The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 88: Maid Outfits Suit Different People (2)

Yurina's hand touched my shoulder.

I could feel her hand trembling slightly as if she were nervous, gripping my shoulder.

Her hand, which seemed soft on the outside, felt distinctly calloused when it touched me directly.

How desperately must she have swung her sword to develop such calluses?

As thoughts like these swirled in my mind, trying to deny the reality before me,

"A-Ahem, how is it... m-my lord?"

A cautious voice tickled my ear.

"Oh? Uh, it feels nice."

Unable to turn around, I nodded stupidly.

If Rosanna were to see me like this, she'd wonder, "Is this really the same guy?"

'But what can I do?'

A comrade I had thought to be a man for hundreds, even thousands of years (he was physically a man at that time) turns out to have been a woman all along.

And now, here she is, dressed in a maid outfit, massaging my shoulders and shyly calling me "my lord."

'What kind of absurd situation is this?'

My head was a mess, so tangled that I couldn't even tell where things had gone wrong.

"Alright, that’s enough. Go and change back now."

"Huh? Already?"

Yurina, who was gently massaging my shoulders, pouted her lips as if disappointed.

"...But you made your mom wear it all night."

"That was just to tease that woman."

"For something like that, Dale seemed to be enjoying it quite a lot, though?"

"..."

Well, honestly speaking, if we're talking about whether I enjoyed it or not, yes, I did.

Ahem.

Suddenly, the image of Berald giving me a thumbs-up and saying, "Welcome to the microcosm, my brother!" flashed in my head.

'Get out of my head, you demon!'

As I fought an intense mental battle with the intrusive thoughts of Berald,

"See? Dale says one thing, but his body is honest."

"Where did you pick up that sleazy golden-haired delinquent line...?"

"Heh."

Yurina, who had been massaging my shoulders, wrapped her arms around my neck from behind.

Unlike Iris, who had an overwhelming softness, Yurina's embrace felt taut and springy, like a rubber ball.

"My lord... are you really going to stop here?"

Her seductive whisper echoed sweetly in my ear.

Just as I was about to shake my head at the rising desire instinctively—

Beep!

"[Candidate Iris, access confirmed.]"

A quiet mechanical voice came from outside the door.

"...!"

"...!"

Yurina immediately pulled away from me, her eyes wide with panic.

Her gaze was filled with confusion about why Iris had access privileges, but there was no time to explain.

"Yuri— no, Yuren! Quickly, to the changing room!"

"O-okay!"

Yurina, her silver hair fluttering, dashed into the changing room at lightning speed.

Bang!

The door to the changing room slammed shut just as—

"Mr. Dale~ Are you still training? I brought lunch, so take a break and eat."

Iris opened the door to the training hall and stepped in.

"Oh, you're here?"

I awkwardly waved at her with a forced smile.

"Yes. By the way... where's Yuren?"

Iris looked around, searching for Yuren.

Click.

Soon, the changing room door opened, and Yuren emerged, panting heavily.

"Haha, I was wondering who it was, and it turns out Iris brought lunch?"

"I also packed some for you, Yuren."

"Thanks."

Yuren wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and sighed in relief.

Then—

"But... Yuren, what's that in your hand?"

"...!"

Only then did Yuren realize that she was still holding the maid outfit she'd just changed out of.

It seemed that, in her haste to change, she'd absentmindedly brought the outfit out with her.

"A maid outfit? Why are you holding a maid outfit?"

"Uh... well, this is..."

In the personal training room.

Two men panting heavily.

One of them holding a maid outfit.

Suspicious, very suspicious.

"Wait, you two aren't...!"

As Iris's expression began to harden,

"D-Dale made me do it!"

"What?"

Yuren quickly threw me under the bus.

I stared at her in shock, but it was too late to stop the bombshell she was about to drop.

"Dale asked me if I could get him one of the maid outfits our family uses!"

"...Mr. Dale did?"

"Yeah! Dale has a peculiar taste. He likes to dress girls up in maid outfits and have them call him 'my lord'!"

"Wh-what?!?"

Wait.

'You crazy fool!!!'

I screamed internally as I glared at Yuren... or rather, Yurina.

She avoided my gaze, awkwardly clearing her throat.

"Mr. Dale has such a... unique taste?"

Iris turned to look at me, her eyes filled with doubt and hesitation she couldn't hide.

"It's not like that..."

"If that's not it, then why did you ask your friend to get you a maid outfit?"

"..."

How could I even explain this?

That Yuren was actually a woman and almost got forcefully gender-swapped into a man, but I somehow saved her, and then Rosanna Helios, the one responsible, acted as if nothing had happened, so out of spite, I made Yurina wear a maid outfit and treated her like a slave, humiliating her.

Then Yurina brought her own maid outfit, asking to be treated like a slave, and now she and her mother both want to be my slaves.

And just as I was about to give in to my desires and think, "Fine, if you want it so badly, I'll humiliate you just like I did to your mother, ha ha ha," Iris suddenly walked in, and here we are.

"Um... so."

After gathering my thoughts, I smiled and opened my mouth.

"The truth is, I just really like maids."

I give up.

Let's just say I like them.

"You had such a... preference, Dale...? No way... could it be...?"

Iris shuddered, her shoulders trembling, and her eyes widened.

"That maid outfit... was it meant for me to wear?"

"Huh?"

Wait, how did the conversation turn this way?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"You wanted to dress the saintess of the Holy Kingdom in a maid outfit and make her your slave? Hm, if the people of the Holy Kingdom knew about this, they'd go mad calling it blasphemy."

Iris's lips curled into a mischievous grin as she smirked.

She then took the maid outfit from Yuren and placed it against her chest.

"Hmm, looks like the chest area is too small. I'll need to get it altered."

"...Too small? That?"

Yuren's eyes turned cold.

Iris nodded, continuing her commentary.

"Seems like the maid who wore this before didn't have a very large chest?"

"Uh, um... is that so? I thought it was fairly large."

"Well... it's not quite Camilla's size, but calling it 'large' might be a bit of a stretch. Isn't it slightly below average?"

Iris tilted her head, fiddling with the chest area of the maid outfit.

For a brief moment, a strained breath escaped from Yuren's lips—"...Ugh!"—but it seemed Iris didn't hear it.

Waving the maid outfit, Iris approached me with a playful swing.

"Once it's all tailored, I'll wear it for you... 'Master.'"

"......"

"Fufufu. Well then, enjoy your lunch."

Iris hummed a cheerful tune as she exited the training grounds, leaving me behind.

“Dale, I…”

“…….”

“I’m sorry.”

An awkward silence settled in the training grounds.

"How did this..."

With a pensive expression, I looked back on past events—or rather, past mistakes.

"How did it come to this?"

Thus, the maid outfit of the Helios family went from hand to hand, eventually making its way to the saintess of the Holy Kingdom.

* * *

“…Candidate Dale?”

On my way back to the dormitory after finishing training with Yurina, I heard a familiar voice.

“Why does your face look so gaunt?”

Elisha Baldwin.

Known by the fearsome title “The Spider with the Cursed Eyes,” she approached me with an unusually concerned expression.

“Did something happen?”

“Well... yeah, quite a bit, actually.”

A whole lot of things, in fact.

“Hmm. I had something to ask of you, but seeing your condition, it seems today might not be the best time.”

“Something to ask of me?”

Now that I thought about it, this path was far from Professor Elisha’s office.

‘She didn’t just run into me by chance; she must have been waiting for me.’

It wasn’t the kind of errand a professor would usually handle in person without sending an assistant.

For her to come to the dorm herself…

‘No way.’

I narrowed my eyes and asked.

“Is it related to the Archbishop of Beasts?”

“As sharp as ever. I like that.”

Professor Elisha smiled, nodding approvingly.

“Well, there wouldn’t be many reasons for you to seek me out directly unless it was that.”

“Hmm. Hearing it put that way is a bit disheartening. Do you really think there’s no other reason I’d look for you?”

Professor Elisha stepped closer, her violet eyes shimmering as she reached out with a gloved hand to caress my cheek.

“Perhaps... I came here to ask you on a date?”

“…….”

Her breath, close enough to feel against my skin, carried a faint smell of tobacco that tingled my nose.

Elisha, leaning in as if she were about to kiss me, suddenly pinched my cheek lightly and stepped back.

“Fufufu. Just kidding.”

Shrugging her shoulders, she turned her head.

I noticed the faint blush on the tips of her ears but decided not to mention it as I continued.

“So, what is this favor you want to ask?”

“Recently, there was a report of a kidnapping incident caused by a beast in a small village near the outskirts of the Empire.”

“Well... that’s not exactly uncommon, is it?”

Kidnappings by beasts were not only a frequent occurrence in the Empire but across the entire continent.

“The witnesses said the beast had eight eyes.”

“Wait, eight eyes?”

An eight-eyed beast, huh?

In a small village with no real heroes, that’s nothing short of a disaster.

“This is a sketch of the beast based on witness testimony.”

Professor Elisha handed me a piece of paper with a drawing of the beast.

It had an elongated snout, steel-like skin, sharp claws, and a long tail.

“This is…”

“Quite familiar in appearance, isn’t it?”

It bore an uncanny resemblance to the crocodile beast that had crashed into the test site during the midterm evaluation.

‘Sure, beast forms can be similar...’

But that was only when the number of eyes was low.

The higher the eye count, the more distinctive and different their appearance became.

It was rare for an eight-eyed beast to look exactly like another.

“Do you think this is one of Jackal’s underlings, Professor?”

“I’m not certain. But it’s worth investigating.”

Professor Elisha shook her head slightly.

“If it’s in a village on the Empire’s outskirts... We won’t be able to use the warp gate.”

Even if we left immediately, it would still take some time to reach the location.

Factoring in travel time and investigation, it would take at least three days.

“Now that I think about it, you’re under suspension for a week, right?”

Elisha smiled as she looked at me.

It was then that I realized what her ‘favor’ was.

“...Are you asking me to go with you?”

At least three days of travel?

Just the two of us?

“Fufufu.”

Professor Elisha chuckled, pulling out a cigarette from her pocket and lighting it.

“I told you, didn’t I? I might have come to ask you on a date.”

Click.

The spark from her lighter illuminated the tip of her cigarette as it started to glow red.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]