What If the Strongest Villain from the Original Story Became the Protagonist's Ally? - Chapter 78 - Good Work, and Night Crawling!

In the direction Iris and the others looked down, there was Yuguram, whom they had hoped would be there.

“Thank goodness… he really did come this way.”

When Iris muttered this, Yuguram in the center of the monster corpses glanced up.

His gaze was directed toward Iris and the others.

Yuguram waved his hand. Iris and the others waved back in response.

“U-Um, Princess Iris. Is that person over there really an acquaintance of yours?”

The captain soldier who noticed Iris and the others asked fearfully.

Iris nodded with a small movement.

“Yes. The person there is Yuu-san, who is both my guard and instructor. He’s strong, isn’t he?”

To Iris, who puffed her chest out with a slightly smug expression, the man answered while breaking into a slight sweat.

“Y-Yes… he defeated a large horde of nearly a hundred monsters almost single-handedly… and he doesn’t even seem injured.”

“That person is the strongest. Honestly, he’s stronger than me.”

“S-stronger than Princess Iris, who is a chosen child of the God!? Just who is that gentleman…”

“Just a traveler.”

“A traveler…?”

Unable to say “he’s another God’s child from an enemy nation,” Iris vaguely deflected.

During that time, Yuguram, who had finished subjugating all the monsters, returned.

At his god-like feat, the soldiers became wary of Yuguram who had leaped onto the wall.

Of course they didn’t ready their weapons, but there was some distance.

Ignoring that, Yuguram called out to Iris.

“Good work, Iris. When did you get here?”

“We just arrived. Then I was surprised to see Yuu-san overwhelming the monsters. As expected.”

“Ah, that? They were all small fry so it wasn’t that difficult. I destroyed the terrain a little bit, but I held back so you’ll forgive me, right?”

“I understand. I’ll forgive you if it’s just that much.”

Iris chuckled at Yuguram’s manner.

Yuguram was so composed it was hard to believe he was the person who had subjugated that many monsters.

Rather, she thought it was just like him to worry about the aftermath.

“Mmm… I wanted to fight lots of monsters too~”

“Didn’t you fight plenty of criminals throughout town?”

Yuguram tilted his head at Lycoris, who was complaining.

However, she shook her head left and right and continued.

“That’s that, this is this. I wanted to enjoy both humans and monsters.”

“That doesn’t sound at all like something a princess would say…”

“Well, fine. If I can fight Yuu-san after this, that’s enough. If I can vent these feelings!”

“Ah, that’s a good idea!”

“Not good at all.”

Only Yuguram shook his head.

“I moved around quite a bit and I’m tired… there’s probably cleanup and such to do, so I’m going home to sleep quickly.”

Saying that, he waved and climbed down from the wall.

After his figure disappeared, Iris let out a sigh and muttered:

“Good work… Yuu-san.”

▼△▼

His Majesty’s birthday festival came to an end in chaotic conditions.

While they managed to keep damage to a minimum, the festive mood was ruined.

Houses were destroyed everywhere, and parts of the streets were a mess.

There was also remaining cleanup of monsters thought to be summoned by bandits, and including corpse transport, everything was in chaos.

While they were busy with all that, I, who had worked hardest, returned to my room in the royal palace.

I sat on the bed and let out a huge sigh.

“Sigh… I’m tired. The fact that that event occurred here means other events will keep happening too… But I didn’t think just handling one would be this exhausting…”

I could only sigh.

But I had accomplished it.

There was a strangely pleasant sense of achievement.

With that in my chest, I went to sleep while listening to the noisy voices inside the royal palace.

The cleanup would be fine without me.

▼△▼

After sleeping deeply for several hours.

Before I knew it, it was pitch black outside and I woke up.

“Mm… slept well… hm?”

Right after waking up, my body felt heavy for some reason.

Someone was beside me.

Nana? Thinking that, I moved my gaze down to my body, and—I was suddenly surprised.

“A-aaaah Iris!?”

A loud voice came out involuntarily.

Iris was sleeping as if covering my body.

How did this happen!?

My arms were embracing Iris, and Iris was sleeping comfortably.

My head was in panic. I calmly recalled my memories.

Probably, it was okay.

I hadn’t done anything strange to her. There was no discomfort in my lower body, and we were both clothed.

Relieved by that, I still didn’t understand why she was here.

As I was thinking about what to do, Iris suddenly moved.

Apparently she had woken up.

Golden eyes without artifacts gazed at me.

I greeted her with an awkward smile.

“G-good morning… Iris.”

She maintained silence for a while, and—immediately after, her face turned bright red.

Her body trembling, she screamed while getting furious:

“Y-y-y… Yuu-san!? Why are you awake!!”