And then… The conclusion came pretty flatly.
“Reina, you traitor. I’m going to tell the first seat.”
“Yes yes. You can go tell my master, just leave already.”
“Here I go Seti! Oh, he’s not here anymore!”
Reina was a little surprised to see two people who were originally above them driven back so easily.
That said, in a way, it was probably inevitable.
“I guess that’s what happens when we spend time on that island.”
Said Reina.
“Yes… Well, sure…”
They were aware that they had gotten stronger, but not this much.
“Hum…”
As they once again thought about how strange that island was, Ceres approached them from behind.
“Hn? Ah, are you all right?”
“Yes. None of us are hurt, thanks to you… But are you sure you did the right thing?”
She was talking about them going against other seats of the seven great mages.
“You’re Ceres the saint, right? That means you’re the hero Arc, and you the mage Eri.”
“Eh? Yes… We are, but…”
“I knew it from how Arata described you before.”
“M-Mister Arata… Spoke my name!?”
The moment Reina said Arata’s name, the girl reacted with the deep emotion of a believer whose god remembered her name.
“Arata said it was a dream, but that’s just because he never lived on the continent, so he never heard the names of the saint or the hero. But I knew right away that he was roped into something…”
“Ah, Mister Arata… What a merciful god…”
“Just how do you get a saint to adore you this much…”
Reina looked exasperated about Arata getting involved in some strange trouble again, and Xellos spoke with a troubled expression,
“So, what do you think about this situation?”
“I don’t know. I just know it involves Arata.”
“Yes, I get it. So there’s nothing we can do about it, uh?”
Xellos gave up like he was used to it. He knows how much of a troublemaker Arata was, and that they weren’t going to be able to do anything about it if they got involved.
And since Ceres was moved to tears and not coherent anymore, Eri stepped up.
“So, what’s your relation to that Arata?”
“Ahn? Who’s this kid?”
“Ah? I’m not a kid. I’m Eri, the Witch of Destruction.”
“Witch of Destruction? You?”
Xellos silently looked at her up and down, and Eri hid herself after getting a nasty feeling from him.
“Pervert.”
“I’m not interested in kids!”
“Xellos… I thought you paid a lot of attention to Tiltue, but…”
“Hey Reina. If you keep saying weird stuff, I’m gonna send you flying.”
As Arc watched that mess from a little far, he wondered when they were going to get to the main point.
Then again, it was natural to react like that, after such a big threat was gone.
Both Eri and Ceres looked like they were having fun, and so he smiled, thinking that was nice. He then realized he also relaxed a lot.
“First of all, let me thank you two.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“…I guess…”
Arc then stepped forward, acting as a representative for the trio.
“Thank you so much for saving us from this predicament.”
Arc bowed, and Ceres and Eri followed.
“Well, it was very sudden, but you know Arata, so… And I never liked Cara anyway.”
“And I wanted to blow that Seti guy away, so don’t worry about it.”
For Reina and Xellos, they were not only not friends, but almost enemies.
What happened there was a happy coincidence for them.
“By the way, how are you two related to Mister Arata?”
“Ah, about that…”
Reina was about to explain, but hesitated.
That was when she realized that her relationship with Arata was not easy to categorize.
Partner, friend? Both seemed to not be wrong.
But for Reina, it was more like…
“I’m his friend, and this is his wife.”
“Wai…!?”
“Ahn? What?”
The moment Xellos said that, Reina’s face turned bright red.
Reina was about to smack him for saying something outrageous, when…
“What!? Miss Reina is married to Mister Arata!?”
“N-no…”
“Yes, the goddess is beautiful like this… Yes. Yes! I can see it!”
Ceres believed Xellos completely, and her voice was ragged with excitement.
To her, who believed Arata was a true god incarnate and the savior of the world, his wife was just as divine as him.
She kneeled and looked up at Reina, who did not know how to respond anymore.
“Miss Reina is one of the seven great mages, so Mister Arata fell in love at first sight, right? Hum, may I ask how you first got together!?”
“I-I said I’m not his wife!”
“No, Reina, you… No one who sees stuff like how you two flirt all the time is gonna believe that.”
“Fli…!? I don’t do that!”
“Mister Xellos! Tell me all about that! I want to include that in the book about our savior Mister Arata that I have been slowly writing!”
Reina was completely pushed down by Ceres’ intensity.
Arc and Eri were exasperated, but it had been a while since they saw Ceres smile so happily, so they refrained from stopping it.
“You can deny it all you want, but you even have a kid. And the kid even calls you mommy and daddy.”
“You know very well Snow wasn’t born from either of us!”
“You have a child!? T-that means that when night falls you do this and that… Y-yes! Of course, you are married after all!”
“You’re putting weird ideas in her head! Wai…!?”
Ceres grabbed Reina’s hand tightly. There seemed to not be any sanity in her eyes anymore.
“Miss Reina. God said children are this world’s treasure! That means the whole process between a man and a woman should not be hidden! It should be revealed!”
“What god ever said that!? Ah, geez! Xellos, what should I do about this!?”
“Kuhahahaha! My stomach hurts!”
Xellos laughed as hard as he could as he looked at the troubled Reina.
Reina made a mental note to smack him down as hard as possible later.
“Miss Reina! Come on!”
“U-uu…”
The problem was the saint pressing her so innocently.
On the island, the only person pressing on her and Arata like that was Wilhelmina. But unlike her, there was no malice to Ceres, who only looked at her with pure goodwill, so Reina was at a loss about what to do.
“Ah…”
But then, a magic circle appeared below Reina and Xellos.
It was the same as the one that appeared when they went there, so surely it was one to send them back.
“Eh? Wait, mister magic circle!? I’m not done yet, so don’t just send them back on your own!”
Ceres tried to stop the magic circle with more vigor than ever, but once the problem specified to the summoning spell was solved, it would send its targets back to where they came from.
The two enemies, the two mages from the seven great mages, were sent packing, so it was normal for the two people summoned to be sent back.
“Ooh, so it’s over.”
“Well, it’s a summoning spell…”
It was sudden, but both knew about summoning spells, and knew that they would be sent back to the island eventually.
“Are you all right with this, Xellos? You’re outside the island and everything.”
“Hna? It’s fine. Life on that island isn’t so bad. And more importantly, I can get even stronger over there.”
Xellos had been training all that time so he could be the best mage possible.
He had reached a plateau when he became one of the seven great mages, but after realizing he had plenty of room for more power, he was filled with a desire to get stronger.
A very short amount of time had passed, compared to the time he spent training before, but still, he managed to overpower an opponent that used to be on a different level than him. As a mage, this was not something he could simply let go.
The light of the magic circle intensified. It seemed it really was reaching an end.
“Goodbye Ceres.”
“It was nice being outside for once.”
“Ah, wai…! Tell me about Mister Arata… Ah.”
Reina and Xellos left with smiles on their faces, and Ceres fell back, sitting down on the ground.
“Ah… And here I thought I was going to hear more about Mister Arata…”
“Geez Ceres! You’re being a bit too improper.”
“Eri… But…”
“Hahaha, but that was good.”
“Eh?”
Eri was exasperated, but Arc approached with a gentle smile on his face.
“I mean, the bond that Wilhelmina talked about has gotten stronger again, right?”
‘Oh, but a bond has already been formed. If you really wish to see Arata, I’m sure you can come to us.’
“Ah…”
“Today’s encounter was another bond. If we keep going like this, I’m sure we’ll reach Arcadia, the island where god lives.”
“Yes… Yes, we will!”
As Ceres got up and looked more cheerful, Eri thought she was simple.
“Well, it looked like those too were enjoying themselves so… It doesn’t sound like a bad island. Let’s go there right away. And then we won’t have to worry about being pursued anymore.”
“Yes.”
“You’re right.”
The three of them started walking again, with their destination being the island where god lived, Arcadia.
The journey of the saint, the hero, and the Witch of Destruction would continue.
◇ ◇ ◇
And the first thing they saw when they got back was…
“O-oooooh! You’re finally back.”
Tiltue in front of a fire, trembling with Snow on her back.
“Ah, mommy!”
Snow jumped down from Tiltue’s back, and jumped into Reina.
She was a little chilly, but at the same time had the warmth and cuteness of a child, and it brought a smile to Reina’s face.
“I’m back. By the way… Are you all right, Tiltue?”
“O-oooh… My ancestor is Bahamut! O-o-o-o-of course I am!”
She did not sound very convincing, holding her knees and trembling in front of the fire, but Reina thought she should leave it at that.
“Xellos! Xellos! More fire!”
“Yes yes.”
Xellos grabbed firewood nearby and fed the fire.
He also hit Tiltue with fire magic directly while he was at it, and she looked steamy like she got inside a hot spring.
“Why did you put her on your back if you knew you’d get that cold?”
“I-if I didn’t, Snow would keep crying about her mommy, so what else could I do!?”
“O-ou… I see. Good job then…”
She had been comforting Snow like that the whole time while they were gone.
Xellos thought she had guts, considering just touching her a little left her so cold.
“S-she’s darling’s child, so…”
“No, you really are great, uh…”
Xellos then promised to himself to be nice to her.
As for Snow herself, she was in Reina’s arms, holding on like a koala.
“Did you play with Tiltue?”
“Yes! Snow loves Tiltue!”
“I see. Then we have to say thank you.”
Reina pat Snow on the back, who was tired from playing, and soon went to sleep.
“S-she’s cute when she’s sleeping…”
“She’s cute when she’s awake too.”
“When she’s awake… She just looks like a demon to me…”
Said Tiltue, although her eyes looked gentle as she looked at Snow.
It seemed they formed some sort of bond in that short amount of time.
And as they talked, they felt a familiar presence far away.
“Hey.”
“It’s Arata.”
“Darling! Darling! Come p-r-a-i-s-e me!”
Tiltue quickly got up, and ran away from the fire to dive into Arata.
As Reina watched that, she thought back to her conversation with Ceres.
“My relationship with Arata…”
What exactly was it?
Her face turned red, as she held and looked at Snow and thought that from an objective point of view, they could only look like a couple.
Arata and Merlin walked towards them, with Tiltue still holding on to his waist.
And Xellos was standing next to her.
She was getting along with two people she did not like before, and the girl in her arms saw her as her mother.
The environment around her kept changing ever since she arrived at that island, but it was not bad.
“…Family?”
Not just herself and Arata.
She thought that was what best fit all her friends she made on that island.
“…Fufu.”
Once put into words like that, it felt a little warm in her chest.
And as Reina felt happy, she slowly walked towards Arata and Merlin.
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Thanks for the treat.
Merlin and Xellos’ character has been a fun read all through out. I honestly expected less from them and thought that they would just be some boring side characters that wouldn’t really add much to the story. I was even expecting them to leave the island as soon as possible because of how they were introduced.
The character development that these so called “most powerful” mages went through has been great. They really went from arrogant to humble real quick inside the island, then straight to a badass the moment they got sent out temporarily.