What If the Strongest Villain from the Original Story Became the Protagonist's Ally?

“A human… making a proposal to us?”

A dubious elf voice responded to Iris’s words.

After a while, one elf showed himself from the front.

A muscular elf nearly two meters tall. His slicked-back hairstyle made him look more like a yakuza or delinquent than an elf.

My image of the elf race was about to change.

“Go ahead and speak. I’ll specially listen to you. Of course, if you say anything strange, think of your life as forfeit.”

“!”

Crackle.

I nearly lost it at his attitude toward Iris.

However, Iris herself restrained me.

“Please calm down, Yuu-san. Starting a conflict here won’t gain us anything. Let’s stay composed and achieve our objective.”

“…Ah, yeah. You’re right.”

Calm down. Calm down, me.

I could beat up the elves anytime. Here, I’ll take deep breaths and specially—yes, specially—forgive their arrogant attitude.

I knew from the start that the elf race was like this, so I could endure it. Good job, Yuguram.

While desperately praising myself internally, I cooled down the anger and heat that had risen.

Since the person herself was enduring it, if I, who was merely a retainer, went berserk, it would also be a loss for the Kingdom side.

“Well then, once again.”

Making a crisp expression, Iris’s gaze was directed toward the elf man’s face again.

“I’ll be direct. War with the Empire is about to begin. You, who are between the Kingdom and Empire territories, will also be dragged into the war. The Empire side won’t stop. I assert they will definitely attack you. Therefore, we want to build an alliance with the elf race.”

“I refuse.”

He curtly and mercilessly cut down Iris’s proposal.

There was no sign of hesitation.

“…Why is that?”

“Simple. No matter how many times the Empire attacks, we can repel them by ourselves.”

“It’s not such a simple matter. You’re underestimating the Empire’s military power.”

“It’s you who are underestimating. We elves are the strongest race. We won’t lose to mere humans.”

“You absolutely refuse?”

“Yes. If you’re dissatisfied with that, shall I prove it with my own power?”

“Fine, you piece of—”

“Yuu-san.”

“Yes.”

Warned by Iris, I stopped my movement completely.

Dejected.

“That suspicious man over there looks quite dissatisfied.”

“I’m sorry. He… giggle, likes me tremendously.”

“Iris-san?”

What are you saying?

Ignoring my question, Iris continued further:

“For his sake, I’ll accept your earlier proposal.”

“Hoh. Can you prove it? You, who are merely a princess?”

“Yes. I’m unexpectedly confident in my strength.”

“…Very well. I’ll measure your qualities.”

The elf man shouldered his bow and drew the sword at his waist.

Dense killing intent was directed at Iris.

“He seems quite strong.”

I muttered quietly beside her.

“It seems so. Are you opposed, Yuu-san? To me fighting?”

“Hardly. I believe in your victory, Iris.”

I turned on my heel and moved the worried knights to the rear.

There was no problem. There was no way Iris would lose to that level of small fry.

“Hehe. Thank you.”

Iris also drew her sword. Flowing mana, they stared at each other.

“I won’t kill you, but please endure some pain, okay?”

“Nonsense. You’re the one who shouldn’t resent me when you die!”

“I won’t resent you, but… I’m more likely to be resented.”

Chuckling, Iris kicked off the ground.

Appearing before the elf man’s eyes, she swung her sword sharply.

The elf man defended with his own sword. A tremendous impact was generated.

“Guh!? This power… You certainly can back up your big talk!”

This time the elf man swung his sword.

The sweeping blade passed over Iris’s head.

Crouching to dodge the attack, she advanced one more step forward. It was completely Iris’s distance. Pulling her body back slightly, she secured space to swing her sword.

The elf’s reaction wasn’t bad either. He barely managed to defend against Iris’s attacks.

However, Iris began attacking almost one-sidedly.

Distance management was overwhelmingly superior on Iris’s side. Additionally, Iris was superior in mana output. The outcome was already as good as decided.

“Tch! Don’t get cocky, human!”

“!”

The elf man’s mana output suddenly spiked.

With the momentum of putting everything into one strike, he wrapped his sword in mana. That strike—Iris met it by deliberately moving forward.

She struck her sword against his before he could complete his swing.

By doing so, she killed the momentum partway through.

She also increased her mana output, perfectly guarding against the elf’s attack.

On top of that, it was a distance where he couldn’t swing his sword. That was—also Iris’s range.

The close-combat techniques I had recently taught her were already proving useful.

Gathering strength in her legs and hips, Iris—delivered a knee strike.

“What!?”

The elf’s defense couldn’t keep up with the unexpected attack.