Pawahara Seijo no Osananajimi to Zetsuen Shitara, Nanimokamo ga Umaku Iku Yō ni Natte Saikyō no Bōke

[The End of the War]

“Phoenix Robe used to be the Sword Saint’s…!?” I was stunned.

“Yeah,” Fluga-sama gave me a nod, “He was loved by flames just like you. But of course, he wasn’t immortal. Still, he wielded a flame so hot that it could produce Hihiirokane. So to protect the humans, he created Holy Armaments using them.

“However,” Fluga-sama continued with an inscrutable look on her face, “despite all the troubles he went through to create them, there were only three people who were able to wield the Holy Armaments. But that’s a matter of course. As the rest of the three were demi-humans and they—had decided not to have any involvement in the war.”

“I see. So the saints were chosen from all races back then.”

“Well, isn’t that still the case? Humans and demi-humans both have equal chance of being chosen as a saint, it all comes down to the matter of each of their own qualities.”

“But at present, aside from us saintesses, demi-human’s saints exist as well. Do you perhaps know as to what is going on?” Magmell asked.

Fluga-sama groaned with her arms crossed, “Hmm, I have no clue, either. As each Holy Armament can only be possessed by one saint or saintesses at a time, this situation normally isn’t supposed to happen. Then again, the reappearance of Sacred Treasure may have increased the total count, but if that really is the case, it wouldn’t be strange for the usually long-lived demi-humans to get their hands on Holy Armament first. Like our Shortie over here.”

“Mu, don’t call me Shortie.” Tirna puffed up her cheeks.

Ophir burst into laughter while pointing her finger at her, “Dahaha! Even the goddess calls you Shortie!”

“……”

――Thump!

“—Gufu!? Y-you little, sneak attack is against the rules…”

“Don’t care.”

When Tirna turned away from Ophir who was holding her abdomen in agony, Zana asked Fluga-sama more about the war in the past, “So, did the ‘Sword’ Saint along with the humans then fight back with the Holy Armaments?”

“Well, yeah. Although there were only three people who could wield them, it didn’t change the fact that Holy Armaments were really powerful weapons. Hence, the ‘Sword’, the ‘Spear’, and the ‘Staff’ stood at the front line as the mankind’s hope.”

Arca nodded, “Hm, ‘Sword’ and ‘Spear’, huh. Looks like Exa and I are really tied together by an inseparable fate.”

“No, even if ya said that with such a smug face, Exa ain’t a saint to begin with, remember? He can wield various weapons other than the ‘Sword’, to boot,” Ophir retorted.

“……”

“Pfft.”

“Hey, don’t laugh.”

Heaving a sigh at Arca glaring demonically at Magmell, I asked Fluga-sama, “Incidentally, what did Olgou-sama do?”

“She could do nothing but watch. After all, both were important to Olgou.”

“Is that so…”

As I made a sad look, Fluga-sama nodded, “Yeah,” and said, “but an end would eventually come even for such a tragic situation. The ‘Sword’ Saint tirelessly continued persuading Phinis, but then the ‘Spear’, who was his comrade and also lover, fell in battle. In his grief, he finally made up his mind to proceed with the plan to seal Phinis.”

““““““!””””””

‘Sword’ Saint surely believed in Phinis-sama.

Hoping for them to get along again, like the time when she bestowed Sacred Treasures upon them.

Yet…

“Needless to say, Olgou’s power was indispensable to seal Phinis. And Olgou decided to help the ‘Sword’ Saint out of her honest desire for the tragedies to stop. The plan went off without a hitch and Phinis got sealed, but it came at the cost of the ‘Sword’ Saint’s life. Well, that’s how the war ended.” Fluga-sama ended the story while shrugging her shoulders.

““““““……”””””” We were all at a loss for words.

I didn’t know how to describe what I felt about it, it was a story in which no one got a happy end…

This Phoenix Robe I was wearing now felt like a keepsake of the ‘Sword’ Saint, too…

“So, Phinis-sama is still sealed somewhere…?” Zana asked.

“Yeah, she’s supposed to be. But that the Sacred Treasures which should be in her possession have appeared again in this world. Most likely, ‘cracks’ have begun to appear on her seal. In which case, the seal has to be recast, though it’d be a pain.”

“Can you do it?” Magmell asked.

“Maybe. But I definitely can’t do it by myself. All the Five Goddesses need to work together to reseal her. After all, we’re—”

“—beings which came to be after Olgou divided herself into five.”

“““““““!?””””””” We all went wide-eyed due to the familiar voice of a man that echoed out of nowhere.

Looking in the direction of the source of the voice, there stood the figure of Elysium, an oni, the current generation ‘Sword’ Saint, and also the leader of the saints.