(Yukito side)
I still couldn't believe the decision Iris had just told me.
I thought she would choose not to take part in the battle and would instead try to force me to spend time with her.
I never expected her to choose to stand on the front lines together with me.
And… since Luke had just left the room, only the two of us remained here.
Yuu-chan and Hime were still asleep because no one had woken them up yet.
Even though Luke and I had been arguing back and forth earlier with voices that I felt were quite loud, they were still sound asleep.
"…I'm sorry. Because of my desire to fight, you ended up being forced to follow me," I said to Iris.
She had mentioned earlier that she heard Luke and me arguing.
So maybe Iris wanted to fight on the front lines because of my stubborn insistence that made Luke allow me to join the battle.
Because her duty was to build a relationship with me, that might have made her feel that she needed to spend more time with me.
Iris wasn't the type of person who forced others, but instead let people do what they wanted, giving them nothing more than a gentle smile.
So there was no way she would force me to stay with her all day while the others were fighting out there.
If my assumption was really true, I couldn't allow her to be forced to follow me.
Rather, I would force her not to push herself and instead choose to act selfishly.
"Yuusha… I just want to do what I want. About the way to awaken my power, there's actually something I haven't told you yet," Iris replied.
"In short, I'm joining the front lines not because I'm following you. This is simply the manifestation of my sense of responsibility as the daughter of the leader of the elves of Riruyo!"
She said that while looking at me with eyes full of determination.
She was completely serious when she said it, and I didn't feel like she was lying at all.
We stared at each other for a few moments before both of us looked away.
"Should we wake them up?" Iris asked in a softer voice than before.
"Y-yeah. We need to hurry to the barrier and defeat the troops that want to attack this place," I replied.
——
In the end, Yukito and Iris woke the other two who were still sleeping soundly.
After everyone was awake and ready, they hurried toward the barrier.
The two of them didn't talk about what had happened earlier anymore; they kept looking forward and focused on the battle that lay ahead of them.
Almost all the citizens were hiding inside their respective homes to save themselves.
Only a handful of people remained—those who were part of the troops and elves who could wield magic well.
When Yukito's group arrived near the barrier, they saw Loki and Forn standing in front of a group of people lined up.
Naturally, the people gathered there were those who were helping defend this place.
——
"Our numbers are small because each of us is protecting all the settlements in Riruyo!" Forn-san said to the people in front of him.
"All we need to do is wait for this barrier to regain its strength and protect us."
"Until then, we will defend this place before they can get inside!"
"I'm sure our comrades in the other settlements are doing the same thing as us. Because of that, we won't be defeated so easily!" he shouted.
The others and I ran toward the two of them a little, which of course allowed them to hear the sound of our footsteps.
They immediately turned their heads back and saw us running toward them.
From his expression, I could tell that Forn-san was surprised to see his daughter and me coming here.
He hurried over to us and asked Iris,
"Iris! What are you and Yuusha doing here? Didn't I ask Luke to let the two of you stay together?" Loki-san asked, sounding slightly panicked.
"Father, I made this decision together with Yuusha. You may not accept this request, but please allow me to fight alongside you," Iris said.
Loki-san then looked toward Luke, perhaps signaling him, asking why the two of us had still come here.
"Loki-san, Forn-san, I believe the princess and Yukito have thought this through carefully. There's nothing wrong with letting them iku stand guard here," Luke said.
"Good grief… Iris, you're really that confident in this decision, aren't you?" Loki-san asked again.
Ugh… my head was starting to hurt even more. What was really going on here?
——
At last, the battle was about to begin.
We could see the approaching troops; they would probably arrive right in front of the barrier in just a few minutes.
However, something unexpected happened. The troops did something that forced us to reorganize the plan we had made beforehand.
They stopped at a distance of about one kilometer from the barrier and seemed to split their forces into several groups.
Those split units moved toward us at incredible speed.
Naturally, our forces immediately repelled their attack, at the cost of about six people from our side.
After those fragmented troops were completely wiped out by us, the remaining forces in the back didn't attack again.
They didn't split their forces and simply stood still, as if waiting for something.
—
Because we felt the situation had improved slightly, we decided to wait for their next attack while taking a rest.
For some reason, while we were resting, the atmosphere felt strange and left me a little confused.
(Why would they rest this easily while they're still attacking us?)
Eventually, we let our guard down by relaxing in a situation that hadn't actually improved yet.
Our forces were startled by enemy troops emerging from the trees, nearly resulting in our complete annihilation.
"Yuusha!" Iris cried as I pulled her hand.
Hime, Yuu-chan, and Luke disappeared somewhere, leaving only the two of us behind.
All I could do was run while pulling Iris, trying to take her to a safe place.
This was the only thing I could do right now—at the very least, I wanted her to survive.
Suddenly, Iris tripped over a rock and fell to the ground, causing her hand to slip from mine.
Crash.
"Iris!" I shouted as I rushed to her and helped her stand.
I looked at her foot and saw that it was bleeding around the ankle. Naturally, that made me panic.
"Yu-usha… just leave me… I don't have the strength to run anymore…" she said in a trembling voice.
I was immediately confused by what she had just said. What was she thinking?!
"What do you mean?! I'll never let you disappear here!" I shouted, filled with sheer desperation.
After my party members had vanished somewhere, there was no way I would let Iris—
"Yuusha… look behind me… there are already many monsters moving toward us… run," Iris said again.
I managed to force her to stand up again, then carried her on my back.
Slash.
…I was too late to escape with her.
A monster wielding a large sword swung it at Iris's back, inflicting a deep wound on her.
In an instant, my body itku fell to the ground, and I could see Iris's body covered in blood.
The wound on her back was so deep that it seemed impossible to heal, even by a skilled healing mage.
All I could do was look at Iris with overwhelming despair in my heart, along with an immense sense of guilt.
My thoughts became a complete mess, my chest felt unbearably tight, as if my heart was about to burst out of my body.
My eyes felt unbearably heavy, about to spill tears, and my entire body trembled as I failed to believe what I was experiencing.
The monster walked toward me with Iris's blood staining its sword, and I couldn't do anything as it looked at me.
My eyes were locked onto the monster, leaving me unable to move.
I…I had truly killed them all.
The monster swung its sword at me once more—
Slash!
——
...…
...…
...…
"Yuusha? What are you thinking about?" Iris asked.
My eyes felt a little heavy; maybe there were dark circles under kataku.
Iris looked at me with what seemed to be a worried expression.
We were on the balcony tonight, with the moon and stars clearly visible from here.
The cool breeze brushed against my skin, its chill striking my hands.
"A-ah, it's nothing… I was just spacing out for a moment," I replied.
"Thank goodness~ You suddenly zoned out while I was explaining the history of Yggdrasil. Are you really okay?" Iris asked again.
"I am! I'm really fine," I answered.
Iris turned around and leaned against the balcony railing, gazing up at the sky.
I began to realize that something strange was happening, making my chest feel slightly tight.
I raised my right hand and covered my face.
(Weren't we all killed in that attack just now? Then why am I still alive?)
(I feel like I've experienced a moment where Iris and I went to the balcony at night to listen to what she wanted to tell me.)
(It can't be… I can't be dreaming of the future. That slaughter felt far too real.)
(Besides, Iris and I were already on this balcony, calmly talking like this several days before the attack…)
(…haha… this isn't funny at all.)
What… what is happening here?
Don't tell me… time has turned back?