Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

It’d been about an hour since we were told that we would soon arrive at our destination, the capital of this region.

We continued to travel along a peaceful road with a vast expanse of wheat fields stretching as far as the eye could see, with the towering mountain range that divided the kingdom of Nordglacier to the north and south in the background.

“Woah… It’s the capital…!”

The first thing we saw of the capital was a white castle built on a mountain slope. Then, we saw the huge outer wall of the city, cutting through the vast expanse of wheat fields. In front of it, a large river flowed along the wall.

Taking advantage of the natural defense, the city was located in a place surrounded by steep mountains to the north, and two rivers flowing from those mountains to the east and west. The only entrances and exits to the city were two drawbridges above the rivers.

As the city was close to the country’s border, it’s only appropriate that defense was the most important factor in its construction, with beauty being an afterthought at best. And yet, the city’s exterior was as beautiful as a painting.

…Come to think of it, it’d been a while since I last held a brush. If time allowed, I would definitely gather my art supplies and paint something for the first time after so long. I was so excited.

“What do you think, Iris-chan? It’s an amazing place, right?”

“Yes, Tia-san! It’s so beautiful!”

…By the way, over the past few days, Titilia-san and I had grown so close that she started calling me by name instead of “Princess”. In return, I also started calling her by her nickname, at her request.

“Iris-sama, please keep your hood up from here on out.”

“Oh, right…”

As prompted by Aini-san, I hurriedly pulled the hood of my cloak over my face. In this city of Rolandia, my face was widely known, as I apparently lived here for a time. Unlike the towns I’d been to before, if anyone saw my face, I’m sure they’d recognize me right away.

Since the truth of my identity as “Princess Irisria” was still uncertain, we decided to keep my identity hidden as much as possible to avoid causing a commotion.

We crossed the huge drawbridge and arrived at the gate of the outer wall, passing through the ranks of soldiers who saluted as they saw their lord leading the way, and then to the main street.

…What?

“This place… feels so familiar… Why?”

“Why not? It’s much larger than before, but it’s a city that exists in the game, isn’t it?”

“That’s true, but… at the same time, I’m feeling… nostalgic?”

It was as if I had actually lived here and seen this sight before.

I shook my head to clear away the strange sensation and continued onward.

Reiji

I sighed again, for the umpteenth time.

“What are you sighing so much for, Reiji? You seem off today.”

“You know that she and I haven’t talked much for the past few days right?”

I glanced at the carriage. Iris could be seen chatting happily with a girl through the window.

…Could she be avoiding me on purpose?

She only talked to me when it’s something important, and even then, she immediately lowered her head as soon as the conversation was over, and found some excuse to quickly leave elsewhere.

But she never actively hid from my presence, and if I looked over at her occasionally, our eyes often met with each other… so I’d like to think that she doesn’t hate me, but then she quickly looked away. I don’t know what’s going on with her anymore.

“Did I do something to make her hate me?”

“Ah… Well, you’re in the clear, so don’t overthink it too much.”

“Really? If you say so, then it must be true. Thanks.”

Saul wouldn’t overlook or misunderstand anything about Iris, would he?

As I told myself that, I slapped my cheeks to shake off my lingering uneasiness.

Before I knew it, we’d left the city and reached the castle’s entrance, and the Count, who was leading the way, was talking to the guards.

“Welcome back, Leonhardt-sama.”

“As always, you have my thanks for guarding the city in my absence.”

“May I ask who those people are?”

We sweated inwardly and bowed our heads as the guards looked at us with suspicion.

“They’re my honored guests. Didn’t I send a messenger ahead of time?”

“I see. We’ve made arrangements for your guests, as instructed.”

“Mm. Now make way for us, if you will.”

“Yes, sir!”

With a sharp salute, the guards returned to their posts.

We dismounted from our horses, keeping an eye on the women getting out of the carriage in the corner of our vision. We handed the reins to the soldiers who had lent us a hand, and followed the lord into the castle.    

Hayato, on the other hand, said “The castle seems stuffy, so I’m going to help with the horses”, and followed the soldiers to the stables.

I think I saw him exchanging a glance with Aini-san right before he left, but she just smiled and said “Oh, my”.     I didn’t feel like I could get anything out of her, so I gave up.

“So this is a noble’s castle…”

The castle was likely designed with the surrounding landscape in mind. Its exterior was beautiful, but its interior was simple and focused on functionality.

“Miss Aini, I’m going to leave His Highness and Her Highness in your charge.”

“As you wish. Saul-sama, Iris-sama, I know you may be exhausted from the journey, but please follow me.”

The confused Iris and Saul were then quickly led away by the hand by Aini-san’s firm grip.

“W-Where are we going?”

“There’s no need to worry. It’s a simple examination, that’s all.”

The three of them disappeared into the distance.

The girl who called herself Titilia also exchanged glances with the Count and left, saying “I’ll go check on my room”.

All so suddenly, I was left alone with the Count.

…Well, what should I do in this situation? The Count didn’t seem like someone who’s easy to talk to, given the perpetual sharp gaze on his feature.

As I stood there at a loss, the man in question patted me on the shoulder.

“Well then… If you don’t have anything better to do, I would like you to accompany me for a little bit. Is that okay?”

“I… have no problem with it.”

“Good. Follow me.”

I hurriedly followed the Count, who began to walk away after saying that.

After climbing several flights of stairs, passing through what seemed to be the castle staff’s residence… I had somehow wandered into one of the detached buildings, a corridor that was slightly more luxurious than the others.

If I had to guess, this was the Count’s private study or something like that.

“Sir, where are we going…”

“Reiji-kun, am I correct?”

“Y-Yes!”

His sudden question made my back stiffen.

The Count, however, paid no attention to my reaction. He reached for one of the doors in the row of rooms and opened it.

Inside the room… was an entire library, perhaps his private possession.

In addition, the titles of the books were all serious-sounding, such as history, economics, and political affairs.

This person, who looked serious and honest, must have been studying hard in order to manage this territory.

“What Father said to you before he left… could you tell me about it?”

Standing in front of one of the shelves in the study, which was mostly filled with history books, the Count said those words as he ran his fingers along the spines of the neatly arranged books, as if searching for something.

“…”

Yes, if I were to accept that old man’s proposal, I’d surely get involved with his son more often from then on.

“If I wanted to be by her… Iris’ side forever, he could help with that by adopting me as his son… that’s what he said.”

“So that’s how it is.”

With that, the Count took out a book, gestured at me with his hand and gazed to the sofa across from the coffee table, where I sat down hesitantly. The sofa, which seemed to be of high quality, sank softly when I put my weight on it.

“Now, before we get to the main topic, I would like to confirm one thing about your feelings.”

The Count placed the book on the table and, hiding his mouth with his clasped hands, looked at me with a serious expression on his face.

I gulped nervously.

“Reiji-kun… What’s your wish regarding Her Highness Irisria?”

“I…”

I had expected a question along that line.

This person was once a temporary parental figure for Iris, who, for some reason, was supposed to have lived in this world for some time.

It’s only natural that he would question why I, a nobody in his point of view, was attached to the royal princess he considered his daughter.

But how do I answer his question…?

“I’ll do anything for her… as long as she wants it…”

“Wrong answer.”

I was immediately shut down from speaking. The Count’s sharp gaze intensified further.

“There’s no use in such tepid words. I ask you again… What’s your wish regarding her?”        

I…

What do I want with her?

My thoughts were starting to spin around.

So I gave up on thinking too hard about it… and let out my honest desire.

“I… I want to stay by her side…”

Once my words got out, they wouldn’t stop flowing.

“That’s right… I don’t want to get separated from her, ever. I don’t want to give her to anyone else… She’s mine! I’ll… I’ll be the only one for her, and I swear to make her happy as long as we’re together!”

When I came to my sense, I was standing up and shouting in the Count’s face.

“S-Sorry!”

I screwed up big time, didn’t I?

A no-name swordsman like me, shouting in the face of such a powerful nobleman and claiming the princess of this country as “mine”. I couldn’t complain if he arrested me on the spot for the crime of disrespect.

Cold sweat dripped down my forehead.

“Pfft… Now that’s an answer I want to hear. May you always be so bold.”

However, contrary to my expectations, the Count lowered his head and shook his shoulders with his mouth hidden.

Did this man just… laugh?

I sighed and relaxed my shoulders. I felt like I’d lost a few years of my life.

“But… she’s a princess, and I don’t really have anything to my name… No one would approve of such a relationship, would they?”

“That might be the case. But the truth is… you’re already qualified to stand next to her.”

Thus, he opened the book he had taken out earlier, stopped his hand at a certain page and showed it to me.

“This, is the most reliable document about the Lightwing race that has survived to the present day.”

He then urged me to take a look. As I did what he asked, I saw…

“Is this… Arventia?”

Inside the page was an illustration of the sword, the same Arventia entrusted to me by Iris.

“Also known as Save The Queen. If this document is accurate… the person who’s qualified to pull out the blade is someone who the Sacred Daughter of this generation truly wishes to be with and protect for the rest of her life.”

“What?”

“And she’s already chosen you, given that you’re the sword’s wielder.”

“D-Does this mean…?!”

“The choice has been made, whether she’s aware of it or not. Whether you’re worthy of that position, it all depends on your future efforts.”

“I see…”

I was worried that she was avoiding me, but I could still draw the sword properly like usual.

The fact that I could draw this sword means that she trusts me at least enough to admit that I could stay by her side. Whether or not our relationship can progress from there is up to me. Just knowing that is enough for me now.

“Is this enough to convince everyone, though? I don’t think the royal family, or the nobility will stand for this.”

“They will. According to this document, the Sacred Daughter’s will is given top priority, at least in theory.”

“I don’t get it.”

“That’s because the genetic traits of their bloodline are absolutely dominant, for reasons we’ve yet to discover.”

According to the book, a child inheriting the Sacred Daughter’s bloodline will always be a Lightwing female.

But that didn’t answer how that extinct lineage was suddenly revived in modern times, and why it was Iris who became the Sacred Daughter.

Perhaps it’s a mechanism to maintain the survival of the species as this world’s protector. That’s why their bloodline, their race was considered sacred and worshipped.

“Even though they’ve gone extinct, the ideology is still passed down to the upper echelons of each country… The Sacred Daughter must not be violated. And that… is prioritized over the will of every country.”

Therefore, if the Sacred Daughter wants to be with someone, it’s basically impossible for an outsider to reject it, even if it is a king.

Again, in theory. Things are never this simple.

I couldn’t imagine those prideful people from the privileged class being able to forgive the fact that the Sacred Daughter, whom some of them even wanted to incorporate into their family tree, was snatched away by a commoner. The backlash would be immeasurable.

“So, to answer your original question, if you become Father’s adopted son and a member of our family, we’ll be able to back your position and quell everyone’s displeasure, more or less. Whether you can stay by her side until the end is up to you.”

“You don’t have to go that far for me…”

“Of course, I’m doing this for the sake of my house, and for the prosperity of this territory. I’ll be the most pleased if an adopted son of our family and the royal princess get together.”

His words made my head boil for a moment. To think that even he would use Iris for his own gains.

However, seeing my reaction… probably because I was angry for Iris’ sake, the Count’s expression softened. My anger dissipated as well.

“…Well, let’s just leave it at that. I’d only taken care of her for a short time, but I sincerely wish for her to be happy with the person she truly loves, not being tied to any political intrigue.”

“Sir…”

“If you’ve made up your mind to accept Father’s proposal, you can start referring to me as brother, you know?”

“I’ll… think it over.”

I told him so with a wry smile, and the Count nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s settled, then. I think now’s the time for you to study up a little.”

He took something out of his chest pocket and placed it on the table.

It was… a brass key.

“This is the key to this room. You are free to read any of the books here. Also, if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them when I have time.”

“T-Thank you very much…!”

“From now on, she’ll surely be under lots of expectations… Please continue to be right next to her and assist her.”

“Of course. I don’t intend to hand over that role to anyone else.”

“Is that so? I believe both of you are still in need of my guidance. I don’t intend to hand over that role to anyone else, myself.”

Laughter then escaped both of us.

I was really glad… This is going to be a kind place for her… it made me irresistibly happy.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

Yesterday, I finished saying goodbye to all the people who have helped me. Today is the day of my departure.

Captain Walter and the mercenary company had been working hard for a long time, so they would spend a few more days here to rest before returning to the capital. The same went for Milly-san, who was still recuperating after almost running out of magic in the previous battle.

Thus, they weren’t able to accompany me for the time being.

It seemed that most of the soldiers under Leonhardt-sama’s command, as well as the guards the guards who were dispatched to this town as reinforcements, had already left for the capital. Only the cavalry unit remained with him as escorts.

Due to these circumstances, the eastern gate, where we were supposed to meet up, was more deserted than I thought.

As I walked past, I smiled and waved back at the occasional person who bowed to me…

“Over here, everyone!”

“Titilia-san! You’re coming too?!”

Titilia-san enthusiastically waved her hand and called out to me.

I ran up to her, and when she held out her palms to me, I lightly clapped our hands together, and then, without letting go, I intertwined our fingers, holding her smooth and soft hand.

“Hehe, usually I’d ride on the same horse as Milord, but I’m happy to share a ride with you, Princess. I hope we can have a good chat today.”

“It’s my pleasure as well.”

We held hands and frolicked. Even though it is a long journey of seven days, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be bored if she’s with me.

“…Have you guys always been this close?”

“Of course. We’ve shared a lot of secrets together, haven’t we?”

“Yes, we’re definitely close friends now.”

At Reiji-san’s words, we both replied to him with a proud smile.

Over the past few days, we’d been strolling around town together, having tea together, doing all sorts of things together… so much that the stoic Leonhardt-sama even broke out in cold sweats… Yes, it’s no exaggeration to say that we’ve formed an unbreakable bond!

I’ve got to apologize to Leonhardt-sama later…

“So, Mr. Knight… if you keep being that dense, I’ll steal the Princess away, you know?”

“…Huh?”

Wait a minute?!

“U-Um, could you not say that so suddenly… I’m still not mentally ready…”

“Ah… Sorry about that, I won’t say it again… Please, don’t cry, alright?”

Titilia-san lightly embraced me and patted me on the back to calm me down.

I wasn’t about to cry, was I?

Saul

“…Hey, Saul. What was that just now?”

I could only facepalm as things completely went over his head.

“…Iris being dense is one thing, but this is on another level…”

“Now you’re being cryptic too.”

“Figure it out yourself… Why are both of you so insensitive when it comes to each other…*sigh*”

Iris asked me to keep it a secret, and I, too, thought it should be resolved between those two alone, so I kept quiet about it. Yet, I was half-seriously considering exposing everything and be done with it.

Yeah, I’m so done…

Iris

“I see everyone’s getting along so well.”

While chatting as we headed to the carriage that had been assigned to us, a gentle female voice suddenly spoke.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Aini-san… and Hayato-kun?”

The two of them were waiting for us outside the carriage, already dressed for the journey.

Beside them, there was another person, even smaller than Hayato-kun, wearing a cloak.

“Gantz-san?”

“I’m coming, too. Miss Aini and I, take care.”

Seeing him put on a noble-style bow with his hands on his chest, even though he had a small body, I couldn’t help but grab my skirt and lightly bend my knees.

“For various reasons, we will also be going to the capital together. Please continue to take care of us in the future, okay?”

“…What she said.”

Aini-san was gentle, while Hayato-kun was bashful as always. I’m glad that I didn’t have to part ways with them after leaving this town. But…

“Will the clinic be okay?”

“The townspeople were all sorry to see me go, but the Count had already recommended someone who wanted to open up shop there, so I left it to him. I’m sure it’s going to be alright in the end.”

I see… Her departure must have been terribly sad news for all the men in town.

Because Reiji-san and Nii-sama said they wanted get used to riding horses for long-distance travel, the rest of us boarded the carriage.

Just before I got on, I looked back behind me… Reiji-san was stroking his assigned horse like it was a precious partner.

It seemed that he had been practicing every time he had free time for the past few days. He must have really taken a liking to horse riding. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him.

“…Looks like everyone’s present. Good.”

When I sat down on the seat, Leonhardt-sama, mounted on his horse, rode by and looked at me.

“Ah, perfect timing, Milord!”

“Thank you for everything, Leonhardt-sama.”

“Don’t mention it. The journey to the capital will be about seven days. Please do not hesitate to ask me if you need anything.”

With that, he took the rein and rode away from view.

“Princess, you were sent to this side from Earth too, right? You’d be surprised to see the capital in this world.”

“It’s a little scary… but I’m looking forward to it.”

Our destination is Rolandia, the capital of Count Roland’s territory. It’ll be my first time in this world to see a thriving city with many people living in it.

???

If there’s one word to describe his appearance, it would be “red”.

Standing over 180 centimeters tall, he’s clad in a white shirt and black slacks. That would be ordinary enough, but on top of that, he is wearing a bright red coat that is padded with leather and metal in some places. On top of that, he’s lugging around a long, possibly even taller than his body, rod-shaped object.

His usual expression is frivolous like a playboy had a red tattoo on the cheek like a burning flame, but still, it’s a well-groomed face that felt dignified to some extent.

His face is framed by long, lush crimson hair that falls to just below his shoulders. Even more, it is covered by a red bandana with a flame-like pattern that hides the left half of his face.

…He might be handsome, but his air seemed like the kind of person you wouldn’t want to get involved with too actively-

“Hey, can you do that KABOOM thing again, big bro?”

“I said no! I’ve got other stuff to do, anyway!”

“Is that your real hair color? It’s so red!”

“Don’t pull, dammit!”

…if he wasn’t caught in the pranks of several mischievous kids, that is.

“Oh god… they’re gone, finally… Damn brats, what if I went bald?”

I shook off the boys who were pestering me for some reason and continued onward to my destination.

There, sitting on the edge of the fountain in the center of the town square, the ten-year-old girl looked downcast as usual.

“Been crying again, kiddo?”

“…Eh?”

I squatted down in front of her and thrust a medicinal herb with small yellow seeds in front of the girl’s eyes, who seemed to have had her eyes swollen from crying.

This girl’s mother needed this herb to treat her chronic illness. However, recently, monsters had settled in the area where the herb grows, making it impossible to collect it. As a result, the medicine had become very expensive and difficult to obtain.

“These are the miqramah seeds I found. Good enough?”

“…How did you find them, uncle? The grown-ups all said it’s impossible to get them because monsters had taken nest around here…”

“Don’t worry, kiddo, I’ve already sent all of the monsters flying. Tell everyone that it’s now safe to enter that area.”

“Really?!”

The girl broke into a smile and looked at me with admiration.

…Actually, I was overconfident and charged in without thinking, but there were so many monsters that I was almost the one to be sent flying instead, but she didn’t need to hear that.

It cost me more ammunition than expected… but given that I’m flat broke and about to freeze to death here, I’d have to put that matter aside.

It was my bad luck that I happened to pass by a girl who was at her wit’s end and crying her eyes out.

I helped her out as fast as I could, even if it delayed me a little. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I didn’t. Good thing she’s all smiles now.

“I’m so awesome, aren’t I? Also, I’m not ‘uncle’, call me ‘big bro’, okay?”

“Yes, uncle!”

“…”

So she’s settled on calling me ‘uncle’… I slumped my shoulders in disappointment.

It’s true that I was already thirty back on “the other side”… Nevermind, now’s not the time to get depressed over something like this.

“Anyway, you should take these home. Mum’s probably waiting for you.”

“I will! Thanks, uncle!”

“Yeah, take care of Mum, alright?”

After sending off the girl, who kept waving at me as she ran home, I picked up my luggage and turned back to the way I came.

“Man, doing good things feels good… Ah, dammit, I got sidetracked again, didn’t I?!”

After leaving the square, I came back to my senses.

“He”, who was sent to this side while still at level 1, was still out there somewhere while I was running errand for a little kid.

Out there somewhere, eh…

“This world sure is large…”

After a month of travel, I finally made it from the southern continent “Flamberge” to Nordglacier in the north… but I had no idea where “he” might be.

If I consider the location where “he” was on that day at that time, I think he should be somewhere in this country if nothing happened, but it’s still too big of a search area.

Without any information, I couldn’t do anything. For now, I guess I’ll just head west towards the temple where the reincarnation site was located…

After deciding on my course of action, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

I sat down on a fence by the side of the road and took out a mysterious meat jerky that I had bought in bulk because it was cheap. I took a bite, and the smoky aroma filled my mouth, along with the flavor of spices and red meat.

But this jerky, which was hard as a rock and so salty that it’s inedible unless I boil it in soup, the remaining amount was starting to get low. So unless I found a way to make money, the life of a hunter was becoming inevitable.

“If only I got more information…”

I was currently in a town located a bit west of the Central Business District of Nordglacier, the second largest city in the entire country.

Yet, in this peaceful afternoon, the only sounds that could be heard were the energetic voices of children playing.

While chewing on the hard meat in silence, I stared blankly at the sky as the sun began to set…

“What are you sitting here for, lad?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from behind me.

“You really saved me, gramp.”

Inside the rattling wagon, I gave thanks to my savior, the old man who seemed to be a peddler.

Apparently, he saw me give that little kid some herbs earlier, and since we’re both headed to the same place in the west, he offered to give me a ride as his bodyguard.

…Looks like my good deed paid off after all. Thanks to him, I didn’t have to walk for days on foot.

“Gramp? Well, whatever. Where are you planning to go?”

“I’m not sure… For the time being, I’m going to head west.”

“You mean Count Roland’s territory?”

“I guess so? Is there anything beyond that?”

“Nothing interesting. It would be better to cross the sea into the western continent if you really want to head west.”

The old man paused for a moment.

“Let me think about it… Half a month ago, when I went there to buy wood for some business, I saw a very beautiful girl who was way out of place in such a remote area.”

“Come again?”

“Then on my way back, I thought I saw a bright light coming from behind… from the village I just left. Suddenly, all my fatigue and back pain disappeared. I wonder what that was.”

“That’s it!”

The old man was startled and looked at me weirdly, but I didn’t have time for that. I stepped forward and shook his shoulders.

“Gramp! You’re heading to that Count Roland’s territory, aren’t you?!”

“Yeah, that’s the plan, why?”

“Please, take me there too! I’ll be okay even if you pay me just enough food to live!”

“That’s nice and all, but are you sure about this, lad?”

“Yes! I must get there no matter what!”

I kneeled and bowed my head until my forehead touched the floor.

“Well, I don’t know what your circumstances are, but if you say so. I’m going to pay you the standard bodyguard rate, so don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you!”

When I was sent to “this side”, I had no money whatsoever and had to live off selling my own stuff, so I’ll gratefully accept it.

“Though, may I ask about your baggage? Is it a spear or something?”

“You mean this?”

The old man pointed at my trusty partner, whose weight felt reassuringly heavy on my shoulder.

“It’s much more awesome than a spear, gramp… Well, you might faint in awe of its awesomeness, so it’s best if I don’t have to go all out.”

To be honest, this bad boy was way too overkill to use on people. I had no mercy for whoever attacked me, but I’d rather not use it if possible.

…Besides, it’s a waste of ammunition if I do.

“I see, so it’s a weapon of the southern continent.”

“How did you know?”

“You’re a Demon, aren’t you?”

“Guess I’m found out.”

I showed him the horn that I’d been hiding by burying it in my hair and bandana. The old man didn’t seem to mind, but…

“Is it something that I shouldn’t display in public?”

“It’s fine. There’s not much fighting between the Highborn and the Demon nowadays. However…”

“However?”

“Your kind’s reputation isn’t exactly the best these days. There was a foolish prince from the south who kept proposing to our country’s princess. Both of them disappeared at the same time several years ago, and people suspected that the bastard kidnapped our princess and ran away. So, yeah…”

What in the goddamn…

I knew where this is going. I couldn’t stop the cold sweats from breaking out.

In the game, every time we met in events, I would propose to “him” and he would immediately refuse as some kind of running gag. But why on earth did it happen for real here?!

“Ah… Ah……”

“You’re making a weird face. Come to think of it, you haven’t told me your name yet.”

“I’m… Scarlet Flamberge… but you can call me Scar.”

“Flam…berge?”

Well I’ll be damned.

I gulped hard. After what he said earlier, it’s scary, but I didn’t want to lie to him, not after he kindly gave me a ride in his wagon.

“Yep, I’m probably…the foolish prince from the south you talked about.”

I ended up having to beg even harder so he wouldn’t kick me out on the spot. I thought I was going to get killed…

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

APM Note: Merry christmas, ive got a present for you all. 12 Chapters (that doesnt mean i didnt get around uploading ne chapters the past 2 months, it does not ok?). Please dont blame the Translator for me being too busy.

Iris

Despite some accidents, the heavy feeling in my heart had settled down after a night’s rest.

As promised, Reiji-san and I were sitting in a room in the mansion, waiting for everyone to come so that we could talk about what had happened the day before. However…

Aside from the three of us, nobody else had arrived.

The sound of a clock, ticking in a steady rhythm.

The sound of fingers tapping on the table.

These sounds echoed loudly inside the room that’s otherwise completely silent, making the atmosphere much more tense than it should be.

As I couldn’t bear the silence, I attempted to strike a conversation…

“U-Um… Reiji-san…”

“What’s up?”

“S-Sorry, please forget I asked…”

What should I do, I couldn’t even look at him in the eye at all, let alone talk to him. But when he wasn’t looking at me, I couldn’t help but glance at his profile… What’s happening to me?!

I dejectedly slumped over the table. If only things could return to how they used to…

“…So? Are you two seriously flirting with each other even when I’m sitting right between you?”

“W-We didn’t do anything like that!”

“…What the hell are you on about?”

Spoke Nii-sama, who had been sitting between us, resting his cheek on his hand and tapping the table with the other hand.

Somehow, he looked incredibly and extremely annoyed.

Could someone please come over so that I can be released from this torment…?

After a while, the door to the room finally opened, and we three let out three sighs of relief… but when I looked at the clock, not even ten minutes had passed.

“Sorry, keep you waiting, huh?”

“Captain Walter? What about the others?”

Aside from him, the only ones who came into the room were Ashley-sama and Leonhardt-sama.

“We asked them to stay out of this. Don’t worry about them, once you’ve told us what you found, we’ll decide whether it’s necessary to disclose this information.”

“I understand…”

Even though I still felt a sense of unease, I begin to talk about the things I couldn’t say yesterday, as I was prompted to. The memories I saw when I purified the “Wound” in that mine.

The “Wound” in that place was artificially created by a surviving Lightwing race, whose wings had turned jet black as if it were darkness taken shape.

When I told them about it, a heavy silence fell over the room.

“So it was a wise decision to gather only us. If the public know that the revered Lightwing race is creating ‘Wound’ and harming people, it’d certainly result in a mass panic.”

Leonhardt-sama broke the silence with a difficult face as if he were enduring a headache.

After all, despite having gone extinct, the Lightwing race was still looked up to as an object of worship. As a Lightwing myself, I felt that stronger than anyone else.

But as it turned out, a member of the Lightwing race had reappeared, as an enemy of humanity, rather than its savior. To the general populace, calling it a shock would be an understatement.

“Well, I can’t keep it a secret anymore, can I? The previous king, Aureolus, knew about this all along, but he gave us strict orders not to talk about it… for the same reason, of course.”

“…Eh?”

“My apologies for keeping it from you… but Aureolus and I had once fought the one you talked about.”

“You two… fought him?”

Sighing deeply, Captain Walter uncharacteristically scratched his head.

“Have you heard of the Death Serpent? He’s a demonic-looking guy who controls a horrific serpentine monster, that’s where he got his name from.”

“Yes… I know that name.”

As said in the game lore, Death Serpent was a calamity that ravaged the northern continent before being repelled by Walter-san with the sacrifice of many of his comrades.

Although his name was the only thing known, the scars he caused still ran deep, and the devastated land was still sealed off.

Back in the game, such sealed off places were known as Forbidden Zones, raid dungeons of the highest end whose difficulty was levels above others.

“I see. That explains why so little is known about such a major disaster.”

Leonhardt-sama said with a look of understanding.

“But… it’s hard to believe a Lightwing has been alive for hundreds of year, even if he’s a long-lived race.”

Lightwing has a longer life span than human, but it’s only 150 years on average and 200 years at most.

“Nevertheless, just as the two of you look unchanged from seven years ago, it’s possible that this Lightwing man has found a way to survive into this age… and it’s not difficult to imagine why he resents humanity.”

Leonhardt-sama gravely concluded.

The Lightwing race… they were remembered as the Goddess’ apostles, and should have been treated with the utmost respect. However, in reality, their history was largely one of slavery thanks to their innate healing ability being abused by others.

Especially during the final period of the previous magical civilization, as the number of individuals of the species decreased and their rarity increased, Lightwing blood became a kind of status symbol for the ruling powers of the time. In the end, after endless interspecies marriage, the number of pure-blooded Lightwing decreased past the point of no return, and the few remaining members were placed under surveillance before fading away from history.

If he was a survivor of that time period, he must have felt a great deal of resentment… I experienced a glimpse of it firsthand yesterday.

“Yes… It was an overwhelming feeling of resentment… But I also felt sorrow from him…”

My blood ran cold, and my body trembled when I remembered what happened yesterday. Could a person really store up this much hatred?

How dare you… HOW DARE YOU?! Curse you all… CURSE YOU ALL TO HELL!

The cries of anger I once heard in the dream echoed in my head.

If this Death Serpent was the same person as the man in my dream, then I’m certain that his hatred hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

And if it’s really him… then he must be my…

“If you ask me, I somewhat sympathize with his situation… but that doesn’t excuse what he’d done.”

Captain Walter’s words pulled me out of my thoughts.

When I quickly raised my face and looked at him, his expression was that of visible concern. He must have thought I was depressed because I fell silent in front of everyone.

“…Miss, I do feel bad for you that your only kin in this world is our enemy, but we aren’t going to sit still and wait for our doom because of some centuries-old grudge. Don’t hold it against us.”

“Please don’t apologize… I feel the same way.”

Although I’d only passed by two towns so far, I’d interacted with many people in this world. The women of the border village, the members of the mercenary company, and even the people of this town.

They were all simply trying to live their lives to the fullest, unrelated to the events of the past. I think it’s unjust that people living in the present have to die because of a tragedy they had nothing to do with.

“Truth be told… I don’t wish to fight him. But if we can’t talk it out and he leaves us no choice, then… I would… I would…”

I would fight.

As I was about to say that, a hand suddenly placed on my head and ruffled my hair.

“Don’t say stuff like that, it doesn’t suit you.”

It was Reiji-san, reaching out to me from the side.

My heart started to beat faster, even as my feelings began to calm down. I let out a small “Ah…”, but couldn’t say anything else.

“I’m sorry if this is too much to stomach for you, miss… You’re looking rather unwell.”

“R-Really?

Everyone immediately nodded in unison.

In a hurry, I wiped out my tears that had seeped into my eyes without me knowing and made myself presentable again.

“By the way, was the ‘Wound’ from before the only one that the Death Serpent had opened?”

“Yes, that seems to be the case. The other two I’d cleansed so far had a more complex, cracked shape, and they didn’t call out to me unlike this one.”

“I see… Unfortunately that doesn’t bring us any lead to find him, assuming he’s still at large…”

Everyone fell silent again at the Captain’s words.

“…Wait. Did you just say two?”

Reiji-san, who seemed to realize something, suddenly raised his voice.

Oh, no. I completely forgot to tell them because of all the things that happened right afterwards…!

“I’m sorry, I forgot! Right after I was first sent to this world, I found a small ‘Wound’ and purified it…!”

Because said “Wound” was much smaller than the other two, with only a phantom that I could handle on my own, I completely neglected to inform those two of it!

Doesn’t help that normally I would block out all memories of that time I was completely on my own, and neither Reiji-san nor Nii-sama wanted to probe into it.

“…Father.”

“Mm. If possible, I would like to accompany them both until they returned to the royal capital.”

Ashley-sama and Leonhardt-sama exchanged glance with faces even more stern than before. Could it be that I’d done something really wrong…?

“Your Highness Irisria.”

“Y-Yes?!”

My body jumped up and my back straightened like when I received a lecture that I’d been getting lately… I hated myself that I’d gotten used to being yelled at to the point it’d become a conditioned reflex…

However, the scolding I expected never came, and instead, Ashley-sama kneeled down on one knee and took a posture of apology.

“I hope you pardon my sudden departure. Now that our work here is done, the Shadow Regiment and I are to be relieved of your escort duties and return to our original mission.”

“Is that… the investigation of the western frontier?”

“Yes.”

Ashley-sama nodded at Nii-sama’s words.

To the west of Count Roland’s territory, beyond the village we first visited, there was a vast coniferous forest and a rugged mountain range.

According to the stories of the few adventurers who had returned, beyond the forest lies a frigid land dotted with settlements of a few indigenous races. Because of its harsh environment, the land remained largely untouched by civilization.

In short, it was a place that remained unknown to us.

“Is there anything we can do to help-”

“I appreciate your concern. However, you have your own goals to pursue, don’t you?”

“Your Highness Irisria, the Shadow Regiment under my father’s command are experts in this kind of activity. Only they are capable of doing this mission.”

“…Understood.”

Seeing the determination within Ashley-sama’s eyes, I decided to not pursue this matter further.

“Please… come back safe and sound. You’re… someone who was like a grandfather to me once.”

“You flatter me, Your Highness. But I’ll engrave your words within my heart.”

Ashley-sama suddenly gave me a smile, and I let go of his shoulders at last.

“…Almost forgot, your name’s Reiji, correct?”

“Me?”

Ashley-sama stood up and seemed to be about to leave the room, but suddenly stopped and turned to Reiji-san.

“Once I return… Would you like to become my disciple?”

“What? But I still have to…”

“You have potential, like a diamond in the rough. My swordsman’s intuition urges me to take you under my wings and train you with my own hands. And then… about the future of the adorable princess I consider own granddaughter…”

“Yes?”

“Lend me your ear for a moment, will you?”

Ashley-sama then whispered something into Reiji-san’s ear.

“…?! Wha… What the…”

“Not a bad idea, don’t you think?”

Ashley-sama had an uncharacteristically large grin on his face. Given Reiji-san’s flustered look, I wondered what he said.

“I get the idea, I think… I’ll consider it. Thanks for the offer, gramp.”

“Mm, I expect a good answer.”

After saying that, Ashley-sama left the room.

“Reiji-san! Um…”

“Hmm?”

Since Ashley-sama left, Reiji-san had been absentmindedly thinking about something with his hand on his chin, only looking over at me when I called him.

I still couldn’t look at him in the eyes at all… but…

“W-What did A-Ashley-sama say to you…?”

“Uh, about that…”

For a moment, his gaze wandered as if he was lost in thought, but soon Reiji-san looked away from me and stared into the distance.

“You’re… a genuine princess in this world, aren’t you? If we’re stuck in this world for life and I want to be by your side, then I need social status of my own… you know…”

“…Eh?”

I couldn’t hear the last part because his voice became so small toward the end, so I tried to ask him again…

“…N-Nevermind! Forget what you just heard! I’ve got stuff to do, see you!”

Reiji-san stormed out of the room in a hurry afterward.

In the end, things became incredibly awkward between us, and we were unable to hold a normal conversation with each other…

Two days passed in the blink of an eye as we prepared to leave this town, and the day of departure finally came.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“…Calmed down now?”

“Yes… I’m sorry, I… lost control of myself.”

I wiped my eyes, which must have turned completely red from crying.

Right now it’s just Reiji-san and I. The others, considerate enough to give me some space, had already gone on ahead.

“That’s good to hear… Just what happened back there? What did you see?”

“…”

Even though I thought I should tell him, I didn’t know what to say when I tried to, and the words just got stuck in my throat. My thoughts were all jumbled up, and I couldn’t think straight.

“I… I need some time to give it more thought. I’ll talk to everyone about it once I sort it all out.”

“Got it. Well, you’re in need of rest either way, the events of today must have taken a toll on you.”

“Thanks…”

Now that the “Wound” had disappeared, so did the headache that had been bothering me for a long time. There was no other sign of abnormality in the vicinity. My work here is done.

I should do as Reiji-san said and go to rest once I get back… I’m really tired. Both physically… and mentally.

When I returned to town, the former site of battle had been mostly cleaned up, and the townspeople who returned from their shelter were holding a feast. The town was filled with such enthusiasm and joy that it’s hard to believe that it got attacked this morning. Soon, it would resume its mining industry and life would go back to normal.

As for me… after exchanging greetings with everyone, I went straight to my lodging, as I didn’t want to get into trouble with any drunken troublemakers who might show up.

…I just want some rest already.

After cleaning myself with purification magic, I collapsed onto the bed.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep because I had too much to think about, but sleep came much easier than expected. Before I knew it, I had pulled the covers over myself, and my consciousness sank to the bottom of a deep sleep…

Later that night

I woke up suddenly, suspicious of the pitch-black surroundings. When I checked the clock, it was still before sunrise.

I could no longer hear the hustle and bustle of the afternoon. It seemed that the victory feast had ended, and silence had descended upon the town.

Even after a deep sleep, I still didn’t feel much better mentally.

I remembered Lenny-san saying that she would leave the bath water ready. Maybe a bath would help me calm myself.

Lenny-san was probably resting in the room next to mine… In the end, I quietly left my room so as not to wake everyone up, and headed for the bath alone.

The bathing facilities in the former mayor’s mansion we took over as our base were divided into two. The larger bath for the servants was now open to the knights and used as the men’s bath. The other bath, built by the original owner for his own use, was used as the women’s.

Despite being the smaller one, it was still enough for several people to stretch their legs out, and a bathtub that’s a bit large for one person was installed.

It’s something clearly intended for multiple people to use, and based on the structure of the changing room, I didn’t want to know one bit about what it implies…

I took off my nightgown and underwear, folded them and put them into a basket, then…

“…Eh? Is someone already here?”

Someone else was already in the bath, as there was another basket with folded clothes in it… Did they wake up too early like me?

“Please excuse me…?”

As soon as I entered the bath, there was a loud splash, as if something had jumped into the water. But when I looked around, there was no one there… no, I saw something floating in the water… blond hair?

“Um… What are you doing?”

Fearfully cowering in the bathtub with her eyes and ears closed… was Titilia-san.

While remembering how Lenny-san did it, I washed my hair by mimicking her movement, then gave my body a quick wash before sinking into the bathtub.

To prevent my long hair from getting wet in the bath, I lightly squeezed it and tied it up with a hair clip I brought with me in advance.

The water had gone a little lukewarm, but it felt just right for simply relaxing and spacing out.

As I felt the heat of the warm water permeate my body, Titilia-san next to me slightly shook in fear… I didn’t understand why she’s so nervous.

“Um… P-Princess, you seemed to be in a lot of pain back there… Are you alright?”

“I had a good night’s sleep, and I’m feeling much better now. Thank you for your concern.”

She looked like she wanted to find a topic of conversation, so I smiled to reassure her.

“But I had promised you to tell my story on the way home. I apologize for not being able to do that.”

“No, I mean… your health is the most important! I’m just glad you’ve recovered… y-you scared me to death when you started screaming, you know?”

“W-Was it really that bad?”

It was at this moment that our eyes met.

She immediately snapped out of it and looked away from me. She sat in a seiza position in the bath, her knees pressed together with her hands, and stared at her hands in a frozen state.

“…? What’s the matter?”

“I-I’m sorry for asking but… Princess, I’ve been thinking about this for a while… y-your manners are so elegant, aren’t they?”

“Eh? Is that so…?”

“Y-Yes, even your current gestures, the way you turn your head, the little movements of your fingers, the way you tilt your head… Although you do it so calmly, I feel like you’re aware of every little detail… I don’t think I could never imitate that… Are you really someone from my old world? Or you’re actually a princess of this world from the beginning?”

“T-Thank you for your compliment…?”

I was a little embarrassed by the overly flattering words she said in a rush.

My girly mannerisms… I’d say the biggest contributing factor was seven continuous years of Ayame’s guidance. But that’s not all there is to it.

Seven years might seem like a long time, but I was already past my childhood when I started, so my learning ability was no longer the greatest.

If I didn’t have any existing foundation beforehand, no matter how much I practiced it, it’d ultimately be superficial, and flaws would soon show through.

So it’d be more correct to call my current mannerisms the result of all the things that had accumulated since my birth. Things like the environment in which I grew up, what I saw, and how I was disciplined.

But rather than simply a “girl”, Titilia-san was expecting me to behave like a “Princess”, so I needed to find a way to explain to her…

“My manners, they come from my mother’s influence actually.”

According to a story I heard from my grandfather a long time ago, the paternal side of my family traced its roots back to the ancient nobility, and my father definitely gave off such an aura… But my mother, as I remembered her, had even more refined manners than him.

As kind as she was, my mother had a strict side when it came to manners and behavior. Especially when I… when “Kuga Yanagi” had hair color and facial features that were not typical of Japanese people, I was often stared at with strange eyes. In order to give me the confidence to deflect such gazes, I was trained quite strictly from a young age.

Thanks to having my mother as a role model that I grew up watching and learning from, my foundation was able to build up over time… Ayame was able to easily handle the strict etiquette lessons from our grandparents, and I was able to master my current manners in just seven years, thanks to the advantage of the environment in which I was born and raised, which was given to me by my parents.

“Woah… Your mother, is she a princess?”

“I don’t think she’s Japanese, based on her hair color and facial features,  but she didn’t tell me anything more than that she came from far away… And now I can never see or talk to her again.”

“I’m sorry for your loss…”

“She died more than ten years ago, and I had more than enough time to come to terms with my feelings, so I’m not that bothered about it anymore.”

Even if the trauma from that incident still remained, it’s true that I’d moved on from the loss of my parents.

“By the way… why are you taking a bath at this hour? I can’t really say anything about other people, but…”

In addition, I noticed that her gaze had been wandering about since a while ago, so I couldn’t help but be curious.

I didn’t want to stress her with my question, but as soon as I asked, she lowered her head with a pale expression and fell silent.

“That’s… I…”

“Well, if you don’t want to say it, I won’t force you…”

“… I’ll say it. I’d be dishonest to you if I don’t. It’s just…”

She raised her face with an expression that looked like she had made a solemn decision.

“Even if you look at me with contempt, or even want to punish me, I’ll gladly accept it. But please, don’t tell Leonhardt-sama…!”

She tightly closed her eyes and bowed her head, trembling.

“I-I understand. I won’t tell anyone a thing, I promise.”

“Thank you… Actually, I’m…”

Titilia-san hesitated. I was starting to feel tense myself. However, she took a few deep breaths as if to shake off her hesitation, and she opened her mouth with determination.

“I’m actually a guy inside! I was a male player with a female avatar! I’m sorry for deceiving you!”

“……Ah.”

I was at a loss at what to say to this coming out.

“It feels wrong to take a women’s bath, and I’m too scared to take the men’s side… So I was planning to take a bath when there were no one else, but I didn’t expect you to come… I’m so sorry!”

Titilia-san bowed her head so vigorously, as if it was a slam, that the hot water violently splashed everywhere.

“I… I didn’t know you need some time alone. I should be sorry for intruding in your relaxation time.”

It seemed that I was giving her a hard time, so I had to apologize.

“……Eh? Is that it? You aren’t angry or disgusted at me or anything?”

“I was definitely surprised, but… it didn’t seem like you felt any shame being in the bath with me.”

“I do feel guilty about it… At first, I couldn’t even look at my own body, but now I don’t get that excited by girls anymore… On the contrary, when I caught sight of Milord’s muscles when I saw him exercising, my heart couldn’t stop beating…”

I see… It’d been over a month since she changed into her new body.

According to Nii-sama, emotions are affected by the substances that are exchanged in the brain and body. Since our body structure had changed drastically, so did the hormone balance. It is impossible for there to be no influence on our mental state.

For example, Nii-sama had become much more rough and rowdy than when he was Ayame in the old world… He didn’t seem to care about the little details anymore, and I referred to him as “Nii-sama” without any problem.

In other words, for us who have undergone a major change in gender, the longer it goes on, the more everything, literally from within our bodies to our minds, is changing… Titilia-san and I were going to become “girls” in every sense of the word.

“Then I wouldn’t mind sharing a bath with you. Please don’t worry, I know you meant no harm, so I won’t tell anyone.”

“…Are you forgiving me?”

“You were here this late because you felt guilty and wanted to be considerate of everyone, weren’t you? I think I can trust you… because I understand your feelings a little.”

I whispered the last part in a voice so quiet that it’s barely audible.

Yes, I understand that all too well. Even though I’ve gotten somewhat used to bathing with women, I still feel guilty. Milly-san and Philias-san’s fondness of skinship certainly didn’t help with that.

“You know… when you talked to me about the Count, you seemed like a genuine maiden… I could only think of you as a girl.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Not to mention you were so cute when you said, ‘my feelings for Leonhardt-sama are genuine’, that I can’t help but cheer for you.”

“Um…”

“And just now, the first thing you were worried about was that he would find out, wasn’t it? If that wasn’t genuine, I don’t know anything else… so do your best, okay? I’m rooting for you both!”

“…Princess, I didn’t expect you to be such a bully.”

Titilia-san pouted and made bubbles with her mouth, then submerged half of her flushed face in the water… I’m sorry if I teased you too much.

“By the way, did you create the avatar that was the basis for your body? It seems to be very well-made, but I hadn’t seen it in any avatar contest before.”

Avatars produced and sold by well-known companies were of high quality, but each company had their own unique pattern for making those.

As a champion, and eventually a judge after being banned from the contest, I had a general idea of them.

However, I don’t think she fits any of those patterns. So, I thought her avatar might be homemade like mine and Nii-sama’s…

“Yes, I made it myself. Originally, it was a request from my sister…”

I would like to play as a beautiful girl that’s completely different from my usual self in this long-awaited VR game… That was her sister’s request.

“Why did you end up using that avatar?”

“Well… Just after she ordered the VR hardware, her company sent her on a business trip. I still remembered her leaving in tears… Eventually, during the trip, she snapped and resigned from that company, made a husband over there and never came back.”

“That’s… rough.”

Her sister was truly something else…

“I was left alone with a brand new VR hardware, which my sister told me to use however I want. So I might as well use it, I thought…”

“That’s because ‘Worldgate Online’ never got an overseas release…”

There were quite a few requests for the service to be launched in other countries, actually. However, the main obstacle was the hardware required to launch the game, whose supply was significantly lower than the demand… so that idea went nowhere.

“I decided to use my sister’s hardware and avatar to play WGO. I had no problem with it because I was a streamer in real life and pretty familiar with using an avatar of a different gender. When I later found out that WGO only allowed avatar of the same gender as the person registered on the hardware, at the time, I thought it would be fun to play as a girl in this game too.”

She then told me her name as a streamer… which I immediately recognized. He had been around for a while, and frequently updated his avatar, all of which were highly perfected.

I see, the streaming community had been very tolerant of using avatars of different genders since its early days.

“I have lots of experience tinkering with 3D models… that’s why my sister requested me to make this ‘Titilia’. I worked on it for several months and was pretty proud of the end product. It would be a shame to let it go to waste because my sister couldn’t use it, don’t you think?”

She smiled wryly.

Of course it would! I’m totally with you, Titilia-san!

I clenched my fists tightly and nodded vigorously in agreement.

“Oh, you understand, right? I mean, of course you would, Princess… So, I was going to apply to the contest at first, but got scared and gave up. I didn’t think the people there would take it well if they found out that I was a guy.”

“Yeah…”

However, in the games we played in the old days before VR came out, understanding had progressed in our time, and unless it was something like cheating to gain profit, it was not really a concern for most people… but that wasn’t the case in WGO, where playing as a different gender would cause an uproar if it was found out.

That’s why when it was still a game, I tried my best to act polite and not to attract hate, but before I knew it, I was completely mistaken for a female player.

Honestly, I wished I could have said publicly that I’m male inside, but I couldn’t.

I didn’t mean for it to happen this way, Titilia-san said, sighing helplessly.

In my case… or rather “Yanagi’s”, Ayame was the one who initiated the account swap in the first place, so even if something were to happen, we could simply swap back, so we didn’t really see it as a problem… But in Titilia-san’s case, her sister had gone abroad, so it wasn’t going to be possible.

“… And that’s it. I’m really grateful that you not only forgive me, but also acknowledge me as the same sex. Thank you so much, Princess.”

“I’m glad I could help.”

I said that, but something rubbed me the wrong way.

Could I truly say that I empathized with her situation?

Unlike her, my mind felt as if it had been female from the start, I couldn’t even think of the time in the game as “crossplaying” anymore.

That’s why… I couldn’t truly… share her suffer……ing?

“…Ah… Huh?”

“What’s the matter, Princess?”

“I-It’s nothing.”

What… did I think just now?

“………………?!”

I hurriedly dove into the bathtub.

I’d been perfectly calm the entire time, despite sharing a bath with Titilia-san, who wasn’t wearing a single thread of clothing… and although I was excited to see something beautiful, I was strangely nonchalant about it. Because we were the same sex.

I used to be hesitant to go into the women’s bath with Lenny-san and Philias-san, but I quickly got used to it… because we were the same sex.

What if, yeah, just a what-if, Reiji-san was in the bath with me instead?

I simulated that scenario in my head…

No, that’s not happening! There’s no way I can bath together with a man… the opposite sex as me!!

I was completely fine until a while ago… No, since when did I become “fine” in this situation?

I realized. I had been trying not to think about it until now, but now I realize it clearly… I had fully identified myself as a girl. Now that I’d realized it, I couldn’t remember much of what it felt to be a man.

Yeah, I’m a girl.

And if I hadn’t realized it, I could have ignored it and looked away. Much as Titilia-san quickly fell in love with Leonhardt-sama, if the current me were to fall in love with someone, it’d probably be a man like R…

“…HJGJKILIHSJJSHFJHKLJFS?!”

“Why are you freaking out all of a sudden?! Princess?! PRINCESS?!”

When I came to, Titilia-san had already taken me out of the bath and helped me put on some clothes.

“…Calmed down?”

“I lost control of myself again… Sorry for scaring you…”

Nothing happened in the bath. Absolutely nothing, yes.

Let’s bury the thoughts that I had just now deep in my heart and lock them away. And just like that, I was back to my normal self…

“So you’re here, Iris. Lenny-san couldn’t find you anywhere, so she got pretty worried-”

“HYAAAAAH?!”

My entire body jumped in horror at the familiar voice that came from behind… so much for “calming down”.

It’s just Reiji-san. But for some reason, I instinctively used Titilia-san as a shield and hid behind her back.

I was embarrassed when he saw my flushed red face and body.

I was embarrassed to be seen wearing just underwear and a thin nightgown.

I was embarrassed to show my bare skin.

My heart was beating like crazy… I’m going to lose my mind if this goes on any longer…!

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

As the evacuated townspeople began to return home, we left the town and headed for the mine that was the source of this incident.

Reiji-san and Saul-niisama were with me like always, but Milly-san, whose thunderous firepower greatly contributed to our victory, had to rest ahead of time due to fatigue and mild magical exhaustion.

The knights and mercenaries were busy with the post-battle cleanup, so only Zeltis-san and Philias-san accompanied us.

Leonhardt-sama, who according to him, “has a duty to see what’s happening in his territory”, Ashley-sama, whose reason was largely the same, and Aini-san, at her own request, all wished to join us. And lastly…

“…Um, I said we’d talk later, but what should we talk about…?”

“I know right, ahaha…”

Titilia-san wandered her gaze around nervously, glancing at my face briefly before immediately looking down.

She said she’d follow her lord everywhere, but since she couldn’t ride a horse, she had to share the wagon with me… The wagon, brought from the town, was very comfortable since it was designed for the mayor’s use. However, the air between its occupants (read: us) was incredibly awkward at the moment.

By the way, Rejii-san, Saul-niisama and Zeltis-san borrowed horses and joined up with the Count and Ashley-sama.

Aini-san, who could drive a wagon, took the reins of the wagon I was sitting on, with Philias-san as support.

Since there were only the two of us inside the wagon, I thought it’s a good opportunity to know her better, but…

“I’m sorry, I’ve never been alone with a girl in such a small space, so I’m quite nervous.”

“We’re both girls, right? You don’t have to worry that much…”

Titilia-san was shrinking away in her corner while blushing heavily, so I don’t think she’s in the mood to talk.

“Y-Yeah… we’re both girls… we’re both girls…”

For some reason, Titilia-san shrank and blushed even more when I said that. Strange…

I racked my brain as I tried to find another topic of conversation.

“Titilia-san, you were a player sent here from Japan as well, right?”

“…Y-Yes! My character was in the Enchanter grouping!”

She jumped at the chance to answer the question I finally managed to ask.

But her answer… I had expected it, but I was still a little taken aback. Why, you ask?

“Enchanter… There’s someone actually unlocking the tertiary reincarnation class in that grouping?”

Unlike my Priest grouping, Enchanter, who focus on offensive support, still had some demand in parties because they affect the clearing speed. But they, too, couldn’t escape the cruel fate of all support players.

At the very end, their bulletin board was in despair because no one had managed to break through.

That meant she reached the level cap and reincarnated during the time I was holed up underground leveling all by myself.

Of course, since that was the cause of me getting involved in this mess, it’s not something to be happy about.

“I mean, I didn’t think a pure healer build would be able to reincarnate either…”

“…But here I am, probably still stuck at level 1 after being reincarnated.”

“In hindsight, was all that worth the trouble?”

sighs

We sighed deeply, empathizing with each other over our common suffering.

……

………..

……………

The conversation died again! Find another topic, quick!

“…A-Anyway! How did you come to know Leonhardt-sama? You seem really close to him…”

“Is that a weird thing…?”

“No, I don’t think there’s anything weird about it. Leonhardt-sama is a kind person.”

“You think so, too? His face is a bit scary… but he’s a really nice gentleman once you get to know him.”

She was fidgeting with a large blush on her face as she said that… Oh my, could she be…

“It’s a bit of a long story… Do you want to hear it?”

“Yes, totally!… Ah.”

I blurted out without thinking, and immediately regretted it.

“Nonono, I’m not trying to force you to talk or anything! I’m fine if you don’t want to share it!”

I felt like I was being nosy about someone else’s love story, so I hastily tried to explain myself…

“Pfft, Princess, you’re so cute when you’re flustered!”

“Sorry…”

Now I’d become the laughing stock. I want to hide in a hole.

“…Phew, that was a good laugh. I’m feeling a little more relaxed now, so I’ll tell you… but it’s not a very pleasant story, you know?”

With that, she began to slowly tell the story of her arrival in this world…

According to Titilia-san, when she was transported to this world, she found herself near a small village inside Count Roland’s territory. On that note, my starting location was close to that region, but on the opposite end of the border.

“I woke up in the forest after being swallowed up in that weird magic circle. The forest was much wider than it was in the game, so it was hard for me to leave… And on top of that, I was in this body, and at first I was really at a loss…”

After wandering the forest for a while, she heard a small cry.

“So, I happened to pass by a child who was being attacked by a weak monster while playing in the forest from the village. I couldn’t just leave him, so I desperately chased away the monster and saved the child. The child’s parents were very grateful, and after I told them my story, they let me stay with them for a while. Maybe for about half a month?”

The village was a small, farming and hunting community. Because Titilia-san, an Enchanter, was skilled in strengthening weapons and physical abilities, and had magic that could affect the field and improve crop yields (which made Enchanter a popular job for some production players), was very useful to the village and quickly became friends with everyone.

“I was so happy. Everyone was smiling and saying that they had a lot of food to harvest and that their crops were growing well thanks to me… In real life, I was a bit of a shut-in because of my circumstances, so it was like a breath of fresh air.”

…And so, she overdid herself.

As she muttered, her eyes still held a lingering fear that had not yet healed.

“I guess I gained a bit of fame because of that… Eventually, the village was raided by a large group of bandits who had run out of food and had come from another territory… They thought the village would be a good source of money.”

She put up a bit of a fight thanks to her enhancement magic. However, she was outnumbered and had no fighting ability of her own. The bandits and the peaceful villagers were completely different in fighting strength.

While she was able to inflict some damage on the enemy, she herself was unable to repel the bandits and slowly, she became cornered.

“Everyone was able to escape to a barricaded shelter… but the bandits who attacked us said to the villagers that they would burn down the village if they didn’t hand me over. The villagers, determined to fight, would not accept such a demand, but… there were a lot of children in the shelter. I didn’t want them to get hurt…”

And so, for the sake of the villagers, she surrendered to the bandits, begging them not to do anything to the village in exchange for following them and cooperating.

“I thought I’d considered all the pros and cons. They only wanted my ability, so I thought that if I surrendered obediently and acted cooperatively on the surface, I wouldn’t suffer too much…”

Her face was turning pale as she hugged her body. I really didn’t like where this is going.

“Then I immediately regretted that I had underestimated the fact that I am now in this body and with this face.”

Her avatar must have been made with great care. The current Titilia-san was a girl whose beauty would give Nii-sama and I a run for our money.

If a girl like her fell into the hands of bandits, there’s no need to guess as to what happened next.

“…Um, you don’t have to tell me the rest if you don’t feel comfortable to. I think I can make out the last part.”

“I-It’s fine, that was a really close call, but I’m totally okay now…”

“That’s good to hear, but…”

“I mean, I guess I wanted someone to listen. But are you really okay with this, Princess? I thought a girl like you would be disgusted by such a story…”

“I understand your feeling. If you feel better by talking, please let it all out. I promise I’ll be with you until the end.”

I think Milly-san once told me something similar before.

“Thank you… Anyway, what came after was probably just as you imagined. They brought me to their hideout, stripped me naked and planned to do ‘bandit’ stuff to me… but Milord came to the rescue before it could happen.”

And as it turned out, the bandits had no intention of keeping their promise in the first place. Soon after she was taken away, they set fire to the village. However, the flames caught the attention of the Count, who happened to be on an inspection tour in that area and rushed to the scene.

There, the villagers desperately begged him to rescue Titilia-san, and he, together with several subordinates, tracked down the bandits’ hideout.

“When I came to, I was already being carried in his arms, wrapped in his cloak… When I got outside the hideout and felt safe, I suddenly felt scared again, and I couldn’t help but cling to him and cry for a long time. But he kept stroking my head until I calmed down… Now that I think about it, he’s always been such an amazing person…”

She clasped her hands and closed her eyes as she recalled the scene from that time, looking just like a maiden in love.

In the end, the bandits were either dead or captured, and the villagers were able to return and rebuild their homes. But Titilia-san couldn’t stay with them anymore for fear of a similar incident in the future. She said goodbye to the villagers, who were delighted to be reunited with her safely, even though they were reluctant to let her go. She was taken in by the Count and began to receive protection.

“But I don’t want to just sit idly and do nothing! So I decided to ask Milord to let me help with his work… That’s how I end up here, end of story!”

I didn’t think this kind of story would be so embarrassing, said Titilia-san, who was blushing and rubbing her cheeks.

To summarize, the Count to her was like Reiji-san and Saul-niisama to me.

Just like me, she was sent here all alone and powerless and suffered greatly from it… It’s no wonder that she was attracted to her savior.

“Titilia-san… You really like Leonhardt-sama, don’t you?”

“…Yes, I super, super like him. I want to be of use, and I’m really happy when he praises me. Maybe it’s just because he saved me from a grave situation… and I don’t know if I’m worthy… but I’m sure my feelings for Leonhardt-sama are genuine.”

Titilia-san looked so dazzling as she let out her honest feelings. I felt a little envious of her, actually.

“Now that I’ve told you my story, I’m looking forward to yours… Um, maybe some other time, Princess.”

“…Yes, whenever you’re up for it.”

Apparently, the story had gone on for quite a long time, and we had just arrived at our destination, since the wagon had stopped moving.

“Here. The place. You’re looking for.”

Gantz-san guided us to a resting area once used by miners when the mine was still active.

On the outside, it’s just a closed, ordinary door. However, the intense otherworldly presence within was all too apparent, indicated by my growing headache from just approaching it.

“…Is that the one?”

“It is, without a doubt. I’m going to open the door.”

“Her Highness Irisria, let me do it for you…”

As I reached for the doorknob, the Count offered to do it for me. However, I stopped him.

“I appreciate the thought, but only I have resistance to this kind of stuff… I’ll let everyone know if anything happens, so let me do it.”

With trepidation, I touched the doorknob with my fingertips… it didn’t seem to have any effect.

I gently grasped it and turned the doorknob open.

“Wow…”

“This is rather… bizarre to look at.”

Zeltis-san and Philias-san behind me murmured in amazement.

The room inside was covered in crystals, creating a fantastical space resembling a kaleidoscope.

“So this is the ‘Wound of the World’ everyone talks about…”

“It looks beautiful, but stay alert. This is a demonic space that will cause mental and physical disorders if you stay too long.”

“I’ve been feeling sick since I entered here. If these crystals have the same nature as those on the monsters we fought, it’s best to assume they’re cursed.”

The Count and Saul-niisama warned Aini-san, who was captivated by the sight.

“Princess, are you alright? Should I cast anti-magic beforehand?”

“Titilia-san, I said I have resistance to this space, didn’t I? I’m going to be alright, so rest assured.”

It might be a characteristic of my race, but aside from the headache, I didn’t feel any adverse reaction like everyone else described.

“I see… Just let me know if anything happens, okay?”

“Hehe, I definitely will.”

Saying that, I smiled reassuringly at her, who was still worried but reluctantly backed down.

“Since when are you guys such close friends?”

“You think so, Reiji-san? We did get to know each other better when we were together on the wagon.”

“Oh… Well, it’s certainly nice that you made more friends here.”

…Friends?

I guess being friends is a nice way to put it. Come to think of it, the only person I considered a friend from the bottom of my heart was Reiji-san… It’s strange, isn’t it…?

…Let’s stop this train of thought. I can’t afford to get distracted when I have such an important work to do now.

“…I’m going to start, then.”

Taking a deep breath, I gently reached out to the center of this space, and a rift visualized itself.

“Huh…?”

“What’s wrong, Iris?”

“The shape of this ‘Wound’, it’s…”

The “Wound” I purified before was shaped like a crack in the glass, but this one was shaped like…

“It’s like a stab wound someone made with a sharp object, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Could it be a coincidence?”

…Or was it someone’s doing? I wouldn’t want to think about it, but there were things pointing toward it that I couldn’t deny.

“…There’s no point in thinking about it, I’ll just finish it quickly.”

After telling everyone that, I stepped into the crystal-infested room. This was my third time, and I was already getting used to it.

I gently wrapped my wings around the Wound.

The next moment, my body reeled back from the sheer negative emotions that flowed in.

“Augh…. Aaaaah…!”

A scream of agony escaped my mouth, as the intense emotions kept flowing in.

Anger.

Resentment.

Mixed with a bit of… sorrow.

“Iris?!”

“I’m… alright! Just… hold on… a little longer…!”

This “Wound” didn’t seek comfort. It didn’t wish for salvation.

It hated the world, despised it. It’s a violent will that sought only to destroy the world.

Therefore, I must take it upon myself to absorb and suppress it. I could not let something like this run wild.

The will of resentment that continued to resist in my arms gradually, gradually shrank… and eventually, it disappeared.

“Hrah! Hah… hah…”

My vision blurred from intense fatigue. But more than that…        

I’d always had a feeling that this would be the case.

In hindsight, I should have been prepared for it.

But when I came face to face with it like this… the shock caused my knees to buckle, and I collapsed.

“Why… Why does it have to be you?! WHY?!”

At the same time, I started to understand why I felt like the “Wound” was calling me.

The person who caused this “Wound”…

The person who transformed that troll into a monster, the mastermind behind this incident…

The person I faintly remembered in that dream, who always treated “her” with kindness despite putting up a cynical front…

Perhaps, as of right now, he was my only remaining kin in this world… a Lightwing.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

Before my eyes, countless white flowers in full bloom all scattered their petals and started fading away into the wind.

The effect of “Garden of Ailene” was going to expire, and soon the flower field would revert back to the original wasteland.

At the same time, the warm feeling that embraced my entire being had also left, and my wings returned to their original golden color.

The sound of combat could no longer be heard.

And… I took great care to purify all the crystals from the enemy troll’s body after his defeat. There was no sign that he would ever move again.

Now, the entire battlefield was enveloped in a strange silence.

Did we actually… win?

As soon as my mind started to comprehend that fact, the tension that had been building up until then was released all at once, and my legs gave out.

“Whoops, don’t go collapsing on me so suddenly… did the fatigue finally get to you?”

“I think so, ahahaha…”

Actually I was feeling numb below my waist again, but it’s embarrassing to say that out loud.

“Did we… do it?”

“Yeah, we sure did.”

The soldiers around me must have finally realized that the enemy was no more, as voices began to rise.

“What about our casualties…?”

“Uh, Saul is checking on that at the moment…”

“I’m back. I haven’t got to everyone yet, but it’s very likely that the death toll on our side is… zero.”

Said Nii-sama, who had just returned after apparently flying down there to confirm the situation.

Zero. Casualty. Everyone survived this battle.

I let out a long, long sigh of relief.

“…Thank goodness… I was really worried about that…”

I leaned my back on Reiji-san to get some much-needed rest.

A while later, someone else suddenly ran up the stairs.

“Is everyone alright…?!”

If I recalled correctly, she was sharing a ride with the Count earlier… Titilia, I believed her name was.

She’s a bit taller than me, I think. She is a cute girl with a very well-proportioned face and bright blonde hair that reaches her shoulders.

She wore a crimson robe resembling a blazer from my old world’s school uniform, and a white skirt. On top of it all was a symmetrical cloak with the right side covering the front… That outfit belonged to the secondary class “Sage” of the Enchanter grouping, I think.

“Um, you’re…?”

I tried to call out to her, but by then she was already gone.

“Milord, over here! They’re all safe!”

A man came up the stair where she called out to.

He had sharp, almond-shaped eyes and a perpetual frown on his face, with rarely any other emotion.

Combined with his full-black armor, it’s not inappropriate to call him a true black knight.

But he was considered one of the most handsome NPCs back in the game, with a nice personality to boot… I giggled while thinking about it.

Never let him know that.

“Pardon my late introduction. Your humble servant, Leonhardt Rolandia, has arrived along with my troops to provide assistance… It’s my biggest relief that I can see both of you safe and sound again, Your Highnesses.”

Even as he gave me a sharp salute, I saw his expression softening ever so slightly. Could he be smiling?

“Um… We’re…”

“If it is about the memory loss issue, I have heard reports. I also understand that there are still things we need to investigate. But let’s discuss them later… This is neither the time nor place to do such a thing.”

He then knelt before me, who was sitting down, and Nii-sama, who was supporting me with Reiji-san.

“Once again… your safety is of utmost importance to me. Allow me to protect it for as long as I live.”

“Leonhardt-sama… Thank you very much.”

“Well then, there’s something I need you to do, Your Highness Irisria.”

“Me?”

Leonhardt-sama promptly turned away and walked briskly to the edge of the wall, where he glanced at all the soldiers below.

“It was thanks to your presence that everyone was able to muster up their courage and fight, survive and achieve total triumph… The honor of giving the victory speech should be yours.”

“…Eeeeeh?!”

That completely came out of left field.

His face was still stern as ever when he turned to face me, though he seemed to be holding back a smile.

“I’m sure they’re just as worried about you as I am. It would do well if you at least let them know you’re doing well up here.”

“C-Can you give me a moment? I need to prepare myself…”

As the Count urged me on, I turned to those two for support…

“Just do it.”

“Don’t worry, we’re with you.”

Reiji-san and Nii-sama each took my hand and quickly got me up. With their help, I made my way to the wall’s edge.

“Ah…”

Countless gazes were focused on me.

Even though they all looked exhausted, most of them seemed to have a proud, “We did it!” expression on their face.

I must not bring down everyone’s mood… yes, I should be happy, because everyone survived this battle!

“Uh, did you remember me? Since we all returned alive as promised… could you let my earlier disrespect slide?”

One of the knights spoke.

If I recalled correctly, he’s Weber-san. In fact, he was one of the first that I recognized because he was the same person who got smacked during my first encounter with the knights for speaking to me too casually… To be honest, I hardly considered that a disrespect, but he really took it to heart, didn’t he?

He looked battered in many places from the fierce battle, but when he saw me, he still gave a weak salute and winked.

“Yes… Everyone did a wonderful job today…!”

I took a deep breath to calm my throat, which was about to tremble with emotion.

“We’ve valiantly defended this town… without a single life lost! I… I couldn’t thank all of you enough for this victory!”

“Ooooooooooh!!”

Even though they should have been exhausted to the limit, everyone raised their weapons and shouted a battle cry that shook the air.

I couldn’t say anything more.

So, even though tears of joy were streaming down my cheeks, I tried to put on a smile.

And that was when I hit my own limit. I threw myself into Nii-sama’s chest, and I was quickly wrapped in his cloak, feeling my gaze blocked.

“…This time, you really saved everyone…”

Nii-sama spoke quietly so that only the two of us could hear it.

I just nodded my head wordlessly at his words.

“Like she said, all of you did an exceptional job today. Me and my men will take care of the cleanup work, so I want you to rest up and recover…”

Leonhardt-sama took over and began giving instructions.

Right, there’s still something I need to “clean up”.

I gently let go of Nii-sama, wiped my tears and stood up.

“Feeling better?”

“Yes. We should get going, too. Our job here isn’t done until the Wound within the mine is purified.”

Walter

Good grief, they really went and did it.

The abomination that I could do nothing but desperately hold back his advance was brought down by just the young lady and the other youngsters.

Not to mention every single one of us survived. I’d never heard of such a thing in a battle of this scale.

But just because things went well this time… doesn’t mean next time we’d be so lucky.

That young lady was too kind for this gritty battlefield. I was starting to get really concerned about her.

Because she could heal any injury in an instant, she reacted extremely badly to the death of others that she couldn’t save.

As I thought about such things, I walked a little away from the high-spirited scene of soldiers celebrating, and found the person I was looking for.

“Oh, it’s you. You know, for as long as I’ve lived, this is the first time I’ve seen such a scene.”

The person in question, my mentor, was gazing at the illusionary sight of pale, glowing petals floating up and dissolving into the air.

“…Master.”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me Master?”

“You’ll always be my Master… but in any case, why did you hold back in the battle?”

To be more accurate, it wasn’t that he was holding back, but rather that he was staying out of the way and focusing on providing support from the rear and being the last line of defense. Moreover, this time, he only used the knight’s standard sword, and he did not draw his own main weapon, the magic sword that he wore at his waist.

Even so, he perfectly fulfilled his own duties and also took care of others. He did not hold back in a way that would put others’ lives in danger.

“If you had drawn your magic sword and gone to the front lines, wouldn’t this battle have been a little easier?”

There was no answer.

My mentor kept on staring at the scene in front of him for a while longer before finally opening his mouth.

“I don’t expect such wishful thinking coming from you. There’re limits to what one person can do.”

“I know that, but…”

There’s a possibility stuck in my head, but I didn’t want to think about it… that even a superhuman like him could fight the way he used to.

“…Fool. Your thoughts are written all over your face. But your guess isn’t wrong… These old bones aren’t what they once were.”

“I… understand.”

I simply couldn’t accept that even the person who taught me all of his techniques would start to show signs of decline.

For this reason, I had to get to the bottom of what my mentor’s up to.

“So why the Shadow Regiment? Even in this peaceful time, isn’t it the unit with the highest rate of casualties?”

Why, did someone like my mentor, who once stood at the top of this country’s military, join what’s essentially the black ops squadron? In addition, according to what I heard, it was per his own request.

“…I want to serve this country while this body still moves. Especially when there’s an air of unrest in the horizon. For the past month, sightings of the ‘Drifters’ have been reported throughout the world.”

“…Drifters?”

“It’s a provisional name. They’re extremely powerful individuals appearing out of nowhere, but they don’t have the mindset for combat at all… or should I say they’ve never seen combat once in their life? In addition, most of them have unknown identities and pasts.”

“I think I have an idea of who you’re talking about.”

The first person that came to mind was Reiji… and even though their identities were known, His Highness Saul and Her Highness Iris also fit the description.

When I first met them, they struggled to even fight goblins despite their power because of some mental hesitation.

A whole lot of them appearing? That’s certainly abnormal.

“Mm. Leaving the matter of the Drifters aside for now… I heard that a similar ‘Wound’ occurred in a settlement to the west of here not long ago, according to some rumors.”

“I also heard about it.”

So in less than a month, two Wounds had occurred in this small area.

Considering that the frequency of the Wounds occurring had been at a stable one or two every few years across all four continents combined, it’s too early to be a coincidence.

In the past, there was only one time this happened, and I could never forget it… This, too, must have been “his” doing.

“The fact that you are asking me such a question means that you have something on your mind about this battle, right?”

I shuddered.

I remembered that troll that the youngsters defeated. That was quite a challenge. It had been a long time since I had a battle that made my back tingle like that.

But more than anything…

“Yes, this situation smells too fishy… and too nostalgic. Only that loathsome bastard would give off such a disgusting smell.”

I couldn’t put into words exactly what it was, but… something else, something beyond logic, like intuition or instinct, was telling me. That the accursed Serpent was behind this.

“…The Death Serpent, huh. To you, he was the one who took away your comrades, wasn’t he?”

“That’s right. If we meet again, this time I’ll surely…”

I clenched my fists so tightly that they bled. Yes, until I avenged them all…

“Cap~ tain!”

“?!”

I jumped back in surprise at the voice that suddenly came behind me.

There, a small figure looked up at me with eyes slightly wet with tears.

…It’s just Philias.

“Captain, did you send my idiot brother away to support the other flank? I had a reaaaaally hard time because of that, you know!”

“Oh, sorry about that…”

Now that I think about it, I could have focused on command while leaving the fighting to Zeltis when those two were still together. But I sent him away, so no wonder Philias felt overwhelmed. That was a mistake.

“I asked too much of you because I thought you could handle it. I’ll keep that in mind next time.”

As I stroked her head, which was at a convenient height, the eyes that had been glaring at me with a fierce expression opened wide in surprise.

“…Eh? Did you really think that?”

What? I don’t really follow…

“I meant it, no? If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have made you my vice-captain. At the very least, I don’t think there’s anyone better than you who can be entrusted with my subordinates.”

She wasn’t as good as Zeltis in terms of fighting sense or ability, but if anything, Zeltis was more of a charge-in without thinking type like me.

If I needed someone to stay back and strategize, she would be a better choice.

“I seeeee… It can’t be helped, then…”

“What are you being so smug for? Start packing up already. The young lady and the others will probably travel to the mines after a short rest, so I’ll leave them to you and Zeltis.”

“Affirmative, sir! Sorry for intruding, Grandpa, talk to you later!”

“We shall.”

Philias cheerfully saluted my mentor, then turned on her heel and ran off to where the young lady was.

I thought she was in a bad mood, but she perked up all of a sudden… I didn’t get it at all. Guess I, too, had gotten old.

For some reason, my subordinates were looking at me with a smirk.

“She’s totally into you, Captain.”

“You’re still single, right, Captain? Settling down with a young wife isn’t a bad idea at all.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Captain’s old enough to be her father.”

There’s no way we’d be a match.

Objectively speaking, she’s a good-looking and talented young woman, and I would certainly miss her if she retires from the company, but if she’s going to be with someone, she should marry someone who’s not involved in this bloody business and live a peaceful life.

“…Oh dear, your men are severely lacking in the good old-fashioned discipline. I think you’ve been careless in training them.”

My mentor shrugged his shoulders at the commotion and sighed.

…What the hell’s going on?

“Stop talking nonsense and begin the cleanup work, effective immediately! Rest time’s over!”

“What, right now?!”

“No, we won’t stand for this tyranny!”

Immediately after, the booing started, but I ignored it.

I see victory had made them too relaxed. I’ll have to make the training a little tougher starting tomorrow… I thought to myself as I returned to work.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Defense of Diamant Valley 4

Hayato

“…oy… Can you wake up, boy?”

I woke up to the feeling of someone patting my cheeks.

“Ugh…”

I had to wonder why I fell asleep.

Last thing I remembered, I had just finished taking down the last of the enemy casters, and was about to return to assist Nee-chan when I suddenly felt a strong impact on my head…

Crap, the battle was still going on, wasn’t it?!

“Where’s Nee-chan?!”

I jumped up and looked around in a panic.

What the…?

As he was saying, the big brother grabbed a petal that was fluttering nearby and put it in his mouth.

“According to my sister, this rare herb is one of the base ingredients to brew elixirs… By itself, it’ll help you recover from fatigue.”

He then went on to ramble about how rare this herb is and that it took a special kind of miracle to see an entire field of them in one place.

With a mixture of skepticism and curiosity, I pick up a petal nearby and put it in my mouth.

“…It’s sweet.”

Not just sweet, the fibers melted away in my mouth. It’s more like a sugar candy than a flower. And I definitely felt like my fatigue had been blown away.

“Well then, we’d better get moving.”

“Is that… Iris-neechan’s party over there?”

From a distance, I saw Reiji-niichan and Saul-niichan engaging in a fierce battle with the enemy boss, the troll in crystal armor. My eyes could barely keep up with how fast they danced around the boss, alternating their positions and striking at his armored fists.

Suddenly, I was reminded of their reputation as the two knights who were virtually glued to the Princess 24/7 back in the game.

The three of them were capable of clearing entire raids that normally required eight players all by themselves… there were many dubious anecdotes like that surrounding them, but after seeing those two in action, I kind of understood why.

But what caught my eye even more was Iris-neechan, who was supporting the two from behind.

I was caught off guard at first by her golden wings, but those new radiant, pure white wings were just absurd.

Even from afar, when I saw Nee-chan with that light on her back, I couldn’t help but think that everything will be okay, victory is at hand.

I’ve never been interested in religion… But is this what it means to be divine?

Sometimes, the two swordsmen would slip up and be unable to dodge the troll’s counterattack. However, each time, something resembling protective magic would absorb the attack and deflect it.

…A feather?

Feathers made of white light appeared to be floating not just in the Princess’ vicinity, but also around the soldiers fighting on the frontlines below. And each of those feathers could expend itself to deploy a force field to repel enemy’s attacks.

“…At first glance, the two at the front seemed to be charging recklessly and exposing themselves to counterattacks… but that’s not it. The backline supporter would always suppress the enemy’s attacks with perfect timings. That kind of trust is the foundation of their teamwork.”

“Amazing… Just how much do they trust each other?”

Such trust must have been cultivated over many years. To be honest, I don’t think I would ever reach their level, at least for the foreseeable future.

I’m so jealous…

“Good grief… I thought that if she already had a lover, I could still become a knight to stand by her side and protect her… but it seems there’s no place for me to do even that.”

“What…?”

“Sorry, forget what I said.”

Like me, the mercenary big brother was also looking in their direction with envy, as if they were somewhere out of reach.

“…Haha, even you’re in trouble, huh?”

“Yes… I sense a kindred spirit in you, in fact.”

“As in having unrequited crush? I’m not sure I like the sound of that…”

I let out a chuckle because it was so ridiculous.

Even such a strong adult can’t have everything their way… Thinking that, I felt like the fog in my chest had suddenly disappeared.

“Well, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do… I’m going to assist the princess, what about you?”

“Of course I’m going, too!”

I took the big brother’s hand and jumped up, both of us smiling.

“It’s time for us losers to take action…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, I’m off!”

I still had a score to settle with that raid boss, now that I think about it.

My form disappeared as I rushed to the battlefield atop the walls, where the sounds of swords were still ringing out.

Iris

So strong.

In this world, the Trolls are a warrior-like race, characterized by their strong physical strength, steel-like body and regeneration ability. They usually keep to themselves, devoted to their self-strengthening. While eager to test their strength by fighting, they’re deeply averse to unnecessary conflict or killing.

I don’t know the exact extent of the crystals’ influence… but it’s clear that their corruption had made the troll far sturdier, faster, stronger at the cost of his sanity and combat skills.

As I was thinking about such thing, black shadow converged upon the troll’s arm.

The crystal monster I fought before used shadows to create multiple tentacles, but this one gathered them into a single point to strengthen himself. The destructive power was beyond imagination.

Using the feathers, which I could freely control, I slid them between the enemy’s fist and Saul-niisama in order to deploy Multi-Protection.

The next moment… the sound of air being compressed then burst forth rang my ears as the jet-black fist collided with the deployed force fields.

“…One… Two…”

The force fields started to crack, one by one.

“…Three!”

The force fields were shattered, but the enemy’s fist was stopped.

By then, Nii-sama had already slipped under the troll’s arm and plunged his sword, glowing with purple lightning, into the enemy’s midsection.

From behind, Reiji-san moved in for a pincer attack, his sword already wrapped in fire.

“Lightning Vapor!”

“Boiling Burst!”

Lightning and fire intersected and exploded after a flash of light, shattering a huge chunk of the crystal armor while also incinerating the troll.

…That still wasn’t enough.

The troll didn’t draw blood upon being wounded. Instead, black smoke spewed out of his wounds. But more importantly, he didn’t seem fazed in the slightest even after that devastating pincer attack.

Suddenly, his attack stopped. In front of my eyes, he tried to take a deep breath.

No!

I know that move. He was preparing to use that cursed roar that knocked me out earlier.

Letting him pull that off again would be certain death for all of us!

Since it’s a matter of life and death, I couldn’t possibly take any risk… but what should I do?

He should be completely defenseless while he was charging that roar… right? Is there something I can do to prevent him from using it?

“Divine Spear!”

This flower field was a temporary manifestation of the goddess Ailene’s domain, the goddess said to be the progenitor of the Lightwing race.

Therefore, my magical power was expanded in this place, and the magic I used also exceeded its original limits.

Spears of light formed around me, much brighter and much more powerful than the ones I previously summoned… numbering ten in total!

“Go…!”

The first few spears went straight for the troll’s chest… and got deflected.

It’s as I feared. I had to get rid of his A.M.R.A first!

“Milly-san!”

“I got you covered, nya! Swords of Revealing Light!”

Six swords of pure magical power manifested in front of Milly-san’s hands. They rotated around her arms like the barrels of a Gatling gun.

Then, one by one, they were fired at a tremendous speed toward the spot my spears struck earlier.

The A.M.R.A, which had been invincible until now, let out a shrill creak… it’s breaking!

I fired more spears at that very spot for good measure.

“GET REEEEEEKT, NYAAAAAAA!!”

With the last of our swords and spears, we punched through the A.M.R.A, pierced the troll’s crystal armor into his chest, blowing him away and almost completely shattering his armor.

The troll was forced to exhale the air in his lungs, his deadly roar interrupted.

“We did it!”

“Hurray!”

Now that the troll was completely helpless, it’s time for…

“Reiji-san!”

“I’m on it!”

Reiji-san closed the distance with inhuman speed, but instead of striking, he simply passed by, and in an instant, he kicked off the wall surface and leaped into the air. The troll reacted to this and quickly guarded his head, but…

“Come! Form is Emptiness!”

Twelve semi-transparent swords appeared around Reiji-san’s body.

With the “Arventia” stowed away before I knew it, he grabbed two swords with both free arms, and with the momentum of his fall, he swung them down in an X shape.

The swords immediately shattered upon impact. However, it left two deep scars on the troll’s arm.

“I dare you to block all of these!”

With a fluid motion, Reiji-san grabbed two more swords and continued his onslaught.

The troll’s left arm was mercilessly carved up at a pace that not even I could follow.

Then with a dull cutting sound, a giant arm flew through the air.

What was that technique? That was so cool!

“Saul!”

“No need to tell me! Chainbind Rampage!”

That super cool technique Reiji-san used seemed to be very consuming, as Reiji-san immediately retreated after all the swords were used up… but Nii-sama was already in position to launch a followup attack with countless chains and lightning.

The chains held the troll in place as Nii-sama plunged his lightning sword in the troll’s chest right in the center before engulfing his body with an electric shock.

“…Your turn, Hayato!”

A small shadow appeared out of thin air behind the troll. Since when did Hayato-kun come back here?

“Assassinate!”

He slashed the troll from the right shoulder to the left flank.

Coincidentally, it was the exact same way as how Hayato-kun injured the troll in the tunnel.

The troll’s armor and spine were cut through, and the black shadow from his body scattered around like blood splatter, and before it fell to the ground, it was purified and disappeared into the air.

As soon as Hayato-kun jumped away, another figure climbed up the wall behind him and charged in.

“Bloom nobly, Espinas Azul!”

You too, Zeltis-san?!

Zeltis-san’s twin swords were thrust into the wound that Hayato-kun had opened. The next moment, ice crystals grew, piercing through the troll’s body like the thorns of a bramble.

“Wanna join in too, Mr. Newcomer?”

“Shut up! Why are all of you so stupidly loud when attacking, anyway?!”

The troll, entangled in chains and ice, his spine severed, was shot by Weiss-san straight through his left eye into his brain. Then, as if it wasn’t brutal enough, the arrow, which was apparently imbued with the fire attribute in advance, set the troll’s head on fire.

…And yet, the troll refused to stop struggling.

“…Tch, why won’t he die?! Is he even a living creature in the first place?!”

“It seems that I have to take the spotlight again, nya!”

Milly-san, who had been chanting another spell since the A.M.R.A was broken, unleashed her completed giant magic circle.

“This time I’ll definitely blow you to smithereens, nya! Photon Blaster!”

A torrent of pure energy swallowed up the battered troll whole for a whopping ten seconds before disappearing.

“*pants*… Did I get him, nya?”

As the swirling dust settled down…

“Haha, hahahaha, are you kidding me…”

There, the troll still stood, even with his spine severed, his organs torn to shreds, and his head burned. Shadows were filling in the gaps on his body.

“…Is that a ‘Nanomachines, son’ joke?”

“Still, his armor is gone, and he should be quite weak now. Besides…”

I could hear it. The sound coming from the east.

“…We’ve already won!”

They’d finally arrived.

“All units, ready to assist our comrades on the other side of that wall! Charge!”

At someone’s command, a war cry erupted.

It was as if they were running through the air… No, they were actually running through the air, over the walls where we were on.

“Wow, it’s the Princess in the flesh! Hi!”

I heard a rather out of place voice of a girl. When I turned to look in that direction, I saw a tall man riding a particularly impressive black horse with a girl in his arms in front of him.

Long, black hair. Sharp eyes, a handsome face with a stern expression… A handsome man who fits the expression “black knight” to a T.

At first glance, he looked like a terrifying villain from a storybook, but… I knew he was a sincere and honest man, so I somehow managed to suppress my fear.

The Count of Roland, Leonhardt Rolandia. He was the lord of this land, and for a short time, he was my… “Irisria’s” guardian.

“Her Highness Irisria, His Highness Saulquez. I have a lot to ask you, but let’s put if off for now. Do you need my assistance?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m sure there’re somebody else that you should help… We already have reliable companions with us.”

“As you command. Titilia, remain here and provide support from behind.”

“Yes, Milord!”

The girl named Titilia quickly dismounted from the horse, and the man… Leonhardt-sama, turned his horse’s head towards the enemies.

“You look… livelier than I remembered.”

He muttered quietly while looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

“Yes… I’ve found many important people… people that I can trust.”

“That’s good to hear… Then I shall take my leave. Please stay safe.”

With a slight smile on his stern face, Leonhardt-sama, rushed to the frontline, where the battle was still raging.

“Well, talk to you later, everyone! I’m looking forward to hear your stories, especially you, Princess! Fellow unpopular support classes should get along, don’t you think?!”

“…Eh? Wait, you’re…?!”

At the unexpected words, I tried to stop her, but she had already turned around and descended from the walls.

That’s right, the battle wasn’t over yet. We’d have plenty of time to catch up later.

I pulled myself together and readied my weapon.

A little while later.

The enemy leader, the troll, finally fell to the ground, never to rise again.

When the reinforcements arrived, it didn’t take long for us to finish off all the enemies.

Although many were injured, the death toll on our side was… zero.

And thus, this battle, later called “Defense of Diamant Valley”, ended miraculously with everyone surviving, which was unprecedented in a battle of this scale…

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

My consciousness quickly awakened.

Though my head still ached like hell, the curse seemed to have left my body, and I was able to move without any problem.

“Gather around Ashley-sama and form a defense line! Anyone whose protection magic had worn off, fall back! Sorcerer group, provide covering fire!”

I could make out Nii-sama’s face amidst my blurry vision as he frantically gave out instructions. He must have picked me up when I was knocked out and had been carrying me in his arms since.

…Oh, no! Now’s not the time to stay still like this!

“…Nii-sama, what just happened?”

“Iris! Thank goodness…”

I nodded to a relieved Nii-sama, and unsteadily got back on my feet.

My vision hadn’t cleared up, but I could see Reiji-san fending off the enemies that were climbing and jumping over the walls with their monstrous claws and legs… the situation had changed drastically, and for the worse.

“Don’t push yourself too hard. You just came back from a pretty bad concussion.”

“…How long was I knocked out for?”

“Not even two minutes, but our frontline has already collapsed. That accursed scream got us good.”

“I-Is anyone wounded?!”

“It’s… actually not that bad. The protection magic you cast at the end prevented any serious injury that could have happened, so we’re still in one piece even if we had to retreat.”

I quickly scanned the battlefield to assess the situation more thoroughly.

We were still holding on, if barely.

The remnants of the vanguard were gathering in a tight formation around Ashley-san, but the enemies no longer had any sorcerer, so they were in little danger of area-of-effect attacks.

Most problematic was the enemy leader, who was being held back by Captain Walter’s unit.

We could still turn this around. Things were yet to go beyond repairs.

In this situation, what I ought to do is…

“Nii-sama… get Reiji-san. We have to take down that troll, now.”

“Iris…?”

Nii-sama looked at me like I was crazy.

I didn’t really understand what’s going on either, but my intuition told me that we could defeat that troll.

Legs still shaky, I stood up.

My body moved naturally, as if a gentle hand were guiding it.

I somehow knew what to do.

Clasping my hands in front of my chest, I then slowly pulled them apart.

Light gathered in my palms, and a white, shining staff appeared, just as it had once before.

I grasped it and thrust it into the floor of the wall with a clang.

I will make sure that everyone return home alive!

The guard we saved, whose future wife lived in this town, also participated in this battle.

Like him, many of the guards took up their position to protect their loved ones.

Of course, there were also many people who became guards because it was their job, for money, or some other reason.

What they all shared in common, was that they had someone to protect, and they fought with their lives for that cause.

If everyone has something they want to protect and a place they want to return to, then… I don’t want to run away and abandon them!

“That which heals all wounds and grudges, that which rejects all malice… Manifest yourself, Sanctuary!”

I was about to summon the healing and purification field when…

Come on, that won’t do. Your latent power is much greater than that.

I suddenly felt a voice that was gently guiding me.

Now, draw upon the authority that’s been granted to you…

As if various pathways that had once been dormant opened themselves, magical power was coursing through my body at an extreme pace.

My back felt incredibly hot. The power that had been gathering felt like it could burst any moment.

…and speak your honest desire.

My desire…

“…The power to protect everyone… the power to overcome all hardships…! Manifest yourself… ‘Garden of Ailene’!”

The light on my back changed from gold to pure white and illuminated the entire battlefield.

“From before…!”

“Those white wings!”

I could hear Reiji-san and Nii-sama yelling in shock behind me, but for now I had to redouble my effort in controlling the power overflowing from my body.

A cleansing aura spread throughout the battlefield.

Under its influence, the ravaged wasteland quickly turned into a field of flowers.

Within it, our wounds were healed, our curses were lifted, while at the same time, the crystal monsters couldn’t withstand it, their bodies shattered and returned to dust without leaving a trace.

In their final moments, I could feel their faint residual thoughts. Pain, resentment, but there was also relief.

Here, I learned for the first time that the goblins were still barely alive when they were transformed, unlike the bandits from before who had been long dead.

Nevertheless, their crystal infestation was too far gone to be saved. The least I could do was to end their suffering.

I’m sorry.

And so, in the blink of an eye, the land within a radius of about two hundred meters centered on me was covered in flowers that fluttered in the wind.

“Everyone, get back here, quickly!”

Yes, with the opening I’d created, now would be a good time for us to regroup and reorganize.

In response to Nii-sama’s instructions, everyone who was still stunned by what just happened in front of them began to move hurriedly.

In the midst of this, the enemy leader, who had still remained in the “Sanctuary”, the troll covered in armor-like crystals, turned his eyes on me.

Well, can’t say I didn’t see it coming. It’s only natural that he would see me as the biggest threat considering what I’d done and how much I stood out.

His giant body soared into the air. To my surprise, he flew over the soldiers and landed on the outer wall where we were.

Is this thing for real? In terms of pure combat power, he was easily the strongest enemy we’d encountered so far in this world.

But that’s fine.

Immediately, Reiji-san and Nii-sama rushed over to my side. Behind me, Milly-san, Lenny-san and Weiss-san… our companions, were coming to assist.

“Everyone from the Shadow Regiment, I want you to assist those below the walls. I won’t be unable to protect them for a while… so please, keep them safe.”

“B-But…”

“Don’t worry about me, I still haven’t given up yet… I’m counting on you, Arnold-san.”

The knight in question opened his eyes wide in astonishment.

“You remembered all our names… in just a few days?”

“Yes. Aside from you, there’re also Gerald-san, Bordeaux-san, Julio-san, Oliver-san and Rupert-san stationed on the walls with me, am I correct? I worked hard to remember their names…because they are the ones who have entrusted me with their lives.”

And because they were a small group of elites. I wouldn’t have been able to remember them all in such a short time if there were more of them.

Leaving that last part unsaid, I urged them to go with a smile.

“…Understood. I wish you the best of luck, Your Highness.”

“I can say the same to you. Please do your best down there.”

The knights gave me one last bow and descended from atop the walls.

I then turned to face the enemy in front of me, the troll clad in crystal armor.

…Actually, since a while earlier, I’d sensed a large number of life signatures approaching from the east when I unleashed my power… Help was truly just around the corner.

Until then, I would not let anyone fall. I swung my staff of light to renew my resolve.

“Reiji-san, Nii-sama… Shall we begin?”

“Of course.”

“Let’s roll.”

Even in this situation, I let out a chuckle at how they responded at the perfect same time.

“Truth be told, I’m so done with commanding! Let’s just kick his ass and be done with it, simple.”

“Hehe… Thanks for your hard work, Nii-sama. Speaking of which… Reiji-san, you have a score to settle with him, right?”

“Huh…? Oh, right, he’s gonna pay for wrecking my precious partner!”

Remembering his old grudge, Reiji-san flashed a fierce grin.

We won’t lose, I can feel it.

It’s time for our revenge match!

???

“Milord! Did you see that light over there?!”

The petite girl riding on the same horse as me was pointing to the east and making a fuss.

I only let her ride with me because she couldn’t ride a horse on her own… Fortunately, she was light, so it’s not much of a burden for my beloved horse.

I sighed and asked her to stop acting up, then turned my gaze in the direction she was pointing.

There, a giant pillar of white light looked like it’s going to pierce the sky.

“It doesn’t seem like something bad, but…”

My horse was staring at the overly bright light without any fear whatsoever. On the contrary, I even felt like the fatigue of our long-distance march was starting to lighten.

Whatever caused the light, it must be something extraordinary.

“We must hurry. May I ask you to lend me your power?”

“Just leave it to me, Milord!”

“…Thanks.”

…Honestly, I don’t like the way she looks at me with such complete and genuine trust, and perhaps even a hint of affection. It’s not that it’s unpleasant, but I just don’t like it.

The moment I asked her for help, her eyes sparkled with joy.

I could only take a guess, but she looked about fifteen or sixteen years old… In any case, she wasn’t mature enough.

When I went an excursion to inspect the territory, something I did from time to time, I happened to encounter and arrest a group of bandits… and this girl was found as a captive at their hideout. After I rescued her, she seemed to have taken a liking to me for some reason and had been following me around like this ever since.

That’s fine and all, but I had no idea why a girl more ten years younger than me was so attached to me.

My face and attitude, I had to admit, was scary to women and children.

…Well, I suppose this girl, who had no one to rely on, was simply seeking the protection of the person who happened to save her from a dangerous situation.

Age aside, she was a girl with a very beautiful appearance. She had golden hair that was neatly trimmed, and her skin was flawless. If it were just her appearance, she could be mistaken for a noblewoman.

I think she somewhat resembled “that person” I briefly took care of in the past.

She was apparently afraid of men because of her experience of being captured by a gang of bandits (but completely okay with me, apparently). However, she was too vulnerable for her own good, giving me headache to no end.

But without a doubt, she was an excellent magic user. For all the trouble she caused, I did appreciate her company.

She began to chant something I’d never heard before, and that’s coming from the former Vice Captain of the Knight Order of the Magical Kingdom of Nordglacier… Our magical prowess was only second to Acropolis, the silent arbiter at the center of the world.

“…’Winning Road’!!”

A translucent bridge suddenly appeared in sight.

It stretched straight to the town, crossing over the muddy forest road. Thanks to this magic, which cut through obstacles in a straight line, the travel time was greatly shortened.

“Good work. The cavalry shall take the lead! Everyone follow me!”

“Ehehe…”

The girl in my arm smiled broadly at my praise. I held her tight as I prepared to take off.

My agent had reported about Her Highness and her companions living in hiding inside that town.

Please, stay safe out there…!

After confirming that the girl was holding on to my body tightly, I kicked the horse’s side to accelerate, and ran across the magical bridge that hung towards the sky, along with my subordinate cavalry.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“Enemies, coming.”

Three hours had passed since Gantz-san contacted us this morning with such a simple message.

Everyone frantically finished the combat preparations, and before long, we were standing at the western gate, staring at the direction of the tunnels where the enemies nested with bated breath.

There was no sign of people behind us, as all the townspeople had evacuated, and everyone who could fight had gathered here and was waiting at their posts.

Most of our forces were divided into two groups.

The vanguard group consisted of the mercenaries and Shadow Regiment members who excelled at close-quarter combat, along with all of the town’s guards. They were stationed outside the gate.

Among them, Captain Walter and the mercenary siblings would lead a hit-and-run unit, while Ashley-san, who was the supreme commander of the entire operation, would be in charge of the remaining knights and soldiers defending the gate.

And now, standing on top of the walls where I was, were Milly-san, Lenny-san, Diaz-san, and half of the knights, who specialized in magic, along with Weiss-san and the other archers, made up the rear guard.

Nii-sama and Reiji-san remained behind as my bodyguards, the former also assumed command of this group.

In addition, beyond the barricade inside the gate, a team of civil servants and volunteers with medical knowledge was assigned to the former mayor’s mansion. Aini-san was there as well.

We numbered over one hundred in total.

Back in the game, the maximum number of members in a party was eight. Three parties, or twenty-four players, were the norms when fighting a raid boss… and in the case of a legion raid, that number was quadrupled to ninety-six.

But this time, the number of combatants exceeded even that, and my knees trembled with the thought of participating in a battle I’d never experienced before. Nii-sama probably felt the same as I did… actually, he was looking like he’s going to be crushed under the pressure of the situation. That makes sense, considering he had to command the entire rear guard.

Seeing us like this, Reiji-san tried to lighten up the mood by saying “If anything happens, I’ll cover both of you”. He was resting his back on a nearby wall and staring at the direction the enemies would appear.

“Enemies spotted! Hey, what the…”

Weiss-san, who had the best eyesight, frowned as he peered through his telescope into the distance. The other telescope operators also made the same face.

“Don’t try it, kid, it’s not something safe for children to look at.”

“I’m sorry, but I have to do it.”

Sensing what I was about to do, Weiss-san attempted to stop me, but I shook him off and activated Eagle Eye…

Spread out before my eyes was a scene ripped straight out from a horror game.

I saw goblins with unnaturally huge lumps on their arms, and claws the length of a child’s height.

I saw goblins with an additional pair of arms growing out of their shoulder blades. Some of them were carrying pickaxes or shovels as weapons, perhaps having procured them along the way.

I saw goblins with chunks of crystal formed inside their bodies and pierced their way out of the skin. I saw goblins with abnormally long fangs that drooled uncontrollably as they walked. I saw…

I had to try my hardest to not scream on the spot.

“You okay there? You don’t have to speak if you don’t feel like it.”

“It’s… alright…”

I felt a hand patting on my back.

I’m sure my face is pale as a sheet right now, but I can’t let myself succumb to the pressure, there’s something I must do here.

I took a deep breath to calm myself… Yeah, I can do it.

“…I’m going to cast my support spells. Please get ready.”

As I said so, I stepped onto the nearest magic circle… or “battery” as Milly-san called it.

“Pardon me, Your Highness… But are you sure you’ll be fine using just one? A battle of this scale will surely take a toll on you…”

“Yes, I’ll manage somehow… I hope.”

I smiled at one of the knights voicing his concerns to me, and stood in the center of the magic circle. When I saw the circle had begun to glow in response to me, I closed my eyes and weaved a chant, concentrating on my own two hands.

“O light that bestows wisdom, manifest yourself… Spell         Extension!!”

With the completion of the chanting, a halo began to twirl in both my hands.

The previous battle with the goblins had taught me something. That the more allies I have, the more valuable my power would become… In other words, I’m well-suited to large scale battle like this.

“Strength Enhancement”

“Instantaneous Force”

“Accelerated Reflexes”

“Heroic Fortitude”

“Consecrated Weapon”

In addition to those spells I used during the previous battle with the goblins, I also used Reinforcement to enchant the armor of my allies with a barrier because many of them were equipped with it this time around.

And since enemy casters were expected in this battle, I cast Anti-Magic as well, though it’d be of little comfort against really powerful spells.

Magic power was sucked up from the magic circle beneath my feet, and our encampment was enveloped in a seven-colored brilliance. The light spread and permeated every soldier present, unleashing their potential.

After confirming that everyone had been under the effect of my support magic, the magic circle expired, having all its power used up.

“*pant* This isn’t nearly as much power as I’d hoped… but it’s helpful nonetheless.”

Although I was feeling slightly fatigued because I had to supplement the lacking magic power with my own, this was still a much lesser burden than before.

Just to be sure, I took out a small magic potion and drank it.

“Wow… My body feels so light. Did she just do that to all these people at once?”

A knight beside me muttered in amazement. In fact, I could hear more and more murmurs coming from below the walls.

…I didn’t overdo my buffing too much without any prior explanation, did I?

But for the sake of everyone’s survival, I simply couldn’t afford to cut corners here.

“Hahaha, that’s our Princess for you!”

“What?! Her Highness couldn’t possibly belong to you hired mercs…!”

“Everyone, no infighting please!”

Apparently, the knights were arguing with a group of mercenaries.

When I leaned over the walls to tell them off, everyone immediately ceased the argument and happily gave a thumb-up to me… Eh?

“Did everyone get a good look of her beautiful visage?!”

“Of course! I’ll never forget her exalted personage for the rest of my life!”

“We shall give it our all to never let sadness cloud your face, Your Highness!”

Loud, enthusiastic cheers erupted from the crowd of soldiers below. Some of them even crossed shoulders with each other. Since when did they become such close-knit comrades?

“I’m sorry, miss, but those people really wanted to worship your face one more time…”

“Excuse me, brother, but aren’t YOU the one who proposed that idea in the first place? ‘It’s a wonderful idea, let’s do it right away!’, you said.”

“Dammit Philias, why do you have to say that in front of the old man-”

“Oh… We’re going to have a long discussion about this later, boy.”

Ashley-san’s voice was thick with killing intents, but for once, I didn’t feel particularly bad about it.

“Um… Sorry about that, okay?!”

Philias-san apologized to me, and the commotion finally subsided.

It was at that moment, everything came together in my head.

…Did they just set me up for this?!

As everyone’s warm gazes were focused on me, I felt a rush of shame.

“I-If you don’t come back safely… I-I’ll never forgive you!”

I made it very clear that I’m angry about what happened, then turned on my heel and returned to my post.

There, all the members of the sorcerer group were already in their respective positions and preparing for the first attack.

“Ahahaha… Another saintly performance from you.”

“Could you not put it like that?”

“…Well, it certainly lifted everyone’s spirit, including you, though. You should thank them for thinking this far.”

Nii-sama was right. Yes, my knees had stopped shaking and my nervousness was gone, but…!

“…Do you really think so?”

“Perhaps.”

Nii-sama replied with a wry smile to my sulking and pouting face.

If that allowed everyone to show their full potential in the battle ahead, I’m sure I could take a bit of embarrassment… Actually, is there even any other way to do this without making a fool of me?

“Let’s ready ourselves, shall we?”

“…Yes!”

The battle would begin at any moment.

The enemies’ march was incredibly slow… or perhaps the extreme tension made the passage of time seem slower.

…But the time had come. The enemy’s frontline had entered the range of our magic, which was marked by stakes driven into the ground beforehand.

“…Sorcerer group, open fire!”

At Nii-sama’s command, the sorcerer group fired off a volley of fireballs in a way that they could synchronize the timings of their attacks. The fireballs I’d seen once before, the Lava Bomb spell, went on a slow but precise trajectory toward the enemy frontline.

“Disastrous Beast’s Annihilating Roar! Here comes my Lightning Detonyator!!”

A few moments later, Milly-san fired a thunderbolt so huge that it dyed the surroundings white to the same spot as the fireballs.

Explosions ravaged the earth and left a burning hellscape, while the bolt of purple lightning ran through one enemy to another like a rampaging serpent.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The flame gathered as if absorbed into the thunderbolt in an unnatural movement that would be impossible if it were a flame of natural causes, and compressed into itself… The next instant, more explosions occurred in various places, causing further devastation and generating so much heat that even I could feel it from this distance.

That was a phenomenon called “Mana Burst”.

When high-density magical power of the appropriate attributes and concentration is condensed in one spot, a chain reaction will occur. This particular Mana Burst is called “Overload”, caused by fire and lightning attributes.

In order to cause as much destruction as possible, it requires a certain number of sorcerers, who then have to synchronize their attacks with precise timings… Under normal circumstances, it took twice of our current number to be able to achieve this level of fire power, but with the aid of the supporting magic circles and Milly-san’s highest-tier spell, we were able to forcibly cause such a powerful Mana Burst.

“…Did we get them?”

The knight next to me asked.

“I don’t think so… Those monsters won’t go down that easily.”

Denying his words, I leaned forward and looked at the site of the magical strike.

When the flame and dust had settled, there was nothing left of the landscape… But unfortunately, our enemies were still standing.

“… Not all of them, but quite a few were able to resist the heat.”

My hand gripping the handrail tightened. We dealt much less damage to the enemies than expected.

I took a closer look at the enemies and found a thin membrane covering their bodies. Resistance magic?

It seemed that only the ones within ground zero of the explosion and some others were taken down.

I soon found what might be the cause of this. There were several goblins with crystals growing on their shoulders and heads doing some kind of magic… They were probably the ones casting resistance magic on their allies.

“They’re developing resistance to the magic we used, nya! Fire and lightning aren’t effective anymore, switch to other attributes, nya!”

Milly-san, who like me was leaning out from the outer wall to check the situation at the point of impact, immediately grasped the situation, turned around, and shouted so in rapid succession.

Suddenly, I saw an ominous glow at the back of the enemy formation, signaling an enemy magical attack… I felt a chill down my spine upon seeing it.

…That was no normal attack! They were firing curses!

“Enemy counterattack, Nii-sama!”

“Coming, Iris!”

My right hand grasped Nii-sama’s left, allowing him to use the effect of Spell Extension.

“Aegis!”

“Sacred Field!”

We both gritted our teeth and endured the feeling of our magic power diminishing rapidly.

At the same time, after completing the chanting, an enhanced wide-area protection magic was released from our hands and deployed in front of everyone as a duplex barrier.

“Kuh…?!”

“Ugh..?!”

The next moment, countless black fireballs landed on the barrier. The impact almost made me fall back, but Nii-sama supported me, and I managed to hold on.

Nii-sama’s Aegis made up the outer barrier, upon which the horrifying fireballs crashed. The sparks that flickered my eyes were red and black in color, that meant the enemy attacks combined fire and darkness attribute.

Resistance magic usually deals with one attribute at a time, so the general strategy with it is to read the attributes of enemy attacks ahead of time, or bringing multiple users so that they could deal with everything at once.

However, Nii-sama’s Aegis, which was the unique skill of his Knight Lord class, let him do just that all by himself.

And as I had a bad premonition, the penetrating miasma of the curses descended on everyone’s heads, but it was all erased by the second barrier I deployed, Sacred Field, which shut out abnormal conditions such as poison and curses.

The storm of flames and curses went on for some time before eventually clearing up.

“Anyone wounded?!”

As soon as it’s over, I frantically looked around… It seemed that a few of the guards stumbled in surprise at the explosion and flash of light in front of them, but that’s all.

No one seemed to be injured, thank goodness. I let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, here’s the plan! The two of us will take care of any counterattack, so feel free to fire your magic as much as you like! We have to reduce their number as much as possible before they come into contact!”

“Got it, nya! Everyone, beware of the attribute you’re using, nya!”

At Nii-sama’s instruction, everyone resumed chanting new magic.

Like Milly-san warned just now, two attributes with poor compatibility with each other might cancel each other out, reducing their effectiveness greatly.

Without saying anything else, Diaz-san and Lenny-san, who were mercenaries with long history of fighting, as well as the knights who were fighting on the frontline for the first time, all switched to wind magic.

As for Milly-san, who was using different magic from everyone else, opted for something that wouldn’t cause reactions in the first place, just pure magical energy. She swung a huge magic circle from overhead to the front and shouted.

“First, let’s blow their resistance to smithereens, nya! Photon Blaster!”

The abnormal goblins casting resistance magic were engulfed in a gigantic laser beam and perished.

This battle, later known as the Defense of Diamant Valley, which officially confirmed that the “Wound of the World” can be erased and signaled humanity’s counterattack…

…had only just begun.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

An arrow darted across the battlefield with tremendous force.

“That’s the last one…!”

Clutching at the handrails, I gazed as the last of the enemy “horned caster” type was shot and blown away by Weiss-san’s arrow.

Hayato-kun’s shadow flashed by, as if waiting for this moment, and the monster sank into a pool of blood.

“I’m giving the signal now! Flash Spark!”

In place of a signal flare, I fired a spark of light overhead. I’d already told everyone to turn their back to me when I was about to do that, so there’s no worry of harming their eyes.

“Alright, get ready to fire another wave of spells in thirty seconds!”

At Nii-sama’s instruction, the knights who had been waiting on the wall began chanting at once.

All of our magic circles were about to disappear, and this was probably the last high-powered magic attack we could muster… and the other side’s boss, the troll clad in crystals, was starting to make his move.

The reason we’d been doing relatively so far was because the enemies lacked the ability to form coherent strategy.

From this point on, we would be fighting the enemy leader, whose abilities we didn’t know, directly.

The real battle starts now.

“Milly-san, could you use Lightning Detonator?!”

“I’m running low on magic power, but sure thing, nya!”

“…Please do!”

Milly-san then cheerfully started chanting.

Before long, six jade-colored and one amethyst-colored magic circles formed on the walls.

This is our last chance to deal a serious blow to that troll before he completely gets up!

The next moment, multiple tornadoes stacking on top of each other engulfed the surrounding area, before joining up with a massive bolt of purple lightning, creating a violent thunderstorm with the troll at its center.

Amidst the vivid chaotic dance of wind and lightning, I could see with my enhanced vision that the goblin-turned-monsters were burned black and turned into shreds before getting blown sky high.

“It’s not… over yet…!”

Space distorted in front of my eyes. A Mana Burst was occurring.

A high-pitched screech echoes throughout the battlefield. The impact of space distorting was felt even this far away.

This Mana Burst was called “Disintegrate”. Like its name implies, it destroyed the target from inside out, ignoring its physical defenses, to the point of complete annihilation… It’s a low-range, extremely lethal Mana Burst.

And yet, I was still afraid that it wasn’t enough to take down the troll, as he was powerful enough to shatter the floor of the tunnels with his bare hands. I merely wanted to inflict as much pain as possible before we engaged him in combat. If possible, I wanted to dismember one of his limbs.

I stared at the cloud of dust that had been raised by the storm with bated breath.

Emerging from the cloud was…

…the troll’s huge body, still in one piece.

“No way! That thing survived a direct Disintegrate unharmed?!”

“T-That’s impossible! It definitely worked!”

I took a look at the troll again.

Parts of its crystal armor were starting to peel off and losing their luster. Could it be that the armor could store magic power within before consuming it to deploy some kind of protection magic…?

“Don’t tell me… that he’s capable of using A.R.M.A?!” (A.R.M.A stands for Absolute Magic Reactive Armor)

“What the heck, nya?! That’s cheating, Absolute Cheating Plot Armor!”

Back in the game, it was something that only high-level raid bosses possessed, an absolute barrier that prevents magic damage up to a certain level within a certain period of time… How was this even happening?!

The troll irritably gave an order to attack in a language no one could understand. But anything that was supposed to follow his order had already been crushed.

Realizing that fact, he shook his body in anger.

Suddenly, his eyes met with mine, or so I thought.

Something’s coming!

I saw him taking a deep breath.

It’s a bad premonition. And ever since I came to this world, I had learned firsthand many times that whenever a bad premonition sent chills down my spine, it’s almost one hundred percent correct.

“The light that rejects all malice, manifest yourself… Wide Protection!”

Immediately, the magic I unleashed spread across the battlefield and enveloped the soldiers.

By the time I realized the cost of this failure, that I had lost the opportunity to plug my ears, it was already too late.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

“Ugh…!”

A tremendous shock pierced and shook my brain.

The moment the hastily released protection magic reached everyone on the battlefield, a deafening roar exploded.

But the magic offered little resistance to a sound bomb whose vibrations penetrated my ears into my brain, robbing me of my balance.

I barely prevented myself from falling down by clutching on the handrails, but that’s as far as I got. I slipped and slumped along the wall.

I’m feeling terrible. My vision’s spinning…!

My whole body felt like being drowned in icy water.

My strength was being drained away… my consciousness… fading… It’s just like the shadowy monster we once fought…

…A… curse…?

I found myself standing in a dark place.

It’s not completely dark, however. When I looked up, the sky was full of stars all around. As my eyes became accustomed, enough light was pouring down from the moon and stars in the sky. A rustling sensation tickled my feet.

I was at the top of a hill where a pleasant soft breeze blew, and a grassy field spread out.

“…Where am… I…?”

I had a faint, but familiar feeling, about this place.

The dream of a boy and girl I once saw. A girl whose silver hair was similar to mine, was cuddled up with a boy, looking up at the starlit sky.

“Sorry for calling you here at such a bad time.”

Someone else was here before I knew it.

The silver-haired girl whom I saw in the dream was right in front of me.

Wearing a pure white dress adorned with lace and frills, she stood gracefully with a soft smile on her face, looking much more like a princess than me.

Inexplicably, the contents of the dreams that all fizzled out and became forgotten when I woke up could be vividly recalled in this place.

She was much more mature than I remembered from my dream. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties.

But that smile of hers, filled with youthful mischief, yet so reassuring to look at, unmistakably belonged to the girl in the dream.

“Hehe, we finally met. You’re the girl who accessed my memories several times, aren’t you?”

“Acc…ess…? I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to intrude!”

So the dreams were actually me peeking in her privacy all along?!

I was filled with guilt when I found out about this fact.

“Oh my, it’s nothing worth worrying about. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to meet and talk with you like this.”

I breathed a sigh of relief when she said that with a soft laugh.

“…Besides, you already have the rights to do that.”

“…Privilege? Who are you exactly…”

“Before we get to that, let me ask you something.”

Her smile quickly faded, and her expression became serious.

“Have you ever thought about abandoning everything and running away?”

“That’s…!”

I raised my voice, but the words quickly trailed off in my mouth.

I did want to run away.

No matter how much I tried to hide it, I was afraid to go into battle.

Even though I tried desperately to inspire myself, all the while, I wanted to run away.

However…

“…That would be irresponsible of me, so I can’t do that…”

“Why?”

“Why… you ask…?”

“You aren’t exactly that attached to all those people, are you? Why are you, who feel foreign in this world, thinking that you’re responsible for all their lives?”

I was at a loss for words.

She was completely correct. It was perfectly acceptable if Reiji-san, Ayame and I just focused on finding a way to return to our original world without getting involved with the people of this world.

If that’s the case… what are we fighting for?

“Because if I don’t… it’ll leave a bad taste in my mouth… I think?”

In the end, I could only give such a vague answer to her question.

I simply couldn’t abandon someone in need before me. Call it my arrogant selfishness, if you will.

“…Then allow me to give you an advice. The path you take will be full of thorns. There will surely be a time when you have to make a cruel choice. Do you still want to walk on this path?”

“……Yes.”

“*sigh* You’re too self-sacrificing for your own good… Who did you inherit that trait from, I wonder?”

She put her hand on her cheek and smiled bitterly. But there’s a tinge of exhaustion and resignation on her face that couldn’t be hidden.

I’m sure she herself had been responsible for the lives of many people too, because she was too kind.

“…It’s a pain, isn’t it?”

“It really is… There’s no need for us to resemble each other so much.”

“…Eh?”

I couldn’t quite make out her mumblings, which gradually got smaller and smaller.

However, I couldn’t help but feel that something was not quite right, so I asked back.

“Um, it was nothing. Anyway, I shouldn’t keep you here for too long.”

She nonchalantly brushed me off, and then moved forward to press her finger against my forehead. From there, I felt something warm and tender.

“With my authority, I hereby appoint you as the next Sacred Daughter.”

Come to think of it, I’d never gotten her name.

But somehow, I was convinced. That she’s actually my…

Before such thoughts could clearly take shape, she withdrew her finger.

Apparently, some sort of ritual had been completed.

“It’s done. Your power as the Sacred Power should be awakened properly now… Be careful, it’ll take some time for you to get used to your new power.”

Her expression turned serious again, and she grabbed both of my shoulders.

“Do not become trapped by your duty. Do not think of anything stupid like abandoning yourself for some greater good. Do not become like us.”

“…Yes.”

“Good girl, good girl.”

She then pulled me into a hug and patted my head. It’s comforting.

I was being treated as if I were a little girl, but strangely, I didn’t feel repulsed. Rather, I wanted this woman to pamper me as much as she liked. Such feelings were welling up within me.

“…Um! Can I ask you something else?!”

I’d always wondered about it.

The White Book… It was said that the soul of the last Sacred Daughter was sealed within it.

Until now, I’d assumed that the woman in front of me was said sealed soul.

But… what if she wasn’t?

Then whose soul was sealed inside the White Book?

If this woman wasn’t the last, then someone else must have come after her… but who was she?

When I looked at her, I felt a sense of nostalgia and loneliness that makes me want to cry… I felt like I longed for her presence… Why?

“Are you… actually… my mo-”

“No.”

She firmly rejected the idea, as if putting a lid on it.

However, her hand, which gently reached out and placed on my cheek, gently caressed my face. As if she wanted to confirm whether I was still here with her.

“Don’t you have someone actually deserving to be called that? Someone who carried you in her aching belly and gave birth to you? I… I couldn’t do that… I don’t deserve that name…”

There were tears in her eyes.

Please… I beg you… Return my… my baby to me! Please…!

“…?!”

What came to my mind was the scene of that dream I had a while ago.

In that memory, she was so distraught and desperate to reach for something that she bore no resemblance to the woman talking to me so calmly at the moment.

“That’s not it at all! You deserve it too! You’re my… my…”

I couldn’t stop myself anymore. Overcome with emotions akin to rage, I put together my words frantically.

“There’s… there’s no way that someone who thought of me, cried out for me like that even though she was in so much anguish could be a stranger!”

She was by no means a stranger to me. I don’t want her to think of herself in that way.

I continued to sob and cry into her arms.

“…I see, so you’d seen that memory too… Then, how about you listen to my little request?”

“Yes… Of course I will! If there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me…!”

And thus she told me about her request… a really mundane one at that.

She’s really a troubled person, isn’t she?

I managed to crack a smile with tears still streaming down my face.

Then I did just what she asked… From the bottom of my heart, I called her by that name.

“…This is pretty embarrassing, now that I’ve done it…”

Truth be told, I was very nervous inside. I never thought I would meet someone I could call by that name again.

“…But I’m really happy because I’ve done it.”

With a shy smile on my face, I frankly expressed my opinion… She began to shed tears herself. Very warm tears.

“…Thank you. That word alone is enough of a salvation for me.”

Even as she cried, her smile was like a blooming flower.

We embraced each other like that for a while… before her hand that was caressing me moved away. I felt sad that the warmth of her touch was disappearing… but I had to go back now.

I still had things I need to do in reality.

I shook off the feeling of desolation and took a step backward. Immediately, my vision blurred, and the world lost its outline.

This was only a dream, after all.

I’m sure I would barely remember her when I woke up.

This was literally a dreamlike encounter that last only for a moment.

But I’m sure that we’ll meet again someday.

“Well then, I’ll pray for our next encounter. That aside…”

Suddenly, she spoke with a stern voice.

“Watch out for those ruling over Acropolis. There’s no doubt that they want to protect the world… but they can and will trample over your happiness in doing so.”

I tried to respond to the warning, but I couldn’t even speak anymore. I gave her a nod instead.

If someone as kind as her warned me to beware of them, then I should take her warning seriously.

I would probably forget most of what I did here when I return, but I would strongly imprint it in my mind so that I could remember even a small part of it.

“It’s goodbye for now. May the path you take lead you to happiness. I sincerely hope you could do what all of us couldn’t…”

…And I’m so glad that I get to see you, my cute… dau…