When Iris and I returned, I saw something that made me a little surprised.
Our party's horse-drawn carriage was already in front of Iris's house. That meant the four of us would be leaving soon.
At the front, where the horses were harnessed, Luke was there, tidying up the ropes and tying them securely so they wouldn't come loose easily.
Ah right, it's already late afternoon now, isn't it? If that's the case, I can't keep Iris any longer. It's better if I ask her to go inside first.
"Iris, I have something to take care of with Luke. How about you go inside first?" I said.
Iris looked at me when I asked her, before finally replying.
"Alright then, I'll go inside first," she answered as she walked into the house, leaving me behind.
But still, I really didn't expect Iris to be that bold, to the point of kissing my cheek. It's true that it's one of the things that can be done to increase strength, though.
Even so, it's only natural since it was probably her first kiss. The sensation on my cheek still faintly lingered.
She did give me an illusion where it felt like I was repeating time, but I wasn't thinking about that at all anymore.
Iris didn't have any ill intentions either, so I had no reason to hate her.
"Oi, Luke. If you've already brought back our carriage, that means it's only for that reason, right?" I asked as I walked over to him.
He glanced in my direction for a moment before returning his focus to what he was doing.
"Hime-san asked me to prepare it this afternoon. Maybe tomorrow or the day after, we'll be leaving this place," he replied.
"Well, our work here is already finished anyway. The barrier has been restored too, so there shouldn't be any problems even if the elves are attacked by an Abbys invasion again," I said.
"You're right. By the way, you and that princess were the ones who made that barrier earlier, weren't you? When you left, the barrier suddenly appeared. What did you do back then?" Luke asked.
Of course he'd be curious about that. I forgot. How should I answer him?
I turned my face away and scratched my right cheek with my index finger as I replied to Luke.
"W-well, basically she just recited a magic chant to recreate the barrier, and I was asked to accompany her. That's all," I answered.
I knew very well that my actions looked suspicious to him right now, as if he already felt that I was hiding something and lying about it.
"I won't ask any further than that. You should go inside for now. Our supplies are running low, so we can count them and buy what we need at the market tomorrow," he said, urging me.
I immediately went to the other side of the carriage and climbed inside.
I looked toward the very back of this moving space, and there was truly nothing left.
All of our supplies had been completely used up during our party's journey from Necvalion to Riruyo.
After this, we'll be heading to another continent, but we have to check using the magic orb first, right?
If possible, I want to go to Nakuso as soon as we can, just like Iris asked me when we were together earlier this afternoon.
——
(That night)
After dinner, Hime took out her magic orb and began looking into where the next potential Abbys invasion might occur.
Since the four of us were still here, she asked us to check it now.
Iris was helping Forn-san wash the dishes in the kitchen, while Loki-san had already left. He said he still had a lot of his own matters to attend to.
The leader of a place really does have a lot of work every day, huh? Honestly, if I could, I would like to help Iris in the kitchen.
But I had to take part in our party's discussion. As long as Iris wasn't bothered by it, that meant it was fine.
"So, Hime? Have you found anything yet?" Yuu-chan asked Hime.
"I don't know. There's still no reaction at all from this magic orb," Hime replied.
Even several minutes later, when Iris finished her task, the magic orb still showed no reaction at all.
"It didn't work. We don't have a destination if there's no reaction here. What should we do? If we stay here too long, we'll only end up being a burden to them," Hime said, sounding as if she had already lost hope in the orb.
She then put it back into her Alter Box.
Iris suddenly came out of the kitchen, holding a plate in her hands, and walked toward us.
I think she had been listening to our conversation earlier, which was why she offered her opinion about what the four of us had been discussing.
"I already talked about this with Yuusha, but how about you all go to Nakuso? I was given the task of conveying that suggestion to you," she said as she placed the plate between us.
On it was a cake shaped like a long, small cylinder, and it looked like something that had been stacked in layers.
Ah, this is the Tapis cake Iris showed me when I first came here. To be honest, I want to eat it again too.
"My mother and I just made it. Please enjoy it. I can guarantee the taste," she said, gesturing with her hand to indicate that we could take some.
"Ah, don't worry about me. I won't do anything, so just discuss it among yourselves again."
Iris didn't return to the kitchen after that. She left the dining room, and I think she went back to her room or somewhere else.
"Yukito-sama, when did that princess tell you about it? Was it when you and her went out together this afternoon?" Yuu-chan asked, seemingly confused about when Iris had told me.
"Y-yeah, something like that. She did ask me if I could go to Nakuso after we leave this place," I replied.
The three of them fell silent for a moment, before Hime finally spoke again.
"Alright then, if we look at the map again, the continent we can reach from Riruyo that's closest is Nakuso. It'll probably take only four to five days before we arrive there," Hime said.
I was a little surprised when I heard her opinion. I thought they would reject it.
"I was thinking the same thing. Lately, I've been hearing rumors that something quite shocking is happening there. I agree that we should go there."
"Considering the distance and our current condition as well, everything supports the idea of heading to Nakuso," Luke added.
"I don't really know where we're supposed to go, but if that's what you all want, I don't really have any other choice, do I?" Luke said.
A-ah, none of them objected. If that's the case, then it's already certain that our next destination will be Nakuso.
——
That night, I didn't go to sleep right away. Instead, I was thinking about various things, on top of the fact that I was having trouble falling asleep.
Earlier, we had already confirmed that we would depart tomorrow afternoon after buying all the supplies we'd need.
We had also informed Forn-san about it, and she didn't mind at all.
She even said that she was happy that we felt comfortable staying at her place.
Usually, when I can't sleep like this, something ends up happening to me.
And since we'll soon be heading to Nakuso, I hope nothing strange happens there.
Even if Abbys ends up attacking that continent as well, our party can only do the same thing—defeat them.
Also, I really can't wait to meet the demon who escaped a few days ago.
At the very least, I want to know its identity, so that I can feel like I'm waiting for the chance to cross swords with it again.
Even though there's a high chance I'll lose again, I just want to fight it because it's strong.