章節 3: Chapter 3 - Iris

"Huh, huff..." the elf girl panted softly.

"Have you calmed down?" Leo asked gently.

"Yes, yes..."

"Are you done crying?"

"Oh, I didn't cry!" the elf girl protested, wiping her face.

"My clothes are wet?" Leo remarked, glancing at his chest.

"Gasp! What do I do... Stop, let me dry you up!"

A warm wind blew from the elf girl's palm as she caressed his chest, which had been soaked from her tears.

"Magic..." Leo muttered in awe.

Since there were so few magicians in existence, this was his first time seeing magic up close. Thanks to the wind from her hand, his clothes dried quickly, as if they had never been wet at all.

"Thank you," Leo said gratefully.

"Ah, no, I got it dirty..." the elf replied, flustered.

Even by Leo's standards, the elf's tears were anything but dirty.

"This is the first time my clothes have smelled this good. What kind of clothes smell like flowers? It's just so strange," Leo mused, shaking his head.

Of course, there were countless things stranger than that—like the existence of the elf girl standing in front of him. And even stranger, the fact that Leo, who had been in his studio just moments ago, had somehow ended up here by what felt like skydiving without a parachute.

No matter how much he tried to piece it together, his mind kept returning to the same conclusion:

"Otherwoldly dating app."

It seemed reasonable to assume that the app installed on his phone was responsible for all of this. If anyone heard him, they'd probably think he was crazy, but there was no better explanation for the phenomenon he was experiencing.

First of all, this wasn't Earth. There were no elves on Earth—or at least not anywhere near his house.

"Over there..." the elf girl said suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

"Huh?"

Leo turned to find her looking up at him with an intense, almost burdensome gaze. The first direct look he received from the beautiful woman left him a little nervous.

"Y-You're a real person, right?" She stammered.

"Uh... right? I might be a monster wearing human skin?" he added, half-jokingly.

"Oh, no! That's not it... It's just that this is the first time I've seen anyone else here besides me..."

"Here?" Leo asked, looking around.

It was still dark, but his eyes had started to adjust to the darkness. Slowly, he began to make out the surroundings.

It appeared to be a very large cave—or perhaps a massive cavity of some sort.

"How on earth did you get here?" Leo asked.

"...I don't know either," the elf replied softly.

Leo didn't have the confidence to explain the illogical theory in his mind—that he had traveled through dimensions because of a dating app he'd downloaded as a joke.

"But is she really 500 years old?" Leo wondered to himself.

No matter how he looked at her, the elf appeared to be around his age. But since he'd set the age range to 500 on the app, it wasn't impossible that she was actually that old.

The elf woman was definitely an elf. Her smooth skin was free of wrinkles or pores, almost unnaturally flawless. Did she always have some sort of age-defying spell cast on her?

"Where is this place?" Leo asked, shifting his focus.

As time passed, he was able to get a better look at the surrounding scenery. The area was vast, with echoes ringing out every time he spoke. Strange, ancient ruins dotted the landscape, their appearance eerily haunting.

"What on earth is this place?" he muttered.

"This is... a prison," the elf said quietly, her complexion darkening slightly.

"A prison?" Leo repeated, his concern deepening as he took in her expression.

"It's the deepest underground cavern in the holy land where the World Tree took root. It's currently being used as a prison..." Iris explained.

"The World Tree? Are you talking about that massive tree that often appears in comics and anime?" Leo asked, his curiosity piqued.

"So those scattered roots are part of the World Tree?" he wondered aloud.

The thought of digging up the roots and boiling them into tea crossed his mind. It seemed much more effective than some of the elixirs he'd seen on the market. If its effectiveness were proven, he could probably make a fortune selling it at an auction house.

Of course, he also thought he'd likely be torn to pieces by the elf woman if he tried, so he decided to keep the idea to himself.

"By the way, I don't see any other prisoners. Is this really a prison?" Leo asked.

To begin with, there were no iron bars, guards, or cells—nothing that resembled a typical prison.

"Actually, even if it's a prison, it's more like solitary confinement," Iris responded.

"If the crime is serious enough to be locked up here, wouldn't it be better to just execute them?" Leo muttered under his breath.

He couldn't fathom why anyone would be imprisoned in such a desolate place when even those with serious crimes seemed to avoid this punishment. Still, he didn't have the courage to ask directly, especially after noticing Iris's pale and stern complexion.

"Ahem, should we introduce ourselves first?" Leo said awkwardly, extending his hand.

"My name is Leo. As you can see, I'm human, and I'm 21 years old this year."

Fortunately, Iris grabbed his hand without hesitation.

"I, I! Iris Lemeria Bayart Pelledia!" she introduced herself enthusiastically.

"Huh? What? A noble?" Leo's mind reeled at the lengthy name.

When names exceeded 10 letters, it felt like his brain wanted to split in two. He struggled to figure out how to address her.

"...Can I call you Iris?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh, yes!" Iris replied cheerfully, clearly pleased.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief. His memory wasn't good enough to immediately recall such a long, complex name, which sounded like something straight out of European nobility.

Fortunately, Iris looked strangely happy. Her genuine smile warmed Leo's heart. It was a pure and gentle smile, so different from the fake ones he'd often seen on schoolgirls back home.

As Leo was starting to feel that things might be okay, a familiar alarm sound came from his pocket.

"Isn't this a place where there's no signal, let alone Wi-Fi?" he thought.

Iris secretly pulled out a phone of her own and checked it.

[Thank you very much for using this otherworldly dating app.]

[This app offers a free dating consulting curriculum for first-time customers only.]

[Do you agree?] [Y/Y]

"Huh...?" Leo muttered, staring at the message.

[If there is no response, it will be automatically accepted after a while.]

[3, 2, 1...] [Y]

A new message appeared:

[Analyzing Iris Lemeria Bayart Pelledia's tendencies...]

[Analysis in progress...]

[Analysis complete.]

Name: Iris Lemeria Bayart Pelledia

Age: 524

Affiliation: EB-17

Occupation: Magician

Tendency: Saint, Immortal, Devotion, Vegetarian

The screen flashed through the selection in an instant, showing him Iris's information as if she were an NPC in a game.

"...It's not as bad as I thought," Leo muttered, slightly relieved.

The name, age, and race matched what he'd set in the matching questionnaire, though it appeared her age had gone up by 24 years from the listed 500. Still, that detail seemed unimportant.

"What's that?" Iris asked suddenly. She had moved closer to Leo without him noticing, her sparkling eyes fixed on his phone.

Seeing her curiosity, Leo hurriedly returned to the home screen.

"Oh, this is..." he began to explain, trying to avoid any misunderstandings.

Before he could continue, a new screen appeared:

[Advanced study of the love consulting curriculum in progress.]

[Iris Lemeria Bayart Pelledia's past history detected.]

[Past monologue in progress.]

"…What?" Leo muttered in confusion.

He immediately checked Iris's condition after seeing the strange message.

"Uh, hey, Ms. Iris...? Ms. Iris??" he called out.

But Iris didn't respond. She stared blankly into space, her expression completely devoid of emotion.

Iris's appearance was reminiscent of a female protagonist under the influence of a hypnosis spell…