Chapter 145

“…So.”

Iris, who had been quietly listening, slowly opened her eyes.

She glared at Yurina, who was bowing her head deeply as if she were a criminal, with a cold gaze.

“So, Yuren was actually Yurina’s deceased older brother, and due to family circumstances, Yurina had been pretending to be Yuren, is that it?”

“Y-yes. That’s right.”

Yurina nodded her head with a completely shrunken expression.

“……”

A heavy silence fell.

The sound of the gentle waves seemed to echo like thunder.

After organizing her thoughts, Iris slowly reached out her hand toward Yurina.

“Eek…!”

Perhaps expecting a slap on the cheek, Yurina tightly closed her eyes as she saw Iris’s hand approaching.

And then.

“You’ve been through a lot, Yurina.”

Iris hugged Yurina and gently patted her back.

“…Iris?”

“For so long… you couldn’t tell anyone and suffered a lot, didn’t you?”

“……”

Yurina’s eyes trembled slightly.

“To be discriminated against by your own parents just because you bear the Holy Mark of the Moon…”

Iris continued, furrowing her brows.

“The Holy Marks bestowed by the Seven Gods are all the same blessings and grace, regardless of their type. There’s no reason to be sad or discriminated against just because your parents have a different Holy Mark.”

“Eek.”

Tears welled up in Yurina’s eyes.

She bit her lip and buried her face in Iris’s shoulder.

The Holy Marks are all the same blessings of the gods, regardless of their type.

It’s a statement written in the basic education textbooks of the Reynaldo Hero School and even in the scriptures of the Seven Stars Church that she learned as a child.

But reality was different.

Humans are beings who treat others as slaves just because of a difference in skin color.

The discrimination that the moon, born among the sun, had to endure was so brutal that it was impossible to describe in words.

But even so.

“…Thank you, Iris.”

Hearing the Saintess of the Seven Stars Church herself say, “They are all the same blessings of the gods,” the sorrow that had been buried deep in her heart began to melt away.

To the point where tears unintentionally flowed.

“Thank me? I didn’t do anything. Haah, I’m sorry. If I had known this earlier…”

“No. It’s my fault for not telling you, why are you apologizing, Iris?”

“I could have stopped this cheeky thief cat from seducing Dale.”

“…Huh?”

*Crack.*

Iris’s arms, which were hugging Yurina, tightened.

Although she is a support type, she is also a superhuman who holds magic power within her Holy Mark.

Her arms, imbued with magic power, had the strength to crush even rocks.

“Ugh…! Ah, Iris?!”

“You’ve been deceiving us about being a woman all this time? I can understand that. You hesitated even when you had the chance to tell us? I can understand that too.”

But.

“But that doesn’t mean you can secretly call Dale out alone and wag your tail at him, you brat! And in a swimsuit?!”

Sparks flew from Iris’s eyes.

“Ahhk! Ah, Iris! W-wait a minute…!”

“I wanted to show him my swimsuit too!”

She was so embarrassed to be in a swimsuit in front of other men that she deliberately wore loose clothes over it!

She was excited to secretly call Dale out later and show him her swimsuit!

“How dare you cut in line?!”

Iris shouted and threw off the loose clothes she was wearing.

The pink bikini hidden under the large T-shirt revealed its beautiful form.

“Huh…!”

Yurina, who saw the two mounds that were even more terrifying than the word “violent,” opened her eyes wide in shock.

“Fufu. How is it? No matter how cheaply you act, Yurina, there’s a gap you can’t overcome, right?”

Iris glanced at Yurina’s chest and smiled provocatively.

At her provocation, Yurina’s eyebrows twitched.

“Are you showing off just because your chest is a bit bigger now?”

“Yurina, you might not know because you don’t have it, but there’s no better weapon to capture a man’s heart than this.”

“Ah, that’s not true! It’s just that yours is ridiculously big, Iris!”

“There’s nothing wrong with being big, right? Dale also likes them bigger.”

“Hmph! Don’t treat Dale like other men! Dale isn’t the kind of man to be swayed by such trivial lumps of flesh!”

Yurina said that and turned to Dale.

“Right, Dale?”

“…Huh? Yeah? What?”

I, who had been mesmerized by Iris’s swimsuit that I hadn’t even seen in my past life, belatedly turned my head.

“Keuk…!”

“Oh my~ What should we do? It seems like he’s not just swayed, but completely fallen.”

Iris smiled victoriously and slightly gathered her arms to emphasize her chest.

Yurina’s face crumpled.

“How pathetic. Is this the kind of shameless act the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom does?”

“Yurina, as a member of the Helios Family, do you plan to succumb to victory so cheaply?”

The two women glared fiercely at each other.

After a while, Iris and Yurina, who had been in a battle of wills, suddenly turned their heads toward me.

“Now, Dale! How is it? Doesn’t the swimsuit I’m wearing suit me better than Yurina’s?”

“Evaluate it objectively!”

“……”

I tightly closed my mouth at the sudden arrow turned toward me.

Iris and Yurina.

Looking at the two women, I gritted my teeth.

‘Damn it.’

I had expected that a day like this would come.

I had known for a long time that Iris and Yurina had feelings for me.

That’s why I deliberately ignored it.

I turned away, thinking, ‘Now is not the time to worry about this.’

I buried my head deep in the ground and waited for everything to just flow by without any incidents.

‘I can’t keep doing that forever.’

I looked at Iris and Yurina and steeled my resolve.

Some might criticize the choice I’m about to make as selfish.

Without any respect, without any consideration.

It might be a wrong choice made solely to fulfill my own desires.

‘But.’

So what am I supposed to do?

‘I don’t want to give up because of that.’

I’ve given up too much.

I’ve lost too much.

Even if I’m criticized for being selfish and making the wrong choice.

I didn’t want to leave any regrets in this new life I had finally obtained.

‘Because that’s how I decided to live.’

Hoo.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to the two women.

“Both of you look good.”

“Eek… You’re being vague again…”

“I want you to keep showing it only to me from now on.”

“…Huh?”

“What do you mean…?”

“Iris, Yurina.”

I took both of their hands.

“Can you stay by my side forever?”

“……”

“……”

A heavy silence fell.

Iris and Yurina tilted their heads toward each other and continued to whisper.

“A confession? Is this a confession?”

“I-I think so?”

“So, we were asking him to choose which swimsuit suits him better, and suddenly Dale confessed to us?”

“That’s right…?”

“Is this what they call the swimsuit effect in professional terms?”

“I’ve never heard of that before…”

“Okay. From now on, I’ll wear a swimsuit instead of a nun’s habit. Like a bikini armor.”

“…Will the Holy Kingdom just stand by?”

Iris and Yurina, perhaps because the situation was so chaotic, were talking nonsense.

I swallowed a chuckle and stood up.

“I don’t need an answer right now. I know very well how ridiculous what I’m saying is.”

Just as I needed time, they would also need time.

“Let’s head back.”

We left the moonlit beach behind and headed back to the lodge.

* * *

After returning to the lodge.

I gathered the party members and Professor Elisha and revealed Yurina’s true identity.

“S-so, Brother Yuren… no, Sister? Uh… Haha. What on earth is this…?”

“…I can’t believe it.”

Berald and Camila made bewildered expressions.

“Hmm. So that’s why I always felt something was off whenever I saw Candidate Yuren.”

Professor Elisha crossed her arms and nodded as if she finally understood.

And the remaining one.

Juliet gulped as she looked at the pendant in Yurina’s hand.

“Yuren… no, Yurina. D-does that Disguise Magical Tool have a function to turn into a woman?”

“……”

Yurina ignored Juliet’s burning gaze and bowed her head to her comrades gathered in the room.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you all this time.”

At her sincere apology, Berald shook his head and replied.

“No. Sister Yurina must have had no choice, right?”

“I agree. I’ve heard that noble families who value lineage often have similar incidents.”

Berald and Camila comforted Yurina.

“Hmm. But if this gets out to the school, Candidate Yurina will be in a difficult position.”

Professor Elisha furrowed her brows as if she had a headache.

If this fact got out to the school, Yurina could face repeating a year… or, in the worst case, expulsion.

Even if it was something she had to do under her parents’ coercion, disguising herself as someone else to enter the school was a clear violation of school rules.

“I’ll do my best to ensure this doesn’t get out to the school.”

“Th-thank you, Professor!”

Yurina’s face brightened as she bowed to Professor Elisha.

She had just started to enjoy going to school and didn’t want to be kicked out.

“But you’ll have to continue living as ‘Yuren’ until graduation.”

“That’s fine. I’ve been doing it all along.”

Yurina smiled faintly as if to say not to worry.

“Just having my precious people know is enough for me.”

“Hoho. Am I also one of Candidate Yurina’s ‘precious people’? This is an honor.”

Professor Elisha chuckled and nodded.

“By the way, it’s quite fascinating… Does that pendant change your body shape and hair color too?”

“Yes. I heard it’s a very precious magical tool.”

Yurina put the pendant in her hand around her neck.

With a blue glow, her hair turned golden, and her chest, which had been perky, flattened like a man’s.

The party members gasped as they watched Yurina transform into Yuren before their eyes.

As everyone was looking at the pendant around Yuren’s neck with fascination.

“Ah…! So that’s how it was!”

Berald exclaimed as if he had realized something.

Berald nodded as if he finally understood and turned to Camila.

“Sister Camila. You can be honest now.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Hoho. No use pretending! Sister Camila’s flat chest is also because of the Disguise Magical Tool…”

*Wham!*

Camila’s magic-imbued fist struck Berald’s solar plexus.

Berald flew into the air and landed headfirst on the floor.

“Hmm.”

I looked down at Berald, who was writhing like a bug on the floor, and nodded.

“He deserved that.”

And so.

The curtain fell on the short summer vacation.