressure from the surrounding intensified all at once. Everyone’s gaze was drawn toward me with great interest.

Saul-niisama… was out of the question. We’re siblings. But I wondered what the blood relation between my body and his is. I’d like to check it out when I get a chance.

Then how about Reiji-san…?

Imagine myself falling in love with him, confessing my love to him, getting his OK, dating him here and there, making love with him, marrying him. Someday, a new life would be born in this belly, and while patting that growing belly, I would say welcome home to Reiji-san when he returned home from work…

………What?

“………I can’t give an answer.”

After long consideration, I gave a wry smile in response and received a tremendous sigh from everyone around me immediately. Why was everyone looking so dismayed? For some reason, I felt sorry for them.

“What a shame…”

“Maybe when she gets older…”

They started whispering to each other. I’m not even sure what’s going on anymore.

“By the way, which one would you rather be in a relationship with?”

“Saul-sama of course. I want him to smile at me with his handsome face while gently calling out to me!”

“I can see what you mean. But he only smiles like that to this girl.”

“I think I prefer Reiji-sama. Even though he is usually blunt, I think he would be very kind to me if we became lovers.”

They started talking about love. The conversation flowed at a very fast pace, and before I knew it, I was left alone in the flow of the conversation.

Feeling completely neglected and bored, I gazed around the bustling surrounding in a daze. By the way, Saul-niisama was slightly more popular than me, if you ask me.

“… The mothers are all in high spirits, don’t you think?”

“Daah!”

The baby in my arms flapped at the bulge in my modest chest. Oh, come on, my chest wouldn’t grow if it kept being hit like this (sighs).

“I’m sure she’ll get bored and come here soon enough to feed you.”

The baby was a little limp, and I wondered if it’s hungry. Its mother seemed to be engrossed in talking, so I picked it up and tried to comfort it. I heard something about just putting my breast in its mouth to reassure it even if nothing came out.

…That’s not going to happen, okay?

““Hot spring?”” 

It was not long after noon, when the sun was still high and bright that the mayor of the town, Rudolph-san, who had returned with Reiji-san and Nii-sama, suddenly asked us “Do you like hot spring?”.

“There is a hot spring in this neighborhood. The facilities are adequate for the countryside, and usually the townspeople rarely go there for a hot-spring cure, but I doubt that everyone here is in the mood for that right now. I’ll leave it available for your exclusive use until the evening, how about that?”

It was a proposal that came from a person who wanted to thank us for all the hard work we had done the other day. It’s a very kind offer, to be honest.

“Then Reiji-san and Saul-niisama should go. You must be tired from all the physical work today. Just go ahead without me, okay?”

I put on my perfect princess smile, then gracefully turned on your heel and head back to the house. Yes, I shall take my graceful leave.

“Wait a moment, Iris.”

A hand slipped under my armpit, and in an instant, I was in Nii-sama’s arms, hugging me. The women around us started cheering… Huh?

“Sorry, Nii-sama, even though we are siblings, this is a bit gentlemanly in a public place, don’t you think?”

“Then how about a young girl who runs away because she hates taking a bath?”

“…”

With a bitter face, he whispered to me In such a low voice that no one else could hear.

“… Don’t worry about me. I can use magic to purify myself.”

“That won’t do. Isn’t it time you learn how to take a bath properly?”

“Eeep!?”

Oh no, Nii-sama went straight to the highest tier of the “how to be a girl” class. Even if I tried to escape, I wouldn’t be able to match his physical abilities… I was being locked in a light princess embrace while completely unable to do anything about it. He even used restraint magic on me before I knew it, what a demon!

“Besides, you said you’d do anything for me, right?”

“Have I not told you before how much I hate that whole process, Nii-sama?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Just how much do you want me to take a bath, Saul-niisama?

I turned to Reiji-san, who was right by, for help…

“Ah… Well, if you did say that, I’m going to take your words for it…”

It was no use.

I screamed inwardly as I was being carried away.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Aureo Uber

“Mission Accomplished (nya)!”

The moment they laughed and said so in unison, the power of the white piece of paper that had served as a relay was finally exhausted, and my consciousness that had been dreamily looking at a different world was pulled back and returned to the world in which I now live.

I was in a room of a deserted Internet cafe attached to a train station. My body, which had been frozen in a sitting position for a long time, was so stiff that when I stretched out lightly, I could hear cracking noises coming from all over my body.

“… Looks like they’ve stabilized without incident. It was chilling even for me at one point… but now that I no longer have the means to interfere, I can only hope that they do their best.”

I couldn’t directly interfere with the other side due to the circumstances surrounding me. If I tried to cross over there with my body, there’s a high risk that I would invite some unwanted guest to come over here. Therefore, as a compromise, I had slipped a few pieces of paper into that person’s belongings… to catch “those two’s” attention, and to introduce “her” to her inner world… Such was the minor assistance I could be able to send them, but now that I had used up all of the pages, I could no longer interfere or even look at the situation.

… Suddenly, I started to mock myself. Why did I care so much about “her” anyway? Considering my purpose, it was already accomplished for me when I sent “her” over there. In the worst case scenario, it would have been fine if she became those villains’ plaything, as long as she could spread her seed to the other world.

In the first place, the formula for sending the target to the other side even included a description of how to rewrite the target’s mind to suit my own needs. However, once I was certain that the player chosen to reincarnate into that race was the rightful candidate, that description was erased. I knew that it would be an extraordinary hardship, considering the integration with other techniques.

Four train stations away from where the company building was located. From there, it was a ten-minute walk. I arrived at the address written in the note. It was on the outskirts of the same city, on the edge of a quiet neighborhood. A number of fences lined a large plot of land that was recently given away when a large landowner passed away. Large commercial facilities, nursing homes for the elderly. Amidst the rush of construction, there was an ordinary one-story house that looked like a private home.

Its entrance was tightly sealed. The residents of that house… a pair of brother and sister, not quite reaching adulthood, were victims of a hundred missing persons case that’s currently making headlines, and their whereabouts were still unknown.  Another person in the vicinity, a son from a nearby sword dojo, is also reported missing, causing concern among nearby residents. In fact, if I looked closely, I could see the missing posters all over the neighborhood.

I went under the rope that was blocking the path. No problem. The surrounding security had already been wrapped up, and it’s nowhere to be found at this time of day.

Because the reason I came here was to investigate in this house.

There was a famous support player nicknamed “Princess” among the players.

The name first appeared in the first officially sponsored avatar contest. In the beginning, it was widely believed that corporate productions would occupy the podium anyway, and in fact, there was a wide gap in the degree of perfection between private and corporate productions, except for the avatar created by a single individual, who beat out a host of other companies to win the competition. Moreover, the creator at the time was only a 13-year-old child.

A 13 year old girl could create a work of art that surpassed the avatars of many other companies. Well, it might be possible if she was very talented. In fact, the modeling data sent to us with the application for the employment examination was really excellent, and we could see traces of her high level of talent and study. I would like to hire her immediately myself.

But that was the present I was talking about. So what was it about a 13-year-old girl’s first work that was so dainty that even the recent works made by those same hands were hazy in comparison? Wasn’t it because… ‘the original model existed’?

… And that brought me to this place. That avatar looked too much like the person in my memory, albeit much younger and with some differences.

I put my hand on the key to the electronically locked door and muttered a few words, and the door was unlocked with a clunk. When I opened the door, I saw an indoor space with almost no steps and handrails everywhere for catching and standing. The structure seemed to be centered on a hall that combines the kitchen and living room into one, each of which was surrounded by adjacent rooms.

I stepped forward and found the room I was looking for… a Japanese-style room with a Buddhist altar sitting inside. Opening the tightly closed door of the altar, which was apparently well maintained, as if never missing a day of cleaning… I found it.

The photo of those siblings’ parents, who had died in an incident years before, was there. What was reflected in the photo was unmistakably the image of “hers” I had been searching for.

“… Ha, haha, hahahahaha… I thought I had everything under control, but I could never have guessed that what I was looking for existed so close by… What a ridiculous turn of events… hahahahahahaha!”

The “jewel” that was supposed to have been sent away with me, but slipped out of my hands and I could never find her, no matter how long I worked for it. I had no idea that she once existed so close by. I could only sneer at the fact that I found her so easily and unexpectedly. A few drops trickled down from the corner of my eye.

Her long hair, which used to reach her waist, was now neatly trimmed around her shoulders. However, her face, strangely enough, had not changed much. I had always been concerned about her childish face, but it seemed that it had not changed much with the birth of her child and the passage of time.

Everything made sense now. The girl that the avatar “Iris” was based on, was without a doubt… my little sister.

I also picked up the family photo that was lying next to it. It showed four people, parents and children. In the center was my smiling sister and a dark-haired Japanese man with a good-natured look, smiling calmly as he stood by her. A dark-haired girl of about 5 years old, who looked like my sister but had Asian features, grabbed the pants of the father figure and looked shyly at the camera.

And.

A boy about 10 years of age, turning away embarrassedly while being hugged on the shoulders by my sister.

With an appearance that at first glance could be mistaken for a girl, he had a face that bore a striking resemblance to my sister’s, and his hair… was silver like mine.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“Did we win…?”

Reiji-san, who had released his “zanshin” stance, looked up at the falling particles of light and muttered to himself, stunned.

All the residents of this town had evacuated, and I could only see the silent, snow-covered scenery.

… The malice I perceived earlier was no more.

“Yes… it’s our victory.”

“… Man, it was tough… I couldn’t take one more step.”

After Saul-niisama’s declaration of victory, Reiji sat on the ground in exhaustion. Almost empty of magic power, my wings disappeared from my back and my feet touched the ground again. The sick feeling of lack of magic power immediately hit me, and I felt wobbly on my feet, but that’s not the point now.

“Reiji-san! Nii-sama!”

“Woah!”

“Calm down, will you?!”

I jumped between them and embraced their large bodies. As if to confirm their presence, their warmth… their safety.

“You’re alive, aren’t you?! Do you feel wrong anywhere?! Where does it hurt?!”

“I-I said calm down, okay?!”

“Haha, don’t worry, we’re alive and well. All thanks to you, Iris.”

For a while, I looked at their bodies to check for injuries… but I couldn’t see anything, anywhere.

“… Ah… (sobs)”

I finally felt at ease after so long, My knees gave out, and my tear glands started to burst.

“Waaaaaaaaaah!! T-Thank goodness, you… you both are alright!”

“Yeah, uh… thanks to you, we’re all alive and kicking. We’re dead tired, though.”

“Sorry for making you scared. I’m really sorry, okay?”

“(sobs)… Don’t think… I’ll forgive you…! Both of you… you really went and… almost died on me…! Do you know how much I hate being left alone…?!”

I could no longer stop the large tears from spilling out, and I continued to cry like a child for a while as the two of them fussed over me.

“How are you feeling now?”

“(sobs)… I’m… fine…”

Gingerly, I wiped away the remaining tears with my hand.

…I knew this was going to happen. What I was going to be asked, I couldn’t run away from it.

“… So, just to clarify once you’ve calmed down… ‘Which one’ are you now?”

I shuddered at his words. It’s true that I’d settled the matter in my mind, but I was not entirely confident that it would be acceptable to both of them.  They were both trying so hard to keep the original “me” from disappearing. Still, I had to say it. Because that was the responsibility of me, who had become a single personality.

“… I could be both, could be neither. All of ‘Kuga Yanagi’s’ memories, experience, emotions exist within me… I’m certainly aware that I’m me, but at the same time, I’m aware that I’m ‘Iris’.”

Once, I cut off the words. I was afraid to tell them the rest. But I couldn’t remain silent, either.

“In other words, my existence right now is that of a girl named ‘Iris’ who inherited all my memories from before… I think.”

I felt tears welling up in my eyes again, but I couldn’t let them fall out now. If I cried, they would surely accept my answer anyway, but I’m sure would be a cowardly thing to do that took advantage of their conscience. Biting my lips, I waited for the next words of the two people who were struggling to come up with a response.

… I was scared. I shuddered to think what would happen if they rejected me. Even if I said that my consciousness was my own, my tone of voice and thoughts had now become Iris’ without me being conscious of it. Even if I said that we are the same, I had changed so much since I was “him”.

“Ah…”

My body trembled at the sound of Reiji-san’s voice. I wanted to hear what he had to say. I wanted to be acknowledged, not rejected. But at the same time, I didn’t want to hear what came next. If he was going to reject me, I’d rather he said nothing. Two contradictory emotions stirred up thoughts that went round and round in my head.

Pat, pat

I felt a hand being placed on my head. Then another one.

“You’re overthinking it. Don’t be so scared. I’m just trying to figure out what to call you from now on.”

“Agreed. Especially me, I find it complicated as to whether I should treat you as the ‘Onii-chan’ of before, or I’m ‘Onii-sama’ from now on.”

I pouted as they kept patting my head like that.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to reject you. You are who you are, right?”

“Yes, yes, big brother or little sister, you’re still my precious family. Reiji, though, he’s… kukuku…”

“Cease, you dumbass!! Don’t. Say. It!”

Did they… accept me?

“So anyway…”

Reiji turned to look at me, his face blushing for some reason.

“I’m counting on you next time, Iris.”

Saul-niisama, on the other hand, was still patting my head and smiling.

This time, I couldn’t stand it any longer. How much water had I drained from my body today? My eyes, which had dried up, began to fill with drops again, and the scenery became blurry.

“… Yes, Reiji-san, Saul-niisama!”

My tears continued to spill, but there was now a smile on my face.

“… Excuse me, nya. Is this touching family scene over yet, nya?”

“”“… Ah.”””

An awkward voice called out from behind me. I shouldn’t have, I had completely forgotten. Those two also awkwardly turned away, as if remembering the same thing as me.

“Welp, I’m totally forgotten… Even though I came all the way out here… making such a grand entrance… I feel so hurt, nya…”

“Ah, erm, sorry about that…”

Oh no, she was completely crouching down and scribbling on the ground. I’m really sorry.

“Uuuh, this feeling of abandonment can’t be healed unless you listen to my request, nya.”

“W-Wait a minute-”

Nii-sama tried to say something, but I took over.

“If I can help with that, then yes.”

Thinking back, when I was caught wandering alone in the town out of desperation, she had taken care of me. Had I not met her, I would not have had the courage to go looking for those two, and then… The thought of what might have happened sent chills down my spine.

So at least, I’d like to repay her kindness.

“… Really?! I’m not going to listen to you if you say no later, you hear!”

“Eep!… Um, yes, since you’ve helped me out so much today, I wouldn’t mind…?”

With a slight drawl, I answered to Milly-san, who’s back to her element and grabbing my shoulders vigorously.

It’s going to be okay, right…? Well, she wasn’t the type to do something bad to me… probably.

“An angel has descended… What should I choose, that one looks good, this one too… nonono, for such a beauty, maybe that newly made…”

Milly-san was happily thinking about something while looking in another direction. It seemed that her mood had recovered, which is a relief.

“Aaaah… I don’t know what to choose anymore… Well, she’s not gonna hate me for this, right…”

…By the way, what was Nii-sama doing? He had been trying to say something for a while now.

“Well then, let’s get going before we get cold… What’s the matter, Iris? And you too, Reiji, you’ve been weirdly quiet.”

“… Ah, um… my waist seems to be numb again. I can’t stand up.”

I was embarrassed to say that from the waist down, I couldn’t even move a muscle. Fortunately, the snow around here was gone, either blown away or evaporated in the last battle. Otherwise, my bottom would have been soaked by now.

… On the other hand, the beautifully laid cobblestones were also totally wrecked, and repairs were going to be difficult.

“My bad, I’m at my limits too… I can’t even move a finger…”

Reiji-san sprawled out his limbs and sounded as if he was about to fall asleep. The life force consumed in the use of his sword could be healed, but fatigue seemed to be the only thing that I couldn’t heal, and this pained me to look.

“Doesn’t look like we have a choice here. Let me call for help…”

When Saul-niisama was about to take action…

“Oh, if it isn’t the two travelers! And you’re the person who escorted my wife and the townspeople… Milly-san, is that your name? And the young miss too… Thank goodness, you’re all safe!”

“Eek?!”

The sudden loud voice of an unknown male coming from behind me made me let out a strange yell, and I reflexively hid behind Saul-niisama, who was just in the direction where the voice was coming from. When I peeked fearfully out from the shadow of Nii-sama’s body, I saw a man in his late thirties with tanned skin, muscular and strong, yet somehow elegant, who seemed to be engaged in hard work.

“Good to see you, Mayor. Allow me to introduce the mayor of the town we’re staying at, Iris. He’s Mr. Rudolph, Mrs. Miranda’s husband.”

“Ah… Thank you for taking care of us… And I’m sorry for not having visited you even once…”

Even though I’d been under his care for days now, we’d never met… I must have been terribly rude to him…

“It’s no problem. I’ve heard about your situation, and I’m also indebted to Reiji-san and Saul-san here. You are an excellent healer, and it seems that you have helped several people in the town, so please don’t worry about it. Besides…”

His gaze turned toward my face, and for a moment my body stiffened.

“You and Saul-san really are brother and sister. I now understand what my wife said after meeting you here for the first time.”

I couldn’t help but keep hiding behind Nii-sama. I didn’t feel any bad feeling from him, he was just complimenting me, but… I still seemed to remain a little uncomfortable with the gaze of men I don’t know yet.

“Please pardon us, my sister isn’t good with men…”

“Oh, that was rude of me. It’s certainly not right to stare at such a young lady, is it?”

The mayor looked away from Saul-niisama’s follow-up, scratching his cheek apologetically. He seemed to be sincere, so I fearfully showed my face to him.

“So, while I have a lot of questions for you, including the light from earlier… You all look exhausted, so we’ll get to that later… Though, could anyone tell me where that monster went? I can’t see it anywhere.”

The four of us faced each other. Yes, we defeated it.

I was sorry to think that he, the mayor of this town, had a lot of work to do from here, such as recalling those who were evacuated, assessing the damage, and repairing the town, but still, the threat was gone.

However, a “wound” had appeared and was probably still around that hideout, which is concerning to me. But when I saw everyone’s faces, I found it difficult to talk about it. Nevertheless, the feeling in me was that I felt no threat from it at all, and it would cease to be a problem in a few days.

I gave everyone a nod.

“Man, I’m so beat. But looks like we don’t have to worry anymore.”

“I would appreciate another opportunity to negotiate on this matter.”

“We didn’t lose any of our possessions, nya, so I’d love it to see a little more color on them, nya.”

“Come on, everyone, don’t be so mean. I’m sorry but, I don’t think everyone’s serious either, so no pressure, okay?”

The mayor’s eyes turned black and white as each of us suddenly spoke in a casual and silly tone.

“Erm, what are you talking about…?”

Laughter spontaneously spilled out from everyone, and the four of us said in unison.

“Mission Accomplished (nya)!”

After all, the quest wasn’t done until the report was made!

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Reiji

“… Dammit… Hey, you still alive…?”

“Somehow, yeah… I could ask you the same question myself.”

“Unfortunately, looks like this is as far as we go…”

The shadows were already all around us, completely surrounding us as we stood back to back, barely holding up our swords.

The sun had long since set, making it difficult to see them in the darkness.

There was no power left to feed to my sword, and that meant I no longer had an effective means of attack.

Saul’s shield was shattered and useless as a result of having already protected him several times, and most of the armor he was wearing was also damaged and falling off. Both of us had wounds all over their bodies, and in this state it was difficult for us to escape.

“Oh, and by the way… If we make it back alive, Iris is going to take care of us while dressed as a nurse.”

“… Hey, you could have said that earlier.”

That guy probably wouldn’t take that kind of cosplay well. I’m sure he’d look completely embarrassed with a red face and teary eyes. For a moment, the image of Iris taking care of me in various ways flashed in my mind. Damn, why did he have to be so cute?

“Haha… are you, by any chance, a little more motivated now?”

“I’d be lying if I say no. I can’t die here… else my ghost’s gonna be full of regrets.”

However, even if we said jokes to drown out our fears, the situation would not improve. I wonder if that guy would be able to escape and survive. I bet he’d cry like crazy… ah, crap, all I could think of was his crying face now. I wished I could have seen him smiling more often… hahaha, what the hell was I thinking about? He’s my best friend, and I’m perfectly straight.

But, well…

I looked back to the moment I was first shown his avatar.

That fictional girl called “Iris”… I had fallen for her.

Shit, I must not die here…

“……?”

No matter how long I waited, the attack didn’t come. “It” was looking in the other direction, not this way… Oh hell no. Sweat trickled down my back. There was only one person I could think of that it was giving top priority to. A rustling sound of footsteps on the snow from the town.

Damn idiot! Get the hell out of here!!

The cries couldn’t escape my throat, and my motionless body could only look in the direction that thing was rushing to.

Stop it, don’t do this.

The frustration of having just let a small body be violated in front of me in the blink of an eye was still seared into my mind.

More than anything else in the world, I didn’t want to continue watching him… Iris being tortured, humiliated, and torn apart here!

My foot staggered after the enemy, but stopped dead in its tracks. Saul, who was standing next to me, seemed to be in the same boat, staring at the end of the road in amazement.

The worst case scenario in my mind did not happen. Neither the shadowy tentacles, nor the little things around them, were able to harm Iris. The approaching shadows quickly crumbled away, and the others hesitated to approach… perhaps out of fear? I looked at the situation from a distance.

Iris put his hands together as he walked slowly and leisurely. When he slowly let go of his hands, I saw that he was holding a majestic staff that looked as if it had gathered only white, clean light and formed it into a shape, wherever it had come from. What’s happening here? His presence was so different from what it used to be. And yet, the smile on that face was definitely his…

Iris thrust his staff into the ground. Instantly, everything around him was enveloped in a dazzling, soft, mysterious light.

Wow… it’s… so beautiful…

???

“Most of the townspeople have been evacuated, young master… I mean, Mayor.”

“Good. I’m sorry you guys had to draw the short straw.”

There were no soldiers in this frontier town. The ones who remained here were the vigilantes formed by the town’s youth volunteers, who all hated to be a stumbling block to those who were evacuating and had decided to volunteer to buy the townspeople time to escape or to be a stumbling block to divert that monster from its path. Those who had been involved in the battle so far had been wounded and unable to move properly due to the mysterious symptoms caused by the monster’s attack.

“What are you talking about? If you say so, why didn’t you just run away? You’re still young, you’ve only just taken over from your parents, and your wife is probably waiting for you.”

“Haha… while I’m really sorry to my wife… I’m this town’s mayor, however inexperienced I am… and it’s not cool at all to just leave it all to the young travelers and say goodbye.”

I thought of them out of the corner of my eye, still probably fighting. They had taken care of a number of pending cases around town, and they were very good at what they do. The damage would have been much more severe had they not interrupted that monster from attacking the townspeople. But this town shouldn’t have any connection to their journey. They could have run away if they sensed danger, and I wouldn’t blame them for that. What’s more worrisome was that the girl with them, whom my wife said she’d gone missing, was still nowhere to be found…

“… You still haven’t found her? I hope she’s still safe.”

“Good grief… Huh?!”

Suddenly, something exploded with such force that the town became bright as if dawn had arrived.

“What’s that light?!”

“I-I don’t know, must be some kind of magic… wait, what?”

“Did something happen?!”

“The injuries… they’re all gone…”

“Is this for real…?”

If I looked, those around me who had sunk into a look of resignation were looking at their bodies quizzically. Was this light… some kind of healing arts? But I had never heard of anything on such a large scale that could take effect from so far away.

Suddenly, they fell to their knees and began to hang their heads toward the light. Some of them even shed tears and prayed.

It was as if the light was something only heard in legend…

Iris

“As long as I don’t give up, surely…!”

My back was so hot it felt like it is going to burst. The light wings increased their output, and the color went from gold to white, becoming even more dazzling.

“Surely… I’ll cut down any darkness…!”

It’s still not enough. I had to give it my all. My whole body creaked, and I felt a strange presence on my back. A new light was born behind me as if hatching.

Yes… these were my wings to protect what I wanted to protect.

“That which heals all wounds, all curses, all malice… Manifest yourself… ‘Sanctuary’…!!”

Like the dawn of day, the darkness of night was cut open and a dazzling white light filled the world. Between the six large symmetrical light wings, four new, smaller ones spread out, and my body softly left the ground and stayed a few feet above. The shadows surrounding us retreated as if frightened, and the black haze that should have continued to cling and torment those two easily fizzled out and disappeared without a trace.

“What the… did that light just heal us?”

“Not just the wounds… but my strength and magic power too…”

Stunned, they stood up, freed from all injuries and restrictions. As they were restored to their perfect condition, I caressed my chest.

Unlike the previous “Sanctuary”, this one was much larger, about 200 meters in diameter. As long as one stood within its range…

“I will not allow any kind of curses to exist before me. Now…”

They smiled softly as they looked up at me in amazement.

“Good luck, both of you! It will only last for about a minute… so do your best!”

“That’s already enough!”

“Just leave it to us!”

Those two stood up quickly and readied their weapons. Back to back, each of them thrust their weapons at “it” and shouted.

““’Release’!””

Immediately, a complex pattern of light like lines formed from Reiji’s arms and legs, and his limbs were clothed in light like fairy wings. A nearly one-meter circle floated above Saul’s head and began to spin with a dazzling light. Einphelia, a higher race of Human, and Celestia, a higher race of Highborn. Only reincarnated higher races were allowed to release their racial traits. It could only be used once every few days, but it was a trump card that greatly increased all abilities.

With a wave of the white light staff in my hand, their weapons glowed with the same color light as my wings. Feathers started dancing around those two to protect them.

“’Luminate Edge’ and ‘Multi-Protection’. This time… I shall be the one protecting you both…!”

Both were the same type of magic that I had used in the earlier battle, but with my new form, it had dramatically improved in potency.

“I need some time to prepare, I let you have the first strike, Saul!”

Reiji’s life force flowed into his sword again, the mechanism sealed in the blade was released, and countless slits began to open.

“Roger that!”

Saul’s sword tip began to swirl with energy as he drew his arm to the limit and prepared for a thrust.

A rain of shadowy tentacles filled the sky as they tried to attack us all at once. However, all of them were repelled by the dazzling feathers around us, without being able to touch us, they ended up uselessly gouging out the ground around them and unnecessarily rolling up the snow that had accumulated. Each of these feathers was a layer of “Protection”, and they would not go away that easily. Not with that countless number of feathers.

With that, the numerous mouths around all turned to look at us. If it had been the me of before, I was sure I would have lost my will to fight… But now I well understood my surroundings. There was one presence backing me up. She was waiting for the opponents to line up together… which was this very moment.

Behind me, as if crawling out of the darkness, a figure suddenly appeared.

“Nyahahaha! I’ve been waiting for this!”

Milly-san, who had been lurking with camouflage magic and listening intently for an opportunity, flapped her bat-like wings, a characteristic of Nosferatu, a higher form of her Demon race, and laughed loudly with a complicated and huge magic circle in the background, which must have already finished its chanting.

“Here comes the fireworks! ‘Lightning Detonator’!”

A huge roar was heard.

A gush of electric shocks turned the white world into purple electricity, evading me and turning all the “mouths” that were surrounding me into charcoal, as well as rushing past those two, swallowing all the shadows in a straight line and leading a straight path to “it”.

“…You! Why are you here?!”

“Nyaha, had I revealed myself too early, I would have only gotten in you guys’ way, so I’ve been standing by all this time in order to steal all the thunder in one fell swoop, nya!”

Milly-san jokingly answered an astonished Saul with the smuggest expression she could muster. But… when I looked closer at her, I saw that her hand holding the staff was covered in blood. I wondered how painful it must have been for her to wait for the right moment and watch those two being hurt in front of her. Nevertheless, she still concealed herself and waiting for that moment.

“Don’t give me that smug look, it’s annoying! Nice save, though!”

“You owe me one, nya. I’ll get it back someday, specifically with the most expensive sweets in town!”

“Why at such a time… Well, fine. Now that I’ve got a good look at that thing… It’s time I deal with that pesky sword of its!!”

Saul’s sword carved an intricate pattern forward. It quickly formed a huge formation of light that exceeded his own height.

“Pave the way forward! ‘Chain Bind Rampage’!!”

Saul’s feet exploded with a roar. Numerous glowing chains appeared from behind him, who was furiously charging, sword in hand, clad in a torrent of fighting spirit. The torrent of spirals from the tip of the sword obliterated the shadows that rushed in to fill up the space that had just been cut away.

When Saul’s sword connected with the sword that acted as “its” arm…

The white light in the sword exploded, and without even the slightest resistance, the distorted sword instantly dissolved into the air, leaving behind a high-pitched crystalline shattering sound, and vanished without a single shard. The chains that had been following Saul wrapped around and restrained the defenseless “it”. The paths toward “it” that were aligned by the chains no longer had any obstacles.

“It’s wide open! Reiji-san, finish it!”

“Alright then, nya, I’ll leave the rest to you, Senpai!”

“Leave it to me. Let’s go, ‘Dragon Eye Release’!!”

The slit in the center of Reiji’s sword hilt opened to expose the eye-like crystal inside, and the force field redeployed to reveal Rage’s “Arsley” in its true form. At the same time, the red cord once again extended to Reiji’s arm, taking away his strength. But the next moment, the light revived his lost strength in a flash. No matter how much was consumed, it would replenish as much as possible… because I’m here!

“… You can do it, Reiji!”

As I forcefully thrust out my clenched fist, all the white light I could muster converged on Reiji’s sword. The force field deployed by “Arsley” turned from red to white. The sword, which had reached a critical point, made a ringing sound like a bell, as if it was shouting for me to quickly release the destructive power in its body.

“Blow it away, one more time!”

With godlike speed, Reiji swung his sword into “it”, cut deep and deep into the crystal at its center… The white light within the sword burst forth, burning the enemy from the inside out like the sun.

The world became so white that nothing could be seen.

When all the light subsided and its residue began to fall like fluffy snow, the darkness of the night began to cover the surroundings as if it finally remembered that it existed.

“It” completely vanished, not even a speck of dust remained.

(Author’s Note)

Supplementing info. Reiji fell in love at first sight with the fictional girl “Iris” before his reason took over and he realized that was the protagonist inside. This is not BL.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Saul
When I got far enough away, I lowered Iris in my arms and made him sit
against the walls of a nearby house.
Ever since I held him in my arms, her body temperature had frozen so
cold that I wondered if he was still alive.
His complexion was blue, and her peach-colored lips had turned purple
and pale. His skin, peeking through the gaps in her bare clothes, was
bruised in places, and some areas were swollen, as if he had broken a
bone.
I had put him in danger.
It was an unbecoming blunder for a tank position like me.
Remorse painfully tightened my chest.
From inside my magic bag, I pulled out a small bottle about the size of
my pinky finger. The “World Tree’s Drop”, which I always carried as a
talisman in case of emergencies, was one of the best recovery items
even during the game.
As I unwrapped the ampoule-like item and was about to drop its
contents into Iris’ mouth… I realized that if I let him drink while
unconscious, he might spit it out and I’d fail, so I stopped.
Even though it was a drop from some raid bosses and was treated as a
hazmat at the time of the game, it was now a very rare drug, and if I
failed this one, I would have nothing else that I could use now.
Not wanting to let any of it go to waste, I popped its contents into my
own mouth and then placed my lips over Iris’, covering them perfectly.
Just like that, I put my tongue into Iris’ small mouth and poured the
drug into the back of his throat.
I sensed his body coughing to spit the drug out, so I held his twitching
body down and forced the drug deeper in with my tongue. It wasn’t
until I was sure he had swallowed the drug that I finally let go of his
mouth.
“… Nnn… Ugh…!”
Immediately afterward, he started grunting as if enduring something,
and his body jerked heavily. I wondered if the drug he just swallowed
was fighting against the curse inflicted upon him. The only thing I could
do now… was pray.
The effect might not be the same as in the game. While mending Iris’
clothes, which had been ransacked and disheveled by “it”, I watched in
earnest prayer the progress of Iris’s condition as he moaned in agony.
… The effect was dramatic.
The painful bruises peeking through his clothing disappeared with a
faint glow, and his pale face soon began to regain its blood. His eyelids
lifted slowly, his eyelashes quivering.
His body did not seem to have regained its freedom yet, and a small
hand grabbed my clothes as it rose lazily. I wonder if his eyes, shaking
with impatience, were caused by his concern for Reiji, who had stayed
behind on the battlefield. I put my hand on his head to reassure him.
“Don’t you worry, Onii-chan. I’ll come back and help Reiji-san. Once you
are able to move, you should evacuate with everyone in town.”
When I patted him on the head, his hand shook as she gripped her
clothes.
“Listen. We alone were not enough to fight against it. I’m sure there
will be many more enemies like this in the future. You need to gather
friends who will fight by your side. There are probably many more
people like us who were sent here. There must be people you can trust
among them.”
Iris shook his head in denial. His clinging eyes made me realize that I
had misspoken. Did this sound like I was going to die? I had no intention
of doing so. Onii-chan had always been timid like that.
“Rest assured, there’s still a lot I wish to do with you. I want to dress my
beloved Onii-chan in all sorts of ways. I want to sleep with you as a
hugging pillow. We haven’t bathed together yet, and I haven’t taught
you how to take care of your skin and hair. And I’m never going to give
up to anyone else the role of cooking red rice for you when that day
comes. I’m not leaving you like this. I’ll bring that Reiji back to you, I
promise. Just trust me, okay…?”
Finally, his hand fearfully moved away. I thought I saw some fear mixed
in with a detached look, but it was probably just my imagination. Oh, I
really don’t want to die here. There are so many things I want to do.
“… I’ll do… anything for you, so please… come back… safely…”
At last, I got his words.
Now I could finally force him to do things that he was normally too shy
to do. I would definitely make him fulfill it. We would do this and that
when we get home. Ah, it’s going to be so fun. Oops, I felt like I could
get a nosebleed at any moment.
“… If you say so, then I’m not going to lose this fight. Well then, I’ll be
off for a while!”
To grab that reckless idiot by the collar, and drag him home with me.
Iris/Yanagi
I watched Saul’s back as he moved away.
What a liar he was.
Well, he didn’t really lie when he said he didn’t intend to die.
But I didn’t think he had a chance of winning.
After more than ten years together, I knew Ayame’s habits, even if the
person herself wasn’t aware. At the end, she scratched her left cheek
with her finger. It was a habit she had when she was trying to cover up
her lack of confidence.
I shouldn’t be sitting here. The memory of being incapacitated in the
blink of an eye, subjected to pain far beyond my tolerance level, and
almost stripped of my chastity like a piece of paper was burned into my
body, reminding me that I was nothing but a prey, and I couldn’t stand
up.
Reiji was probably still fighting while being wounded in that place.
Saul, too, stepped out into the fray even though he had little chance of
winning.
And yet, even though I wanted to move, my heart was too broken to do
so.
Memories of when I came to this world suddenly come back to me. At
that time, I felt as if I was being remade. The truth was, I had probably
disappeared at that time and was reborn as “Iris”. I’d been looking
away for a long time, but the truth was that “my” being here is not
what had been originally planned.
Hey, Iris. If it were you, “Iris”… you would be able to save those two.
If you, the true “Lightwing race”, were here, would you be able to save
us all?
If you could… then I wouldn’t care if I were to disappear. I’d give you
back everything I took from you, so please help me.
I felt someone’s hand touching mine as I reached out for help.
In the pitch black darkness… sat a small, scarred girl.
I could hear the occasional hiccup from the girl crying while holding her
knees. Her white naked body was covered with wounds all over, and
her small glowing wings, flickering feebly, looked as if they were about
to disappear.
I couldn’t do it myself, so I needed her help. That’s what I thought.
But “Iris” was just this vulnerable little girl.
That’s right. When I was trying to escape, to disappear, I had pushed
everything onto such a small, fragile child. There was no way that I
alone, or “I” alone, could bear with it all.
Sorry for leaving you alone all this time.
The girl shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
I was the one who occupied what should have been for the two of us,
pushed her into such a dark place, and kept forcing only painful stuff on
her. She, who never needed to apologize but kept crying, saying she
were sorry for erasing me.
Somehow, I understood. She let me, who should have disappeared at
that moment, remain. She gave me what was rightfully hers.
I’ve come to return things that I took from you.
But you’ll disappear if you do that.
No, it’s not. This was originally given to me by you. And in the first
place… there were no boundaries between us.
You must have been born of me while I played as “Iris”. You’re a
fictional girl I envisioned, feeding on the desires of many players. But in
essence, you’re still me, so I won’t disappear, but rather, we just return
as one. You and I have the same purpose. We look in the same
direction, wanting the same thing. We’re the same person, just
separated into you and me.
That’s why… I need your help. Those two… Reiji-san and Saul-niisama…
we have to save them… together.
I held out my hand toward the girl.
The girl stared at my hand and face with a blank expression for a
moment… then softly took my hand with a smile like flower blooming.
I was disappearing.
This time, I was turning into her for good.
But I felt no fear. It was as if the missing pieces were being filled in, and
even I couldn’t believe how relieved I was…
???
It was a strange sensation.
The memory of being the original “me” was certainly present, and the
awareness that it was all my own experience, had not changed.
I was still me. That fact hadn’t changed.
But at the same time, the awareness of being a girl named “Iris” also
existed in this chest. I accepted this body without any sense of
discomfort, even though until just now I had always been unable to
believe that it was mine, somewhere in the back of my mind.
I felt heat in my back. The senses in my whole body, especially in my
back, had become more acute, and I could clearly feel the flow of
power within myself, which had been unclear before.
With only slight willpower, the light wings appeared much more
naturally than before. The discomfort that had been bothering me for
some time was completely gone, and now I can freely manipulate them
as a part of my body.
The trembles I felt were no more. What I should do, what I wanted to
do… and what I could do, I could see them very clearly now.
“… Those two must be waiting. It’s time to go… ‘We’ are going to save
them.”
“I” began to take my first steps toward the place where the battle was
still raging.
(Author’s Note)
From this point on, the tone of the protagonist’s PoV sections change.
(TL Note)
Instead of Iris/Yanagi, it’s just Iris now.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Reiji
Abnormal traces of destruction littered the forest.
We encountered that while following the trail that led toward the
village, where the trees were blackened and rotting away, and there
was a slight crystallization of some kind around the area.
The place was already a part of the town, and we rushed in where
several houses were crumbling to nothing. We were confronted by a
strange monster when we intervened between a group of townspeople
who appeared to be evacuating the area.
The shadowy black body of a phantom-type monster… was covered
with a crystal-like substance. Its upper and lower body were separated
at the belly area, and it moved as it pleased around a crystal-like object
at the center, making it very difficult to read the movements of its
body. Its entire left arm had been gouged off and replaced with a sword
made of crystal, and something was leaking out from the wound. Not
just the sword, we had to deal with a bunch of shadowy, band-like
tentacles that sprang up from all parts of its body and from the ground
nearby.
My sword felt heavy. My armor less so, but it gave me a burden that
made me feel as if I was about to fall to my knees. And my attacks were
virtually ineffective. The crystals were hard and almost impossible to
scratch, and the rest of its body didn’t seem to be cut at all. Saul
seemed to able to damage it with his light attribute attacks, but they
were never quite decisive, and combined with the little flying mouths
that occasionally chomped at him from the sky, he had a really tough
time as well.
Iris/Yanagi
“Reiji! Saul!”
When I arrived at the outskirts of town, what caught my eye was a sight
that I could not, or did not want to, believe. Those two were on their
knees, covered in scars.
“I-I’ll heal you-”
“Idiot! Why do you come here?!”
“Iris, just leave us and run, quick!”
“…Absolutely no! Please… let me fight with you! That’s what I’ve
decided!”
I wouldn’t run away. It’s too last-minute to try to convince them, but I
told them what I wanted to do. A light shone at the end of my staff.
Their condition was not normal, so first of all, I had to make sure
they’re in perfect condition.
“Setup complete! ‘Rest Field’!!”
A formation of light deployed around them dissolved the bad things
that had entangled them. Then their wounds cleanly disappeared.
“I’ll re-cast the formation to match your positions, so go ahead! ‘Wide
Protection’! ‘Weiss Edge’!”
The bodies of the three of us, including mine, were covered by a thin
barrier of light, and the weapons of those two glowed white with a
purifying power that countered undead and spiritual life forms.
“…Understood. If that’s your will, I’ll say no more.”
So easily that Saul gave me the green light.
“You’re not being honest at all, are you? The truth is, we were going to
take you with us after today.”
My eyes blinked at his words.
…Those two, they did listen to me and think about it after all.
“… I’m sorry about yesterday.”
“I… I didn’t think about your feelings either. Please forgive me.”
“Me too… And honestly, your arrival is a huge help. Lend us your hand,
Iris!”
“Yes!”
I renewed my grip on my staff, readying it. I was trembling no more. It’s
okay, I could do it!
“I’m going to destroy the ‘mouth’ in the air! Cover me, you both!”
“Saul, do it! I’ll buy you 10 seconds!”
“Anytime you’re ready!”
Tentacles of shadow loomed around us. They, which had been
impenetrable until a few moments ago, were easily cut down by Reiji’s
sword, which was now clad in white light. Several other tentacles that
had broken through were stopped by Saul’s “Chain Bind”. After
confirming that my back was gently supported, I chanted tightly and
released the magic that contained the maximum output.
“’Divine Spear’… Fire!”
Revealing my wings of light, I summoned seven spears of light and
aimed at the “mouths” circling on the sky, shooting them down. As I
noticed during the previous battle with the bandits, it was verified that
when I had these wings out, the performance of some magic was
enhanced, and it was possible to exceed the limits of what it was when
it was a game. Although the recoil was correspondingly large, it was
softly received by Saul’s defensive magic, along with the person
himself, who was assisting behind me, so that the burden on my body
was minimized.
“…In ten seconds, I’ll deploy ‘Rest Field’ around Reiji-san again.”
“The ‘tentacles’ on both sides have been dealt with. Reiji, push forward,
and Iris, remain vigilant.”
“Yes, Saul-niisama.”
We exchanged glances and smiled at each other, then immediately
moved to our positions. It’s been a long time since we’ve stood
shoulder to shoulder like this.
…Only about 50 meters to the target.
Its attacks seemed to have a cursing effect, and if we got wounded, our
ability would be crippled. But that was not a problem as long as I was
here, and we stayed within the “Rest Field” I set up on the ground. If I
dealt with the situation calmly, I could maintain the upper hand.
I took a deep breath and took another look at my surroundings… then I
noticed that all the “mouths” that were wandering around me opened
at once.
“Watch out, you two! Something’s coming!”
I tried to warn them.
“GYAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!”
“FFFFFFOUNDYOUBITCHAAAAHAHAHAHA!”
“SSSSSSURRENDERTODESPAIRRRRR!”
“AHAHAHAHACRYCRYCRYCRYAHAHAHA!”
All at once, a cacophony of unpleasant voices was unleashed.
“Guh?! The… hell is this… my power is…”
“Dam, mit… is the sound itself cursed…?”
Those two kneeled in front of me, having been hit by the sound.
My heart almost stopped.
Why here, why at a time like this, why these scums?
My eyes met the red light of the “thing” in its main body at the back,
the one and only face on that creature. Yes, eyes. Its eyes were familiar.
The little things around it were familiar, too, with their stained rows of
teeth.
“No… no way…”
My knees instantly lost strength and sat flat. My heart palpitated. My
vision was distorted.
“Run, you idiot!”
“Iris, behind you!”
“…?!”
Around me, three “mouths” were floating around as if they had been
waiting for this opportunity.
“HEYHEYPRINCESSLETSPLAYPLETSPLAYLETSPLAYYYY”
“FEELSGOODFEELSGOODFEELSGOODDDDD!”
“PPPPRINCESSSODELICIOUSSSSSSSS”
“No, nooooooo!”
The voice that hit me directly in the earlobe shook and wrecked my
brain through my ears. When I unintentionally covered my ears and
closed my eyes, a shadow that had somehow crept up on my leg, on
the barrier protecting its surface, sizzled and entangled me. My vision
suddenly drifted away.
“Kyaaaaaah?!”
Something pulled me, and after a brief moment of levitation, I rolled
over and over on the ground, hitting my entire body hard. Most of the
impact was blocked by the protection, but the sudden movement made
my semicircular canals scream and I staggered back up, unable to
move.
“UUUUOOOOOHHHHIIIIRRRRIIIISCHHHAAAAN?”
“Eeep!”
Its face was close to me. A crescent-shaped red line broke out on its
smooth, black face, and a sticky voice that sounded as if it were making
a gurgling sound and seemed to be extremely ecstatic made me cower.
“Iris! Curses, get out of my way!”
Reiji’s scream felt distant. We had been completely separated in front
of the enemy.
“LETSFEELGOODLETSPLAYYYYYPRINCESSSSSSSSSSS!!”
As I slithered away, trying to get as far away from it as possible, I felt
countless shadows extending from its body, restricting my limbs. The
light of the thin paper-like protection barely prevented direct contact,
but even beyond that, I felt a tremendous chill, fear, and danger. I
mustn’t touch it directly.
Then, the sound of the barrier creaking and the protection cracking as it
nears the limit of its durability rang in my ears.
“P-‘Protection’!”
Immediately after the new barrier enveloped my body, the original
barrier disappeared into thin air, leaving behind faint shards of light.
It was no use. The barrier, which was supposed to be reattached,
creaked and cracked again.
“W-‘Wide Protection’!”
One more. The protection from earlier shattered in less than 20
seconds, and the shadows attacked the new barrier.
“No, I can’t hold on like this…!”
“Protection” had a cooldown of approximately one minute, that meant
I couldn’t use it again for 40 seconds. “Wide Protection” had one
minute and a half of cooldown. In this situation, with shadows crawling
all over my body, “Solid Ray” would be no help.
“Protection! Protection! Why, why can’t I cast it?!”
I couldn’t make it in time!
The last barrier was now full of cracks, while Reiji and Saul were far
away!
The sound of the last resistance struck my ear like a countdown.
I could no longer do anything but watch in despair as the last barrier
vanished into thin air.
“Wah?! N-No, stooooop!|
The shadows started wrapping my arms and legs.
“Yaaaaaaah!”
Instantly, my brain sparked with a shock far beyond my tolerance. A
tremendous chill ran through my entire body. Cold, heavy, horrifying
thoughts flowed in from where they touched, colliding with the
purifying power of this body that was desperately resisting inside, and
the impact hurt myself from the inside, causing me to bounce violently
and disorderly.
My consciousness went blank.
But the next moment, I awoke with a jolt. Again and again.
The tentacles entangled in my limbs easily lifted my small body into the
air and invaded my center without hesitation. It laid waste without time
to resist, and in the blink of an eye, the thing that restrained my arms
sneaked into the hem of my clothes and licked the torso underneath.
The legs, too, knees, thighs, and above them. It crawled all over my
white skin, and every time it did, something horrifying permeated my
skin, as if it is trying to coat my entire body. The something that was
eroding through my skin was engulfing my entire body and quickly
taking away my resistance.
My body was making a desperate resistance, but there were just too
many shadows incessantly crawling all over it. Any fleeting resistance
was easily swallowed, and my body, which had been violently jerking
and bouncing, was slowly slowing down. The body, which had lost its
strength, was tightening up, and it was screaming. The dangerous
sound of something cracking was echoing from all over my body. And
yet, I already felt no pain at all.
My body surrendered to the invading shadows. It was as if every blood
vessel in my body had been replaced with ice water, something so cold
and horrifying that I could no longer move a finger except for the
occasional twitch.
“…Aaah… aaah…Eek!”
The chilling sensation of something touching a place not supposed to
be touched. Just the slightest contact, something horrifying flowed into
my body with an incomparably greater force than before, and it stained
my body even more deeply and profoundly.
My fleetingly flickering light wings disappeared with a few scattered
feathers, and the staff that I held until the end fell to the ground with a
clatter from my arm that hung slackly and powerlessly. I wondered if it
sensed that my power to resist had completely disappeared, and for
some reason I felt that it had finally set its sights on “that spot”.
I’m screwed, aren’t I?
“Stay the hell away from Iris!”
Before I knew it, Reiji, who had switched to a sword covered in some
enormous force, sliced through the ground with the tentacles that held
me. The shadow covering me vanished in the blink of an eye… and Saul
held me before my unsupported body fell to the ground.
“Saul! Take Iris and escape from here!”
“…I’ll be back soon enough! Just… don’t die!!”
Wait, was Reiji going to die?!
The back of Reiji, who remained alone facing the enemy, was further
and further. No, those two had been put in a tight spot.
Please stop, I didn’t want them to do this, but it’s too late.
“…Rei… ji…!”
My hand that tried to reach out fell, unable to support itself even
slightly, and gravity took over.
Reiji
“…So they’re gone.”
I readjusted the sword in my hand.
Normally, it was a pitch-black long sword with no decoration, but by
using the function called Dragon Eye Release, it transformed into this
powerful weapon… “Sword of Destruction Arsley”, from the Dragon
Orb series.
Back in the game, it was crafted using the extremely rare dragon orbs
from the Dragon-type raid bosses, along with plenty of other raid-tier
rare materials. Only a handful of people would be able to own such a
thing. It’s my trump card that even Saul envied.
It was confirmed that it was possible to hurt that thing with Dragon Eye
Release.
As for whether this would improve the situation… hell if I know.
The downside of this weapon… was that instead of increasing its
power, it devoured the owner’s physical strength. The hilt in my right
arm was now flickering red, and something was flowing from my body
into the sword.
What would have been HP in the game was actually a dangerous feeling
of having my vitality itself drained when used in this way. With a body
that has been weakened so much so far, how far could I go against an
opponent I struggled to beat even when I was in perfect condition?
“…Alright, let’s do this.”
I could still hear the weak and mournful voice that called out my name
only a few moments ago as Saul took him away. I can’t leave that guy
alone in this world.
No matter how hopeless it might be… I would persist until the end.