Volume 8 Side
Story 3
The
Ever-Changing Iris-chan Part 1
A few days after Nozomu had nursed Irisdina, who had fallen ill after becoming a Dhampir. Just when her fever had finally gone down and she was feeling better, and Somia and the others were visiting again, the incident occurred. She developed a fever again and became unable to move. And one hour after Nozomu hurriedly carried her to the bedroom. When he went to check on her, he witnessed an even more abnormal situation.
"What is
thiiiiis!"
Nozomu's scream echoed
through the Guest House, and Somia and the others rushed into the room,
wondering what was going on.
"Kyaa~~! Ane-sama
is cute!"
"Waaaaaah,
Nojomu~~~~!"
Before their eyes was
Irisdina, hiding under the futon, crying and screaming, transformed into an
unusually young form. She looked about eight years old. She had become a size
smaller even than Somia, and her speech was somewhat lispy.
"This is...
Irisdina-ojousama, you have become quite young."
While Somia's eyes
sparkled at her shrunken sister, the toddler-fied Irisdina dashed straight to
Nozomu and clung to his leg. The clothes she had been wearing had almost
completely fallen off, with only her shirt barely hanging on her shoulders.
"No, no, no, is this
even possible!?"
"Waaaaah,
waaaaaah~~n!"
Picking up the crying
Irisdina, Nozomu voiced his bewilderment. For the time being, leaving the
change of clothes to Mena, Nozomu ran off to call Norn again.
***
About thirty minutes
after Irisdina's toddler-fication was discovered. Everyone gathered in the
dining hall for now, and Norn, who had examined her before, diagnosed that the
cause was, as expected, excessive magic power in her body. On the other hand,
the fever that had been so high was now completely gone. Apparently, the
excessive magic power had been used for her toddler-fication, temporarily
calming the magic power in her body. According to Norn, she should return to
normal if she enters an overloaded state again, but...
"Sorry I can only
offer speculation."
"No, no one
predicted this situation, so it's understandable. Anyway, will she stay like
this for a few days again?"
"I can't say for
sure. Her magic power surges are still irregular..."
Haa... Nozomu and the
teachers slumped their shoulders. Then, they turned their eyes to a corner of
the dining hall where the person in question was.
"Uuu, Somia, let me
go~~"
"Ah, Ane-sama,
you're so cute... There, there, let's behave now ~~!"
In front of them, a
heartwarming exchange between sisters was unfolding. Somia, face full of joy,
had the toddler-fied Irisdina, dressed in a strangely cute outfit, on her lap.
Meanwhile, Irisdina was trying to escape from her sister's lap, but was firmly
captured from behind and couldn't move. Perhaps because her physical strength
had become appropriate for her age due to toddler-fication, she was in a state
where she couldn't even escape from Somia's slender arms.
"Ah, how
beautiful my children are. Mena, call a painter right now to preserve this
scene! No, they might not make it in time! In that case, I have no choice but
to draw it myself!"
"Master, here are
the art supplies."
"Umu!"
Meanwhile, Victor,
with art supplies handed to him by Mena from out of nowhere, happily began
sketching. On the white canvas, the charcoal for sketching moved at tremendous
speed. Nozomu silently went behind Victor and peeked at the canvas. The overall
image of the two was already roughly but well-balanced drawn, with light
three-dimensional shading added. Ridiculous work speed and accuracy. As always,
he was a person who went all out when it came to his daughters.
"By the way,
Mena-san, about Iris's clothes..."
"Is there
something about those clothes?"
"Where did you
get them? They're strangely cute, or rather, calculatingly so..."
Irisdina was wearing a
pink dress-type outfit. Frills were adorned all over it to an excessive degree,
giving a strangely fluffy impression. Frills were attached not only to the
clothes but also to small items like shoes, and combined with Irisdina's very
well-featured appearance even as a child, she radiated a fairy-like loveliness.
Honestly speaking, these were clothes the usual her would absolutely never
wear, and the purple hair ornament Nozomu had given her stood out strangely.
"It's an outfit
that's popular in our country recently, and I made it myself. Is there
something wrong?"
"Eh? You made it,
Mena-san!? When!?"
"Before coming to
Arcazam. Originally, I made it for Somia-sama, but I thought the current
Irisdina-ojousama could wear it with a little adjustment to the length."
Certainly, sewing
skills are necessary for a maid, but at a glance, there were no signs of such
adjustments on Irisdina's outfit. Nozomu himself wasn't an expert on clothes so
he couldn't say for sure, but perfectly adjusting such complex and elaborately
designed clothes in just thirty minutes didn't seem normal.
"How should I put
it, the people of the Francilt family are kinda lacking in common sense, aren't
they?"
"Nozomu-sama. I
return those words right back at you. The one most lacking in common sense here
is you, who became a Dragonslayer. Please gain some self-awareness
already."
"...No, isn't
that irrelevant right now?"
"Please do not
exempt yourself. Acquiring the skill to adjust clothes in ten minutes versus
becoming a Dragonslayer who hasn't
existed for hundreds of years. It is obvious which is more difficult. Besides,
if you marry Ojousama, you will also become a relative of the Francilt family,
you know?"
"...Ah."
Nozomu could not
express in a single word the emotions he felt when he heard those words. His
consciousness simply drifted away, and he was overcome by a sensation of
floating in midair.
"Nn~~! I was very
happy to have an older sister, but actually, I wanted a little sister
too~~"
"Muuu!"
While Nozomu and Mena
were debating, Somia's embrace became even more intense. Irisdina resisted even
more fiercely against her sister rubbing her cheek against her from behind, rub, rub, but this rather touched
Somia's heartstrings, causing a vicious cycle of accelerating physical contact.
Amidst this, Somia's eyes turned to the hair ornament with purple artificial
flowers, somewhat unsuited to the pink frilly dress.
"By the way,
Ane-sama, what is this hair ornament?"
"No!"
Somia inadvertently
reached for the hair ornament. At that moment, a loud voice like tearing silk
echoed in the dining hall.
"This is mine!
Don't touch!"
"I see, it was the
present from Ani-sama. That’s why, you wouldn't want it touched. Still, getting
so worked up over this... Ane-sama is cute after all!"
"Nn, nnn~~!
Somia, let go already!"
"Ah!?"
Finally, Irisdina's
patience reached its limit. Violently twisting her body to escape Somia's
restraint, she ran straight to Nozomu and hugged him.
"Nojomu, we're
leaving here!"
"Eh?"
"I don't want to
be with Somia and Tousama right now! We're leaving!"
"Ehh~~!?
Ane-sama, please don't go~~!"
"No! Everyone
treats me like a toy! Nojomu, let's go!"
Somia raised a voice
of utmost disappointment, but the completely angry Irisdina wouldn't listen.
How should I put it, a truly rare sight. Even Nozomu had rarely seen her expose
her emotions like this. That said, Nozomu also understood her feelings. So,
ignoring the Francilt family members voicing their dissatisfaction, he decided
to excuse themselves here.
"...Norn-sensei,
I'll go out with Iris for a change of pace."
"Well, it's true
this place would be stressful for her..."
With a sigh, he told
Norn, then Nozomu left the room carrying Irisdina. Incidentally, to prevent
Somia and the others from following, he used ki for physical enhancement, ran
through the Guest House, and jumped out of the academy. The speed brought about
by perfectly adjusted ki techniques was such that even Mena couldn't catch up.
And in no time, the two arrived at Central Park.
"Phew, we should
be safe here."
"Muu, Somia,
Tousama, even Mena are mean..."
"But well, I
think it's cute too. So those clothes suit you, Iris..."
While fixing her hair
which had gotten a little messy on the way here, Nozomu voiced his honest
impression. Actually it was a little flashy, but the cutely styled dress suited
her well. "She looks just like a
little princess"—that was the impression Nozomu held of her current appearance.
"...Nojomu,
that's a womanizer's line. It doesn't suit you."
"Haha, that’s harsh."
Even without words,
Irisdina immediately saw through his inner thoughts. Nozomu gave a wry smile
and readjusted his hold on her in his arms. At the increased closeness,
Irisdina's young, plump cheeks dyed crimson.
"So, we're out
now. Where shall we go?"
"Anywhere is fine
if I'm with Nozomu!"
"Then let's try
the Commercial District. I don't think the selection is as good as in summer,
but I don't think we'll be bored."
"Yeah!"
Snow was piled up on
the ground. Thinking it would be best not to dirty her precious dress, Nozomu
began walking towards the Commercial District while still carrying her in his
arms. Talk about a blessing in disguise. It was a somewhat spontaneous winter
date. A short walk south from the Central Park brought them immediately to the
Commercial District. Even in winter, the commercial district was as bustling as
ever during the day. Amidst the ceaseless buzz of the crowd, merchants raising
their voices, and customers with eyes sparkling looking at goods from all over
the world, they advanced while crunching through the piled snow with every
step.
"What's this. A
lamp? It has a pretty unusual shape..."
"Probably an
Imperial lamp!"
What Nozomu found was
a brass oil lamp placed in a general store. Its shape resembled a pitcher, and
to protect the handle from heat transfer, the burner protruded forward.
Patterns using many curves were drawn on the surface of the lamp, and colored
glass was scattered here and there. Even if the materials were cheap, it was
quite elaborately made.
"A long time ago,
Kaasama told me a story about a spirit that grants wishes coming out when you
rub it!"
"How should I put
it... a suspicious story."
"Yeah, just
shaying it grants wishesh is shushpishious!"
"What kind of
story?"
"A man who
coincidentally got a magic lamp gets a mountain of treasure and a beautiful
bride with its power, but in the end, he was betrayed by the spirit and lost
everything!"
I see. As is typical
of this sort of story, the man lost himself to the allure and power of the
magic lamp, and apparently lost everything in the end. What a tragic tale. That
said, folk tales often contain lessons and wisdom for life. And at the same
time, they are also used to teach children how to think. In that sense, one
could call it a good story.
"Well then, let's
go check out other shops."
"Yeah!"
Just as Nozomu and
Irisdina turned around to look at the next shop, a familiar voice drifted
towards them amidst the hustle and bustle.
"Ah..."
"Oh, Lisa? And
Shina-san?"
There stood Lisa and
Shina. What a rare combination. Perhaps they had been shopping, as both had
large bags on their shoulders. Thinking it was a coincidence, Nozomu raised his
hand with light feelings to call out to them, but tilted his head at their
somewhat strange expressions. Both Lisa and Shina had their mouths agape, eyes
wide open, and were completely frozen. Lisa even pointed at Nozomu for some
reason, trembling all over.
"N-Nozomu...
th-that child..."
"Hm? Ah,
actually..."
"When on earth
did you make a child with Irisdina-san!?"
"Nu?"
"...Pardon?"
At the unexpected
question, dumbfounded voices leaked from Nozomu and Irisdina. And at the
outrageous line about making a child, the gazes of everyone around gathered on
Nozomu at once.
(Ah, this is another
troublesome pattern...)
A premonition of a
disturbance, he didn't know how many times it had been today. Letting out a
sigh involuntarily at the whispering voices he could hear from the
surroundings, Nozomu looked up at the sky.
***
Iris-chan
Irisdina, who turned
into a toddler as a result of her Dhampir
magic power working in a strange direction. She remembers everything up to now
properly, but her personality and tone have become appropriate for her age.
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