74 – Our Iris is Clearly a Filial Daughter!
“Jess, you can’t just eat anything you find. Spit it out, ptooey.”
“Ugh…”
I made Jess spit out the small bird it was chewing on. The bird fluttered away. Jess pouted.
“Are you hungry?”
I took out a piece of jerky from my bag and gave it to Jess.
On the third day since leaving the frenzy of the arena, we were walking along a forest path. There were occasional villages, but we couldn’t hear any sounds. We didn’t have a reason to stop since we had already purchased most of the necessary items, and we didn’t know what dangers lay ahead.
At first, we were just walking without any specific destination in mind, only wanting to distance ourselves from Gisso’s land. But gradually, we realized the need to properly determine our destination. I unfolded the map and checked the path we had walked.
The village we had just passed was marked on the map, so it wasn’t difficult to determine our current location.
“You said you didn’t know where Noah is since you separated in the middle, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
Jess nodded while chewing on the jerky. Based on the information Jess provided about the mysterious forest, I estimated the location where Jess and Noah had separated.
“They separated in the Forest of Death, right? Hmm, I’m not sure exactly which way they went… But since the closest city is here, should we go there?”
As I pointed to the name “Cardishan” marked on the map, Jess vigorously nodded and flapped their ears. Iris simply responded with “Yes” as I instructed.
Seeing the gentle appearance of the two children, my sense of responsibility grew stronger.
“Alright, let’s find the safest route and continue our journey!”
And so, Jess, Iris, and I resumed our journey.
***
“Haah… we finally made it.”
I exhaled deeply as I looked at the distant walls of Cardysian.
“I never thought it would take over a month just to travel.”
When Jess said he had been running non-stop, I thought the distance couldn’t be more than a week away. Of course, it was marked as quite a far distance on the map, but there were many misleadingly labeled towns, so I couldn’t trust it.
“But at least we arrived. First, let’s rest at the inn and then search for Noah the next day to see if he’s here.”
Even if Noah is confident that he’s living well, I wanted us to be together if possible.
“If possible, let’s stick together with the kids. We just have to hold out here until the knight comes to save Iris.”
Cardysian is where I first opened my eyes, in Odil’s laboratory. So it was only natural that the knight who would save Iris would come to Cardysian.
As I thought about it, memories of meeting the sparrow, the god of the dark fantasy world, resurfaced.
“…However, this world is no longer just a world from a novel, so we can’t be sure of anything. That means… the knight may not come here.”
If that happens, we would have no choice but to escape the Demon King’s land with the kids. If I didn’t have the ultimate weapon, the Demon Sword Gargandoa, I wouldn’t have known what to do.
It may be difficult for all of us to escape together, but it wouldn’t be impossible.
“Still, it would be better if we could escape with the knight. Life would be much easier that way.”
Just because we escape the Demon King’s land doesn’t mean we’ll be completely safe. True to the nature of a dark fantasy world, even if you’re not a resident of the Demon King’s land, there are plenty of insane people and the reality is harsh.
At least until we reach Iris’s family, we’ll be in a dangerous situation.
“Hey, we got some good stuff, so come take a look!”
“Come down slowly over there!”
While organizing my thoughts, I found myself getting closer to the city. Familiarly, I took out some silver coins from my bag and handed them to the soldier guarding the city walls. It was a way to pass through the walls without any inspection, each person paying about 30 copper coins.
“Go ahead!”
I left behind the guard who chuckled and let out a sigh of relief.
“Maybe because there are so many people, they’re not being a hassle. Thank goodness.”
Usually, when I readily handed over money like this, they would try to drag out the conversation or pick a fight in order to squeeze more money out of me like a greedy merchant. Some would even demand to strip Iris or Jess of their robes and hand them over as slaves.
Every time that happened, I couldn’t help but summon my dark sword and crush the opponent. Usually, when such incidents occurred, it wouldn’t be strange for me to end up in prison, but this is the Demon King’s territory.
Because the actions of the strong were considered to be the law here, the guards were even more eager to offer money. But compared to the amount of money I had, it wasn’t much, and it was annoying to be bothered like that.
Fortunately, it seemed like that wouldn’t happen here.
“First, let’s go to an inn and get a room.”
Wanting to relieve my fatigue, I entered a clean-looking inn.
“Can I stay in a room with three beds for an extended period?”
“Um, that’s possible.”
Although I looked a mess from the dusty wind, perhaps because I was wearing fairly nice clothes, the innkeeper smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
“In my heart, I’d like to use separate rooms… but there are too many criminals to do that.”
If I had taken separate rooms, there would be a 100% chance of someone unfamiliar invading Iris and Jess’s room tonight. Of course, both Jess and Iris were powerful individuals, so there wouldn’t be a problem… but you never know.
It’s best to be prepared for danger if possible.
I received the key and headed towards the assigned room. Compared to other inns, this one was larger and more expensive, and the interior was clearly well decorated. If the inns I had stayed in until now were motels, this one felt more like a hotel.
“I wanted to rest well, and it worked out. You two go ahead and take a bath, I’ll tidy up the luggage.”
“Bath! Master! Let’s bathe together!”
Every time I told them to bathe, Jess would energetically take off her clothes, which caused me to shake my head at her dangling clothes while letting out a sigh.
“As I said before, it’s not possible.”
“Aww…”
“I said… it’s just not possible.”
“Okay…”
Jesse headed towards the bathroom with his ears drooping. Iris, who usually teased Jesse with her sparkling eyes to shower together, was unusually already in the bathroom.
“Children grow up so fast.”
Seeing Iris growing up both pleased and saddened Jesse. This is what a father’s heart feels like!
With that thought, Jesse pushed him into the bathroom. Not long after, neatly arranged clothes and crumpled clothes were placed outside the door. The neatly arranged clothes were Iris’s, and the crumpled clothes were Jesse’s.
At first, he would just throw the clothes around, but after seeing Iris and me neatly folding clothes, he clumsily started to imitate us. Every time he did, he would come and nuzzle his head against us, seeking praise.
Thinking of Jesse’s adorable appearance, I started to roughly organize our belongings. After roughly finishing the task, I placed the clothes the children would change into in front of the door. As I took out my own clothes from the bag, Iris and Jesse came out of the bathroom, emanating a floral scent.
The sight of the two children, dressed in fresh clothes with rosy cheeks, was incredibly adorable.
“Joo-innim!”
Jesse came running, water dripping from his head. As I familiarly dried his hair with a towel, he grumbled and wiped his face against my stomach.
“Jesse, wait a moment. I haven’t showered yet, so I’m dirty.”
“Joo-innim smells nice!”
“Jiji, Jiji. We also need to dry our hair, so let’s go.”
After coaxing him a few times, Jesse reluctantly let go. Since there was no hairdryer here, I only dried his hair enough so that the water wouldn’t drip. It would take too long to dry it completely.
“Oppa too.”
“Yes, yes.”
After drying Iris’s hair, who was patiently waiting, the floral scent tickled my nose. After removing the excess moisture, I put away the towel.
“I’ll go wash up, so take a rest.”
“Yeah, can I… tidy up your clothes, oppa?”
“Sure, I’d appreciate that!”
I chuckled at Iris, who was already trying to be filial, and nodded. I immediately went into the bathroom, took off my clothes, and left them outside by slightly opening the door.
Thunk.
I closed the bathroom door and summoned my magic sword. The sword transformed into a thin needle shape as if it was waiting. I roughly stuck it into my thigh and started washing.
Ssshhh -.
“Aah…”
The warm water washed away my fatigue.
***
As Lian entered the bathroom, Iris was left alone with Jess. She quickly erased the gentle smile from her lips and approached the bathroom.
“Sniff, sniff…”
Jess crouched down and followed closely behind Iris. Iris didn’t feel uncomfortable with Jess acting like an animal.
Jess behaved so much like an animal that Iris saw him as a pet raised by Lian. Thanks to that, she was much more relaxed and less guarded.
After confirming the sound of water coming from the bathroom, Iris lifted Lian’s clothes in front of the door. Among them, she threw the robe to Jess.
Then, Jess wrinkled his nose and repeatedly dilated and contracted his pupils.
“Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff!”
Jess put Lian’s clothes on the floor, rubbed his face against them like a puppy trying to hide a toy, and then took the robe and headed somewhere.
Iris held Lian’s shirt in her arms.
“Hmm, hoo… Oppa…”
It may seem like a perverted behavior, but there was a reason behind it. Whenever Lian left his seat, Iris would secretly embrace his clothes because of her habit of gathering them to create a nest and finding solace in it. She could only find peace by smelling his scent in this way every time he left.
Knowing that this behavior was abnormal, Iris would only embrace his clothes when Lian left, in order to prevent Jess from approaching and disturbing her by sniffing around her. Giving the clothes to Jess was also a way to prevent him from blocking her mouth.
Anyway, with a happy expression on her face, she tightly embraced the clothes that were heavily scented with Lian’s smell.
Thump, thump!
From Noble mtl dot com
At that moment, a sound interrupted her happy time. It was the sound of someone knocking roughly.