Once we had finished visiting the Underworld, War, and World King factions in succession, our next destination turned out to be... my house.
"Wait, why here?"
"Well, Iris-san is staying here, so we don't have to trek all the way to Isis-san's castle to find her."
"Oh, so Iris-san is next."
"I told her to swap with her split body beforehand. She's actually quite gifted with space-time magic, so she picked up the magic to swap her split body and her main body in no time."
That meant it was finally the Death King faction's turn, and we were heading to the bar Iris-san ran in my basement. I nodded at Alice’s explanation, and as we entered the bar, Iris-san was there to greet us.
As soon as we took our seats at the counter, Alice brought up the topic as casually as if she were making small talk.
"So, Iris-san. You’ve been promoted to Duke-class."
"...Do you have zero intention of explaining yourself? Well, I had heard something about this beforehand... but even so, isn't my promotion pace a bit absurd?"
"Well, you've gone from being resurrected to reaching Duke-class in just two years. It's the fastest climb in history by a long shot, but let’s be honest, Iris-san—you had a bit of an unfair advantage at the start."
Iris-san had originally been based on a split body with nearly the same physical ability as Alice herself... er, a Perfect Split Body, or something like that. In terms of pure basic ability, she had been at the level of the Six Kings from the very beginning.
Of course, back then, she hadn't been able to fully control that overwhelming power, and I’d heard she could only draw out enough strength to rival a mid-tier Count-class.
As for her physical form, she had mentioned that after receiving an item that can generate magic power from Shiro-san, her body had been adjusted. It allowed her to grow naturally while her initial base stats were scaled back to a more manageable level.
"Come to think of it," I said, a thought occurring to me, "Iris-san's body was originally made from your split bodies, right, Alice? It seemed like it took a massive number of them to form her. Doesn't that put a strain on you?"
"It did a little back in the day, but it’s not an issue now. To be honest, with my current self, I could easily create hundreds of millions of split bodies without breaking a sweat. Besides, Iris-san's current physical body was actually remade using a different method than the split bodies."
"Oh, so it's not split body-based anymore?"
"Nope. I had someone put it together using an item I received from Shallow Vernal-sama."
Had someone put it together? Who did she mean? Did she ask Shiro-san directly, or maybe Kuro, who had created Zwei-san and the others?
While I was lost in thought, Iris-san spoke up again.
"I don't particularly mind the promotion, but... I heard you were elevating two people from each faction?"
"Ah, yeah, about that. The Death King's subordinates are too few in number right now, so it’s just Iris-san for the time being. Once the number of subordinates increases more after some time has passed, we'll promote the next one to Duke-class."
"Hmph. Well, do as you please. It isn't as if anything in particular changes just because I've become a Duke-class. Especially since it hasn't been long since I was resurrected in this world, I don't have any particularly strong feelings about the peerage-class... although I do feel a slight dissonance knowing my classification is a Demon now rather than a Human."
"Well, it's a fact that the current Iris-san isn't human," Alice pointed out.
"True enough."
Iris-san gave a wry smile at Alice’s words. Seeing them go back and forth reminded me that they really were best friends; there was a comfortable, peaceful air to the conversation between these two. It was the kind of atmosphere that only existed because they trusted each other.
"Still," Iris-san said, looking at me, "running all over the place since this morning... you have it rough too, Miyama Kaito."
"Now that you mention it, quite a bit of time has passed, hasn't it?"
"...And that is precisely why you came here at this timing, isn't it?"
"As expected, Iris-san is quick on the uptake. We'll be counting on you for lunch."
Iris-san let out a weary sigh. "...Good grief."
I see. So the reason we came to the bar instead of Isis-san's castle at this timing was because Alice had planned to eat lunch here all along. A quick glance at the clock confirmed it was indeed right around noon.
Iris-san shook her head with an exasperated expression before snapping her fingers. A small pot materialized on the counter in front of her.
"Is dry curry acceptable? I made some yesterday, so it won't take long to serve."
"Anything is fine by me," Alice chirped.
"Ah, I'm okay with that too. Sorry for the sudden request."
"No, think nothing of it. I shall have it ready shortly, so drink something and wait... Alice, you should worry about it. Also, prepare your own drink."
"That's so mean! You're so sweet to Kaito-san, but you're not kind to me at all, my dear best friend..."
Since we had suddenly barged in and demanded lunch, I figured her reaction was only natural.
Even so, seeing Alice immediately start preparing her own drink exactly as she’d been told made me feel that they really were close, and it was a bit heartwarming.