The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 237

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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 237. Mayday (2)
Silence settled within the Rest Room.
Within that stillness, as though time itself had frozen, Iris glanced subtly toward the other party members.
“Everyone, I’m terribly sorry, but would you mind leaving early today? Dale and I have something we need to discuss.”
“Consider it done.”
Iris and Yurina issued their dismissal with gentle smiles playing at their lips.
‘No! Please, don’t go!’
Did my desperate inner plea reach them?
Berald glanced back at me, then suddenly shot to his feet.
“Iris! Yurina! Isn’t this going too far on my brother?!”
Oh yes!
I knew I could count on Berald!
“Brother has his circumstances, so there’s nothing he can do about it….”
“Silence.”
“I’m sorry, brother. Iris is just too frightening.”
You bastard.
“W-well then, we’ll be taking our leave! Come on, follow me, Senior Sophia!”
“Kyaaah! You, you! Where exactly are you touching?!”
Berald scooped up Sophia and bolted from the Rest Room in a panic.
Camilla Bediche clicked her tongue disapprovingly before rising from her seat.
“This is all the karma you’ve accumulated. Accept it gracefully.”
“….”
Damn it.
I couldn’t think of a single rebuttal…!
“Then. See you in the next life… no, I mean, see you later.”
“I’m pretty sure I just heard you say ‘next life.'”
“You’re mistaken.”
Camilla traced a sign of the cross in the air before swiftly departing through the doorway.
“….”
And so, the only ones remaining in the Rest Room were myself, Iris, and Yurina in Yuren mode.
“…Dale.”
“Yes.”
I turned to face Iris with tense anticipation, but surprisingly, her expression bore the serene smile befitting her title as the Saint.
“Do you know how much I worried while you were out of contact?”
“I’m sorry. I promise this won’t happen again.”
“I’ll trust you.”
Iris, seated to my right, clung to my arm like a spoiled child and gently rested her head against my shoulder.
“Sigh. It’s only been about ten days, yet it feels as though we’ve been apart for years.”
“Come now, surely it wasn’t that long….”
“You feel the same way too, don’t you, Dale?”
A wry smile.
“Yes, of course.”
It feels like the world has changed entirely since we last met.
“Hehe. I knew you’d think the same way, Dale.”
Iris nuzzled her cheek against my shoulder with a radiant smile.
“Iris is so unfair.”
Yurina puffed out her cheeks adorably—oh, she’s in Yuren mode right now—and clung to my arm without backing down.
Because she was wearing the pendant, the firm muscle of her chest pressed against my arm felt distinctly solid through the fabric, not soft at all.
“…Um, Yurina?”
“Hm? What?”
“That… pendant you’re wearing…”
“What about it?”
Yurina in Yuren mode smiled mischievously and pressed her chest even closer.
“Just to be safe, I need to keep the pendant on while we’re at the Academy.”
“…”
No.
Until now, she’d kept it off the entire time we were at the Party House.
“Aah~ If only I’d gone outside the Academy with you, I could have freely stayed in my ‘Yurina’ form~.”
“…Ugh.”
Damn it.
When she says it like that, I have nothing to say…!
“Hehe. By the way, Dale, have you eaten yet?”
“Hm? No, not yet…”
“Then let me prepare a meal for you.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
It’s been so long since Iris made something for me.
I’ve enjoyed the luxurious meals provided at the Imperial Palace recently, but… actually, after eating only such refined cuisine, I was craving the homestyle cooking Iris made with her own hands.
“Please wait a moment.”
Iris rose from her seat and headed toward the kitchen.
Soon, the sound of clattering came, followed by an appetizing aroma—
“Hm?”
What is this?
Why does whatever she’s making smell so fishy?
“Here, today’s menu is a pie made in the traditional Holy Kingdom style.”
Iris set a golden-brown pie on the table with a beaming smile.
Yes.
Technically speaking, it is indeed a ‘pie’…
“Why is there a fish head sticking out of it?”
“Oh my, you don’t know? It’s sardine pie, a health food eaten occasionally in some regions of the Holy Kingdom. It’s made by grinding sardine meat, mixing it into the dough, and baking it.”
“…”
Sardine pie?
Made by grinding fish flesh into the pastry dough?
‘Why would anyone commit such a culinary atrocity….’
I hadn’t tasted it yet, but the visual presentation alone was utterly jarring.
Fish heads blooming like flowers atop the flour dough, and beneath the sweet aroma lurked a pungent, unmistakable fishy stench.
Despite having eaten nothing since morning and being quite hungry, my appetite wasn’t stimulated—only a nauseating revulsion churned in my stomach.
“Please, help yourself, Dale.”
Iris extended a fork with a radiant smile playing at her lips.
Given my past transgressions, I couldn’t bring myself to voice my reluctance.
“….”
A deep breath.
Right, appearances can be deceiving—perhaps the taste would surprise me pleasantly?
For all the Holy Kingdom’s reputation for dreadful cuisine, surely they wouldn’t serve something inedible.
“I’ll dig in.”
Forcing an awkward smile, I cut a bite-sized piece of the sardine pie and placed it in my mouth.
And then.
“Ugh…!”
The fishy taste bloomed across my palate.
If it were merely fishy, I could endure it—but this blend of sugar’s sweetness with the fish’s rankness delivered a gustatory shock unlike anything I’d experienced before.
If I had to describe it, it was like biting into a large piece of grilled fish coated in sugar.
“Blech, ugh. Gah.”
“Does it not suit your palate?”
Iris lowered her eyes with a sorrowful expression.
“I made this dish with you in mind, putting in so much effort….”
“N-no, it’s fine. I mean, it’s… edible.”
“Oh, is that so? What a relief.”
Iris smiled brightly and speared a large piece of pie—one with a fish head protruding from it—with her fork, bringing it toward my mouth.
“Dale. Say ‘aah.'”
“….”
“I said, say ‘aah.'”
“Yes, Saint.”
Right.
I should have seen this coming.
“Gnngh.”
After she’d shoved half the sardine pie into my mouth,
I endured the nauseating stench rising from within, my lips sealed shut.
“Hehe. Well done.”
Iris patted my head gently, as one might praise a child who’d dutifully finished their disliked vegetables with eyes squeezed shut.
“Now then, shall we move on to ‘dessert’?”
I flinched.
My shoulders trembled involuntarily at the word “dessert.”
I looked up at Iris with a grimace, and she flashed a deep smile before pressing herself against my side.
“For dessert, I’ve prepared cherries.”
“…Cherries?”
Where were the cherries?
I turned my head and scanned the surroundings, but no cherries were visible.
“What are you looking for? They’re right here next to Dale.”
As she spoke, Iris tapped her own lips playfully.
Only then did I understand what she meant by “dessert.”
“Couldn’t I at least brush my teeth first before eating?”
“No. I can’t wait any longer.”
Iris pulled my neck toward her and pressed her lips against mine.
The soft, tangled sensation of her tongue intertwining within my mouth.
After eating that dreadful abomination called sardine pie, I expected a fishy stench, but as if by some magic, the kiss with Iris carried only a sweet fragrance.
“Mmph.”
After the prolonged kiss, Iris gazed at me with hazy, intoxicated eyes.
“Sigh… It’s been so long since I’ve tasted Dale that it feels especially precious.”
No.
The way she said it made me sound like some regional specialty.
“I enjoyed the dessert too.”
“My, you shouldn’t speak as though you’ve already finished it all. There’s still more dessert left.”
“Huh?”
I looked at Iris, wondering if she wanted another kiss, and a mischievous smile played at her lips.
Iris took my hand and placed it against her chest as she continued.
“Look, inside here… there are two more cherries left.”
“…Pardon?”
Did I mishear?
“It’s a bit embarrassing, but… Yurina has already had that experience with Dale anyway, right? We know everything about each other, so there’s no need to be shy.”
“Ah, no, even so, that’s a bit….”
“Dale’s right, Iris.”
That’s right.
Only Yurina makes sense.
Unlike that shameless Saint, she’s being reasonable—
“Since Iris kissed first, I’ll go first with this!”
What is she saying now?
“Come on, Dale! Come here!”
Yurina (in Yuren mode) shouted forcefully while unbuttoning her shirt and exposing her chest.
My eyes fell upon her muscular, well-defined chest.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”
Please calm down, Yurina.
This doesn’t look like Yuren at all!
“What do you mean it doesn’t? Come here, Dale!”
“W-wait, stop!”
At the very least, I should’ve taken off the pendant…!
“Hiyah.”
Kyaaaaaaagh!!!
* * *
After sharing that bittersweet reunion of joy(?) with Iris and Yurina.
I stumbled through the darkened Academy toward the Dormitory, my legs unsteady.
“…Ugh.”
I’d gone silent on them twice now, it seemed.
Arriving at the Dormitory entrance, I felt the sting of deep regret.
“Sigh.”
Well.
At least it felt like both their anger had dissipated, so things should be fine going forward.
‘I should be able to get some proper rest tonight.’
Strangely, I felt more exhausted than after battling the Apostles of Destruction.
Still, since neither of them followed me to the room, I could sleep peacefully tonight.
Click.
With that thought, I opened the door.
“Haa… ahh.”
A familiar moan echoed from inside the room.
“Ahh. Dale’s scent… so good. Dale… where are you? Why won’t you contact me? I… I’m so cold like this, I can’t endure even a single day without you… Why… why is there no word from you at all? Huh? Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale…”
A rounded lump rose from the bed.
Something writhed and squirmed beneath the blanket.
“Ahh. Just… just your scent isn’t enough… Dale… I need your warmth… Haa. If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve… cut you into pieces and frozen you… I should’ve done that…”
“…”
Click.
I closed the door again.
“Sigh.”
I looked up at the night sky.
A pitch-black darkness devoid of even starlight hung over the heavens.
“…I’ll sleep at the Party House tonight.”
Just as I turned to head back to the Party House.
Creak.
The door slowly opened.
Lanez, with only her mouth visible beneath the blanket draped over her head, stepped out with a radiant smile.
“Dale, you’re back?”
Run.
Keep running.
Always.
In this place.
Trembling in the cold.
On your bed.
Believing you would come.
Hoping only for your arrival.
For the day we would meet again.
Recalling memories of you.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”

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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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