"So, my father said he would beat you up later. Well, you most likely can defeat him with your eyes closed, but he can be really persistent, see. Once my mother told me how they got married, no matter how many times he collapsed after she beat him, each time he'd stand back up again and again like an undead until he finally defeated my mother and obtained her acknowledgment."
"I-is that so. Well then, I guess I'll just take the beating…" My face twitched as I listened to Arca's report on her return from Amzonesia, her hometown.
I mean, if your dear daughter returned home after a long time with the news that she had gotten married to a man who had more than 15 wives, and was even pregnant, any father would want to beat the man as well.
At the very least I definitely would if I were in the position.
So, as a way to take responsibility, I thought I'd just let him beat me…
"Fufu, don't worry about it. He did say that he would kill you, but at the same time, he also acknowledged you as a man. Well, it's only natural. After all, you managed to defeat me, the strongest saintess."
"Y-yeah."
…Hold on a sec?
Did she just say he'd kill me, instead of beat me?
"Ha, what nonsense are you spoutin', now? The strongest saintess is obviously me, not ya. That's why my old hag's also fallen deeply in love with 'im."
"Shut up. Do you wanna die, 14thwife?"
"Wha-? Ya mean ya already accepted yer position as the 3rd wife?"
"~~?!" Turbo-sama's face turned bright red, and Ophir grinned gingerly.
At that time.
"Huh? What's up with this weirdly sweet atmosphere…"
It seemed that Elma was back from Topia Village. She said so with a slightly cringed face.
"W-welcome back, good job out there."
So I welcomed her with some words of appreciation.
In response, Elma nodded, "Yeah, I'm back," then she reported what had happened in Topia. "Everybody is safe and well thanks to your Magic Art. Of course, that includes uncle and aunt, too."
"I see. That's good."
"Also, they entrusted me a message for you. They say, 'we're sorry', and 'thank you'."
"…Is that so."
"Yeah. So decide whether you'll forgive them or not after meeting them in person. Well, that includes me too, though…"
Seeing Elma apologetically averting her gaze, I softly loosened the corners of my mouth and said, "I already forgave you a long time ago. You are now my precious comrade—or rather, my 'wife', after all."
"!" Elma's eyes widened in surprise.
She then said embarrassedly, "B-but I never said I wanted to become your wife…"
"A-ah, now that you mention, that's right. I thought you wanted me to take responsibility, so…"
"W-well, if you say you really want me to be your wife, then I'll consider it…"
"Fumu, playing hard to get now? Even though you had held his hand with fingers interlocked subconsciously before? That's quite sneaky of you, 16th wife." Arca remarked.
"S-shut up, you?! Don't get carried away just because you're the 1st wife?! Sooner or later, I'll pull you down from your position, just you wait?!"
"Calm down, Elma. You just admitted that you accepted becoming Exa's wife like Turbo-sama did, you know?" Tirna cut in their conversation with a calm retort, causing me to unconsciously smile, but…
"…"
…I suddenly realized something at that time. I stopped and looked around.
Perhaps I was too late to realize it because my mind was occupied with trying to save the people.
The surroundings were 'too quiet'.
"Phinis-sama."
"So you have noticed it as well… Your guess is right, there is not even a single monster around here… And it is not just here… Those children are disappearing from all over the world even as we speak… However, their presences remain…"
"W-what do you mean?"
I answered Magmell's question, "When I dropped you off at Algren earlier, you said that you could feel Elysium's presence from the World Tree, right?"
"Yes. And that was why you cast an especially strong barrier there."
"Yeah. I can clearly tell even from here across the sea, but his presence is growing larger and larger."
"C-could it be that…?!"
"Yes… He is gathering those children in one place… Perhaps he is using Terra's World Tree to absorb them through the earth as 'filth'…" Phinis-sama explained.
"Absorb them as 'filth'…" echoed Zana.
"But is that really possible? If it is, surely, Goddess Terra would have already purified all the monsters, wouldn't she?" asked Shiva-san.
With a complicated expression, Terra-sama answered, "Normally, it would be impossible. Monsters, too, are part of the world. The World Tree may suppress monsters' growth in population, but purifying all of them is never its goal. The mission imposed on the giant tree is to preserve balance, after all."
"I see. Monsters are also part of the cycle of life. Therefore, they cannot be completely annihilated, that, in turn, is also why the World Tree has no such function."
"Yes. However, I never would have thought that the World Tree, the symbol of harmony, would be used in this way… All of this was caused by my lack of strength… I am terribly sorry…" Terra-sama looked down, a self-reproaching expression on her face.
"That's not true," I shook my head and said, "The one at fault here is Elysium, not you. So please don't apologize. I—no, we, will definitely beat up that god-wannabe scum and restore the world to its original state."
"…Thank you, Exa." Terra-sama gave me a smile with tears in her eyes, and I nodded back at her vigorously.
Then.
"Okay—let's go! This will be our final battle!"
『――』
Everybody gave me a strong nod, then we flew straight to our final battlefield.