After several days of travel, the girls arrived at Gito Dragon’s Lair once more.
Accompanying Miina, Elen, and Seraphina was Biner, an archer among the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals.
It was slightly past noon.
Before the ruins’ entrance, with its imposing dragon head made of stone, the girls swallowed hard.
They hadn’t heard any news of the ten-headed Dragon King Sephiroth rampaging on their journey here, so they wanted to believe Douglas had somehow won the battle—
If that were the case, then why did the effects of Enslavement and Maiden’s Blessing disappear at that time?
The desire to believe what they wanted to believe, and the existence of evidence that denied it.
They were afraid to see what awaited them further ahead.
They needed to confirm, but if they confirmed it, would it solidify the reality?
Such feelings swirled in the girls’ chests, making them hesitate.
Seeing the three frozen in place, the archer girl quietly called out.
“…Everyone, let’s go.”
Urged by her voice, the girls’ eyes gained a determined glint, and they nodded to each other.
Then, they stepped into the ruins.
The inside of the ruins was quiet.
It was as if no one was there besides them, who had just entered.
However, upon reaching their destination, the great hall, they found a single girl standing there blankly.
She was a small girl with tanned skin, clad in a lovely maid outfit.
Beside the girl lay the corpse of a giant, ten-headed dragon.
Despite many days having passed since its death, there was no sign of decay.
This was due to the lingering magic of the Dragon King, but the visiting girls were not interested in such things.
What concerned them far more was the absence of the person they were searching for.
Shaking her tail with unease, Miina asked the tanned girl.
“Lombardia… where is Douglas-nya…?”
Lombardia, the embodied form of the Holy Axe Lombardia, finally seemed to notice the visitors.
With eyes that lacked a certain spark, she looked at Miina and the others and uttered.
“Ah, you’ve finally arrived. —You see that pile of sand over there.”
Lombardia said so, pointing to a sand pile in front of the giant dragon’s corpse.
It was an amount of sand that would likely result from a large human collapsing into dust.
Seraphina replied with a trembling voice.
“P-Please wait, Lombardia… that… eh, but… that can’t be… because, if it’s like this…”
But Lombardia indifferently shook her head slowly.
“It is the truth. This pile of sand is the final form of my master—a man named Douglas.”
Despair dawned on Miina, Elen, and Seraphina’s faces, while Biner sadly shook her head.
Seraphina, looking as if she might break, cried out to Lombardia.
“That’s not possible! Because—because Douglas-sama loves us…! He wouldn’t leave us behind…!”
“Indeed. He was devoted to you.”
“That’s right! That’s why he’ll come back to hug us again! Hugging me so tightly I thought I’d break, and then…!”
“Yes. If he had any life left, he would have done so again.”
“Ugh… Waaaaaahhhh!!! Noooooo! I don’t want thattttt!”
Seraphina collapsed on the spot and began to cry uncontrollably.
Miina also sat down and started crying just as hard.
Meanwhile, the archer Biner gritted her teeth in frustration.
She clenched the Dragon God’s Bow in her hand tightly.
—But there was one more.
The swordsman girl Elen shouted.
“—Not yet! I absolutely won’t give up!”
Hearing her, Miina and Seraphina’s faces changed in surprise.
Miina said in a trembling voice.
“B-But… Miina and the others… don’t have them anymore-nya…? Because they used them last time…”
“If we search the whole world, there must be another one somewhere! It doesn’t have to be that exact one! Perhaps someone who can use that magic itself might exist somewhere!”
Hearing Elen’s cry—
Seraphina wiped her tears and stood up resolutely.
The sage girl, though her voice was tearful, spoke with determination.
“Yes, Elen is right. I will find it, no matter what.”
And Miina too—
“…That’s right, nya. I absolutely won’t give up, nya.”
The three girls nodded firmly to each other.
They left the place as if every moment was precious.
The archer Biner followed suit.
Meanwhile, the girl in the maid outfit who remained stood there and let out a sigh.
Then, she murmured to no one in particular.
“See? I told you, you underestimate yourself.”
***
It felt like I had been in a dark, cold world.
A cold, empty world where there was no warmth, and even my soul felt frozen.
But then, a warm light entered.
That light enveloped my soul gently and brightly—
“Ugh…”
Slowly, I opened my eyelids.
I was in the great hall of the ruins.
In the place where I defeated the Dragon Queen, I lay on my back on the stone floor.
Looking up at the ceiling, I saw many familiar faces.
But the three most important to me—
“Douglas-nyaaa!”
“Douglasaaaa!”
“Douglas-samaaaa!”
As soon as I opened my eyes, the three of them embraced me tightly.
And all three of them started crying.
Although I still didn’t quite grasp the situation, I hugged the three of them together and petted each of their heads.
“Good morning, Miina, Elen, and Seraphina. —What’s the situation here?”
It wasn’t just my three wives present.
Including Lombardia in her embodied form, Biner the archer of the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals, Ain the son of the Dragon Person Elder, Liese the scholar girl, Holy Knight Aurora and the Pope Olivia whom I met in the Holy Kingdom, Chloe the knight from the Forest Kingdom, Gilram the gladiator of the Wolf Fang Tribe and Aurelia the Sword Princess of the Elves whom I fought in the Fighting Tournament.
They all had tears in their eyes, showing their joy.
Lombardia—the girl in the tanned skin and maid outfit said with a faint smile I had never seen before.
“You slept here for about a month. Miina, Elen, and Seraphina traveled all over the regions and finally found a miracle bearer.”
Saying so, Lombardia pointed to Olivia, the Pope of the Holy Kingdom.
The old woman tapped her hip and said, as if she had finished a great job.
“Honestly… When I heard you defeated the legendary Dragon King, I was dumbfounded. How could I not bring back the life of such a great hero?”
“Um… so…?”
I organized the information in my head.
First, I defeated the Dragon Queen Sephiroth and died due to the effect of Life Burn.
According to what Lombardia had told me, if the light of life runs out, my body would crumble like sand.
With normal Raise Dead magic, resurrection is impossible unless the body remains almost intact. So if it turned to sand, I couldn’t be revived.
If someone could revive me from that state, it would have to be Perfect Resurrection, the highest tier of Divine Magic.
However, the Scroll of spell that could enable that was used to revive the “Elder” of the Elf village in the past.
And I had never heard of anyone currently alive who could use Perfect Resurrection.
The closest thing I’d heard of was the legend of a Saintess in the Holy Kingdom.
It was rumored that the former Saintess Aurelia could perform any miracle, true or false.
—No, “any miracle” was probably false.
If her Holy Scepter possessed properties similar to the Holy Axe Lombardia, there must be some limitations and constraints to its abilities.
However, it seems that the power of the Holy Scepter could achieve a miracle with an effect similar to, or the same as, the Perfect Resurrection spell—that must be it.
Still—
I recalled the words Pope Olivia had let slip in the past.
“But was it okay, old woman? Didn’t you say that the power of the Holy Scepter could only be used one more time at most?”
“Yes, that is correct. Therefore, I have used up the power of this final miracle. I am now completely just an old hag.”
“You used such important power on me… I feel like I’ve incurred a massive debt that I can never repay…”
At that, Pope Olivia’s face twitched.
Olivia said.
“Douglas-saaan…? It seems you have completely forgotten the great deeds you have accomplished? How many lives do you think were saved by what you did? Are you perhaps an idiot?”
At those words, my wives clinging to me reacted.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s right, nya. My husband is sometimes quite an idiot, nya.”
“That’s right. He’s quite an idiot sometimes.”
“Indeed. He’s an idiot who saves people all over the world, neglecting us. It makes me want to question him for an hour about whether the world or us is more important.”
“Eh. Aren’t you guys being a bit harsh?”
Even Seraphina… wait, didn’t you say something like “I wonder about that” when Elen said that?
As I was thinking that—
“We’re not being harsh, nya!”
“Douglas is the one being harsh!”
“Do you understand how sad, painful, and heartbreaking we felt, Douglas-sama…?!”
“Waaaaaahhhhh!!!”
All three of them, still hugging me, started crying profusely.
Why am I, who tried so hard, being blamed? I thought, but there was nothing I could do when they were crying.
…Or rather, wasn’t I the only one who worked hard?
For a month, they searched for a miracle, of whose existence they weren’t even sure, just to revive me.
Just imagining how difficult that must have been was more than enough.
I embraced the three crying girls again and gently stroked their heads.
“—I’m sorry, Miina, Elen, and Seraphina. And thank you.”
“I’m so haaaaappy, nyaaaa!”
“I’m sooooo haaaaappy!”
“I’m so happy, Douglas-samaaaa…!”
I then held the three who cried into my arms with all my might.
I was also filled with joy from their warmth, my chest overflowing, and tears involuntarily spilled.
—In this way, we rejoiced in our reunion with each other.
Then, I embraced the others who had gathered out of concern for me, and we rejoiced in our reunion after a long time.
The battle was over.
We would once again begin walking a new path—
