Episode 158. It’s Youth (3)

Boom!

“Kyaaaah!?”

“What, what’s going on? What happened?”

“Did a bomb go off or something!?”

The candidates, who were enjoying a leisurely tea time after a meal, screamed at the loud noise echoing inside the cafe.

And then.

“Cough! Cough! Hack!”

Berald, struggling with his mouth covered.

“…What are you doing?”

Senior Sophia looked at me, who was covering Berald’s mouth, with narrowed eyes.

Perhaps she thought the date, which had been going so well, was being interrupted.

The look in Senior Sophia’s eyes as she stared at me was icy cold.

“Uh… well, you see.”

The exchanged glances.

The air that had turned chilly.

I opened my mouth with an awkward smile on my lips.

“Can I join you for a moment?”

“No.”

“Hahaha. Thank you, Senior.”

Ignoring Senior Sophia’s cold reply, I sat down on the chair.

“Pfft! Wh-what’s going on here, bro? Didn’t you say you weren’t coming earlier?”

“You, shut up.”

After glaring fiercely at Berald, I turned back to Senior Sophia.

“So… what were you talking about?”

“We were discussing microcosm magic.”

“Ah, I see. But unfortunately, Berald doesn’t know much about microcosm magic. No, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he knows nothing at all.”

“Hey, bro. How much do I love micro… Oof!”

I stepped on Berald’s foot as hard as I could as he tried to butt in cluelessly.

‘Please, just shut up.’

This is all for your sake, you idiot.

“Ugh…”

Whether he understood or was scared by my fierce expression, Berald closed his mouth with a cowering look.

Senior Sophia glanced at Berald and continued.

“He said he was very interested?”

“Being interested and having a lot of knowledge are two different things.”

“Hmm.”

Senior Sophia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

“But how do you know that Berald doesn’t know much about microcosm magic?”

“Because I’m the one who taught him magic.”

“…You taught him?”

Senior Sophia looked at Berald with a surprised expression.

Berald nodded and replied.

“That’s right. It was my bro who taught me magic. And the ‘Berald Martial Arts’ I mentioned earlier, I learned that from him too.”

“So you named the martial arts you learned from him after yourself?”

Sophia let out a hollow laugh.

“B-bro told me to do it! I’m innocent!”

“Hmm. I see now.”

Senior Sophia nodded slightly and then glared at me.

“You were worried about your techniques being leaked, weren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry. I know your magic skills are excellent, but I have no intention of stealing someone else’s secret techniques without permission.”

“……”

It seemed like she had completely misunderstood, but…

Well, fine.

Let’s just go with that.

Whatever it is, it’s better than Berald’s preferences being outed here.

“By the way, showing up at such a perfect timing means you were secretly following us, right?”

“Uh? Is that so, bro?”

Just as I was about to be cornered by Senior Sophia’s sharp remark.

“No. I called Dale for coffee and happened to overhear your conversation.”

Iris appeared just in time.

“…The Saint of the Holy Kingdom.”

“Please call me Iris.”

Iris smiled gently and bowed her head slightly.

Senior Sophia rested her chin on her hand and narrowed her eyes.

“Is it okay for a Saint to wander around alone with a man like this?”

“The seven gods said that those who do not love do not know the gods.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Sophia’s gaze, which had been scanning Iris up and down, stopped at one point.

The curves clearly visible even through the candidate’s uniform.

Gulp. A short sigh escaped Sophia’s lips.

Sophia glanced at Berald with uneasy eyes and continued bluntly.

“Certainly, it’s a body that makes it easy to understand ‘love.’ I guess that’s also a blessing from the gods?”

Though her tone was clearly picking a fight, Iris instead smiled brightly and sat next to Sophia.

“Well, I think Senior Sophia is actually more suited to understand love, don’t you think?”

“What?”

“Ruby-like eyes… your skin is so clean, and your face is so pretty.”

“Wh-what are you saying all of a sudden? Even if you say that…”

“Mr. Berald, you think so too, right?”

Iris turned to Berald and asked.

“I agree. Sister Sophia is very beautiful.”

“Eek…!”

Sophia flinched and grabbed the hem of her uniform skirt.

Her ears, hidden under her red hair, turned as red as her hair.

“See~ Mr. Berald also says you’re pretty, right?”

“You…”

Senior Sophia glared at Iris, who was grinning as if she found the situation very amusing.

“I-I think I’ll go now!”

Sophia turned and ran out of the cafe as if fleeing.

“Huh? You’re leaving already?”

Berald, watching Sophia’s retreating figure, simply sipped his coffee without making any move.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re not thinking of not chasing after her, are you?”

“…Am I supposed to chase her?”

Berald looked at me and Iris with a blank expression, as if he didn’t understand.

Iris, with an exasperated expression, slammed the table and stood up.

“What nonsense are you spouting, you blockhead? Are you not going to run after her before I crush what’s between your legs?!”

“Ah, got it! Calm down!”

Berald hurriedly ran out of the cafe at Iris’s fierce scolding.

After confirming that Berald was chasing after Sophia, Iris sighed deeply and sat back down.

“Phew, it’s really frustrating to watch. Huh? Why are you sitting like that, Dale?”

“…It’s nothing.”

I uncrossed my legs and shifted my gaze to the window.

In the distance, I could see Berald running after Senior Sophia.

‘Even though the future has changed.’

It will still take some time before their ‘youth’ arrives.

“By the way… this feels nice, doesn’t it?”

Iris looked at the coffee cups left by Sophia and Berald and smiled faintly.

“What feels nice?”

“Don’t you feel excited just seeing the two of them together?”

“More like it makes me want to explode.”

Mainly because of that Berald guy.

“That’s how it is at first.”

Iris covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.

“Everything is unfamiliar, awkward, and anxious… yet you want to convey your feelings…”

Her gaze turned to me.

“Just like you did, Dale.”

“Ugh.”

I didn’t expect her to turn the arrow towards me here.

I swallowed a sigh and turned my head to avoid her gaze.

“About what you said at the beach before, I haven’t given you an answer yet, have I?”

“……”

Iris and Yurina.

It’s been weeks since I confessed that I didn’t want to lose either of them.

Since then, neither Iris nor Yurina brought up what happened that day.

As if nothing had happened, the same daily life continued, with the memory of that day neatly cut out.

“I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”

This was the first time Iris brought it up again.

“I don’t know about Yurina’s feelings, so I’ll tell you my thoughts first.”

Iris looked at me with eyes that held the blue sky.

“Honestly, when I first heard it, I was a little angry.”

“……”

“I was also curious how you would respond if the situation were reversed.”

If the situation were reversed.

I imagined a scene where Iris confessed to having feelings for two men.

A suffocating sensation spread through my spine, sending a chilling shiver down my back.

“……”

An indescribable sense of guilt and sin pressed down on my chest.

“Ah, don’t make that face. I was only angry for a moment. Now, I actually feel a bit relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“Well… at least I won’t be rejected by you, right?”

Iris smiled brightly as she said this.

“Even if it means sharing you with someone else, I would choose to stay by your side rather than being left alone.”

Even if that love isn’t entirely directed at me.

Just being by his side is a blessing from the gods.

I’ve fallen so deeply for him that I can’t help but think such absurd thoughts.

“I think Yurina feels the same.”

“…Iris.”

“Ah, and there’s also this possibility. If you had chosen me and coldly rejected Yurina… hmm.”

Iris paused and fell into thought.

She recalled the story she had heard from Yurina that day.

The story of a woman who had to live her entire life under the weight of the sun’s light.

“Hmm, after all.”

After a long thought, Iris shook her head with a faint smile.

“I don’t like that either.”

“……”

“Call it cheap sympathy if you want. But… to me, Yurina is like family. No one wants to see their family sad, right?”

Come to think of it, Iris was also from an orphanage.

Having grown up without a family, she couldn’t help but be attached to the bond of ‘comrades.’

Just like I was.

“Well, anyway. After much thought, this is my answer.”

Iris slowly reached out and took my hand.

“Even if you are selfish, irresponsible, and only think of yourself.”

The gentle warmth transmitted through her hand.

“I love you.”

So deeply that I can’t help it.

“……”

I looked at Iris with trembling eyes.

When my mind was too tangled to continue speaking.

“Ah, but don’t forget that I’m the ‘first,’ okay?”

Iris gently stroked the hand she was holding and continued.

“If you ever neglect me or look at another woman…”

With a refreshing smile and a wink.

“I’ll crush you?”