The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 217

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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 217. Seven-Star Cultural Festival (3)
12:00 PM.
After parting ways with Rajez (safely, more or less), I headed toward the meeting place with Iris.
The location where I’d agreed to meet Iris was the Party House—our Party’s own hideout that had been established not long ago.
‘But why did she ask me to come to the Party House?’
The Party House was situated quite a distance away from the Central Plaza in front of the Main Building, which could be called the festival’s central venue.
The bustling sounds of the festival had faded into distant, barely audible noise.
“Ah, Dale! Over here!”
“Hehe. Dale’s here.”
Upon arriving at the Party House,
Iris and Yurina were waiting for me together.
“Huh? Why are you two here together?”
I was certain Yurina was scheduled to meet me at the next time slot—2:00 PM.
“Well, you see…”
Iris smiled softly and exchanged glances with Yurina.
“We talked it over and decided to adjust our schedules to match.”
“Adjust your schedules…?”
“Yes. So the two of us will be spending time with you until 4:00 PM.”
Ah.
Instead of sacrificing one-on-one time, they’d extended the time we’d spend together.
“So we’re all three going to enjoy the festival together like this?”
“Well, that’s the thing…”
Yurina trailed off and fiddled with the pendant hanging around her neck.
“If we’re all going to enjoy the festival together, I’d have to stay in my Yuren form, wouldn’t I?”
“Yeah, well… that can’t be helped.”
Besides our Party members, no one else knew about Yurina’s existence.
“So I suggested this instead—let’s not go far today and spend time together cozily inside the Party House.”
“…Inside the Party House?”
Not venturing outside on the day of the festival, but staying cooped up in the Party House instead.
It was no different from being locked in a dormitory all day during a trip.
“I-I said I was fine staying as Yuren…”
“But wouldn’t Yurina want to be in her true form on a day like this?”
Iris smiled sweetly.
“Besides, I’m not particularly fond of crowded places anyway.”
“Well, if you’re both fine with it, I don’t mind.”
To be honest, if asked which I preferred, I’d rather spend time leisurely cooped up inside the Party House.
Mingling with crowds to enjoy the festival just drains my energy.
“Then let’s head inside!”
“B-But we decorated the second-floor lounge a bit to give it some festival atmosphere!”
I followed Iris and Yurina up to the second-floor lounge.
Just as Yurina said, the break room was decorated with glittering ornaments and balloons.
Though it felt more like I’d been invited to a surprise birthday party than a festival celebration.
“Dale, you mentioned before that you took on the position of Special Candidate, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“How is that work going?”
“Well… there’s not much progress at the moment.”
I’d ventured outside Valhalla City several times since then to search for the Beastkin Group, spending entire days wandering, but found no trace of them.
“Isn’t it difficult searching alone?”
“It’s just wandering around, nothing major.”
“I want to help you too, Dale….”
“You have classes.”
I had plenty of free time during my suspension, but the other Party members were all diligently attending their lessons.
“When does your suspension end?”
“Looks like it’ll last until near the end of this semester.”
“Oh, are you going to be held back a year?”
“Well….”
Normally, missing this many classes would naturally result in grade retention.
“But the Rector will probably handle it.”
Now that I had such a reliable backer, I didn’t need to worry about being held back.
“Still, thinking about you doing dangerous things alone makes me so worried.”
Yurina bit her lip with a dejected expression.
Having experienced combat with the Beastkin Group herself, she understood well how formidable they were.
“Me too. From what Yurina told me, that Wolf Mask alone was supposedly skilled enough to rank among the top-tier players?”
“Right. He was incredibly strong. Of course, since Dale is much stronger than me, you could probably beat Wolf Mask without much difficulty….”
“But there might be others in the Beastkin Group who are even stronger.”
As if rehearsed, Yurina and Iris exchanged words while gazing at me with worried expressions.
I suppressed a bitter smile and shrugged.
“You both don’t need to worry that much.”
If anything, it’s the Beastkin Group members who meet me that should be worried.
Still, though.
Honestly, being worried about like this didn’t feel so bad.
It was proof that they both cared about me.
“But you can’t overdo it, okay? You understand?”
“Yes.”
“Then….”
Yurina glanced toward Iris, and they exchanged meaningful looks.
“D-Dale, since you’ve been working hard lately….”
“We’ll give you some ‘healing’ today.”
Huh?
Healing, all of a sudden?
“Please wait here for a moment.”
“And absolutely do not come inside!”
Iris and Yurina hurried downstairs with quick steps.
‘What’s going on?’
I tilted my head in confusion and waited about five minutes before hearing footsteps ascending from below.
“Um… D-Dale. How do I look?”
“Hehe. Today, Yurina and I prepared something special to give you some serious relaxation.”
A glossy black one-piece dress.
A skirt layered with delicate lace and white lace bands wrapped around the elbows.
A white frilly apron draped over the one-piece.
Below the somewhat short skirt, a garter belt and white stockings came into view.
Yurina and Iris stood at the doorway dressed in maid outfits that seemed designed more for purposes other than housework.
“….”
What is this?
Am I dreaming?
“Dale?”
“…Huh?”
“Why do you look so dazed?”
“Well, it’s just…”
I’d seen Yurina and Iris in maid outfits before, but seeing both of them in such attire simultaneously multiplied the impact exponentially rather than merely doubling it.
‘And what they wore before wasn’t like this at all.’
Back then, they’d worn actual maid uniforms from the Helios Family, so despite being called maid outfits, they had a rather modest appearance.
But these maid outfits the two wore now possessed not a shred of practicality—they seemed crafted purely for this kind of suggestive event.
“W-where on earth did you get something like this?”
“We borrowed it from Juliet Kang.”
“…What?”
In that instant, an image of Juliet Kang in a maid outfit flashed through my mind.
‘Noooooooo!!!’
A vast despair and agony, as if glimpsing beyond the Abyss itself, flooded my consciousness.
“Of course, it’s not what Juliet Kang actually wore—we got a new one through a shop she knows.”
“R-right?”
“Yes. The one Juliet Kang wore was… far too revealing for us to even consider wearing.”
“….”
Don’t imagine it!
You mustn’t imagine it!
“I-is that so?”
“Hehe. Anyway, Yurina and I carefully selected this maid outfit together for today… what do you think?”
“W-well, I wanted to choose something more modest, but Iris insisted…”
“My, wasn’t it you who said the stockings and garter belt were absolutely essential?”
“Eek! Y-you promised not to mention that!!!”
Yurina’s face flushed crimson as she cried out.
Iris seemed delighted by Yurina’s reaction, bursting into melodious laughter.
‘They’ve gotten remarkably close in the time I’ve been away.’
Iris had always worn the mask of the Saint, playing coy whenever Camilla Bediche was around, but with Yurina, she’d opened her heart completely—displaying her mischievous nature without reservation.
“Well then. You haven’t had lunch yet, have you, Dale?”
“No.”
“I’ll prepare something for you right away. Just wait a moment.”
“I’ll help too.”
Yurina and Iris headed toward the kitchen set up in one corner of the break room.
“…Heh.”
Two lovers in maid uniforms preparing lunch for me—what an absurdly surreal sight.
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the sheer unreality of it all.
“Kyaa! Yurina! What are you doing?!”
“Huh? Isn’t this how you do it?”
“Who puts eggs in an omelette rice with the shell still on?!”
“Oh, should I crush them into smaller pieces first?”
“You’re not supposed to put the shell in at all!”
….
Now that I think about it, Yuren in my previous life was equally terrible at cooking.
“Sigh. I’ll handle the cooking, so at least chop the vegetables for me.”
“O-okay. How should I chop them?”
“Hmm… since it’s for omelette rice, make them a bit small?”
“Got it!”
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!
“No, why are you chopping the vegetables smaller than grains of rice?!”
“You said to chop them small….”
“Ugh, I’m losing my mind.”
After the cooking session ended amid shouts and screams,
thanks to Iris’s miraculous healing magic (?), an omelette rice that at least maintained its shape was placed on the table.
“You worked hard.”
“I’m never cooking with Yurina again.”
“…Sniffle.”
Perhaps from listening to complaints throughout the cooking process,
Yurina had shriveled up like Lanez left out on the street.
“I… I really wanted to make you something delicious, Dale….”
“Well, everyone makes mistakes when they’re starting out.”
Yurina’s cooking skills were far too catastrophic to dismiss as mere ‘mistakes,’
but I hadn’t become so emotionally withered as to say such things to her after she’d worked so hard to cook for me.
“And to finish, I’ll draw a heart shape with ketchup… ta-da! Behold! Heaven’s Door’s signature omelette rice!”
“Heaven’s Door?”
“It’s a concept cafe in Valhalla City. I’ve never been there myself, but Juliet Kang apparently goes there regularly.”
“I see.”
So there was a cafe like that in Valhalla City.
Since I’d been frequenting Valhalla City lately to hunt down those Beastkin Group bastards, maybe I’d get a chance to visit sometime….
“They say you can see plenty of cross-dressing men there.”
“What did you say?”
Isn’t that Heaven’s Door?
“Hehe. Anyway, let’s stop talking about the cafe… Come on, say ‘aah’ for me, Dale.”
Iris scooped up a spoonful of omelette rice and brought it to my lips.
“M-me too!”
Yurina refused to lose, scooping up her own spoonful of omelette rice and offering it to my lips as well.
Iris smiled brightly while Yurina swallowed nervously, her expression tense.
Seeing my two lovers with eyes sparkling like stars, I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘I’ll just eat it myself’.
“Mmm.”
“Hehe. It’s delicious, isn’t it?”
“W-well?”
Perhaps because Iris had done over 90 percent of the cooking.
“It’s delicious.”
All the shouting and screaming that had echoed through the kitchen earlier seemed to have been for nothing—the omelette rice tasted excellent.
Of course.
“Ehehe. I was so worried it would fail, but thankfully it turned out well.”
“Now, say ‘aah’ again.”
“This time I’ll feed you a drink too!”
I had no mental capacity left to leisurely savor the taste of the omelette rice.

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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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