The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
12:00 PM
After parting ways (more or less peacefully) with Lanez, I headed to the meeting spot with Iris.
The place Iris had chosen was our party's very own base—a newly established "party house."
‘But why did she ask me to come to the party house?’
The party house was located far from the central plaza in front of the main building, the heart of the festival.
The festival's lively sounds were now distant, fading into faint background noise.
"Ah, Dale! Over here!"
"Hehe, you’re here, Dale."
When I arrived at the party house, Iris and Yurina were waiting for me in front of it.
"Huh? Why are you two together?"
I was sure Yurina had agreed to meet me at 2 PM, after Iris.
"Well, you see..."
Iris smiled and exchanged a glance with Yurina.
"We talked it over and decided to combine our time slots."
"You combined your time slots...?"
"Yes. So the two of us will be with you until 4 PM."
Ah.
Instead of having one-on-one time, they extended the total time we’d all spend together.
"Then, are we going to tour the festival as a group of three?"
"Well..."
Yurina trailed off, fiddling with the pendant around her neck.
"If we’re going to enjoy the festival together, I’d have to stay in my ‘Yuren’ form, right?"
"That’s unavoidable."
Other than our party members, no one else knew about Yurina's true identity.
"That’s why I suggested we just stay here in the party house today, without going anywhere far."
"...Stay inside the party house?"
Spending the festival cooped up in the party house felt like going on a trip only to stay inside the hotel the entire time.
"I-I said I didn’t mind staying in my Yuren form, but..."
"Yurina, you’d prefer to spend the day as your true self, wouldn’t you?"
Iris smiled warmly.
"Besides, I’m not a big fan of crowded places either."
"Well, if you both are okay with it, I don’t mind."
Honestly, if I had to choose, I’d also prefer to relax in the party house rather than exhaust myself in the bustling festival crowd.
"Then let’s head inside!"
"Oh, and we decorated the second-floor lounge a little to make it feel festive!"
I followed Iris and Yurina to the second-floor lounge.
As Yurina mentioned, the lounge was decorated with sparkling ornaments and balloons.
It felt more like a surprise birthday party than a festival setting, though.
"Dale, you mentioned before that you’ve been appointed as a ‘special trainee,’ right?"
"Yeah."
"How’s that going?"
"Not much progress so far."
I’d gone outside Valhalla City a few times to search for the Beast Gang, but I hadn’t found any trace of them.
"Isn’t it hard searching all on your own?"
"It’s just wandering around, so it’s not too bad."
"I wish I could help you, but..."
"You’ve got classes to attend."
Unlike me, who had plenty of free time due to my suspension, the other party members were diligently attending their classes.
"When does your suspension end?"
"Probably near the end of this semester."
"Y-You’re not going to fail because of it, are you?"
"Well..."
Under normal circumstances, missing this many classes would naturally lead to failing, but...
"I’m sure the principal will handle it."
With strong backing, I didn’t have to worry about failing.
"But still... knowing that you’re out there doing dangerous things all alone makes me worried."
Yurina bit her lip nervously, her face clouded with concern.
Having faced the Beast Gang herself, she knew just how strong they were.
"I feel the same. Yurina said that wolf-masked person was as strong as a top-ranking hero, right?"
"Yeah, incredibly strong. But Dale’s much stronger than me, so he could easily take down someone like the wolf mask."
"But what if there are others in the Beast Gang who are even stronger?"
Yurina and Iris exchanged concerned glances as if their words were rehearsed, looking at me with worried expressions.
I smirked and shrugged.
"No need to worry, you two."
Honestly, the ones who should be worried were the Beast Gang members who ran into me.
Still, it wasn’t unpleasant to have them so concerned about me.
It showed how much they cared.
"Just promise you won’t overdo it, okay?"
"Got it."
"Then..."
Yurina glanced at Iris, and they exchanged a knowing look.
"D-Dale’s been working hard lately, so..."
"Today, Yurina and I are going to give you some healing time!"
What?
Healing?
"Just wait here for a moment."
"And don’t come downstairs no matter what!"
With that, Iris and Yurina hurriedly went downstairs.
"What’s this about?"
I tilted my head in confusion and waited for about five minutes.
Eventually, I heard footsteps coming back up from downstairs.
"U-Um, Dale, what do you think?"
"Hehe. I prepared this with Yurina today to help Dale relax and heal as much as possible."
A glossy black dress.
A skirt layered with lace and white lace bands wrapped around the elbows.
An apron adorned with white frills over the dress.
Stockings and garter belts peeking out from under the somewhat short skirt.
Standing at the door were Yurina and Iris, dressed in maid outfits that seemed more suited for purposes other than housework.
"......"
What is this?
A dream?
"Dale?"
"...Huh?"
"Why are you staring off into space like that?"
"Ah, well...."
Though I'd seen both Yurina and Iris in maid outfits before, seeing them both wearing them at the same time seemed to multiply their impact exponentially.
‘Besides, the maid outfits they wore before weren’t like this.’
Back then, they’d borrowed the uniforms of the maids from the Helios family, which had a very modest and dignified design.
The outfits they were wearing now, however, had absolutely no trace of practicality—clearly designed solely for seductive events like this.
"Wh-where did you even get these?"
"We borrowed them from Juliet."
"...What?"
For a moment, the image of Juliet wearing a maid outfit flashed through my mind.
‘Arghhhhhh!’
An overwhelming despair and agony filled my head, as though I had glimpsed into the abyss.
"Oh, of course, it’s not the one Juliet himelf wore. He had them specially ordered from a store he knows."
"R-right?"
"Yes. The one Juliet wore... w-was too revealing for us to even try wearing it."
"......"
Don’t imagine it!
Don’t you dare imagine it!
"I-is that so?"
"Fufu. Anyway, Yurina and I carefully selected these maid outfits for today... how do they look?"
"Ugh... I wanted to choose something more modest, but Iris insisted...."
"Oh my, wasn’t it you, Yurina, who said stockings and garter belts were a must?"
"Eek! Y-you promised not to say that!!!"
Yurina turned bright red and shouted, while Iris giggled mischievously, clearly amused by Yurina's reaction.
‘They’ve grown really close without me noticing.’
Iris, who usually maintained her “saintly” facade in front of Camilla, now showed a playful and mischievous side to Yurina, having completely opened up to her.
"Alright then, Dale, you haven’t had lunch yet, have you?"
"No."
"We’ll whip something up for you right away, so just wait a moment."
"I’ll help too."
Yurina and Iris headed toward the kitchen set up in one corner of the lounge.
"...Hah."
Two girlfriends in maid outfits cooking lunch for me—what an utterly surreal scene.
"Kyah! Yurina, what are you doing?!"
"Huh? Isn’t this how you do it?"
"Who puts eggs into an omelet with the shells on?!"
"Oh, do I have to crush them into tiny pieces first?"
"You’re not supposed to put the shells in at all!"
.......
Come to think of it, even in her past life, Yurina was absolutely terrible at cooking.
"Ugh, I’ll handle the cooking. Just chop the vegetables or something."
"O-okay. How should I chop them?"
"Hmm... make them small, since it’s for an omelet."
"Got it!"
Thwack thwack thwack thwack!
"Wait, who told you to cut the vegetables smaller than grains of rice?!"
"You said to cut them small...."
"Ugh, you’re driving me crazy."
After much yelling and chaos, the cooking session finally ended.
With Iris’s miraculous healing magic (?), the omelet rice somehow managed to take a proper shape and was placed on the table.
"Good job."
"I’m never cooking with Yurina again."
"...Sniff."
Was it the constant scolding during the cooking?
Yurina looked like a wilted flower, visibly shrinking in despair.
"I-I just wanted to make Dale something delicious...."
"Well, everyone makes mistakes when they’re just starting out."
Yurina’s cooking skills were far too disastrous to be dismissed as mere "mistakes," but I wasn’t heartless enough to say that to someone who had worked so hard for me.
"And for the final touch, drawing a heart with ketchup... ta-da! It’s finished! Heaven’s Door signature omelet rice!"
"Heaven’s Door?"
"It’s a themed café in Valhalla City. I’ve never been, but Juliet’s apparently a regular there."
"Wow."
So there was a café like that in Valhalla City.
With how often I’ve been there lately looking for the beast gang, maybe I should check it out....
"I heard it’s full of cross-dressing men."
"...What?"
Is that place really called Heaven’s Door?
"Fufu. Enough about the café... here, say ‘Ahh~,’ Dale."
Iris brought a spoonful of omelet rice to my lips.
"M-me too!"
Not wanting to be outdone, Yurina also scooped up a bite and held it out to me.
With Iris smiling cheerfully and Yurina looking tense yet determined, I couldn’t bring myself to say, “I’ll eat it on my own.”
Chomp.
"Hehe. It’s good, isn’t it?"
"Well? How is it?"
Maybe because Iris did 90% of the cooking....
"It’s delicious."
The yelling and chaos during the cooking seemed like a distant memory as I tasted the excellent omelet rice.
Of course—
"Ehehe. I was worried it’d be a disaster, but it turned out fine."
"Alright, another bite—say ‘Ahh~.’"
"And now I’ll feed you a drink!"
—there wasn’t much room left to savor the taste with these two taking turns feeding me.

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