Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 18 - Iris

They continued the rest of the way in silence, heading toward a completely different section of the beach from where Theo had registered earlier.

After a few minutes, a large cluster of military tents came into view, guarded by armed soldiers and lined with supply trucks.

The closer they got, the more organized everything looked.

’Amazing,’ Theo thought, smiling faintly as he looked at the groups of serious soldiers.

Just then, the soldier beside him finally spoke up again.

"Follow me closely from here," he said, his voice low. "We’re almost at the healer."

Theo snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.

As he glanced ahead, he raised an eyebrow as he noticed something.

The girl’s escort walked a little ahead of them, but every soldier who noticed her immediately stepped aside, some even lowering their heads slightly.

’She must be the daughter of someone important here,’ he thought. ’There’s no other way around it.’

Finally, after a few more steps, they turned into the largest tent at the center of the camp.

Two armed guards stood at the entrance, lifting the tent flap the moment they saw her.

"Young miss. Madam Rea is waiting inside," one of them said politely.

The girl gave a small nod, her pace paling slightly before stepping into the tent.

Theo quickly followed behind with the soldier escorting him.

Once he stepped inside, he immediately felt something change.

The noise from outside the tents completely disappeared, replaced by a quiet mini-hospital set up on solid ground.

Several beds were neatly arranged along both sides, only some occupied with injured soldiers.

Just then, a woman in a white coat turned around and started walking toward them.

"How was your little trip?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the girl.

The girl lowered her head, a red tint appearing on her face from embarrassment.

"Not only did you endanger yourself by running off," the woman continued coldly, "you forced another hunter into a life-or-death situation because of your recklessness."

The girl clenched her hands but didn’t argue back.

The woman let out a sigh and shook her head in disappointment.

"I’ll have to let your father know after this," she said. "But first..." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

A faint green light lit up around her hands, slowly spreading into a large sphere that covered Theo and the girl.

In an instant, warmth spread through Theo’s body, easing some of his exhaustion.

At the same time, the wound on his shoulder slowly began to close, the bleeding stopping as the torn flesh knitted itself back together.

"Nice," Theo muttered, clenching and unclenching his fist with a soft smile.

Just then, the woman in the lab coat stepped past the girl and started walking straight toward him.

She came to a stop several feet in front of him, her eyes sweeping over his body.

"You were the one who helped her, right?" she finally asked.

"Yes," Theo answered, nodding calmly.

"Mhm," the woman said, smiling faintly. "I’m not sure what exactly happened, but I’m sure Iris will compensate you for all your troubles."

She turned back to the girl, her voice lowering.

"Am I right, Iris?"

Iris nodded meekly. "I will."

The woman in the white coat studied her for a moment longer before giving a small nod.

"Both of you can rest here until the end of the day. Make sure it’s settled within that time."

With that, she walked toward the back of the tent and disappeared into a smaller section.

The soldiers who had escorted them earlier had already left, leaving Theo standing in the large military tent with only the girl, Iris, in front of him.

An awkward silence immediately fell between them.

For the first time, Theo actually managed to take a good look at her.

’It doesn’t look like she’s in her mid-twenties at all,’ he thought. ’She seems more like she’s around my age.’

Even though her face still had some dirt and blood stains on it, Theo could clearly tell she was a natural beauty.

She had long black hair that flowed down behind her back, her eyes a deep brown color, and a soft smile to finish it off.

’Her body isn’t a joke either,’ he thought, glancing at it briefly.

Even with a thick military suit on, her figure was clearly noticeable. She was slim around the waist, had long legs, and natural curves that were hard to ignore.

But Theo didn’t care about that right now.

’I need to be compensated,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. ’She almost got me killed.’

"Let me start," Iris suddenly said, her voice low.

Theo snapped out of his thoughts and tilted his head slightly.

"I sincerely apologize for luring those monsters toward you," she continued, bowing slightly. "I made a serious mistake that put you in danger."

Theo looked at her for a moment, surprised by her sudden maturity.

But he wasn’t about to let it slide that easily.

"You almost got me killed," he said.

Iris lowered her gaze slightly.

"I know," she said quietly. "And I’m sorry."

She paused for a moment before continuing in an even lower voice.

"It was my first time hunting," she said. "I’ve trained for years, but that isn’t even close to real combat."

Theo looked at her and nodded slowly.

"What were you even doing fighting such a large group?" he asked.

Iris looked up, clear frustration in her eyes.

"At the start, I’d already killed several creatures," she began. "Then I saw one lizard head poking out of the water, so I shot a spell at it."

She fell silent, her lips pressing into a thin line.

"But it aggravated all the lizards that were still underwater."

"That makes sense," Theo muttered, nodding slowly.

From there on, the rest was self-explanatory. She didn’t have a lot of mana and baited them toward him to survive.

"If you hadn’t stepped in the way you did," Iris said slowly, "I don’t know how it would’ve ended."

Theo studied her for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

"...Okay," he said, scratching his head.

Iris blinked, confused. "Okay?"

"It happened," he replied, smiling slightly. "You messed up, but we both survived. That’s what matters."

The tension in her shoulders visibly eased after hearing that.

After a few seconds, a small smile formed on her lips as she locked eyes with Theo.

"Then... what kind of compensation do you want?"