Why is Elma here?
To begin with, is she really Elma?
What if she's just an illusion made by some kind of illusion magic?
Those thoughts ran in my head for a moment but,
"…What the heck are you doing there?"
The sight of her crouching in the corner of the room as if to make her
presence smaller convinced me that it was the real her.
"No, I mean, it's so awkward here…"
Yup, it's the real her, alright.
Haah… I sighed at the unexpected visitor, but there was something
that bothered me more.
――Poke poke.
"So jiggly~."
Hey, stop that.
You shouldn't poke him.
As I was inwardly sighing at Tirna, I moved my eyes toward the man
who was being poked by her.
Yes, for some reason, a man with a plump body was lying down on
the floor of the room with his eyes rolled back.
His belly was certainly very jiggly, but who the hell was he?
More importantly, why are his eyes rolled back…?
As I was curiously looking at the man, Elma, seemingly having
noticed my line of sight, said, "Oh, you don't have to pay attention to
that thing. It's just a lump of meat."
"Eh, uhh, okay…"
No, what did you mean it was just a lump of meat…
She sure was still as abusive as always…
Well, that was just like her…
"Actually, Fluga-sama was also here until a few moments ago. She
was the one who brought her here," Arca remarked.
"Ah, come to think of it, Shiva-san did say that she was at Igniversama's place…" I said.
"Yeah, that's right. Various things happened, see. We also went
around the world to meet the goddesses," said Elma.
"Eh, then you've met with Terra-sama and the others?"
"But, of course. Terra-sama, Turbo-sama, and Sinus-sama, all of
them."
"Well, you sure have worked hard…"
Terra-sama was one thing, but how did they break through Turbosama's barrier and go into the sea?
Could it be that lump of meat… I mean, that man had some sort of
special power…? Nah, no way…
"Well, yeah. It was really tough without you…" Elma said with a
downcast look, her eyes were pointed in the direction of Tirna still
poking at the man's belly.
――Poke poke.
"It's like a mochi."
I told you to stop that.
"Well, we've heard the story from you. And honestly, we got various
things we wanted to say to her as your wife, but we came to the
decision that it'd be immature to say them with so many people here.
So rest assured. We just had her wait until you came," Arca said.
"I see. Thanks for your consideration," I thanked the girls.
"No, you need not worry about it. We will go out for now, so why
don't you have a conversation with Elma-san? We have time for that,
right?"
When Magmell asked, Shiva-san nodded, "Sure, we do."
"In that case, let's not waste time and get going. While we're at it,
let's hear about what happened with Shangarula from Shiva and
Tirna," Zana said.
"Yeah, got it. Thanks, you all."
After I thanked them, the girls smiled and left the room.
"C'mon, let's go. Poking time's over."
"Too bad. It felt very good."
Tirna was also taken by Ophir to leave the room.
――Thud.
And so, in the room, only Elma and I remaine—wait, huh!?
Discovering the figure of the man whose eyes were still rolled back, I
received a huge shock.
No, I can't ignore him now that I've spotted him!?
◇ ◇
Anyways, nothing I could do to the fact that the man was left behind.
While trying my best not to look at him, I started talking to Elma,
"Uhh, well. I'm glad you're doing fine."
"Same to you. Looks like you've got a cute wife, too. Not to mention,
a lot of them."
"Ha-haha, I'd be thankful if you didn't pry into it… a lot happened to
me too since then…"
"Seems like it. I was surprised when I heard that you were the Fire
God's Agent. And when I looked more into it, I suddenly found you
were treated as a hero."
"Well, yeah…"
Things just ended up like that, but I didn't mind as long as everyone
was happy.
"So, you may have guessed it, but learning that provoked me to
travel around the world to meet the goddesses, too. After all, it was
frustrating. I'm a saintess, yet you, despite having no redeeming
qualities, are praised more and treated better than me."
"..."
Elma dropped her shoulders, but she continued with a lower tone of
voice, which was unusual for her, "…But during the journey, I
noticed. It's not that you have no redeeming qualities. I just didn't
notice it and became arrogant."
"Elma…"
"What? Is it that strange to you? I can do a self-reflection too, you
know. That's why I came here today. I-I…"
"?" When I tilted my head to Elma who was stuttering for some
reason, she bowed her head vigorously and said, "I'm sorry! For all
the terrible things I've said to you! I'm truly sorry!"
"!"
They were words of apologies that I had been waiting for her to say
and didn't get to hear even until we had parted ways.