Mippo and Moppo were deprived of their egos, sealed away for a thousand years, and ultimately…….killed.
Despite all the pain they had already endured, when they thought about how their sister was still in trouble……they never once thought about escaping by themselves.
That’s why…….I will never forgive you.
That’s why, I won’t accept this.
(If this is how their story is meant to end, I will write them a new one!!)
I slid my finger across the cover and opened the pages of my new grimoire.
A light poured out from the fluttering pages as characters appeared before my eyes.
[Iris]: “Rick, Rick, Ton, Ton……Who are you? Who be you? I am in the green garden covered with shadows……”
A song with a unique rhythm.
A cheerful melody reflective of Mippo and Moppo’s personalities.
[Iris]: “Hey, won’t you dance with us? Isn’t it fine? Dance on and on……until the sun goes down. Isn’t dancing so much fun, fun, fun? Can’t everyone have fun, dancing and smiling together?”
I could feel those girls’ thoughts and emotions in each and every word.
[Iris]: “Hand in hand we’ll spin around, look, aren’t we already friends?”
Their honest wishes for something they haven’t been able to do in the last thousand years.
Those empty years of nothingness when it was impossible to laugh, play, or talk.
As if to make up for all that lost time, a huge ray of joyous light spilled from my grimoire.
And all of it was flowing into me.
(Yeah. Okay, let’s dance! Lots, with everyone together! Together with your sisters…….all together!!)
[Iris]: “Rick, Rick, Ton, Ton. Rick, Rick, Ton, Ton…….”
With each page I turned, the golden light converged further towards me.
[Sanz Wanz]: “I do not know what you are looking to summon, but I will not allow you to finish!!”
Sanz Wanz was growing agitated over the light that now filled the room and began flapping its four wings.
A strong pull hit my back as the wings were brought up, and then a strong wind meant to blow us away came crashing back down.
But before I was hit by the full brunt of the attack, a shadow passed over me.
[Rose]: “Goddess, hear my plea. Goddess, save my friend!!”
Rose-san’s solemn voice rang out as she rode Goldmund.
[Rose]: “Holy white flower!! With your authority at our backs, let your virtue thwart those who would do harm to our allies!!”
She held out her arm and wrapped it around my waste……snatching me off the ground.
[Rose]: “Here now, offer us your well known miracle! Stout Seal!!”
Rose-san raised her shield with her left hand while strongly holding me in her right.
*Kiiiiiiiii* And then something akin to a ringing of bells began playing in my ear. Shards of beautiful crystals like diamonds appeared around the center of the shield.
The wind whipped past us, but a second later, a loud *Crack* rose over the roaring zephyr.
It was the walls. They and the pillars dotting the room had already been worn down by the magma breath earlier, and now they were being beaten down by these winds.
[Lapris]: “Oi, the ceiling’s gonna fall!!”
Lapris was mistaken; it wasn’t just the ceiling that would fall. The entire castle roof including several spires would end up collapsing right on top of us.
[Sanz Wanz]: “Kukuku……be crushed and die!!”
[Rose]: “Over here everyone!! Inside the light!!”
Everyone moved at Rose-san’s word.
Toslin and Carol looked a little uneasy.
Ashel-sama was cautiously chanting some of her own magic.
Litzreich looked curious.
And Saluena, had a face that showed she already knew what was about to happen.
[Rose]: “Are you scared?”
When I was about to slip off Goldmund, Rose-san adjusted her grip around me.
Her left hand held up my feet while her right hand rested on my back. The kind of hold a knight would use to carry a princess.
[Iris]: “No……not one bit.”
My entire field of vision was taken up by pink hair.
With Rose-san’s gentle smile and her powerful arms supporting me, there is nothing in the world that could scare me.
*Gagon*……large chunks of rubble crashed down from overhead.
However their own weight caused the rocks to break apart the moment they touched the veil of light emitted from the shield.
[Litzreich]: “Hahah, that was awesome”
[Iris]: “I’m just being protected today”
[Rose]: “We’re all just thinking about what’s best for you Iris-san”
[Toslin]: “Woahwoahwoahwoahwoah……..is it really fine for us to be acting like everything’s hunky dory right now?”
[Carol]: “Beats me, but, well, it’s not like there’s anything for us to do other than trust Rose and Iris on this one.”
[Iris]: “Yeah, it’ll be okay Toslin, Carol”
The golden light of my grimoire mixed together with the pink veil of Rose-san’s shield. Without any fear, I moved to finish my chant.
[Iris]: “……..Then, let us begin”
I pressed the grimoire closed and shouted out the rest of the passage. Raising my voice so it would travel beyond the rubble, so Sanz Wanz could experience all of my anger.
[Iris]: “To the furthest lands of this world, a joyous dance that will never end!!”
The light of the grimoire split off into three separate sections, each section morphing into a ball and rotating in the air.
The castle’s collapse came to a close after around a minute.
The graceful spires, noble walls, and glittering roof that shined under the sun were all reduced to rubble.
But while we were buried under all this rock, we had survived.
“Rin, Ranrun ♪“
“Ran, Ranrun ♪“
Rose-san’s Stout Seal managed to hold back the overwhelming physical cascade from above.
And the rubble that now covers our heads and blocks our movements……was melting away and dispersing like snow in spring thanks to the three sisters.
[Iris]: “…….Rose-san. Mippo and Moppo…….they’re finally……..with Linzflare-san……..”
Three sisters danced in a circle, hand in hand, while twirling around our feet.
[Rose]: “Yes, at last……they have regained their lives from a thousand years ago.”
The sisters danced happily with full-sized smiles spread on their faces and tears pooling in the corner of their eyes.
Turn and turn and turn again, with each rotation, more and more of the surrounding rubble broke down into light and faded away.
[Sanz Wanz]: “To have survived this far and still stand before me……I see. You are not some unnamed spectator but rather a fully recognized actor meant for the stage.”
Seeing us unscathed, Sanz Wanz groaned with a clear astonished expression.
[Sanz Wanz]: “You remain but an annoyance, but I shall admit that much.”
The castle’s ceiling and walls had collapsed, and with the debris removed, we were surrounded by rolling hills as Sanz Wanz spread out its four wings and barked out.
The rays of the sun reflected off the stone body causing it to shine like a polished diamond.
[Sanz Wanz]: “However!! Because I have admitted such, I will now use all my strength to crush you!! I will not leave a single shard of bone left in this world once I am finished with you!!”
“Rin, Ranrun ♪“
“Ran, Ranrun ♪“
Even as Sanz Wanz’s roar shook the air around us, the sisters continued their joyful song.
“C’mon, let’s dance? Everyone together?”
“Let’s dance a fun dance together with me and you”
A golden magic circle formed around the three sisters and spread outwards.
[Lapris]: “H-Hey, hold on? Somehow……our bodies…….they’re shining”
“That would be our blessing. Gospel of the Earth”
A slightly mature voice rose from the song.
If Mippo and Moppo’s voices are rolling bells, this one would be something more akin to a wind chime swaying in a gentle breeze.
The owner of the voice, Linzflare-san, looked up to me with tears still in her eyes as she continued to dance with her sisters.
[Linzflare]: “Iris Calvafon. Grimoire Master of the present day. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude, deeper than the Patternvist Valley, for reuniting me with my sisters.”
[Mippo]: “Thanks, thanks, so many thanks”
[Moppo]: “I like you, love you so much. Thank you, thank you for all your help”
[Linzflare]: “In short, would you like our help beating that thing?”
Carol’s silver hair and lithe body was now wrapped in pale gold.
[Linzflare]: “To the furthest lands of this world, a joyous dance that will never end”
Linzflare-san laughed and repeated aloud the passage written in the grimoire.
She was having fun dancing with her sisters.
Her joy and delight was clear to see for us all……
[Ashel]: “In that case, may we dance with you?”
[Toslin]: “I feel like my body is lighter than normal”
[Carol]: “Yeah. It’s like I have wings.”
[Litzreich]: “Grimoires, and the Grimoire Master who governs them…….? After all, it’s interesting. I’m curious. I want to know more”
[Saluena]: “There is something we must tidy up first Litzreich”
[Lapris]: “Anego, I’ve been meaning to ask, don’t you think you’re being too kind to this pervert?”
Everyone is the same, even in front of a legendary dragon like Sanz Wanz.
[Rose]: “Then Iris-san. No, Princess.”
[Iris]: “……Eh?”
[Rose]: “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me for this dance”
……..What?
Rose-san started talking like Saluena out of nowhere.
≪Surprising~≫
≪Surprising?≫
≪Let’s dance≫
Riding on Goldmund’s head, the sisters were each doing steps while still holding each others’ hands.
My heart is ready to pound out of my chest from the princess hold, and now with this surprise attack coming from nowhere, my mind is blank.
[Iris]: “S-Sure……treat me well……”
The words kind of fell out of my lips without any real thought behind them……. Dance? How does one, dance?
While my head filled up with more and more question marks, Rose-san grabbed Goldmund’s reins and spurred him into a light gallop and pressed me into her chest.