The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 145

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 145. Let’s Head to the Beach (4)
“…So that’s what happened.”
Iris, who had been listening quietly, slowly opened her eyes.
She fixed Yurina—who stood with her head bowed like a criminal, fidgeting nervously—with a cold, piercing gaze.
“So what you’re saying is… Yuren was actually your dead older brother, and you’ve been impersonating him because of your family circumstances?”
“Y-yes. That’s right.”
Yurina nodded, her entire frame shrinking inward.
“….”
A heavy silence settled over us.
The gentle sound of waves seemed to crash down like thunder, impossibly loud.
After collecting her thoughts, Iris slowly extended her hand toward Yurina.
“Huh….”
Had Yurina braced herself for a slap across the face?
She squeezed her eyes shut as she watched Iris’s hand approach.
And then.
“You’ve endured so much, Yurina.”
Iris pulled her into an embrace, gently stroking her back with tender affection.
“…Iris?”
“All this time… you’ve suffered in silence, haven’t you? Carrying this burden alone?”
“….”
Yurina’s eyes trembled faintly.
“To be discriminated against by your own parents simply because you bear the Moon’s Stigma….”
Iris continued, her brow furrowed with concern.
“The Stigmata bestowed by the Seven Gods are all equal blessings and grace, regardless of their type. There is no reason to grieve or be discriminated against because your Stigma differs from your parents’.”
“Huh.”
Tears welled up in Yurina’s eyes.
She bit her lip firmly and buried her face against Iris’s shoulder.
The Stigmata are all equal blessings of the divine, regardless of their type.
It was written in the foundational textbooks of the Hero Academy, and it was plainly stated in the scriptures of the Seven Star Church that I had learned as a child.
Yet reality was different.
Humanity was capable of treating fellow humans as slaves for nothing more than a difference in skin color.
The discrimination that the Moon—born between the Suns—had endured was so severe that it had brutally ravaged every aspect of her existence.
And yet, despite all of that.
“…Thank you, Iris.”
Hearing the Saint of the Seven Star Church herself say “they are all equal blessings of the divine” seemed to dissolve the sorrow that had accumulated deep within her heart.
So much so that tears flowed unbidden.
“I haven’t done anything to deserve thanks. I’m sorry… if only I had known this sooner….”
“No. It’s my fault for not telling you. Why are you apologizing?”
“This sneaky little thief could have stopped Dale from being manipulated.”
“…What?”
Crunch.
Iris’s arms tightened around Yurina in her embrace.
Though she was classified as a support-type, she too was a superhuman brimming with mana within the stigma.
Her mana-infused arms possessed a strength capable of pulverizing stone.
“Ugh…! W-wait, Iris?!”
“So you’ve been hiding the fact that you’re a woman all this time? I can understand that. You hesitated even though you had the chance to tell us? I can understand that too.”
But.
“What about this? Calling Dale away in secret and flirting with him in a swimsuit?! How shameless!”
Sparks of fury ignited in Iris’s eyes.
“Ow! W-wait, Iris! P-please hold on…!”
“I wanted to show Dale my swimsuit too!”
I was too embarrassed to wear a swimsuit in front of the other men, so I deliberately put on an oversized shirt on top!
I was thrilled with the plan to call Dale away secretly later and show him my swimsuit!
“How dare you cut in line like that?!”
Iris shouted and tore off the oversized shirt she was wearing.
A pale pink bikini that had been hidden beneath the large t-shirt revealed its beautiful form.
“Gasp…!”
Yurina’s eyes widened in shock as she beheld the two mounds of flesh so violent in their prominence that the word itself seemed insufficient.
“Hehe. How is it? No matter how underhanded Yurina may be, there are gaps that simply cannot be overcome, wouldn’t you say?”
Iris glanced down at Yurina’s chest and offered a provocative smile.
At her provocation, Yurina’s brow twitched.
“Are you really bragging just because yours are a bit bigger?”
“Yurina wouldn’t know since you lack them, but there’s no finer weapon for capturing a man’s heart than this.”
“That’s not true! You’re just abnormally large!”
“There’s nothing wrong with being big, is there? Dale prefers the larger variety anyway.”
“Hmph! Don’t lump Dale in with other men! He’s not the kind of man to be swayed by mere flesh!”
Yurina said this and turned to look at me.
“Right, Dale?”
“…Huh? What? What do you mean?”
Entranced by Iris’s swimsuit—something I’d never witnessed even in my past life—I was frozen in place, only now turning my head.
“Tch…!”
“Oh my~ What’s this? It seems you’ve gone beyond mere wavering and are completely lost in thought.”
Iris wore the smile of a victor, subtly bringing her arms together to emphasize her chest.
Yurina’s face crumpled in frustration.
“How pathetic. And here you are, the Saint of the Holy Kingdom, resorting to such shameless behavior?”
“And you, a member of the Helios Family, are childishly refusing to accept defeat?”
The two women glared at each other fiercely.
After a prolonged battle of wills, both Iris and Yurina suddenly turned their heads toward me.
“So, Dale! How is it? My swimsuit suits me better than Yurina’s, doesn’t it?”
“Give us an honest evaluation!”
“….”
I clamped my mouth shut as the sudden barb was directed back at me.
Iris and Yurina.
Staring at the two women, I bit my lip hard.
‘Damn it.’
I’d anticipated that a day like this would come eventually.
I’d known for quite some time that both Iris and Yurina harbored affection for me.
So I deliberately ignored it.
I turned away, telling myself, ‘Now is not the time to worry about such things.’
I buried my head deep in the sand and simply waited for everything to flow past without incident.
‘But I can’t keep doing this forever.’
I steadied myself, turning to face Iris and Yurina.
Someone would surely condemn the choice I was about to make as selfish.
Without any respect, without any consideration.
It might well be a misguided choice made solely to satisfy my own desires.
‘But.’
So what?
‘I don’t want to give up for that reason.’
I had surrendered far too much already.
I had lost beyond measure.
Even if I were condemned as selfish and making a wrong choice.
I didn’t want to leave a single regret in this new life I’d finally grasped.
‘Because I decided to live that way.’
I exhaled slowly.
Drawing a deep breath, I opened my mouth toward the two women.
“You both look beautiful.”
“Ugh… are you going to brush past it like that again….”
“From now on, I’d want you to show yourself like that only to me.”
“…What?”
“What do you mean….”
“Iris, Yurina.”
I took both women’s hands.
“Will you stay by my side? Always?”
“….”
“….”
A heavy silence descended.
Iris and Yurina tilted their heads toward each other, continuing their hushed discussion.
“A confession? Is this a confession?”
“I, I think it is?”
“So he just asked us which swimsuit looked better, and now Dale is suddenly confessing to both of us?”
“Right…?”
“Do you think that’s what experts call the ‘swimsuit effect’?”
“I’ve never heard that term before….”
“Fine then. From now on, I should wear a swimsuit instead of a nun’s habit. Like a bikini armor aesthetic.”
“…Would the Holy Kingdom really allow that?”
Iris and Yurina were spouting nonsense too, the situation being far too bewildering for either of them.
I stifled a laugh and rose to my feet.
“I’m not asking for an answer right now. I’m well aware of how absurd I sound.”
Just as I needed time to process this, they would need time as well.
“Let’s head back.”
We turned away from the moonlit beach and made our way to the Dormitory.
* * *
After returning to the Dormitory.
I gathered my party members and Elisha to reveal the truth about Yurina’s identity.
“S-so Yuren… no, wait, sister? I… what on earth is….”
“…Unbelievable.”
Berald and Camilla wore expressions of bewilderment.
“Hmm. So that’s why I always felt something off whenever I saw Candidate Yuren.”
Elisha crossed her arms and nodded as if finally understanding.
And then there was one more.
Juliet stared at the pendant in Yurina’s hand and swallowed hard.
“Yuren… or rather, Yurina. D-does that disguise artifact have a function that changes you into a woman too?”
“….”
Yurina ignored Juliet’s gleaming gaze and bowed her head toward her gathered companions.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you all this time.”
Berald shook his head in response to her sincere apology.
“No, sister Yurina. You must have had circumstances beyond your control, didn’t you?”
“I agree. I’ve heard that similar situations occur frequently among noble houses that place great emphasis on bloodlines.”
Berald and Camilla offered their comfort to Yurina.
“Still, if the Academy finds out about this, Candidate Yurina could find herself in a difficult position.”
Elisha furrowed her brow as if her head ached.
If this truth reached the Academy’s ears, she could face grade retention or, in the worst case, expulsion.
Even if it was done under parental coercion, enrolling under a false identity was a clear violation of school regulations.
“I’ll do what I can to ensure the Academy doesn’t learn of this.”
“Th-thank you so much, Professor!”
Yurina brightened and bowed deeply to Elisha.
For the first time, she had come to find attending school “enjoyable,” and she didn’t want to be expelled.
“However, you’ll have to continue living as ‘Yuren’ until graduation.”
“That’s fine. It’s what I’ve been doing all along anyway.”
Yurina offered a faint smile, as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
“It’s enough for me that the people I care about acknowledge me.”
“Hehe. So I’ve become one of Yurina Candidate’s ‘precious people’? How honorable.”
Elisha chuckled softly and nodded her head.
“By the way, how fascinating… does wearing that pendant change your body shape and hair color as well?”
“Yes. I heard it’s an incredibly rare magical artifact.”
Yurina placed the pendant around her neck.
With a flash of blue light, her hair transformed to gold, and her prominent chest flattened to resemble a man’s physique.
As Yurina transformed into Yuren before our eyes, the party members gasped in amazement.
While everyone gazed at the pendant hanging around Yuren’s neck with wonder,
“Ah…! That’s it! So that’s what happened!”
Berald exclaimed as if he’d just realized something.
Berald turned to look at Camilla Bediche and nodded as if he’d finally understood.
“Camilla. You can be honest about it too.”
“…What are you talking about.”
“Hehe. There’s no use playing dumb! The reason Camilla has such a flat chest is because you’ve been using a disguise artifact all along….”
Thwack!
Camilla Bediche’s fist, infused with mana, struck Berald’s solar plexus.
Berald went flying through the air and crashed headfirst into the floor.
“Mm.”
I looked down at Berald writhing on the ground like an insect and nodded.
“He deserved that.”
And so.
the curtain fell on our brief summer break.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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