I’m Being Pressed by S-Ranks Volume 1 Chapter 9 (Patreon)

Chapter 9 – The Ugliest Race in the World

Huh? If I remember correctly, I’m sure this woman was at the bar with Carla at the time. And I think her profession was an archer.


“What brings you here?”


“I wanted to ask you something… Have you got a few minutes to spare?”


“Well, I do at the moment.”


And so Iris and I decided to go down an alleyway off the beaten path.


I chose this route because I sensed that the subject might be confidential.


The street where the Guild’s staff entrance was originally located is in the shadow of the Guild building and off the main road. Since it was an alley behind the Guild building, no one would come there for a while.


“How did you know where the Guild’s staff entrance was?”


“I… I had a fellow look it up for me with Search Magic. Well, you see, there was something I really needed to ask you.”


Something you need to ask me?


“What is it?”


Iris looked at me as I tilted my head, as if she had made up her mind.


“The question is… you… What do you want? What is your purpose?”


……What?


What is she talking about? She immediately became angry out of the blue.


“My purpose… is it?”


“Don’t play dumb with me! What is your purpose in approaching Carla like that?”


“Carla? But she was the one who made a pass at me yesterday.”


“I’m not talking about that! I want to know why you accepted Carla’s advances so surreptitiously! There is a rule that you guild members are not allowed to favor one adventurer over another. What was the reason for following Carla to the point of breaking this rule?”


Ah, yes, there was such a rule.


But that rule has already become a well-known myth. Even the guild has no choice but to give preferential treatment to adventurers of high rank and those who have made significant contributions to the community.


On the other hand, Iris is an S-rank member of the Rosenkreuzers. She should have known that by now.


So maybe what Iris is trying to say has nothing to do with the guild rules?


Anyway, let’s confirm it.


“I accepted Carla’s invitation yesterday simply because I thought she looked beautiful.”


“――B-beautiful?”


“Yes. I’m sure there are some rules, as Iris said, but that won’t matter anymore if I become Carla’s lover in the future, isn’t it?”


And there’s no rule that says guild staff and adventurers can’t be in love with each other, either.


Meanwhile, Iris’ jade eyes widened at my words.


“C-Carla… y-your lover?”


“Yes.”


“H-how? You just met. Or have you been in a relationship for some time?”


“Not really. But Carla is beautiful, pretty, aggressive, and sweet, and she has a very innocent side to her, even though she talks like a manly woman. If she is interested in a serious relationship, I would definitely ask her out”.


She also has big tits!


I restrained myself from telling Iris that last bit.


But Iris’s eyes went up, and her shoulders started to shake with a twitch.


“C-Carla is a beautiful woman? A beautiful woman, you say?”


…ah, crap.


I’m not yet used to the beauty and ugliness standards here, so I just said what I thought.


But Iris was quicker to get upset than I was to correct her.


“Don’t bullshit me! What on earth are you trying to do with that girl? Saying things like Carla is beautiful and all…!”


Having said that much, it was then that Iris’s face became horrified.


Perhaps she realized something in what I was about to say, based on what I had told her. She immediately made a grimace.


“How… could you… do such a thing…”


Iris’s jade green eyes began to well up with tears.


I wonder what she was thinking, that grief was written on her face?


Ahh… right. That was a thing, wasn’t it?


Iris, a colleague from the same party, was worried about Carla, so she came to me alone to question me.


From what I’ve heard about them in the guild, they have another nickname in this world.


“S-Rank Spinsters”.


Old ladies who are late for marriage because nobody wants them.


Maybe she was here because she thought Clara had fallen victim to a badger game or something. That I now had something to blackmail her with, to make her do my bidding.


“Um… for now, I apologize. Now that I think about it, my actions are certainly suspicious.”


“……”


I tried to apologize for the moment, but Iris seemed to regret her words immensely and was still in tears.


But that shows she’s a good friend, or at least she cares about Carla. After all, she came all the way over here to confront me.


“Um, I want to keep this to myself, but… It’s me. I’m the strange one here. You see, for some reason, I have always had a different set of standards than normal people.”


“Different set of standards?”


I couldn’t think of an explanation that would settle the matter and convince Iris, so I decided to tell it like this.


I told her the truth, but I didn’t tell her the part about coming from a parallel world or the existence of Oriondiehl.


“Yes, that’s right. It’s not that I see things like right and wrong differently. But for some reason, my impression of human beauty has always been the exact opposite.”


“What… is that…?”


Oh, she’s biting it!


Good, good, let’s carry on!


“I find ugly faces that everyone else finds beautiful, and I find beautiful faces that everyone else finds ugly.”


“H-How is that possible?”


Iris approaches me with a surprised look on her face.


“Ah, I’ve been like this since birth. I’ve seen a doctor, but even they couldn’t find out what was causing it. It’s not something that interferes with my daily life, so I haven’t told anyone about it. Until now.”


“N-no way!? T-then does my face look pretty by your standards?”


“Un. I think you are very pretty.”


“!!!!!!”


At my words, Iris’s face immediately turned red like an apple.


Then, holding her cheeks with both hands, she mumbles in a low voice: “C-cute, I can’t believe a gentleman would call me cute…”.


Alright! At least with this, I’m no longer suspected of blackmailing Carla!


I made a small, involuntary fist pump, but suddenly, still with a slight blush on her cheeks, Iris pointed her index finger at me sharply.


“E-Even if you say that, I-I still don’t believe it! I-it’s far too convenient for such a gentleman to exist! I, for one, would rather believe that you’re playing with our innocent Carla for her money!”


“Oh, really?”


Apparently, that’s still not good enough…


I was about to shrug――then I heard the following words.


“T-That’s why――prove it!”


“Prove it?”


“Yes, prove it! If your inverted sense of beauty is true… then, then… please do it to me like you did to Carla!”


“Come again?”


Iris looked at me with a mixture of anticipation and fear as she twitched her elf ears.


“I’m an elf, the ugliest race in the world. If you can spend one night with me, only then will I believe what you said!”


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