"Yukito-san, open your mouth. Aaa..."
When I stopped staring at Luke and Loki-san, I was a little surprised to see Hime holding a spoon filled with food and extending it toward my mouth.
I don't know why she suddenly did this, but of course I couldn't refuse her feeding me.
I followed her request and ate the food on the spoon she offered me.
"Hm, this is good," I said.
It tasted savory with just the right amount of saltiness. I think it was some kind of meat… mixed with something like rice. Anyway, it was delicious.
"Yuusha," I turned to Iris because she called me, and I had a bad feeling about what she was going to—
Clop.
I opened my mouth to say something to her, but Iris suddenly shoved the spoon she was holding straight into my mouth.
I could tell this was a forced feeding from Iris. Hm… this food was also good.
"If you want, I can feed you forever, you know, Yuusha~," Iris said to me, but her eyes were directed at Hime.
For some reason… I feel like Iris is trying to provoke Hime, and I know my situation is getting a little messy here.
I turned to look at Hime's reaction, and she looked slightly annoyed at Iris. Of course, I knew why she reacted that way.
"W-well, I can eat by myself—" I said, trying to bring the atmosphere back to normal.
"Don't worry, Yukito-san. I won't allow your mouth to be filled with food she takes," Hime said to me, even though she was staring at Iris.
I slowly moved away from the two of them glaring at each other and chose to sit beside Yuu-chan.
Hime and Iris glared at each other, and I felt like they were talking through their eyes.
Hah… what's wrong with them? We're supposed to be enjoying dinner.
"Yukito-sama, why do you look so confused?" Yuu-chan asked, noticing that I had sat beside her.
Right now, Yuu-chan was enjoying the food in front of her while talking to me.
"You're asking that… you can see those two yourself, right? How could I not be confused?" I replied.
"You're always like that… even though the reason is really simple, you know."
"I thought you'd become more perceptive, but it turns out it's only partially, huh? Well, I guess this is the perfect timing for Hime too," Yuu-chan said.
I didn't understand what Yuu-chan was saying at all—or maybe I did? I don't know. It was still confusing.
"Hey, young man, is that all you've got?!" Loki-san asked Luke.
Ah right, those two were still competing to drink that sake-like alcohol.
"Hah? I can still go for ten more glasses. Or could it be that you can't handle it anymore, so you're trying to provoke me?" Luke shot back.
Uwah, the two of them already looked very drunk. They were probably going to keep competing for quite a while.
And then, the other pair—
"What's wrong, Hime-san? There's no problem if I want to feed Yuusha, right? After all, he's the one who will help me awaken my power," Iris said while looking at Hime with a gaze that felt like she was boasting.
"I already know about that. But—" Hime tried to respond, but Iris immediately cut her off.
"Don't tell me you feel threatened by me just because I said that earlier? Come on, Hime-san, you're being too cautious," Iris said.
Uwah, the tension between the two of them got hotter than before. Hah… I thought this would just be an ordinary dinner, but it turned out like this.
Ah, instead of worrying about them, I'd rather taste all the dishes on the table. I'm really curious about the food made by elves!
——
(Hime side, several hours earlier, shortly after Iris invited Yukito to go out)
That princess chose Yukito-san instead of Luke. That means there's only one conclusion.
Yukito-san was chosen to help her awaken the power that Lancer-san talked about earlier.
"That girl… it's been a very long time since I've seen her so excited when meeting a man who falls into the 'unknown' category," Loki-san said while staring at the door that Yukito-san and the princess had just gone through.
"Has she never been like that before?" I asked.
"That's right. But I think it's natural. Iris will soon be able to awaken her power to create a barrier for us," Loki-san said.
If even the princess's father said so, then I could entrust this matter to Yukito-san.
Even though my chest felt a little tight when I saw how close the princess was to Yukito-san…
No, no! I shouldn't think like that. This is for the elves, and I shouldn't be selfish just to make Yukito-san mine—
"So, Loki-san, I want to ask about Abbys. Even though we detected no threats on this continent, there must actually be something, right?" Luke asked.
Oh, he brought that up. It's natural for someone like him—he must want to gather as much information as possible.
"Good deduction. First, I'll explain about this continent and how we elves have survived until now," Loki-san replied.
The three of us listened to Loki-san's explanation, and now I understood.
There are many settlements consisting of residents' houses, spread widely across this continent.
However, as a form of protection, the distance between each settlement is only about two kilometers.
There are relics left behind from past Abbys attacks, and those objects are spread around all settlements and connected to one another.
They are something like lanterns planted in the ground, with a kind of magic stone inside.
When the princess awakens her power, those lanterns will shine and form a barrier that connects all the lanterns across the continent.
For the past several decades, there have been no signs of Abbys attacking again. But because Loki-san knows about the Abbys attacks on Necvalion, Vannis, and Danvis, he's become somewhat cautious.
However, a few weeks ago, his subordinates found something strange in one of the ancient ruins.
Those ruins are located in a settlement not far from this one—it only takes a few hours to get there.
He said that monsters began appearing from the lowest floor of the ruins, coming out and attempting to attack the settlement.
Fortunately, the elves managed to defeat the monsters that emerged.
For investigation, Loki-san entered the ruins to confirm what was inside, and he found something odd.
The ruins had a kind of additional room that didn't exist a few months ago, and when he entered it, the room seemed endless.
It was very long and quite damp, so he immediately returned to the surface and merely warned the residents to stay cautious.
He was worried that it might be the work of Abbys, but he found no clues during his visit.
"Then what happens if there really is an enemy inside?" Luke asked again.
"Before that happens, I want Iris to awaken her power first. If the barrier is activated, then there will be nothing to worry about," Loki-san answered.
Even though there are still barriers at all borders of the continent of Riruyo, those barriers have weakened.
And in just a few more days, those barriers are expected to disappear, causing Riruyo to lose its 'protection.'
"Our party will go there later. I want to see for myself what's inside," I said.
"Go ahead. I won't stop you. Oh right, my wife and I will prepare dinner. Since there are quite a lot of guests, the two of us will have to work a bit harder," Loki-san said before leaving the room together with Forn-san.
Well, I guess the three of us could only wait until their cooking was ready, before moving to the dining room.
"Hime-san, don't you find that story strange?" Luke asked.
"What are you talking about? It's obvious that the ruins might have been buried, and that additional room could also be part of them, right?" Yuu-chan said.
"I don't know. That's why tomorrow we'll go there and see it directly. After that, we'll draw a conclusion," I said.
"If there really are members of Abbys inside, we'll defeat them and leave the matter of the princess's barrier to Yukito-san," I continued.
Yuu-chan and Luke nodded after hearing my suggestion.
Hah… I feel like this will be more troublesome than simply letting Yukito-san awaken the princess's power.