Trees rose all along the coast like spires.
Standing atop them, those who looked this way held bows woven from slender wooden branches in their hands.
If he had to guess, they had probably been aiming those with all their might until just moments ago, only lowering them when Regarda’s sea dragon revealed itself.
That was likely the case.
Such a reaction was not strange.
They had been fighting so loudly, after all.
What was strange lay elsewhere.
“Something’s… different.”
An innumerable crowd had gathered.
A fierce aura poured from them all at once.
He had been a little late to notice because of the beautiful island scenery and the like, but something was definitely different.
Their light clothing fluttered in the wind.
Their limbs were unusually long and their heads small, making each and every one of their proportions extraordinary.
And their ears were twice the size of a human’s, with pointed tips.
- So they were elves.
Only after hearing Purnel’s murmur did he realize it.
There had been no race called elves in Bentair’s world.
As he drew closer to the island atop the Phantom Steed, their faces came into clearer view.
Every one of them had finely carved, beautiful features, and tension hung over their expressions as they looked this way.
- One of the secrets hidden for a thousand years was the elves. How did it come to this…….
They said that until a thousand years ago, before the war against the Abyss broke out, it had not been all that difficult to encounter elves.
Of course, they had not been a race one could see easily, but they had not been a race found only in fairy tales as they were now.
“They’re wary of us.”
- Naturally. Is this not an island that has had no contact with the outside for a thousand years?
In that sense, their vigilance was only natural.
If not for Regarda, who was traveling alongside him atop the sea dragon, they might have had to fight another round right here.
But in any case, he had succeeded in persuading Regarda and was on his way with him.
「Skill - ‘Summon Phantom Steed’ has been deactivated.」
No one made a rash move until they landed on the shore.
In their small actions and cautious attitudes, one could glimpse their respect and trust toward Regarda.
“It’s an island too beautiful to keep hidden.”
As he said that while stepping down onto the shore, Regarda, who had descended after him, opened his mouth.
His mouth opened, and soon a firm voice resembling him emerged.
Just like a person.
- Is that all Lord Kreutzwald said?
At those words, Hio turned back.
Regarda’s blue eyes were staring straight at him.
“Well, yes.”
- …I see.
Meanwhile, the residents of Arilleia began to gather around the two of them.
As they assembled while keeping a certain distance, their eyes held a mixture of wariness and curiosity toward Hio, and respect and trust toward Regarda.
“Lord Regarda.”
Then the crowd parted in a line, and several people walked in.
And among them, the elf at the very front.
The appearances of the other elves were already beautiful enough, but hers went beyond that and became radiant.
It was not as if she wore many ornaments. Perhaps the leaf tiara on her head was all.
Even so, she felt splendid.
As though she had been born noble, there was dignity in even a single step she took.
So he could tell at once.
That woman was the one who ruled Arilleia.
“It has been a long time, Lord Regarda.”
That elf bowed her head to Regarda without the slightest hesitation.
At that, every person in the area bowed their heads at once.
“Have you been well?”
Regarda planted the yellow shaft of his spear on the ground and nodded.
- Has it been over ten years? Isidore.
“To be precise, it has been twenty-seven years, Lord Regarda.”
- I see.
“It was difficult to visit you, so I could only confirm your well-being from the traces Lord Mir occasionally left.”
- It does not concern me.
“There are quite a few things I have to tell you, but given the situation, I will ask first.”
Then the gaze of the noblest elf in Arilleia.
Isidore’s gaze turned toward Hio.
“Who is this person?”
Just as Regarda was about to open his mouth in response.
A small figure came tumbling out through the people.
What abruptly appeared above her head was a flashing notification window like an electronic signboard.
『☆★Welcome, Mr. Mage!★☆』
The girl beaming brightly along with that message was Freya.
* * *
Their wariness subsided more quickly than expected.
What proved effective was, as expected, Regarda’s guarantee.
No, in truth, he was not sure whether this could really be called a guarantee.
After all, Regarda had not said a single word and had merely entered the island of Arilleia with him.
But that, to the residents here, was the surest guarantee of all.
Regarda had never permitted outsiders to enter for a thousand years. What greater guarantee could there be than being accompanied by such a being?
And second, there was Freya’s guarantee.
This one was somewhat less reliable, but in any case, after returning from the empire, she had brought up stories about Hio whenever she had the chance.
After hearing about him again and again, they had somehow developed a sense of inner familiarity with him.
Of course, there were still many who suspected his intentions.
“A mage? I cannot believe it.”
They were not suspicious of anything else.
After all, if he were someone who would bring even the slightest harm to Arilleia, there was no way Regarda would have let him in.
What they doubted was Hio Pavlenko’s claim that he himself was a mage.
And among them was Mutins, who had attended the new emperor’s coronation.
“Hio Pavlenko is a guardian knight of the empire. So there is no doubt that his martial prowess is powerful. However, magic is a separate matter, is it not? How many have we seen all this time? Swindlers who prattle on about magic.”
The people of Arilleia understood the history of magic more accurately than anyone.
That was precisely why they did not believe.
The revival of magic was impossible.
Even Freya had barely managed to create an empty shell of the 1st Circle, so how could an ordinary human rise to the position of guardian knight as a mage?
This was not suspicion, but conviction.
They had not been deceived by such people only once or twice, and a thousand years of history testified to that.
“I agree.”
“Lord Regarda has said nothing else either, so……”
“Nominally, he says he came after receiving Lady Freya’s message……”
“It is not as though they have a deep connection. Did she not say that they only met once at Verden’s coronation?”
It was confusion of a different kind.
Regarda had let him pass, but he had not left behind a single word about what he had seen in him, why he had allowed him in, or what his purpose was.
“We must make him prove his magic before everyone.”
“It is also important to speak with him quickly first. If he is a guardian knight of the empire, would he not know something about that black Gate?”
“He said he came to help Lady Freya, so I think it will be all right.”
The reactions of Mutins and a few others were somewhat intense, but most remained neutral.
For now, their attitude was to watch a little longer.
Whether it was concerning magic or concerning the omen of destruction.
“It is late today, so let us end things here and invite him tomorrow to speak with us.”
The chaotic meeting came to a close with the words of the noblest elf, Isidore.
* * *
『You really came! Mister Hio! ˶•⩊•˶』
A message flashed noisily above Freya’s head.
Since this was her homeland, she was using a text artifact that could not help but stand out, rather than a low-grade artifact like a Whispering Stone.
“Of course. I was startled, thinking something terrible had happened, so I came running right away.”
『Hehehe. Maybe it was too far away, but it broke after I used it once. (ゝω･)ﾉ』
“Still, thanks to you, I got to come to Arilleia, which I’d only ever heard about. It’s nice.”
『It’s super pretty, right?』
“Yeah. It’s a truly beautiful island.”
From atop a giant tree, the view below spread out clearly.
Sky paths tangled from tree to tree, elves passing beneath them and above them, and even unfamiliar animals that could not be seen on the continent.
It could truly be called a city made of nature.
It had been a magnificent sight even while the sun was up, but the real view came after the sun set.
It was a beautiful city where the night scenery, made of lights hanging like stars all over the trees and the glow spreading from within them, was an extraordinary spectacle.
“Let’s go in now.”
After wandering around and admiring the night view, they went inside once the night had deepened.
A tree located at the center of the forest.
They entered that enormous tree that seemed to reach the sky.
Inside, Regarda stood with his arms crossed, staring intently at Hio.
- You were out for quite some time. Lady Freya is still young.
Regarda spoke while looking at Freya, who was sleeping soundly in Hio’s arms.
“It’s a mysterious island. There was a lot to see.”
The giant tree was divided into hundreds of floors befitting its size, and the place Hio had entered was none other than Regarda’s residence.
There had originally been another room prepared for him, but Regarda had said there was no need and that Hio would go with him, then truly brought him to his own residence.
Well, it was spacious enough for ten people to stay there, so there was no problem.
“By the way, you were using such a large room alone?”
- I hardly use it. It has been roughly twenty-seven years, I suppose.
“Then where do you usually stay?”
- Under the sea.
“…To protect Arilleia?”
- Correct.
“And now?”
- The sea dragon is taking my place.
“Huh……”
In other words, he normally lived alone in that dark, gloomy deep sea.
Hio had roughly expected it from the moment he guessed Regarda’s identity, but was this not a sacrifice that went beyond even that?
Just how important was that mission?
- I have let you in, but from here on, it is a matter you must investigate and act upon yourself.
As he carefully laid Freya down on the bed, Hio answered Regarda’s words.
“Does that mean it’s something you can’t step forward for?”
- Precisely.
“Because it isn’t the mission given to you?”
- That is both true and not true. To be exact, it is something I cannot do.
“Something you cannot do……”
The one presumed to be Kreutzwald had told him to head to Arilleia and awaken the dragon.
And he had told him to take that power.
This was what Hio had to do in Arilleia.
At the same time, it was something Regarda could not do.
However, there were a few variables.
“What do you intend to do about the Abyss Gate?”
The existence of the Abyss Gate was one of them.
He had heard the rough situation from Freya.
An Abyss Gate had appeared, and because of that, their opinions were not narrowing.
The opinion that they should enter, and the opinion that they should simply guard it.
Depending on which conclusion they reached, Hio’s plans would likely be greatly affected as well.
- My duty is not to go against the flow.
“Not to go against the flow… In the end, you’re saying you’ll watch.”
It was an answer he had roughly expected.
If Regarda had actively intervened in matters like this, he would not have been returning home for the first time in twenty-seven years.
That was not what Hio needed to hear from him.
A more fundamental question.
“So where is the dragon?”
Where was the sleeping dragon?
How should it be awakened?
How immense was its power that Kreutzwald had personally stepped forward to mention it?
At Hio’s question, Regarda turned his head without hesitation.
He lowered the gaze that had been directed at Hio, shifting it to the side.
At that, Hio’s gaze also followed his to the side.
What entered his sight was a small green-haired girl sleeping soundly.
“…No way?”
Hio’s head whipped back toward Regarda.
Regarda nodded, dispelling the suspicion filling Hio’s eyes.
- She is the dragon.
* * *
The next day.
Naturally, Hio also attended the meeting that opened early in the morning.
Holding the hand of Freya, who was rubbing her sleepy eyes, he entered the conference hall with the expressionless Regarda on his other side.
A large round table made of solid wood—no, simply a part of this tree.
The elves and several humans surrounding it were faces he had seen the day before, so they were fairly familiar.
If he had to choose the most familiar among them, it would undoubtedly be one person.
Mutins, the man who had constantly hovered protectively around Freya at the coronation.
He was still glaring at Hio with hostile eyes.
That remained true even after the meeting began.
No, he pressed Hio even more fiercely.
Unlike before, when they had been in the imperial capital and he had no particular justification, this time he had a clear one.
A very logical justification: how could magic exist in an age that had lost magic?
And the longer he spoke, the more people seemed to agree with him.
They did not step forward openly as Mutins did, but inwardly they agreed with his opinion.
They did not know why Regarda had let this man in, but surely he was not someone related to magic.
If he at least wished to remain here, he should withdraw the claim that he was a mage and offer a proper apology. They were being persuaded by Mutins’s insistence.
“A lie, you say.”
Even so, Hio merely nodded calmly.
Now that he knew the circumstances, how could he not understand that level of opposition?
It was perfectly possible for them to think that way.
However, from now on, they could not.
“My first master was Berga Pavlenko.”
He simply had to tell everyone now the story he had once told Freya in the imperial palace garden.
“A great mage who raised a single spark in a world where magic had vanished.”
He calmly rose from his seat.
In his hand was that same large staff.
“My second master was Purnel Penchev.”
By that point, the hall had fallen silent.
Had the words “a world where magic had vanished” not come from Hio’s mouth?
The very fact that he knew that was unusual.
“A mage of the necromancer school who experienced the war against the monstrosities a thousand years ago.”
Hio, having risen from his seat, walked toward the outside of the conference hall.
The wall of the conference hall had no windows; it was simply open and clear, allowing an unobstructed view outside.
Since they were on a high floor, it was that much closer to the sky, and thus it would be even easier to see.
Knowing that, Hio stopped walking and turned back.
Everyone’s eyes were on him.
“And.”
What sin did these people have?
What they had lost was not only magic.
Conviction in magic, faith, hope.
They had lost all of it together.
That was why they were angry and distrustful.
Then all he had to do was plant that hope in them once more.
“The last mage remaining in this world.”
The staff was raised lightly.
「Skill - ‘Illusion - Judge of God’ has been activated.」
And soon, the sky opened.
“Hio Pavlenko.”
The sword of God revealed its majesty.