The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 192

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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 192. Interlude – First Night (2)
That evening.
After the Candidates returned from their Exhibition Hall tour and dispersed to their lodgings to spend the final night of the school trip.
“…What?”
I turned to Iris, my eyes widening.
“Elisha prepared an empty room for us?”
“Yes. Originally, it was supposed to be Albert’s room, but since he went to the Main Building, one room became available.”
“Hmm… we can use that room freely?”
“The professor said it was fine!”
Iris cried out with her fists clenched.
“Since the school trip ends tomorrow, let’s have a light drink together one last time!”
Normally, Candidates gathering in a room to drink during a school trip was prohibited.
But since these weren’t minors—they were all grown adults—the Academy didn’t enforce the rule too strictly.
‘The problem is that I caused quite a bit of trouble on this school trip.’
The Academy already had a negative impression of me, so breaking the rules felt uncomfortable, but if Elisha had given her permission, there shouldn’t be any major issues.
“Should we call the others too?”
“No, no! Just the two of us!”
“…Just the two of us?”
“Yes!”
Iris swallowed hard, her expression tense with nervousness.
‘Now that I think about it, we’ve barely had any time alone together recently.’
When the Beast Legion attacked, I had time alone with Elisha, and during the school trip I had moments alone with Yurina, but I hadn’t had any private time with Iris.
‘Though there was an opportunity before….’
Recalling the disaster that unfolded when I visited her Dormitory room at her invitation, my face grew hot.
I shook my head, dispelling that memory, and opened my mouth.
“Alright. Then let’s have a drink together after all this time.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Ah, then I’ll quickly go to the Convenience Store and buy some alcohol.”
“I have some alcohol that Elisha gave me!”
“…You do?”
It seemed she had made preparations for their private time while I was away at the Exhibition Hall.
“Then let’s go right away.”
“…This way.”
Iris led me to the room that was originally supposed to be Albert’s.
Click.
“….”
“….”
As soon as we entered and closed the door, an awkward silence settled over us.
Iris cleared her throat awkwardly and walked over to the table, sitting down.
As she poured the elegant wine she had received from Elisha, a fragrant aroma filled the room.
“That’s some fine wine.”
“Ah, yes. The professor went through considerable effort to obtain it and gave it to me as a gift.”
“Strange—he usually only drinks cheap liquor.”
I raised my glass and clinked it against Iris’s in a toast.
Soft moonlight filtered through the window.
The pleasant chirping of insects and the aromatic bouquet of wine tickling my senses.
In an atmosphere so romantic that one could become intoxicated by the ambiance alone, Iris opened her mouth.
“How was the Exhibition Hall tour?”
“Dull, honestly.”
Without some special event, exhibition tours rarely prove entertaining.
“Hehe. Still, you met and spoke directly with Grace this time, didn’t you? Wasn’t that something special?”
Iris took an elegant sip of wine and continued.
“By the way, what kind of person was Grace?”
“Well…”
“I’ve only seen her in paintings, but surely she was gentle and kind like Pope Marian, wasn’t she?”
“….”
I had mentioned meeting Grace in the Tomb, but I hadn’t gone into detail about her personality.
For someone raised in the Holy Kingdom, Grace’s image would inevitably be that of the infinitely merciful and benevolent ‘Holy Mother’ herself.
“Well, yes… I suppose so.”
“I knew it.”
Iris’s eyes sparkled as she nodded her head.
“I wish I could have met her directly… it’s a shame she’s gone.”
“Well, she only had a fragment of her soul remaining anyway. Still…”
“Hmm?”
“Ah, sorry. It’s nothing.”
“You’re making me curious.”
I briefly considered giving her the sacred relic Grace had left behind.
But it seemed better to show it to Jade first and have it crafted into an artifact before presenting it to her.
“Anyway, what did you do at the Dormitory?”
“Well… we all ate together and went to the Hot Spring… and…”
“And?”
“Ahem, ahem. I don’t know.”
Iris’s face flushed as she suddenly recalled something, her gaze shifting away.
She placed a hand over her heart, took a deep breath, and carefully opened her mouth.
“Um… Dale.”
“Yeah?”
“Today, I talked with Elisha, Yurina, and Lanez all together.”
“…!”
At the names that spilled from her lips, my shoulders tensed involuntarily.
“You already know what feelings they all hold for you, don’t you?”
“That’s….”
“Hehe. You don’t need to make that guilty expression. I’ve told you before, haven’t I? Others might think it’s strange, but… I don’t think this kind of relationship is so bad.”
“….”
“But….”
Iris set down her glass and slowly rose from her seat, moving to my side.
Swish.
Iris carefully settled herself onto my lap.
The soft touch of her skin against mine sent warmth through me, and the delicate fragrance of her body stirred my senses.
“Ah, Iris…?”
“But… sometimes I want to be… a little greedy too.”
Iris gazed at me with hazy, intoxicated eyes as her fingertips traced my lips.
“You haven’t forgotten the promise we made before, have you? That I’m… Dale’s ‘first’.”
Our lips drew together slowly.
The sweet aroma of fruit wine mingled with the soft sensation of her tongue as it explored my mouth.
“…Iris.”
“Hehe.”
Iris stuck her tongue out playfully.
“Now that I think about it, we made another promise too, didn’t we?”
“Another promise?”
“My, are you pretending not to remember now? You said you’d grant me one wish if I won the treasure hunt.”
“Ah.”
Now that she mentioned it, we had made such a promise.
“My wish is….”
Iris trailed off, her face flushing crimson.
Without waiting to hear the rest of her words, I pressed my lips against hers once more.
“Mmph….”
I didn’t need to hear her ‘wish’ spoken aloud—I already understood what it was.
“D-Dale….”
“…Should we wash first?”
“Ah, no. It’s fine.”
Iris gazed at me with burning eyes, as if she could no longer hold back.
“Dale… um, I’m asking just to be sure.”
“Hmm?”
“Is this… your first time too?”
“….”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t my ‘first’.
‘But in my past life, I had no experience except with Iris anyway.’
I nodded slowly.
“Yeah, it’s my first.”
“Hehe. I, I see.”
Iris exhaled a breath tinged with relief and offered me a gentle smile.
I cradled her as she knelt upon my lap and made my way toward the bed.
Lying upon the bed, Iris gripped my hand tightly, her expression taut with anticipation.
“Doing this in the place where Grace’s Tomb rests… it somehow feels like we’re committing a sin.”
“Should we save it for next time?”
At my playful question, Iris pouted her lips.
“If you stop after coming all this way, I’ll be angry with you.”
“I was only joking.”
I chuckled softly and carefully stroked Iris’s hair as she lay there with a tense expression.
A faint tremor coursed through my fingertips.
Contemplating how much courage it must have taken her to reach this moment, I found myself exhaling a quiet sigh.
‘I should have created this opportunity myself from the start.’
I had known what she desired for quite some time.
And yet, I deliberately turned away from it.
I avoided her under the pretense that I wasn’t ready.
‘Because I was afraid.’
Yes.
I was afraid.
Afraid that the happiness I had grasped so desperately would crumble like sand and scatter away.
As it had in my previous life.
Afraid that I would lose everything once more.
Despite knowing her feelings, I fled like a frightened child.
‘What a pathetic wretch I am.’
On that day when I returned against the flow of time, I resolved to change the future.
I swore I would protect everyone this time.
Yet here I was, running away in fear of losing what I had.
“…Dale?”
Iris reached out her hand toward me as I stood frozen in place.
“Hehe. What are you so afraid of that you’re trembling like that?”
Seeing me shudder, Iris’s tension seemed to ease somewhat, and she offered me a mischievous smile.
“Are you worried you might not do well?”
“No, it’s not that….”
“It’s alright. I heard before that it’s common to make mistakes the first time.”
“….”
As I watched her pat my back to comfort me, something surged up from deep within my chest.
‘That’s not it at all.’
I had been trying to compose myself as memories of the past surfaced, yet here I was receiving such an absurd misunderstanding.
Along with a sense of injustice came a peculiar stubbornness.
‘Fine then. Let me show you just how skilled I am.’
In terms of experience, even counting my previous life, there had been only Iris.
Still, I knew quite a lot about her.
From her weak points to the positions she preferred.
Everything.
Rustle, rustle.
I carefully undressed Iris.
“D-Dale…”
The composed expression she’d worn while patting my back vanished, replaced by a tense gaze as she looked up at me.
I caressed her body and grinned wickedly.
“Don’t worry.”
I’ll make you feel so good you won’t be able to think straight.
* * *
Six hours had passed since the room grew so hot that even the frigid winter wind outside couldn’t cool it.
As a result of successfully consummating our marriage using all the knowledge from my past life(?)
Crash!
A wine glass shattered against the wall.
“You… you bastard…!”
Iris seized my throat with an enraged expression.
“Cough! Ah, Iris…”
“Y-you said it was your first time…! You said it was your first time, you bastard!”
“It was my first time…”
“Your first time? You’re telling me it was your first time?”
Iris’s face twisted with fury.
“H-how does someone doing it for the first time get so good at it?! How?!”
“Well… that’s…”
There’s a whole story behind this…
Crack!
“Y-you bastard! I trusted you… I was trusting you…!”
Iris swung her fists while tears streamed down her face.
“Did you do this with another woman?! Did you?! You bastard!”
“W-wait! Calm down, Iris!”
“Calm down? Do I look calm to you right now?!”
Iris wept sorrowfully, her lips trembling.
At the tears flowing down her cheeks.
“It’s you!”
I blurted out impulsively without thinking.
“I knew all that because I’ve done it with you before!”
“…What?”
Iris froze mid-swing, staring at me.
“W-what are you talking about?”

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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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