"Iris, what do you want to do?" I asked her.
As I had said before, the answer Iris would give me would determine what would happen next.
If the choice she made ended up causing her to die again, then it was possible that time itself would loop once more.
Because of that, I wanted to end this strange cycle and return with my party as soon as possible to defeat the Abbys.
—
Iris fell silent for a moment. She looked slightly surprised when I said that, then immediately lowered her head a little.
She clenched both of her hands that were resting at her sides, and I could see her lightly biting her lip.
Iris must be very confused right now. She probably did not know what she should do anymore.
I could not afford to feel sorry for her. I had to be selfish, and if necessary, make her stay here with me.
"I-I… I want to go with my parents to the front line. I want to be with them to defend this place."
"This is the land my family leads. All elves, all territories in Riruyo are ruled by us, and because of that, we must take responsibility by offering our final resistance," Iris answered while maintaining her posture.
I lost almost all of my hope of making her stay here with me, but I would—
I took two steps forward, intending to touch her shoulder and make her look straight at me so I could tell her what I wanted.
But before my hand could reach her, Iris spoke again, saying things that made my hand stop midair.
"But… after hearing that you plan to stay here, I thought you were a coward who could only hide under the protection of two heroes who dragged you into the hero's party," Iris said.
Her words made my chest feel tight. I did not expect Iris to insult me.
Now it was my turn to bite my own lip. I felt slightly hopeless, and a little sad.
I lowered my hand and let both of them hang at my sides. All I could do was stare at Iris.
"No—"
Before I could continue that important sentence, Iris slightly raised her voice and cut me off.
"B-but! After thinking about it again, your wish isn't completely wrong. I think maybe you want to stay here in order to awaken my power together with me."
"For some reason, I feel like that's what you want to do. That's why I'm saying this now."
"Maybe… it's better for me to trust the others to defend this place, and for the two of us to complete our task here," Iris said.
Her words made my eyes widen slightly. I truly did not expect her to say that.
At all. I could not tell what she was feeling right now.
"Iris, what do you mean…?" I asked quietly.
"I've decided to stay here with you. I think the choice we're making is something that only we can do."
Iris looked straight into my eyes, and I could tell how serious she was when she said that.
I did not feel like Iris was being forced by me at all. Rather, it felt like it was her own desire.
I did not even need to force her. Did that mean the plan I made to reach a happy end was working?
——
While everyone else went toward the barrier and prepared to defend the place from the anonymous army's attack, Iris and I walked around together as if we were just taking a stroll.
The problem now was that I did not know what I should do with her.
Come on, come on, brain… think, think… Oh, how about that!
"Iris, do you know where the three of them went that day? The time when I tasted your new cooking," I asked her.
Iris slightly looked up and placed her index finger under her chin, as if lifting her face with it.
"Hmmm~ Oh, that time. The brown-haired girl came to say goodbye to me. She said she was going to the ancient ruins," Iris answered after thinking for a moment.
Ah, the girl she meant must be Yuu-chan. That meant the three of them went to those ruins back then.
In that case—
"Iris, is that place far from here?" I asked.
"Not really. Are you thinking of going there, Yuusha? That's a good idea. We can get closer, and you'll also learn more about elves~" Iris said with a smile.
——
In the end, the two of us went to the ancient ruins, a place that looked completely abandoned.
The structures above ground were covered in moss, their shapes distorted from either vibrations or deliberate destruction.
The inside looked dark from here. Was there even any lighting inside?
"Let's go in. I'll guide you inside," Iris said as she pulled my hand and led me in.
What she said was obviously true. There was no way I would be the one going in first.
I would let the one who knew this place better take the lead and tell me various pieces of information that might be useful later.
—
Inside the ruins, the lighting surprised me a little.
At first, I thought this place could only be entered by people carrying their own lanterns, or by using a spell called Light that created a ball of light to illuminate the surroundings.
On the walls, there were lanterns that seemed to be powered by magic, making the ruins slightly brighter.
E-even so, Iris still used Light to ensure that our visibility remained clear.
We continued descending the stairs until we finally reached the lowest floor.
There was one thing I realized from the moment we entered the ruins: the rooms inside were nothing but empty spaces.
I did not find a single object or artifact in any of the rooms as we went down the stairs.
Just like before, there was nothing visible in the lowest room either.
Instead, I noticed something that felt familiar, as if I had seen it before.
There was a room with a large entrance, resembling the mouth of a cave.
Ah, right! This was the same as the underground space near Yggdrasil. The shape of the entrance was identical. Could it be that these ruins were connected to Yggdrasil's underground network?
"Iris, do these ruins really not have anything inside?" I asked.
"Huh, only if you look at the surface. Follow me," she said while walking toward a certain spot.
She stopped in front of a wall—meaning there was nothing but a dead end ahead of her.
"Oi, Iris, why did you stop?" I asked.
Iris placed her palm against the wall, and suddenly I heard a sound, as if something were shifting.
Grush, grush.
The wall Iris had touched opened into a door, revealing a hidden room.
Inside this room, I saw a magic circle with a rather strange design.
As far as I remembered, when we were still in Vannis, Yuu-chan had told me that there was a magic circle in the forest inside the city.
I did not know what that magic circle looked like, because that area was handled by Luke during the battle in Vannis.
"What kind of magic circle is this?" I asked curiously.
Iris slowly shook her head before answering.
"I don't know. Even the elders here don't know what will come out of this magic circle. That's why it's considered a relic, but that's not what I wanted to show you," she said.
Iris did the same thing again, placing her palm against the wall and opening a path to another room.
The room she opened looked like a storage area for artifacts and gold.
The gold inside was dazzling and plentiful, with countless items stored within.
There were thick books that might contain knowledge unknown to many.
Various kinds of armor, along with weapons such as swords, spears, and even magic staves.
In short, there were many more items that I could not possibly list one by one.
So this was what lay within the ancient ruins. Now I understood.
"Besides this place, there are rooms like this on the upper floors as well, but their contents are different," Iris said.
I see now.
Before leaving, I picked up a book from one of the shelves. I did not know why.
The title was… "What Is Truly Buried Within the Tale of the Legacy." What kind of book was this?
My curiosity drove my hand to flip through its pages, until I reached one page whose contents immediately shocked me.
I never expected this book to contain something like this—something my mind could barely process.
It described the "true" story of what the princess of Riruyo was supposed to do together with a man from the hero's party.
What was written was not that the man and the princess had to form a romantic relationship, but…
(Indeed, a romantic relationship is still possible. However, there is a more effective method, and this was the method used when the barrier was first created to protect Riruyo.)
(The princess and the man from the hero's party only need to perform actions normally done by lovers, under certain conditions.)
(First, physical relations. Second, kissing. Third, hugging or holding hands. Fourth, making the princess cry from feeling safe and comfortable with the man. And finally, enslaving the princess and forcing her to release her power.)
(The last method is the one I least recommend. It is extremely vile, and even I myself was not confident when writing it down.)
Those were roughly the key passages written on the important page I was reading.
Of course, I was shocked. At first, Lancer-san had only told me that I needed to build a romantic relationship with Iris.
Or rather, to form a close bond with her—that was what I thought.
I never imagined that what actually had to be done were methods like these.
I could not tell Iris about this right now. I was truly, completely confused.
…Damn it…
——
Eventually, we left the room, along with the one containing the magic circle.
It felt strange and unsettling when I looked at that circle. It was as if the magic was actually active, yet no one realized it.
Ugh, I was thinking about strange things again.
"Iris, I want to enter the room with the small cave-like entrance. What about you?" I asked.
"I've been curious about what's inside for a long time too. Alright, let's go in," Iris replied.
——
We walked at a normal pace once we were inside.
If my guess was correct, we would reach the underground area near Yggdrasil, and then I would know what I needed to do next.
My chest had been restless ever since reading the contents of that book, as if those words were haunting my thoughts without end.
What should I choose, and who should I trust—between that book, or the story Iris believed in?