Free Web NovelChapter 217: Seven Stars Cultural Festival (3)
At noon, after parting ways with Laneige, more or less in a safe manner, I headed to the place where I was supposed to meet Iris. The meeting spot was our party’s newly created hideout, the party house.
But why did she want me to come all the way to the party house? I wondered.
The party house was quite far from the central plaza in front of the main building, which served as the festival’s main venue. The loud, bustling noises of the festival had faded into faint background static by the time I reached it.
Iris and Yurina were standing together in front of the party house, waiting for me.
“Ah, Dale! Over here!”
“Hehe. Dale, you’re here.”
“Huh? Why are you two together?” I asked.
I distinctly remembered asking Yurina to meet me after Iris. Her time slot was supposed to be 2 p.m.
“About that.” Iris smiled softly and exchanged a glance with Yurina. “We talked it over and decided to combine our time.”
“Combine your time?”
“Yes. Meaning the two of us will be with you until 4 p.m.”
Instead of insisting on spending separate time with me, they decided to give up their one-on-one moments and extend the time that the three of us would spend together.
“So, the three of us will just look around the festival together?”
Yurina hesitated, fiddling with the pendant around her neck. “Well, if we’re going to enjoy the festival together, I have to stay in Yuren’s disguise, right?”
“Yeah. That can’t be helped.”
Other than our party members, no one knew about Yurina’s true identity.
Iris said, “That’s why I suggested that instead of going anywhere crowded today, why don’t we just spend some quiet time in the party house?”
“Inside the party house?”
Not walking around during a festival and just staying indoors felt a bit like going on a trip only to hole up in the lodging all day.
“I-I said I was fine staying in Yuren’s disguise, but...”
Iris smiled gently. “But you’d prefer to enjoy a day like this in your real form, right? And besides, I’m not really a fan of big crowds either.”
I looked at them. “If both of you are fine with it, I don’t mind.”
Honestly, if I had to choose, I would much rather relax inside the party house than squeeze through crowds all day. Being around too many people sucked the energy right out of me.
“Then let’s go in!”
“A-and to at least make it feel a bit like a festival, we decorated the second-floor lounge!”
I followed Iris and Yurina up to the second-floor lounge. As Yurina mentioned, the room was decorated with sparkling ornaments and balloons. The atmosphere felt less like a festival and more like I had been invited to a surprise birthday party.
“Dale, you mentioned before that you took on the role of Special Operations Cadet, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s that going?”
“Nothing much has progressed yet.”
I had gone outside Valhalla City several times to track down the Beast Skin Group, wandering around all day, but found no trace of them.
“Searching alone must be tough, isn’t it?”
“It’s just walking around. Nothing special.”
“I want to help you too, Dale.”
“But you’ve got classes.”
I had plenty of free time because I was suspended, but the others were dutifully attending their lessons.
“When does your suspension end?”
“Probably near the end of this semester.”
“A-are you sure you won’t get held back?”
“Well...”
Normally, skipping this many classes would definitely mean repeating the year.
“But... I’m sure the headmaster will take care of it.”
Now that I had reliable backing, I doubted I actually needed to worry about failing.
Yurina bit her lip with a gloomy expression. “Whenever I think about you doing dangerous things all alone, I get worried.”
She had fought the Beast Skin Group before, so she knew very well how powerful they were.
Iris added, “Me too. Yurina told me that the one with the wolf mask was around a High Ranker’s level, right?”
“That’s right. He was incredibly strong. Of course, Dale is way stronger than I am, so he could beat someone like the wolf-masked man without any trouble, but still...” Yurina trailed off.
As if they had rehearsed it beforehand, Iris finished the sentence for her. “There might be members even stronger than him.”
They looked at me with anxious eyes.
I let out a bitter chuckle and shrugged. “You two really don’t need to worry that much.”
Honestly, the ones who had to be worried were the Beast Skin Group members who crossed paths with me. Nevertheless, I couldn’t deny that being worried over like this felt kind of nice. It showed just how much the two of them cared for me.
“Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay? Promise?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Yurina glanced at Iris, and the two exchanged a silent signal. “Then, Dale, s-since you’ve been working so hard lately...”
“Today, we’re going to give you a bit of healing.”
Huh? Healing? Where did that come from?
“Please wait here for a moment.”
“A-and whatever you do, don’t come inside!”
Iris and Yurina scampered downstairs in small, hurried steps, leaving me wondering what was going on.
After about five minutes of curious waiting, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
“U-um, Dale. How do we look?”
“Hehe. Yurina and I prepared this together to give you plenty of healing today.”
I turned around, only to see them standing at the doorway in a shiny black one-piece dress. The dress had a layered lace skirt, and they also wrapped white lace bands around their elbows. Draped over their dress was an apron with white frills, and beneath the slightly short skirt, they had worn garter belts and white stockings.
They were dressed in full maid outfits. But these outfits weren’t practical for chores at all. They were the kind of maid uniforms meant for an entirely different type of setting.
What? What is this? Am I dreaming? I thought.
“D-Dale?”
I stammered. “Huh?”
“Why are you staring blankly like that?”
“No, it’s just...”
I had seen Iris and Yurina in maid uniforms before, but when I saw the two of them wearing matching ones at the same time, the impact wasn’t just doubled; it was quadrupled.
Moreover, the maid dresses they wore before weren’t anything like this. Those were the type of outfits that actual Helios family maids wore—refined, modest, and formal. But the ones they were wearing today had not even a grain of practicality. These were clearly designed purely for this kind of risqué event.
“W-where did you even get something like this?” I asked.
“We borrowed them from Jules.”
“What?”
The image of Jules in a maid outfit flashed across my mind. A wave of despair and existential horror washed over me as if I had peered into the abyss itself. AARGHH!! My mind!
“Oh, don’t worry! They’re not the ones Jules wore. He ordered new ones from a shop he knows.”
“R-right? That’s what I thought.”
“Yes. The ones he actually wears were, um, way too revealing. There was no way we could put those on.”
Don’t imagine it. Don’t imagine it, Dale! Do not imagine it! I said to myself.
“I-is that so,” I muttered.
“Hehe. Anyway, Yurina and I picked these out together just for today. What do you think?”
“Ugh, I-I wanted something a bit more modest, but Iris insisted,” Yurina added shyly.
“My, my! Weren’t you the one who said we absolutely had to have the stockings and garter belts?”
Yurina shrieked, face bright red. “Eek! W-we agreed not to mention that!”
Iris burst out laughing, thoroughly amused.
They had gotten awfully close while I wasn’t looking. When Camilla was not around, Iris usually kept up her Saintess facade, acting prim and reserved. But lately, she had completely dropped the act around Yurina and even started showing her mischievous side openly.
“Well then, Dale, you haven’t eaten lunch yet, right?”
“Nope.”
“I’ll make something right away, so please wait a bit.”
“I’ll help too,” Yurina added.
The two of them headed to the small kitchen attached to the lounge.
“Hah!”
My girlfriends, both dressed as maids, were making lunch for me. The scene was so surreal I couldn’t help letting out a breathy laugh. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
However, the scene didn’t last long. Soon, voices came from the kitchen.
“Kyaah! Yurina! What are you doing?” Iris shouted.
“Huh? W-wasn’t it supposed to be done like this?” Yurina replied.
“Who puts a whole egg, shell and all, into omelet rice?”
“Oh, so I’m supposed to crush the shell before adding it?”
“You’re not supposed to add the shell at all!”
In my past life, Yuren was completely hopeless at cooking too.
With a sigh, Iris dejectedly said, “I’ll cook. You chop the vegetables.”
“O-okay. How should I cut them?”
“Since it’s for omelet rice, cut them small.”
“Got it!”
With a swift motion, Yurina quickly got to work.
“Wait! Why are you cutting the vegetables smaller than rice grains?” shouted Iris.
“Y-you said to cut them small.”
“Aaaagh, you’re driving me crazy!”
After a chaotic mix of yelling and disastrous sound effects, Iris, through what could only be described as miraculous healing magic, managed to put together something resembling omelet rice and placed it on the table.
“Good job,” I said.
“I’m never cooking with Yurina again.”
Maybe because she got scolded nonstop while cooking, Yurina had shriveled up like a wilted flower abandoned on the roadside. With a sniff, she said, “I-I wanted to make something delicious for Dale too.”
“Well, everyone makes mistakes at first,” I said, trying to comfort her.
To call her cooking attempts a mistake was probably too generous, but there was no way I would say something that heartless to someone who was trying her best to cook for me.
Iris continued, “And now for the finishing touch, a ketchup heart on top! Ta-dah! Heaven’s Door’s signature omelet rice!”
“Heaven’s Door?” I said.
“It’s a concept cafe in Valhalla City. I’ve never been there, but Jules said he’s a regular.”
“Huh. Didn’t know that existed.” ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
I had been going to Valhalla City often lately, looking for the traces of the Beast Skin Group, but hadn’t come across it. It seemed like an interesting cafe I could visit someday.
“They say the place is full of crossdressing guys.”
“What?”
Is that really Heaven’s Door? Sounds more like Hell’s Door.
“Hehe. Anyway, enough talk about cafes.” Iris scooped up a spoonful of omelet rice and held it to my lips. “Here, say ‘ahhh,’ Dale.”
Not wanting to lose, Yurina scooped some up and pushed her spoon toward me as well. “M-me too!”
Iris smiled brightly, while Yurina swallowed nervously, eyes sparkling like stars.
With both of them looking at me like that, there was no way I could say that I would feed myself.
I took a big bite from both their spoons. “Nom.”
“Hehe. Tasty, right?”
“H-how is it?”
Thanks to Iris doing over ninety percent of the actual cooking, it was well-made.
“It’s good.”
The flavor was so solid that I would never have guessed that the cooking process involved screams and chaos.
“Hehehe. I was worried it’d turn out terrible, but thank goodness. Here, say ahh again!”
“I’ll give you a drink next! Open wide!”
Of course, I didn’t actually have the time or composure to savor the taste.
