Surprised by the appearance of Iris-san, who should have been deceased, I was left speechless.

  Iris-san didn’t seem to mind though, as she looked at me with a slight smile on her lips.

  (Can you hear me?)

  Eh? What’s this? A voice echoed in my head just like when I was talking to Shiro-san, was this Iris-san’s voice?

  (It’s a kind of magic called Telepathy. There are some topics which are a little troublesome for other people to hear about. You may not be able to reply to me, but I will just give you a brief explanation.)

  It seems that, unlike Shiro-san, Iris-san can’t read my mind. So, since I haven’t mastered Telepathy magic, this would just be a one-way conversation.

  I don’t really mind about that, but talking about the explanation…… I guess Iris-san was talking about herself huh?

  (You must have been surprised that I suddenly appeared without any explanation from her, right? First of all, I’d like to apologize on behalf of that idiot. I’m sorry.)

  ……Her tone sounds haughty, but unlike Alice, she is extremely courteous or rather, she has the image of someone with good character. She looked particularly like someone who would give me a good explanation for this kind of unexpected situation……


  (As you’ve probably heard to some extent, I’m someone that should have been dead already. Though I said that, the fact that I appeared in front of you like this is proof that I have not completely disappeared. Well, as for the current me, I guess you could say that “I’m some kind of a soul”……)

  Hmmm. The way she phrased it, it doesn’t really sound like she came back to life huh? As I recall, Alice told me that Iris-san had put her spirit into her Heart Tool and that she had been living inside Alice’s heart for a long time……


  (It’s closer to say that my body is made up of magic power…… With the heart tool as a core, I manifested in Alici…… Alice’s “clone as the vessel”. Well, it might still be early to say this, but the “experiment” that idiot mentioned earlier was about my manifestation.)

  Hmmm. So the reason why she went through the trouble of creating that Perfect Clone Alice, by deactivating several of her clones here and there, was to use it as a vessel to materialize Iris-san.

  Then again, the experiment seemed to have been a success and Iris-san was able to materialize.

  I don’t know much about the details, but I guess I could understand now why Iris-san was here now.

  (I might be rushing my explanation, but I hope you could understand a little about me. Next, as to why I am here, acting as your proxy…… I asked Alice to let me do this.)

  It seems that Iris-san will be explaining about my other doubts as well as she continued.

  (I owe you a debt of gratitude for saving my best friend. I’ve asked Alice several times for an opportunity for me to repay this favor…… and I’ve decided to take this opportunity to do just that. Again, I apologize for startling you. I hope you understand that I am on your side.)

  Unnn, it really feels like she’s an adult who has experienced a lot. She’s really different from that big idiot, Alice, who didn’t explain anything important to me.

  After Iris-san finished explaining the rest of the things and confirming that I understood, she turned to Agni-san and spoke.

  [Sorry to keep you waiting…… Now then, should I use that crystal ball to measure my power level?]

  [No, that won’t be necessary.]

  [Houu……]

  When Iris-san tried to touch the magic tool for measurement, Agni-san lightly shook her head.

  [I can tell that you are powerful by your overflowing magic power. The magic tool won’t be able to measure those who possess too much magic power…… I think you won’t need any handicap. However, “if you really want a handicap”, I’m also fine with that.]

  [……A handicap is something a strong person bears when fighting the weak. This is the first time we’ve met. Thus, we still haven’t judged who is more powerful than the other. At this point, it would be irrelevant to determine which of us who has to give the handicap, wouldn’t it?]

  [……Can I take that as a sign of your confidence?]

  [I should be the one asking that instead. If I don’t hold any confidence, do you think I would challenge you?]

  I kinda felt like sparks were flying between Agni-san and Iris-san. They were exchanging words that quietly contained their fighting spirit, but I couldn’t feel any dangerous atmosphere between them.

  They both perceive each other as strong, but doesn’t it feel like they’re provoking each other?

  [I see…… You’re strong. Miyama-sama.]

  [Eh? Yes.]

  [May I ask you to move to the audience area? It seems like I won’t be able to take it easy, so there’s a possibility that you will be injured. Please move to the spectator seats, where the World King-sama has placed a protective ward.]

  [I- I understand.]

  Anticipating a fierce battle, Agni-san asked me to take refuge in the audience area. Not wanting to go against her words, I obediently nodded and started moving away.

  Thereupon, Iris-san looked at me and gently smiled.

  [Don’t worry, I’ll bring you victory without any problems.]

  [Declaring your victory even before the battle starts huh…… That’s a bad idea for you. You’ll just embarrass yourself when you lose, you know?]

  [I don’t intend to lose but…… Well, let me apologize first. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a battle, so I’m afraid I may make a mistake in the amount of force I use. My apologies, but you’ll have to defend yourself to the death.]

  [Well, thank you for your advice…… However, in this place……. I’ll make sure you’ll regret “underestimating” me.]

  The two warriors’ sharp fighting spirit clashed with each other, as if the air itself had turned into a blade. I- I have a feeling this is going to be a great fight.

  [E- Errr…… Good luck, Iris-san!]

  [Umu, your support is gratifying. I’ll definitely offer this victory to you.]

  After conveying my words of support to Iris-san, I headed for the spectator seats with Lilia-san and the others.

  Dear Mom, Dad————– After hearing about the situation to some extent from Iris-san, who appeared as my proxy, the battle between Iris-san and Agni-san is about to begin. Looking at the sparks flying between the two even before the battle starts————- I have a feeling this is going to be a great fight.

  **********