It was a good thing—I ended up learning several things after talking with Iris while enjoying the cool air beneath the trees here.
Basically, the two of us were just walking around like we did back then, except this time it lasted longer.
Aside from visiting the settlements connected to the Yggdrasil tree and the surrounding area, we also went to several other settlements.
Iris said that I needed to see the other areas as well, so I could better understand the peace of Riruyo that had always been protected by the sturdy barrier.
That was how I came to learn how this barrier could be so powerful, capable of protecting nearly the entire region of Riruyo.
There was some kind of relic left behind from an Abyss attack in the past, and those objects were spread around all the settlements, connected to one another.
Those objects were lantern-like structures planted into the ground, with some sort of magic stone inside them.
When Iris awakens her power, those lanterns will shine and form a barrier that connects all the lanterns across the continent.
Even now, the lanterns were still glowing, but their light was far dimmer than it had been several years ago. It was clear that this was a sign the barrier would soon collapse.
Earlier, Iris had taken me to see one of those lanterns, so I already knew what it looked like.
The lantern was about the same size as an oil lamp, so it did not look very different from an ordinary lantern.
The most striking part was the inside of it.
There was something like a sphere or a magic seed that served as the source of the light, giving the lantern its color.
The light inside the lantern we saw earlier was a bright purple.
According to her, each lantern had a different color depending on the element of the magic stone or seed placed inside it.
Basically, magic stones are formed from residual magic embedded deep underground, which eventually condenses into the form I now recognize.
—
After that, we returned to one of the settlements and greeted several of the residents.
Just like during previous time loops, the reactions and welcome the people gave Iris did not change.
The same went for Iris—she greeted them and chatted with them, and of course, everyone smiled as they spoke with one another.
Honestly, I could never have imagined that the barrier of Riruyo would be destroyed, and that all of their smiles would turn into fear and streams of tears.
—
The last place we visited that afternoon, after returning from several settlements, was the building that served as Iris's home.
I did not know why, but I simply followed Iris after asking her about it.
She answered that the last place she wanted to visit today was the Yggdrasil tree directly connected to her home.
I could not understand what she was thinking or what she was really trying to do.
She was always at her house every day, so why was she taking me back here? It was strange, wasn't it?
"Hey, Iris. If you just wanted to go home, you could have said so, right? There was no need to say you wanted to come to your own house," I said to her, full of curiosity and confusion.
Of course, I had to ask her about it, because this would greatly affect the end of this time loop.
This would surely determine what would happen next, so it was something I absolutely needed to know.
Iris turned around and looked at me with a mischievous smile, as if she wanted to play a little game with me.
"I wonder~ why is that? Hey, Yuusha. What do you think is near the Yggdrasil tree, besides my house?" Iris asked.
How could she change her way of speaking so quickly? Well, that did not matter right now.
"There's only your house around here, right? Is there anything else?" I asked.
Around the Yggdrasil tree, there was only empty land, with uneven ground caused by the roots of Yggdrasil protruding from the soil.
I fell silent for a moment, thinking about what I should say to Iris.
"…Alright, I'll follow you," I said.
—
I followed her steps as she walked toward the back of the tree from the direction we had come from.
This… this place was the flat open area where I had practiced swordsmanship a few days ago, before Iris gave me a towel.
What could possibly be here? Wasn't this just an empty space?
"Wait a moment, Yuusha. It should be around here somewhere… let me see… ah, here it is," she said, slightly bending down to look into the bushes.
What was Iris doing? Was she searching for something inside them?
I walked over to her and looked at what was in front of her.
Beneath the bushes that Iris had pushed aside with her hands, there was a small square-shaped door embedded into the ground.
Its shape was almost like the circular covers usually connected to drainage systems on city streets.
However, this one was slightly wider, wide enough for even a large-bodied person to enter.
There was no doubt about it—just as she said, Iris had really brought me to some place hidden around Yggdrasil.
"What is it? Don't tell me you thought I was lying to you earlier?" Iris asked while looking at my face, which probably showed how confused and shocked I was.
"I can't deny that," I replied quickly.
She bent down and began to open the door upward, revealing a staircase that descended underground.
The stairs went straight down at a slope similar to an ordinary staircase, but the ceiling was high enough that there was no difficulty entering.
There were also lanterns mounted along the walls of this strange place, making it look almost like an underground space or a dungeon filled with monsters.
But… now that I thought about it, maybe this place really was a dungeon.
After descending the steps, Iris and I arrived in a large room, brightly lit by the lanterns on the walls.
There was only one passage leading to another area, and its entrance was enormous—almost like the entrance to a cave.
It was not dark inside, but I did not step into it, because I had no idea what might be waiting within that massive corridor.
The room Iris and I were standing in now was not empty—there were several objects inside.
There was a table, and behind it stood a bookshelf filled with dusty books.
Behind the table was also a chair covered in dust and spider webs.
This place looked like a room that had long been abandoned, eventually becoming a home for spiders and ants.
Really… what kind of place was this?