019 Idiot, Somersault
The “Netherworld Guard Headquarters.”
As the name suggests, it’s a facility where people who maintain order in the Netherworld gather, and Iris Niflheim is also a member, diligently working there every day.
Originally, as the niece of the Netherworld’s master, God Anubis, she should be in a position closer to management, not doing such menial work.
However, she threw away that status and now works as a guardian for the Netherworld. She has no regrets about the choice she made and is proud to live a fulfilling life.
“Ms. Iris, you have a visitor.”
“For me? Who is it?”
“It’s that boy.”
Hearing that, Iris guessed it was Sakurai.
She put away the documents she was working on and headed to the waiting area, where she saw Sakurai sitting on the sofa, engrossed in knitting.
To an outsider, it might look like he was just killing time, but Iris’s Mystic Eyes visually captured the ‘passion’ emanating from him.
Though not as intense as when he was at the ‘Tower,’ the flames reached the ceiling, making her skin tingle.
“Make a loop +1, connect them +1, a row is +14… I see, the chain of knitted loops adds up as a bonus. The Knitting Skill is like a puzzle game, it’s interesting in its own way…”
His fingertips moved incessantly, proportional to his rising ‘passion,’ and the woolen mufflers he was mass-producing were now spilling from his body onto the floor.
When he ran out of yarn, he would take out a new ball of yarn from somewhere, and before she knew it, he was even creating a vivid gradation with multiple types of yarn. It almost looked like a performance.
“Uhi, uhihi… This is great, this is great…!”
He didn’t care about how others saw him, and the smile he made, unable to contain his inner joy, was more manic than ‘happy.’ The eeriness it exuded made one wonder if he was taking some strange drug.
“(That child… really…)”
Just as the surrounding guardians began to show signs of alarm, Iris, who had been holding her head, steeled herself and called out to Sakurai.
“Um, Sakurai-san? Sakurai-san?”
“…………Huh? Ah? Oh, Ms. Iris, hello.”
“It’s good to be enthusiastic, but please keep it moderate. This is the Guard Headquarters, you know?”
“No, I wasn’t that enthusiastic… Whoa, what’s with this length!?”
Iris was a little dumbfounded to see Sakurai’s shock at the mountain of mufflers, which must have been at least 6 meters long. She would have to correct this habit of getting too absorbed in things.
“So, what brings you here today?”
“Ah, that’s right. First, I came to thank you. Thanks to Ms. Iris, I was able to reflect on things… I managed to come to a truce with Higaki for now. Thank you.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I believed that you two could face your mistakes and move forward.”
Iris felt joy at the sight of Sakurai holding the muffler and bowing his head.
His head was at just the right height, and Iris unconsciously stroked Sakurai’s head. The rough, stiff hair, typical of boys, wasn’t exactly pleasant to the touch, but she didn’t dislike the sensation.
“It’s a little ticklish.”
“Oops. I’m sorry, I got too familiar. My apologies.”
“No, it’s fine. And, well, I have one more thing to ask.”
“Yes, what is it? I’ll help if it’s something I can do.”
Iris, looking at Sakurai with a soft smile, was in a good mood, and in fact, she was in such a good mood that she was willing to help with almost anything.
She was fundamentally too much of a busybody, and seeing Sakurai’s growth, who possessed such tremendous ‘passion,’ made her feel proud and happy, as if it were her own.
That’s why she was looking forward to what he would say next, what kind of growth he was aiming for, and her smile grew even wider.
Sakurai, on the other hand, took a small breath to calm himself, looked into Iris’s eyes with a determined gaze, and spoke in a clear voice that could be heard by those around him.
“Since I can’t challenge the ‘Tower,’ I’m thinking of devoting myself to flirting, so how can I seduce Ms. Iris!!!!”
“Sakurai-kun, I think we need to go to the reflection room.”
The guardians who were nearby later said.
It was a truly magnificent iron claw, they said.