128-128-First Word

[At the same time]

＜Yazmat Northern Plains.

Windy took off high in the sky and disappeared behind the clouds in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, it was under the condition of 'all you can eat sweets'.

'.........But then again, there are spirits that can fly, too....

This is the first time I've seen a wind spirit today, but I didn't think she could not only attack with the wind, but also control it at will and fly to the sky....

It's not just that she can fly, she's so amazing that she can blow up ships and even the lord's other home. I've convinced the leaders who were complaining about her and somehow won the right to use her, but if she does anything else, my position will be in jeopardy.

It's tough out there, isn't it, Mr. Braveheart?

However, since you can use extremely powerful spirits, this is more than worth the risk to a party of heroes.

Moreover, there's no need to worry about expensive rare items or lives being demanded, and they can help you just by offering you a delicious meal, so there's no complaining.

''........Well, it looks like you're back.

Oh!

At Kanemitsu's words, I whipped my battered body halfway up and looked up at the sky.

And what jumped out at us was--

Stop running, you cowards!

"GAWWWWW!

It was Windy, a wind spirit with glittering eyes, and Noil, a dark dragon that was desperately running away like a de-rabbit.

''........Yes?''

Almost at the same time as I blurted out in a stunned voice, Snow came down with a dumbfounded look on his face.

''What does this mean?''

I'm going to ask you a question while pointing at the flying around in the sky, and Snow replies with a wry smile.

It's a good thing that you're not the only one who's been in this situation. It's a pity, but that's second in the world~

d*mn it.

I couldn't see what happened in the sky, but I'm sure that after repeated provocations and counterattacks with more than a few attacks of all the techniques he had, Noil was left with no way to strike and escaped with his life.

As if the fight wasn't enough, Windy is still chasing after it with a glowing eye.

And as I watched this incomprehensible chase in a daze....

What's with the black dragon?

Danger, my queen. You must stay back!

Wait, wait!　Isn't it Lady Sidia who rides the White Dragon!

What the hell?

I thought I could suddenly hear a buzzing voice from the rear, but there was the figure of the Yazmat Knights, led by Queen Litis.

As expected, there was no way they could overlook the huge explosion that occurred in the capital's northern plains, and they all seemed to have gathered with the intention of fighting in earnest.

''Kanemitsu-dono!　What the hell is going on here!

Hmmm, I don't know what to do.

The situation is a mess, with Prince Sidia, who was supposed to be missing, riding a white dragon, and a silver-haired ne'er-do-well chasing a black dragon around with glee.

''I don't know how to explain this kind of thing.

Yeah.

And so, while me and the rest of the heroic party were holding our heads in our hands, a woman landed on the ground from Snow's back.

With her long pale light blue hair fluttering in the air, she ran up to the ground at a fast pace....

"Kanata-san!

Wah-wah?

He hugged me as hard as he could, and I couldn't bear the force of it, so I fell on my buttocks there with a thud.

'Ueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ha-ha, I'm having a major déjà vu moment.

I remember when I defeated Efreet, he hugged me like this and turned me over!

However, unlike that time, Elena just kept crying in my chest all the time, and my clothes were getting harder and harder with tears and snot and other things.

''Uh, um, Elena........Ms.?''

When I called out to her fearfully, she glared at me with her eyes swollen red and snapped at me.

'Elena-san?　It's not!!!!''

Everyone's movements came to a halt at the angry voice that echoed across the plains in the middle of the night.

''I was really worried about you!　We thought you were dead!　I mean, if you run head-on into a big guy like that, you're bound to fall off!　Normally you would die if you fell from such a high place!　There are laws of physics in the world, woo-hoo!

Everyone starts to fuss over Elena's distraught and rambunctious crying, and what the hell is going on.

I mean, Windy and Noir, who were supposed to be at the center of the commotion just now, have stopped and are staring at us, too!

Well, I'm... sorry, I'm really sorry.

"No matter how much you apologize...

Yeah, yeah....

The puffy young lady looked puffy and exasperated and turned away from the hug.

From outside the scene, she said, "You can kiss me there~" or "I'll show you a man, that I'll show you a man! I can hear people cheering enigmatically, "What am I supposed to do in such an attention-grabbing situation?

Then, without making eye contact with me, Elena began to speak faintly.

''I was really worried about you,''

Yeah.

"...do you remember that question?

The question is...

When I said that, Elena turned to me again and stared into my eyes.

''I wondered how much of an age difference would be okay.''

Yeah.

It was a question Elena posed to me shortly after I came to Yazmat, when I met Kunitoki and Shizuha again.

The truth of it is that she is not asking me if I prefer older people to me.

''Kanata-san is a human and I'm a spirit...''

Different species, spirits that live an infinitely long time, and human beings that die after only a few decades.

No matter how you look at it, the gap between the two will never be closed.

In other words, Elena's question is........

--are you really going to stay with yourself, who will never grow old and remain the same?

....

I stared into her beautiful eyes in silence.

The expression on her face was as if she was praying for something, as if she was pleading with me from her heart.

''Why won't you answer me?　I knew it--'

That's a question I already know the answer to in the first place.

"What...?

Stroking Elena's head as she let out an anxious voice, she said the only answer that has remained unchanged since the first time they met.

"I will always be with you, Elena. From now on, for the rest of my life.

......

Hearing those words I told her for the first time, large tears trickle out of Elena's eyes.

But I'm honestly saying one more thing that I'm thinking inside.

But are you really going to be okay with being so distraught just because we met again?

Chuckling at her own chest, which was still damp and sticky, Elena shook her head and smiled.

'I made up my mind after Kanata-san's words earlier. No matter what happens........I'll go to see her even if I have to give God a shot, I'll be fine now.''

Phew!　I see Elena declare vigorously, and I can't help but blurt out.

''Haha, you've gotten bolder,''

They say that if you spend a lot of time with them, you become more like them.

Then they turned to each other and laughed heartily, forgetting about their surroundings.