This is the story of a magician and an elf girl.

"is her!!"

“…Linna!”

"It's Linna!!"

"Linna-chan is here!"

"We've been waiting for you for a long time!! Linna!!"

The girl trusted by the elves arrived at the scene riding on a huge dryad. Leah couldn't help but overlap her back with that of the magician, and for some reason she felt the same way at that time.

I felt immense pity and bottomless loneliness for their unique personalities and ways of life, even though that uniqueness once symbolized the connection between them.

But now their will seems to have split because of this, which is really sad.

“… Linna… don’t… if you… become… a goddess… now… you will definitely… die…”

"Elder... I'll say it again... I didn't mean that..."

"Then you can't defeat that guy with your own strength... No... That's beyond the level that we elves can handle... Unless..."

"Unless... I become a goddess... and use the power of authority..."

Hartley, whose strength had been exhausted, lay in Linnae's arms, looking at her pure eyes that were filled with worry for him - and he also recalled the way he looked at her back then:

"...That's right...The Elf Goddess...Atalanta...used that power...to kill countless clones...but at the same time, she also sacrificed her own life...and became an eternal vegetable...This was originally...the sin that I...should bear...I can't let you bear this pain...You are not ready yet...you don't have the courage to make a choice...The realm that we elves have not been able to break through is the threshold of good deeds. Can you accept the laws of this world, abandon your own feelings and insist on doing good deeds?"

"I……"

“…Linna…you are too gentle…you are too kind…even if you can gain the respect and love of the tree spirits…you cannot gain the trust of the law…you will never become a goddess this way…I have known this for a long time…but I just couldn’t bear to tell you…I hope you can realize it yourself…and find a solution with your own strength…but now…”

“Gagaa ...

The hellhound that interrupted their conversation seemed to be saying come on, stop talking nonsense. Xiaobi, who couldn't ignore it, also took a fighting stance. The tree spirits growing on her body were almost ready to attack. The rest were just waiting for the girl on her body to give the order: "Girl... if anything happens... don't take me to heart... we will perish with it... even if it means turning into nothingness -"

"——Don't say that... I won't give up on anyone, not even you, Xiaobi. I still have things I haven't done that need your help. I still have people I should save waiting for me. I still have people I trust waiting for me to return. I still have people I love who are looking forward to my decision. For this, I need your help, Xiaobi... No, guardian of the forest, spirit of the great sacred tree, please let me continue to stay by your side, okay?"

"..."

I still remember - when I first spoke to her, this child could not even distinguish between objective and subjective thoughts, and just blindly believed in her own ideas and moved forward. Xiaobi, who had been watching her back for a long time and felt pity, understood her thoughts better than anyone else present, and she should never be blamed or questioned by anyone. She just naively wanted to help those in need, from the beginning to now, from the end to the beginning, from now to the future.

Her choice has never changed. Even when the object of her prayer is the light that attempts to change the world, her wish has never changed or wavered.

Do you want to deny it? As the guardian of the forest, you help a little girl who is not even a hundred years old and make decisions based on her ideas. Isn't this too reckless or too doting on her?

It is true that there are still many things she doesn't know, but she has always been firm in her decisions. The only difference is that the time of confusion and consideration is particularly long, and is even accompanied by excruciating pain and distress.

This is the characteristic of being unqualified. As the guardian of the forest, what you should do is not based on what a naive and confused little girl wants to do, but to protect the order of the forest and the laws that are more important than dreams. For this reason, you are given the power to manipulate nature and become a familiar of the peace-loving elves to survive. This is your mission.

However, this kind of relationship ends here today.

"...Of course, our loyalty to you is a lifelong contract, without exception. Even if the enemy is the law or order, we will be your companions, and the companions you recognize are also our companions. No matter what time it is, our only master is you, Linna, the servant favored by the tree spirit. We have high expectations for you. Please change all this - even if you can't become a goddess, it doesn't matter. You are you. Without that power, you will definitely... be able to win the final victory. We believe that your dream is definitely not a delusion or fantasy. The idea of ​​people wanting to save someone... must be an instinct that remains in people's thoughts and intellect in history. "

"Yeah... I think so too... Thank you... You have always helped me, really... Thank you."

The guardian who raised his body took action as if in response to Linnae's expectations and consciousness. A huge amount of spiritual power was released to the outside world with her as the center. Powerful magic ripples covered every elf along with the effects of the skills, and the poisoning of the magic veins was immediately alleviated.

This is "spiritual power sharing", one of the powers of the Dryad User.

"...Spiritual power is..."

"Seeping into the body..."

"So warm..."

"I can feel it... this is... Linna's power..."

“I won’t run away anymore, I won’t be lost anymore, I won’t choose to fight alone anymore. You are all my companions who have been by my side since I was born. You are my family, my friends, and my elders. In order to save my hometown and my tribe… I will save everyone. I will save all life forms in the world. I will respect all creatures. I will abide by the order and rationality created by the law. I will respect the reality that the person wants to change and act accordingly, even if it means denying objective correctness, even if I have to live in this world full of unfairness and grievances. This time - I will open up a future for everyone.”