Iris pulled me along by the hand, eagerly moving ahead.

“Wow, this is amazing. There are so many shops!”

“Yeah. This place gets a lot of foot traffic.
Is there anywhere in particular that catches your eye?”

“Hmm, first... over there!”

The place Iris pointed to was a stall selling Furu Candy.

It wasn’t the same shop Lycia and I had visited before.

“Do you want some Furu Candy?”

“Yeah. I’ve always admired that kind of thing.
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to wander around outside like this...”

Iris looked a little downcast.

I knew that ever since Leen lost consciousness, she’d been cooped up in the mansion, withdrawn.

Because of that, I smiled softly and placed a hand on her head.

“Then you’ve got to enjoy yourself enough to make up for it today.
But don’t overdo it—let’s get a small one so you can still try other things later.”

“—Okay!”

Iris’s face lit up as she nodded energetically.

While I was basking in the sight of her happiness, a dissatisfied voice came from behind me.

“Hmph, Ike! You’re only paying attention to Iris!
You need to spend time with us, too~!”

“Well, today’s main goal is to show Iris around, isn’t it?”

“Sure, it’s important to make Iris happy.
But it’s equally important to play with us.”

Following Flare and Tetra’s remarks, Lycia leaned in closer.

“Yes, yes, I agree wholeheartedly with Flare and Tetra.
Master, please do buy some Furu Candy for us as well!
Or better yet, buy it for yourself, eat it, and then give it to me.
I’ll add it to my collection as the second piece!”

“Collection? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing at all. Perhaps you misheard?”

Lycia suddenly pulled back, flashing her usual gentle smile.

If she says so, then I must have misheard.

Deciding to leave it at that, I turned my attention back to Iris.

“Sorry about this, Iris. Things got a bit noisy.”

“It’s okay! Having fun with everyone is what’s most important!”

“......”

“Huh? What’s wrong, everyone?”

After hearing Iris’s words, all of us, myself included, reached out to pat her on the head.

Iris looked both confused and delighted at the same time.

Afterward, we ended up buying Furu Candy for everyone and continued our walk around town.

For some reason, Lycia looked displeased, but I had no idea why.