“Whoa! This is a pretty bumpy ride!”
As I admired the princess’s chest, which had been reinforced to withstand earthquakes, she turned around, showing me a look of emptiness, and I drove forward, passing the bicycle at top speed.
Heine pedaled super fast and guided Lapis’s hands to her waist.
“Hold on. Our leader’s wife is my wife, too, so I’m taking good care of you.”
“Leader…? Who’s that? And anyway, what are you to Hiiro? Are you a friend of his? You aren’t dating him, are you? Whoa!!”
“Your teeth will end up serving as a guillotine for your tongue. Shut up and hold on.”
The two girls, who had just met, were riding together, their bodies perfectly aligned.
Yeah, this was good. Heine and Lapis. In fact, it was great. Seeing the twosome riding a bike together reminded me of the fleeting days of my youth. Had Madame Alsuhariya prepared that standard bicycle to give me this performance? If so, she was a genius. But anyway, she glided through the air, keeping pace with me.
“You probably already know this, but we can’t use the dimensional door we came through on our way back unless that’s an alien friend riding on the back who can make a bicycle fly through the air.”
“My friends are limited to love, courage, and yuri girls. Don’t worry. As captain of the yuri rescue squad, it’s only natural that I would consider several escape routes beforehand.”
I turned a corner in the corridor, covered in a red carpet, while trying to remember the map in the game—and saw a deep-green camouflage costume before my eyes.
“Heine, stop!”
Heine, who had knocked her bicycle sideways, applied the brakes as she slid along the carpet.
Water dripped from the green camouflage outfit.
It kind of looked like a rain poncho, with a slimy feel that reminded you of reptile skin. Magical lines crawled along the main and side veins in a complicated pattern all over.
The shadow archers had sunk into the background in a dull-green color, and every corner of the corridor was filled with a thick fog that seemed to be generated from within the camouflage costume.
Snap, snap, flashed magical lightning.
“……”
Emerald eyes peeped out from beyond the fog.
Telescopic lenses—the magic for precision shooting—had already been activated, and magic circles had covered the elves’ eyes so they could perform calculations.
Six shadows had blended into the fog.
The six archers carefully took out their magic devices.
Without a sound, the fog gathered around their hands and took on the shapes of bows.
Dripping in a cold sweat, I watched the six elite warriors chosen from each of their clans.
They were all better than I was. Even Heine couldn’t take on six perfect archers. If I didn’t get through this passage, I wouldn’t be able to reach the dimensional door the elves had set up in the Alfheim ceremonial hall.
With my right hand wet with sweat, I gripped the dagger at the back of my waist.
The pursuers were closing in on us from behind. We couldn’t go back now. It might be impossible, but we had no choice but to push our way through.
“Heine, go! I’ll distract them!”
I took a low position, preparing for shots, drew my sword, and charged with everything I had—
“Hey, Hiiro, it’s been a while! Go right ahead!”
The voice caught me off guard, and I hit the brakes and fell headfirst, slamming my face against the floor.
It was Milla Acht Schatten, leader of the holy archers.
With hair that glowed gold in the sunlight, she called out to me in a tone of voice devoid of tension. “Hey, what are you, stupid? I said you can walk through the gate.”
“…Really?”
“Really.”
I nervously pulled Heine’s bike next to me and walked on through.
And turned around.
The elf archers smiled at me, with the exception of some who looked unhappy.
“It isn’t just the princess’s life we protect,” Milla said. “We also protect her heart. Well, then, Hiiro, until we meet again. I’ll stall whoever as needed.”
“Milla… Sorry to trouble you…yet again…”
Milla smiled wryly and stroked Lapis’s head.
“You mean thanks, right? Okay, Your Highness, it’s time to say goodbye. Once I’ve succeeded in stalling the ones who are after your man, I have our big shots to deal with.”
“…They won’t execute you, will they?”
Milla’s eyes lit up, and she twisted the corners of her mouth.
“Of course not. Who could kill me anyway?”
The long-eared pursuers who had been closing in on us shouted angrily when they saw Milla standing in their way.
“Have you become a worm in the lion’s body, holy archer?!”
Milla and the others smiled and blended with the mist in their shining camouflage outfits.
“Let’s not make any more mistakes, good ladies from Alfheim. It’s obvious who the lion and the worm are,” Milla said, her voice echoing with a loud laugh.
“This, ladies—is our job from the outset.”
The sound of gunfire pierced our ears, and I pushed open the door leading to the ceremonial hall as if the force were pushing me out of the way.
The green view, the scent of the earth, the sounds of birds singing—and the wind passed through.
Only the sky, the air, and the earth were before me.
Wet with rain and dew, the ground cover’s coloring made it difficult to distinguish between inside and outside, the ceiling and the sky, the walls and the world beyond. The area was so densely covered with earth, flowers, and greenery that it gave you the illusion of having passed through the door into the outside world.
The far end of the hall was enclosed in a verdant area with a mossy rock beneath a marble gate with a chintz pattern, and at the center was a shimmering, colorless void.
Six holy archers stood holding bows.
Clad in sheer dresses, they formed a pair of lines and had become a pseudo-passage leading to a huge rock.
Their eyes were closed as they continued to chant softly, surrounded by a luminous glow that reminded me of fireflies.
Fragments of their chant rose from their skin. The strings of words scattered visibly in the air and fell apart like water trickling between their fingers.
“We only have six chanters, so the gate isn’t stable! We don’t have time, Hiiro! Get on!” Lapis said, desperately holding out her hand.
I grabbed that hand, and Heine pedaled hard. The bicycle’s wheels began spinning madly, the gate started to close—and we pushed our way through it at once.
The bike crashed head-on into the road. Unable to withstand the impact, it was wrecked, and we were thrown into the air with the blown-off wheels.
“Yes to our successful landing, but no to being sent to the hospital.”
Pivoting to a defensive position, Heine landed beautifully, like she’d get high marks for artistry and technique. In contrast, I was thrown out clumsily, grabbed Lapis in my arms, and skidded along the road.
“Ow… Dang, that hurt… Lapis? Are you okay…?”
Red to her ears, Lapis’s eyes were open, but she didn’t move a muscle.
“Hey, Lapis? Can you hear me…? Are you okay…?”
She closely closed her eyes and hugged me.
“Yeah… Fine…”
“Well, please let go of me if you’re okay. Hello? Do you understand what I’m saying? Please stop using my chest to wipe your face. Soap won’t come out of my nipples.”
My limbs felt heavy, and the strength had drained from my muscles. I attempted to move, but they wouldn’t respond.
I looked up at the sky, feeling relieved, and smiled.
“What a disaster that was, huh? Being forced to marry a man you don’t even like. But everything’s okay now, Lapis. You can marry the girl that you choose—”
“Huh? Marry a man? What are you talking about?”
“…Huh?”
The smile vanished from my face.
Still nestled in my arms, Lapis tilted her head curiously.
“…Your fiancé is a man, right?”
“No, she’s a girl. Besides, we already broke off our engagement.”
“…You were about to be forced to marry someone to maintain the balance between your clans, right?”
“You mean the purification ritual? Did that look like a wedding from a human perspective?”
“…The elf you were facing was a guy, right?”
“Nuh-uh, that was a girl. Of course it wouldn’t be a guy. We even hug afterward. How could I, a princess of the Lumet royal family, hug a boy in public?”
“…B-but, Lapis, I saw traces of tears on your face.”
“I’d been crying every night after you suddenly disappeared, Hiiro. I decided to go back to Japan and look for you, but my great-grandmother wouldn’t let me, and we ended up fighting… So I was really happy when you came to me.”
Trembling, I looked up at the demon standing under the night sky.
Wrapped in the darkness of the night, a purple haze sporting boots danced merrily.
And Alsuhariya was laughing behind the misty haze.
“Yeah, right. This is what I really wanted. Putting a man between yuri girls was as easy as a walk in the park. You are truly a fool, Hiiro, believing the lies that popped into my mind. I should have done this from the start,” Alsuhariya whispered, her eyes closed as the light of a full moon illuminated her.
“Your face, fallen into despair…is genuinely beautiful.”
Alsuhariya’s face turned crooked in the shape of a crescent moon.
“How does it feel to hold in your arms the beautiful girl you risked your life saving while skyrocketing her fondness for you?”
“Oh… Oh… Oh…!”
I screamed.
“You tricked me!! How dare you?!”
I cried, writhing in agony.
“Alsuhariya… I will never forgive you… Never… Never…! Aaahh…!”
Squirming, I covered my face with my hands and screamed.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!”
“Hiiro? Do your wounds hurt? That isn’t a good sound to come out of a human’s throat. Are you okay?!”
Filled with screams and anger, my cries rose into the night sky and disappeared into the darkness.
Even after the moon sank and the sun rose, my screaming and wailing continued.
Having been driven to the point of death, I went to the hospital to have my injuries treated and was forced to be hospitalized. An added blow was having Lapis and the others take loving care of me, and I was finally able to return to Houjou Magic Academy after that.